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Cardiac troponins are highly sensitive and specific biomarkers for cardiac injury. Previous studies evaluating the effect of positive airway pressure (PAP) on cardiac troponins in patients with sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) have yielded conflicting results. The meta-analysis was performed to examine the effect of PAP on cardiac troponins in SDB patients.PubMed, Web of Science, and EMBASE before September 2021 on original English language studies were searched. The data on cardiac troponins in both baseline and post-PAP treatment were extracted from all studies. The data on the change of cardiac troponins in both PAP and control group were extracted from randomized controlled trials. Standardized mean difference (SMD) was used to synthesize quantitative results.A total of 11 studies were included. PAP treatment was not associated with a significant change in cardiac troponin T between the baseline and post-PAP treatment (SMD = -0.163, 95% confidence interval [CI] = -0.652 to 0.326, z = 0.65, p = .514). The pooled estimate of SMD of cardiac troponin I between the pre- and post-PAP treatment was 0.287, and the 95% CI was -0.586 to 1.160 (z = 0.64, p = .519). The pooled SMD of change of cardiac troponin T between the PAP group and control group was -0.473 (95% CI = -1.198 to 0.252, z = 1.28, p = .201).This meta-analysis revealed that PAP treatment was not associated with any change of cardiac troponin in SDB patients.

Free radical carbochloromethylations of

Novel decarboxylative oxyacyloxylation of propiolic acids has been developed. This reaction provides an efficient access to alkynyl-containing α-acyloxy ketones from readily available starting materials and exhibits significant functional group tolerance. Furthermore, oxyacyloxylation of terminal alkynes and aliphatic propiolic acids was also developed. A possible reaction mechanism is proposed based on mechanistic studies.

P3-Na0.65Mn0.5Al0.5O2 (NMAO) has been synthesized and studied as a cathode for sodium batteries, and shows anionic redox reaction (ARR) and exhibits a first charging capacity of ∼110 mA h g-1. The electrochemical mechanism of NMAO was comprehensively investigated by X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Raman spectroscopy, and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The reversible oxygen redox behaviour is triggered by Al3+ through oxygen quasi non-bonding states generated by the relatively ionic interaction of Al and O. Furthermore, the presence of Al3+ can suppress oxygen loss in ARR. This work provides new insights into the design and mechanism of anionic redox active cathode materials.

Based on the fundamental of traditional Sub-aperture coherence (SAC) algorithm, Radial Sub-aperture coherence (RSAC) and Symmetrical Radial Sub-aperture coherence (SRSAC) have been designed to achi...

Dark septate endophytes (DSE) are a group of multifunctional fungi that ubiquitously colonize the roots of numerous plants worldwide, benefiting the nutrition and adaptation of hosts to various stressed environments. How DSE benefit phosphorus absorption by their host plants remains unclear. We established pot cultures and compartmentalized microcosms in the greenhouse and used transcriptomic analysis to examine the response of maize to inoculation with a DSE strain, Exophiala pisciphila H93, which has been found to be capable of promoting plant growth and enhancing the tolerance of maize to heavy metals. H93 promoted the biomass, phosphorus absorption and photosynthesis of inoculated maize by enhancing phosphorus enzyme activities in the rhizosphere and by decreasing the pH of the rhizosphere compared with non-inoculated controls, either in sufficient or deficient phosphorus conditions in pot cultures. H93 inoculation changed the transcriptional pattern of maize related to 8 metabolic pathways. While H93 did not induce particular phosphate transporter gene expression under deficient phosphorus conditions, it dissolved the sparingly soluble phosphates (tricalcium phosphate) in the rhizosphere. Enhanced phosphorus absorption by the host plant by DSE (H93) seemed to occur independently of DSE-induced genes involved in phosphorus absorption. The greatest contribution of DSE to phosphorus utilization of hosts might be their efficiency in transferring sparingly soluble phosphorus into soluble phosphate (Pi).

Local pathogens can accumulate as asymptomatic endophytes, making it difficult to detect the impacts of invasive species as propagators of disease in the invaded range. We used the invasive plant Ageratina adenophora to assess such accumulation. We intensively collected foliar fungal endophytes and leaf spot pathogens of A. adenophora and co-occurring neighbours and performed an inoculation experiment to evaluate their pathogenicity and host range. Ageratina adenophora harboured diverse necrotrophic pathogens; its communities of endophytes and leaf spot pathogens were different in composition and shared only a small number of fungal species. In the pathogen communities of local plant hosts, 21% of the operational taxonomic units (OTUs), representing 50% of strains, also occurred as leaf spot pathogens and/or endophytes of A. adenophora. The local pathogen community was more similar to the endophytes than to the pathogens of A. adenophora. The inoculation experiment showed that local pathogens could infect A. adenophora leaves asymptomatically and that local plant hosts were susceptible to both A. adenophora endophytes and pathogens. Ageratina adenophora is a highly competent host for local pathogens, and its asymptomatic latent pathogens are fungi primarily shared with local neighbours. This poses challenges for understanding the long-term ecological consequences of plant invasion.

Within the family Entolomataceae, many reports of Entoloma and Rhodocybe have been published, but few reports on Clitopilus and allied genera are available. In this study, Clitopilus, Clitocella, and Clitopilopsis from China were studied by morphological and phylogenetic methods. Portions of nuc 28S rDNA (28S), RNA polymerase II second largest subunit (rpb2), translation elongation factor 1-alpha (tef1), and ATPase subunit 6 (atp6), were employed to elucidate the relationships of Clitopilus and allies. Results indicate that Clitopilus should be divided into three sections, namely, sect. Clitopilus, sect. Scyphoides, and sect. Crispi, the last of which is newly described. In total, 17 species of Clitopilus, Clitocella, and Clitopilopsis are found in China; 14 species belong to Clitopilus, of which 5 are new: C. yunnanensis, C. brunniceps, C. rugosiceps, C. sinoapalus, and C. umbilicatus. Two species of Clitocella, including one new species, Clitocella orientalis, are described. One new species of Clitopilopsis, namely, Clitopilopsis albida, is proposed.

An oxidative radical cascade cyclization of 2-cyano-3-arylaniline derived acrylamides with hydrocarbons is described. The present reaction exhibits a wide substrate scope, and toluenes, ethers, aliphatic alcohols and simple alkanes can be employed as coupling partners, providing access to alkyl substituted pyrido[4,3,2-gh]phenanthridines.

Vibrational properties associated with the intra- and intermolecular bonding of the crystalline Dibenz[a,h]anthracene at low temperatures are investigated by Raman scattering. A complete characterization of phonon spectra is given for this material. In the 120-150 K temperature region, several lattice modes show abrupt changes of splitting and the discontinuities in the temperature shift, but no emergence of new modes. Moreover, the intensity ratio of I

Arjunolic acid (AA), as the most abundant triterpenoid component in Cyclocarya paliurus (Batal) Iljinskaja, previously displayed delipidating effects in free fatty acid (FFA)-induced HepG2 steatosis cells. However, whether AA still possesses the ameliorative effects on nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in normal hepatocytes and in vivo remains vacant and the detailed mechanisms are not defined. In vitro, AA dose-dependently alleviated lipid accumulation in FFA-challenged primary hepatocytes without cytotoxicity. In vivo, AA showed pleiotropic benefits, including attenuating adiposity, mitigating hepatic steatosis and inflammation, improving lipid disorders and insulin resistance, and restoring the impaired gut barrier. Mechanically, we found that AA indirectly activated Sirt1/AMPK-modulated lipid metabolism through elevating NAMPT-mediated NAD+ level, and triggering autophagy, together mediating the lipid-lowering effects. Collectively, our results convey that AA can substantially mitigate NAFLD via indirectly activating Sirt1/AMPK signaling, inducing autophagy and restoring gut barrier, and will be considered as a promising candidate for NAFLD therapy.

A novel annulation of 2-cyanoaryl acrylamides via C═C double bond cleavage has been developed for facile and efficient access to a broad spectrum of functionalized 4-amino-2-quinolones, which are important N-heterocycles. In this transformation, the solvent THF is demonstrated to play a crucial role, and the addition of alkyl radicals to nitrile, 1,5-hydride shift, and cleavage of the C-C bond are involved in the mechanism.

Aiming at the speed tracking control problem of the main rolling mill system in reversible cold strip rolling mill, a fixed-time backstepping control method is proposed based on extended state observers in this paper. Consider the main rolling mill speed system is characterized by nonlinearity and uncertainty, so the extended state observers (ESOs) are constructed to observer the system's comprehensive uncertainties, which effectively improve the tracking control precision of the system. Next, the speed subsystem controller and the flux linkage subsystem controller are designed respectively by combining the backstepping control and the fixed-time control, which improve the robust stability of the system, and ensure that the main rolling mill speed system state can be stable in fixed time. Finally, by comparing the proposed control method with the dynamic surface backstepping control method in Ref. [10], and simulation results verify the effectiveness of the proposed control method.

Gynostemma pentaphyllum (Thunb.) Makino (Cucurbitaceae family) is a perennial creeping plant with a common Chinese name of “south ginseng”. To date, more than 250 individual saponins with dammarane-type skeleton have been isolated from G. pentaphyllum. The purpose of this study was the isolation and structural characterization of novel, minor gypenosides from G. pentaphyllum and evaluation of their Sirt1 agonist activity. Individual saponins from G. pentaphyllum were isolated and purified by a variety of chromatography techniques, and their structures were elucidated by means of various spectroscopic analysis and comparision with the reported data. Sirt1 enzyme activity detection kit was used to preliminarily evaluate the Sirt1 agonist activity of thirty three individual saponins purified from G. pentaphyllum. Fourteen new triterpenoid saponins named gypenoside CII-CXV (1–14) along with twenty six known compounds (15–40) were isolated from G. pentaphyllum. Thirty three of all the isolates were screened for Sirt1 agonist activity, and the results showed that three dammarane-type saponins (2, 18, 37) and one cucurbitane-type saponin 33 exhibited satisfactory Sirt1 agonist activity. These findings suggested that G. pentaphyllum was worthy of further investigation to find small molecule Sirt1 agonist and facilitate their utilization as “south ginseng”.

In this paper, an attention-based network called modified Dense Co-Attention Symmetric Network is investigated to classify three human emotions using electroencephalogram (EEG), eye movement features (EYE), and raw eye movement image (EIG) data. The key idea of this model is to use a novel co-attention layer, which augments the weights of the critical feature channel and builds correlations among the different modalities. We stack the co-attention layer to form a hierarchy that strengthens the effect layer-by-layer to more precisely predict the emotion states. In an emotion recognition task with three modalities (EEG, EYE and EIG), we achieve 87.63% accuracy. To deal with the problem that EEG signals are difficult and expensive to collect in practical applications, we achieve 86.28% accuracy with two modalities (EYE and EIG) and propose a new classification paradigm that uses EIG, EYE, and randomly selected EEG data that we have on hand, obtaining 86.81% accuracy.

The physical model of a bender transducer with an edge annular groove, which defines the boundary condition in some degree, is built by finite element software. The acoustic properties such as resonant frequency and transmitting voltage response are simulated with different groove parameters. And the extreme operating depth capability of the transducer in water is studied by analyzing the maximum value of von mises stress. A bender transducer prototype is made according to the optimized structural parameters. The test results measured in an open lake are basically consistent with the simulation data. Low frequency and non-directional emission of the bender transducer are realized.

Purpose: The association between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and cancer risks gaining more and more attention. Data on the association between OSA and lung cancer risk are limited. This study is to investigate whether a link exists between Low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) scanning of the chest findings, carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and OSA in patients suspected of OSA.Methods: The cross-sectional study included patients aged 18 years or older who underwent continuous nocturnal polysomnography at our sleep center between February 2019 and November 2020. All subjects underwent chest LDCT and CEA. Patients with an apnea-hypopnea index(AHI) of ≥15/h were classified as clinically significant OSA group, whereas patients with an AHI ＜15/h were classified as control group.Results: A total of 277 patients were enrolled in the study. 176 patients were categorized into the OSA group, while 101 patients were categorized into the control group. There is no relationship between any OSA-related parameter and presence of lung nodule or presence of ≥6mm lung nodule in the binary logistic regression analysis. OSA group demonstrated a significant higher value of CEA than control group. Stepwise multiple linear regression analysis showed that lowest O2 saturation(β=-0.256, p＜0.001), smoking status (β=0.156, p=0.007) and age (β=0.153, p=0.008) were independent predictors of elevated CEA. Conclusion: In a group of patients suspected of OSA, we confirmed an independent correlation between nocturnal hypoxia and elevated CEA levels. OSA was not related with presence of pulmonary nodule or≥6 mm pulmonary nodule in LDCT.

We introduce and demonstrate a new structure of polarisation grating which can substantially enlarge the deflection angle. We derive the polarisation state of a beam passing through the ref...

Pleurotus ostreatus is one of the most widespread and favourably cultivated mushrooms in China. The cultivated strains of this species have been frequently exchanged domestically and internationally, but no detailed breeding history has been documented. The frequent domestic and international exchange of strains combined with a non-detailed historical documentation of breeding might have led to confusion about strain names and genetic background. In this study, 91 strains of P. ostreatus, including 57 cultivated and 34 wild strains, were analysed using 21 simple sequence repeat markers developed from the genomic sequence of “P. cf. floridanus”. Among the cultivated strains, 46 were found to possess different allelic patterns. The remaining 11 strains were clustered into five groups, each with their own private alleles, suggesting that 10.5% (6/57) of the cultivated strains were previously labelled with improper names. Our analyses indicate that wild strains harbored greater genetic diversity than the cultivated strains. With regard to the cultivation history of P. ostreatus, the cultivated strains in China have three sources: direct introduction from Europe, domestication from wild strains from China, or hybridisation of the European and Chinese strains. Furthermore, we propose a core collection of P. ostreatus with 34 strains, including 13 wild and 21 cultivated strains. The allele retention proportion of the core collection for the entire collection was 100%.

The design of inexpensive, efficient, durable and self-supported bifunctional electrodes for simultaneously catalyzing the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in the same electrolyte is essential for renewable energy conversion processes and future sustainable development, however, it still remains a challenging issue. Reported herein is the first example of selenium phosphorus co-doped cobalt oxide nanosheets on highly conductive Co foil collector (CoOSeP@Co foil), fabricated by successively selenylation and phosphorization of a pre-oxidized Co foil, as a novel bifunctional electrode for water electrolysis. Due to the improved intrinsic catalytic activity of cobalt oxide derived from doping and the strong interaction between active CoOSeP nanosheets and highly conductive Co foil collector, the designed CoOSeP@Co foil integrated electrode displays favorable catalytic activities towards both HER and OER in strongly alkaline media, achieving an electrocatalytic current density of 10 mA cm−2 at a low overpotential of 155 mV for HER and 347 mV for OER, respectively. Beyond that, the electrode could keep working and maintain its catalytic activity for at least 30 h. Furthermore, an alkaline electrolyzer constructed by employing CoOSeP@Co foil as an integrated bifunctional electrode in both the cathode and anode can generate 10 mA cm−2 at a cell voltage of 1.74 V and shows good long-term stability of more than 30 h. This work not only opens a new avenue to improve the intrinsic catalytic activity of materials by co-doping with heteroatoms, but also brings us a new idea for designing other cost-effective, self-supported, efficient and robust overall water splitting electrodes.

Two-dimensional liquid crystal polarisation grating based on twist liquid crystal has been demonstrated and fabricated by polarisation holography in this paper. The maximal diffraction efficiency of the second order is up to 90%. And the two-dimensional liquid crystal polarisation grating has the properties of electrically tenability and polarisation tenability. The two-dimensional polarisation grating diffracts light into a spot array. Different direction diffraction light is with different polarisation states. The intensity of the different orders diffraction light is optically controlled.

The electric propulsion hollow cathode is a thermal electron emission device that can be used as an electron source and a neutralizer for aerospace electric propulsion systems. As a serial structure, the cathode's life reliability is the key to its application in orbit. The heater is used to start the hollow cathode, and short-circuit and open-circuit failure are important forms of hollow cathode failure. Herein, we compare multiple groups of constant voltage power supply mode (U mode) and traditional constant current power supply mode (I mode) for the same structural heater, and reliability analysis is performed using two-parameter Weibull distribution. The results show that under the constant voltage power supply mode, there is a negative feedback mechanism that increases the resistance of the heater, and the overall heating power decreases. This extends the heater's lifetime and reduces dispersion of resistance variations, leading to a substantial increase in the lifetime reliability of the heater in the constant voltage mode. Finally, we propose a current limiting method that starts when the constant voltage power supply is applied and solves the problem of excessive current surge when the heater starts.

The growth of Na5Lu9F32 single crystals doped with Cr3+ ions in 0.1 mol%, 0.2 mol% and 0.5 mol% concentrations by Bridgman method was reported. The optical absorption and luminescence spectra decisively demonstrate that the Cr dopant enters Na5Lu9F32 as Cr3+. Fluorescence emission at wavelengths of 418 nm, 444 nm, 653 nm and 678 nm can be observed under the excitation of 372 nm and the fluorescence lifetime at 418 nm was measured to be ∼10.31 μs. The possible crystal sites for Cr3+ ions in Na5Lu9F32 single crystal were discussed, and the lattice parameter Dq, Racach parameters B and C were estimated.

P3-Na0.65Mn0.5Al0.5O2 (NMAO) has been synthesized and studied as a cathode for sodium batteries, and shows anionic redox reaction (ARR) and exhibits a first charging capacity of ∼110 mA h g-1. The electrochemical mechanism of NMAO was comprehensively investigated by X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Raman spectroscopy, and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The reversible oxygen redox behaviour is triggered by Al3+ through oxygen quasi non-bonding states generated by the relatively ionic interaction of Al and O. Furthermore, the presence of Al3+ can suppress oxygen loss in ARR. This work provides new insights into the design and mechanism of anionic redox active cathode materials.

Modern breeding efforts have been accelerating crop improvement and yielding numerous cultivars with distinct genetic traits; however, interactions between different cultivars and their root-associated arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are not clear. Herein, we selected the 22 most common commercial maize (Zea mays) varieties in China and an inbred line (B73) to study the differential responses of these 23 cultivars to mycorrhizal inoculation when grown in an arable soil polluted by multiple metals (Pb, Zn, and Cd). We found that the different cultivars exhibited significant variations in plant metal accumulation, ranging from strong metal exclusion (ZYY9) to strong metal accumulation (B73). Mycorrhizal colonization substantially altered metal uptake and repartitioning, while bioaugmenting the inherent characteristics of metal accumulation; for example, the AMF enhanced leaf accumulation of the metal-accumulator B73, and markedly reduced the root uptake of the metal-excluder ZYY9. However, such AMF-induced alterations were also substantially dependent on plant organs (roots and shoots) and metal species. We found that the extent of the AMF-induced leaf alterations was substantially greater than that of the root alterations. Similarly, the number of instances where the AMF significantly altered the Zn and Cd accumulation was far higher than the number of instances where Pb accumulation was significantly altered by AMF. In addition, the presence of AMF appeared to trigger the maize antioxidant systems, which may have alleviated the toxicity of excessive Cd, increased the leaf chlorophyll content, augmented the net photosynthetic rate, and promoted the growth of 17.39% of the maize cultivars. Our results suggest that a future crop breeding challenge is to produce cultivars for safe production or phytoremediation, thereby optimizing the combinations of crop cultivars and their root-associated AMF in slightly to moderately metal-polluted arable soils.

Populus yunnanensis Dode, a facultative metallophytic poplar, exhibits afforestation potential in barren mine tailing areas. However, the interactions and functional roles of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus (AMF) in P. yunnanensis adaptability to heavy metal stress remain unclear. Physiological and molecular responses of P. yunnanensis plantlets to AMF (Funneliformis mosseae) under cadmium (Cd) stress (50 mg kg−1) were investigated. Results showed attenuation of Cd phytotoxicity effects on cell organelles upon AMF inoculation, which also reduced the Cd concentration in the poplar leaves, stems, and roots. Under Cd stress, AMF-blocking of metal transporter (e.g., Ca2+ channel) activity occurred, decreasing root cell Cd influx by reducing H+ efflux. Bioaugmentation of rhizosphere sediments by AMF to stabilize metals with a decreasing DTPA-extractable Cd also occurred. The AMF inoculation promoted Cd conversion into inactive, less phytotoxic forms, and helped to maintain ion homeostasis and relieve nutritional ion (e.g., Ca, Mg) disorders caused by excessive Cd. Leaf enzyme and non-enzyme antioxidant systems were triggered. Root and leaf physiological response patterns differed. The AMF regulated the poplar functional genes, and nine metal-responsive gene clusters were identified. We suggest that AMF is a functional component of P. yunnanensis phenotype extension, contributing to strong adaptability to unfavorable mine tailings conditions.

Recent evidences demonstrate that dysregulated expression of microRNA-320d (miR-320d) has been associated with several cancer development and progression. However the effect of miR-320d on gastric cardiac adenocarcinoma (GCA) and the association of miR-320d with its potential gene target FoxM1 remain unclear. Here, we evaluated expression profile of miR-320d and FoxM1 in 60 human GCA tissues and GCA cell lines (OE-19 and SK-GT2). Immunohistochemistry, qualitative PCR and western-blotting were performed in GCA tissues to detect the expression level of miR-320d and FoxM1. CCK-8, transwell, wound-healing assays, and in vivo experiments were conducted using GCA cells that treated with miR-320d mimics or inhibitors to evaluate the biological functions of miR-320d. Luciferase reporter assay was conducted to confirm possible binding sites of FoxM1 for miR-320d. Compared with paired non-cancerous tissues, it showed that miR-320d expression was significantly decreased in GCA specimens (P P

The Pleurotus ostreatus species complex is saprotrophic and of significant economic and ecological importance. However, species delimitation has long been problematic because of phenotypic plasticity and morphological stasis. In addition, the evolutionary history is poorly understood due to limited sampling and insufficient gene fragments employed for phylogenetic analyses. Comprehensive sampling from Asia, Europe, North and South America and Africa was used to run phylogenetic analyses of the P. ostreatus species complex based on 40 nuclear single-copy orthologous genes using maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference analyses. Here, we present a robust phylogeny of the P. ostreatus species complex, fully resolved from the deepest nodes to species level. The P. ostreatus species complex was strongly supported as monophyletic, and 20 phylogenetic species were recognized, with seven putatively new species. Data from our molecular clock analyses suggested that divergence of the genus Pleurotus probably occurred in the late Jurassic, while the most recent common ancestor of the P. ostreatus species complex diversified about 39 Ma in East Asia. Species of the P. ostreatus complex might migrate from the East Asia into North America across the North Atlantic Land Bridge or the Bering Land Bridge at different times during the late Oligocene, late Miocene and late Pliocene, and then diversified in the Old and New Worlds simultaneously through multiple dispersal and vicariance events. The dispersal from East Asia to South America in the middle Oligocene was probably achieved by a long-distance dispersal event. Intensification of aridity and climate cooling events in the late Miocene and Quaternary glacial cycling probably had a significant influence on diversification patterns of the complex. The disjunctions among East Asia, Europe, North America and Africa within Clade IIc are hypothesized to be a result of allopatric speciation. Substrate transitions to Apiaceae probably occurred no earlier than 6 Ma. Biogeographic analyses suggested that the global cooling of the late Eocene, intensification of aridity caused by rapid uplift of the QTP and retreat of the Tethys Sea in the late Miocene, climate cooling events in Quaternary glacial cycling, and substrate transitions have contributed jointly to diversification of the species complex.

Both the vibrational and electrical transport properties of $2H\text{\ensuremath{-}}{\mathrm{TaS}}_{2}$ have been investigated at high pressures and low temperatures. The collapse of the charge-density-wave order at pressures above 7.3 GPa has been verified by Raman scattering, resistivity, and Hall coefficient measurements. For pressures above the critical pressure of 7.3 GPa, the superconducting transition temperature continues to increase and reaches its maximum value at 11.5 GPa, suggesting that it is not a simple competition between the charge-density-wave order and superconductivity. Through the standard resistivity fit in the normal state, the decline of the superconducting transition temperature with increasing pressure up to 47.0 GPa is due to the decrease of interaction strength and the increase of the impurity scattering. These results are very important in understanding the superconducting mechanism of transition-metal dichalcogenides.

The Pleurotus ostreatus species complex is saprotrophic and of significant economic and ecological importance. However, species delimitation has long been problematic because of phenotypic plasticity and morphological stasis. In addition, the evolutionary history is poorly understood due to limited sampling and insufficient gene fragments employed for phylogenetic analyses. Comprehensive sampling from Asia, Europe, North and South America and Africa was used to run phylogenetic analyses of the P. ostreatus species complex based on 40 nuclear single-copy orthologous genes using maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference analyses. Here, we present a robust phylogeny of the P. ostreatus species complex, fully resolved from the deepest nodes to species level. The P. ostreatus species complex was strongly supported as monophyletic, and 20 phylogenetic species were recognized, with seven putatively new species. Data from our molecular clock analyses suggested that divergence of the genus Pleurotus probably occurred in the late Jurassic, while the most recent common ancestor of the P. ostreatus species complex diversified about 39 Ma in East Asia. Species of the P. ostreatus complex might migrate from the East Asia into North America across the North Atlantic Land Bridge or the Bering Land Bridge at different times during the late Oligocene, late Miocene and late Pliocene, and then diversified in the Old and New Worlds simultaneously through multiple dispersal and vicariance events. The dispersal from East Asia to South America in the middle Oligocene was probably achieved by a long-distance dispersal event. Intensification of aridity and climate cooling events in the late Miocene and Quaternary glacial cycling probably had a significant influence on diversification patterns of the complex. The disjunctions among East Asia, Europe, North America and Africa within Clade IIc are hypothesized to be a result of allopatric speciation. Substrate transitions to Apiaceae probably occurred no earlier than 6 Ma. Biogeographic analyses suggested that the global cooling of the late Eocene, intensification of aridity caused by rapid uplift of the QTP and retreat of the Tethys Sea in the late Miocene, climate cooling events in Quaternary glacial cycling, and substrate transitions have contributed jointly to diversification of the species complex.

Facile synthesis of ultrasmall metal-based materials as highly efficient bifunctional electrocatalysts for both the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is of v...

Exophiala pisciphila is one of the dominant dark septate endophytes (DSEs) colonizing metal-polluted slag heaps in southwest China. It shows numerous super-metal-tolerant characteristics, but the molecular mechanisms involved remain largely unknown. In the present study, the functional roles of a specific set of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters in E. pisciphila were characterized. In total, 26 EpABC genes belonging to 6 subfamilies (ABCA to ABCG) were annotated in previous transcriptome sequencing libraries, and all were regulated by metal ions (Pb, Zn, and Cd), which was dependent on the metal species and/or concentrations tested. The results from the heterologous expression of 3 representative EpABC genes confirmed that the expression of EpABC2.1, EpABC3.1, or EpABC4.1 restored the growth of metal-sensitive mutant Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains and significantly improved the tolerance of Arabidopsis thaliana to Pb, Zn, and Cd. Interestingly, the expression of the 3 EpABC genes further altered metal (Pb, Zn, and Cd) uptake and accumulation and promoted growth by alleviating the inhibitory activity in yeast and thale cress caused by toxic ions. These functions along with their vacuolar location suggest that the 3 EpABC transporters may enhance the detoxification of vacuolar compartmentation via transport activities across their membranes. In conclusion, the 26 annotated EpABC transporters may play a major role in maintaining the homeostasis of various metal ions in different cellular compartments, conferring an extreme adaptative advantage to E. pisciphila in metal-polluted slag heaps. IMPORTANCE Many ABC transporters and their functions have been identified in animals and plants. However, little is known about ABC genes in filamentous fungi, especially DSEs, which tend to dominantly colonize the roots of plants growing in stressed environments. Our results deepen the understanding of the function of the ABC genes of a super-metal-tolerant DSE (E. pisciphila) in enhancing its heavy metal resistance and detoxification. Furthermore, the genetic resources of DSEs, e.g., numerous EpABC genes, especially from super-metal-tolerant strains in heavy metal-polluted environments, can be directly used for transgenic applications to improve tolerance and phytoextraction potential.

In order to improve the position tracking control performance of the alternating current (AC) asynchronous motor under the uncertainties caused by parameter perturbations and load disturbance, a command filter-based backstepping sliding mode control strategy is proposed using nonlinear disturbance observers (NDOs). Firstly, NDOs are designed to observe the system uncertainties, which improve the position tracking control precision of the system effectively. Secondly, the rotor flux linkage-oriented vector control scheme is adopted, and the backstepping sliding mode controllers are designed for the position subsystem and the flux linkage subsystem, respectively, which improve the dynamic and static performance and the robust stability of the system effectively. Besides, during the design processes of backstepping sliding mode controllers, command filters are adopted to estimate the virtual control inputs and their first time derivatives, which eliminate the “explosion of complexity” problem. Theoretical analysis shows that the resulting closed-loop system is bounded stability. Finally, simulation results show the superiority of the proposed control strategy in comparison with the proposed strategy without NDOs and the command filter-based backstepping control strategy.

A polarisation grating (PG) based on the hybrid photo-aligned double-frequency liquid crystal has been demonstrated and fabricated in this paper. The single-order diffraction efficiency is above 95% for circular polarisation incident light. The PG can be driven by 2.5 V/µm electric field with alternating frequency and has no Freedericksz transition threshold. In response time, the rise time and decay time are 650 and 950 , respectively; the sub-millisecond can be achieved under a low driving voltage.

Herein, a polymeric graphitic carbon nitride (for simplicity, g-C3N4) photocatalyst has been identified as a promising material for hydrogen production from water due to its comparatively low cost and facile modification of its electronic structure. However, to date, how to speed up the transfer rate of photogenerated charges, especially hole transfer rate, still remains a formidable challenge. Herein, a novel system of g-C3N4/1,1′-ferrocenedicarboxylic acid (FcDA) composites was developed for efficient visible light-driven H2 evolution, in which the redox mediator FcDA served as hole-transport molecules and platinum (Pt) acted as an electron sink. The FcDA molecules are anchored onto g-C3N4 by hydrogen-bonding interactions between the carboxylic groups and amino groups as well as π–π interactions between aromatic FcDA and graphitic C3N4. The matched energy-levels between g-C3N4 and FcDA facilitate photogenerated hole transfer from the g-C3N4 valence band to FcDA that results in the formation of FcDA+ radicals, and thus, photoinduced electrons and holes are efficiently separated. Due to the additional charge separation pathway, enhanced hole transfer kinetics, and the extremely rapid intermolecular radical reactions, charge recombination is effectively suppressed; therefore, more electrons can be released for hydrogen production. Under optimal experimental conditions, the developed g-C3N4/FcDA composite with 4 wt% FcDA exhibits high water splitting activity with a H2 evolution rate of up to 77.91 μmol h−1, which is nearly 6 times that of bare g-C3N4 (13.18 μmol h−1). Moreover, the obtained g-C3N4/FcDA photocatalyst displays excellent stability, and there is no obvious decrease in the H2-production rate after five test cycles. Thus, we anticipate that our simple modification strategy will offer an avenue to merge the polymeric g-C3N4 photocatalyst with surface organometallic chemistry for high-efficiency solar-to-fuel conversion.

The design and development of highly efficient and long lifetime Pd-based catalysts for hydrogenation reactions have attracted significant research interest over the past few decades. Rational selection of supports for Pd loadings with strong metal-support interaction (SMSI) is beneficial for boosting catalytic activity and stability. In this context, we have developed a facile approach for uniformly immobilizing ultra-small Pd nanoparticles (NPs) with a clean surface on a Pr6O11 support by a hydrogen thermal reduction method. The hydrogenations of p-nitrophenol and styrene are used as model reactions to evaluate the catalytic efficiency. The results show highly efficient styrene hydrogenation performance under 1 atm H2 at room temperature with a TOF value as high as 8957.7 h−1, and the rate constant value of p-nitrophenol reduction is 0.0191 s−1. Strong metal-support interaction and good dispersion of Pd nanoparticles, as demonstrated by XPS and HRTEM results, contribute to the excellent hydrogenation performance. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) results suggest the presence of oxygen vacancies in the support, which serve as electron donors and enhance the adsorption and activation of reactants and subsequent conversion into products. Moreover, the catalyst can be recovered and reused up to 10 consecutive cycles without marked loss of activity. Overall, our results indicate that oxygen-deficient Pr6O11 nanorods (NRs) not only play a role as support but also work as the promoter to substantially boost the catalytic activities for organic transformations, therefore, providing a novel strategy to develop other high-performance nanostructured catalysts for environmental sustainability.