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Primary cilia are specialized organelles supporting the development and function of cells and organisms. Intraflagellar transport (IFT) is essential for cilia formation, maintenance, and function. In C. elegans ciliated sensory neurons, IFT interacts with signaling molecules to generate distinct morphological and function features and also to maintain the integrity of cilia. Here, we report an IFT-dependent feedback control on the conserved MAPKKK DLK-1 in the ciliated sensory neurons. DLK proteins are widely known to act in synapse formation, axon regeneration, and degeneration, but their roles in other neuronal compartments are understudied. By forward genetic screening for altered expression of the endogenously tagged DLK-1 we identified multiple ift mutants showing increased DLK-1 accumulation in the defective sensory endings. We show that in response to acute IFT disruption, DLK-1 accumulates rapidly and reversibly. The expression levels of the transcription factor CEBP-1, known to act downstream of DLK-1 in the development and maintenance of synapses and axons, are also increased in the ciliated sensory neurons of ift mutants. Interestingly, the regulation of CEBP-1 expression shows sensory neuron-type dependency on DLK-1. Moreover, in the sensory neuron AWC, which has elaborate cilia morphology, up-regulated CEBP-1 represses DLK-1 at the transcription level, thereby dampening DLK-1 accumulation. Last, the IFT-dependent regulatory loop of DLK-1 and CEBP-1 offers neuroprotection in a cilia degeneration model. These findings uncover a surveillance mechanism in which tight control on the DLK-1 signaling protects cilia integrity in a context-specific manner.

The adiabatic elastocaloric effect measures the temperature change of a given system with strain and provides a thermodynamic probe of the entropic landscape in the temperature-strain space. Here, we demonstrate that the DC bias strain-dependence of AC elastocaloric effect allows decomposition of the latter into symmetric (rotation-symmetry-preserving) and antisymmetric (rotation-symmetry-breaking) strain channels, using a tetragonal [Formula: see text]-electron intermetallic DyB[Formula: see text]C[Formula: see text]-whose antiferroquadrupolar order breaks local fourfold rotational symmetries while globally remaining tetragonal-as a showcase example. We capture the strain evolution of its quadrupolar and magnetic phase transitions using both singularities in the elastocaloric coefficient and its jumps at the transitions, and the latter we show follows a modified Ehrenfest relation. We find that antisymmetric strain couples to the underlying order parameter in a biquadratic (linear-quadratic) manner in the antiferroquadrupolar (canted antiferromagnetic) phase, which are attributed to a preserved (broken) global tetragonal symmetry, respectively. The broken tetragonal symmetry in the magnetic phase is further evidenced by elastocaloric strain-hysteresis and optical birefringence. Additionally, within the staggered quadrupolar order, the observed elastocaloric response reflects a quadratic increase of entropy with antisymmetric strain, analogous to the role magnetic field plays for Ising antiferromagnetic orders by promoting pseudospin flips. Our results demonstrate AC elastocaloric effect as a compact and incisive thermodynamic probe into the coupling between electronic degrees of freedom and strain in free energy, which holds the potential for investigating and understanding the symmetry of a wide variety of ordered phases in broader classes of quantum materials.

A design strategy was developed, based on the KANO model, for health-centric and sustainable e-sports chair products. Specifically, this study investigated the functional requirements of e-sports chairs using interviews and questionnaires to guide their subsequent design. The functional requirements of the e-sports chair were evaluated using the KANO model. In addition, a satisfaction coefficient was introduced to optimize the traditional KANO model and to obtain the functional requirement classification of the e-sports chair. The sensitivity coefficient was used to evaluate whether the e-sports chair functions attract users. The research results show that users have clear functional requirements for e-sports chairs, and there is a significant correlation between satisfaction and sensitivity. Moreover, the adjustability and air permeability of the e-sports chair greatly improves user satisfaction, and the non-difference function can simplify the process by reducing production costs. This research develops a hierarchical model of demand for e-sports chairs and categorizes the results by essential, one-dimensional, attractive, non-differentiated, and sensitivity requirements. Furthermore, the main attributes of user preferences for e-sports chairs are explored, which provides a certain theoretical basis for the subsequent design and production of e-sports chairs.

When an ionic crystal dissolves in solvent, the positive and negative ions associated with solvent molecules release from the crystal. However, the existing form, interaction, and dynamics of ions in real solution are poorly understood because of the substantial experimental challenge. We observed the diffusion and aggregation of polyoxometalate (POM) ions in water by using liquid phase transmission electron microscopy. Real-time observation reveals an unexpected local reciprocating hopping motion of the ions in water, which may be caused by the short-range polymerized bridge of water molecules. We find that ion oligomers, existing as highly active clusters, undergo frequent splitting, aggregation, and rearrangement in dilute solution. The formation and dissociation of ion oligomers indicate a weak counterion-mediated interaction. Furthermore, POM ions with tetrahedral geometry show directional interaction compared with spherical ions, which presents structure-dependent dynamics.

The propagation of spin waves in magnetically ordered systems has emerged as a potential means to shuttle quantum information over large distances. Conventionally, the arrival time of a spin wavepacket at a distance, d, is assumed to be determined by its group velocity, vg. Here, we report time-resolved optical measurements of wavepacket propagation in the Kagome ferromagnet Fe3Sn2 that demonstrate the arrival of spin information at times significantly less than d/vg. We show that this spin wave "precursor" originates from the interaction of light with the unusual spectrum of magnetostatic modes in Fe3Sn2. Related effects may have far-reaching consequences toward realizing long-range, ultrafast spin wave transport in both ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic systems.

Background: Deficits in prepulse inhibition may be a common feature in first- episode schizophrenia, bipolar disorder (BD) and major depressive disorder (MDD). We sought to explore the levels and viability of prepulse inhibition to differentiate first- episode schizophrenia, BD and MDD in patient populations. Methods: We tested patients with first- episode schizophrenia, BD or MDD and healthy controls using prepulse inhibition paradigms, namely perceived spatial co-location (PSC-PPI) and perceived spatial separation (PSS-PPI). Results: We included 53 patients with first-episode schizophrenia, 30 with BD and 25 with MDD, as well as 82 healthy controls. The PSS-PPI indicated that the levels of prepulse inhibition were smallest to largest, respectively, in the first-episode schizophrenia, BD, MDD and control groups. Relative to the healthy controls, the prepulse inhibition deficits in the first-episode schizophrenia group were significant (p < 0.001), but the prepulse inhibitions were similar between patients with BD and healthy controls, and between patients with MDD and healthy controls. The receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that PSS-PPI (area under the curve [AUC] 0.73, p < 0.001) and latency (AUC 0.72, p < 0.001) were significant for differentiating patients with first-episode schizophrenia or BD from healthy controls. Limitations: The demographics of the 4 groups were not ideally matched. We did not perform cognitive assessments. The possible confounding effect of medications on prepulse inhibition could not be eliminated. Conclusion: The level of prepulse inhibition among patients with first-episode schizophrenia was the lowest, with levels among patients with BD, patients with MDD and healthy controls increasingly higher. The PSS-PPI paradigm was more effective than PSC-PPI to recognize deficits in prepulse inhibition. These results provide a basis for further research on biological indicators that can assist differential diagnoses in psychosis., Introduction Patients with schizophrenia and patients with bipolar disorder (BD) overlap in clinical manifestations, physiology and genetics, (1,2) and studies on cognitive impairments, neural circuit disruptions and electrophysiologic deficits indicate [...]

Mixtures of maltodextrin (MD), egg yolk protein (EYP), Manchurian walnut protein isolate (MWPI) and soybean protein isolate (SPI) in different proportions were used as wall materials to prepare Manchurian walnut oil microcapsules by spray drying. The micromorphology, thermal stability, storage stability and antioxidant stability of microcapsules were analyzed. The results showed that the encapsulation efficiency of microcapsules prepared with MWPI was 73.68%, with an intact and dense structure, indicating that Manchurian walnut oil was successfully encapsulated in and protected by the microcapsules. The microcapsule powder had good flowability and solubility. The MWPI microcapsules lost only 5.48% of its initial mass under programmed heating conditions (10 ℃/min, up to 150 ℃), which was much lower than that of SPI microcapsules (10.3%), thereby being more able to meet the requirements of most thermally processed products. Microencapsulation obviously slowed down the oxidation rate of Manchurian walnut oil and improved its storage stability. The antioxidant experiments demonstrated that microencapsulation could effectively improve the antioxidant stability of active ingredients in Manchurian walnut oil. Therefore, this study demonstrated MWPI to be an excellent microcapsule wall material by evaluating its performance, which will expand the range of selection of protein-based wall materials, and provide a new idea for the application of walnut protein isolate resources to improve the added value of Manchurian walnut.

In this study, 17 deoxynivalenol (DON) contaminated wheat samples were assessed for safety and quality index such as unit weight, water absorption of gluten, crude protein content, unsound kernel content, sprouted kernel content, gibberella damaged kernel content and insect infested kernel content as well as the pollution status of DON and heavy metals. Furthermore, the relationship between the content of DON in wheat grains and other parameters was analyzed. The impact of the processing of gluten and starch in the break and reduction systems on the level of DON contamination was examined. The results showed that the pollution level of DON in wheat samples had a good linear correlation with unit weight, water absorption of gluten, crude protein content, unsound kernel content, sprouted kernel content, gibberella damaged kernel content and insect infested kernel content. The correlation between gluten water absorption and the content of DON was not significant, indicating that DON content could not affect the storage quality of wheat. Additionally, it was found that the heavy metals As and Cd as well as the elements Ca and P were not significantly correlated with DON content, but only Ca in whole wheat flour was correlated with the content of DON. The levels of DON in gluten and starch from the break and reduction systems, respectively were both lower than 200 µg/kg, indicating that wheat with DON over-standard can be used commercially for the preparation of gluten or starch.