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Driver distraction is a major contributor to road vehicle crashes, and visual distraction caused by using in-vehicle infotainment systems (IVIS) degrades driving performance and increases crash risk. Air gesture interfaces have been developed to mitigate driver distraction, and using auditory displays showed a decrease in off-road glances and an improved perceived workload. However, the potential of auditory display was not fully investigated. The present paper presents directional research in the design of auditory displays for air-gesture IVIS through a dual-task experiment of driving a simulator and air-gesture menu navigation. Twenty-four participants utilized the in-vehicle air gesture interfaces while driving with four auditory display conditions (text-to-speech, 70% compressed spearcons, 40% compressed spearcson, and no sound). The results showed that 70% spearcon reduced visual distraction and increased menu navigation accuracy but with increased navigation time. 70% spearcon was most preferred by the participants. Driving performance or workload did not show any difference among the conditions. Implications are discussed with the design guidelines for future implementations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hypoxia is a key trigger in the transformation of oral leukoplakia into oral cancer. However, it is still too early to determine the role of hypoxia in the development of oral leukoplakia. Prx1, an antioxidant protein, upregulated by hypoxia, regulates cellular autophagy in leukoplakia. This study aimed to understand the mechanisms by which hypoxia induces Prx1 expression during autophagy in oral leukoplakia. We used an experimental model of tongue epithelial hyperplasia induced by 4-nitroquinoline-1-oxide (4NQO) and dysplastic oral keratinocytes. Prx1 knockdown DOK cells, Leuk-1 cells and control cells were harvested, and cell proliferation was assayed using the Cell Counting Kit-8. Several hypoxia and autophagy-related proteins were examined using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence, and western blotting in cells and mouse tongue tissues. In addition, the ultrastructure of the cells was observed by transmission electron microscopy. Hypoxia induces cell proliferation, autophagic vesicles and the expression of Prx1, BNIP3, LC3II/I and Beclin-1 in DOK and Leuk-1 cells. However, these effects were all attenuated by Prx1 knockdown. Histologically, 4NQO induced epithelial hyperplasia in the tongue mucosa. The expression of proliferation marker PCNA, autophagy-related proteins LC3B and Beclin-1, as well as HIF-1α/BNIP3 was significantly lower in the tongue tissues of Prx1flox/flox:Cre+ mice compared with Prx1flox/flox mice. In Prx1flox/flox:Cre+ mice, an increased expression of HIF-1α/BNIP3, LC3B and Beclin-1 was detected in epithelial hyperplasia tongue tissues compared to normal tissues. The current study suggests that Prx1 may promotes cell proliferation and autophagy in oral leukoplakia cells via the HIF-1α/BNIP3 pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural killer cells (NK) are the "professional killer" of tumors and play a crucial role in anti-tumor immunotherapy. NK cell desensitization is a key mechanism of tumor immune escape. Dysregulated NKG2D-NKG2DL signaling is a primary driver of this desensitization process. However, the factors that regulate NK cell desensitization remain largely uncharacterized. Here, we present the first report that circular RNA circARAP2 (hsa_circ_0069396) is involved in the soluble MICA (sMICA)-induced NKG2D endocytosis in the NK cell desensitization model. CircARAP2 was upregulated during NK cell desensitization and the loss of circARAP2 alleviated NKG2D endocytosis and NK cell desensitization. Using Chromatin isolation by RNA purification (ChIRP) and RNA pull-down approaches, we identified that RAB5A, a molecular marker of early endosomes, was its downstream target. Notably, transcription factor CTCF was an intermediate functional partner of circARAP2. Mechanistically, we discovered that circARAP2 interacted with CTCF and inhibited the recruitment of CTCF-Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2) to the promoter region of RAB5A, thereby erasing histone H3K27 and H3K9 methylation suppression to enhance RAB5A transcription. These data demonstrate that inhibition of circARAP2 effectively alleviates sMICA-induced NKG2D endocytosis and NK cell desensitization, providing a novel target for therapeutic intervention in tumor immune evasion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a pure zinc sample was prepared by extrusion at room temperature and its microstructure evolution during tensile testing was studied by electron back-scattering diffraction (EBSD). The average grain size of the extruded zinc is 13.8 μm. Extruded pure zinc exhibited excellent ductility (60.4 ± 3.1%). The stress of the extruded pure zinc sample increased first and decreased when the strain was more than 20%, the ultimate tensile strength is 154 ± 1.4 MPa. EBSD results showed that dislocation slip was the main deformation mechanism when the strain was less than 15%, followed by dynamic recrystallization (DRX) and grain growth. The high strength and plasticity of pure zinc are due to grain refinement and DRX. These findings are expected to provide an important new pathway for designing and highly developing strength and plastic zinc products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) with large specific surface areas, high porosity, good stability, and designable structure are promising carriers for immobilized enzymes. It is important to explore lipase inhibitors from natural foods as lipase inhibitors are closely related to the treatment of obesity. In this work, a carboxyl functionalized covalent organic framework (TpBD-3COOH) was prepared by solvothermal method for covalent immobilization of porcine pancreatic lipase (PPL) and obtained the enzyme-decorated COF (PPL@COF). The immobilized lipase showed wider pH and temperature tolerance with the same optimal pH and temperature of 7.5 and 50 ℃ compared to free lipase. After 6 successive reuses, the PPL@COF maintained 53.0% of its original activity. Immobilized lipase also displayed enhanced storage stability (55.4% after 14 days at 4 ℃). When p-nitrophenyl acetate was applied as the substrate, the calculated Michaelis constant was 3.57 mM and the half maximal inhibitory concentration of orlistat was 3.20 μM. Finally, the PPL@COF was used for enzyme inhibitors screening from natural foods combined with UV spectrophotometry, and Hawthorn was screened for excellent lipase inhibitory activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Breast cancer, a high-incidence cancer among female, occupies a large incidence of total female patients with cancer. Pathological examination is the gold standard for breast cancer in clinic diagnosis. However, accuracy and efficient diagnosis is challengeable to pathologists for the complex of breast cancer and laborious work. Introducing computer-aid diagnosis (CAD) can relieve laborious work of pathologists and improve diagnosed accuracy for breast cancer. To promote development of CAD methods, we release a large-scale and hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining dataset of breast cancer for medical image segmentation task, called the breast-cancer image segmentation 5000 (BIS5k). BIS5k contains 5929 images that are divided into training data (5000) and evaluated data (929). All images of BIS5k are collected from clinic cases which include patients with various age and cancer stages. All labels of images are annotated in pixel level for segmentation task and reviewed by pathological professors carefully. Furthermore, we construct a basic instance called breast-cancer segmentation network, BCSNet with a toolkit including comprehensive metrics to demonstrate the usage of BIS5k. Extensive experiments of BCSNet and compared methods provide that developing specific algorithm and constructing dataset are indispensable to promote CAD of pathological diagnosis for breast cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cepharanthine is a secondary metabolite isolated from Stephania. It has been reported that it has anti-conronaviruses activities including severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). Here, we assemble three Stephania genomes (S. japonica, S. yunnanensis, and S. cepharantha), propose the cepharanthine biosynthetic pathway, and assess the antiviral potential of compounds involved in the pathway. Among the three genomes, S. japonica has a near telomere-to-telomere assembly with one remaining gap, and S. cepharantha and S. yunnanensis have chromosome-level assemblies. Following by biosynthetic gene mining and metabolomics analysis, we identify seven cepharanthine analogs that have broad-spectrum anti-coronavirus activities, including SARS-CoV-2, Guangxi pangolin-CoV (GX_P2V), swine acute diarrhoea syndrome coronavirus (SADS-CoV), and porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV). We also show that two other genera, Nelumbo and Thalictrum, can produce cepharanthine analogs, and thus have the potential for antiviral compound discovery. Results generated from this study could accelerate broad-spectrum anti-coronavirus drug discovery. Cepharanthine is a secondary metabolite isolated from Stephania with a variety of medicinal properties. Here, the authors assembled three Stephania genomes, propose cepharanthine biosynthetic pathway, and assess the antiviral potential of cepharanthine-related metabolites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ovarian mesenchymal cells (oMCs) constitute a distinct microenvironment that supports folliculogenesis under physiological conditions. Supplementation of exogenous non-ovarian mesenchymal-related cells has been reported to be an efficient approach to improve ovarian functions. However, the development and cellular and molecular characteristics of endogenous oMCs remain largely unexplored. In this study, we surveyed the single-cell transcriptomic landscape to dissect the cellular and molecular changes associated with the aging of oMCs in mice. Our results showed that the oMCs were composed of five ovarian differentiated MC (odMC) populations and one ovarian mesenchymal progenitor (oMP) cell population. These cells could differentiate into various odMCs via an oMP-derived route to construct the ovarian stroma structures. Comparative analysis revealed that ovarian aging was associated with decreased quantity of oMP cells and reduced quality of odMCs. Based on the findings of bioinformatics analysis, we designed different strategies involving supplementation with young oMCs to examine their effects on female fertility and health. Our functional investigations revealed that oMCs supplementation prior to ovarian senescence was the optimal method to improve female fertility and extend the reproductive lifespan of aged females in the long-term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) equation was solved using computational fluid dynamics to study the effect of the circulating tank wall on the hydrodynamic coefficient of an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV). Numerical results were compared with the experimental results in the circulating water tank of Harbin Engineering University. The numerical results of the model with different scale ratios under the same water in the flume were studied to investigate the effect of blockage on the hydrodynamic performance of AUV in the circulating flume model test. The results show that the hydrodynamic coefficient is stable with the scale reduction of the model. The influence of blocking effect on AUV is given by combining theoretical calculation with experiment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of the curing temperature of cement mortar on the mechanical and deformation characteristics of the full encapsulated rock bolting system was not considered in most previous studies. To reveal the temperature-dependent behavior of cement mortar and bolt-grout interface in terms of strength and deformation characteristics, extensive tests over a curing temperature range of 2–60 ℃ were carried out in this study, including uniaxial compression tests of cement mortar, direct shear tests of cement mortar under both constant normal load (CNL) and constant normal stiffness (CNS) boundary conditions, and direct shear tests of the bolt-mortar interface under CNL boundary conditions. The results showed that the uniaxial compression and shear strength of cement mortar increase with curing temperature at 2–40 ℃ and reduce slightly at 40–60 ℃. Moreover, the effect of CNS boundary conditions was discussed. Furthermore, the evolution of shear strength and dilation limit of bolt-mortar interface with curing temperature was revealed. Based on the experimental results, suggestions for supporting the design of rock bolting systems under high- or low-temperature geological environments are given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sirt6, a class III NAD+-dependent deacetylase of the sirtuin family, is a highly specific H3 deacetylase and plays important roles in regulating cellular growth and death. The induction of oxidative stress and death is the critical mechanism involved in cardiomyocyte injury and cardiac dysfunction in doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity, but the regulatory role of Sirt6 in the fate of DOX-impaired cardiomyocytes is poorly understood. In the present study, we exposed Sirt6 heterozygous (Sirt6+/−) mice and their littermates as well as cultured neonatal rat cardiomyocytes to DOX, then investigated the role of Sirt6 in mitigating oxidative stress and cardiac injury in the DOX-treated myocardium. Sirt6 partial knockout or silencing worsened cardiac damage, remodeling, and oxidative stress injury in mice or cultured cardiomyocytes with DOX challenge. Cardiomyocytes infected with adenoviral constructs encoding Sirt6 showed reversal of this DOX-induced damage. Intriguingly, Sirt6 reduced oxidative stress injury by upregulating endogenous antioxidant levels, interacted with oxidative stress-stirred p53, and acted as a co-repressor of p53 in nuclei. Sirt6 was recruited by p53 to the promoter regions of the target genes Fas and FasL and further suppressed p53 transcription activity by reducing histone acetylation. Sirt6 inhibited Fas/FasL signaling and attenuated both Fas-FADD-caspase-8 apoptotic and Fas-RIP3 necrotic pathways. These results indicate that Sirt6 protects the heart against DOX-induced cardiotoxicity by upregulating endogenous antioxidants, as well as suppressing oxidative stress and cell death signaling pathways dependent on ROS-stirred p53 transcriptional activation, thus reducing Fas–FasL-mediated apoptosis and necrosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Feature selection on a network structure can not only discover interesting variables but also mine out their intricate interactions. Regularization is often employed to ensure the sparsity and smoothness of the coefficients in logistic regression. However, currently available methods fail to embed the network connectivity in regularized penalty functions. In this paper, a connected network-regularized logistic regression (CNet-RLR) model for feature selection considering the structural connectivity in a network was proposed. Mathematically, it was a convex optimization problem constrained by inequalities reflecting network connectivity. Considering the non-differentiability of Lasso penalty, we constructed an equivalent formulation of CNet-RLR by employing auxiliary variables. An interior-point algorithm was designed to efficiently achieve the solutions. Theoretically, we proved their grouping effect and oracle property and guaranteed algorithmic convergence. In both synthetic simulation data and real-world uterine corpus endometrial carcinoma (UCEC) cancer genomics data, we validated the CNet-RLR model is efficient to identify the connected-network-structured features that can serve as diagnostic biomarkers. In the comparison study, we also proved the proposed CNet-RLR model results in better classification performance and feature interpretability than the other regularized logistic regression (RLR) alternatives and another graph embedded feature selection model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a random coupled Ginzburg–Landau equation driven by colored noise on unbounded domains is considered, in which the nonlinear term satisfies a local Lipschitz condition. It is shown that the random attractor of such a coupled Ginzburg–Landau equation is a singleton set, and the components of solutions are very close when the coupling parameter becomes large enough. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crosstalk between oocytes and surrounding somatic cells is crucial for mammalian oogenesis, but the structural mechanisms on oocytes to control female reproduction remain unknown. Here we combine endogenous-fluorescent tracing mouse models with a high-resolution live-cell imaging system to characterize oocyte-derived mushroom-like microvilli (Oo-Mvi), which mediate germ-somatic communication in mice. We perform 3D live-cell imaging to show that Oo-Mvi exhibit cellular characteristics that fit an exocrine function for signaling communication. We find that deletion of the microvilli-forming gene Radixin in oocytes leads to the loss of Oo-Mvi in ovaries, and causes a series of abnormalities in ovarian development, resulting in shortened reproductive lifespan in females. Mechanistically, we find that Oo-Mvi enrich oocyte-secreted factors and control their release, resulting in optimal selection of ovarian follicles. Taken together, our data show that the Oo-Mvi system controls the female reproductive lifespan by governing the fate of follicles. How structural features on oocytes regulate mammalian female reproduction is unclear. Here, the authors provide imaging and physiological evidence (for example on Radixin knockout) to identify oocyte-derived mushroom-like microvilli that control the female reproductive lifespan by governing the fate of follicles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using ArcGIS to analyze satellite derived PM2.5 estimates, this paper obtains the average concentration and maximum concentration of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in China's 31 provinces from 2002 to 2015. We adopt fixed effects model and spatial Durbin model to investigate the association between PM2.5 and perinatal mortality rates. The results indicate that PM2.5 has a significantly positive association with perinatal mortality rates. A 1% increase of log-transformed average concentration and maximum concentrations of PM2.5 is associated with 1.76‰ and 2.31‰ increase of perinatal mortality rates, respectively. In spatial econometrics analysis, we find PM2.5 has significant spatial autocorrelation characteristics. The concentrations of log-transformed average and maximum PM2.5 increase 1% is associated with a 2.49% increase in a 2.49‰ and 2.19‰ increase of perinatal mortality rates, respectively. The potential mechanism is that air pollution has an impact on infant weight to impact perinatal mortality rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adult stem cell identity, plasticity, and homeostasis are precisely orchestrated by lineage-restricted epigenetic and transcriptional regulatory networks. Here, by integrating super-enhancer and chromatin accessibility landscapes, we delineate core transcription regulatory circuitries (CRCs) of limbal stem/progenitor cells (LSCs) and find that RUNX1 and SMAD3 are required for maintenance of corneal epithelial identity and homeostasis. RUNX1 or SMAD3 depletion inhibits PAX6 and induces LSCs to differentiate into epidermal-like epithelial cells. RUNX1, PAX6, and SMAD3 (RPS) interact with each other and synergistically establish a CRC to govern the lineage-specific cis-regulatory atlas. Moreover, RUNX1 shapes LSC chromatin architecture via modulating H3K27ac deposition. Disturbance of RPS cooperation results in cell identity switching and dysfunction of the corneal epithelium, which is strongly linked to various human corneal diseases. Our work highlights CRC TF cooperativity for establishment of stem cell identity and lineage commitment, and provides comprehensive regulatory principles for human stratified epithelial homeostasis and pathogenesis. Corneal epithelium shares similar molecular signatures to other stratified epithelia. Here, the authors map super-enhancers and accessible chromatin in corneal epithelium, identifying a transcription regulatory circuit, including RUNX1, PAX6, and SMAD3, required for corneal epithelial identity and homeostasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we provide a compact finite-difference scheme (CFDS) of 2D time-fractional convection–diffusion equation (TF-CDE) for solving fluid dynamics problem, especially groundwater pollution. The successful predication of the pollutants concentration in groundwater will greatly benefit the protection of water resources for provide the fast and intuitive decision-makings in response to sudden water pollution events. Here, we creatively use the dimensionality reduction technology (DRT) to rewrite the original 2D problem as two equations, and we handle each one as a 1D problem. Particularly, the spatial derivative is approximated by fourth-order compact finite-difference method (CFDM) and time-fractional derivative is approximated by L 1 interpolation of Caputo fractional derivative. Based on the approximations, we obtain the CFDS with fourth-order in spatial and (2 - α) -order in temporal by adding two 1D results. In addition, the unique solvability, unconditional stability, and convergence order O (τ 2 - α + h 1 4 + h 2 4) of the proposed scheme are studied. Finally, several numerical examples are carried out to support the theoretical results and demonstrate the effectiveness of the CFDS based DRT strategy. Obviously, the method developed in 2D TF-CDE of groundwater pollution problem can be easily extended for the other complex problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improvement of the food value of rice straw is urgently required in rice crop growing areas to mitigate pollution caused by rice straw burning and enhance the supply of high-quality forages for ruminants. The aims of the present study were to compare the effects of fresh corn Stover and rice straw co-fermented with probiotics and enzymes on rumen fermentation and establish the feasibility of increasing the rice straw content in ruminant diets and, by extension, reducing air pollution caused by burning rice straw. Twenty Simmental hybrid beef cattle were randomly allotted to two groups with ten cattle per group. They were fed diets based either on rice straw co-fermented with probiotics and enzymes or fresh corn Stover for 90 days. Rumen fluid was sampled with an esophageal tube vacuum pump device from each animal on the mornings of days 30, 60, and 90. Bacterial diversity was evaluated by sequencing the V4–V5 region of the 16S rRNA gene. Metabolomes were analyzed by gas chromatography/time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC–TOF/MS). Compared to cattle fed fresh corn Stover, those fed rice straw co-fermented with probiotics and enzymes had higher (P < 0.05) levels of acetic acid and propionate in rumen liquid at d 60 and d 90 respectively, higher (P < 0.05) abundances of the phyla Bacteroidetes and Fibrobacteres and the genera Ruminococcus, Saccharofermentans, Pseudobutyrivibrio, Treponema, Lachnoclostridium, and Ruminobacter, and higher (P < 0.05) concentrations of metabolites involved in metabolisms of amino acid, carbohydrate, and cofactors and vitamins. Relative to fresh corn Stover, rice straw co-fermented with probiotics and enzymes resulted in higher VFA concentrations, numbers of complex carbohydrate-decomposing and H2-utilizing bacteria, and feed energy conversion efficiency in the rumen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Detection of hypoperfused tissue due to the ischemia is considered to be important in understanding the cerebral perfusion status and may be helpful in guiding therapeutic decisions for patients with transient ischemic attack (TIA). We hypothesized that the combination of two non-invasive fMRI techniques: resting-state BOLD-fMRI time-shift analysis (TSA) approach and 3D ASL, could detect the cerebral hemodynamic status in TIA patients noninvasively. From April 2015 to June 2016, 51 TIA patients were recruited in this study. We calculated the time delay between the resting-state BOLD signal at each voxel and the whole-brain signal using TSA approach and compared the results to CBF map derived from ASL. Out of the 51 patients, 24 patients with normal arrival time and CBF were in Stage 0; 14 patients who showed delayed arrival time and normal CBF which indicated elevated CBV were in Stage I; the other 13 patients who had both delayed arrival time and decreased CBF were in Stage II, the group average spatial overlap, i.e., Dice coefficient, of the two measurements was 0.55. Four patients in Stage 0 (17.4%), three patients in Stage I (23.1%) and five patients in Stage II (45.5%) suffered ischemic stroke or TIA symptoms in 1 year after MRI scan. The patients in Stage II was at highest risk of subsequent events when compared to other two stages. The combination of resting-state BOLD-fMRI and ASL hold the potential to noninvasively identify the hemodynamic status in TIA patients and help predict the risk of subsequent events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The high hydrophilicity of hemp powder (HP) due to the phenolic hydroxyls limits their application in the preparation of Pickering emulsions (PEs). For this purpose, this study modified the surface of HP with sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and n-butyl bromide (n-BB) to tune its wettability so that it can be used as an effective emulsifier in PEs formulations. The structure and composition of modified HP were characterized by SEM, EDX, TG, DSC,FTIR and TCA. The results indicated that the phenolic hydroxyls had been partially converted to the phenolic ethers. By systemically optimized the modifiers contents and reaction time, the HP with balanced surface amphiphilicity was obtained. Long-term stable PEs with homogeneous droplets could be successfully fabricated using modified HP. Moreover, the PEs also displayed better sun-screening performance compared with the unmodified HP aqueous solutions. This finding broadened the potential applications of HP in the coatings, cosmetic and other fields.Graphical abstract: [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Identification of molecular markers is an essential step in the study of germ cells. Vasa is an RNA helicase and a well-known germ cell marker that plays a crucial role in germ cell development. Here, we identified the Vasa homolog termed Mpvasa as the first germ cell marker in black carp ( Mylopharyngodon piceus). First, a 2819-bp full-length Mpvasa complementary DNA (cDNA) was cloned by PCR using degenerated primers of conserved sequences and gene-specific primers. The Mpvasa cDNA sequence encodes a 637-amino acid protein that contains eight conserved characteristic motifs of the DEAD box protein family, and shares high identity to grass carp (81%) and zebrafish (74%) vasa homologs. Second, Mpvasa expression was restricted to the gonad in adulthood by RT-PCR and Western blot analysis. The dynamic patterns of temporal-spatial expression of Mpvasa during gametogenesis were examined by in situ hybridization, and Mpvasa transcripts were strictly detected in gonadal germ cells throughout oogenesis, predominantly in immature oocytes (stage I, II, and III oocytes). Third, Mpvasa transcripts were highly detected in unfertilized eggs and early embryos, and the signal indicated a dynamic migration of the primordial germ cells during embryogenesis, suggesting that Mpvasa transcripts were maternally inherited and specifically distributed in germ cells. Taken together, these results demonstrated that Mpvasa is an applicable molecular marker for identification of gonadal and embryonic germ cells, which facilitates the isolation and utilization of germ cells in black carp. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sheepgrass [ Leymus chinensis (Trin.) Tzvel] is a valuble forage plant highly significant to regional grassland productivity of Euro-Asia steppes. Although effects of environmental stress including drought have been studied, impact of nutrient deficiency in particular phosphate (Pi), one of the essential macronutrient, is not reported. Here, we investigated low-Pi effect on its photosynthetic apparatus via physiological and biochemical analysis. We show that PSII activity was significantly reduced based on chlorophyll fluorescence measurements. We observed decreased amount of core proteins of PSII by immunoblot analysis. Further analysis of thylakoid membranes using 2D-BN/SDS-PAGE and immunoblot detection demonstrated that the amount of PSII complexes was closely correlated with the Pi levels within the range. Together with reduced number of thylakoid grana stackings observed, we suggest that the maintenance of PSII is impaired under Pi-limited condition. Moreover, enzyme activity assays revealed that the activity of several ROS scavenger enzymes was stimulated by low-Pi treatment. Based on these experimental results we conclude that PSII is the component of photosynthetic apparatus most sensitive to Pi supply and the enhanced anti-ROS activity is mainly subjective to protection of PSII against low Pi-induced photo-oxidative stress in the organism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Samples in the pseudoternary lead-free piezoelectric ceramic system 0.94KNN-(0.06 − x)LiSbO- x(BiAg)ZrO were prepared using a solid-state reaction technique and their phase transition behavior and electrical properties studied. Results showed that BAZ diffuses into KNN-LS to form a new solid solution, and induces a phase transition from tetragonal to rhombohedral phase with increase of x. At 0.02 ≤ x ≤ 0.03, coexistence of tetragonal and rhombohedral phases is observed, and enhanced piezoelectric properties are achieved in this composition range due to the polymorphic phase transition near room temperature. Doping with (BiAg)ZrO effectively promotes densification and further enhances the piezoelectric and dielectric properties of of the ceramics. Moreover, the ceramic with x = 0.025 possesses excellent electrical properties of k = 42.3%, $${d_{33}^{*}}$$ = 320 pm/V and d = 235 pC/N, tan δ = 0.039, and T = 326°C. This result indicates that 0.94KNN-0.035LS-0.025BAZ ceramic is a promising lead-free material for practical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to solve the assembly sequence planning of a certain type of product (e.g., product is composed of different types of parts and each type has several identical parts), first of all, the rule of nomenclature for this type of product is designed. Secondly, geometric feasibility and coherence are designed as constraint conditions, and these two constrains and processability are combined with each other as the objective function. Finally, the proposed novel method under the name of immune particle swarm optimization algorithm is tested. The results show that the proposed immune particle swarm algorithm is an efficient approach to solve the assembly sequence planning problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon nanotube (CNT) is one of the most extensively investigated nanomaterials. Patterning soft matter such as liquid crystals and polymers on CNTs could potentially enable various applications for CNTs. We have demonstrated that controlled polymer crystallization using CNTs as the 1D nucleation sites can lead to periodically functionalized CNTs. Here we show that selected crystalline block copolymers can be periodically decorated along CNTs. This facile technique opens a gateway to periodic patterning on 1-D nanomaterials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Excess salts in soil severely inhibit plant growth and yield. Various nutrients can relieve the inhibitory effect of salt on plants. Elaeagnus angustifolia is a tree species that is utilized in landscaping and ecological restoration in China and shows tolerance to saline soils. In this experiment, we first determined the optimal concentration of single-nutrient inputs for promoting growth of E. angustifolia seedlings and alleviating salt stress. The optimal nitrogen (NO3−), phosphorus (PO43−), potassium (K+), and calcium (Ca2+) concentrations under salt stress were 2, 0.6, 2, and 2 mM, respectively. Based on this result, we carried out an optimum nutrient ratio experiment by a four-factor and three-level orthogonal experiment. The results showed that under normal growth conditions, the optimal nutrient combinations for NO3−, PO43−, K+, and Ca2+ were 2, 0.6, 5, and 1 mM; 5, 0.2, 5, and 2 mM; and 5, 0.6, 1, and 5 mM, respectively, which increased plant height, biomass, and the chlorophyll content of E. angustifolia seedlings. Under salt stress, the optimal nutrient combinations were 5, 0.2, 5, and 2 mM; and 5, 0.6, 1, and 5 mM, respectively. This study provides a theoretical basis for optimal fertilization of E. angustifolia seedlings in saline-alkali soils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Incentive is a common phenomenon in the process of decision management. It is important and necessary to integrate incentive requirement into the decision-making process. To this problem, the paper proposed a new family of aggregation operators, denoted the vector-based uncertain ordered density weighted averaging (V-UODWA) operators. The proposed V-UODWA operators first classify the attributes performances into different clusters by considering their development level and trend. Then, the attributes performances are aggregated by the way of local clusters. In this process, it is found the V-UODWA operator can realize the reward or punishment effect by setting appropriate decision-maker’s attitude measurement and V-UODWA weights. The main properties of the V-UODWA operator are discussed, including commutativity, idempotency, boundness, and monotonicity under conditions. The application and the primary characteristics of the V-UODWA operators are illustrated by numerical examples and comparison analysis. The main contribution of the research is that the proposed V-UODWA operators have the effect of incentive management, especially when considering the importance of the attributes, which can be used to guide the sustainable development of alternatives. In addition, the attributes performances are aggregated in the form of vectors, which can greatly improve the aggregation efficiency. The proposed V-UODWA operators have a good application prospect in the fields of incentive management and behavior guidance of organizational personnel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A fourth-order compact finite difference scheme of the two-dimensional convection-diffusion equation is proposed to solve groundwater pollution problems. A suitable scheme is constructed to simulate the law of movement of pollutants in the medium, which is spatially fourth-order accurate and temporally second-order accurate. The matrix form and solving methods for the linear system of equations are discussed. The theoretical analysis of unconditionally stable character of the scheme is verified by the Fourier amplification factor method. Numerical experiments are given to demonstrate the efficiency and accuracy of the scheme proposed, and these show excellent agreement with the exact solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some scholars caution that long-term ad libitum feeding with probiotic fermented food poses potential health risks to baby animals. We conducted a feeding experiment to investigate the influence of ad libitum feeding of pre-and post-weaned piglets with a Bacillus subtilis fermented diet on the gut microbiome, gut metabolomic profiles, bile acid metabolism, proinflammatory cytokines and faecal consistency. Compared with piglets fed a Bacillus subtilis-supplemented pellet diet, piglets fed the Bacillus subtilis fermented liquid diet had lower intestinal bacterial diversity (P > 0.05), higher intestinal fungal diversity (P > 0.05), more Firmicutes (P > 0.05), fewer Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria and Proteobacteria (P > 0.05), higher concentrations of 3-hydroxypropionic acid (P < 0.05), orotic acid (P < 0.05), interleukin-6 (P < 0.01), lactic acid (P < 0.01), deoxycholic acid (P > 0.05) and lithocholic acid (P < 0.01) and a higher incidence of diarrhoea (P > 0.05). The data show that ad libitum feeding of piglets with a Bacillus subtilis fermented liquid diet during the suckling and early post-weaning periods promotes the growth of lactic acid bacteria, bile salt hydrolase-active bacteria and 7a-dehydroxylase-active bacteria in the intestinal lumen; disturbs the normal production of lactic acid, orotic acid and unconjugated bile acids; and increases circulating interleukin-6 levels and diarrhoea incidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tensile strength of rock materials, a crucial factor for the stability of underground engineering, is much lower than its compressive strength. Moreover, the tensile strength of rock under confining pressure differs significantly from that of unconfined conditions, presenting a compelling avenue for investigation. In this work, the tensile strength of rock under confining pressure was tested using the multi-fracturing method. The effects of borehole diameter (i.e., 6, 8, 10, and 12 mm for granite) of hydraulic fracturing and rock type (i.e., granite, sandstone, and coal) on tensile strength were investigated, the evolution of tensile strength with confining pressure was elaborated, and its application in the failure criterion was elucidated. The results demonstrated that the breakdown pressure of hydraulic fracturing decreased with the borehole diameter at low confining pressure (i.e., σ3 = 2, 5 MPa), while the variation was minimal for high confining pressure (i.e., σ3 = 20, 30 MPa). Tensile strength exhibited a bulging phenomenon in response to changes in confining pressure, increasing to a bulging point and then gradually decreasing, with more pronounced changes observed in sandstone and coal. The pre-failure stress state σ1 > σ2 > σ3 at low confining pressure gradually converted toward σ1 > σ2 = σ3 at high confining pressure, contributing to the evolution of tensile strength into a bulging phenomenon. Furthermore, the tensile stress regime predicted by the Hoek–Brown criterion coincided with experimental data, with minor deviations for sandstone and granite. The researches facilitate a further understanding of the tensile properties in underground engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]