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This paper reported the irradiation response of a 55 wt.% MgO-45 wt.% Nd 2 (Zr 1- x Ce x) 2 O 7 (abbreviated to M-NZC x , x = 0, 0.3 and 1) composite ceramics used as candidate inert matrix fuel under 500 keV He2+ ions with fluence of 1 × 1016–5 × 1017 ions/cm2. The irradiation-induced lattice expansion, amorphization of MgO and NZC x phases and order-disorder transition of Nd 2 (Zr 1- x Ce x) 2 O 7 pyrochlore were systemically explored via GIXRD, Raman and TEM techniques. And the detailed irradiation response at different depths of the typical M-NZC 0.3 sample was especially investigated via GIXRD and TEM. The results showed that the lattice expansion ratios (Rs) of MgO (M), ordered pyrochlore (P) and disordered defect-fluorite (F) structures of NZC x pyrochlore in the samples under the same dose of He2+ irradiation were regular, which were ranged as the following order: Rs M < Rs P < Rs F. And there was a belt-shaped damage aggregation zone located near interphase boundary at the maximum damage depth of M-NZC 0.3 sample, which could be explained by the defect-absorption of boundary. And this defect-absorption of boundary was also found at any depth of M-NZC 0.3 sample. This work systematically analyzed α-decay irradiation response of different phases in M-NZC x composite ceramics applying for inert matrix fuel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cuproptosis-related genes (CRGs) are associated with lung adenocarcinoma. However, the links between CRGs and non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are not clear. In this study, we aimed to develop two cuproptosis models and investigate their correlation with NSCLC in terms of clinical features and tumor microenvironment. Methods: CRG expression profiles and clinical data from NSCLC and normal tissues was obtained from GEO (GSE42127) and TCGA datasets. Molecular clusters were classified into three patterns based on CRGs and cuproptosis cluster-related specific differentially expressed genes (CRDEGs). Then, two clinical models were established. First, a prognostic score model based on CRDEGs was established using univariate/multivariate Cox analysis. Then, through principal component analysis, a cuproptosis score model was established based on prognosis-related genes acquired via univariate analysis of CRDEGs. NSCLC patients were divided into high/low risk groups. Results: Eighteen CRGs were acquired, all upregulated in tumor tissues, 15 of which significantly (P < 0.05). Among the three CRG clusters, cluster B had the best prognosis. In the CRDEG clusters, cluster C had the best survival. In the prognostic score model, the high-risk group had worse prognosis, higher tumor mutation load, and lower immune infiltration while in the cuproptosis score model, a high score represented better survival, lower tumor mutation load, and high-level immune infiltration. Conclusions: The cuproptosis score model and prognostic score model may be associated with NSCLC prognosis and immune microenvironment. These novel findings on the progression and immune landscape of NSCLC may facilitate the provision of more personalized immunotherapy interventions for NSCLC patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of pyrochlore solid solutions with general formula Nd 2 (Zr 1- x Ce x) 2 O 7 were successfully synthesized by the glycine-nitrate process (GNP) auto-combustion method and then sintered at high temperature. The order-disorder structure of the as-prepared ceramic samples was systematically characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectroscopy. Rietveld refinements of the typical XRD patterns were performed using Full-prof software. XRD and Raman results confirmed a co-existence structure composed of ordered pyrochlore and disordered defect-fluorite structure for Nd 2 (Zr 0.75 Ce 0.25) 2 O 7 and Nd 2 (Zr 0.7 Ce 0.3) 2 O 7 samples. And Nd 2 Ce 2 O 7 specimen presented as defect-fluorite structure with rare earth C-type microdomains in both XRD and Raman spectroscopy. The effect of 48 f oxygen on phase transition was verified by XRD and Raman spectroscopy. The refined x -parameter of 48 f oxygen reflected the phase transition of Nd 2 (Zr 1- x Ce x) 2 O 7 solutions from pyrochlore to fluorite structure. High resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM) images and selected area electron diffraction (SAED) analysis of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) proved the representative Nd 2 (Zr 0.7 Ce 0.3) 2 O 7 sample showed biphasic structure with pyrochlore and defect-fluorite structure SAED rings. Also, the C-type microdomain SAED rings of Nd 2 Ce 2 O 7 structure was found by TEM analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Immunogenic cell death (ICD) is a type of regulated cell death (RCD) which was discovered to activate adaptive immunity. To date, the effect of ICD on lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) remains unclear. In this research, we will study the role of ICD-related genes (ICDG) in LUAD. Methods: RNA sequencing and clinical data were gathered from TCGA-LUAD cohorts and GEO database. Using unsupervised cluster analysis, three clusters were identified with distinctive immune characteristics and significant overall survival based on 18 ICDG. Using LASSO Cox regression, three genes were identified and used to construct the prognosis signature. The association between the 3-ICDG risk signature and immune microenvironment analysis, somatic mutation, and enriched molecular pathways was investigated. Results: Consensus clustering separated the LUAD samples into three clusters (ICDcluster A, B and C), and ICDcluster B had the best prognosis. Different TME cell infiltration characteristics and biological behavior were found in three ICD clusters. Prognostic risk model was contrasted based on the 3 best prognostic ICD-related genes. Subsequently, vitro experiments verified the above analysis results. The high-risk group showed a poor prognosis and enrichment of cancer promoting signal pathway. Multivariate analysis indicated that this 3-ICDG prognostic model might be an accurate prediction parameter for LUAD. Moreover, conducting immune related analysis, we found that the 3-ICDG risk signature was characterized by an immune-active subtype on account of the high infiltration of immune-active cells. Conclusion: This study expands our cognition of ICD in LUAD microenvironment, excavated prognostic biomarkers, and provided potential value for guiding immunotherapy and chemotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over 240 million people worldwide are chronically infected with Hepatitis B Virus (HBV), a hepatotropic DNA virus with an evolutionary root of over 400 million years. Persistent HBV infection exhibits distinct and diverse phases of disease, from minimal liver pathology to fulminant Hepatitis, that vary in duration and severity among individuals. Although huge progress has been made in HBV research which has yielded an effective prophylactic vaccine and potent antiviral therapy, our understanding of its virology and immunobiology is still far from complete. For example, the recent re-discovery of serum HBV RNA in chronic Hepatitis B (CHB) patients has led to the proposal of noncanonical viral particles such as RNA virion and capsid-derived immune complex (Capsid-Antibody-Complexes, CACs) that contradict long-established basic theory. Furthermore, the existence of capsid-derived immune complex may hint at novel mechanism of HBV-induced liver disease. Here, we summarize the past and recent literature on HBV-induced immune complex. We propose that the release of capsid-derived particles by HBV has its deep evolutionary origin, and the associated complement activation serves as an indispensable trigger for intrahepatic damage and a catalyst for further cell-mediated immunopathology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land surface temperature (LST) is an important factor in studies of surface energy fluxes between the Earth's surface and atmosphere. The Landsat LST product has been applied widely due to its fine spatial resolution and high data quality. Frequent cloud coverage, however, results in different degrees of gaps in the Landsat LST images, restricting greatly their application in practical cases requiring continuous LST time-series. Gap filling is an important technique used to reconstruct the missing data in the Landsat LST images. Using only temporally neighboring data from the same sensor, however, current gap filling methods struggle to deal with large spatial gaps and large temporal changes in LST. To solve these challenging issues, in this paper, multi-scale data (i.e., the 2 km, all-sky, hourly GOES LST product) were proposed for gap filling of Landsat LST images, and a spatial-temporal random forest (STRF) method was developed. The GOES LST product can provide effective information on LST in the gaps of the target Landsat LST data, with great potential to decreasing the uncertainty in gap filling when large LST change exists or the gap size is large. Through experiments in six regions of the USA, the proposed STRF method was shown to be more accurate than three typical gap filling and spatio-temporal fusion methods, and particularly advantageous for cases involving large temporal changes or large spatial gaps in LST. Specifically, STRF produces an average root mean square error (RMSE) of 1.6444 K and average correlation coefficient (CC) of 0.8653 for the six regions, which are 0.1133 K smaller and 0.0176 larger than the most competitive benchmark method (i.e., the spatial random forest (SRF) method). Conceptually, by spatial-temporal fusion of multi-scale data in gap filling, STRF provides a new paradigm for both spatial-temporal fusion and gap filling. Furthermore, the proposed STRF has the potential to be applied to various gap filling tasks in other situations. • 2 km, all-sky, hourly GOES LST data were used to assist gap filling of Landsat LST. • A spatial-temporal random forest (STRF) method was proposed. • STRF provides a new paradigm for both spatial-temporal fusion and gap filling. • The method is advantageous for large temporal changes and spatial gaps in LST. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low levels of immune infiltrates in the tumor milieu hinder the effectiveness of immunotherapy against immune-cold tumors. In the current work, a tumor-targeting drug delivery system composed of Endo-loaded platelets (Endo@PLT) was developed to relieve immunosuppression by achieving tumor vascular normalization. Endo@PLT reprogrammed the immunostimulatory phenotype, achieving excellent PD-1 immunotherapy in vivo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sentinel-3 is a newly launched satellite implemented by the European Space Agency (ESA) for global observation. The Ocean and Land Colour Imager (OLCI) sensor onboard Sentinel-3 provides 21 band images with a fine spectral resolution and is of great value for ocean, land and atmospheric monitoring. The two platforms (Sentinel-3A and -3B) can provide OLCI images at an almost daily temporal resolution. The coarse spatial resolution of the 21 band OLCI images (i.e., 300 m), however, limits greatly their utility for local, precise monitoring. Sentinel-2, another satellite provided by ESA, carries the Multispectral Imager (MSI) sensor which can supply much finer spatial resolution (e.g., 10 m and 20 m) images. This paper introduces a new fusion framework integrating spatio-temporal-spectral information for downscaling Sentinel-3 OLCI images, which has two parts. Based on bands with similar wavelengths (i.e., bands 2, 3, 4 and 8a for Sentinel-2 and bands Oa4, Oa6, Oa8 and Oa17 for Sentinel-3), the four Sentinel-3 bands are first downscaled to the spatial resolution of Sentinel-2 images by applying spatio-temporal fusion to Sentinel-2 MSI and Sentinel-3 OLCI images. Then, to take full advantage of all 21 available OLCI bands of the Sentinel-3 images, the extended image pair-based spatio-spectral fusion (EIPSSF) method is proposed in this paper to downscale the other 17 bands. EIPSSF is performed based on the new concept of the extended image pair (EIP) and by exploiting existing spatio-temporal fusion approaches. The framework consisting of spatio-temporal and spatio-spectral fusion is entirely general, which provides a practical solution for comprehensive downscaling of Sentinel-3 OLCI images for fine spatial, temporal and spectral resolution monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: As a highly heterogeneous tumor, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is famous for its high incidence and mortality worldwide. Smoking can cause genetic changes, which leading to the occurrence and progress of NSCLC. Nevertheless, the function of smoking-related genes in NSCLC needs more research. Methods: We downloaded transcriptome data and clinicopathological parameters from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) databases, and screened smoking-related genes. Lasso regression were applied to establish the 7-gene signature. The associations between the 7-gene signature and immune microenvironment analysis, survival analysis, drug sensitivity analysis and enriched molecular pathways were studied. Ultimately, cell function experiments were conducted to research the function of FCGBP in NSCLC. Results: Through 7-gene signature, NSCLC samples were classified into high-risk group (HRG) and low-risk group (LRG). Significant difference in overall survival (OS) between HRG and LRG was found. Nomograms and ROC curves indicated that the 7-gene signature has a stable ability in predicting prognosis. Through the analysis of immune microenvironment, we found that LRG patients had better tumor immune activation. FCGBP showed the highest mutation frequency among the seven prognostic smoking related genes (LRRC31, HPGD, FCGBP, SPINK5, CYP24A1, S100P and FGG), and was notable down-regulated in NSCLC smokers compared with non-smoking NSCLC patients. The cell experiments confirmed that FCGBP knockdown promoting proliferation, migration, and invasion in NSCLC cells. Conclusion: This smoking-related prognostic signature represents a promising tool for assessing prognosis and tumor microenvironment in smokers with NSCLC. The role of FCGBP in NSCLC was found by cell experiments, which can be served as diagnostic biomarker and immunotherapy target for NSCLC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The point spread function (PSF) is ubiquitous in remote sensing. This paper investigated the effect of the PSF on the downscaling of continua. Geostatistical approaches were adopted to incorporate explicitly, and reduce the influence of, the PSF effect in downscaling. Two general cases were considered: univariate and multivariate. In the univariate case, the input coarse spatial resolution image is the only image available for downscaling. Area-to-point kriging was demonstrated to be a suitable solution in this case. For the multivariate case, a finer spatial resolution image (or images) observed under different conditions (e.g., at a different wavelength) is available as auxiliary data for downscaling. Area-to-point regression kriging was shown to be a suitable solution for this case. Moreover, a new solution was developed for estimating the PSF in image scale transformation. The experiments show that the PSF effect influences downscaling greatly and that downscaling can be enhanced obviously by considering the PSF effect through the geostatistical approaches and the PSF estimation solution proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study was aimed to find promising targets for cancer therapy involved in the tumorigenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods: Identification of STEAP4 in HCC between GSE54503 and TCGA datasets by performing RNA-seq. The STEAP4 mRNA expression level was determined by qRT-PCR. DNA methylation was measured by MSP and BSP. Besides, the effect of STEAP4 tumorigenesis was determined by in vivo experiments. The function of STEAP4 on methylation was further assessed by 5–Aza‑dC, a demethylating agent. Reduced STEAP4 expression was found in HCC tissues. Promoter region methylation correlated with the downregulated expression of STEAP4. STEAP4 inhibited the proliferation and metastasis of HCC cells. Re-expression of STEAP4 was induced 5–Aza‑dC. STEAP4 mediated the biological effects of HCC cells through PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway inhibition. Our findings indicate that STEAP4 functions as a suppressor gene in HCC, and hypermethylation is a driving factor in cancer progression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article offers an optimal control tracking method using an event-triggered technique and the internal reinforcement Q-learning (IrQL) algorithm to address the tracking control issue of unknown nonlinear systems with multiple agents (MASs). Relying on the internal reinforcement reward (IRR) formula, a Q-learning function is calculated, and then the iteration IRQL method is developed. In contrast to mechanisms triggered by time, an event-triggered algorithm reduces the rate of transmission and computational load, since the controller may only be upgraded when the predetermined triggering circumstances are met. In addition, in order to implement the suggested system, a neutral reinforce-critic-actor (RCA) network structure is created that may assess the indices of performance and online learning of the event-triggering mechanism. This strategy is intended to be data-driven without having in-depth knowledge of system dynamics. We must develop the event-triggered weight tuning rule, which only modifies the parameters of the actor neutral network (ANN) in response to triggering cases. In addition, a Lyapunov-based convergence study of the reinforce-critic-actor neutral network (NN) is presented. Lastly, an example demonstrates the accessibility and efficiency of the suggested approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Recently, a large number of studies have sought personalized treatment for lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC) by dividing patients into different molecular subtypes. Autophagy plays an important role in maintaining the tumor microenvironment and immune-related biological processes. However, the molecular subtypes mediated by autophagy in LUSC are not clear. Methods. Based on 490 LUSC samples, we systematically analyzed the molecular subtype modification patterns mediated by autophagy-related genes. The ssGSEA and CIBERSORT algorithm were utilized to quantify the relative abundance of TME cell infiltration. Principal component analysis was used to construct autophagy prognostic score (APS) model. Results. We identified three autophagy subtypes in LUSC, and their clinical outcomes and TME cell infiltration had significant heterogeneity. Cluster A was rich in immune cell infiltration. The enrichment of EMT stromal pathways and immune checkpoint molecules were significantly enhanced, which may lead to its immunosuppression. Cluster B was characterized by relative immunosuppression and relative stromal activation. Cluster C was activated in biological processes related to repair. Patients with high APS were significantly positively correlated with TME stromal activity and poor survival. Meanwhile, high APS showed an advantage in response to anti-PD1 and anti-CTLA4 immunotherapy. Conclusion. This study explored the autophagy molecular subtypes in LUSC. We also discovered the heterogeneity of TME cell infiltration driven by autophagy-related genes. The established APS model is of great significance for evaluating the prognosis of LUSC patients, the infiltration of TME cells, and the effect of immunotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, the heavy-ion irradiation responses of MgO-Nd 2 Zr 2 O 7 (M-NZO) composite ceramics used for inert matrix fuel were experimentally investigated. And the micro and macro radiation damage of M-NZO samples was systemically unveiled after 5 MeV Xe20+ irradiation and quantified by two exposure units, displacements per atom (dpa) and phonons per atom (ppa). The newly ppa represent the number of phonon modes available in the radiated material, which are high relative to thermal properties and the resulting morphological fragmentation after irradiation. In detail, MgO phase mostly retains its pristine structure without extensive amorphization irradiated at high dpa values, meanwhile, Nd 2 Zr 2 O 7 phase also presents satisfactory radiation resistance through the distinctive order-disorder structural transformations that alleviate radiation-induced strain. Besides, MgO grains with lower ppa value dissipate ions energy more efficiently than Nd 2 Zr 2 O 7 , and exhibit higher radiation tolerance at macroscopic morphological scale. Overall, M-NZO composite ceramics have good radiation tolerance under heavy-ion bombardment, in which the lower ppa value and higher thermal conductivity of MgO make itself possess superior resistance to irradiation-induced damage than Nd 2 Zr 2 O 7. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Single gamete cell sequencing together with long-read sequencing can reliably produce chromosome-level phased genomes. In this study, we employed PacBio HiFi and Hi-C sequencing on a male Landrace pig, coupled with single-sperm sequencing of its 102 sperm cells. A haplotype assembly method was developed based on long-read sequencing and sperm-phased markers. The chromosome-level phased assembly showed higher phasing accuracy than methods that rely only on HiFi reads. The use of single-sperm sequencing data enabled the construction of a genetic map, successfully mapping the sperm motility trait to a specific region on chromosome 1 (105.40–110.70 Mb). Furthermore, with the assistance of Y chromosome-bearing sperm data, 26.16 Mb Y chromosome sequences were assembled. We report a reliable approach for assembling chromosome-level phased genomes and reveal the potential of sperm population in basic biology research and sperm phenotype research. An improved pig genome assembly is reported, using single sperm sequencing to reconstruct chromosome haplotypes, and with improved Y chromosome sequence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spatio-temporal fusion is a technique used to produce images with both fine spatial and temporal resolution. Generally, the principle of existing spatio-temporal fusion methods can be characterized by a unified framework of prediction based on two parts: (i) the known fine spatial resolution images (e.g., Landsat images), and (ii) the fine spatial resolution increment predicted from the available coarse spatial resolution increment (i.e., a downscaling process), that is, the difference between the coarse spatial resolution images (e.g., MODIS images) acquired at the known and prediction times. Owing to seasonal changes and land cover changes, there always exist large differences between images acquired at different times, resulting in a large increment and, further, great uncertainty in downscaling. In this paper, a virtual image pair-based spatio-temporal fusion (VIPSTF) approach was proposed to deal with this problem. VIPSTF is based on the concept of a virtual image pair (VIP), which is produced based on the available, known MODIS-Landsat image pairs. We demonstrate theoretically that compared to the known image pairs, the VIP is closer to the data at the prediction time. The VIP can capture more fine spatial resolution information directly from known images and reduce the challenge in downscaling. VIPSTF is a flexible framework suitable for existing spatial weighting- and spatial unmixing-based methods, and two versions VIPSTF-SW and VIPSTF-SU are, thus, developed. Experimental results on a heterogeneous site and a site experiencing land cover type changes show that both spatial weighting- and spatial unmixing-based methods can be enhanced by VIPSTF, and the advantage is particularly noticeable when the observed image pairs are temporally far from the prediction time. Moreover, VIPSTF is free of the need for image pair selection and robust to the use of multiple image pairs. VIPSTF is also computationally faster than the original methods when using multiple image pairs. The concept of VIP provides a new insight to enhance spatio-temporal fusion by making fuller use of the observed image pairs and reducing the uncertainty of estimating the fine spatial resolution increment. • VIPSTF is proposed for spatio-temporal fusion based on the new concept of VIP. • The VIP is closer to the data at the prediction time in the feature space. • VIPSTF is suitable for spatial weighting- and spatial unmixing-based methods. • VIPSTF is especially advantageous when the observed image pairs are temporally far. • VIPSTF is robust to the use of multiple image pairs and computationally faster. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

R-loops are prevalent three-stranded nucleic acid structures, comprising a DNA-RNA hybrid and a displaced single-stranded DNA, that frequently form during transcription and may be attributed to genomic stability and gene expression regulation. It was recently discovered that RNA modification contributes to maintain the stability of R-loops such as N6-methyladenosine (m6A). Yet, m6A-modified R-loops in regulating gene transcription remains poorly understood. Here, we demonstrated that insulin-like growth factor 2 mRNA-binding proteins (IGF2BPs) recognize R-loops in an m6A-dependent way. Consequently, IGF2BPs overexpression leads to increased overall R-loop levels, cell migration inhibition, and cell growth retardation in prostate cancer (PCa) via precluding the binding of DNA methyltransferase 1(DNMT1) to semaphorin 3 F (SEMA3F) promoters. Moreover, the K homology (KH) domains of IGF2BPs are required for their recognition of m6A-containing R-loops and are required for tumor suppressor functions. Overexpression of SEMA3F markedly enhanced docetaxel chemosensitivity in prostate cancer via regulating Hippo pathway. Our findings point to a distinct R-loop resolution pathway mediated by IGF2BPs, emphasizing the functional importance of IGF2BPs as epigenetic R-loop readers in transcriptional genetic regulation and cancer biology. The manuscript summarizes the new role of N6-methyladenosine in epigenetic regulation, we introduce the distinct R-loop resolution mediated by IGF2BP proteins in an m6A-dependent way, which probably lead to the growth retardation and docetaxel chemotherapy resistance in prostate cancer. Moreover, our findings first emphasized the functional importance of IGF2BPs as epigenetic R-loop readers in transcriptional genetic regulation and cancer biology. In addition, our research provides a novel RBM15/IGF2BPs/DNMT1 trans-omics regulation m6A axis, indicating the new crosstalk between RNA m6A methylation and DNA methylation in prostate cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Isonitrile group has been identified in many natural products. Due to the broad reactivity of N≡C triple bond, these natural products have valuable pharmaceutical potentials. This review summarizes the current biosynthetic pathways and the corresponding enzymes that are responsible for isonitrile‐containing natural product generation. Based on the strategies utilized, two fundamentally distinctive approaches are discussed. In addition, recent progress in elucidating isonitrile group formation mechanisms is also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the MgO-Nd 2 Zr 2 O 7 composite ceramics inert matrix (IM) was proposed as a candidate for the transmutation of Pu and minor actinides (MA) in light water reactors (LWR) or accelerator driven sub-critical system (ADS). To take full advantage of the pyrochlore structure of Nd 2 Zr 2 O 7 to accommodate different types of MA and Pu, in this work, Y and Ce co-doped ω MgO-(1- ω)(Nd 1- x Y x) 2 (Zr 1- x Ce x) 2 O 7 (M-NYZC) composite ceramics used as a candidate IM for inert matrix fuel were prepared by solid-state one-step sintering method at 1500 °C for 3 h. The phase structure and microstructure of M-NYZC composite ceramics were characterized by XRD and SEM-EDS. Also, the thermal physical properties of M-NYZC composite ceramics including the thermal expansion coefficient and thermal conductivity were investigated systematically. Results from XRD and SEM-EDS showed that the magnesium oxide and NYZC pyrochlore solid solution are intermixed well with each other, and the M-NYZC samples present uniform element distribution with a grain size of about 1 μm. Also, the as-prepared samples possessed well densified microstructure, and the average relative density of all samples could exceed 95 %. Moreover, the thermal expansion coefficient and thermal conductivity of 0.5M-0.5NYZC (x = 0, 0.15, 0.2, 0.5, 0.9) samples were located in the range of 13.4 × 10-6–14.4 × 10-6 K-1 and 16.34–3.70 W·m-1·K-1 respectively. By comparison, the thermal physical properties of 0.5M-0.5NYZC samples are superior to that of traditional UO 2 and MOX fuels. It is suggested that the M-NYZC composite ceramics prepared in this study can meet the thermal physical performances of inert matrix fuel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

N‐alkylisonitrile, a precursor to isonitrile‐containing lipopeptides, is biosynthesized by decarboxylation‐assisted ‐N≡C group (isonitrile) formation by using N‐alkylglycine as the substrate. This reaction is catalyzed by iron(II) and 2‐oxoglutarate (Fe/2OG) dependent enzymes. Distinct from typical oxygenation or halogenation reactions catalyzed by this class of enzymes, installation of the isonitrile group represents a novel reaction type for Fe/2OG enzymes that involves a four‐electron oxidative process. Reported here is a plausible mechanism of three Fe/2OG enzymes, Sav607, ScoE and SfaA, which catalyze isonitrile formation. The X‐ray structures of iron‐loaded ScoE in complex with its substrate and the intermediate, along with biochemical and biophysical data reveal that ‐N≡C bond formation involves two cycles of Fe/2OG enzyme catalysis. The reaction starts with an FeIV‐oxo‐catalyzed hydroxylation. It is likely followed by decarboxylation‐assisted desaturation to complete isonitrile installation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

N‐alkylisonitrile, a precursor to isonitrile‐containing lipopeptides, is biosynthesized by decarboxylation‐assisted ‐N≡C group (isonitrile) formation by using N‐alkylglycine as the substrate. This reaction is catalyzed by iron(II) and 2‐oxoglutarate (Fe/2OG) dependent enzymes. Distinct from typical oxygenation or halogenation reactions catalyzed by this class of enzymes, installation of the isonitrile group represents a novel reaction type for Fe/2OG enzymes that involves a four‐electron oxidative process. Reported here is a plausible mechanism of three Fe/2OG enzymes, Sav607, ScoE and SfaA, which catalyze isonitrile formation. The X‐ray structures of iron‐loaded ScoE in complex with its substrate and the intermediate, along with biochemical and biophysical data reveal that ‐N≡C bond formation involves two cycles of Fe/2OG enzyme catalysis. The reaction starts with an FeIV‐oxo‐catalyzed hydroxylation. It is likely followed by decarboxylation‐assisted desaturation to complete isonitrile installation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ergothioneine (ESH) and ovothiol A (OSHA) are two natural thiol‐histidine derivatives. ESH has been implicated as a longevity vitamin and OSHA inhibits the proliferation of hepatocarcinoma. The key biosynthetic step of ESH and OSHA in the aerobic pathways is the O2‐dependent C−S bond formation catalyzed by non‐heme iron enzymes (e.g., OvoA in ovothiol biosynthesis), but due to the lack of identification of key reactive intermediate the mechanism of this novel reaction is unresolved. In this study, we report the identification and characterization of a kinetically competent S=1 iron(IV) intermediate supported by a four‐histidine ligand environment (three from the protein residues and one from the substrate) in enabling C−S bond formation in OvoA from Methyloversatilis thermotoleran, which represents the first experimentally observed intermediate spin iron(IV) species in non‐heme iron enzymes. Results reported in this study thus set the stage to further dissect the mechanism of enzymatic oxidative C−S bond formation in the OSHA biosynthesis pathway. They also afford new opportunities to study the structure‐function relationship of high‐valent iron intermediates supported by a histidine rich ligand environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ergothioneine (ESH) and ovothiol A (OSHA) are two natural thiol‐histidine derivatives. ESH has been implicated as a longevity vitamin and OSHA inhibits the proliferation of hepatocarcinoma. The key biosynthetic step of ESH and OSHA in the aerobic pathways is the O2‐dependent C−S bond formation catalyzed by non‐heme iron enzymes (e.g., OvoA in ovothiol biosynthesis), but due to the lack of identification of key reactive intermediate the mechanism of this novel reaction is unresolved. In this study, we report the identification and characterization of a kinetically competent S=1 iron(IV) intermediate supported by a four‐histidine ligand environment (three from the protein residues and one from the substrate) in enabling C−S bond formation in OvoA from Methyloversatilis thermotoleran, which represents the first experimentally observed intermediate spin iron(IV) species in non‐heme iron enzymes. Results reported in this study thus set the stage to further dissect the mechanism of enzymatic oxidative C−S bond formation in the OSHA biosynthesis pathway. They also afford new opportunities to study the structure‐function relationship of high‐valent iron intermediates supported by a histidine rich ligand environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, the helium irradiation effects were systematically investigated on MgO-Nd 2 Zr 2 O 7 (hereafter M-NZO) composite ceramics used for inert matrix fuel, in which the ion fluences range from 5 × 1016 to 3 × 1017 ions/cm2 at room temperature. It was demonstrated that M-NZO composite ceramic shows superior radiation tolerance after He implantation. Specifically, MgO had almost no phase transition and extensive amorphization. And Nd 2 Zr 2 O 7 phase possessed slightly pyrochlore-fluorite-amorphization structural transformation, while part of Nd 2 Zr 2 O 7 maintained the ordered pyrochlore structure and co-existed with the irradiation-induced disordered fluorite structure. Importantly, GIXRD results indicated that MgO phase presents higher resistance to radiated damage than Nd 2 Zr 2 O 7 phase. Besides, SEM images illustrated that MgO particles have substantially less fragmentation than Nd 2 Zr 2 O 7 particles due to the higher thermal conductivity of MgO. It reconfirmed that MgO phase resists irradiation damage better than Nd 2 Zr 2 O 7 phase in post-irradiated M-NZO composite ceramics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the current research, the equal molar Y and Ce co-doped (Nd 1- x Y x) 2 (Zr 1- x Ce x) 2 O 7 pyrochlore solid solution was prepared by solid-state method at 1500 °C. And the ordered-disordered structure of the as-prepared samples was investigated systematically by X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, and Transmission electron microscopy, respectively. The results showed that the lattice constants of ordered or disordered (Nd 1- x Y x) 2 (Zr 1- x Ce x) 2 O 7 solid solutions increase with increasing Y and Ce co-doping contents simultaneously from 0 to 1. The phase structure presents monophasic ordered pyrochlore (F d 3 ‾ m space group, Z = 8) when Y and Ce contents are in the range of 0–0.15. While a biphasic region exists when contents of Y and Ce are 0.2, namely, there are ordered pyrochlore and disordered defect fluorite (F m 3 ‾ m space group, Z = 4) structure coexisting in the (Nd 0.8 Y 0.2) 2 (Zr 0.8 Ce 0.2) 2 O 7 solid solution. With the co-doping content of Y and Ce in the 0.3–1 range, the phase composition becomes monophasic disordered defect fluorite. Variation of the average r A / r B ratio value leads to the increase of the x O 48 f coordinate parameter from 0.3192 (0) to 0.3309 (0) when the phase structure of the sample present ordered pyrochlore. X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, and Transmission electron microscopy results confirm that the ordered-disordered transformation of (Nd 1- x Y x) 2 (Zr 1- x Ce x) 2 O 7 pyrochlore is related to the x O 48 f coordinate parameter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MgO-Nd 2 Zr 2 O 7 composite ceramic is a promising candidate as an inert matrix material for the transmutation of Pu and minor actinide. In this work, the MgO-Nd 2 Zr 2 O 7 composite ceramics (hereafter M-NZO) with 30–70 wt% mass percent of MgO were successfully prepared at 1500 °C for 24 h via direct solid-state reaction one-step method. This method achieved the integration of Nd 2 Zr 2 O 7 pyrochlore synthesis and M-NZO composites sintering, which shows a significant improvement in the simplification of the preparation process than the traditional two-step method. The structural properties and compactness of the as-prepared composite ceramics were systematically investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM). It was confirmed that the as-prepared M-NZO ceramics are composed of only crystalline MgO and Nd 2 Zr 2 O 7 phases, and the mass fractions of two phase are almost the same as the designed nominal chemical composition. The composite ceramics showed remarkable densification and the relative density is higher than 98.2%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a major component of lung cancer and is significantly correlated with poor prognosis. N6-methyladenosine (m6A) RNA methylation is closely related to the occurrence, progression, and prognosis of cancer. The potential biological functions and mechanisms of m6A RNA methylation in the immune microenvironment are still unclear. Methods. We assessed m6A RNA methylation modification patterns in 1326 NSCLC patient samples based on 20 m6A regulators, linking these clusters to the tumor microenvironment and immune cell infiltration. The m6Ascore was created to quantify the m6A modification patterns of individual tumors. We then assessed the value of NSCLC patients in terms of clinical prognosis and immunotherapy response. Results. According to different mRNA expression levels, two different m6A clusters were identified. m6A aggregation was significantly associated with clinical prognostic characteristics, the tumor microenvironment, and immune-related biological processes. Fifteen differential genes were screened based on these two m6A clusters, and to further investigate the mechanisms of action of these differential genes, they were subjected to unsupervised clustering analysis, which classified them into four different genomic isoforms. Prognostic analysis indicated that the survival advantage of the m6A gene cluster A modification mode was significantly prominent. We continued to construct the m6Ascore, which was used as a scoring tool to evaluate tumor typing, immunity, and prognosis. Patients with a low m6Ascore showed a significant survival advantage, and the group with a low m6Ascore had a better prognosis predicted by immunotherapy. The anti-PD-1/L1 immunotherapy cohort showed that a lower m6Ascore was associated with higher efficacy of immunotherapy. Conclusions. The results suggest that m6A RNA methylation regulators make an important difference in the tumor immune microenvironment of patients with NSCLC. m6A gene characterization and the construction of the m6Ascore provide us with a richer understanding of m6A RNA methylation modification patterns in NSCLC patients and help to predict clinical prognosis and immunotherapeutic response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is commonplace for people to perform various kinds of activities in groups. The recognition of human groups is of importance in many applications including crowd evacuation, teamwork coordination, and advertising. Existing group recognition approaches require snapshots of human trajectories, which is often impossible in the reality due to different data collection start time and frequency, and the inherent time deviations of devices. This study proposes an approach to synchronize the data of people for group recognition. All people's trajectory data are aligned by using data interpolating. The optimal interpolating points are computed based on our proposed error function. Moreover, the time deviations among devices are estimated and eliminated by message passing. A real-life data set is used to validate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. The results show that 97.7% accuracy of group recognition can be achieved. The approach proposed to deal with time deviations was also proven to lead to better performance compared to that of the existing approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several studies have indicated that circular RNAs (circRNAs) play vital roles in the progression of various diseases, including bladder cancer (BCa). However, the underlying mechanisms by which circRNAs drive BCa malignancy remain unclear. In this study, we identified a novel circRNA, circPSMA7 (circbaseID:has_circ_0003456), showing increased expression in BCa cell lines and tissues, by integrating the reported information with circRNA-seq and qRT-PCR. We revealed that circPSMA7 is associated with a higher tumor grade and stage in BCa. M6A modification was identified in circPSMA7, and IGF2BP3 recognized this modification and stabilized circPSMA7, subsequently increasing the circPSMA7 expression. In vitro and in vivo experiments showed that circPSMA7 promoted BCa proliferation and metastasis by regulating the cell cycle and EMT processes. CircPSMA7 acted as a sponge for miR-128–3p, which showed antitumor effects in BCa cell lines, increasing the expression of MAPK1. The tumor proliferation and metastasis suppression induced by silencing circPSMA7 could be partly reversed by miR-128–3p inhibition. Thus, the METTL3/IGF2BP3/circPSMA7/miR-128–3p/ MAPK1 axis plays a critical role in BCa progression. Furthermore, circPSMA7 may be a potential diagnostic biomarker and novel therapeutic target for patients with BCa. • CircPSMA7 is a novel circRNA that drives bladder cancer malignancy. • IGF2BP3 recognizes the m6A modification sites on circPSMA7, stabilizes and upregulates circPSMA7 in bladder cancer. • CircPSMA7 promotes bladder cancer proliferation and metastasis through the miR-128–3p/ MAPK1 axis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Sleep deprivation (SD) often leads to complex detrimental consequences, though the mechanisms underlying these dysfunctional effects remain largely unknown. We investigated whether the right stellate ganglion block in rats can improve the spatial learning and memory dysfunction induced by sleep deprivation by alleviating the damage of hippocampus in rats. Methods: Sixty four male Sprague Dawley rats were randomly divided into four groups: Control, SD (sleep deprivation), SGB (stellate ganglion block) and SGB + SD (stellate ganglion block+ sleep deprivation) (n = 16). The SGB and SD + SGB groups were subjected to right stellate ganglion block through posterior approach method once per day. SD and SD + SGB groups were treated with modified multi-platform water environment method for 96 h sleep deprivation in rats and their body weights were analyzed. Histopathological changes of hippocampal neurons in rats and the expression of Caspase-3 in hippocampus of rats was detected by western blotting. ELISA was used to detect the content of IL-6, IL-1 in hippocampus and serum melatonin levels. Results: Compared with the group SD, the spatial learning and memory function of the group SD + SGB was improved, the weight loss was alleviated, the pathological damage of the hippocampus was reduced and the expression of IL-6, IL-1β and Caspase-3 in the hippocampus was decreased. The content of rat serum melatonin was also increased. Conclusions: The right stellate ganglion block can improve the spatial learning and memory dysfunction of rats with sleep deprivation, and the underlying mechanism may be related to alleviating the apoptosis and inflammation of hippocampus of rats with sleep deprivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Terra/Aqua MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data have been used widely for global monitoring of the Earth's surface due to their daily fine temporal resolution. The spatial resolution of MODIS time-series (i.e., 500 m), however, is too coarse for local monitoring. A feasible solution to this problem is to downscale the coarse MODIS images, thus creating time-series images with both fine spatial and temporal resolutions. Generally, the downscaling of MODIS images can be achieved by fusing them with fine spatial resolution images (e.g., Landsat images) using spatio-temporal fusion methods. Among the families of spatio-temporal fusion methods, spatial unmixing-based methods have been applied widely owing to their lighter dependence on the available fine spatial resolution images. However, all techniques within this class of method suffer from the same serious problem, that is, the block effect, which reduces the prediction accuracy of spatio-temporal fusion. To our knowledge, almost no solution has been developed to tackle this issue directly. To address this need, this paper proposes a blocks-removed spatial unmixing (SU-BR) method, which removes the blocky artifacts by including a new constraint constructed based on spatial continuity. SU-BR provides a flexible framework suitable for any existing spatial unmixing-based spatio-temporal fusion method. Experimental results on a heterogeneous region, a homogeneous region and a region experiencing land cover changes show that SU-BR removes the blocks effectively and increases the prediction accuracy obviously in all three regions. SU-BR also outperforms two popular spatio-temporal fusion methods. SU-BR, thus, provides a crucial solution to overcome one of the longest standing challenges in spatio-temporal fusion. • All spatial unmixing-based fusion methods suffer from the block effect problem. • A blocks-removed spatial unmixing (SU-BR) method is proposed. • SU-BR improves existing spatial unmixing-based methods. • SU-BR is suitable for the existing spatial unmixing-based fusion method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Light olefins production utilizes the energy intensive process of steam cracking. Fischer‐Tropsch to olefins (FTO) synthesis potentially offers a more sustainable alternative. Here we show a promising FTO catalyst comprised of iron oxide nanoparticles supported on carbon nanosheets (CNS) fabricated from the carbonization of potassium citrate, which incorporates well dispersed K‐promoter throughout the CNS support. This catalyst exhibits, to the best of our knowledge, the highest iron time yield of 1790–1990 μmolCO/gFe ⋅ s reported in the literature, 41 % light olefins selectivity, and over 100 hours stable activity, making it one of the best performing FTO catalysts. Detailed characterization illustrates that the CNS support facilitates iron oxide reduction to metallic iron, leading to efficient transformation to the active iron carbide phase during FTO reaction. Since K is a commonly used promoter, our K‐promoted CNS support potentially has broad utility beyond the FTO reactions demonstrated in the current study. Iron it out! A K promoted, carbon nanosheets supported iron oxide catalyst shows robust and extremely high activity for Fischer‐Tropsch to olefins (FTO) synthesis. The carbon nanosheets support is shown to stabilize metallic Fe during the catalyst activation step which leads to more efficient transformation to catalytically active Fe5C2 under FTO conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Dynamically engineering the interfacial interaction of nanoparticles has emerged as a new approach for bottom‐up fabrication of smart systems to tailor molecular diffusion and controlled release. Janus zwitterionic nanoplates are reported that can be switched between a locked and unlocked state at interfaces upon changing surface charge, allowing manipulation of interfacial properties in a fast, flexible, and switchable manner. Combining experimental and modeling studies, an unambiguous correlation is established among the electrostatic energy, the interface geometry, and the interfacial jamming states. As a proof‐of‐concept, the well‐controlled interfacial jamming of nanoplates enabled the switchable molecular diffusion through liquid–liquid interfaces, confirming the feasibility of using nanoparticle‐based surfactants for advanced controlled release. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Dynamically engineering the interfacial interaction of nanoparticles has emerged as a new approach for bottom‐up fabrication of smart systems to tailor molecular diffusion and controlled release. Janus zwitterionic nanoplates are reported that can be switched between a locked and unlocked state at interfaces upon changing surface charge, allowing manipulation of interfacial properties in a fast, flexible, and switchable manner. Combining experimental and modeling studies, an unambiguous correlation is established among the electrostatic energy, the interface geometry, and the interfacial jamming states. As a proof‐of‐concept, the well‐controlled interfacial jamming of nanoplates enabled the switchable molecular diffusion through liquid–liquid interfaces, confirming the feasibility of using nanoparticle‐based surfactants for advanced controlled release. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A high voltage (1.38 V) total organic aqueous redox flow battery is reported using 1,1′-bis[3-(trimethylammonio)propyl]-4,4′-bipyridinium tetrachloride ((NPr)2V) as an anolyte and 4-trimethylammonium-TEMPO chloride (NMe-TEMPO) as a catholyte. The exceptional radical stability of [(NPr)2V]+Ṗ enabled the flow battery in achieving 97.48% capacity retention for 500 cycles and a power density of 128.2 mW cm−2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) represent a class of covalently closed single-stranded RNA molecules that are emerging as essential regulators of various biological processes. The circRNA circHipk2 originates from exon 2 of the Hipk2 gene in mice and was reported to be involved in acute promyelocytic leukemia and myocardial injury. However, the functions and mechanisms of circHipk2 in myogenesis are largely unknown. Here, to deepen our knowledge about the role of circHipk2, we studied the expression and function of circHipk2 during skeletal myogenesis. We found that circHipk2 was mostly distributed in the cytoplasm, and dynamically and differentially expressed in various myogenesis systems in vitro and in vivo. Functionally, overexpression of circHipk2 inhibited myoblast proliferation and promoted myotube formation in C2C12 cells, whereas the opposite effects were observed after circHipk2 knockdown. Mechanistically, circHipk2 could directly bind to ribosomal protein Rpl7, an essential 60S preribosomal assembly factor, to inhibit ribosome translation. In addition, we verified that transcription factor Sp1 directly bound to the promoter of circHipk2 and affected the expression of Hipk2 and circHipk2 in C2C12 myoblasts. Collectively, these findings identify circHipk2 as a candidate circRNA regulating ribosome biogenesis and myogenesis proliferation and differentiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Cover Feature illustrates Fe5C2 nanoparticle catalysts supported on carbon nanosheets for Fischer‐Tropsch to Olefins (FTO) synthesis, which converts syngas (CO and H2) to industrially important light olefins. In their Full Paper, Y. Zhou et al. discover that the carbon nanosheets support with uniformly distributed K promoters can enhance the transformation of iron oxide nanoparticles in the fresh catalyst to catalytically active iron carbide under FTO reaction conditions. This leads to FTO catalysts with extremely high activity, excellent selectivity and robust stability. More information can be found in the Full Paper by Y. Zhou et al. on page 1625 in Issue 6, 2019 (DOI: 10.1002/cctc.201802022). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]