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Triglyceride-Glucose Index (TyG index) and HbA1c are metabolic risk factors associated with insulin resistance (IR), which have been confirmed to be independently correlated with the incidence of hypertension. However, there is limited research specifically focusing on the interaction between these two metabolic risk factors in hypertensive populations. Currently, it remains unclear how the metabolic indicators TyG index and HbA1c affect BP control in individuals with hypertension. This study aims to investigate the value and interaction of TyG index and HbA1c in blood pressure (BP) control among hypertensive patients. The results are conducive to enhancing the effectiveness of clinical BP control for individuals with hypertension. This cohort study included 99,336 adults diagnosed with hypertension. Participants were grouped according to the median of TyG index and HbA1c. The main endpoint is inadequate BP control. Multivariable-adjusted risk ratios and multivariable Cox regression analysis were used to represent the relationship between BP control levels and metabolic risk factors. Finally, we evaluated the interaction between TyG index and HbA1c in the population with inadequate BP control. This study confirmed that TyG index and HbA1c, as metabolic risk factors, are independently associated with poor BP control (P < 0.05). In multivariable Cox regression analysis, it was found that TyG index and HbA1c were significantly associated with poor BP control. In the male elderly population, HbA1c was significantly associated with poor BP control (P = 0.029). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To assess the diagnostic potential of whole-tumor histogram analysis of multiple non-Gaussian diffusion models for differentiating cervical cancer (CC) aggressive status regarding of pathological types, differentiation degree, stage, and p16 expression. Methods: Patients were enrolled in this prospective single-center study from March 2022 to July 2023. Diffusion-weighted images (DWI) were obtained including 15 b-values (0 ~ 4000 s/mm2). Diffusion parameters derived from four non-Gaussian diffusion models including continuous-time random-walk (CTRW), diffusion-kurtosis imaging (DKI), fractional order calculus (FROC), and intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) were calculated, and their histogram features were analyzed. To select the most significant features and establish predictive models, univariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression were performed. Finally, we evaluated the diagnostic performance of our models by using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses. Results: 89 women (mean age, 55 ± 11 years) with CC were enrolled in our study. The combined model, which incorporated the CTRW, DKI, FROC, and IVIM diffusion models, offered a significantly higher AUC than that from any individual models (0.836 vs. 0.664, 0.642, 0.651, 0.649, respectively; p < 0.05) in distinguishing cervical squamous cell cancer from cervical adenocarcinoma. To distinguish tumor differentiation degree, except the combined model showed a better predictive performance compared to the DKI model (AUC, 0.839 vs. 0.697, respectively; p < 0.05), no significant differences in AUCs were found among other individual models and combined model. To predict the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage, only DKI and FROC model were established and there was no significant difference in predictive performance among different models. In terms of predicting p16 expression, the predictive ability of DKI model is significantly lower than that of FROC and combined model (AUC, 0.693 vs. 0.850, 0.859, respectively; p < 0.05). Conclusion: Multiple non-Gaussian diffusion models with whole-tumor histogram analysis show great promise to assess the aggressive status of CC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the intricate interactions governing protein and peptide behavior in liquid–liquid phase separation (LLPS) is crucial for unraveling biological functions and dysfunctions. This study employs a residue-leveled coarse-grained molecular dynamics approach to simulate the phase separation of repetitive polyproline and polyarginine peptides (poly PR) with varying lengths and sequences in solution, considering different concentrations and temperatures. Our findings highlight the crucial role of sequence order in promoting LLPS in peptides with identical lengths of repetitive sequences. Interestingly, repetitive peptides containing fewer than 10 polyarginine repeats exhibit no LLPS, even at salt concentrations up to 3 M. Notably, our simulations align with experimental observations, pinpointing a salt concentration of 2.7 M for PR25-induced LLPS. Utilizing the same methodology, we predict the required salt concentrations for LLPS induction as 1.2 M, 1.5 M, and 2.7 M for PR12, PR15, and PR35, respectively. These predictions demonstrate good agreement with experimental results. Extending our investigation to include the peptide glutamine and arginine (GR15) in DNA solution, our simulations mirror experimental observations of phase separation. To unveil the molecular forces steering peptide phase separation, we introduce a dielectric constant modifier and hydrophobicity disruptor into poly PR systems. Our coarse-grained analysis includes an examination of temperature effects, leading to the inference that both hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions drive phase separation in peptide systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The predictive power of B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) is limited by its low specificity in patients with heart failure (HF). Discovery of more novel biomarkers for HF better diagnosis is necessary and urgent. ELABELA, an early endogenous ligand for the G protein-coupled receptor APJ (Apelin peptide jejunum, Apelin receptor), exhibits cardioprotective actions. However, the relationship between plasma ELABELA and cardiac function in HF patients is unclear. To evaluate plasma ELABELA level and its diagnostic value in HF patients, a total of 335 patients with or without HF were recruited for our monocentric observational study. Plasma ELABELA and Apelin levels were detected by immunoassay in all patients. Spearman correlation analysis was used to analyze the correlation between plasma ELABELA or Apelin levels and study variables. The receiver operating characteristic curves were used to access the predictive power of plasma ELABELA or Apelin levels. Plasma ELABELA levels were lower, while plasma Apelin levels were higher in HF patients than in non-HF patients. Plasma ELABELA levels were gradually decreased with increasing New York Heart Association grade or decreasing LVEF. Plasma ELABELA levels were negatively correlated with BNP, left atrial diameter, left ventricular end-diastolic diameter, left ventricular end-systolic diameter, and left ventricular posterior wall thickness and positively correlated with LVEF in HF patients. In contrast, the correlation between plasma Apelin levels and these parameters is utterly opposite to ELABELA. The diagnostic value of ELABELA, Apelin, and LVEF for all HF patients was 0.835, 0.673, and 0.612; the sensitivity was 62.52, 66.20, and 32.97%; and the specificity was 95.92, 67.23, and 87.49%, respectively. All these parameters in HF patients with preserved ejection fraction were comparable to those in total HF patients. Overall, plasma ELABELA levels were significantly reduced and negatively correlated with cardiac function in HF patients. Decreased plasma ELABELA levels may function as a novel screening biomarker for HF. A combined assessment of BNP and ELABELA may be a good choice to increase the accuracy of the diagnosis of HF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, Cu-Mn oxide catalysts supported on ZSM-5 zeolite (Cu7Mn3Ox/ZSM‑5) were modified by low-cost method of acid leaching and employed for the catalytic oxidation of toluene. For investigating the effect of acid modification on catalysts deeply, the prepared materials were characterized by N2 adsorption–desorption, XRD, SEM, H2-TPR, XPS, NH3-TPD, Py-IR and TG. In the decomposition of toluene, the citric acid modified Cu7Mn3Ox/ZSM‑5 exhibited excellent performance of toluene conversion and adsorption compared to Cu7Mn3Ox/ZSM‑5. The preferable performance was associated with the improved pore structure and surface area, along with the more Mn4+ and Cu2+ species formed after citric acid modification. Significantly, citric acid modified Cu7Mn3Ox/ZSM‑5 exhibited satisfied hydrothermal stability and good regeneration ability as well, which would offer an economical strategy to prepare effective catalysts for VOCs treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Innovation is a source of power for economic development and a magic weapon enabling enterprises to develop and grow through market competition. Innovation is of great theoretical and practical significance when studying the relationship between talent selection and enterprise innovation investments and can provide a reference for the current innovation-driven development strategy in China. This study is guided by the question of how external parachuting affects innovation investments. To understand the implications of external parachuting for innovation investments, we use Hambrick and Mason's upper echelons theory and development and hypothesize a positive relationship between external parachuting and innovation investments. To investigate our hypotheses, based on the panel data of A-share listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen from 2007 to 2021, we empirically examine the impact of external parachuted executives on the innovation investments of enterprises and the mechanism based on entrepreneurial spirit. The empirical results reveal that external parachuted executives have a significant and positive effect on enterprise innovation investments. Moreover, there are four intermediary channels for this effect: promoting the formation of entrepreneurship, inhibiting entrepreneurs' financial asset holdings, reducing agency costs and increasing environmental uncertainty. Our findings highlight the important role of the concept of talent selection and the entrepreneurial spirit in innovation investments. We derive implications for research and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerical weather prediction of wind speed requires statistical postprocessing of systematic errors to obtain reliable and accurate forecasts. However, use of postprocessing models is often undesirable for extreme weather events such as gales. Here, we propose a postprocessing algorithm based on a gale-aware deep attention network to simultaneously improve wind speed forecasts and gale area warnings. Specifically, the algorithm includes both a galeaware loss function that focuses the model on potential gale areas, and an observation station supervision strategy that alleviates the problem of missing extreme values caused by data gridding. The effectiveness of the proposed model was verified by using data from 235 wind speed observation stations. Experimental results show that our model can produce wind speed forecasts with a root-mean-square error of 1.1547 m s−1, and a Hanssen–Kuipers discriminant score of 0.517, performance that is superior to that of the other postprocessing algorithms considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite advances in diagnostic techniques and treatments, cancer remains one of the leading causes of death worldwide.Therefore, finding new biomarkers and therapeutic targets is crucial for improving the diagnosis and treatment of human cancer.LncRNA Linc00173 is a newly identified tumor marker, and in this study, we aimed to explore the relationship between Linc00173 and clinicopathological features and patient prognosis. By using The Cochrane Library, EMbase, Web of Science, PubMed, OVID, we conducted a complete and thorough literature search from its inception to November 10, 2022.Meta-analysis was performed using Stata SE16.0 software. Nine studies involving 1102 patients were included.Meta-analysis showed that the overexpression of Linc00173 was significantly associated with poorer OS (HR = 1.76,95%CI:1.36–2.26, P < 0.001) and shorter DFS (HR = 1.89, 95%CI:1.49–2.40,P < 0.001),and was significantly associated with gender (male) (OR = 1.31,95% CI:1.01–1.69, P = 0.042), tumor size (large) (OR = 1.34,95% CI:1.01–1.78, P = 0.045), and lymph node metastasis (positive) (OR = 1.72,95% CI:1.03–2.88, P = 0.038). Overexpression of Linc00173 is associated with poor prognosis in cancer patients and is a potential prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The excellent hardness and wear resistance of AlCoCrFeNiMo0.8–TiC composite coating benefit from various strengthening mechanisms, including fine grain strengthening, dislocation strengthening, load transfer strengthening, solid solution strengthening, and precipitation strengthening. To analyze their contributions in the strength and hardness, an accurate prediction model is essential. In this work, a prediction model for the hardness increment was established based on some key elastic constants calculated by the first-principles. Subsequently, the contributions of strengthening mechanisms were quantitatively evaluated by the developed prediction model. It was found that the Young's modulus and shear modulus for B2 phase were 179.65 GPa and 67.36 GPa, respectively, and those of σ phase were 354.08 GPa and 139.19 GPa, respectively. The precipitation strengthening was the predominant mechanism in the composite coating, with a strength contribution of 736.4 MPa and a hardness contribution of 225.2 HV, which accounted for 76.2% of the contribution values. The prediction model has high accuracy, which is evidenced by the small relative error (9.1%) between the total theoretical hardness contribution (295.2 HV) and the Vickers hardness tested by nanoindentation (322.1 HV). The AlCoCrFeNiMo0.8–TiC composite coating has various strengthening mechanisms. To quantitatively analyze these contributions on the hardness, a prediction model is established based on the elastic moduli obtained by the first-principles calculations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heat-treated wood is environmentally friendly relative to other modified woods, and if processed into glulam, it is expected to optimize not only its durability and stability in color and dimension but also the large size application of glulam. Interlayer interface is the key link where the bonding quality of glulam is chiefly determined. In this study, Mongolian Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris var. Mongolica) laminates with varying degrees of heat treatment were respectively bonded by one-component polyurethane adhesive (PU) and aqueous polymer isocyanate adhesive (API). In order to explore the effect of heat treatment on glulam interface, the shear test method was taken to systematically examine the interlaminar bonding properties. The result showed that high-temperature heat treatment reduced the hydrophilic groups in wood and decreased the surface wettability, and indicated a negative correlation between heat treatment temperature and surface wettability. Planing resulted in a flatter surface and reduced the adverse effect of brittle layer on the surface, thus improving the surface wettability. Deep heat treatment (215 °C) was not ideal for the interlaminar shear properties of glulam. Planing the laminate surface before gluing significantly improved the interlaminar shear properties. A planing thickness of 0.6 mm was able to obtain a better bonding property. PU was more suitable for gluing heat-treated laminates compared with API. Under a high humidity environment, the interlaminar shear property of heat-treated glulam was relatively stable. The interlaminar shear strength of glulam with a higher heat treatment temperature was less influenced by environmental humidity. Moderate heat treatment (180 °C) increased the crystallinity and expanded the crystallization region of wood, which was conducive to improve the shear properties of glulam short beams. Deep heat treatment made the wood fibers hard and brittle, and the shear strength of short beams decreased slightly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water scarcity is a global issue due to climate change and increasing water demand. Water pricing policy is a critical instrument to stimulate farmers' water-saving actions. Different types of water-saving behaviors are closely related and interactional. It is thus necessary to study multiple water-saving behaviors together and their dynamic transformation with intensification of policy shock. Besides, whether the policy could work well depends much on the social-ecological system where farmers are embedded. This paper studies how social-ecological system impacts farmers' choice from multiple water-saving strategies and their shift of response strategies with further increase in water price. A field survey was conducted in semi-arid area of northwestern China that has suffered from severe water shortage and human-land conflicts for a long time. The results show that adoption of active-negative strategy rather than passive water-saving strategy is affected by productivity and predictability of resource system, number of users, norms, social capital, and collective choice rules. Adoption of active-positive strategy depends much on relative size and productivity of resource system, predictability of system dynamics, mobility of resource units, number of users, norms, social capital, and monitoring and sanctioning process. However, their effects have disparities, or are even opposite under different intensities of policy shock. When policy shock intensifies, mobility of resource units, number of users, resource importance, and monitoring and sanctioning process are identified as key factors to degrade farmers' water-saving strategy rather than maintain their original strategy. Both the size of resource system and the quality of social network promote farmers to upgrade response strategy. The results indicate that there is a complicated relationship between policy shock and water-saving responses in the framework of social-ecological system, explained by a series of mechanisms. The findings provide valuable implications for optimizing water pricing mechanism, designing targeted measures, and developing effective governance environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Application of patient-reported outcomes (PROs) in surgical oncology has been limited because of patient heterogeneity. We analyzed symptom trajectories and their associations with recovery outcomes after lung cancer surgery, aiming to profile the heterogeneity of patients' experiences and to identify patients needing extensive care. Methods: Symptoms were assessed with the MDASI-LC before surgery, daily after surgery in hospital and weekly within 1 month after discharge. Patients were clustered based on symptoms from post-operative day 1 (POD1) to POD5, using the latent-class-trajectory-model. Functional recovery was compared across the trajectories. Logistic regression was used to explore risk factors for trajectories of more severe symptoms. Results: Based on the five most severe post-surgery symptoms (pain, fatigue, coughing, shortness of breath, and disturbed sleep), we identified three distinct symptom trajectories among 424 patients [mild, N = 225 (53.07%); severe-to-mild, N = 86 (20.28%); severe, N = 104 (24.53%)]. At discharge, more 'severe' patients (73.96%) did not achieve a functional recovery compared with those in mild (32.54%, P < 0.0001) or severe-to-mild (56.96%, P = 0.0274) groups. Factors of significant symptom increase on POD1 were younger-than-55 (OR = 1.94 [95% CI 1.30–2.93], P = 0.001), undergoing open or multi-port video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (OR = 1.59 [95% CI 1.05–2.41], P = 0.03), and using two chest tubes (OR = 1.72 [95% CI 1.12–2.65], P = 0.01). For patients experiencing dramatic symptom increase on POD1, older age (OR = 2.51 [95% CI 1.40–4.59], P = 0.002) was associated with 'severe' trajectory. Conclusions: This study demonstrated that PRO measures were capable of profiling heterogeneous symptom trajectories after lung cancer surgery. Those in-hospital trajectories were able to differentiate patients' responses to treatments and signal the needs for extensive post-discharge care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genome-wide association studies have identified numerous variants associated with human complex traits, most of which reside in the non-coding regions, but biological mechanisms remain unclear. However, assigning function to the non-coding elements is still challenging. Here we apply Activity-by-Contact (ABC) model to evaluate enhancer-gene regulation effect by integrating multi-omics data and identified 544,849 connections across 20 cancer types. ABC model outperforms previous approaches in linking regulatory variants to target genes. Furthermore, we identify over 30,000 enhancer-gene connections in colorectal cancer (CRC) tissues. By integrating large-scale population cohorts (23,813 cases and 29,973 controls) and multipronged functional assays, we demonstrate an ABC regulatory variant rs4810856 associated with CRC risk (Odds Ratio = 1.11, 95%CI = 1.05–1.16, P = 4.02 × 10−5) by acting as an allele-specific enhancer to distally facilitate PREX1, CSE1L and STAU1 expression, which synergistically activate p-AKT signaling. Our study provides comprehensive regulation maps and illuminates a single variant regulating multiple genes, providing insights into cancer etiology.Here, the authors apply the Activity-by-Contact (ABC) model to infer enhancer-gene regulation and the effect of associated variants across multiple cancer types, integrating genetic and multi-omics data. Then, they explore the mechanisms associated with ABC regulatory variants in colorectal cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The misalignment of the gratings in pulse compressor can introduce residual angular chirp and finally result in a reduction of focused intensity, especially for high peak power femtosecond laser systems with large beam size and broadband spectrum. In this work, we study the angular chirp produced by grating misalignment in different dimensions and comprehensively investigate the various effects on the deterioration of the spatiotemporal characteristics of focused beam. Moreover, two representative ultra-high peak power femtosecond laser systems, featuring with 10 PW peak power/500 mm beam diameter/100 nm spectral width and 50 PW peak power/640 mm beam diameter/200 nm spectral width, are studied. For a drop of effective focused intensity smaller than 10%, the numerical results show that the misalignment of gratings must be kept below ~ 2 μrad and ~ 1 μrad for aforesaid 10 PW and 50 PW lasers, respectively. This work provides meaningful guidelines for the design and construction of the grating compressors in ultra-high peak power femtosecond laser systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Core–shell structure Cu@Pd/C catalysts were prepared in two steps combining microwave-assisted glycol reduction and chemical impregnation method for the first time. Compared with the traditional one-step synthesis of PdCu/C alloy catalysts by microwave (marked as M-PdCu/C) and impregnation (denoted by I-PdCu/C) method, respectively. The Cu@Pd/C catalysts were prepared in two-step show better catalytic performance toward formic acid oxidation, due to its special core–shell structure and better dispersion. On this basis, different proportions of Cux@Pdy/C (x:y = 1:1, 1:2, 1:3, 1:4 and 1:5) catalysts were synthesized by the two-step strategy. The relationship between lattice strain, electron distribution and catalytic performance were explored by physical and chemical characterization. X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectra analyses showed that the introduction of Cu lead to the lattice contraction and modified electronic structure of Pd. The electrochemical test showed that Cu@Pd3/C sample has the highest activity toward formic acid electro-oxidation. Its mass activity is about 3.3 times that of Pd/C catalyst that was synthesized by impregnation method (labelled as I-Pd/C). At the same time, the Cu@Pd3/C catalyst also demonstrated improved stability. The low-palladium catalyst with a Pd–Cu shell–core structure was synthesized by two-step method and has excellent catalytic activity and stability for formic acid electro-oxidation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The invasion of glioblastoma usually results in the recurrence and poor prognosis in patients with glioma. However, the underlying mechanisms involved in glioma invasion remains undefined. In this study, immunohistochemistry analyses of glioma specimens demonstrated that high expression of Par6 was positively correlated with malignancy and poor prognosis of patients with glioma. Par6-overexpressing glioma cells showed much more fibroblast-like morphology, suggesting that regulation of Par6 expression might be associated with tumor invasion in glioma cells. Further study indicated that Par6 overexpression subsequently increased CD44 and N-cadherin expression to enhance glioma invasion through activating MEK/ERK/STAT3 pathway, in vivo and in vitro. Moreover, we found that LIN28/let-7d axis was involved in this process via a positive feedback loop, suggesting that MEK/ERK/LIN28/let-7d/STAT3 cascade might be essential for Par6-mediated glioma invasion. Therefore, these data highlight the roles of Par6 in glioma invasion, and Par6 may serve as a potential therapeutic target for patients with glioma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to investigate the structural features and antioxidant activity in vitro of horse bone marrow protein (HBMP) hydrolysate based on the activity-originated approach. Antioxidant peptides were isolated from the HBMP with different enzymes. Then, the structural features of the obtained peptide were characterized by extensive chemical, spectroscopic, and chromatographic methods. Antioxidative properties were evaluated through the determination of free radicals scavenging activity. The results showed that alcalase was determined to be the most effective for the generation of antioxidant peptides, and the highest degree of hydrolysis (39.89%) and free radical scavenging activity (55.73%) were obtained under the condition of enzyme concentration 0.9%, pH 9.5, temperature 50℃, solid-liquid ratio 1:16 g/mL through optimized by response surface methodology. HBMP and its hydrolysates were rich in beneficial amino acids. Fourier transforms infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and Circular dichroism (CD) revealed key functional structures of obtained peptides whereas Scanning electron microscope-energy dispersive X-ray (SEM-EDX) exhibited its characteristic morphology and elemental composition. The molecular weight distribution of the HBMP alcalase hydrolysate was 2189.014-11561.368 Da determined by Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) analysis. The antioxidant activity test showed that enzymatic hydrolysis can significantly enhance the activity of the HBMP (P < 0.05). The results indicated that HBMP exhibited significant antioxidant activity in vitro, supporting the potential application of HBMP as antioxidants in food processing, pharmaceuticals, and other industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a microwave microfluidic biosensor for monitoring blood glucose levels. The glucose sensor is a triple ring microstrip patch antenna integrated with a biomimetic microfluidic device capable of measuring a fixed volume of glucose solution. The sensor was utilized to detect 50–500 mg/dL glucose solutions. The interaction of the glucose solution with the electromagnetic field on the patch's surface influences both the resonance frequency and the magnitude of reflection coefficient. The results indicate that the microfluidic device can reduce experimental error and enhance the correlation between glucose concentration, resonant frequency, and reflection coefficient. Finally, the microfluidic sensor had a sensitivity of 0.25 MHz/(mg/dL), a detection limit as low as 7.7 mg/dL, and correlation coefficients of resonance frequency and reflection coefficient with a glucose concentration of 0.996 and 0.984, respectively. The experiment on the sensor's stability verifies the sensor's excellent stability and rapid response (~ 150 ms). Consequently, the device can be used to differentiate the concentration of glucose solutions, as well as to detect blood glucose levels at an early stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The clinical significance of miR-17 in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) remains unknown. Methods: Real-time quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was performed to detect the miR-17 expression in 115 de novo AML patients, 31 patients at complete remission (CR) time, 8 patients at relapse time and 30 normal controls. Results: MiR-17 was upregulated in de novo AML compared with normal controls. Patients with high expression of miR-17 had less CEBPA double mutation, less favorable ELN-risk and lower CR rate. The level of miR-17 was significantly decreased at CR phase and was returned to primary level even higher when in relapse phase. In addition, Cox regression analysis revealed that miR-17 expression retained independent prognostic significance for overall survival (OS). Moreover, the gene-expression profile analysis of miR-17 in AML obtained from TCGA database was involved in multiple biological functions and signal pathways. Among the differential expressed genes (DEGs), we identified FGL2, PLAUR, SLC2A3, GPR65, CTSS, TLR7, S1PR3, OGFRL1, LILRB1, IL17RA, SIGLEC10, SLAMF7, PLXDC2, HPSE, TCF7 and MYCL as potential direct targets of miR-17 according to in silico analysis. Conclusions: High expression of miR-17 in de novo AML patients pointed to dismal clinical outcome and disease recurrence, which could serve as novel prognostic biomarker for AML patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The perineurium serves as a selective, metabolically active diffusion barrier in the peripheral nervous system, which is composed of perineurial cells joined together by tight junctions (TJs). Not only are these junctions known to play an essential role in maintaining cellular polarity and tissue integrity, but also limit the paracellular diffusion of certain molecules and ions, whereas loss of TJs barrier function is imperative for tumour growth, invasion and metastasis. Hence, a detailed study on the barrier function of perineurial cells may provide insights into the molecular mechanism of perineural invasion (PNI). In this study, we aimed to develop an efficient procedure for the establishment of perineurial cell lines as a tool for investigating the physiology and pathophysiology of the peripheral nerve barriers. Herein, the isolation, expansion, characterization and maintenance of perineurial cell lines under favourable conditions are presented. Furthermore, the analysis of the phenotypic features of these perineurial cells as well as the barrier function for the study of PNI are described. Such techniques may provide a valuable means for the functional and molecular investigation of perineurial cells, and in particular may elucidate the pathogenesis and progression of PNI, and other peripheral nerve disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignant tumors of the digestive system, with a high degree of malignancy. Although treatment methods are constantly improving, the mortality of patients is still very high, and the small nucleolar RNA host gene (SNHG) plays an important role in the occurrence and development of cancer. It can activate downstream signaling molecules by acting on microRNA and microRNA target genes, promote the proliferation, invasion, and migration of HCC cells, and provide a new molecular target for the treatment of HCC. At present, the molecular mechanisms of HCC remain unclear. In this study, the mechanism and signaling pathway of SNHG in HCC are reviewed, which provides a theoretical basis for the clinical treatment of HCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amplification and overexpression of the SOX2 oncogene represent a hallmark of squamous cancers originating from diverse tissue types. Here, we find that squamous cancers selectively amplify a 3' noncoding region together with SOX2, which harbors squamous cancer-specific chromatin accessible regions. We identify a single enhancer e1 that predominantly drives SOX2 expression. Repression of e1 in SOX2-high cells causes collapse of the surrounding enhancers, remarkable reduction in SOX2 expression, and a global transcriptional change reminiscent of SOX2 knockout. The e1 enhancer is driven by a combination of transcription factors including SOX2 itself and the AP-1 complex, which facilitates recruitment of the co-activator BRD4. CRISPR-mediated activation of e1 in SOX2-low cells is sufficient to rebuild the e1-SOX2 loop and activate SOX2 expression. Our study shows that squamous cancers selectively amplify a predominant enhancer to drive SOX2 overexpression, uncovering functional links among enhancer activation, chromatin looping, and lineage-specific copy number amplifications of oncogenes. SOX2 amplification and overexpression represents a hallmark of squamous cancers with distinct distribution of chromatin accessible regions depending on cancer type. Here, the authors identify a single enhancer e1 that predominantly drives SOX2 expression in squamous cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genomic selection (GS) is an efficient way for trait improvement in crops. GS for kernel dehydration rate (KDR) has not been reported until now. The elite single-cross hybrid Zhengdan958 is the most widely planted hybrid in China, but has slow KDR and high grain moisture at harvest that seriously hamper mechanical harvesting efficiency. The present study aimed to determine whether GS is an effective strategy for improving KDR in an exotic × adapted population and to identify a lower-cost SNP panel and suitable statistical model for GS prediction. Here, the elite U.S. population BS13(S)C7 was crossed to inbred line Zheng58 to establish a training population that was then testcrossed to the inbred Chang7-2. Phenotypic traits including days to anthesis (DA), ear height (EH), water content of the ears (WC), KDR, and grain yield (GY) were measured in two locations during 2016 and 2017. We found that the rrBLUP model using 24,435 filtered SNPs with minimum call rate > 50% and minor allele frequency > 0.05 resulted in the highest prediction accuracy. Further, a subset of 5000 SNPs randomly selected from 24,435 high-quality SNPs provided a lower-cost SNP panel with sufficient prediction accuracy for GS. The breeding efficiency of GS compared with conventional selection varied from 0.28 to 0.66. Predicted genetic gains were − 0.15%, − 1.42%, − 0.64%, 1.89%, and 1.30% for DA, EH, WC, KDR, and GY, respectively, indicating that GS was adequate for improving KDR and other important traits, with advantages over pedigree breeding for both simple and complex traits in an exotic × adapted population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

X-ray free-electron lasers can generate intense and coherent radiation at wavelengths down to the sub-ångström region1–5, and have become indispensable tools for applications in structural biology and chemistry, among other disciplines6. Several X-ray free-electron laser facilities are in operation2–5; however, their requirement for large, high-cost, state-of-the-art radio-frequency accelerators has led to great interest in the development of compact and economical accelerators. Laser wakefield accelerators can sustain accelerating gradients more than three orders of magnitude higher than those of radio-frequency accelerators7–10, and are regarded as an attractive option for driving compact X-ray free-electron lasers11. However, the realization of such devices remains a challenge owing to the relatively poor quality of electron beams that are based on a laser wakefield accelerator. Here we present an experimental demonstration of undulator radiation amplification in the exponential-gain regime by using electron beams based on a laser wakefield accelerator. The amplified undulator radiation, which is typically centred at 27 nanometres and has a maximum photon number of around 1010 per shot, yields a maximum radiation energy of about 150 nanojoules. In the third of three undulators in the device, the maximum gain of the radiation power is approximately 100-fold, confirming a successful operation in the exponential-gain regime. Our results constitute a proof-of-principle demonstration of free-electron lasing using a laser wakefield accelerator, and pave the way towards the development of compact X-ray free-electron lasers based on this technology with broad applications.Lasing in the extreme-ultraviolet range is demonstrated using a laser wakefield accelerator, as a step towards compact X-ray free-electron lasers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

DNA methylation is a stable and heritable epigenetic mechanism, of which the main functions are stabilizing the transcription of genes and promoting genetic conservation. In animals, the direct molecular inducers of DNA methylation mainly include histone covalent modification and non-coding RNA, whereas the fundamental regulators of DNA methylation are genetic and environmental factors. As is well known, competition is present everywhere in life systems, and will finally strike a balance that is optimal for the animal's survival and reproduction. The same goes for the regulation of DNA methylation. Genetic and environmental factors, respectively, are responsible for the programmed and plasticity changes of DNA methylation, and keen competition exists between genetically influenced procedural remodeling and environmentally influenced plastic alteration. In this process, genetic and environmental factors collaboratively decide the methylation patterns of corresponding loci. DNA methylation alterations induced by environmental factors can be transgenerationally inherited, and exhibit the characteristic of Lamarckian inheritance. Further research on regulatory mechanisms and the environmental plasticity of DNA methylation will provide strong support for understanding the biological function and evolutionary effects of DNA methylation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Habitat connectivity is essential for the long-term persistence of species, but is commonly disregarded in climate change impact studies. The Tibetan Plateau contains a biome rich in endemic ungulates, which are highly sensitive to climatic variations and deserve particular attention in conservation planning against climate change. Objectives: We evaluated the response and vulnerability of habitat connectivity to climate change for four ungulate species endemic to the Tibetan Plateau, and examined the robustness of protected areas (PAs) for the conservation of these species under climate change. Methods: For each focal species, we developed ecological niche models to predict the spatial variations in habitat under climate change and conducted a network-theoretical analysis to estimate the consequent changes in habitat connectivity. Moreover, we used the circuit theory to characterize dispersal patterns of these species and conducted gap analyses to estimate the contribution of existing PAs to the conservation of these species. Results: The four focal species will experience a remarkable connectivity loss that outpaced their habitat loss in response to climate change. Currently, 53.39 and 46.64% of the areas that could contribute to the habitat suitability and connectivity, respectively, of these species are unprotected. These values could further increase under future climate conditions. Conclusions: Climate-driven habitat variations may lead to the loss of key connectivity areas between the habitats of ungulates, causing disproportionate decrease in habitat connectivity. The existing PAs on the Tibetan Plateau are not robust for the conservation of the four ungulates. Adjustment of certain key PAs may help to address the conservation gaps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, cadmium (Cd) solution spraying and Cd-contaminated soil pot experiments were conducted to investigate the influence of Cd from atmospheric deposition and soil on the growth, cumulative distribution, chemical morphology, physiological, and biochemical responses of Amaranthus tricolor L. The results indicated that Cd in plants mainly came from soil (92–98%) and was stored in the roots in large quantities while the portion from atmospheric deposition could also effectively increase Cd content in stems and leaves (2–3%). Cd was mainly stored in plant cell walls and would transfer to the soluble part under high-concentration soil stress Cd from atmospheric deposition alone promoted the growth of plants, but high Cd concentrations from soil had the negative influence. The contents of H2O2 and MDA in plants increased under soil and atmospheric Cd stress, indicating that the plant cells were damaged by oxidative stress. The content of antioxidant enzymes such as POD, CAT, SOD, and antioxidants like AsA and GSH increased under low-concentration Cd stress but decreased under elevated stress, suggesting that high Cd-contaminated soil poses severe toxicity on the antioxidant system of the plants. Hence, the accumulation and physiological response of plants under multi-source Cd contamination were mainly affected by high soil Cd concentrations. Though the effect of atmospheric deposition is relatively less, it cannot be ignored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-dimensional data analysis often suffers the so-called curse of dimensionality. Therefore, dimensionality reduction is usually carried out on the high-dimensional data before the actual analysis, which is a common and efficient way to eliminate this effect. And the popular trace ratio criterion is an extension of the original linear discriminant analysis (LDA) problem, which involves a search of a transformation matrix W to embed high-dimensional space into a low-dimensional space to achieve dimensionality reduction. However, the trace ratio criterion tends to obtain projection direction with very small variance, which the subset after the projection is diffcult to present the most representative information of the data with maximum efficiency. In this paper, we target on this problem and propose the ratio sum formula for dimensionality reduction. Firstly, we analyze the impact of this trend. Then in order to solve this problem, we propose a new ratio sum formula as well as the solution. In the end, we perform experiments on the Yale-B, ORL, and COIL-20 data sets. The theoretical studies and actual numerical analysis confirm the effectiveness of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural dyes exhibit a low dye uptake when cellulosic fiber dyeing is carried out using a conventional water bath dyeing process. In this research, cotton fabric was exhaust dyed in a microemulsion dyebath containing cacao husk extracts dye and decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (D5) to achieve higher dye exhaustion percentage on cotton fiber, which is an environmentally beneficial dyeing process. The adsorption behavior of cacao husk extract dye in a D5 microemulsion system was investigated under conditions of varied dye mass (1–8% o.w.f), dyeing time (5–500 min), and dyeing temperatures (333–373 K). Kinetic modelling of cacao husk extracts dye/D5 adsorption on cotton fiber was studied by fitting experimental data to pseudo first-order and pseudo second-order kinetics, and the intraparticle diffusion model. Early results indicated that the kinetic model of adsorption of cacao husk extracts dye on cotton fiber followed the pseudo second-order model. Langmuir, Freundlich, and Dubinin–Radushkevich adsorption isotherm models were employed to analyze the adsorption isotherms, and the results showed that the adsorption process fit well with the Langmuir model compared to the Freundlich isotherm. The mean adsorption energy from the Dubinin–Radushkevich isotherm model implied that adsorption of the cacao husk extracts onto cotton was accompanied with a physical process. The values of standard enthalpy (ΔH° > 0), standard entropy (ΔS° > 0), and Gibbs free energy (ΔG° < 0) strongly reflected that the adsorption of the cacao husk extracts onto cotton was thermodynamically favourable and feasible. Thus, waterless dyeing of cotton fabric using a natural dye/D5 system explores a sustainable dyeing technology with higher dye exhaustion percentage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Salt extraction and Ultrafiltration membrane (UFM) separation technology of bovine bone marrow protein (BBMP) were optimized, and the structures of proteins and peptides, as well as biological activities were evaluated. The maximum protein content and yield obtained were 57.40 mg/mL, 56.80% respectively by salt extraction under the following conditions: concentration 0.5 mol/L, extraction of 2 times per 3 h; temperature, 45 °C. Maximum membrane flux and protein content reached to 25.29 L/(m2 h), 76.9 mg/mL using UFMs method optimized by the response surface methodology (RSM) at 10 kDa membrane, operation pressure 0.20 MPa; concentration rate 5, and temperature 40 °C. Among them, the 3 kDa permeate part has the highest radical scavenging capacity against DPPH and hydroxyl free radicals (41 ± 0.20%, 53 ± 0.35%, respectively). These isolated parts were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscope (AFM), sodium dodecyl sulfate–polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), and Liquid chromatography-Mass spectrometer-Mass spectrometer (LC–MS/MS). The key functional groups, molecular weight, and mass data accordance with the UFM separation results. Therefore, the separation of protein and peptides with different molecular weights can be achieved by UFM. This study can provide technical support for the full utilization and scientific application of BBM resources, as well as the technical and theoretical foundation for the development of peptides for potential health foods or drugs supplementary materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Gram-stain-negative, orange-colored bacterium, designated HX-22-17T, was isolated from activated sludge of an agricultural chemical plant in Maanshan, Anhui province, China (118° 52′ E 31° 68′ N). The strain was strictly aerobic, non-endospore forming, non-motile, and ellipse. Growth of the strain was observed at 16–42 °C (optimum between 25 and 30 °C) at pH 6.0–9.0 (optimum at pH 7.0) and with 0–6.0% (w/v) NaCl (optimum at 1.0%). 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis showed that the strain was most closely related to Rudanella lutea KACC 12603T (99.5% similarity). The predominant cellular fatty acids were summed feature 3 (C16:1ω7c and/or C16:1ω6c), iso-C15:0, and anteiso-C15:0. The major polar lipids included posphatidylethanolamine (PE), aminolipid (AL), and phospholipids (PL). The genomic DNA G+C content of the strain was 54.1 mol%. The ANI and dDDH values obtained between the genomes of HX-22-17T and R. lutea KACC 12603T were 89.3% and 39.3%, respectively. The phenotypic, chemotaxonomic, and genotypic data clearly showed that strain HX-22-17T represents a novel species of the genus Rudanella, for which the name R. paleaurantiibacter sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is HX-22-17T (=KCTC 72656T = CCTCC AB 2019347T). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is of great significance to explore the molecular mechanism of thyroid cancer (TC) pathogenesis for its improvement and therapy. Growth factor receptor bound protein-7 (GRB7) has been regarded as an important regulatory gene in the developments of various malignant tumors. Our study aimed to illustrate the role of GRB7 in the TC pathology mechanism. Firstly, GRB7 was found to be significantly upregulated in 49 cases of TC tissues and 5 TC cell lines by using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and western blotting. Silencing GRB7 with siRNA dramatically inhibited proliferation and induced cell cycle arrest in TC cells. Besides, GRB7 silence resulted in the decrease of adenosine triphosphate content, glucose uptake, and lactose production in TC cells and attenuated the activity and expression of mitochondrial respiratory complex. We also demonstrated that GRB7 downregulation increased the levels of Bax and caspase 3, and inhibited the expression of Bcl-2, suggesting the induced mitochondrial apoptosis. More importantly, our study proved that mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular-regulated protein kinases (MAPK/ERK) signaling played a crucial role in the regulation of GRB7 on TC cell functions. In general, the present research verified that GRB7 was upregulated during TC development and modulated the proliferation, cell cycle, and mitochondrial apoptosis of TC cells by activating MAPK/ERK pathway. This may provide a novel target for the therapeutic strategy of TC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The incorporation of an agglomeration bonus payment to encourage spatial coordination in auction mechanisms to allocate payments for ecosystem services (PES) contracts has been explored as a promising innovation that could enhance the effectiveness of PES schemes. Empirical evidence on the performance of this particular design feature is scant, and almost exclusively derived from laboratory experiments using student subjects. This study reports results from a framed field experimental auction allocating PES contracts with and without agglomeration bonus payments using actual forest land owners in rural China as subjects. We find tentative evidence that, in a PES auction that provides agglomeration bonuses, subjects tend to bid less in anticipation of receiving bonus payments when their neighbours are also successful in the auction. In addition, we have mixed findings as to whether the agglomeration bonus is able to induce a bidding pattern in favour of contiguous conservation. The two sets of results convey some encouraging signals of the theoretically postulated cost-effectiveness and conservation efficacy of the agglomeration bonus. Further research from the actual field is warranted in light of the policy significance of this innovative incentive mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Along with developing modern technology, the demands for optical element surface develop towards the characteristics of large scale and high precision. However, it is challenging to evaluate the surface defects since some shallow scratches in optical element surface images are usually characterized by low contrast and blurry outlines. This property makes the machine vision inspection extremely difficult. So, this paper proposes a novel multi-scale line detection method that can efficiently extract shallow scratches. Firstly, to decrease the influence of the surrounding region, a new multi-scale line detector combines all the responses at different scales by setting different weights for each scale. Then, based on the scratches features, we utilize morphological operations to get the full continuum of the scratches area. Experimental results show that our model can ideally extract the contours of shallow scratches that are very close to the optical microscope results observed by specialists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The permanent magnet linear synchronous motor (PMLSM) feed system realizes the direct drive. All the intermediate mechanical transmission parts are canceled and then the motor mover is directly connected with the driven components. The interaction between servo system and mechanical system becomes more close and complex, affecting the dynamic performance of the direct-driven feed system. In this paper, the dynamic characteristics of the drive circuit, PMLSM, control loops, and mechanical system are analyzed, and then an electromechanical integrated modeling method for the direct-driven feed system is proposed. Firstly, the dynamic precision of the feed system and electromechanical analytical model is studied. Then the nonlinearities of the drive circuit and PMLSM are researched. The analytical expression of the motor thrust is derived. What is more, the mechanical dynamic model is set up using the Lagrange equation and the main forms of the vibrations are discussed. Finally, the electromechanical integrated model is established and the experiments are carried out to verify the theoretical results. The results show that the proposed integrated modeling method can accurately represent the dynamic precision of the direct-driven feed system, which can provide the theoretical foundation for analyzing the electromechanical couplings and compensation methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graph-based unsupervised feature selection has been proven to be effective in dealing with unlabeled and high-dimensional data. However, most existing methods face a number of challenges primarily due to their high computational complexity. In light of the ever-increasing size of data, these approaches tend to be inefficient in dealing with large-scale data sets. We propose a novel approach, called Fast Unsupervised Feature Selection (FUFS), to efficiently tackle this problem. Firstly, an anchor graph is constructed by means of a parameter-free adaptive neighbor assignment strategy. Meanwhile, an approximate nearest neighbor search technique is introduced to speed up the anchor graph construction. The ℓ2,1-norm regularization is then performed to select more valuable features. Experiments on several large-scale data sets demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carabus (Damaster) lafossei: (Coleoptera, Carabidae) is an endangered beetle endemic to China; it was listed as National Second Class Protected Animal in China. Here, we provide the first report of the complete mitochondrial genome sequence of Carabus lafossei. The sequence contains 16,793 bp, with 13 protein-coding genes, 2 rRNA genes, 22 tRNA genes, and 1 control region. All of the protein-coding genes use the typical ATN as the initiation codon, except for ND1, which uses TTG. Only COX2 employs a single T as a termination signal, while others have the typical termination codons (TAA or TAG). The average A+T content of the mitochondrial genome is 79.7%. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that C. lafossei has a closer relationship with Carabus mirabilissimus than with other Carabus species. These molecular biology data provide a scientific basis for the protection and sustainable utilization of this key endangered Carabid beetle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the unique properties of femtosecond laser in precision machining, femtosecond laser was utilized for irradiation on SiC/SiC composites. Effects of different processing parameters, including the spot overlap ratio, helical line overlap ratio, laser processing power, as well as processing steps, were discussed in detail. The results indicated that the parameters above had significant effect on machining of SiC/SiC composites. The surface morphology and geometry of the micro-holes were investigated under different parameters, and the corresponding formation mechanism was discussed in detail. It was believed that both the spot and helical line overlap ratio had great effect on the quality of the micro-holes and would be responsible to the depth of micro-holes. Besides, it is indicated that the higher processing power will lead to a better quality of surface morphology and machining results. In micro-hole drilling process, debris and fragments were observed within the micro-holes, and XPS analysis showed that there existed Si-O bonds and Si-C bonds, indicating that the oxidation during processing was incomplete. In addition, the effect of feeding speeds on geometry and depth of the micro-holes were discussed as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The linear motor feed system realizes direct drive, and all the intermediate transmission components are canceled. The thrust harmonics and other disturbances act on the mechanical system directly because the mover is connected with the driven parts, leading to obvious mechanical vibrations. The mechanical dynamic characteristics have important effects on the thrust characteristics and dynamic precision of linear motor feed system. In this paper, the decoupling and effects of the mechanical vibration on the dynamic precision for the direct driven are researched. Firstly, the mechanical kinetic model is established considering the characteristics of the joint between the guide rail and block and servo stiffness. Then the model realizes decoupling through the modal analysis, and the vibration responses in different directions are analytically calculated. What is more, a modeling method for the linear motor feed system considering the mechanical characteristic is put forward based on the modal separation method (MSM). The effects of the mechanical vibration on the dynamic precision of feed system are discussed. At last, the experiments are carried out and the influences of the structure parameters on the mechanical characteristics and displacement fluctuations are analyzed through sensitivity analysis, which provides a theoretical basis for the mechanical active design and improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stable orthogonal local discriminant embedding (SOLDE) is a recently proposed dimensionality reduction method, in which the similarity, diversity and interclass separability of the data samples are well utilized to obtain a set of orthogonal projection vectors. By combining multiple features of data, it outperforms many prevalent dimensionality reduction methods. However, the orthogonal projection vectors are obtained by a step-by-step procedure, which makes it computationally expensive. By generalizing the objective function of the SOLDE to a trace ratio problem, we propose a stable and orthogonal local discriminant embedding using trace ratio criterion (SOLDE-TR) for dimensionality reduction. An iterative procedure is provided to solve the trace ratio problem, due to which the SOLDE-TR method is always faster than the SOLDE. The projection vectors of the SOLDE-TR will always converge to a global solution, and the performances are always better than that of the SOLDE. Experimental results on two public image databases demonstrate the effectiveness and advantages of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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A facile synthesis of molybdenum-doped manganese oxides was achieved by a single step reflux method. The catalytic activity of molybdenum-doped manganese oxides for the oxidation of cyclohexene was investigated under solvent-free conditions. Various techniques such as X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, hydrogen temperature-programmed reduction, thermogravimetric analysis and diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy of adsorbed pyridine were employed to indentify the features of catalysts as prepared. The characterization results indicate that Mo dopants were successfully incorporated into the crystal structure of manganese oxide and the concentration of Mo dopant had an influence on redox properties as well as the Lewis acid sites of Mo dopant catalysts. Furthermore, 1.0 mol%Mo-MnO catalyst exhibited highest total yield (32.4%) and almost 100% selectivity towards allylic oxidation products, which could be attributed to its relative lower redox properties and the highest Lewis acidity. These results thereby provide an insight of catalyst design in selective catalytic oxidation of cyclohexene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Main conclusion : The attachment of aerial roots of Syngonium podophyllum involves a multi-step process adjusted by multi-scale structures. Helical-crack root hairs are first found in the attachment system, representing specialized structures for surface anchorage. The morphological variability of attachment organs reflects diverse climbing strategies. One such anchoring mode in clinging-climbers involves the time-dependent interaction between roots and the support: By naturally occurring adhesive roots with root hairs, the plant can ascend on supports of any shape and size. As a typical root-climber, Syngonium podophyllum develops elongate aerial roots at nodes. Here, we studied its attachment behavior from the external morphology to the internal structure in detail. Through SEM and LM observation on several root-substrate interfaces, we suggested that the attachment of aerial roots was mediated by a multi-step process, in which root hairs played significant roles in releasing mucilaginous substance and securing the durable anchorage. We summarized all the types of shape changes of root hairs with particular focus on the abnormal transition from a tube to a helical-crack ribbon. We demonstrated our understanding with respect to the formation of the helical-crack root hairs, based on the structural evidence of cellulose microfibrils orientation on the cell wall lamellae. The helical-crack root hairs serving as energy-dissipating units retard the failure of adhesion under high winds and loads. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]