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Extracellular vesicles (EVs) produced by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense (Foc) play vital roles in plant–pathogen interactions; however, the isolation of purified Foc TR4-EVs and their pathogenicity and proteomic profiles are not well studied. This study aims to isolate and characterize purified Foc TR4-EVs and compare their pathogenic effects and protein profiles with crude TR4-EVs. Foc TR4-EVs were isolated using ultracentrifugation and purified by iodixanol gradient centrifugation. After characterization and evaluation of the pathogenicity effects on banana leaves, LC-MS/MS was performed to conduct the proteomics assay. Results indicated that Fraction 2 EVs exhibited clearer spherical structures (TEM), excessive abundance (1.70 × 109 particles/mL), greater intensity (400 a.u), mean size (154.5 nm), moderate protein content (333.16 ng/µL), and protein profile (25–77 kDa), which were superior to Fractions 1, 3, and crude EVs. Crude EVs displayed significant background interference with EV structures (TEM), highest abundance (2.11 × 109 particles/mL), lower intensity (7.0 a.u), higher protein content (528.33 ng/µL), and higher molecular weight proteins (55–70 kDa) compared to gradient EVs. A non-significant biocontrol effect of Foc-EVs on the growth of TR4 spores was observed. Pathogenicity assays revealed that crude EVs caused the largest (2.805 cm2), while Fraction 2 (1.386 cm2) and Fraction 3 (1.255 cm2) resulted in moderate lesions on banana leaves. Proteomic analysis identified 807 unique proteins in Fraction 2, enriched in pathways related to EV trafficking and signaling. In comparison, crude EVs contained 179 unique non-EV proteins related to metabolism and secondary metabolites, indicating that non-EV proteins of crude EVs also influence the pathogenicity observed in banana leaves. This study emphasizes the importance of EV purification, with Fraction 2 being a critical focus for future research on Foc EV pathogenicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A harmonic reducer is an important component of industrial robots. In practical applications, it is difficult to obtain enough anomaly data from error cases for the supervised training of models. Whether the information contained in regular features is sensitive to anomaly detection is unknown. In this paper, we propose an anomaly detection frame for a harmonic reducer with only healthy data. We considered an auto-encoder trained using only healthy features, such as feature mapping, in which the difference between the output and the input constitutes a new high-dimensional feature space that retained information relevant only to anomalies. Compared to the original feature space, this space was more sensitive to abnormal data. The mapped features were then fed into the OCSVM to preserve the feature details of the abnormal information. The effectiveness of this method was validated by multiple sets of data collecting from harmonic reducers. Three different residual calculations and four different AE models were used, showing that the method outperforms an AE or an OCSVM alone. It is also verified that the method outperforms other typical anomaly detection methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, Fe/Mn/Mg2-LDH was utilized for the first time as a catalyst for peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation to facilitate the removal of Orange II. This composite was characterized using various techniques, such as XRD, FTIR, SEM-EDS, BET, and XPS. The results revealed a well-defined lamellar structure of Fe/Mn/Mg2-LDH with a metal molar ratio of Fe/Mn/Mg at 1:1:2. Moreover, the structural stability of Fe/Mn/Mg2-LDH was confirmed through the XRD, FTIR, and SEM. Fe/Mn/Mg2-LDH exhibited a good adsorption capacity towards Orange II and highly efficient PMS activation. The optimal removal efficiency of Orange II (98%) was achieved under the conditions of pH 7.0, [PMS] = 1.0 mmol L−1, [Fe/Mn/Mg₂-LDH] = 1.6 g L−1, and [Orange II] = 50 μM. Additionally, this system demonstrated good adaptability across a wide pH range. The presence of Cl− and humic acids (HA) did not significantly inhibit Orange II removal, whereas inhibitory effects were observed in the presence of CO32− and PO43−. The removal mechanism of Orange II was attributed to a synergy of adsorption and oxidation processes, wherein the generated surface radicals (SO4•−ads and HO•ads) on the surface of the Fe/Mn/Mg2-LDH played a predominant role. Furthermore, the Fe/Mn/Mg2-LDH exhibited good reusability, maintaining a removal rate of 90% over five cycles of recycling. The Fe/Mn/Mg2-LDH/PMS system shows promising potential for the treatment of wastewater contaminated with refractory organic pollutants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we explore the exciton dynamics in a WS2/MoS2 van der Waals (vdW) heterostructure under varying pressures by integrating a laser-confocal photoluminescence (PL) spectroscope and an atomic force microscope (AFM). For the WS2/MoS2 heterostructure, the exciton emission belonging to MoS2 is too weak to be distinguished from the PL spectra. However, upon contact with a Si probe, the emission intensity of WS2 excitons significantly decreases from 34,234 to 6560, thereby matching the intensity level of MoS2. This alteration substantially facilitates the exploration of interlayer excitonic properties within the heterostructures using PL spectroscopy. Furthermore, the Si probe can apply out-of-plane localized pressure to the heterostructure. With increasing pressure, the emission intensity of the WS2 trions decreases at a rate twice that of other excitons, and the exciton energy increases at a rate of 0.1 meV nN−1. These results elucidate that the WS2 trions are particularly sensitive to the out-of-plane pressure within a WS2/MoS2 vdW heterostructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Banana is one of the most important fruits in the world due to its status as a major food source for more than 400 million people. Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense tropical race 4 (Foc TR4) causes substantial losses of banana crops every year, and molecular host resistance mechanisms are currently unknown. We here performed a genomewide analysis of the autophagy-related protein 8 (ATG8) family in a wild banana species. The banana genome was found to contain 10 MaATG8 genes. Four MaATG8s formed a gene cluster in the distal part of chromosome 4. Phylogenetic analysis of ATG8 families in banana, Arabidopsis thaliana, citrus, rice, and ginger revealed five major phylogenetic clades shared by all of these plant species, demonstrating evolutionary conservation of the MaATG8 families. The transcriptomic analysis of plants infected with Foc TR4 showed that nine of the MaATG8 genes were more highly induced in resistant cultivars than in susceptible cultivars. Finally, MaATG8F was found to interact with MaATG4B in vitro (with yeast two-hybrid assays), and MaATG8F and MaATG4B all positively regulated banana resistance to Foc TR4. Our study provides novel insights into the structure, distribution, evolution, and expression of the MaATG8 family in bananas. Furthermore, the discovery of interactions between MaATG8F and MaATG4B could facilitate future research of disease resistance genes for the genetic improvement of bananas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of urbanization, frequent flood event have become the most common natural disasters, posing a significant challenge to human society. Considering the effects of urbanization on flood risk is critical for flood risk reduction and reasonable land planning strategies at the city scale. This study proposes an integrated approach based on remote sensing data using CA, Markov, and simplified hydrodynamic (FloodMap) models to accurately and effectively assess flood risk under urbanization. Taking Chongqing City as a case study, this paper analyzes the temporal and spatial variations in land use/land cover (LULC) in 2010, 2015, and 2018 and predicts the LULC for 2030, based on historic trends. Flood risk is assessed by combining the hazard, exposure, and modified vulnerability. The results suggest that the area of built-up land will increase significantly from 19.56% in 2018 to 25.21% in 2030. From 2010 to 2030, the area of medium and high inundation depths will increase by 10 and 16 times, respectively. Flood damage varies remarkably according to the LULC and return period. The expected annual damage (EAD) has been estimated to increase from USD 68 million in 2010 to USD 200 million in 2030. Flood risk is proportional to population and is significantly inversely proportional to socioeconomic level. The approach used here can provide a comprehensive understanding of flood risk and is significant for land-use policymaking and the management of flood control facilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose a novel liquid metal microheater utilizing a textured structure. This microheater effectively solves the problem of the liquid metal in the PDMS flow channel fracturing at a certain temperature and significantly increases the maximum operating temperature that can be achieved by the current liquid metal microheater. Experimental results demonstrate that this new structured microheater can achieve a maximum operating temperature exceeding 300 °C. To explain the performance improvement and the reasons behind liquid metal fracture, corresponding experiments were conducted, and explanations were provided based on the experimental results. Subsequently, we verified the mechanical flexibility of the microheater and found that it exhibits excellent tensile and bending resistance. Finally, utilizing its good mechanical flexibility, the microheater was successfully attached to the side wall of a cup, resulting in the boiling of water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grass carp reovirus (GCRV), one of the most serious pathogens threatening grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella), can lead to grass carp hemorrhagic disease (GCHD). Currently, GCRV can be divided into three genotypes, but the comparison of their pathogenic mechanisms and the host responses remain unclear. In this study, we utilized the Ctenopharyngodon idella kidney (CIK) model infected with GCRV to conduct comparative studies on the three genotypes. We observed a cytopathic effect (CPE) in the GCRV-I and GCRV-III groups, whereas the GCRV-II group did not show any CPE. Moreover, a consistent trend in the mRNA expression levels of antiviral-related genes across all experimental groups of CIK cells was detected via qPCR and further explored through RNA-seq analysis. Importantly, GO/KEGG enrichment analysis showed that GCRV-I, -II, and -III could all activate the immune response in CIK cells, but GCRV-II induced more intense immune responses. Intriguingly, transcriptomic analysis revealed a widespread down-regulation of metabolism processes such as steroid biosynthesis, butanoate metabolism, and N-Glycan biosynthesis in infected CIK cells. Overall, our results reveal the CIK cells showed unique responses in immunity and metabolism in the three genotypes of GCRV infection. These results provide a theoretical basis for understanding the pathogenesis and prevention and control methods of GCRV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The copolymer ethylene–octene (POE) has good aging resistance and is an inexpensive asphalt additive compared to the styrene–butadiene–styrene copolymer (SBS). However, POE is easy to segregate in asphalt during storage at high temperatures. Grafting glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) onto the molecular backbone of POE (i.e., POE-g-GMA) may solve this problem, for the epoxy groups in GMA can react with the active groups in asphalt. Asphalt modified with linear and crosslinked POE-g-GMA were prepared, and the hot storage stability, physical properties and thermal oxidation aging properties were discussed in detail. The results show that linear and low-degree crosslinked POE-g-GMA-modified asphalts are storage-stable at high temperatures via measurements of the difference in softening points and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) characterizations from macro and micro perspectives. The difference in softening points (ΔSP) between the upper and lower ends is no more than 3.5 °C for modified asphalts after 48 h of being in an oven at 163 °C. More importantly, the crosslinking modification of POE-g-GMA can further increase the softening point and reduce the penetration as well as rheological properties via conventional physical property, dynamic shear rheometer (DSR) and multiple-stress creep recovery (MSCR) tests. Furthermore, asphalt modified with crosslinked POE-g-GMA reveals better aging resistance via measurements of the performance retention rate and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) characterizations after a rolling thin film oven test (RTFOT). This work may provide further guidelines for the application of polymers in asphalt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Controlled drug delivery in the oral cavity poses challenges such as bacterial contamination, saliva dilution, and inactivation by salivary enzymes upon ingestion. Microneedles offer a location-specific, minimally invasive, and retentive approach. Hydrogel-forming microneedles (HFMs) have emerged for dental diagnostics and therapeutics. HFMs penetrate the stratum corneum, undergo swelling upon contact, secure attachment, and enable sustained transdermal or transmucosal drug delivery. Commonly employed polymers such as polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and polyvinyl pyrrolidone are crosslinked with tartaric acid or its derivatives while incorporating therapeutic agents. Microneedle patches provide suture-free and painless drug delivery to keratinized or non-keratinized mucosa, facilitating site-specific treatment and patient compliance. This review comprehensively discusses HFMs' applications in dentistry such as local anesthesia, oral ulcer management, periodontal treatment, etc., encompassing animal experiments, clinical trials, and their fundamental impact and limitations, for example, restricted drug carrying capacity and, until now, a low number of dental clinical trial reports. The review explores the advantages and future perspectives of HFMs for oral drug delivery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, as shown by large-scale research on two-dimensional materials in the field of nanoelectronics and catalysis, the construction of large-area two-dimensional materials is crucial for the development of devices and their application in photovoltaics, sensing, optoelectronics, and energy generation/storage. Here, using atmospheric-pressure chemical vapor deposition, we developed a method to regulate growth conditions according to the growth mechanism for WSe2 and MoSe2 materials. By accurately controlling the hydrogen flux within the range of 1 sccm and the distance between the precursor and the substrate, we obtained large-size films of single atomic layers with thicknesses of only about 1 nm. When growing the samples, we could not only obtain a 100 percent proportion of samples with the same shape, but the samples could also be glued into pieces of 700 μm and above in size, changing the shape and making it possible to reach the millimeter/submillimeter level visible to the naked eye. Our method is an effective method for the growth of large-area films with universal applicability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This Special Issue aims to highlight the state-of-the-art techniques that are used for advanced fault diagnosis and the fault-tolerant control technology of spacecraft, especially for intelligent fault diagnosis algorithm development and sliding mode fault-tolerant control. Therefore, alongside recent developments in various learning algorithms, advanced observer design, intelligent control, etc., the application of advanced fault diagnosis and FTC techniques to single complicated spacecrafts or distributed spacecraft systems (spacecraft formation flying system, spacecraft cluster, etc.) will be extensively investigated in this Special Issue. In order to complete the various tasks in advanced space missions, such as communication, navigation, and remote sensing, single complicated spacecraft and many distributed spacecraft systems have been launched into orbit. [Extracted from the article]

Practical applications of CsPbX3 nanocrystals (NCs) are limited by their poor stability. The formation of a heterojunction between CsPbX3 NCs and oxides is an effective means to protect perovskite from polar solvents and other external factors. Significantly improving the stability and photocatalytic properties of the core/shell perovskite is very important for its application in photoelectric and photocatalytic technology. Here, we report the synthesis of asymmetrical CsPbBr3/TiO2 core–shell heterostructure NCs at the single-particle level by hot-injection liquid-phase synthesis and sol–gel method, where each CsPbBr3 NCs is partially covered by titanium dioxide. We tested not only the optical properties of the material but also the electrochemical impedance and photocurrent density of the material in sodium sulfate solution. It is shown that the type II arrangement is generated at the heterogeneous interface, which greatly facilitates the separation of electron–hole pairs and increases the carrier transport efficiency. Compared with CsPbBr3 NCs, CsPbBr3/TiO2 has higher photocatalytic efficiency. More crucially, due to the protection of the titanium dioxide shell, the product has higher long-term stability in humid air compared with bare CsPbBr3 NCs. The asymmetrical core–shell heterostructure prepared in this study not only improves the stability of CsPbX3 NCs but also provides some ideas for optoelectronic device applications and TiO2-based photocatalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compared with conventional semiconductors, halide perovskite nanocrystals (NCs) have a unique crystal structure and outstanding optoelectronic properties, offering wide potential for applications in optoelectronic devices such as solar cells, photodetectors, light-emitting diodes, lasers, and displays. Rational technological design is providing vital support for the development of perovskite optoelectronics. Herein, monodisperse all-inorganic halide perovskite nanocrystals with consistent morphology and cubic crystal phase were synthesized employing a modified one-pot hot injection method to independently modulate the stoichiometric ratios of three precursors involving cesium salt, lead source, and halide. In combination with an anion exchange reaction, mixing two kinds of perovskite NCs with different halogens enables a transition from violet emission to green and finally to red emission over the entire visible region. Additionally, optical and electrochemical tests suggested that the as-synthesized halide perovskite NCs are promising for photoelectric catalysis applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flower scent is one of the main ornamental characteristics of herbaceous peony, and the improvement of flower fragrance is a vital objective of herbaceous peony breeding. In this study, 87 herbaceous peony cultivars were divided into three groups (no/light fragrance, medium fragrance, and strong fragrance) based on their sensory evaluation scores, and 16 strong fragrance cultivars and one no fragrance cultivar were selected for subsequent analysis. Sixty-eight volatile components were detected in these 17 cultivars based on solid-phase microextraction (SPME) and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS), and 26 types were identified as important scent components. They were composed of terpenoids, benzenoids/phenylpropanoids, and fatty acid derivatives. According to the content and odor threshold of these main aroma components, the characteristic aroma substances of herbaceous peony were identified, including linalool, geraniol, citronellol, and phenylethyl alcohol (2-PE). The cultivars of strong scented herbaceous peony were divided into three types: rose scent, lily scent, and mixed scent. We explored the possible key genes of characteristic aroma substances in herbaceous peony petals with different odors through the qRT-PCR. The key genes encoding monoterpene biosynthesis were found to be PlDXS2, PlDXR1, PlMDS1, PlHDR1, PlGPPS3, and PlGPPS4. In addition, the linalool synthase (LIS) gene and the geraniol synthase (GES) gene were also found. PlAADC1, PlPAR1, and PlMAO1, related to the biosynthesis of 2-PE were detected, and the synthetic pathway of 2-PE was speculated. In conclusion, these findings revealed that the difference in gene expression of monoterpene and 2-PE synthesis pathway was related to the difference in the fragrance of herbaceous peony. This study explored the releasing pathway of herbaceous peony characteristic aroma substances and provided key genetic resources for fragrance improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein, we describe a yeast cell-based assay system to analyze SNAP25-targeting botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs). BoNTs are protein toxins, and, upon incorporation into neuronal cells, their light chains (BoNT-LCs) target specific synaptosomal N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive attachment protein receptor (SNARE) proteins, including synaptosomal-associated protein 25 (SNAP25). BoNT-LCs are metalloproteases, and each BoNT-LC recognizes and cleaves conserved domains in SNAREs termed the SNARE domain. In the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the SNAP25 ortholog Spo20 is required for production of the spore plasma membrane; thus, defects in Spo20 cause sporulation deficiencies. We found that chimeric SNAREs in which SNARE domains in Spo20 are replaced with those of SNAP25 are functional in yeast cells. The Spo20/SNAP25 chimeras, but not Spo20, are sensitive to digestion by BoNT-LCs. We demonstrate that spo20∆ yeasts harboring the chimeras exhibit sporulation defects when various SNAP25-targeting BoNT-LCs are expressed. Thus, the activities of BoNT-LCs can be assessed by colorimetric measurement of sporulation efficiencies. Although BoNTs are notorious toxins, they are also used as therapeutic and cosmetic agents. Our assay system will be useful for analyzing novel BoNTs and BoNT-like genes, as well as their manipulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A more efficient attention recovery of workers during their break time is essential for achieving higher productivity and wellness. In recent years, the biophilic design that introduces indoor plants has become one of the solutions to these problems. This study aims to determine the impact factors and corresponding levels related to indoor planting design concerning workers' attention recovery. Firstly, the volume ratio, layout, and leaf size of indoor plants and the corresponding levels were put forward by a focus group study with ten participants. Secondly, the orthogonal experiment method established nine virtual recovery scenarios based on characteristics extraction of staff break areas in the factory. Thirdly, eighteen participants were guided to feel fatigued by experiencing the sustained attention to response test to measure the baseline attention level of participants. Then, participants rested in the virtual scenarios. Lastly, the attention test was conducted again to observe participants' attention recovery degree. The difference values of participants' sensitivity, reaction times, and the number of correct responses between the two detection targets were applied to evaluate the attention recovery. Results showed that the volume ratio of indoor plants had the most significant effect on workers' attention recovery; 3% by volume ratio, mixed floor and wall plants and floor planting with large leaves were demonstrated as the optimal indoor planting design for attention recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new approach to batch grinding kinetics was established based on the conventional population balance model, with magnetite as the experimental object. The distribution function commonly used in the population balance model is a sum of two power functions, i.e., B i 1 = φ ( x i − 1 x 1 + 1 − φ ( x i − 1 x 1 ) β . Based on the new finding that the cumulative mass fraction coarser than the size class of the discharge is consistent with the first-order grinding kinetic, the gi function of the new approach is only a single power function, i.e., = + k 1 x i a , which will greatly reduce the parameter error and make the fit more accurate. The maximum error between simulation calculations and the actual experiment using the two methods did not exceed 1%, indicating that both models can accurately predict the fracture characteristics of magnetite. Because the new approach has fewer derived parameters, it addresses the conventional population balance model's problems of large computational effort and poor fitting accuracy, making it more applicable to the study of the impact of parameters on the grinding status, with a simpler process and higher accuracy. In addition, this new method is applicable to minerals other than magnetite. Further research is required to verify its applicability to wide size ranges and continuous grinding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Owing to factors such as climate change and human activities, ecological and environmental problems of land desertification have emerged in many regions around the world, among which the problem of land desertification in northwestern China is particularly serious. To grasp the trend of land desertification and the degree of natural vegetation degradation in northwest China is a basic prerequisite for managing the fragile ecological environment there. Visible light remote sensing images taken by a UAV can monitor the vegetation cover in desert areas on a large scale and with high time efficiency. However, as there are many low shrubs in desert areas, the shadows cast by them are darker, and the traditional RGB color-space-based vegetation index is affected by the shadow texture when extracting vegetation, so it is difficult to achieve high accuracy. For this reason, this paper proposes the Lab color-space-based vegetation index L2AVI (L-a-a vegetation index) to solve this problem. The EXG (excess green index), NGRDI (normalized green-red difference index), VDVI (visible band difference vegetation index), MGRVI (modified green-red vegetation index), and RGBVI (red-green-blue vegetation index) constructed based on RGB color space were used as control experiments in the three selected study areas. The results show that, although the extraction accuracies of the vegetation indices constructed based on RGB color space all reach more than 70%, these vegetation indices are all affected by the shadow texture to different degrees, and there are many problems of misdetection and omission. However, the accuracy of the L2AVI index can reach 99.20%, 99.73%, and 99.69%, respectively, avoiding the problem of omission due to vegetation shading and having a high extraction accuracy. Therefore, the L2AVI index can provide technical support and a decision basis for the protection and control of land desertification in northwest China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development and application in different fields of multifunctional plasmonic nanoparticles (NPs) have always been research hotspots. Herein, multi-tip Au nanostars (NSs) with an anisotropic structure were fabricated for the photothermal therapy (PTT) of bacteria and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) detection of pollutants. The size and localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) characteristics of Au NSs were adjusted by varying Au seed additions. In addition, photothermal conversion performance of Au NSs with various Au seed additions was evaluated. Photothermal conversion efficiency of Au NSs with optimal Au seed additions (50 μL) was as high as 28.75% under 808 nm laser irradiation, and the heat generated was sufficient to kill Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus). Importantly, Au NSs also exhibited excellent SERS activity for the 4-mercaptobenzoic acid (4-MBA) probe molecule, and the local electromagnetic field distribution of Au NSs was explored through finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulation. As verified by experiments, Au NSs' SERS substrate could achieve a highly sensitive detection of a low concentration of potentially toxic pollutants such as methylene blue (MB) and bilirubin (BR). This work demonstrates a promising multifunctional nanoplatform with great potential for efficient photothermal inactivation and ultra-sensitive SERS detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amorphous InGaZnO (a-InGaZnO) is currently the most prominent oxide semiconductor complement to low-temperature polysilicon for thin-film transistor (TFT) applications in next-generation displays. However, balancing the transmission performance and low-temperature deposition is the primary obstacle in the application of a-InGaZnO TFTs in the field of ultra-high resolution optoelectronic display. Here, we report that a-InGaZnO:O TFT prepared at room temperature has high transport performance, manipulating oxygen vacancy (VO) defects through an oxygen-doped a-InGaZnO framework. The main electrical properties of a-InGaZnO:O TFTs included high field-effect mobility (µFE) of 28 cm2/V s, a threshold voltage (Vth) of 0.9 V, a subthreshold swing (SS) of 0.9 V/dec, and a current switching ratio (Ion/Ioff) of 107; significant improvements over a-InGaZnO TFTs without oxygen plasma. A possible reason for this is that appropriate oxygen plasma treatment and room temperature preparation technology jointly play a role in improving the electrical performance of a-InGaZnO TFTs, which could not only increase carrier concentration, but also reduce the channel-layer surface defects and interface trap density of a-InGaZnO TFTs. These provides a powerful way to synergistically boost the transport performance of oxide TFTs fabricated at room temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of exohedral actinide borospherenes, An&Bm, and endohedral borospherenes, An@Bn (An=U, Np, Pu; m = 28, 32, 34, 36, 38, 40; n = 36, 38, 40), have been characterized by density functional theory calculations. The electronic structures, chemical bond topological properties and spectra have been systematically investigated. It was found that An@Bn is more stable than An&Bn in terms of structure and energy, and UB36 in an aqueous solution is the most stable molecular in this research. The IR and UV-vis spectra of An&Bm and An@Bn are computationally predicted to facilitate further experimental investigations. Charge-transfer spectroscopy decomposes the total UV-Vis absorption curve into the contributions of different excitation features, allowing insight into what form of electronic excitation the UV–Vis absorption peak is from the perspective of charge transfer between the An atoms and borospherenes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Revealing the charge transfer path is very important for studying the photocatalytic mechanism and improving photocatalytic performance. In this work, the charge transfer path turned by the piezoelectricity in Ag-BaTiO3 nanofibers is discussed through degrading methyl orange. The piezo-photocatalytic degradation rate of Ag-BaTiO3 is much higher than the photocatalysis of Ag-BaTiO3 and piezo-photocatalysis of BaTiO3, implying the coupling effect between Ag nanoparticle-induced localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR), photoexcited electron-hole pairs, and deformation-induced piezoelectric field. With the distribution density of Ag nanoparticles doubling, the LSPR field increases by one order of magnitude. Combined with charge separation driven by the piezoelectric field, more electrons in BaTiO3 nanofibers are excited by plasmon-induced resonance energy transfer to improve the photocatalytic property. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cancer is the leading cause of death in people worldwide. The conventional therapeutic approach is mainly based on chemotherapy, which has a series of side effects. Compared with traditional chemotherapy drugs, nanoparticle-based delivery of anti-cancer drugs possesses a few attractive features. The application of nanotechnology in an interdisciplinary manner in the biomedical field has led to functional nanoparticles achieving much progress in cancer therapy. Nanoparticles have been involved in the diagnosis and targeted and personalized treatment of cancer. For example, different nano-drug strategies, including endogenous and exogenous stimuli-responsive, surface conjugation, and macromolecular encapsulation for nano-drug systems, have successfully prevented tumor procession. The future for functional nanoparticles is bright and promising due to the fast development of nanotechnology. However, there are still some challenges and limitations that need to be considered. Based on the above contents, the present article analyzes the progress in developing functional nanoparticles in cancer therapy. Research gaps and promising strategies for the clinical application are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cathepsins are lysosomal cysteine proteases belonging to the papain family and play crucial roles in intracellular protein degradation/turnover, hormone maturation, antigen processing, and immune responses. In the present study, 18 cathepsins were systematically identified from the fish S. schlegelii genome. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that cathepsin superfamilies are categorized into eleven major clusters. Synteny and genome organization analysis revealed that whole-genome duplication led to the expansion of S. schlegelii cathepsins. Evolutionary rate analyses indicated that the lowest Ka/Ks ratios were observed in CTSBa (0.13) and CTSBb (0.14), and the highest Ka/Ks ratios were observed in CTSZa (1.97) and CTSZb (1.75). In addition, cathepsins were ubiquitously expressed in all examined tissues, with high expression levels observed in the gill, intestine, head kidney, and spleen. Additionally, most cathepsins were differentially expressed in the head kidney, gill, spleen, and liver following Aeromonas salmonicida infection, and their expression signatures showed tissue-specific and time-dependent patterns. Finally, protein–protein interaction network (PPI) analyses revealed that cathepsins are closely related to a few immune-related genes, such as interleukins, chemokines, and TLR genes. These results are expected to be valuable for comparative immunological studies and provide insights for further functional characterization of cathepsins in fish species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parametric modulation is an effective tool to measure the trap frequency and investigate the atom dynamics in an optical dipole trap or lattices. Herein, we report on experimental research of parametric resonances in an optical dipole trap. By modulating the trapping potential, we have measured the atomic loss dependence on the frequency of the parametric modulations. The resonance loss spectra and the evolution of atom populations at the resonant frequency have been demonstrated and compared under three modulation waveforms (sine, triangle and square waves). A phenomenological theoretical simulation has been performed and shown good accordance with the observed resonance loss spectra and the evolution of atom populations. The theoretical analysis can be easily extended to a complex waveform modulation and reproduce enough of the experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The atomic picture of cellulose dissolution in alkali/urea aqueous solution is still not clear. To reveal it, we use trehalose as the model molecule and total scattering as the main tool. Three kinds of alkali solution, i.e., LiOH, NaOH and KOH are compared. The most probable all-atom structures of the solution are thus obtained. The hydration shell of trehalose has a layered structure. The smaller alkali ions can penetrate into the glucose rings around oxygen atoms to form the first hydration layer. The larger urea molecules interact with hydroxide groups to form complexations. Then, the electronegative complexation can form the second hydration layer around alkali ions via electrostatic interaction. Therefore, the solubility of alkali aqueous solution for cellulose decreases with the alkali cation radius, i.e., LiOH > NaOH > KOH. Our findings are helpful for designing better green solvents for cellulose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exchange-coupled magnets are promising candidates for a new generation of permanent magnets. Here, we investigated the effect of soft magnetic shell thickness and the aspect ratio of the hard magnetic core on the magnetic properties for isolated core/shell cylinder exchange-coupled magnets, as well as the packing effect of the cylindrical array via a micromagnetic simulation method. It was found that the shape anisotropy contributions to the magnetic properties in the cylindrical core/shell exchange-coupled magnets are closely related to the thickness of the soft magnetic shell. When the soft magnetic shell is thin, the magnetic properties are dominated by the hard–soft exchange coupling effects, and the contributions of shape anisotropy are quite limited. When the soft magnetic shell is relatively thick, utilizing shape anisotropy would be an effective method to improve the magnetic performance of hard–soft exchange-coupled magnets. The present work provides an in-depth fundamental understanding of the underlying magnetization reversal mechanism. This work could be useful for designing high-performance permanent magnets and avoiding pitfalls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global warming and its associated changes in temperature and precipitation have significantly affected the ecosystem in Southwest China, yet studies that integrate temperature and precipitation changes are inadequate for quantitatively assessing the impacts of extreme events on ecosystems. In this study, the return period of concurrent climate extremes characterized by precipitation deficit and extreme temperature and the spatial and temporal dynamic patterns of their impacts on ecosystems were assessed by using high-precision temperature and precipitation data, as well as NDVI and NPP data collected for the 1985–2015 period. The results show that the 2009 concurrent event had a return period of about 200 years. The return periods of individual climate factors are significantly overestimated or underestimated. Concurrent events significantly reduced the spring and annual Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and net primary productivity (NPP) in Southwest China. The magnitude of the reduction in vegetation greenness and productivity increased with the intensity of concurrent events. Concurrent events beginning in autumn 2009 reduced spring NDVI and NPP by 8.8% and 23%, and annual NDVI and NPP by 2.23% and 7.22%, respectively. Under future climate scenarios, the return period of concurrent events could be significantly shortened, which would have a more severe impact on regional ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increasing demand for earth observation in various fields, remote satellites play an important role in ground information assurance. Apparently, the effective scheduling and utilization of multi-satellite resources determine the quality and efficiency of information acquisition. In this paper, focusing on the problem of centralized multi-satellite scheduling, we establish a mathematical model of satellite scheduling with complex constraints of load and platform operation. We also propose a real-coding Population Incremental Based Learning (PBIL) algorithm to solve the multi-satellite scheduling problem. The real-coding format can greatly shorten the coding length compared to the traditional PBIL algorithm with binary coding so that the computational efficiency is improved. Additionally, we design a value probability matrix, correction coefficient and mutation operator to guide better evolution and avoid early convergence. Finally, we take some numerical examples to verify the real-coding PBIL algorithm for multi-satellite scheduling. The performance of the algorithm is analyzed by comparing it with binary-coding PBIL and the Genetic Algorithm (GA). Additionally, the influence of key parameters on algorithm performance, such as probability correction coefficient, is also analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the complexity of the task requirement, multiple operating conditions have gradually become the common scenario for equipment. However, the degradation trend of monitoring data cannot be accurately extracted in life prediction under multiple operating conditions, which is because some monitoring data is affected by the operating conditions. Aiming at this problem, this paper proposes an improved similarity trajectory method that can directly use the monitoring data under multiple operating conditions for life prediction. The morphological pattern and symbolic aggregate approximation-based similarity measurement method (MP-SAX) is first used to measure the similarity between the monitoring data under multiple operating conditions. Then, the similar life candidate set, and corresponding weight are obtained according to the MP-SAX. Finally, the life prediction results of equipment under multiple operating conditions can be calculated by aggregating the similar life candidate set. The proposed method is validated by the public datasets from NASA Ames Prognostics Data Repository. The results show that the proposed method can directly and effectively use the original monitoring data for life prediction without extracting the degradation trend of the monitoring data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indirect neutron imaging is an effective method for nondestructive testing of spent nuclear fuel elements. Considering the difficulty of obtaining experimental data in a high-radiation environment and the characteristic of high noise of neutron images, it is difficult to use the traditional FBP algorithm to recover the complete information of the sample based on the limited projection data. Therefore, it is necessary to develop the sparse-view CT reconstruction algorithm for indirect neutron imaging. In order to improve the quality of the reconstruction image, an iterative reconstruction method combining SIRT, MRP, and WTDM regularization is proposed. The reconstruction results obtained by using the proposed method on simulated data and actual neutron projection data are compared with the results of four other algorithms (FBP, SIRT, SIRT-TV, and SIRT-WTDM). The experimental results show that the SIRT-MWTDM algorithm has great advantages in both objective evaluation index and subjective observation in the reconstruction image of simulated data and neutron projection data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transient impact components in vibration signal, which are the major information for bearing fault severity recognition, are often interfered with by ambient noise. Meanwhile, for bearing fault severity recognition, the frequency band selection methods which are employed to pre-process the contaminated vibration signal only select the partial frequency band of the vibration signal and cause information loss of other frequency band. Aiming at this issue, this paper proposes a novel fault severity recognition method based on Huffman coding, which can retain all the information of the frequency band, and is applied for the first time to bearing fault severity recognition. Specifically, the average coding length of Huffman coding (ACLHC) of the original vibration signal is first calculated to reduce the noise and highlight the impact components of the signal. Then, the ACLHC is encoded by symbolic aggregate approximation (SAX) to reflect the modulation information of bearing. Finally, the Lempel‑Ziv indicator (LZ indicator) of the symbol sequence is calculated to reflect the fault severity. The proposed method is verified by the bearing datasets under different working conditions. Compared with the methods based on frequency band selection, the proposed method effectively recognizes the fault severity of bearing for more working conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reducing the size of an accelerometer overcomes the tradeoff between its sensitivity and resonant frequency, and the theoretical relationships are analyzed. A fiber Bragg grating (FBG) accelerometer with the shortest vibration arm, 7 mm, among FBG accelerometers using the optical fiber to hold its inertial object is demonstrated here. The inertial object was 4.41 g. The experimental crest-to-trough sensitivity and resonant frequency, 244 pm/g and 90 Hz, disagree with the theoretical values, 633 pm/g and 67 Hz, perhaps due to the friction between the inertial object and shell. In order to find the theoretical values, a method to find the pre-stretch of the FBG is also presented here, based on the stretch of the FBG at equilibrium and the mass of the inertial object. The FFT program, experimental data and theoretical calculations are presented in detail in the Supplementary Material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is necessary to detect multi-type farmland obstacles in real time and accurately for unmanned agricultural vehicles. An improved YOLOv5s algorithm based on the K-Means clustering algorithm and CIoU Loss function was proposed to improve detection precision and speed up real-time detection. The K-Means clustering algorithm was used in order to generate anchor box scales to accelerate the convergence speed of model training. The CIoU Loss function, combining the three geometric measures of overlap area, center distance and aspect ratio, was adopted to reduce the occurrence of missed and false detection and improve detection precision. The experimental results showed that the inference time of a single image was reduced by 75% with the improved YOLOv5s algorithm; compared with that of the Faster R-CNN algorithm, real-time performance was effectively improved. Furthermore, the mAP value of the improved algorithm was increased by 5.80% compared with that of the original YOLOv5s, which indicates that using the CIoU Loss function had an obvious effect on reducing the missed detection and false detection of the original YOLOv5s. Moreover, the detection of small target obstacles of the improved algorithm was better than that of the Faster R-CNN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

TGA transcription factor is a member of the D subfamily of the basic region-leucine zippers (bZIP) family. It is a type of transcription factor that was first identified in plants and is the main regulator in plant development and physiological processes, including morphogenesis and seed formation in response to abiotic and biotic stress and maintaining plant growth. The present study examined the sequence of the MaTGA8 transcription factor, the sequence of which belonged to subfamily D of the bZIP and had multiple cis-acting elements such as the G-box, TCA-element, TGACG-element, and P-box. Quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) analyses showed that MaTGA8 was significantly down-regulated by the soil-borne fungus Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense race 4 (Foc TR4). Under the induction of salicylic acid (SA), MaTGA8 was down-regulated, while different members of the MaNPR1 family responded significantly differently. Among them, MaNPR11 and MaNPR3 showed an overall upward trend, and the expression level of MaNPR4, MaNPR8, and MaNPR13 was higher than other members. MaTGA8 is a nuclear-localized transcription factor through strong interaction with MaNPR11 or weaker interaction with MaNPR4, and it is implied that the MaPR gene can be activated. In addition, the MaTGA8 transgenic Arabidopsis has obvious disease resistance and higher chlorophyll content than the wild-type Arabidopsis with the infection of Foc TR4. These results indicate that MaTGA8 may enhance the resistance of bananas to Foc TR4 by interacting with MaNPR11 or MaNPR4. This study provides a basis for further research on the application of banana TGA transcription factors in Foc TR4 stress and disease resistance and molecular breeding programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The health status of the momentum wheel is vital for a satellite. Recently, research on anomaly detection for satellites has become more and more extensive. Previous research mostly required simulation models for key components. However, the physical models are difficult to construct, and the simulation data does not match the telemetry data in engineering applications. To overcome the above problem, this paper proposes a new anomaly detection framework based on real telemetry data. First, the time-domain and frequency-domain features of the preprocessed telemetry signal are calculated, and the effective features are selected through evaluation. Second, a new Huffman-multi-scale entropy (HMSE) system is proposed, which can effectively improve the discrimination between different data types. Third, this paper adopts a multi-class SVM model based on the directed acyclic graph (DAG) principle and proposes an improved adaptive particle swarm optimization (APSO) method to train the SVM model. The proposed method is applied to anomaly detection for satellite momentum wheel voltage telemetry data. The recognition accuracy and detection rate of the method proposed in this paper can reach 99.60% and 99.87%. Compared with other methods, the proposed method can effectively improve the recognition accuracy and detection rate, and it can also effectively reduce the false alarm rate and the missed alarm rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A comprehensive risk assessment of different types of natural disasters at the county level can promote quantitative disaster risk assessment and can provide a scientific basis for the formulation of disaster prevention measures. Focusing on climate-related hazards and based on natural disaster risk assessment theories and methods, this study integrates disaster statistics, meteorological data, geographic information, and other multivariate data to quantify the hazards of various disasters and the vulnerability and exposure of hazard-bearing bodies and conducts an integrated assessment of comprehensive risks of multiple climate-related hazards in Cangnan County, Zhejiang Province. Typhoon disaster risk is high in the central and northern parts of this county and low in its surroundings, with high-risk areas mainly distributed in Lingxi Town to the north. The comprehensive risk distribution patterns of drought and flood disasters in Cangnan County are similar: low in the south and high in the north. With the method of standard deviation, the comprehensive risk of multiple climate-related hazards in Cangnan County shows a distribution pattern of being low in the south and high in the north, with high risk in the northeast and low risk in the northwest and south. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aiming at the task planning and scheduling problem of space object detection LEO constellation (SODLC) for detecting space objects in deep space background, a method of SODLC task satellite selection based on observation window projection analysis is proposed. This method projects the spatial relative relationships of the SODLC observation blind zone, observation range, and the initial spatial position of the objects onto the surface of the earth for detectable analysis of satellites and targets and binds the dynamic observation conditions to the satellite trajectory after projection calculation of the visible relationship between target changes. On this basis, combined with the features of SODLC with high orbital symmetry, the task satellite selection is divided into two steps: orbit plane selection and task satellite selection. The orbit planes are selected based on the longitude range of the ascending node with the geographic location of the targets, and the task satellites are selected according to the relative motion relationship between the satellites and the targets together with the constraints of observable conditions. The selection method simplifies the calculation process of scheduling and selecting task satellites. Simulation analysis prove the method has better task satellite selection efficiency. The method has high practical value for task planning and scheduling for event-driven SODLC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Determining the altitude of side-scan sonar (SSS) above the seabed is critical to correct the geometric distortions in the sonar images. Usually, a technology named bottom tracking is applied to estimate the distance between the sonar and the seafloor. However, the traditional methods for bottom tracking often require pre-defined thresholds and complex optimization processes, which make it difficult to achieve ideal results in complex underwater environments without manual intervention. In this paper, a universal automatic bottom tracking method is proposed based on semantic segmentation. First, the waterfall images generated from SSS backscatter sequences are labeled as water column (WC) and seabed parts, then split into specific patches to build the training dataset. Second, a symmetrical information synthesis module (SISM) is designed and added to DeepLabv3+, which not only weakens the strong echoes in the WC area, but also gives the network the capability of considering the symmetry characteristic of bottom lines, and most importantly, the independent module can be easily combined with any other neural networks. Then, the integrated network is trained with the established dataset. Third, a coarse-to-fine segmentation strategy with the well-trained model is proposed to segment the SSS waterfall images quickly and accurately. Besides, a fast bottom line search algorithm is proposed to further reduce the time consumption of bottom tracking. Finally, the proposed method is validated by the data measured with several commonly used SSSs in various underwater environments. The results show that the proposed method can achieve the bottom tracking accuracy of 1.1 pixels of mean error and 1.26 pixels of standard deviation at the speed of 2128 ping/s, and is robust to interference factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heterocyclic natural products with various bioactivities play significant roles in pharmaceuticals. Here, we isolated a heterocyclic compound salumycin (1) from a Streptomyces albus J1074 mutant strain. The structure of (1) was elucidated via single-crystal X-ray diffraction, mass spectrometry (MS), fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR), and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) data analysis. Salumycin (1) contained a novel pyrazolequinone ring, which had never been previously reported in a natural product. Salumycin (1) exhibited moderate 2,2′-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH)-radical scavenging activity (EC50 = 46.3 ± 2.2 μM) compared with tert-butylhydroquinone (EC50 = 4.7 ± 0.3 μM). This study provides a new example of discovering novel natural products from bacteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article demonstrates new observation of the high-resolution ro-vibrational bichromatic photoassociation spectra (BPAS) of Cs2 in the 0 u + long-range state below the asymptotes 6S1/2 + 6P1/2. By combining with a modulation spectroscopic technique, precise references of the frequency differences have been engineered through the BPAS, with which the rotational constants of low-lying vibrational levels of the Cs2 0 u + long-range state have been accurately determined by fitting the frequency differences to the non-rigid-rotor model. The rotational constants for the newly observed seven ro-vibrational levels are summarized and disagreement for the level ῦ = 498 is clarified. The rotational constants of different vibrational levels demonstrate strong perturbations of the related energy structures. A simple analysis is performed and shows good agreement with experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Verticillium dahliae (V. dahliae) infects roots and colonizes the vascular vessels of host plants, significantly reducing the economic yield of cotton and other crops. In this study, the protein VdTHI20, which is involved in the thiamine biosynthesis pathway, was characterized by knocking out the corresponding VdTHI20 gene in V. dahliae via Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation (ATMT). The deletion of VdTHI20 resulted in several phenotypic defects in vegetative growth and conidiation and in impaired virulence in tobacco seedlings. We show that VdTHI20 increases the tolerance of V. dahliae to UV damage. The impaired vegetative growth of ΔVdTHI20 mutant strains was restored by complementation with a functional copy of the VdTHI20 gene or by supplementation with additional thiamine. Furthermore, the root infection and colonization of the ΔVdTHI20 mutant strains were suppressed, as indicated by green fluorescent protein (GFP)-labelling under microscope observation. When the RNAi constructs of VdTHI20 were used to transform Nicotiana benthamiana, the transgenic lines expressing dsVdTHI20 showed elevated resistance to V. dahliae. Together, these results suggest that VdTHI20 plays a significant role in the pathogenicity of V. dahliae. In addition, the pathogenesis-related gene VdTHI20 exhibits potential for controlling V. dahliae in important crops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cotton plays an important role in the economy of many countries. Many studies have revealed that numerous genes and various metabolic pathways are involved in anther development. In this research, we studied the differently expressed mRNA and lncRNA during the anther development of cotton between the cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) line, C2P5A, and the maintainer line, C2P5B, using RNA-seq analysis. We identified 17,897 known differentially expressed (DE) mRNAs, and 865 DE long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) that corresponded to 1172 cis-target genes at three stages of anther development using gene ontology (GO), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment of DE mRNAs; and cis-target genes of DE lncRNAs probably involved in the degradation of tapetum cells, microspore development, pollen development, and in the differentiation, proliferation, and apoptosis of the anther cell wall in cotton. Of these DE genes, LTCONS_00105434, LTCONS_00004262, LTCONS_00126105, LTCONS_00085561, and LTCONS_00085561, correspond to cis-target genes Ghir_A09G011050.1, Ghir_A01G005150.1, Ghir_D05G003710.2, Ghir_A03G016640.1, and Ghir_A12G005100.1, respectively. They participate in oxidative phosphorylation, flavonoid biosynthesis, pentose and glucuronate interconversions, fatty acid biosynthesis, and MAPK signaling pathway in plants, respectively. In summary, the transcriptomic data indicated that DE lncRNAs and DE mRNAs were related to the anther development of cotton at the pollen mother cell stage, tetrad stage, and microspore stage, and abnormal expression could lead to anther abortion, resulting in male sterility of cotton. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) is one of the most important cash crops worldwide. Cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) is an excellent breeding system for exploitation of heterosis, which has great potential to increase crop yields. To understand the molecular mechanism of CMS in cotton, we compared transcriptome, cytomorphological, physiological and bioinformatics data between the CMS line C2P5A and its maintainer line C2P5B. By using high-throughput sequencing technology, 178,166 transcripts were assembled and 2013 differentially expression genes (DEGs) were identified at three different stages of C2P5A anther development. In this study, we identified DEGs associated with reactive oxygen species (ROS), peroxisomes, aldehyde dehydrogenases (ALDH), cytochrome oxidase subunit VI, and cytochrome P450, and DEGs associated with tapetum development, Jojoba acyl-CoA reductase-related male sterility protein, basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) and MYB transcription factors. The abnormal expression of one of these genes may be responsible for the CMS C2P5A line. In gene ontology (GO) annotation and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment, DEGs were mainly related to carbohydrate metabolism, amino acid metabolism, transport and catabolism, and signal transduction. Carbohydrate metabolism provides energy for anther development, starch and sucrose metabolism, fatty acid biosynthesis and metabolism and ascorbate and aldarate metabolism. These results showed that numerous genes and multiple complex metabolic pathways regulate cotton anther development. Weighted correlation network analysis (WGCNA) indicated that three modules, 'turquoise,' 'blue,' and 'green,' were specific for the CMS C2P5A line. The 'turquoise' and 'blue' modules were mainly related to carbohydrate metabolism, amino acid metabolism, energy metabolism, peroxisomes, pyruvate metabolism as well as fatty acid degradation. The 'green' module was mainly related to energy metabolism, carbon metabolism, translation, and lipid metabolism. RNA-sequencing and WGCNA polymerization modules were screened for key genes and pathways related to CMS in cotton. This study presents a new perspective for further research into the metabolic pathways of pollen abortion in the CMS C2P5A line and also provides a theoretical basis for its breeding and production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The B←N is isoelectronic to the C–C, with the former having stronger dipole moment and higher electron affinity. Replacing the C–C bonds in conjugated polymers with B←N bonds is an effective pathway toward novel polymers with strong electron affinity and adjustable optoelectronic properties. In this work, we synthesize a conjugated copolymer, namely, BNIDT-DPP, based on a B←N embedded unit, BNIDT, and a typical electron-deficient unit, diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP). For comparison, the C–C counterpart, i.e., IDT-DPP, is also synthesized. In contrast to IDT-DPP, the B←N embedded polymer BNIDT-DPP shows an extended absorption edge (836 versus 978 nm), narrowed optical bandgap (1.48 versus 1.27 eV), and higher electron affinity (3.54 versus 3.74 eV). The Gaussian simulations reveal that the B←N embedded polymer BNIDT-DPP is more electron-deficient in contrast to IDT-DPP, supporting the decreased bandgap and energy levels of BNIDT-DPP. Organic thin-film transistor (OTFT) tests indicate a well-defined p-type characteristic for both IDT-DPP and BNIDT-DPP. The hole mobilities of IDT-DPP and BNIDT-DPP tested by OTFTs are 0.059 and 0.035 cm2/V·s, respectively. The preliminary fabrication of all-polymer solar cells based on BNIDT-DPP and PBDB-T affords a PCE of 0.12%. This work develops a novel B←N embedded polymer with strong electron affinity and extended absorption, which is potentially useful for electronic device application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rotating machinery is widely applied in various types of industrial applications. As a promising field for reliability of modern industrial systems, early fault diagnosis (EFD) techniques have attracted increasing attention from both academia and industry. EFD is critical to provide appropriate information for taking necessary maintenance actions and thereby prevent severe failures and reduce financial losses. A massive amounts of research work has been conducted in last two decades to develop EFD techniques. This paper reviews and summarizes the research works on EFD of gears, rotors, and bearings. The main purpose of this paper is to serve as a guidemap for researchers in the field of early fault diagnosis. After a brief introduction of early fault diagnosis techniques, the applications of EFD of rotating machine are reviewed in two aspects: fault frequency-based methods and artificial intelligence-based methods. Finally, a summary and some new research prospects are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flow and transport processes in soil and rock play a critical role in agricultural non-point source pollution (ANPS) loads. In this study, we investigated the ANPS load discharged into rivers from an irrigation district in the Tibetan Plateau and simulated ANPS load using a distributed model. Experiments were conducted for two years to measure soil water content and nitrogen concentrations in soil and the quality and quantity of subsurface lateral flow in the rock and at the drainage canal outlet during the highland barley growing period. A distributed model, in which the subsurface lateral flow in the rock was described using a stepwise method, was developed to simulate flow and ammonium nitrogen (NH4+-N) and nitrate nitrogen (NO3−-N) transport processes. Sobol's method was used to evaluate the sensitivity of simulated flow and transport processes to the model inputs. The results showed that with a 21.2% increase of rainfall and irrigation in the highland barley growing period, the average NH4+-N and NO3−-N concentrations in the soil layer decreased by 10.8% and 14.3%, respectively, due to increased deep seepage. Deep seepage of rainfall water accounted for 0–52.4% of total rainfall, whereas deep seepage of irrigation water accounted for 36.6–45.3% of total irrigation. NH4+-N and NO3−-N discharged into the drainage canal represented 19.9–30.4% and 19.4–26.7% of the deep seepage, respectively. The mean Nash–Sutcliffe coefficient value, which was close to 0.8, and the lowest values of root mean square errors, the fraction bias, and the fractional gross error indicated that the simulated flow rates and nitrogen concentrations using the proposed method were very accurate. The Sobol's sensitivity analysis results demonstrated that subsurface lateral flow had the most important first-order and total-order effect on the simulated flow and NH4+-N and NO3−-N concentrations at the surface drainage outlet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]