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Under an appropriate Miura-type transformation, a super modified Korteweg–de Vries (mKdV) equation, introduced by Hu in 1997, is shown to be a modification of the generalised super Korteweg–de Vries (KdV) equation. By correspondingly changing bi-Hamiltonian formulations of the latter, bi-Hamiltonian structures are established for the super mKdV equation. Moreover, from an ansatz about gauge transformations of its linear spectral problem, elementary Darboux transformations are constructed, and suitably composing them yields a binary Darboux transformation, as well as the fourth one. As a reduction of the fourth Darboux transformation, a proper Darboux transformation is obtained for Kupershmidt's super mKdV equation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Administration of CHK1-targeted anticancer therapies is associated with an increased cumulative risk of cardiac complications, which is further amplified when combined with gemcitabine. However, the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. In this study, we generated hiPSC-CMs and murine models to elucidate the mechanisms underlying CHK1 inhibition combined with gemcitabine-induced cardiotoxicity and identify potential targets for cardioprotection. Mice were intraperitoneally injected with 25 mg/kg CHK1 inhibitor AZD7762 and 20 mg/kg gemcitabine for 3 weeks. hiPSC-CMs and NMCMs were incubated with 0.5 uM AZD7762 and 0.1 uM gemcitabine for 24 h. Both pharmacological inhibition or genetic deletion of CHK1 and administration of gemcitabine induced mtROS overproduction and pyroptosis in cardiomyocytes by disrupting mitochondrial respiration, ultimately causing heart atrophy and cardiac dysfunction in mice. These toxic effects were further exacerbated with combination administration. Using mitochondria-targeting sequence-directed vectors to overexpress CHK1 in cardiomyocyte (CM) mitochondria, we identified the localization of CHK1 in CM mitochondria and its crucial role in maintaining mitochondrial redox homeostasis for the first time. Mitochondrial CHK1 function loss mediated the cardiotoxicity induced by AZD7762 and CHK1-knockout. Mechanistically, mitochondrial CHK1 directly phosphorylates SIRT3 and promotes its expression within mitochondria. On the contrary, both AZD7762 or CHK1-knockout and gemcitabine decreased mitochondrial SIRT3 abundance, thus resulting in respiration dysfunction. Further hiPSC-CMs and mice experiments demonstrated that SIRT3 overexpression maintained mitochondrial function while alleviating CM pyroptosis, and thereby improving mice cardiac function. In summary, our results suggest that targeting SIRT3 could represent a novel therapeutic approach for clinical prevention and treatment of cardiotoxicity induced by CHK1 inhibition and gemcitabine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research interest in the construction of fused medium-ring [1,4]oxazocines has led to rapid growth in the discovery of biologically active compounds. Herein, the tandem reactions of 4-Cl- and 2-Cl-substituted 3-(oxiran-2-yl)pyridines with a variety of ethanolamines for one-pot synthesis of pyrido[1,4]oxazocines have been developed under additive-free conditions. Note that this process represents a regioselectivity profile in view of the fact that a SN2-type ring-opening reaction of the oxirane moiety with the amino group and a SNAr-type etherification of the 4-chloro or 2-chloropyridine moiety with the hydroxyl group proceed, respectively. Good substrate compatibility, mild reaction conditions, and atom economy make this protocol a convergent and efficient choice for accessing uncommon bicyclic structures. Furthermore, gram-scale reactions and downstream derivatization of the resulting pyrido[1,4]oxazocines are performed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we study the unsteady electro‐osmotic flow of fractional viscoelastic fluids in micro‐parallel channels, where the velocity slip effect on the walls is also considered. The analytical solution is obtained through solving the Cauchy momentum equation, together with the linearized Poisson–Boltzmann equation and the fractional Maxwell constitutive equation. The influences of the normalized electrokinetic width K, Deborah number De, slip length L and fractional derivative α on the velocity and volume flow rate are discussed. The results demonstrate that the dimensionless parameters L, De and K all have a promoting effect on the electro‐osmotic flow and resonance behavior of fractional Maxwell fluids. In addition, compared with the classical Maxwell fluid, the microstructure of the fractional Maxwell fluid weakens the resonance behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Skin, as an exposed tissue, often suffers damage after exposure to radiotherapy and accidental events, which may lead to the formation of chronic refractory wounds. However, effective treatment options are usually limited for severe radiation‐induced skin injury (RSI). Platelet‐rich plasma (PRP) has been identified to promote wound healing, but whether a new generation of blood‐derived biomaterial, injectable platelet‐rich fibrin (i‐PRF), is effective in repairing RSI remains unclear. In this study, blood was drawn from humans and Sprague–Dawley rats to prepare PRP and i‐PRF, and the regenerative functions of PRP and i‐PRF were investigated by exposing the dorsal skin of SD rats to local radiation (45 Gy) and exposing HDF‐α cells and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) cells to X‐rays (10 Gy). The healing effect of i‐PRF on RSI was analysed by tube formation assay, cell migration and apoptosis assays, ROS assay, wound healing assay, histological characterisation and immunostaining. The results showed that exposure to high doses of radiation reduced cell viability, increased ROS levels and induced cell apoptosis, thereby causing dorsal trauma of rats. However, both PRP and i‐PRF could resisted RSI, and they were capable of reducing inflammation and promoting angiogenesis and vascular regeneration. i‐PRF has a higher concentration of platelets and platelet‐derived growth factors, which has a more convenient preparation method and better repair effect and possesses a good application prospect for the repair of RSI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comprehensive Summary: A novel polyurethane polymer containing perylene diimide (PDI) unit and aniline segment, denoted as PU‐PDI, was designed and synthesized. Their tensile property and photophysical characteristic were investigated using various experimental and theoretical techniques. It is found that the elongation of PU‐PDIs can reach more than 1000%, indicating good tensile performance. Moreover, based on the photoinduced electron transfer mechanism, the aniline segments in polyurethane can quench the auto‐fluorescence of PDI unit to a negligible value, which overcomes the intractable fluorescence drawbacks of conventional colour filters. The non‐emissive characteristic, in combination with the good thermal stability and tensile property of PU‐PDI, provides a feasible design strategy to fabricate optical filters with high display quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the efficacy and safety of broadband light (BBL) combined with intradermal injection of tranexamic acid for treating melasma. Methods: 120 women with melasma admitted to our hospital from January 2021 to April 2022 were randomly categorized into the following groups: control group, treated with 250 mg tranexamic acid given orally twice daily, except during menstruation; group I, treated with BBL (Sciton, Inc., USA) monthly; group II, received intradermal injections of tranexamic acid monthly; and group III, treated with BBL with intradermal injection of tranexamic acid monthly. Treatment in each group lasted three months. The MASI (Melasma Area Severity Index) and VISIA (Canfield VISIA Complexion Analysis) were used for evaluation. Results: After treatment course, MASI scores and VISIA brown spot and red zone ranking improved in all four groups (p < 0.05). The decrease in MASI scores and improvement rates of VISIA brown spot and red zone rankings were not significantly different among the control group, group I, and group II; however, the decreased MASI scores and improvement rates of VISIA brown spot and red zone rankings were significantly higher in group III than in the other three groups (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The effect of BBL combined with the intradermal injection of TA in the treatment of melasma is remarkable. This combination therapy can be an alternative and effective treatment for managing melasma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Earthworms modulate carbon and nitrogen cycling in terrestrial ecosystems, but their effect may be compromised by the deposition of pollutants from industrial emissions. However, studies investigating how deposited compounds affect the role of earthworms in carbon cycling such as litter decomposition are lacking, although the interactions of earthworms and deposited compounds are important for understanding the impact of pollutants on ecosystems and the potential of earthworms in bioremediation. We performed a 365‐day in situ litterbag decomposition experiment in a deciduous (Quercus variabilis) and coniferous (Pinus massoniana) forest in southeast China. We manipulated nitrogen (N), sodium (Na), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) as model compounds during litter decomposition with and without earthworms (Eisenia fetida). After one year, N, Na, and PAH all slowed down litter mass loss, with the effects of Na being the strongest. By contrast, E. fetida generally increased litter mass loss, and the positive effects were uniformly maintained irrespective of the type of compounds added. However, the pathways to how earthworms increased litter mass loss varied among the compounds added and the two forests studied. As indicated by structural equation modeling, earthworms mitigated the negative effects of deposited compounds by directly increasing litter mass loss and indirectly increasing soil pH and microbial biomass. Overall, the results indicate that the acceleration of litter mass loss by earthworms is little affected by deposited compounds, and that earthworms have the potential to mitigate negative impacts of pollutants on litter decomposition and ecosystem processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For a supersymmetric generalized nonlinear Schrödinger (sgNLS) equation, a prolongation algebra L is determined via the super-version of Wahlquist–Estabrook prolongation method. L is successfully realized in terms of the simple Lie superalgebra A (1 , 1) , and a linear spectral problem is established for the sgNLS equation. Based on the linear spectral problem, a recursion operator is derived, and its factorization yields a Hamiltonian operator. These properties for sgNLS equation reduce to the properties of the case B supersymmetric NLS equation of Roelofs and Kersten (J Math Phys 33:2185–2206, 1992), so that the integrability of the latter is better understood. Moreover, an answer is provided to an open question addressed by Roelofs and Kersten. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the differences in meat quality during postmortem aging of yak meat from different altitudes as well as the relationship between the release of hypoxic factor HIF‐1α and meat quality. The results showed that the HIF‐1α increased with altitude but during aging process, there was an initial increase before a subsequent decrease (p <.05). Moreover, significant increases were showed in glycolytic potential, a* value, pH, HIF‐1α mRNA expression, HIF‐1α protein expression and shear force with altitude (p <.05). Additionally, the b* value, L* value, water holding power and MFI decreased significantly (p <.05). HIF‐1α was shown, by PLS‐DA method analysis, to be the main protein marker for differences in the quality during aging time of meat from three altitude groups. HIF‐1α protein expression was high correlated with glycolytic potential, pH value, meat color, tenderness and water holding capacity during postmortem aging. The results demonstrated that HIF‐1α is a novel marker protein that influences meat quality in yak from different altitudes and that HIF‐1α‐mediated glycolytic pathway was key to the meat quality during postmortem aging. Practical applications: Yak meat has the advantages of high protein, low fat, good amino acid and fatty acid composition, so the nutritional value of yak meat is in line with the current best‐selling beef with less fat in domestic and foreign markets. But consumers often think that the meat tenderness of yak meat is worse than that of beef and improving the quality of yak meat was worthy of attention specifically. This study investigated the differences in meat quality during postmortem aging of yak meat at different altitudes and the relationship between hypoxic factor HIF‐1α release and meat quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To observe the efficacy of unilateral subcutaneous injection of botulinum toxin A combined with finasteride and minoxidil in the treatment of androgenic alopecia. Methods: Thirty‐seven patients with androgenic alopecia were treated with finasteride and minoxidil as standard therapy and were randomly assigned to subcutaneous injections of botulinum toxin A in one hemisphere of the head at the beginning of a 6‐month treatment. Before treatment, 3 months after treatment, and 6 months after treatment, the patient's head hair growth was photographed and evaluated. Results: After 3 and 6 months of treatment, hair density of the treated androgenic alopecia patients was higher than before treatment (p < 0.05), and the hair density of the botulinum toxin A injection side was higher than that of the control side (p < 0.05). After 6 months of treatment, the response rate of botulinum toxin A combined with finasteride and minoxidil was 77.5%, with no significant side effects observed. Conclusion: Finasteride and minoxidil have a significant effect on androgenic alopecia, and the effect is further increased after combined with botulinum toxin A subcutaneous injection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study provides analytical and numerical solutions for an electromagnetohydrodynamic (EMHD) flow using a Caputo time-fractional Maxwell model. The flow is a typical rectangular channel flow. When the scale of the cross-stream is much smaller than the streamwise and spanwise scales, the model is approximated as a two-dimensional slit parallel plate flow. Moreover, the influence of the electric double layer (EDL) at the solid–liquid interface is also considered. The electro-osmotic force generated by the interaction between the electric field and the EDL will induce a flow (i.e., electro-osmotic flow). Due to the application of the electric field at the streamwise and the vertical magnetic field, the flow is driven by Lorentz force along the spanwise direction. Simultaneously, under the action of the magnetic field, the electro-osmotic flow induces a reverse Lorentz force, which inhibits the electro-osmotic flow. The result shows that resonance behavior can be found in both directions in which the flow is generated. However, compared with the classical Maxwell fluid, the slip velocity and resonance behavior of fractional Maxwell fluid are suppressed. In the spanwise direction, increasing the strength of magnetic field first promotes the slip velocity and resonance behavior, and then suppresses them, while in the streamwise direction, both the electro-osmotic flow and resonance behavior are suppressed with the magnetic field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Curved channels are ubiquitous in microfluidic systems. The pressure-driven electrokinetic flow and energy conversion in a curved microtube are investigated analytically by using a perturbation analysis method under the assumptions of the small curvature ratio and the Reynolds number. The results indicate that the curvature of the microtube leads to a skewed pattern in the distribution of the electrical double layer (EDL) potential. The EDL potential at the outer side of the bend is larger than that at the inner side of the bend. The curvature shows an inhibitory effect on the magnitude of the streaming potential field induced by the pressure-driven flow. Since the spanwise pressure gradient is dominant over the inertial force, the resulting axial velocity profile is skewed into the inner region of the curved channel. Furthermore, the flow rate in a curved microtube could be larger than that in a straight one with the same pressure gradient and shape of cross section. The asymptotic solutions of the axial velocity and flow rate in the absence of the electrokinetic effect are in agreement with the classical results for low Reynolds number flows. Remarkably, the curved geometry could be beneficial to improving the electrokinetic energy conversion (EKEC) efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a generalized super Camassa-Holm equation, which is completely integrable in the sense of admitting of a Lax pair and a bi-Hamiltonian structure. Through Dirac reduction, we obtain a bi-Hamiltonian structure of the super Camassa-Holm equation introduced by Geng, Xue and Wu [Stud. Appl. Math. 130 (2013) 1-16]. By introducing an appropriate reciprocal transformation, we connect the generalized super Camassa-Holm equation with a negative generalized super KdV equation, which is also equipped with a Lax pair and a bi-Hamiltonian structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the electromagnetohydrodynamic (EMHD) flow of fractional viscoelastic fluids through a microchannel under the Navier slip boundary condition. The flow is driven by the pressure gradient and electromagnetic force where the electric field is applied horizontally, and the magnetic field is vertically (upward or downward). When the electric field direction is consistent with the pressure gradient direction, the changes of the steady flow rate and velocity with the Hartmann number Ha are irrelevant to the direction of the magnetic field (upward or downward). The steady flow rate decreases monotonically to zero with the increase in Ha. In contrast, when the direction of the electric field differs from the pressure gradient direction, the flow behavior depends on the direction of the magnetic field, i.e., symmetry breaking occurs. Specifically, when the magnetic field is vertically upward, the steady flow rate increases first and then decreases with Ha. When the magnetic field is reversed, the steady flow rate first reduces to zero as Ha increases from zero. As Ha continues to increase, the steady flow rate (velocity) increases in the opposite direction and then decreases, and finally drops to zero for larger Ha. The increase in the fractional calculus parameter α or Deborah number De makes it take longer for the flow rate (velocity) to reach the steady state. In addition, the increase in the strength of the magnetic field or electric field, or in the pressure gradient tends to accelerate the slip velocity at the walls. On the other hand, the increase in the thickness of the electric double-layer tends to reduce it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By the nonlocal symmetry approach, Hernández-Heredero and Reyes [J. Phys. A: Math. Theor. 42, 182002 (2009)] and Bies et al. [J. Math. Phys. 53, 073710 (2012)] obtained Darboux Transformations (DTs) of the Camassa–Holm equation and the modified Camassa–Holm equation. However, the wave function does not appear in their DTs explicitly. We introduce wave functions to the DTs and show how they are related to the binary DT of the first negative flow in the Korteweg–de Vries (KdV) hierarchy. Furthermore, we connect nonlocal symmetries of the Camassa–Holm equation and the modified Camassa–Holm equation with those of the negative KdV equation and the negative modified KdV equation, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two coupled systems involving both bosonic and fermionic fields are proposed as super generalizations of the equation . Linear spectral problems are presented to certify their integrability and lead to infinitely many conservation laws. Based on natural conservation laws, reciprocal transformations are defined that map one super equation to Kupershmidt's super modified Korteweg–de Vries (mKdV) equation, and the other super equation to the supersymmetric mKdV equation. By means of these connections, bi-Hamiltonian formulations are established for the super equations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Significant differences in the responses of hydrodynamics, water quality and aquatic habitats to connectivity changes. • The connectivity threshold under multi-targets determined based on the water environment response is more accurate. • The optimal connectivity threshold is of great significance for solving wetland environment ecological degradation. The quality of the water environment of wetlands is closely related to the changes in hydrologic connectivity, so wetland responses to changing connectivity exhibit a range of optimal connectivity values. Identifying these ranges of values is of great significance for wetland ecological restoration. Current studies mostly determine the hydrologic connectivity ranges based on a single target, even though connectivity simultaneously affects multiple water environment targets. Hence, the optimal hydrologic connectivity should be determined by accounting for multiple targets. With the Baiyangdian Wetland as the study area, we developed a method to model how the water environment responded to changes in hydrologic connectivity from three perspectives: hydrodynamics, water quality, and aquatic habitat. To do so, we used the BP neural network model and a non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm to calculate the hydrologic connectivity values in a context with multiple targets. We found that under the optimal hydrodynamic target, the integral index of connectivity (IIC) threshold was [0.23, 0.61] and the probability connectivity (PC) threshold was [0.32, 0.68]; under the optimal water quality target, the IIC threshold was [0.42, 0.70] and the PC threshold was [0.48, 0.82]; under the optimal aquatic habitat target, the IIC threshold was [0.38, 0.69] and the PC threshold was [0.35, 0.71]; and under the comprehensive optimization target, the IIC threshold was [0.48, 0.64] and the PC threshold was [0.51, 0.73]. These ranges of values will help wetland managers determine the optimal ecological water releases to meet the ecosystem quality targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an external cavity diode laser, the rate-dependent nonlinearity of the piezoelectric actuator based optical resonator cavity (ORC) restricts its application in high-precision measurements. This paper proposes a rate-dependent nonlinear active suppression method for an ORC system based on the Hammerstein model. Using a back propagation neural network and system identification algorithm, a high-precision rate-dependent Hammerstein model of the ORC system is established. The B-spline curve is used to simplify the input voltage curve, and the optimized voltage curve that can obtain the linear displacement output is solved by the particle swarm optimization algorithm. The experimental results show that in the frequency range of 2–50 Hz, the regression coefficients (R2) of the ascent and descent stages at each experimental frequency of the ORC system increased to over 0.9998 and optimized the curve at the inflection point to suppress the vibration at the inflection point. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The limited efficiency of traditional hydrodistillation extraction methods has hindered the development of essential oils (EOs). This study introduces an innovative method for enhancing the production of EOs from Mellissa officinalis L. The method involves ultrasonic and microwave-coupled Clevenger hydrodistillation, which utilizes a proprietary distillation device (PDD) extraction process. Yield optimisation was determined systematically by response surface methodology following single-factor experiments. The maximum extraction yield (0.21 ± 0.0019%) was achieved when the liquid-to-solid ratio, microwave extraction power, and microwave extraction time were set to 9.74 mL/g, 559.60 W, and 75 mins, respectively. The new process produced 74.79% and 73.55% more EOs than the electric furnace heating-assisted PDD and the microwave-assisted traditional Clevenger hydrodistillation. The combination of microwave and a modified PDD showed better results for EOs extraction, and it has great potential to improve the production efficiency of M. officinalis EOs. [Display omitted] • Highly efficient extraction of essential oils using a new apparatus. • Microwave assistance is helpful to improve the extraction rate of essential oil. • The traditional Clevenger distiller is inefficient at extracting essential oil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on a 4 × 4 matrix spectral problem, a super Degasperis–Procesi (DP) equation is proposed. We show that under a reciprocal transformation, the super DP equation is related to the first negative flow of a super Kaup–Kupershmidt (KK) hierarchy, which turns out to be a particular reduction of a super Boussinesq hierarchy. The bi-Hamiltonian structure of the super Boussinesq hierarchy is established and subsequently produces a Hamiltonian structure, as well as a conjectured symplectic formulation of the super KK hierarchy via suitable reductions. With the help of the reciprocal transformation, the bi-Hamiltonian representation of the super DP equation is constructed from that of the super KK hierarchy. We also calculate a positive flow of the super DP hierarchy and explain its relations with the super KK equation. Infinitely many conservation laws are derived for the super DP equation, as well as its positive flow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Complex fluids always possess obvious non-Newtonian properties that facilitate the occurrence and development of vortex instability in porous media, which is of critical significance in many natural and industrial processes. It is widely known that this flow instability is regulated by both fluid flow and solid structure. However, the quantitative understanding of how structural characteristics of porous space affect the evolution of vortex instability is still nascent, especially in the case of fluids with varying rheological properties. Herein, the flow of polymer solutions with distinct non-Newtonian properties through microcavity arrays is experimentally studied, by which we systematically explore the effect of structural parameters of the cavity array on vortex instability. We find that, for both Newtonian and shear-thinning fluids with negligible elasticity, the vortex evolution behavior in each cavity of the cavity array is identical to those in an isolated cavity. In contrast, for viscoelastic fluids, the vortex instability is visibly affected by cavity number and cavity–cavity interval, and this effect exhibits different forms when the fluid shear-thinning participates or not. Multiplex vortex instabilities are observed under these tested conditions. By multiplex, we mean the vortex formation dynamics and evolution patterns are diversified. These unusual evolution phenomena are then interpreted in terms of the interplay between the elongation and relaxation of polymers as they navigate among neighboring cavities. These results can help us to further understand the flow instability of complex fluids in porous media and evoke new strategies for microfluidic applications of efficient mixing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the country's increasing requirements on environmental performance of drilling fluid treatment agents, which the traditional anti-collapse agent design has been unable to meet, research on environmentally-friendly anti-collapse agent molecular design is becoming increasingly important. This paper studies the effect of different types of groups on the anti-collapse characteristics and environmental protection performance of anti-collapse agents. The core immersion test and linear expansion test were used to evaluate the anti-collapse properties of different groups. The experimental results show that the anti-collapse properties of different groups of the same carbon chain length decrease in the following order: amino group > amide group > hydroxy group > carboxyl group. The anti-collapse properties of different amino groups of organic amines change in the following order: primary amine > secondary amine > tertiary amine. At the same time, the potassium dichromate method, the dilution and inoculation method, and the luminescent bacteria method were used to measure the COD value, BOD value, and EC50 value of the anti-collapse agents with different groups, and the experimental results show that the biodegradability decreases in the following order: hydroxyl group > carboxyl group > amide group > amino group. Biological toxicity decreases in the following order: hydroxyl group > amide group > carboxyl group > amino group. The biodegradability value of different amino groups of organic amines increases in the following order: primary amine < secondary amine < tertiary amine. The biological toxicity decreases in the following order: primary amine > secondary amine > tertiary amine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the growing requirements on environmental protection in drilling fluid additives, the traditional anti-collapsing agents are unable to meet the demand. Therefore, improving the environmental protection performance of anti-collapse agents has drawn great attention from scientists. Organic amines are commonly used as anti-collapse agents due to their good anti-collapse properties. In this paper, alkali diamines have been selected as research objects to evaluated the anti-collapse abilities by immersion tests and linear expansion experiments. The experimental results showed that alkyl diamines demonstrate good anti-collapse abilities. However, with increase in the number of C atoms, the solubility of alkyl diamines decreases, and the inhibition by the potassium dichromate method, dilution and inoculation method, and luminescent bacteria method. The result show that the biodegradability of the alkyl diamine anti-collapse agents increase gradually increase in the number of carbon atoms in the chain, while the solubility and biotoxicity decrease. Therefore, the longer the alkyl diamine carbon chain length, the better the environmental performance of anti-collapse agents. Hence, this research provides a guideline for synthesizing new organic amine anti-collapse agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reciprocal transformations are introduced for two super Camassa–Holm (CH) equations. Under these transformations and appropriate changes of dependent variables, the super CH equation, proposed by Geng et al. [Stud. Appl. Math. 130, 1 (2013)], is converted to a negative member of the super Korteweg–de Vries (KdV) hierarchy studied by Geng and Wu in 2010 [Appl. Math. Lett. 23, 716 (2010)], while the other super CH equation, due to Zhang and Zuo [J. Math. Phys. 52, 073503 (2011)], is related to a new super KdV hierarchy. In the latter case, algebraic properties of this new super KdV hierarchy are established, including Hamiltonian operators, a recursion operator, and conserved quantities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Recombinant NDV expressing the fiber-2 gene of FAdV-4 was generated for the first time. • Single-dose intramuscular vaccination induced protection against NDV and FAdV-4 lethal challenge. • NDV-vectored FAdV-4 vaccine is a promising bivalent vaccine candidate to control both HHS and ND. Newcastle disease (ND) is one of the most important and devastating avian diseases with considerable threat to the global poultry industry. Hepatitis-hydropericardium syndrome (HHS), caused by virulent fowl adenovirus serotype 4 (FAdV-4), is another highly infectious disease in chickens with severe economic impact. The effective way to combat ND and HHS is by vaccinating the poultry. In the present study, a recombinant NDV LaSota vaccine strain expressing full length fiber-2 gene of FAdV-4 (rLaSota-fiber2) was generated using reverse genetics. The FAdV-4 fiber-2 protein was expressed as a soluble form rather than NDV membrane-anchored form. The rLaSota-fiber2 was genetically stable, and it showed growth patterns in embryonated eggs comparable to that of parental rLaSota virus. Since our unpublished data demonstrated that delivery of live rLaSota-fiber2 in drinking water or ocular delivery of the vaccine didn't produce protection against hypervirulent FAdV-4 challenge, even though the vaccine provide full protection against NDV challenge, the efficacy of the rLaSota-fiber2 was evaluated by delivering the vaccine intramuscularly in this study. Single-dose intramuscular vaccination of 2-week-old SPF White Leghorn chicks with the live or inactivated rLaSota-fiber2 provided complete protection against virulent NDV challenge. However, single-dose intramuscular vaccination with the live rLaSota-fiber2 vaccine provided better protection against virulent FAdV-4 challenge and significantly reduced faecal viral shedding comparing to the inactivated vaccine. These results indicate that the NDV-vectored FAdV-4 vaccine is a promising bivalent vaccine candidate to control both HHS and ND. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Helicoverpa armigera and H. assulta are two of the few insects that can feed on hot pepper fruits. Capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin (i.e. , capsaicinoids) are the principal pungent compounds in hot peppers. To explore possible molecular mechanisms of adaptation that allow these two species to consume capsaicinoids, the capacity of the three detoxification tissues (fat body, midgut, and Malpighian tubule) of the two pests, to metabolically degrade capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin, was compared. The results showed that capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin were metabolized by crude enzyme preparations from all three tissues of the two pests. Five metabolites of capsaicin, and five metabolites of dihydrocapsaicin were identified. Tissue and species differences in the degree of capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin metabolism were observed. The specialist H. assulta had an overall greater capacity to degrade the capsaicinoids compared to the generalist H. armigera. Further, the midgut was the most significant contributor to capsaicinoid metabolism. The notably high specific activity in Malpighian tubules of H. armigera also further highlights the significance of this organ in xenobiotic detoxification. Alkyl hydroxylation and dehydrogenation were the main pathways for the oxidative biotransformation of both capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin by cytochrome P450s. This study provides evidence that enhanced metabolic decomposition of capsaicinoids may be an adaptation explaining dietary preferences for Capsicum fruits by these two pests. Unlabelled Image • Helicoverpa assulta and H. armigera eat peppers, but mechanisms that allow these pests to tolerate capsaicinoids are unknown. • Species- and tissue-selective differences in capsaicinoid degradation capacity were observed. • The midgut was the most significant contributor in capsaicinoid metabolism for both pests. • Helicoverpa assulta exhibited greater total metabolic capacity than H. armigera. • Enhanced capsaicinoid metabolism may contribute to reported fitness advantages for the specialist H. assulta. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Speckle noises inherently exist in radar, sonar, ultrasound and optical coherent tomography images. Such noises greatly degrade image quality, and thus make the tasks such as object detection and image registration difficult. With the Center Affine Filter (CAF), this paper proposes a new adaptive method for suppressing speckle noises. The proposed method adopts both local arithmetic mean and local geometric mean around an image pixel to compute the dispersion parameter of the CAF. The metrics of arithmetic and geometric mean not only intimately relate to the probability density function of speckle noise, but also reflect the image homogeneity; therefore, the designed CAF is capable of adaptively suppressing the speckle noises while maintaining the useful details in an image. Then, to speed up the proposed method, the technique of the integral image is used to get the local arithmetic and local geometric mean. The proposed method is experimentally tested on both synthetic and real images, which shows a prospective performance over Lee filter, SRAD filter, and the state-of-the-art BNLM filter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, the static, dynamic, and short-circuit properties of 1.2-kV commercial 4H-SiC planar and trench gate metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) are compared and analyzed in a wide temperature range from 90 to 493 K. The temperature-dependent specific ON-resistance (${R}_{\text {sp}- \mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle ON}}$) and threshold voltage (${V}_{\text {th}}$) are analyzed in relation to the density of the interface state. The turn-on rise and turn-off fall times (${T}_{r}$ and ${T}_{f}$) and the corresponding energy loss (${E}_{r}$ and ${E}_{f}$) are extracted from a double-pulse test from cryogenic to high temperature and analyzed. The short-circuit capability of the two structures is studied at low temperature for the first time. The comprehensive comparison and analysis of the planar and trench gate MOSFET versus temperature in this work show the importance to study applications with SiC MOSFETs in a wide temperature range, especially for the cryogenic temperatures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Society greatly expects the widespread deployment of automated vehicles (AVs). However, the absence of a driver role results in unresolved communication issues between pedestrians and AVs. Research has shown the crucial role of implicit communication signals in this context. Nonetheless, it remains unclear how pedestrians subjectively estimate vehicle behaviour and whether they incorporate these estimations as part of their crossing decisions. For the first time, this study explores the impact of implicit communication signals on pedestrians' subjective estimations of approaching vehicle behaviour across a wide range of experimental traffic scenarios and on their crossing decisions in the same scenarios through a comprehensive analysis. Two simulator tasks, namely a natural road crossing task and a vehicle behaviour estimation task, were designed with controlled time to collision, vehicle speed, and deceleration behaviour. A novel finding is that the correlation between crossing decisions and vehicle behaviour estimations depends on the traffic scenario. Pedestrians' recognition of different deceleration behaviour aligned with their crossing decisions, supporting the notion that they actively estimate vehicle behaviour as part of their decision-making process. However, if the traffic gap was long enough, the effects of vehicle speed were the opposite between crossing decisions and estimations, suggesting that vehicle behaviour estimation may not directly impact crossing decisions when the time gap to the vehicle is large. We also found that pedestrians crossed the street earlier and estimated yielding behaviour more accurately in early-onset braking scenarios than in late-onset braking scenarios. Interestingly, vehicle speed significantly affected pedestrians' estimations, with pedestrians tending to perceive low vehicle speed as yielding behaviour regardless of whether the vehicle yielded. Finally, we demonstrated that visual cue τ ̇ is a practical indicator for controlling the vehicle deceleration evidence in the experiment. In conclusion, these findings reveal in detail the role of deceleration parameters as implicit communication signals between pedestrians and AVs, with implications for road crossing safety and the development of AVs. • Participants separately subjectively estimated approaching vehicle behaviour and performed road-crossing. • Vehicle speed affects crossing decisions and estimations differently. • Early-onset braking behaviour facilitates pedestrian crossing behaviour. • Pedestrians tend to interpret low vehicle speeds as yielding signals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Different varieties of carbon black (CB) filled rubber materials were prepared. Transmission electron microscopy was used to explore the morphology of the fillers. It shows that the connective structure of carbon black is the main factor resulting in the thermal conductivity enhancement of rubber composites with CB fillers. The enhancement is more obvious as the filling amount increases due to the increased connectivity of the CB in rubber. Furthermore, the CB aggregates with larger number of branch chains gives higher connectivity and thermal conductivity. Accordingly, the Agari model was chosen and modified to predict the thermal conductivity of the composites. Compared with all the data, the average deviation of the predicted thermal conductivities by the modified Agari model is about 4%, which is better than other classical models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aims: Root exudation can prime microbial synthesis of additional exoenzymes and consequently accelerate organic carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) mineralization. Such exudate induced priming effect (EPE) has been hypothesized to depend on exudate rate and stoichiometry. Little is known about how EPE would affect litter decomposition. We employed a microcosm experiment to evaluate the influence of root exudate on litter nutrient release and microbial enzyme functions. Methods: Leaf litters of Pinus massoniana, Quercus variabilis and Robinia pseudoacacia were incubated under two soil conditions (fertile versus barren). Solutions of chemicals often found in root exudates with contrasting C:N ratios were inoculated frequently into the microcosms to simulate exudation. By comparing with a water control, exudate effect was determined. Results: In barren soils, exudates with C:N ratio of 10 significantly decelerated C loss of R. pseudoacacia, all N-containing exudates significantly enhanced the N-cycling related enzymes in decomposing Q. variabilis, while C-only exudate accelerated N loss of P. massoniana. In fertile soils, C-only exudate promoted the N-cycling related enzymes in decomposing R. pseudoacacia. Conclusions: A stoichiometric C:N constraint on microbial utilization of exudates arose in decomposing recalcitrant litters in barren soil. EPE and its stoichiometric constraint depend on interactions with litter quality and soil condition. The findings arouse the consequences of exudate rate and stoichiometry changes in determining soil nutrient balance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract An extended equation of dispersive water waves, proposed by Kupershmidt, is considered. By an ansatz on eigenfunctions of its recursion operator, a linear spectral problem, which turns to be type of the energy dependent Schrödinger, is constructed for the system. As by-products, modified systems are presented. Furthermore, a new bi-Hamiltonian system is obtained and shown to be related to a three component generalization of the Camassa–Holm equation under a Miura-type transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Capsaicin (8-methyl- N -vanillyl-6-nonenamide) is the most abundant capsaicinoids found in hot peppers (Capsicum annum and Capsicum frutescens). It has been well documented that capsaicin plays an important role in the defense against the attack of herbivores or pathogens on Capsicum plants. A few insect herbivores such as Helicoverpa armigera and Helicoverpa assulta have been recorded to be capable of feeding on hot pepper fruits, suggesting that these insects evolve mechanisms against the toxicity of capsaicin. Although cytochrome P450-meidated detoxification is considered to be an important mechanism by which cotton bollworms cope with capsaicin, experimental evidence is lacking. In this study, we compared the capacity of four H. armigera P450s (CYP6B6, CYP9A12, CYP9A14 and CYP9A17) in capsaicin metabolism, and the capsaicin metabolites were screened and tentatively identified by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS). HPLC analyses showed that depletion rates of capsaicin were 21.9 ± 0.1, 11.9 ± 1.5, 16.3 ± 1.4 and 14.8 ± 0.2 min−1 for CYP6B6, CYP9A12, CYP9A14 and CYP9A17 respectively. The transformation of capsaicin was inhibited by the P450 inhibitor piperonyl butoxide. A total of seven products were detected, and hydroxylation (aromatic and aliphatic) and dehydrogenation were found to be two main pathways in capsaicin metabolism. In addition, capsaicin metabolism was enzyme selective: M1 (ω-hydroxylated N-macrocyclic metabolite) and M3 (ω-hydroxylated metabolite) were uniquely detected in the CYP6B6 catalytic reaction, while M4 (ω-n hydroxylated capsaicin), M5 (diene of capsaicin) and M6 (doubly oxidized metabolite of dehydrogenated capsaicin) were only detectable in CYP9A metabolisms. A capsaicin dimer (5, 5′-dicapsaicin) was found to be the major metabolite of CYP9A reactions, but the minor product produced by CYP6B6. An overall more similar behavior in capsaicin metabolism was observed among CYP9As than between CYP6B6 and CYP9As. Our data demonstrate that CYP6B6 and CYP9As have a potent capability to transform capsaicin, and individual P450 produce unique metabolite profile. These findings help us to understand the molecular basis of capsaicin adaptation in H. armigera. Unlabelled Image • Capsaicin can be efficiently metabolized by HaCYP6B6 and HaCYP9A. • Both HaCYP6B6 and HaCYP9A generate multiple metabolites. • Metabolite profiles are enzyme-dependent in P450- mediated capsaicin metabolism. • Hydroxylation and dehydrogenation are two major pathways in capsaicin biotransformation. • More similar behavior occurs among CYP9As than between CYP6B and CYP9A. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, an improved 4H-SiC U-shaped trench-gate metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistors (UMOSFETs) structure with low ON-resistance (${R}_{ \mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle ON}}$) and switching energy loss is proposed. The novel structure features an added n-type region, which reduces ON-resistance of the device significantly while maintaining the breakdown voltage (${V}_{\textsf {BR}}$). In addition, the gate of the improved structure is designed as a p-n junction to reduce the switching energy loss. Simulations by Sentaurus TCAD are carried out to reveal the working mechanism of this improved structure. For the static performance, the ON-resistance and the figure of merit (FOM $= {V}_{\textsf {BR}}^{\textsf {2}}/{R}_{ \mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle ON}}$) of the optimized structure are improved by 40% and 44%, respectively, as compared to a conventional trench MOSFET without the added n-type region and modified gate. For the dynamic performance, the turn-on time (${T}_{ \mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle ON}}$) and turn-off time (${T}_{ \mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle OFF}}$) of the proposed structure are both shorter than that of the conventional structure, bringing a 43% and 30% reduction in turn-on energy loss and total switching energy loss (${E}_{\mathbf {SW}}$). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract For a class of super skew-symmetric operators with eight parameters, two kinds of super Hamiltonian operators are identified by the method of functional multi-vectors. Appropriate decompositions of these operators lead to compatible super Hamiltonian pairs which in turn produce nonlinear super bi-Hamiltonian systems from the trivial x -translation flow. As examples, besides the super Korteweg–de Vries equations and other known ones, new super generalizations are obtained for the Riemann equation, the Hunter–Saxton equation and the Camassa–Holm equation, all of them admit two compatible local super Hamiltonian operators. Highlights • Super Hamiltonian operators are sorted out from a class of skew-symmetric operators. • New super Riemann, Hunter–Saxton and Camassa–Holm equations are constructed. • They are all bi-Hamiltonian systems, and connected with pure bosonic systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Platensimycin (PTM) is an excellent natural product drug lead against various gram‐positive pathogens, including methicillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus and vancomycin‐resistant enterococci. In this study, twenty PTM derivatives with varying aminobenzoic acids were semisynthesized. In contrast to all the previous reported inactive aminobenzaote analogues, a few of them showed moderate antibacterial activities against S. aureus. Our study suggested that modification of the conserved aminobenzoic acid remains a viable approach to diversify the PTM scaffold. Platensimycin (PTM, 1) is a potent inhibitor of both bacterial and mammalian fatty acid synthases, and the previous structure‐activity relationship study suggested that its aminobenzoate moiety makes critical interactions with the enzyme active site. In this study, 20 platensimycin analogues with varying aminobenzoic acids were semisynthesized and a few of them showed moderate antibacterial activities against Staphylococcus aureus. These results suggested that modification of the aminobenzoate moiety remains a viable approach to diversify the PTM scaffold. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aims: The ‘home-field advantage (HFA) hypothesis’ predicts a litter-field affinity effect on litter decomposition. In terrestrial ecosystems, plant roots have comprehensive roles in regulating litter-decomposer interactions, yet their potential influences on HFA remain unsolved. To fill this gap, we conducted a litter transplant experiment in a subtropical forest, and tested whether roots affect litter-field affinity via interactions with soil microbial functions.Methods: Leaf litters of Quercus variabilis and Pinus massoniana were incubated at their conspecific-dominated and heterospecific-dominated forests. Root-specific incubation microcosms were manipulated by using a series of root ingrowth cores to control the access of living fine roots.Results: Entire exclusion of roots led to a significant suppression of HFA, and the affinity effect was amplified under a medium root constraint treatment (by 0.5 mm mesh). Incubation field (‘home’ vs. ‘away’) generally had a positive effect on litter mineralization when roots were present, and roots became more influential after 9 months than 3 months of incubation. Although microbial enzymatic functions and their impact on litter N loss depended on root status, they were not associated with incubation field.Conclusions: Our findings advocate that a moderate amount of local roots is essential for HFA in leaf litter decomposition, and taking account of root-mediated species-specific bio-interactions will advance our understanding of native litter- home field affinity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A comprehensive and critical review of the machine learning-assist gas separation membrane development is summarized. • The data ecology in gas separation membranes is reviewed. • The challenges and perspectives in machine learning assisted gas separation membranes development are proposed. Membrane technology is a promising next-generation gas separation technology and has drawn tremendous research interest during the past decades. Despite the advanced progress in membrane materials, the timelines for developing high-performance membranes still cannot be compatible with the urgent needs. Accurate prediction of membrane performance in advance can efficiently optimize the process of novel membrane development and economize the funds. As so, numerous empirical, semi-empirical, or completely theoretical prediction models were established over the past decades while still facing the challenges of poor universality and limited accuracy. Big-data science-based "machine learning" (ML) has made a great effort in many research communities including chemistry and material science. Using experimental or/and molecular simulation data as the input to train a suitable ML model enable to precisely predict and interpret many membrane properties including gas separation performance. This review aims to elucidate how machine learning, a promising data-centric strategy, accelerate the screening and design of gas separation membranes. First, the concepts and algorithms of ML are briefly introduced. Then, a comprehensive and critical review of the progress in gas separation membrane screen and design assisted by machine learning is made (consisting of polymer membrane, porous polycrystalline membrane, and mixed matrix membrane). Subsequently, the data ecology in gas separation membranes is summarized. Lastly, the current issues, along with the outlooks in improving the development of gas separation membranes through machine learning are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) contamination in atmospheric and soil was serious, which is mainly due to high level of emission of PAHs in China resulted from the predominating use of coal in energy consumption and continuous development of economy and society for years. However, the status of PAHs in winter wheat grains from the areas influenced by coal combustion in China was still not clear. During harvest season, the winter wheat grains were collected from agricultural fields surrounding coal-fired power plants located in Shaanxi and Henan Provinces. This study found that the mean concentrations of 15 priority PAHs ranged from 69.58 to 557.0 μg kg − 1 . Three-ring PAHs (acenaphthene, acenaphthylene, fluorene, phenanthrene and anthracene) were dominant in the grains, accounting for approximately 70–81% of the total PAHs. The bioaccessibility of low molecular weight (LMW, 2–3 ring) PAHs (51.1–52.8%), high molecular weight (HMW, 4–6 ring) PAHs (19.8–27.6%) and total PAHs (40.9–48.0%) in the intestinal condition was significantly ( p < 0.001) higher than that (37.4–38.6%; 15.6–22.5%; 30.7–35.5%) in the gastric condition, respectively. Based on total PAHs, the values of incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR) for children, adolescents, adults and seniors were all higher than the baseline value (10 − 6 ) and some even fell in the range of 10 − 5 –10 − 4 , which indicated that most grains from the areas affected by coal combustion possessed considerable cancer risk. The present study also indicated that the children were the age group most sensitive to PAHs contamination. The pilot research provided relevant information for the regulation of PAHs in the winter wheat grains and for the safety of the agro-products growing in the PAHs-contaminated areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SideScan Sonar (SSS) systems are able to provide near-photographic high-resolution images of underwater areas. However, automatic object detection, especially for small objects detection in such images is still difficult because of the inherent speckle noise as well as the various shapes of small objects. In this paper, by using both the Percentage Occupancy Hit-or-Miss Transform (POHMT) and the Tsallis entropy, a novel method for detecting small objects in SSS images is proposed. On one hand, the proposed method adopts the morphological POHMT to enhance faint small objects. On the other hand, the Tsallis entropy which considers the long-range interactions among particles in a system is employed to determine the optimal threshold of the POHMT. The proposed method has been evaluated on two groups of SSS images. For the first group, the average detection rate and false alarm rate of the proposed method are about 86.42% and 10.58%, respectively. For the second group, the average detection rate is 100% while the average false alarm rate is 6.25%. These results show that the proposed method performs better than the existing techniques such as the traditional hit-or-miss transform, the multilevel Tsallis entropy, and the accumulated cell average-constant false alarm rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aerolysin protein pore has been widely used for sensing peptides and proteins. However, only a few groups explored this nanopore for nucleic acids detection. The challenge is the extremely low capture efficiency for nucleic acids (>10 bases), which severely lowers the sensitivity of an aerolysin-based genetic biosensor. Here we reported a simple and easy-to-operate approach to noncovalently transform aerolysin into a highly nucleic acids-sensitive nanopore. Through a remote pH-modulation mechanism, we simply lower the pH on one side of the pore, then aerolysin is immediately "activated" and enabled to capture target DNA/RNA efficiently from the opposite side of the pore. This mechanism also decelerates DNA translocation, a desired property for sequencing and gene detection, allowing temporal separation of DNAs in different lengths. This method provides insight into the nanopore engineering for biosensing, making aerolysin applicable in genetic and epigenetic detections of long nucleic acids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

RNF11 (RING finger protein 11) has been indicated to be related to numerous immunological diseases. As a neo-regulator in innate immunity, RNF11 was proved to inhibit antiviral signaling and interferon-β (IFN-β) production in human cell line. Chicken antiviral signaling pathway is different with other species. However, there is little study about the role of RNF11 in chicken antiviral signaling pathway and inflammatory response. This study was designed to identify the function of RNF11 in chicken antiviral signaling pathway and inflammatory response. We overexpressed and interfered RNF11 in chicken embryo fibroblasts (CEFs) and then used quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) to investigate the poly (I:C)-induced production of IFN-β and inflammatory response factors IL2 and IL10. The results indicated that RNF11 extremely significantly decreased the production of IFN-β and highly significantly increased the messenger RNA (mRNA) levels of IL2 and IL10, but depletion of RNF11 obtained inverse results. Thus, we concluded that RNF11 not only can inhibit antiviral signaling but also plays an important role in inflammatory response in chicken. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

GPR133 (G protein-coupled receptor 133) plays significant roles in various physiological processes. Alternatively splicing (AS) variants of GPR133 in many species have been predicted in multiple databases, but there is no available information about the AS events of chicken GPR133 ( cGPR133). In the present study, two chicken GPR133 variants, cGPR133-va and cGPR133-vb, were identified by a combination of reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) and rapid amplification of cDNA 5′-ends (5′ RACE). Sequence analysis shows that cGPR133-va and cGPR133-vb are resulting from different AS modules and their sequences are predicted to encode two distinct putative proteins, respectively. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) analysis revealed that cGPR133-va and cGPR133-vb are widely expressed in different tissues, while exhibiting specific expression profile. Altogether, our results first demonstrate the existence of novel cGPR133 variants and illustrate its transcriptional diversity and their widespread distribution, which provides a foundation for the further research of GPR133. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Recent empirical findings have suggested that imbalanced neural networks may underlie the pathophysiology of major depressive disorder (MDD). However, the contribution of the superior temporal gyrus (STG) and the caudate nucleus to its pathophysiology remains unclear.Methods: Functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) date were acquired from 40 patients with first-episode drug-naive MDD and 36 matched healthy controls during wakeful rest. We used whole-brain voxel-wise statistical maps to quantify within-group resting state functional connectivity (RSFC) and between-group differences of bilateral caudate and STG seeds.Results: Compared with healthy controls, first-episode MDD patients were found to have reduced connectivity between the ventral caudate and several brain regions including the superior frontal gyrus (SFG), the superior parietal lobule (SPL) and the middle temporal gyrus (MTG), as well as increased connectivity with the cuneus. We also found increased connectivity between the left STG and the precuneus, the angular gyrus and the cuneus. Moreover, we found that increased anhedonia severity was correlated with the magnitude of ventral caudate functional connectivity with the cuneus and the MTG in MDD patients.Limitations: Due to our small sample size, we did not correct the statistical threshold in the correlation analyses between clinical variables and connectivity abnormalities.Conclusions: The present study suggests that anhedonia is mainly associated with altered ventral caudate-cortical connectivity and highlights the importance of the ventral caudate in the neurobiology of MDD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The state-of-the art strategies for constructing highly repetitive genes. • The versatile host systems for the biosynthesis of recombinant protein polymers. • The host engineering strategies for optimizing the expression of protein polymers. • Representative protein polymers for fabricating delivery vehicles. Vehicles derived from genetically engineered protein polymers have gained momentum in the field of biomedical engineering due to their unique designability, remarkable biocompatibility and excellent biodegradability. However, the design and production of these protein polymers with on-demand sequences and supramolecular architectures remain underexplored, particularly from a synthetic biology perspective. In this review, we summarize the state-of-the art strategies for constructing the highly repetitive genes encoding the protein polymers, and highlight the advanced approaches for metabolically engineering expression hosts towards high-level biosynthesis of the target protein polymers. Finally, we showcase the typical protein polymers utilized to fabricate delivery vehicles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel two-step exposure method for the fabrication of apodized fiber Bragg gratings (AFBG’s) with arbitrary apodization functions has been proposed in this paper. The method can be fulfilled by two-step exposures with specially designed apodization and compensation masks for each step, respectively. The masks were driven by a motor which was program controlled according to the desired apodization function. For the sake of validation, three types of AFBG’s, with Linear, Gaussian, and Nuttall apodization functions, respectively, have been experimentally fabricated using the proposed method, and the effects of some unideal experimental setups on the reflection spectra of the FBG’s were analyzed and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera , is a polyphagous pest that has a strong capacity to evolve resistance against various classes of insecticides. Cytochrome P450 enzymes have been suspected involved in pyrethroid metabolism and resistance in this pest. However, how many and which P450s are involved in pyrethroid metabolism is largely unknown. In this study, CYP6B6 and NADPH-cytochrome P450 reductase (HaCPR) from H. armigera were successfully co-expressed in Escherichia coli . Incubation of esfenvalerate with the recombinant CYP6B6-HaCPR monooxygenase complex revealed that CYP6B6 was able to transform esfenvalerate into 4′-hydroxy fenvalerate. Kcat and Km values for the formation of 4′-hydroxyfenvalerate by the E. coli -produced CYP6B6 were determined to be 1.65 ± 0.11 min − 1 and 4.10 ± 0.84 μM respectively. Our results demonstrate that CYP6B6 has the ability to hydroxylate esfenvalerate, thus plays a role in fenvalerate detoxification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We extend the symbolic representation to the ring of [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]