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The efficacy of saving energy standards depends on the ability to anticipate the heat loss of buildings. Environmentally friendly materials, also known as eco-friendly or sustainable materials, have a minimal negative impact on the environment throughout their life cycle. These materials are designed to conserve resources, reduce pollution, and promote sustainability. The characteristics of non-stationary and non-linear heat loss through environmentally friendly materials make it challenging to anticipate accurately. At the same time, many of the industry's presently accessible computational models have been created with this in mind; the majority call for powerful computers and time-consuming computations. The artificial neural network (ANN) has been utilized for prediction, and ground-breaking research has shown the viability of this strategy. This research proposes an artificial neural network (ANN) prototype to estimate construction cooling load usage. ANN is integrated with the vortex search algorithm (VS), stochastic fractal search (SFS), and multi-verse optimizer (MVO) models to compare the three models' outcomes and suggest a more accurate strategy. These techniques make a linear mapping among the output and input parameters, often utilized for modeling and regression. The value of the multiple determination coefficient is also determined. The values of the training R2 (coefficient of multiple determination) are 0.9464, 0.99827, and 0.99522 for VS-MLP, SFS-MLP, and MVO-MLP, respectively, with an unknown dataset which is acceptable. The training RMSE amounts for VS-MLP, SFS-MLP, and MVO-MLP are 0.06433, 0.00619, and 0.01028 for the unknown dataset, which is acceptable. According to the MAE values of 0.0082902, 0.0047834, and 0.0076534 in the training phase for VS-MLP, SFS-MLP, and MVO-MLP approaches and the values of testing MAE error of 0.029107, 0.018167, and 0.029212 for VS-MLP, SFS-MLP, and MVO-MLP approaches, respectively, it is obtained that the SFS-MLP has a lower MAE value. The lowest RMSE value and the higher R2 value indicate the favorable accuracy of the SFS-MLP technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pore-water pressure response during vibratory pile driving considerably affects the piling process and environment. With the applications of high-frequency technology in upgrading the vibratory hammer, the pore-water pressure variation under high-frequency driving conditions becomes more complicated. However, there is a lack of relevant detailed investigations. This paper conducts an in situ experiment with a comprehensive monitoring and measuring system to examine the pore-water pressure response in the complete process of high-frequency vibratory pile driving. The real-time variations of pore-water pressure at the pile-soil interface and surrounding soil are evaluated, respectively. Furthermore, the excess pore-water pressure distributions and evolutions are analyzed in-depth. Then, the mechanism analysis and affected zone range determination are performed based on the development of excess pore-water pressure. The analysis results indicate that vibratory pile driving with high frequency leads to an increase of excess pore-water pressure and consequently soil quasi-liquefaction at the pile-soil interface. The apparent accumulation of excess pore-water pressure concentrates in the local range of soil around the pile tip and decays rapidly in the radial direction. According to the field observations, the increase of the pore-water pressure in the surrounding soil is attributed to the frictional penetration of the pile tip and the frictional vibration of the pile shaft. Furthermore, the maximum radial radii of the fully and partially quasi-liquefied zones are approximately 2.9 and 3.6 times the pile diameter, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence of microhemispherical resonant gyroscopes, which integrate the advantages of exceptional stability and long lifetime with miniaturization, has afforded new possibilities for the development of whole-angle gyroscopes. However, existing methods used for manufacturing microhemispherical resonant gyroscopes based on MEMS technology face the primary drawback of intricate and costly processing. Here, we report the design, fabrication, and characterization of the first 3D-printable microhemispherical shell resonator for a Coriolis vibrating gyroscope. We remarkably achieve fabrication in just two steps bypassing the dozen or so steps required in traditional micromachining. By utilizing the intricate shaping capability and ultrahigh precision offered by projection microstereolithography, we fabricate 3D high-aspect-ratio resonant structures and controllable capacitive air gaps, both of which are extremely difficult to obtain via MEMS technology. In addition, the resonance frequency of the fabricated resonators can be tuned by electrostatic forces, and the fabricated resonators exhibit a higher quality factor in air than do typical MEMS microhemispherical resonators. This work demonstrates the feasibility of rapidly batch-manufacturing microhemispherical shell resonators, paving the way for the development of microhemispherical resonator gyroscopes for portable inertial navigation. Moreover, this particular design concept could be further applied to increase uptake of resonator tools in the MEMS community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) make vital impacts on tumor progression and are important potential targets for tumor treatment. Previous studies have shown that RBP regulator of differentiation 1 (ROD1), enriched in the nucleus, is abnormally expressed and functions as a splicing factor in tumors; however, the mechanism underlying its involvement in gastric cancer (GC) is unknown. In this study, ROD1 is found to stimulate GC cell proliferation and metastasis and is related to poor patient prognosis. In vitro experiments showed that ROD1 influences GC proliferation and metastasis through modulating the imbalance of the level of the oncogenic gene OIP5 and the tumor suppressor gene GPD1L. Further studies showed that the N6-methyladenosine (m6A) “reader” protein YTHDC1 can interact with ROD1 and regulate the balance of the expression of the downstream molecules OIP5/GPD1L by promoting the nuclear enrichment of ROD1. Therefore, YTHDC1 stimulates GC development and progression through modulating nuclear enrichment of the splicing factor ROD1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key message: A locus, dt3, modulating semideterminancy in soybean, was discovered by a combination of genome-wide association studies and linkage mapping with multiple distinct biparental populations. Stem growth habit is a key architectural trait in many plants that contributes to plant productivity and environmental adaptation. In soybean, stem growth habit is classified as indeterminate, semideterminate, or determinate, of which semideterminacy is often considered as a counterpart of the “Green Revolution” trait in cereals that significantly increased grain yields. It has been demonstrated that semideterminacy in soybean is modulated by epistatic interaction between two loci, Dt1 on chromosome 19 and Dt2 on chromosome 18, with the latter as a negative regulator of the former. Here, we report the discovery of a third locus, Dt3, modulating soybean stem growth habit, which was delineated to a ~ 196-kb region on chromosome 10 by a combination of allelic and haplotypic analysis of the Dt1 and Dt2 loci in the USDA soybean Germplasm Collection, genome-wide association studies with three subsets of the collection, and linkage mapping with four biparental populations derived from crosses between one of two elite indeterminate cultivars and each of four semideterminate varieties possessing neither Dt2 nor dt1. These four semideterminate varieties are recessive mutants (i.e., dt3/dt3) in the Dt1/Dt1;dt2/dt2 background. As the semideterminacy modulated by the Dt2 allele has unfavorable pleotropic effects such as sensitivity to drought stress, dt3 may be an ideal alternative for use to develop semideterminate cultivars that are more resilient to such an environmental stress. This study enhances our understanding of the genetic factors underlying semideterminacy and enables more accurate marker-assisted selection for stem growth habit in soybean breeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Humans can gently slide a finger on the surface of an object and identify it by capturing both static pressure and high-frequency vibrations. Although modern robots integrated with flexible sensors can precisely detect pressure, shear force, and strain, they still perform insufficiently or require multi-sensors to respond to both static and high-frequency physical stimuli during the interaction. Here, we report a real-time artificial sensory system for high-accuracy texture recognition based on a single iontronic slip-sensor, and propose a criterion—spatiotemporal resolution, to corelate the sensing performance with recognition capability. The sensor can respond to both static and dynamic stimuli (0-400 Hz) with a high spatial resolution of 15 μm in spacing and 6 μm in height, together with a high-frequency resolution of 0.02 Hz at 400 Hz, enabling high-precision discrimination of fine surface features. The sensory system integrated on a prosthetic fingertip can identify 20 different commercial textiles with a 100.0% accuracy at a fixed sliding rate and a 98.9% accuracy at random sliding rates. The sensory system is expected to help achieve subtle tactile sensation for robotics and prosthetics, and further be applied to haptic-based virtual reality and beyond. Artificial sensory systems are typically limited by their performance and response to static and dynamic stimuli. Here, Bai et al. propose an iontronic slip-sensor, which responds to both static pressure and high-frequency vibrations up to 400 Hz, achieving high spatiotemporal resolution for texture recognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study investigates the efficacy and safety of sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) with A. annua allergens in patients with seasonal allergic rhinoconjunctivitis over two pollen seasons. Methods: Seventy patients with moderate-severe seasonal allergic rhinoconjunctivitis were divided evenly into the SLIT and control groups. The SLIT last from 3 months before the summer-autumn pollen season in 2021 till the end of the summer-autumn pollen season in 2022. The daily individual symptom score, total rhinoconjunctivitis symptom score (dTRSS), total medication score (dTMS), combined score of medication and rhinoconjunctivitis symptom (dCSMRS), visual analog scale (VAS) score, and adverse events (AEs) were evaluated. Results: The average pollen concentration in 2022 was twice that previous two-year during the pollen season. Fifty-six patients completed treatments (SLIT group: 29, control group: 27). Compared with baseline, the individual symptoms, dTRSS, dTMS, dCSMRS, and VAS scores of SLIT group declined in 2021. After 16 months of SLIT, all efficacy indexes in 2022 were still lower than baseline and equivalent to those in 2021. In control group, the efficacy indexes in 2022 were higher than that in 2020 and 2021. The efficacy indexes of SLIT group were lower than those of control group in 2021 and 2022. SLIT is effective for both mono- and poly-sensitized patients. AEs incidence in SLIT group was 82.7% without severe AEs. Conclusions: The A. annua-SLIT can obtain efficacy and safety over two pollen seasons for patients with moderate-severe seasonal allergic rhinoconjunctivitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes an optimization method for finding the optimal design of a bistable mechanism with a desired performance that is robust to structural and material uncertainties. Using interval numbers to characterize the uncertainties in the structural parameters and materials, we present a nonprobabilistic multiobjective optimization model and transform it into a single objective optimization model using a penalty function. The sensitivity of the mechanical performance of bistable structures to uncertain parameters was analyzed, and the design parameters with notable effects on the bistable performance were identified as optimization variables. A neural network-based proxy model for the nonlinear characteristics of the bistable mechanism was established, and its accuracy was validated through finite element outcomes. Based on this model, a two-layer nested genetic algorithm was employed to solve the multiobjective robust optimization problem of the bistable structures with critical forces and a second stable position. The effectiveness of the optimization method was verified by comparing it with the finite element and experimental results. The proposed method was applied in the design of silicon-based inertial switches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid detection of landslides using remote sensing images plays a key role in hazard assessment and mitigation. Many deep convolutional neural network-based models have been proposed for this purpose; however, for small-scale landslide detection, excessive convolution and pooling process may cause potential texture information loss, which can lead to misclassification of landslide target. In this paper, we present a novel UNet model for the automatic detection of landslides, wherein the reversed image pyramid features (RIPFs) are adapted to mitigate the information loss caused by a succession of convolution and pooling. The proposed RIPF-Unet model is trained and validated using the open-source landslides dataset of the Bijie area, Guizhou Province, China, wherein the precision of the proposed model is observed to increase by 3.5% and 4.0%, compared to the conventional UNet and UNet + + model, respectively. The proposed RIPF-Unet model is further applied to the case of the Longtoushan region after the 2014 Ms.6.5 Ludian earthquake. Results show that the proposed model achieves a 96.63% accuracy for detecting landslides using remote sensing images. And the RIPF-Unet model is also advanced in its compact parameter size; notably, it is 31% lighter compared to the UNet + + model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hashtags are the keywords that describe the theme of social media content and have become very popular in influence marketing and trending topics. In recent years, hashtag prediction has become a hot topic in AI research to help users with automatic hashtag recommendations by capturing the theme of the post. Most of the previous work mainly focused only on textual information, but many microblog posts contain not only text but also the corresponding images. This work explores both image-text features of the microblog post. Inspired by the self-attention mechanism of the transformer in natural language processing, the visual-linguistics pre-train model with transfer learning also outperforms many downstream tasks that require image and text inputs. However, most of the existing models for multimodal hashtag recommendation are based on the traditional co-attention mechanism. This paper investigates the cross-modality transformer LXMERT for multimodal hashtag prediction for developing LXMERT4Hashtag, a cross-modality representation learning transformer model for hashtag prediction. It is a large-scale transformer model that consists of three encoders: a language encoder, an object encoder, and a cross-modality encoder. We evaluate the presented approach on dataset InstaNY100K. Experimental results show that our model is competitive and achieves impressive results, including precision of 50.5% vs 46.12%, recall of 44.02% vs 38.93%, and F1-score of 47.04% vs 42.22% compared to the existing state-of-the-art baseline model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Creeping fat is a typical feature of Crohn's disease. It refers to the expansion of mesenteric adipose tissue around inflamed and fibrotic intestines and is associated with stricture formation and intestinal obstruction. In this study, we characterize creeping fat as pro-adipogenic and pro-fibrotic. Lipidomics analysis of Crohn's disease patients (sixteen males, six females) and healthy controls (five males, ten females) reveals abnormal lipid metabolism in creeping fat. Through scRNA-seq analysis on mesenteric adipose tissue from patients (five males, one female) and healthy controls (two females), we identify a CCL2+DPP4+ subset of mesenchymal stem cells that expands in creeping fat and expedites adipogenic differentiation into dystrophic adipocytes in response to CCL20+CD14+ monocytes and IL-6, leading to the formation of creeping fat. Ex vivo experiments (tissues from five males, one female) confirm that both CCL20+CD14+ monocytes and IL-6 activate DPP4+ mesenchymal stem cells towards a pro-adipogenic phenotype. This study provides a comprehensive investigation of creeping fat formation and offers a conceptual framework for discovering therapeutic targets for treatment of Crohn's disease. Extra-intestinal "creeping fat" is a hallmark of Crohn's disease. Here, using single-cell transcriptomics and lipid metabolomics, the authors identify a subset of mesenchymal stem cells that promote adipogenesis in creeping fat formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Deep neural networks (DNNs) are vulnerable to being attacked by adversarial examples, leading to DNN misclassification. Perturbations in adversarial examples usually exist in the form of noise. In this paper, we proposed a lightweight joint contrastive learning and frequency domain denoising network (CFNet), which can effectively remove adversarial perturbations from adversarial examples. First, CFNet separates the channels of the features obtained by the multilayer convolution of the adversarial examples, and the separated feature maps are used to calculate the similarity with the high- and low-frequency feature maps obtained by Gaussian low-pass filtering of the clean examples. Second, by adjusting the network's attention to high-frequency feature images, CFNet can effectively remove the perturbations in adversarial examples and obtain reconstructed examples with high visual quality. Finally, to further improve the robustness of CFNet, contrastive regularization is proposed to bring the reconstructed examples back to the manifold decision boundary of clean examples, thus improving the classification accuracy of reconstructed examples. On the CIFAR-10 dataset, compared with the existing state-of-the-art defense model, the defense accuracy of CFNet is improved by 16.93% and 5.67% under untargeted and targeted projected gradient descent attacks, respectively. The AutoAttack untargeted attack defense accuracy increased by 30.81%. Experiments show that our approach provides better protection than existing state-of-the-art approaches, especially against unseen (untrained) types of attacks and adaptive attacks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies revealed that NOP2/Sun RNA methyltransferase 5 (NSUN5) - ferritin heavy chain (FTH1) pathway is associated with ferroptosis in stem cells, whereas its roles in gastric cancer are still unclear. Our study aims to investigate the roles of the NSUN5-FTH1 axis in gastric cancer (GC) and its molecular mechanisms. Stable cell lines were constructed on SGC7901 cells by using shRNAs and pcDNA3.1 expression vectors, respectively. CCK-8 kits were used to determine cell viability. Biochemicals assays were used to detect lipid reactive oxygen species (ROS) and intracellular Fe2+ levels. RNA immunoprecipitation assay, qPCR, and Western blotting were used to determine the changes in biomarkers. GC xenograft mouse model was established to confirm the observation in vivo. An elevation of NSUN5 was observed in GC tumor tissues. NSUN5 inhibited ferroptosis including decreasing cell viability and increasing levels of lipid ROS and Fe2+ in GC cells. Besides, a positive correlation was also observed between NSUN5 and FTH1. Interestingly, NSUN5 regulated the levels of FTH1, instead of FTH1 regulating NSUN5 in GC cells. NSUN5-FTH1 axis regulated erastin-induced ferroptosis in SGC7901 cells. Consistently, silencing NSUN5 or FTH1 inhibited the growth of the SGC7901 tumor in vivo. NSUN5-FTH1 axis promoted the growth of GC cells in part by the regulation of ferroptosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Landslide susceptibility assessment (LSA) is an essential method to prevent and mitigate landslides. Many studies thus involve the LSA and improve the accuracy of LSA using various methods; however, most of the studies optimize the LSA by improving the evaluation models and neglect the influence of factors. The present study initially selects fifteen factors and combines the optimization algorithms, namely, the genetic algorithm (GA), with entropy theory (ET) to divide the factors. The division results are compared with that of the natural breakpoint method (NBM) and equidistant empirical method (EEM) which are the most commonly used methods. The division results are employed to select factors based on the chi-square test and multicollinearity test, and the optimal number of factors involved in the evaluation and the factor systems are determined by the recursive feature elimination method based on the out-of-bag error. The LSAs of ET-GA, NBM, and EEM are then obtained using improved deep belief networks (DBN), and the distribution patterns of the landslide susceptibility maps are similar. The landslide density of very high susceptibility using the three methods is more than three times that of low susceptibility, which illustrates that the three methods are applicable to LSA in the study area. The assessment results are evaluated by the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). The ET-GA showed the highest AUC, proving that the optimization algorithms can improve the accuracy of LSA and the ET-GA is more applicable for LSA in the study area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we generalize the notions of quermassintegrals, harmonic quermassintegrals, and affine quermassintegrals to -quermassintegrals so that the cases of -quermassintegrals are quermassintegrals, harmonic quermassintegrals, and affine quermassintegrals, respectively. Further, we obtain some inequalities associated with -quermassintegrals, including Brunn–Minkowski-type inequalities, a monotonic inequality, and a Bourgain–Milman-type inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brevilin A (BA) is the primary component of Centipeda minima, which is widely used in Chinese traditional medicine. The anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor properties of BA have been established; however, its function in bone metabolism is not well understood. This study revealed that concentrations of BA below 1.0 µM did not inhibit the proliferation of bone marrow macrophages but did impede the differentiation and bone resorption activity of osteoclasts. Furthermore, BA suppressed the expression of osteoclast-specific genes Mmp9, Acp5, Dc-stamp, Ctsk, and Atp6v0d2. In addition, mTOR, ERK, and NFATc1 activation in bone marrow macrophages were suppressed by BA. As a whole, BA blocks the mTOR and ERK signaling pathways, which is responsible for the development and activity of osteoclasts, and the resorption of bone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Few studies have examined the link between short-term exposure to air pollutants and atrial fibrillation (AF) episodes. This study aims to examine the association of hourly criteria air pollutants with AF episodes. We employ a smart device-based photoplethysmography technology to screen AF from 2018 to 2021. Hourly concentrations of six criteria air pollutants are matched to the onset hour of AF for each participant. We adopt a time-stratified case-crossover design to capture the acute effects of air pollutants on AF episodes, using conditional logistic regression models. Subgroup analyses are conducted by age, gender, and season. A total of 11,906 episodes of AF are identified in 2976 participants from 288 Chinese cities. Generally, the strongest associations of air pollutants are present at lag 18–24 h, with positive and linear exposure-response relationships. For an interquartile range increase in inhalable particles, fine particles, nitrogen dioxide, and carbon monoxide, the odds ratio (OR) of AF is 1.19 [95% confidential interval (CI): 1.03, 1.37], 1.38 (95%CI: 1.14, 1.67), 1.60 (95%CI: 1.16, 2.20) and 1.48 (95%CI: 1.19, 1.84), respectively. The estimates are robust to the adjustment of co-pollutants, and they are larger in females, older people, and in cold seasons. There are insignificant associations for sulfur dioxide and ozone. This nationwide case-crossover study demonstrates robust evidence of significant associations between hourly exposure to air pollutants and the onset of AF episodes, which underscores the importance of ongoing efforts to further improve air quality as an effective target for AF prevention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assisted reproductive technologies (ART), including in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer (IVF-ET) and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), are known to contribute a higher risk of birth defects; however, studies have rarely evaluated the association between IVF-ET and diagnostic hearing loss (HL). This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of and risk factors for HL and to clarify the association between IVF-ET and HL among twinborn infants. We enrolled 1860 live-born twin neonates born at a hospital in China from January 2017 to December 2020. After multi-step hearing screening, participants were diagnosed with HL by pediatric audiologists at 6 months of age. The prevalence of hearing loss and the adjusted odds ratios (AORs) for specific risk factors were estimated using generalized estimation equation (GEE) models in twin-born infants. Characteristics and prevalence of failure for hearing screening and HL were measured in IVF-ET twin infants. IVF-ET conception and preterm birth conferred a higher risk of hearing loss, with increased adjusted odds ratios (AOR [95% confidence intervals (CI)] IVF-ET: 2.82 [1.17–6.80], P = 0.021; preterm birth: 6.14 [2.30–16.40], P < 0.001) than the control group, respectively. Among the 1860 twin infants, more IVF-ET twins failed in dual-step hearing screening (3.26%) and were diagnosed with hearing loss (2.21%) than those conceived by spontaneous pregnancy. Conclusion: IVF-ET conception and premature birth were associated with a higher risk of hearing impairment. Twin infants conceived by IVF-ET tended to fail in hearing screening and be diagnosed with hearing loss. These observations provide a more comprehensive approach for the prevention and management of deafness in twin-born children. What is Known: • IVF-ET technologies conferred a higher risk of birth defects. What is New: • Premature birth and IVF-ET conception were associated with a higher risk of hearing loss among twin infants. • Twin infants conceived by IVF-ET tended to fail in hearing screening and diagnosed with hearing loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most studies on the short-term local benefits of carbon mitigation technologies on air quality improvement and health focus on specific technologies such as biofuels or carbon sequestration technologies, while ignoring the overall role of the growing scale of low-carbon technologies. Based on STIRPAT model and EKC hypothesis, this paper takes 30 provinces in China from 2004 to 2016 as research samples. We builded the panel double fixed effect model to empirical analysis of climate change on carbon mitigation tech-innovation suppressing the influence of haze pollution, on this basis, the mediating effect model was used to explore the mediation function of industrial structure and energy structure. Meanwhile, we drawed on the existing studies on air quality and health benefits, and quantify the co-benefits of carbon mitigation tech-innovation on health through the equivalent substitution formula. It shows that a 1% increase in the number of low-carbon patent applications can reduce haze pollution by 0.066%. According to this estimate, to 2029, China's carbon mitigation tech-innovation could reduce PM2.5 concentration to 15 μg/m3 preventing 5.597 million premature deaths. Moreover, carbon mitigation tech-innovation can also indirectly inhibit haze pollution by triggering more systematic economic structure changes such as energy and industrial structure. Additionally, we found that the role of gray tech-innovation (GT) related to improving the efficiency of fossil energy is stronger than that of clean technology (CT) related to the use of renewable energy. This suggests that for a large economy such as China, where coal is still the dominant source of energy consumption, the short-term local benefits of improving air quality and health through the use of gray tech-innovation to improve energy and industrial structure are still important to balance the cost of carbon mitigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounts for more than 85% of all lung cancer cases, and chemotherapy-related brain changes (known as "chemobrain") in NSCLC patients were found in previous studies. However, the effects of platinum-based chemotherapy on brain structural networks are still unclear. Structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI) data were collected from 32 NSCLC patients following platinum-based chemotherapy, 36 NSCLC patients without chemotherapy, and 39 healthy controls. Clinical physiological indicators of patients were collected. Then, morphological similarity networks were constructed using MRI data, and topological properties were calculated using graph theory method. Differences between three groups were investigated using one-way ANOVA and two-sample t-test, and relations between topological properties and clinical physiological indicators were calculated. We found that degree and nodal efficiency in temporal-parietal networks were significantly reduced in NSCLC patients following platinum-based chemotherapy compared to healthy controls/patients without chemotherapy (F-test, p < 0.001; post hoc t-test, p < 0.01, Bonferroni corrected). These changes (p < 0.05) were positively correlated with clinical measures, including thrombocytes, granulocytes and hemoglobin, and were negatively correlated with measures of triglycerides and cholesterol levels. Network properties including clustering coefficient (F(2,104) = 41.435, p < 0.001), number of K-edges (F(2,104) = 40.304, p < 0.001), density of K-edges (F(2,104) = 40.304, p < 0.001), global efficiency (F(2,104) = 42.585, p < 0.001) and small-world (F(2,104) = 37.132, p < 0.001) were also significantly reduced (post hoc t-test, p < 0.01, Bonferroni corrected). These results indicate that platinum-based chemotherapy might cause cerebrovascular damage and clinical indicators' changes, which then cause the properties of morphological similarity networks' changes in the temporal and parietal lobes. This study may help us better understand the "chemobrain" in NSCLC patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, an engineering practical method is put forward to characterize the static and dynamic mapping relationship between soil deformation and its induced system performance. The main novelty lies in the achievement of mapping relationship analysis subject to arbitrary soil deformation-induced vehicle–track–soil (VTS) static geometric deformation and dynamic behavior. In this practical model, the increment and iteration methods are introduced and integrated into the static mapping analysis to solve the nonlinear interlayered contact and separation, and subsequently, to achieve dynamic mapping analysis under a VTS dynamics framework, besides, the Wavelet transform is applied to obtain the more distinct observation signal in the time domain. Apart from the discussion on the time domain, the analysis on the frequency domain is implemented in the numerical studies to further illustrate the influence of soil additional deformation from the dynamic mapping perspective. Moreover, the difference between the dynamic responses of the unit base plate and longitudinal connected base plate subject to different combination of wavelength and amplitude of soil deformation is analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Plants-microbial technology has been regarded as a popular and applied new technique for the remediation of cadmium (Cd) polluted soils. Methods: Therefore, a pot experiment was conducted to explore the effect of Serendipita indica (S. indica) on soybean growth and the soil enzyme activities, pH and Cd chemical fractions in the soil in 0, 3, 6, and 9 mg·kg−1 Cd concentrations. Results: Results reflected that compared to uninoculated treatment, S. indica inoculation can still enhance the dry weight (66.57%) and shoot length (90.35%) and promote the net photosynthesis rate (72.18%), transpiration ratio (80.73%), and stomatal conductance (119.05%) of soybean under 9 mg·kg−1 Cd stress. Furthermore, the soil pH, phosphatase (116.39%), and catalase (4.17%) activities in the S. indica treatments were increased under 3 mg·kg−1 Cd concentration. Meanwhile, S. indica could shift Cd from exchangeable fraction to other stable fractions, primarily decreased Cd contamination degree/risk in 6 mg·kg−1 Cd concentration. Conclusions: This work suggested that S. indica may be a potential biotechnology for low Cd-contaminated farmland, S. indica can not only alleviate Cd phytotoxicity and promote plant growth but also improve soil quality in Cd-contaminated soils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although arsenic trioxide (ATO) is used in the treatment of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in clinical trials, it is not satisfactory in terms of improving HCC patients' overall survival. Intratumoral hypoxia and overexpression of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) may result in ATO resistance and tumor progression. Aims: We investigated the mechanisms involving HIF-1α expression and acquired ATO chemoresistance in HCC cells and mice. Methods: The therapeutic effects of ATO in normoxic and hypoxic HCC cells were assessed using cell viability and apoptosis assays in vitro and a xenograft model in vivo. mRNA and protein expression of HIF-1α, P-glycoprotein, and VEGF were measured by qRT-PCR and western blotting. HIF-1α inhibition was performed to investigate the mechanism of ATO resistance. VEGF secretion was tested using ELISA and tube formation assays. Results: Compared to normoxic cells, hypoxic HCC cells were more resistant to ATO, with higher IC50 values and less apoptosis, and upregulated HIF-1α protein expression, accompanied with the enhancement of P-glycoprotein and VEGF synthesis after ATO treatment. VEGF secretion was elevated in the supernatant of ATO-treated HCC cells, and this change can potentiate angiogenesis in vitro. HIF-1α inhibition attenuated ATO resistance and angiogenesis and promoted the anticancer effects of ATO both in vitro and in vivo by downregulating therapy-induced P-glycoprotein and VEGF overexpression. Conclusions: Hypoxic HCC cells acquire ATO resistance by upregulating HIF-1α levels; thus, combining ATO with a HIF-1α-targeting agent may lead to enhanced antitumor effects in HCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The notion of (p, q)-mixed volume was introduced by Lutwak, Yang and Zhang. In this paper, associated with the (p, q)-mixed volume, we prove a modification of the log-Minkowski inequality which is a unification form of the log-Minkowski inequality and the dual log-Minkowski inequality. As the application, we establish the (p, q)-mixed affine isoperimetric inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A magnetosome-producing bacterium Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans BYM (At. ferrooxidans BYM) was isolated and magnetically screened. The magnetosome yield from 0.5896 to 13.1291 mg/g was achieved under different aeration rates, ferrous sulfate, ammonium sulfate, and gluconic acid concentrations at 30 ℃. TEM observed 6–9 magnetosomes in size of 20–80 nm irregularly dispersed in a cell. STEM-EDXS and HRTEM-FFT implied that the elongated-prismatic magnetite magnetosomes with {110} crystal faces grown along the [111] direction. Whole-genome sequencing and annotation of BYM showed that 3.2 Mb chromosome and 47.11 kb plasmid coexisted, and 322 genes associated with iron metabolism were discovered. Ten genes shared high similarity with magnetosome genes were predicted, providing sufficient evidence for the magnetosome-producing potential of BYM. Accordingly, we first proposed a hypothetic model of magnetosome formation including vesicle formation, iron uptake and mineralization, and magnetite crystal maturation in At. ferrooxidans. These indicated that At. ferrooxidans BYM would be used as a commercial magnetosome-producing microorganism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Magnetotactic bacteria (MTB) distribute widely in sediment habitats and play critical roles in iron cycling. Here, the vertical distribution of morphology and phylogenetic diversity of MTB in sediments (0–15 cm) of three lakes (open waterbody, Bailonghu, BL; semi-enclosed waterbody, Yaoquanhu, YQ; enclosed waterbody, Yueyapao, YY) in Wudalianchi volcanic field (China) were investigated. TEM showed the appearance of coccoid, rod-shaped, oval-shaped, and arc-shaped MTB. With the increase of BL sediment depth, the number of rod-shaped and spherical MTB decreased and increased, respectively. High-throughput sequencing indicated that Alphaproteobacterial MTB dominantly thrived in these lakes regardless of waterbody types. In BL and YY, the dominant genus was Magnetospirillum (44.99–70.80%) which showed a peak in the middle layer. In YQ, the genus Magnetospira was dominant in the upper (52.36%) and middle (66.56%) layer and Magnetococcus (69.63%) existed dominantly in the bottom layer. The vertical distribution of MTB in sediments of these lakes decreased first and then increased. Functional analysis showed that ABC transporter and two-component system of MTB changed significantly with the sediment depth. RDA indicated that the distribution of Magnetospirillum was positively associated with sulfide, pH, and TC. These findings will expand our knowledge of the vertical distribution of MTB in volcanic lakes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new bibenzyl together with four known compounds were isolated from the medicinal plant Dendrobium huoshanense. The chemical structures of all the compounds were determined by spectroscopic methods, including 1D and 2D NMR, as well as HR-ESI-MS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Being one of the most common wood in furniture and decoration, Fraxinus mandshurica Rupr. (F. mandshurica) is a frequently used material for wood products. However, the resulting odor problem has not yet been solved so far. Thus, this study focused on exploring odor-active compounds and investigating the effect of environmental conditions on emission and odor attributes. F. mandshurica was studied via TD–GC–MS/O combined with microchamber. Totally, 15 kinds of key odor-active compounds were detected from F. mandshurica. The main odorous components were found to be aromatics, aldehydes and ketones, esters, alcohols and acids. Six kinds of attributes played a key role in the overall odor character of F. mandshurica. Fragrant was the predominant odor impressions, followed by vinegar and antiseptic solution. The proportion of the odor-active compounds concentration to total concentration decreased with an increase in the temperature and relative humidity, while the ratio of air exchange rate to the loading factor had little effect on this. The total concentration of F. mandshurica increased as the temperature and relative humidity increased, but these decreased as the ratio of air exchange rate to the loading factor increased, while the total odor intensity reduced with the rise in the ratio of air exchange rate to the loading factor. Time was found to be the most effective factor for eliminating emissions. Considering the environmental conditions in this study, 40 °C, 60% relative humidity and a 1.0 m3·m−2 h−1 ratio of air exchange rate to loading factor are recommended to accelerate the emission of F. mandshurica. The optimum condition was found to be higher temperature, higher relative humidity and higher ratio of air exchange rate to loading factor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lutwak, Yang and Zhang established the L p -Busemann–Petty centroid inequality. In this paper, we give a quermassintegral form of this inequality for convex bodies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key message: A major quantitative trait locus (QTL) modulating soybean (Glycine max) branch angle was identified by linkage analysis using two bi-parental mapping populations with and without pedigree from wild soybean (Glycine soja). Soybean branch angle is a critical architectural trait that affects many other traits of agronomic importance associated with the plant's productivity and grain yield and is thus a vital consideration in soybean breeding. However, the genetic basis for modulating this important trait in soybean and many other crops remain unknown. Previously, we developed a recombinant inbred line (RIL) population derived from a cross between a domesticated soybean (Glycine max) variety, Williams 82, and a wild soybean (Glycine soja) accession, PI 479,752, and observed drastic variation in plant architecture including branch angle among individual RILs. In this study, one of the RILs possessing extremely wide branch angle (WBA) was crossed with an elite soybean cultivar (LD00-3309) possessing narrow branch angle (NBA) to produce an F2 population composed of 147 plants and F2-derived F3 families for inheritance analysis and QTL mapping. We found that branch angle is controlled by a major QTL located on chromosome 19, designated qGmBa1 and that WBA—derived from the wild soybean accession—is dominant over NBA. This locus was also detected as a major one underlying branch angle by QTL mapping using a subset of the soybean nested association mapping (SoyNAM) population composed of 140 RILs, which were derived from a cross between a landrace, PI 437169B, possessing WBA and an elite variety, IA3023, possessing NBA. Molecular markers located in the QTL region defined by both mapping populations can be used for marker-assisted selection of branch angle in soybean breeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well known that the iterative adaptive approach (IAA) is an effective direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation method for large aperture array, high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and large source separation. However, its derivation is obtained by minimizing a weighted least square cost function without considering the sparsity of solution, it cannot work properly in low SNR, small aperture array and small source separation scenarios. In this paper, to address this problem, the weighted ℓ 2 -norm based IAA, namely as WIAA, is proposed to provide accurate DOA utilizing acoustic vector sensor array (AVSA). First, to improve the sparsity of solution for IAA, the auxiliary cost function with respect to the signal, which is penalized by the ℓ 2 -norm with a user parameter, is reconstructed based on the spatial sparsity of signal. Then, to obtain an analytical solution, the Majorization-minimization algorithm is used to turn the penalty term with a user parameter into a weighted ℓ 2 -norm one. Finally, the sparse solution is quantified by the Frobenius norm properties. Several simulation and experimental results verify the superiority of the WIAA method compared to some other existing algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study numerically simulates the kinematic behavior of Qinglong landslide before the construction of National Highway 60 in Guizhou and the interaction between the landslide and anti-slide piles after construction using discontinuous deformation analysis (DDA). Due to the excessive workload in simulating a creeping landslide with a slower deformation, the original DDA method which is usually simulated in seconds may not apply to creeping landslide in the present study. Therefore, DDA is improved to apply to landslides with a creep deformation by optimizing the time-related parameters and improving the dynamic simulation analysis. Previous studies predicted the behavior of landslides and the anti-sliding performance of the anti-slide facility using the field investigation and real-time monitoring data which is more accurate but needs substantial costs. To consider the characteristics of landslides, the dynamic simulation of the landslide formation and prevention involves three issues, namely, (i) the movement of the landslide, (ii) the anti-sliding performance of anti-slide piles, and (iii) the stress and strain of the piles, which can be analyzed using DDA. The simulation results coincide well with the preliminarily observed failure modes, and it indicates that the improved DDA can intuitively reproduce the creep deformation process of landslides and the anti-sliding performance of piles. Meanwhile, the stress analysis in DDA can provide a reference for the safety design of anti-slide piles and highway excavation in highway engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key message: A soybean landrace carries broad-spectrum resistance to Phytophthora sojae, which is conferred by a single gene, designated Rps14, on the short arm of chromosome 3. Phytophthora sojae is the causative agent for Phytophthora root and stem rot in soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] and can be managed by deployment of resistance to P. sojae (Rps) genes. PI 340,029 is a soybean landrace carrying broad-spectrum resistance to the pathogen. Analysis of an F2 population derived from a cross between PI 340,029 and a susceptible cultivar 'Williams' reveals that the resistance to P. sojae race 1 is conferred by a single gene, designated Rps14, which was initially mapped to a 4.5-cM region on the short arm of chromosome 3 by bulked segregant analysis (BSA), and subsequently narrowed to a 1.48 cM region corresponding to 229-kb in the Williams 82 reference genome (Wm82 v2.a1), using F3:4 families derived from the F2 population. Further analysis indicates that the broad-spectrum resistance carried by PI 340,029 is fully attributable to Rps14. The genomic sequences corresponding to the defined Rps14 region from a set of diverse soybean varieties exhibit drastic NBS-LRR gene copy number variation, ranging from 3 to 17 copies. Ultimate isolation of Rps14 would be critical for precise selection and deployment of the gene for soybean protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the frequent occurrence of oil spills, the bioremediation of petroleum hydrocarbons pollution has attracted more and more attention. In this study, we investigated the biodegradation of crude oil by the biosurfactant-producing strain S-1. The strain was isolated from petroleum-contaminated soil and identified as Serratia marcescens according to partial 16S rDNA gene analysis. It was able to effectively degrade hydrocarbons with the concomitant production of biosurfactants at 20–30 °C, while there was no biosurfactant production and the degradation rate was lower at 37 °C. The biosurfactant was identified as serrawettin W1 by UPLC-ESI–MS, and was found to reduce the surface tension of water to 30 mN/m, with stable surface activity and emulsion activity at temperatures from 20 to 100 °C, pH of 2–10 and NaCl concentrations of 0–50 g/L. Serrawettin W1 significantly increased the cell surface hydrophobicity (CSH) and enhanced the bioavailability of hydrocarbon pollutants, which was conducive to the degradation of crude oil, including long-chain alkanes and aromatic hydrocarbons. Serratia marcescens S-1 has potential applications in bioremediation at low temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monitoring biophysical signals such as body or organ movements and other physical phenomena is necessary for patient rehabilitation. However, stretchable flexible pressure sensors with high sensitivity and a broad range that can meet these requirements are still lacking. Herein, we successfully monitored various vital biophysical features and implemented in-sensor dynamic deep learning for knee rehabilitation using an ultrabroad linear range and high-sensitivity stretchable iontronic pressure sensor (SIPS). We optimized the topological structure and material composition of the electrode to build a fully stretching on-skin sensor. The high sensitivity (12.43 kPa−1), ultrabroad linear sensing range (1 MPa), high pressure resolution (6.4 Pa), long-term durability (no decay after 12000 cycles), and excellent stretchability (up to 20%) allow the sensor to maintain operating stability, even in emergency cases with a high sudden impact force (near 1 MPa) applied to the sensor. As a practical demonstration, the SIPS can positively track biophysical signals such as pulse waves, muscle movements, and plantar pressure. Importantly, with the help of a neuro-inspired fully convolutional network algorithm, the SIPS can accurately predict knee joint postures for better rehabilitation after orthopedic surgery. Our SIPS has potential as a promising candidate for wearable electronics and artificial intelligent medical engineering owing to its unique high signal-to-noise ratio and ultrabroad linear range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phytophthora root and stem rot caused by P. sojae is a destructive soybean soil-borne disease found worldwide. Discovery of genes conferring broad-spectrum resistance to the pathogen is a need to prevent the outbreak of the disease. Here, we show that soybean Rps11 is a 27.7-kb nucleotide-binding site-leucine-rich repeat (NBS-LRR or NLR) gene conferring broad-spectrum resistance to the pathogen. Rps11 is located in a genomic region harboring a cluster of large NLR genes of a single origin in soybean, and is derived from rounds of unequal recombination. Such events result in promoter fusion and LRR expansion that may contribute to the broad resistance spectrum. The NLR gene cluster exhibits drastic structural diversification among phylogenetically representative varieties, including gene copy number variation ranging from five to 23 copies, and absence of allelic copies of Rps11 in any of the non-Rps11-donor varieties examined, exemplifying innovative evolution of NLR genes and NLR gene clusters. While multiple resistance-to-Phytophthora sojae loci/alleles have been mapped in soybean, many of them have become ineffective to newly evolved isolates. Here, the authors show that a 27.7-kb nucleotide-binding site-leucine-rich repeat gene confers broad-spectrum resistance to P. sojae in soybean. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Pseudogenes are defined as key regulators in cancer initiation and progression. But their biological function and clinical significance in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remain to be elucidated. In the current study, we identified a novel pseudogene, Annexin A2 pseudogene 1 (ANXA2P1), in HCC and explored its underlining molecular mechanism. Methods and Results: We analyzed the expression pattern of ANXA2P1 in a TCGA dataset and an HCC sample cohort and evaluated its clinical significance. The biological effects on HCC cells proliferation, migration, invasion and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) process were assessed by Cell Counting Kit-8 assay, Transwell assay and Western blot, respectively. The ANXA2P1/miR-376a-3p/ANXA2 axis was determined by bioinformatics analysis and dual-luciferase reporter assays. ANXA2P1 exerted as an oncogene that was significantly overexpressed in HCC tissues and was associated with disease progression and unfavorable prognosis of HCC patients. ANXA2P1 knockdown suppressed cell growth, cell migration and invasion and reversed EMT phenotype in HCC. Mechanistically, ANXA2P1 acts as a competing endogenous RNA for miR-376a-3p, thereby leading to the upregulation of its cognate gene ANXA2. Conclusions: ANXA2P1/miR-376a-3p/ANXA2 axis plays an important role in the progression of HCC. Our findings may provide valuable therapeutic target for treating HCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we define a dual ϕ -combination Q ~ ϕ , ξ . Using the log-convexity of strictly decreasing convex function ϕ - 1 , we give the dual ϕ -Brunn–Minkowski inequality. Moreover, the equivalence between the dual ϕ -Brunn–Minkowski inequality and the dual ϕ -Minkowski mixed volume inequality is demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anammox bacteria have been detected in various ecosystems, but their occurrence and community composition along the shipping channels have not been reported. In this study, anammox bacteria were recovered by PCR-amplified biomarker hzsB gene from the genomic DNA of the sediment samples. Phylogenetic tree revealed that Candidatus Scalindua and Ca. Brocadia dominated the anammox community of the Hong Kong channels; Ca. Scalindua spp. was present abundantly at the sites farther from the shore, whereas Ca. Jettenia and Ca. Kuenenia were detected as the minor members in the estuarine sediments near the shipping terminals. The highest values of Shannon–Wiener index and Chao1 were identified in the sediments along the Urmston road (UR), suggesting the highest α-diversity and species richness of anammox bacteria. PCoA analysis indicated that anammox bacterial communities along UR and Tai Hong (TH) channel were site-specific because these samples were grouped and clearly separated from the other samples. The maximum diversity of anammox bacteria was detected in UR samples, ranging from 6.28 × 105 to 1.28 × 106 gene copies per gram of dry sediment. A similar pattern of their transcriptional activities was also observed among these channels. Pearson's moment correlation and redundancy analysis indicated that NH4+-N was a strong factor shaping the community structure, which showed significant positive correlation with the anammox bacterial abundance and anammox transcriptional activities (p < 0.01, r > 0.8). Also, NH4+-N, (NO3− + NO2−)-N, and NH4+/NOX were additional key environmental factors that influenced the anammox community diversity and distribution. This study yields a better understanding of the ecological distribution of anammox bacteria and the dominant genera in selective niche. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long-term frequent tillage would cause black soil degradation and serious soil erosion as soil microbial communities and soil structure are extremely sensitive to tillage process. However, there is no unified conclusion on the relationship between the distribution of soil water-stable aggregates (WSAs), and microbial community construction and diversity under long-term tillage in black soil during different seasons. In this study, we used wet-sieving method to evaluate the composition and stability of soil WSAs and employed Illumina MiSeq high-throughput sequencing technology to study the diversity, taxonomic composition and co-occurrence network properties of microbial community, comparing outcomes between uncultivated soil and long-term cultivated soil for 60 years in Keshan farm of Heilongjiang Province. The results showed that after long-term tillage, the proportion of larger than 1 mm WSAs reduced by 34.17–51.37%, and the stability of WSAs, soil pH, organic matter (OM), total nitrogen (TN) contents decreased significantly in all seasons (P < 0.05), while soil available phosphorus (AP) and available potassium (AK) contents increased remarkably (P < 0.05). The diversity of bacteria increased, while that of fungi decreased. Soil fungal communities were more susceptible to long-term tillage than bacterial and archaeal communities. Actinobacteria mainly exist in large WSAs (˃1 mm), and when their relative abundance is high, it is beneficial to improve the water-stability of black soil; while Proteobacteria and Gemmatimonadetes may exist in small WSAs (˂1 mm), whose high relative abundance will weaken the water-stability of black soil. The experimental results provide a scientific theoretical basis for sustainable utilization of black soil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fe(III) reducing bacteria (FeRB) play a vital role in the biogeochemical cycle of Fe, C and N in nature. The volcanic lake can be considered as an ideal habitat for FeRB. Here, we investigated the diversity and spatial distribution of FeRB in sediments of Wenbo lake in Wudalianchi volcano based on culture-dependent and independent methods. A total of 28 isolates affiliated with the genera of Enterobacter, Bacillus, Pseudomonas and Clostridium were obtained from 18 sediment samples. We detected 783 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) belonged to FeRB using high high-throughput sequencing, and the dominant phyla were Proteobacteria (3.65%), Acidobacteria (0.29%), Firmicutes (10.78%). The representative FeRB genera such as Geobacter, Pseudomonas, Thiobacillus and Acinetobacter distributed widely in Wenbo lake. Results showed that the diversity and abundance of FeRB declined along the water-flow direction from Libo to Jingbo. In contrast, the FeRB diversity decreased and the FeRB abundance increased along with depth transect of sediments. It was found that the dominant phylum changed from Firmicutes to Proteobacteria along the water-flow direction, while changed from Proteobacteria to Firmicutes along with the depth of sediments. RDA indicated that the FeRB distribution were driven by soluble total iron, total organic carbon, Fe(II) and Fe(III). These will provide information for understanding the role of FeRB in the elements geochemical cycles in the volcanic environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key message: Powdery mildew resistance gene MlIW39, originated from wild emmer wheat accession IW39, was mapped to a 460.3 kb genomic interval on wheat chromosome arm 2BS. Wheat powdery mildew, caused by Blumeria graminis f. sp. tritici (Bgt), is destructive disease and a significant threat to wheat production globally. The most effective way to control this disease is genetic resistance. However, when resistance genes become widely deployed in agriculture, their effectiveness is compromised by virulent variants that were previously minor components of the pathogen population or that arise from mutation. This necessitates continual search for new sources of resistance in both wheat and its near relatives. In this study, we produced a common wheat line 8D49 (87-1/IW39//2*87-1), which has all-stage immunity to Bgt isolate E09 and many other Chinese Bgt isolates, by transferring powdery mildew resistance from Israeli wild emmer wheat (WEW) accession IW39 to the susceptible common wheat line 87-1. Genetic analysis indicated that the powdery mildew resistance in 8D49 was controlled by a single dominant gene, temporarily designated MlIW39. Genetic linkage analyses with molecular markers showed that MlIW39 was located in a 0.7 cm genetic region between markers QB-3-16 and 7Seq546 on the short arm of chromosome 2B. Fine mapping using three large F2 populations delimited MlIW39 to a physical interval of approximately 460.3 kb region in the WEW reference genome (Zavitan v1.0) that contained six annotated protein-coding genes, four of which had gene structures similar to known disease resistance genes. This provides a foundation for map-based cloning of MlIW39. Markers 7Seq622 and 7Seq727 co-segregating with MlIW39 can be utilized for marker-assisted selection in further genetic studies and wheat breeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To identify odorous substances of solid wood, the emission from two types of wood species, namely Phoebe neurantha (Hemsl.) Gamble and Osmanthus fragrans (Thunb.) Lour. was sampled by micro-chamber extractor, combined with the Tenax TA tube and multi-bed tube (carbopack C, carbopack B and carboxen 1000). The odor-active compounds were identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry/olfactometry (GC–MS/O), which combine instrumental and sensory analyses. The results showed that, for Phoebe neurantha and Osmanthus fragrans, 12 and 20 kinds of odor-active compounds were identified. The main odor contributors of Phoebe neurantha were "D-limonene, 2-hexanol, 1-heptanol and 2-hexanone", with the dominant odor impressions of fragrant, irritant, special and fruity. The main odor contributors of Osmanthus fragrans were "camphene, heptanal and pentanal", while the key odor impressions were spicy, fruity and fatty. VOC concentration and odorous concentration of Phoebe neurantha were higher than Osmanthus fragrans. The proportion of the odorant concentration to the TVOC concentration of Phoebe neurantha and Osmanthus fragrans was 77.39 and 58.68 percent, respectively. The multi-bed tube, which showed excellent adsorption performance for alcohols and compounds with low molecular weight in this study, is able to capture some of the key odor-active compounds that Tenax TA tube cannot collect. Identification of the composition of these two wood species will expand the solid wood odorous substance database and help to establish a method to investigate the odorants with low molecular weight from wood. Through this study, a better understanding of the characteristic odor from wooden materials used in daily life could be obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]