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Abstract In the last two decades, fire blight has progressively spread eastward from Europe and the Mediterranean area to several pome-fruit producing regions of Asia. Its causative agent, the bacterial pathogen Erwinia amylovora, was detected in several new countries, including Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan. In the latter two states, the disease creates a threat not only to the commercial apple and pear production, but also to the wild Malus and Pyrus species that constitute the basis of the local forest ecosystems. In this study, we investigated the genetic diversity of the pathogen in Central Asia and the Caucasus region utilizing CRISPR Repeat Regions (CRRs) genotyping and genome sequencing, with the aim to understand its dissemination patterns across the continent. Genome sequence analysis revealed that all strains from these two regions exclusively derived from the archetypal CRR1 genotype A. Our analysis revealed three main E. amylovora clades in Central Asia, with distinct yet partial overlapping geographical distributions. Genomic relationships among isolates indicate that Central Asian strains are genetically closest to those from the Persian region and the Middle East, while the Georgian population is genetically more distant and can align with strains from the Volga District in southern Russia and the Eastern Mediterranean area. Notably, this study also includes strains from the first confirmed occurrences of fire blight in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and China. Our findings highlight the importance of phylogenetic analysis and genome sequencing in understanding the phytopathogen epidemics and protecting key agricultural species and the genetic resources of their wild counterparts in the forest.

Abstract Xiaoyankangjun tablet (XYKJP) is a traditional Chinese medicine formulation used to treat intestinal disorders in clinical practice. However, the specific therapeutic mechanism of action of XYKJP in colitis has not yet been elucidated. This study aimed to reveal the multifaceted mechanisms of action of XYKJP in treating colitis. The model established based on DSS-induced colitis in C57BL/6 mice was employed to estimate the effect of XYKJP on colitis, which was then followed by histological assessment, 16S rRNA sequencing, RT-qPCR, ELISA, and Western blot. XYKJP alleviated the symptoms of DSS-induced colitis mainly by reducing oxidative stress, inflammatory responses, and intestinal mucosal repair in colitis tissues. In addition, XYKJP regulated the intestinal flora by increasing the relative abundance of Akkermansia and Bifidobacterium and reducing the relative abundance of Coriobacteriaceae_UCG-002. Mechanistically, XYKJP increased the content of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) in the feces, particularly propanoic acid and butyric acid, activated their specific receptor GPR43/41, furthermore activated the Nrf2/HO-1 pathway, and suppressed the JAK2/STAT3 pathway. XYKJP significantly alleviated the symptoms of experimental colitis and functioned synergistically by regulating the intestinal flora, increasing the production of SCFAs, and activating their specific receptors, thereby repressing oxidative stress and inflammation. Graphical Abstract

In future integrated electricity-natural gas distribution systems (IEGDS), hydrogen and methane converted from excessive renewable generation will be mixed with natural gas to form hydrogen enriched compressed natural gas (HCNG) for fewer carbon emissions. Consequently, optimal planning of the HCNG-integrated IEGDS plays an essential role in increasing the economy and technical benefits. However, integrating HCNG operation into the planning of IEGDS still has many challenges, such as unrealistic modeling, nonlinear constraints, and the potential risk of voltage violations. The purpose of this paper is to develop a tractable optimization model for planning and operation of the HCNG-integrated IEGDS, aiming to minimize the investment and operating cost, reduce the voltage violation, and improve the renewable power penetration rate. To achieve this, a bilevel optimization model is developed for optimal planning of wind turbines and soft open points (SOPs) in the IEGDS considering comprehensive HCNG operation, in which both hydrogen and methane injection are considered and optimized for different system operation scenarios. Furthermore, the proposed nonlinear model is reformulated to a tractable bilevel mixed-integer second-order cone model using several reformulation techniques and solved by the reformulation and decomposition algorithm. Case studies, performed using the publicly available datasets, are conducted to demonstrate the economic and technical improvement by implementing the proposed planning model. The annual planning results show that incorporating the coordination between SOPs and methane injection results in a 6.77% reduction in investment cost, a 22.64% reduction in operating cost, a 62.69% decrease in voltage violation, and a 23.58% increase in the wind power penetration rate. Moreover, SOPs are more applicable to the safe operation of the IEGDS under high energy load conditions.

Herein, we study comparatively the crystal structure, orientation, and residual stress of polypropylene (PP) films processed by uniaxial constant width (UCW) and uniaxial free width (UFW) stretching modes, respectively. Compared with UFW PP film, UCW PP film exhibits broad lamellar thickness distribution with thinner average lamellar thickness, and accordingly lower melting temperature region. UCW PP film also has larger lateral lamellar size with high orientation along stretching direction. In addition, a preferential orientation of b-axis perpendicular to the surface exists in the UCW PP film, while a cylindrical symmetry around the stretching direction is in UFW PP film. A new single tilt X-ray diffraction method is utilized to measure the residual stress of PP films. The direction of maximum principal tensile residual stress is approximately along stretching direction for both films, while tensile residual stress occurs in UCW PP film and compressive residual stress in UFW PP film in transverse direction. Good correlation of the direction of maximum residual stress with crystal orientation is found in both PP films.

Proppants are one of the key materials for hydraulic fracturing, whose main role is to support fractures and create a channel through which oil and gas can flow. The nature of proppants is the most talked about feature besides their cost, for example, their sphericity, turbidity, particle size, or strength. The porosity, permeability, and fracture conductivity of proppants in fractures are also the main indicators to measure the performance of them. These indicators are usually obtained through physical experiments. However, experimental results often differ depending on the experimental scheme. Different stacking methods of proppant particles lead to this phenomenon. The nature of proppant particles in fractures varies with the way they accumulate. This paper will start with the microscopic arrangement of proppant particles. Considering the randomness and certainty of three-dimensional particle stacking and arrangement, the Monte Carlo stochastic method and an optimization model were used to conduct three-dimensional computer simulation of proppant particles. This lays an important foundation for revealing the randomness and regularity of the micro arrangement of proppant particles.

α-Mangostin is a natural xanthone derivative isolated from Camellia atrophy (CA), commonly known as Lichuan black tea (LBT). The present study investigated the ameliorating effect and mechanism of α-mangostin on alcoholic gastric ulcers (GU) in rats. In vivo, α-mangostin relieved pathological symptoms. Moreover, α-mangostin regulated the activation of the nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 (Nrf2)/heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1) and nuclear factor κB (NF-κB)/NLR family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3)/caspase-1 pathways. Reactive oxygen species (ROS), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) were significantly decreased and IL-10 were increased, the microtubule-associated protein light chain 3 (LC3)-II/LC3-I ratio was increased, p62 protein expression was decreased, and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) protein expression was down-regulated. The relevant mechanisms were validated using GSE-1 and RAW264.7 cells in an in vitro model. Furthermore, α-mangostin increased Ligilactobacillus and Muribaculum abundance as well as propionic acid and butyric acid contents. Therefore, α-mangostin possesses antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, and remodels intestinal flora dysbiosis through mechanisms that may involve regulation of the Nrf2/HO-1 pathway and NF-κB/NLRP3/caspase-1 pathway. It also increases propionic acid and butyric acid contents. This study provides novel evidence regarding the use of α-mangostin for treating GU.

Triple positive breast cancer (TPBC) is one of the most aggressive breast cancer. Due to the unique cell phenotype, aggressiveness, metastatic potential and lack of receptors or targets, chemotherapy is the choice of treatment for TNBC. Doxorubicin (DOX), one of the representative agents of anthracycline chemotherapy, has better efficacy in patients with metastatic TNBC (mTNBC). DOX in anthracycline-based chemotherapy regimens have higher response rates. Nano-drug delivery systems possess unique targeting and ability of co-load, deliver and release chemotherapeutic drugs, active gene fragments and immune enhancing factors to effectively inhibit or kill tumor cells. Therefore, advances in nano-drug delivery systems for DOX therapy have attracted a considerable amount of attention from researchers. In this article, we have reviewed the progress of nano-drug delivery systems (e.g., Nanoparticles, Liposomes, Micelles, Nanogels, Dendrimers, Exosomes, etc.) applied to DOX in the treatment of TNBC. We also summarize the current progress of clinical trials of DOX combined with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIS) for the treatment of TNBC. The merits, demerits and future development of nanomedicine delivery systems in the treatment of TNBC are also envisioned, with the aim of providing a new class of safe and efficient thoughts for the treatment of TNBC.

Abstract Solar‐driven interfacial evaporation is a sustainable and economical technology for freshwater generation. Structural design of photothermal material is an effective strategy to improve the evaporation performance but is usually bothered by complicated processes and non‐adjustability. Herein, magnetic nanoparticles assembled photothermal evaporator was developed, which showed an adjustable spinal array surface under uniform magnetic field induction. By regulating position in the magnetic field, the desirable surface structures could be uniform at relatively low load density of magnetic nanoparticles to improve light absorption via multiple reflections. Magnetic field induced evaporator could accelerate evaporation to over 1.39 kg m−2 h−1 under 1‐sun illumination, which was 2.8 times that of natural evaporation. After coated by carbon layer, magnetic nanoparticles could overcome the oxidation to realize stable evaporation in long‐term desalination. The facile strategy to optimize the surface structure via magnetic field is appropriate for various fields with special requirements on surface structure.

Although baicalein and wogonin contents in Scutellaria baicalensis, a traditional Chinese herb, are known to be regulated by jasmonic acid, the exact mechanism by which jasmonic acid regulates the accumulation of baicalein and wogonin remains unclear. In this study, we discovered SbLOX3, a gene encoding 13-lipoxygenase from the roots of S. baicalensis, which plays an important role in the biosynthesis of jasmonic acid. The contents of methyl jasmonate, baicalin, wogonin, and three metabolic intermediates of methyl jasmonate, 13-HPOT, OPDA, and OPC-8, were downregulated in the hair roots of the SbLOX3 RNAi lines. We confirmed that SbLOX3 was induced by drought stress simulated by PEG and Fusarium oxysporum, which subsequently led to changes in the content of MeJA, baicalin, and wogonin. Taken together, our results indicate that a 13-LOX is involved in the biosynthesis of jasmonic acid, and regulates the accumulation of baicalein and wogonin in S. baicalensis roots.

It is difficult to determine the main controlling factors of tight oil production. In addition to the problem of uncontrollable prediction accuracy, the numerical prediction model established by the main controlling factors will also make the correctly predicted low production samples lose the value of development. Applying the optimization algorithm with fast convergence speed and global optimization to optimize the controllable parameters in the high-precision numerical prediction model can effectively improve the productivity of low production wells with timeliness, and bring greater economic value while saving development cost. Using PCA-GRA method, the sample weight and the weighted correlation ranking results of parameters affecting tight oil production were obtained. Thereupon then the main controlling factors of tight oil production were determined. Then we set up a BP neural network model with by taking the main controlling factors as input and tight oil production as output. The prediction effect of the network was good and can be put into use. The results of sensitivity analysis showed that the network was stable, and the total fracturing fluid volume had the greatest impact on the production of tight oil. Finally, by using genetic algorithm, we optimized the fracturing parameters of all low production well samples in the field data. Combined with the fracturing parameters of all high production well samples and the optimized fracturing parameters of low production wells, the optimal interval of fracturing parameters was given, which can provide guidance for the field fracturing operation.

Abstract Background Burns and related procedures are painful and distressing for children, exposing them to acute and chronic sequelae that can negatively affect their physiological, psychological, and social functions. Non-pharmacological interventions such as distraction techniques are beneficial adjuncts to pharmacological agents for procedural pain, state anxiety, and itch in children with burns but have limitations (e.g. lack of research on burn-related itch, tailoring, and consensus on optimal treatment). Hypnotherapy is a non-pharmacological intervention that can be tailored for varied settings and populations with evidence of benefit for itch and superior effectiveness in comparison to other non-pharmacological interventions for children’s procedural pain and state anxiety. Thus, children with burns can benefit from hypnotherapy as an adjunct to pharmacological agents. Yet, in paediatric burns, rigorous studies of effectiveness are limited and no studies have been identified that screen for hypnotic suggestibility, an important predictor of hypnotherapy outcomes. Considering potential barriers to the delivery of hypnotherapy in paediatric burns, the proposed study will examine the feasibility and acceptability of hypnotic suggestibility screening followed by hypnotherapy for procedural pain, state anxiety, and itch in children with acute burns. Methods An observational mixed-methods feasibility and acceptability study will be conducted over 15 weeks. Eligible children (N = 30) aged 4 to 16 years presenting to a paediatric burns outpatient centre in a metropolitan children’s hospital in Australia with acute burns requiring dressing changes will be included. Eligible parents of children (N = up to 30) and clinicians who perform dressing changes (N = up to 20) will also be included. Child participants screened as having medium to high suggestibility as assessed by behavioural measures will receive hypnotherapy during dressing changes. A process evaluation will target feasibility and acceptability as primary outcomes and implementation (i.e. fidelity in delivery), reach, potential effectiveness, and adoption of evaluation procedures and intervention as secondary outcomes. Discussion Ethical approval was obtained from the Queensland Children’s Hospital and Health Service ethics committee. Results will be published in peer-reviewed publications and conference proceedings. The findings will guide the design of future trials on the effectiveness of hypnotherapy and inform the development of child-centred hypnotic interventions in children with burns. Trial registration Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12620000988954

The dried roots of Scutellaria baicalensis are important traditional Chinese medicine used to treat liver and lung inflammation. An anomalous structure, hollowed root, was discovered in perennial cultivated Scutellaria baicalensis. The presence of the hollow may change the contents of bioactive metabolites, such as baicalein, and other 4’-hydroxyflavones in Scutellaria baicalensis roots, but the relationship between the hollowed root and bioactive metabolite contents is poorly understood. In this study, we identified the anatomical structure of the hollowed root and detected differentially accumulating flavonoid metabolites and enzymes related to 4’-hydroxyflavone biosynthesis in 3-year-old roots with a hollow. We confirmed that methyl jasmonate (MeJA) induced the accumulation of 4’-hydroxyflavones and the expression of enzymes related to 4’-hydroxyflavone biosynthesis in hydroponically cultured Scutellaria baicalensis roots. The development of the hollowed root were divided into 4 stages. The 4’-hydroxyflavone contents and expression of enzymes related to 4’-hydroxyflavone biosynthesis increased synchronously with the content of MeJA during the development of hollowed root. Pathogen and programed-cell-death related genes were induced during hollowed root development. Taken together, our results provide novel insight into the importance of MeJA in the development of hollowed root and the accumulation of 4’-hydroxyflavones in Scutellaria baicalensis roots. Our results suggest that a pathogen and senescence are the two major causes for the development of hollowed root in Scutellaria baicalensis roots.

After a shale gas reservoir is fractured, hydraulic fractures interweave with natural fractures to form a fracture network. Numerical simulation based on the continuous fracture network model is a relatively economical and convenient method to predict fracture network morphology and size in the field application. However, some important factors, such as fracture height variation and filtration loss, have not been considered in the past continuous fracture network models. Therefore, this paper is aimed at establishing a novel continuous fracture network model to improve simulation accuracy. Firstly, this paper established a method to judge whether natural fractures develop or not. Then, a novel continuous fracture network model considering fracture height variation and asymmetry, filtration loss, fluid flow, and other key factors was established, and the forward algorithm and inverse algorithm of the model were proposed. At last, this model was applied in a field case to verify accuracy, and the average accuracy is more than 90%. Compared with the traditional Meyer software, the average error of prediction was reduced by 7.86%.

Abstract In recent years, broad interest has arisen for solar‐driven evaporation, a promising technology for next‐generation desalination and sewage treatment. Efficient photothermal materials are the keys in solar‐driven evaporation systems, but they are usually involved in tedious preparation and easy damage. Herein, a magnet‐dominated photothermal device (MPD) with spiny surface has been developed by the direct assembly of magnetic nanoparticles in action of magnetic field. Such one‐step fabrication of photothermal layer avoids the use of harmful reagent and the consumption of pure water. The adjustable spiny morphology not only benefits to the light absorption via multiple reflection, but can facilely recover from damage. Water evaporation under solar irradiation can be accelerated by MPD to over 1.70 kg m−2 h−1, and keeps stable in a long‐term desalination. Without complex fabrication and high price, MPD could be considered as a rewarding attempt for the development of novel photothermal materials in water purification.

Abstract Drought stress can negatively impact apple fruit quality and yield. Apple microRNAs (miRNAs) participate in apple tree and fruit development, as well as in biotic stress tolerance; however, it is largely unknown whether these molecules are involved in the drought response. To identify drought-responsive miRNAs in Malus, we first examined the drought stress tolerance of ten F1 progenies of R3 (M. × domestica) × M. sieversii. We performed Illumina sequencing on pooled total RNA from both drought-tolerant and drought-sensitive plants. The sequencing results identified a total of 206 known miRNAs and 253 candidate novel miRNAs from drought-tolerant plants and drought-sensitive plants under control or drought conditions. We identified 67 miRNAs that were differentially expressed in drought-tolerant plants compared with drought-sensitive plants under drought conditions. Under drought stress, 61 and 35 miRNAs were differentially expressed in drought-tolerant and drought-sensitive plants, respectively. We determined the expression levels of seven out of eight miRNAs by stem-loop qPCR analysis. We also predicted the target genes of all differentially expressed miRNAs and identified the expression of some genes. Gene Ontology analyses indicated that the target genes were mainly involved in stimulus response and cellular and metabolic processes. Finally, we confirmed roles of two miRNAs in apple response to mannitol. Our results reveal candidate miRNAs and their associated mRNAs that could be targeted for improving drought tolerance in Malus species, thus providing a foundation for understanding the molecular networks involved in the response of apple trees to drought stress.

RGB and depth modalities contain more abundant and interactive information, and convolutional neural networks (ConvNets) based on multi-modal data have achieved successful progress in action recognition. Due to the limitation of a single stream, it is difficult to improve recognition performance by learning multi-modal interactive features. Inspired by the multi-stream learning mechanism and spatial-temporal information representation methods, we construct dynamic images by using the rank pooling method and design an interactive learning dual-ConvNet (ILD-ConvNet) with a multiplexer module to improve action recognition performance. Built on the rank pooling method, the constructed visual dynamic images can capture the spatial-temporal information from entire RGB videos. We extend this method to depth sequences to obtain more abundant multi-modal spatial-temporal information as the inputs of the ConvNets. In addition, we design a dual ILD-ConvNet with multiplexer modules to jointly learn the interactive features of two-stream from RGB and depth modalities. The proposed recognition framework has been tested on two benchmark multi-modal datasets—NTU RGB + D 120 and PKU-MMD. The proposed ILD-ConvNet with a temporal segmentation mechanism achieves an accuracy of 86.9% and 89.4% for Cross-Subject (C-Sub) and Cross-Setup (C-Set) on NTU RGB + D 120, 92.0% and 93.1% for Cross-Subject (C-Sub) and Cross-View (C-View) on PKU-MMD, which are comparable with the state of the art. The experimental results shown that our proposed ILD-ConvNet with a multiplexer module can extract interactive features from different modalities to enhance action recognition performance.

Stoichiometry of leaf macronutrients can provide insight into the tradeoffs between leaf structural and metabolic investments. Structural carbon (C) in cell walls is contained in lignin and polysaccharides (cellulose, hemicellulose, and pectins). Much of leaf calcium (Ca) and a fraction of magnesium (Mg) were further bounded with cell wall pectins. The macronutrients phosphorus (P), potassium (K), and nitrogen (N) are primarily involved in cell metabolic functions. There is limited information on the functional interrelations among leaf C and macronutrients, and the functional dimensions characterizing the leaf structural and metabolic tradeoffs are not widely appreciated. We investigated the relationships between leaf C and macronutrient (N, P, K, Ca, Mg) concentrations in two widespread broad-leaved deciduous woody species Quercus wutaishanica (90 individuals) and Betula platyphylla (47 individuals), and further tested the generality of the observed relationships in 222 woody eudicots from 15 forest ecosystems. In a subsample of 20 broad-leaved species, we also analyzed the relationships among C, Ca, lignin, and pectin concentrations in leaf cell walls. We found a significant leaf C–Ca tradeoff operating within and across species and across ecosystems. This basic relationship was explained by variations in the share of cell wall lignin and pectin investments at the cell scale. The C–Ca tradeoffs were mainly driven by soil pH and mean annual temperature and precipitation, suggesting that leaves were more economically built with less C and more Ca as soil pH increased and at lower temperature and lower precipitation. However, we did not detect consistent patterns among C–N, and C–Mg at different levels of biological organization, suggesting substantial plasticity in N and Mg distribution among cell organelles and cell protoplast and cell wall. We observed two major axes of macronutrient differentiation: the cell-wall structural axis consisting of protein-free C and Ca and the protoplasm metabolic axis consisting of P and K, underscoring the decoupling of structural and metabolic elements inherently linked with cell wall from protoplasm investment strategies. We conclude that the tradeoffs between leaf C and Ca highlight how carbon is allocated to leaf structural function and suggest that this might indicate biogeochemical niche differentiation of species.

BackgroundWe review original papers on ovarian-hormone status in two areas of emotional processing: facial emotion recognition and emotional memory. Ovarian-hormone status is operationalized by the levels of the steroid sex hormones 17β-estradiol (E2) and progesterone (P4), fluctuating over the natural menstrual cycle and suppressed under oral contraceptive (OCs) use. We extend previous reviews addressing single areas of emotional processing. Moreover, we systematically examine the role of stimulus features such as emotion type or stimulus valence and aim at elucidating factors that reconcile the inconsistent results.MethodsWe followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines and included papers published until September 2020 indexed in PubMed and Web of Science databases. Search terms were MeSH terms (emotional OR emotion) AND (X) AND (estrogen OR progesterone OR menstrual cycle OR oral contraceptives) with (X) representing our separately searched areas, resulting in (processing OR recognition OR empathy), and (memory OR recall). To be included, articles had to (1) be written and published in English, (2) examine healthy, non-pregnant adult women in their reproductive age, and (3) measure or at least estimate levels of E2 and P4. In PubMed, the search was (4) limited to humans and (5) to the search term present in the title or abstract.ResultsFeatures of the provided stimulus material (emotion type and/or valence) constitute a relevant influence that interacts with E2- and P4-related ovarian-hormone status. For instance, recognition of basic emotions appears to be more related to P4- than E2-levels. Quite consistent, OC intake (vs. natural menstrual cycling) was accompanied by impaired recognition accuracy of basic and also complex emotions, although not in a recent large-sample study assessing complex emotions. Memory recall of negative content was mainly enhanced by P4, especially after having been stressed.Discussion and ConclusionWe document the methodological diversity in the field, presumably contributing to the heterogeneity of results. More studies explicitly contrasting the early follicular phase, mid-cycle phase, mid-luteal, and OC intake while standardizing tasks are needed. Research would take advantage of using within-subject designs and accounting for the recognition of complex emotions.

Burn ointment (BO) is a clinically useful medicine for the treatment of burns and scalds. However, there is no enough scientific evidence to report the effect of BO on wound healing and its analgesic and anti-inflammatory efficacy. The aim of this work was to evaluate the anti-inflammatory and analgesic efficacy of BO and to reveal the potential wound healing properties and related mechanisms of BO. In this work, the content of active ingredients of BO was determined by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Two animal models of inflammation were used to study its anti-inflammatory activity, and a hot plate method was used to evaluate its analgesic effect. In addition, mouse incision and rat burn models were used to investigate the effect of BO on the anti-inflammatory and wound healing mechanisms. The results showed that BO was safe for topical application, and BO could significantly inhibit auricular swelling in mice and paw swelling in rats and significantly prolong the latency period of paw licking in the hot plate experiment in mice. It can also accelerate wound healing and repair scars by promoting the formation of new epithelial tissues in rat burn models. In addition, BO significantly downregulated the serum level of TNF-α and significantly increased the serum levels of VEGF and TGF-β1. Also, BO promoted the expression of collagen I and increased the ratio in p-PI3K/PI3K, p-AKT/AKT, and p-mTOR/mTOR pathways. Our results demonstrate the safety and efficacy of BO and suggest that activation of the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway may play an important role in the promotion of wound healing by BO.

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from polypropylene (PP) seriously restricts the application of PP in an automotive field. Herein, the traceability of VOCs from PP resins during manufacturing process and accelerated photoaging degradation was clarified on basis of an accurate characterization method of key VOCs. The influence of PP structures on changing the accelerated photoaging degradation on the VOCs was systematic. The VOCs were identified by means of Gas chromatography (GC) coupled with both a hydrogen flame ion detector (FID) and a mass spectrometry detector (MSD). Results showed that both the molecular structure of PP and the manufacturing process affected the species and contents of VOCs. In addition, the photoaging degradation of PP resulted in a large number of new emerged volatile carbonyl compounds. Our work proposed a possible VOC formation mechanism during the manufacturing and photoaging process. VOCs from PP resins were originated from oligomers and chain random scission during thermomechanical degradation. However, β scission of alkoxy radical and Norrish tape I reactions of ketones via intermediate transition were probably the main VOCs formation routes towards PP during photoaging degradation. This work could provide scientific knowledge on both the accurate traceability of VOCs emissions and new technology for development of low-VOCs PP composites for vehicle.

Earth harbors a highly diverse array of plant leaf forms. A well-known pattern linking diverse leaf forms with their photosynthetic function across species is the global leaf economics spectrum (LES). However, within homogeneous plant functional groups such as tropical woody angiosperms or temperate deciduous woody angiosperms, many species can share a similar position in the LES but differ in other vital leaf traits, and thus function differently under the given suite of environmental drivers. How diverse leaves differentiate from each other has yet to be fully explained. Here, we propose a new perspective for linking leaf structure and function by arguing that a leaf may be divided into three key sub-modules, the light capture module, the water-nutrient flow module and the gas exchange module. Each module consists of a set of leaf tissues corresponding to a certain resource acquisition function, and the combination and configuration of different modules may differ depending on overall leaf functioning in a given environment. This modularized-leaf perspective differs from the whole-leaf perspective used in leaf economics theory and may serve as a valuable tool for tracing the evolution of leaf form and function. This perspective also implies that the evolutionary direction of various leaf designs is not to optimize a single critical trait, but to optimize the combination of different traits to better adapt to the historical and current environments. Future studies examining how different modules are synchronized for overall leaf functioning should offer critical insights into the diversity of leaf designs worldwide.

The numerical study of the dynamics of two-dimensional capillary-gravity solitary waves on a linear shear current is presented in this paper. The numerical method is based on the time-dependent conformal mapping. The stability of different kinds of solitary waves is considered. Both depression wave and large amplitude elevation wave are found to be stable, while small amplitude elevation wave is unstable to the small perturbation, and it finally evolves to be a depression wave with tails, which is similar to the irrotational capillary-gravity waves.

Hemi-boreal forests, which make up the transition from temperate deciduous forests to boreal forests in southern Siberia, have experienced significant warming without any accompanying increase in precipitation during the last 80 years. This climatic change could have a profound impact on tree growth and on the stability of forest ecosystems in this region, but at present evidence for these impacts is lacking. In this study, we report a recent dramatic decline in the growth of hemi-boreal forests, based on ring width measurements from three dominant tree-species (Pinus sylvestris, Larix sibirica and Larix gmelinii), sampled from eight sites in the region. We found that regional tree growth has become increasingly limited by low soil water content in the pre- and early-growing season (from October of the previous year to July of the current year) over the past 80 years. A warming-induced reduction in soil water content has also increased the climate sensitivity of these three tree species. Beginning in the mid-1980s, a clear decline in growth is evident for both the pine forests and the larch forests, although there are increasing trends in the proxy of soil water use efficiencies. Our findings are consistent with those from other parts of the world and provide valuable insights into the regional carbon cycle and vegetation dynamics, and should be useful for devising adaptive forest management strategies.

Autologous bone (AB) is the gold standard for bone-replacement surgeries 1 , despite its limited availability and the need for an extra surgical site. Traditionally, competitive biomaterials for bone repair have focused on mimicking the mineral aspect of bone, as evidenced by the widespread clinical use of bioactive ceramics 2 . However, AB also exhibits hierarchical organic structures that might substantially affect bone regeneration. Here, using a range of cell-free biomimetic-collagen-based materials in murine and ovine bone-defect models, we demonstrate that a hierarchical hybrid microstructure-specifically, the twisted plywood pattern of collagen and its association with poorly crystallized bioapatite-favourably influences bone regeneration. Our study shows that the most structurally biomimetic material has the potential to stimulate bone growth, highlighting the pivotal role of physicochemical properties in supporting bone formation and offering promising prospects as a competitive bone-graft material., Competing Interests: Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Topiramate has been found to be effective in reducing alcohol use and may also attenuate anxiety severity in patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD). This study compared the neural response of treatment-seeking patients with AUD on either topiramate or naltrexone during an anticipatory anxiety task. Participants were 42 patients with AUD who were randomized to receive either topiramate (n = 23; titrated dose up to 200 mg/day) or naltrexone (n = 19; 50 mg/day) for 12-weeks as part of a larger randomized controlled trial. Following 6 weeks of treatment, participants completed an anticipatory anxiety task during a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) session. The task presented a series of high-threat and low-threat stimuli followed by an unpleasant or pleasant image, respectively. Primary whole-brain analyses revealed no significant differences in neural activation between the topiramate and naltrexone groups. Deactivation for safe cues relative to threat cues was observed within the precuneus, inferior parietal lobule and the cingulate gyrus. In the precentral and middle frontal gyri, threat cues elicited greater activation. Exploratory analyses revealed an effect of change in anxiety from baseline to week 6, with a greater reduction associated with a reduced response to threat cues relative to safe cues in the cuneus and lingual gyrus. The current study is the first to examine and compare neural activation during anticipatory anxiety in treatment-seeking individuals on topiramate and naltrexone. This preliminary research contributes to our understanding of the therapeutic mechanisms of these alcohol pharmacotherapies., (© The Author(s) 2024. Medical Council on Alcohol and Oxford University Press.)

Introduction: Ambulatory assessment of executive function - particularly in the form working memory (WM) - is increasingly common. Few studies to date, however, have also incorporated ambulatory measures of inhibitory control. Critically, the extended within-person reliability of ambulatory tasks tapping each of these constructs has been largely overlooked., Method: Participants ( N  = 283, M age  = 23.74 years, SD  = 9.04) received notifications every 3 days (for 4 weeks) to undertake ambulatory assessment versions of the n -Back and Stop-Signal Tasks (SST) via the smartphone application CheckCog. Within-person reliability of these measures was explored., Results: Compliance ranged from 66% (for eight sessions) to 89% (for four sessions). Our results reveal significant changes in performance within the first two sessions for both the n -Back and SST, with performance remaining largely consistent across the remaining (two to eight) sessions. In terms of test-retest reliability, the ICC (C, 1) values ranged from .29 to .68 on the n -Back (with overall accuracy being .51) and .31-.73 on the SST (with stop-signal reaction time being .53)., Conclusion: The results of the current study contribute to the literature by demonstrating the reliability of brief measures of executive function - in the form of inhibitory control and WM - delivered using smartphones in participants' natural environments. Based on our findings, the CheckCog app reliability tracks baseline systematic changes in WM and response inhibition across multiple time points and for an extended period in healthy individuals.

Objective: There have been no well-controlled and well-powered comparative trials of topiramate with other pharmacotherapies for alcohol use disorder (AUD), such as naltrexone. Moreover, the literature is mixed on the effects of two polymorphisms-rs2832407 (in GRIK1 ) and rs1799971 (in OPRM1 )-on response to topiramate and naltrexone, respectively. The authors sought to examine the comparative effectiveness of topiramate and naltrexone in improving outcomes in AUD and to examine the role of the rs2832407 and rs1799971 polymorphisms, respectively, on response to these medications., Methods: In a 12-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized, multisite, genotype-stratified (rs2832407 and rs1799971) clinical trial comparing topiramate and naltrexone in treating AUD, 147 patients with AUD were randomly assigned to treatment with topiramate or naltrexone, stratified by genotype (rs2832407*CC and *AC/AA genotypes and rs1799971*AA and *AG/GG genotypes). The predefined primary outcome was number of heavy drinking days per week. Predefined secondary outcomes included standard drinks per drinking day per week, body mass index (BMI), craving, markers of liver injury, mood, and adverse events., Results: For the number of heavy drinking days per week, there was a near-significant time-by-treatment interaction. For the number of standard drinks per drinking day per week, there was a significant time-by-treatment interaction, which favored topiramate. There were significant time-by-treatment effects, with greater reductions observed with topiramate than naltrexone for BMI, craving, and gamma-glutamyltransferase level. Withdrawal due to side effects occurred in 8% and 5% of the topiramate and naltrexone groups, respectively. Neither polymorphism showed an effect on treatment response., Conclusions: Topiramate is at least as effective and safe as the first-line medication, naltrexone, in reducing heavy alcohol consumption, and superior in reducing some clinical outcomes. Neither rs2832407 nor rs1799971 had effects on topiramate and naltrexone treatments, respectively., Competing Interests: Dr. Kranzler has served on advisory boards for Dicerna Pharmaceuticals, Sophrosyne Pharmaceuticals, Entheon Pharmaceuticals, and Clearmind Medicine and as a consultant for Sobrera Pharmaceuticals; he has received research funding and medication supplies for an investigator-initiated study from Alkermes; he is a member of the American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology’s Alcohol Clinical Trials Initiative, which was supported in the past 3 years by Alkermes, Dicerna, Ethypharm, Lundbeck, Mitsubishi, Otsuka, and Pear Therapeutics; and he is a holder of a patent for genotype-guided dosing of opioid agonists (U.S. 10,900,082). Dr. Tremonti has served as a speaker for Invidior. Dr. Haber has received research funding from Invidior. The other authors report no financial relationships with commercial interests.

Background: Theoretical models of alcohol use posit that individuals consume alcohol to ameliorate negative affect or to heighten positive affect. It is important, however, to consider the influence of factors that may determine an individual's tendency to consume excessive amounts of alcohol under positive and negative circumstances. Thus, the current study examined a large sample of young adults to clarify whether positive and negative affect predict total alcohol consumption on drinking days and whether facets of impulsivity moderate these relationships., Methods: Six-hundred ninety-three young adults (M age  = 19.71 years, SD = 2.04; female = 62.9%) completed the Behavioral Inhibition System/Behavioral Activation System (BIS/BAS) scales at baseline followed by daily measures of positive and negative affect and self-reported alcohol use for 13 days. Generalized linear mixed models were specified to assess the role of pre-consumption affect on total drinks consumed across drinking days and to determine the moderating effect of each BIS/BAS subscale., Results: Participants were significantly more likely to drink in greater quantities on occasions preceded by higher positive affect but not negative affect. While fun-seeking positively predicted total drinks consumed, there were no significant interaction effects between the BIS/BAS subscales and affect on total drinks consumed., Conclusions: These findings challenge existing affect regulation models and have implications for ecological momentary interventions aimed at addressing hazardous drinking behaviors., (© 2023 The Authors. Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Research Society on Alcohol.)

Background: Worldwide, alcohol use is a major contributor to the burden of disease and mortality. A sizeable literature suggests that brief web-based interventions that incorporate personalized normative and/or health consequences feedback are effective at reducing alcohol intake. The relative efficacy of an intervention that also includes individualized feedback about brain health has not been examined, nor has the utility of integrating a smartphone app component., Method: Participants (N = 436, M age  = 21.27) completed baseline protocols (n = 178 recorded alcohol use via an app for 14 days) and were then assigned to one of three feedback conditions using randomized block allocation with stratification based on the total number of standard drinks consumed. Control participants received no feedback; Alcohol Intake Feedback (Alc) participants received personalized information about their alcohol use; Alcohol Intake plus Cognitive Feedback (AlcCog) participants received personalized details about alcohol use plus individualized brain-health information related to impulsivity. The impact of feedback on alcohol consumption behavior was examined as a function of feedback condition and hazardous/non-harmful drinking status (as defined by the World Health Organization) at an 8-week follow-up., Results: Hazardous drinkers in both the Alc and AlcCog conditions reduced their alcohol intake by 31% to 50% more than those in the Control condition. Reductions were not related to whether participants completed web- plus app-based components or web-only components of the intervention. There was no change in the alcohol intake of non-harmful drinkers., Conclusions: This proof-of-concept study showed that hazardous drinkers respond well to brief electronic interventions that incorporate personalized normative and/or health consequences feedback. Further research is required to determine how best to make impulsivity-related brain-health consequences of drinking manifest and how to maximize the potential of smartphones apps., (© 2023 The Authors. Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Research Society on Alcohol.)