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Peritoneal metastasis is one of the most common risk factors contributing to the poor prognosis of gastric cancer. We previously reported that extracellular vesicles from gastric cancer cells could facilitate peritoneal metastasis. However, their impact on gastric cancer-induced peritoneal metastasis under hypoxic conditions remains unclear. This study aims to elucidate how hypoxia-resistant gastric cancer cell-derived extracellular vesicles affect the peritoneal metastasis of normoxic gastric cancer cells. Proteomic analysis revealed elevated levels of Caveolin1 and Laminin β2 in hypoxia-resistant gastric cancer cells and their corresponding extracellular vesicles. Importantly, Caveolin1 was found to play a central role in mediating Laminin β2 sorting into extracellular vesicles derived from hypoxia-resistant gastric cancer cells, and subsequently, extracellular vesicle-associated Laminin β2 promoted peritoneal metastasis in normoxic gastric cancer cells by activating the AKT pathway. Further investigation confirmed that Caveolin1 activation by Rho-related Coiled-coil kinase 1-mediated phosphorylation of Y14 residue is a key factor facilitating Laminin β2 sorting into extracellular vesicles. Moreover, Y14 phosphorylated- Caveolin1 enhanced Laminin β2 sorting by activating Rab11. Finally, our study demonstrated that a combined assessment of plasma extracellular vesicle-associated Caveolin1 and extracellular vesicle-associated Laminin β2 could provide an accurate predictive tool for peritoneal metastasis occurrence in gastric cancer.

AbstractThis paper presents the development of a benchmark for predicting thermal striping through simulation. This work utilized large eddy simulation and will be used to benchmark future models. The testing domain was created using both the STRUCT and the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes turbulence models and is based on an earlier design of the General Atomics Fast Modular Reactor upper plenum. The plenum features two adjacent, identical hexagonal bundles each with a center-placed axial rod drive, with a hot left coolant stream and a cold right coolant stream. The simulation solves the nondimensional Navier-Stokes equations, with temperature accounted as a passive scalar. First- and second-order flow statistics were obtained after 600 convective time units of averaging. The first-order statistics reveal that the hot jet is damped by a recirculatory flow from the near wall. At the same location, the second-order statistics show strong oscillations both in velocity and temperature. The power spectral density was utilized to determine that a low-frequency oscillation occurs here that is within the range of interest for thermal striping. Furthermore, proper orthogonal decomposition was used to identify coherent structures that confirm the oscillatory behavior, indicative of thermal striping. Overall, this benchmark can aid in the development of future models for predicting thermal striping in nuclear reactors, potentially leading to improved reactor safety and performance.

‘KS Big Bow’ (Reg. no. CV‐1206, PI 701521), a hard white winter wheat (Triticum aestivumL.) cultivar, was developed by the wheat breeding program at the Agricultural Research Center–Hays, Kansas State University, and released by the Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station in 2022. KS Big Bow was selected from a single cross of KS050223M‐2/KS11HW15 using a modified bulk breeding method. The main objective of this cross is to release a competitive hard white winter wheat cultivar with adaptation to the dryland production in western Kansas. KS Big Bow is an F5‐derived line and was tested in yield trials from 2017 to 2022 in Kansas before its release. It has performed well in dryland yield trials in western Kansas. KS Big Bow has a medium to medium‐early maturity and medium plant height. Its test weight and straw strength are good. KS Big Bow has a good disease‐resistant package including resistance to Wheat streak mosaic virus, moderate resistances to stripe rust (caused by Puccinia striiformisWestend. f. sp. triticiErikss.) and stem rust (caused by P. graminisPers f. sp. triticiEriks. & E. Henn.), and intermediate resistance to Barley yellow dwarf virus. Its milling and baking qualities are about average. KS Big Bow is a newly released hard white winter wheat cultivar for western Kansas.KS Big Bow has high yield potential.KS Big Bow has good disease resistance, including Wheat streak mosaic virus, stripe rust, and stem rust.

‘FL16045‐25’ (Reg. no. CV‐1207, PI 704484), a soft red, facultative doubled‐haploid wheat (Triticum aestivumL.) cultivar, was developed and tested as FL16045DH‐25 by the University of Florida and released in October 2022. FL16045‐25 was derived from the cross MD07W478‐14‐5/GA06112‐13EE16. It is well adapted from Texas to Virginia and provides producers with an early‐season, facultative (Vrn‐A1_short), medium‐height, awned, semi‐dwarf (Rht2) cultivar that has high yield potential, good straw strength, good grain volume weight, and good end‐use quality. It expresses moderate‐to‐high levels of resistance to most diseases prevalent in the southern United States. Molecular marker analysis confirms the presence of Sbm1, Yr17/Lr37/Sr38, Lr18, Sr36/Pm6, Pm54, and Pm1a‐linked disease‐resistant genes. The yield average of FL16045‐25 from 41 environments during 2020–2022 ranged from 4211 to 5782 kg ha−1, which is competitive with check cultivars that are widely used in the southern part of the United States. The grain volume weight of FL16045‐25 ranged from 749 to 785 kg m−3(32 environments), which was higher than most of the checks. FL16045‐25 has soft grain texture with softness equivalence varying from 51.3% to 59.3% and sodium carbonate solvent retention capacity (SRC) ranging from 66.8% to 68.5%. Flour yields on a Quadrumat Senior milling system varied from 68.7% to 69.5%. Flour protein content varied from 8.9% to 9.1%. Cookie spread diameter varied from 19.4 to 19.5 cm. The presence of TaSus2‐2B, Sucrose Synthase2gene on 2B or 2G:2B, was confirmed by marker analysis. FL16045‐25 is an early‐maturing, facultative, medium‐height wheat cultivar broadly adapted to the southern United States.FL16045‐25 has high yield potential and good straw strength, grain volume weight, and end‐use quality.FL16045‐25 demonstrated moderate‐to‐high levels of resistance to most diseases prevalent in the southern United States.Molecular marker analysis confirms the presence of Sbm1, Yr17/Lr37/Sr38, Lr18, Sr36/Pm6, Pm54, and Pm1agenes.It has above‐average resistance to Fusarium head blight disease.

Background: Zhihu live talks, as a major online knowledge commodity, enable speakers to provide professional information and interact with the audiences. The use of hedges and boosters has been associated with the realization of such a goal. Literature review: Previous research has indicated the relevance of disciplines or genres in the use of hedges and boosters in academic discourse; however, little is known about the use of these metadiscourse markers in Zhihu live talks as a new register for popularizing professional knowledge. Research questions: 1. What are the disciplinary variations in the use of hedges and boosters in medical science and health (Med) and education (Edu) live talks? 2. To what extent do speakers’ characteristics (i.e., expertise and community status) have an impact on the use of hedges and boosters in Med and Edu live talks? Research methods: We collected the transcripts of 123 Med and 126 Edu live talks, as well as the demographic information of each speaker. Following a framework adapted from Hu and Cao, we conducted an analysis of the frequencies and functions of hedges and boosters, and how they associate with speaker characteristics in each category of live talks. Results: The two corpora exhibited significant differences in the frequencies and functions of hedges/boosters, and the differences can be attributed to the conventions of knowledge making in medicine and education disciplines. In addition, speaker characteristics have some impact on the use of hedges and boosters, such as speakers’ levels of conformity to disciplinary conventions or their strategic efforts in relational management. Conclusion: The findings can guide different speakers to configure metadiscourse to inform, argue, and direct while popularizing professional knowledge of different disciplines.

Converter slag is a by-product of the steelmaking process and contains a large amount of Ca, Fe, P and other elements. If the phosphorus in the converter slag can be effectively extracted, the resulting phosphorus can be used as a phosphate fertilizer. Phosphorus in converter slag is mainly enriched in 2CaO·SiO2–3CaO·P2O5(C2S–C3P) solid solution and is easily dissolved in water. Therefore, acid leaching method was used to dissolve the solid solution to extract phosphorus in converter slag, so as to realize the recycling of phosphorus resources in converter slag. The leaching behavior of three actual converter slags from different steel mills in acid leaching solutions composed of citric acid, sodium hydroxide, hydrochloric acid and deionized water was studied by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy combined with energy dispersive spectrometry, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy to reveal the change in object image structure as well as SiO4and PO4tetrahedron before and after acid leaching. The results show that only a small amount of phosphorus in converter slag with too low basicity is enriched in C2S–C3P solid solution, resulting in poor leaching effect. When the converter slag has a high basicity, the removal effect of phosphorus is 70.64%–81.88%. In addition, when the basicity of converter slag is roughly the same, the dephosphorization effect of slag with high FeO content is relatively poor. And acid leaching will cause depolymerization behavior of SiO4and PO4tetrahedron, so that the mole fraction of Q0(Si) (asymmetric stretching vibration of Si–O bond in SiO4tetrahedron with bridge oxygen number of 0) and NBO/Si (non-bridging oxygen in silicate tetrahedra) will increase. Phosphate-containing solids can be obtained from the solution after acid leaching through static precipitation, and the solids have the potential to make phosphate fertilizers.

Hard red spring wheat (HRSW; Triticum aestivumL). production in South Dakota has decreased by nearly 50% over a recent 10‐year timespan due to grower preferences for producing corn (Zea maysL.) and soybean [Glycine max(L.) Merr.]. End‐users of HRSW are concerned with grain protein concentration (GPC). Among growers that still produce HRSW, cultivar selection decisions are heavily based on grain yield potential, and they become most concerned with GPC only when it is low enough to result in sales price discounts. It is important that HRSW breeding programs release new cultivars that balance the needs of both end‐users and growers. The objective of this research was to release a HRSW cultivar possessing both high grain yield potential and GPC for South Dakota and regional producers. ‘Ascend‐SD’ (Reg. no. CV‐1204, PI 700966) was developed by the SDSU‐HRSW breeding program and released by the South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station to certified seed producers in early 2022. The cross MN10261‐1/SD4389 was completed during fall 2013, and the resulting population was advanced via an early‐generation bulk‐testing program, where F4:7seed was included in the 2018 preliminary yield trial and designated as SD4873. Prior to release, SD4873 also was tested in the advanced yield trial from 2019 through 2021 as well as crop performance testing trials in 2020 and 2021. Ascend‐SD was released for its competitive combination of high grain yield potential and GPC. Ascend‐SD is a new hard red spring wheat cultivar adapted to the upper Great Plains.Agronomic performance of Ascend‐SD is very competitive.Ascend‐SD has good resistance to FHB and BLS.

To evaluate the spatio-temporal variations in the community structure and biodiversity of commercially important crustaceans in the Yellow Sea and the northern East China Sea (NECS), the seasonal and regional changes in species composition, biomass structure, biodiversity and distribution of commercially important species were analyzed using bottom trawl survey data during 2014–2015. The results showed that the latitudinal gradient was obvious in species richness, dominant species and biodiversity. The indices of biodiversity increased with the decreasing latitude. When the sampling sites shifted south by one latitudinal degree, Margalef’s richness index (D), Pielou’s evenness index (J′) and Shannon–Wiener diversity index (H′) increased by 0.10, 0.03 and 0.09, respectively. The biomass proportion of the cold-temperate species represented by Crangon affinisdeclined with the decreasing latitude, and the warm-temperate species represented by Ovalipes punctatusand Portunus trituberculatusincreased. Because of the growth regulation of crustaceans and the fishing moratorium, the biomass of commercially important crustaceans in the Yellow Sea and NECS was highest in October and August, respectively. Salinity had a more significant influence on H′ of commercially important crustaceans than other environmental factors (including zooplankton density, sea bottom temperature and water depth). Overall, the results of this study contribute to a better understanding of community dynamics of crustaceans in the Yellow Sea and NECS, and provide evidence to verify the latitudinal gradient theory in biodiversity.

The mitre squid (Uroteuthis chinensis) and the swordtip squid (U. edulis) are Indo-Pacific cephalopod species that are abundant in the western Pacific Ocean. They are currently exploited in the East and South China Seas and make up a significant portion of the Chinese neritic squid catch. Beaks, the feeding organs of squid, are important for individual size and biomass estimation because of their high resistance to degradation in predator stomachs and consistent dimensions. In this study, 104 U. chinensisand 143 U. edulisindividuals were sampled from northern South China Sea with mantle length from 70 to 260 mm and 96 to 284 mm, respectively. The results indicated that morphological beak values were greater for U. edulis, compared to U. chinensis, for upper hood length (UHL), upper crest length (UCL), upper lateral wall length (ULWL), lower crest length (LCL), and lower lateral wall length (LLWL). According to principal component analysis, UHL/ML, UCL/ML, ULWL/ML, LCL/ML, LLWL/ML and LWL/ML could represent the characteristics of beaks for U. chinensis, while UHL/ML, UCL/ML, ULWL/ML, LHL/ML, LCL/ML and LLWL/ML could represent it for U. edulis. According to Akaike’s information criterion (AIC) values, a power function was the most suitable model for U. chinensis, while a linear function was the most suitable model for U. edulis. The beak variable-mantle length ratio (beak variable/mantle length) declined with the increasing of mantle length and declined sharply at the early stage of growth in both beaks and species. The ratio changed quickly after achieving the mantle length of 140 mm for U. chinensis, while the ratio changed quickly after 170 mm for U. edulis. Beaks in both species experienced sharper changes through maturity stage I to II than other maturity stages. This study gives us basic beak morphology information for U. chinensisand U. edulisin the East and South China Seas. Geometric morphological methods combined with dietary analysis should be used in the future.

Introduction: Biomarker testing is increasingly crucial for patients with early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (eNSCLC). We explored biomarker test utilization and subsequent treatment in eNSCLC patients in the real-world setting. Methods: Using COTA’s oncology database, this retrospective observational study included adult patients ≥ 18 years old diagnosed with eNSCLC (disease stage 0–IIIA) between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2021. Date of first eNSCLC diagnosis was the study index date. We reported testing rates by index year for patients who received any biomarker test within 6 months of eNSCLC diagnosis and by each molecular marker. We also evaluated treatments received among patients receiving the five most common biomarker tests. Results: Among the 1031 eNSCLC patients included in the analysis, 764 (74.1%) received ≥ 1 biomarker test within 6 months of eNSCLC diagnosis. Overall, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR; 64%), anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK; 60%), programmed death receptor ligand 1 (PD-L1; 48%), ROS proto-oncogene 1 (ROS1; 46%), B-Raf proto-oncogene (40%), mesenchymal epithelial transition factor receptor (35%), Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene (29%), RET proto-oncogene (22%), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (21%), and phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate 3-kinase catalytic subunit alpha (20%) were the 10 most frequently tested biomarkers. The proportion of patients undergoing biomarker testing rose from 55.3% in 2011 to 88.1% in 2021. The most common testing methods were Sanger sequencing for EGFR(244, 37%), FISH (fluorescence in situ hybridization) for ALK(464, 75%) and ROS1(357, 76%), immunohistochemical assay for PD-L1 (450, 90%), and next-generation sequencing testing for other biomarkers. Almost all the 763 patients who received the five most common biomarker tests had a test before the initiation of a systemic treatment. Conclusion: This study suggests a high biomarker testing rate among patients with eNSCLC in the US, with testing rates for various biomarkers increasing over the past decade, indicating a continuous trend towards the personalization of treatment decisions.

Homeostasis of reactive oxygen species is required to maintain sperm maturation and capacitation. Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is accumulated in testicles and spermatozoa and has the ability to manipulate the redox status. The effects of dietary n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (n-3 PUFA) deficiency from early life to adulthood on the physiological and functional properties of males under the redox imbalance of testicular tissue deserve attention. The consecutive injection of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and tert-butyl hydroperoxide (t-BHP) for 15 days to induce oxidative stress in testicular tissue was used to elucidate the consequences of testicular n-3 PUFA deficiency. The results indicated that reactive oxygen species treatment in adult male mice with DHA deficiency in the testis could reduce spermatogenesis and disrupt sex hormone production, as well as trigger testicular lipid peroxidation and tissue damage. N-3 PUFA deficiency from early life to adulthood resulted in higher susceptibility to testicular dysfunction in the germinal function of supplying germ cells and the endocrine role of secreting hormones through the mechanism of aggravating mitochondria-mediated apoptosis and destruction of blood testicular barrier under oxidative stress, which might provide a basis for humans to reduce susceptibility to chronic disease and maintain reproductive health in adulthood through dietary interventions of n-3 PUFAs.

AbstractThe accurate prediction of the fluid flow mass and the heat transfer process as well as the system response during reflood transients has long been a critical and challenging issue for reactor system safety analyses. Accurate characterization of the flow and energy transport can also significantly facilitate the various system/component design and optimization tasks. In the current study based on the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission/Pennsylvania State University Rod Bundle Heat Transfer (RBHT) reflood experimental data, a comprehensive uncertainty analysis framework is developed using DAKOTA. The developed framework is used to perform an in-depth reflood model validation and verification for the subchannel analysis code COBRA-TF. In the meantime, the artificial intelligence (AI)–based machine learning (ML) model for rod cladding temperature prediction during reflood is also developed and evaluated using the current framework. Key input parametric effects for reflood thermal-hydraulic prediction include the system pressure, inlet liquid temperature/enthalpy, inlet mass flow rate, and average bundle power input. The figure of merit under consideration is the peak cladding temperature variations. It is found in the current study that, while further model improvement is needed, COBRA-TF can predict the correct parametric trends when compared with the RBHT data. On the other hand, it is challenging for the pure AI-based ML models to correctly reflect the parametric trends. Suggestions for future ML model development are provided in the end.

‘ND Frohberg’ (Reg. no. CV‐1200, PI 698310) is a hard‐red spring wheat (HRSW; Triticum aestivumL.) developed at North Dakota State University (NDSU) and released by the North Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station (NDAES) in 2020. ND Frohberg was selected from the cross ND709‐9/ND2902. ND709‐9 was an experimental line with the pedigree (ND 2709/3/’Grandin’*3//’Ramsey’/ND 622). ND2902 was an experimental line with the pedigree (ND674//ND2710/ND688). It was tested as experimental line NDHRS16‐13‐97 and released because of improved straw strength, yield potential, strong disease resistance and end‐use quality. ND Frohberg is highly resistant to stem rust (caused by Puccinia graminisf.sp. tritici), and moderately resistant to leaf rust (caused by Puccinia triticina), bacterial leaf streak (caused by Xanthomonas translucenspv. undulosa), and Fusarium head blight (caused by Fusarium graminearum). The name ND Frohberg was chosen to honor Dr. Richard Frohberg, hard red spring wheat breeder at NDSU for 37 years. During his tenure at NDSU, Dr. Frohberg's varieties were widely cultivated, reaching as much as 65% of the acreage in North Dakota in 2003. He was responsible for the cross that resulted in this variety. ND Frohberg is a hard red spring wheat best adapted to North Dakota and the northern plains.The cultivar has good yield potential, disease resistance, and very good milling and baking quality.ND Frohberg was named in honor of D. Richard Frohberg, wheat breeder at North Dakota State University for over 37 years.

Sarcopenia is a syndrome characterized by progressive loss of skeletal muscle mass, strength and function, which is one of the most important clinical features of cancer malnutrition, representing a poor prognostic indicator in oncology. Sarcopenia is commonly assessed by measuring the skeletal muscle index (SMI) of the third lumbar spine (L3) using computed tomography (CT). The primary aim of this meta‐analysis was to study the association between low SMI and comprehensive clinicopathological characteristics as well as prognosis in patients with ovarian cancer. Data were searched in PubMed, EMBASE and Cochrane databases from inception to 10 June 2022. Studies evaluating the prognostic effect of SMI on ovarian cancer survival or chemotherapy‐related side effects were included. The risk of bias and study quality were assessed via the Newcastle–Ottawa Scale (NOS). The search strategy yielded 1286 hits in all three databases combined. Thirteen studies were included for qualitative and quantitative analysis, comprising 1814 patients. Our meta‐analysis revealed the significant association between low SMI and progression‐free survival (PFS) [P= 0.02; hazard ratio (HR): 1.40, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.06–1.85], as well as 5‐year overall survival (OS) [P= 0.02; odds ratio (OR): 1.35, 95% CI: 1.05–1.74]. Low SMI was also obviously associated with body mass index (BMI) < 25 (P< 0.00001; OR: 5.08, 95% CI: 3.54–7.30), FIGO stage (P= 0.02; OR: 1.62, 95% CI: 1.06–2.45) and R0 cytoreduction (P= 0.04;OR: 1.34, 95% CI: 1.01–1.79). There was no correlation between low SMI and histological types, pathological grades and chemotherapy‐related toxicity. The quality of the evidence was relatively high according to NOS. Our meta‐analysis indicated that sarcopenia assessed by SMI was associated with poor clinical characteristics and adverse prognosis in patients with ovarian cancer. Consensus should be reached on standardized cut‐off values for defining sarcopenia in patients with ovarian cancer.

Background: In-depth and clear mechanistic study is a prerequisite for new drugs to enter clinical research. Methods: New chemical entity BY4008 was identified by our lab as a novel and highly potent EGFR and JAK3 dualtarget inhibitor. A cell-based test exhibited strong antiproliferative activities against SW620 and HCT116 colon cancer cells harboring KRAS mutation with IC50 of nanomolar potency. Furthermore, acridine orange/ethidium bromide (AO/EB), Hematoxylin-Eosin (H&E) and DAPI staining assays and flow cytometry analyses indicated that BY4008 has the function of pro-apoptosis and arresting the cell cycle. In addition, BY4008 inhibited the autophosphorylation of EGFR and blocked the activation of downstream signaling and the JAK-STAT3 pathway. Results: Meanwhile, a decreased level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and an increased level of malondialdehyde (MDA) in SW620 and HCT116 cells were observed after exposure to BY4008. Conclusion: In summary, this study provides an important structural basis and mechanistic study for future effective treatment of colorectal cancer.

We solve an important and challenging cooperative navigation control problem, Multiagent Navigation to Unassigned Multiple targets (MNUM) in unknown environments with minimal time and without collision. Conventional methods are based on multiagent path planning that requires building an environment map and expensive real-time path planning computations. In this article, we formulate MNUM as a stochastic game and devise a novel multiagent deep reinforcement learning (MADRL) algorithm to learn an end-to-end solution, which directly maps raw sensor data to control signals. Once learned, the policy can be deployed onto each agent, and thereby, the expensive online planning computations can be offloaded. However, to solve MNUM, traditional MADRL suffers from large policy solution space and nonstationary environment when agents make decisions independently and concurrently. Accordingly, we propose a hierarchical and stable MADRL algorithm. The hierarchical learning part introduces a two-layer policy model to reduce the solution space and uses an interlaced learning paradigm to learn two coupled policies. In the stable learning part, we propose to learn an extended action-value function that implicitly incorporates estimations of other agents’ actions, based on which the environment’s nonstationarity caused by other agents’ changing policies can be alleviated. Extensive experiments demonstrate that our method can converge in a fast way and generate more efficient cooperative navigation policies than comparable methods.

ABSTRACTRice-based products exported from China to Europe have repeatedly encountered technical trade barriers. Using panel data from 24 states of the European Union during 2001–2017, this study builds a theoretical model to investigate the impact of implementation, intensity and structure of the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) on China-EU rice-based product trade. The study found that RASFF has a serious inhibitory effect on the trade of traditional rice-based products because of detecting GM ingredients, showing an obvious lag effect, diffusion effect and structure effect. The negative effect occurs in entry process, and the inhibitory effect of border rejection and information notifications results in time lag, but the marginal effect of alerts for market links is insignificant. Moreover, the positive information disclosure effect of technical barriers implemented by individual members is much smaller than the negative diffusion effect. Finally, countermeasures and suggestions are proposed, including the source supervision of the test, the supervision of GM variety approval and GM seed production, the establishment of an early-warning and rapid-response mechanism to technical barriers of agricultural products, and food enterprise information.

In recent years, due to the enormous threats posed by emerging pollutants to aquatic ecosystems, scholars have increasingly focused on the study of emerging pollutants to ensure the safety of aquatic ecosystems. This paper uses the bibliometrix package to conduct a bibliometric analysis of 1000 papers published between 2008 and 2024 in the field of emerging pollutants (EPs) wastewater treatment, retrieved through the online version of the Web of Science Core Collection database. It analyzes some basic characteristics of the retrieved literature, such as the number of annual publications, publication types, and sources, with China, India, and Spain contributing the most related publications. By analyzing highly cited literature, we can conclude that "pharmaceuticals" and "personal care products" have become focal points in recent years. This indicates a growing academic interest in detecting and removing such pollutants. The European Commission proposed water policies in 2000 and 2013 to control surface water quality standards. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has prioritized 126 substances for regulation and has set concentration limits for them. China has formulated the "14th Five-Year Plan for Ecological and Environmental Protection" (2021–2025) to assess and monitor chemicals of environmental concern and identify new high-risk pollutants. Currently, gas chromatography (GC) or liquid chromatography (LC) is widely regarded as the preferred method for measuring EPs in aquatic environments, but the efficiency of detection technologies remains a problem. In recent years, various advanced treatment technologies have been proposed, such as oxidation processes, constructed wetlands, and enzymatic treatment, but the application effectiveness of these treatment technologies remains unsatisfactory. Therefore, detecting and removing emerging pollutants from wastewater remains a significant research challenge.

‘ND VitPro’ (Reg. no. CV‐1194, PI 682660) is a hard red spring wheat (HRSW, Triticum aestivumL.) developed at North Dakota State University and released by the North Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station in 2017. It was tested as experimental line ND825 and released because of improved straw strength as well as strong disease resistance and end‐use quality. ND VitPro is moderately resistant to stem rust, leaf rust, and Fusarium head blight. The name ND VitPro was chosen due to its high vitreous kernel percentage and high grain protein.

To date, little is known about the past evolutionary trajectories of rare and endangered orchids native to mainland China, Japan, and Korea (the CJK region). In this study, we focus on two endangered orchids, Cypripedium japonicum(present in the three countries) and C. formosanum(endemic to Taiwan), to understand the divergence/speciation models that would have been operating in this group, including genetic diversity, geographic structure, and colonization pathways across the region. Using a combination of five cpDNA regions, we reconstructed phylogenetic trees and investigated the genetic diversity/structure of 20 populations. Ecological niche modeling was used to gain insight into the paleodistribution and dispersal corridors at the Last Glacial Maximum and to survey climatic niche differences. Populations from mainland China + Korea, Japan, and Taiwan formed three distinct monophyletic lineages and were placed into separate genetic clusters, agreeing with geographic barriers and species boundaries. Populations of C. japonicumin mainland China harbored the highest diversity, suggesting the presence of multiple glacial refugia. The Korean populations would have originated from either western/central or eastern China, probably using a dispersal corridor across the East China Sea shelf. The divergence of C. formosanumis proposed under an allopatric speciation model, also highly influenced by a climate niche shift. In the context of previous studies, a deep divergence in cpDNA sequences between Chinese + Korean and Japanese populations of C. japonicummay be taken as an example of the speciation events of the CJK flora since the late Neogene that have led to its current species richness.

In the realm of water treatment, the anaerobic ammonia oxidation (anammox) process stands out as one of the most innovative breakthroughs. Bibliometrics is an effective method for the evaluation of scientific results and the development of research trends in a particular field of study. Employing VOSviewer and CiteSpace, this study comprehensively analyzed scholarly articles and research trends related to anammox water treatment from 2014 to 2023. The findings revealed a total of 1225 articles in this domain, exhibiting an increasing trend every year in the world, while China emerges as the foremost contributor with close collaborations with the United States, Australia, and other nations. The examination of keyword co-occurrence and cluster network showcases coupled anammox-based reactor startup and opefrational strategies, nitrogen removal studies, nitrous oxide investigations and microbial community analyses are long-term academic endeavors. Furthermore, keyword burst and temporal network analysis,the operational control conditions, driving processes and analysis of microbial macrogenes for mainstream anammox in wastewater treatment plants need more research in the future to improve the feasibility of this technology in engineering applications. Additionally, a meticulous scrutiny of the top 20 landmark and highly cited research articles over the past decade underscores a few persistent intriguing themes, such as “mainstream anammox,” “biological nitrogen removal,” and “16 S rRNA genes,” In summary, this study contributes a nuanced understanding of the contemporary landscape and development trends within the field of anammox water treatment, which will shed light on the future research efforts.

Trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) widely exists in seafood and is associated with the atherosclerosis progress, but dietary seafood reduced the cardiovascular risk. This intimates that there may be some ingredients in seafood to offset the cardiovascular risk caused by TMAO. Taurine is a marker ingredient in seafood. Thus, this study determined the influences of taurine on TMAO-induced atherosclerosis in apolipoprotein-E-deficient mice. The results showed that dietary taurine significantly reduced the TMAO-induced atherosclerotic lesion area. Further studies found that taurine increased the hepatic- and serum-conjugated bile acid/unconjugated bile acid ratio via increasing hepatic gene expression of conjugated bile acid synthesis. Meanwhile, taurine changed TMAO-induced abnormal bile acid profiles in the gallbladder. Moreover, taurine increased bile acid deconjugation by enhancing the genera Ruminiclostridiumlevel and increased excretion of fecal neutral sterols. Additionally, taurine attenuated inflammation in the serum and artery. These results indicate that taurine alleviated TMAO-induced atherosclerosis via regulating bile acid metabolism.

‘Hardy 2519’ (Reg. no. CV‐1189, PI 692613), a hard red winter (HRW) wheat (Triticum aestivumL.) cultivar, was derived from the cross VA06HRW‐108 × ‘Vision 30’ (PI 661153) using a modified bulk breeding method. Hardy 2519 was tested as VA14HRW‐25 in replicated yield trials in Virginia (2015–2018) and in the USDA‐ARS Uniform Bread Wheat Trials (2016–2018) and released by the Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station in 2019. Hardy 2519 is a widely adapted, high‐yielding HRW wheat with 2*, 5+10 gluten subunits. Hardy 2519 is awned, semidwarf (Rht2 gene) with medium spike emergence, resistant to leaf rust, and moderately resistant to powdery mildew in the mid‐Atlantic region. In the Virginia Bread Wheat Elite Trials from 2018 to 2020, Hardy 2519 produced a mean yield of 5,393 kg ha–1, which was similar to that of the HRW wheat cultivar ‘Vision 45’ (PI 667642) at 5,267 kg ha–1. Hardy 2519 has acceptable milling and baking quality on the basis of comparisons with the HRW wheat check cultivar ‘Jagger’. Hardy 2519 is a hard red winter wheat.Hardy 2519 has high yield potential.Hardy 2519 resists leaf rust.

It remains challenging to excite traditional photocatalysts through near-infrared (NIR) light. Attempts to use NIR-light-response materials for photochemical reduction usually suffer from inapposite band position due to extremely narrow band gaps. Here, we report that large π-conjugated organic semiconductor engineered metal–organic framework (MOF) can result in NIR-light-driven CO2reduction catalyst with high photocatalytic activity. A series of mesoporous MOFs, with progressively increased macrocyclic π-conjugated units, were synthesized for tuning the light adsorption range and catalytic performance. Attainment of these MOFs in single-crystal form revealed the identical topology and precise spatial arrangements of constituent organic semiconductor units and metal clusters. Furthermore, the ultrafast spectroscopic studies confirmed the formation of charge separation state and the mechanism underlying photoexcited dynamics. This combined with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and in situelectron paramagnetic resonance studies verified the photoinduced electron transfer pathway within MOFs for NIR-light-driven CO2reduction. Specifically, tetrakis(4-carboxybiphenyl)naphthoporphyrin) MOF (TNP-MOF) photocatalyst displayed an unprecedentedly high CO2reduction rate of over 6630 μmol h–1g–1under NIR light irradiation, and apparent quantum efficiencies (AQE) at 760 and 808 nm were over 2.03% and 1.11%, respectively. The photocatalytic performance outperformed all the other MOF-based photocatalysts, even visible-light-driven MOF-based catalysts.

The arc attachment modes on anode of a high intensity argon arc with water-cooled constrictor are numerically investigated by a two-temperature model. An inelastic electron energy loss factor, representing the energy loss due to non-equilibrium chemical kinetic processes, is introduced to the electron energy equation. Two different attachment modes, i.e., diffuse and constricted anode attachments, are obtained based on the experimental conditions. Results for both anode attachment modes indicate that the temperature discrepancy between electrons and heavy particles is very pronounced in the arc fringes and in the regions close to the anode. By comparing the axial and radial Lorentz forces between the diffuse and constricted anode attachments, it is found that the larger axial and radial Lorentz forces in a constricted anode attachment are the main cause for the formation and maintenance of anode jet. The effects of inelastic electron energy loss on different anode attachment modes are discussed and the results indicate that it is very important to consider the chemical non-equilibrium processes in an appropriate way for predicting arc attachment modes on anode reasonably.

Hard winter wheat (Triticum aestivumL.) is a major crop in semi‐arid western Kansas. The objective of this research was to develop a hard red winter wheat cultivar for western Kansas with high grain yield potential, good baking quality, and resistance to the important diseases in this region, including Wheat streak mosaic virus, Barley yellow dwarf virus, stripe rust, leaf rust, stem rust, and Hessian fly. ‘KS Hamilton’ (Reg. no. CV‐1188, PI 699003) hard red winter wheat was developed by the wheat breeding program at the Agricultural Research Center‐Hays, Kansas State University, and released by the Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station in 2020. KS Hamilton was selected from a three‐way cross of KS08HW176‐4//‘Bill Brown’/KS08HW61‐2. It was released for the dryland production in western Kansas. KS Hamilton was developed using a modified bulk breeding method. KS Hamilton is an F6‐derived line and was tested in yield trials for 6 yr. KS Hamilton has an intermediate maturity and plant height and an average straw strength. It has moderate tolerance to grain shattering and good winterhardiness. KS Hamilton has high grain yield potential in western Kansas and a good disease resistance package, including resistance to Wheat streak mosaic virus, stem rust, and Hessian fly; moderate resistance to Barley yellow dwarf virus; and intermediate resistance to stripe and leaf rusts. KS Hamilton has an average test weight and an above‐average baking quality. Hard red winter wheat cultivar ‘KS Hamilton’ was developed for western Kansas.KS Hamilton has a good disease resistance package for western Kansas.KS Hamilton has above‐average baking quality.

The introduction of genetically modified (GM) soybean into farming systems raises great concern that transgenes from GM soybean may flow to endemic wild soybean viapollen. This may increase the weediness of transgenic soybean by increasing the fitness of hybrids under certain conditions and threaten the genetic diversity of wild soybean populations. Although pollen-mediated gene flow between GM crops and wild relatives is dependent on many factors, the sexual compatibility (SC) determined by their genetic backgrounds is the conclusive factor. The considerable genetic variation among wild soybean populations may cause compatibility differences between different wild and cultivated soybeans. Thus, an evaluation of the SC between transgenic soybean and different wild soybeans is essential for assessing the environmental consequences of cultivated soybean–wild soybean transgene flow. The podding and seed sets were assessed after artificial hybridization using transgenic glyphosate-resistant soybean as the paternal parent and 18 wild soybean populations as the maternal parents. Then, the average number of filled seeds produced in 200 flowers (AFS) was calculated for each wild soybean under natural self-pollination as well as under artificial crossing with transgenic soybean. Finally, the index of cross-SC was calculated (ICSC) as the ratio of the AFS of wild soybean artificially crossed with transgenic soybean and the AFS of naturally self-pollinated wild soybean. The results demonstrated that after self-pollination and crossing with transgenic soybean, the average podding rates of 18 wild soybean populations ranged within 96.50–99.50% and 4.92–18.03%, and the average filled seed numbers per pod varied from 1.70 to 2.69 and 0.20 to 0.48, respectively. The results showed that approximately 89% of wild soybeans displayed either medium or higher than medium SC with transgenic soybean (ICSC>1.0%). This implied the high possibility of gene flow viapollen from transgenic soybean to wild soybean.

In Georgia and the southeast region of the United States, acreage of soft red winter wheat (SRWW) (Triticum aestivumL.) has decreased in recent years. There is an urgent need to release new cultivars with high yield potential, resistance to yield‐limiting diseases and insects, and good baking quality to maximize value in regional markets. To address this, the SRWW breeding program at the University of Georgia (UGA), in collaboration with the SUNGRAINS breeding programs, developed ‘GA JT141‐14E45’ (Reg. no. CV‐1183, PI 689519), a SRWW cultivar released by the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and licensed to AGSouth (AGS) Genetics as AGS 3030. GA JT141‐14E45 is widely adapted to the U.S. Southeast, having high yield, good resistance to diseases such as leaf rust, stripe rust, powdery mildew, and Soil‐borne wheat mosaic virus(SBWMV) and to current biotypes of Hessian fly (Mayetiola destructorSay). It has good resistance to Fusarium head blight (FHB) or scab. GA JT141‐14E45 has good grain volume weight and acceptable milling and baking quality. GA JT141‐14E45 was derived from the cross of ‘AGS 2026’/‘Jamestown’. Jamestown was used in the cross mainly for its resistance to FHB (FHB QTL 1A‐Neuse and 1B‐Jamestown). AGS 2026 is a UGA cultivar released in 2007 with very good disease resistance to rusts (Yr17/Lr37/Sr38), Hessian fly resistance (H13), and excellent yield.

‘MN‐Washburn’ (Reg. no. CV‐1184, PI 694049) hard red spring wheat (Triticum aestivumL.) was released by the University of Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station in 2019 because of its high grain yield, good lodging resistance, and end‐use quality characteristics. MN‐Washburn also had good disease resistance, including resistance to Barley yellow dwarf virus(BYDV) and field resistance to the Ug99 race group of stem rust. The BYDV resistance of MN‐Washburn results from the introgression of a chromosome 7D translocation containing Thinopyrum intermediumresistance gene bdv2from the introgression line TC14. MN‐Washburn is a mid‐late maturity cultivar with below‐average plant height due to the semi‐dwarfing genes Rht‐B1and Rht24. MN‐Washburn has good resistance to prevalent races of pathogens causing leaf rust, stripe rust, and stem rust and is well‐adapted to the north central United States.

Endogenous ceramide is considered to be associated with the progress of insulin resistance. However, the effects of dietary exogenous glucosylceramides and ceramides on insulin resistance are unclear. A model of fructose-induced male Sprague Dawley rats was used to compare the effects of sea-cucumber-derived glucosylceramides and ceramides on insulin resistance. Both glucosylceramides and ceramides significantly improved glucose tolerance, reduced the concentrations of serum glucose and glycosylated hemoglobin, and alleviated the accompanied hypertension. Ceramides significantly enhanced glycogen levels in skeletal muscle, whereas glucosylceramides significantly increased the hepatic glycogen levels. Moreover, glucosylceramides alleviated insulin resistance by inhibiting gluconeogenesis, promoting glycogen synthesis and insulin signal transduction in the liver; meanwhile, ceramides were mainly due to the promotion of glycogen synthesis and insulin signal transduction in skeletal muscle. Additionally, glucosylceramides and ceramides effectively attenuated inflammation in adipose tissue. These results indicate that glucosylceramides and ceramides have potential value in the prevention and alleviation of insulin resistance.

Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) plays an important role in evolutionary processes as organisms adapt to their environments, and now cases of gene duplication after HGT in eukaryotes are emerging at an increasing rate. However, the fate and roles of the duplicated genes over time in eukaryotes remain unclear. Here we conducted a comprehensive analysis of the evolution of cysteine synthase (CYS) in lepidopteran insects. Our results indicate that HGT-derived CYSgenes are widespread and have undergone duplication following horizontal transfer in many lepidopteran insects. Moreover, lepidopteran CYS proteins not only have β-cyanoalanine synthase activity but also possess cysteine synthase activity that is involved in sulfur amino acid biosynthesis. Duplicated CYSgenes show marked divergence in gene expression patterns and enzymatic properties, suggesting that they probably have undergone subfunctionalization and/or neofunctionalization in Lepidoptera. The gene transfer of CYSgenes and subsequent duplication appears to have facilitated the adaptation of lepidopteran insects to different diets and promoted their ecological diversification. Overall, this study provides valuable insights into the ecological and evolutionary contributions of CYSin lepidopteran insects.

Wheat stem rust, caused by Puccinia graminisf. sp. tritici, is a re‐emerging disease, posing a significant threat to durum wheat production worldwide. The limited number of stem rust resistance genes in modern cultivars compels us to identify and incorporate new effective genes in durum wheat breeding programs. We evaluated 8,245 spring durum wheat accessions deposited at the USDA National Small Grains Collection (NSGC) for resistance in field stem rust nurseries in Debre Zeit, Ethiopia and St. Paul, MN (USA). A higher level of disease development was observed at the Debre Zeit nursery compared with St. Paul, and the effective alleles of Sr13in this nursery did not display the level of resistance observed at the St. Paul nursery. Four hundred and ninety‐one (∽6%) accessions exhibited resistant to moderately susceptible responses after three field evaluations at Debre Zeit and two at St. Paul. Nearly 70% of these accessions originated from Ethiopia, Mexico, Egypt, and USA. Eight additional countries, namely Portugal, Turkey, Italy, Canada, Chile, Australia, Syria, and Tunisia contributed to 19% of the resistant to moderately susceptible entries. Among the 491 resistant to moderately susceptible accessions, 53.8% (n = 265) were landraces, and 28.4% (n = 139) and 11.4% (n = 55) were breeding lines and cultivars, respectively. Breeding lines and cultivars displayed a higher level and frequency of resistance than the landraces. We concluded that a large number of durum wheat accessions from diverse origins deposited at the NSGC can be exploited for diversifying and improving stem rust resistance in wheat. Identify new sources of stem rust resistance through field evaluations of durum wheat.8,245 durum accessions deposited at NSGC evaluated in two field nurseries (Ethiopia and US).Presence of large number of entries from diverse origin that can be used for rust resistance.

In magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) drop-on-demand (DOD) actuation, Lorentz force generated in different excitation stages are exerted on the liquid metal jet to form a "push-pull" mechanism, which is crucial for generating accurate and repeatable metal droplets. In this study, the important parameters of the excitation current waveform in the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) process, including the influence of the excitation voltage pulse width ratio and current amplitude on the velocity, energy, volume, and breakup length of aluminum droplets are studied. The conversion process of surface energy and kinetic energy during the formation and fall stage of liquid droplets is analyzed. The results show that the negative and positive excitation voltage pulse width ratio of the MHD pump has a significant effect on the droplet velocity, breakup time, size, and sphericity. The amplitude of the excitation current and Hartmann number has a significant impact on the generation of stable droplets. The results show that the single droplet ejection state can be achieved within the Ha number between 319.5 and 391.1. As the Ha number increases, the volume, length, kinetic energy and surface energy of the droplets at breakup time also increase. The size of droplets can be adjusted by changing the amplitude of excitation waveform.

This paper focus on a dynamic event-triggered mechanism to solve fixed-time containment control problems for nonlinear multi-agent systems (MASs) with uncertain disturbances over directed graphs. An event-triggered algorithm based on dynamic variables is proposed to achieve the fixed-time containment control of MASs, which can effectively reduce the number of event-triggered instants. By modifying the auxiliary variables and reconstructing the dynamic variables, the effect of input time-delays in MASs is successfully eliminated. It is noteworthy that only the auxiliary variables are modified while the structure of the dynamic variables is not changed, which further indicates that the designed dynamic event-triggered algorithm is also suitable for solving multi-agent systems with input time-delays. In addition, the setting time associated with the time-delays is also computed and the Zeno behavior is successfully avoided by computing the minimum time interval between event triggering as non-negative. Finally, simulation results are given to verify the effectiveness of proposed control protocol.

Soft red winter wheat (SRWW) (Triticum aestivumL.), historically a major crop in Georgia and the U.S. Southeast (SE) region, has been challenged by numerous biotic and abiotic constraints resulting in decreased hectarage in recent years. Hence, an urgent need exists to release new cultivars with high yield potential, good resistance to predominant diseases and insects, and acceptable quality attributes to capture and maximize value in regional markets. The SRWW breeding program at the University of Georgia (UGA), in collaboration with the Southeastern University GRAINS (SUNGRAINS) breeding programs, is responding to these challenges by developing and releasing superior SRWW cultivars adapted to Georgia and the SE wheat region. ‘GA 07353‐14E19’ (Reg. no. CV‐1179, PI 689520), a SRWW cultivar developed by the UGA small grains breeding program, was released by the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and licensed to Stratton Seed Company in 2017 as GO WHEAT 2032. GA 07353‐14E19 is adapted to the SE region with high yield, good resistance to prevalent diseases, including leaf and stripe rusts, Fusarium head blight, powdery mildew, and Soil‐borne wheat mosaic virus. GA 07353‐14E19 also showed good resistance to current biotypes of Hessian fly. GA 07353‐14E19 possesses the H13, Sbm1, and Yr17–Lr37–Sr38genes that protect it against the above pests. It has very good grain volume weight and good milling and baking quality as a SRWW.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a progressive disease characterized by skeletal muscle atrophy, respiratory failure, and cardiomyopathy. Our previous studies have shown that transplantation with allogeneic myogenic progenitor-derived exosomes (MPC-Exo) can improve cardiac function in X-linked muscular dystrophy (Mdx) mice. In the present study we explored the molecular mechanisms underlying this beneficial effect. We quantified gene expression in the hearts of two strains of Mdx mice (D2.B10-DmdMdx/J and Utrntm1Ked-DmdMdx/J). Two days after MPC-Exo or control treatment, we performed unbiased next-generation RNA-sequencing to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in treated Mdx hearts. Venn diagrams show a set of 780 genes that were ≥2-fold upregulated, and a set of 878 genes that were ≥2-fold downregulated, in both Mdx strains following MPC-Exo treatment as compared with control. Gene ontology (GO) and protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis showed that these DEGs were involved in a variety of physiological processes and pathways with a complex connection. qRT-PCR was performed to verify the upregulated ATP2B4 and Bcl-2 expression, and downregulated IL-6, MAPK8 and Wnt5a expression in MPC-Exo-treated Mdx hearts. Western blot analysis verified the increased level of Bcl-2 and decreased level of IL-6 protein in MPC-Exo-treated Mdx hearts compared with control treatment, suggesting that anti-apoptotic and anti-inflammatory effects might be responsible for heart function improvement by MPC-Exo. Based on these findings, we believed that these DEGs might be therapeutic targets that can be explored to develop new strategies for treating DMD.

N2O emissions from anammox processes are a big challenge in full-scale application. This study investigated N2O emissions from an anammox reactor from the startup to the stable-running period. A high N2O emissions of 1.7% (as of nitrogen removal) were observed, which exceeded previously reported values by almost an order of magnitude. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that N2O emissions could be reduced by increasing the nitrogen loading rate. The results showed that high N2O emissions were positively correlated with the count of denitrifying bacterium enrichment culture clone NOA 1 C10 and Defluviimonas denitrificans, both of which coexist with anammox bacteria. Incomplete heterotrophic denitrification, which is attributed to the low chemical oxygen demand/nitrogen ratio, was considered the main cause of high N2O emissions during the startup period. Keywords: Nitrous oxide; Denitrification; Anammox; Startup; Greenhouse gas emission

‘KS Dallas’ (Reg. no. CV‐1173, PI 693934) hard red winter wheat (Triticum aestivumL.) was developed by the wheat breeding program at the Agricultural Research Center–Hays, Kansas State University, and released by the Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station in 2019. KS Dallas was selected from a three‐way cross KS08HW112‐6//TX03A0148/Danby TR made in 2009 at Hays, KS. The objective of this cross was to develop a hard winter wheat cultivar with adaptation to dryland production in western Kansas. KS Dallas was developed using a modified bulk breeding method. KS Dallas is an F6‐derived line and was tested in yield trials across Kansas for 4 yr. KS Dallas has medium maturity, medium height, and a medium‐long coleoptile. It has high grain yield potential in western Kansas and good resistance to the prevalent diseases including Wheat streak mosaic virusand leaf rust. It also has good bread‐making quality.

‘KS Silverado’ (Reg. no. CV‐1175, PI 693936) hard white winter wheat (Triticum aestivumL.) was developed at the Agricultural Research Center–Hays, Kansas State University, and released by the Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station in 2019. KS Silverado was selected from a three‐way cross KS05HW122‐5‐2//KS05HW15‐2‐2/KS06HW46‐3 made in 2008 at Hays, KS. The objective of this cross was to develop a hard white winter wheat cultivar that is adapted to Kansas. KS Silverado was selected as an F6–derived line using a modified bulk method and tested in yield trials across Kansas for five years. KS Silverado is medium‐early and medium‐short and has good straw strength, above average grain volume weight, and very competitive grain yield in western and central Kansas. KS Silverado is tolerant to preharvest sprouting and has a good resistance package to diseases and insects, including Wheat streak mosaic virus, leaf rust, Soilborne wheat mosaic virus, and Hessian fly. It also has good milling and bread‐making qualities.

‘KS Western Star’ (Reg. no. CV‐1174, PI 693935) hard red winter wheat (Triticum aestivumL.) was developed by the wheat breeding program at the Agricultural Research Center–Hays, Kansas State University, and released by the Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station in 2019. KS Western Star was developed with the objectives to further improve drought tolerance, straw strength, and multiple disease resistance of currently available cultivars for western Kansas. KS Western Star was selected from a single cross ‘Byrd’/KS05HW121‐2 made in 2009. KS Western Star was developed as an F6–derived line using a modified bulk breeding method and was evaluated in yield trials from 2014 to 2019. It has medium maturity, medium height, and high grain volume weight, as well as high flour yield and good bread‐making quality. KS Western Star has good adaption to semi‐arid areas in western Kansas with its drought tolerance, stripe rust and leaf rust resistance, and improved lodging resistance.

Soft red winter wheat (SRWW) (Triticum aestivumL.) is a major crop in Georgia and the U.S. Southeast (SE) region. Hence, new cultivars with high yield potential, high resistance levels to predominant pests, and adequate quality parameters are required to capture and maximize regional market values. Therefore, the University of Georgia SRWW breeding program in collaboration with the SUNGRAINS breeding programs, aims to develop and release SRWW cultivars adapted to Georgia and the SE wheat region with high yield, quality, and pest resistance. ‘GA 051207‐14E53’ SRWW (Reg. no. CV‐1168, PI 689518) was developed and released by the University of Georgia and licensed to AGSouth Genetics Company in 2017 under the name AGS 3040. GA 051207‐14E53 is well adapted to Georgia and the SE region. It has high yield and high resistance to leaf rust, stripe rust, and Soil‐borne wheat mosaic virus. It has medium resistance to powdery mildew and to biotypes C and O of Hessian fly and is resistant to biotypes B and L. GA 051207‐14E53 has good Fusarium head blight resistance. GA 051207‐14E53 possesses H9, Sbm1, and the 2NS:2AS alien introgression from Aegilops ventricosaTausch, having the Yr17/Lr37/Sr38genes that protect it against these pests. Grain volume weight and milling and baking qualities of GA 051207‐14E53 are good and meet the SRWW grade standards.

‘GA06343‐13E2 (TX‐EL2)’ (Reg. no. CV‐1172, PI 695071), a medium‐height, medium‐maturing soft red winter wheat (Triticum aestivumL.) (SRWW), was jointly released by Texas A&M AgriLife Research and the University of Georgia Agricultural Experiment Station in 2019. GA06343‐13E2 (TX‐EL2) was released based on merits of its wide area of adaptation and above‐average grain yield in Texas in particular and the Gulf Atlantic SRWW growing areas in general, in addition to average grain volume weight, good leaf rust and stripe rust resistance, and good end‐use quality characteristics. GA06343‐13E2 (TX‐EL2) was derived from the cross GA011638‐G1/GA961592‐8//GA991336‐47 made at the University of Georgia. The pedigree of GA011638‐G1 is GA01034 (‘AGS 2000’*3/96667)/AGS 2000. The pedigrees of GA961592‐8 and GA991336‐47 are GA951329 (GA88129‐32‐3‐5/GA87467‐14‐1‐14‐1)/GA88127‐1‐3‐3 and GA92432‐21‐5‐2/GA981622 [AGS 2000/Pioneer ‘26R61’ (XW663)], respectively. Authorized seed classes of GA06343‐13E2 (TX‐EL2) in the United States will be breeder, foundation, registered, and certified. We will submit GA06343‐13E2 (TX‐EL2) for U.S. Plant Variety Protection with the certification option.

Cornerstone cultivars earn their status as much by their genetic fortitude and successive progeny as by their own visibility. ‘Duster’ hard red winter (HRW) wheat (Triticum aestivumL.) established a foundation of yield potential, pest resistance, and baking quality on which two half‐sib progenies named ‘Gallagher’ (Reg. no. CV‐1177, PI 667569) and ‘Iba’ (Reg. no. CV‐1178, PI 667570) were released by the Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station in 2012 and subsequently assumed significant commercial hectares in the U.S. southern plains. Our objectives were to characterize and compare Gallagher and Iba with their parent Duster for a wide array of agronomic, end‐use quality, and wheat sensitivity traits. Bulked descendants of sister F4:5lines, Gallagher and Iba were tested as experimental lines OK07214 and OK07209, respectively. In one breeding cycle, they showed an 8% yield gain in grain‐only environments, with 10–17% increases in kernel weight, divergent wheat protein responses, unidirectional responses in total fructan content, and wide bidirectional responses in flour levels of immunotoxic gluten epitopes. Both cultivars remain excellent sources of yield potential and functionality, yet their ultimate adoption histories did not align with institutional expectations at the time of release. This retrospective analysis provides a non‐abstract reminder worthwhile for any agent of wheat improvement: wheat producers may exercise cultivar choice on seemingly modest characteristics but with yield‐equivalent precedence.

Background: Osteoporosis, characterized by bone loss, usually occurs with the increased bone resorption and decreased bone formation. H2O2-induced MC3T3-E1 cells are commonly used for the study of osteoblastic activities, which play a crucial role in bone formation. Objective: This study aimed to investigate the effects of Phosphocreatine (PCr) on the osteoblastic activities in H2O2-induced MC3T3-E1 cells and elaborate on the possible molecular mechanism. Methods: The Osteoprotegerin (OPG)/Receptor Activator of NF-κB Ligand (RANKL) ratio and osteogenic markers were detected to investigate the effects of PCr on osteoblastic activities, and the osteoblastic apoptosis was detected using Hochest staining. Moreover, oxidative stress, Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP) generation and the expression of Sirtuin 1 (SIRT1), Forkhead Box O 1 (FOXO1) and Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor Γ Coactivator-1α (PGC-1α) were also examined to uncover the possible molecular mechanism in H2O2-induced MC3T3-E1 cells. Result: The results showed that PCr promoted the osteoblastic differentiation by increasing the expression levels of osteogenic markers of Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP) and Runt-related transcription factor 2 (Runx2), as well as increased the OPG/RANKL ratio and suppressed the osteoblastic apoptosis in H2O2-induced MC3T3-E1 cells. Moreover, treatment with PCr suppressed reactive oxygen species (ROS) over-generation and promoted the ATP production as well as increased the PGC-1α, FOXO1 and SIRT1 protein expression levels in H2O2-induced MC3T3-E1 cells. Conclusion: PCr treatment could promote osteoblastic activities via suppressing oxidative stress and increasing the ATP generation in H2O2-induced MC3T3-E1 cells. In addition, the positive effects of PCr on osteoblasts might be regulated by SIRT1/FOXO1/ PGC-1α signaling pathway.

‘Hilliard’ (Reg. no. CV‐1163, PI 676271), a soft red winter (SRW) wheat (Triticum aestivumL.) developed and tested as VA11W‐108 by the Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station, was released in March 2015. Hilliard was derived from the cross ‘25R47’/‘Jamestown’. Hilliard is widely adapted, from Texas to Ontario, Canada, and provides producers with a mid‐season, medium height, awned, semi‐dwarf (Rht2) cultivar that has very high yield potential, good straw strength, and intermediate grain volume weight and quality. It expresses moderate to high levels of resistance to most diseases prevalent in the eastern United States and Ontario. In the 2016–2018 USDA‐ARS Uniform SRW Wheat nurseries, Hilliard ranked first in grain yield in the southern nursery across all 3 yr (5,147–5,758 kg ha−1). In the uniform eastern nursery, it ranked first for grain yield in 2016 (6,159 kg ha−1) and 2017 (5,633 kg ha−1) and second in 2018 (5,515 kg ha−1). Grain volume weights of Hilliard were similar to overall trial averages in the uniform southern (73.4–75.2 kg hl−1) and eastern (70–75.8 kg hl−1) nurseries. Hilliard has soft grain texture with flour softness equivalent values varying from 58.1 to 61.7 g 100 g−1. Straight grade flour yields on a Quadrumat Senior mill varied from 66.8 to 68.4 g kg−1. Flour protein concentration varied from 7.0 to 9.1 g 100 g−1and gluten strength from 108 to 128 g 100 g−1, as measured by lactic acid solvent retention capacity. Cookie spread diameter varied from 18.3 to 18.6 cm.

A spring wheat nested associated mapping (NAM) population, KUWNSr (Kenyan and U.S. wheat nested association mapping population for stem rust resistance), was developed at the University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA. KUWNSr (Reg. no. MP‐12, NSL 533796 MAP, experimental designation SrNAM) was primarily developed to genetically characterize stem rust resistance as the 10 male parents—nine Kenyan and one University of Minnesota wheat cultivars—exhibited medium to high adult plant resistance to African and North American races of the stem rust pathogen (Puccinia graminisf. sp. tritici). Each parent was crossed to the stem rust susceptible line LMPG‐6, and populations were developed via single‐seed descent. Aggregately, the resulting 10 populations, consisting of 852 recombinant inbred lines, formed the KUWNSr population. KUWNSr was evaluated in four environments: two in the United States and one each in Kenya and South Africa. A high‐density genetic map was developed using genotyping‐by‐sequencing, resulting in 11,221 single nucleotide polymorphism markers mapped to all 21 chromosomes. In addition to stem rust resistance, the population segregates for other disease resistance traits such as leaf and stripe rust and agronomic traits such as plant height, spike morphology, and days to heading. As one of the first wheat NAM populations developed, KUWNSr is a valuable resource for understanding the genetic architecture of wheat growth and development, morphology, and resistance or tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses.

Metal carbonyl complexes can readily liberate carbon monoxide (CO) in response to activation stimulus. However, applicability of metal carbonyl complexes is limited because they are unstable under natural ambient conditions of moisture and oxygen. Reported here is the rational design of an iron carbonyl complex delivery nanosystem for the improvement of cancer therapy. We demonstrated that iron pentacarbonyl (Fe(CO)5) can be encapsulated into the cavity of a Au nanocage under an oxygen-free atmosphere and then controllably form iron oxide on the surface of the Au nanocage under aerobic conditions. The formation of iron oxide efficiently avoids the leakage and oxidation of the caged Fe(CO)5. The resulting nanomaterial exhibits excellent safety, biocompatibility, and stability, which can be specifically activated under near-infrared (NIR) irradiation within the tumor environment to generate CO and iron. The released CO causes damage to mitochondria and subsequent initiation of autophagy. More importantly, during autophagy, the nanomaterial that contains iron and iron oxide can accumulate into the autolysosome and result in its destruction. The produced CO and iron show excellent synergistic effects in cancer cells.

Resistance to the Ug99 group of races of the stem rust fungus Puccinia graminisf. sp. triticiis limited in winter wheat (Triticum aestivumL.) germplasm adapted to the Great Plains of the United States. Our objective was to generate regionally adapted hard winter wheat germplasm with combinations of adult plant resistance genes that are expected to provide durable resistance. KS14U6380R5 (Reg. no. GP‐1043, PI 689115), KS16U6380R10 (Reg. no. GP‐1044, PI 689116), and KS16U6380R11 (Reg. no. GP‐1045, PI 689117) were derived from backcrosses of the hard white winter wheat germplasm KS05HW14 to the stem rust‐resistant Kenyan spring wheat cultivar ‘Kingbird’. KS14U6380R5, KS16U6380R11, and KS16U6380R10 were developed by pedigree selection and were initially evaluated as U6380‐11‐2R‐0A, U6380‐210‐2R‐0A, and U6380‐148‐4R‐2T, respectively. The germplasms were developed by the USDA‐ARS and jointly released with the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station. These germplasms provide parents for development of hard winter wheat cultivars with durable resistance to stem rust.