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The Antarctic fungus Geomyces sp. WNF-15A can produce high-quality red pigments (AGRP) with good prospects for the use in food and cosmetic area. However, efficient AGRP synthesis relies on low-temperature and thus limits its industrial development. Here genome sequencing and comparative analysis were performed on the wild-type versus to four mutants derived from natural mutagenesis and transposon insertion mutation. Eleven mutated genes were identified from 2309 SNPs and 256 Indels. A CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing system was established for functional analysis of these genes. Deficiency of scaffold1.t692 and scaffold2.t704 with unknown functions highly improved AGRP synthesis at all tested temperatures. Of note, the two mutants produced comparable levels of AGRP at 20 °C to the wild-type at 14 °C. They also broke the normal-temperature limitation and effectively synthesized AGRP at 25 °C. Comparative metabolomic analysis revealed that deficiency of scaffold1.t692 improved AGRP synthesis by regulation of global metabolic pathways especially downregulation of the competitive pathways. Knockout of key genes responsible for the differential metabolites confirmed the metabolomic results. This study shows new clues for cold-adaptive regulatory mechanism of polar fungi. It also provides references for exploitation and utilization of psychrotrophic fungal resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rotating waves can be observed in structures with periodic conditions, such as cylinders and spheres. Compared with traveling waves and standing waves, rotating waves have received less attention. In this paper, an odd elastic dynamic model of the cylindrical shells is established, and the dispersion relation, traveling waves, and standing waves are investigated. The non-Hermitian rotating waves and single-handedness chiral standing spin waves are reported, which are novel dynamic phenomenon caused by odd elastic effects. Waves generally cannot propagate in passive materials with vanishingly small elastic modulus. However, a unidirectional wave with the highest cut off frequency can occur in an odd elastic cylindrical shell with vanishingly small elastic modulus. For incompletely restrained end displacements, the odd elastic cylindrical shell can also generate a hybrid mode combining standing spin waves with unidirectional waves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report in this work several unexpected experimental observations on evaporation from hydrogels under visible light illumination. 1) Partially wetted hydrogels become absorbing in the visible spectral range, where the absorption by both the water and the hydrogel materials is negligible. 2) Illumination of hydrogel under solar or visible-spectrum light-emitting diode leads to evaporation rates exceeding the thermal evaporation limit, even in hydrogels without additional absorbers. 3) The evaporation rates are wavelength dependent, peaking at 520 nm. 4) Temperature of the vapor phase becomes cooler under light illumination and shows a flat region due to breaking-up of the clusters that saturates air. And 5) vapor phase transmission spectra under light show new features and peak shifts. We interpret these observations by introducing the hypothesis that photons in the visible spectrum can cleave water clusters off surfaces due to large electrical field gradients and quadrupole force on molecular clusters. We call the light-induced evaporation process the photomolecular effect. The photomolecular evaporation might be happening widely in nature, potentially impacting climate and plants' growth, and can be exploited for clean water and energy technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effector T cells need to form immunological synapses (IS) with recognized target cells to elicit cytolytic effects. Facilitating IS formation is the principal pharmacological action of most T cell-based cancer immunotherapies. However, the dynamics of IS formation at the cell population level, the primary driver of the pharmacodynamics of many cancer immunotherapies, remains poorly defined. Using classic immunotherapy CD3/CD19 bispecific T cell engager (BiTE) as our model system, we integrate experimental and theoretical approaches to investigate the population dynamics of IS formation and their relevance to clinical pharmacodynamics and treatment resistance. Our models produce experimentally consistent predictions when defining IS formation as a series of spatiotemporally coordinated events driven by molecular and cellular interactions. The models predict tumor-killing pharmacodynamics in patients and reveal trajectories of tumor evolution across anatomical sites under BiTE immunotherapy. Our models highlight the bone marrow as a potential sanctuary site permitting tumor evolution and antigen escape. The models also suggest that optimal dosing regimens are a function of tumor growth, CD19 expression, and patient T cell abundance, which confer adequate tumor control with reduced disease evolution. This work has implications for developing more effective T cell-based cancer immunotherapies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multimodal sentiment analysis is an essential task in natural language processing which refers to the fact that machines can analyze and recognize emotions through logical reasoning and mathematical operations after learning multimodal emotional features. For the problem of how to consider the effective fusion of multimodal data and the relevance of multimodal data in multimodal sentiment analysis, we propose an attention-based mechanism feature relevance fusion multimodal sentiment analysis model (AFR-BERT). In the data pre-processing stage, text features are extracted using the pre-trained language model BERT (Bi-directional Encoder Representation from Transformers), and the BiLSTM (Bi-directional Long Short-Term Memory) is used to obtain the internal information of the audio. In the data fusion phase, the multimodal data fusion network effectively fuses multimodal features through the interaction of text and audio information. During the data analysis phase, the multimodal data association network analyzes the data by exploring the correlation of fused information between text and audio. In the data output phase, the model outputs the results of multimodal sentiment analysis. We conducted extensive comparative experiments on the publicly available sentiment analysis datasets CMU-MOSI and CMU-MOSEI. The experimental results show that AFR-BERT improves on the classical multimodal sentiment analysis model in terms of relevant performance metrics. In addition, ablation experiments and example analysis show that the multimodal data analysis network in AFR-BERT can effectively capture and analyze the sentiment features in text and audio. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

INTRODUCTION: The influence of sedation on the endoscopic detection rate of upper gastrointestinal (UGI) early cancer (EC) and precancerous lesions, including high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia (HGIN) and low-grade intraepithelial neoplasia, has not been assessed. The aim of this research is to assess whether the use of sedation can help improve the detection rate of UGI EC and precancerous lesions. The second objective is to evaluate its potential influencing factors. METHODS: The study includes 432,202 patients from a multicenter database from January 2012 to July 2019. Information on endoscopic findings and histology biopsies was obtained from endoscopy quality-control system. Associations of sedation with the detection rate of EC and precancerous lesions were assessed. RESULTS: The sedation group has a higher detection rate of UGI EC and HGIN compared with the no-sedation group, whereas the detection rate of low-grade intraepithelial neoplasia was similar between the 2 groups. There were more cases examined by using staining, image enhancement, or magnifying techniques in the sedation group (P < 0.001). And, the mean observation time was also longer in the sedation group (P < 0.001). The type 0-IIb esophageal HGIN and EC cases were significantly increased in the sedation group. No significant difference was detected on lesion subtypes for gastric HGIN and EC according to the Paris classification. More gastric HGIN and EC were detected at gastric body in the sedation group (P = 0.001). DISCUSSION: Sedation may improve the endoscopic detection rate of EC and HGIN in the UGI tract probably through enhancing the use of accessary endoscopic techniques, prolonging observation time, and taking more biopsies in different locations (see Visual Abstract, Supplementary Digital Content 2, http://links.lww.com/AJG/B926). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study introduces an immersed boundary (IB) method based on coefficient array transformations of discrete equations for local cells and local flow pattern reconstruction, for the simulation of turbulent flow and combustion chemistry inside combustors with complex structure. This IB method is combined with a geometric scanning algorithm that traverses each fluid grid point in the vicinity of the wall, and based on the exact wall positions and normal vectors obtained from the scanning, the coefficient matrices of the individual grid points and their discrete forms of the governing equations are transformed, and the boundary conditions are added implicitly and exactly. The effectiveness of the method is validated through simulations of a cylinder, a gas turbine model combustor [Meier et al., "Spray and flame structure of a generic injector at aeroengine conditions," in Proceedings of the ASME 2011 Turbo Expo: Power for Land, Sea, and Air (American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 2011), pp. 61–72 and Freitag et al., "Measurement of initial conditions of a kerosene spray from a generic aeroengine injector at elevated pressure," Atomization Sprays 21, 521 (2011)], and a specific aero-engine combustor, demonstrating precision comparable to traditional body-fitted mesh approaches, especially for complex combustor structures. The simulation demonstrates that the IB method achieves accuracy comparable to a fitted grid when it provides boundary information of similar quality and detail for control equations. The locally reconstructed IB method introduced in this paper successfully delivers high-precision boundary conditions, making it valuable for practical engineering applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the hydrodynamic regime, phonons drift with a nonzero collective velocity under a temperature gradient, reminiscent of viscous gas and fluid flow. The study of hydrodynamic phonon transport has spanned over half a century but has been mostly limited to cryogenic temperatures (~1 K) and more recently to low-dimensional materials. Here, we identify graphite as a three-dimensional material that supports phonon hydrodynamics at significantly higher temperatures (~100 K) based on first-principles calculations. In particular, by solving the Boltzmann equation for phonon transport in graphite ribbons, we predict that phonon Poiseuille flow and Knudsen minimum can be experimentally observed above liquid nitrogen temperature. Further, we reveal the microscopic origin of these intriguing phenomena in terms of the dependence of the effective boundary scattering rate on momentum-conserving phonon-phonon scattering processes and the collective motion of phonons. The significant hydrodynamic nature of phonon transport in graphite is attributed to its strong intralayer sp2 hybrid bonding and weak van der Waals interlayer interactions. More intriguingly, the reflection symmetry associated with a single graphene layer is broken in graphite, which opens up more momentum-conserving phonon-phonon scattering channels and results in stronger hydrodynamic features in graphite than graphene. As a boundary-sensitive transport regime, phonon hydrodynamics opens up new possibilities for thermal management and energy conversion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Temporarily depriving one eye of its input, in whole or in part, results in a transient shift in eye dominance in human adults, with the patched eye becoming stronger and the unpatched eye weaker. However, little is known about the role of colour contrast in these behavioural changes. Here, we first show that the changes in eye dominance and contrast sensitivity induced by monocular eye patching affect colour and achromatic contrast sensitivity equally. We next use dichoptic movies, customized and filtered to stimulate the two eyes differentially. We show that a strong imbalance in achromatic contrast between the eyes, with no colour content, also produces similar, unselective shifts in eye dominance for both colour and achromatic contrast sensitivity. Interestingly, if this achromatic imbalance is paired with similar colour contrast in both eyes, the shift in eye dominance is selective, affecting achromatic but not chromatic contrast sensitivity and revealing a dissociation in eye dominance for colour and achromatic image content. On the other hand, a strong imbalance in chromatic contrast between the eyes, with no achromatic content, produces small, unselective changes in eye dominance, but if paired with similar achromatic contrast in both eyes, no changes occur. We conclude that perceptual changes in eye dominance are strongly driven by interocular imbalances in achromatic contrast, with colour contrast having a significant counter balancing effect. In the short term, eyes can have different dominances for achromatic and chromatic contrast, suggesting separate pathways at the site of these neuroplastic changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to determine the functional traits and reproductive allocation (RA) strategy of the invasive plant Conyza canadensis across different invasion degrees along a latitude gradient in China. Invasion degree did not affect the functional traits and RA strategy of C. canadensis significantly. The high proportion of reproductive biomass (allocating approximately 20% of total biomass into reproductive behaviors) of C. canadensis across different invasion degrees can achieve a fitness advantage in broadening its habitat niches and can eventually attain a successful invasion. The higher proportion of reproductive biomass of C. canadensis in warm temperate and subtropical monsoon climatic zones may play an important role in its successful invasion in the two climatic zones in China. One possible reason for this is that eastern China and northern China, in which C. canadensis vigorously occurs, have the same or similar climate as their natural habitat in the original distribution region. The proportion of reproductive biomass of C. canadensis positively correlated with its total biomass, aboveground biomass, belowground biomass, and vegetative biomass, as well as with its height and leaf size. Meanwhile, temperature rather than annual sunshine hours or annual precipitation was determined to be the most important environmental factor that triggers pronounced effects on the RA strategy of C. canadensis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Here we investigate the half-Heusler ZrNiPb as a n-type thermoelectric material. Our results show that the n-type ZrNiPb-based materials can achieve high peak power factors, ~50 μW cm-1 K-2, by optimally tuning the carrier concentration via Bi doping. By further Sn-alloying in Pb site, we achieve a significant reduction of lattice thermal conductivity while maintaining the power factor almost unchanged and hence noticeably improve the ZT. Our work demonstrates that n-type ZrNiPb-based half-Heuslers are promising thermoelectric materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant invasion succeeds because of such invader characteristics as fecundity and high-efficiency multiple reproduction modes. The acquisition of individual resources and the benefits of individual fitness are driven by optimum patterns of life history and trade-offs of reproductive allocation (RA) in plants, and variations in RA strategy play an key role in plant adaptation to environmental changes. Thus determining the RA strategy of invasive plants is important for understanding the successful mechanism underlying plant invasion. This study aims to determine the reproductive allocation (RA) strategy of two herbaceous invasive plants (Conyza canadensis and Solidago canadensis) across different cover classes in eastern China. Plant height, maximum branch length, the reproductive branch number, aboveground biomass, the amount of reproductive investment, and the coefficient of RA of the two plants decreased with increasing cover class (although the changes were not pronounced). Thus the two plants may decrease physiological investment on reproductive behavior and reduce RA under competitive conditions because of interspecies competition that progressively decreased and intraspecific competition that gradually increased with increasing cover class. The RA of the two plants may be principally influenced by plant community composition at low cover classes, but by soil pH at high cover classes. This may be the outcome that soil pH of the two plants decreased with increasing cover class significantly. Thus, intraspecific competition for resources may play an important role in the RA strategy of the two plants under high cover class. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well known that the efficiency of a good thermoelectric material should be optimized with respect to doping concentration. However, much less attention has been paid to the optimization of the dopant's energy level. Thermoelectric materials doped with shallow levels may experience a dramatic reduction in their figures of merit at high temperatures due to the excitation of minority carriers that reduces the Seebeck coefficient and increases bipolar heat conduction. Doping with deep level impurities can delay the excitation of minority carriers as it requires a higher temperature to ionize all dopants. We find through modeling that, depending on the material type and temperature range of operation, different impurity levels (shallow or deep) will be desired to optimize the efficiency of a thermoelectric material. For different materials, we further clarify where the most preferable position of the impurity level within the bandgap falls. Our research provides insight on why different dopants often affect thermoelectric transport properties differently and directions in searching for the most appropriate dopants for a thermoelectric material in order to maximize the device efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the thermoelectric figure ofmerit zT above 300 K has seen significant improvement recently, the progress at lower temperatures has been slow, mainly limited by the relatively low Seebeck coefficient and high thermal conductivity. Here we report, for the first time to our knowledge, success in first-principles computation of the phonon drag effect--a coupling phenomenon between electrons and nonequilibrium phonons--in heavily doped region and its optimization to enhance the Seebeck coefficient while reducing the phonon thermal conductivity by nanostructuring. Our simulation quantitatively identifies the major phonons contributing to the phonon drag, which are spectrally distinct from those carrying heat, and further reveals that although the phonon drag is reduced in heavily doped samples, a significant contribution to Seebeck coefficient still exists. An ideal phonon filter is proposed to enhance zT of silicon at room temperature by a factor of 20 to ~0.25, and the enhancement can reach 70 times at 100 K. This work opens up a new venue toward better thermoelectrics by harnessing nonequilibrium phonons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disclosedherein is a dehydrosilylative difluoroamidation of α-Csp3–H of tetrahydroisoquinolines with α,α-difluoro-α-TMS-acetamides.The process, which occurs at ambient temperature in the absence ofany transition metals, provides direct access to a broad range ofα,α-difluoroacetamide-substituted tertiary amine derivativesin high yields. Moreover, the method was successfully applied in theCsp3–H-directed difluorophosphorylation and difluorocarboxylationunder the same conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The monolayer of black phosphorus, or "phosphorene," has recently emerged as a two-dimensional semiconductor with intriguing highly anisotropic transport properties. Existing calculations of its intrinsic phonon-limited electronic transport properties so far rely on the deformation potential approximation, which is in general not directly applicable to anisotropic materials since the deformation along one specific direction can scatter electrons traveling in all directions. We perform a first-principles calculation of the electron-phonon interaction in phosphorene based on density functional perturbation theory and Wannier interpolation. Our calculation reveals that (1) the high anisotropy provides extra phase space for electron-phonon scattering, and (2) optical phonons have appreciable contributions. Both effects cannot be captured by the deformation potential calculations. Our simulation predicts carrier mobilities ~170 cm2/Vs for both electrons and holes at 300 K, and a thermoelectric figure of merit zT of up to 0.14 in p-type impurity-free phosphorene at 500 K. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Several recent studies have demonstrated that following short-term monocular deprivation in normal adults, the patched eye, rather than the unpatched eye, becomes stronger in subsequent binocular viewing. However, little is known about the site and nature of the underlying processes. In this study, we examine the underlying mechanisms by measuring steady-state visual evoked potentials (SSVEPs) as an index of the neural contrast response in early visual areas. Methods: The experiment consisted of three consecutive stages: a pre-patching EEG recording (14 minutes), a monocular patching stage (2.5 hours) and a post-patching EEG recording (14 minutes; started immediately after the removal of the patch). During the patching stage, a diffuser (transmits light but not pattern) was placed in front of one randomly selected eye. During the EEG recording stage, contrast response functions for each eye were measured. Results: The neural responses from the patched eye increased after the removal of the patch, whilst the responses from the unpatched eye remained the same. Such phenomena occurred under both monocular and dichoptic viewing conditions. Conclusions:We interpret this eye dominance plasticity in adult human visual cortex as homeostatic intrinsic plasticity regulated by an increase of contrast-gain in the patched eye. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We generalize the two-temperature model [Sanders and Walton, Phys. Rev. B 15, 1489 (1977)] for coupled phonon-magnon diffusion to include the effect of the concurrent magnetization flow, with a particular emphasis on the thermal consequence of the magnon flow driven by a nonuniform magnetic field. Working within the framework of the Boltzmann transport equation, we derive the constitutive equations for coupled phonon-magnon transport driven by gradients of both temperature and external magnetic fields, and the corresponding conservation laws. Our equations reduce to the original Sanders- Walton two-temperature model under a uniform external field, but predict a new magnon cooling effect driven by a nonuniform magnetic field in a homogeneous single-domain ferromagnet. We estimate the magnitude of the cooling effect in an yttrium iron garnet, and show it is within current experimental reach. With properly optimized materials, the predicted cooling effect can potentially supplement the conventional magnetocaloric effect in cryogenic applications in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to explore the neural development status of the visual system of children (around 8 years old) using contrast sensitivity. We achieved this by eliminating the influence of higher order aberrations (HOAs) with adaptive optics correction. We measured HOAs, modulation transfer functions (MTFs) and contrast sensitivity functions (CSFs) of six children and five adults with both corrected and uncorrected HOAs. We found that when HOAs were corrected, children and adults both showed improvements in MTF and CSF. However, the CSF of children was still lower than the adult level, indicating the difference in contrast sensitivity between groups cannot be explained by differences in optical factors. Further study showed that the difference between the groups also could not be explained by differences in non-visual factors. With these results we concluded that the neural systems underlying vision in children of around 8 years old are still immature in contrast sensitivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Luminance plays a modulating role in the processes of several visual tasks, which in turn provides significant information for the understanding of visual processing. Here, using a binocular phase combination paradigm, we studied the effect of unilateral changes in mean luminance on binocular combination in both normal and amblyopic vision. We found, in normal observers, attenuation of one eye's stimulus luminance with neutral density filters produces binocular phase combination similar to those of amblyopic subjects. Correspondingly, in amblyopic observers, reduction of the fellow eye's stimulus luminance produces binocular phase combination similar to those of normal subjects. These phenomena could be explained by an attenuated contribution of the filtered eye to the binocular phase percept due to reduced gain-control. The findings have major implications both for the study of binocular combination and for amblyopia treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: How the visual system combines information from the two eyes to form a unitary binocular representation of the external world is a fundamental question in vision science that has been the focus of many psychophysical and physiological investigations. Ding & Sperling (2006) measured perceived phase of the cyclopean image, and developed a binocular combination model in which each eye exerts gain control on the other eye's signal and over the other eye's gain control. Critically, the relative phase of the monocular sine-waves plays a central role. Methodology/Principal Findings: We used the Ding-Sperling paradigm but measured both the perceived contrast and phase of cyclopean images in three hundred and eighty combinations of base contrast, interocular contrast ratio, eye origin of the probe, and interocular phase difference. We found that the perceived contrast of the cyclopean image was independent of the relative phase of the two monocular gratings, although the perceived phase depended on the relative phase and contrast ratio of the monocular images. We developed a new multi-pathway contrast-gain control model (MCM) that elaborates the Ding-Sperling binocular combination model in two ways: (1) phase and contrast of the cyclopean images are computed in separate pathways, although with shared cross-eye contrast-gain control; and (2) phaseindependent local energy from the two monocular images are used in binocular contrast combination. With three free parameters, the model yielded an excellent account of data from all the experimental conditions. Conclusions/Significance: Binocular phase combination depends on the relative phase and contrast ratio of the monocular images but binocular contrast combination is phase-invariant. Our findings suggest the involvement of at least two separate pathways in binocular combination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the first time, the fault tree mapping dynamic Bayesian network (DBN) method is applied to the reliability research study of centrifugal compressor units, and its usability and reliability are evaluated dynamically. First, the fault data using the K-means method eliminates abnormal data and builds a fault tree model. The structure is mapped to the DBN structure to complete the structure learning, and the logic gate is mapped to the conditional probability to achieve the parameter learning. Then the model is solved bidirectionally. The change rule of system node reliability with time is solved forward, and the posterior probability of the system node is solved reversely to complete fault diagnosis. Finally, Monte Carlo simulation analysis and the Markov process verify the dynamic reliability and steady-state availability. The results show that the Monte Carlo simulation method is almost consistent with the reliability prediction curve of the DBN model. Indicating that the accuracy of the DBN model is reliable and the computational efficiency is improved by about 81434 times. The steady-state availability calculated using the DBN model is approximately 0.99963, which is close to reality compared to the Markov process. This method can better describe centrifugal compressor units' dynamic reliability and maintainability and provide decision support for regular maintenance of essential parts and enterprise procurement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To push upper boundaries of thermal conductivity in polymer composites, understanding of thermal transport mechanisms is crucial. Despite extensive simulations, systematic experimental investigation on thermal transport in polymer composites is limited. To better understand thermal transport processes, we design polymer composites with perfect fillers (graphite) and defective fillers (graphite oxide), using polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as a matrix model. Measured thermal conductivities of ~1.38 ± 0.22 W m-1 K-1 in PVA/defective filler composites is higher than those of ~0.86 ± 0.21 W m-1 K-1 in PVA/perfect filler composites, while measured thermal conductivities in defective fillers are lower than those of perfect fillers. We identify how thermal transport occurs across heterogeneous interfaces. Thermal transport measurements, neutron scattering, quantum mechanical modeling, and molecular dynamics simulations reveal that vibrational coupling between PVA and defective fillers at PVA/filler interfaces enhances thermal conductivity, suggesting that defects in polymer composites improve thermal transport by promoting this vibrational coupling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We establish the existence of global large smooth solutions to one-dimensional, compressible Navier--Stokes system for a viscous and heat-conducting ionized gas when the viscosity depends on the density and the heat conductivity depends on both the density and the absolute temperature. Unlike the case either for the ideal polytropic gases and the real gases or for nonlinear thermoviscoelasticity, in addition to the basic five thermodynamic variables, i.e., the specific volume, the absolute temperature, the pressure, the specific internal energy, and the specific entropy, the state of an ionized gas depends further on the degree of ionization, which can be expressed as a function of the specific volume and the absolute temperature by Saha's ionization equation. Such a dependence leads to the loss of genuine nonlinearity for both forward and backward characteristic fields and hence the loss of concavity of the physical entropy in some small bounded region. As a consequence, one cannot even deduce the desired dissipative estimates on both the bulk velocity and the absolute temperature as for the case of the ideal polytropic gases, the real gases, or nonlinear thermoviscoelasticity, thus making the analysis more difficult. For a class of heat conductivity which depends both on the density and the absolute temperature and a class of density-dependent viscosity which can include the case when the viscosity is a positive constant, we show that the corresponding initial boundary value problem admits a unique global smooth nonvacuum solution provided that the initial data are assumed to be without vacuum, mass concentrations, or vanishing temperatures. The key point in the analysis is to deduce the positive lower and upper bounds on both the specific volume and the absolute temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we establish the global-in-time hydrodynamic limit of the Boltzmann equation to the planar rarefaction wave of a compressible Euler system in three dimensional space x ∈ ℝ³ for general collision kernels. Our approach is based on the Hilbert expansion and a recent L²-L∞ framework. In particular, we improve the L²-estimate to be a localized version because the planar rarefaction wave is indeed a one dimensional wave which makes the source terms not integrable in the L² energy estimate of the three dimensional problem. We also point out that the wave strength of rarefaction may be large. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a first-principles framework to investigate the electron scattering channels and transport properties for polar materials by combining the exact solution of the linearized electron-phonon (e-ph) Boltzmann transport equation in its integral-differential form associated with the e-ph coupling matrices obtained from the polar Wannier interpolation scheme. No ad hoc parameter is required throughout this calculation, and GaAs, a well-studied polar material, is used as an example to demonstrate this method. In this work, the long-range and short-range contributions as well as the intravalley and intervalley transitions in the e-ph interactions (EPIs) have been quantitatively addressed. Promoted by such mode-by-mode analysis, we find that in GaAs, the piezoelectric scattering is comparable to deformation-potential scattering for electron scatterings by acoustic phonons in EPI even at room temperature, and it makes a significant contribution to mobility. Furthermore, we achieved good agreement with experimental data for the mobility, and we identified that electrons with mean free paths between 130 and 210 nm provide the dominant contribution to the electron transport at 300 K. Such information provides a deeper understanding of the electron transport in GaAs, and the presented framework can be readily applied to other polar materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transport properties of semiconductors are key to the performance of many solid-state devices (transistors, data storage, thermoelectric cooling and power generation devices, etc). An understanding of the transport details can lead to material designs with better performances. In recent years simulation tools based on first-principles calculations have been greatly improved, being able to obtain the fundamental ground-state properties of materials (such as band structure and phonon dispersion) accurately. Accordingly, methods have been developed to calculate the transport properties based on an ab initio approach. In this review we focus on the thermal, electrical, and thermoelectric transport properties of semiconductors, which represent the basic transport characteristics of the two degrees of freedom in solids—electronic and lattice degrees of freedom. Starting from the coupled electron-phonon Boltzmann transport equations, we illustrate different scattering mechanisms that change the transport features and review the first-principles approaches that solve the transport equations. We then present the first-principles results on the thermal and electrical transport properties of semiconductors. The discussions are grouped based on different scattering mechanisms including phonon-phonon scattering, phonon scattering by equilibrium electrons, carrier scattering by equilibrium phonons, carrier scattering by polar optical phonons, scatterings due to impurities, alloying and doping, and the phonon drag effect. We show how the first-principles methods allow one to investigate transport properties with unprecedented detail and also offer new insights into the electron and phonon transport. The current status of the simulation is mentioned when appropriate and some of the future directions are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The discoveries of ferromagnetism down to the atomically thin limit in van der Waals (vdW) crystals by mechanical exfoliation have enriched the family of magnetic thin films [C. Gong et al., Nature 546, 265-269 (2017) and B. Huang et al., Nature 546, 270-273 (2017)]. However, compared to the study of traditional magnetic thin films by physical deposition methods, the toolbox of the vdW crystals based on mechanical exfoliation and transfer suffers from low yield and ambient corrosion problem and now is facing new challenges to study magnetism. For example, the formation of magnetic superlattice is difficult in vdW crystals, which limits the study of the interlayer interaction in vdW crystals [M. Gibertini, M. Koperski, A. F. Morpurgo, K. S. Novoselov, Nat. Nanotechnol. 14, 408-419 (2019)]. Here, we report a strategy of interlayer engineering of the magnetic vdW crystal Fe3GeTe2 (FGT) by intercalating quaternary ammonium cations into the vdW spacing. Both three-dimensional (3D) vdW superlattice and two-dimensional (2D) vdW monolayer can be formed by using this method based on the amount of intercalant. On the one hand, the FGT superlattice shows a strong 3D critical behavior with a decreased coercivity and increased domain wall size, attributed to the co-engineering of the anisotropy, exchange interaction, and electron doping by intercalation. On the other hand, the 2D vdW few layers obtained by over-intercalation are capped with organic molecules from the bulk crystal, which not only enhances the ferromagnetic transition temperature (TC), but also substantially protects the thin samples from degradation, thus allowing the preparation of large-scale FGT ink in ambient environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We expand the concept of epitaxy to a regime of “twisted epitaxy” with the epilayer crystal orientation between two substrates influenced by their relative orientation. We annealed nanometer-thick gold (Au) nanoparticles between two substrates of exfoliated hexagonal molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) with varying orientation of their basal planes with a mutual twist angle ranging from 0° to 60°. Transmission electron microscopy studies show that Au aligns midway between the top and bottom MoS2 when the twist angle of the bilayer is small (>~7°). For larger twist angles, Au has only a small misorientation with the bottom MoS2 that varies approximately sinusoidally with twist angle of the bilayer MoS2. Four-dimensional scanning transmission electron microscopy analysis further reveals a periodic strain variation (>|±0.5%|) in the Au nanodisks associated with the twisted epitaxy, consistent with the Moiré registry of the two MoS2 twisted layers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Iconic memory and short-term memory are not only crucial for perception and cognition, but also of great importance to mental health. Here, we first showed that both types of memory could be improved by improving limiting processes in visual processing through perceptual learning. Normal adults were trained in a contrast detection task for ten days, with their higher-order aberrations (HOA) corrected in real-time. We found that the training improved not only their contrast sensitivity function (CSF), but also their iconic memory and baseline information maintenance for short-term memory, and the relationship between memory and CSF improvements could be well-predicted by an observer model. These results suggest that training the limiting component of a cognitive task with visual perceptual learning could improve visual cognition. They may also provide an empirical foundation for new therapies to treat people with poor sensory memory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the conjugated polymer which is molecularly engineered that has high thermal conductivity. Topics mentioned include the application of the polymers to next-generation electronic and optoelectronic devices, the thermal conductivity of the thin film of poly(3-hexythiophene) polymer that is 10 times higher that the traditional polymer, and the use of oxidative chemical vapor deposition (cCVD) technique to grow polymer films.

Space heating and cooling consume ~13% of global energy every year. The development of advanced materials that promote energy savings in heating and cooling is gaining increasing attention. To thermally isolate the space of concern and minimize the heat exchange with the outside environment has been recognized as one effective solution. To this end, here, we develop a universal category of colorful low-emissivity paints to form bilayer coatings consisting of an infrared (IR)-reflective bottom layer and an IR-transparent top layer in colors. The colorful visual appearance ensures the aesthetical effect comparable to conventional paints. High mid-infrared reflectance (up to ~80%) is achieved, which is more than 10 times as conventional paints in the same colors, efficiently reducing both heat gain and loss from/to the outside environment. The high near-IR reflectance also benefits reducing solar heat gain in hot days. The advantageous features of these paints strike a balance between energy savings and penalties for heating and cooling throughout the year, providing a comprehensive year-round energy-saving solution adaptable to a wide variety of climatic zones. Taking a typical midrise apartment building as an example, the application of our colorful low-emissivity paints can realize positive heating, ventilation, and air conditioning energy saving, up to 27.24 MJ/m2/y (corresponding to the 7.4% saving ratio). Moreover, the versatility of the paint, along with its applicability to diverse surfaces of various shapes and materials, makes the paints extensively useful in a range of scenarios, including building envelopes, transportation, and storage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An abstract of the article "Suppression of Neuroinflammation by the Dopamine Receptor D2 via AlphaB-Crystallin," by Jiawei Zhou is presented.

The first example of decarboxylative difluoroacetamidation of aα,β-unsaturated carboxylic acids by using difluoromethyl-substituted carbonyl compounds was disclosed. The procedure, which was mediated by low-cost and benign CuSO4, furnished a broad range of difluorinated alkenes in remarkable yields with only the E configuration in most of the cases. Moreover, the product could be smoothly transformed to the corresponding difluorofunctionalized ester and alcohol in high yields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adult human visual system maintains the ability to be altered by sensory deprivation. What has not been considered is whether the internal neural states modulate visual sensitivity to short-term monocular deprivation. In this study we manipulated the internal neural state and reported changes in intrinsic neural oscillations with a patched eye open or closed. We investigated the influence of eye open/eye closure on the unpatched eye's contrast sensitivity and ocular dominance (OD) shifts induced by short-term monocular deprivation. The results demonstrate that internal neural states influence not only baseline contrast sensitivity but also the extent to which the adult visual system can undergo changes in ocular dominance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parkinson's disease (PD), the second most common age-associated neurodegenerative disorder, is characterized by the loss of dopaminergic (DA) neurons and the presence of a-synuclein-containing aggregates in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc). Chronic neuroinflammation is one of the hallmarks of PD pathophysiology. Post-mortem analyses of human PD patients and experimental animal studies indicate that activation of glial cells and increases in pro-inflammatory factor levels are common features of the PD brain. Chronic release of pro-inflammatory cytokines by activated astrocytes and microglia leads to the exacerbation of DA neuron degeneration in the SNpc. Besides, peripheral immune system is also implicated in the pathogenesis of PD. Infiltration and accumulation of immune cells from the periphery are detected in and around the affected brain regions of PD patients. Moreover, inflammatory processes have been suggested as promising interventional targets for PD and even other neurodegenerative diseases. A better understanding of the role of inflammation in PD will provide new insights into the pathological processes and help to establish effective therapeutic strategies. In this review, we will summarize recent progresses in the neuroimmune aspects of PD and highlight the potential therapeutic interventions targeting neuroinflammation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Animals with front facing eyes benefit from a substantial overlap in the visual fields of each eye, and devote specialized brain processes to using the horizontal spatial disparities produced as a result of viewing the same object with two laterally placed eyes, to derived depth or 3-D stereo information. This provides the advantage to break the camouflage of objects in front of similarly textured background and improves hand eye coordination for grasping objects close at hand. It is widely thought that about 5% of the population have a lazy eye and lack stereo vision, so it is often supposed that most of the population (95%) have good stereo abilities. We show that this is not the case; 68% have good to excellent stereo (the haves) and 32% have moderate to poor stereo (the have-nots). Why so many people lack good 3-D stereo vision is unclear but it is likely to be neural and reversible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diet/sugar-free soft drinks are considered to be healthier than regular soft drinks. However, few studies have examined the relationship between the types of soft drinks (regular and diet/sugar-free) and lung cancer (LC)/allcancer (AC) risk. In this study, we comprehensively assessed the influence of the type of soft drink consumption on LC/AC risk based on the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Trial. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards and competing risks Fine-Gray regression models adjusted for relevant confounders were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and subdistribution HRs for different types of soft drink consumption. In the PLCO population, female subgroup, and the ever/current smoker subgroup, consumption of both regular and diet soft drinks was associated with a significantly reduced risk of LC compared with no soft drinks at all. For the non-lung cancer (NLC) risk, consumption of only diet soft drinks had a significant positive association for the total population and female subgroup. Based on our findings, it was suggested that partial replacement of regular soft drinks with diet soft drinks might be beneficial to LC prevention, especially for females and ever/current smokers. Additionally, completely replacing regular soft drinks with diet soft drinks might be detrimental to NLC prevention, especially for females. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Semiconductors with high thermal conductivity and electron-hole mobility are of great importance for electronic and photonic devices as well as for fundamental studies. Among the ultrahigh-thermal conductivity materials, cubic boron arsenide (c-BAs) is predicted to exhibit simultaneously high electron and hole mobilities of >1000 centimeters squared per volt per second. Using the optical transient grating technique, we experimentally measured thermal conductivity of 1200 watts per meter per kelvin and ambipolar mobility of 1600 centimeters squared per volt per second at the same locations on c-BAs samples at room temperature despite spatial variations. Ab initio calculations show that lowering ionized and neutral impurity concentrations is key to achieving high mobility and high thermal conductivity, respectively. The high ambipolar mobilities combined with the ultrahigh thermal conductivity make c-BAs a promising candidate for next-generation electronics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which identified the key cytokines favoring traumatic brain injury (TBI) and found that patients with TBI with a better outcome increased concentrations of macrophage colony-stimulating factor. Topics include major sources to produce interleukin-6 and transforming growth factor-Β (M6T), findings on M6T treatment, and how M6T treatment might repair TBI.

Background. Paraquat is a widely used nonselective and fast-acting contact herbicide worldwide. This study identified the early predictor of mortality in patients with acute paraquat poisoning. Methods. Twenty-nine patients with acute paraquat poisoning admitted at Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital from January 2018 to August 2020 were included in this study. The early predictor of mortality in patients with acute paraquat poisoning based on the blood tests was identified by correlation, logistic regression, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses. Result. 15 of the 29 patients died after poisoning. Compared to the survivors, the neutrophilic granulocyte ratio, leukocyte count, ALB, and Crea of the nonsurvivors were significantly higher with p value < 0.05, while the lymphocyte ratio and eGFR(MDRD) of the nonsurvivors were remarkably lower with p value < 0.01. Moreover, the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) was remarkably upregulated in the nonsurvivors. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) of the neutrophilic granulocyte ratio, lymphocyte ratio, leukocyte count, ALB, Crea, eGFR(MDRD), and NLR to predict the mortality in patients with acute paraquat poisoning was 0.8905 (95% CI: 0.7589-1.022), 0.8643 (95% CI: 0.7244- 1.004), 0.8500 (95% CI: 0.7133-0.9867), 0.7286 (95% CI: 0.5338-0.9233), 0.8167 (95% CI: 0.6620-0.9713), 0.8714 (95% CI: 0.7330-1.010), and 0.8667 (95% CI: 0.7277-1.006), respectively. More interestingly, we also evaluated the diagnostic values of the different combinations of six blood test biomarkers by logistic regression analysis. According to the results of the logistic regression analysis, the AUCs for the combination of the neutrophilic granulocyte ratio, leukocyte count, and eGFR(MDRD) were the largest with 0.986 (95% CI: 0.952-1), and the sensitivity and specificity were 100% and 100%. Conclusion. This study demonstrated that the combination of the neutrophilic granulocyte ratio, leukocyte count, and eGFR(MDRD) could serve as an ideal early predictor of mortality in patients with acute paraquat poisoning. However, further research is needed to draw a clear conclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The response of leaf functional traits to the shift in environmental variables can raise plant adaptiveness in a wide variety of habitats and subsequently broaden their ecological niche. This study aims to determine the differences in leaf functional traits between simple and compound leaves of Canavalia maritime to illuminate the mechanisms underlying the ecological strategy of plant species with different leaf forms. Single-leaf wet weight of compound leaves of C. maritime was significantly lower than that of simple leaves of C. maritime. Thus, compound leaves of C. maritime possess higher resource capture ability as well as higher relative growth rate than simple leaves of C. maritime. The petiole length of compound leaves of C. maritime was significantly higher than that of simple leaves of C. maritime. Thus, the biomass allocation to petiole for compound leaves of C. maritime was significantly higher than that of simple leaves of C. maritime. Meanwhile, the higher range of phenotypic plasticity of SLA of compound leaves of C. maritima may enhance the advantage in resource (especially sunlight) capture and use efficiency by shifting the material investment per unit area and per lamina. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To investigate the differences in cardiovascular disease, extracardiac anomalies and outcomes between fetuses with levocardia and dextrocardia.Methods: Clinical demographics, prenatal features, postnatal characteristics and the outcomes of fetuses with levocardia or dextrocardia were recorded and analyzed.Results: Sixty-five fetuses with dextrocardia and thirty-eight fetuses with levocardia were enrolled. Right ventricle outlet obstruction, atrioventricular septal defect and intestinal malrotation were common in both groups. Univentricular physiology, transposition of the great arteries and esophageal atresia were more frequent in fetuses with levocardia, whereas abnormal pulmonary venous connection, double outlet of right ventricle, left ventricle outlet obstruction and brain abnormalities were more frequent in the dextrocardia group. The accuracy of evaluating cardiac malformations was high, but the sensitivity in assessing extracardiac abnormalities was low.Conclusions: Although the disorders have certain overlapping features, there are several differences between fetuses with levocardia and dextrocardia. These findings might improve patient counseling and perinatal management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most prevalent and aggressive malignancies worldwide. Studies seeking to advance the overall understanding of lncRNA profiling in HCC remain rare. Methods: The transcriptomic profiling of 12 HCC tissues and paired adjacent normal tissues was determined using high-throughput RNA sequencing. Fifty differentially expressed mRNAs (DEGs) and lncRNAs (DELs) were validated in 21 paired HCC tissues via quantitative real-time PCR. The correlation between the expression of DELs and various clinicopathological characteristics was analyzed using Student's t-test or linear regression. Co-expression networks between DEGs and DELs were constructed through Pearson correlation co-efficient and enrichment analysis. Validation of DELs' functions including proliferation and migration was performed via loss-of-function RNAi assays. Results: In this study, we identified 439 DEGs and 214 DELs, respectively, in HCC. Furthermore, we revealed that multiple DELs, including NONHSAT003823, NONHSAT056213, NONHSAT015386 and especially NONHSAT122051, were remarkably correlated with tumor cell differentiation, portal vein tumor thrombosis, and serum or tissue alpha fetoprotein levels. In addition, the co-expression network analysis between DEGs and DELs showed that DELs were involved with metabolic, cell cycle, chemical carcinogenesis, and complement and coagulation cascade-related pathways. The silencing of the endogenous level of NONHSAT122051 or NONHSAT003826 could significantly attenuate the mobility of both SK-HEP-1 and SMMC-7721 HCC cells. Conclusion: These findings not only add knowledge to the understanding of genome-wide transcriptional evaluation of HCC but also provide promising targets for the future diagnosis and treatment of HCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Achieving higher carrier mobility plays a pivotal role for obtaining potentially high thermoelectric performance. In principle, the carrier mobility is governed by the band structure as well as by the carrier scattering mechanism. Here, we demonstrate that by manipulating the carrier scattering mechanism in n-type Mg3Sb2-based materials, a substantial improvement in carrier mobility, and hence the power factor, can be achieved. In this work, Fe, Co, Hf, and Ta are doped on the Mg site of Mg3.2Sb1.5Bi0.49Te0.01, where the ionized impurity scattering crosses over to mixed ionized impurity and acoustic phonon scattering. A significant improvement in Hall mobility from ~16 to ~81 cm²⋅V-1⋅s-1 is obtained, thus leading to a notably enhanced power factor of ~13 µW⋅cm-1⋅K-2 from ~5 µW⋅cm-1⋅K-2. A simultaneous reduction in thermal conductivity is also achieved. Collectively, a figure of merit (ZT) of ~1.7 is obtained at 773 K in Mg3.1Co0.1Sb1.5Bi0.49Te0.01. The concept of manipulating the carrier scattering mechanism to improve the mobility should also be applicable to other material systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the long history of dislocation-phonon interaction studies, there are many problems that have not been fully resolved during this development. These include an incompatibility between a perturbative approach and the long-range nature of a dislocation, the relation between static and dynamic scattering, and their capability of dealing with thermal transport phenomena for bulk material only. Here by utilizing a fully quantized dislocation field, which we called a "dislon", a phonon interacting with a dislocation is renormalized as a quasi-phonon, with shifted quasi-phonon energy, and accompanied by a finite quasi-phonon lifetime, which are reducible to classical results. A series of outstanding legacy issues including those above can be directly explained within this unified phonon renormalization approach. For instance, a renormalized phonon naturally resolves the decade-long debate between dynamic and static dislocation-phonon scattering approaches, as two limiting cases. In particular, at nanoscale, both the dynamic and static approaches break down, while the present renormalization approach remains valid by capturing the size effect, showing good agreement with lattice dynamics simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of anthropogenic nitrogen (N) deposition on successful plant invaders, particularly potential effects on their leaf functional traits, have stimulated considerable research interest. This study aims to gain insights into the leaf functional traits of the controversial invader Rhus typhina in the presence of a gradient of simulated N deposition (control, 0 g L-1; low N, 5 g L-1; medium N, 10 g L-1; and high N, 25 g L-1). Soil pH is decreased under the growth of R. typhina. The soil acidification mediated by R. typhina may be due to the positive effects of R. typhina on soil ammonium concentration and negative effects on soil nitrate concentration. Soil pH decreased under N fertilization due to the release of free H+ via the nitrification process. Leaf width, leaf chlorophyll and N concentrations, SLA, and single leaf wet weight of R. typhina increased in the presence of all N fertilizers; medium N and high N fertilization also increased leaf length and leaf thickness of R. typhina due to the fertilizing effects of the addition of exogenous N on R. typhina growth. Thus, R. typhina leaves may possess higher resource capture ability as well as higher relative growth rate by reducing material investment per unit area under exogenous N fertilization. Meanwhile, medium N fertilization exerts stronger fertilizing effects on leaf length, leaf width, leaf chlorophyll and N concentrations, single leaf wet weight, and leaf thickness of R. typhina than those of high N fertilization. This is possibly because excess N fertilization could drive some unexpected reverse phenomena on leaf growth of R. typhina. Thus, leaf growth of R. typhina may be presumably attenuated with increasing amounts of anthropogenic N deposited into ecosystems in the future, and thereby pose pronounced effects on its subsequent further invasion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neuron connectivity and correct neural function largely depend on axonal integrity. Neurofilaments (NFs) constitute the main cytoskeletal network maintaining the structural integrity of neurons and exhibit dynamic changes during axonal and dendritic growth. However, the mechanisms underlying axonal development and maintenance remain poorly understood. Here, we identify that multisynthetase complex p43 (MSC p43) is essential for NF assembly and axon maintenance. The MSC p43 protein was predominantly expressed in central neurons and interacted with NF light subunit in vivo. Mice lacking MSC p43 exhibited axon degeneration in motor neurons, defective neuromuscular junctions, muscular atrophy, and motor dysfunction. Furthermore, MSC p43 depletion in mice caused disorganization of the axonal NF network. Mechanistically, MSC p43 is required for maintaining normal phosphorylation levels of NFs. Thus, MSC p43 is indispensable in maintaining axonal integrity. Its dysfunction may underlie the NF disorganization and axon degeneration associated with motor neuron degenerative diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2) is predominantly synthesized and secreted by astrocytes in adult brain. Our previous study showed that activation of classical dopamine receptor D1 or D2 elicits FGF-2 biosynthesis and secretion in astrocytes. Here, we report that astrocytic FGF-2 expression is also regulated by phosphatidylinositol (PI)-linked D1-like receptor. SKF83959, a selective PI-linked D1-like receptor agonist, upregulates the levels of FGF-2 protein in striatal astrocyte cultures in classical dopamine D1 and D2 receptorindependent manner. The conditional medium derived from SKF83959-activated astrocytes promoted the number of TH+ neurons in vitro. Treatment of astrocytes with SKF83959 increased intracellular calcium in two phases. Inhibition of intracellular calcium oscillation by inositol 1,4,5-triphosphate (IP3) inhibitors blocked the SKF83959-induced increase in FGF-2 expression. Moreover, intraperitoneal administration of SKF83959 reversed l-methyl-4-phenyl-l,2,3,6-tetrahydropypridine (MPTP)-induced reduction in FGF-2 expression in both the striatum and ventral midbrain and resulted in marked protection of dopaminergic neurons from MPTP-induced neurotoxicity. These results indicate that IP3/Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase is an uncharted intracellular signaling pathway that is crucial for the regulation of FGF-2 synthesis in astrocytes. PI-linked D1-like receptor plays an important role in the regulation of astrocytic FGF-2 expression and neuroprotection which may provide a potential target for the drug discovery in Parkinson's disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]