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Background: Diabetic retinopathy is one of the complications of diabetes mellitus. The aim of this study was to explore the effects of ubiquitin-specific protease 48 (USP48) and its underlying mechanisms in the development of diabetic retinopathy. Methods: CCK-8 assay, EdU assay, and flow cytometry were used to measure the proliferative ability and the apoptotic rate of ARPE-19 cells, respectively. ELISA kits were utilized to assess the levels of inflammatory cytokines. The levels of Fe2+, ROS and MDA were detected using the corresponding biochemical kits. The protein expression of USP48 and SLC1A5 was examined through western blot. The mRNA level of SLC1A5 was determined using RT-qPCR. The interaction relationship between USP48 and SLC1A5 was evaluated using Co-IP assay. Results: High glucose (HG) treatment significantly inhibited cell proliferation and elevated cell apoptosis, inflammation, ferroptosis and oxidative stress in ARPE-19 cells. HG treatment-caused cell damage was hindered by USP48 or SLC1A5 overexpression in ARPE-19 cells. Fer-1 treatment improved HG-caused cell damage in ARPE-19 cells, which was blocked by USP48 knockdown. Moreover, USP48 knockdown decreased SLC1A5 expression. SLC1A5 downregulation reversed the improvement effects of USP48 upregulation on cell damage in HG-treated ARPE-19 cells. Conclusion: USP48 overexpression deubiquitinated SLC1A5 to elevate cell proliferation and suppress cell apoptosis, inflammation, ferroptosis and oxidative stress in HG-triggered ARPE-19 cells, thereby inhibiting the progression of diabetic retinopathy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent rise of high-risk scenarios such as unmanned aerial vehicles and intelligent driving, which require low latency and high privacy, has given rise to a new field called Federated Learning (FL). Limited communication bandwidth becomes a major bottleneck for aggregating local models in FL. Therefore, we use fast global model aggregation based on over-the-air computation (Aircomp). Wireless data transmission consumes most of the power of the edge nodes compared with the energy consumption required for sensing and processing data. Optimizing the transmission power of nodes can significantly save system power. To the best of our knowledge, in most of the research works on FL, the optimum design of system parameters usually takes the peak power of each sensor as the constraint condition. In this paper, the sum power constraint of edge devices is innovatively proposed to minimize the aggregation error of FL. We also study the optimization problem to minimize the total power of all edge sensors in the FL system under certain aggregation error constraints. Unfortunately, these problems presented are nonconvex biquadratic programming problems that are very difficult to solve. Therefore, we propose an alternative optimization method based on the difference-of-convex algorithm. The numerical results show that our proposal significantly reduces the aggregation error under the same total power. The simulation results also show that Intelligent Reflector Surface-assisted communication can greatly reduce the aggregation error and save system power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Synovial sarcoma (SS) is a rare mesenchymal malignant tumor. SS of the spine or retroperitoneum is an extremely rare site. Approximately 30% cases show focal calcifications on radiographs and computed tomography (CT) images, while extensive calcification rarely occurs. We presented a case of SS involving the spinal canal and paraspinal muscle and retroperitoneum, which showed extensive calcification on CT. Clinical presentation: The present report describes the case of a 13-year-old girl suffering from a tumor in the spinal canal and paraspinal muscle and retroperitoneum with extensive calcification on CT. The patient underwent lumbar and retroperitoneal giant tumor resection, lumbar decompression, and spinal tumor resection with a small tumor remnant remaining in the paravertebral region. Histological examination and genetic testing after surgery confirmed synovial sarcoma. After surgery, the patient refused local radiotherapy but agreed to receive chemotherapy. After 4 months of follow-up, her condition was basically stable, and the pain in her left lower limb disappeared. The residual tumor was not increased. Conclusion: Extensive calcification of SS is rare. The possibility of synovial sarcoma should be considered in those who show extensive calcification in the spinal canal and paraspinal muscle and retroperitoneum on CT. For cases that cannot be completely resected, adjuvant chemotherapy can control the residual tumor in the short term. In addition, the long-term effects need to be observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this research was to study the precipitation of Sb and the stability of Sb2S3 during treatment of synthetic Sb(V) wastewater by sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB). We investigated the transformation and precipitation of Sb, as well as the re-dissolution of Sb2S3 under different pH and carbon sources. The results showed that the precipitation of aqueous Sb and the re-dissolution of Sb2S3 depend on the conversion between Sb(III)-S(-II) complexes and Sb2S3 precipitates. These processes were highly pH-dependent, and a decrease in pH enhanced reduction of Sb(V) and precipitation of Sb2S3 were observed. The newly formed Sb2S3 was found to be unstable and could re-dissolve through complexation with H2S due to the increase in pH. When pH decreased to approximately 6.5, Sb was almost completely transformed into Sb2S3 precipitates, and the Sb2S3 precipitates were relatively stable. Compared with lactate as a carbon source, ethanol resulted in a comparable H2S yield and a relatively low pH and was, therefore, more conducive to the removal of Sb(V). The results of this study suggest that when removing Sb(V) in wastewater by SRB, it is important to control the pH at a relatively low level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alginate/polyacrylamide hybrid hydrogel has attracted intense interests in different fields, but the low tensile strength and stiffness limit its comprehensive application. In this hydrogel system, the alginate-cation network plays an important role. Thus, based on the unique structure of alginate and its special interaction with different metal cations, we designed a new method of introducing barium and ferric ions together to crosslink the alginate sufficiently, creating a stronger alginate network. As a result, the prepared hybrid hydrogel exhibits enhanced strength and stiffness, which may serve as a new way to develop stronger hydrogel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel bridged organosilane precursor with star-shaped construction, [hexfluoropropane-2,2-diyl)dibenzyl-bridged organosilane (HFPDBO)], is prepared by facile organic synthesis method. The resultant HFPDBO precursor is mixed with porogen and acid catalyst to prepare periodic mesoporous organosilica (PMO) thin film via evaporation-induced self-assembly after spin-coating procedure. All the as-prepared HFPDB-based PMO thin film has been characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance spectrum, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscope, and small-angle X-ray diffraction, respectively. Thereinto, the HFPDB-based PMO thin film with weight ratio of porogen to precursor (0.75:1) possesses excellent dielectric property (1.58@1 MHz of dielectric constants), high mechanical property (5.54 ± 0.11 GPa of Young's modulus) and hydrophobic property (90.1° of water contact angle) simultaneously. These low dielectric constant, high mechanical strength, and the hydrophobicity suggest potential application of the HFPDB-based PMO thin films as low-k materials in microelectronics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intelligent reflective surface (IRS) and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) communication are two key technologies in the sixth generation of mobile communication (6G). In this paper, IRS is equipped on UAV to form aerial IRS, which can achieve 360° panoramic full-angle reflection and flexible deployment of IRS. In order to achieve high-quality and ubiquitous network coverage under data privacy and low latency requirements, we propose an Federated learning (FL) network via Over-the-Air computation (AirComp) in IRS-assisted UAV communications. Our goal is to minimize the worst-case mean square error (MSE) by jointly optimizing the IRS phase shift, denoising factor for noise suppression, the user's transmission power, and UAV trajectory. Optimizing and quickly adjusting the UAV position and IRS phase shift, it flexibly assists the signal transmission between users and base stations (BS). In order to solve this complex non-convex problem, we propose a low-complexity iterative algorithm, which divides the original problem into four sub-problems, respectively using the semi-definite programming (SDP) method, slack variable introduction method, successive convex approximation (SCA) method to solve each sub-problem. Through the analysis of simulation results, our proposed design scheme is obviously better than other benchmark schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A kind of aromatic diamine, 4′, 4″-(2, 2-diphenylethene-1, 1-diyl)dibiphenyl-4-amine (TPEDA), was successfully synthesized via Suzuki coupling reaction. The TPEDA containing nonplanar rigid moieties can be used as epoxy resins curing agent to improve the complex properties of cured composites. The curing kinetics during thermal processing of E51/TPEDA system was investigated by nonisothermal differential scanning calorimeter. The average activation energy ( E), pre-exponential factor (ln A), and reaction order ( n) calculated from the Kissinger, the Ozawa, the Friedman and the Flynn-Wall-Ozawa methods were 55.8 kJ mol, 9.4 s and 1.1, respectively. By the aid of estimated kinetic parameters, the predicted heat generation vs temperature curves fit well with the experimental data, which supported the validity of the estimated parameters and the applicability of the analysis method used in this work. By the introduction of nonplanar rigid moieties, the cured epoxy resins with TPEDA exhibited a higher glass transition temperature ( T = 258 °C), good thermal stability (≈395 °C at 10 % mass-loss), and high char yield (36.6 % at 700 °C under nitrogen) compared with conventional curing agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The palladium and gold precursors were dissolved in dispersive and continuous phase of ionic liquid microemulsion (HO/Triton X-100 (TX-100)/1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate), respectively. [PdCl] ions were reduced in situ by TX-100 in dispersive phase (HO) to prepare Pd nanoparticles (NPs) and then [AuCl] crossed through the interface film and reacted with the as-prepared Pd NPs to form PdAu NPs. The as-prepared PdAu NPs were characterized by transmission electronic microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy. The as-prepared PdAu NPs suspension and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) suspension were vigorously stirred to prepare the electrocatalyst supported on the CNTs with a total metal loading of 20 wt.% (denoted by PdAu/CNTs). Cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry tests show that the PdAu/CNTs are very promising for the oxidation of ethanol in alkaline medium. The result can be attributed to the synergistic effect between Pd and Au during the catalytic process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

p300/CBP are versatile transcriptional coactivators that participate in many physiological processes, including cell cycle control, differentiation and apoptosis. p300/CBP possess histone acetyltransferase (HAT) activity and they are involved in transcriptional regulation by acetylating histone and nonhistone proteins. Moreover, they act as protein bridges connecting specific transcription factors to the basal transcription machinery and provide a scaffold to integrate multiple transcription cofactors. Several studies suggest that p300/CBP may serve as tumor suppressors since mutations or translocations in p300/Cbp genes have been observed in a number of cancers. Furthermore, in many neurodegenerative diseases, inhibition of p300/CBP function may be one of the underlying causes of cytotoxicity. Several studies have demonstrated that p300/CBP are implicated in the regulation of many interleukin genes. This review focuses on the structures and functions of p300/CBP and their roles in the regulation of interleukin genes based on the work performed in our laboratory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key message: HvBGlu3, a β-glucosidase enzyme gene, negatively influences β-glucan content in barley grains by mediating starch and sucrose metabolism in developing grains. Barley grains are rich in β-glucan, an important factor affecting end-use quality. Previously, we identified several stable marker-trait associations (MTAs) and novel candidate genes associated with β-glucan content in barley grains using GWAS (Genome Wide Association Study) analysis. The gene HORVU3Hr1G096910, encoding β-glucosidase 3, named HvBGlu3, is found to be associated with β-glucan content in barley grains. In this study, conserved domain analysis suggested that HvBGlu3 belongs to glycoside hydrolase family 1 (GH1). Gene knockout assay revealed that HvBGlu3 negatively influenced β-glucan content in barley grains. Transcriptome analysis of developing grains of hvbglu3 mutant and the wild type indicated that the knockout of the gene led to the increased expression level of genes involved in starch and sucrose metabolism. Glucose metabolism analysis showed that the contents of many sugars in developing grains were significantly changed in hvbglu3 mutants. In conclusion, HvBGlu3 modulates β-glucan content in barley grains by mediating starch and sucrose metabolism in developing grains. The obtained results may be useful for breeders to breed elite barley cultivars for food use by screening barley lines with loss of function of HvBGlu3 in barley breeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a normalized standard error-based statistical data binning method, termed "bin size index" (BSI), which yields an optimized, objective bin size for constructing a rational histogram to facilitate subsequent deconvolution of multimodal datasets from materials characterization and hence the determination of the underlying probability density functions. Totally ten datasets, including four normally-distributed synthetic ones, three normally-distributed ones on the elasticity of rocks obtained by statistical nanoindentation, and three lognormally-distributed ones on the particle size distributions of flocculated clay suspensions, were used to illustrate the BSI's concepts and algorithms. While results from the synthetic datasets prove the method's accuracy and effectiveness, analyses of other real datasets from materials characterization and measurement further demonstrate its rationale, performance, and applicability to practical problems. The BSI method also enables determination of the number of modes via the comparative evaluation of the errors returned from different trial bin sizes. The accuracy and performance of the BSI method are further compared with other widely used binning methods, and the former yields the highest BSI and smallest normalized standard errors. This new method particularly penalizes the overfitting that tends to yield too many pseudo-modes via normalizing the errors by the number of modes hidden in the datasets, and also eliminates the difficulty in specifying criteria for acceptable values of the fitting errors. The advantages and disadvantages of the new method are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In previous work, we have developed a dual physically cross-linked hydrogel composed of poly (acrylamide-co-acrylic acid) (PAM-co-PAA) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), named as PVA/CP DN gel, by facile copolymerization and freezing/thawing. The PVA/CP DN gel is featuring both excellent mechanical properties and self-healing ability. Additionally, we have preliminarily found that the comonomer ratio for PVA/CP DN gel have great influence on the self-healing efficiency. In this research article, we will further discuss the mechanical and self-healing properties of the PVA/CP DN gel by varying the comonomer ratio of PAM-co-PAA. The results proved that the structure of DN will be loosen when the number of PAA segments exceed that of PAM. More PAA segments in copolymer make the PVA/CP DN gel have better elongation at break but weak in tensile strength and young's modulus because of less PVA crystalline domains formed in the gel. The energy dissipation value for the double-network hydrogel decrease with the addition of PAA segments, whereas self-healing efficiency of PVA/CP DN gel increased. Anyway, this work provides more information to further understand the effects of composition on the properties of dual physically cross-linked PVA/CP DN hydrogel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The macroscale mechanical properties of cement-stabilized soil have been widely reported, but the microscale behavior remains largely unexplored. This paper presents the first attempt to reveal the microscale strengthening mechanisms in a cement-stabilized kaolinite via big data cross-scale nanoindentation coupled with X-ray diffraction, scanning electron macroscopy, and upscaling analyses. A high-purity kaolinite clay was treated by 15 wt% Portland cement, and the 28-day-cured specimens were investigated to unravel the primary hydration of the cement, secondary reactions between cement and kaolinite, and the resulting constituents and microstructure of the solidified composite. Massive depth-dependent Young's modulus data, obtained by statistical nanoindentation with continuous stiffness measurements, were processed by three different deconvolution techniques including probability density function, cumulative distribution function, and Gaussian mixture modeling. Results from compositional, microstructural, and micromechanical analyses show that two mechanically distinct phases exist in the final composite: a relatively homogeneous fine-grained matrix consisting of solidified cement hydrates–kaolinite mixture, and relatively stronger, coarse-grained inclusions as fillers that are made of pure, cement hydrate aggregates randomly distributed within the fine-grained matrix. Furthermore, the cement hydrates function as two distinct roles in strengthening the kaolinite: (1) bonding the platy kaolinite particles at the edge surfaces and (2) forming the stronger constituents as aggregates embedded in the matrix. Upscaling analysis based on four micromechanical models further validates the above nanoindentation results and inclusion–matrix microstructure. Such an improved understanding of the strengthening mechanisms is expected to shed light on the practical applications of cement stabilization for soft clays. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The etiology and mechanism causing Meniere's disease (MD) are not understood. The present study investigated the possible molecular mechanism of autoimmunity and autoinflammation associated with MD. Thirty-eight patients with definite MD and 39 normal volunteers were recruited, and 48 human cytokines/chemokines were quantified. In patients with MD pure tone audiograms, tympanograms and standard blood tests were performed. The mean hearing loss in the worse ear was 44.1 dB nHL. Compared to the referents, the concentrations of TNFα, IL1α, IL8, CTACK, MIP1α, MIP1β, G-CSF, and HGF in the sera of patients with MD were significantly elevated, while those of TRAIL and PDGFBB were significantly decreased. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) showed that G-CSF, MIP1α, and IL8 were above 0.8 and could be used to diagnose MD (p < 0.01), and the AUCs of CTACK and HGF were above 0.7 and acceptable to discriminate the MD group from the control group (p < 0.01). The revised AUCs (1 − AUC) of TRAIL and PDGFBB were above 0.7 and could also be used in the diagnosis of MD (p < 0.01). The linear regression showed significant correlations between MIP1α and GCSF, between IL2Rα and GCSF, between IL8 and HGF, between MIP1α and IL8, and between SCF and CTACK; there was a marginal linear association between IP10 and MIP1α. Linear regression also showed that there were significant age-related correlations of CTACK and MIG expression in the MD group (p < 0.01, ANOVA) but not in the control group. We hypothesize that G-CSF, IL8, and HGF, which are involved in the development of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) and through various mechanisms influence the functions of macrophages, lymphocytes, and dendritic cells, among others, are key players in the development of EH and MD and could be useful in elucidating the pathophysiological mechanisms leading to MD. Biomarkers identified in the present study may suggest that both autoimmune and autoinflammatory mechanisms are involved in MD. In the future, it will be valuable to develop a cost-effective method to detect G-CSF, IL8, HGF, CTACK, MIP1α, TRAIL, and PDGFBB in the serum of patient that have diagnostic relevance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Little is known regarding the effectiveness of biopolymers in soil improvement, especially considering interactions among different clay minerals, porewater cations, and biopolymer polarities. This paper presents an experimental investigation of the effects and effectiveness of four biopolymers of varying polarity and structure (xanthan gum, guar gum, carrageenan, and dextran), on the liquid limit, undrained strength, and thixotropic hardening of soft clays consisting of predominantly kaolinite with lesser montmorillonite. The liquid limits were measured using the standard Casagrande cup method. Fall cone penetration was adapted to determine the development of undrained shear strengths of the samples with time and after remolding. Clay samples were amended by the four biopolymers with a range of concentrations as well as varying NaCl in the pore fluid. Results show different biopolymers affect the consistency and strength behavior of different clays to varying extents; such changes are dominated by the constituent clay minerals’ surface charges as well as the biopolymers’ polarity and structure. Addition of biopolymers to clays results in an immediate gain in undrained shear strength that stabilizes, and some biopolymers exhibit a concentration saturation. Moreover, the neutral biopolymers (guar gum and carrageenan) behave fundamentally differently from anionic xanthan gum and cationic dextran. Advantages and limitations of potential applications of biopolymers in terms of effectiveness, costs, and ease of application are discussed. This research can aid the decision-making processes for coastal geotechnical engineers to determine which of the tested biopolymers presents a safe, cost-effective soil improvement additive for reducing erosion of coastal cohesive soils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present experimental observations and a conceptual model for understanding the compression and swelling characteristics of Old Alluvium (OA) from San Juan, Puerto Rico. Prior studies have classified OA as a transported, in situ weathered tropical soil whose intact macrostructure comprises a cemented, pseudo-silt with a mixture of quartz grains and aggregated clay particles. The aggregates include mixtures of kaolinite and smectite coated by Fe-oxides. The Fe-oxides also act as cementing agents between the particles. This study describes results from a series of high-pressure (up to 63 MPa) incremental consolidation tests. Breakdown of the clay aggregates and cemented structure is observed through changes in the compression properties, significant swelling during unloading, and an extraordinary reduction (i.e., by three orders of magnitude) in the coefficient of consolidation. These experimental observations are explained by a combination of mechanical processes, comminution and breakdown of cementing bonds, and physicochemical changes linking pore fluid in the intra- and inter-aggregate pore space. These processes alter the fundamental particle size distribution and macro-porosity of the soil and activate the swelling potential of the smectites concealed by the Fe-oxides coating in the intact material. The experimental observations provide the basis for the formulation of a constitutive model to describe macroscopic compression and swelling behavior of Old Alluvium and offer a framework to understand the response of piedmont transported residual soils found elsewhere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: It is still challenging to detect endolymphatic hydrops (EH) in patients with Meniere's disease (MD) using MRI. The aim of the present study was to optimize a sensitive technique generating strong contrast enhancement from minimum gadolinium–diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (Gd–DTPA) while reliably detecting EH in the inner ear, including the apex. Materials and methods: All imaging was performed using a 3.0 T MR system 24 h after intratympanic injection of low-dose Gd–DTPA. Heavily T2-weighted 3-dimensional fluid-attenuated inversion recovery reconstructed with magnitude and zero-filled interpolation (hT2W–FLAIR–ZFI) was optimized and validated in phantom studies and compared with medium inversion time inversion recovery imaging with magnitude reconstruction (MIIRMR). The following parameters were used in hT2W–FLAIR–ZFI: repetition time 14,000 ms, echo time 663 ms, inversion time 2900 ms, flip angle 120°, echo train length 271, and field of view 166 × 196 mm2. Results: MRI obtained using hT2W–FLAIR–MZFI yielded high-quality images with sharper and smoother borders between the endolymph and perilymph and a higher signal intensity ratio and more homogenous perilymph enhancement than those generated with MIIRMR (p < 0.01). There were predominantly grade II EHs in the cochleae and grade III EHs in the vestibule in definite MD. EH was detected in the apex of 11/16 ipsilateral ears, 3/16 contralateral ears in unilateral definite MD and 3/6 ears in bilateral MD. Conclusions: The novel hT2W–FLAIR–MZFI technique is sensitive and demonstrates strong and homogenous enhancement by minimum Gd–DTPA in the inner ear, including the apex, and yields high-quality images with sharp borders between the endolymph and perilymph. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hierarchically porous organosilica microspheres have been facilely synthesized by improved self-assembly of flexible-bridged organosilica precursor without templates and harsh conditions. Subsequently, monodispersed silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) are in situ grown on the porous microspheres via silver mirror reaction. The as-prepared hybrid composites of Ag supported on porous microspheres are characterized by scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, thermal gravimetric analysis and nitrogen adsorption and desorption, respectively. These results indicate that not only Ag NPs (20-40 nm) are grown on the organosilica uniformly but also the content of Ag NPs immobilized in the hybrid materials can be well controlled by simply tuning the amount of the Ag(NH)OH. The resultant hybrid microspheres exhibit remarkable and durable performances for the reduction of 4-nitrophenol to 4-aminophenol by NaBH in aqueous solution. Moreover, the catalytic kinetic mode can be tuned by adjusting the parameter in catalytic reaction, and it can be recycled for seven successive cycles with excellent conversion of 100 % within 8 min. Therefore, the present structure design and scalable route for the synthesis of hierarchical catalyst can provide a highly efficient solution for the reduction of nitro-aromatic compounds in the view of environmentally friendly strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mechanical properties of shales, a type of heterogeneous and multiphase composite, are of multiscale characteristics in nature. A large number of indentation measurements were performed under the continuous stiffness measurement (CSM) mode on the Longmaxi shale, followed by data segmentation, Gaussian mixture modeling (GMM) deconvolution of segmented datasets, and results re-integration. Accompanying compositional analyses by X-ray powder diffraction and surface imaging were also conducted to assist data interpretation. Results showed that the studied shale consisted of a fine-grained, relatively homogeneous clay matrix with randomly embedded, coarse-grained solid inclusions of up to ~ 100 μm in size. The CSM mode enabled the analysis of phase angle lag, which is an effective indicator for surface roughness. The Young's moduli of both microscopic constituent phases (e.g., clay matrix, carbonates, quartz, pyrite) and macroscopic bulk shale were precisely determined and, through the probability analysis of the indent locations, the characteristic lengths of the shale's constituent phases were estimated. The clay matrix and carbonates have relatively large characteristic lengths than quartz and pyrite. The data analytics proposed in this study may provide a feasible framework to assess the multiscale mechanical properties as well as the characteristic lengths of the shale's constituent phases via a single type of measurement technique on the same piece of sample. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the first effort to unravel and quantify the strengthening of a shale induced by nanoparticle injection from the perspectives of cross-scale and multi-constituent mechanical properties. After being subject to injection of pure water and an aqueous suspension of carbon black nanoparticle of ~ 50 nm in diameter under a differential pressure of 850 kPa, the shale specimens were characterized by big data nanoindentation (BDNi) to probe the mechanical properties of both individual constituents at the microscale and the bulk rock at the macroscale, leading to comparatively assessing the effects of injecting pure water and aqueous nanoparticle suspension on the mechanical properties. Microstructural characterization by electron microscopy and X-ray computed tomography validates the successful injection of nanoparticles into the microcracks and micropores of the rock. While the nanoparticles can infiltrate to depths of up to 100 s μm in zones with densely populated microcracks, the maximum depths of injection in crack-free zones are only 2–5 μm. Moreover, the injected nanoparticles mostly act as inert fillers in the interconnected micropores and microcracks but can seldom enter the isolated micropores. Comparison of the BDNi results from pure water versus nanoparticle-injected specimens shows that the Young’s modulus of the clay matrix experiences the highest increase by 23.1%, while the counterpart of non-porous quartz the lowest by 12.8%. Overall, the bulk shale’s Young’s modulus increases by 21.5%. Such data are consistent with the microcharacterization results that the injected nanoparticles mainly remain in the micropores and microcracks within the clay matrix. Owing to their hydrophobic nature, the carbon black nanoparticles have little effect on the rock’s hardness. The findings can shed light on the practical applications of nanoparticle injection for improved wellbore stability in shale formations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a newly observed phenomenon of upscaling of rocks' properties using big data nanoindentation and analytics involving Gaussian mixture modeling (GMM), leading to characterizing the cross-scale mechanical properties of four shales and one sandstone. A large number (i.e., ~ 500) of statistical indentation measurements to depths of 6–8 μm were performed on each rock, resulting in continuous depth-dependent hardness and Young's modulus data from unknown phases, which were then segmented at various depths to extract an array of discretized subdatasets. Two-dimensional GMM of each subdataset yields the number, fraction, and properties of mechanically distinct phases, and re-assembly of these results leads to clearly discernible property-depth curves. Such improved data analytics consisting of data segmentation, GMM deconvolution, and re-assembly enables the transformation of a massive number of chaotic curves from unknown phases into a few discernible lines corresponding to identified phases, from which the mechanical properties of individual phases are accurately determined at relatively small depths. With increasing depth, initially unique mechanical properties of individual phases undergo multistage merging at the intermediate mesoscale and progressively homogenize into a unified value at large depths or macroscale (e.g., > ~ 5 μm), which is regarded as the bulk rock's properties. More importantly, such depth-dependent transition and progressive merging and homogenization actually manifest the micromechanics of nanoindentation on a heterogeneous composite, including the indentation surround effect and rock's microstructure (e.g., sizes and spacings of different solid particles and their properties). Compared to different micromechanical upscaling models, this newly developed big data indentation technique and pertinent data analytics enable more accurate, multi-parameter, and cross-scale characterization of highly heterogeneous materials and explicitly uncover the multi-staged, progressively-homogenized, depth-dependent upscaling of elasticity from individual constituents at the nanoscale to merged virtual interface phases at the mesoscale and to bulk material at the macroscale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

β-glucan is an important trait to be improved in barley breeding programs, as it greatly affects the quality of the end products when barley grains are used as raw material of feed or malt production or consumed as food for human. Although the genes associated with β-glucan synthesis have been identified, genetic regulation of β-glucan accumulation in barley grains is still completely unclear. In this study, 100 accessions from International Barley Core Selected Collection (BCS) were planted in two environments for two consecutive years to determine the genotypic variation of grain β-glucan content. A genome-wide association study (GWAS) identified 14 stable marker-trait associations (MTAs) (−Log10(P)> 4) for grain β-glucan content. Significantly positive correlation was found between grain β-glucan content and the number of favorable alleles of 14 stable MTAs. Seven putative candidate genes encoding some enzymes in glucose metabolism were found to be associated with β-glucan content. One of the putative genes, HORVU6Hr1G088380, could be an important gene controlling barely β-glucan content, with the SNPs being closely linked in all tested accessions and divided into two haplotypes. High resolution melting (HRM) analysis of the first SNP suggested that the HRM-SNP marker is valid for marker-assisted selection in barley breeding. This study provides useful information for the genes and markers related to grain β-glucan content in barley. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We recently reported low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 6 (LRP6) decreased in dilated cardiomyopathy hearts, and cardiac-specific knockout mice displayed lethal heart failure through activation of dynamin-related protein 1 (Drp1). We also observed lipid accumulation in LRP6 deficiency hearts, but the detailed molecular mechanisms are unclear. Here, we detected fatty acids components in LRP6 deficiency hearts and explored the potential molecular mechanisms. Fatty acid analysis by GC-FID/MS revealed cardiac-specific LRP6 knockout induced the higher level of total fatty acids and some medium-long-chain fatty acids (C16:0, C18:1n9 and C18:2n6) than in control hearts. Carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1b (CPT1b), a rate-limiting enzyme of mitochondrial β-oxidation in adult heart, was sharply decreased in LRP6 deficiency hearts, coincident with the activation of Drp1. Drp1 inhibitor greatly improved cardiac dysfunction and attenuated the increase in total fatty acids and fatty acids C16:0, C18:1n9 in LRP6 deficiency hearts. It also greatly inhibited the decrease in the cardiac expression of CPT1b and the transcriptional factors CCCTC-binding factor (CTCF) and c-Myc induced by cardiac-specific LRP6 knockout in mice. C-Myc but not CTCF was identified to regulate CPT1b expression and lipid accumulation in cardiomyocytes in vitro. The present study indicated cardiac-specific LRP6 knockout induced lipid accumulation by Drp1/CPT1b pathway in adult mice, and c-Myc is involved in the process. It suggests that LRP6 regulates fatty acid metabolism in adult heart. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A low level of available potassium (K) in soils is a major factor restricting crop growth and production. In earlier studies we found that Tibetan wild barley has a wider variation in low K stress tolerance than cultivated barley. In this study, we performed a genome-wide association analysis of 179 Tibetan wild barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) accessions exposed to low K stress and investigated the associations of K uptake rate (KUR), K translocation rate (KTR) and other K metabolism traits with 11,013 diversity arrays technology markers. The results showed that there were significant differences in tissue K concentration and content, KUR and KTR among the wild barley accessions analyzed. Scores for all traits showed a normal distribution. Three significant quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for KUR and KTR were identified and located on 6H and 1H. These QTLs were found to be associated with the cation/H(+) antiporter and cyclic nucleotide gated channel. A number of unique candidate genes associated with K-related signals, including K channels, K transporters and ethylene-related genes, were also identified. The K channels and K transporters involved in K uptake and translocation, respectively, were closely associated with KUR in response to low K stress. The present study highlights the potential of Tibetan wild barley to provide elite candidate genes for the improvement of K use efficiency of barley. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel statistical nanoindentation technique is presented that obtains massive data on the basis of shale sample's large volume (LV) to assess water-induced softening in terms of Young's moduli of both individual minerals at the micro/nano-scale and the bulk rock at the macroscale, with the latter extracted by a newly proposed surround effect model. Distinguished from traditional statistical nanoindentation that only examines the material at shallow depths of up to a few micrometers, this LV-based method obtains successive measurements to much larger depths of up to ~ 300 μm via sacrificial removal of the previously indented surface layer, enabling assessment of changes in mechanical properties over a large volume. Natural shale sample was first hydrothermally treated to cause softening, followed by statistical indentation with continuous stiffness measurement (CSM) on successive layers of increasing depth upon removal by polishing of the prior tested layers. For each tested surface, cumulative distribution function (CDF)-based deconvolution was performed to analyze multiple subsets of the massive data (i.e., ~ 1000 curves), each of which was extracted from the CSM curves via segmentation at a fixed depth. Such results on different segmentation depths were then fitted by the surround effect model to extract the Young's modulus of individual minerals and bulk rock. The clay matrix is highly sensitive to rock–water interactions and its Young's modulus decreases significantly from 29.2 to 16.5 GPa upon 30 days' treatment. The average rate of softening advancement was estimated to be ~ 10.5 μm/day, suggesting that softening advancement is intrinsically controlled by permeability, despite various physical and chemical softening mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phenolic acids in plants is receiving more attention because of their nutritive function and essential roles in plant growth. However, the genetics of phenolic acids in barley is still unclear. In this study, two main phenolic acids, i.e. ferulic acid (FA) and p-coumaric acid (p-CA), were analyzed in the grains of a double haploid population derived from XZ153 (Tibetan wild barley) × Hua30 (cultivated cultivar) grown in three locations. A wide variation in the content of phenolic acids was observed among the DH population. Quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis of phenolic acid content in barley grains from three locations totally identified 4 QTLs associated with p-CA content and 4 QTLs with FA content. Based on the mean phenolic acids content over the three locations, two significant QTLs (M_3261686 for p-CA and M_4184755 for FA), belonging to cytochrome P450 family (HvCYPs) were identified, with the LOD value of 5.33 and 7.01 respectively. These two QTLs could account for 14% of phenotypic variation for FA and 18% for p-CA. Collinearity analysis revealed that HvCYPPA (QTL for p-CA) has duplication events in barley genome. Furthermore, there was no synteny block found for these two genes in barley genome. The current results provide a new knowledge about genetic controlling of phenolic acids synthesis in barley grains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Cadmium (Cd) is a toxic metal in soils and its accumulation in plants poses severe problems to agricultural production and human health. Most of research has focused on the Cd toxicity to plants, but reports on Cd co-transport and regulation by the major counter ion Chloride (Cl) is limited. This study aims to understand the mechanisms of the interaction between soil Cl and phytol-toxicity of Cd. Methods: We utilised soil chemical, plant physiological, biophysical, and molecular approaches to test the hypothesis that Cl transport increases the mobility and phytol-toxicity of Cd to barley. Results: Cd-sensitive Gairdner utilised high amount of Cl− from soil for optimal growth and yield in the control, but this also caused higher tissue Cd uptake and significantly affected photosynthesis in treatments of Cd-Cl combinations. Net ion fluxes from the root mature zone in Cd treatments and relative expression of transporter genes exhibited striking difference between two genotypes. Our results also highlighted evidence that Cd sensitivity is related to higher Cl− and Cd2+ uptake and lower capacity to regulate root ion homeostasis and gene expression. Conclusions: We present a new finding that soil Cl− and Cd availability and Cd uptake and its interaction with other ions play a major role in barley Cd tolerance. These findings will guide future breeding for low Cl− uptake genotypes to reduce Cd accumulation for barley grown in Cd contaminated soils and for the economically sound and cleaner production of barley for the global feed, food and brewery industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the first effort to investigate the effects of uniform and nonuniform prestraining on the mechanical properties of nanostructured multilayers. Thin muscovite sheets were first subjected to a loading-unloading cycle under unidirectional compression and cantilever bending modes that induce uniform and nonuniform prestraining, respectively, and then probed by nanoindentation to characterize their Young’s modulus and hardness. Optical and electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction were also used to uncover prestraining-induced microstructure alterations. Precompression in the c* direction to a stress of 45 MPa induces elastic uniform straining and causes negligible alteration to the microstructure. Such a prestrained specimen possesses unaltered Young’s modulus and hardness. However, the nonuniformly prestrained specimens that were subjected to cantilever bending, even though bending is macroscopically purely elastic, exhibit decreased Young’s modulus and hardness, and such reduction depends on the magnitude of bending strains. The Young’s modulus decreases by up to 41.0%, from 69.5 to 41.0 GPa at 0 to ~ 6% bending strains, respectively, while the maximum hardness reduction is 40.4%. Such distinction induced by different prestraining modes stems from the bending-induced nonuniform straining as well as the muscovite’s unique nanoscale layered structure. Owing to the relatively weaker and reversible electrostatic interlayer bonding, bending-induced strain gradient along the c* direction causes relative interlayer slip and hence bonding switch and, upon unloading, leads to the formation of basal plane corrugation and subsurface blisters. Such structural incoherence and imperfections induced by even elastic bending reduce the Young’s modulus and hardness. These findings shed light on the processing-structure-property relationships for other nanostructured multilayers as well as the origin of variability of elastic modulus of muscovites reported in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil heavy metal (HM) contamination has posed a serious problem for safe food production. For restricting the translocation of HM into grain, many proteins were regulated to involve in the process. To identify these proteins, 2D-based proteomic analysis was carried out using different rice genotypes with distinct Cd accumulation in grains and as affected by an alleviating regulator (AR) in field experiments. AR application improved grain quality, with increased contents in Glu, Cys, His, Pro, and protein. Twenty-six low-grain HM accumulation-associated protein species were identified and categorized as physiological functions via two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2DE) and mass spectrometry. Among these proteins, 8, 9, and 9 proteins exhibited higher accumulation, lower accumulation, and unchanged accumulation, respectively, in Xiushui817 (low accumulator) vs R8097 (high accumulator) under control conditions but showed differential accumulation patterns after AR application. These proteins included sucrose synthase 3, alanine aminotransferase, glutelin, cupin family protein, and zinc finger CCCH domain-containing protein 32. The differential expression of these protein species might contribute to decreased HM accumulation in grain via decreasing the protein accumulation which had high affinity to HM or regulating energy metabolism and signal transduction. Our findings provide valuable insights into the mechanisms of low-grain HM accumulation in rice and possible utilization of candidate protein species in developing low-grain HM accumulation genotypes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purple grains in barley are caused by the presence of anthocyanin in both aleurone and pericarp, and the trait is controlled by one or two dominant genes. In this study, we demonstrated that purple grain was controlled by a single dominant gene using reciprocal crosses between Yuyaohongdamai and AC Parkhill or ACCA. The close linkage between grain color and spike type (controlled by Vrs1) was found in the crosses between Yuyaohongdamai and ACCA. The purple-grain gene was mapped on chromosome 2HL between the SSR markers Bmag0125 (1.2 cM) and GBMS244 (2.8 cM), and was about 5.1 cM distal from Vrs1. The marker enrichment in the target region was carried out by amplifying barley EST- and rice homologous gene-based searching for polymorphic loci adjacent to Pre2. Four of the newly developed markers were mapped in the Pre2 gene region. The purple lemma and pericarp gene ( Pre2) was then finely mapped between InDel marker PQJ1056 (from EST BM096525) and HvOs04g47170 with genetic distance of 0.3 and 0.1 cM, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Haze formation in beer is a trait closely related to beer quality and it is largely affected by the haze active proteins (HAPs) in barley ( Hordeum vulgare L.). Up to date, little is known about the genetics of HAPs and relevant genes. In this study, we obtained the beer samples from a Franklin/Yerong double haploid (DH) population and the two parents using micro-malting and micro-brewing, and determined tannin-related HAPs. It was found that there was a wide difference in HAPs among all lines of the DH population, and Yerong had a higher HAPs content than Franklin. Quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis identified five QTLs associated with HAPs in beer, being located on chromosomes 1HS, 5HL and 6HS, respectively. The loci QHAP1.FrYe- 1H and QHAP2.FrYe- 1H were overlapped in the short arm of chromosome 1H, and they controlled HAP1 and HAP2, respectively. Moreover, the candidate genes were also predicted based on published whole barley genome sequence and corresponding gene annotations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 49-year-old male had a history of over 8 years of episodic vertigo lasting for 5 h accompanied by fluctuating left ear hearing loss, tinnitus and aural fullness. The endolymphatic hydrops (EH) levels were grade II in the left (L) cochlea B B b and grade III in the L vestibule ( B D b ), but EH was absent in the right ear B A b , B C b . Correction to: High-quality imaging of endolymphatic hydrops acquired in 7 minutes using sensitive hT2W-3D-FLAIR reconstructed with magnitude and zero-filled interpolation. [Extracted from the article]

Aims: Aluminum (Al) toxicity in acid soil significantly reduces plant growth, agricultural productivity and ecosystem health. The Al-tolerant barley cultivars were reported to mainly rely on the Al-activated efflux of citrate from root apices, but the key mechanisms for Al tolerance may differ for wild relatives of barley adapted to acid soil.Here, we investigated plant Al tolerance from evolutionary physiological, molecular, and ecological perspectives.Phylogenetic analysis of Al tolerance-associated gene families showed that most of these genes were conserved from streptophyte algae to angiosperms, indicating land plants have evolved gradually in adaption to Al-rich acid soil during plant terrestrialization. Vacuolar phosphate transporter SPX-major facility superfamily (SPX-MFS) and inorganic phosphate transporter 1 family (PHT1s) of streptophyte algae showed high genetic similarity to land plants. PHT1s exhibited a significant expand during the evolution from streptophyte algae to liverworts and then eudicots. Al-tolerant Tibetan wild barley accession, XZ29 showed high levels of P-containing glycolytic intermediates including Glu-6-P, Fru-6-P, 3-PGA, 2-PGA and PEP under Al stress. Some primary metabolites were evolutionarily conserved in liverwort, gymnosperm and three tested angiosperms. Furthermore, we found that Al-induced Pi efflux from root elongation zone to chelate rhizosphere Al3+, and immobilization of Al with P at the inner epidermal layer of root mature zone to reduce Al accumulation in the cortical layer in barley.These results indicated that Tibetan wild barley has evolved unique P transport and metabolism for the adaptation to harsh conditions in eastern and southeastern Tibet where acid soils contain high P.Methods: Aluminum (Al) toxicity in acid soil significantly reduces plant growth, agricultural productivity and ecosystem health. The Al-tolerant barley cultivars were reported to mainly rely on the Al-activated efflux of citrate from root apices, but the key mechanisms for Al tolerance may differ for wild relatives of barley adapted to acid soil.Here, we investigated plant Al tolerance from evolutionary physiological, molecular, and ecological perspectives.Phylogenetic analysis of Al tolerance-associated gene families showed that most of these genes were conserved from streptophyte algae to angiosperms, indicating land plants have evolved gradually in adaption to Al-rich acid soil during plant terrestrialization. Vacuolar phosphate transporter SPX-major facility superfamily (SPX-MFS) and inorganic phosphate transporter 1 family (PHT1s) of streptophyte algae showed high genetic similarity to land plants. PHT1s exhibited a significant expand during the evolution from streptophyte algae to liverworts and then eudicots. Al-tolerant Tibetan wild barley accession, XZ29 showed high levels of P-containing glycolytic intermediates including Glu-6-P, Fru-6-P, 3-PGA, 2-PGA and PEP under Al stress. Some primary metabolites were evolutionarily conserved in liverwort, gymnosperm and three tested angiosperms. Furthermore, we found that Al-induced Pi efflux from root elongation zone to chelate rhizosphere Al3+, and immobilization of Al with P at the inner epidermal layer of root mature zone to reduce Al accumulation in the cortical layer in barley.These results indicated that Tibetan wild barley has evolved unique P transport and metabolism for the adaptation to harsh conditions in eastern and southeastern Tibet where acid soils contain high P.Results: Aluminum (Al) toxicity in acid soil significantly reduces plant growth, agricultural productivity and ecosystem health. The Al-tolerant barley cultivars were reported to mainly rely on the Al-activated efflux of citrate from root apices, but the key mechanisms for Al tolerance may differ for wild relatives of barley adapted to acid soil.Here, we investigated plant Al tolerance from evolutionary physiological, molecular, and ecological perspectives.Phylogenetic analysis of Al tolerance-associated gene families showed that most of these genes were conserved from streptophyte algae to angiosperms, indicating land plants have evolved gradually in adaption to Al-rich acid soil during plant terrestrialization. Vacuolar phosphate transporter SPX-major facility superfamily (SPX-MFS) and inorganic phosphate transporter 1 family (PHT1s) of streptophyte algae showed high genetic similarity to land plants. PHT1s exhibited a significant expand during the evolution from streptophyte algae to liverworts and then eudicots. Al-tolerant Tibetan wild barley accession, XZ29 showed high levels of P-containing glycolytic intermediates including Glu-6-P, Fru-6-P, 3-PGA, 2-PGA and PEP under Al stress. Some primary metabolites were evolutionarily conserved in liverwort, gymnosperm and three tested angiosperms. Furthermore, we found that Al-induced Pi efflux from root elongation zone to chelate rhizosphere Al3+, and immobilization of Al with P at the inner epidermal layer of root mature zone to reduce Al accumulation in the cortical layer in barley.These results indicated that Tibetan wild barley has evolved unique P transport and metabolism for the adaptation to harsh conditions in eastern and southeastern Tibet where acid soils contain high P.Conclusions: Aluminum (Al) toxicity in acid soil significantly reduces plant growth, agricultural productivity and ecosystem health. The Al-tolerant barley cultivars were reported to mainly rely on the Al-activated efflux of citrate from root apices, but the key mechanisms for Al tolerance may differ for wild relatives of barley adapted to acid soil.Here, we investigated plant Al tolerance from evolutionary physiological, molecular, and ecological perspectives.Phylogenetic analysis of Al tolerance-associated gene families showed that most of these genes were conserved from streptophyte algae to angiosperms, indicating land plants have evolved gradually in adaption to Al-rich acid soil during plant terrestrialization. Vacuolar phosphate transporter SPX-major facility superfamily (SPX-MFS) and inorganic phosphate transporter 1 family (PHT1s) of streptophyte algae showed high genetic similarity to land plants. PHT1s exhibited a significant expand during the evolution from streptophyte algae to liverworts and then eudicots. Al-tolerant Tibetan wild barley accession, XZ29 showed high levels of P-containing glycolytic intermediates including Glu-6-P, Fru-6-P, 3-PGA, 2-PGA and PEP under Al stress. Some primary metabolites were evolutionarily conserved in liverwort, gymnosperm and three tested angiosperms. Furthermore, we found that Al-induced Pi efflux from root elongation zone to chelate rhizosphere Al3+, and immobilization of Al with P at the inner epidermal layer of root mature zone to reduce Al accumulation in the cortical layer in barley.These results indicated that Tibetan wild barley has evolved unique P transport and metabolism for the adaptation to harsh conditions in eastern and southeastern Tibet where acid soils contain high P. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recombinant human arginase (rhArg) has been developed for arginine derivation therapy of cancer and is currently in clinical trials for a variety of malignant solid tumors. In this study, we reported for the first time that rhArg could induce obvious autophagy in human melanoma cells; inhibition of autophagy by chloroquine (CQ) significantly increased rhArg-induced cell apoptosis and growth inhibition of A375 cells. A significant increase in mitochondrial membrane potential loss and elevated intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels were detected in A375 cells after rhArg treatment when compared with control. Membrane transition inhibitor cyclosporine A blocked autophagy and accelerated cell death induced by rhArg, indicating that rhArg induced autophagy via mitochondria pathway. Furthermore, antioxidant N-acetyl- l-cysteine suppressed rhArg-induced autophagy and rescued cells from cell growth inhibition, suggesting that ROS played an important role in rhArg-induced A375 cell growth inhibition and autophagy. Akt/mTOR signaling pathway was involved in autophagy induced by rhArg in a time-dependent manner. Moreover, rhArg could induce ERK1/2 activation in a dose- and time-dependent manner and rhArg-induced autophagy was attenuated when p-ERK1/2 was inhibited by MEK 1/2 inhibitor, U0126. Taken together, this study provides new insight into the molecular mechanism of autophagy involved in rhArg-induced cell apoptosis and growth inhibition, which facilitates the development of rhArg in combination with CQ as a potential therapy for malignant melanoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Expansive clay sediments are abundant in riverine and estuarine waters and bottom beds, and their particle size distributions (PSD) are important for the analysis of sediment transport. This paper presents an experimental study to evaluate, using a laser particle size analyzer under varying flow conditions, the intrinsic PSD of two expansive clays, a Ca- and a Na-montmorillonite and the influence of biological, chemical, and hydrodynamic factors on their flocculation and PSD. The considered biological factor consists of three extracellular polymeric substances of varying polarity, including xanthan gum, guar gum, and chitosan; the chemical factor is the salinity; and the hydrodynamic factor is the types of flow indicated by the Reynolds number and shear rate. The intrinsic PSD of both clays show a multimodal lognormal distribution with sizes ranging from 0.2 to 50 μm. All three biopolymers, xanthan gum, guar gum, and chitosan, can facilitate flocculation through long-range polymer bridging and short-range ion-dipole interaction, hydrogen bonding, and Coulomb force. The influence of salinity is different for the two clays: the particle size of the Na-montmorillonite increases with salinity, which is caused by flocculation resulting from the suppressed electrical double layer, while that of the Ca-montmorillonite is slightly reduced owing to the decreased basal spacing and cation exchange. For different hydrodynamic conditions, higher shear rate promotes the flocculation of Ca-montmorillonite, but breaks the Na-montmorillonite flocs. The significance of understanding the flocculation and PSD of expansive clays is also discussed in terms of sediment transport under different aquatic environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a very common head and neck cancer in southern china. Despite advances in surgical and chemotherapeutic approaches, its prognosis is still not promising. Hedgehog signaling pathway was reported to be involved in a number of cancers including head and neck. However, it remains unclear regarding the role of this pathway in NPC. By real-time PCR, we found Ptch1, Smo, and Gli-1 were expressed in all human nasopharyngeal epithelial tissues and cell lines. Compared with nasopharyngeal normal epithelial tissues, the mRNA expression level of Gli-1 was higher in carcinoma and nasopharyngitis (NPI) epithelial tissues. While compared with nasopharyngitis epithelia, the mRNA expression level of Ptch1 was lower in carcinoma epithelia and normal epithelia. The expressions of Smo mRNA were not significantly different among these epithelial tissues. Immunohistochemistry analysis revealed that the expression level of Gli-1 was higher in NPC than NPI. Thus, our data indicated that aberrant activation of hedgehog pathway in NPC. Furthermore, blocking the pathway with cyclopamine inhibited the proliferation of NPC epithelia cell lines. In addition, blockade of the pathway in three NPC cell lines with cyclopamine-induced tumor cell apoptosis. The transcription of hedgehog target genes also is inhibited by cyclopamine. These data suggested that hedgehog pathway may sustain nasopharyngeal tumor growth. Our data demonstrated that hedgehog signaling pathway was involved in NPC pathogenesis and might be a novel therapeutic target for NPC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tibetan wild barley is rich in genetic diversity with potential allelic variation useful for salinity-tolerant improvement of the crop. The objectives of this study were to evaluate salinity tolerance and analysis of the allelic function of HvHKT1 and HvHKT2 in Tibetan wild barley. Salinity tolerance of 189 Tibetan wild barley accessions was evaluated in terms of reduced dry biomass under salinity stress. In addition, Na and K concentrations of 48 representative accessions differing in salinity tolerance were determined. Furthermore, the allelic and functional diversity of HvHKT1 and HvHKT2 was determined by association analysis as well as gene expression assay. There was a wide variation among wild barley genotypes in salt tolerance, with some accessions being higher in tolerance than cultivated barley CM 72, and salinity tolerance was significantly associated with K/Na ratio. Association analysis revealed that HvHKT1 and HvHKT2 mainly control Na and K transporting under salinity stress, respectively, which was validated by further analysis of gene expression. The present results indicated that Tibetan wild barley offers elite alleles of HvHKT1 and HvHKT2 conferring salinity tolerance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The terminal region of barley chromosome 5HL controls malt extract, diastatic power, free amino acid nitrogen, alpha-amylase activity, seed dormancy and pre-harvest sprouting. Comparative analysis of the barley and rice maps has established that the terminal region of barley chromosome 5HL is syntenic to rice chromosome 3L near the telomere end. The rice BAC (Bacterial Artificial Chromosome) sequences covering the region of chromosome 3L were used to search barley expressed sequenced tags database. Thirty-three genes were amplified by PCR (polymerase chain reaction) with the primers designed from barley ESTs (expressed sequence tag). Comparison of the sequences of the PCR generated DNA fragments revealed polymorphisms including single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), insertions or deletions between the barley varieties. Seven new PCR based molecular markers were developed and mapped within 10 cM in three doubled haploid barley populations (Stirling × Harrington, Baudin × AC Metcalfe and Chebec × Harrington). The mapped genes maintain the micro-syntenic relationship between barley and rice. These gene specific markers provide simple and efficient tools for germplasm characterization and marker-assisted selection for barley malting quality, and ultimately lead to isolation and identification of the major gene(s) controlling multiple quality traits on barley chromosome 5HL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wild barley germplasms are a treasure trove of useful genes and provide rich sources of genetic variation for crop improvement. We carried out a hydroponic and pot evaluation of diverse germplasms in response to drought stress using 47 Tibet annual wild barley genotypes. Our results from the hydroponic experiment showed that SPAD (soil-plant analyses development analyses, based on chlorophyll meter readings), plant height, and biomass of shoot/root were significantly reduced in plants exposed to drought stress (exposure of plant roots to air for 6 h daily for a period of 7 days) compared with control plants. There were significant differences among the 47 wild barley genotypes in terms of the reduction in these growth parameters, with variation coefficients and diversity indexes ranging from 23.2 to 49.1% and 1.46 to 1.62, respectively, suggesting a rich genetic diversity among the tested accessions. Genotypes XZ5 and XZ150 showed the least reduction, indicating their high tolerance to drought stress, while genotypes XZ54 and XZ147 showed the greatest reduction, and drought stress symptoms appeared rapidly and severely in these latter genotypes. The trends in the different responses of these genotypes to drought stress were fairly consistent in both the hydroponic and the two pot selection experiments, with XZ5 and XZ150 screened as drought-resistant genotypes and XZ54, XZ147 as drought-sensitive ones. Significant genotypic differences in leaf soluble sugar content and water use efficiency in response to drought stress were also observed in pot experiment two, with the drought-tolerant genotype XZ5 showing a markedly higher recovery and the two drought-sensitive genotypes XZ54 and XZ147 showing a markedly lower recovery than the control plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zinc smelting near Magu Town, Hezhang County, Guizhou Province, resulted in vegetation destruction and the accumulation of heavy metals, to varying extent, in adjacent soils, where up to 162.2 - 877.9 mg · kg-1 Zn, 37.24 - 305.6 mg · kg-1 Pb, and 0.50 - 16.43 mg · kg-1 Cd, were detected. These values greatly exceed the background levels of these elements in soils. The concentrations of heavy metals (particularly Pb, Zn) were positively correlated with the contents of Fe2O3 and Al2O3 in the soils, showing that Fe and Al oxides play an important role in retaining heavy metals. Chemical fractionation indicates that Pb and Zn were associated mainly with Fe and Mn oxides and minerals, whereas Cd was dominated by exchangeable form. Microbial biomass in the soils was relatively low, in the range of 57.00 - 388.0 µg C · g-1, and was negatively correlated with heavy metal concentrations in the soils. The correlation coefficient of microbial biomass C to Zn concentrations in the soils was as high as -0.778 (p < 0.01), indicating that the heavy metal contamination has toxic effects on microorganisms in soil. The results of Biolog measurements demonstrated that there were no significant changes in microbial community structure in the heavy metal contaminated soils. Gene fragments were similar to one another after the DNA was extracted from soil microbes and experienced PCR (polymerase chain reaction) and DGGE (denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis) reactions. These results indicated that light heavy-metal pollution may not result in any change in soil microbial community structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we performed a transcriptomic analysis to investigate genome-wide gene profiles of a rapeseed (Brassica napus) cultivar Zhongshuang 11 (ZS11) in response to waterlogging stress at germination stage. The root and shoot development of ZS11 was dramatically inhibited by waterlogging stress. As a result, 7472 downregulated DEGs (differentially expressed genes) and 3869 upregulated DEGs were identified by the RNA-seq experiments. KEGG analyses show that enriched pathways of these DEGs mainly include "plant hormone signal transduction," "phenylpropanoid biosynthesis," and "starch and sucrose metabolism." Among them, there are 41, 19, and 26 DEGs involved in the regulatory pathways of root, shoot, and hypocotyl growth, respectively. In detail, the downregulated IAA17, IAA28, YUCCA9, UPBEAT1, and ARR1 and the upregulated ACR4 probably affect the balance between cell differentiation and division in the root apical meristem (RAM), while the downregulated CLV1, CRN, AHK4, and FAS2 might disturb stem cell fate in the shoot apical meristem (SAM). Taken together, the current results provide valuable information for understanding molecular mechanisms of seedling development in response to waterlogging stress at germination stage in rapeseed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data collection is the basic functions of the Internet of Things (IoT), in which the sensed data are concentrations from sensor nodes to the sink, with a timely style, so the smart response can be done for emergency. The goal of multi-modal sensor data fusion is to obtain simple and accurate data to enhance system reliability and fault tolerance. Energy efficiency and small delay are the most important indicators which govern the performance of IoT. Convergecast is a low-latency data collection strategy based on effective time division multiple access (TDMA), in which each sensor node generates a packet, and m packets can aggregate to a packet. However, in most practical networks, sensor nodes do not necessarily generate packets during each data collection cycle, but instead generate packets from time to time. In the previous convergecast strategy, each node was fixedly allocated a slot, which increased the delay and wasted energy. A delay and energy-efficient data collection (DEEDC) scheme-based matrix filling theory is proposed to collect data in a randomly generated WSNs with minimum delay and energy consumption. The DEEDC scheme uses a clustering approach. For each cluster, the number of slots required for transmission is calculated by matrix filling theory, not the number of nodes that actually generate data. This ensures that data can be collected in a network with randomly generated data (number of slots ≤ number of nodes), thereby avoiding the allocation of slots for each node and the acquisition of redundant data to lead to the wastage of time and energy. Based on the above, a mixed slot scheduling strategy is proposed to construct energy and delay-efficient, collision-free schedule scheme. After extensive theoretical analysis, by using the DEEDC scheme, the delay is reduced by about 50~80%, and the energy consumed is reduced by about 40~57%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heading date (HD) is an important agronomic trait that influences plant adaptability to varying environment and, ultimately, grain yield. In this study, two doubled haploid (DH) populations were used to identify new QTL for HD. One of the DH populations is originated from a cross between an Australian malting barley cv. Franklin and a wild barley accession TAM407227 and the other one is from the cross between a Syrian wild barley SYR01 and an Australian malting barley cv. Gairdner. Using three times of sowing (TOS) differing in daylength and temperature, we investigated quantitative trait loci (QTL) controlling HD from both populations. Fourteen QTL were identified for HD from different populations and sowing dates. The expression of HD related genes varied with the TOS, suggesting a significant QTL × environment interaction. By comparing the positions of previously mapped HD genes and those of QTL detected in this population, we found that eleven of the fourteen QTL identified in this study were located at similar positions to those reported genes for HD. Among the three new potential QTL, one was located at 73.5 cM on chromosome 2H, explaining 19.2% and 4.6% HD of DH lines in spring and summer growing, respectively. The wild barley parent TAM407227 contributed the early maturity allele. HORVU2Hr1G088460 within the interval of QTL could be the candidate gene. The second new QTL was identified on chromosome 3H from a summer sowing trial and the third one on chromosome 4H affected HD of DH lines only under spring sowing condition. These new QTL identified will provide alternative genetic resources for plant breeders developing barley varieties with improved HD adaptability to varying environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sensor nodes equipped with various sensory devices can sense a wide range of information regarding human or things, thereby providing a foundation for Internet of Thing (IoT). Fast and energy-efficient data collection to the control center (CC) is of significance yet very challenging. To deal with this challenge, a low redundancy data collection (LRDC) scheme is proposed to reduce delay as well as energy consumption for monitoring network by using matrix completion technique. Due to the correlation of the location-dependent sensing data, some data without being collected can still be recovered by the matrix completion technology, thereby reducing the data amount for data collection and transmission, reducing the network energy consumption, and accelerating the process of data acquisition. Based on matrix completion technique, LRDC scheme can select only part of the nodes to sense data and transmit less data to CC. By doing so, the data collected by the network can be greatly reduced, which can effectively improve the network lifetime. In addition, LRDC scheme also proposes a method for quickly compensate sample data in cases of packet loss, whereby part of redundant data is sent in advance to the area closer to CC. If the data required for matrix completion is lost, these redundant data can be quickly obtained by CC, so the LRDC scheme has low delay characteristics. Simulation results demonstrate that LRDC scheme can achieve better performance than the traditional strategy, and it can reduce the maximum energy consumption of the network by 27.6-57.9% and reduce the delay by 0.7-17.9%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]