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The impact of various organic amendments on soil organic carbon (SOC) have rarely been reported. To address this, a laboratory experiment was designed to scrutinize the effects of different amendments on soil carbon fractions, microbial communities, and the underlying interactive mechanisms. The experiment encompassed a no-amendment control (CK), as well as treatments with corn straw (CS), tobacco stalks (TS), and peanut shell biochar (PB). Over a 70-day incubation, the SOC in plots amended with CS, TS, and PB displayed significant boosts of 13.9%, 17.5%, and 44.8%, respectively, compared to the CK. For soil carbon fractions, amendments with PB, TS, and CS led to a dramatic rise in particulate organic carbon (POC) of 27.4%, 20.2%, and 105.7%, respectively, in contrast to the CK plots. Mantel analysis and structural Equation Modeling uncovered strong interrelationships among the cbbL, cbbM, Bacteroidota, TOC, and POC. Organic amendments enhance soil carbon fractions, modulating the microbial community by increasing Bacteroidetes abundance and suppressing Acidobacteria richness, thereby influencing the abundance of key carbon cycle genes such as cbbL and cbbM. These results suggest that the addition of peanut shell biochar significantly boosted TOC and key carbon fractions, enhancing carbon content and soil fertility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rock pores crack and expand subjected to freeze-thaw cycles, resulting in the reduction of their physical and mechanical properties, it is necessary to study its evolution and deterioration mechanism. However, the majority of existing studies employ a singular pore testing methodology, and neglecting the impact of the thawing process on frost heave damage in rocks. To address this, this study employs a combination of non-destructive testing techniques, including nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and computed tomography (CT) scanning, to comprehensively analyze the evolution of pores during freeze-thaw cycles. Investigating the migration and redistribution of pore water and its effect on frost heave damage in sandstone during the freeze-thaw process. Finally, the study examines the mechanisms of pores frost heave initiation and propagation in sandstone during freeze-thaw cycles. The results demonstrate that freeze-thaw cycles result in an expansion of pore volume at all scales within the samples. However, the degree of expansion varies, with macropores, mesopores, and micropores exhibiting a less pronounced increase in sequence. During the freeze-thaw process, water in sandstone pores redistributes, moving from larger to smaller pores. The saturation of water increases in micropores, but decreases in mesopores and macropores, thereby rendering micropores more susceptible to frost heave initiation in subsequent freeze-thaw cycles. With repeated freeze-thaw, the expansion of rock pores will continue in the direction of the lowest tensile strength, eventually forming macroscopic cracks. This study provides valuable insights into the mechanisms of freeze-thaw disaster genesis in rock masses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Visual adaptive devices have potential to simplify circuits and algorithms in machine vision systems to adapt and perceive images with varying brightness levels, which is however limited by sluggish adaptation process. Here, the avalanche tuning as feedforward inhibition in bionic two-dimensional (2D) transistor is proposed for fast and high-frequency visual adaptation behavior with microsecond-level accurate perception, the adaptation speed is over 104 times faster than that of human retina and reported bionic sensors. As light intensity changes, the bionic transistor spontaneously switches between avalanche and photoconductive effect, varying responsivity in both magnitude and sign (from 7.6 × 104 to −1 × 103 A/W), thereby achieving ultra-fast scotopic and photopic adaptation process of 108 and 268 μs, respectively. By further combining convolutional neural networks with avalanche-tuned bionic transistor, an adaptative machine vision is achieved with remarkable microsecond-level rapid adaptation capabilities and robust image recognition with over 98% precision in both dim and bright conditions. Visual adaptive devices show promise for simplifying circuits and algorithms in machine vision systems. Here, the authors report a visual adaptive transistor with tunable avalanche effects and microsecond-level bionic vision capabilities, recognizing images in dim and bright conditions with over 98% accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land use land cover plays an essential role in altering regional micro and macro climate, diminishing biodiversity, and significantly influences Land Surface Temperature (LST). However, no research has been conducted in the Shigar district to investigate LULC changes, particularly the correlation between LST and vegetation/snow cover at higher elevated regions. Therefore, this study was carried out in the Shigar district of Gilgit Baltistan Region, Pakistan, due to its extreme climatic variability. In this study, we investigated the spatiotemporal variability of LULC and its impacts on LST in the Shigar district, utilizing Landsat data from 1993 to 2020. To study the variable LST, thermal bands of Landsat imagery were used. LULC was determined by classifying the images using the supervised maximum likelihood classification method. The vegetation and snow cover were also extracted by using the indices of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Normalized Difference Snow Index (NDSI), respectively. The results showed that the Shigar district had experienced severe land cover variations in the years of 1993, 2003, 2010, and 2020. Specifically, the agricultural area gradually increased from 1993 to 2020. The forest/vegetation cover also increased in the study area. In contrast, snow cover and water bodies were drastically reduced during this period. The overall vegetation increased within the region and the LST values were found to be decreased in 2003 and 2010, whereas the LST rose in 2020. In addition, the correlation between NDVI and LST was found to be significant negative in areas with high vegetation cover. Conversely, it was weakly positive in other areas with minor vegetations. These findings suggest that green cover plays a crucial role in regulating temperature. Additionally, a negative correlation between LST and NDSI was observed with rising elevation. This study will be helpful in landscape and urban planning, watershed management, and policymaking for climate change variability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ceramic fibrous aerogels are highly desirable for thermal management materials due to their high porosity, excellent elasticity, thermal conductivity, and good thermal resistance. However, the fabrication of nanofibrous aerogel with super-elasticity and good shape retention at the same time has remained challenging. To meet the requirements, a novel anisotropy nanofibrous-granular aerogel with a quasi-layered multi-arch-like and hierarchical-cellular structure is designed and prepared by vacuum-filtration-assisted freeze-drying and sintering. The quasi-layered multi-arch and flexible nanofibers endowed the aerogels with excellent mechanical robustness (ultimate stress up to 60 kPa with strain 60%) and super-elasticity with recoverable compression strain up to 60%. The introduced SiO2 aerogel nanoparticles and nanofibers are assembled into an arch-like structure and become the connection point of adjacent nanofibers, which endows low thermal conductivity (0.024 mW/(mK)) of composite aerogel. This novel strategy provides a fresh perspective for the preparation of nanofibrous aerogel with robust mechanical in thermal insulation and other fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ischemic stroke is typified by hypoxia and a cascade of pathophysiological events, including metabolic dysfunction, ionic dysregulation, excitotoxicity, inflammatory infiltration, and oxidative stress. These ultimately result in neuronal apoptosis or necrosis with constrained neuroregenerative capabilities. In this study, neural stem cells (NSCs) under conditions of oxygen–glucose deprivation (OGD) in vitro and following middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) in vivo were explored. Transcriptome sequencing revealed a decline in NSC differentiation and neurogenesis after OGD exposure, which was related to cellular senescence. This observation was corroborated by increased senescence markers in the MCAO mouse model, reduction in NSC numbers, and decline in neurogenesis. Importantly, iMSC-sEVs (induced mesenchymal stem cells-small extracellular vesicles) have the therapeutic potential to alleviate NSC senescence and rejuvenate their regenerative capacities both in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, iMSC-sEVs contribute to the recovery of cognitive function and synapse loss caused by MCAO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The preoperative diagnosis of thyroid nodules now routinely includes BRAFV600E genetic testing in most provincial and municipal hospitals in China. This study identified the most suitable patients of thyroid nodule for BRAFV600E genetic testing. We retrospectively collected data of patients from the Hospital Information System that had undergone fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) from May 2019 to December 2021. Data of FNAB, BRAFV600E genetic testing, and post-surgical pathological diagnosis were collected. A total of 12,392 patients were included in this study. Among them, 7,010 patients underwent solely FNAB, while 5,382 patients had both FNAB and BRAFV600E genetic testing. In the FNAB group, 2,065 thyroid nodules were surgically removed, with a 93.12% malignancy rate. In the FNAB + BRAF group, 2,005 nodules were dissected, and the malignancy rate was 98.20%. However, it was evident that in the subgroups, the combination of FNAB and BRAFV600E genetic testing only benefited Bethesda III (p < 0.001) and V (p = 0.001) nodules. Overall, the combination of FNAB with BRAFV600E genetic testing significantly improved the malignancy rate of surgical thyroid nodes at our hospital when compared to FNAB alone. The subgroup analysis showed that BRAFV600E genetic testing only benefited Bethesda III and V nodules. These findings provide a clinical reference for rationally selecting the most suitable population for BRAFV600E genetic testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the processing of tobacco leaves, flue-curing and redrying can affect the structure of bacterial community, having an effect on the aging quality of tobacco leaves. In order to characterize the effects of flue-curing and redrying on the bacterial community of tobacco leaves, the bacterial community of samples at different processing stages (before flue-curing, after flue-curing, before redrying and after redrying) was analyzed using Illumina sequencing. A total of 33 phyla, 79 classes, 195 orders, 344 families, 826 genera and 7922 ASVs were obtained from 36 samples. There was no significant difference in the core bacterial groups of tobacco leaf at four processing stages. Proteobacteria dominated at the phylum level. Sphingomonas, Pseudomonas and Methylobacterium were the main genera shared by all samples. The functional prediction by PICRUSt showed an increase in the relative abundance of pathway related to metabolism after flue-curing and pathway related to environmental information processing after redrying. This study, we analyzed the changes of bacterial community and structural composition of tobacco leaves from flue-curing to redrying, and found that flue-curing had a greater effect on the microbial community than redrying. This is conducive for the exploration of microbial resources and improvement of tobacco leaf quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to guarantee the accuracy of a workpiece's dimensions in end-milling operation, the thermal deformation needs to be predicted in a timely manner during the end-milling process. Thermal deformation, which is generated by cutting heat, is hard to measure during the end-milling process, but the local temperature of the workpiece can be conveniently and accurately measured by a thermocouple. We have thus developed an efficient and accurate model to describe the relationship between the local temperature and thermal deformation of a workpiece for monitoring the workpiece's deformations during the end-milling process. We systematically conducted a finite element method (FEM)–based numerical simulation of a workpiece during end-milling and then scientifically validated it with a previous machining experiment (Human Friendly Mechatr 389-394, 2001) under the same boundary conditions. Currently, the process models for predicting the thermal deformation of end-milling is commonly utilized before actual machining. In order to establish a timely, dynamic, and efficient empirical model for use in the various scenarios related totally in-process of end-milling machining, we have developed a statistics-based temperature monitoring point selection method and a statistical model utilizing multiple linear regression (MLR), the Akaike information criterion (AIC), and a p value index. FEM-based thermal simulation during the end-milling process is utilized in the statistical model, which correlates the deformation at the machining point with the temperature at the measuring points (Yang, 2021). However, the applicability of this model in various machining situations has not been sufficiently evaluated. This article deals with the comparison of statistical modes to adapt the model in various machining situations. After demonstrating the accuracy of the proposed statistical model under various boundary conditions during the end-milling process, we propose two modified statistical models, namely, a modified coefficient statistical model (MCSM) and an adjusted statistical model (ASM), to more appropriately express the relationship between the temperature at the monitoring points and the thermal deformation at the machining point of the workpiece surface. Error analysis of the two models indicated that both provided high accuracy for describing this relationship. In particular, the MCMS improved in the case of 80% evaluation. In the case where only the ranges of the machining parameters are known in advance, the MCSM is preferred for describing the relationship between the temperature of the monitoring points and the thermal deformation at the machining point. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SiO2 aerogel attracts much interest as thermal insulation material due to ultra-low density and excellent thermal performance at room temperature. However, the poor mechanical property and a mass of heat transfer by radiation in high temperature limit application of aerogels. Herein, a novel aerogel composite multiscale reinforced by glass fibers felt with SiC nanowhiskers (SiCnw) (AFS) was prepared. SiCnw were evenly distributed in glass fibers felts by freeze-drying method to form a uniform multiscale felt. The SiCnw inside felts provided more contact point with aerogel to increase the interfacial adhesion force so that compressive stress of aerogel composites with 4% volume fraction SiCnw was increased to 0.29 MPa. SiCnw blocked infrared radiation to decrease the heat transfer. Therefore, thermal conductivity at 500℃ of aerogel composite with 4% volume fraction SiCnw was only 0.040 W/(m·K). In a word, SiCnw reduced the sensitivity of thermal conductivity to temperature. AFS showed potential in the field of medium and high temperature insulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil bacterial communities regulate nutrient cycling and plant growth in forests. Although these bacterial communities vary with soil nutrients and plant traits, the variation and degree with soil horizons in different forest types remain unclear. Here, bacterial communities of 44 soil samples from organic horizon (O horizon) and mineral horizon (M horizon) of three forest types (Cunninghamia, broad-leaved and Pinus forests) in subtropical forests of Dabie Mountain, China were analyzed based on amplicon sequencing. We assessed the effects of soil horizons and forest types on bacterial communities. The results showed that the bacterial richness and diversity were significantly higher in the O horizon than in the M horizon. Furthermore, the bacterial community composition and functions were also remarkably different between the two soil horizons. Furthermore, forest types could affect bacterial community composition but not for diversity and functions. Moreover, soil organic matter, including the total organic carbon, available phosphorus, total organic nitrogen, available potassium, ammonium nitrogen, and pH were main drivers for bacterial community composition. The results propose robust evidence that soil horizons strongly driven bacterial community composition and diversity, and suggest that microhabitat of soil bacterial communities is important to maintain the stability of forest ecosystem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microorganisms play an important role in the tobacco aging process. Before the aging process, raw tobacco leaves must be threshed and redried. In order to explore the differences of microbial community structure of threshed and redried tobacco leaves from different origins at home and abroad, 14 groups of tobacco leaves from 8 different countries were tested by high-throughput DNA sequencing and microbiology analysis. Then, through amplicon sequence variants (ASV) cluster analysis, Venn diagram and species labeling and other microbial diversity analysis, the dominant bacteria and fungi on the surface of threshed and redried tobacco leaves were obtained. The results showed that there were significant differences in the composition of tobacco bacteria and fungi after threshing and redrying from different geographical areas. The relative abundance of Microbacterium and Sphingomonas in domestic tobacco leaves was significantly higher than that of foreign tobacco leaves. The relative abundance of Pseudomonas in foreign tobacco bacterial colonies was significantly higher than that of domestic tobacco leaves. In terms of fungi, the relative abundance of Aspergillus and Alternaria in domestic tobacco leaves was significantly higher than that of foreign tobacco leaves. Septoria, Sampaiozyma, Cladosporium and Phoma account for significantly higher proportions of foreign tobacco leaves. These microorganisms may be indispensable in aging process to form different flavors of tobacco leaves. It provides an important theoretical basis for the further use of microorganisms to promote tobacco leaf aging. Key points: Different growth locations of tobacco at home and abroad affect bacterial and fungal communities. Proteobacteria and Actinomycetes were the dominant phylum in redrying tobacco leaves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The molten Cu60Ni35Co5 ternary alloy was undercooled by fluxing method and solidified by natural cooling method. The microstructure of all undercooled samples were analyzed. It is found that the rapidly solidified Cu60Ni35Co5 alloy has undergone two grain refinement phenomena within the undercooling range, and its microstructure and morphology change with the undercooling through the transformation process of "coarse dendrite — equiaxed dendrite — oriented fine dendrite — equiaxed crystal". The refined structure with the maximum undercooling ΔT of 253 K was selected for electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) tests. EBSD results show that the refined structure contains a high proportion of large angle grain boundaries (LAGBs), a large number of randomly oriented grains, and high proportion of twins, while TEM results show that the dislocation density in most areas is relatively low. The above characteristics confirm that the solidification structure is refined due to recrystallization behavior under high undercooling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stagonosporopsis cucurbitacearum is an important plant-pathogenic fungus that causes stem and leaf blight diseases in a variety of crops. Here, we report the characterization of a novel victorivirus, tentatively named "Stagonosporopsis cucurbitacearum victorivirus 1" (ScVV-1), isolated from the S. cucurbitacearum isolate M-7. The ScVV-1 genome is 5,165 bp in length with a predicted GC content of 60.1% and contains two large open reading frames (ORF 1 and ORF2) encoding putative proteins that share significant sequence similarity with coat proteins (CPs) and RNA-dependent RNA polymerases (RdRps) of mycoviruses of the family Totiviridae. The ScVV-1 RdRp appears to be translated using a stop-initiation pentanucleotide UAAUG sequence. Phylogenetic analysis based on CP and RdRp amino acid (aa) sequences both indicated that ScVV-1 belongs to the genus Victorivirus in the family Totiviridae. To our knowledge, this is the first full-length genome sequence of a victorivirus infecting S. cucurbitacearum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this work was to investigate the effect of temperature on the fracture behavior of EH47 high-strength steel, which is one of the materials used for large ocean freighter decks. The fracture toughness and mechanism were studied using compact tensile (CT) specimens at different temperatures. The results showed that the fracture toughness (characterized by the crack tip opening displacement, CTOD) δ of the EH47 high-strength steel decreased with decreasing temperature and that the average values of the fracture toughness tested at different temperatures followed a Boltzmann distribution. The fracture surface analysis showed that the fracture mechanism changed from ductile fracture (above 0 °C) to ductile–brittle mixed fracture (− 20 °C to − 60 °C) and then to complete brittle fracture (below − 80 °C). In particular, the extension of fibrous cracks was the main factor affecting the fracture toughness in the transition temperature region (− 20 °C to − 60 °C). The distance from the cleavage initiation site to the fibrous crack tip increased with the fibrous crack width. Moreover, the Weibull and Boltzmann distribution functions were combined, a prediction model of the fracture toughness with different temperatures and failure probabilities was proposed, and the predicted results were in good agreement with the test results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the effect of microstructure on short-term and long-term oxidation behaviours of GH3536 superalloy fabricated by laser powder bed fusion (LPBF), in which the superalloy is isothermally oxidised at 950 °C for 6 h and 500 h in air. The LPBF sample exhibits improved oxidation resistance compared with a wrought counterpart after long-term exposure. The effect of microstructure diversity between LPBF and wrought samples on oxidation behaviour is discussed. The cellular structure produced during the LPBF process acts as a rapid diffusion path to accelerate the formation of a protective film in the initial stage, leading to an enhancement in oxidation resistance for extended exposure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A station of AErosol RObotic NETwork Ocean Color (AERONET-OC) has been set on the Ariake Observation Tower of Saga University on April, 2018, for verification of the Second generation Global Imager (SGLI)/Global Change Observation Mission-Climate (GCOM-C). Remote sensing reflectance (Rrs) observed by the AERONET-OC was used for verification of SGLI. SGLI Version 1 data underestimated the shortwave Rrs and Rrs (380) and Rrs(412) were mostly negative, while the estimation was improved by Version 2 with the correction of Rrs(412) to be positive. It was indicated that absorptive aerosol was influenced to SGLI atmospheric correction and caused the underestimation of Rrs. Simple linear correction method to improve shortwave Rrs also worked well for specifically Version 1 data. Water constituents, chlorophyll-a (Chl-a), total suspended matter (TSM) and colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) of the SGLI were also verified by the ship observation data. All constituents were improved from Version 1 to 2 with the correction of Rrs, although Version 2 underestimated Chl-a and CDOM. Simple regression algorithms were also examined with in situ as well as SGLI Rrs data, and it indicated that more sophisticated algorithms may be required. Time series of water constituents derived from AERONET-OC and SGLI data were compared to river discharge and spring–neap tidal cycle. The results indicated that the behavior, such as the increase of Chl-a after river discharge and interaction of Chl-a and TSM with the spring–neap tidal cycles were observed, although estimations of water constituents were not completely separated by the algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Salt stress is an important abiotic stress, which has seriously affected the reproductive development of rice in many parts of the world. Therefore, it is particularly important to understand the genetic mechanism of salt tolerance in rice. In this study, we preliminarily located some quantitative trait loci (QTL) for root length, bud length, and survival percent under different salinity conditions (0, 100, 200 and 400 mM NaCl), using a population of chromosome segment substitution lines (CSSLs) constructed by Nipponbare and 9311. A total of 18 QTLs were identified, which explained the phenotypic variation of 4.76–37.59%, among which 13 QTLs were detected under salt stress condition. These salt tolerance related QTLs were divided into two categories, QTL expressed both under control and salt stress conditions (qSP3, qBL8), and QTL expressed just under salt stress condition (qBL3, qRL3, qSP4, qRL5, qSP7, qSP9, qRL10, qBL11-1, qRL11-1, qRL11, qSP12). qSP3, qSP4, qRL5, qSP7, qRL10, qRL10-1, qRL11, qRL11-1, qBL11, qBL11-1 and qSP12 were reported to be related with salt stress for the first time. These QTLs identified under salt stress may be valuable genetic factors for improving salt tolerance of rice by molecular markers technology, which will help to further understand the genetic mechanism of salt tolerance of rice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, oil spills and industrial organic pollutants have caused irreparable damage to the environment and biological ecosystems. Therefore, the treatment of oily wastewater has become a serious global challenge. Here, the ultra-light, robustly strength and superhydrophobic AC/C/SiO2 aerogel are fabricated by simple two-step method. Due to the introduction of high-strength carbon foam, the originally brittle aerogel exhibits excellent mechanical properties (compressive strength up to 1.6 MPa) and ultra-low density (19 mg cm−3). Remarkably, the AC/C/SiO2 sample maintains a integrate block structure without any damage or crack under large compression strain (up to 80%). In addition, the aerogel with large water contact angle of 153° and show excellent absorption for oil (39.13 g g−1). Therefore, these excellent characteristics make the as-prepared aerogel promising absorbents for water depollution: oil-spill clean-ups or removal of oils and organic solvents from water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Engineering of defects in semiconductors provides an effective protocol for improving photocatalytic N2 conversion efficiency. This review focuses on the state-of-the-art progress in defect engineering of photocatalysts for the N2 reduction toward ammonia. The basic principles and mechanisms of thermal catalyzed and photon-induced N2 reduction are first concisely recapped, including relevant properties of the N2 molecule, reaction pathways, and NH3 quantification methods. Subsequently, defect classification, synthesis strategies, and identification techniques are compendiously summarized. Advances of in situ characterization techniques for monitoring defect state during the N2 reduction process are also described. Especially, various surface defect strategies and their critical roles in improving the N2 photoreduction performance are highlighted, including surface vacancies (i.e., anionic vacancies and cationic vacancies), heteroatom doping (i.e., metal element doping and nonmetal element doping), and atomically defined surface sites. Finally, future opportunities and challenges as well as perspectives on further development of defect-engineered photocatalysts for the nitrogen reduction to ammonia are presented. It is expected that this review can provide a profound guidance for more specialized design of defect-engineered catalysts with high activity and stability for nitrogen photochemical fixation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optimizing highly porous fibrous ceramics, like bird's nest structure, were obtained by vacuum impregnation method with mullite fibers and alumina sol as raw material. The influences of impregnation cycles on the property of the sample, such as porosity, compressive strength and room-temperature thermal conductivity were explored. The experimental results show that the 3D skeleton structure of the sample was constructed by the randomly arranged mullite fibers and inorganic particles. The content of alumina can be adjusted effectively by impregnation times and it increases with increasing impregnation cycles. The thermal conductivity and compressive strength can also be controlled via tailored impregnation cycles. The compressive strength of fibrous ceramic ranged from 1.03 MPa to 5.31 MPa, while the porosity decrease slightly from 85.3% to 73.8%. In the same time, the thermal conductivity increase from 0.037 W/(m·K) to 0.217 W/(m·K), indicating that the fibrous ceramic with high impressive and low thermal conductivity can be fabricated by impregnation method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

N6-methyladenosine (m6A) is the most prevalent internal modification present in the mRNAs of all higher eukaryotes. However, the role of the m6A methylomes in rice is still poorly understood. With the development of the MeRIP-seq technique, the in-depth identification of mRNAs with m6A modification has become feasible. A study suggested that m6A modification is crucial for posttranscriptional regulation related to Cd2+-induced malignant transformation, but the association between m6A modification in plants and Cd tolerance has not been reported. We investigated the m6A methylomes in the roots of a cadmium (Cd)-treated group and compared them with the roots in the control (CK) group by m6A sequencing of cv. 9311 and cv. Nipponbare (NIP) plants. The results indicated that Cd leads to an altered modification profile in 3,406 differential m6A peaks in cv. 9311 and 2,065 differential m6A peaks in cv. NIP. KEGG pathway analysis of the genes with differentially modified m6A peaks indicated that the "phenylalanine", "tyrosine and tryptophan biosynthesis", "glycine", "adherens junctions", "glycerophospholipid metabolism" and "threonine metabolism" signalling pathways may be associated with the abnormal root development of cv. 9311 rice due to exposure to Cd. The "arginine", "proline metabolism", "glycerolipid", and "protein processing in endoplasmic reticulum" metabolism pathways were significantly enriched in genes with differentially modified m6A peaks in cv. NIP. Unlike that in Arabidopsis, the m6A-modified nucleotide position on mRNAs (m6A peak) distribution in rice exhibited a preference towards both the stop codon and 3′ untranslated regions (3′ UTRs). These findings provide a resource for plant RNA epitranscriptomic studies and further increase our knowledge on the function of m6A modification in RNA in plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

N6-methyladenosine (m6A) is the most prevalent internal modification present in the mRNAs of all higher eukaryotes. However, the role of the m6A methylomes in rice is still poorly understood. With the development of the MeRIP-seq technique, the in-depth identification of mRNAs with m6A modification has become feasible. A study suggested that m6A modification is crucial for posttranscriptional regulation related to Cd2+-induced malignant transformation, but the association between m6A modification in plants and Cd tolerance has not been reported. We investigated the m6A methylomes in the roots of a cadmium (Cd)-treated group and compared them with the roots in the control (CK) group by m6A sequencing of cv. 9311 and cv. Nipponbare (NIP) plants. The results indicated that Cd leads to an altered modification profile in 3,406 differential m6A peaks in cv. 9311 and 2,065 differential m6A peaks in cv. NIP. KEGG pathway analysis of the genes with differentially modified m6A peaks indicated that the "phenylalanine", "tyrosine and tryptophan biosynthesis", "glycine", "adherens junctions", "glycerophospholipid metabolism" and "threonine metabolism" signalling pathways may be associated with the abnormal root development of cv. 9311 rice due to exposure to Cd. The "arginine", "proline metabolism", "glycerolipid", and "protein processing in endoplasmic reticulum" metabolism pathways were significantly enriched in genes with differentially modified m6A peaks in cv. NIP. Unlike that in Arabidopsis, the m6A-modified nucleotide position on mRNAs (m6A peak) distribution in rice exhibited a preference towards both the stop codon and 3′ untranslated regions (3′ UTRs). These findings provide a resource for plant RNA epitranscriptomic studies and further increase our knowledge on the function of m6A modification in RNA in plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Recent clinical trials with agents targeting immune checkpoint pathway have emerged as an important therapeutic approach for a broad range of cancer types. Resveratrol has been shown to possess cancer preventive and therapeutic effects and has potential to be chemotherapeutic agent/adjuvant. Here, we assessed the effect of resveratrol on immune checkpoint pathways. Methods: The expression patterns of Wnt components and PD-L1 were examined by Western blot, Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) was used for analysis of DNA–protein interaction, the promoter activity was determined by luciferase reporter assay, apoptosis was analyzed by flow cytometry and the ability of the resveratrol to modulate T cell function was assessed in a co-culture system. Results: Although the dose-, and cell-type dependent effects of resveratrol on PD-L1 expression have been reported, we show here that resveratrol dose-dependently upregulates PD-L1 expression at the range of pharmacologic-achievable concentrations in lung cancer cells and that is essential for suppression of T-cell-mediated immune response. We also found that Wnt pathway is critical for mediating resveratrol-induced PD-L1 upregulation. Mechanistically, resveratrol activates SirT1 deacetylase to deacetylate and stabilize transcriptional factor Snail. Snail in turn inhibits transcription of Axin2, which leads in disassembly of destruction complex and enhanced binding of β-catenin/TCF to PD-L1 promoter. Conclusion: We conclude that resveratrol is capable to suppress anti-tumor immunity by controlling mainly PD-L1 expression. This finding will extend the understanding of resveratrol in regulation of tumor immunity and is relevant to the debate on resveratrol supplements for lung cancer patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cornus officinalis is a traditional Chinese herbal medicine rich in active substances, such as iridoid glycosides, esters, polysaccharides, and tannins. C. officinalis replenishes the liver and kidney and retracts and removes phlegm. In this study, the candidate transcription factor bHLH40 from C. officinalis (CobHLH40) was predicted to be involved in iridoid glycoside biosynthesis. CobHLH40 was cloned from C. officinalis. Bioinformatics analysis was performed using the Protparatam, the ProtScale, and the SOPMA. CobHLH40 had a cDNA length of 2100 bp and a relative molecular mass of 63.32 kDa, and encoded 573 amino acids. The subcellular localization analysis indicated that CobHLH40 may be located in the nucleus. The comparison of multiple sequence alignments and phylogenetic relationships showed that the CobHLH40 was similar to the MYC2 of other plants, and that CobHLH40 had high homology with the MYC2 of Sesamum indicum. A prokaryotic expression vector was successfully constructed and transformed into the DE3 cells. The induction and expression of the fusion protein of CobHLH40 need further confirmation. The cloning and bioinformatics analysis results of CobHLH40, which may be related to iridoid glycoside synthesis, were screened and predicted for the first time on the basis of C. officinalis transcriptome sequencing. The temporal and spatial expression patterns of C. officinalis were also established. The CobHLH40 prokaryotic expression system provides a basis to further study its function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we report the molecular characterization of a novel positive-sense single-stranded RNA (+ssRNA) mycovirus from Botryosphaeria dothidea strain G91, which we name "Botryosphaeria dothidea botourmiavirus 1" (BdBOV-1). The complete genome of BdBOV-1 is 2547 nucleotides (nt) long, contains one open reading frame (ORF) potentially encoding an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp), and shows a close relationship to mycoviruses of the family Botourmiaviridae. Phylogenetic analysis based on the RdRp sequences confirmed that BdBOV-1 clustered together with the members of the family Botourmiaviridae. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of a +ssRNA mycovirus infecting B. dothidea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Magnetoelectric coupling at room temperature in multiferroic materials, such as BiFeO3, is one of the leading candidates to develop low-power spintronics and emerging memory technologies. Although extensive research activity has been devoted recently to exploring the physical properties, especially focusing on ferroelectricity and antiferromagnetism in chemically modified BiFeO3, a concrete understanding of the magnetoelectric coupling is yet to be fulfilled. We have discovered that La substitutions at the Bi-site lead to a progressive increase in the degeneracy of the potential energy landscape of the BiFeO3 system exemplified by a rotation of the polar axis away from the 〈111〉pc towards the 〈112〉pc discretion. This is accompanied by corresponding rotation of the antiferromagnetic axis as well, thus maintaining the right-handed vectorial relationship between ferroelectric polarization, antiferromagnetic vector and the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya vector. As a consequence, La-BiFeO3 films exhibit a magnetoelectric coupling that is distinctly different from the undoped BiFeO3 films. BiFeO3 has a wide application but the impact of rare-earth substitution for the evolution of the coupling mechanism is unknown. Here, the authors reveal the correlation between ferroelectricity, antiferromagnetism, a weak ferromagnetic moment, and their switching pathways in La-substituted BiFeO3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intestinal barrier dysfunction plays a pivotal role in multiorgan dysfunction during heatstroke (HS). Neutrophils are involved in intestinal inflammation and thus dampen the mucosal integrity. Regulatory T cells (Tregs) have been shown to orchestrate neutrophils and thus sustain mucosal integrity in miscellaneous inflammation-related diseases. However, whether Tregs are involved in HS-induced intestinal barrier dysfunction remains unknown. Thus, we investigated whether Tregs could alleviate intestinal barrier dysfunction in mice. We found that HS could induce intestinal injury and mucosal barrier dysfunction 0, 24, and 72 h after heat stress. Flow cytometry revealed an increase of neutrophil infiltration and a decrease of Treg frequencies in the small intestinal epithelium 72 h after heat stress. Treg depletion starting 2 days before HS exacerbated intestinal damage and mucosal barrier dysfunction. Adoptive transfer of Tregs at 0 h improved intestinal injury and mucosal barrier dysfunction at 72 h. The manipulation of Tregs affected the neutrophil frequencies in the small intestinal epithelium 72 h after heat stress. Our study demonstrated that Tregs could improve HS-induced intestinal barrier dysfunction, probably via modulation of neutrophils in the intestine of mice during HS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Botryosphaeria dothidea is an important pathogenic fungus that causes serious diseases in fruits and trunks of many wood plant species worldwide. In this study, 28 B. dothidea strains isolated from pear trunk samples showing stem wart or canker symptoms were used to detect double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) viruses. The dsRNA bands with the size of ~ 1.0 to ~ 6.0 kbp were examined from ten strains. Here, we reported a novel dsRNA mycovirus, tentatively named as Botryosphaeria dothidea victorivirus 2 (BdVV2), isolated from the B. dothidea strain MSD53. BdVV2 contained spherical virions that were ~ 38 nm in diameter consisting of a single linear dsRNA genome of 5,090 bp in length. The BdVV2 genome contained two overlapping open reading frames (ORFs) encoding a putative coat protein (CP) and an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp), which shared significant amino acid identities of 68% and 60% with the corresponding proteins of Sphaeropsis sapinea RNA viruses 1 (SsRV1). Phylogenetic analyses based on the aa sequences of CP and RdRp both showed that BdVV2 was phylogenetically related to the members of the genus Victorivirus in the family Totiviridae. BdVV2 is thus a novel victorivirus isolated from the phytopathogenic fungus B. dothidea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lead-free 0.912BaTiO-0.088(BiNa)TiO- xTaO (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.005) ceramics with positive temperature coefficient of resistivity (PTCR) were prepared by solid reaction sintering of high-purity metal oxides and carbonates reagents. The doping effect of Ta ions on the microstructure and electrical properties of the samples was investigated. X-ray diffraction analysis indicated that all the samples were of a single tetragonal perovskite structure with the calculated c/ a value first increased and then decreased with increasing x. The Raman shift at 305 cm became strong firstly and then declined, and the broad band at 722 cm narrowed initially and then broadened with the increase in Ta content. The Curie temperature raised first and then decreased, presenting the highest value up to 170 °C for the samples with x = 0.001. Moreover, after the incorporation of Ta ions, the PTCR (defined by the resistivity jump with the ratio of maximum to minimum ones) decreased first and then increased, presenting the best PTCR performance for the samples with x = 0.005. And with increasing x, the room temperature resistivity decreased first and then increased, displaying the lowest room temperature resistivity for the samples with x = 0.003. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Development of polymer-based composites with simultaneously high thermal conductivity and breakdown strength has attracted considerable attentions owing to their important applications in both electronic and electric industries. In this study, we successfully design novel epoxy-based composites with nano-AlO/epoxy composite layer sandwiched between micro-AlO/epoxy composite layers, which show synergistically and significantly enhanced thermal conductivity and breakdown strength. Compared with the traditional composites, the bottleneck that both thermal conductivity and breakdown strength cannot be simultaneously enhanced can be overcome successfully. An optimized sandwiched alumina-epoxy composite with 70 wt% micro-AlO fillers in the outer layers and 3 wt% nano-AlO in the middle layer simultaneously displays a high thermal conductivity of 0.447 W m K (2.4 times of that of epoxy) and a high breakdown strength of 68.50 kV mm, which is 6.3 % higher than that of neat epoxy (64.45 kV mm). The experimental results on the thermal conductivity of multi-layered alumina-epoxy composites were in well accordance with the theoretical values predicted from the series conduction model. This novel technique simultaneously improves thermal conductivity and breakdown strength, which is of critical importance for design of perspective composites for electronic and electric equipments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is relatively common in connective tissue diseases. However, few studies have focused on the pulmonary hypertension (PH) associated with polymyositis (PM). Our aim is to investigate the prevalence of PH and determine the associated factors for PH in patients with PM. Multicenter study of 61 patients with PM underwent evaluation including general information, physical examination, laboratory indictors, thoracic high-resolution CT (HRCT) imaging, and transthoracic echocardiography (TTE). TTE was performed to estimate the pulmonary arterial pressure. PH was defined as resting systolic pulmonary artery pressure (sPAP) ≥40 mmHg. PH was identified in ten patients (16.39 %) who had few cardiopulmonary symptoms. PM patients with PH had higher prevalence of interstitial lung disease (ILD) and pericardial effusion (PE) compared with patients without PH (18 vs. 11.5 %, p = 0.005; 11.5 vs. 9.8 %, p = 0.004; respectively). After controlling for age, gender, and potential factors, ILD and PE were independently associated with PH in patients with PM in multivariate analysis (OR = 8.193, 95 % CI 1.241-54.084, p = 0.029; OR = 8.265, 95 % CI 1.298-52.084, p = 0.025; respectively). Depending on TTE, the possible prevalence of PH was 16.39 % in patients with PM. Both ILD and PE may contribute to the development of PH in PM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

GdO doped HfO (GDH) films were grown on p-type Si (001) substrates by radio frequency co-sputtering. The amorphous GDH high k film as grown and annealed at 700 °C was determined by reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED) and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results indicate that the doping content of GdO is 10% in a mole ratio, and gadolinium silicate is formated between GDH film and Si substrates. Hf4f and O1s peaks shift to lower and higher binding energy, respectively. A leakage current density of 1.3 × 10 A/cm at −1 V, a hysteresis voltage of 40 mV, a dielectric constant of 21.3 and a CET of 1 nm are obtained from a capacitor with Pt/GDH/Si/Ag stack through capacitance-voltage ( C-V) and current-voltage ( I-V) measurements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

NM23-H1 is a metastasis suppressor protein that exhibits 3′-5′exonuclease activity in vitro. As 3′-5′exonucleases are generally required for maintenance of genome integrity, this activity represents a plausible candidate mediator of the metastasis suppressor properties of the NM23-H1 molecule. Consistent with an antimutator function, ablation of the yeast NM23 homolog, YNK1, results in increased mutation rates following exposure to UV irradiation and exposure to the DNA damaging agents etoposide, cisplatin, and MMS. In human cells, a DNA repair function is further suggested by increased NM23-H1 expression and nuclear translocation following DNA damage. Also, forced expression of NM23-H1 in NM23-deficient and metastatic cell lines results in coordinate downregulation of multiple DNA repair genes, possibly reflecting genomic instability associated with the NM23-deficient state. To assess the relevance of the 3′-5′exonuclease activity of NM23-H1 to its antimutator and metastasis suppressor functions, a panel of mutants harboring defects in the 3′-5′exonuclease and other enzymatic activities of the molecule (NDPK, histidine kinase) have been expressed by stable transfection in the melanoma cell line, 1205Lu. Pilot in vivo metastasis assays indicate 1205Lu cells are highly responsive to the metastasis suppressor effects of NM23-H1, thus providing a valuable model for measuring the extent to which the nuclease function opposes metastasis and metastatic progression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dyslipidemia in pregnancy are associated with risk of adverse outcomes. As an adverse pregnancy outcome, small-for-gestational-age has been extensively studied in Western countries. However, similar studies have rarely been conducted in Asian countries. Data were derived from 5695 pairs of non-diabetic mothers and neonates between 1 Jan 2014 and 31 Dec 2014. 5.6% neonates in our study were SGA. Serum samples were collected during second and third trimesters for evaluation on fasting lipids levels. The present study intended to explore the associations between maternal lipid profile and small-for-gestational-age neonates. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated and adjusted via logistic regression analysis. After adjustments for confounders, third-trimester total cholesterol levels were associated with a decreased risk for small-for-gestational-age (aOR = 0.622, 95% CI 0.458–0.848, P = 0.002), and third-trimester high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels were associated with an increased risk for small-for-gestational-age (aOR = 1.955, 95% CI 1.465–2.578, P < 0.001; aOR = 1.403, 95% CI 1.014–1.944, P = 0.041).In the highest gestational weight gain strata, especially the third-trimester, the effect of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels on the risk for small-for-gestational-age is larger. High high-density lipoprotein cholesterol level during third trimester could be considered as indicators of a high-risk of small-for-gestational-age, regardless of gestational weight gain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regulating the electronic structure of catalysts is the most efficient strategy yet, despite its limitations, to improve their oxygen evolution efficiency. Instead of only adjusting the electronic structure, here we utilize ferroelectric polarization to accelerate the oxygen evolution reaction as well. This is demonstrated on a multiferroic layered perovskite Bi5CoTi3O15 with in-situ grown BiCoO3. Thanks to the superimposed effects of electronic regulation and ferroelectric polarization, the as-prepared multiferroic electrocatalysts are more efficient than the benchmark IrO2 (with a final 320 mV overpotential at the current density of 10 mA cm−2 and a 34 mV dec−1 Tafel slope). This work not only demonstrates a low-cost and high-efficient OER electrocatalyst, but also provides a strategic design for multi-component electrocatalytic material systems by consideration of both spin and polarization degrees of freedom. While splitting water into fuel may provide a green, renewable method for energy storage, water oxidation is its bottleneck. Here, authors reported multiferroic electrocatalysts with improved oxygen evolution performances assisted by polarization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electric-field control of magnetism requires deterministic control of the magnetic order and understanding of the magnetoelectric coupling in multiferroics like BiFeO3 and EuTiO3. Despite this critical need, there are few studies on the strain evolution of magnetic order in BiFeO3 films. Here, in (110)-oriented BiFeO3 films, we reveal that while the polarization structure remains relatively unaffected, strain can continuously tune the orientation of the antiferromagnetic-spin axis across a wide angular space, resulting in an unexpected deviation of the classical perpendicular relationship between the antiferromagnetic axis and the polarization. Calculations suggest that this evolution arises from a competition between the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction and single-ion anisotropy wherein the former dominates at small strains and the two are comparable at large strains. Finally, strong coupling between the BiFeO3 and the ferromagnet Co0.9Fe0.1 exists such that the magnetic anisotropy of the ferromagnet can be effectively controlled by engineering the orientation of the antiferromagnetic-spin axis. To fully exploit the potential of multiferroic materials the control of their intrinsic degrees of freedom is a prerequisite. Here, the control of spin orientation in strained BiFeO3 films is demonstrated elucidating the microscopic mechanism of the complex interplay of polar and magnetic order. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The structural reconstruction mechanism of lignin and cellulose-derived biochars during direct graphitization under ultra-high temperatures was intensively investigated. It was demonstrated that cellulose-derived char was almost composed of carbon microcrystallites, whereas lignin-derived char reserved some of its skeleton structures, and such structural difference played a vital role in the morphology of formed graphitic layers. The results illustrated that the graphitized lignin-derived sample under 2800 ℃ had graphitic degree of 89.53%, interlayer spacing of 0.3363 nm and electronic conductivity of 104.6 S cm−1, while cellulose-derived sample had graphitic degree of 76.74%, layer distance of 0.3374 nm, and electronic conductivity of only 48.8 S cm−1. Combined with the results of structural analysis of the chars derived from lignin and cellulose, it was inferred that the stable and aromatic ring containing skeleton structure in lignin was beneficial to the ring-enlarging reconstruction and the formation of large areas of continuous graphitic layers during graphitizing process, leading to high electronic conductivity. Meanwhile, the interwoven microcrystallites in cellulose-derived char strongly restricted the expanding of continuous lamellar graphitic areas even at such ultra-high temperature, causing the formation of turbostratic structure with numerous structural defects as well, and finally resulting in relatively lower electronic conductivity. This work is expected to provide theoretical guidance for preparing high-performance functional carbon materials from lignocellulosic biomass. Highlights: The different characteristics of lignin and cellulose resulted in the significant structural differences of the pyrolytic chars. Large area of lamellar graphitic layers formed in lignin-derived graphitic carbon, of which the graphitization degree was as high as nearly 90%, leading to excellent electronic conductivity. The structural differences of pyrolytic chars had a significant impact on the structural reconstruction under high temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]