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Based on the rate-dependent non-aging constitutive model and the rate-independent aging constitutive model, a rate-dependent aging constitutive model is proposed to explain the changes in mechanical properties of ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) rubber under different strain rates and aging states. In order to simulate the actual use state of rubber, accelerated aging tests are conducted on the samples in a hot air aging environment. The grey wolf algorithm is utilized to accurately fit the engineering stress–strain curve obtained from the experiment, obtaining specific coefficient values that represent the effects of strain rate, aging time, and aging temperature in the constitutive model. The results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed rate-dependent aging constitutive model in accurately predicting the mechanical property changes of EPDM rubber under different strain rates and aging states. The consistency between the experimental data and the calculated results is within the acceptable error range. It is worth noting that the stress in the model shows the dependence on strain rate, aging time and aging temperature, emphasizing the mechanical property changes of EPDM rubber at high temperatures and low strain rates simulated in the uniaxial tensile state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To study the impact of cutting blasting on the surface, a vibration waveform prediction function was constructed, and a method of dividing the affected area was proposed. Based on the equivalent spherical charge theory, it is possible to establish a connection between the fitting coefficient and the engineering parameters in the equivalent source intensity function. Furthermore, a blasting vibration waveform function suitable for engineering can be constructed. Secondly, the reliability of the method introduced is verified through the data monitored on-site. Finally, the affected partitions of blasting vibration are divided based on the peak particle velocity and vibration displacement as standards. The results show that the vibration waveform prediction system introduced can restore the vibration waveform corresponding to cutting blasting. In addition, the zoning method can reasonably divide the scope of the affected area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cyanobacteria are excellent autotrophic photosynthetic chassis employed in synthetic biology, and previous studies have suggested that they have alkaline tolerance but low acid tolerance, significantly limiting their productivity as photosynthetic chassis and necessitating investigations into the acid stress resistance mechanism. In this study, differentially expressed genes were obtained by RNA sequencing-based comparative transcriptomic analysis under long-term acidic stress conditions and acidic shock treatment, in the model cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942. A pathway enrichment analysis revealed the upregulated and downregulated pathways during long-term acidic and shock stress treatment. The subsequent single gene knockout and phenotype analysis showed that under acidic stress conditions, the strains with chlL, chlN, pex, synpcc7942_2038, synpcc7942_1890, or synpcc7942_2547 knocked out grew worse than the wild type, suggesting their involvement in acid tolerance. This finding was further confirmed by introducing the corresponding genes back into the knockout mutant individually. Moreover, individual overexpression of the chlL and chlN genes in the wild type successfully improved the tolerance of S. elongatus PCC 7942 to acidic stress. This work successfully identified six genes involved in acidic stress responses, and overexpressing chIL or chIN individually successfully improved acid tolerance in S. elongatus PCC 7942, providing valuable information to better understand the acid resistance mechanism in S. elongatus PCC 7942 and novel insights into the robustness and tolerance engineering of cyanobacterial chassis. Key points: • DEGs were identified by RNA-seq based transcriptomics analysis in response to acidic stress in S. elongatus PCC 7942. • Six genes were identified to be involved in acid tolerance in S. elongatus PCC 7942. • Overexpression of chIL or chIN individually successfully improved the acid tolerance of S. elongatus PCC 7942. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Probability distributions have prominent applications in different sectors. Among these sectors, probability models are mostly used to analyze datasets in engineering. Among the existing probability distributions, the two-parameter Weibull model plays an important role in providing the best fit for engineering and other related datasets. This paper introduces a new method called a novel updated-W (denoted by "NU-W") family of distributions that is used to develop a new updated form of the Weibull distribution. The proposed updated extension of the Weibull model is referred to as a novel updated Weibull (denoted as NU-Weibull) distribution. Distributional properties such as identifiability, heavy-tailed characteristic, and rth moment of the NU-W family are derived. The residual life analysis of the NU-Weibull distribution is provided. Finally, two physical applications from civil engineering and reliability sectors are analyzed to demonstrate the application and effectiveness of the NU-Weibull distribution. The data fitting results show that the NU-Weibull distribution is a more suitable and best fit for engineering datasets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building and optimizing biosynthetic pathways in engineered cells holds promise to address societal needs in energy, materials, and medicine, but it is often time-consuming. Cell-free synthetic biology has emerged as a powerful tool to accelerate design-build-test-learn cycles for pathway engineering with increased tolerance to toxic compounds. However, most cell-free pathway prototyping to date has been performed in extracts from wildtype cells which often do not have sufficient flux towards the pathways of interest, which can be enhanced by engineering. Here, to address this gap, we create a set of engineered Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains rewired via CRISPR-dCas9 to achieve high-flux toward key metabolic precursors; namely, acetyl-CoA, shikimate, triose-phosphate, oxaloacetate, α-ketoglutarate, and glucose-6-phosphate. Cell-free extracts generated from these strains are used for targeted enzyme screening in vitro. As model systems, we assess in vivo and in vitro production of triacetic acid lactone from acetyl-CoA and muconic acid from the shikimate pathway. The need for these platforms is exemplified by the fact that muconic acid cannot be detected in wildtype extracts provided with the same biosynthetic enzymes. We also perform metabolomic comparison to understand biochemical differences between the cellular and cell-free muconic acid synthesis systems (E. coli and S. cerevisiae cells and cell extracts with and without metabolic rewiring). While any given pathway has different interfaces with metabolism, we anticipate that this set of pre-optimized, flux enhanced cell extracts will enable prototyping efforts for new biosynthetic pathways and the discovery of biochemical functions of enzymes. • Created a set of engineered E. coli and S. cerevisiae strains to achieve high-flux toward key metabolic precursors. • Assessed in vivo and in vitro production of triacetic acid lactone and muconic acid. • Demonstrated the utility of pre-optimized, flux enhanced cell extracts for prototyping efforts. • Metabolomics studies were conducted to compare in vivo and in vitro conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lignocellulosic biomass represents a carbon neutral cheap and versatile source of carbon which can be converted to biofuels. A pretreatment step is frequently used to make the lignocellulosic carbon bioavailable for microbial metabolism. Dilute acid pretreatment at high temperature and pressure is commonly utilized to efficiently solubilize the pentose fraction by hydrolyzing the hemicellulose fibers and the process results in formation of furans—furfural and 5-hydroxymethyl furfural—and other inhibitors which are detrimental to metabolism. The presence of inhibitors in the medium reduce productivity of microbial biocatalysts and result in increased production costs. Furfural is the key furan inhibitor which acts synergistically along with other inhibitors present in the hydrolysate. In this review, the mode of furfural toxicity on microbial metabolism and metabolic strategies to increase tolerance is discussed. Shared cellular targets between furfural and acetic acid are compared followed by discussing further strategies to engineer tolerance. Finally, the possibility to use furfural as a model inhibitor of dilute acid pretreated lignocellulosic hydrolysate is discussed. The furfural tolerant strains will harbor an efficient lignocellulosic carbon to pyruvate conversion mechanism in presence of stressors in the medium. The pyruvate can be channeled to any metabolite of interest by appropriate modulation of downstream pathway of interest. The aim of this review is to emphasize the use of hydrolysate as a carbon source for bioproduction of biofuels and other compounds of industrial importance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study highlights an effective strategy based on the synergistic complementarity of metabolic engineering and adaptive evolution.First, the chassis strain YL013 was obtained by deleting five acyl-CoA oxidase genes to reduce the degradation of γ-decalactone(GDL). Then, adaptive laboratory evolution with increasing concentrations of γ-decalactone was employed to obtain the strain YL013–250 with increased γ-decalactone tolerance of up to 250 mg/L. Moreover, this strain produced 664.5 mg/L γ-decalactone, representing a 142 % improvement over the parental strain YL013. Furthermore, four candidate fatty acyl-CoA synthetase genes, FAA1 , FAA2 FAA3 and FAT1, were modulated using the strong, constitutive TEFin promoter to investigate their roles in GDL production. The results showed that overexpression of FAA1 , FAA2 and FAA3 can effectively improve the ability of Yarrowia lipolytica to synthesize GDL using ricinoleic acid as substrate, among which overexpression of FAA1 had the most significant effect on GDL yield. Finally, gene of alcohol acyltransferase (AAT1) from Prunus persica was introduced into Y. lipolytica , leading to a GDL titer of 2.2 g/L, which was a 1.32-fold increase compared with the parental strain without AAT1. Taken together, this study provides a combinatorial strategy to improve GDL production through rational regulation of pathway genes and non-rational adaptive laboratory evolution. [Display omitted] • The adaptive laboratory evolution was used to increase γ-decalactone(GDL) tolerance. • Overexpression of fatty acyl-CoA synthetase genes FAA1 improved GDL production by 137%. • Overexpression of alcohol acyltransferase AAT1 led to 132% increase of GDL production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As some of the most widely used biocatalysts, lipases have exhibited extreme advantages in many processes, such as esterification, amidation, and transesterification reactions, which causes them to be widely used in food industrial production. However, natural lipases have drawbacks in terms of organic solvent resistance, thermostability, selectivity, etc., which limits some of their applications in the field of foods. In this systematic review, the application of lipases in various food processes was summarized. Moreover, the general structure of lipases is discussed in-depth, and the engineering strategies that can be used in lipase engineering are also summarized. The protocols of some classical methods are compared and discussed, which can provide some information about how to choose methods of lipase engineering. Thermostability engineering and solvent tolerance engineering are highlighted in this review, and the basic principles for improving thermostability and solvent tolerance are summarized. In the future, comput er-aided technology should be more emphasized in the investigation of the mechanisms of reactions catalyzed by lipases and guide the engineering of lipases. The engineering of lipase tunnels to improve the diffusion of substrates is also a promising prospect for further enhanced lipase activity and selectivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, women are a minority in the engineering profession. Various initiatives are adopted by employers to support women's career progression and retention in the profession. This paper examines the effectiveness of the common initiatives. Focus groups were conducted with 25 New Zealand based female engineers to explore their experiences and perceptions of women in engineering initiatives. Women discussed the effectiveness, and unintended consequences, of the initiatives. Their responses were coded using the NVivo software to identify key themes, which were then categorized using the universal/selective/indicated model. The findings show that universal initiatives which encompass men and women are well supported with few unintended consequences. These initiatives (e.g., subconscious bias training) focus less on changing or supporting women and more on changing the environment. In contrast, selective initiatives (e.g., female leadership programs) which focus on women, had mixed support and more unintended consequences. Specifically, they emphasize societal stereotypes that men are a better fit for the role of engineer and that women need help to adapt to the male-dominated environment. This study concludes with recommendations for employers to implement that will increase the participation and advancement of women in engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To further increase the production efficiency of microbial shikimate, a valuable compound widely used in the pharmaceutical and chemical industries, ten key target genes contributing to shikimate production were identified by exploiting the enzyme constraint model ec_ i ML1515, and subsequently used for promoting metabolic flux towards shikimate biosynthesis in the tryptophan-overproducing strain Escherichia coli TRP0. The engineered E. coli SA05 produced 78.4 g/L shikimate via fed-batch fermentation. Deletion of quinate dehydrogenase and introduction of the hydroaromatic equilibration-alleviating shikimate dehydrogenase mutant AroET61W/L241I reduced the contents of byproducts quinate (7.5 g/L) and 3-dehydroshikimic acid (21.4 g/L) by 89.1% and 52.1%, respectively. Furthermore, a high concentration shikimate responsive promoter P rpoS was recruited to dynamically regulate the expression of the tolerance target ProV to enhance shikimate productivity by 23.2% (to 2 g/L/h). Finally, the shikimate titer was increased to 126.4 g/L, with a yield of 0.50 g/g glucose and productivity of 2.63 g/L/h, using a 30-L fermenter and the engineered strain E. coli SA09. This is, to the best of our knowledge, the highest reported shikimate titer and productivity in E. coli. • Ten key target genes contributing to shikimate production in E. coli were identified. • Hydroaromatic equilibration was significantly alleviated by the screened AroET61W/L241I mutant. • The identified tolerant target ProV and promoter P rpoS was used to increase shikimate productivity. • The highest shikimate titer (126.4 g/L) and productivity (2.63 g/L/h) was achieved in E. coli. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a simplified approach, a self-consistent modeling of beam–wave interaction in a complex cavity is performed to evaluate the performance of the complex cavity second-harmonic 0.4-THz gyrotron developed at the University of Fukui. For this gyrotron, the quantitative analysis of an adverse effect of small manufacturing errors of the complex cavity on mode selection, output power, and output mode purity is done. To improve the robustness of gyrotron operation to manufacturing errors, a novel complex cavity formed by coupled smooth-walled and corrugated cylindrical resonators is considered. The novel cavity is a hybrid between conventional cylindrical and standard complex cavities and therefore offers the benefit of a tradeoff between engineering tolerance and mode selection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Acid soil syndrome" is a worldwide phenomenon characterized by low pH (pH < 5.5), scarce nutrient availability (K+, Ca2+, Mg2+, P), and mineral toxicity such as those caused by soluble aluminium (Al) forms. Regardless of the mineral toxicity, the low pH by itself is detrimental to crop development causing striking sensitivity responses such as root growth arrest. However, low pH-induced responses are still poorly understood and underrated. Here, we review and discuss the core evidence about the action of low pH upon specific root zones, distinct cell types, and possible cellular targets (cell wall, plasma membrane, and alternative oxidase). The role of different players in signaling processes leading to low pH-induced responses, such as the STOP transcription factors, the reactive oxygen species (ROS), auxin, ethylene, and components of the antioxidant system, is also addressed. Information at the molecular level is still lacking to link the low pH targets and the subsequent actors that trigger the observed sensitivity responses. Future studies will have to combine genetic tools to identify the signaling processes triggered by low pH, unraveling not only the mechanisms by which low pH affects root cells but also finding new ways to engineer the tolerance of domesticated plants to acidic stress. • The acidic pH by itself can cause rhizotoxicity regardless of the prominent factors within the " acid soil syndrome ". • The cell wall and plasma membrane seem to be targets of acidic stress but the pattern of acidic pH-induced responses is confined within root-specific zones. • The central players (e.g. ethylene, reactive oxygen species, transcription factors) control the cellular responses in accord with the acidic stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drought is a major abiotic stressor that causes yield losses and limits the growing area for most crops. Soybeans are an important legume crop that is sensitive to water-deficit conditions and suffers heavy yield losses from drought stress. To improve drought-tolerant soybean cultivars through breeding, it is necessary to understand the mechanisms of drought tolerance in soybeans. In this study, we applied several transcriptome datasets obtained from soybean plants under drought stress in comparison to those grown under normal conditions to identify novel drought-responsive genes and their underlying molecular mechanisms. We found 2168 significant up/downregulated differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and 8 core modules using gene co-expression analysis to predict their biological roles in drought tolerance. Gene Ontology and KEGG analyses revealed key biological processes and metabolic pathways involved in drought tolerance, such as photosynthesis, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase and cytokinin dehydrogenase activity, and regulation of systemic acquired resistance. Genome-wide analysis of plants' cis-acting regulatory elements (CREs) and transcription factors (TFs) was performed for all of the identified DEG promoters in soybeans. Furthermore, the PPI network analysis revealed significant hub genes and the main transcription factors regulating the expression of drought-responsive genes in each module. Among the four modules associated with responses to drought stress, the results indicated that GLYMA_04G209700, GLYMA_02G204700, GLYMA_06G030500, GLYMA_01G215400, and GLYMA_09G225400 have high degrees of interconnection and, thus, could be considered as potential candidates for improving drought tolerance in soybeans. Taken together, these findings could lead to a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying drought responses in soybeans, which may useful for engineering drought tolerance in plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Though several attempts have been made in the past to develop performance prediction models for flexible road pavement in Nigeria, insufficient dataset remained the major problem of using such models. This study used Fuzzy logic theory which is capable of handling the challenge of imprecise dataset to develop a framework for performance prediction of flexible road pavement in Nigeria. A Fuzzy Inference System was developed using MATLAB software. The attributes used included; Initial Pavement Surface Condition, Age of pavement, Resilient Modulus of subgrade soil, Average Truck load per day, Average Annual Air Temperature and Rainfall to predict the Future Pavement Surface Condition (FPSC). The model was calibrated using observed logical behaviour of pavement to fit engineering experience and judgement. A goodness-of-fit test showed high level of accuracy at 81.63% which was validated at 74.13% using extrapolated dataset of the same source. The study proposed 5120 mutually exclusive decision rules for performance prediction of flexible road pavement based on permutation theory. Though there was no current and well-spread dataset that described the present pavement condition to calibrate the decision rules, a framework for performance prediction of flexible road pavement using Fuzzy logic theory was developed for pavement engineers in Nigeria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to their fixed lifestyle, plants must adapt to abiotic or biotic stresses by orchestrating various responses, including protective and growth control measures. Growth arrest is provoked upon abiotic stress and can impair plant production. Members of the plant-specific GASA (gibberellic acid-stimulated Arabidopsis) gene family play crucial roles in phytohormone responses, abiotic and biotic stresses, and plant growth. Here, we recognized and examined the LmGASA1 gene from the halophyte plant Lobularia maritima and developed marker-free engineered durum wheat plants overexpressing the gene. The LmGASA1 transcript profile revealed that it's induced by stressful events as well as by phytohormones including GA 3, MeJA, and ABA, suggesting that the LmGASA1 gene may contribute to these stress and hormone signal transduction pathways. Transient expression of GFP-LmGASA1 fusion in onion epidermal cells indicated that LmGASA1 is localized to the cell membrane. Further analysis showed that overexpression of LmGASA1 in durum wheat plants enhanced tolerance to drought stress compared with that in non-transgenic (NT) plants, imposing no yield penalty and enabling seed production even following drought stress at the vegetative stage. Altogether, our data indicate that LmGASA1 regulates both the scavenging capacity of the antioxidant enzymatic system and the activation of at least six stress-related genes that function as positive regulators of drought stress tolerance. LmGASA1 appears to be a novel gene useful for further functional analysis and potential engineering for drought stress tolerance in crops. • LmGASA1 protein promotes water deficit resilience in engineered durum wheat. • LmGASA1 protein modulates the antioxidant enzymatic system and stress-related genes expression. • The tolerance improvement potential of LmGASA1 was confirmed in a heterologous system. • LmGASA1 appears to be useful for drought stress tolerance engineering of crops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rain-wind-induced vibration (RWIV) of stay cables has become a concern in bridge engineering over the past decades. Attaching helical fillets on the surface of stay cables is often used to suppress RWIV. In the critical Reynolds number range, stay cables also experience large amplitude vibration without rainfall, which is known as dry galloping. To investigate the optimal helical fillet parameters that can suppress RWIV and dry galloping, a series of wind tunnel tests were carried out. The results showed that a helical fillet can weaken the Reynolds number effect of the cable in the critical region, and the maximum C L and the decline value of C D are decreased. This effect gradually decreases with the decrease of helical fillet pitch, resulting in the decrease of the maximum C L in the critical region and the increase of C D in the supercritical region. The helical fillet has a good suppression effect on the dry galloping equilibrium position, and the suppression effect of the helical fillet on the dry galloping amplitude depends on the helical fillet parameters. A proper helical fillet setting can effectively suppress both RWIV and dry galloping. Compared with the helical fillet diameter, the suppression effect is more effective when changing its pitch. Finally, the drag coefficients in various Reynolds number regions are summarized to provide a reference for engineering design. • Wind tunnel tests were carried out to reveal the aerodynamics and vibrations for stay cables with helical fillets. • Aerodynamic force coefficients and Strouhal numbers of stay cables with helical fillets were obtained and compared. • The effects of wind speed, rain intensity, inclination, and yaw on the RWIV were studied. • The effects of the helical fillet diameter and distance on RWIV and dry galloping were analyzed. • The drag coefficients of cables at different Reynolds numbers were fitted to facilitate engineering applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Salinity is among the major environmental factors affecting the performance of both crop plants and soil bacterial inoculants beneficial to plant growth. Based on previous screening studies, a novel halotolerant biofilm-forming PGPR strain, namely Pantoea agglomerans -FAP10, was studied for its potential to protect wheat (Triticum aestivum ; var. 343) against salinity stress. The ability of this strain to produce biofilms on glass surfaces, 96 well microtiter plates, and seedling roots was characterized qualitatively and quantitatively using light and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The FAP10 strain was tested for performance by inoculating wheat in a pot-soil system under varied salinity stresses (75, 125, 250, and 500 mM NaCl). The FAP10 strain exhibited discrete and multifarious plant growth-promoting traits as well as efficient rhizosphere and root colonization which could sustain wheat growth under salinity stress. The FAP10-induced modifications conferred enhanced plant salinity tolerance by regulating photosynthetic attributes (gs, Ci, E, iWUE, P N , PSII, and Rubisco enzyme activity), antioxidant system (SOD, CAT, GR, APX, GSH, MDA, and proline), and sulfur metabolism (sulfur and cysteine content, ATP-S, and SAT activity), and also sustained soil physicochemical characteristics and hydrolytic enzymes including urease, protease, DHA, ALP, ACP and β glucosidase. The findings of the current study can support future efforts to improve plant salinity tolerance by engineering rhizobacterial biofilms and exploiting the potential of native strains for agricultural applications in stressed environments. • Pantoea agglomerans FAP10 a novel biofilm forming and salt tolerant PGPR strain protects inoculated wheat plants against salinity stress • The impact of treatment of FAP10 on wheat plant showed restoration of physiological attributes to normal level from the salinity stress level. • Role of biofilm in effective rhizoplane and rhizosphere colonization by FAP10 strain further supported protection mechanisms against salinity stress and improved soil hydrolytic enzymes • Findings of this study strongly support future efforts in the management of plant salinity stress with the development of effective bioinoculant for agricultural use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Sodium alginate-gelatine (SA-Gel) hydrogel present a time effectiveness thermos-responsive self-healing hydrogel. • The resulting hydrogel exhibits self-repairing capabilities in the presence of body temperature as an external stimulus. • Carbon based material, such as graphene oxide (GO) in improve the mechanical properties. • Mechanical properties of SA-Gel hydrogels fit in the tissue engineering requirements. One of the main challenges in tissue engineering is developing constructs that restore damaged tissues. This has led to the growth of classes of materials with tuneable mechanical and absorption properties. Among others, hydrogels are particularly fascinating because they can be functionalized to self-repairdamage like the native living tissues. This work proposes an improved thermo-responsive alginate-gelatine (SA-Gel) hydrogel capable of self-repairing, whose mechanical properties are enhanced by the addition of optimal concentration of graphene oxide (GO). The initial results show that the novel hydrogel's formulation improves self- healing and mechanical properties making them a potential candidate for biomedical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Speculation and Negation Identification focuses on the extraction of speculative and negative cues and scopes. Previous work relied on complete syntactic trees or simply fed sentences into pre-trained language models, which were confronted with poor generalization within and across datasets, and the limitations of training samples. Accordingly, we build a complete pipeline framework that firstly detects cues and then extracts scopes, and propose unified Machine Reading Comprehension paradigms for both cue detection and scope resolution on several datasets. To tackle the insufficiency of training sets and produce more useful samples with appropriate amount of lexical and syntactic knowledge, we apply data augmentation integrating lexical and syntactic features for scope resolution. Experimental results show that our model achieves higher performance than baselines on several publicly accessible corpora. • Complete SNI task with cue and scope detection is fit for real-world engineering application. • Unified MRC frameworks are effective across various SNI corpora. • Lexical and syntactic data augmentation can boost scope resolution. • Our model performs well on both single-word and multi-word cues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cuttings accumulation in horizontal drilling is one of the main reasons for high drilling torque and drag and serious backing pressure and consequently influencing the rate of penetration (ROP), so inhibiting the generation of cuttings bed and keeping the hole clean is an important prerequisite to ensure the smooth and safe drilling of horizontal section. In order to master the formation mechanism of cuttings bed and reveal the influence law of influencing factors, based on the three-layer cuttings bed migration model and the two-phase solid-liquid flow theory, this paper establishes a numerical simulation method for cuttings migration characteristics in the annulus of horizontal wells, reveals the cuttings concentration distribution law and migration characteristics in the horizontal well section, and fits the engineering prediction model of cuttings bed height considering many factors such as geology, engineering, and fluid body according to the simulation results. The analysis of sensitive factors shows that the rate of penetrating, cuttings density, and drill pipe eccentricity is not conducive to borehole cleaning, and cuttings are easy to accumulate to form cuttings bed; increasing the drilling fluid density, displacement, and drill pipe speed is conducive to borehole cleaning and reducing the height of cuttings bed. The research shows that within the range of normal construction parameters, the error of the horizontal cuttings height prediction model is less than 10%, which can meet the needs of engineering analysis. The model provides convenience for engineering applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reliability of the damage tolerance approach to engineering design is affected by numerous sources of uncertainty that can lead to unsafe predictions, in turn jeopardizing the safety of structures. This work presents a robust stochastic framework for fatigue crack-growth predictions applied to a round bar under tension–compression loading conditions. Multi-source uncertainties were taken into account to derive the lifespan distribution for the bar in such a way to cover the uncertainties typically appearing in a structural integrity assessment. The sensitivity of each input variable was obtained and the influences of variables on the life predictions were derived and ranked accordingly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural resources are rich in collagen and growth factors that can perfectly fit in tissue engineering and contribute to the extracellular matrix of many tissues. The thin membrane that coats the inner surface of the eggshell is one of these resources that meets the need of tissue engineering as it contains high collagen, growth factors, and glycosaminoglycans. With advanced technology, eggshell membrane (EgS-M) has been available in many forms like powder, solution, and thin sheets for broad applications. Furthermore, integrating nanoparticles has provided a broad-spectrum EgS-M biomaterial with antimicrobial, antiinflammatory, biocompatible, and biodegradable properties. Herein, we discuss the status of EgS-M's contribution to tissue engineering of skin, cartilage, bone, periodontal tissue, myocardium, and nerve. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A dendrimer is an artificially manufactured or synthesized molecule built up from the branched units called monomers. Dendrimers are among the most intricate chemical and fascinating structures and hyper-stretched macromolecules, with a correctly custom fitted engineering. Dendrimers have increased a wide scope of use in supra-molecular chemistry, especially in host-guest reactions and the self-assembly process. Their applications in biology, chemistry, science and nano-science are boundless. Quantitative structure-property and structure-activity relationships of the dendrimer compounds necessitate expressions for the molecular topological features of these compounds. Topological descriptors are the significant numerical quantities in the fields of chemical graph theory. Ev-degree and ve-degree based topological indices are two novel degrees based indices as of late defined in graph theory. Ev-degree and ve-degree based topological indices have been defined as corresponding to their relating partners. In this paper, we have computed topological indices based on ev-degree and ve-degree for the two families of Polycyclic Aromatic Nanostars Dendrimers compounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the construction of a stellarator, the manufacturing and assembling of the coil system is a dominant cost. These coils need to satisfy strict engineering tolerances, and if those are not met the project could be cancelled as in the case of the National Compact Stellarator Experiment (NCSX) project (R.L. Orbach, 2008, https://ncsx.pppl.gov/DOE%5fNCSX%5f052208.pdf). Therefore, our goal is to find coil configurations that increase construction tolerances without compromising the performance of the magnetic field. In this paper, we develop a gradient-based stochastic optimization model which seeks robust stellarator coil configurations in high dimensions. In particular, we design a two-step method: first, we perform an approximate global search by a sample efficient trust-region Bayesian optimization; second, we refine the minima found in step one with a stochastic local optimizer. To this end, we introduce two stochastic local optimizers: BFGS applied to the sample average approximation; and Adam, equipped with a control variate for variance reduction. Numerical simulations performed on a W7-X-like coil configuration demonstrate that our global optimization approach finds a variety of promising local solutions at less than $0.1\,\%$ of the cost of previous work, which considered solely local stochastic optimization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indian traditional architectural practice 'Vastusastra' (Vāstuśāstra) recommends some particular ratios as auspicious for the proportioning of domestic buildings. Similar ratios are found in some ancient buildings belonging to the classical ages in other parts of the world. Recent studies conducted by Dhileep, Kottuppillil, and Kurian [2019. "Orientation and Proportion in Indian Traditional Domestic Architecture." Interdisciplinary Science Reviews 44 (1): 97–109], show that the square and the rectangle formed by the basic auspicious ratio (breadth:length) are geometrically related to a circle with a diameter equal to the length of the rectangle. The mathematical aspects behind these geometrical relationships and other ratio groups given in 'Vastusastra' (Vāstuśāstra) are investigated in this paper. The study reveals that the auspicious ratios help to convert the area of a circle to a rectangle and vice versa, without any loss in accuracy, while using the methods of their age. The traditional social practices are incorporated into these ratios and are modified adequately to fit into the traditional engineering practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photosystems I and II are the photooxidoreductases central to oxygenic photosynthesis and canonically absorb visible light (400–700 nm). Recent investigations have revealed that certain cyanobacteria can acclimate to environments enriched in far-red light (700–800 nm), yet can still perform oxygenic photosynthesis in a process called far-red light photoacclimation, or FaRLiP. During this process, the photosystem subunits and pigment compositions are altered. Here, the current structural understanding of the photosystems expressed during FaRLiP is described. The design principles may be useful for guiding efforts to engineer shade tolerance in organisms that typically cannot utilize far-red light. • Some cyanobacteria acclimate to environments enriched in far-red light. • During this process, the photosystems are altered to absorb far-red light. • Cryo-EM has revealed the structures of the far-red light-absorbing photosystems. • Identifying sites that bind red-shifted chlorophylls required novel approaches. • The structures provide design principles to confer far-red light absorbance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effusion cooling has been extensively employed in the liner thermal protection of modern combustors, however, its performance in swirling flow fields remains to be thoroughly investigated. This research aims to reveal insights into the effusion cooling characteristic across various swirl numbers (S N = 0∼1.21) and average blowing ratios (M ‾ = 1.2–8.9) based on experimental and numerical approaches. Furthermore, semi-empirical engineering function equations for the area-weighted average cooling efficiency were compiled. The results show that inhomogeneity of the near-wall flow obstructs local effusion outflow, especially in the countercurrent side of the impingement zone, resulting in incremental flow heat transfer and disability in forming a cooling film. The increment of S N from 0.49 to 1.21 recedes the undermost level of conjugate cooling efficiency by an average of about 0.13, progressively impairs the cooling of the leading edge, and begets an ante displacement of the poorest cooling position from 0.43 to 0.31 (ratio of flow wise direction coordinate distance to flame tube dome height). Higher cooling air volume effectively strengthens the coolant effluent capacity to offer a more uniform distribution of cold air under swirl flow, and the overall conjugate cooling efficiency is enhanced by about 0.34 when M ‾ increases from 1.2 to 8.9. • Analysis conjugate cooling efficiency of effusion cooling across a wide swirl number and average blowing ratio margin range. • Analysis the feature of the effusion outflow by summarizing the cooling air mass flow rate ratio of single perforation row. • Partition the wall of the flame tube based on dimensionless pressure in the streamwise direction. • Fit semi-empirical engineering function equations for the average conjugate cooling efficiency of diverse zoned liners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sugar esters (SEs) are non-ionic amphiphilic surfactants that possess excellent emulsifying properties, and consequently have potential applications in the food, pharmaceutical, and other related industries. In the food sector, SEs are particularly attractive, due to their reported effective usage in dessert processing, fruit and vegetable preservation, and as an antibacterial agent. In this review, the chemical and enzymatic methods for the synthesis of SEs were highlighted, and the efficiency of enzymatic synthesis was explored based on solvent tolerance. While traditional chemical synthesis has been simplified and made more efficient, it still necessitates the use of high temperature and pressure, resulting in low selectivity and potential environmental impact. The enzymatic synthesis of SEs has become increasingly popular due to its high regional selectivity and sustainable reaction conditions. Nonetheless, this method's further implementation in the food industry is hindered by the lower solvent tolerance of most lipases in organic solvents. The strategies for solvent-tolerance engineering of lipase based on computational assistance methods were discussed from insights of hydration-shell, salt bridges, interactions (van der Waals, hydrogen bonds, and hydrophobic interactions), active sites, and solvent tunnels. Finally, several practical and commonly used strategies were summarized and compared, which provides some guidance and theoretical basis for further applications of enzymatic methods in the synthesis of SEs. [Display omitted] • This review highlighted the importance of improving the solvent tolerance of enzymes for the synthesis of sugar esters. • The application of sugar esters in food was summarized. • The chemical and enzymatic synthesis of sugar esters were systematically summarized. • The strategies of computer-aided solvent tolerance engineering of lipase were discussed and summarized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY: Drought stress constitutes one of the major constraints to agriculture all over the world, and its devastating effect is only expected to increase in the following years due to climate change. Concurrently, the increasing food demand in a steadily growing population requires a proportional increase in yield and crop production. In the past, research aimed to increase plant resilience to severe drought stress. However, this often resulted in stunted growth and reduced yield under favorable conditions or moderate drought. Nowadays, drought tolerance research aims to maintain plant growth and yield under drought conditions. Overall, recently deployed strategies to engineer drought tolerance in the lab can be classified into a 'growth‐centered' strategy, which focuses on keeping growth unaffected by the drought stress, and a 'drought resilience without growth penalty' strategy, in which the main aim is still to boost drought resilience, while limiting the side effects on plant growth. In this review, we put the scope on these two strategies and some molecular players that were successfully engineered to generate drought‐tolerant plants: abscisic acid, brassinosteroids, cytokinins, ethylene, ROS scavenging genes, strigolactones, and aquaporins. We discuss how these pathways participate in growth and stress response regulation under drought. Finally, we present an overview of the current insights and future perspectives in the development of new strategies to improve drought tolerance in the field. Significance Statement: In this review, several molecular pathways that participate in plant growth regulation under drought stress are discussed. An overview of successful strategies and potential candidates to enhance plant growth under drought is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most production environments are stochastic in nature, due to the randomness inherent in the production processes. One important engineering problem commonly faced by practitioners is to determine optimal engineering tolerances to be used in production. This article develops optimization models for determining tolerance sets to maximize the long-run average net profit on a production line with processing and rework stations, as well as instantaneous inspection and scrap operations. We assume that only one server works at the rework station, and the service times at the processing and rework stations are uncertain, thus, a stochastic queueing system is embedded into the manufacturing process. We also consider the trade-off between the overall production cost and the cost associated with a quality loss in the final product. Our work is the first to introduce the concept of double-tolerance sets to the tolerance design optimization literature. By comparing the proposed double-tolerance model with a single-tolerance model, we investigate the impact of different parameter settings and modeling assumptions on the optimal tolerances through numerical examples and a sensitivity analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Salinity stress poses a significant risk to plant development and agricultural yield. Therefore, elucidation of stress-response mechanisms has become essential to identify salt-tolerance genes in plants. In the present study, two genotypes of pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum L.) with contrasting tolerance for salinity exhibited differential morpho-physiological and proteomic responses under 150 mM NaCl. The genotype IC 325825 was shown to withstand the stress better than IP 17224. The salt-tolerance potential of IC 325825 was associated with its ability to maintain intracellular osmotic, ionic, and redox homeostasis and membrane integrity under stress. The IC 325825 genotype exhibited a higher abundance of C4 photosynthesis enzymes, efficient enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant system, and lower Na+/K+ ratio compared with IP 17224. Comparative proteomics analysis revealed greater metabolic perturbation in IP 17224 under salinity, in contrast to IC 325825 that harbored pro-active stress-responsive machinery, allowing its survival and better adaptability under salt stress. The differentially abundant proteins were in silico characterized for their functions, subcellular-localization, associated pathways, and protein--protein interaction. These proteins were mainly involved in photosynthesis/response to light stimulus, carbohydrate and energy metabolism, and stress responses. Proteomics data were validated through expression profiling of the selected genes, revealing a poor correlation between protein abundance and their relative transcript levels. This study has provided novel insights into salt adaptive mechanisms in P. glaucum, demonstrating the power of proteomics-based approaches. The critical proteins identified in the present study could be further explored as potential objects for engineering stress tolerance in salt-sensitive major crops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fermentation of spent sulphite liquor (SSL) from the pulping of hardwoods is limited by the combination of xylose, the primary fermentable sugar and high concentrations of microbial inhibitors that decrease the yeast fermentation ability. The inhibitor resistance phenotypes of xylose-capable Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains were therefore enhanced by combining rational engineering for multi-inhibitor tolerance, with adaptation in concentrated hardwood SSL as selective pressure. The adapted strains were assessed in fermentations with 60–80% v/v concentrated SSL under industrially relevant fermentation conditions. During adaptation, strains produced ethanol concentrations between 11.0 and 15.4 g/L in the range of that reported in literature. The adapted TFA40 and TP50 strains displayed enhanced inhibitor resistance phenotypes and were able to ferment xylose-rich SSL at pH below 5, exhibiting improved ethanol yields relative to the reference strain. Using yeast extract and peptone as nitrogen source in concentrated SSL fermentations further improved ethanol yields. However, strains exhibited a trade-off between resistance and ethanol productivity, indicating a carbon/energy cost for the expression of this inhibitor tolerance phenotype. Key points: • Achieved fermentation of xylose-rich hardwood spent sulphite liquor at pH below 5.0 • Adaptation of xylose-capable S. cerevisiae in concentrated spent sulphite liquor • Adapted strains exhibited enhanced inhibitor resistance phenotypes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Salt stress is a globally increasing environmental detriment to crop growth and productivity. Exposure to salt stress evokes a complex medley of cellular signals, which rapidly reprogram transcriptional and metabolic networks to shape plant phenotype. To date, genetic engineering approaches were used with success to enhance salt tolerance; however, their performance is yet to be evaluated under realistic field conditions. Regulatory short non‐coding RNAs (rsRNAs) are emerging as next‐generation candidates for engineering salt tolerance in crops. In view of this, the present review provides a comprehensive analysis of a decade's worth of functional studies on non‐coding RNAs involved in salt tolerance. Further, we have integrated this knowledge of rsRNA‐mediated regulation with the current paradigm of salt tolerance to highlight two regulatory complexes (RCs) for regulating salt tolerance in plants. Finally, a knowledge‐driven roadmap is proposed to judiciously utilize RC component(s) for enhancing salt tolerance in crops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to optimize the indoor lighting effect and reduce the energy consumption of indoor lighting, the light source layout of conventional rooms and special rooms is studied in this paper. Firstly, the indoor space lighting model is analyzed, and the expressions of light source output and illumination on the target plane are derived. Secondly, in order to improve the search ability of the algorithm in specific areas, combined with the artificial bee colony algorithm, an improved artificial bee colony algorithm suitable for indoor lighting optimization is proposed. Using the average square difference of the illuminance of the target plane as the adaptation function, a penalty function is introduced, and the minimum circle surrounding strategy is used to search the specific location of the light source. Finally, the obtained layout is fitted by engineering standardization, and the indoor light source layout is obtained. Through the simulation of illuminance effect in conventional room and irregular room, it is proved that the proposed method can effectively improve the lighting effect and reduce the energy consumption of indoor lighting under the same number of light sources and the same illuminance index. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sound propagation across a sound leaking section along an infinite rectangular duct-like structure near to the lower order duct eigenfrequencies is investigated numerically in the present study. The sound leakage is achieved by finite length rectangular slots located at a corner of the duct-like structure cross section. The finite-element simulations are performed, in the first place, to gain insights into the modal development inside the structure. A semi-analytical model, which considers the wavy air motions along the slots with oblique sound radiation patterns, is developed. An empirical framework is also proposed to estimate the complex longitudinal wavenumber along the slot using the numerical results and dimensional analysis. The performance of the proposed semi-analytical model, together with the complex wavenumber prediction framework, is tested using two duct-like structures with different cross section aspect ratios. The results show that the present proposed approach gives predictions close to the finite-element simulations. The deviations are well within engineering tolerance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to broaden the practical notion of Taguchi's Quality Loss Function (QLF) from a static, one‐stage concept into a dynamic time‐varying tool. Taguchi challenged the old‐age notion of engineering tolerance and proposed a quadratic QLF that quantifies loss to society, caused by deviation of products and systems from their target values. Accordingly, design engineers attempt to set each technical parameter to minimize such systems' losses. Traditionally, failure mechanisms are assumed to affect systems' performance stochastically under a steady state. So often, technical parameters are set at the mid‐point between the lower and upper specification limits where they are least likely to cause a system failure. However, in reality, many failure mechanisms affect systems over time in a predictable and directional manner rather than stochastically. Such mechanisms are designated as "Directional Degrading Failure Mechanisms". The paper describes an optimized robust design method based on setting the operating points of technical parameters to explicitly counteract the effects of such failure mechanisms. Then, the paper describes how to minimize the lifetime societal loss of a given system utilizing a cardiac pacemaker system. The consequence of this approach suggests an extension to the Taguchi's QLF from its current static confines to a dynamic, time‐varying concept achieving, in our example, ≈65% reduction in lifetime societal losses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The point spread function (PSF) reflects states of a telescope and plays an important role in the development of data-processing methods, such as PSF-based astrometry, photometry, and image restoration. However, for wide field small aperture telescopes (WFSATs), estimating PSF in any position of the whole field of view is hard, because aberrations induced by the optical system are quite complex and the signal-to-noise ratio of star images is often too low for PSF estimation. In this paper, we further develop our deep neural network (DNN)-based PSF modelling method and show its applications in PSF estimation. During the telescope alignment and testing stage, our method collects system calibration data through modification of optical elements within engineering tolerances (tilting and decentring). Then, we use these data to train a DNN (Tel–Net). After training, the Tel–Net can estimate PSF in any field of view from several discretely sampled star images. We use both simulated and experimental data to test performance of our method. The results show that the Tel–Net can successfully reconstruct PSFs of WFSATs of any states and in any positions of the field of view (FoV). Its results are significantly more precise than results obtained by the compared classic method – inverse distance weight interpolation. Our method provides foundations for developing deep neural network-based data-processing methods for WFSATs, which require strong prior information of PSFs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present work was aimed to implement a computer system for calculating the tolerance limit to the rootknot nematode Meloidogyne spp. From the exponential model of Seinhorst, a computer system was named ITSEIN (Seinhorst Tolerance Index) by the authors. The system was created in R 3.5.0, with the RStudio 1.1.447 development IDE and the library to implement the Shiny user interface. Initial data is entered or imported from a *.csv file by the user. It allows graphing the Seinhorst curves of various cultivars in unison, which facilitates comparing them according to the population density of nematodes they tolerate. The system displays parameters estimated by non-linear regression (minimum value and expected loss of the evaluated agronomic parameter and tolerance index) and allows graphing the relation between the initial population and the final population of the nematode, expressed as a reproduction factor. For validating the system, we used the experimental data collected from fresh mass areas (biomass area) obtained 60 days after inoculating potato plants (called 1 and 2 for the purposes of this work). Potato plants were inoculated with root-knot nematode juveniles (J2) and eggs (inoculum) at six inoculum densities per gram of substrate (0,125; 0,250; 1; 4; 16 and 64). Calculation of the tolerance limits to the root-knot nematode for two cuban potato cultivars (Solanum tuberosum L.) was possible by using the ITSEIN program, being demonstrated that this software could be used as a support tool for the decision making and establishment of strategies for root-knot nematode management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wood swelling and shrinkage affect the cooperation among the elements of furniture and should be considered during design. This study investigated the influence of moisture changes to the effective diameter of holes drilled in narrow and in wide sides of pine blanks. The moisture content (MC) of all samples has been averaged to 11.3-11.8% (airconditioning for 4 month with RH = 60 ± 1% and t = 20 ± 1 °C). The 12 mm holes were drilled in radial and tangential directions of the samples. The MC in half of the samples was increased to 17.4-17.9% (air-conditioning for 6 months with RH = 85% and t = 20 ± 1 °C), and the MC in the second half of the samples was decreased to 8.2% (air-conditioning for six months with RH = 35% and t = 20 ± 1 °C). There were nonuniform changes in MC of the samples. Air with RH = 85% increased the MC by 6%, air with RH = 35% decreased the MC by 3%. The effective diameters of the holes were more sensitive to a decrease in air RH than to an increase the air RH. The swelling changes of wood significantly reduced the effective hole diameter, while adsorption shrinkage changes in wood only slightly increased the effective diameters of the holes. The pine blanks swell and shrink asymmetrically, but the changes in the effective diameter of the holes are not correlated with these phenomena. They also have a different form for holes drilled in radial and tangential directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among different abiotic stresses, drought stress is the leading cause of impaired plant growth and low productivity worldwide. It is therefore essential to understand the process of drought tolerance in plants and thus to enhance drought resistance. Accumulating evidence indicates that phytohormones are essential signaling molecules that regulate diverse processes of plant growth and development under drought stress. Plants can often respond to drought stress through a cascade of phytohormones signaling as a means of plant growth regulation. Understanding biosynthesis pathways and regulatory crosstalk involved in these vital compounds could pave the way for improving plant drought tolerance while maintaining overall plant health. In recent years, the identification of phytohormones related key regulatory genes and their manipulation through state-of-the-art genome engineering tools have helped to improve drought tolerance plants. To date, several genes linked to phytohormones signaling networks, biosynthesis, and metabolism have been described as a promising contender for engineering drought tolerance. Recent advances in functional genomics have shown that enhanced expression of positive regulators involved in hormone biosynthesis could better equip plants against drought stress. Similarly, knocking down negative regulators of phytohormone biosynthesis can also be very effective to negate the negative effects of drought on plants. This review explained how manipulating positive and negative regulators of phytohormone signaling could be improvised to develop future crop varieties exhibiting higher drought tolerance. In addition, we also discuss the role of a promising genome editing tool, CRISPR/Cas9, on phytohormone mediated plant growth regulation for tackling drought stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Identified a rice glutaredoxin (OsGrx_C7) gene induced by salt stress. • The overexpression of OsGrx_C7 conferred salt tolerance in Arabidopsis and rice. • Silencing of osgrx_c7 gene leads to increased sensitivity to salt stress in rice. • OsGrx_C7 acted as a positive regulator of salt tolerance by reinforcing the expression of Na+ transporters. Soil salinity is one of the critical issue worldwide that adversely affect soil fertility. Salt stress significantly limits crop yield and grain quality; therefore, there is an urgent need to develop a strategy to improve salt stress tolerance. In present study, we reported that rice glutaredoxin (OsGrx_C7) plays a positive response in salt induced stress. Gene expression analysis, silencing, and overexpression of OsGrx_C7 gene were used to discover the role of OsGrx_C7 in response to salt stress. Gene expression analysis suggested that OsGrx_C7 expression was induced under salt stress and ubiquitously expressed in rice including root and shoot. The silencing of osgrx_c7 gene leads to increased sensitivity to salt stress, indicating its importance in salt stress tolerance. A gain-of-function approach showed that OsGrx_C7 may act as an important determinant in salt stress, compared with WT, and revealed higher biomass accumulation, improved root and plant growth under salt stress. Under salt stress condition, OsGrx_C7 overexpressing rice plants showed lower level of lipid peroxidation and Na+/K+ ratio, while proline accumulation, soluble sugar content and GSH/GSSG ratio was higher compared to WT. Furthermore, expression analysis suggested that OsGrx_C7 acted as positive regulator of salt tolerance by reinforcing the expression of transporters (OsHKT2;1 , OsHKT1;5 and OsSOS1) engaged in Na+ homeostasis in overexpressing plants. Overall our study revealed that OsGrx_C7 emerged as a key mediator in response to salt stress in rice and could be used for engineering tolerance against salt stress in rice and other crops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key message: Cell wall plasticity plays a very crucial role in vegetative and reproductive development of rice under drought and is a highly potential trait for improving rice yield under drought. Drought is a major constraint in rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivation severely affecting all developmental stages, with the reproductive stage being the most sensitive. Rice plants employ multiple strategies to cope with drought, in which modification in cell wall dynamics plays a crucial role. Over the years, significant progress has been made in discovering the cell wall-specific genomic resources related to drought tolerance at vegetative and reproductive stages of rice. However, questions remain about how the drought-induced changes in cell wall made by these genomic resources potentially influence the vegetative and reproductive development of rice. The possibly major candidate genes underlying the function of quantitative trait loci directly or indirectly associated with the cell wall plasticization-mediated drought tolerance of rice might have a huge promise in dissecting the putative genomic regions associated with cell wall plasticity under drought. Furthermore, engineering the drought tolerance of rice using cell wall-related genes from resurrection plants may have huge prospects for rice yield improvement. Here, we review the comprehensive multidisciplinary analyses to unravel different components and mechanisms involved in drought-induced cell wall plasticity at vegetative and reproductive stages that could be targeted for improving rice yield under drought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • High-throughput (HTP) functional genomics enables complex production phenotypes. • CRISPR-Cas-mediated genome editing expands HTP functional genomic experiments. • Pathway and tolerance engineering require multiplex mutagenesis approaches. Functional genomics remains a foundational field for establishing genotype-phenotype relationships that enable strain engineering. High-throughput (HTP) methods accelerate the Design-Build-Test-Learn cycle that currently drives synthetic biology towards a forward engineering future. Trackable mutagenesis techniques including transposon insertion sequencing and CRISPR-Cas-mediated genome editing allow for rapid fitness profiling of a collection, or library, of mutants to discover beneficial mutations. Due to the relative speed of these experiments compared to adaptive evolution experiments, iterative rounds of mutagenesis can be implemented for next-generation metabolic engineering efforts to design complex production and tolerance phenotypes. Additionally, the expansion of these mutagenesis techniques to novel bacteria are opening up industrial microbes that show promise for establishing a bio-based economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The motion law of charged droplet capturing particles under the turbulent effect are studied. • The particle capturing characteristics of charged droplets are investigated experimentally. • The motion and deposition behavior of submicron particles relative to single droplet are simulated. • The particle deposition efficiency can reach up to 89%. Charged water mist dust removal, combined electrostatic dust removal and wet dust removal, has low energy consumption and high capturing efficiency. Particle motion laws under turbulent flow are investigated. The theoretical model of droplet capturing submicron particles is established, and the kinetic process of submicron particles is analyzed. Considering that the actual conditions of the droplet capturing process is a combination of multiple capturing mechanisms, to better fit the actual engineering cases, an experimental platform is built to study the particle capturing characteristics of droplet under different operating conditions. The motion and deposition behavior of submicron particles relative to single droplet are investigated using COMSOL simulations to reveal the influence laws of relevant parameters. The results show that: the higher the temperature difference, the stronger the charging field, the fewer the escaping particles, and the greater the particle deposition efficiency. The particle capturing efficiency under combined action increases 20% compared to temperature alone and increases 24% compared to electrostatics alone. Also, the particle deposition efficiency under combined action increases 30% to 40% compared to temperature alone and increases 10% to 20% compared to electrostatics alone. The deposition efficiency under combined action is higher than the sum, up to 89%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quadrilateral layouts on surfaces are essential for defining quadrilateral meshes, for fitting splines for engineering design and analysis, and for texture mapping in computer graphics. Previous work has characterized such layouts as a special mapping with extensive integer constraints, as a special metric on a surface, or as a meromorphic quartic differential with finite trajectories. In this work, a surface quadrilateral layout is alternatively characterized as a special immersion of a cut representation of the surface into the Euclidean plane. We call this a quad layout immersion. This characterization, while posed in smooth topology, naturally generalizes to piecewise-linear representations. As such, it mathematically describes and generalizes integer grid maps, which represent the current state-of-the-art. Due to its generality, the proposed representation supports a range of different computational methods to extract quadrilateral layouts. This is demonstrated by several computational examples, including the extraction of quadrilateral layouts on a 1996 Dodge Neon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to determine the influence of the cutting speed, feed per tooth and machining strategy; on geometric quality of the machined surface, in the ball milling tool of the surgical grade titanium Ti6Al4V (In this paper, geometrical quality, is considered; parameters of surface roughness, dimensional accuracy and shape tolerance). The samples were machined by means of ball milling tool. Analysis of the influence of the factors was performed by means of a 2³ factorial experimental design. Further, an ANOVA (analysis of variance) was performed between concave and convex spherical geometries of the same radius, to determine the influence on the machined surface geometric quality geometric quality of the machined surface. Additionally, an ANOVA was performed; between convex spherical geometries different radius to determine the influence on the geometric quality of the machined surface. The factorial experimental design results showed that machining strategy factor on surface roughness parameters Ra. Furthermore, On the other hand, the ANOVA for the concave and convex spherical surfaces shows that the change from concave to convex surface influences geometric tolerance. Finally, ANOVA for convex spherical geometries shows that the radius changes influences surface roughness Ra, Rq and Rz, geometric tolerance and the dimensional accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microbial cell factories offer an economic approach for synthesizing "natural'" aromatic flavor compounds. During their fermentation process, the inefficient synthesis pathway and product cytotoxicity are the major barriers to the high-level production. This study combined metabolic engineering and tolerance engineering strategies to maximize the valuable rose-smell 2-phenylethanol (2-PE) production in Candida glycerinogenes, a GRAS diploid industrial yeast. Firstly, 2-PE metabolic networks involved in Ehrlich pathway were stepwise rewired using metabolic engineering, including the following: (1) overexpressing L-phenylalanine permease Aap9 enhanced precursor uptake; (2) overexpressing enzymes (aminotransferase Aro9 and decarboxylase Aro10) of Ehrlich pathway increased catalytic efficiency; and (3) disrupting the formation of by-product phenylacetate catalyzed by Ald2 and Ald3 maximized the metabolic flux toward 2-PE. Then, tolerance engineering was applied by overexpression of a stress-inducible gene SLC1 in the metabolically engineered strain to further enhance 2-PE production. Combining these two approaches finally resulted in 5.0 g/L 2-PE in shake flasks, with productivity reaching 0.21 g/L/h, which were increased by 38.9% and 177% compared with those of the non-engineered strain, respectively. The 2-PE yield of this engineered strain was 0.71 g/g L-phenylalanine, corresponding to 95.9% of theoretical yield. This study provides a reference to efficiently engineering of microbial cell factories for other valuable aromatic compounds. Key Points: • Metabolic engineering improved 2-PE biosynthesis. • Tolerance engineering alleviated product inhibition, contributing to 2-PE production. • The best strain produced 5.0 g/L 2-PE with 0.959 mol/mol yield and high productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drought is one of the most critical environmental stresses adversely disturbing the yield and growth of plants worldwide. Acclimatizationto environmental constraints depends upon the activation of plant signalling pathways participating in signal transduction, stress perception, and the stress-related gene expression. The molecular tailoring of genes can facilitate the development of improved crops. As most analysis have been performed under controlled conditions, there still remains a gap to execute these approaches to the cultivars of staple food crops. Engineering some specific regulatory genes has emerged as a promising technology for regulating the expression of numerous stress-responsive genes. Transcription factors (TFs) are novel regulatory genes genetically modified to produce stress-resistant crops. A considerable improvement has been made in the discovery of new signalling cascades and TFs, but to match the requirements of agriculture today, we must be capable of turning this knowledge into drought-tolerant transgenic crops in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The commonly used strategies to modify chassis microbes are described. • Synthetic genomes, artificial ribosomes, unnatural base pairs, and expanded codons are described. • Chassis with synthetic machineries demonstrates powerful capability of constructing efficient microfactories. • Precursor engineering, tolerance engineering, and cofactor engineering for engineering of natural chassis are discussed. Chassis provides a setting for the expression of heterologous pathway genes, which often requires extensive engineering to achieve complete functions. Traditionally, chassis engineering relies on gene deletion/overexpression for the regulation of precursor/cofactor supply and product transportation, which has generated thousands of high-performance strains. With the development of synthetic biology, chassis modifications have expanded to the synthesis of artificial cellular machineries, creating synthetic cells for the biosynthesis of bioproducts. In this review, we will discuss the development of chassis engineering technologies, termed the first-generation and second-generation technologies, and their applications in the creation of chassis for the production of valued-added chemicals, with an emphasis on synthetic chassis and their applications and potential. The development of chassis engineering technologies will advance rational design and construction of customized chassis for the manufacturing of target bioproducts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Robustness engineering is essential to increase the production performance of microbial cell factories. • Typical strategies for enhancing the microbial host robustness were reviewed and summarized. • The challenges and future perspectives of robustness engineering were discussed. Engineering microbial cell factories has been widely applied to produce compounds spanning from intricate natural products to bulk commodities. In each case, host robustness is essential to ensure the reliable and sustainable production of targeted metabolites. However, it can be negatively affected by metabolic burden, pathway toxicity, and harsh environment, resulting in a decreased titer and productivity. Enhanced robustness enables host to have better production performance under complicated growth circumstances. Here, we review current strategies for boosting host robustness, including metabolic balancing, genetic and phenotype stability enhancement, and tolerance engineering. In addition, we discuss the challenges and future perspectives on microbial host engineering for increased robustness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]