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Teratozoospermia is usually associated with defective spermiogenesis and is a disorder with considerable genetic heterogeneity. Although previous studies have identified several teratozoospermia-associated genes, the etiology remains unknown for a majority of affected men. Here, we identified a homozygous missense mutation and a compound heterozygous mutation of CCIN in patients suffering from teratozoospermia. CCIN encodes the cytoskeletal protein Calicin that is involved in the formation and maintenance of the highly regular organization of the calyx of mammalian spermatozoa, and has been proposed to play a role in sperm head structure remodeling during the process of spermiogenesis. Our morphological and ultrastructural analyses of the spermatozoa obtained from all three men harboring deleterious CCIN mutants reveal severe head malformation. Further immunofluorescence assays unveil markedly reduced levels of Calicin in spermatozoa. These patient phenotypes are successfully recapitulated in mouse models expressing the disease-associated variants, confirming the role of Calicin in male fertility. Notably, all mutant spermatozoa from mice and human patients fail to adhere to the zona mass, which likely is the major mechanistic reason for CCIN-mutant sperm-derived infertility. Finally, the use of intra-cytoplasmic sperm injections (ICSI) successfully makes mutated mice and two couples with CCIN variants have healthy offspring. Taken together, our findings identify the role of Calicin in sperm head shaping and male fertility, providing important guidance for genetic counseling and assisted reproduction treatments.

Past studies have shown mixed results of postoperative radiation (PORT) for pN2 NSCLC patients. We hypothesize that PORT can improve overall survival (OS) in pN2 NSCLC patients with high lymph node ratio (LNR).The National Cancer Database was queried for non-metastatic pN2 NSCLC patients with R0 surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy from 2004 to 2016. Cox models were used to assess the impact of PORT and LNR on OS adjusted for patient characteristics and treatment information.Among 4,050 patients, 1,728 (42.7%) had PORT. There was increased use of IMRT in the more recent period (53.8% in 2010-2016 vs 24.0% in 2004-2009). PORT was associated with better OS in the overall cohort. For patients with inadequate lymph node dissection (LND), PORT marginally improved OS (HR = 0.91, p = 0.058). Among patients with adequate LND, PORT did not improve OS for patients with LNR15% (HR = 1.11, p = 0.21), or LNR 15-29% (HR = 1.03, p = 0.73), but it significantly improved OS for patients with LNR ≥30% (HR = 0.83, p = 0.006). In patients with LNR≥30%, IMRT significantly improved OS when compared to no PORT (HR = 0.75, p0.05) while 3D RT did not (HR = 0.89, p = 0.32).PORT was associated with better survival for pN2 NSCLC patients after R0 resection, adequate LND with high LNR, after accounting for multiple confounders. Among the whole cohort, most of the OS benefits of PORT were driven by patients with inadequate LND, high LNR or use of IMRT.

Women with hypothyroidism need to increase exogenous thyroid hormone levels during pregnancy to reduce adverse outcomes. Few studies have reported the effect of gestational levothyroxine (LT4) variations on postpartum LT4 treatment.Women were classified as having subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) (n = 101), overt hypothyroidism (OH) caused by autoimmune thyroiditis (AIT-OH), OH following thyroidectomy for benign thyroid disease (BA-OH) (n = 66), and OH after surgery for papillary thyroid cancer (PTC-OH) (n = 46). Thyroid function was monitored, and LT4 therapy was adjusted accordingly.After delivery, all women with SCH stopped LT4 treatment, and 57.4% of them restarted LT4 treatment in the following 1 year, independently of the gestational LT4 variations. Among patients with OH, after adjusted by gestational body weight, 49.1% of them had LT4 doses less than the prepregnancy dose (baseline) in late pregnancy, leading to LT4 reduction in postpartum. The LT4 dose was reduced to approximately 50% baseline for women with AIT-OH and BA-OH and reduced by 27% for women with PTC-OH. The reduction reasons for AIT-OH and BA-OH were thyroid-stimulating hormone levels of2.5 mU/L during pregnancy and postpartum thyrotoxicosis occurrence (39.4%), and for PTC-OH, the reason was thyroid-stimulating hormone overinhibition (1.0 mU/L) before delivery.For patients with SCH, postpartum LT4 treatment could initially be suspended. For women with OH, if the LT4 dose in late pregnancy was less than baseline, a prepregnancy dose reduced by 50%, 50%, and 27% should be applied after delivery for women with AIT-OH, BA-OH, and PTC-OH, respectively.

Background Trichothecenes are the most common toxins found in grains and mainly produced by Fusarium graminearum species complex (FGSC). However, a population of FGSC strain was found to produce a group of type A trichothecenes, NX toxins. Studies on this toxigenic Fusarium population and the emerging NX toxins are crucial for grain production and food safety. Scope and approach In this review, we systematically introduced the diagnostic techniques, population distribution and frequency of the NX-producing strains. The structure elucidation, stability, and toxicology of NX toxins were summarized. The molecular mechanisms of NX toxins biosynthesis were discussed. Key findings and conclusions The available information showed that NX-producing strains endemic to the border of Canada and United States, and TRI1 gene is the key determinant of NX production in FGSC. Structure elucidation results showed that NX toxins are similar in structure to type B trichothecenes but lack the keto group at C-8. In vitro experiments indicated that NX toxins can inhibit the eukaryotic protein synthesis and comparable toxic effects of NX-3 toxin were observed compared with DON on plant and mammalian cells. Nevertheless, significant stability difference is observed between NX-3 and DON in bread baking process, the stability of NX toxins reduced strongly compared with DON. Potential impacts of global warming on NX strains and mycotoxin production are discussed. Furthermore, genes involved in NX biosynthesis, and their functions are discussed, and potential pathways of NX toxins biosynthesis are proposed in our knowledge of trichothecene biosynthesis. This review should contribute to the current situation and future trends of the toxigenic Fusarium population and the emerging trichothecenes.

Rare earth garnet (R3Fe5O12, RIG) single crystals are the most ideal magneto-optical medium for optical isolators for wavelength longer than 1.1 μm, which has been commercially used in optical fiber communications. However, it is still a great challenge to grow large size RIG single crystals. In this work, high-quality Y3Fe5O12 (YIG) and Bi0.9Tb2.1Fe5O12 (Bi:TIG) single crystals were successfully grown by the flux–Bridgman method for the first time. The as-grown crystals up to 20 mm in diameter was obtained using the PbO–B2O3 flux. The transmittance of YIG crystals is over 75% in the region of 1100–2500 nm. TIG crystals also have good transmittance in the range of 1100–1700 nm, and show typical Tb absorption from 1700 to 2500 nm. The specific Faraday rotations of YIG and Bi0.9Tb2.1Fe5O12 crystals are 185 (°)/cm and –1250 (°)/cm at 1550 nm, which are comparable to the commercial RIG crystals grown by LPE method. The present results indicate that flux–Bridgman method shows great potential to grow large size and high-quality RIG magneto-optical crystals.

In order to determine the synergistic effects of the mixed additives of Fe and other catalysts on the yields and characteristics of bio-oil products, hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of pinewood sawdust (PW) was performed at 300 °C for 30 min (biomass/water mass ratio = 1:10) in the presence of metallic iron (Fe), other homogeneous/heterogeneous catalysts (Na2CO3, NaOH, FeSO4, MgO, Ru/C, FeS), as well as mixed additives. The results indicated that the metallic Fe could increase the yield and promote the degree of hydrodeoxygenation of bio-oil products. Noticeable synergistic effects on improving the bio-oil yields were found in the presence of mixed additives of Fe and an alkali catalyst (Na2CO3/NaOH) or FeS. The maximum bio-oil yield and the most energy recovery from bio-oil (81%) were obtained with Fe + Na2CO3. In addition, the combination of Fe + Ru/C produced bio-oil with the highest carbon and hydrogen contents, the highest HHV (30.93 MJ/kg), as well as the lowest contents of oxygenated compounds and the largest amount of hydrocarbons. In summary, this work demonstrates the synergistic effects of the mixed additives of Fe and several catalysts (Na2CO3, FeS and Ru/C) in HTL of woody biomass, promoting both yields and quality of bio-oil products.

The effect of the annealing temperature after cold rolling on hydrogen embrittlement resistance was investigated with a face-centered cubic (FCC) equiatomic CoCrFeMnNi high-entropy alloy using tensile testing under electrochemical hydrogen charging. Decreasing annealing temperature from 800 °C to 750 °C decreased grain sizes from 3.2 to 2.1 μm, and resulted in the σ phase formation. Interestingly, the specimen annealed at 800 °C, which had coarser grains, showed a lower hydrogen embrittlement susceptibility than the specimen annealed at 750 °C, although hydrogen-assisted intergranular fracture was observed in both annealing conditions. Because the interface between the FCC matrix and σ was more susceptible to hydrogen than the grain boundary, the presence of the matrix/σ interface significantly assisted hydrogen-induced mechanical degradation. In terms of intergranular cracking, crack growth occurred via small crack initiation near a larger crack tip and subsequent crack coalescence, which has been observed in various steels and FCC alloys that contained hydrogen.

Butanol could reduce emissions and alleviate the energy crisis as a bio-fuel used on engines, but the production cost problem limits the application of butanol. During the butanol production, ABE (Acetone-Butanol-Ethanol) is a critical intermediate product. Many studies researched the direct application of ABE on engines instead of butanol to solve the production cost problem of butanol. ABE has the defects of large ignition energy and vaporization heat. Hydrogen is a gaseous fuel with small ignition energy and high flame temperature. In this research, ABE port injection combines with hydrogen direct injection, forming a stratified state of the hydrogen-rich mixture around the spark plug. The engine speed is 1500 rpm, and λ is 1. Five αH2 (hydrogen blending fractions: 0, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%) and five spark timings (5°, 10°, 15°, 20°, 25° CA BTDC) are studied to observe the effects of them on combustion and emissions of the test engine. The results show that hydrogen addition increases the maximum cylinder pressure and maximum heat release rate, increases the maximum cylinder temperature and IMEP, but the exhaust temperature decreases. The flame development period and flame propagation period shorten after adding hydrogen. Hydrogen addition improves HC and CO emissions but increases NOx emissions. Particle emissions decrease distinctly after hydrogen addition. Hydrogen changes the combustion properties of ABE and improves the test engine's power and emissions. The combustion in the cylinder becomes better with the increase of αH2, but a further increase in αH2 beyond 5% brings minor improvements on combustion.

The brain of the domestic pig (Sus scrofa domesticus) has drawn considerable attention due to its high similarities to that of humans. However, the cellular compositions of the pig brain (PB) remain elusive. Here we investigated the single-nucleus transcriptomic profiles of five regions of the PB (frontal lobe, parietal lobe, temporal lobe, occipital lobe, and hypothalamus) and identified 21 cell subpopulations. The cross-species comparison of mouse and pig hypothalamus revealed the shared and specific gene expression patterns at the single-cell resolution. Furthermore, we identified cell types and molecular pathways closely associated with neurological disorders, bridging the gap between gene mutations and pathogenesis. We reported, to our knowledge, the first single-cell atlas of domestic pig cerebral cortex and hypothalamus combined with a comprehensive analysis across species, providing extensive resources for future research regarding neural science, evolutionary developmental biology, and regenerative medicine.

The plate-type fuel assembly adopted in nuclear research reactor suffers from complicated effect induced by non-uniform irradiation, which might affect stress conditions, mechanical behaviors and thermal-hydraulic performance of the fuel assembly. This paper is the Part II work of a two-part study devoted to analyzing the complex unique mechanical deformation and thermal-hydraulic characteristics for the typical plate-type fuel assembly under irradiation effect, which is on the basis of developed and verified numerical thermal-fluid-structure coupling methodology under irradiation in Part I of this work. The mechanical deformation, thermal-hydraulic performance and Mises stress have been analyzed for the typical plate-type fuel assembly consisting of support plates under non-uniform irradiation. It was interesting to observe that: the plate-type fuel assembly including the fuel plates and support plates tended to bend towards the location with maximum fission rate; the hot spots in the fuel foil appeared at the location with maximum thickness increment; the maximum Mises stress of fuel foil was located at the adjacent location with the maximum plate thickness increment et al.

The plate-type fuel assembly adopted in nuclear research reactor suffers from complicated effect induced by non-uniform irradiation, which might affect its stress conditions, mechanical behavior and thermal-hydraulic performance. A reliable numerical method is of great importance to reveal the complex evolution of mechanical deformation, flow redistribution and temperature field for the plate-type fuel assembly under non-uniform irradiation. This paper is the first part of a two-part study developing the numerical methodology for the thermal-fluid-structure coupling behaviors of plate-type fuel assembly under irradiation. In this paper, the thermal-fluid-structure coupling methodology has been developed for plate-type fuel assembly under non-uniform irradiation condition by exchanging thermal-hydraulic and mechanical deformation parameters between Finite Element Model (FEM) software and Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) software with Mesh-based parallel Code Coupling Interface (MpCCI), which has been validated with experimental results. Based on the established methodology, the effects of non-uniform irradiation and fluid were discussed, which demonstrated that the maximum mechanical deformation with irradiation was dozens of times larger than that without irradiation and the hydraulic load on fuel plates due to differential pressure played a dominant role in the mechanical deformation.