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Photodynamic therapy (PDT) for hypoxic tumors has attracted wide attention owing to its noninvasiveness, easy maneuverability, and instantaneity. However, hypoxia in tumors and penetration depth of conventional ultraviolet light has greatly weakened its performance. To solve these problems, under NIR-II light irradiation, squaric acid nanoparticles (SQ NPs) with superior reactive oxygen, especially, hydroxyl radicals (•OH) production performance were first utilized for hypoxic tumor therapy. SQ NPs with intense light capture capability, intense NIR emission, and excellent photobleaching resistance show continuous •OH generation capabilities under NIR-II laser excitation. Through the superior PDT performance, the growth of hypoxic tumors was effectively inhibited, and the survival rate of mice was improved. This work highlights the application of NIR-II photoexcitation in deep tissue type I photodynamic therapy of hypoxic tumors, which will facilitate the development of hypoxic tumor PDT in deep depth.

In this study, wild barley (Hordeum brevisubulatum) infected (E+) and uninfected (E-) by Epichloë bromicola were used for hydroponic experiments during the seedling stage. Various attributes, such as the effect of fungal endophyte on the growth and development of wild barley, the absorption of cadmium (Cd) and mineral elements (Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn), subcellular distribution, and chemical forms were investigated under CdCl2 stress. The results showed that the fungal endophy significantly reduced the Ca content and percentage of plant roots under Cd stress. The Fe and Mn content of roots, the mineral element content of soluble fractions, and the stems in the pectin acid or protein-chelated state increased significantly in response to fungal endophy. Epichloë endophyte helped Cd2+ to enter into plants; and reduced the positive correlation of Ca-Fe and Ca-Mn in roots. In addition, it also decreased the correlation of soluble components Cd-Cu, Cd-Ca, Cd-Mg in roots, and the negative correlation between pectin acid or protein-chelated Cd in stems and mineral elements, to increase the absorbance of host for mineral elements. In conclusion, fungal endophy regulated the concentration and distribution of mineral elements, while storing more Cd2+ to resist the damage caused by Cd stress. The study could provide a ground for revealing the Cd tolerance mechanism of endophytic fungal symbionts. The present study is the first to study the effect of fungal endophy on essential mineral elements of plants under heavy metal stress, filling a gap in the existing research. The study could be helpful to reveal the mechanism of endophytic fungi to improve the host's tolerance to heavy metals and provide a foundation for the grass-endophyte symbionts to improve heavy metal-contaminated soils as ecological grasses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knorringia sibirica is a typical species of Polygonaceae with high medicinal and ecological value. However, there are few available phylogenetic and genetic studies about the chloroplast genome of K. sibirica. In the current study, a comprehensive examination of the chloroplast genome of K. sibirica was performed. The K. sibirica chloroplast genome is 161,384 bp, circular with a typical quadripartite structure, and comprised of guanine + cytosine content of 37.63%. The genome consists of 131 genes, including 86 protein-coding genes, 37 tRNA genes, and 8 rRNA genes. Seventy simple sequence repeats were identified in the genome. When compared with three closely related species, the result revealed that the chloroplast genome of K. sibirica was conserved in genome composition and structure. The specific sites in the genome suitable for DNA barcodes were identified by calculation of the nucleotide diversity. Finally, a phylogenetic tree of 49 species in Polygonaceae was constructed using the whole chloroplast genome. The phylogenetic analysis suggested that Knorringia is an independent genus in the Polygonea tribe. This research could provide support for the utilization of genetic sources and the evolutionary study of K. sibirica. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers a fresh produce supply chain in which a retailer sources alternative produce from two competing suppliers. The suppliers make efforts to preserve product freshness, while the retailer, with demand forecast information, can share it with none, one or both of the suppliers strategically. By constructing a multistage game model, the optimal demand information sharing strategy in the supply chain is explored. The results show that the retailer has the willingness to disclose demand information only when the freshness elasticity is high. Significantly, with the improvement of the freshness elasticity, the retailer will transform from sharing information with both suppliers to one supplier. The suppliers are always willing to accept the information disclosed by the retailer. However, complete transparency of demand information may hurt the supply chain under certain conditions. To improve the supply chain performance, the retailer can charge both suppliers for information fees and adjust from sharing information with no suppliers to both suppliers with a relatively low freshness elasticity. Conversely, the retailer can change from sharing information with both suppliers to sharing information with one supplier through a charging contract with a relatively high freshness elasticity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study provides a detailed analysis of the chloroplast genome of Microula sikkimensis. The genome consisted of a total of 149,428 bp and four distinct regions, including a large single-copy region (81,329 bp), a small single-copy region (17,261 bp), and an inverted repeat region (25,419 bp). The genome contained 112 genes, including 78 protein-coding genes, 30 tRNA genes, and 4 rRNA genes, and some exhibited duplication in the inverted repeat region. The chloroplast genome displayed different GC content across regions, with the inverted repeat region exhibiting the highest. Codon usage analysis and the identification of simple sequence repeats (SSRs) offer valuable genetic markers. Comparative analysis with other Boraginaceae species highlighted conservation and diversity in coding and noncoding regions. Phylogenetic analysis placed M. sikkimensis within the Boraginaceae family, revealing its distinct relationship with specific species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new method to realize full-pipelined SHA256 based on data storage is proposed. For the full-pipelined SHA256, only A and E need to be calculated each time when the status registers of the data compressor are updated, while B-D and F-H can be obtained directly from A-C and E-G of the previous round. Since A and E will no longer be used after they have been transmitted forward for four stages, the life cycles of each stage′s A and E are both 4 clock cycles. For the traditional pipeline structure, all status registers which are used to store A-H will be updated at the same time, which hence introduce a large dynamic power. Therefore, in order to reduce the numbers of registers, and then reduce the dynamic power of registers, this paper proposes a storage scheme, which uses latches to store each stage′s A and E. When the latter stage needs to use A and E of previous stage, it selects A and E stored in the latches of previous stages using MUXs. Therefore, only the values of two sets of latches(A and E) will update per stage, which can reduce the dynamic power consumption of the circuit. In the proposed scheme, latch is used instead of flip-flop as a storage unit, and data is selected by using MUXs which are composed of transfer gates. The proposed scheme is realized and verified using a 28 nm process, the simulation results show that when compared with traditional structure, the power consumption of the pipelined SHA256 using data storage scheme is reduced by about 27.5%, and the area is reduced by about 49.2%.