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Abstract Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) causes bacterial blight in rice. Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) consitute a diverse group of biopolyesters synthesized by bacteria under nutrient-limited conditions. The phaC gene is important for PHA polymerization. We investigated the effects of phaC gene mutagensis in Xoo strain PXO99A. The phaC gene knock-out mutant exhibited reduced swarming ability relative to that of the wild-type. Under conditions where glucose was the sole sugar source, extracellular polysaccharide (EPS) production by ΔphaC declined by 44.8%. ΔphaC showed weak hypersensitive response (HR) induction in the leaves of non-host Nicotiana tabacum, concomitant with downregulation of hpa1 gene expression. When inoculated in rice leaves by the leaf-clipping method, ΔphaC displayed reduced virulence in terms of lesion length compared with the wild-type strain. The complemented strain showed no significant difference from the wild-type strain, suggesting that the deletion of phaC in Xoo induces significant alterations in various physiological and biological processes. These include bacterial swarming ability, EPS production, transcription of hrp genes, and glucose metabolism. These changes are intricately linked to the energy utilization and virulence of Xoo during plant infection. These findings revealed involvement of phaC in Xoo is in the maintaining carbon metabolism by functioning in the PHA metabolic pathway.

Abstract Background Postoperative respiratory adverse events are the most common perioperative complications in pediatric anesthesia, particularly prevalent in children undergoing tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy, with an incidence rate as high as 50%. The choice of anesthetic induction regimen directly influences the incidence of respiratory adverse events during the induction period. However, this effect seems to have minimal impact on postoperative outcomes. The occurrence rate of postoperative respiratory adverse events is likely more closely associated with the anesthetic maintenance phase, yet this relationship remains uncertain at present. Methods The objective of this study was to assess the impact of different anesthetic maintenance regimens on postoperative respiratory adverse events in pediatric patients undergoing tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy. The AmPRAEC study is a multicenter, randomized, double-blind controlled trial. A total of 717 pediatric patients were recruited from 12 medical centers and randomly assigned to three groups: group A (intravenous maintenance group, receiving propofol infusion); group B (intravenous-inhalational combination group, maintained with 1% sevoflurane combined with propofol); and group C (inhalational maintenance group, maintained with 2–3% sevoflurane inhalation). The primary outcome measure was the incidence rate of postoperative respiratory adverse events. Discussion This clinical trial aims to elucidate the impact of various anesthetic maintenance regimens on postoperative respiratory adverse events in pediatric patients. The outcomes of this study are anticipated to facilitate anesthesiologists in devising more comprehensive perioperative management strategies, enhancing comfort, and improving the clinical outcomes for this patient population. Trial registration Chinese Clinical Trial Registry ( http://www.chictr.org.cn ) ChiCTR2300074803. Registered on August 16, 2023.

In order to obtain the creep characteristics of the surrounding rock of the Dianzhong water diversion tunnel and to study the long-term stability of the surrounding rock of the tunnel, a fully automated triaxial developed by Wuhan Institute of Geotechnics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, is used to carry out the uniaxial creep test of green mud shale. The axial creep curve and isochronous stress-strain curve of green mud shale are obtained. And the long-term strength value of green mud shale is determined based on the characteristics of isochronous stress-strain curve. Based on the classical creep curve characteristics and a large number of experimental creep curves, it is found that the equations describing the attenuation creep curve can be treated by symmetry. Therefore, it is assumed that the acceleration curve and the decay creep curve are symmetric about the midpoint of the stable creep curve. An accelerated creep model based on the symmetry of the creep curve is obtained. And a set of methods to determine the parameters of the creep model is proposed based on the characteristics of the creep test curve. Finally, the parameters introduced into the accelerated creep model for sensitivity analysis. The parameters introduced into the model have a clear physical meaning. The results show that with the increasing axial stress, the instantaneous strain value and creep deformation value of the rock are also increasing, and the instantaneous strain of the rock under the first stage load accounts for the largest ratio of the total creep deformation. The established creep model can not only well describe the attenuation creep and stable creep deformation law of green mud shale, it also better make up for the defects of the Nishihara model that cannot describe the accelerated creep. The agreement between the model curve and the test curve is much higher than that between the model and the test curve, and the correlation coefficients between the model curve and the test curve under different stresses are all above 0.90. Meanwhile, the validation of different types of test curves and model curves also shows that the model can be applied to the prediction of creep curves of different types of rocks. Finally, the value of parameter j is introduced to control the deformation rate and the time to enter accelerated creep. The value of parameter k controls the creep time and the creep rate in the accelerated stage.

Abstract Background Microtia is reported to be one of the most common congenital craniofacial malformations. Due to the complex etiology and the ethical barrier of embryonic study, the precise mechanisms of microtia remain unclear. Here we report a rare case of microtia with costal chondrodysplasia based on bioinformatics analysis and further verifications on other sporadic microtia patients. Results One hundred fourteen deleterious insert and deletion (InDel) and 646 deleterious SNPs were screened out by WES, candidate genes were ranked in descending order according to their relative impact with microtia. Label-free proteomic analysis showed that proteins significantly different between the groups were related with oxidative stress and energy metabolism. By real-time PCR and immunohistochemistry, we further verified the candidate genes between other sporadic microtia and normal ear chondrocytes, which showed threonine aspartase, cadherin-13, aldolase B and adiponectin were significantly upregulated in mRNA levels but were significantly lower in protein levels. ROS detection and mitochondrial membrane potential (∆ Ψ m) detection proved that oxidative stress exists in microtia chondrocytes. Conclusions Our results not only spot new candidate genes by WES and label-free proteomics, but also speculate for the first time that metabolism and oxidative stress may disturb cartilage development and this might become therapeutic targets and potential biomarkers with clinical usefulness in the future.

Abstract Traffic flow prediction based on spatial–temporal data plays a vital role in traffic management. However, it still faces serious challenges due to the complex spatial–temporal correlation in nonlinear spatial–temporal data. Some previous methods have limited ability to capture spatial–temporal correlation, and ignore the quadratic complexity problem in the traditional attention mechanism. To this end, we propose a novel spatial–temporal combination and multi-head flow-attention network (STCMFA) to model the spatial–temporal correlation in road networks. Firstly, we design a temporal sequence multi-head flow attention (TS-MFA), in which the unique source competition mechanism and sink allocation mechanism make the model avoid attention degradation without being affected by inductive biases. Secondly, we use GRU instead of the linear layer in traditional attention to map the input sequence, which further enhances the temporal modeling ability of the model. Finally, we combine the GCN with the TS-MFA module to capture the spatial–temporal correlation, and introduce residual mechanism and feature aggregation strategy to further improve the performance of STCMFA. Extensive experiments on four real-world traffic datasets show that our model has excellent performance and is always significantly better than other baselines.

Road transportation plays a crucial role in society and daily life, as the functioning and durability of roads can significantly impact a nation's economic development. In the whole life cycle of the road, the emergence of disease is unavoidable, so it is necessary to adopt relevant technical means to deal with the disease. This study comprehensively reviews the advancements in computer vision, artificial intelligence, and mobile robotics in the road domain and examines their progress and applications in road detection, diagnosis, and treatment, especially asphalt roads. Specifically, it analyzes the research progress in detecting and diagnosing surface and internal road distress and related techniques and algorithms are compared. In addition, also introduces various road governance technologies, including automated repairs, intelligent construction, and path planning for crack sealing. Despite their proven effectiveness in detecting road distress, analyzing diagnoses, and planning maintenance, these technologies still confront challenges in data collection, parameter optimization, model portability, system accuracy, robustness, and real-time performance. Consequently, the integration of multidisciplinary technologies is imperative to enable the development of an integrated approach that includes road detection, diagnosis, and treatment. This paper addresses the challenges of precise defect detection, condition assessment, and unmanned construction. At the same time, the efficiency of labor liberation and road maintenance is achieved, and the automation level of the road engineering industry is improved.

As a rapidly expanding family of 2D materials, MXenes have recently gained considerable attention. Herein, by developing a coating method that enables transfer‐free and layer‐by‐layer film coating, the nonlinear optical absorption (NOA) of Ti3C2Tx MXene films is investigated. Using the Z‐scan technique, the NOA of the MXene films is characterized at ≈800 nm. The results show that there is a strong and layer‐dependent NOA behavior, transitioning from reverse saturable absorption (RSA) to saturable absorption (SA) as the layer number increases from 5 to 30. Notably, the nonlinear absorption coefficient β changes significantly from ≈7.13 × 102 cm GW−1 to ≈−2.69 × 102 cm GW−1 within this range. The power‐dependent NOA of the MXene films is also characterized, and a decreasing trend in β is observed for increasing laser intensity. Finally, the NOA of 2D MXene films at ≈1550 nm is characterized by integrating them onto silicon nitride waveguides, where an SA behavior is observed for the films including 5 and 10 layers of MXene, in contrast to the RSA observed at ≈800 nm. These results reveal intriguing nonlinear optical properties of 2D MXene films, highlighting their versatility and potential for implementing high‐performance nonlinear photonic devices.

The effects of starting mode and outlet temperature of heat sink (OTHS) on the starting performances of direct-heated heat pump water heater using natural blend were investigated experimentally. The results indicated that both starting mode and OTHS had notable impact on starting time of transient performance parameters. Both warm start and lower OTHS helps to quickly obtain hot water at the target temperature, mainly because the system startup time in the warm start was 16.73 % shorter than that in the cold start and the system gained the shortest startup time (1015 s) in low temperature condition. The transient heat sink outlet temperature had a rapid temperature rise section and a slow temperature rise section (STRS), and the STRS consumed 56.58 %–66.67 % of the system starting time, so the improvement of STRS is the key to realize the fast startup. The effects of startup mode on the trends of transient performance parameters were memorably different, but the OTHS had no apparent effect on their trends. The transient refrigerant pressures and transient refrigerant temperatures had the fluctuations. The transient suction pressures had the minimum values (0.3925–0.5575 MPa), and both cold start mode and higher OTHS resulted in a decrease in the minimum value.

BackgroundPepper veinal mottle virus (PVMV) belongs to the genus Potyvirus within the family Potyviridae and is a major threat to pepper production, causing reduction in yield and fruit quality; however, efficient pesticides and chemical treatments for plant protection against viral infections are lacking. Hence, there is a critical need to discover highly active and environment-friendly antiviral agents derived from natural sources. Bacillus spp. are widely utilized as biocontrol agents to manage fungal, bacterial, and viral plant diseases. Particularly, Bacillus velezensis HN-2 exhibits a strong antibiotic activity against plant pathogens and can also induce plant resistance.MethodsThe experimental subjects employed in this study were Bacillus velezensis HN-2, benzothiadiazole, and dufulin, aiming to evaluate their impact on antioxidant activity, levels of reactive oxygen species, activity of defense enzymes, and expression of defense-related genes in Nicotiana benthamiana. Furthermore, the colonization ability of Bacillus velezensis HN-2 in Capsicum chinense was investigated. ResultsThe results of bioassays revealed the robust colonization capability of Bacillus velezensis HN-2, particularly in intercellular spaces, leading to delayed infection and enhanced protection against PVMV through multiple plant defense mechanisms, thereby promoting plant growth. Furthermore, Bacillus velezensis HN-2 increased the activities of antioxidant enzymes, thereby mitigating the PVMV-induced ROS production in Nicotiana benthamiana. Moreover, the application of Bacillus velezensis HN-2 at 5 dpi significantly increased the expression of JA-responsive genes, whereas the expression of salicylic acid-responsive genes remained unchanged, implying the activation of the JA signaling pathway as a crucial mechanism underlying Bacillus velezensis HN-2-induced anti-PVMV activity. Immunoblot analysis revealed that HN-2 treatment delayed PVMV infection at 15 dpi, further highlighting its role in inducing plant resistance and promoting growth and development. ConclusionsThese findings underscore the potential of Bacillus velezensis HN-2 for field application in managing viral plant diseases effectively.

This study investigates the feasibility of using mudstone to enhance poorly graded gravel in certain arid regions of the S21 Altay-Urumqi Highway project in Xinjiang. Despite mudstone typically being considered a poor-quality rock, its combination with higher-performance materials like cement, lime, and fly ash can stabilize expansive soils for use as roadbed fill. In the experiments, 30% and 40% mudstone were added to the gravel mixture. The experiments were compared with unmodified K80 and 35% crushed rock mixes. The findings reveal that adding 30% mudstone substantially increased the California Bearing Ratio (CBR) of the gravel mix by over 20%. However, excessive mudstone inclusion could weaken load-bearing capacity. Moreover, mudstone-modified specimens exhibited superior unconfined compressive strength (UCS), splitting strength, compressive resilience modulus (CRM), drying shrinkage resistance, and temperature shrinkage resistance. Under optimum cement dosage, the UCS of mudstone-modified specimens outperformed unmodified specimens, consistently surpassing fly ash-altered groups. Although mixed fly ash initially exhibited lower strength, it gradually approached cement-stabilized strength with an extended curing time. Incorporating crushed stone into the grading curve significantly increased splitting strength due to its high strength and hardness. In contrast, adding mudstone introduced a notable proportion of fine aggregates, resulting in a looser grading skeleton prone to early cracking. This research demonstrates that mudstone enhancement significantly improves roadbed performance, including increased CBR, splitting strength, and crack resistance. The use of mudstone in arid desert areas enhances overall performance while reducing shrinkage coefficients. The suggested approach for semi-rigid pavements in arid deserts recommends specific mineral proportions, various aggregate sizes, an appropriate amount of cement, and 30% mudstone to create dense structures with a higher quantity of coarse aggregate.

Accurately predicting traffic flow is paramount for the efficient operation of transportation systems. The key to enhancing prediction accuracy lies in effectively mining the intricate spatio-temporal correlations within traffic flow data. However, traditional traffic flow prediction methods that combine Graph Convolutional Network and Recurrent Neural Network have limitations in capturing comprehensive spatial correlation information and face challenges in modeling long-term temporal dependencies, consequently leading to suboptimal prediction performance. This study proposes a hybrid traffic flow prediction model based on fusion graph convolutional network and enhanced gate recurrent unit. Initially, a fusion graph structure is constructed based on adjacency graph and adaptive graph to better represent the correlations between nodes in the road network. Subsequently, the stacked fusion graph convolution module is utilized to capture multi-level spatial correlations and the enhanced gated recurrent unit is applied to extract multi-scale temporal correlations. In addition, the model integrates the extracted spatio-temporal features with the direct features through residual connection units, and utilizes the fused features for prediction, achieving superior predictive performance. The experimental results from four authentic datasets demonstrate that our proposed model outperforms state-of-the-art baseline models, showcasing an average enhancement of 3% in Mean Absolute Error(MAE), 3.3% in Root Mean Square Error(RMSE), and 2.7% in Mean Absolute Percentage Error(MAPE) across the four datasets.

The hot deformation behavior and microstructure of Fe-12.5Cr–4Al–2Mo-0.03Nb-0.08Y alloy were studied under conditions of 800 °C–1200 °C/0.01 s−1∼10 s−1 using a combination of hot compression experiments, EBSD and TEM characterization. The results indicate that the deformation temperature and strain rate have a significant impact on the flow stress and microstructure of the alloy, especially the deformation temperature. The constitutive equation constructed in this paper can reflect the hot deformation process and accurately calculate flow stress value of the FeCrAl alloy in corresponding states. The FeCrAl alloy undergoes DRV and DRX during hot deformation. DDRX grains distributed along the original grain boundaries mainly formed at low deformation temperatures and high strain rates, while CDRX grains mainly formed at high deformation temperatures and low strain rates and characterized by the internal distribution of the original grains. Moreover, the orientation of DDRX grains is mostly different from that of adjacent original grains, while the orientation of CDRX grains is relatively close to that of the original grains.

Herein, we constructed innovative reduction-sensitive and targeted gelatin-based micelles for doxorubicin (DOX) delivery in tumor therapy. AS1411 aptamer-modified gelatin-ss-tocopherol succinate (AGSST) and the control GSST without AS1411 modification were synthesized and characterized. Antitumor drug DOX-containing AGSST (AGSST-D) and GSST-D nanoparticles were prepared, and their shapes were almost spherical. Reduction-responsive characteristics of DOX release in vitro were revealed in AGSST-D and GSST-D. Compared with non-targeted GSST-D, AGSST-D demonstrated better intracellular uptake and stronger cytotoxicity against nucleolin-overexpressed A549 cells. Importantly, AGSST-D micelles showed more effective killing activity in A549-bearing mice than GSST-D and DOX⋅HCl. It was revealed that AGSST-D micelles had no obvious systemic toxicity. Overall, AGSST micelles would have the potential to be an effective drug carrier for targeted tumor therapy.

Epigenomic imbalance drives abnormal transcriptional processes, promoting the onset and progression of cancer. Although defective gene regulation generally affects carcinogenesis and tumor suppression networks, tumor immunogenicity and immune cells involved in antitumor responses may also be affected by epigenomic changes, which may have significant implications for the development and application of epigenetic therapy, cancer immunotherapy, and their combinations. Herein, we focus on the impact of epigenetic regulation on tumor immune cell function and the role of key abnormal epigenetic processes, DNA methylation, histone post-translational modification, and chromatin structure in tumor immunogenicity, and introduce these epigenetic research methods. We emphasize the value of small-molecule inhibitors of epigenetic modulators in enhancing antitumor immune responses and discuss the challenges of developing treatment plans that combine epigenetic therapy and immunotherapy through the complex interaction between cancer epigenetics and cancer immunology.

Abstract Drought is an important meteorological event in China and can cause severe damage to both livelihoods and socio‐ecological systems, but current seasonal prediction skill for drought is far from successful. This study used convolutional neural network (CNN) to build an effective seasonal forecast model for the summer consecutive dry days (CDD) over China. The principal components (PC) of the six leading empirical orthogonal function modes of CDD anomaly were predicted by CNN, using the previous winter precipitation, 2‐m temperature and 500 hPa geopotential height as predictors. These predicted PCs were then projected onto the observed spatial patterns to obtain the final predicted summer CDD anomaly over China. In the independent hindcast period of 2007–2018, the interannual variabilities of first six PCs were significantly predicted by CNN. The spatial patterns of CDD were then skillfully predicted with anomaly correlation coefficient skills generally higher than 0.2. The interannual variability of summer CDD over the middle and lower Yangtze River valley, northwestern China and northern China were significant predicted by our CNN model three months in advance. CNN identified that the previous winter precipitation was the important predictor for PC1–PC3, whereas the previous winter 2‐m temperature and 500 hPa geopotential height were important for the prediction of PC4–PC6. This research provides a new and effective method for the seasonal prediction of summer drought.

Summary: Magnesium alloy is an excellent material for biodegradable cerebrovascular stents. However, the rapid degradation rate of magnesium alloy will make stent unstable. To improve the biocompatibility of magnesium alloy, in this study, biodegradable sodium alginate and carboxymethyl chitosan (SA/CMCS) was used to coat onto hydrothermally treated the surface of magnesium alloy by a dipping coating method. The results show that the SA/CMCS coating facilitates the growth, proliferation, and migration of endothelial cells and promotes neovascularization. Moreover, the SA/CMCS coating suppresses macrophage activation while promoting their transformation into M2 type macrophages. Overall, the SA/CMCS coating demonstrates positive effects on the safety and biocompatibility of magnesium alloy after implantation, and provide a promising therapy for the treatment of intracranial atherosclerotic stenosis in the future.

Background: Previous single-center studies have demonstrated that drug-coated balloons (DCBs) may reduce restenosis rates, which is an important factor affecting the prognosis for intracranial interventional therapy. However, currently available cardiac DCBs are not always suitable for the treatment of intracranial atherosclerotic stenosis (ICAS). This study aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a novel DCB catheter designed for patients with severely symptomatic ICAS. Methods: This prospective, multicenter, single-arm, target-value clinical trial was conducted in 9 Chinese stroke centers to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a novel DCB catheter for treating symptomatic severe ICAS. Primary metrics and other indicators were collected and analyzed using SAS version 9.4 (SAS Institute, Cary, NC, USA). Results: A total of 155 patients were enrolled in this study. The preliminary collection of follow-up data has been completed, while data quality control is ongoing. Conclusion: Results of this study demonstrated the patency rate, safety, and effectiveness of a novel on-label paclitaxel DCB designed for the treatment of ICAS. Trial registration: ChiCTR, ChiCTR2100047223. Registered June 11, 2021-Prospective registration, https://www.chictr.org.cn/ChiCTR2100047223.

Abstract Background RNA splicing plays significant roles in fundamental biological activities. However, our knowledge about the roles of alternative splicing and underlying mechanisms during spermatogenesis is limited. Results Here, we report that Serine/arginine-rich splicing factor 2 (SRSF2), also known as SC35, plays critical roles in alternative splicing and male reproduction. Male germ cell-specific deletion of Srsf2 by Stra8-Cre caused complete infertility and defective spermatogenesis. Further analyses revealed that deletion of Srsf2 disrupted differentiation and meiosis initiation of spermatogonia. Mechanistically, by combining RNA-seq data with LACE-seq data, we showed that SRSF2 regulatory networks play critical roles in several major events including reproductive development, spermatogenesis, meiotic cell cycle, synapse organization, DNA recombination, chromosome segregation, and male sex differentiation. Furthermore, SRSF2 affected expression and alternative splicing of Stra8, Stag3 and Atr encoding critical factors for spermatogenesis in a direct manner. Conclusions Taken together, our results demonstrate that SRSF2 has important functions in spermatogenesis and male fertility by regulating alternative splicing.

To improve the gel quality of chicken blood, a by-product of concentrated slaughter, the effects of different concentrations and formulations of xanthan gum (XG) and guar gum (GG) on the gel properties of chicken blood were investigated using the indices of water retention, texture, and rheological properties, as well as analysis of molecular interactions and sensory scores. The results showed that while individual treatment with either XG or GG improved the water-holding capacity of the chicken blood gel, the action of XG was superior. Addition of 4.0 g/L of XG resulted in a cooking loss rate of 10.02%, centrifugation loss of 12.73%, and syneresis rate of 10.96% (at 48 h), while the hardness, cohesiveness, gelation, mastication, and recovery of the gel were decreased. Addition of 6.0 g/L of GG significantly improved the textural properties of the gel, resulting in a hardness of 366.95 N, elasticity of 0.94 mm, cohesiveness of 0.77, adhesiveness of 281.94, masticatory value of 263.72 mJ, and recovery of 0.25. Analysis of dynamic rheology and intermolecular forces showed that the gelation transformation of the chicken blood gel system was mainly determined by the elastic response. The formulation of XG and GG had a synergistic effect in stabilizing the chicken blood gel, with strengthened ionic bonds (from 29.18% to 32.62%) and hydrogen bonds (from 2.48% to 6.43%), reduced hydrophobic force (from 22.68% to 16.28%), increased water-holding capacity of the gel, and enhanced gel stability. The addition of 4.0 g/L of formulated colloid (XG and GG in a ratio of 7:3) to chicken blood resulted in optimal water retention and texture, together with high sensory scores of the gel.

A phase-field model for the precipitation of Fe-Cr-Al alloy is established incorporating grain boundary (GB) effects and irradiation-accelerated diffusion. The radiation source and grain boundary effect are incorporated to broaden the applicability of the Fe-Cr-Al precipitated phase-field model. The model is firstly employed to simulate the precipitation of the Cr-rich α’ phase in a single-crystal alloy. The precipitation rate and the size distribution of the precipitated phase were analyzed. Subsequently, the model is utilized to simulate segregation at GBs in a double-crystal system, analyzing the enrichment of Cr and depletion of Al near these boundaries. The simulation results are consistent with experimental observations reported in the references. Finally, the model is applied to simulate the precipitation in a polycrystalline Fe-Cr-Al system. The simulated results revealed that the presence of GBs induces the formation of localized regions with enhanced Cr and Al content as well as depleted zones adjacent to these boundaries. GBs also diminish both the quantity and precipitation rate of the formed phase within the grains.

A 700 V pulsed laser was used for the surface treatment of Zircaloy-4. Phases including the treatment layer, morphology and the distributions of alloying elements of the treatment layer were detected via X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM). The results showed that the laser surface treatment (LST) layer is also α-Zr phase layer, the morphology of the treatment layer was “cauliflower-like” and the Fe-Cr precipitates in the LST layer were dissolved. The corrosion tests of the LST and the no-laser surface treatment (NLST) specimens were conducted in steam at 1100 °C using TGA (NETZSCH STA 449 F). The results showed that LST can enhance the corrosion resistance of the Zircaloy-4 in high-temperature steam. More microcracks distributed in the oxide film formed on the NLST specimen than on the LST specimen. And the volume fraction of the tetragonal zirconia (t-ZrO2) phase in the oxide film on the surface of the LST specimen was higher than that of NLST specimen. The main reason for this phenomena could be attributed to the dissolving Fe-Cr precipitates and higher solid solution of Fe and Cr in the laser treatment layer.

The corrosion behavior of 20G and TP347H materials was investigated in molten LiCl-NaCl-KCl salt. The corrosion rates of these materials in molten chloride salt are high and are strongly affected by the alloying surface oxide formation. The 20G shows uniform surface corrosion with almost no protective oxide formation on the surface. In contrast, the austenitic steel TP347H exhibits better corrosion resistance in molten chloride salts due to its high Cr content. Owing to the highly corrosive nature of molten chloride salts, the Cl− in molten salt could react with oxides and alloy, inducing intergranular corrosion of austenitic steel in molten chloride salt environments.

The red-bed soft rocks in South China have obvious creep characteristics and are prone to engineering geological disasters such as landslide and foundation settlement under the action of rainfall, groundwater, and load. In order to reveal its creep characteristics and mechanism under complex conditions, a step-loading creep test was carried out under chemical-stress-seepage coupling, and the energy evolution law of the whole creep process was analyzed based on linear energy storage and energy dissipation theory. The results also show that the acid chemical solution has the greatest influence on the triaxial strength and creep strength, and the creep damage and energy evolution of red-bed soft rock are universal. The creep damage and total strain increase with the increase of acidity, the decrease of confining pressure, and the increase of seepage pressure. The evolution law of creep damage shows the characteristics of slow-acceleration-rapid growth, and with the increase of load level, it has obvious transfer and accumulation. After entering the constant velocity creep stage, the damage rate begins to accelerate. The proportion of instantaneous strain and creep strain in the total strain increment is about 50%, and confining pressure has little influence on their respective proportions. The instantaneous strain is more sensitive to the acidity of the chemical solution, and the proportion of creep strain increases gradually with the increase of seepage pressure. The relationship between elastic energy density and total energy density is linear. The elastic energy density and dissipated energy density in the loading stage and creep stage all increase nonlinearly with loading time. The density of dissipated energy in the creep phase is lower than that in the loading phase, but the opposite is true in the higher stress phase, and the law of energy dissipation can explain the hardening damage effect in the creep process of soft rock samples. The research results provide a new perspective for us to reveal the mechanical properties and failure mechanism of red-bed soft rocks and provide an important theoretical basis for predicting and evaluating the creep instability and long-term stability of such rocks.

To solve the problem of poor heat transfer effect in the subcooled region of integrated condenser, a combined condenser for instant heat pump water heater (IHPWH) was proposed and designed based on the condenser design model, aiming at obtaining an optimal design method of condenser. The off-design performances of heat pump water heater (HPWH) with a combined condenser (HPWHCC) and HPWH with an integrated condenser (HPWHIC) were investigated and compared based on the Mopt IHPWH test unit, aiming at verifying the feasibility of using a combined condenser replacement of an integrated condenser in the IHPWH. The results show that the heat transfer area of combined condenser is only 83.33 % of that of integrated condenser. Compared with the HPWHIC, the HPWHCC achieves basically equivalent COP and heating capacities and slightly higher discharge temperatures under variable heat sink outlet temperature (HSOT) condition and variable heat sink inlet temperature (HSIT) condition. Therefore, the combined condenser has the obvious potential to replace the integrated condenser in the IHPWH. The HSOT has a remarkable influence on the COP of HPWHIC and HPWHCC but a small influence on their heat capacities, while the HSIT has a small influence on their COP and heat capacities.

Agriculture is the primary source of human survival, which provides the most basic living and survival conditions for human beings. As living standards continue to improve, people are also paying more attention to the quality and safety of agricultural products. Therefore, the detection of agricultural product quality is very necessary. In the past decades, the spectroscopy technique has been widely used because of its excellent results in agricultural quality detection. However, traditional spectral inspection methods cannot accurately describe the internal information of agricultural products. With the continuous research and development of optical properties, it has been found that the internal quality of an object can be better reflected by separating the properties of light, such as its absorption and scattering properties. In recent years, spatially resolved spectroscopy has been increasingly used in the field of agricultural product inspection due to its simple compositional structure, low-value cost, ease of operation, efficient detection speed, and outstanding ability to obtain information about agricultural products at different depths. It can also separate optical properties based on the transmission equation of optics, which allows for more accurate detection of the internal quality of agricultural products. This review focuses on the principles of spatially resolved spectroscopy, detection equipment, analytical methods, and specific applications in agricultural quality detection. Additionally, the optical properties methods and direct analysis methods of spatially resolved spectroscopy analysis methods are also reported in this paper.

ABSTRACT Microbial community imbalance is the main cause of soybean intercropping, but the mechanism of soybean soil fungal community diversity change induced by continuous cropping is still unclear. This study analyzes the fungal community diversity and the change of fungal communities in compartments of different root systems of intercropped soybeans by high-throughput sequencing (endosphere, rhizoplane, and rhizosphere) between continuous cropping and maize-soybean rotation. The results showed that the community composition and the diversity of compartments of different root systems of intercropped soybeans are different, and fungal diversities showed a decreasing trend from rhizosphere to endosphere. Continuous cropping significantly increased fungal community diversities in different root compartments and changed their formation, enrichment, and depletion processes. Continuous cropping brings about the enrichment of soil pathogens, but only partial soil pathogens could colonize from the rhizosphere to the endosphere. All these suggested that root compartments had selective effects on root-associated fungal community diversity. Additionally, metabolomics assay revealed that continuous cropping soybean markedly altered soil metabolic profiling. Correlation analysis results showed that fungal community diversity was significantly correlated with soil metabolites. To sum up, under different planting patterns, the diversity and the functional mode of soybean soil microbial community have changed. Continuous cropping has increased the abundance of pathogenic fungi in soybean soil, resulting in changes in the correlation between soil fungi and metabolites, and then changed the soil metabolic spectrum. IMPORTANCE Soybean yield can be affected by soybean soil fungal communities in different tillage patterns. Soybean is an important food crop with great significance worldwide. Continuous cultivation resulted in soil nutrient deficiencies, disordered metabolism of root exudates, fungal pathogen accumulation, and an altered microbial community, which brought a drop in soybean output. In this study, taking the soybean agroecosystem in northeast China, we revealed the microbial ecology and soil metabolites spectrum, especially the diversity and composition of soil fungi and the correlation of pathogenic fungi, and discussed the mechanisms and the measures of alleviating the obstacles.

Summary: Shade-intolerant plants sense changes in the light environment and trigger shade-avoidance syndrome in the presence of neighboring vegetation. Phytochrome-interacting factor 7 (PIF7) is an essential regulator that integrates shade signals into plant transcriptional networks. While the regulation of PIF7 under shade conditions has been well studied, the mechanism that represses PIF7 activity under white light remains ambiguous. Here, we report that PIF7 forms nuclear puncta containing phase-separated liquid-like condensates. Phytochrome B (phyB) then binds to dephosphorylated PIF7 and promotes its condensed phase of PIF7 under white light. The phyB-PIF7 condensate subsequently inhibits the DNA-binding activity of PIF7. However, shade inactivation of phyB causes the dissociation of phyB-PIF7 condensates and allows unbound PIF7 to promote the transcription of shade-induced genes. This reversible transcriptional condensation via phase separation provides sessile organisms with the flexibility of gene control to adapt to their surrounding environment.

AbstractChronic kidney disease (CKD) can cause gut microbiota dysbiosis and thus impair intestinal barrier function. Disruption of intestinal homeostasis facilitates the production of enterogenic toxins, which exacerbate CKD-induced uremic toxicity and inflammation. Dietary fiber, by targeting the gut–kidney axis, could be used for CKD treatment. Psyllium seed husk (PSH) extracted from the seeds of Plantago ovata contains highly branched, gel-forming arabinoxylan. Positive effects of PSH on host physiology have been demonstrated but whether it also acts on the microbial ecosystem in CKD patients is unknown. In this study, the effects of dietary PSH on the gut microbiota, intestinal barrier function, systemic inflammation, uremic toxins, and renal injury were investigated in 5/6 nephrectomy (5/6Nx) CKD rats. Blood, feces, and kidney and colon tissues were collected from PSH-treated and control rats and subjected to biochemical and histological analyses, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, and 16SrRNA sequencing. PSH supplementation reduced serum creatinine and blood urea nitrogen levels, and attenuated renal tubular interstitial injury, in 5/6Nx rats. 16SrRNA sequencing showed that PSH improved the gut microbiota and intestinal barrier function in addition to down-regulating serum interleukin (IL)-1, IL-6, and indoxyl sulfate levels. Together, these results demonstrate the potential of PSH supplementation for treating CKD, including by improving intestinal microecology, reducing uremic toxin levels and systemic inflammation, and delaying disease progression.

Abstract Although the power conversion efficiency values of perovskite solar cells continue to be refreshed, it is still far from the theoretical Shockley-Queisser limit. Two major issues need to be addressed, including disorder crystallization of perovskite and unbalanced interface charge extraction, which limit further improvements in device efficiency. Herein, we develop a thermally polymerized additive as the polymer template in the perovskite film, which can form monolithic perovskite grain and a unique “Mortise-Tenon” structure after spin-coating hole-transport layer. Importantly, the suppressed non-radiative recombination and balanced interface charge extraction benefit from high-quality perovskite crystals and Mortise-Tenon structure, resulting in enhanced open-circuit voltage and fill-factor of the device. The PSCs achieve certified efficiency of 24.55% and maintain >95% initial efficiency over 1100 h in accordance with the ISOS-L-2 protocol, as well as excellent endurance according to the ISOS-D-3 accelerated aging test.

Improving measurement accuracy is the core issue with surface acoustic wave (SAW) micro-force sensors. An electrode transducer can stimulate not only the SAW but also the bulk acoustic wave (BAW). A portion of the BAW can be picked up by the receiving transducer, leading to an unwanted or spurious signal. This can harm the device’s frequency response characteristics, thereby potentially reducing the precision of the micro-force sensor’s measurements. This paper examines the influence of anisotropy on wave propagation, and it also performs a phase-matching analysis between interdigital transducers (IDTs) and bulk waves. Two solutions are shown to reduce the influence of BAW for SAW micro sensors, which are arranged with acoustic absorbers at the ends of the substrate and in grooving in the piezoelectric substrate. Three different types of sensors were manufactured, and the test results showed that the sidelobes of the SAW micro-force sensor could be effectively inhibited (3.32 dB), thereby enhancing the sensitivity and performance of sensor detection. The SAW micro-force sensor manufactured using the new process was tested and the following results were obtained: the center frequency was 59.83 MHz, the fractional bandwidth was 1.33%, the range was 0–1000 mN, the linearity was 1.02%, the hysteresis was 0.59%, the repeatability was 1.11%, and the accuracy was 1.34%.

In recent years, the widespread application of Mg alloy casting and Mg alloy products has generated a large amount of Mg alloy waste. This experiment used a single factor experimental analysis method to study the optimal process for removing Fe from Mg alloy AM50A waste, and developed an efficient Fe removal and regeneration process for Mg alloy AM50A. It was found that the optimal refining temperature for removing Fe ions was 670 °C, the optimal refining (RJ-2) agent mass ratio was 1.5%, and the optimal refining time was 40 min. Regenerated J40-1.5-AM50A Mg alloy was prepared using the best refining process, and its composition and mechanical properties were tested and analyzed. The experimental results show that the composition of the regenerated J40-1.5-AM50A Mg alloy prepared by this method is consistent with AM50A, with an Fe removal rate of 96.2%. The mechanical properties were improved compared to the original AM50A sample, with a maximum tensile strength increase of 1.611 KN and a tensile strength increase of 26.333 MPa. The elongation after fracture is 2.25 times that of the original sample. Research has shown that the RJ-2 refining agent can provide mechanical properties of magnesium alloys during the refining process. By analyzing the composition, XRD, SEM, and EDS of AM50A (Fe) and J40-1.5-AM50A, it was found that the refining process accelerates the removal of Fe in the form of Fe deposition.

A new approach is proposed that identifies three different zones of the Si-rich network structure (the cellular structure) in laser powder bed fused (LPBF) AlSi10Mg alloy, based on the variation in morphology, grain growth transition, and melt pool solidification conditions. The three identified zones are denoted in the present work as the liquid solidification zone (LSZ), the mushy solidification zone (MSZ), and the heat affected zone (HAZ). The LSZ is the result of liquid–solid transformation, showing small planar growth at the boundary and large cellular growth in the center, while the MSZ is related to a semisolid reaction, and the HAZ arises from a short-time aging process. The boundary between the LSZ and MSZ is identified by the change of grain growth direction and the Si-rich network advancing direction. The boundary between MSZ and HAZ is identified by the start of the breakdown of the Si-rich network. In addition, it is found that the fracture is generated in and propagates along the HAZ during tensile tests.

To fulfill the requisites of planetary mass spectrometry applications, this paper introduces the creation of a miniaturized, low-power passive Q-switched microchip laser system. The entire system, inclusive of the laser and all electronic components, weighs 106 g, with power consumption below 3 W. The laser output exhibits a pulse duration of 410 ps, accompanied by a single pulse energy of 16.8 μJ. Augmented by the optical focusing system, the system attains a focal spot size of approximately 15 μm and laser irradiance of up to 22 GW/cm2. The driving control system facilitates versatile regulation of parameters such as output current amplitude, pulse duration, and frequency, thereby modulating the laser output frequency and duty cycle. The microchip laser fully meets the power requirements for exciting plasma from planetary rocks and soil.

The genus Neopestalotiopsis consists of obligate parasites that cause ring spot, scab, and leaf blight diseases in higher plant species. We assembled the three complete mitogenomes for the guava fruit ring spot pathogen, Neopestalotiopsis cubana. The mitogenomes are circular, with sizes of 38,666 bp, 33,846 bp, and 32,593 bp. The comparative analyses with Pestalotiopsis fici showed that N. cubana differs greatly from it in the length of the mitogenomes and the number of introns. Moreover, they showed significant differences in the gene content and tRNAs. The two genera showed little difference in gene skewness and codon preference for core protein-coding genes (PCGs). We compared gene sequencing in the mitogenomes of the order Xylariales and found large-scale gene rearrangement events, such as gene translocations and the duplication of tRNAs. N. cubana shows a unique evolutionary position in the phylum Ascomycota constructed in phylogenetic analyses. We also found a more concentrated distribution of evolutionary pressures on the PCGs of Neopestalotiopsis in the phylum Ascomycota and that they are under little selective pressure compared to other species and are subjected to purifying selection. This study explores the evolutionary dynamics of the mitogenomes of Neopestalotiopsis and provides important support for genetic and taxonomic studies.

Abstract Background Granulosa cell proliferation and differentiation are essential for follicle development. Breast cancer amplified sequence 2 (BCAS2) is necessary for spermatogenesis, oocyte development, and maintaining the genome integrity of early embryos in mice. However, the function of BCAS2 in granulosa cells is still unknown. Results We show that conditional disruption of Bcas2 in granulosa cells caused follicle development failure; the ratio of the positive cells of the cell proliferation markers PCNA and Ki67 were unchanged in granulosa cells. Specific deletion of Bcas2 caused a decrease in the BrdU-positive cell ratio, cell cycle arrest, DNA damage, and an increase in apoptosis in granulosa cells, and RPA1 was abnormally stained in granulosa cells. RNA-seq results revealed that knockout of Bcas2 results in unusual expression of cellular senescence genes. BCAS2 participated in the PRP19 complex to mediate alternative splicing (AS) of E2f3 and Flt3l mRNA to inhibit the cell cycle. Knockout of Bcas2 resulted in a significant decrease in the ratio of BrdU-positive cells in the human granulosa-like tumour (KGN) cell line. Conclusions Our results suggest that BCAS2 may influence the proliferation and survival of granulosa cells through regulating pre-mRNA splicing of E2f3 and Flt3l by forming the splicing complex with CDC5L and PRP19.

Powdery mildew severely affects several important crops and cash plants. Disruption of mildew resistance locus O (MLO) genes elevates resistance against powdery mildew in several plants. However, whether rubber tree (Heveae brasiliensis) MLO proteins are linked to susceptibility remains unknown, owing to technical limitations in the genetic manipulation of this woody plant. A previous study showed that the H. brasiliensis MLO-like protein HbMLO12 demonstrates high amino acid sequence similarity with the known Arabidopsis MLO protein AtMLO12. In this study, we investigated whether HbMLO12 regulates susceptibility to powdery mildew. H. brasiliensis leaves take up exogenously synthesized double-stranded RNAs (dsRNAs), and foliar application of dsRNA homologous to HbMLO12 gene specifically induces HbMLO12 silencing in H. brasiliensis leaf tissues. Notably, HbMLO12 silencing inhibited fungal infection and elevated the immune response during interaction with the rubber tree powdery mildew fungus. Furthermore, the heterologous expression of HbMLO12 suppressed bacterial flg22– and fungal chitin–induced immune responses and enhanced bacterial infection in Arabidopsis. Our study provides evidence that HbMLO12 contributes to susceptibility to powdery mildew. [Graphic: see text] Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.

Background The venous malformation is the most common congenital vascular malformation and exhibits the characteristics of local invasion and lifelong progressive development. Long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) regulates endothelial cells, vascular smooth muscle cells, macrophages, vascular inflammation, and metabolism and also affects the development of venous malformations. This study aimed to elucidate the role of the lncRNA LEF1-AS1 in the development of venous malformations and examine the interaction among LEF1-AS1, miR-489-3p, and S100A11 in HUVEC cells. Methods Venous malformation tissues, corresponding normal venous tissues, and HUVEC cells were used. Agilent human lncRNA microarray gene chip was used to screen differential genes, RNA expression was detected using quantitative reverse transcription PCR, and protein expression was detected using Western blotting. The proliferation, migration, and angiogenesis of HUVEC cells were assessed using CCK8, transwell, and in vitro angiogenesis tests. Results A total of 1,651 lncRNAs were screened using gene chip analysis, of which 1015 were upregulated and 636 were downregulated. The lncRNA LEF1-AS1 was upregulated with an obvious difference multiple, and the fold-change value was 11.03273. The results of the analysis performed using the StarBase bioinformatics prediction website showed that LEF1-AS1 and miR-489-3p possessed complementary binding sites and that miR-489-3p and S100A11 also had complementary binding sites. The findings of tissue experiments revealed that the expressions of LEF1-AS1 and S100A11 were higher in tissues with venous malformations than in normal tissues, whereas the expression of miR-489-3p was lower in venous malformations than in normal tissues. Cell culture experiments indicated that LEF1-AS1 promoted the proliferation, migration, and angiogenesis of HUVEC cells. In these cells, LEF1-AS1 targeted miR-489-3p, which in turn targeted S100A11. LEF1-AS1 acted as a competitive endogenous RNA and promoted the expression of S100A11 by competitively binding to miR-489-3p and enhancing the proliferation, migration, and angiogenesis of HUVEC cells. Thus, LEF1-AS1 participated in the occurrence and development of venous malformation. Conclusions The expression of LEF1-AS1 was upregulated in venous malformations, and the expression of S100A11 was increased by the adsorption of miR-489-3p to venous endothelial cells, thus enhancing the proliferation, migration, and angiogenesis of HUVEC cells. In conclusion, LEF1-AS1 is involved in the occurrence and development of venous malformations by regulating the miR-489-3p/S100A11 axis, which provides valuable insights into the pathogenesis of this disease and opens new avenues for its treatment.

Purpose: This study aimed to determine the efficacy of the dexamethasone (DEX) intravitreal implant for the regression of macular edema and the improvement of best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) after the removal of idiopathic epiretinal membrane (ERM).Methods: This prospective randomized controlled trial recruited 81 patients with idiopathic ERM. These patients all underwent 25-gauge pars plana vitrectomy combined with ERM and internal limiting membrane peeling surgery. Among them, 41 eyes in the DEX group received additional DEX implants and 40 in the non-DEX group did not. Outcomes including central retinal thickness (CRT), BCVA, and intraocular pressure were measured 1 and 3 months after surgery.Results: The DEX group had thinner CRTs compared to the non-DEX group at 1 month postoperatively (p

The initiating condition for the accelerated creep of rocks has caused difficulty in analyzing the whole creep process. Moreover, the existing Nishihara model has evident shortcomings in describing the accelerated creep characteristics of the viscoplastic stage from the perspective of internal energy to analyze the mechanism of rock creep failure and determine the threshold of accelerated creep initiation. Based on the kinetic energy theorem, Perzyna viscoplastic theory, and the Nishihara model, a unified creep constitutive model that can describe the whole process of decaying creep, stable creep, and accelerated creep is established. Results reveal that the energy consumption and creep damage in the process of creep loading mainly come from the internal energy changes of geotechnical materials. The established creep model can not only describe the viscoelastic–plastic creep characteristics of rock, but also reflect the relationship between rock energy and creep deformation change. In addition, the research results provide a new method for determining the critical point of creep deformation and a new idea for studying the creep model and creep mechanical properties.

Assessing fall risk accurately is vital for the older adult population. However, existing fall risk assessments mainly depend on scales, which are inconvenient, subjective, and imprecise. The aim of this study was to explore a machine learning model based on gait parameters to evaluate the risk of falls in older adults living in the community over a one-year period. A total of 46 elderly subjects were recruited in this study. Information on demographics, disease history, and fall history was collected via questionnaire. Moreover, this study used a gait analysis system based on inertial measurement unit and Azure Kinect to acquire the spatiotemporal parameters of the subjects’ gait. Based on the above data, various machine learning models, including k-nearest neighbor, support vector machine, gradient boosting decision tree, and voting classifier, were built to estimate the fall risk level of elderly individuals. K-nearest neighbor performed best among all the models with an accuracy of 0.80 on the individual test set, an F1 score of 0.67, and an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.83. Gait frequency was found to be the most significant feature associated with fall risk, followed by body mass index and gait cycle variability. The findings suggest that the k-nearest neighbor model can provide a quantitative and objective evaluation of fall risk for older adults living in the community and that the evaluation is more accurate when both gait parameters and disease history are taken into account.

This paper presents a simulation and experimental study of a $10\times10$ alternating phase-fed single-layer waveguide slot array antenna with reflection-canceling stairs (RCSs) at 38 GHz. The aim of the study was to improve the aperture efficiency of the antenna. Two optimization methods were employed: 1) RCSs for each slot were proposed and optimized for height and position to minimize reflection, and 2) the broad wall width and slot offset were optimized to suppress grating lobes. A design procedure for the feed part was also presented. The characterization of the proposed antenna was found to be in good agreement with simulation results, with a measured S11 of less than −20 dB and a gain of more than 27.71 dBi at 38 GHz (corresponding to an aperture efficiency of 85.6%). The results of this study demonstrate the feasibility of using the proposed antenna in millimeter-wave communication systems.

Many types of fractional stochastic differential equation (FrSDE), such as Caputo, fractional Brown motion derivatives, and Mittag-Later functions, exist. In recent decades, FrSDE has been a hot topic and can be applied to many fields of research, such as disease transmission, option pricing, and quantitative finance. FrSDEs have various research and applications in financial markets. After comparing many internationally known articles, the fractional order stochastic differential equation proposed in 2016 is most suitable for European option pricing. Over the years, many scholars have studied fractional Brownian motion, fractional ordinary differential equations, and backward differential equations, and no one has studied the application of fractional backward equations in the financial field. Therefore, in this article, to adapt to the financial market more accurately, we construct a backward equation for this kind of FrSDE and construct a new mapping and use the norm method to prove the existence, uniqueness, and stability of the solution to the backward equation. Finally, considering European call options, the Euler Maruyama simulation example of FrSDE is investigated.

Accurate identification of fruits in greenhouse environments is an essential need for the precise functioning of agricultural robots. This study presents a solution to the problem of distinguishing cucumber fruits from their stems and leaves, which often have similar colors in their natural environment. The proposed algorithm for cucumber fruit identification relies on color segmentation and form matching. First, we get the boundary details from the acquired image of the cucumber sample. The edge information is described and reconstructed by utilizing a shape descriptor known as the Fourier descriptor in order to acquire a matching template image. Subsequently, we generate a multi-scale template by amalgamating computational and real-world data. The target image is subjected to color conditioning in order to enhance the segmenacktation of the target region inside the HSV color space. Then, the segmented target region is compared to the multi-scale template based on its shape. The method of color segmentation decreases the presence of unwanted information in the target image, hence improving the effectiveness of shape matching. An analysis was performed on a set of 200 cucumber photos that were obtained from the field. The findings indicate that the method presented in this study surpasses conventional recognition algorithms in terms of accuracy and efficiency, with a recognition rate of up to 86%. Moreover, the system has exceptional proficiency in identifying cucumber targets within greenhouses. This attribute renders it a great resource for offering technical assistance to agricultural robots that operate with accuracy.

Ni-rich Lithium Nickel Cobalt Manganese Oxide (NCM) cathode materials have garnered attention for their high specific capacity, but they grapple with issues of cycling stability, thermal performance, and safety. This concise yet comprehensive review embarks on an exploration, commencing with an examination of fundamental characteristics, including crystallographic structures and electrochemical properties. It delves into the intricate failure mechanisms contributing to capacity degradation and thermal instability. The review places emphasis on major material-focused modification techniques, encompassing surface coatings and multifunctional additives, all scrutinized for their potential to enhance both performance and safety. Furthermore, it spotlights pivotal research domains, notably novel synthesis methods, positioned to reshape the landscape of Ni-rich NCM technology. The review also emphasizes future development directions, aiming for simplified and cost-effective methodologies to tackle the complexities of nickel-rich cathodes. Ultimately, this review offers a forward-looking analysis, envisioning a future marked by safer, higher-capacity lithium-ion batteries, underscoring an enduring commitment to scientific and technological progress.

ABSTRACT Sugarcane mosaic virus (SCMV) causes mosaic disease in crops such as maize and sugarcane by its vector—an aphid—and is transmitted top-down into the root system. However, understanding of the effects of the aphid-borne virus on root-associated microbes after plant invasion remains limited. The current project investigated maize root-associated (rhizosphere and endosphere) bacterial communities, potential interspecies interaction, and assembly processes in response to SCMV invasion based on 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. SCMV was detected in the roots 9 days after inoculation, and leaf mosaic and chlorosis appeared. The SCMV invasion markedly reduced the α-diversity of endosphere bacteria compared with uninoculated controls (Mock). The connectivity and complexity of the bacterial co-occurrence network in the root endosphere decreased after SCMV invasion, implying that the plant virus may alter root endophyte-microbial interactions. Moreover, a signature that deviates more from stochastic processes was observed in virus-infected plants. Unexpectedly, the rhizosphere bacterial communities were rarely affected by the viral invasion. This study lays the foundation for elucidating the fate of the microbial component of the plant holobiont following aphid-borne virus exposure. IMPORTANCE Biotic (e.g., soil-borne viruses) stress can alter root-associated bacterial communities, essential in maintaining host plant growth and health. However, the regulation of root-associated microorganisms by plant viruses from shoots is still largely unknown. Our results show that plant virus invasion leads to reduced and simpler inter-microbial communication in the maize endosphere. In addition, stochastic processes act on bacterial community assembly in both rhizosphere and endosphere, and bacterial communities in virus-invaded plant endosphere tend to shift toward deterministic processes. Our study highlights the negative effects of plant viruses on root endophytes from the microbial ecology perspective, which may be microbially mediated mechanisms of plant diseases.

Introduction: Simulating oil and water flow in shale reservoirs is challenging due to heterogeneity caused by fractures. Conventional grid-based methods often have convergence issues. We propose a new approach using fractal theory and meshless methods to accurately model flow.Methods: A mathematical model describing oil-water flow in fractured horizontal shale wells was developed. The meshless weighted least squares (MWLS) method was used to numerically solve the model. Modeling points were placed flexibly, informed by fractal theory.Results: The MWLS solution aligned well with reference solutions but had enhanced flexibility. Comprehensive analysis showed the effects of modeling parameters like fracture properties on production.Discussion: The proposed methodology enabled accurate prediction of shale oil production. Convergence was improved compared to grid-based methods. The flexible modeling approach can be tailored to specific reservoir conditions. Further work could expand the model complexity and types of reservoirs.

Electret materials have attracted extensive attention because of their permanent polarization and electrostatic effect. However, it is one of problem that needs to be solved in biological application to manipulate the change of surface charge of electret by external stimulation. In this work, a drug-loaded electret with flexibility and no cytotoxicity was prepared under relatively mild conditions. The electret can release the charge through stress change and ultrasonic stimulation, and the drug release can be accurately controlled with the help of ultrasonic and electric double stimulation response. Here, the dipoles like particles of carnauba wax nanoparticles (nCW) are fixed in the matrix based on the interpenetrating polymer network structure, and “frozen” oriented dipolar particles that are treated by thermal polarization and cooled at high field strength. Subsequently, the charge density of the prepared composite electret can reach 101.1 ​nC/m2 at the initial stage of polarization and 21.1 ​nC/m2 after 3 weeks. In addition, the stimulated change of electret surface charge flow under cyclic tensile stress and cyclic compressive stress can generate a current of 0.187 ​nA and 0.105 ​nA at most. The ultrasonic stimulation results show that when the ultrasonic emission power was 90% (Pmax ​= ​1200 ​W), the current of 0.472 ​nA can be generated. Finally, the drug release characteristics and biocompatibility of the nCW composite electret containing curcumin were tested. The results showed that it not only had the ability to accurately control the release by ultrasound, but also triggered the electrical effect of the material. The prepared drug loaded composite bioelectret provides a new way for the construction, design and testing of the bioelectret. Its ultrasonic and electrical double stimulation response can be accurately controlled and released as required, and it has broad application prospects.

Soft robots are challenging to model and program. Non-specialists face non-negligible obstacles when working with soft robots to perform tasks. Here, the authors propose a method to interactively teach soft robots complex motions through flexible touchless and tactile multimodal sensors.