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A C1-symmetric hexapole helicene (HH) and a C3-symmetric dodecapole helicene (DH) were prepared, and their three-dimensional structures were verified by X-ray crystallography and density functional theory calculations. The molecular geometries and local helical configurations of their most stable diastereomers were correctly predicted by arranging suitable conformations of the peripheral aryl rings. Importantly, the outermost three [5]helicenes with a consistent configuration in DH were observed to increase the thermostability, enantiomerization barrier (ΔH⧧= 40.5 kcal/mol), specific rotation ([α]24D= −4228°) and absorption dissymmetry factor (gabs= 1.35 × 10–3at 453 nm).

AbstractThis study examined the performance of 371 equity real estate investment trusts (REITs) over the period 1972–2020. Unlike stocks, we found that the majority of the 371 REITs outperformed one-month T-bills, particularly over longer holding periods and in the modern REIT era. While most REITs outperformed the T-bills, only a minority of them outperformed the overall equity REIT market. REITs that outperformed the overall equity REIT market concentrated in the health care, industrial, residential, and other specialty REIT sectors. In terms of wealth creation, REITs in aggregate created a total net wealth of $0.89 trillion to their shareholders, but the wealth creation was highly concentrated in relatively few top-performing REITs. Specifically, the top five (20) REITs together accounted for almost 30% (60%) of the total net wealth creation. Overall, our results suggest that relative to the T-bills, REITs performed better than stocks.

Label-free sensing techniques, designed for the observation of dynamic cell activities, have the potential to advance studies of cell biology, immunotherapy, and drug discovery. In this context, we introduce the concept of Fano resonances featuring dual evanescent wavelengths in aluminum-coated nanoridge arrays for real-time and label-free analysis of cellular adhesion. The distinctive optical characteristics of dual evanescent lengths were confirmed through finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) calculations and experimental assessments, including tests of the refractive index and surface (thickness) sensitivity. The findings reveal the evanescent lengths measured at 874 and 316 nm for the peak and dip of the Fano resonance at the air/aluminum interface, aligning with FDTD simulations (891 and 338 nm). Wavelength shifts and intensity variations of the Fano resonance correspond to changes in the effective refractive index and absorption/scattering of surface plasmon waves, respectively. Employing four-parameter plots─time constants of Δλpeak, Δλdip, ΔImax,and ΔImin─we exemplify the investigation of long-range and short-range adhesion behaviors of lung cancer cells. In contrast to conventional gold-based SPR sensors with evanescent lengths ranging from 100 to 300 nm, the aluminum-coated nanoridge array exhibits an extended sensing depth and dual evanescent lengths. This dual capability enables the simultaneous exploration of cell behaviors in the proximity of and at a distance from the metal surface.

The influences of cold-rolling deformation and annealing on the damping capacity of Fe–19Mn–8Cr alloy were investigated. It was observed that the cold-rolled Fe–19Mn–8Cr alloy with a reduction of 10% showed the relatively excellent damping capacity because of the relatively more ε-martensite and lower dislocation density, and the reduction of slopes of different damping curves increased along with increasing the cold-rolling reduction. Besides, the subsequent annealing process can further enhance the damping capacity. After 70% cold-rolling deformation, the austenite grain would grow up with the increase in the annealing temperature, which resulted in a significant change in the content and morphology of ε-martensite influencing the damping capacity of the experimental steel. The damping capacity was optimum when annealed at 800 °C for 30 min, displaying that the size of ε-martensite has a vital influence on the damping capacity of the experimental alloy. This study may enrich the fundamental knowledge about how to ameliorate the damping capacity of Fe–Mn–Cr damping steels.

Abstract: The coordination structure of MOF is strongly influenced by central metal ions. Here, we designed and prepared iron-doped nickel metal–organic framework (Fe-doped Ni-MOF) by employing different initial iron sources (Fe2+, Fe3+). Specifically, Fe-doped Ni-MOF with divalent iron ions as initial iron sources exhibits superior performance with respect to trivalent iron ions, showing excellent electrocatalytic performance toward OER with an overpotential (294 mV at 10 mA cm−2), low Tafel slope (47.45 mV dec−1) and large electrochemically active surface area in alkaline electrolytes. Furthermore, there is no obvious decay after long-term operation up to 25 h. To inspect the origin of OER activity enhancement, we resorted to XRD, SEM, TEM, XPS and N2adsorption–desorption techniques and various electrochemical methods to analyze them in detail. These studies provide a new vision into understanding Fe-doped Ni-MOF for OER, shedding light on designing novel and highly efficient MOF materials for electrocatalysis. Graphic abstract:

Accurate assessment of global river flows and stores is critical for informing water management practices, but current estimates of global river flows exhibit substantial spread and estimates of river stores remain sparse. Estimates of river flows and stores are hampered by uncertainties in land runoff, an unobserved quantity that provides water input to rivers. Here we leverage global river flow observations and an ensemble of land surface models to generate a globally gauge-corrected monthly river flow and storage dataset. We estimate a global river storage mean (± monthly variability) of 2,246 ± 505 km3and a global continental flow of 37,411 ± 7,816 km3yr−1. Our global river water storage time series demonstrates that flow wave residence time is a fundamental driver that can double or halve river water stores and their variability. We also reconcile the wide range in previous estimates of monthly variability in global river flows. We identify previously underappreciated freshwater sources to the ocean from the Maritime Continent (Indonesia, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea) amounting to 1.6 times the Congo River and illustrate our capability of detecting severe anthropogenic water withdrawals.

We demonstrate a short-time long distance distributed high-temperature sensing by non-local Haar transform (NLH) in optical frequency domain reflectometry (OFDR). By searching similar pixels across a non-local region, NLH makes good use of incomplete space similarity of information contained in 3D cross-correlation distribution of local Rayleigh scattering spectra measured by OFDR, which can be used to enhance image denoising performance and retain rare details of original spectra data. With the proposed method, we have achieved a short-time distributed high-temperature sensing ranging from 950 °C to 1050 °C over 102 m by reduced-cladding single mode fiber (RC-SMF) with a sensing spatial resolution of 2 cm. Compared with traditional image denoising methods including Gaussian filter (GF), block-matching three dimensional filter (BM3D) and wavelet denoising (WD), the proposed NLH method has a best performance to restore the consistency of spectral shift distribution caused by the same temperature change without deterioration of sensing spatial resolution.

Pelvic fractures are one of the most serious traumas in orthopedic care, and reduction during routine surgery is a significant challenge. Because there are so many vital organs, blood vessels, and nerves around the pelvis, and the reduction force is large, the operational requirements for the surgeon are extremely strict and require extensive experience and surgical skills. This article proposes a method for collecting and digitizing doctors’ reduction movements, which aims to help intelligent devices recognize surgeons’ reduction actions and provides a means to learn from expert experience to improve the accuracy of surgery. First, the convolutional bidirectional long short-term memory algorithm with multilayer cross-fused features is proposed. It extracts time and spatial correlations between multimodal data in a hierarchical manner. Second, discrete dynamic motion primitives are adopted for mapping the surgeon's palm movement trajectory. Finally, this article constructs a data acquisition platform and collects data from surgeons with varying proficiency in closed reduction. Experiment results show that the closed reduction action recognition accuracy is 99% and posture recognition accuracy is 95.5%. The recognition algorithm proposed by this article is significantly higher than the commonly used algorithms in terms of Accuracy, Precision, Recall, and F1-Score. This article provides methods and means for the digitization of surgical expertise and transfers learning for robot-assisted surgery.

Neurosecretory cells in the brain produce prothoracicotropic hormone (PTTH), which is carried to the corpora allata (CA) by axons running through the brain contralateral hemisphere before being secreted into hemolymph to trigger production and release of ecdysone. PTTH plays an important role in insect growth and metamorphosis, and it can be exploited as a potential target for pest control. Although the function of PTTH has been described in insects, various results have been reported. In this context, the PTTH neuropeptide gene in Spodoptera frugiperda was knocked down or knocked out using RNAi and CRISPR/Cas9, respectively. The development time of larval was significantly prolonged and even death during the larval molting and pupation by knocking out PTTH. However, after silencing 4th instar, pupae’s body size increased significantly, but development time was not affected. PTTH is a key gene to regulate ecdysone synthesis and release, and is necessary to coordinate the growth and developmental timing of S. frugiperda. Our study demonstrated that RNAi and CRISPR/Cas9 of PTTH could cause different outcomes and hinted the advantages of using both RNAi and CRISPR/Cas9 to analyze gene function more comprehensively (than using single technique). The gene sequence structure of PTTH has more conservative characteristics, especially between similar species, which also provides convenience for developing RNAi-based pesticides.

Catalyst design has traditionally focused on rigid structural elements to prevent conformational flexibility. Ishihara’s elegant design of conformationally flexible C2-symmetric iodoarenes, a new class of privileged organocatalysts, for the catalytic asymmetric dearomatization (CADA) of naphthols is a notable exception. Despite the widespread use of the Ishihara catalysts for CADAs, the reaction mechanism remains the subject of debate, and the mode of asymmetric induction has not been well established. Here, we report an in-depth computational investigation of three possible mechanisms in the literature. Our results, however, reveal that this reaction is best rationalized by a fourth mechanism called “proton-transfer-coupled-dearomatization (PTCD)”, which is predicted to be strongly favored over other competing pathways. The PTCD mechanism is consistent with a control experiment and further validated by applying it to rationalize the enantioselectivities. Oxidation of the flexible I(I) catalyst to catalytic active I(III) species induces a defined C2-symmetric helical chiral environment with a delicate balance between flexibility and rigidity. A match/mismatch effect between the active catalyst and the substrate’s helical shape in the dearomatization transition states was observed. The helical shape match allows the active catalyst to adapt its conformation to maximize attractive noncovalent interactions, including I(III)···O halogen bond, N–H···O hydrogen bond, and π···π stacking, to stabilize the favored transition state. A stereochemical model capable of rationalizing the effect of catalyst structural variation on the enantioselectivities is developed. The present study enriches our understanding of how flexible catalysts achieve high stereoinduction and may serve as an inspiration for the future exploration of conformational flexibility for new catalyst designs.

When the favored host of an herbivorous insect pest is absent, the availability of alternative host plants can maintain insect pest populations. Spodoptera frugiperda(Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is a major invasive, polyphagous insect pest in China. To investigate the suitability of Chinese cabbage as an alternative host for S. frugiperda, oviposition preferences and life history traits were determined for S. frugiperdaon Chinese cabbage, corn, and winter wheat over three generations. Results showed that S. frugiperdafemales preferred to lay their eggs on corn compared to winter wheat and Chinese cabbage. The survival rate of S. frugiperdadecreased after switching from corn to Chinese cabbage, only 6% of individuals successfully pupated in the third generation. In addition, S. frugiperdareared on Chinese cabbage had lower pupal weight and fecundity. Winter wheat was a good host for S. frugiperda; although the survival rate decreased when S. frugiperdaswitched from corn to winter wheat in the parental generation, the survival rate increased over the next two generations to be as high as those reared on corn. Chinese cabbage is not a good long-term host for S. frugiperda, but it could maintain the pest population for at least two generations when more suitable host plants are unavailable. These results will inform management strategies for S. frugiperda.

Background:: Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (hUCMSCs) have emerged as promising therapy for immune and inflammatory diseases. However, how to maintain the activity and unique properties during cold storage and transportation is one of the key factors affecting the therapeutic efficiency of hUCMSCs. Schisandrin B (SchB) has many functions in cell protection as a natural medicine. In this study, we investigated the protective effects of SchB on the hypothermic preservation of hUCMSCs. Methods:: hUCMSCs were isolated from Wharton’s jelly. Subsequently, hUCMSCs were exposed to cold storage (4 °C) and 24-h re-warming. After that, cells viability, surface markers, immunomodulatory effects, reactive oxygen species (ROS), mitochondrial integrity, apoptosis-related and antioxidant proteins expression level were evaluated. Results:: SchB significantly alleviated the cells injury and maintained unique properties such as differentiation potential, level of surface markers and immunomodulatory effects of hUCMSCs. The protective effects of SchB on hUCMSCs after hypothermic storage seemed associated with its inhibition of apoptosis and the anti-oxidative stress effect mediated by nuclear factor erythroid 2–related factor 2 signaling. Conclusion:: These results demonstrate SchB could be used as an agent for hypothermic preservation of hUCMSCs.

We present a long distance distributed strain sensing in optical frequency domain reflectometry (OFDR) by shape-adaptive principal component analysis Block-Matching three-dimensional filter (BM3D-SAPCA) image denoising, which uses correlated patterns and high degree redundancy of sensing data for enhancing the performance of distributed sensing by image processing for removing noise and increasing the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of noisy measurements. Compared with 2D image denoising methods, BM3D-SAPCA method searches similar 2D image blocks and stacks them together in 3D arrays, which takes full advantage of the high level of similitude and redundancy contained on the multidimensional information to denoise. We find that the BM3D-SAPCA method can effectively suppresses noise aggravation along with an increasing of the sensing distance. Without modifying the hardware system of OFDR, we achieve a distributed strain sensing with a 5 cm spatial resolution, a 2 μϵ strain resolution on a 200 m all grating fiber. We compare the performance of distributed strain sensing by BM3D-SAPCA with Gaussian filter, wavelet denoising (WD) and non-local mean filter (NLM) using the same data. The mean maximal strain measurement error at loaded strain areas is reduced from 2.3791 μϵ to 0.6545 μϵ by BM3D-SAPCA. These mean errors by Gaussian filter, NLM and WD are 1.1177 μϵ, 1.6668 μϵ and 1.9721 μϵ, respectively. The mean standard deviations of strain measurement in eight repeat experiments is reduced from 1.5221 μϵ to 0.3134 μϵ after noise reduction by BM3D-SAPCA, which is 79.37% lower than the raw data. The mean standard deviations after noise reduction by Gaussian filter, NLM and WD are decreased by 68.85%, 64.24% and 14.41% respectively.

The control of macrosegregation is still a difficult problem for the production of large steel ingots. In order to develop new techniques for producing low-macrosegregation and high-quality steel ingots, the effect of the heat absorption method (HAM) used by the inorganic material rods to cool the liquid steel on the formation of macrosegregation during solidification of a 5-t GCr15SiMn bearing steel ingot was studied using experiment and mathematical simulation. The inorganic material was a mixture of CaF2and CaO. The levels of macrosegregation in the longitudinal sections of two ingots with and without HAM were compared. Experimental results showed that the application of HAM reduced the positive segregation in the upper part of the ingot and the negative segregation in the lower part. The levels of carbon segregation along the longitudinal centerline and horizontal direction at different heights were all alleviated and the fluctuation of carbon segregation was significantly reduced. The simulation results confirmed that the melting and floating of the inorganic material could carry the sensible heat to the top of the liquid steel quickly. This leads to the acceleration of the cooling rate of the liquid steel, thereby alleviating the level of macrosegregation.

Heavy ingots, especially the ingot of more than 10 t, often contain detrimental heterogeneous defects, such as macrosegregation, shrinkage pipes, and cracks. Hot-top pulsed magneto-oscillation (HPMO) can refine the solidified structure of ingot and improve their homogeneity. However, it may exacerbate the positive segregation at the upper part of the ingot body. Thus, a round table HPMO riser with a feeding part was designed, and the microstructure and macrosegregation of Al–Si alloy ingots solidified with and without HPMO were investigated. The simulation and experimental results indicated that round table HPMO riser could enable fine and uniform solidified structures in the whole ingot body; in the meantime, feeding part allowed the melt with enriched solute to gather in the upper part of the riser until the last solidification stage of ingot. This provides an effective approach for obtaining highly homogenized ingots.

Cucumber (Cucumis sativus) fruit spines are a classic material for researching the development of multicellular trichomes. Some key genes that influence trichome development have been confirmed to be associated with cuticle biosynthesis and secondary metabolism. However, the biological mechanisms underlying trichome development, cuticle biosynthesis, and secondary metabolism in cucumber remain poorly understood. CsTs, a C-type lectin receptor-like kinase gene, reportedly causes a tender trichome phenotype in cucumber when it mutates. In this study, the role of CsTsin cucumber fruit spines morphogenesis was confirmed using gene editing technology. Sectioning and cell wall component detection were used to analyse the main reason of tender fruit spines in the tsmutant. Subsequently, transcriptome data and a series of molecular biology experiments were used to further investigate the relationship between CsTsand cytoskeletal homeostasis in cucumber. CsTsoverexpression partially compensated for the abnormal trichome phenotype of an Arabidopsishomolog mutant.Genetic hybridization and metabolic analysis indicated that CsTsand CsMictcan affect trichome development and cuticle biosynthesis in the same pathway. Our findings provide important background information for further researching on the molecular mechanism underlying cucumber trichome development and contribute to understanding the biological function of C-type lectin receptor-like kinases.

AbstractThis study examines the firm-specific and industry-level effects of dividend announcements by equity real estate investment trusts (REITs). Using stock returns to measure the information impounded in stock prices from dividend announcements, we decompose stock returns into three return components: firm-specific, industry-level, and market-wide. This decomposition allows us to examine the relative importance of the firm-specific and industry-level information contained in dividend announcements. We find that the market reaction to equity REIT dividend changes is mainly driven by the firm-specific return component. We also find that equity REIT managers are more likely to cut (raise) dividend payments when the stock price reveals less (more) firm-specific information. Moreover, the managerial dividend signal can explain the announcement-period firm-specific abnormal return but not the industry-wide abnormal return, suggesting that the managerial dividend signal conveys mainly firm-specific information.

Ghost peaks refer to these peaks on backscattering trace measured by a reflectometer similar to Fresnel reflection peaks appearing at the position of non-reflection events in optical fiber or optical waveguide networks testing, which will cause ambiguity in the interpretation of reflection events on backscattering trace. We present a simple and effective method to eliminate side lobe ghost peaks in optical frequency domain reflectometry (OFDR) using a Wiener deconvolution filter. An OFDR system usually contains a main interferometer that is used to measure backscattering trace of fiber umber test (FUT) and an auxiliary interferometer that is used to measure the phase of tunable laser source (TLS) to compensate tuning nonlinearity. Multi-peaks in the spectrum of TLS and reflections in the auxiliary interferometer will generate side lobes on point spread function (PSF) of OFDR system, which will cause ghost peaks on FUT trace. By performing a Wiener deconvolution filtering on the auxiliary interferometer, we can obtain the PSF of an auxiliary interferometer, which is used as a convolution kernel to perform a Wiener deconvolution filtering on FUT trace from the main interferometer. Comparing the main interferometer spatial signal before and after deconvolution filtering, the peak amplitude whose reduction higher than threshold is identified to a ghost peak and is eliminated. By this ghost peak elimination method, we can acquire a pure FUT trace by an OFDR using a low-cost distributed feedback (DFB) TLS with a 26 m test length and an mm level spatial resolution.

Immediate implant placement (IIP) has garnered significant attention due to its minimally invasive approach and ability to facilitate immediate crown replacement. Nevertheless, challenges persist in processing complex geometries and selecting suitable materials. This study successfully fabricated high-performance, complex-structured (Ce, Y)-TZP-based composite ceramics using vat photopolymerization (VPP) technology, combining second-phase strengthening and grain boundary segregation effects. The incorporation of α-Al2O3as a secondary phase led to a progressive refinement of (Ce, Y)-TZP grains, with the most favorable grain size achieved at 20 wt% α-Al2O3, reducing the average grain size to 0.75 μm. However, excessive α-Al2O3content resulted in micropore formation, compromising the material's mechanical performance. At an optimal concentration of 15 wt% α-Al2O3, the composite exhibited superior mechanical properties, including a Vickers hardness of 11.53 ± 0.27 GPa and a flexural strength of 525.5 ± 21.3 MPa. Despite these improvements, some coarse (Ce, Y)-TZP grains persisted within the ceramic matrix. To further enhance grain refinement at lower α-Al2O3content, a minimal addition of La3+(0.1 wt%) was introduced, promoting grain boundary segregation and additional grain refinement. This modification reduced the (Ce, Y)-TZP grain size to 0.74 μm, increased hardness to 13.03 ± 0.31 GPa, and elevated flexural strength to 550.4 ± 39.8 MPa, while maintaining excellent material stability.

This study assesses snow water equivalent (SWE) simulation uncertainty in the National Water Model (NWM) due to forcing and model parameterization, using data from 46 Snow Telemetry (SNOTEL) sites in the Upper Colorado River Basin (UCRB). We evaluated the newly developed Analysis of Record for Calibration (AORC) forcing data for SWE simulation and examined the impact of bias correction applied to AORC precipitation and temperature. Additionally, we investigated the sensitivity of SWE simulations to choices of physical parameterization schemes through 72 ensemble experiments. Results showed that NWM driven by AORC forcings captured the overall temporal variation of SWE but underestimated its amount. Adjusting AORC precipitation with SNOTEL observations reduced SWE root‐mean‐square error (RMSE) by 66%, adjusting temperature trimmed it by 10%, and adjusting both decreased it by 69%. Among the physical processes, the snow/soil temperature time scheme (STC) demonstrated the highest sensitivity, followed by the surface exchange coefficient for heat (SFC), snow surface albedo (ALB), and rainfall and snowfall partitioning (SNF), while the lower boundary of soil temperature (TBOT) proved to be insensitive. Further optimization of the parameterization combination resulted in a 12% SWE RMSE reduction. When combined with the bias‐corrected AORC precipitation and temperature, this optimization led to a remarkable 78% SWE RMSE reduction. Despite these enhancements, a persistent slow and late spring ablation suggests model deficiencies in snow ablation physics. The study emphasizes the critical need to enhance the accuracy of forcing data in mountainous regions and address model parameterization uncertainty through optimization efforts. This study examines how accurately the National Water Model (NWM) predicts the amount of snow water equivalent (SWE) in the Upper Colorado River Basin (UCRB). Using data from 46 monitoring sites, we looked at how different factors affect the model's accuracy. We found that while the NWM can show changes in SWE over time, it consistently underestimates the actual amount when using certain forcing data. Adjusting this data with observations improved the model's accuracy significantly. We also identified specific model settings that strongly influence the results. Although optimizing these settings only improved accuracy by a small amount, combining them with adjusted forcing data led to a significant improvement. Despite these improvements, the model still struggles to predict late spring snowmelt accurately. This study emphasizes the importance of using accurate data and model settings for managing water resources effectively in mountainous areas. National Water Model driven by Analysis of Record for Calibration (AORC) captures SWE temporal variation but underestimates its amountAdjusting precipitation reduces SWE RMSE by 66%, adjusting temperature reduces it by 10%, and adjusting both reduces it by 69%Parameterization optimization reduces SWE RMSE by 12%, while it leads to a 78% reduction when combined with adjusted AORC National Water Model driven by Analysis of Record for Calibration (AORC) captures SWE temporal variation but underestimates its amount Adjusting precipitation reduces SWE RMSE by 66%, adjusting temperature reduces it by 10%, and adjusting both reduces it by 69% Parameterization optimization reduces SWE RMSE by 12%, while it leads to a 78% reduction when combined with adjusted AORC

Atmospheric rivers (ARs) deliver significant and essential precipitation to the western United States (US) with consequential interannual variability. The intensity and frequency of ARs strongly influence reservoir levels, mountain snowpack, and groundwater recharge, which are key drivers of water‐resource availability and natural hazards. Between October 2022 and April 2023, western states experienced exceptionally heavy precipitation from several families of powerful ARs. Using observations of surface‐loading deformation from Global Navigation Satellite Systems, we find that terrestrial water‐storage gains exceeded 100% of normal within vital California watersheds. Independent water‐storage solutions derived from different data‐analysis and inversion methods provide an important measure of precision. The sustained storage increases, which we show are closely associated with ARs at daily‐to‐weekly timescales, alleviated both meteorological and hydrological drought conditions in the region, with a lag in hydrological‐drought improvements. Quantifying water‐storage recovery associated with extreme precipitation after drought advances understanding of an increasingly variable hydrologic cycle. Human communities in the western United States rely on seasonal mountain snowpack and precipitation for agriculture, industry, and the civilian water supply. Over the past two decades, increasingly severe drought conditions have plagued western states. In this study, we investigate gains in water storage related to recent atmospheric rivers, which are long and narrow corridors of atmospheric moisture associated with extreme precipitation, using an interdisciplinary approach called hydrogeodesy. Hydrogeodesy uses satellite‐ and ground‐based sensors to track subtle changes in the shape of the Earth and its gravity field caused by the redistribution of water through the Earth system. By treating the Earth as a natural scale, we can infer how much water is gained or lost from a particular area over time. Advancing our understanding of water‐resource availability, the Earth's water cycle, and the Earth's changing climate is critical for improving water‐resource management, sustaining natural ecosystems, and mitigating natural hazards. We use surface deformation to assess changes in terrestrial water storage (TWS) associated with families of strong atmospheric rivers (ARs) in 2022–2023Large jumps in mountain water storage from ARs spurred recoveries from major California droughts in 2012–2015 and 2019–2022Early‐season water‐storage gains, driven by ARs, nearly equal precipitation inputs, indicating extensive reservoir recharge We use surface deformation to assess changes in terrestrial water storage (TWS) associated with families of strong atmospheric rivers (ARs) in 2022–2023 Large jumps in mountain water storage from ARs spurred recoveries from major California droughts in 2012–2015 and 2019–2022 Early‐season water‐storage gains, driven by ARs, nearly equal precipitation inputs, indicating extensive reservoir recharge

Atmospheric dryness (i.e., high vapor pressure deficit, VPD), together with soil moisture stress, limits plant photosynthesis and threatens ecosystem functioning. Regions where rainfall and soil moisture are relatively sufficient, such as the rainfed part of the U.S. Corn Belt, are especially prone to high VPD stress. With globally projected rising VPD under climate change, it is crucial to understand, simulate, and manage its negative impacts on agricultural ecosystems. However, most existing models simulating crop response to VPD are highly empirical and insufficient in capturing plant response to high VPD, and improved modeling approaches are urgently required. In this study, by leveraging recent advances in plant hydraulic theory, we demonstrate that the VPD constraints in the widely used coupled photosynthesis‐stomatal conductance models alone are inadequate to fully capture VPD stress effects. Incorporating plant xylem hydraulic transport significantly improves the simulation of transpiration under high VPD, even when soil moisture is sufficient. Our results indicate that the limited water transport capability from the plant root to the leaf stoma could be a major mechanism of plant response to high VPD stress. We then introduce a Demand‐side Hydraulic Limitation Factor (DHLF) that simplifies the xylem and the leaf segments of the plant hydraulic model to only one parameter yet captures the effect of plant hydraulic transport on transpiration response to high VPD with similar accuracy. We expect the improved understanding and modeling of crop response to high VPD to help contribute to better management and adaptation of agricultural systems in a changing climate. Coupled photosynthesis‐stomatal conductance models alone underestimate vapor pressure deficit (VPD) stress effects on crop stomatal conductance and transpirationLimited plant hydraulic transport capability could play a role in plant response to high VPDA simplified representation of plant hydraulic model for capturing VPD stress on plants is proposed Coupled photosynthesis‐stomatal conductance models alone underestimate vapor pressure deficit (VPD) stress effects on crop stomatal conductance and transpiration Limited plant hydraulic transport capability could play a role in plant response to high VPD A simplified representation of plant hydraulic model for capturing VPD stress on plants is proposed

Avian leukosis virus Subgroup J (ALV-J) exhibits high morbidity and pathogenicity, affecting approximately 20% of poultry farms. It induces neoplastic diseases and immunosuppression. Phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate-induced protein 1 (PMAIP1), a proapoptotic mitochondrial protein in the B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2) family, plays a role in apoptosis in cancer cells. However, the connection between the PMAIP1gene and ALV-J pathogenicity remains unexplored. This study investigates the potential impact of the PMAIP1gene on ALV-J replication and its regulatory mechanisms. Initially, we examined PMAIP1expression using quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, we manipulated PMAIP1expression in chicken fibroblast cells (DF-1) and assessed its effects on ALV-J infection through qRT-PCR, immunofluorescence assay (IFA), and western blotting (WB). Our findings reveal a significant down-regulation of PMAIP1in the spleen, lung, and kidney, coupled with an up-regulation in the bursa and liver of ALV-J infected chickens compared to uninfected ones. Additionally, DF-1 cells infected with ALV-J displayed a notable up-regulation of PMAIP1at 6, 12, 24, 48, 74, and 108 h. Over-expression of PMAIP1enhanced ALV-J replication, interferon expression, and proinflammatory factors. Conversely, interference led to contrasting results. Furthermore, we observed that PMAIP1promotes virus replication by modulating mitochondrial function. In conclusion, the PMAIP1gene facilitates virus replication by regulating mitochondrial function, thereby enriching our understanding of mitochondria-related genes and their involvement in ALV-J infection, offering valuable insights for avian leukosis disease resistance strategies.

Bone scaffolds require both good bioactivity and mechanical properties to keep shape and promote bone repair. In this work, T-ZnOwenhanced biphasic calcium phosphate (BCP) scaffolds with triply periodic minimal surface (TPMS)-based double-layer porous structure were fabricated by digital light processing (DLP) with high precision. Property of suspension was first discussed to obtain better printing quality. After sintering, T-ZnOwreacts with β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) to form Ca19Zn2(PO4)14, and inhibits the phase transition to α-TCP. With the content of T-ZnOwincreasing from 0 to 2 wt%, the flexural strength increases from 40.9 to 68.5 MPa because the four-needle whiskers can disperse stress, and have the effect of pulling out as well as fracture toughening. However, excessive whiskers will reduce the cure depth, and cause more printing defects, thus reducing the mechanical strength. Besides, T-ZnOwaccelerates the deposition of apatite, and the sample with 2 wt% T-ZnOwshows the fastest mineralization rate. The good biocompatibility has been proved by cell proliferation test. Results confirmed that doping T-ZnOwcan improve the mechanical strength of BCP scaffolds, and keep good biological property, which provides a new strategy for better bone repair.

Plant feeding by omnivorous predators may affect their development and survival rate, as well as their dispersal behavior after release in the target patch. In this study, we determined whether soybean or corn seedlings could be used as insectary plants to enhance the establishment of Arma chinensisand improve its suitability as a natural enemy of pest insects. We tested the development, nymphal survival rate, predation rate, number of eggs laid, and dispersal of A. chinensison soybean, corn, and tobacco in laboratory and field experiments. Results showed that A. chinensisreared on soybean developed faster and had greater survival rates during the nymphal stage as compared to those reared on corn and tobacco. Adult A. chinensisfed least on Spodoptera lituralarvae and laid the greatest number of eggs on soybean seedlings. Arma chinensisdispersed faster and spent less time in the greenhouse when provided with corn as a host, while the retention time of A. chinensisin the target field was extended when provided with soybean as a host. In addition, a more uniform distribution of A. chinesison a higher proportion of plants was observed when soybean was provided as a host. These results indicate that soybean is a potential insectary plant that could be used during the early stages of A. chinensisrelease when prey is scarce or absent.

Closing a single nozzle or multiple nozzles for a temporary casting operation (fewer strands casting) was common in a tundish due to insufficient molten steel or equipment failure. However, nozzle clogging usually happens under the situation of fewer strands casting. Hence, a temperature deviation index was introduced to characterize the temperature stratification of molten steel for a large capacity tundish, and a new calculation method of residence time curve was used to describe the different flow types of molten steel at each outlet. Based on hydraulics experiment and numerical simulation, important parameters of present case and modified case were compared. Under the situation of fewer strands casting, the proportion of internal-recycle flow after modification decreased from 30.68% to 24.55%; the standard deviation of the response time reduced from 27.59 to 13.16, and the interquartile range of temperature deviation index changed from 0.89 to 0.27.

A rapid, on-site, and accurate SARS-CoV-2 detection method is crucial for the prevention and control of the COVID-19 epidemic. However, such an ideal screening technology has not yet been developed for the diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2. Here, we have developed a deep learning-based surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy technique for the sensitive, rapid, and on-site detection of the SARS-CoV-2 antigen in the throat swabs or sputum from 30 confirmed COVID-19 patients. A Raman database based on the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 was established from experiments and theoretical calculations. The corresponding biochemical foundation for this method is also discussed. The deep learning model could predict the SARS-CoV-2 antigen with an identification accuracy of 87.7%. These results suggested that this method has great potential for the diagnosis, monitoring, and control of SARS-CoV-2 worldwide.

Essential tremor (ET) is the most prevalent movement disorder, characterized primarily by action tremor, an involuntary rhythmic movement with a specific frequency. However, the neuronal mechanism underlying the coding of tremor frequency remains unexplored. Here, we used in vivo electrophysiology, optogenetics, and simultaneous motion tracking in the Grid2dupE3mouse model to investigate whether and how neuronal activity in the olivocerebellum determines the frequency of essential tremor. We report that tremor frequency was encoded by the temporal coherence of population neuronal firing within the olivocerebellums of these mice, leading to frequency-dependent cerebellar oscillations and tremors. This mechanism was precise and generalizable, enabling us to use optogenetic stimulation of the deep cerebellar nuclei to induce frequency-specific tremors in wild-type mice or alter tremor frequencies in tremor mice. In patients with ET, we showed that deep brain stimulation of the thalamus suppressed tremor symptoms but did not eliminate cerebellar oscillations measured by electroencephalgraphy, indicating that tremor-related oscillations in the cerebellum do not require the reciprocal interactions with the thalamus. Frequency-disrupting transcranial alternating current stimulation of the cerebellum could suppress tremor amplitudes, confirming the frequency modulatory role of the cerebellum in patients with ET. These findings offer a neurodynamic basis for the frequency-dependent stimulation of the cerebellum to treat essential tremor.

Ferroptosis, triggered by discoordination of iron, thiols and lipids, leads to the accumulation of 15-hydroperoxy (Hp)-arachidonoyl-phosphatidylethanolamine (15-HpETE-PE), generated by complexes of 15-lipoxygenase (15-LOX) and a scaffold protein, phosphatidylethanolamine (PE)-binding protein (PEBP)1. As the Ca2+-independent phospholipase A2β (iPLA2β, PLA2G6or PNPLA9gene) can preferentially hydrolyze peroxidized phospholipids, it may eliminate the ferroptotic 15-HpETE-PE death signal. Here, we demonstrate that by hydrolyzing 15-HpETE-PE, iPLA2β averts ferroptosis, whereas its genetic or pharmacological inactivation sensitizes cells to ferroptosis. Given that PLA2G6mutations relate to neurodegeneration, we examined fibroblasts from a patient with a Parkinson’s disease (PD)-associated mutation (fPDR747W) and found selectively decreased 15-HpETE-PE-hydrolyzing activity, 15-HpETE-PE accumulation and elevated sensitivity to ferroptosis. CRISPR-Cas9-engineered Pnpla9R748W/R748Wmice exhibited progressive parkinsonian motor deficits and 15-HpETE-PE accumulation. Elevated 15-HpETE-PE levels were also detected in midbrains of rotenone-infused parkinsonian rats and α-synuclein-mutant SncaA53Tmice, with decreased iPLA2β expression and a PD-relevant phenotype. Thus, iPLA2β is a new ferroptosis regulator, and its mutations may be implicated in PD pathogenesis.

A double-sided interfacial passivation via simply evaporating potassium chloride (DIP-KCl) at both interfaces close to the perovskite layer can suppress nonradiative recombination and improve charge extraction, leading to improved performance of the perovskite solar cell.

Purpose: The aim of this study is to evaluate the influence of arm movements from adduction to abduction on intracavitary electrocardiogram and the position of a catheter tip.Methods: Overall, 192 peripherally inserted central catheter lines were placed under intracavitary electrocardiogram guidance and 188 of them were enrolled in the study. The catheter was first placed at a time point corresponding to the peak P wave with the arm in adduction. The arm was then abducted to 90° without changing catheter insertion length. During the procedure, basal electrocardiogram, intracavitary electrocardiogram, and radiographs with the arm in adduction and abduction were recorded. Amplitude wave changes and catheter movements were measured on electrocardiogram records and radiographs, respectively.Results: In 188 cases, the P wave displayed typical changes, and 97.8% (184/188) catheters were successfully placed correctly. At the peak P wave, the amplitude of the peak P wave was 8.64 times greater than that of the basal P wave, and the P/R ratio was 0.61. When the arm was abducted to 90°, the amplitude of the P wave dropped to 57% of its peak, P/R decreased from 0.61 to 0.34, and the catheter tip moved cephalad 1.00 and 0.77 vertebral body units in male and female patients, respectively.Conclusion: Peripherally inserted central catheter moves toward the heart when the arm position changes from abduction to adduction. Peripherally inserted central catheter tip placement at the peak P wave with patient’s arm in adduction is accurate and can prevent the catheter from advancing too low. R wave can function as a reference for observing P wave changes during peripherally inserted central catheter placement.

Agriculture is expanding in tropical mountainous areas, yet its climatic effect is poorly understood. Here, we investigate how elevation regulates the biophysical climate impacts of deforestation over tropical mountainous areas by integrating satellite-observed forest cover changes into a high-resolution land–atmosphere coupled model. We show that recent forest conversion between 2000 and 2014 increased the regional warming by 0.022?±?0.002?°C in the Southeast Asian Massif, 0.010?±?0.007?°C in the Barisan Mountains (Maritime Southeast Asia), 0.042?±?0.010?°C in the Serra da Espinhaço (South America) and 0.047?±?0.008?°C in the Albertine Rift mountains (Africa) during the local dry season. The deforestation-driven local temperature anomaly can reach up to 2?°C where forest conversion is extensive. The warming from mountain deforestation depends on elevation, through the intertwined and opposing effects of increased albedo causing cooling and decreased evapotranspiration causing warming. As the elevation increases, the albedo effect increases in importance and the warming effect decreases, analogous to previously highlighted decreases of deforestation-induced warming with increasing latitude. As most new croplands are encroaching lands at low to moderate elevations, deforestation produces higher warming from suppressed evapotranspiration. Impacts of this additional warming on crop yields, land degradation and biodiversity of nearby intact ecosystems should be incorporated into future assessments.

Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) is rich in different polymorphs. Among them, β-phase PVDF is of technical importance because of its strong spontaneous polarization and desired piezoelectric properties. Phase transformation via physical deformation is demonstrated to be a facile approach to obtain a high content of electroactive β-phase from other less or nonpolar phases. Over the past few decades, deformation induced α–β transformation has been intensively researched. In contrast, there is a significant lack of study on obtaining β-phase from other important PVDF phases, i.e., γ-phase, probably due to difficulty in obtaining the pure γ-phase. In this work, the pure γ-phase was induced by an ion–dipole interaction and was subjected to uniaxial stretching along with the pure α-phase at 150 °C. By means of in situ synchrotron X-ray scattering, the evolution of the lamella morphology and crystal structure over tensile deformation was carefully investigated. Corresponding to macroscopic yielding, necking, and strain hardening shown on the stress–strain curves, the crystal superstructure underwent a microscopic transition from lamellar to fibrillar morphology, proceeding in the order of interlamellar shearing, crystallographic crystal slip, lamellae fragmentation, and block alignment. Phase transformation was observed to mainly occur when the chains in the amorphous region were extensively stretched, and crystals were sheared to rotate and slip. The γ-phase exhibited a two-step transformation with a significantly higher transformation efficiency to the β-phase at the end of the deformation. Instead, α-crystals were predominately oriented under stretching with only a small portion being converted to the β-phase. When the small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) results are combined, it is proposed that the strong yet heterogeneous stress and creation of void defects as well as the lower energy barrier for the conformational change collectively contribute to the favoring of phase transformation in the γ-phase sample. This work advances our understanding about polymorphic transformation in PVDF as well as leads the way for researching an optimal route to obtain a high content of the β-phase.

Circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) materials with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) performance have attracted extensive attention. In this study, we successfully achieve CPL emissions in chiral helical substituted polyacetylenes with tetraphenylethene (TPE) pendants. The polymers are constructed by copolymerization of an achiral TPE-containing acetylenic monomer with a chiral monomer. The obtained polymer exhibits unique state-dependent CPL behavior. More specifically, the polymer is CPL-silent in a dispersion state but CPL-active in solid thin films with a high luminescence dissymmetry factor (|glum| = 3.6 × 10–2). Moreover, significantly different from the common chirality transfer mechanism for preparing CPL-active materials, the CPL generation herein is due to the “matching rule” between fluorescent moieties and chiral helical polyacetylene. The present study provides new perspectives for preparing CPL materials with large glumvalues in the solid state.

Sub-picosecond hole transfer has been recently observed in several narrow band gap nonfullerene small-molecule acceptor (NFA)-based binary blended organic solar cell (OSC) systems operating with negligible energetic driving forces. As the driving forces are near zero, how the added acceptor/donor guests tune the barrier-free hole-transfer dynamics of these systems remains very unclear. In this study, we report a new NFA (BTCT-2Cl) that conducts a sub-picosecond hole transfer (2 ps) for efficient photocurrent generation when pairing with PM6 though the energetic offset is only 0.02 eV. We observe that the added nonfullerene and PCBM components differently tune the charge generation and recombination when selectively exciting BTCT-2Cl. After adding PC71BM, the hole transfer from the host BTCT-2Cl to the host donor is greatly accelerated, with the rate significantly reduced to 0.29 ps and the charge generation becomes more efficient; on the contrary, recombination is prolonged and a larger fill factor is obtained after adding an NFA guest, here, IT-4F. The different tuning on the host binary hole-transfer dynamics is likely related with the phase crystallinity and the domain size changed after adding different acceptor guests. Over 16% efficiency is obtained on the PC71BM-based ternary device that outperforms the host binary and the IT-4F-based ternary solar cells (both showing over 15% efficiencies). The results clearly demonstrate that adding PCBM or NFA guests enables a very effective and different tuning on the hole-transfer rates and the recombination rates between the barrier-free host binary components, hence leading to efficient tuning on the short-circuit current density and fill factor, which outlines new strategies toward designing high-efficiency ternary blended OSC systems.

Three new quaternary Zintl phases with the “9-4-9” formula, Ae9Mn4–xAlxSb9(Ae = Ca, Yb, Eu), have been synthesized using Pb as the metal flux, and their crystal structures have been established by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Both Ca9Mn2.91(4)Al1.09Sb9and Yb9Mn3.59(6)Al0.41Sb9are isostructural with Ca9Mn4Bi9, and they crystallize in the orthorhombic space group Pbamwith unit cell dimensions of a= 12.4571(8), 12.2884(16) Å, b= 22.1352(16), 22.024(3) Å, and c= 4.6012(3), 4.6187(6) Å, respectively. Their anionic structures can be viewed as infinite ribbons based on corner-shared tetrahedrons. Also, Eu9Mn2.87(4)Al1.13Sb9has the space group Cmcaand a= 9.4883(7) Å, b= 23.6895(18) Å, and c= 24.4845(19) Å. The structural relationships between Ca9Mn2.91(4)Al1.09Sb9and Eu9Mn2.87(4)Al1.13Sb9are compared and discussed as well. The successful Al3+substitution provides additional electrons to the compounds to achieve structural stability. Magnetic susceptibility and electrical resistivity measurements, performed on single crystals of Eu9Mn2.87(4)Al1.13Sb9, indicate complex magnetic properties and semiconductor behavior. The physical properties of Yb9Mn3.59(6)Al0.41Sb9are similar to those observed for Yb9Mn4.18(2)Sb9.