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Single-cross maize hybrids display superior heterosis and are produced from crossing two parental inbred lines belonging to genetically different heterotic groups. Here we assembled 1,604 historically utilized maize inbred lines belonging to various female heterotic groups (FHGs) and male heterotic groups (MHGs), and conducted phenotyping and genomic sequencing analyses. We found that the FHGs and MHGs have undergone both convergent and divergent changes for different sets of agronomic traits. Using genome-wide selection scans and association analyses, we identified a large number of candidate genes that contributed to the improvement of agronomic traits of the FHGs and MHGs. Moreover, we observed increased genetic differentiation between the FHGs and MHGs across the breeding eras, and we found a positive correlation between increasing heterozygosity levels in the differentiated genes and heterosis in hybrids. Furthermore, we validated the function of two selected genes and a differentiated gene. This study provides insights into the genomic basis of modern hybrid maize breeding.

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a chronic disorder characterized by hyperproliferation of pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells (PASMCs). JMJD1C, a member of the Jumonji domain containing C (JMJC) histone demethylase family, contributes to cardiovascular dysfunction. However, the role of JMJD1C in PAH remains unknown. Mice were exposed to hypoxia to mimic several features associated with PAH clinically. We found that JMJD1C was highly expressed in the lungs of mice after hypoxia exposure. JMJD1C knockdown ameliorated hypoxia-induced right ventricular remodeling and thickening of the pulmonary arterial wall. PASMC hyperproliferation and resistance to apoptosis in mice exposed to hypoxia were suppressed by JMJD1C inhibition. We demonstrated that JMJD1C silencing reduced glycolytic enzymes (HK2, PGK1 and LDHA) and lactate overaccumulation in the lungs of mice exposed to hypoxia. In vitro, hypoxia-induced hyperproliferation and activated glycolytic processes in mouse PASMCs were impaired by JMJD1C knockdown. In addition, the activation of STAT3 signaling by hypoxia was suppressed by JMJD1C silencing both in vivo and in vitro. The overexpression of STAT3 reversed the inhibitory effect of JMJD1C depletion on proliferation and glycolysis in PASMCs under hypoxia. Thus, JMJD1C induces glycolytic processes by activating STAT3 signaling to promote PASMC proliferation and pulmonary vascular remodeling, suggesting the potential role of JMJD1C in regulating the metabolic program and vascular remodeling in PAH.

Background The triglyceride–glucose index (TyG index), an alternative indicator of peripheral insulin resistance (IR), is associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) in the general population. The aim of this research was to determine the correlation between early-onset stroke and the TyG index among young Chinese adults. Methods Participants (age ≤ 40 years) who attended their first physical examination in Kailuan General Hospital or its 11 subsidiary hospitals between 2006 and 2012 were enrolled. The subjects were divided into four equal points according to the quartile of the TyG index, with the lowest quartile (Q1) as the reference group. A Cox proportional hazard model was employed to assess the correlation between early-onset stroke incidence and the TyG index. Restricted cubic spline analysis was further conducted to examine nonlinear associations. The TyG index was calculated as Ln [Triglyceride (TG, mg/dL) × Fasting Blood Glucose (FBG, mg/dL)/2]. Results Overall, 35,999 subjects met the inclusion criteria. Their mean age was 30.8 ± 5.7 years, and 77.1% of subjects were males. During a median observation period of 11 years, 281 stroke events occurred (62 hemorrhagic strokes and 219 ischemic strokes). Compared to the Q1 group (as the lowest group), subjects in groups Q2-Q4 had significantly higher risks of early-onset stroke (P Conclusions The TyG index may be a major risk factor for early-onset stroke among young Chinese adults. A TyG index ≥ 8.41 can be used as an indicator for screening high-risk stroke groups.

The progression of atherosclerotic plaque is accelerated by death of foam cells during the development of the plaque. There are several forms of foam cell death, such as autophagy and ferroptosis forms of cell death together are commonly predominant. Therefore, it is particularly important to study the crosstalk between various forms of cell death in atheroscler and ferroptosis. Although there is a dominant form of cell death that plays a role in the disease, motic plaques. Nuclear factor NF-E2-related factor (Nrf2) has been considered as a major regulator of antioxidant in previous studies, but recent studies have revealed that insufficient cellular autophagy can turn off Nrf2-mediated antioxidant defense while initiating Nrf2-manipulated iron deposition and lipid peroxidation, leading to the development of iron ferroptosis. The present experiment aimed to explain the regulatory mechanism between autophagy and ferroptosis through Nrf2. In this experiment, differentiated human THP-1 macrophages were used, which were treated with ox-LDL into foam cells with the addition of the autophagy inhibitor chloroquine (CQ), the inhibitor of Nrf2 (ML385), the promoter of Nrf2 (t-BHQ), and the inhibitor of ferroptosis (Liproxstatin-1), and the expression levels of autophagy-related proteins p62 and LC3, as well as Nrf2 and ferroptosis-related proteins xCT and GPX4 by WB, foam cell survival by CCK8, and intracellular reactive oxygen levels by Flow cytometry analysis and fluorescence microscopy. The effect of autophagy through Nrf2 on ferroptosis in foam cells was determined. The results revealed that insufficient autophagy in CQ-induced foam cells could lead to foam cell death in atherosclerotic plaques, and the cause of cell death was that insufficient autophagy in foam cells turned off the positive effect of Nfr2 antioxidant, initiated the negative effect of Nrf2 to promote intracellular reactive oxygen species production, and this negative effect promoted ferroptosis in foam cells.

The formation mechanisms for two carbides with co-existence and increasing stacking faults nearby the carbides during surfacing welding were investigated in this study. The results indicated that the surfacing layer had a two-phase structure of a matrix phase and a second phase, the density of the second phase was relatively small and the second phase was discontinuous, by contrast with the as-received welding wire. Relatively uniform microstructure of surfacing layer and the welding interface without melting of base metal were obtained, resulting in an inapparent change in the microhardness. A few carbides with blocky shape were identified in the surfacing layer. The mechanisms for (Cr,Co)23C6 of face-centered cubic crystal structure co-existing with (Cr,Co)7C3 of hexagonal close-packed crystal structure and (Cr,Co)23C6 subsequently forming close to the pre-formed (Cr,Co)7C3 during the cooling process were discussed in alloying element, calculated equilibrium phase diagram, Gibbs energy, etc. The relatively higher density of the stacking fault present around the carbides was understood from forming energy of stacking faults.

As a promising anode material candidate for sodium-ion batteries, antimony (Sb) has attracted enormous research interest due to its high specific capacity and low sodiation voltage. However, its dramatic volume expansion upon sodiation adversely affects its cycle stability. We have developed an oxidation-coating-reduction strategy for fabricating yolk-shell Sb@C rods from commercially available Sb powder. In particular, the thermal reduction of vaporized Sb2O3 generates densely distributed Sb single atoms and clusters on the carbon shell. The sodiation process of the Sb@C sample was recorded through in situ transmission electron microscopy. Irregular expansion of Sb particles was observed, and it was also revealed that the carbon shell could deform with the expanded Sb particles. Beyond the intuitively understood advantage that internal voids can provide space for expansion of internal active materials, the deformability of carbon shells can add further ability to withstand the volume expansion. The two structural merits of the yolk-shell construction enable the Sb@C material to deliver an enhanced cycle performance. Its reversible capacity exceeds 620 mA h g−1 at 0.1 C, with an initial coulombic efficiency of up to 84.9%, and about 95% of the capacity in the charging voltage profile is delivered below 1.0 V vs. Na+/Na. These performance metrics are very promising for potential practical applications.

Molybdenum is a newly added material in additive manufacturing material cabinet, and it is under the spotlight owing to its crucial applications. The high-energy electron beam selective melting (EBSM) process is supposed to be a promising technique for molybdenum printing because of its vacuum environment. This paper presents EBSM numerical process simulation for molybdenum on macro- and mesoscale established with exclusive powder material modeling. Experimentally determined, process parameters are implemented in 3D macro- and 2D mesoscale models for a profound process insight. Primarily molybdenum powder material model is established, and a multi-track FEM simulation is performed to predict melt pool configuration, temperature field and phase transformation. Next, powder consolidation mechanism, side surface roughness, porosity, and voids are investigated through a CFD model, where the molybdenum particles are explicitly considered from the EBSM process viewpoint. Results proved the effectiveness of the numerical simulation for detailed EBSM process understanding for molybdenum material.

Mechanosensitive ion channels (MSCs) are key molecules in the mechano-electrical transduction of arterial baroreceptors. Among them, acid-sensing ion channel 2 (ASIC2) and transient receptor potential vanilloid subfamily member 1 (TRPV1) have been studied extensively and documented to play important roles. In this study, experiments using aortic arch–aortic nerve preparations isolated from rats revealed that both ASIC2 and TRPV1 are functionally necessary, as blocking either abrogated nearly all pressure-dependent neural discharge. However, whether ASIC2 and TRPV1 work in coordination remained unclear. So we carried out cell-attached patch-clamp recordings in HEK293T cells co-expressing ASIC2 and TRPV1 and found that inhibition of ASIC2 completely blocked stretch-activated currents while inhibition of TRPV1 only partially blocked these currents. Immunofluorescence staining of aortic arch–aortic adventitia from rats showed that ASIC2 and TRPV1 are co-localized in the aortic nerve endings, and co-immunoprecipitation assays confirmed that the two proteins form a compact complex in HEK293T cells and in baroreceptors. Moreover, protein modeling analysis, exogenous co-immunoprecipitation assays, and biotin pull-down assays indicated that ASIC2 and TRPV1 interact directly. In summary, our research suggests that ASIC2 and TRPV1 form a compact complex and function synergistically in the mechano-electrical transduction of arterial baroreceptors. The model of synergism between MSCs may have important biological significance beyond ASIC2 and TRPV1. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12264-021-00737-1.

A marked elevation of TLR4 was observed in various organs of septic mice. The mechanism of TLR4 in intestinal epithelial cell damage in sepsis remains unclear. CLP mice models were used to assess the role of TLR4 in intestinal Paneth cell damage by histological, polymerase chain reaction, western-blot analyses. The ileal expression of TLR4 was increased by more than five-fold after CLP. CLP significantly increased 7-day mortality and was associated with a higher murine sepsis score (MSS), closely related with increased TLR4 expression. Histological staining revealed that a reduced number of Paneth cells, accompanied by reduced lysozyme and defensin alpha 5(DEF-5) expression as detected by PCR. Of note, the expression levels of ATF6, XBP1 and CHOP increased in the ileal of the sepsis group. Meanwhile, the uncleaved p90 ATF6 was markedly reduced and cleaved p50 ATF6 was increased in the sepsis group. Intriguingly, The TAK-242 had improved intestinal mucosal injury, reduced the expression of ATF6, XBP1 and CHOP and relieved the cleavage of ATF6. We found that increased the expression level of TLR4 in the ileal of CLP mice promoted the depletion of Paneth cell and reduced LYZ and DEF-5 expression. Furthermore, our findings suggested that TLR4-mediated the hyperactivation of ER stress, via activating the ATF6/CHOP pathway, might be one of the mechanisms associated with Paneth cells loss and dysfunction during intestinal barrier impairment of sepsis.

Powder bed fusion (PBF) process is expeditely moving towards its maturity for the direct manufacturing of intricated and sophisticated metallic parts. The typical process is instead complex and yet challenging to interpret experimentally. Modeling and simulation strategy has been widely implemented to comprehend and optimize the process. Therefore, an integrated simulation approach incorporating stochastic powder deposition and subsequently selective melting is developed to understand the consolidation mechanism in a multilayer process of electron beam PBF additive manufacturing. Simulation results of a thin-walled cross section are validated with the published experimental data to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed model. The simulation results of the multilayer process revealed that the layer thickness keeps on slight changes until reaching a steady state during the multilayer additive process. The stable powder layer thickness is systematically analyzed, which proved that the influence of the wall effect should be considered in smaller nominal layer thickness and denser powder bed. Finally, the printing quality in the multilayer process is dependent on adequate inter- and intra-layer bonding when the layer thickness reaches its maximum value, where agglomeration and balling effect in melt pool dynamics predominant by surface tension play crucial roles.

The exploration of new highly efficient and durable for the oxidation of amines to imines has gained immense attention. In this work, a new polyoxometalate-based metal–organic framework (POMOF) {Cu4(C26H16N4O4)4(CH3CN)2[SiW12O40]}·4H2O (SiW-Cu-DPNDI) was constructed with a catalytic oxidant Keggin-type [SiW12O40]4− anion, a photosensitizer N,N'-bis(4-pyridylmethyl)naphthalene diimide (DPNDI) ligand, and a Cu(I) cation via self-assembling. Although single-crystal X-ray diffraction, power X-ray diffraction (PXRD), infrared (IR) spectroscopy, etc., were employed to confirm the hierarchical structure of SiW-Cu-DPNDI, critical analyses through, such as the magnetic susceptibility measurements, the Mott–Schottky measurements, and the electron spin resonance studies were successfully applied to elucidate the properties of POMOF. SiW-Cu-DPNDI was highly active in the heterogeneous photocatalysis of the oxidation of amines to imines under mild conditions. Additionally, this catalyst exhibited high stability and reusability without losing its activity during the photocatalysis. The possible mechanism of the oxidation coupling was extensively investigated under visible-light (Vis)-irradiation.

A new organic–inorganic hybrid, namely [Ni2(en)4(C2H3NO2)(H2O)][Ni(en)3][Ni(en)2][P2W18O62]·6H2O (1, en = 1,2-ethylenediamine), was synthesized hydrothermally by mixing the ligands of 1,2-ethylenediamine and glycine. Notably, compound 1 exhibits the first example of coordination polymer derived from the Wells–Dawson polyoxoanions and di-nuclear nickel(II)-glycine cations. As a result, an intriguing 3D supramolecular architecture was fabricated with the [P2W18O62]6− fragments and the nickel counter-cations via hydrogen bonds. Furthermore, the compound with this unique structure exhibited outstanding electrocatalytic properties in terms of the reduction of iodate and nitrite. This work brings a new inspiration for the design and synthesis of new hybrids with functional behaviors towards various fields of catalysis.

Diabetic retinopathy, the most common complication of diabetes, is a neurodegenerative disease in the eye. And Parkinson's disease, affecting the health of 1–2% of people over 60 years old throughout the world, is the second largest neurodegenerative disease in the brain. As the understanding of diabetic retinopathy and Parkinson's disease deepens, the two diseases are found to show correlation in incidence, similarity in clinical presentation, and close association in pathophysiological mechanisms. To reveal the association between pathophysiological mechanisms of the two disease, in this review, the shared pathophysiological factors of diabetic retinopathy and Parkinson's disease are summarized and classified into dopaminergic system, circadian rhythm, neurotrophic factors, α-synuclein, and Wnt signaling pathways. Furthermore, similar and different mechanisms so far as the shared pathophysiological factors of the two disorders are discussed systematically. Finally, a brief summary and new perspectives are presented to provide new directions for further efforts on the association, exploration, and clinical prevention and treatment of diabetic retinopathy and Parkinson's disease.

In this paper, we base our research on a fictional collective programming scenario: A group of physically-distributed programmers try to collaboratively solve a programming problem in a web-based development environment, through a continually executing loop, consisting of three concurrent activities: exploration, integration, and feedback. In exploration, a programmer is freely to submit a sequence of gradually improved solutions until achieving a correct one. All programmers’ latest submissions are integrated into a collective artifact through integration. And through feedback, any programmer who hasn’t achieved a correct solution is continuously pushed with personalized feedback information from the collective artifact, to help the programmer improve her/his submission. In order to facilitate the realization of this fictional scenario, we narrow the target problems to those introductory programming problems, design a genetic algorithm to integrate a set of syntax-correct programs into a collective program dependence graph (CPDG), and propose an automatic feedback generation method based on the CPDG and a programmer’s latest submission. The key idea is to generate feedback from mutual inspiration: Any programmer’s submission (even not correct) may possess information that could provide inspiration for others. We evaluate the proposed approach through a set of simulated experiments, as well as a set of real experiments. The results show that our approach has a precision of 90% and a recall of 80% in randomly generated data sets on average, and a precision of 69% and a recall of 77% in real student submissions on average.

Microstructure and mechanical properties of 6061-T6 aluminum alloy/304 stainless steel (Al/steel) joints welded by inertia friction (IFW) and continuous drive friction (CDFW) were studied comparatively. Morphology, microstructure, interfacial composition, and mechanical properties of Al/steel joints were investigated. Results showed that an intermetallic compound (IMC) reaction layer was formed at the welding interface in the CDFWed joint, and wider and clearer than that of the IFWed joint. The high concentration Si was observed at the welding interface. The grain of fully dynamic recrystallized zone (FDRZ) was below 0.1 μm in both joints, and the average width of FDRZ in the IFWed joint and CDFWed joint was about 5 μm and 2 μm, respectively. FDRZ had the high hardness, and the hardness value of IFWed joint was higher than that of CDFWed joint. The maximum tensile strength of IFWed joint was higher than that of CDFWed joint, and the reason should be related to the thickness of IMC at the welding interface.

Electron beam melting (EBM®) is a metallic printing process that has become increasingly sophisticated over the past decade. The formation of residual stress due to a high-energy electron beam is considered a primary hindrance in the maturation of the process itself and, subsequently, the quality of the printed parts. Contrary to hit and trial, the finite element method (FEM) has become a prevalent technique for estimating residual stresses and subsequent distortion in additive manufacturing chunks. Since the EBM® is a powder bed fusion (PBF) process, powder material properties are substantially different from those of solid and undoubtedly important for efficient simulation. Several reviews have been published on FEM applications in additive manufacturing so far; however, a straightforward solution for material modeling from EBM® viewpoint is still needed. This critical review paper is an attempt to propose a material modeling approach to establish an adequate FEM model for EBM® process simulation.

The continuous drive friction welding of aluminum alloy to stainless steel was investigated in this paper. Microstructural characterization, intermetallic compound (IMC), and mechanical properties of the friction welded Al/Fe joint were studied. Results showed that thermal mechanically affected zone (TMAZ) at the Al side was subjected to both thermal cycling and mechanical force, and grain size was 1–3 μm, and streamlines were more dramatically than at the steel side. In fully dynamic recrystallized 127 zone (FDRZ), microstructure became the fine equiaxed grains, and its width at the steel side was about 5 μm. The local Si enrichment IMC layer was formed at the interface area of Al/Fe joint, and its average thickness was about 300 nm. IMC layer was relatively flat at the steel side, while uneven at the Al side. The hardness reached to the maximum value (395.8 HV) at the steel side in FDRZ, and the average hardness was only 76 HV in heat-affected zone (HAZ) at the Al side. When forge pressure was below 220 MPa, the tensile strength of joint was approximately linearly related to the forge pressure.

Various Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been demonstrated to be involved in colorectal cancer stem cells (CSCs). WBSCR22 is a key gene we previously found that functions in colorectal cancer (CRC). This paper aims to investigate the effects of WBSCR22 and its corresponding miRNA and lncRNA in CRC. The expression of WBSCR22 was detected by Western blot and qRT-PCR analysis. Tumor sphere formation assays, CCK-8 analysis, and Transwell assays were applied to examine the colorectal cancer stem cell properties. Luciferase assay and biotin RNA pulldown assay were used to detect the interaction between miR-509-5p and WBSCR22/Linc00346. WBSCR22 is highly expressed in CRC and correlates with poor prognosis. Knockdown of WBSCR22 decreased the sphere-forming capacities, cell proliferation, and invasion abilities. WBSCR22 was negatively regulated by miR-509-5p. Linc00346 promoted the expression of WBSCR22 by adsorbing miR-509-5p. The Linc00346/miR-509-5p/WBSCR22 signal axis regulated the characteristics of colon cancer stem cells. Linc00346 regulated the expression of WBSCR22 by binding to miR-509-5p, thereby monitoring the characteristics of colorectal cancer stem cells. Thus, WBSCR22, Linc00346, and miR-509-5p might be utilized as potential targets for clinical diagnosis and treatment of CRC.

Polyimide microfluidic devices (MFDs) have been attached enormous significance because of its excellent organic-solvent inertness, biocompatibility, and thermal stability. In this paper, a novel fabrication method based on the thought of additive manufacturing, which is adding materials layer by layer from bottom to top, was used to construct a multilayer polyimide MFD. The MFD has sophisticated three-dimensional (3D) microchannels with adjustable cross-sectional geometries and high bonding strength, which leads to good reagent mixing performance, large surface-to-volume ratio, and great durability. Starting from a single polyimide film, ultraviolet (UV) laser was utilized to ablate microchannels on the film. Due to the studies over the influence of UV laser on the channel width, the microchannel edge shape is under control, varying from trapezoid to rectangle. From monolayer to multilayer MFDs, thermal bonding with fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP) nanoparticle dispersion as the adhesive was adopted to stack polyimide films tightly with precise alignment. In this way, microchannels can be connected vertically between layers to form 3D structures. Besides, a homogeneous adhesive interlayer and polyimide-FEP mixing regime were formed, which can provide high bonding strength. Results of computational fluid dynamics simulation of 3D microchannel structures and organic synthesis experiment revealed that our device has great reagent mixing efficiency and promising application prospects in diverse research fields, especially organic chemical and biological studies.

Development in additive manufacturing is exceptionally rapid than the expected forecast so far and it has traced out new dimensions in engineering applications. 3D printing technology becomes more glamorous when Skylar Tibbits incorporated the concept of “Time” as a fourth dimension by encapsulating smart materials in current additive manufacturing technique. Materials having an explicit response to external stimuli over a certain time span are designated as smart materials and additive manufacturing of such time-dependent, programmable, and intelligent materials is termed as 4D printing. In 4D printing, primary 3D printed configuration switched exclusively into a transformed shape when exposed to an external stimuli, e.g. heat, light, water, chemical, electric current, magnetic field or pH. Perhaps, additive manufacturing technology seems to be superseded exclusively by this modern technology in forthcoming years, and much effort is demanding from every discipline to actualize this technology. A task-oriented entire landscape of 4D printing followed by a comprehensive smart material perspective is presented in this review. Graphical abstract set forth a route to the complete process comprehension. Moreover, other components of 4D technology like customary techniques, computational challenges, reversibility and current stature of 4D printing are probed through recent experimental and theoretical literature. Finally, potential applications of 4D printing are summarised with promising research directions and outlook. 4D printing: A future insight in additive manufacturing.

Mechanical properties of aluminum alloy/stainless steel joint including tensile strength, bending angle, impact toughness, and fatigue property were evaluated, and the effects of friction pressure and rotational speed were also discussed in this work. Results showed that the intermetallic compound (IMC) layer was formed at the bonding interface of the joint, and a thicker IMC layer was observed in the outer region of the joint, and the thickness decreased slightly in the edge region. The thickness of the IMC layer increased with increasing rotational speed. As friction pressure increased, the tensile strength of the joint gradually increased. Joint strength reached to the maximum tensile strength of 323 MPa when the rotational speed and friction pressure were 1100 rpm and 180 MPa, respectively. With the increase of friction pressure, the bending angle of the joint first increased and then decreased. The bending angle reached to 94°, and the welded joint had the excellent bending ductility. The average impact-absorbing energy of joints was 14.47 J, and the maximum fatigue cycle number of joints could reach to 1.25 × 105.

A new type of electrochemical sensor based on multi-walled carbon nanotubes(MWCNTs), K2H4SiW11CuO39·6H2O(SiW11Cu) and gold nanoparticles(AuNPs) was prepared for the simultaneous detection of bisphenol A and acetaminophen. Differential pulse voltammetry(DPV), cyclic voltammetry(CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy(EIS) were used for electrochemical characterization, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(FTIR) was used to characterize the structure of polyoxometalates. Electrochemical experimental results show that the composite modified electrodes have good electrochemical activity as well as current response values of bisphenol A and acetaminophen when pH=7.0. At the same time, the modified electrode exhibits good stability and reproduction, and has good anti-interference ability to other substances. In practical application, the sensor obtained satisfactory results.

Extracellular microparticles (MPs) can function as drug-delivery vehicles for anticancer drugs. Here, we show that the softness of MPs derived from tumour-repopulating cells (TRCs) isolated from three-dimensional fibrin gels enhances the MPs' drug-delivery efficiency. We found that, compared with MPs derived from tumour cells cultured in conventional tissue-culture plastic, TRC-derived MPs intravenously injected in tumour-xenograft-bearing mice showed enhanced accumulation in tumour tissues, enhanced blood-vessel crossing and penetration into tumour parenchyma, and preferential uptake by highly tumorigenic TRCs. We also show that the cytoskeleton-related protein cytospin-A plays a critical role in the regulation of TRC-derived MP softness. The modulation of the mechanical properties of TRC-derived MPs could aid the efficiency of delivery of anticancer drugs.

In this research, the effect of stress relief annealing heat treatment on mechanical properties, microstructure, and residual stresses of a severe plastic deformation technique, known as constrained groove pressing (CGP), was investigated. For this purpose, the CGP process was performed on the commercial pure copper sheet with 3-mm thickness. The hardness, strength, homogeneity, microstructure, and residual stresses before and after stress relief annealing heat treatment were evaluated. Hardness and homogeneity on the surface and thickness were investigated and strength in both of groove direction and transverse groove direction were determined. Also, microstructure was studied along the thickness of CGPed samples, and the contour method was used for 2D residual stress measurement. The results indicate, with increasing number of CGP passes, hardness, strength, and homogeneity increase, while the mean grain size and residual stress decrease. Stress relief annealing reduces the mean grain size in the first pass but increases the mean grain size in the subsequent passes, causing a decrease of mechanical properties. Also, stress relief annealing increases residual stresses due to increasing microstructure heterogeneity.

Corrosion tests were conducted in a high-temperature high-pressure (HTHP) autoclave to simulate the conditions of CO2 auxiliary steam drive in gas injection wells. Weight loss tests were performed with the sheets of N80 and 9Cr steels under the testing conditions. The morphology and composition of corrosion products were explored by SEM, EDS, XRD and XPS. The corrosion resistance of 9Cr steel was better than that of N80 steel under the testing conditions. The corrosion rates of N80 and 9Cr met the application requirements in CO2 auxiliary steam drive. The results broke the constraint in ISO-15156 standards. The corrosion process of N80 steel was mainly affected by the flow velocity. However, the corrosion process of 9Cr steel was mainly affected by temperature. The corrosion resistance of 9Cr steel depended on the FeCO3 content of Cr-rich layer, which was closely related to temperature. The low flow velocity influenced the diffusion process of N80 steel corrosive ions, whereas the high flow velocity influenced the integrity of corrosion scales. Considering the influence of flow velocity on the corrosion of tubing and casing, in the gas injection well, 9Cr steel and N80 steel were, respectively, selected as the materials of tubing and casing.

The Mediator complex plays an essential and multi-faceted role in regulation of RNA polymerase II transcription in all eukaryotes. Structural analysis of yeast Mediator has provided an understanding of the conserved core of the complex and its interaction with RNA polymerase II but failed to reveal the structure of the Tail module that contains most subunits targeted by activators and repressors. Here we present a molecular model of mammalian (Mus musculus) Mediator, derived from a 4.0 Å resolution cryo-EM map of the complex. The mammalian Mediator structure reveals that the previously unresolved Tail module, which includes a number of metazoan specific subunits, interacts extensively with core Mediator and has the potential to influence its conformation and interactions., The Mediator complex regulates RNA polymerase II transcription in all eukaryotes. The mammalian Mediator cryo-EM structure reveals the architecture of previously unresolved Tail module and suggests its regulatory role in the complex conformation and interactions.

Background Cotton is an important fiber crop but has serious heterosis effects, and cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) is the major cause of heterosis in plants. However, to the best of our knowledge, no studies have investigated CMS Yamian A in cotton with the genetic background of Australian wild Gossypium bickii. Conjoint transcriptomic and proteomic analysis was first performed between Yamian A and its maintainer Yamian B. Results We detected 550 differentially expressed transcript-derived fragments (TDFs) and at least 1013 proteins in anthers at various developmental stages. Forty-two TDFs and 11 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) were annotated by analysis in the genomic databases of G. austral, G. arboreum and G. hirsutum. Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway analyses were performed to better understand the functions of these TDFs and DEPs. Transcriptomic and proteomic results showed that UDP-glucuronosyl/UDP-glucosyltransferase, 60S ribosomal protein L13a-4-like, and glutathione S-transferase were upregulated; while heat shock protein Hsp20, ATPase, F0 complex, and subunit D were downregulated at the microspore abortion stage of Yamian A. In addition, several TDFs from the transcriptome and several DEPs from the proteome were detected and confirmed by quantitative real-time PCR as being expressed in the buds of seven different periods of development. We established the databases of differentially expressed genes and proteins between Yamian A and its maintainer Yamian B in the anthers at various developmental stages and constructed an interaction network based on the databases for a comprehensive understanding of the mechanism underlying CMS with a wild cotton genetic background. Conclusion We first analyzed the molecular mechanism of CMS Yamian A from the perspective of omics, thereby providing an experimental basis and theoretical foundation for future research attempting to analyze the abortion mechanism of new CMS with a wild Gossypium bickii background and to realize three-line matching.

Electron beam additive manufacturing (EBAM) is an emerging additive manufacturing technology with extremely high energy beam. The rapid solidification in the molten pool is of interest but not fully understood. In EBAM, with both large thermal gradient and cooling rate, the microstructure evolution during solidification is difficult to be described. The quantitative multi-phase-field model provides an effective way to reveal the dynamic evolution of dendrites in the molten pool of EBAM. In this study, the thermal profile is interpolated from the macroscale simulation at each time-step, to couple the realistic thermal evolution in the molten pool. The microstructure evolution and competitive growth have been investigated in details. Simulations of dendrite arrays with the same orientation showed how the growth velocity and the primary spacing of columnar dendrites depend on thermal gradient and cooling rate. The results are in agreement with theoretical models qualitatively. Moreover, the Gaussian nucleation model was introduced so as to give a better prediction of the microstructure in EBAM.

A novel and efficient ultra-high performance supercritical fluid chromatography method was developed for the quantitative analysis of five retinol isomers in animal livers. The separation of the five retinol isomers was carried out using an Acquity UPC2 HSS C18 SB column (150 mm × 3.0 mm, 1.8 µm) with acetonitrile as a co-solvent. By optimizing the columns, gradient program, co-solvent, column temperature and backpressure, the five retinol isomers and the internal standard 11-cis-13,14-dihydroretinol were successfully separated within 20 min. Samples were saponified and extracted by solid-supported liquid–liquid extraction using a diatomaceous earth cartridge. Comparing with the traditional liquid–liquid extraction, the extraction enables the reduction of time-consuming and laborious procedures. This method used 11-cis-13,14-dihydroretinol as an internal standard to improve the precision and accuracy of quantitative analysis. The correlation coefficients (r2) of the calibration curves were all above 0.999, the limits of detection for the five retinol isomers were in the range of 0.10–0.20 µg mL− 1, and the limits of quantification were in the range of 0.33–0.66 µg mL− 1. The mean recoveries were from 92.5 to 102.5%. The interday and intraday relative standard deviations were within 10%. This method was successfully applied to the determination of retinol isomers in ten raw animal livers and animal liver products (chicken, duck, pig, cattle, and sheep).

Large-scale ordered two-dimensional (2D) superlattices at oil/water interface were fabricated using single-crystal Au nanospheres (NSs) with different diameters as building blocks. A “drain-to-deposit” strategy was used to successfully transfer the ordered superlattices onto silicon wafer. Due to the ultra-smooth and highly spherical morphology of the monodisperse Au NSs, the UV-Vis extinction spectra of individual Au nanosphere (NS) obtained from theoretical calculations by finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method could match well with the experimental test results. Moreover, the extinction spectra of the 2D superlattice based on the different diameters of Au NSs were also measured and calculated. Additionally, with R6G as probe molecules, the surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) performances of the prepared superlattices were evaluated. Through investigating the electromagnetic (EM) field distribution simulation results of 2D superlattices of Au NSs with different diameters, the two results reveal rather consistently. The large-scale 2D plasmonic superlattices possess precise and tunable localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) property, which enables them to have great application prospect in solar cells, SERS detection, and other fields.

A novel magnetic absorbent based on Fe3O4 hollow nanospheres was developed for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) extraction. Fe3O4 hollow nanospheres were prepared by a one-pot facile solvothermal method and its structural properties were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and analyzer transmission electron microscopy (TEM). It was the first time to use hollow nanospheres which possess high special surface area for magnetic solid-phase extraction (MSPE). The extraction condition of Fe3O4 hollow nanospheres and its performance for PAHs was systematically investigated. Besides, its extraction performance also compared with bare Fe3O4 nanoparticles. The results indicated the structure with hollow and spherical Fe3O4 perform better enrichment ability than that with solid and amorphous ones. The developed MSPE coupled with HPLC method shows good linearity (0.1 - 5 ng/mL) and low detection limits (2.5 - 10 pg/mL) for six PAHs. It also has been executed for the analysis of environmental samples, with recoveries in the range of 84.6 - 97.8%.

In order to effectively achieve torque demand in electric vehicles (EVs), this paper presents a torque control strategy based on model predictive control (MPC) for permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) driven by a two-level three-phase inverter. A centralized control strategy is established in the MPC framework to track the torque demand and reduce energy loss, by directly optimizing the switch states of inverter. To fast determine the optimal control sequence in predictive process, a searching tree is built to look for optimal inputs by dynamic programming (DP) algorithm on the basis of the principle of optimality. Then we design a pruning method to check the candidate inputs that can enter the next predictive loop in order to decrease the computational burden of evaluation of input sequences. Finally, the simulation results on different conditions indicate that the proposed strategy can achieve a tradeoff between control performance and computational efficiency.

Highly dispersed and highly stable supported bimetallic catalysts were prepared using a two-step process. Pt nanoparticles (NPs) were first deposited on porous γ-Al2O3 particles by atomic layer deposition (ALD). Au NPs were synthesized by using gold(III) chloride as the Au precursor, and then immobilized on ALD Pt/γ-Al2O3 particles. The Au–Pt bimetallic catalysts were highly active and highly stable in a vigorously stirred liquid phase reaction of glucose oxidation.

An effective and simple method for the fabrication of Ag nanosheets (NSs) was developed via citrate-assisted galvanic replacement at room temperature. The effects of reaction time, concentration of AgNO3 and citrate on the morphology and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) performance of Ag NSs were investigated systematically. The results indicated that citrate played a vital role on preparing uniform Ag NSs, because it could retard the reaction rate and control the direction of Ag growth. Furthermore, citrate was bound weakly toward Ag NSs and easily replaced by probe molecules, which opened a new avenue for the fabrication of clean SERS substrates. In addition, the Ag NSs substrate exhibited a high sensitivity in SERS detection and the analytical enhancement factor was up to 7.93 × 105 with the minimum detected concentration of R6G as low as 10−8 M. Moreover, the color mapping was relatively uniform and the relative standard deviation was below 15%, revealing that the SERS performance of Ag NSs substrate was highly reproducible. Consequently, we believe this citrate-directed galvanic replacement could regulate the morphology and produce clean and highly active SERS substrates, which would be potentially useful for its practical application.

Quantitative analysis always encounters difficulty in the field of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) because of the lack of accurate and reliable analytical means. In this work, a new approach was demonstrated for the quantitative SERS measurement by self-assembled superlattice based on ultra-smooth Au nanospheres (NSs) embedded with 4-methylthiobenzoic acid (4-MBA) as the internal reference. Malachite green (MG) in water and chrysoidine in drinks with detection limit of 0.35 µM were successfully and quantitatively measured by employing Au@4-MBA@Au NSs superlattice as solid SERS substrate. Compared with conventional SERS methods, the fitting linearity of the relative SERS intensity vs. analyte concentrations has significantly improved by this new analysis means. As a result, our approach is a reliable analytical strategy to solve quantitative problems in SERS analysis, which can be easily applied for on-site detection and for preliminary monitoring of food samples.

Bioethanol is a promising renewable source of energy. The heterologous expression of inulinases from microorganisms in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae improves ethanol production from inulin. Fructan exohydrolases (FEHs) from fructan-rich plants hydrolyze fructofuranosyl units in inulin to produce fructose. Here, we examined whether the heterologous expression of FEHs could also improve ethanol production in yeast. First, we expressed two Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus) FEH genes (Ht1-FEH I and II) in Pichia pastoris yeast X-33 to examine the biochemical properties of the encoded enzymes. Ht1-FEH I was relatively stable at pH 4–8 and 4–35 °C and Ht1-FEH II was relatively stable at pH 4–8 and 4–40 °C. The K m and V m values of Ht1-FEH I were 0.68 and 0.00129 mg/min, while those of Ht1-FEH II were 0.92 and 0.0048 mg/min, respectively. The enzyme activities were affected by metal ions and protein inhibitors. Additionally, the transgenic expression of Ht1-FEH I and Ht1-FEH II in S. cerevisiae 6525 at pH 6, 30 °C resulted in 25 and 27 % increases in ethanol production compared to the non-FEH-transformed control (CK), respectively. The efficiency of ethanol production was greater in yeast expressing plant FEHs than in yeast expressing inulinases derived from some microorganisms. Thus, plant FEHs have potential applications in bioethanol production.

The objective of this study was to develop an analytical method for protecting Jiaozhou Bay clam (Ruditapes philippinarum) with Protected Designation of Origin (PDO). The R. philippinarum samples were collected from three major producing areas (Jiaozhou Bay, Nantong coast, and Dalian coast) in China, and the Meretrix meretrix samples were from Nantong coast in May and September 2014. The contents of 46 elements in all clam samples were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The obtained data were analyzed using analysis of variance, principal component analysis, and stepwise linear discriminant analysis. The results showed that both the geographical origin and season affected elemental contents in R. philippinarum. Seven elements (Mg, Cd, Sn, Sb, Cs, Ba, and U) independent of seasonal variation were selected as good indicators for discriminating the geographical origin of clams. Based on the discriminant models built with these seven elements, the predictions of the geographic origin gave an overall correct classification rate of 100.0 % and a cross-validation rate of 97.2 %. In addition, R. philippinarum and M. meretrix had their own elemental fingerprinting patterns and could be distinguished. Therefore, the multi-element analysis combined with multivariate statistics can be used for the identification of Jiaozhou Bay clam with PDO.

Molodtsov’s soft set was initiated as a general emerging mathematical tool to deal with uncertain problems, which is free from the limitations of other traditional mathematical tool. It has been proven that decision making based on soft sets boom in recent years in many different fields. In this paper, a novel multi-criteria ranking approach is generalized based on intuitionistic fuzzy soft sets. There will be only one optimal decision among all the selections, instead of several or all by this method. Firstly, we present several notations named degree-hesitation function, score function and accuracy function to intuitionistic fuzzy soft set, and then give several principles based on these concepts. Some different decision making algorithms can be got for different preference, and a concrete algorithm is proposed in a certain condition. Moreover, we introduced the weighted ranking approach to the weighted intuitionistic fuzzy soft set. At the same time, both of these situations are proved to be effective with the help of examples. Finally, we conclude the research and further research directions.

Background Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D), rapidly increasing to epidemic proportions, globally escalates cardiovascular disease risk. Although intensive interventions and comprehensive management of environmental risks factors for T2D are associated with reduced cardiovascular disease, such approaches are limited for individuals with high genetic T2D risk. In this study we investigated possible associations of ACE2 polymorphisms and cardiovascular risks in Uygur patients with T2D. Methods 275 Uygur T2D patients and 272 non-diabetic Uygur individuals were enrolled as study participants. 14 ACE2 polymorphisms were genotyped by Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Results ACE2 SNP rs1978124, rs2048683, rs2074192, rs233575, rs4240157, rs4646156, rs4646188 and rs879922 were associated with T2D (all P

Emergency decision making is still an important issue in unconventional emergency management research. Although many studies have been written on this topic, they remain political and qualitative, and it is difficult to make them operational in practice. Therefore, this article proposes a decision-theoretic rough set over two universes as an approach for solving this difficulty. The proposed approach integrates rough set theory over two universes using a Bayesian decision-making technique. In this study, emergency decision making is considered as a multiple-criteria ranking or multiple-criteria selection problem with multi-granularity linguistic assessment information. A Bayesian decision process based on linguistic description with qualitative data over two universes is first presented to construct the decision model and approach, and then the decision-theoretic rough set theory over two universes is taken to induce a set of decision rules that satisfy minimum risk of loss conditions. These rules can easily give the optimal decision results with minimum risk of loss by considering online information, realistic scenarios, and the dynamic characteristic of unconventional emergency events as they develop. Finally, the steps and the basic principle of the proposed method are illustrated by a numerical example with the background of emergency decision making.

Two fructan hydrolases were previously reported to exist in Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus) and one native fructan-β-fructosidase (1-FEH) was purified to homogeneity by SDS-PAGE, but no corresponding cDNA was cloned. Here, we cloned two full-length 1-FEH cDNA sequences from Jerusalem artichoke, named Ht1-FEH I and Ht1-FEH II, which showed high levels of identity with chicory 1-FEH I and 1-FEH II. Functional characterization of the corresponding recombinant proteins in Pichia pastoris X-33 demonstrated that both Ht1-FEHs had high levels of hydrolase activity towards β(2,1)-linked fructans, but low or no activity towards β(2,6)-linked levan and sucrose. Like other plant FEHs, the activities of the recombinant Ht1-FEHs were greatly inhibited by sucrose. Real-time quantitative PCR analysis showed that Ht1-FEH I transcripts accumulated to high levels in the developing leaves and stems of artichoke, whereas the expression levels of Ht1-FEH II increased in tubers during tuber sprouting, which implies that the two Ht1-FEHs play different roles. The levels of both Ht1-FEH I and II transcript were significantly increased in the stems of NaCl-treated plants. NaCl treatment also induced transcription of both Ht1-FEHs in the tubers, while PEG treatments slightly inhibited the expression of Ht1-FEH II in tubers. Analysis of sugar-metabolizing enzyme activities and carbohydrate concentration via HPLC showed that the enzyme activities of 1-FEHs were increased but the fructose content was decreased under NaCl and PEG treatments. Given that FEH hydrolyzes fructan to yield Fru, we discuss possible explanations for the inconsistency between 1-FEH activity and fructan dynamics in artichokes subjected to abiotic stress.

The version of this article originally published was not open access. This article should have been open access. The error has been fixed, and the article is now open access.

Two new organic–inorganic hybrid carboxylate-bridging copper–lanthanide heterometallic polyoxotungstates K2[Cu(en)2(H2O)]2{[Cu(en)2]3[Ce(GeW11O39)(H2O)2]2(C2O4)}·11H2O (1) and K2 [Cu(en)2(H2O)]2{[Cu(en)2(H2O)]2[Tb(PW11O39)(CH3COO)(H2O)]2}·15H2O (2) (en = 1,2-ethylenediamine) have been prepared under hydrothermal conditions and characterized by elemental analyses, IR spectra, powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), thermogravimetric (TG) analyses and X-ray single-crystal diffraction. X-ray structural analyses reveal that 1 exhibits the 1D zigzag chain architecture formed by dimeric oxalate-bridging {[Cu(en)2]3[Ce(GeW11O39)(H2O)2]2(C2O4)}6− units and [Cu(en)2]2+ linkers whereas 2 displays a typical hybrid acetate-bridging dimeric structure [(α-PW11O39)Tb(H2O)(η2,μ-1,1)–CH3COO] 2 10− modified by [Cu(en)2(H2O)]2+ fragments. Notably, both contain 2:2-type carboxylate-bridging monolanthanide-substituted Keggin-type dimeric moieties and two types of organic ligands. 1 represents the rare 1D Cu–Ln heterometallic germanotungstate containing mixed ligands of en and oxalate whereas 2 represents the rare dimeric organic–inorganic hybrid Keggin-type phosphotungstate containing both Cu–Ln heterometals and mixed ligands of en and acetate. Two new organic–inorganic hybrid copper–lanthanide heterometallic polyoxotungstates containing mixed organic ligands of en and carboxylate were successfully separated under hydrothermal conditions. 1 exhibits the 1D zigzag chain architecture formed by dimeric oxalate-bridging {[Cu(en)2]3[Ce(GeW11O39)(H2O)2]2(C2O4)}6− units by [Cu(en)2]2+ linkers, whereas 2 displays a typical hybrid acetate-bridging dimeric structure [(α-PW11O39)Tb(H2O)(η2,μ-1,1)–CH3COO] 2 10− modified by [Cu(en)2(H2O)]2+ fragments.