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Previous studies have revealed cellular heterogeneity in intervertebral discs (IVDs). However, the cellular and molecular alteration patterns of cell populations during degenerative progression remain to be fully elucidated. To illustrate the cellular and molecular alteration of cell populations in intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD), we perform single cell RNA sequencing on cells from four anatomic sites of healthy and degenerative goat IVDs. EGLN3+ StressCs, TGFBR3+ HomCs and GPRC5A+ RegCs exhibit the characteristics associated with resistance to stress, maintaining homeostasis and repairing, respectively. The frequencies and signatures of these cell clusters fluctuate with IDD. Notably, the chondrogenic differentiation programme of PROCR+ progenitor cells is altered by IDD, while notochord cells turn to stemness exhaustion. In addition, we characterise CAV1+ endothelial cells that communicate with chondrocytes through multiple signalling pathways in degenerative IVDs. Our comprehensive analysis identifies the variability of key cell clusters and critical regulatory networks responding to IDD, which will facilitate in-depth investigation of therapeutic strategies for IDD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Buildings near direct current transmission lines are sensitive to the electromagnetic environment, and the measurement of the electric field above them is important in engineering design and environmental assessment in China. The models of buildings and probes in the ion flow field were established to explore the accurate measurement method of the electric field above the building. Based on the upstream finite element method and the predictor–corrector method, the influence of whether the probe was grounded or not above the building was studied. On this basis, simulation experiments and real‐type experiments were carried out. The results show that when the electrical conductivity of the building was greater than 10−10 S/m, being grounded or not would not change the results. When the building conductivity was between 10−11 and 10−12 S/m, the electric field measurement results would be increased by 30% to 120% after grounding. In the real‐type experiments on the platform with a plywood roof, the relative error in the electric field when grounded or not was only 2.6%. This proved the reliability of the calculated results. In this paper, the measuring method of the DC space charge‐modified electric field above buildings was analyzed first, and the conclusion that ground wire can be cancelled above buildings with general materials was presented. The research results can provide a technical basis for the accurate measurement of the electric field above the buildings near DC transmission lines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Radiomics has been used to predict pulmonary nodule (PN) malignancy. However, most of the studies focused on pulmonary ground‐glass nodules. The use of computed tomography (CT) radiomics in pulmonary solid nodules, particularly sub‐centimeter solid nodules, is rare. Purpose: This study aims to develop a radiomics model based on non‐enhanced CT images that can distinguish between benign and malignant sub‐centimeter pulmonary solid nodules (SPSNs, <1 cm). Methods: The clinical and CT data of 180 SPSNs confirmed by pathology were analyzed retrospectively. All SPSNs were divided into two groups: training set (n = 144) and testing set (n = 36). From non‐enhanced chest CT images, over 1000 radiomics features were extracted. Radiomics feature selection was performed using the analysis of variance and principal component analysis. The selected radiomics features were fed into a support vector machine (SVM) to develop a radiomics model. The clinical and CT characteristics were used to develop a clinical model. Associating non‐enhanced CT radiomics features with clinical factors were used to develop a combined model using SVM. The performance was evaluated using the area under the receiver‐operating characteristic curve (AUC). Results: The radiomics model performed well in distinguishing between benign and malignant SPSNs, with an AUC of 0.913 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.862–0.954) in the training set and an AUC of 0.877 (95% CI, 0.817–0.924) in the testing set. The combined model outperformed the clinical and radiomics models with an AUC of 0.940 (95% CI, 0.906–0.969) in the training set and an AUC of 0.903 (95% CI, 0.857–0.944) in the testing set. Conclusions: Radiomics features based on non‐enhanced CT images can be used to differentiate SPSNs. The combined model, which included radiomics and clinical factors, had the best discrimination power between benign and malignant SPSNs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: In recent years, the FLASH effect, in which ultrahigh dose rate (UHDR) radiotherapy (RT) can significantly reduce toxicity to normal tissue while maintaining antitumor efficacy, has been verified in many studies and even applied in human clinical cases. This work evaluates whether a room-temperature radio-frequency (RF) linear accelerator (linac) system can produce UHDR high-energy X-rays exceeding a dose rate of 40 Gy/s at a clinical source-surface distance (SSD), exploring the possibility of a compact and economical clinical FLASH RT machine suitable for most hospital treatment rooms. Methods: A 1.65 m long S-band backward-traveling-wave (BTW) electron linac was developed to generate high-current electron beams, supplied by a commercial klystron-based power source. A tungsten-copper electron-to-photon conversion target for UHDR X-rays was designed and optimized with Monte Carlo (MC) simulations using Geant4 and thermal finite element analysis (FEA) simulations using ANSYS. EBT3 and EBT-XD radiochromic films, which were calibrated with a clinical machine Varian VitalBeam,were used for absolute dose measurements. A PTW ionization chamber detector was used to measure the relative total dose and a plane-parallel ionization chamber detector was used to measure the relative normalized dose of each pulse. Results: The BTW linac generated 300-mA-pulse-current 11 MeV electron beams with 29 kW mean beam power, and the conversion target could sustain this high beam power within a maximum irradiation duration of 0.75 s.The mean energy of the produced X-rays was 1.66 MeV in the MC simulation. The measured flat-filter-free (FFF) maximum mean dose rate of the room-temperature linac exceeded 80 Gy/s at an SSD of 50 cm and 45 Gy/s at an SSD of 67.9 cm, both at a 2.1 cm depth of the water phantom. The FFF radiation fields at 50 cm and 67.9 cmSSD at a 2.1 cm depth of the water phantom showed Gaussian-like distributions with 14.3 and 20 cm full-width at half -maximum (FWHM) values, respectively. Conclusion: This work demonstrated the feasibility of UHDR X-rays produced by a room-temperature RF linac, and explored the further optimization of system stability. It shows that a simple and compact UHDR X-ray solution can be facilitated for both FLASH-RT scientific research and clinical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Here, the consecutive-competitive reaction system about aspirin and sodium hydroxide was proposed as a unified chemical probe to characterize the homogenous and heterogeneous liquid–liquid mixing. The kinetics of the reaction system was clearly studied. Then the mixing efficiencies were assessed in a standard stirred tank with this chemical probe and the obtained segregation index (XS) could well characterize the mixing performance. Based on the incorporation model, the estimation formula of micromixing time was established as tm =13.956(ν=ε)0.5. The chemical probe could show the influence of stirring intensity, interphase resistance, and two-phase ratio on the mixing efficiency sensitively when it was extended to heterogeneous mixing. Using this chemical probe, we found the mixing efficiencies of homogeneous and heterogeneous process tended to be the same at sufficiently high stirring intensity. The reason for this phenomenon was unveiled by investigating the dispersed phase size and calculating mass transfer time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reactive polymer blending is basically a flow/mixing-driven process of interfacial generation, interfacial reaction for copolymer formation, and morphology development. This work shows two antagonistic effects of flow/mixing on this process: while flow/mixing promotes copolymer formation by creating interfaces and enhancing collisions between reactive groups at the interfaces, excessive flow/mixing may pull the in situ formed copolymer out of the interfaces to one of the two polymer components of the blend, especially when the copolymer becomes highly asymmetrical. As such, the copolymer may lose its compatibilization efficiency. The mixing-driven copolymer pull-out from the interfaces is a catastrophic process (less than a minute), despite the high viscosity of the polymer blend. It depends on the molecular architecture of the reactive compatibilizer, polymer blend composition, flow/mixing intensity, and annealing. These findings are obtained using the concept of reactive compatibilizer-tracer and a model reactive polymer blend. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the importance of cilia in cell signaling and motility, the molecular mechanisms regulating cilium formation remain incompletely understood. Herein, we characterize enkurin domaincontaining protein 1 (ENKD1) as a novel centrosomal protein that mediates the removal of centriolar coiled-coil protein 110 (CP110) from the mother centriole to promote ciliogenesis. We show that Enkd1 knockout mice possess ciliogenesis defects in multiple organs. Super-resolution microscopy reveals that ENKD1 is a stable component of the centrosome throughout the ciliogenesis process. Simultaneous knockdown of ENKD1 and CP110 significantly reverses the ciliogenesis defects induced by ENKD1 depletion. Protein interaction analysis shows that ENKD1 competes with centrosomal protein 97 (CEP97) in binding to CP110. Depletion of ENKD1 enhances the CP110-CEP97 interaction and detains CP110 at the mother centriole. These findings thus identify ENKD1 as a centrosomal protein and uncover a novel mechanism controlling CP110 removal from the mother centriole for the initiation of ciliogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The surface evapotranspiration (ET) process is the key link in the interaction between land and atmosphere. However, the influence of different environmental factors on ET over transitional climate zones and the physical pattern of the interaction between multiple factors remain unclear. Therefore, based on the continuous observation data during the vegetation growing season of a typical grassland in the Semi-Arid Climate and Environment Observation of Lanzhou University (SACOL) station from 2007 to 2012, the influence pattern of multiple environmental factors on ET over China's transitional climate zone was analysed. Each environmental factor exhibited significant seasonal and interannual variations. The mean value of ET was 1.67 mm day-1. Although the maximum values of sensible heat flux and vapour pressure deficit occurred in April and June, respectively, the maximum values of other environmental factors appeared from July to August. Net radiation, soil moisture, and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) were the main controlling factors of ET over the grassland, with correlation coefficients of 0.54, 0.52, and 0.46, respectively. The analysis of multiple environmental factors showed that when soil moisture, wind speed, net radiation, and NDVI reached 0.2 m³ m-3, 2 m s-1, 100 W m-2, and 0.2, respectively, ET varied in contrast with vapour pressure, vapour pressure deficit, and air temperature under the influences of weather processes, land–atmosphere coupling, and drought stress. These findings deepen our understanding of the role of ET in the land–atmosphere coupling process over the transitional climate zone in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increase of drilling depth, a large number of high‐temperature wells with bottom hole temperatures of more than 150°C appear. However, conventional measurement‐while‐drilling (MWD) instruments are no longer suitable. Therefore, it is necessary to design a new MWD instrument suitable for high‐temperature downhole for a long time. Compared with other active refrigeration methods, a split‐Stirling cryocooler is the best choice. In this paper, a new active cooling system is designed, based on the split‐Stirling cryocooler. The heat transfer rate entering the instrument cabin of MWD from the external environment is calculated, and the effects of the heat transfer device, insulation material, circuit board, split‐Stirling cryocooler, and working condition on heat transfer rate are discussed. The results show that the thermal conductivity of insulation material has a great influence on heat transfer rate. The thermal conductivity of the insulation material filled with the gap in the cabin must be small enough. Meanwhile, the influence of the length of the circuit board is greater than the height and width. If conditions permit, the double‐layer circuit can be used. And the thermal power of the circuit board has no effect on the heat transfer rate entering the instrument cabin from outside. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The flow behaviors and heat transfer characteristics have been studied inside the dimpled tubes and spirally grooved tubes with different curvature degrees, which is considered for the first time within the influence factors. A three-dimensional numerical simulation by periodic boundary conditions is performed to model the fully developed flow of dimpled and grooved sections to acquire the finer mesh and more accurate results. In addition, the dimple and groove outlines with different curvature degrees are generated by polynomial functions. Effects of curvature degrees for dimpled tubes and spirally grooved tubes on flow, heat transfer, and comprehensive performances are discussed. The results indicate that the influence of curvature degrees for dimpled tubes exhibit an opposite behavior when compared with those for spirally grooved tubes. On the whole, all performance factors increase with the growing curvature degree for dimpled tubes but decrease with the increasing curvature degree for spirally grooved tubes. By comparing different curvature degrees, the maximum ranges of heat transfer enhancement are 1.50-2.22 and 2.54-2.82, respectively, for dimpled and grooved tubes with respect to Re. Thermal and hydraulic fields are considered to analyze the mechanism of heat transfer enhancement. The analysis shows that the way the dimple changes thermohydraulic properties differs from the way the groove changes the properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to improve the parameter robustness of the model predictive control (MPC), a novel current predictive control method is proposed here. Firstly, the incremental prediction model of the permanent-magnet synchronous motor is used to predict the current of the next instant, due to the advantage of without permanent-magnetic flux linkage parameter. Furthermore, the disturbance-deadbeat inductance observer (DDIO) is proposed, in which the parameter disturbance at the next instant is predicted and is used as the reference to extracted inductance information. Finally, a DDIO + MPC method is developed to improve the parameter sensitivity of the predictive control. The simulation and experimental results validate the effectiveness of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: We aimed to explore the regulatory relationship among the long noncoding RNA H19, micorRNA‐675 (miR‐675), the vitamin D (VD) receptor (VDR), and the early growth response protein 1 (EGR1) in the pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy (DN) among patients with diabetes mellitus (DM). Methods: Expression levels of H19, miR‐675, VDR, and EGR in patients or CIHP‐1/HEK 293 cells were measured via quantitative reverse‐transcription polymerase chain reaction and western blot analysis. Computational analysis and luciferase assays were performed to determine EGR1 as a target gene of miR‐675. Results: The relative expression of miR‐675 was higher in the presence of H19, whereas the expression of both VDR and EGR1 messenger RNA was decreased in the presence of H19 or miR‐675. However, relative expression of H19 and miR‐675 was increased, whereas VDR expression was suppressed upon the treatment of 1,25‐dihydroxyvitamin D3 or EGR1. VDR was identified as a target gene of miR‐675. The H19 promoter and EGR1 increased the luciferase activity of cells transfected with wild‐type VDR. Compared with DM patients free of DN, the levels of H19 and miR‐675 were increased in the DN(+) group, whereas the levels of VDR and EGR1 were decreased. Conclusion: In summary, the above results indicate the presence of a negative feedback loop in the pathological mechanism of DN, where H19 downregulates the expression of VDR by upregulating the expression of miR‐675, whereas reduced VDR expression subsequently reduced the expression of EGR1. Moreover, reduced EGR1 expression inhibits H19 expression, thus forming a negative feedback loop required to maintain the homeostasis of VDR and to reduce the incidence of DN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ion pump Na+, K+-ATPase (NKA) is a receptor for the cardiotonic steroid ouabain. Subsaturating concentration of ouabain triggers intracellular calcium oscillations, stimulates cell proliferation and adhesion, and protects from apoptosis. However, it is controversial whether ouabain-bound NKA is considered a signal transducer. To address this question, we performed a global analysis of protein phosphorylation in COS-7 cells, identifying 2580 regulated phosphorylation events on 1242 proteins upon 10- and 20-min treatment with ouabain. Regulated phosphorylated proteins include the inositol triphosphate receptor and stromal interaction molecule, which are essential for initiating calcium oscillations. Hierarchical clustering revealed that ouabain triggers a structured phosphorylation response that occurs in a well-defined, time-dependent manner and affects specific cellular processes, including cell proliferation and cell-cell junctions. We additionally identify regulation of the phosphorylation of several calcium and calmodulin-dependent protein kinases (CAMKs), including 2 sites of CAMK type II-γ (CAMK2G), a protein known to regulate apoptosis. To verify the significance of this result, CAMK2G was knocked down in primary kidney cells. CAMK2G knockdown impaired ouabain-dependent protection from apoptosis upon treatment with high glucose or serum deprivation. In conclusion, we establish NKA as the coordinator of a broad, tightly regulated phosphorylation response in cells and define CAMK2G as a downstream effector of NKA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Input couplers for millimetre-wave gyrotron travelling wave amplifiers are presented in this study. A W-band input coupling system composed of a pillbox window, a smoothly curved waveguide bend, a T-junction and a broadband reflector was numerically optimised, constructed and measured. An average transmission coefficient of -2.0 dB over a designed operating frequency range was measured. Additionally, a higher-frequency input coupler for operation at a central frequency of 372 GHz was also designed based on a multiple-hole coupling configuration. The simulated transmission coefficient was -0.5 dB if the ohmic loss is not considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries are one of the most promising alternative energy storage systems beyond Li-ion batteries. However, the sluggish kinetics of the nucleation and growth of the solid discharge product of Li2S/Li2S2 in the lower discharge plateau has been recently identified as a critical hurdle for attaining high specific capacity in Li-S batteries with high sulfur loadings under lean electrolyte conditions. Herein, a new strategy of breaking the charge-transport bottleneck by successful generation of experimentally verified stable Li2S2 and a reservoir of quasi-solid lithium polysulfides within the micropores of activated carbon fiber cloth as a high-sulfur-loading host is proposed. The developed Li-S cell is capable of delivering a highly sustainable areal capacity of 6.0 mAh cm-2 under lower electrolyte to sulfur ratios (<3.0 mLE gS -1). Micropore confinement leads to generation of solid Li2S2 that enables high utilization of the entire electroactive area by its inherent self-healing capacity. This strategy opens a new avenue for rational material designs for Li-S batteries under lean electrolyte condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A DC/DC converter is a vital component for offshore DC grids, in which a medium frequency transformer (MFT) is the main element. Therefore, it is necessary to optimise the core material and the design method so that the loss of the MFT would be reduced. In this study, the multi-objective genetic algorithm is proposed, by which two MFTs with different core materials are both optimised. The magnetic flux density of the transformer core and the current density of the windings are introduced as the optimised variables. Also, the key equations for transformer design are put forward as the objective functions. Moreover, with constant iteration of the process of segmentation, parallel selection, mergence, recombination and variation, the Pareto optimal solution is determined. Furthermore, to verify the optimisation results, the temperature field and electric strength of the amorphous alloy MFT are calculated and simulated by finite-element analysis. Finally, a MFT prototype with an amorphous alloy core is built, and the experiment is carried out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid and accurate calculation of electromagnetic (EM) scattering problems over a wide incident angle range is always a difficult task which requires repeated numerical computation as the incident angle changes. Aiming at this subject, a solution that introduces compressed sensing into traditional method of moments is described, and the bilateral sparse transform method is first proposed to form a new scheme, in which the effectiveness is improved greatly since the total number of measurements required is reduced drastically as compared with the traditional unilateral sparse transform method. The basic principle is analysed in detail and the high effectiveness of bilateral sparse transform is verified by numerical results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optimizing nutrient supply can promote plant growth, minimize production input, and enhance economic returns in crops. Here, we determined the effect of different fertilizer strategies on the tuber yield and economic outcomes in potato (Solanum tuberosum L.). Six fertilizer treatments were arranged in a randomized, complete block design at Dingxi Research Station (104°35′ E, 35°36′ N), Gansu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, from 2008 to 2010. Balanced fertilizer strategy (i.e., N, P, and K nutrients were combined in an appropriate ratio) was compared with imbalanced treatments where N, P, or K nutrient was omitted in decrement in the fertilizer strategy. On average, the balanced strategy increased tuber yield by 25% in 2008, 35% in 2009, and 14% in 2010, compared with imbalanced treatments, and 74% in 2008, 81% in 2009, and 33% in 2010, compared with no-fertilizer control. Among the three nutrient elements, N component contributed an average of 18% of the increased tuber yield, P contributed 14%, and K contributed 13%. The combination of N, P, and K together in a package led to an additional 18% yield increase on the top of the yield contributed individually by each of the three nutrient components. The balanced strategies also led to 11% greater net return than the imbalanced treatments and 29% greater net return compared with the control. The combination of N, P, and K in an appropriate ratio can serve as an effective fertilizer strategy to achieve additional tuber yield, improve marketing quality, and enhance economic returns in potato production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors propose a novel method for significantly reducing antenna measurement time and increasing the efficiency of collecting the data which most is relevant information. They apply methods from compressed sensing which reduce redundancy in the antenna measurement, i.e. a metasurface is added to the antenna near-field, and the unit cell is manipulated by a FPGA to facilitate sparse sampling. In comparison with the traditional sparse sampling method, experimental results demonstrate that their strategy can reduce the measuring time by at least 56% while satisfying measurement error and that it has considerable potential for antenna measurement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The circumscription and the phylogeny of the fern family Tectariaceae have been controversial. Previous molecular studies have supported the monophyly of this family, with 4-5 genera. However, these studies were exclusively based on plastid markers and relatively small sampling, especially of the non-Tectaria genera. In the present study, DNA sequences of eight plastid and one nuclear markers of 25 accessions representing 19 species of Teclaria and 58 accessions representing ca. 90% of the non-Tectaria species in the family (including Arthropteris) were used to infer a phylogeny using maximum likelihood (ML), Bayesian inference, and maximum parsimony. Our major results include: (1) Tectaria as currently circumscribed is not monophyletic and can be divided into three genera: Tectaria s.str., Draconopteris (gen. nov.) from Central to South America, and Malaifilix (gen. nov.) from Malesia; (2) Draconopteris and Malaifilix, the two new genera, together with Pteridrys, form a strongly supported clade; (3) in our ML analyses, the clade containing Draconopteris, Malaifilix, and Pteridrys (the DMP clade) is resolved as sister to the rest of Tectariaceae and Arthropteris is sister to Tectaria+(Hypoderris+Triplophyllum), suggesting that Arthropteris should be treated as a member of Tectariaceae, and thus Tectariaceae contains seven genera: Arthropteris, Draconopteris, Hypoderris, Malaifilix, Pteridrys, Tectaria, and Triplophyllum; (4) with the well-supported relationships among the members of Tectariaceae, anastomosing venation in the family is inferred to have evolved independently at least three times; (5) Nephrolepis is strongly supported as sister to a clade containing Cyclopeltis, Dracoglossum, and Lomariopsis, and thus we advocate that Lomariopsidaceae include these four genera (plus the unsampled Thysanosoria)', and (6) intercontinental dispersal appears to have played an important role in shaping the extant distribution of Tectariaceae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Klystrons are vacuum electronic devices widely used for microwave amplification up to the millimetre-wave region. The opportunity to push the operating frequency of conventional klystrons above 30-40 GHz is limited by the fabrication difficulties of the cavities that have very small dimensions. A high order mode micro re-entrant square cavity was purposely devised to be compatible with the available micro fabrication processes and represents a viable solution for the design of millimetre-wave klystrons. In this study, a coupler to correctly excite the higher order mode of the square re-entrant cavities for W-band operation is proposed. The design of the proposed novel coupler structure has been validated by realisation and measurement of a scaled X-band prototype. The post-realisation tuning methods adopted to improve the matching of the high order mode are also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The distribution of information bits and frozen bits on the decoder graph can be exploited to simplify the successive-cancellation (SC) decoding of polar codes. In this study, the authors establish a general simplified SC decoding framework for polar codes with arbitrary block-length, which is independent of any specific or explicit generator matrices and considerably reduces decoding complexity while retaining the same error performance. Then, based on the fact that the complexity reduction depends on the distribution of information bits, a so-called m-radius reselection scheme is proposed to construct multiple feasible information sets which are different from the original one defined by Arıkan. In this way, flexible tradeoffs between performance and complexity could be achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pantropical monospecific fern genus Didymochlaena had long been placed in the family Dryopteridaceae before the advent of molecular phylogenetics. Recent molecular studies confirmed that it is a member of eupolypods I, but its familial placement has been controversial. It has been resolved using molecular data either as a member of Hypodematiaceae or as sister to the rest of eupolypods I. In the present study we performed phylogenetic analyses (MP, ML, Bl) based on DNA data from five plastid loci (atpA, rbcL, rps4-trnS, trnL, trnL-F) of 88 accessions representing 79 species in 20 genera of all 9 families currently recognized in eupolypods 1 as ingroup and 5 species from 3 families of eupolypods I I as outgroups. Our analyses resolved Didymochlaena as sister to the rest of eupolypods I with strong support. The results of an analysis of nuclear 18S data available from GenBank did not contradict those based on plastid data. This resolution is consistent with its sorus/indusium shape and a previous phylogenetic analysis based on both plastid and nuclear loci. Sorus shape, spore characters, and chromosome number previously used to place the genus in Dryopteridaceae are in fact not synapomorphies of the family. Our study clearly showed that the family Didymochlaenaceae should be recognized and we hereby validate this name previously proposed by Ching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing water and N use efficiency and lowering environmental pollution are primary concerns for both agricultural production and environmental quality in northwestern China. A 2-yr field experiment was conducted to assess and model the effects of irrigation, N, and plant density on maize (Zea mays L.) when N fertilizer and irrigation were separated in an alternating furrow irrigation system. Regression modeling (a ternary quadratic equation) showed that N fertilization positively affected yield, water use efficiency, N uptake, soil NO3-N and NH3, volatilization. Irrigation improved yield, N uptake, and increased soil NO3-N in the deeper soil layer (0.6-2.0 m) but reduced water use efficiency, NH3, volatilization, and soil NO3-N in the 0- to 0.6-m soil layer. Planting density positively affected yield, water use efficiency, and N uptake but negatively influenced NH3, volatilization and soil NO3-N. The combination of 255 kg N ha-1N fertilizer, 100 mm of irrigation water, and 59,467 plants ha in 2010 and 245 kg N ha-1 N fertilizer, 98 mm of irrigation water, and 58,376 plants ha in 2011 resulted in maximum income for maize yield (7245 kg ha-1 in 2010 and 6972 kg ha-1 in 2011). However, environmental and agronomic objectives did not match. Specifically, the combination of N, irrigation rate, and plant density with maximum yield increased N leaching and NH3, losses, whereas the combination lowering environmental pollution due to N losses caused a reduction in yield. Therefore, the trade-off in management of N, irrigation, and planting density was emphasized for both environmental and agronomic benefits in our study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we discuss an implementation method to get high brightness and curved BLU. For 8.0inch TFT-LCD, by using the high gain film structure, particular structure surface LGP & high efficiency LED, driving with higher current, we achieve the high brightness backlight unit (BLU), which gets the brightness of 38000nit with DBEF (a reflection type polarizing film); In this paper, we also introduce a particular design, which is consist of radiating and curved structure. Radius of outer convex surface is 800milimeter, leading to the horizon angle of rear mirror expanding by about 187%, so it realizes the function of wide view mirror. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rab GTPases are highly conserved components of vesicle trafficking pathways. Rab5, as a master regulator of endocytic trafficking, has been shown to function in membrane tethering and docking. However, the function of Rab5 in meiosis has not been addressed. Here, we report elongated spindles and misaligned chromosomes, with kinetochore-microtubule misattachments, on specific depletion of Rab5a in mouse oocytes. Moreover, the localization and levels of centromere protein F (CENPF), a component of the nuclear matrix, are severely reduced at kinetochores in metaphase oocytes following Rab5a knockdown. Consistent with this finding, nuclear lamina disassembly in the transition from prophase arrest to meiosis I is also impaired in Rab5a-depleted oocytes. Notably, oocyte-specific ablation of CENPF phenocopies the meiotic defects resulting from Rab5a knockdown. In summary, our data support a model where Rab5a-positive vesicles, likely through interaction with nuclear lamina, modulate CENPF localization and levels at centromeres, consequently ensuring proper spindle length and kinetochore-microtubule attachment in meiotic oocytes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The efficient use of water and N represents a primary concern to agricultural production in Northwest China. The objective of this study was to assess the impacts of irrigation and fertilization on water and N use, soil volatilized NH3, soil NO3 leaching, and NO, transfer in soil profiles. A 2-yr field experiment was conducted to assess the separation of N fertilizer and water with alternating furrow irrigation (SNWAFI) and conventional irrigation and fertilization (CIF) in a maize (Zea mays L.) production system. The yields with SNWAFI were 10 to 16% greater than with CIF. Compared with CIF, SNWAFI increased water use efficiencies (WUEs) by 13 to 33%, agronomic efficiency of fertilizer N by 36 to 56%, and NO3-N in the upper soil layers (0-60 cm) by 30 to 60%. However, SNWAFI reduced NO3-N in the deeper soil layers (60-200 cm) by 8 to 44% compared with CIF. The use of SNWAFI also decreased soil NH3 emission with the combination with lower irrigation (40 mm) and N rate (100 kg N ha-1), which indicated that SNWAFI emitted less soil NH3 than CIF. Therefore, compared with CIF, SNWAFI increased maize yield WUE and N use efficiency, reduced N leaching, and curtailed soil NH3 loss with appropriate irrigation and N rates. The use of SNWAFI, leading to better spatial management of irrigation water and N application, can provide both agronomic and environmental benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A method to directly convert 2-alkynylphenols to 3,4-difunctionalized benzofurans and polycyclic benzofurans was developed. This protocol involves a hypervalent-iodinemediated oxidative dearomatization to break the aromaticity of 2-alkynylphenols, and a palladium-catalyzed domino reaction to install two functional groups at the C3 and the C4 positions and restore the aromaticity of benzofurans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sirtuins have been widely reported to be involved in multiple biological processes; however, their function in oocyte meiosis has not been. Here, by confocal scanning and quantitative analysis, we show that specific depletion of Sirt2 in mouse oocytes results in spindle defects and chromosome disorganization (35.5±8.7 vs. 9.6±3.8% control; P<0.05), with impaired microtubule-kinetochore interaction. Moreover, knockdown and overexpression experiments reveal that Sirt2 modulates the acetylation status of histone H4K16 and α-tubulin in oocytes, which may in part mediate the defective phenotypes described above by influencing microtubule dynamics and kinetochore function. Finally, we find lower Sirt2 protein level in oocytes from aged mice by immunoblotting and that maternal age-associated meiotic defects can be amelio- rated through overexpression of Sirt2 (33.2±5.1% old vs.12.7 ±5.2% old+Sirt2; P<0.05), providing support for the hypothesis that decreased Sirt2 is one of a number of factors contributing to oocyte age-dependent deficits. In summary, our data indicate a role for Sirt2 during oocyte meiosis and uncover a striking beneficial effect of increased Sirt2 expression on aged oocytes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dryopteris (Dryopteridaceae) is one of the largest fern genera containing about 300 or more species. Sixty-five accessions representing all four subgenera and all 19 sections of Dryopteris recognized in current classifications, more than two-thirds of the species of Acrophorus, Diacalpe, Nothoperanema, and Peranema, three species of Arachniodes, three spe-cies of Cyrtomium, one species of Phanerophlebia, and two species of Polystichum, were sampled as ingroup in this study. Two species of Polystichopsis were used as outgroups. DNA sequences of five plastid loci (psbA-trnH spacer, rbcL gene, rps4-trnS spacer, trnL intron, trnL-F spacer) were used to infer the phylogeny of Dryopteris and related genera. Our study clearly demonstrated that the currently defined Dryopteris is paraphyletic in relation to a clade containing the monophyletic Acrophorus, Diacalpe, Nothoperanema, and Peranema. Peranema is resolved as sister to the remaining three genera, fol-lowed by Nothoperanema which in turn is sister to the Acrophorus+Diacalpe clade, but this relationship received low sup-port. Three out of the four subgenera of Dryopteris recognized in current classifications are not recovered as monophyletic. Dryopteris subg. Nothoperanema, well supported as monophyletic by molecular and morphological data, is resurrected and re-circumscribed to contain species of the currently accepted genera Acrophorus, Diacalpe, Nothoperanema, and Peranema. Twenty-seven species are recognized and classified into four sections based on molecular and morphological evidence. Included in this treatment are 25 new combinations, names, species, and statuses, and neotypification or lectotypification of 14 names. The present study further located and cited types of an additional 28 related names, many of which have been unknown to science. Keys to sections and species and distributional information are given and nomenclatural issues are discussed. This paper also synonymized and excluded 33 nomenclaturally confusing names of Dryopteris that were formerly assigned to Acrophorus or Diacalpe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nature has evolved effective cell adhesion mechanisms to deliver inflammatory cells to inflamed tissue; however, many culture-expanded therapeutic cells are incapable of targeting diseased tissues following systemic infusion, which represents a great challenge in cell therapy. Our aim was to develop simple approaches to program cell-cell interactions that would otherwise not exist toward cell targeting and understanding the complex biology of cell-cell interactions. We employed a chemistry approach to engineer P- or L-selectin binding nucleic acid aptamers onto mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) to enable them to engage inflamed endothelial cells and leukocytes, respectively. We show for the first time that engineered cells with a single artificial adhesion ligand can recapitulate 3 critical cell interactions in the inflammatory cell adhesion cascade under dynamic flow conditions. Aptamer-engineered MSCs adhered on respective selectin surfaces under static conditions >10 times more efficiently than controls including scrambled-DNA modified MSCs. Significantly, engineered MSCs can be directly captured from the flow stream by selectin surfaces or selectin-expressing cells under flow conditions (≤2dyn/ cm²). The simple chemistry approach and the versatility of aptamers permit the concept of engineered cell-cell interactions to be generically applicable for targeting cells to diseased tissues and elucidating the biology of cell-cell interactions [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study on the reaction and interaction of compounds in the title to investigate the structural variety and potential biological systems applications. Researchers mixed a red solution with (Et4N)[Tp*WS3 in 5 milliliters of MeCN to excess melamine and 6 milligrams of CuNCS in forming a darker red solution. Findings indicated the location of H atom of the BH group in a difference Fourier map with isotropic and position displacement parameters.

Previous prognostic factor models for metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) have not included erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR). We designed the present study to evaluate the prognostic value of ESR for mRCC patients treated with sorafenib. Sorafenib was given to 83 patients with clear cell mRCC. Serum ESR was tested before treatment and every 4 weeks after first administration of sorafenib. Oncological evaluation was carried out every 8 weeks. Analyzed factors included age, sex, performance status, method of nephrectomy, number of metastatic organs, anemia, lactate dehydrogenase, corrected calcium, albumin, baseline ESR level and ESR kinetics status. Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression analyses on progression-free survival (PFS) were carried out. Baseline ESR levels ranged from 3 to 154 mm/h, and 43 (41.0%) patients had an ESR level higher than 40 mm/h. Median PFS was 10.0 months (95% CI 7.6-12.4 months). Dividing the cohort into three groups according to ESR kinetics status, median PFS was 27 months in the decreased ESR group, 12 months in the stable ESR group and 6 months in the increased ESR group. Performance status, time from diagnoses to sorafenib treatment, number of metastatic organs and ESR kinetics were independent predictors for PFS in multivariable Cox regression model analysis, with an area under the curve of 0.865 in a binary logistic regression model of 12-month PFS probability. ESR kinetics can be useful to monitor the treatment response and to predict PFS for mRCC patients treated with sorafenib as second-line therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Molecular sexing is a key component in the investigation of wild populations. In this study, we developed a fast, accurate and reliable amplification refractory mutation system (ARMS) technique for sex determination of red panda based on the exon 4 of the ZFX/ZFY gene. The amplicons were distinguished simply by agarose gel electrophoresis, exhibiting one fragment in females (X: 300 bp) and two in males (X: 300 bp, Y: 166 bp). Robustness of this ARMS system was confirmed by testing both 43 captive red pandas using DNA samples with known-sex and 10 wild red pandas using faecal DNA samples with unknown sex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article deals with the dependence of the compatibilizing efficiency of graft copolymers on immiscible polymer blends. The compatibilizers refer to graft copolymers of polystyrene (PS) and polyamide 6 (PA6), denoted as PS-g-PA6), with different molecular structures. It was found that there is higher compatibilizing and stabilizing efficiency with longer grafts for PS-g-PA6 graft copolymers with the same backbone and the same number of grafts per backbone.

Using 2acrylamide2methyl propane sulfonic acid AMPS, itaconic acid IA, and Nvinyl2pyrrolidone NVP as monomers, a new retader terpolymer AMPSIANVP PAIN was synthesized by free radical aqueous solution copolymerization and characterized by FTIR and HNMR. Through the orthogonal experiment, the optimum reaction conditions of copolymerization were obtained: NVP 7.5 wt mass fraction ; regulator V 4; reaction temperature 60°C; initiator 1 wt . The intrinsic viscosity number of PAIN synthesized with different amount of regulator isopropanol was determined, finding that the regulator can change the molecular weight and distribution of PAIN. Through the thickening experiment in high temperature and high pressure, it was found that PAIN had an excellent retardation property in high temperature, and the thickening times of the cement slurries with 1 BOWC PAIN were up to 256 min at 110°C and 234 min at 130°C, respectively. The PAIN was even stable when the temperature below 350°C proved by TGSDTA analysis. Moreover, the retarding mechanism of PAIN was analyzed and discussed. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses an isotherm study using aluminum oxide as adsorbent on phosphorus uptake from aqueous solution. The study, which adopted the Langmuir, Freundlich, and Redlich-Peterson isotherms to analyze experimental data, used batch method to investigate the adsorption behavior of phosphorus onto aluminum oxide. The study found that the nonlinear regression method, which could be a better way to compare the best-fitting isotherm, can obtain the parameters for the adsorption of phosphorus onto aluminum oxide.

Interindividual variability of cytochrome P450 (CYP) 3A inhibition by grapefruit juice was investigated in relation to CYP3A5 and multidrug resistance gene (MDR) 1 genetic polymorphisms in Chinese Han, Uygur, and Kazakh healthy subjects. The measurement of urinary 6β-hydroxycortisol/cortisol ratio was used to evaluate CYP3A activity in vivo by high-performance liquid chromatography CYP3A5 *3 and MDR1 C1236T, G2677T/A, and C3435T polymorphisms were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction restriction fragment length polymorphism. After grapefruit juice intake, urinary ratios significantly decreased in 3 Chinese ethnic groups (P < .001). Kazakh had a larger decrease of urinary ratio compared to that of Han (P < .05), and the latter had similar decrease with Uygur. Furthermore, Chinese healthy subjects carrying CYP3A5*3/*3 and MDR11236-2677-3435 T-T-T/T-T-T genotypes were found to have the largest reduction of urinary ratio (mean, 61.4%; 95% confidence interval, 53.4%-69.5%), whereas *1/*3 subjects carrying MDR11236-2677-3435 C-G-C/C-G-C genotypes had the lowest reduction (mean, 25.9%; 95% confidence interval, 3.1%-48.8%; P < .01). In conclusion, both CYP3A5*3 and MDRl variants influenced the extent of CYP3A inhibition by grapefruit juice in Chinese healthy subjects. The genetic variations influencing the CYP3A inhibitive phenotype might be helpful to explain the individual variability of grapefruit juice-drug interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which investigates the effects of cyclooxygenase 2 COX-2 inhibitors with metronomic doses of paclitaxel on patients with malignant melanoma. It mentions the use of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to measure the levels of plasma cytokine in the blood samples and cytometry to analyze the circulating endothelial cells (CECs). Results show that the antiangiogenic strategies can stabilize the disease and influences the tumor response of the patients.

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Some forms of seizure activity can be stopped by gap junctional (GJ) blockade. Here, we found that GJ blockers attenuate hippocampal seizure activity induced by a novel seizuregenic protocol using Co2+. We hypothesized that this activity may occur because of the altered expression of connexin (Cx) and/or pannexin (Panx) mRNAs and protein. We found a 1.5-, 1.4-, and 2-fold increase in Panx1, Panx2, and Cx43 mRNAs, respectively. Significant post-translational modifications of the proteins Cx43 and Panx1 were also observed after the Co2+ treatment. No changes were observed in the presence of tetrodotoxin, indicating that seizure activity is required for these alterations in expression, rather than the Co2+ treatment itself. Further analysis of the QPCR data showed that the Cx and Panx transcriptome becomes remarkably re-organized. Pannexin (Panxs 1 and 2) and glial connexin mRNA became highly correlated to one another; suggesting that these genes formed a transcriptomic network of coordinated gene expression, perhaps facilitating seizure induction. These data show that seizure activity up-regulates the expression of both glial and neuronal GJ mRNAs and protein while inducing a high degree of coordinate expression of the GJ transcriptome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mechanism of proton transfer (PT)/electron transfer (ET) in imide units, and its regulation by hydrated metal ions, was explored theoretically using density functional theory in a representative model (a nearly planar and cisoid complex between uracil and its N3-dehydrogenated radical, UU). In UU (σ-radical), PT/ET normally occurs via a seven-center, cyclic proton-coupled σ-electron σ-channel transfer (PCσEσT) mechanism (3.8 kcal/mol barrier height) with a N3→N3′ PT and an O4→O4′ ET. Binding of hydrated metal ions to the dioxygen sites (O2/O2′ or/and O4/O4′) of UU may significantly affect its PT/ET cooperative reactivity by changing the radical type (σ-radical ↔ π-radical) and ET channel (σ-channel ↔ π-channel), leading to different mechanisms, ranging from PCσEσT, to proton-coupled π-electron σ-channel transfer (PCπEσT) to proton-coupled π-electron π-channel transfer (PCπEπT). This change originates from an alteration of the ordering of the UU moiety SOMO/HDMO (the singly occupied molecular orbital and the highest doubly occupied molecular orbital), induced by binding of the hydrated metal ions. It is a consequence of three associated factors: the asymmetric reactant structure, electron cloud redistribution, and fixing role of metal ions to structural backbone. The findings regarding the modulation of the PT/ET pathway via hydrated metal ions may provide valuable information for a greater understanding of PT/ET cooperative mechanisms, and an alternative way for designing imide-based molecular devices, such as molecular switches and molecular wires. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem 2009 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The polarization of sterol-enriched lipid microdomains has been linked to morphogenesis and cell movement in diverse cell types. Recent biochemical evidence has confirmed the presence of lipid microdomains in plant cells; however, direct evidence for a functional link between these microdomains and plant cell growth is still lacking. Here, we reported the involvement of lipid microdomains in NADPH oxidase (NOX)-dependent reactive oxygen species (ROS) signaling in Picea meyeri pollen tube growth. Staining with di-4-ANEPPDHQ or filipin revealed that sterol-enriched microdomains were polarized to the growing tip of the pollen tube. Sterol sequestration with filipin disrupted membrane microdomain polarization, depressed tip-based ROS formation, dissipated tip-focused cytosolic Ca2+ gradient and thereby arrested tip growth. NOX clustered at the growing tip, and corresponded with the ordered membrane domains. Immunoblot analysis and native gel assays demonstrated that NOX was partially associated with detergent-resistant membranes and, furthermore, that NOX in a sterol-dependent fashion depends on membrane microdomains for its enzymatic activity. In addition, in vivo time-lapse imaging revealed the coexistence of a steep tip-high apical ROS gradient and subapical ROS production, highlighting the reported signaling role for ROS in polar cell growth. Our results suggest that the polarization of lipid microdomains to the apical plasma membrane, and the inclusion of NOX into these domains, contribute, at least in part, to the ability to grow in a highly polarized manner to form pollen tubes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]