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Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is the most aggressive subtype of breast neoplasms with a higher risk of recurrence and metastasis than non-TNBC. Nevertheless, the factors responsible for the differences in the malignant behavior between TNBC and non-TNBC are not fully explored. Proline rich 15 (PRR15) is a protein involved in the progression of several tumor types, but its mechanisms are still controversial. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the biological role and clinical applications of PRR15 on TNBC. PRR15 gene was differentially expressed between TNBC and non-TNBC patients, previously described as an oncogenic factor in breast cancer. However, our results showed a decreased expression of PRR15 that portended a favorable prognosis in TNBC rather than non-TNBC. PRR15 knockdown facilitated the proliferation, migration, and invasive ability of TNBC cells in vitro and in vivo, which was abolished by PRR15 restoration, without remarkable effects on non-TNBC. High-throughput drug sensitivity revealed that PI3K/Akt signaling was involved in the aggressive properties of PRR15 silencing, which was confirmed by the PI3K/Akt signaling activation in the tumors of PRR15Low patients, and PI3K inhibitor reversed the metastatic capacity of TNBC in mice. The reduced PRR15 expression in TNBC patients was positively correlated with more aggressive clinicopathological characteristics, enhanced metastasis, and poor disease-free survival. Collectively, PRR15 down-regulation promotes malignant progression through the PI3K/Akt signaling in TNBC rather than in non-TNBC, affects the response of TNBC cells to antitumor agents, and is a promising indicator of disease outcomes in TNBC.

As one of the most induced genes in activated macrophages, immune-responsive gene 1 (IRG1) encodes a mitochondrial metabolic enzyme catalysing the production of itaconic acid (ITA). Although ITA has an anti-inflammatory property, the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. Here we show that ITA is a potent inhibitor of the TET-family DNA dioxygenases. ITA binds to the same site on TET2 as the co-substrate α-ketoglutarate, inhibiting TET2 catalytic activity. Lipopolysaccharide treatment, which induces Irg1 expression and ITA accumulation, inhibits Tet activity in macrophages. Transcriptome analysis reveals that TET2 is a major target of ITA in suppressing lipopolysaccharide-induced genes, including those regulated by the NF-κB and STAT signalling pathways. In vivo, ITA decreases the levels of 5-hydroxymethylcytosine, reduces lipopolysaccharide-induced acute pulmonary oedema as well as lung and liver injury, and protects mice against lethal endotoxaemia, depending on the catalytic activity of Tet2. Our study thus identifies ITA as an immune modulatory metabolite that selectively inhibits TET enzymes to dampen the inflammatory responses.

The continuous memristor is a popular topic of research in recent years, however, there is rare discussion about the discrete memristor model, especially the locally active discrete memristor model. This paper proposes a locally active discrete memristor model for the first time and proves the three fingerprints characteristics of this model according to the definition of generalized memristor. A novel hyperchaotic map is constructed by coupling the discrete memristor with a two-dimensional generalized square map. The dynamical behaviors are analyzed with attractor phase diagram, bifurcation diagram, Lyapunov exponent spectrum, and dynamic behavior distribution diagram. Numerical simulation analysis shows that there is significant improvement in the hyperchaotic area, the quasi-periodic area and the chaotic complexity of the two-dimensional map when applying the locally active discrete memristor. In addition, antimonotonicity and transient chaos behaviors of system are reported. In particular, the coexisting attractors can be observed in this discrete memristive system, resulting from the different initial values of the memristor. Results of theoretical analysis are well verified with hardware experimental measurements. This paper lays a great foundation for future analysis and engineering application of the discrete memristor and relevant the study of other hyperchaotic maps.

Background Breast cancer has become the most common malignant tumour worldwide. Distant metastasis is one of the leading causes of breast cancer-related death. To verify the performance of clinicomics-guided distant metastasis risk prediction for breast cancer via artificial intelligence and to investigate the accuracy of the created prediction models for metachronous distant metastasis, bone metastasis and visceral metastasis. Methods We retrospectively enrolled 6703 breast cancer patients from 2011 to 2016 in our hospital. The figures of magnetic resonance imaging scanning and ultrasound were collected, and the figures features of distant metastasis in breast cancer were detected. Clinicomics-guided nomogram was proven to be with significant better ability on distant metastasis prediction than the nomogram constructed by only clinical or radiographic data. Results Three clinicomics-guided prediction nomograms on distant metastasis, bone metastasis and visceral metastasis were created and validated. These models can potentially guide metachronous distant metastasis screening and lead to the implementation of individualized prophylactic therapy for breast cancer patients. Conclusion Our study is the first study to make cliniomics a reality. Such cliniomics strategy possesses the development potential in artificial intelligence medicine.

Resistance to human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-targeted therapy (trastuzumab), cancer stem cell (CSC)-like properties and multiple chemoresistance often concur and intersect in breast cancer, but molecular links that may serve as effective therapeutic targets remain largely unknown. Here, we identified the long noncoding RNA, LINC00589 as a key regulatory node for concurrent intervention of these processes in breast cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. We demonstrated that the expression of LINC00589 is clinically valuable as an independent prognostic factor for discriminating trastuzumab responders. Mechanistically, LINC00589 serves as a ceRNA platform that simultaneously sponges miR-100 and miR-452 and relieves their repression of tumor suppressors, including discs large homolog 5 (DLG5) and PR/SET domain 16 (PRDM16, a transcription suppressor of mucin4), thereby exerting multiple cancer inhibitory functions and counteracting drug resistance. Collectively, our results disclose two LINC00589-initiated ceRNA networks, the LINC00589-miR-100-DLG5 and LINC00589-miR-452-PRDM16- mucin4 axes, which regulate trastuzumab resistance, CSC-like properties and multiple chemoresistance of breast cancer, thus providing potential diagnostic and prognostic markers and therapeutic targets for HER2-positive breast cancer.

Chemoselective hydrodeoxygenation of vanillin is of great importance in converting biomass into high value-added chemicals. Herein, we describe a facile photochemical route to access palladium single atoms and clusters supported on silicoaluminophosphate-31 (SAPO-31) as a highly active, chemoselective, and reusable catalyst for hydrodeoxygenation of vanillin. Characterizations by aberration-corrected high-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy, extended X-ray absorption fine structure measurement, and CO-absorbed diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy reveal the atomically dispersed palladium single atoms and clusters are loosely bonded and randomly dispersed, without forming strong palladium-palladium metallic bonding, over the SAPO-31 support. This catalyst, with a full metal availability to the reactants, exhibits exceptional catalytic activity (TOF: 3,000 h−1, Yield: > 99%) in the hydrodeoxygenation of vanillin toward 2-methoxy-4-methylphenol (MMP) under mild conditions (1 atm, 80 °C, 30 min), along with excellent stability, scalability (up to 100-fold), and wide substrate scope. The superior catalytic performance can be attributed to the synergistic effect of the positively charged palladium single atoms and fully exposed clusters, as well as the strong metal-support interactions. This work may offer a new avenue for the design and synthesis of fully exposed metal catalysts with targeted functionalities.

In this paper, multi-timescale dynamics and the formation mechanism of a 3D non-autonomous system with two slowly varying periodic excitations are systematically investigated. Interestingly, the system shows novel multi-bifurcation cascaded bursting oscillations (MBCBOs) when the frequency of the two excitations is much lower than the mean frequency of the original system. For instance, periodic, quasi-periodic and chaotic bursting oscillations induced by a variety of cascaded bifurcations are first observed, and the phenomenon of spiking transfer is also revealed. Besides, stability and local bifurcations of the system are comprehensively investigated to analyze the mechanism of the observed MBCBOs, in which bifurcation diagram, Lyapunov exponents, time series, phase portraits, and transformed phase diagrams are used. Finally, through a circuit simulation and hardware experiment, these complex dynamics phenomena are verified physically.

Inonotus hispidus is a valuable and rare edible and medicinal mushroom with extremely high nutritional and medicinal value. However, there is no holistic insight to elucidate the molecular basis of the differentiated usage and accurate annotation of physiological maturity to fluctuating yields and quality. This study aimed to figure out the fruiting bodies' metabolites change regulation and potential maturating indicators to distinguish different quality I. hispidus. We applied non-targeted ultra-high performance liquid chromatography and high-resolution mass spectrometry combined and with multivariate analysis and analyzed cultivated and wild mushroom I. hispidus in different growth periods (budding, mature and aging). With the fruiting bodies maturating, 1358 metabolites were annotated, 822 and 833 metabolites abundances changed greater than or equal to 1 time from the budding period to the aging period in abundance in cultivated and wild, the total polysaccharides, crude fat, total flavonoids, and total terpenes increased at first and then decreased. Total amino acids, crude protein, and total polyphenols decreased, while the total steroids increased linearly. The change of metabolites showed certain regularity. Metabolic pathways enrichment analysis showed that these metabolites are involved in glycolysis, biosynthesis of amino acids, organic acid metabolism, glycine-serine-and-threonine metabolism, tricarboxylic acid cycle, purine metabolism, and pyrimidine metabolism. In addition, ergosterol peroxide and (22E)-ergosta-4,6,8(14),22-tetraen-3-one can be used as indicator compounds, and their contents increase linearly with the fruiting bodies of I. hispidus’ physiological maturation. This comprehensive analysis will help to evaluate the edible values and facilitate exploitation in mushroom I. hispidus.

Tuning the electronic properties of single atom catalysts (SACs) between the central metal and the neighboring surface atoms has emerged as an efficient strategy to boost catalytic efficiency and metal utilization. Here we describe a simple and efficient approach to create atomically dispersed palladium atoms supported over defect-containing porous ceria nanorod containing palladium up to 0.26 wt.%. The existence of singly dispersed palladium atoms is confirmed by spherical aberration correction electron microscopy and extended X-ray absorption fine structure measurements. This catalyst shows excellent efficiency in hydrodehalogenation reactions at low H2 pressure under mild conditions, along with satisfactory recyclability and scalability. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal that the high activity stems from the spatial isolation of palladium atoms and the modified electronic structure of palladium confined in defect-containing ceria nanorod. This work may lay the foundation for the facile creation of single atom catalysts within the synthetic community and shed light on the possibility for scale-up production.

This paper aims to show and investigate bursting oscillator and bifurcation phenomena in a piecewise-smooth memristor-based Shimizu–Morioka (SM) system. First, a piecewise-smooth nonlinear system is built. Second, considering the memory characteristic of the memristor and the formation of the bursting oscillations circuit, a memristor and a periodic excitation are introduced into the system which leads to the piecewise-smooth memristor-based systems with a single slow variable. As the slow variable changes periodically in different scopes, we discover intricate bursting oscillation phenomena, namely, asymmetric Fold/Fold bursting, damped oscillation-sliding, asymmetric Fold/Fold-delayed supHopf/supHopf bursting, compressed oscillation phenomenon within the limit cycle, random bursting, double loop oscillations and so on. To make the circuit low power consumption and portable in practice, it is fully integrated. In the course of the study, it is found that the properties of the nominal equilibrium orbits, limit cycles, and the non-smooth boundary contribute to the bursting. Finally, a fully integrated circuit is designed and the accuracy of the study is verified by some circuit simulation results.

Synchrotron radiation-based micro-Laue technique has showcased great application potentials in materials science study for its unprecedented crystal orientation and lattice strain/stress resolution. Here we report the updated progress in the development of the micro-Laue technique on the X-ray test beamline at Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility. So far, 40 µm (h) × 50 µm (v) X-ray beam spot is routinely obtained, with the convergent angle of 0.2 mrad (h) × 0.12 mrad (v). Area scans are conducted on a GH3535 Ni-based superalloy base metal and weld joint with the same chemical composition. By analyzing the tremendous amount of Laue diffraction patterns using in-house developed software packages, the crystal orientation, elastic strain, and defect distributions are mapped and investigated. Such a successful proof-of-principle study offers first-hand experience on the further optimization of the design and construction of the scanning micro-Laue facility on the superbend beamline with improved spatial resolution and multiple functions for simultaneous chemical fluorescence mapping and in-situ microstructural evolution studies. The micro-Laue diffraction beamline at Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility will provide a versatile and powerful tool for the orientation and strain/stress mapping combined with phase identification with micron-sized spatial resolution.

Background The activation of macrophages and the release of inflammatory cytokines are the main reasons for the progress of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). MicroRNA (miRNA)-124 is involved in the regulation of macrophages and is a key regulator of inflammation and immunity. Objective To explore whether paeoniflorin (PF) regulates the biological functions of macrophages depends on miR-124. Methods RT-PCR, WB, ELISA, CCK-8 and flow cytometry were used to evaluate that PF regulated the biological functions of THP-1 cells through miR-124. Results PF significantly inhibited the proliferation while promotes the apoptosis of THP-1 cells, and inhibited the release of IL-6, TNF-α and IL-1βin THP-1 cells. RT-PCR results shown that PF up-regulated the expression of miR-124 in THP-1 cells. Functional recovery experiments showed that compared with the LPS + mimic-NC group, LPS + miR-124 mimic significantly inhibited the proliferation and the release of IL-6, TNF-α and IL-1β, but promoted the apoptosis of THP-1 cells. In addition, compared with the LPS + PF + inhibitor-NC group, LPS + PF + miR-124 inhibitor significantly promoted the proliferation and the release of IL-6, TNF-α and IL-1β, but inhibited the apoptosis of THP-1 cells. Conclusions By down-regulating miR-124, PF inhibits the proliferation and inflammation of THP-1 cells, and promotes the apoptosis of THP-1 cells.

Local activity is regarded as the origin of complexity. In this study, a locally active memristor with coexisting two stable pinched hysteresis loops and two local activity regions is proposed. Its nonvolatile memory, as well as locally active characteristics, is validated by the power-off plot and DC V–I plot. Based on two-dimensional Hindmarsh–Rose and two-dimensional Fitzhugh–Nagumo neurons, a simple neural network is constructed by connecting the two neurons with the locally active memristor. Coexisting multiple firing patterns under different initial conditions are investigated by considering the coupling strength as a unique controlled parameter. The results suggest that the system exhibits coexisting periodic and chaotic bursting firing patterns as well as coexisting two periodic firing patterns with different topologies. Furthermore, state switching without parameters is also explored. In particular, phase synchronization of the memristor synapse-coupled neurons is discussed, which implies that two nonidentical neurons gradually become phase synchronized with the increase in the coupling strength. In order to confirm the effectiveness of numerical simulations, circuit simulations are included.

To explore an appropriate intermediate temperature of heat treatment during the cold working of UNS N10003 alloy, the influence of heat treatment temperature, time, the induced deformation, the mechanical properties, and microstructures by the pre-stretching method was investigated systematically. The results showed that after heat treatment (performed at 760 °C, 6 h), the strength was not reduced, and the elongation was not improved efficiently. However, after only 30 min of heat treatment at 870 °C, their strength was efficiently reduced, and their elongation was substantially improved, reaching the original sample level. Moreover, no apparent changes were observed with the extension of heat treatment time. The morphology of the microstructures and fractures indicated that the recovery and recrystallization process occurred at the temperature of 870 °C during the heat treatment, which resulted in the residual stress relieving and microstructural reconstruction. Correspondingly, the fractographs were also transformed from cleavage to ductile. Therefore, the heat treatment during the cold working should be carried out at 870 °C, enhancing energy- and cost-efficient production of UNS N10003 alloy.

How the root metabolic profiles and rhizosphere bacterial communities of dioecious plants respond to soil properties and sex identity is largely unknown. In this study, we analyzed root phenolic metabolomes and rhizosphere bacterial microbiomes of Populus euphratica females and males in two P. euphratica plantations with different soil properties to reveal the relative importance of soil and sex effects, and to decipher associations of certain phenolic compounds with specific bacterial taxa. We found that the relative abundances of bacterial OTUs and phenolic metabolites were closely linked to soil properties and sex identity. Soil is the main filter influencing the root phenolic metabolic profiles and rhizosphere bacterial communities of P. euphratica, while sexes and their interactions with soil properties are secondary factors. Differences in the diversity and evenness of phenolic metabolites were affected by plant sex, but not by soil properties. Conversely, the diversity and evenness of bacterial communities were affected by soil properties independent of plant sex. A multiple regression model indicated the presence of associations between root phenolic metabolites and specific soil bacteria taxa. Furthermore, all bacterial phyla and families correlated with at least one phenolic metabolite. Especially, both Nitrosomonadaceae and Cytophagaceae positively correlated with salicylic acid. Thus, our study provides new insights into the ecological mechanism that maintains rhizosphere bacterial communities in P. euphratica plantations in the desert area.

Delayed bifurcation behavior is ubiquitous in multi-time scale systems and has a great important effect on bursting oscillations. In this paper, a parametrically driven Shimizu-Morioka system is proposed and distinct delay behavior is observed when the slow-varying parameter passes through the transcritical bifurcation point periodically. Periodic and chaotic bursting oscillations induced by such delay behavior are investigated by using the fast-slow analysis method with different excitation amplitudes. More interesting, the fast subsystem has a zero equilibrium point branch and two asymmetrically distributed equilibrium point branches with respect to the slow-varying parameter. Thus, there exist two possible routes for the trajectory to choose when the delayed transcritical bifurcation takes place. This leads to that the bursting patterns corresponding to different excitation periods may be different. As a result, two possible mixed bursting patterns, named as “delayed transcritical/transcritical” bursting of point-point type mixed with “delayed transcritical/supHopf/fold” bursting of point-cycle type and “delayed transcritical/subHopf/subHopf/fold” bursting of point-cycle type mixed with “delayed transcritical/supHopf/fold” bursting of point-cycle, are revealed. Furthermore, the effect of the excitation frequency on the delay behavior is also considered. We find the delay behavior may terminate at different parameter areas when the excitation amplitude is fixed and the excitation frequency varies and thus leads to different bursting patterns. Numerical simulations are provided to verify the validity of the study.

Background Although men who have sex with men (MSM) and male sex workers (MSWs) both represent the high-risk groups for the transmission of HIV/AIDS and syphilis, the comparison between them have not yet been well studied in China. We aimed to evaluate the prevalence of HIV among MSM and MSW, and then identify the difference of risk factors of HIV infection. Methods A snowball sampling was employed to recruit patrons attending the Tianjin bathhouse from March 2011 to October 2018. A questionnaire covering sociodemographic characteristics, sexual behaviors, HIV-related and HIV awareness was completed by 5166 patrons from all parts of China. Bivariate analyses were done using the Chi-square test to investigate the association between factors and HIV infection among MSM and MSWs. Subsequently, we studied the different impact of risk factors on HIV infections among the two groups using multiple logistic regression with the adjusted odds ratio (aOR) being derived. Results From 2011 to 2018, 235 MSWs and 4931 MSM were included into our study. HIV prevalence among the MSWs was 17.8% (95%CI: 13.2% ~ 23.4%) while 6.5% (95%CI: 5.8% ~ 7.2%) for MSM (P P P P P P P P P Conclusions High HIV prevalence needs urgent intervention targeting MSWs as a higher susceptible to HIV in comparison to MSM owing to their unique characteristics. The discrepancies of profiles and risk factors between MSM and MSWs should be consider in design and development of strategies.

Phosphoinositide-3-Kinase Regulatory Subunit 1 (PIK3R1) is believed to function as a tumor suppressor, while Phosphoinositide-3-Kinase Regulatory Subunit 2 (PIK3R2) as a tumor driver. However, there is no systematic pan-cancer analysis of them. The pan-cancer study comprehensively investigated the gene expression, genetic alteration, DNA methylation, and prognostic significance of PIK3R1 and PIK3R2 in 33 different tumors based on the TIMER, GEPIA, UALCAN, HPA, cBioPortal, and Kaplan–Meier Plotter database. The results indicated that PIK3R1 is lowly expressed in most tumors while PIK3R2 is highly expressed in most tumors, and abnormal gene expression may be related to promoter methylation. Moreover, not only mutations, downregulation of PIK3R1 and upregulation of PIK3R2 were found to be detrimental to the survival of most cancer patients as well. Furthermore, the expression of both PIK3R1 and PIK3R2 was associated with the level of immune infiltration in multiple tumors, such as breast invasive carcinoma. Our study conducted a comparatively comprehensive analysis of the role of PIK3R1 and PIK3R2 in a variety of cancers, contributing to further study of their potential mechanisms in cancer occurrence and progression. Our findings suggested that PIK3R1 and PIK3R2 could serve as prognostic markers for several cancers.

Charge separation and oxygen activation are two crucial factors in the photocatalytic oxidation of pollutants, and it is meaningful to simultaneously enhance charge separation and promote O2 activation. Herein, it is demonstrated that the photocatalytic activity of porous In2O3 is greatly improved after co-modifying nanosized CuO and Ag for oxidizing 2,4-dichlorophenol(2,4-DCP) and CO compared with that of individual In2O3. Based on the surface photovoltage spectroscopy, O2 temperature-programmed desorption, electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy and electrochemical results, the improved photoactivity is mainly attributed to the synergistic effects of enhancing photogenerated charge separation and promoting oxygen activation by respectively coupled nanosized CuO and Ag. It is confirmed that the produced ·O2− radicals are dominant to induce the photocatalytic oxidation of 2,4-DCP. This work offers an effective way to develop high-activity In2O3-based nanophotocatalysts for oxidizing pollutants.

According to the structural parameters of an actual turbofan aeroengine, the dynamics modeling and vibration analysis of multi-stage blade-disk-shaft integrated structure with three-dimensional crack are conducted. Based on the theory of fracture mechanics, the stress intensity factor is considered as a fracture criterion. This paper proposes a three-dimensional (3-d) equivalent notch model which is simpler and more convenient than the traditional crack simulation model. Moreover, its validity is analyzed. Aiming at the harsh working environment of the blades, the penetration crack is considered at the edge and the middle of a blade root, respectively. The influence of the crack on the strength failure of the rotor system is studied. Results show that the appropriate small angle equivalent notch model can be convenient and effective to simulate the fracture cracks, in which 5° is proved to be the best angle. The crack aggravates the vibration of blades obviously. A parametric study is conducted, with a particular focus on the effects of pressure load and centrifugal load on the stress intensity factors and displacement fields.

The features extracted from diagnostic computed tomography (CT) slices were used to qualitatively detect bone mineral density (BMD) through neural network models, and the evaluation results indicated that it may be a promising approach to perform osteoporosis screening in clinical practice. The purpose of this study is to design a novelty diagnostic method for osteoporosis screening by using the convolutional neural network (CNN), which can be incorporated into the procedure of routine CT diagnostic in medical examination thereby improving the osteoporosis diagnosis and reducing the patient burden. The proposed CNN-based method mainly comprises two functional modules to perform qualitative detection of BMD by analyzing the diagnostic 2D CT slice. The first functional module aims to locate and segment the ROI of diagnostic 2D CT slice, called Mark-Segmentation-Network (MS-Net). The second functional module is used to determine the category of BMD by the features of ROI, called BMD-Classification-Network (BMDC-Net). The diagnostic 2D CT slice of pedicle level in lumbar vertebrae (L1) was selected from 3D CT image in our experiments firstly. Then, the trained MS-Net can get the mark image of input original 2D CT slice, thereby obtain the segmentation image. Finally, the trained BMDC-Net can obtain the probability value of normal bone mass, low bone mass, and osteoporosis by inputting the segmentation image. On the basis of network results, the radiologists can provide preliminary qualitative diagnosis results of BMD. Training of the network was performed on diagnostic 2D CT slices of 150 patients. The network was tested on 63 patients. Each patient corresponds to a 2D CT slice. The proposed MS-Net has an excellent segmentation precision on the shape preservation of different lumbar vertebra. The dice index (DI), pixel accuracy (PA), and intersection over union (IOU) of segmentation results are greater than 0.8. The proposed BMDC-Net achieved an accuracy of 76.65% and an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.9167. This study proposed a novel method for qualitative detection of BMD via diagnostic CT slices and it has great potential in clinical applications for osteoporosis screening. The method can potentially reduce the manual burden to radiologists and diagnostic cost to patients.

The Central Asiatisc Region is commonly known as one of the primary centers of origin of cultivated plants, especially for apricots, cherries, apples, pears, pistachios, almonds, walnuts, and some vegetables. However, it lacks exact data and information about cultivated plants in this region. A comprehensive introduction and analysis will help people understand the status. The methods of literature study had been used to collect data from existing references. The aim of this study was to provide details of cultivated plants in the Central Asiatic Region for conservation and sustainable uses of plant genetic resources. As a result, 802 species of cultivated plants from 107 families and 388 genera were presented according to Mansfeld’s definition. In addition, 304 wild relatives of cultivated plants and several landraces have been recorded in the Central Asiatic Region. Remarkably, the region had exported important species of vegetables, fruits and nuts to other parts of the world. The Silk Road passed through the Central Asiatic Region and had strongly promoted the exchange of cultivated plants between the East and the West. Located in the key zone of the Belt and Road Initiative, this region will continue to make great contributions to the world in terms of conservation, breeding, development and use of cultivated plants.

Wnt signaling maintains homeostasis in the bone marrow cavity: if Wnt signaling is inhibited then bone volume and density would decline. In this study, we identified a population of Wnt-responsive cells as osteoprogenitor in the intact trabecular bone region, which were responsible for bone development and turnover. If an implant was placed into the long bone, this Wnt-responsive population and their progeny contributed to osseointegration. We employed Axin2CreCreERT2/+;R26mTmG/+ transgenic mouse strain in which Axin2-positive, Wnt-responsive cells, and their progeny are permanently labeled by GFP upon exposure to tamoxifen. Each mouse received femoral implants placed into a site prepared solely by drilling, and a single-dose liposomal WNT3A protein was used in the treatment group. A lineage tracing strategy design allowed us to identify cells actively expressing Axin2 in response to Wnt signaling pathway. These tools demonstrated that Wnt-responsive cells and their progeny comprise a quiescent population residing in the trabecular region. In response to an implant placed, this population becomes mitotically active: cells migrated into the peri-implant region, up-regulated the expression of osteogenic proteins. Ultimately, those cells gave rise to osteoblasts that produced significantly more new bone in the peri-implant region. Wnt-responsive cells directly contributed to implant osseointegration. Using a liposomal WNT3A protein therapeutic, we showed that a single application at the time of implant placed was sufficient to accelerate osseointegration. The Wnt-responsive cell population in trabecular bone, activated by injury, ultimately contributes to implant osseointegration. Liposomal WNT3A protein therapeutic accelerates implant osseointegration in the long bone.

In order to apply satellite data to guiding navigation in the Arctic more effectively, the sea ice concentrations (SIC) derived from passive microwave (PM) products were compared with ship-based visual observations (OBS) collected during the Chinese National Arctic Research Expeditions (CHINARE). A total of 3 667 observations were collected in the Arctic summers of 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, and 2018. PM SIC were derived from the NASA-Team (NT), Bootstrap (BT) and Climate Data Record (CDR) algorithms based on the SSMIS sensor, as well as the BT, enhanced NASA-Team (NT2) and ARTIST Sea Ice (ASI) algorithms based on AMSR-E/AMSR-2 sensors. The daily arithmetic average of PM SIC values and the daily weighted average of OBS SIC values were used for the comparisons. The correlation coefficients (CC), biases and root mean square deviations (RMSD) between PM SIC and OBS SIC were compared in terms of the overall trend, and under mild/normal/severe ice conditions. Using the OBS data, the influences of floe size and ice thickness on the SIC retrieval of different PM products were evaluated by calculating the daily weighted average of floe size code and ice thickness. Our results show that CC values range from 0.89 (AMSR-E/AMSR-2 NT2) to 0.95 (SSMIS NT), biases range from -3.96% (SSMIS NT) to 12.05% (AMSR-E/AMSR-2 NT2), and RMSD values range from 10.81% (SSMIS NT) to 20.15% (AMSR-E/AMSR-2 NT2). Floe size has a significant influence on the SIC retrievals of the PM products, and most of the PM products tend to underestimate SIC under smaller floe size conditions and overestimate SIC under larger floe size conditions. Ice thickness thicker than 30 cm does not have a significant influence on the SIC retrieval of PM products. Overall, the best (worst) agreement occurs between OBS SIC and SSMIS NT (AMSR-E/AMSR-2 NT2) SIC in the Arctic summer.

The reduction in Arctic sea ice in summer has been reported to have a significant impact on the global climate. In this study, Arctic sea ice/snow at the end of the melting season in 2018 was investigated during CHINARE-2018, in terms of its temperature, salinity, density and textural structure, the snow density, water content and albedo, as well as morphology and albedo of the refreezing melt pond. The interior melting of sea ice caused a strong stratification of temperature, salinity and density. The temperature of sea ice ranged from −0.8°C to 0°C, and exhibited linear cooling with depth. The average salinity and density of sea ice were approximately 1.3 psu and 825 kg/m3, respectively, and increased slightly with depth. The first-year sea ice was dominated by columnar grained ice. Snow cover over all the investigated floes was in the melt phase, and the average water content and density were 0.74% and 241 kg/m3, respectively. The thickness of the thin ice lid ranged from 2.2 cm to 7.0 cm, and the depth of the pond ranged from 1.8 cm to 26.8 cm. The integrated albedo of the refreezing melt pond was in the range of 0.28–0.57. Because of the thin ice lid, the albedo of the melt pond improved to twice as high as that of the mature melt pond. These results provide a reference for the current state of Arctic sea ice and the mechanism of its reduction.

In order to study the application of chaos in video image encryption, a real-time video secure communication system based on a new grid multi-wing chaotic system is proposed in this paper. First, by introducing sawtooth wave functions to the Lorenz system, a new grid multi-wing butterfly chaotic system with complicated dynamical behaviors is obtained. Compared with the existing multi-scroll and multi-wing chaotic systems, The system structure is simple and more easier to be implemented in a digital system. Then, a chaos-based pseudorandom random number generator is developed by implementing post-processing procedure. The present video secure communication system is designed with the closed-loop feedback scheme. The corresponding hardware implementation is developed by FPGA platforms, and the experimental results are given to verify its feasibility. Furthermore, a series of widely used secure analyses are applied to prove that the system has good security performance.

The influence of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and monoethanolamine (MEA) as surfactants on photoluminescence (PL) of Eu-doped ZnO (ZnO:Eu) has been studied. X-ray diffraction (XRD) results show that there are more Eu3+ ions to replace Zn2+ ions into ZnO lattice for ZnO:Eu in the presence of surfactant MEA. From the spectral analysis for ZnO:Eu with different surfactants by Gaussian deconvolution, it can be seen that the use of MEA as a surfactant affects the energy transfer from ZnO host to Eu3+ ions and leads to three new emission peaks, including UV emission (389 nm), violet emission (411 nm) and green emission (506 nm).