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Summary Grain chalkiness is an undesirable trait that negatively regulates grain yield and quality in rice. However, the regulatory mechanism underlying chalkiness is complex and remains unclear. We identified a positive regulator of white‐belly rate (WBR). The WBR7 gene encodes sucrose synthase 3 (SUS3). A weak functional allele of WBR7 is beneficial in increasing grain yield and quality. During the domestication of indica rice, a functional G/A variation in the coding region of WBR7 resulted in an E541K amino acid substitution in the GT‐4 glycosyltransferase domain, leading to a significant decrease in decomposition activity of WBR7A (allele in cultivar Jin23B) compared with WBR7G (allele in cultivar Beilu130). The NIL(J23B) and knockout line NIL(BL130)KO exhibited lower WBR7 decomposition activity than that of NIL(BL130) and NIL(J23B)COM, resulting in less sucrose decomposition and metabolism in the conducting organs. This caused more sucrose transportation to the endosperm, enhancing the synthesis of storage components in the endosperm and leading to decreased WBR. More sucrose was also transported to the anthers, providing sufficient substrate and energy supply for pollen maturation and germination, ultimately leading to an increase rate of seed setting and increased grain yield. Our findings elucidate a mechanism for enhancing rice yield and quality by modulating sucrose metabolism and allocation, and provides a valuable allele for improved rice quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Capillary electrophoresis with capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detection (CE-C4D) has the advantages of high throughput (simultaneous detection of multiple ions), high separation efficiency (higher than 105 theoretical plates) and rapid analysis capability (less than 5 min for common inorganic ions). A compact CE-C4D system is ideal for water quality control and on-site analysis. It is suitable not only for common cations (e.g. Na+, K+, Li+, NH4+, Ca2+, etc.) and anions (e.g. Cl−, SO42−, BrO3−, etc.) but also for some ions (e.g. lanthanide ions, Pb2+, Cd2+, etc.) that require complex derivatization procedures to be detected by ion chromatography (IC). However, an obvious limitation of the CE-C4D method is that its sensitivity (e.g. 0.3–1 μM for common inorganic ions) is often insufficient for trace analysis (e.g. 1 ppb or 20 nM level for common inorganic ions) without preconcentration. For this technology to become a powerful and routine analytical technique, the system should be made compact while maintaining trace analysis sensitivity. In this study, we developed an all-in-one version of the CE-C4D instrument with custom-made modular components to make it a convenient, compact and high-performance system. The system was designed using direct digital synthesis (DDS) technology to generate programmable sinusoidal waveforms with any frequency for excitation, a kilovolt high-voltage power supply for capillary electrophoresis separation, and an "effective" differential C4D cell with a low-noise circuitry for high-sensitivity detection. We characterized the system with different concentrations of Cs+, and even a low concentration of 20 nM was detectable without preconcentration. Moreover, the optimized CE-C4D setup was applied to analyse mixed ions at a trace concentration of 200 nM with excellent signal-to-noise ratios. In typical applications, the limits of detection based on the 3σ criterion (without baseline filtering) were 9, 10, 24, 5, and 12 nM for K+, Cs+, Li+, Ca2+, and Mg2+, respectively, and about 7, 6, 6 and 6 nM for Br−, ClO4−, BrO3− and SO42−, respectively. Finally, the setup was also applied for the analysis of all 14 lanthanide ions and rare-earth minerals, and it showed an improvement in sensitivity by more than 25 times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Capillary electrophoresis with capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detection (CE-C4D) has the advantages of high throughput (simultaneous detection of multiple ions), high separation efficiency (higher than 105 theoretical plates) and rapid analysis capability (less than 5 min for common inorganic ions). A compact CE-C4D system is ideal for water quality control and on-site analysis. It is suitable not only for common cations (e.g. Na+, K+, Li+, NH4+, Ca2+, etc.) and anions (e.g. Cl−, SO42−, BrO3−, etc.) but also for some ions (e.g. lanthanide ions, Pb2+, Cd2+, etc.) that require complex derivatization procedures to be detected by ion chromatography (IC). However, an obvious limitation of the CE-C4D method is that its sensitivity (e.g. 0.3–1 μM for common inorganic ions) is often insufficient for trace analysis (e.g. 1 ppb or 20 nM level for common inorganic ions) without preconcentration. For this technology to become a powerful and routine analytical technique, the system should be made compact while maintaining trace analysis sensitivity. In this study, we developed an all-in-one version of the CE-C4D instrument with custom-made modular components to make it a convenient, compact and high-performance system. The system was designed using direct digital synthesis (DDS) technology to generate programmable sinusoidal waveforms with any frequency for excitation, a kilovolt high-voltage power supply for capillary electrophoresis separation, and an "effective" differential C4D cell with a low-noise circuitry for high-sensitivity detection. We characterized the system with different concentrations of Cs+, and even a low concentration of 20 nM was detectable without preconcentration. Moreover, the optimized CE-C4D setup was applied to analyse mixed ions at a trace concentration of 200 nM with excellent signal-to-noise ratios. In typical applications, the limits of detection based on the 3σ criterion (without baseline filtering) were 9, 10, 24, 5, and 12 nM for K+, Cs+, Li+, Ca2+, and Mg2+, respectively, and about 7, 6, 6 and 6 nM for Br−, ClO4−, BrO3− and SO42−, respectively. Finally, the setup was also applied for the analysis of all 14 lanthanide ions and rare-earth minerals, and it showed an improvement in sensitivity by more than 25 times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies have shown that nucleophagy can mitigate DNA damage by selectively degrading nuclear components protruding from the nucleus. However, little is known about the role of nucleophagy in neurons after spinal cord injury (SCI). Western blot analysis and immunofluorescence were performed to evaluate the nucleophagy after nuclear DNA damage and leakage in SCI neurons in vivo and NSC34 expression in primary neurons cultured with oxygen–glucose deprivation (OGD) in vitro, as well as the interaction and colocalization of autophagy protein LC3 with nuclear lamina protein Lamin B1. The effect of UBC9, a Small ubiquitin‐related modifier (SUMO) E2 ligase, on Lamin B1 SUMOylation and nucleophagy was examined by siRNA transfection or 2‐D08 (a small‐molecule inhibitor of UBC9), immunoprecipitation, and immunofluorescence. In SCI and OGD injured NSC34 or primary cultured neurons, neuronal nuclear DNA damage induced the SUMOylation of Lamin B1, which was required by the nuclear Lamina accumulation of UBC9. Furthermore, LC3/Atg8, an autophagy‐related protein, directly bound to SUMOylated Lamin B1, and delivered Lamin B1 to the lysosome. Knockdown or suppression of UBC9 with siRNA or 2‐D08 inhibited SUMOylation of Lamin B1 and subsequent nucleophagy and protected against neuronal death. Upon neuronal DNA damage and leakage after SCI, SUMOylation of Lamin B1 is induced by nuclear Lamina accumulation of UBC9. Furthermore, it promotes LC3‐Lamin B1 interaction to trigger nucleophagy that protects against neuronal DNA damage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-precision and real-time diagnosis of sucker rod pumping system (SRPS) is important for quickly mastering oil well operations. Deep learning-based method for classifying the dynamometer card (DC) of oil wells is an efficient diagnosis method. However, the input of the DC as a two-dimensional image into the deep learning framework suffers from low feature utilization and high computational effort. Additionally, different SRPSs in an oil field have various system parameters, and the same SRPS generates different DCs at different moments. Thus, there is heterogeneity in field data, which can dramatically impair the diagnostic accuracy. To solve the above problems, a working condition recognition method based on 4-segment time-frequency signature matrix (4S-TFSM) and deep learning is presented in this paper. First, the 4-segment time-frequency signature (4S-TFS) method that can reduce the computing power requirements is proposed for feature extraction of DC data. Subsequently, the 4S-TFSM is constructed by relative normalization and matrix calculation to synthesize the features of multiple data and solve the problem of data heterogeneity. Finally, a convolutional neural network (CNN), one of the deep learning frameworks, is used to determine the functioning conditions based on the 4S-TFSM. Experiments on field data verify that the proposed diagnostic method based on 4S-TFSM and CNN (4S-TFSMCNN) can significantly improve the accuracy of working condition recognition with lower computational cost. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work to discuss the effect of data heterogeneity on the working condition recognition performance of SRPS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) as a bio-based polymer with biodegradability and biocompatibility has attracted much attention. To manipulate its properties for different applications, regulation of crystal structure and crystalline morphology becomes an attractive research topic. In this work, the structure evolution of layered samples containing an amorphous poly(D-lactide) (PDLA) layer and a crystalline poly(L-lactide) (PLLA) layer with highly oriented edge-on α lamellar crystals after annealing at 150 °C or/and after melt-recrystallization has been studied by AFM, FTIR, and TEM combined with electron diffraction. The results demonstrate that melt recrystallization of the as-prepared sample leads to the formation of abundant randomly oriented PLA stereo-complex (PLA SC) crystals. Annealing at 150 °C results in the formation of a small amount of oriented PLA SC crystals at the interface. These PLA SC crystals show great impact on the recrystallization behavior of sample after melting at 190 °C and then crystallizing at 90 °C. First, they impede the mutual diffusion of the overlying PDLA and underlying PLLA, and thus reduce their stereocomplexation ability as manifested by the decreased amount of PLA SC crystals. Second, they act as substrate to initiate the epitaxial crystallization of the overlying PDLA and underlying PLLA, which ensures the production of a highly oriented structure of PDLA and PLLA after melt recrystallization again. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grain size is an important appearance quality trait in rice, which also affects grain yield. In this study, a recombinant inbred line (RIL) population derived from a cross between indica variety 9311 and japonica variety Cypress was constructed. And 181 out of 600 RILs were sequenced, and a high-density genetic map containing 2842 bin markers was constructed, with a total map length of 1500.6 cM. A total of 10 quantitative trait loci (QTL) related to grain length (GL), grain width (GW), grain length-to-width ratio (LWR), and 1000-grain weight (TGW) were detected under two environments. The genetic effect of qGL4, a minor QTL for GL and TGW, was validated using three heterogeneous inbred family (HIF) segregation populations. It was further dissected into two closed linked QTL, qGL4.1 and qGL4.2. By progeny testing, qGL4.1 and qGL4.2 were successfully delimited to intervals of 1304-kb and 423-kb, respectively. Our results lay the foundation for the map-based cloning of qGL4.1 and qGL4.2 and provide new gene resources for the improvement of grain yield and quality in rice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This is a retrospective study and aims to investigate the clinical outcomes of patients with knee varus deformity and extruded medial meniscus who underwent arthroscopic meniscus centralization and medial opening wedge high tibial osteotomy. Methods: A total of 24 patients were included in the trial, and arthroscopy intraoperative photographs and standing preoperative and postoperative radiographs were taken to analyze the mechanical tibiofemoral angle and tibial plateau inclination. Postoperative complications and knee motion were recorded, and the surgical results were evaluated using the knee society score. Results: The study observed four cases of surgery-related complications among all patients, but no major complications were reported. The surgery significantly improved knee flexion degrees and total knee range of motion. Satisfactory outcomes were shown in postoperative radiographs and secondary intraoperative photographs. The knee score increased from 39.6 ± 10.0 to 80.1 ± 9.0, and the functional score improved from 48.1 ± 6.9 to 89.4 ± 5.5. The preoperative tibial plateau inclination was 5.3 ± 0.7, while the postoperative data showed a decrease to 4.2 ± 0.7. The preoperative mechanical tibiofemoral angle was − 7.7 ± 1.0, and it improved in all patients postoperatively to 2.8 ± 0.9. Conclusion: By alternating the knee biomechanics and significantly improving symptoms and quality of life, arthroscopic medial meniscus centralization and medial open wedge high tibial osteotomy units are confirmed to be an effective alternative treatment for knee varus deformity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new disaccharide glycoside, franchoside A (1), and 17 known compounds were isolated from the tubers of Arisaema franchetianum Engler. The chemical structure of the previously undescribed compound 1 was elucidated on the basis of detailed spectroscopic analyses. Compounds 1, 2, 6, 10, 14 and 18 showed significant cytotoxic activities at varying IC50 values in the range of 4.0–10.6 μM against five cancer cell lines. Compounds 8, 10, 13 and 17 (10 μM) exhibited moderate anti-inflammatory activities by inhibiting the NF-κB signaling pathway and the release of NO from RAW264.7 macrophages induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS), while compounds 1, 9, 14, 15 and 16 showed weak anti-inflammatory activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel polarization beam splitter (PBS) based on dual-core photonic crystal fiber (DC-PCF) is proposed in this work. The proposed DC-PCF PBS contains two kinds of lattices and three kinds of air holes to form the asymmetrical elliptic dual-core structure. By using the full-vector finite element method, the propagation characteristics of the proposed DC-PCF PBS are investigated. The simulation results show that the bandwidth of the proposed DC-PCF PBS can reach to 340 nm, which covers the S + C + L + U communication bands, the shortest splitting length is 1.97 mm, and the maximum extinction ratio appears near wavelength 1550 nm. Moreover, the insertion loss of the proposed DC-PCF PBS is very low. It is believed that the proposed DC-PCF PBS has important applications in the field of all-optical communication and network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ferroptosis has excellent potential in glioblastoma (GBM) therapy. In this study, we attempted to explore the effect of miR 491-5p on ferroptosis in GBM. In this study, publicly available ferroptosis-related genome maps were used to screen genes upregulated in GBM and their target genes. The Spearman correlation coefficient was applied to analyze the correlation between the tumor protein p53 gene (TP53) and miR-491-5p. The expressions of miR-491-5p and TP53 were determined. The protein abundances of the TP53-encoded factors p53 and p21 were measured. Cell proliferation, migration and invasion were assessed. We pretreated U251MG cells and GBM mice with a ferroptosis inducer (erastin). The mitochondrial state was observed. The contents of reactive oxygen species (ROS), total Fe and Fe2+ were calculated. The level of TP53 was significantly increased in GBM and negatively correlated with miR-491-5p. miR-491-5p overexpression promoted U251MG cell proliferation, migration and invasion and interfered with the p53/p21 pathway. TP53 supplement reversed the effects of miR-491-5p. U251MG cells and GBM mice exhibited significant accumulations of ROS and iron. Erastin promoted the expression of TP53. Inhibition of TP53 reversed erastin-induced physiological phenotypes. Moreover, miR-491-5p overexpression caused a decrease in the number of damaged mitochondria and the contents of ROS, total Fe and Fe2+. TP53 supplement disrupted miR-491-5p-repressed ferroptosis. Erastin could inhibit GBM growth, and miR-491-5p overexpression impeded the therapeutic effect of erastin. Our findings reveal the functional diversity of miR-491-5p in GBM and suggest that miR-491-5p/TP53 signaling hinders the sensitivity of GBM to ferroptosis through the p53/p21 pathway. • Ferroptosis is a promising target for the treatment of glioblastoma. • Downregulation of TP53 reverses the sensitivity of Erastin to ferroptosis. • miR-491-5p accelerates glioblastoma cell growth and blocks the p53/p21 signaling. • miR-491-5p negatively regulates TP53 to inhibit ferroptosis in glioblastoma cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fifteen phenolic constituents were isolated from the 80% ethanol extract of Kalimeris shimadae, including two phenolic glycosides (1, 2), six flavonoids (3–8), five phenylpropanoids (9–13), and two lignans (14, 15). Their structures were identified by spectroscopic analysis and comparison with literature data. Compound 1 was a new glucosyringic acid derivative, whereas compounds 2–14 were first discovered from K. shimadae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of Pt nanoparticles (NPs) confined inside ordered mesoporous carbon (OMC) were prepared for catalytic hydrogenation of o-chloronitrobenzene. The improved activity as well as selectivity was achieved by enhancing mass diffusion of reactant and targeted product. It was found that most of the Pt NPs were homogeneously dispersed inside the mesoporous channels of obtained Pt/OMC samples while Pt NPs were mainly distributed on the external surface of commercial activated carbon (AC) with an aggregation to a certain extent. The combination of surface oxygen-containing groups and ordered mesoporous environment was responsible for the formation of small-sized Pt NPs in Pt/OMC. Notably, the body-centered cubic mesoporous carbon (CMC-600) supported Pt catalyst gave 100% o-chloronitrobenzene conversion with 100% selectivity to the target product under mild conditions. This outstanding catalytic performance could be attributed to the synergetic effect between the unique porosity of CMC and small-sized Pt NPs stabilized inside the ordered mesopores. In addition, the Pt/CMC catalyst showed excellent stability and it could be reused for at least 5 times without significant loss of activity and selectivity. This study provided theoretic guidance for rational design of supported Pt catalysts for the chemoselective hydrogenation of halogenated nitrobenzenes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To systematically analyze the current status of outcomes reporting in clinical trials on treating stasis acute mastitis with Traditional Chinese Medicine breast massage. We searched CNKI, Wanfang, VIP, SinoMed, PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Cochrane library, JBI, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Clinical Trials Registry Platform portal, Clinical Trials Registry, Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry, Center Watch Registry from inception to May IS, 2022 to find randomized controlled trials, non-randomized controlled trials, case series and cohort studies which reported the outcomes of stasis acute mastitis managed with Traditional Chinese Medicine breast massage, with search terms of mastitis, acute mastitis, lactation mastitis, puerperal mastitis, breast problem, breast engorgement, milk stasis, blocked ducked, breast pain, breast massage, and acupoint massage. Outcomes and the measurement schemes (measurement methods, timing of assessing outcome, frequency of assessing outcome, measurers) were extracted from the included studies. We used the Management of Otitis Media with Effusion in Children with Cleft Palate (MOMENT) to assess the quality of each study, then categorized outcomes derived from the included studies into different domains according to the Outcome Measures in Rheumatology Arthritis Clinic Trials (OMERACT) Filter 2.1 framework. We identified 85 clinical trials, in which 54 different outcomes were reported. A total of 81.2% (69/85) of studies were assessed as medium quality with a mean score of 2.6, and 18.8% (16/85) as low quality with a mean score of 0.9. These outcomes were organized in three core areas. Lump size (89.4%, 76/85) was the most frequently reported outcome, followed by breast pain (69.4%, 59/85) and milk excretion (68.2%, 58/85). Five methods were used to assess lump size and four methods to assess breast pain. The outcomes reported in clinical trials regarding stasis acute mastitis treated by Traditional Chinese Medicine breast massage are heterogeneous. Developing a core outcome set to achieve consistent standards for reporting outcomes and modalities for validation of the outcomes is clearly warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Protonation reactions involving organometallic complexes are ubiquitous in redox chemistry and often result in the generation of reactive metal hydrides. However, some organometallic species supported by η5-pentamethylcyclopentadienyl (Cp*) ligands have recently been shown to undergo ligand-centered protonation by direct proton transfer from acids or tautomerization of metal hydrides, resulting in the generation of complexes bearing the uncommon η4-pentamethylcyclopentadiene (Cp*H) ligand. Here, time-resolved pulse radiolysis (PR) and stopped-flow spectroscopic studies have been applied to examine the kinetics and atomistic details involved in the elementary electron- and proton-transfer steps leading to complexes ligated by Cp*H, using Cp*Rh(bpy) as a molecular model (where bpy is 2,2'-bipyridyl). Stopped-flow measurements coupled with infrared and UV-visible detection reveal that the sole product of initial protonation of Cp*Rh(bpy) is [Cp*Rh(H)(bpy)]+, an elusive hydride complex that has been spectroscopically and kinetically characterized here. Tautomerization of the hydride leads to the clean formation of [(Cp*H) Rh(bpy)]+. Variable-temperature and isotopic labeling experiments further confirm this assignment, providing experimental activation parameters and mechanistic insight into metal-mediated hydride-to-proton tautomerism. Spectroscopic monitoring of the second proton transfer event reveals that both the hydride and related Cp*H complex can be involved in further reactivity, showing that [(Cp*H)Rh] is not necessarily an off-cycle intermediate, but, instead, depending on the strength of the acid used to drive catalysis, an active participant in hydrogen evolution. Identification of the mechanistic roles of the protonated intermediates in the catalysis studied here could inform design of optimized catalytic systems supported by noninnocent cyclopentadienyl-type ligands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Five sesquiterpenoids were isolated from Kalimeris shimadae, of which compounds 1 and 2 were undescribed guaiane-type and eudesmane-type sesquiterpenoids, named kalshinoids G (1) and H (2). Their structures and relative configurations were elucidated based on HR-MS, NMR and chemical calculations. The inhibitory activity of those sesquiterpenes against nitric oxide (NO) production were also evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The accurate and intelligent identification of the working conditions of a sucker-rod pumping system is necessary. As onshore oil extraction gradually enters its mid-to late-stage, the cost required to train a deep learning working condition recognition model for pumping wells by obtaining enough new working condition samples is expensive. For the few-shot problem and large calculation issues of new working conditions of oil wells, a working condition recognition method for pumping unit wells based on a 4-dimensional time-frequency signature (4D-TFS) and meta-learning convolutional shrinkage neural network (ML-CSNN) is proposed. First, the measured pumping unit well workup data are converted into 4D-TFS data, and the initial feature extraction task is performed while compressing the data. Subsequently, a convolutional shrinkage neural network (CSNN) with a specific structure that can ablate low-frequency features is designed to extract working conditions features. Finally, a meta-learning finetuning framework for learning the network parameters that are susceptible to task changes is merged into the CSNN to solve the few-shot issue. The results of the experiments demonstrate that the trained ML-CSNN has good recognition accuracy and generalization ability for few-shot working condition recognition. More specifically, in the case of lower computational complexity, only few-shot samples are needed to fine-tune the network parameters, and the model can be quickly adapted to new classes of well conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amylose content (AC) is one of the physicochemical indexes of rice quality, which is largely determined by the Waxy (Wx) gene. Fragrance in rice is favored because it adds good flavor and a faint scent. Loss of function of the BADH2 (FGR) gene promotes the biosynthesis of 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (2AP), which is the main compound responsible for aroma in rice. Here, we used a CRISPR/Cas9 system to simultaneously knock out Wx and FGR genes in 1892S and M858, which are the parents of an indica two-line hybrid rice, Huiliangyou 858 (HLY858). Four T-DNA-free homozygous mutants (1892Swxfgr-1, 1892Swxfgr-2, M858wxfgr-1, and M858wxfgr-2) were obtained. The 1892Swxfgr and M858wxfgr were crossed to generate double mutant hybrid lines HLY858wxfgr-1 and HLY858wxfgr-2. Size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) data indicated that true AC of the wx mutant starches ranged from 0.22 to 1.63%, much lower than those of the wild types (12.93 to 13.76%). However, the gelatinization temperature (GT) of the wx mutants in backgrounds of 1892S, M858, and HLY858 were still high, and showed no significant differences with the wild type controls. The aroma compounds 2AP content in grains of HLY858wxfgr-1 and HLY858wxfgr-2 were 153.0 μg/kg and 151.0 μg/kg, respectively. In contrast, 2AP was not detected in grains of HLY858. There were no significant differences in major agronomic traits between the mutants and HLY858. This study provides guidelines for cultivation of ideal glutinous and aromatic hybrid rice by gene editing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Omicron variant is currently ravaging the world, raising serious concern globally. Monitoring genomic variations and determining their influence on biological features are critical for tracing its ongoing transmission and facilitating effective measures. Based on large-scale sequences from different continents, this study found that: (i) The genetic diversity of Omicron is much lower than that of the Delta variant. Still, eight deletions (Del 1–8) and 1 insertion, as well as 130 SNPs, were detected on the Omicron genomes, with two deletions (Del 3 and 4) and 38 SNPs commonly detected on all continents and exhibiting high-occurring frequencies. (ii) Four groups of tightly linked SNPs (linkage I–IV) were detected, among which linkage I, containing 38 SNPs, with 6 located in the RBD, increased its occurring frequency remarkably over time. (iii) The third codons of the Omicron shouldered the most mutation pressures, while the second codons presented the least flexibility. (iv) Four major mutants with amino acid substitutions in the RBD were detected, and further structural analysis suggested that the substitutions did not alter the viral receptor binding ability greatly. It was inferred that though the Omicron genome harbored great changes in antigenicity and remarkable ability to evade immunity, it was immune-pressure selected. This study tracked mutational signatures of Omicron variant and the potential biological significance of the SNPs, and the linkages await further functional verification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geochronological dating of detrital minerals from sedimentary rocks can provide invaluable records of the erosional and unroofing history of orogenic systems and link specific sources with their sinks in sedimentary basins. Aiming to establish a better understanding of the thermal and erosional evolution of the East Kunlun Orogenic Belt (E‐KOB), northern Tibet Plateau during the Mesozoic, integrated detrital U–Pb zircon, and 40Ar/39Ar muscovite dating was applied to Triassic and Jurassic strata in the southern E‐KOB in this study. Detrital U–Pb zircon ages of clastic rocks from Triassic and Jurassic formations show major age populations at 2,600–2,200 Ma, 2,000–1,700 Ma, 1,000–600 Ma, 530–340 Ma, and 320–220 Ma, while the 40Ar/39Ar dating of detrital muscovite yield dominantly Devonian ages with uniform early‐middle Devonian peak ages (380–405 Ma). Our new detrital U–Pb zircon and 40Ar/39Ar muscovite ages, combined with the previous palaeocurrent data and comparison with published U–Pb zircon, and 40Ar/39Ar muscovite ages of potential source areas, suggest that the E‐KOB was the major source for Triassic and Jurassic strata in the southern East Kunlun. Devonian detrital muscovite 40Ar/39Ar ages of the Triassic and Lower Jurassic strata are consistent with the age of syn‐ and post‐collisional magmatic activity in E‐KOB related with the post‐collisional thermal relaxation after closure of the Qimantagh back‐arc basin. The Lower Triassic sedimentary deposits were associated with the subduction of the Kunlun Ocean, which is part of the Palaeo‐Tethys Ocean. The E‐KOB‐derived material in Upper Triassic and Lower Jurassic formations implies that significant surface uplift, unroofing and erosion occurred during the Late Triassic and continued into the Early Jurassic in the East Kunlun region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new design of dual-band series-fed array (SFA) using coupled line sections with one series-fed network (SFN) and one port is proposed in this article. Compared with the conventional array, the proposed design provides one more degree of freedom in antenna array synthesis. It can realize equal beam angles at two operational frequencies and reduce element spacing to eliminate the grating lobe by virtue of nonlinear phase properties. The parameters have been extensively studied and considered in the analytical analysis. An assessment method of achievable beam angles for dual-band SFAs is proposed and conducted in the entire upper hemisphere. Compared with the conventional array, the proposed dual-band SFA can expand the achievable radiation range with regard to $\theta _{\mathrm {d1}}$ and $\theta _{\mathrm {d2}}$. Its limitations are also analyzed and discussed. Furthermore, in order to realize specified sidelobe level (SLL) at two operational frequencies, the closed-form design formulas are deduced for the proposed dual-band SFA with arbitrary N elements and amplitude distributions. To verify the proposed design concept and synthesis method, a prototype of proposed six-element dual-band SFA with specified $\theta _{\mathrm {d1}}\,\,= 90^{\circ }$ , $\theta _{\mathrm {d2}}\,\,= 110^{\circ }$ , and SLL = −20 dB centered at $f_{1}\,\,=2.1$ GHz and $f_{2}\,\,=3.5$ GHz is designed, fabricated, and tested. The simulated and measured results match well with the theoretical predictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rice grain size is a key determinant of both grain yield and quality. In this study, we conducted QTL mapping on grain size using a recombinant inbred line (RIL) population derived from a cross between japonica variety Beilu130 (BL130) and indica variety Jin23B (J23B). A total of twenty-two QTL related to grain length (GL), grain width (GW), grain length-to-width ratio (LWR), grain thickness (GT), and thousand grain weight (TGW) were detected under two environments, and 14 of them were repeatedly detected. Two minor QTL, qTGW2b and qGL9, were validated and further delimited to regions of 631 kb and 272 kb, respectively. Parental sequence comparison of genes expressed in inflorescence in corresponding candidate regions identified frameshifts in the exons of LOC_Os02g38690 and LOC_Os02g38780, both of which encode protein phosphatase 2C-containing protein, and LOC_Os09g29930, which encodes a BIM2 protein. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis revealed that the increase of cell size rather than cell number caused the differences in grain size between NILs of qTGW2b and qGL9. Quantitative RT-PCR analysis showed that the expression levels of EXPA4, EXPA5, EXPA6, EXPB3, EXPB4, and EXPB7 were significantly different in both qTGW2b NILs and qGL9 NILs. Our results lay the foundation for the cloning of qTGW2b and qGL9, and provide genetic materials for the improvement of rice yield and quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A wideband circularly polarized patch antenna is presented in this article. The four‐port antenna is composed of circular patch loaded with four shorting pins and cross‐shaped slot. The realization of wideband benefits from the cooperation of three resonant modes. The lowest mode is due to the resonance of half‐wavelength cross‐shaped slot, while the higher two modes are TM11 mode and TM31 mode of the circular patch, in which the TM31 mode is excited by loading four shorting pins. The L‐shaped probes are utilized to establish the coupling feed mechanism for impedance matching in a wideband range. And the compensation of the radiation null in the broadside direction benefits from the variation of the electric field distribution caused by the shorting pins and the differential L‐shaped feed structure in TM31 mode. For the aim of implementing circularly polarized radiation in the proposed patch configuration, a phase quadrature feed network consisting of power dividers and phase shifters is designed and cooperated with this antenna. In order to verify the design concept, a prototype has been fabricated, assembled and measured. The measured results show that the relative bandwidth of VSWR <1.7 and AR <3 dB is 66.7%, ranging from 2 to 4 GHz. In addition, the measured LHCP gain >3 dBic within 2.01–3.84 GHz, and the fractional bandwidth is 61%. Moreover, the peak gain is 9.9 dBic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ZnGa2O4:Mn, as a distinct long persistent luminescence (PL) phosphor with green emission, has attracted intensive interest for display devices and security applications. We have systemically investigated the role of intrinsic defects in the PL of pristine and Mn doped ZnGa2O4 by first-principles calculations. It is found that the self-activated PL is attributed to the electron traps induced by VO and hole traps by VZn and ZnGa. The doped Mn will be energetically favored at the tetrahedral sites rather than octahedral sites under an Mn-rich condition. In contrast, the site preference of Mn largely depends on the chemical potentials of Zn and Ga under Mn-poor condition. The existence of the antisite defect ZnGa, however, promotes the stability of Mn at octahedral sites significantly, forming corresponding defect complexes. The crystal field strength is significantly enhanced, while the spin splitting is reduced on Mn in the defect complex, which introduces additional near-infrared luminescence of PL as confirmed by our experiment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key message: We report the map-based cloning and functional characterization of SNG1, which encodes OsHXK3, a hexokinase-like protein that plays a pivotal role in controlling grain size in rice. Grain size is an important agronomic trait determining grain yield and appearance quality in rice. Here, we report the discovery of rice mutant short and narrow grain1 (sng1) with reduced grain length, width and weight. Map-based cloning revealed that the mutant phenotype was caused by loss of function of gene OsHXK3 that encodes a hexokinase-like (HKL) protein. OsHXK3 was associated with the mitochondria and was ubiquitously distributed in various organs, predominately in younger organs. Analysis of glucose (Glc) phosphorylation activities in young panicles and protoplasts showed that OsHXK3 was a non-catalytic hexokinase (HXK). Overexpression of OsHXK3 could not complement the Arabidopsis glucose insensitive2-1 (gin2-1) mutant, indicating that OsHXK3 lacked Glc signaling activity. Scanning electron microscopy analysis revealed that OsHXK3 affects grain size by promoting spikelet husk cell expansion. Knockout of other nine OsHXK genes except OsHXK3 individually did not change grain size, indicating that functions of OsHXKs have differentiated in rice. OsHXK3 influences gibberellin (GA) biosynthesis and homeostasis. Compared with wild type, OsGA3ox2 was significantly up-regulated and OsGA2ox1 was significantly down-regulated in young panicle of sng1, and concentrations of biologically active GAs were significantly decreased in young panicles of the mutants. The yield per plant of OsHXK3 overexpression lines (OE-4 and OE-35) was increased by 10.91% and 7.62%, respectively, compared to that of wild type. Our results provide evidence that an HXK lacking catalytic and sensory functions plays an important role in grain size and has the potential to increase yield in rice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aiming to realize series-fed antenna array with good return loss, low sidelobe level (SLL), and small gain variation over a wide bandwidth, this article presents a unified synthesis method of designing series-fed networks (SFNs) under the equal/unequal distributions with the bandwidth enhancement. We find that the return loss and current distribution bandwidths of SFN are dominated by its input reactance slope. The ratio of SFN main line impedance Z0 and antenna impedance ZL plays an important role in it. When the optimal Z0/ZL makes the input reactance slope equal to zero at the center frequency, the bandwidth of SFN can be highly extended by 2–4 times compared with nonoptimal solutions. In this context, four classical types of SFNs are investigated and synthesized. The closed-form optimal formulas for these SFNs are further deduced under the specified element number N and current distributions I1, $\text{I}_{2}, \ldots $ , and IN. For experimental verification, an eight-element series-fed antenna array driven by the SFN with Dolph–Chebyshev current distribution is designed and fabricated based on the proposed design method. By virtue of the improved SFN, the designed series-fed array exhibits enhanced impedance and radiation bandwidths as predicted. The measured results show designed array achieves an impedance bandwidth of 52.2% (3.34–5.70 GHz) with S11 ≤ −10 dB and the radiation bandwidth with SLL ≤ −20 dB is 20.9% (3.85–4.75 GHz). The measured antenna gain is 11.3 dBi with a small variation of 1.3 dB and the efficiency of array is better than 82% over the operational bandwidth of 18.7% (3.88–4.68 GHz). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, a new general and effective design method of miniaturized quasi‐lumped‐element wideband filtering phase shifters for integrated RF front‐end is proposed, which is promising in both industrial and academic fields. This wideband filtering phase shifter is built by exploring the multiple different kinds of lumped resonators and arranging them in an easily realizable form with stable performance on the single‐layer substrate using widely accessible and low‐cost PCB processing. In our design, wideband magnitude and phase shift responses with the multiple transmission zeros and small phase deviation are numerically established and obtained. A generalized synthesis method along with theoretical analysis and synthesis curves is proposed to determine its circuit parameters exactly. To verify the proposed design concept and method, two wideband phase shifter prototypes with the different topologies and specifications are implemented and tested. Comparisons of measured and simulated results show good accordance and verify theoretical predictions. These prototypes exhibit attractive features with satisfactory wide bandwidth, high frequency selectivity, small phase deviation, deep and wide stopband, miniaturized size, as well as flexible design freedom, compared to other existing works. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monolayer transition‐metal dichalcogenides, e.g., MoS2, typically have high intrinsic strength and Young's modulus, but low fracture toughness. Under high stress, brittle fracture occurs followed by cleavage along a preferential lattice direction, leading to catastrophic failure. Defects have been reported to modulate the fracture behavior, but pertinent atomic mechanism still remains elusive. Here, sulfur (S) and MoSn point defects are selectively created in monolayer MoS2 using helium‐ and gallium‐ion‐beam lithography, both of which reduce the stiffness of the monolayer, but enhance its fracture toughness. By monitoring the atomic structure of the cracks before and after the loading fracture, distinct atomic structures of the cracks and fracture behaviors are found in the two types of defect‐containing monolayer MoS2. Combined with molecular dynamics simulations, the key role of individual S and MoSn point defects is identified in the fracture process and the origin of the enhanced fracture toughness is elucidated. It is a synergistic effect of defect‐induced deflection and bifurcation of cracks that enhance the energy release rate, and the formation of widen crack tip when fusing with point defects that prevents the crack propagation. The findings of this study provide insights into defect engineering and flexible device applications of monolayer MoS2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monolayer transition‐metal dichalcogenides, e.g., MoS2, typically have high intrinsic strength and Young's modulus, but low fracture toughness. Under high stress, brittle fracture occurs followed by cleavage along a preferential lattice direction, leading to catastrophic failure. Defects have been reported to modulate the fracture behavior, but pertinent atomic mechanism still remains elusive. Here, sulfur (S) and MoSn point defects are selectively created in monolayer MoS2 using helium‐ and gallium‐ion‐beam lithography, both of which reduce the stiffness of the monolayer, but enhance its fracture toughness. By monitoring the atomic structure of the cracks before and after the loading fracture, distinct atomic structures of the cracks and fracture behaviors are found in the two types of defect‐containing monolayer MoS2. Combined with molecular dynamics simulations, the key role of individual S and MoSn point defects is identified in the fracture process and the origin of the enhanced fracture toughness is elucidated. It is a synergistic effect of defect‐induced deflection and bifurcation of cracks that enhance the energy release rate, and the formation of widen crack tip when fusing with point defects that prevents the crack propagation. The findings of this study provide insights into defect engineering and flexible device applications of monolayer MoS2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amorphous materials feature localization of electrons and phonons that alter the electronic, mechanical, thermal, and magnetic properties. Here, we report calculations of the in-plane thermal conductivities of monolayer amorphous carbon and monolayer amorphous boron nitride, by reverse nonequilibrium molecular dynamics simulations. We find that the thermal conductivities of both monolayer amorphous carbon (MAC) and monolayer amorphous boron nitride (ma-BN) are about two orders of magnitude smaller than their crystalline counterparts. Moreover, the ultralow thermal conductivities are independent of the temperature and strain due to their extremely short heat carrier mean free paths. The relation between the structure disorder and the reduction of the thermal conductivity is analyzed in terms of the vibrational density of states and the participation ratio. The ma-BN shows strong vibrational localization across the frequency range, while the MAC exhibits a unique extended G* diffuson mode due to its sp2 hybridization and the broken E2g symmetry. The irregular vibrational patterns are also analyzed. The present results may enable potential applications of MAC and ma-BN in thermal management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grain chalkiness reduces the quality of rice (Oryza sativa) and is a highly undesirable trait for breeding and marketing. However, the underlying molecular cause of chalkiness remains largely unknown. Here, we cloned the F-box gene WHITE-CORE RATE 1 (WCR1), which negatively regulates grain chalkiness and improves grain quality in rice. A functional A/G variation in the promoter region of WCR1 generates the alleles WCR1A and WCR1G , which originated from tropical japonica and wild rice Oryza rufipogon , respectively. OsDOF17 is a transcriptional activator that binds to the AAAAG cis-element in the WCR1A promoter. WCR1 positively affects the transcription of the metallothionein gene MT2b and interacts with MT2b to inhibit its 26S proteasome-mediated degradation, leading to decreased reactive oxygen species production and delayed programmed cell death in rice endosperm. This, in turn, leads to reduced chalkiness. Our findings uncover a molecular mechanism underlying rice chalkiness and identify the promising natural variant WCR1A , with application potential for rice breeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Percutaneous transluminal pulmonary angioplasty (PTPA) is a treatment modality for chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension, but whether it can be applied to Takayasu arteritis-associated pulmonary hypertension (TA-PH), another chronic obstructive pulmonary vascular disease, remains unclear.Objectives: This study sought to investigate the efficacy and safety of PTPA for TA-PH.Methods: Between January 1, 2016, and December 31, 2019, a total of 50 patients with TA-PH who completed the PTPA procedure (the PTPA group) and 21 patients who refused the PTPA procedure (the non-PTPA group) were prospectively enrolled in this cohort study. The primary outcome was all-cause mortality. The safety outcomes included PTPA procedure-related complications.Results: Baseline characteristics and medical therapies were similar between the PTPA group and the non-PTPA group. During a mean follow-up time of 37 ± 14 months, deaths occurred in 3 patients (6.0%) in the PTPA group and 6 patients (28.6%) in the non-PTPA group, contributing to the 3-year survival rate of 93.7% in the PTPA group and 76.2% in the non-PTPA group (P = 0.0096 for log-rank test). The Cox regression model showed that PTPA was associated with a significantly reduced hazard of all-cause mortality in TA-PH patients (HR: 0.18; 95% CI: 0.05-0.73; P = 0.017). No periprocedural death occurred. Severe complications requiring noninvasive positive pressure ventilation occurred in only 1 of 150 total sessions (0.7%).Conclusions: PTPA tended to be associated with a reduced risk of all-cause mortality with acceptable safety profiles and seemed to be a promising therapeutic option for TA-PH patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A wideband circularly polarized (CP) stacked patch antenna based on TM11 and TM10 is proposed in this article. This four-port antenna consists of a circular patch and a square patch, where the square patch is located above the circular patch. Taking into account the mutual coupling between four ports, the active reflection coefficient (ARC) is adopted to describe the impedance matching of the antenna, and a simplified form of ARC is derived. The abnormal electric field distribution generated in the square patch is attributed to the superposition of the electric fields of two orthogonal TM10 modes, which is theoretically verified. Due to the coupling between TM11 mode and TM10 mode, a new resonance mode appears in a square patch, where the abnormal electric fields on the two diagonals are generated simultaneously. The effect of the square patch on the circular patch is equivalent to a capacitor at the lower frequency end and the higher frequency end of −10 dB impedance bandwidth, while it acts as an inductor at the middle frequency band. Besides the horizontal patch of $\lceil $ -shaped feed is sandwiched between two radiators to enhance coupling. Finally, a wideband feed network composed of Wilkinson power divider and phase shifter is devised to provide four signals of equal magnitude and quadrature phase for proposed antenna. To verify the design concept, a prototype is fabricated and measured. The results show that left-hand circularly polarized (LHCP) radiation is achieved. The 3 dB gain variation bandwidth is 44.6%, ranging from 1.48 to 2.33 GHz, in which VSWR < 1.5 and AR < 1.5 dB. Besides the peak gain is 9.5 dBic and antenna efficiency is not less than 64%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studying the collision and rebound characteristics between particles and silicone rubber surfaces is the basis of establishing a scientific contamination deposition model for silicone rubber insulators. In this article, high-speed and microscopic imaging techniques are used to set up an experimental platform for tracking and filming the collision and rebound motion of micrometer particles. Key parameters in the semiempirical calculation formula of critical adhesion velocity and tangential and normal rebound coefficients of particles in the collision issue between particles and silicone rubber surface are also obtained in this article by the parameter optimization method based on experimental measurement results. In addition, a probability calculation model for tangent and normal rebound coefficients of particles is proposed based on the statistical analysis method. Findings show that the critical adhesion velocity of particles decreases with the increase of the particle diameter. Influenced by the roughness distribution of the silicone rubber surface, the tangent rebound coefficient and the ratio between the measurement results and the theoretical calculated values of normal rebound coefficients of particles in the oblique collisions obeys normal distributions. This article is valuable for studying the contamination mechanism of silicone rubber insulators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein, a novel dual single‐atom catalyst comprising adjacent Fe‐N4 and Mn‐N4 sites on 2D ultrathin N‐doped carbon nanosheets with porous structure (FeMn‐DSAC) was constructed as the cathode for a flexible low‐temperature Zn‐air battery (ZAB). FeMn‐DSAC exhibits remarkable bifunctional activities for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Control experiments and density functional theory calculations reveal that the catalytic activity arises from the cooperative effect of the Fe/Mn dual‐sites aiding *OOH dissociation as well as the porous 2D nanosheet structure promoting active sits exposure and mass transfer during the reaction process. The excellent bifunctional activity of FeMn‐DSAC enables the ZAB to operate efficiently at ultra‐low temperature of −40 °C, delivering 30 mW cm−2 peak power density and retaining up to 86 % specific capacity from the room temperature counterpart. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein, a novel dual single‐atom catalyst comprising adjacent Fe‐N4 and Mn‐N4 sites on 2D ultrathin N‐doped carbon nanosheets with porous structure (FeMn‐DSAC) was constructed as the cathode for a flexible low‐temperature Zn‐air battery (ZAB). FeMn‐DSAC exhibits remarkable bifunctional activities for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Control experiments and density functional theory calculations reveal that the catalytic activity arises from the cooperative effect of the Fe/Mn dual‐sites aiding *OOH dissociation as well as the porous 2D nanosheet structure promoting active sits exposure and mass transfer during the reaction process. The excellent bifunctional activity of FeMn‐DSAC enables the ZAB to operate efficiently at ultra‐low temperature of −40 °C, delivering 30 mW cm−2 peak power density and retaining up to 86 % specific capacity from the room temperature counterpart. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. To explore whether Stromal Interaction Molecule-1 (STIM1) participates in the phenotypic transformation of NRK-52E cells under high-calcium microenvironment. Materials and Methods. NRK-52E cells were treated with high concentration of calcium. The viability and apoptosis of cells were detected by CCK-8 (cell counting kit-8) and flow cytometry, respectively. The expression changes of phenotypic marker proteins (E-cadherin and OPN) and calcium channel proteins (STIMl and Orai1) in high-calcium environment were detected by western blotting and real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. The expression of STIMl protein in NRK-52E cells was upregulated and downregulated by plasmid-STIM1 and plasmid-shRNA-STIMl, respectively. The expressions of phenotypic marker proteins after upregulation or downregulation of STIMl were detected again. Besides, the intracellular calcium concentrations of NRK-52E cells in different treatments were detected by flow cytometry. Results. High-calcium microenvironment can promote the phenotypic transformation and the adhesion of calcium salts in NRK-52E cells and simultaneously suppress the expression of STIMl protein in NRK-52E cells. Downregulation of STIMl protein could also promote the phenotype transformation, while both the gene silence of matrix gla protein (MGP) and overexpression of STIMl showed reverse results. Conclusion. STIMl protein plays an important role in promoting phenotypic transformation of NRK-52E cells in high-calcium microenvironment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a low‐profile and wideband circularly polarized patch antenna using four resonance modes is presented. It is one kind of four‐port antenna implemented by loading five shorting pins on the circular patch. In order to achieve wideband properties, TM11 and TM22 modes are stimulated in circular patch, along with their polarization orthogonal modes (TM11+ and TM22+ modes). The TM11+ mode is excited by the Γ‐shaped feed, while the TM22 mode and TM22+ mode is stimulated by four shorting pins in close proximity to the Γ‐shaped feed. Due to the strong coupling between shorting pins and Γ‐shaped feed, the peak electric field generated on the two opposing shorting pins causes the magnetic current density on the circumference of the patch to be changed, which in turn leads to the realization of broadside radiation in the TM22 and TM22+ modes. In addition, the function of the shorting pin loaded in the center of the patch is to improve the impedance matching when TM22 and TM22+ modes are operated. Cooperated with the devised one‐to‐four feed network with equal amplitude and progressive phase difference of 90°, the wideband circularly polarized patch antenna is obtained. To verify this design concept, a prototype is fabricated and measured. The diameter of the patch is 0.68λ0 and the profile is 0.078λ0 (λ0 is the wavelength in the free space at the center frequency). The measured relative bandwidth of VSWR < 2 is 106%, involving 1.53–4.96 GHz, while that of AR < 3 dB is 98%, ranging from 1.54 to 4.48 GHz. Besides, the measured LHCP gain > 3 dBic in the frequency band of 1.48–4.42 GHz. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Swietenia macrophylla King (Meliaceae), a valuable tree species, is extensively cultivated in tropical regions, holding significant economic value. The seeds and leaves of S. macrophylla , obtained as a by-product of wood processing, have been demonstrated to possess hypoglycemic and lipid-lowering effects. To further explore their potential applications, eighteen new phragmalin-type limonoids (1 – 18), alongside thirteen known analogues (19 – 31), were isolated from the leaves of Swietenia macrophylla. Swietelactones A (1) and B (2) represent a pair of C-1′ heterotropic isomers characterized by a rare spiro[5,5]undecane moiety and a distinctive C-15 ethyl chain. Swietelactone C (3) is notable as the first identified 2,3- seco phragmalin limonoid, presumably formed via Baeyer-Villiger oxidation. Swietelactones D (4) and E (5) exhibit a stereoscopic configuration that deviates from the typical structure of limonoids, representing the first instance of a 9 β -H limonoid. Compounds 3 , 8 - 13 , 16 , 17 , 20 , 21, 23, 24 demonstrated inhibitory effects on hepatic glucose production in mouse primary hepatocytes (MPH) models and triglyceride production in Hep G2 cells at a concentration of 40 μM. Moreover, compound 21 was found to initiate a cascade reaction, suppressing the expression of PCK1, a crucial gluconeogenic enzyme. This inhibition occurs through the downregulation of PKA-α protein and its downstream phosphorylated CREB protein, ultimately reducing hepatic glucose production. This research may offer valuable insights supporting the potential medical application of S. macrophylla as a natural hypoglycemic agent. [Display omitted] • Eighteen new phragmalin-type limonoids were isolated from the leaves of Swietenia macrophylla. • Compounds 1 - 3 exhibit unique and novel skeleton structures. • These compounds showed great hypoglycemic potential. • This research provided new evidence for the medicinal research of Swietenia macrophylla. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The low loading of Ni/C catalysts are used for the HDO of guaiacol and bio-oil. • The guaiacol is completely converted to cyclohexanol over 5%Ni/C at 200 °C and 2 h. • The phenols derived from bio-oil are gradually converted to alcohols and cycloalkanes. • The C-O bond between benzene ring and methoxy group in guaiacol is first cleaved. It is significant to improve the quality of bio-oil to produce cyclohexanol and cycloalkane products through hydrodeoxygenation (HDO). Excellent and inexpensive catalysts facilitate the upgrading of bio-oils and phenols under mild conditions and subsequent industrial applications. Catalysts synthesized in previous studies have a high metal loading, resulting in increased production costs. Herein, a series of low loading of Ni/C catalysts (1–7%) were synthesized and applied for the HDO of lignin bio-oil and derived phenols. The characterization results demonstrated that 5%Ni/C possessed the smallest metal particle size and sufficient amount of Ni0, achieving a well conversion of phenols in bio-oil. A low loading of 5%Ni/C can produce enough reactive H species in a short time. Therefore, guaiacol was completely converted to cyclohexanol over 5%Ni/C at 200 °C and 2 h. The products of bio-oil conversion were gradually hydro-deoxidized to cyclohexanol compounds and cycloalkanes over 5%Ni/C. The deuterium experiment revealed that the major pathway for the transformation of guaiacol was to first break the C-O bond between the benzene ring and methoxy group. Besides, other bio-oil derived phenols (phenol, cresol and vanillin, etc.) were fully transformed to related cyclohexanols over 5%Ni/C. This study provides a prospective catalyst for the HDO of lignin bio-oil and derived phenols. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seventeen compounds, including one sesquiterpene (1), two diterpenoids (2 and 3), four monoterpenes (4 – 7), one phenolic acid (8), seven flavonoids (9 – 15), one lignan (16), and one sterol (17), have been isolated from the whole herb of Thymus quinquecostatus Cêlak., Lamiaceae. Among them, compounds 1 – 3 , 9 , 10 , 12 , 14 , 15 , and 16 were isolated from the genus Thymus for the first time; and compounds 5 – 7 were first isolated from this plant. Their structures were determined using 1D and 2D nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and compared with known data. To the best of our knowledge, their chemotaxonomic significance was explored in the present study for the first time. Compounds isolated from the whole herb of Thymus quinquecostatus Cêlak. [Display omitted] • A total of 17 compounds were isolated from Thymus quinquecostatus. • Compounds 1 – 3 , 9 , 10 , 12 , 14 , 15 and 16 were first isolated from genus Thymus. • The chemotaxonomic significance of these compounds is determined for the first time. • This study contributes to the phytochemical understanding of T. quinquecostatus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two supramolecular components {[3-BCBPY][H3BTEC]2}n (1) and {[H2BPYBC]1/2[H3BTEC]·H2O}n (2) based on benzene carboxylic acid (H4BTEC = 1,2,4,5-benzenetetracarboxylic acid) and different viologen cations (3-BCBPY·2Cl = 1,1′-bis(3-cyanobenzyl)-4,4′-bipyridinium chloride, and 4-BCBPY·2Cl = 1,1′-bis(4-cyanobenzyl)-4,4′-bipyridinium chloride) were synthesized. Single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis showed that the three-dimensional supramolecular network was constructed in compounds 1 and 2, due to the hydrogen bond between H3BTEC− and 3-BCBPY2+ and the hydrogen bond between H3BTEC−, H2BPYBC2+ and water molecules, respectively. Both compounds 1 and 2 exhibit photochromic behavior of electron transfer. However, the discoloration speed of compound 2 is slower than that of compound 1, which may be due to the higher ionic state of compound 1 increasing the potential. At the same time, the two compounds also showed interesting photomodulated fluorescence behavior. Time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) was used to study the discoloration mechanism of compounds 1 and 2. Compound 1 exhibits selective sensing of aniline and triethylamine when exposed to different organic amines. And through the phenomenon of visual discoloration and fluorescence quenching, the sensing of aniline by compound 1 was confirmed, and the minimum concentration of detection was 10−5 M. It is also possible to completely dissolve compound 1 in ammonia water or coat and deposit compound 1 on paper with an absolute ethanol solution. These two types of paper can be used as inkless and erasable printing media and can be printed repeatedly at least five times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new technique to realize miniaturized broadband multiway and polyphase differential phase shifters is proposed and studied in this article. In contrast to existing designs based on coupled-line and loaded stubs, the multiway phase dispersions are controlled by susceptances of multiple resonant tanks in this work, which can well enlarge the operation bandwidth (BW) and avoid the unachievable physical sizes in strip width and coupling gap over a large phase shift range on the universal reference line topology. In addition, its phase-shift range can be highly extended by properly allocating resonant frequencies of resonant tanks in each path to be specified different values. The theoretical analysis and design formula are studied, and the synthesis method is presented to determine all circuit parameters. By virtue of the quasi-lumped element technology, the proposed multiway phase shifter can be flexibly implemented on a single-layer printed circuit board (PCB) substrate with a very compact size. For demonstration, a five-way differential phase shifter in 0°–180° range has been designed, fabricated, and tested. Over a BW of 80.4%, the achieved phase shifts are 45° ± 4°, 90° ± 5°, 135° ± 5°, and 180° ± 6.3° with low insertion loss (IL) (<1.05 dB) and small amplitude imbalance (<0.29 dB). To the best of our knowledge, this is the tested widest multiway differential phase shifter in the 0°–180° range up until now. Meanwhile, the whole circuit size, including the substrate, is less than $0.30\lambda _{g} \times 0.26\lambda _{g}$. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-cycle fatigue failures of fan blade systems due to vibrational loads are of great concern in the design of aeroengines, where energy dissipation by the relative frictional motion in the dovetail joints provides the main damping to mitigate the vibrations. The performance of such a frictional damping can be enhanced by suitable coatings. However, the analysis and design of coated joint roots of gas turbine fan blades are computationally expensive due to strong contact friction nonlinearities and also complex physics involved in the dovetail. In this study, a data-driven surrogate model, known as the Nonlinear in Parameter AutoRegressive with eXegenous input (NP-ARX) model, is introduced to circumvent the difficulties in the analysis and design of fan systems. The NP-ARX model is a linear input-output model, where the model coefficients are nonlinear functions of the design parameters of interest, such that the Frequency Response Function (FRF) can be directly obtained and used in the system analysis and design. A simplified fan-bladed disc system is considered as the test case. The results show that using the data-driven surrogate model, an efficient and accurate design of aeroengine fan systems can be achieved. The approach is expected to be extended to solve the analysis and design problems of many other complex systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change affects precipitation patterns and seasonal temperatures and disrupts the development and distribution of organisms. In the obligate mutualism between Ficus trees (Moraceae) and fig wasps (Hymenoptera: Agaonidae), the trees live mostly in the tropics and rely on short-lived pollinators, and climate change challenges this relationship. In this study, a 25-month phenological survey of Ficus subpisocarpa and Ficus caulocarpa, closely related sympatric Ficus species with different suitable development areas, was conducted in tropical southern Taiwan. The effects of temperature-related meteorological factors were analyzed and compared with data obtained previously for trees in northern Taiwan to identify possible phenological trends caused by climate change. The results revealed that the phenological characteristics of the two Ficus in southern Taiwan are similar to those in northern Taiwan; however, the trees exhibited stronger correlations with meteorological factors in northern Taiwan. In southern Taiwan, the onset of fig crops for the two species was not related to any meteorological variable, and the trees produced figs throughout the year. The leaf changing in southern Taiwan followed no seasonal pattern, and only the renewal of leaves in F. subpisocarpa trees was linked to seasonal increases in temperature. The lowest temperature in northern Taiwan might effect F. subpisocarpa and F. caulocarpa trees to drop their leaves at the same period. Fig trees are likely resilient to climate change and can maintain their mutualism in a warming climate in the near future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Clear-cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is stubborn to traditional chemotherapy and radiation treatment, which makes its clinical management a major challenge. Recently, we have made efforts in understanding the etiology of ccRCC. Increasing evidence revealed that the competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) was involved in the development of varied tumors. However, a comprehensive analysis of the prognostic model based on lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA ceRNA regulatory network of ccRCC with large-scale sample size and RNA-sequencing expression data is still limited. Methods: RNA-sequencing expression data were taken out from GTEx database and TCGA database, a total of 354 samples with ccRCC and 157 normal controlled samples were included in our study. The ccRCC-specific genes were obtained by WGCNA and differential expression analysis. Following, the communication of mRNAs and lncRNAs with targeted miRNAs were predicted by MiRcode, starBase, miRTarBase, and TargetScan. A gene signature of eight genes was further constructed by univariate Cox regression, Lasso methods, and multivariate Cox regression analysis. Results: A total of 2191 mRNAs and 1377 lncRNAs was identified, and a dysregulated ceRNA network for ccRCC was established using 7 mRNAs, 363 lncRNAs, and 3 miRNAs. Further, a gene signature including eight genes based on this ceRNA was determined followed by the development of a nomogram predicting 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival probability for ccRCC. Conclusion: It could contribute to a better understanding of ccRCC tumorigenesis mechanism and guide clinicians to make a more accurate treatment decision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose a high‐efficient rendering method based on the backward ray‐tracing technique to generate the annular sector elemental image array (ASEIA), which can form an ideal annular viewing zone for tabletop integral imaging 3D display. In the rendering process, different pixels in each annular sector elemental image are associated with different viewpoints by the backward rays in one rendering step. Therefore, the ASEIA can be obtained directly without capturing single‐viewpoint images from all 360‐degree directions, which improves rendering efficiency. Compared with the conventional ASEIA generation method, the rendering time is reduced and is independent of the viewpoint number. The experimental results show the feasibility of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, a low-profile and wideband circularly polarized patch antenna is proposed and developed, which is composed of the circular patch fed by four ports. A wideband property is achieved by utilizing TM11 and TM21 mode, as well as the orthogonal mode of TM11. The Γ-shaped feed is employed to stimulate the TM21 mode. Besides, due to the parasitic radiation from the face-to-face Γ-shaped feeds with opposite phase, the radiation peak of the circular patch under TM21 mode is along the broadside direction, which is different from the original radiation mechanism of TM21 mode. By loading shorting pins in the middle area of circular patch, the polarization orthogonal mode of the fundamental mode (TM11) is excited properly, which contributed to bandwidth enhancement. Cooperated with the quadrature phase feed network, a wideband circular patch antenna with unidirectional radiation and circular polarization properties is designed, fabricated, and measured. The size of the circular patch is 0.57λ0 × 0.57 λ0 and the height is only 0.053λ0 (λ0 is the free space wavelength at the center frequency). The measured results show that the 109% of fractional bandwidth is obtained under the condition of VSWR < 2, ranging from 0.94 to 3.18 GHz, and the 3 dB axial ratio fractional bandwidth is 95%, ranging from 1.04 to 2.93 GHz. Besides the realized LHCP gain >3 dBic from 1.27 to 2.99 GHz. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]