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In mammals, specificity protein 1 (SP1) was the first Cys2-His2 zinc finger transcription factor to be isolated within the specificity protein and Krüppel-like factor (Sp/KLF) gene family. SP1 regulates gene expression by binding to Guanine–Cytosine (GC)-rich sequences on promoter regions of target genes, affecting various cellular processes. Additionally, the activity of SP1 is markedly influenced by posttranslational modifications, such as phosphorylation, acetylation, glycosylation, and proteolysis. SP1 is implicated in the regulation of apoptosis, cell hypertrophy, inflammation, oxidative stress, lipid metabolism, plaque stabilization, endothelial dysfunction, fibrosis, calcification, and other pathological processes. These processes impact the onset and progression of numerous cardiovascular disorders, including coronary heart disease, ischemia-reperfusion injury, cardiomyopathy, arrhythmia, and vascular disease. SP1 emerges as a potential target for the prevention and therapeutic intervention of cardiac ailments. In this review, we delve into the biological functions, pathophysiological mechanisms, and potential clinical implications of SP1 in cardiac pathology to offer valuable insights into the regulatory functions of SP1 in heart diseases and unveil novel avenues for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) network approach is employed to evaluate the prediction performance of PM2.5 in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region (BTH). The proposed method is evaluated using the hourly air quality datasets from the China National Environmental Monitoring Center, European Center for Medium-range Weather Forecasts ERA5 (ECMWF-ERA5), and Multi-resolution Emission Inventory for China (MEIC) for the years 2016 and 2017. The predicted PM2.5 concentrations demonstrate a strong correlation with the observed values (R2 = 0.871–0.940) in the air quality dataset. Furthermore, the model exhibited the best performance in situations of heavy pollution (PM2.5 > 150 μg/m3) and during the winter season, with respective R2 values of 0.689 and 0.915. In addition, the influence of ECMWF-ERA5's hourly meteorological factors was assessed, and the results revealed regional heterogeneity on a large scale. Further evaluation was conducted by analyzing the chemical components of the MEIC inventory on the prediction performance. We concluded that the same temporal profile may not be suitable for addressing emission inventories in a large area with a deep learning method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study reports new types of passive mode-locked Er-doped fiber laser (EDFL) based on a segment of doped fiber saturable absorber (DFSA) with Tm/Ho-doped fiber (THDF), Yb-doped fiber (YDF), and Er-doped fiber (EDF). By employing THDF-SA, a bright pulse sequence with a fundamental repetition rate of 17.86 MHz was obtained. In addition, various mode-locked output states, including dark pulses, dark–bright pulse pairs, bright–dark pulse pairs, and second-harmonic pulses, were obtained through polarization modulation and gain modulation, and the orthogonality of dark–bright pulses in both polarization directions was verified. Furthermore, using EDF-SA and YDF-SA, dark pulses and dark–bright pulses were obtained. A comparison of the three experiments revealed that THDF-SA effectively reduces the mode-locked threshold and improves the average output power. Compared with bright pulses, dark pulses offer several advantages such as resisting noise, increasing propagation speed, and suppressing nonlinear scattering (such as pulse-intrinsic Raman scattering); thus, the EDFL can find broad application in long-distance transmission, precision measurement, and other fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two years of field experiments were conducted at the National Field Observation Experiment Station for Efficient Agricultural Water Use in the Wuwei Oasis, Gansu Province. Based on the eddy correlation system, the evapotranspiration (ET) of the cabbage agroecosystem during the growth period was obtained and the main driving factors of ET changes were determined. The Root Zone Water Quality Model 2.0 version (RZWQM2 model) was used to simulate ET during the growth period. The results showed the following: (1) The ET of cabbage during the growth period was 260. 1 ± 24.2 mm, which was basically lower than other crops planted in this area. (2) Through partial correlation analysis and principal component analysis, it can be found that environmental and physiological factors jointly drive changes in ET. The main driving factors include gross primary productivity, net radiation, and water use efficiency. (3) The RZWQM2 model can simulate the ET of the cabbage agroecosystem well, especially in simulating the total ET value and its trend. The growth period ETs were 7.3% lower than the ETm. Cabbage is an important cash crop in Northwest China, and ET is an important component of the water cycle in the agroecosystem. Determining the main driving factors of ET is of great significance for the sustainable utilization of agricultural water resources in Northwest China. Our results can provide a scientific basis for the cultivation of cabbage as a cash crop and the development of water saving agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clinical trials of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in children have important implications for the early identification and management of CKD. The selection of clinical trial outcomes is critical for assessing the effectiveness of interventions in pediatric CKD clinical trials. This review systematically examines the spectrum of outcome measures deployed in pediatric CKD clinical trials, which includes clinical and alternative outcomes, patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs), and safety indicators. Alternative outcome measures were stratified into four levels of evidence strength: convincing, probable, suggestive, and inconclusive. Consequently, the selection of outcome measures for pediatric CKD clinical trials mandates careful consideration of both their methodological feasibility and the robustness of their evidence base. Moreover, the burgeoning field of PROMs warrants integration into the design of future pediatric clinical trials to enrich the relevance and impact of research findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Massive multiple input multiple output (MIMO) enabled grant-free random access (mGFRA) stands out as a promising random access (RA) solution, thus effectively addressing the need for massive access in massive machine-type communications (mMTCs) while ensuring high spectral efficiency and minimizing signaling overhead. However, the bottleneck of mGFRA is mainly dominated by the orthogonal preamble collisions, since the orthogonal preamble pool is small and of a fixed-sized. In this paper, we explore the potential of non-orthogonal preambles to overcome limitations and enhance the success probability of mGFRA without extending the length of the preamble. Given the RA procedure of mGFRA, we analyze the factors influencing the success rate of mGFRA with non-orthogonal preamble and propose to use two types of sequences, namely Gold sequence and Gaussian distribution sequence, as the preambles for mGFRA. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of these two types pf non-orthogonal preambles in improving the success probability of mGFRA. Moreover, the system parameters' impact on the performance of mGFRA with non-orthogonal preambles is examined and deliberated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mechanical characteristics of graphene ribbons with an attached proof mass that can be used as NEMS transducers have been minimally studied, which hinders the development of graphene-based NEMS devices. Here, we simulated the mechanical characteristics of graphene ribbons with an attached proof mass using the finite element method. We studied the impact of force, residual stress, and geometrical size on displacement, strain, resonant frequency, and fracture strength of graphene ribbons with an attached proof mass. The results show that the increase of width and thickness of graphene ribbons would result in a decrease of the displacement and strain but also an increase of resonant frequency. The increase of the length of graphene ribbons has an insignificant impact on the strain, but it could increase the displacement and decrease the resonant frequency. The increase of residual stress in the graphene ribbons decreases its strain and displacement. The estimated fracture strength of graphene shows limited dependence on its thickness, with an estimated value of around 148 GPa. These findings contribute to the understanding of the mechanical characteristics of graphene ribbons with an attached proof mass and lay the solid foundation for the design and manufacture of high-performance graphene-based NEMS devices such as accelerometers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a heat-resistant adhesive was prepared using molybdenum-phenolic (Mo-PF) resin as the matrix and TiB2 particle as the ceramizable filler for bonding Al2O3 ceramic substrates. Firstly, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) was used to characterize the chemical structure of the Mo-PF. Subsequently, thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA) and shear strength testing were employed to investigate the effects of heat treatment in different atmospheres on the thermal stability and residual bonding properties of the adhesive. To further explore the bonding mechanism of the adhesive after heat treatment in different atmospheres, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), compressive strength testing, and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were utilized to analyze the microstructure, mechanical strength, and composition evolution of the adhesive at different temperatures. The bonding strength of Al2O3 joints showed a trend of initially decreasing and then increasing after different temperature heat treatment in air, with the shear strength reaching a maximum value of 25.68 MPa after treatment at 1200 °C. And the bonding strength of Al2O3 joints decreased slowly with the increase of temperature in nitrogen. In air, the ceramicization reaction at a high temperature enabled the mechanical strength of the adhesive to rise despite the continuous pyrolysis of the resin. However, the TiB2 filler in nitrogen did not react, and the properties of the adhesive showed a decreasing tendency with the pyrolysis of the resin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a numerical investigation of the bound-state pulse formation mechanism and evolutionary dynamics based on the pump strength and spectral filtering bandwidth in the all-fiber Mamyshev oscillator. Through the numerical simulation and analysis, the different mode-locked pulses' (such as single pulses, bound-state pulses, and chaotic multi-pulses) regime transformation conditions are quantified. The results suggest that with an increase in the pump strength, the sub-pulse energy and output coupler of the Mamyshev oscillator show an inverse proportion trend, which plays an important role in increasing the number of sub-pulses in the bound-state pulses' state. Furthermore, optimization schemes, such as adjusting the filter bandwidth and slowing down the accumulation of nonlinear effects, are proposed to achieve a high-energy pulse output in the Mamyshev oscillator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, there is a growing demand for materials that can both improve the mechanical properties of structures and carry out health monitoring and risk warning. In this case, in order to realize distributed deformation monitoring, a new method of making geogrid by 3D printing technology is proposed. The grille rib is made by embedding the conductive polymer (ground carbon fiber as conductive filler) into the insulating shell (PLA material) in the specified path, and then the rib is vertically crossed into each other to form a grille sample. In order to study the distributed deformation monitoring function of this grid, a manual push–pull testing machine was used to conduct a load–unload experiment to analyze the change rule of resistance on the grid plane. The following conclusions were obtained: the closer the ribs are to the load bearing point, the greater the change in resistance, and conversely, the farther the ribs are from the load bearing point, the smaller the change in resistance. Depending on the geogrid network characteristics, the electrical resistance distribution on the geogrid plane can be obtained by superimposing the resistance values of the horizontal and longitudinal ribs, then the location and the magnitude of deformation can be estimated. Additionally, this study carried out numerical simulation of the grid model based on ANSYS 15.0 software and compared with the loading experiment results to verify that the force deformation position can be retrieved through the change of resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Streaming data sequences arise from various areas in the era of big data, and it is challenging to explore efficient online models that adapt to them. To address the potential heterogeneity, we introduce a new online estimation procedure to analyze the constantly incoming streaming datasets. The underlying model structures are assumed to be the generalized linear models with dynamic regression coefficients. Our key idea lies in introducing a vector of unknown parameters to measure the differences between batch-specific regression coefficients from adjacent data blocks. This is followed by the usage of the adaptive lasso penalization methodology to accurately select nonzero components, which indicates the existence of dynamic coefficients. We provide detailed derivations to demonstrate how our proposed method not only fits within the online updating framework in which the old estimator is recursively replaced with a new one based solely on the current individual-level samples and historical summary statistics but also adaptively avoids undesirable estimation biases coming from the potential changes in model parameters of interest. Computational issues are also discussed in detail to facilitate implementation. Its practical performance is demonstrated through both extensive simulations and a real case study. In summary, we contribute to a novel online method that efficiently adapts to streaming data environment, addresses potential heterogeneity, and mitigates estimation biases from changes in coefficients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Double perovskite La2FeCrO6 (LFCO) powders were synthesized via the hydrothermal method, which crystallized in an orthorhombic (Pnma) structure and exhibited a spherical morphology with an average particle size of 900 nm. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy demonstrated the presence of fingerprints of vibrational modes of [FeO6] and [CrO6] octahedra in the powders. The XPS spectra revealed dual oxide states of Fe (Fe2+/Fe3+) and Cr (Cr3+/Cr4+) elements, and the oxygen element appeared as lattice oxygen and defect oxygen, respectively. The LFCO powders exhibited weak ferromagnetic behavior at 5 K with a Curie temperature of 200 K. Their saturation magnetization and coercive field were measured as 0.31 μB/f.u. and 8.0 kOe, respectively. The Griffiths phase was observed between 200 K and 223 K. A butterfly-like magnetoresistance (MR)–magnetic field (H) curve was observed in the LFCO ceramics at 5 K with an MR (5 K, 6 T) value of −4.07%. The temperature dependence of resistivity of the LFCO ceramics demonstrated their semiconducting nature. Electrical transport data were fitted by different conduction models. The dielectric behaviors of the LFCO ceramics exhibited a strong frequency dispersion, and a dielectric abnormality was observed around 260 K. That was ascribed to the jumping of electrons trapped at shallow levels created by oxygen vacancies. The dielectric loss showed relaxation behavior between 160 K and 260 K, which was attributed to the singly ionized oxygen vacancies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The advent of the Internet of Vehicles (IoV) has led to a significant surge in data generation from vehicles, prompting the innovative utilization of data transactions within the IoV environment. However, due to the inherent trustless nature of data transactions in IoV, concerns have arisen regarding the lack of trust between involved parties and the potential compromise of user privacy. To address these issues, blockchain technology emerges as a suitable decentralized distributed storage and security management solution, offering transparency and security in data transactions. In this study, we leverage blockchain to integrate with the IoV, devising a robust trust management framework, and devising a privacy protection scheme to safeguard user privacy concerns. Additionally, we employ the performance evaluation process algebra (PEPA) method for system modeling and performance analysis to assess the efficacy of our proposed solution. Empirical findings demonstrate that our approach effectively enhances the performance of data transactions within the IoV while ensuring that the privacy of users remains intact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we isolated and identified pathogenic fungi from the naturally occurring fruits of red grapes, studied their biological characteristics, screened fifteen essential oil components to find the best natural antibacterial agent with the strongest inhibitory effect, and then compared the incidence of postharvest diseases and storage potential of red grapes treated with two concentrations (0.5 EC50/EC50) of essential oil components (inoculated with pathogenic fungi) during storage for 12 d at room temperature. In our research, Alternaria alternata was the primary pathogenic fungus of red grapes. Specifically, red grapes became infected which caused diseases, regardless of whether they were inoculated with Alternaria alternata in an injured or uninjured state. Our findings demonstrated that the following conditions were ideal for Alternaria alternata mycelial development and spore germination: BSA medium, D-maltose, ammonium nitrate, 28 °C, pH 6, and exposure to light. For the best Alternaria alternata spore production, OA medium, mannitol, urea, 34 °C, pH 9, and dark conditions were advised. Furthermore, with an EC50 value of 36.71 μg/mL, carvacrol demonstrated the highest inhibitory impact on Alternaria alternata among the 15 components of essential oils. In the meantime, treatment with EC50 concentration of carvacrol was found to be more effective than 0.5 EC50 concentration for controlling Alternaria alternata-induced decay disease of red grapes. The fruits exhibited remarkable improvements in the activity of defense-related enzymes, preservation of the greatest hardness and total soluble solids content, reduction in membrane lipid peroxidation in the peel, and preservation of the structural integrity of peel cells. Consequently, carvacrol was able to prevent the Alternaria alternata infestation disease that affects red grapes, and its EC50 concentration produced the greatest outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development of memristor theory, the application of memristor in the field of the nervous system has achieved remarkable results and has bright development prospects. Flux-controlled memristor can be used to describe the magnetic induction effect of the neuron. Based on the Hindmarsh–Rose (HR) neuron model, a new HR neuron model is proposed by introducing a flux-controlled memristor and a multi-frequency excitation with high–low frequency current superimposed. Various firing patterns under single and multiple stimuli are investigated. The model can exhibit different coexisting firing patterns. In addition, when the memristor coupling strength changes, the multiple stability of the model is eliminated, which is a rare phenomenon. Moreover, an analog circuit is built to verify the numerical simulation results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pulmonary vascular remodeling, characterized by the thickening of all three layers of the blood vessel wall, plays a central role in the pathogenesis of pulmonary hypertension (PH). Despite the approval of several drugs for PH treatment, their long-term therapeutic effect remains unsatisfactory, as they mainly focus on vasodilation rather than addressing vascular remodeling. Therefore, there is an urgent need for novel therapeutic targets in the treatment of PH. Nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) is a vital transcription factor that regulates endogenous antioxidant defense and emerges as a novel regulator of pulmonary vascular remodeling. Growing evidence has suggested an involvement of Nrf2 and its downstream transcriptional target in the process of pulmonary vascular remodeling. Pharmacologically targeting Nrf2 has demonstrated beneficial effects in various diseases, and several Nrf2 inducers are currently undergoing clinical trials. However, the exact potential and mechanism of Nrf2 as a therapeutic target in PH remain unknown. Thus, this review article aims to comprehensively explore the role and mechanism of Nrf2 in pulmonary vascular remodeling associated with PH. Additionally, we provide a summary of Nrf2 inducers that have shown therapeutic potential in addressing the underlying vascular remodeling processes in PH. Although Nrf2-related therapies hold great promise, further research is necessary before their clinical implementation can be fully realized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The accurate prevention and control of pear tree diseases, especially the precise segmentation of leaf diseases, poses a serious challenge to fruit farmers globally. Given the possibility of disease areas being minute with ambiguous boundaries, accurate segmentation becomes difficult. In this study, we propose a pear leaf disease segmentation model named MFBP-UNet. It is based on the UNet network architecture and integrates a Multi-scale Feature Extraction (MFE) module and a Tokenized Multilayer Perceptron (BATok-MLP) module with dynamic sparse attention. The MFE enhances the extraction of detail and semantic features, while the BATok-MLP successfully fuses regional and global attention, striking an effective balance in the extraction capabilities of both global and local information. Additionally, we pioneered the use of a diffusion model for data augmentation. By integrating and analyzing different augmentation methods, we further improved the model's training accuracy and robustness. Experimental results reveal that, compared to other segmentation networks, MFBP-UNet shows a significant improvement across all performance metrics. Specifically, MFBP-UNet achieves scores of 86.15%, 93.53%, 90.89%, and 0.922 on MIoU, MP, MPA, and Dice metrics, marking respective improvements of 5.75%, 5.79%, 1.08%, and 0.074 over the UNet model. These results demonstrate the MFBP-UNet model's superior performance and generalization capabilities in pear leaf disease segmentation and its inherent potential to address analogous challenges in natural environment segmentation tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alternative protein sources for the human diet may help overcome the growing food pressure. Plants with abundant resources and high protein content are potential sources. In this article, graded proteins and isolated proteins from Corylus mandshurica Maxim kernels were extracted by the Osborne procedure and the alkali-solution and acid-isolation method, respectively, and the contents of the five proteins, and the differences in nutritional value and structural properties of the main proteins, were investigated. Amino acid analysis revealed that the total essential amino acids in the five proteins ranged from 249.58 to 324.52 mg/g. The essential amino acid profiles in the proteins were similar to those of FAO/WHO except for the alcohol-soluble protein. The essential amino acid indices ranged from 58.59 to 72.19 and the biological values ranged from 52.16 to 66.99, and the highest nutritional indices were found for the isolate and water-soluble protein, which were 41.68 and 55.78, respectively. The molecular weight pattern distribution of the protein isolates of the Corylus mandshurica Maxim kernel was more similar to that of the water-soluble proteins by SDS–PAGE. The β-sheet and α-helix were the main secondary structures in the two protein fractions. The fluorescence spectra showed that the maximum fluorescence intensity of the two proteins and their λmax were also somewhat different. From the perspective of microscopic morphology, the two proteins are mainly compact and irregular lamellar structures, but the surface of the water-soluble protein is more flat and regular. Both proteins have good solubility, and the water-soluble protein has higher solubility. In general, the protein isolates of the Corylus mandshurica Maxim kernel and the water-soluble protein showed their potential as plant protein resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Porous C nanosheet/Cu2S composites were prepared using a simple self-template method and vulcanization process. The Cu2S nanoparticles with an average diameter of 140 nm are uniformly distributed on porous carbon nanosheets. When used as the anode of a potassium-ion battery, porous C nanosheet/Cu2S composites exhibit good rate performance and cycle performance (363 mAh g−1 at 0.1 A g−1 after 100 cycles; 120 mAh g−1 at 5 A g−1 after 1000 cycles). The excellent electrochemical performance of porous C nanosheet/Cu2S composites can be ascribed to their unique structure, which can restrain the volume change of Cu2S during the charge/discharge processes, increase the contact area between the electrode and the electrolyte, and improve the electron/ionic conductivity of the electrode material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(1) Background: Exosomes (EXOs) have been considered a new target thought to be involved in and treat wound healing. More research is needed to fully understand EXO characteristics and the mechanisms of EXO-mediated wound healing, especially wound healing after burn injury. (2) Methods: All EXOs were isolated from 85 serum samples of 29 burn patients and 13 healthy individuals. We characterized the EXOs for morphology and density, serum concentration, protein level, marker expression, size distribution, and cytokine content. After a confirmation of EXO uptake by dermal fibroblasts, we also explored the functional regulation of primary human normal skin and hypertrophic scar fibroblast cell lines by the EXOs in vitro, including cell proliferation and apoptosis. (3) Results: EXOs dynamically changed their morphology, density, size, and cytokine level during wound healing in burn patients, which were correlated with burn severity and the stages of wound healing. EXOs both from burn patients and healthy individuals stimulated dermal fibroblast proliferation and apoptosis. (4) Conclusions: EXO features may be important signals that influence wound healing after burn injury; however, to understand the mechanisms by which EXOs regulates the fibroblasts in healing wounds, further studies will be required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Image datasets acquired from orchards are commonly characterized by intricate backgrounds and an imbalanced distribution of disease categories, resulting in suboptimal recognition outcomes when attempting to identify apple leaf diseases. In this regard, we propose a novel apple leaf disease recognition model, named RFCA ResNet, equipped with a dual attention mechanism and multi-scale feature extraction capacity, to more effectively tackle these issues. The dual attention mechanism incorporated into RFCA ResNet is a potent tool for mitigating the detrimental effects of complex backdrops on recognition outcomes. Additionally, by utilizing the class balance technique in conjunction with focal loss, the adverse effects of an unbalanced dataset on classification accuracy can be effectively minimized. The RFB module enables us to expand the receptive field and achieve multi-scale feature extraction, both of which are critical for the superior performance of RFCA ResNet. Experimental results demonstrate that RFCA ResNet significantly outperforms the standard CNN network model, exhibiting marked improvements of 89.61%, 56.66%, 72.76%, and 58.77% in terms of accuracy rate, precision rate, recall rate, and F1 score, respectively. It is better than other approaches, performs well in generalization, and has some theoretical relevance and practical value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study intended to examine the relationship between perceived teacher support, students' ICT self-efficacy, and online English academic engagement in the blended learning setting, especially in mobile-assisted foreign language instruction contexts. A sample of 960 Chinese undergraduate and postgraduate students was recruited to participate in the online questionnaire. SPSS version 24.0 was used for descriptive, correlation, independent samples t-test, and mediation analysis of the three variables. The results showed that: (1) there is a significant correlation between perceived teacher support, students' ICT self-efficacy, and online English academic engagement; (2) students' ICT self-efficacy partially mediates the relationship between perceived teacher support and student online English academic engagement; (3) students' ICT self-efficacies differed by sex and level of education, but not by major; (4) students' sense of self-competence in ICT self-efficacy has a significant positive influence on engagement with online English learning. The findings reveal that students' ICT self-efficacy positively impacts students' online English learning, and perceived teacher support also affects students' learning engagement. School administrators should encourage teachers to focus on students' online self-efficacy, especially the sense of environmental control. Implications and further directions for future research are presented at the end. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The quality of blueberry fruit is easily altered after harvest. We investigated the regulatory mechanism of heat-shock (postharvest treatment) and edible coating (preharvest treatment) on the post-harvest physiological quality of blueberry from the perspective of physiological, biochemical and organoleptic characteristics. In our research, the optimal TKL concentration and the appropriate range of heat-shock temperatures were first screened based on actual application results, and then a combination of heat-shock temperature and TKL coating with significant differences in preservation effects was selected to investigate the effects of different heat-shock temperatures and TKL60 composite coating on post-harvest quality and volatile compound concentration of blueberries under refrigerated conditions. Our results showed that TKL with 60 mg/L thymol can retard the development of the degree of membrane lipid peroxidation and effectively reduce the incidence of fruit decay and the severity of blueberries infected with major pathogens at 25 °C. Meanwhile, heat-shock treatments were effective in maintaining the quality of blueberries, with a certain advantage from 45 °C to 65 °C after 8 d of storage at ambient temperature, but these treated groups were slightly inferior to TKL60 groups for fresh-keeping effect. Remarkably, the combination of heat-shock treatment and edible coating application could extend the shelf life of blueberries by 7–14 d compared to the results obtained with coating alone under low temperature storage. Specifically, heat treatment at 45 °C for 60 min after TKL60 coating (HT2) retarded the decrease in the levels of ascorbic acid, total anthocyanin, total acid and soluble solids. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry hierarchical clustering analysis showed that this treatment also improved the aroma of the fruit, which maintained a certain similarity with that of fresh blueberries after 14 d. Principal component analysis (PCA) of the results of the evaluations carried out using an electronic nose (E-nose) and electronic tongue (E-tongue) showed that blueberries of the HT2 treated group did not show a large placement change of the PC1 distribution area from that of the fresh and blank control group. Accordingly, the combination of coating with heat-shock treatment can effectively improve the post-harvest quality and aroma compound concentration of blueberries, showing good application potential in storage and preservation of fresh fruits such as blueberries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite its wide-ranging benefits, whole-transcriptome or RNA exome profiling is challenging to implement in a clinical diagnostic setting. The Unified Assay is a comprehensive workflow wherein exome-enriched RNA-sequencing (RNA-Seq) assays are performed on clinical samples and analyzed by a series of advanced machine learning-based classifiers. Gene expression signatures and rare and/or novel genomic events, including fusions, mitochondrial variants, and loss of heterozygosity were assessed using RNA-Seq data generated from 120,313 clinical samples across three clinical indications (thyroid cancer, lung cancer, and interstitial lung disease). Since its implementation, the data derived from the Unified Assay have allowed significantly more patients to avoid unnecessary diagnostic surgery and have played an important role in guiding follow-up decisions regarding treatment. Collectively, data from the Unified Assay show the utility of RNA-Seq and RNA expression signatures in the clinical laboratory, and their importance to the future of precision medicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Long non-coding RNAs modulate tumor occurrence through different molecular mechanisms. It had been reported that HNF1A-AS1 (HNF1A Antisense RNA 1) was differently expressed in multiple tumors. The role of HNF1A-AS1 in colorectal cancer was less analyzed, and the mechanism of regulating the cell cycle has not been completely elucidated. Methods: Differentially expressed lncRNAs were screened out from the TCGA database. HNF1A-AS1 was examined in CRC clinical samples and cell lines by RT-qPCR. CCK8 assay, colony formation assay, flow cytometry, transwell assays, tube forming assay and vivo experiments were performed to study the function of HNF1A-AS1 in CRC tumor progression. Bioinformatic analysis, luciferase report assay, RNA pull-down and RIP assays were carried out to explore proteins binding HNF1A-AS1 and the potential downstream targets. Results: Our results showed that HNF1A-AS1 was upregulated in CRC and associated with unfavorable prognosis. HNF1A-AS1 promoted proliferation, migration and angiogenesis, accelerated cell cycle and reduced cell apoptosis in CRC. Bioinformatics prediction and further experiments proved that HNF1A-AS1 could promote CCND1 expression by suppressing PDCD4 or competitively sponging miR-93-5p. Meanwhile, METTL3 mediated HNF1A-AS1 m6A modification and affected its RNA stability. HNF1A-AS1/IGF2BP2/CCND1 may act as a complex to regulate the stability of CCND1. Conclusion: In summary, our result reveals the novel mechanism in which m6A-mediated HNF1A-AS1/IGF2BP2/CCND1 axis promotes CRC cell cycle progression, along with competitively sponging miR-93-5p to upregulate CCND1, demonstrating its significant role in cell cycle regulation and suggesting that HNF1A-AS1 may act as a potential prognostic marker of colorectal cancer in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of tourism in historical villages has a certain impact on the native environment, which leads to visitors occupying community public spaces relatively frequently. The design of rural public spaces, especially in relation to the street network's spatial configuration, significantly affects how villagers interact with one another. This research investigated the influence of street network space on the regional social interaction preferences of rural community populations by applying space syntax theory. Three typical villages in southern Anhui, China, were the subject of an observation analysis of social behaviors and pedestrian volumes on street networks. Using a segment model, it was possible to determine seven spatial configuration attributes of streets, including depth to the village entrance (DtoE), connectivity, curvature, the normalized angle choice (NACH) and integration (NAIN) with two radii. A considerable joint effect of street spatial type and spatial layout attributes on the regional social interaction preferences of rural community populations was found by MANOVA and stepwise regression analysis. The sampled community tends to engage in social activities in branch streets, and the pedestrian volume contained 67.1% of all the observed people in the street networks. Streets' spatial attributes with lower NACH or NAIN levels (less usability or accessibility) and higher DtoE or curvature levels (more privacy or deformation) have greater influences on community pedestrian volumes. Regarding street type, the in-between space was found to have the most significant effect on the pedestrian volume of the branch streets, which are the preferred zones of community populations in the context of social activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report a rare case of Cushing's syndrome induced by an ectopic adrenocortical adenoma. A 57-year-old woman was diagnosed with adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)-independent Cushing's syndrome based on clinical manifestation and laboratory information. She was found to have a mass in the left renal hilum via contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT). The mass was negative, as seen in somatostatin receptor imaging with 99mTc-hydrazinonicotinyl-Tyr3-octreotide (HYNIC-TOC), and showed mild fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) activity via positron emission tomography (PET)/CT. The results of adrenal venous sampling suggested a left-side adrenal origin of hypercortisolism, possibly secreted by the mass in the renal hilum. Histopathology after surgical resection of the mass confirmed an ectopic adrenocortical adenoma, which was responsible for the patient's Cushing's syndrome. During the 8-month follow-up after surgery, no recurrence of Cushing's syndrome was found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Delayed self-heterodyne/homodyne measurements based on an unbalanced interferometer are the most used methods for measuring the linewidth of narrow-linewidth lasers. They typically require the service of a delay of six times (or greater) than the laser coherence time to guarantee the Lorentzian characteristics of the beat notes. Otherwise, the beat notes are displayed as a coherent envelope. The linewidth cannot be directly determined from the coherence envelope. However, measuring narrow linewidths using traditional methods introduces significant errors due to the 1/f frequency noise. Here, a short fiber-based linewidth measurement scheme was proposed, and the influence of the noise floor on the measurement of the laser linewidth using this scheme was studied theoretically and experimentally. The results showed that this solution and calibration process is capable of significantly improving the measurement accuracy of narrow linewidth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The utilization of straw waste cellulose will be beneficial by economic, social, and environmental means. The present study sought to screen the high-efficiency cellulose sugar-producing strain from corn straw. The 16S high-throughput sequencing method and the combination of morphological, physiological, and biochemical characteristics of the strain confirmed the strain to be Clostridium thermocellum, which was named Clostridium thermocellum FC811. Moreover, the single factor experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of environmental factors on saccharification efficiency. The optimal saccharification conditions of cellulose saccharification of FC811 strain selected through response surface analysis were as follows: temperature of 58.9 °C, pH of 7.21, culture time of 6.60 d, substrate concentration of 5.01 g/L, and yeast powder concentration of 2.15 g/L. The soluble sugar yield was 3.11 g/L, and the conversion rate of reducing sugar was 62.2%. This study will provide a reference for resource and energy utilization of straw materials, simultaneous fermentation of sugar and hydrogen production, and their large-scale production and application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Melatonin is an indoleamine hormone secreted by the pineal gland. It has antioxidation and anti-apoptosis effects and a clear protective effect against cardiovascular diseases. Our previous studies demonstrated that embryonic exposure to sodium arsenite (NaAsO2) can lead to an abnormal cardiac development. The aim of this study was to determine whether melatonin could protect against NaAsO2-induced generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), oxidative stress, apoptosis, and abnormal cardiac development in a zebrafish (Danio rerio) model. We found that melatonin decreased NaAsO2-induced zebrafish embryonic heart malformations and abnormal heart rates at a melatonin concentration as low as 10−9 mol/L. The NaAsO2-induced oxidative stress was counteracted by melatonin supplementation. Melatonin blunted the NaAsO2-induced overproduction of ROS, the upregulation of oxidative stress-related genes (sod2, cat, gpx, nrf2, ho-1), and the production of antioxidant enzymes (Total SOD, SOD1, SOD2, CAT). Melatonin attenuated the NaAsO2-induced oxidative damage, DNA damage, and apoptosis, based on malonaldehyde and 8-OHdG levels and apoptosis-related gene expression (caspase-3, bax, bcl-2), respectively. Melatonin also maintained the control levels of heart development-related genes (nkx2.5, sox9b) affected by NaAsO2. In conclusion, melatonin protected against NaAsO2-induced heart malformations by inhibiting the oxidative stress and apoptosis in zebrafish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Efficient printing frequency is critical for thermal bubble inkjet printing, while the difficulty lies in the structural design and material selection of the heating resistors. In this paper, a TaN film was used as the main material of the heating resistors, and two TaN films were placed in parallel to form the chopsticks-shaped structure. The heating time was divided into two sections, in which 0–0.1 μs was the preheating and 1.2–1.8 μs was the primary heating. At 1.8 μs, the maximum temperature of the Si3N4 film could reach about 1100 °C. At the same time, the SiO2 film was added between the TaN film and Si3N4 film as a buffer layer, which effectively avoided the rupture of the Si3N4 film due to excessive thermal stress. Inside the inkjet print head, the maximum temperature of the chamber reached about 680 °C at 2.5 μs. Due to the high power of the heating resistors, the working time was greatly reduced and the frequency of the inkjet printing was effectively increased. At the interface between the back of the chip and the cartridge, the SiO2 film was used to connect to ensure a timely ink supply. Under the condition of 12 V at 40 kHz, the inkjet chip could print efficiently with 10 nozzles at the same time. The inkjet chip proposed in this paper is not limited to only office printing, but also provides a new reference for 3D printing, cell printing, and vegetable and fruit printing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Our aim was to elucidate the molecular mechanisms of how tyrosine kinase inhibitors, including sunitinib, contribute to vasculogenic mimicry (VM) formation and progression in renal cell carcinoma. We demonstrated that sunitinib and axitinib could induce ERβ expression in RCC cell lines and ERβ transcriptionally up-regulated the circular RNA of DGKD (circDGKD, hsa_circ_0058763) expression. The circDGKD could sponge tumor suppressor miR-125-5p family members and consequently led to increased VE-cadherin, the key adhesion molecule in the VM formation process, which is targeted by miR-125-5p at the 3′ UTR, providing novel targets for combination therapy in clinical metastatic RCC patients. Vasculogenic mimicry (VM) has been reported as an alternative channel to increase tumor nutrient supplies and accelerate tumor progression, and is associated with poor survival prognosis in multiple cancers, including renal cell carcinoma (RCC). The currently used anti-angiogenic treatment for metastatic RCC, sunitinib, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI), has been reported to induce VM formation. Previously we identified that the estrogen receptor β (ERβ) functions as an oncogenic factor to promote RCC progression, supported by the analytic results from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. We have also found evidence that sunitinib induces RCC VM formation by up-regulating ERβ expression. In this study, we further demonstrated that treatment with sunitinib, as well as axitinib, another TKI, could induce ERβ expression in RCC cell lines. Clinical clear cell RCC (ccRCC) patients with higher ERβ expression are more likely to be found VE-cadherin positive and VM positive. Mechanism dissection showed that TKI- induced ERβ transcriptionally up-regulates the circular RNA of DGKD (circDGKD, hsa_circ_0058763), which enhances VE-cadherin expression by sponging the microRNA miR-125-5p family. Targeting circDGKD intercepts sunitinib-pretreatment-induced RCC VM formation, reduces metastases and improves survival in an experimental orthotopic animal model. Targeting ERβ/circDGKD signals may improve the TKI efficacy and provide novel combination therapies for metastatic RCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shrubs are an important part of the Gobi Desert ecosystem, and their aboveground biomass (AGB) is an important manifestation of the productivity of the Gobi Desert ecosystem. Characterizing the biophysical properties of low-stature vegetation such as shrubs in the Gobi Desert via conventional field surveys and satellite remote sensing images is challenging. The AGB of shrubs had been estimated from spectral variables taken from high-resolution images obtained by unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in the Gobi Desert, Xinjiang, China, using vegetation feature metrics. The main results were as follows: (1) Based on the UAV images, several RGB vegetation indices (RGB VIs) were selected to extract the vegetation coverage, and it was found that the excess green index (EXG) had the highest accuracy and the overall extraction accuracy of vegetation coverage reached 97.00%. (2) According to field sample plot surveys, the AGB and shrub crown area of single shrubs in the Gobi Desert were in line with a power model. From the bottom of the alluvial fan to the top of the alluvial fan, as the altitude increased, the AGB of the vegetation communities showed an increasing trend: the AGB of the vegetation communities at the bottom of the alluvial fan was 2–90 g/m2, while that at the top of the alluvial fan was 60–201 g/m2. (3) Vegetation coverage (based on the UAV image EXG index) and AGB showed a good correlation. The two conform to the relationship model (R2 = 0.897) and the expression is Y = 1167.341 x0.946, where Y is the AGB of the sample plots in units g/m2 and x is the vegetation coverage extracted by the VI. (4) The predicted AGB values of Gobi Desert shrubs using UAV RGB images based on a power model were closer to the actual observed AGB values. The study findings provide a more efficient, accurate, and low-cost method for estimating vegetation coverage and AGB of Gobi Desert shrubs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A unique photonic crystal fiber with square and circular air holes (SC-PCF) is designed in this research. Three layers of circular air holes and two levels of square air holes make up the fiber cladding. The finite element approach is used to simulate the fiber construction, and numerical calculations are used to examine the transmission properties in the S+C+L band. The results reveal that the SC-PCF can sustain 86 Orbital Angular Momentum (OAM) modes in the wavelength range of 1400 nm to 1700 nm (300 nm), with an effective refractive index difference (ERID) of 5.88 × 10−3 between them, thus avoiding mode coupling. The mode purity of all modes is greater than 96% at 1550 nm, and the lowest dispersion and dispersion change are 4.939 ps/nm/km and 0.956 ps/nm/km, respectively. The confinement loss (CL) of all modes is lower than 10−9 dB/m, and the nonlinear coefficient (NC) is lower than 1.5 W−1·km−1 in the whole band. The proposed SC-PCF has important value in long-distance and large-capacity communication systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Featured Application: Quantitative optical coherence tomography (OCT) promises a noninvasive method for longitudinal monitoring of postnatal retinal development. A better study of postnatal retinal development is essential for the in-depth understanding of the nature of the vision system. To date, quantitative analysis of postnatal retinal development is primarily limited to endpoint histological examination. This study is to validate in vivo optical coherence tomography (OCT) for longitudinal monitoring of postnatal retinal development in developing mouse eyes. OCT images of C57BL/6J mice were recorded from postnatal day (P) 14 to P56. Three-dimensional (3D) frame registration and super averaging were adopted to investigate the fine structure of the retina. Quantitative OCT analysis revealed distinct outer and inner retinal layer changes, corresponding to eye development. At the outer retina, external limiting membrane (ELM) and ellipsoid zone (EZ) band intensities gradually increased with aging, and the IZ band was detectable by P28. At the inner retina, a hyporeflective layer (HRL) between the nerve fiber layer (NFL) and inner plexiform layer (IPL) was observed in developing eyes and gradually disappeared with aging. Further image analysis revealed individual RGCs within the HRL layer of the young mouse retina. However, RGCs were merged with the NFL and the IPL in the aged mouse retina. Moreover, the sub-IPL layer structure was observed to be gradually enhanced with aging. To interpret the observed retinal layer kinetics, a model based on eyeball expansion, cell apoptosis, and retinal structural modification was proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An encryption algorithm for hyperspectral data in fractional Fourier domain is designed. Firstly, the original hyperspectral image is separated into single bands and then each pair of bands are regarded as the real and imaginary part of a complex function by using an affine transform. Subsequently, the complex functions are encoded and transformed in fractional Fourier domain (FrFT). The parameters in affine transform and FrFT serve as the key of the encryption system. The proposed encryption scheme can not only protect the image information in spatial domains but also the spectrum information in spectral domains. Various experiments are given to demonstrate the validity and capability of the proposed encryption scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the fast development of the Internet of Things, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) has been widely applied into many areas. Nevertheless, security problems of the RFID technology are also gradually exposed, when it provides life convenience. In particular, the appearance of a large number of fake and counterfeit goods has caused massive loss for both producers and customers, for which the clone tag is a serious security threat. If attackers acquire the complete information of a tag, they can then obtain the unique identifier of the tag by some technological means. In general, because there is no extra identifier of a tag, it is difficult to distinguish an original tag and its clone one. Once the legal tag data is obtained, attackers can be able to clone this tag. Therefore, this paper shows an efficient RFID mutual verification protocol. This protocol is based on the Physical Unclonable Function (PUF) and the lightweight cryptography to achieve efficient verification of a single tag. The protocol includes three process: tag recognition, mutual verification and update. The tag recognition is that the reader recognizes the tag; mutual verification is that the reader and tag mutually verify the authenticity of each other; update is supposed to maintain the latest secret key for the following verification. Analysis results show that this protocol has a good balance between performance and security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Skin protects the body from exogenous substances and functions as a barrier to fluid loss and trauma. The skin comprises of epidermal, dermal and hypodermal layers, which mainly contain keratinocytes, fibroblasts and adipocytes, respectively, typically embedded on extracellular matrix made up of glycosaminoglycans and fibrous proteins. When the integrity of skin is compromised due to injury as in burns the coverage of skin has to be restored to facilitate repair and regeneration. Skin substitutes are preferred for wound coverage when the loss of skin is extensive especially in the case of second or third degree burns. Different kinds of skin substitutes with different features are commercially available; they can be classified into acellular skin substitutes, those with cultured epidermal cells and no dermal components, those with only dermal components, and tissue engineered substitutes that contain both epidermal and dermal components. Typically, adult wounds heal by fibrosis. Most organs are affected by fibrosis, with chronic fibrotic diseases estimated to be a leading cause of morbidity and mortality. In the skin, fibroproliferative disorders such as hypertrophic scars and keloid formation cause cosmetic and functional problems. Dermal fibroblasts are understood to be heterogeneous; this may have implications on post-burn wound healing since studies have shown that superficial and deep dermal fibroblasts are anti-fibrotic and pro-fibrotic, respectively. Selective use of superficial dermal fibroblasts rather than the conventional heterogeneous dermal fibroblasts may prove beneficial for post-burn wound healing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The follicular microenvironment, including intra-follicular granulosa cells (GCs), is responsible for oocyte maturation and subsequent ovulation. However, the functions of GCs and cellular components of the follicular microenvironment in preovulatory follicles have not been extensively explored. Here, we surveyed the single-cell transcriptome of the follicular microenvironment around MII oocytes in six human preovulatory follicles in in vitro fertilization. There were six different cell types in the preovulatory follicles, including GCs and various immune cells. In GCs, we identified nine different functional clusters with different functional transcriptomic profiles, including specific clusters involved in inflammatory responses and adhesive function. Follicular macrophages are involved in immune responses, extracellular matrix remoulding and assist GCs in promoting the oocyte meiotic resumption. Interestingly, we observed that the specific terminal state subcluster of GCs with high levels of adhesive-related molecules should result in macrophage recruitment and residence, further contributing to an obvious heterogeneity of the immune cell proportion in preovulatory follicles from different patients. Our results provide a comprehensive understanding of the transcriptomic landscape of the preovulatory follicular microenvironment at the single-cell level. It provides valuable insights into understanding the regulation of the oocyte maturation and ovulation process, offering potential clues for the diagnosis and treatment of oocyte-maturation-related and ovulation-related diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ammonia volatilization is an important nitrogen loss pathway in the paddy field ecosystem which leads to low nitrogen-utilization efficiency and severe atmospheric pollution. To reveal the influence and the mechanism of biochar application on ammonia volatilization from paddy fields under controlled irrigation, field experiments were conducted in the Taihu Lake Basin in China. The experiment consisted of three levels of biochar application (0, 20, and 40 t·ha−1) and two types of irrigation management (controlled irrigation and flood irrigation). Increasing ammonia volatilization occurred after fertilization. Biochar application reduced the cumulative ammonia volatilization from controlled-irrigation paddy fields, compared with non-biochar treatment. The cumulative ammonia volatilization in controlled-irrigation paddy fields with 40 t·ha−1 biochar application was reduced by 12.27%. The decrease in ammonia volatilization was related to the change in soil physical and soil physical–chemical properties and soil microbial activities. The high biochar application (40 t·ha−1) increased the NH4+-N content in soil (p < 0.01) and soil solution (p <0.05), increased by 64.98% and 19.72%, respectively. The application also increased the soil urease activity (p < 0.01), and high biochar application (40 t·ha−1) increased soil urease activity by 33.70%. Ammonia volatilization from paddy fields was significantly correlated with the nitrogen concentration (p < 0.01) in the soil solution and soil urease activity (p < 0.05). Meanwhile, the abundance of ammonia monooxygenase subunit A (AOA) and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) with biochar application under controlled irrigation showed an increasing trend with rice growth. The long-term application of biochar may have a relatively strong potential to inhibit ammonia volatilization. In general, the combined application of controlled irrigation and biochar provides an eco-friendly strategy for reducing farmland N loss and improving paddy field productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shrublands are the main vegetation component in the Gobi region and contribute considerably to its ecosystem. Accurately classifying individual shrub vegetation species to understand their spatial distributions and to effectively monitor species diversity in the Gobi ecosystem is essential. High-resolution remote sensing data create vegetation type inventories over large areas. However, high spectral similarity between shrublands and surrounding areas remains a challenge. In this study, we provide a case study that integrates object-based image analysis (OBIA) and the random forest (RF) model to classify shrubland species automatically. The Gobi region on the southern slope of the Tian Shan Mountains in Northwest China was analyzed using readily available unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) RGB imagery (1.5 cm spatial resolution). Different spectral and texture index images were derived from UAV RGB images as variables for species classification. Principal component analysis (PCA) extracted features from different types of variable sets (original bands, original bands + spectral indices, and original bands + spectral indices + texture indices). We tested the ability of several non-parametric decision tree models and different types of variable sets to classify shrub species. Moreover, we analyzed three main shrubland areas comprising different shrub species and compared the prediction accuracies of the optimal model in combination with different types of variable sets. We found that the RF model could generate higher accuracy compared with the other two models. The best results were obtained using a combination of the optimal variable set and the RF model with an 88.63% overall accuracy and 0.82 kappa coefficient. Integrating OBIA and RF in the species classification process provides a promising method for automatic mapping of individual shrub species in the Gobi region and can reduce the workload of individual shrub species classification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Notch signaling pathway plays an important role in otic neurogenesis by regulating the differentiation of inner ear hair cells and supporting cells. Notch-regulated differentiation is required for the regeneration of hair cells in the inner ear. The temporal expression pattern of Notch ligands and receptors during in vitro hair cell-like cell differentiation from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) was detected by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Subsequently, pAJ-U6-shRNA-CMV-Puro/GFP recombinant lentiviral vectors encoding short hairpin RNAs were used to silence JAG-1, JAG-2, and DLL-1, according to the temporal expression pattern of Notch ligands. Then, the effect of each ligand on the in vitro differentiation of hair cells was examined by RT-PCR, immunofluorescence, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results showed that the individual deletion of JAG-2 or DLL-1 had no significant effect on the differentiation of hair cell-like cells. However, the simultaneous inhibition of both DLL-1 and JAG-2 increased the number of hair cell-like cells and decreased the number of supporting cells. JAG-2 and DLL-1 may have a synergistic role in in vitro hair cell differentiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Hypoxia, which occurs frequently in aquaculture, can cause serious harm to all aspects of the growth, reproduction and metabolism of cultured fish. Due to the intolerance of Larimichthys crocea to hypoxia, Larimichthys crocea often floats head or even dies under hypoxic environment. However, the molecular mechanism of hypoxia tolerance in Larimichthys crocea has not been fully described. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore the hub regulatory genes under hypoxic stress environment by transcriptome analysis of three key tissues (liver, blood and gill) in Larimichthys crocea. We identified a number of important genes that exercise different regulatory functions. Overall, this study will provide important clues to the molecular mechanisms of hypoxia tolerance in Larimichthys crocea. The large yellow croaker (Larimichthys crocea) is an important marine economic fish in China; however, its intolerance to hypoxia causes widespread mortality. To understand the molecular mechanisms underlying hypoxia tolerance in L. crocea, the transcriptome gene expression profiling of three different tissues (blood, gills, and liver) of L. crocea exposed to hypoxia and reoxygenation stress were performed. In parallel, the gene relationships were investigated based on weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA). Accordingly, the Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes enrichment analysis showed that several pathways (e.g., energy metabolism, signal transduction, oxygen transport, and osmotic regulation) may be involved in the response of L. crocea to hypoxia and reoxygenation stress. In addition, also, four key modules (darkorange, magenta, saddlebrown, and darkolivegreen) that were highly relevant to the samples were identified by WGCNA. Furthermore, some hub genes within the association module, including RPS16, EDRF1, KCNK5, SNAT2, PFKL, GSK-3β, and PIK3CD, were found. This is the first study to report the co-expression patterns of a gene network after hypoxia stress in marine fish. The results provide new clues for further research on the molecular mechanisms underlying hypoxia tolerance in L. crocea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chinese cabbage is a key vegetable crop in northwest China. It is of great significance to study the evapotranspiration (ET) and crop coefficient (Kc) for agricultural water-saving management in this area. Eddy covariance (EC) was used to measure the ET and Kc of Chinese cabbage in northwest China from 1 May to 16 October 2020, in order to analyze the characteristics of these variables under plastic mulch. The results showed that the average Kc of the first crop of cabbage was higher in the middle and late stages, with values of 1.08 and 1.09 during the heading and maturity stages, respectively. The average Kc of the second crop of cabbage was higher in the middle stage, with values of 1.10 and 1.13 during the rosette and heading stages, respectively. The average annual Kc of Chinese cabbage was 0.81. Although Kc was higher in the middle and late periods, the water use efficiency was still 28.96 kg·ha−1·mm−1. The annual ET of Chinese cabbage was 505.3 mm. The study revealed the variation pattern of ET and Kc of Chinese cabbage, which provides an important scientific basis for the irrigation management of Chinese cabbage and is of great significance to guide the practice of water-saving vegetable planting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: The freezing stress during overwintering brings great challenges to the normal growth of Camellia sinensis. The current research on C. sinensis mainly focuses on cold resistance, but less on freezing resistance. In the present study, the transcriptome and metabolome of C. sinensis under freezing stress were studied. Results showed that Pyr/PYL-PP2C-SnRK2 played a critical role in the signal transduction of freezing stress. Three metabolic pathways including phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, flavone and flavonol biosynthesis, and flavonoid biosynthesis contributed to the freezing resistance of C. sinensis. This study provides substantial insights for the breeding of C. sinensis. Freezing stress in winter is the biggest obstacle to the survival of C. sinensis in mid-latitude and high-latitude areas, which has a great impact on the yield, quality, and even life of C. sinensis every year. In this study, transcriptome and metabolome were used to clarify the freezing resistance mechanism of 60-year-old natural overwintering C. sinensis under freezing stress. Next, 3880 DEGs and 353 DAMs were obtained. The enrichment analysis showed that pathways of MAPK and ABA played a key role in the signal transduction of freezing stress, and Pyr/PYL-PP2C-SnRK2 in the ABA pathway promoted stomatal closure. Then, the water holding capacity and the freezing resistance of C. sinensis were improved. The pathway analysis showed that DEGs and DAMs were significantly enriched and up-regulated in the three-related pathways of phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, flavone and flavonol biosynthesis, and flavonoid biosynthesis. In addition, the carbohydrate and fatty acid synthesis pathways also had a significant enrichment, and the synthesis of these substances facilitated the freezing resistance. These results are of great significance to elucidate the freezing resistance mechanism and the freezing resistance breeding of C. sinensis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last few decades, anthraquinone and its derivatives (AQs) have been intensively applied to electrochemical, textile and dye, and photovoltaic industries. This has increased the levels of AQs in the natural environment and threatens human health. To remove AQs from the aqueous phase and recover these multi-functional molecules, a binary magnetic adsorbent, reduced graphene/Fe3O4 (rGO/Fe3O4), was synthesized via a hydrothermal method. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), Raman spectra, and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) were then used to characterize the samples. The adsorption capacities of rGO/Fe3O4 to AQs were investigated by selecting anthraquinone-2-sulfonate (AQ2S) as a model molecule. The adsorption process followed the Langmuir adsorption isotherm and the second-order kinetics. The regeneration of adsorbents and the recycling of AQ2S and solvent were simultaneously achieved by Soxhlet extraction and rotary evaporation. These results confirm the high adsorption efficiency of rGO/Fe3O4 for removing AQs from water and provide a promising approach to recover the valuable molecules from the aqueous phase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a new polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane containing a phenol group (POSS-Phenol) is prepared through the Michael addition reaction, which is added to the synthesis of phenolic resin as a functional monomer. Infrared spectroscopy (IR) is used to demonstrate the chemistry structure of the synthesized POSS modified phenolic resin. After introducing POSS into the resole, a comprehensive study is conducted to reveal the effects of POSS on the thermal degradation of phenolic resin. First, thermal degradation behaviors of neat phenolic resin and modified phenolic resin are carried out by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Then, the gas volatiles from thermal degradation are investigated by thermogravimetric mass spectrometry (TG-MS). Finally, the residues after thermal degradation are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The research indicates that POSS modified phenolic resin shows a better thermal stability than neat phenolic resin, especially at high temperatures under air atmosphere. On the one hand, the introduction of the POSS group can effectively improve the release temperature of oxygen containing volatiles. On the other hand, the POSS group forms silica at high temperatures under air, which can effectively inhibit the thermal oxidation of phenolic resin and make phenolic resin show a better high-temperature oxidation resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

All-solid-state passively Q-switched lasers have advantages that include simple structure, high peak power, and short sub-nanosecond pulse width. Potentially, these lasers can be applied in multiple settings, such as in miniature light sources, laser medical treatment, remote sensing, and precision processing. Cr4+:YAG crystal is an ideal Q-switch material for all-solid-state passively Q-switched lasers owing to its high thermal conductivity, low saturation light intensity, and high damage threshold. This study summarizes the research progress on all-solid-state passively Q-switched lasers that use Cr4+:YAG crystal as a saturable absorber and discusses further prospects for the development and application of such lasers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When the classical H∞ algorithm (HIF) is applied to estimate the state of charge (SOC) of a lithium battery, the influence of historical data is usually ignored, resulting in an increase in the estimation error. In order to improve the accuracy of SOC estimation, this paper proposes an extended exponential weighted moving average H∞ algorithm (EE-HIF) in view of the influence of historical data. By designing the Gaussian function, the weighted distribution of the data at different times can effectively reduce the estimation error caused by the inaccuracy of the lithium battery model. In addition, when the system contains Gaussian white noise and alternating current input, the proposed method can achieve a faster convergence speed and better robustness. Simulation results show the advantages of the proposed algorithm, as compared to an HIF filtering algorithm and an exponentially weighted moving average H∞ algorithm (EWMA). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]