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Abstract Designing bifunctional catalysts to reduce the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) reaction barriers while accelerating the reaction kinetics is perceived to be a promising strategy to improve the performance of Zinc–air batteries. Unsymmetric configuration in single‐atom catalysts has attracted attention due to its unique advantages in regulating electron orbitals. In this work, a seesaw effect in unsymmetric Fe–Co bimetallic monoatomic configurations is proposed, which can effectively improve the OER/ORR bifunctional activity of the catalyst. Compared with the symmetrical model of Fe–Co, a strong charge polarization between Co and Fe atoms in the unsymmetric model is detected, in whom the spin‐down electrons around Co atoms are much higher than those spin‐up electrons. The seesaw effect occurred between Co atoms and Fe atoms, resulting in a negative shift of the d‐band center, which means that the adsorption of oxygen intermediates is weakened and more conducive to their dissociation. The optimized reaction kinetics of the catalyst leads to excellent performance in ZABs, with a peak power density of 215 mW cm−2 and stable cycling for >1300 h and >4000 cycles. Flexible Zinc–air batteries have also gained excellent performance to demonstrate their potential in the field of flexible wearables.

Abstract Leveraging the ultra‐wideband advantages of the terahertz band, Integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) facilitates high‐precision sensing demands in human smart home applications. ISAC channel characteristics are the basis for ISAC system design. Currently, the ISAC channel is divided into target and background channels. Existing researches primarily focus on the attributes of human target itself, e.g. radar cross‐section and micro‐Doppler effect. However, the impact of human target on neither the pathloss characteristic of background channel nor the multipath propagation characteristic of target channel is considered. To address the gap, we conduct indoor channel measurements at 105 GHz to investigate the ISAC channel characteristics with the impact of human target. Firstly, by analysing the power angular delay profiles with and without human target, the changes in quantity and power of multipath components (MPCs) are observed. Then, a parameter called power control factor is proposed to evaluate the human target impact on pathloss, thereby modifying the existing pathloss model of background channel. Eventually, the MPCs belonging to target channel are extracted within target‐oriented power delay profile to count the power proportion of each bounce MPCs of the target‐Rx link, which supports the necessity of multi‐bounce (indirect) paths modelling in target channel.

Abstract Background Lung cancer remains the foremost reason of cancer‐related mortality, with invasion and metastasis profoundly influencing patient prognosis. N‐acetyltransferase 10 (NAT10) catalyzes the exclusive N (4)‐acetylcytidine (ac4C) modification in eukaryotic RNA. NAT10 dysregulation is linked to various diseases, yet its role in non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) invasion and metastasis remains unclear. Our study delves into the clinical significance and functional aspects of NAT10 in NSCLC. Methods We investigated NAT10's clinical relevance using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and a group of 98 NSCLC patients. Employing WB, qRT‐PCR, and IHC analyses, we assessed NAT10 expression in NSCLC tissues, bronchial epithelial cells (BECs), NSCLC cell lines, and mouse xenografts. Further, knockdown and overexpression techniques (siRNA, shRNA, and plasmid) were employed to evaluate NAT10's effects. A series of assays were carried out, including CCK‐8, colony formation, wound healing, and transwell assays, to elucidate NAT10's role in proliferation, invasion, and metastasis. Additionally, we utilized lung cancer patient‐derived 3D organoids, mouse xenograft models, and Remodelin (NAT10 inhibitor) to corroborate these findings. Results Our investigations revealed high NAT10 expression in NSCLC tissues, cell lines and mouse xenograft models. High NAT10 level correlated with advanced T stage, lymph node metastasis and poor overall survive. NAT10 knockdown curtailed proliferation, invasion, and migration, whereas NAT10 overexpression yielded contrary effects. Furthermore, diminished NAT10 levels correlated with increased E‐cadherin level whereas decreased N‐cadherin and vimentin expressions, while heightened NAT10 expression displayed contrasting results. Notably, Remodelin efficiently attenuated NSCLC proliferation, invasion, and migration by inhibiting NAT10 through the epithelial‐mesenchymal transition (EMT) pathway. Conclusions Our data underscore NAT10 as a potential therapeutic target for NSCLC, presenting avenues for targeted intervention against lung cancer through NAT10 inhibition.

Abstract Industrial defect detection is an important part of intelligent manufacturing, and Internet of things (IoT)‐based defect detection is receiving more and more attention. Although deep learning (DL) can help defect detection reduce the cost and improve the accuracy of traditional manual quality inspection, DL requires huge computational resources and is difficult to be simply deployed on IoT devices with limited computational power and memory resources. Digital signal processor (DSP) is an important IoT device with small size, high performance and low energy consumption, which has been widely used in intelligent manufacturing. In order to perform accurate defect detection on DSP, the authors proposed various optimisation strategies and then used a parallel scheme to scale the model to execute on multiple cores. The authors’ method evaluated it on Northeastern University Surface Defect Dataset, Magnetic Tile Defect Dataset, Rail Surface Defect Dataset and Silk Cylinder Defect Dataset, and the experimental results showed that the authors’ method obtains faster speeds without accuracy loss compared to running the same Convolutional Neural Networks model on a mainstream desktop CPU. This means that the authors’ method can realise efficient and accurate defect detection on IoT devices with limited computational power and memory resources, which opens up new possibilities for future development in the field of smart manufacturing.

Abstract The artificial synapse array with an electrolyte‐gated transistor (EGT) as an array unit presents considerable potential for neuromorphic computation. However, the integration of EGTs faces the drawback of the conflict between the polymer electrolytes and photo‐lithography. This study presents a scheme based on a lateral‐gate structure to realize high‐density integration of EGTs and proposes the integration of 100 × 100 EGTs into a 2.5 × 2.5 cm2 glass, with a unit density of up to 1600 devices cm−2. Furthermore, an electrolyte framework is developed to enhance the array performance, with ionic conductivity of up to 2.87 × 10−3 S cm−1 owing to the porosity of zeolitic imidazolate frameworks‐67. The artificial synapse array realizes image processing functions, and exhibits high performance and homogeneity. The handwriting recognition accuracy of a representative device reaches 92.80%, with the standard deviation of all the devices being limited to 9.69%. The integrated array and its high performance demonstrate the feasibility of the scheme and provide a solid reference for the integration of EGTs.

Abstract Recovery of skin function remains a significant clinical challenge for deep burns owing to the severe scar formation and poor appendage regeneration, and stem cell therapy has shown great potential for injured tissue regeneration. Here, a cell‐free therapy system for deep burn skin was explored using mesenchymal stem cell paracrine proteins (MSC‐PP) and polyethylene glycol (PEG) temperature‐sensitive hydrogels. A three‐dimensional (3D) dynamic culture system for MSCs' large‐scale expansion was established using a porous gelatin microcarrier crosslinked with hyaluronic acid (PGM‐HA), and the purified MSC‐PP from culture supernatant was characterized by mass spectrometric analysis. The results showed the 3D dynamic culture system regulated MSCs cell cycle, reduced apoptosis, and decreased lactic acid content, and the MSC‐PP produced in 3D group can promote cell proliferation, migration, and adhesion. The MSC‐PP + PEG system maintained stable release in 28 days of observation in vitro. The in vivo therapeutic efficacy was investigated in the rabbit's third‐degree burn model, and saline, PEG, MSC‐PP, and MSC‐PP + PEG treatments groups were set. The in vivo results showed that the MSC‐PP + PEG group significantly improved wound healing, inhibited scar formation, and facilitated skin appendage regeneration. In conclusion, the MSC‐PP + PEG sustained‐release system provides a potentially effective treatment for deep burn skin healing.

Background Lifestyle and metabolic diseases influence the severity and pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease through numerous mechanisms, including regulation via posttranslational modifications. A specific posttranslational modification, the addition of O‐linked β‐N acetylglucosamine (O‐GlcNAcylation), has been implicated in molecular mechanisms of both physiological and pathologic adaptations. The current study aimed to test the hypothesis that in cardiomyocytes, sustained protein O‐GlcNAcylation contributes to cardiac adaptations, and its progression to pathophysiology. Methods and Results Using a naturally occurring dominant‐negative O‐GlcNAcase (dnOGA) inducible cardiomyocyte‐specific overexpression transgenic mouse model, we induced dnOGA in 8‐ to 10‐week‐old mouse hearts. We examined the effects of 2‐week and 24‐week dnOGA overexpression, which progressed to a 1.8‐fold increase in protein O‐GlcNAcylation. Two‐week increases in protein O‐GlcNAc levels did not alter heart weight or function; however, 24‐week increases in protein O‐GlcNAcylation led to cardiac hypertrophy, mitochondrial dysfunction, fibrosis, and diastolic dysfunction. Interestingly, systolic function was maintained in 24‐week dnOGA overexpression, despite several changes in gene expression associated with cardiovascular disease. Specifically, mRNA‐sequencing analysis revealed several gene signatures, including reduction of mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation, fatty acid, and glucose metabolism pathways, and antioxidant response pathways after 24‐week dnOGA overexpression. Conclusions This study indicates that moderate increases in cardiomyocyte protein O‐GlcNAcylation leads to a differential response with an initial reduction of metabolic pathways (2‐week), which leads to cardiac remodeling (24‐week). Moreover, the mouse model showed evidence of diastolic dysfunction consistent with a heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. These findings provide insight into the adaptive versus maladaptive responses to increased O‐GlcNAcylation in heart.

Hitherto, automated grasping with robotic grippers requires adjusting the posture and force of the fingers based on the size, geometry, stiffness, and pose of the objects. To provide a simpler but efficient grasping methodology, a soft enveloping gripper is presented and investigated how its morphological adaptability improves the grasping ability by comparing its performance with fingered grippers. Results show that this enveloping gripper can omnidirectionally envelop objects via active–passive interaction, which allows the gripper to 100% grasp the object located at different positions within range and keep their orientations. However, the grasping success rate and orientation error of the fingered grippers highly depend on the relative position and angle of the objects to the grippers, as well as the number of fingers. The dynamic vibration and decay time of the enveloping gripper when grasping a 500 g weight are, both, approximately one‐sixth of those of the two‐fingered gripper when grasping a 12.37 g cube. This enveloping gripper can automatically grasp objects (including deformable ones) lying in different poses without posture estimation and force control with a simple vision‐based automatic grasping method. The enveloping grasping method may open an avenue for simple, low cost yet powerful automatic grasping applications.

Abstract Water shortage is a serious problem in crop production, and maize (Zea mays L.) is the largest grain crop worldwide. It would have great significance in increasing kernel yield and water use efficiency to establish a high‐yielding and water‐saving irrigation technology in maize. In this study, two high‐yielding maize varieties were used and two irrigation regimes composed of well‐watered (WW) and moderate soil drying (MD) were conducted. Physiological performances, kernel yield, and water use efficiency were investigated. Compared with WW, the MD increased kernel yield by 4.69–6.40%, reduced irrigation water by 26.5–33.3%, and improved irrigation water use efficiency by 43.1–59.3%. In terms of physiological performances, the MD enhanced the leaf superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, decreased malondialdehyde (MDA) content, increased the leaf photosynthetic rate and the contents of indole‐3‐acetic acid (IAA), zeatin (Z) + zeatin riboside (ZR), gibberellin‐3 (GA3), and abscisic acid (ABA) in inferior kernels, promoted the remobilization of non‐structural carbohydrates (NSC) from stalks and sheaths to kernels, and improved the filling rate and weight of inferior kernels. Correlation analysis showed that IAA, Z + ZR, and ABA contents in kernels were significantly and positively correlated with the kernel filling rate. These results suggest that the moderate soil drying imposed during the whole growth period of maize can achieve the dual goal of increasing food production and saving water by improving physiological performance, especially regulating hormonal levels in the kernel.

Abstract Autophagy is important for protein and organelle quality control. Growing evidence demonstrates that autophagy is tightly controlled by transcriptional mechanisms, including repression by zinc finger containing KRAB and SCAN domains 3 (ZKSCAN3). We hypothesize that cardiomyocyte‐specific ZKSCAN3 knockout (Z3K) disrupts autophagy activation and repression balance and exacerbates cardiac pressure‐overload‐induced remodeling following transverse aortic constriction (TAC). Indeed, Z3K mice had an enhanced mortality compared to control (Con) mice following TAC. Z3K‐TAC mice that survived exhibited a lower body weight compared to Z3K‐Sham. Although both Con and Z3K mice exhibited cardiac hypertrophy after TAC, Z3K mice exhibited TAC‐induced increase of left ventricular posterior wall thickness at end diastole (LVPWd). Conversely, Con‐TAC mice exhibited decreases in PWT%, fractional shortening (FS%), and ejection fraction (EF%). Autophagy genes (Tfeb, Lc3b, and Ctsd) were decreased by the loss of ZKSCAN3. TAC suppressed Zkscan3, Tfeb, Lc3b, and Ctsd in Con mice, but not in Z3K. The Myh6/Myh7 ratio, which is related to cardiac remodeling, was decreased by the loss of ZKSCAN3. Although Ppargc1a mRNA and citrate synthase activities were decreased by TAC in both genotypes, mitochondrial electron transport chain activity did not change. Bi‐variant analyses show that while in Con‐Sham, the levels of autophagy and cardiac remodeling mRNAs form a strong correlation network, such was disrupted in Con‐TAC, Z3K‐Sham, and Z3K‐TAC. Ppargc1a also forms different links in Con‐sham, Con‐TAC, Z3K‐Sham, and Z3K‐TAC. We conclude that ZKSCAN3 in cardiomyocytes reprograms autophagy and cardiac remodeling gene transcription, and their relationships with mitochondrial activities in response to TAC‐induced pressure overload.

Abstract Rice production and research have met unprecedented challenges in recent years. Yield and total production have plateaued for many years in some major producing rice‐producing countries while the demand from populations in poverty is ever increasing. For example, more than 100 million additional people became extremely poor, mostly from Asia and sub‐Saharan Africa in 2020 alone. Rice is not only the calorie source for half of the global population but also the key staple food for the world's poorest and undernourished people living in Asia and Africa. In this review, we have analysed the trends in rice research in the past three decades, particularly on the mega‐projects that attempted to revolutionize rice yield, sustainability and quality of both Asian (Oryza sativa) and African (O. glaberrima) rice, with their impact on rice cultivation. We have also analysed the trends in population growth, rice cultivation, production, price and consumption along with their projections for 2030 and beyond. Furthermore, we have analysed recent trends in variety release using Bangladesh as an example. Finally, we have identified the future challenges and priorities of rice research.

Abstract The atmospheric CO2 enrichment can seriously affect rice root growth. Alternate wetting and drying (AWD) irrigation, which can also increase root growth, is a widely promoted water‐saving technology for future climate, yet how elevated CO2 (eCO2) influences rice root growth under AWD remains unclear. In the present study, we examined the root growth of Yangdao 6 (YD 6) and Koshihikari (KOS) cultured under different water irrigation regimes (well‐watered and AWD) and CO2 concentration (400 and 800 ppm). AWD reduced shoot dry weight of KOS compared with WW under ambient CO2 (400 ppm, aCO2), while the shoot dry weight of KOS showed no difference between WW and AWD treatments under eCO2. Additional, under aCO2, AWD did not affect the exhibited similar root dry weight, length, total surface area, and volume of YD 6 and KOS relative to WW. However, under eCO2, AWD significantly promoted the root dry weight, root length, total root surface area, and root volume of YD 6 and KOS. Furthermore, root ABA content of YD 6 and KOS was significantly higher under AWD than under WW. Then, the OsNCED3 (a key gene for ABA biosynthesis) RNAi lines were used to check the role of ABA in root growth under eCO2 with AWD conditions. The results showed that AWD increased the ABA content and root parameters of WT but not the OsNCED3 RNAi lines under eCO2. Overall, the results suggest that eCO2 can improve rice root growth under AWD by involving root ABA, which contributes to the understanding of water‐saving irrigation on rice in the future climate.

Abstract 2D polymers (2DPs) have attracted increasing interests in sensors, catalysis, and gas storage applications. Furthermore, 2DPs with unique band structure and tunable photophysical properties also have immense potential for application in photonic neuromorphic computing. Here, photonic synaptic transistors based on 2DPs as the light‐tunable charge‐trapping medium are developed for the first time. The resulted organic transistors can successfully emulate common synaptic functions, including excitatory postsynaptic current, pair‐pulse facilitation, the transition of short‐term memory to long‐term memory, and dynamic filtering. Benefitting from the high photosensitivity of the 2DP, the devices can be operated under a low operating voltage of −0.1 V, and achieve an ultralow energy consumption of ~0.29 pJ per event. In addition, the heterostructure formed between the 2DP and organic semiconductor enables spectrum‐dependent synaptic responses, which facilitates the simulation of visual learning and memory processes in distinct emotional states. The underlying mechanism of spectrum‐dependent synaptic‐like behaviors is systematically validated with in situ atomic force microscopy based electrical techniques. The spectrum‐enabled tunability of synaptic behaviors further promotes the realization of optical logic functions and associative learning. This work inspires the new application of 2DPs in photonic synapses for future neuromorphic computing.

Abstract Saline‐alkali stress is one of the major abiotic stresses that severely affect rice yield. However, the mechanism by which saline‐alkali stress regulates grain filling in rice is still unclear. In this study, Oryza sativa L. spp. Indica cultivar Chaoyou1000 (C1000) was exposed to post‐anthesis saline‐alkali conditions at 6 days after anthesis, which significantly reduced the grain weight by suppressing the accumulation of starch and non‐structural carbohydrates in grains. Further analysis found that 1‐aminocyclopropane‐1‐carboxylate (ACC), a precursor for ethylene, was increased by saline‐alkali treatment. qRT‐PCR results showed that several key genes involved in ethylene biosynthesis, including the OsACS and OsACO genes, were upregulated in saline‐alkali‐treated grains. In addition, genes involved in the ethylene signalling pathway were also induced by saline‐alkali stress. Exogenous ethylene application reduced grain weight and both starch and NSC contents in grains of C1000, suggesting that saline‐alkali‐induced ethylene has a negative effect on grain filling. Furthermore, the gene expression levels of OsSUS, OsAGPL, OsAGPS, OsSSI and OsSSIIIa, which are key genes in the starch biosynthesis pathway, were downregulated in saline‐alkali‐treated grains. In agreement, assays on these enzymes further revealed that saline‐alkali stress decreased the activities of sucrose synthase (SUS), adenosine diphosphate glucose pyrophosphorylase (AGP) and starch synthase (StS). Together, our results indicated that saline‐alkali stress suppressed the enzyme activities involved in the conversion of sucrose to starch by elevating ethylene production, which led to inhibition of grain filling.

Abstract Atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition has significantly altered nutrient availability in most terrestrial ecosystems, which may affect plant nutrient resorption and hence change nutrient cycling and community composition. Although studies on the effects of changed soil nutrients on leaf nutrient resorption have been extensively reported in forests and grasslands, much less known about how plants in temperate shrublands respond to nitrogen deposition across the world. A 4‐year N addition experiment in Vitex negundo and Spiraea trilobata shrublands was conducted to investigate the potential impacts of N deposition on nutrient resorption in two life forms. The green and senesced leaf N ([N]g and [N]s) and phosphorus ([P]g and [P]s) concentrations were measured in four shrubs and two graminoids to calculate N (NRE) and P (PRE) resorption efficiency. We found markedly lower NRE and PRE in shrubs than in graminoids, implying that shrubs probably have a higher capability of acquiring nutrients from soil, whereas graminoids rely on acquiring more nutrients via resorption. N addition increased the [N]g, [N]s, and N:P ratios ([N:P]) and decreased the [P]g of shrubs and all species, whereas it only increased [N]s but had negligible effects on the [N]g, [P]g, and [N:P] of graminoids. The [P]s, NRE, and PRE did not change in either life form or all species combined after N fertilization. Our results suggest that shrubs increase N uptake but do not alter internal N cycling (i.e., nutrient resorption), whereas graminoids do not change N acquisition strategies, in response to increased N supply from the soil. Continuous N addition exacerbated the P limitation of the shrub plants. Both shrubs and graminoids were more likely to adopt nearly complete utilization of P from the soil and senesced leaves under P deficiency, leading to a noneffect of N addition on leaf PRE. Our findings also suggest that the [N]g and [P]g responses to N addition are life‐form specific, implying that N addition may affect ecosystem carbon (C) and nutrient cycles by altering the dominance values of the two life forms and community composition.

Abstract A full‐duplex (FD) multiuser multiple‐input multiple‐output (MU‐MIMO) system, where a FD base station (BS) with multiple antennas serves multiple half‐duplex (HD) user equipments (UEs) in both uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) via the same time‐frequency resources, is considered. UE scheduling is in demand to manage the UL‐to‐DL interference (UDI) incurred by the FD operation. Existing scheduling algorithms require UDI channel state information between each pair of the candidate UEs, which incurs a significant amount of overhead as the number of UEs grows. To reduce the overhead, a new UE scheduling algorithm that uses channel reciprocity and UL‐DL duality to design a scheduling algorithm based on downlink performance was designed. By selecting UEs only based on their DL channels and received UDI strength, the proposed scheme no longer requires the massive UDI channel state information (CSI). Numerical results demonstrate the proposed algorithm can achieve a near optimal performance without knowing any UDI CSI.

Abstract Background Our previous study has developed a four‐gene model involving IL13 rs20541, IL4 rs2243250, ADRB2 rs1042713, and FCER1B rs569108 associated with asthma and atopy in Chinese Han children. However, whether the gene model is associated with allergies in early life has yet to be determined. This study aimed to apply the gene model in a birth cohort to investigate its associations with the development of allergic diseases in Chinese Han toddlers. Methods Five hundred and ninety‐seven children from a birth cohort completing 2‐year follow‐up were included. Epidemiologic information and cord blood were collected. Children were genotyped for the above polymorphisms and divided into high or low genetic risk groups based on the genotypes. Subjects were followed at 6, 12, and 24 months, with information on allergic diseases collected via standard questionnaires and assessed by specialists. Results Two hundred and eighty‐four children were divided into a high‐risk group and 313 into a low‐risk group. Between the two groups, a significant difference was only found in delivery mode among all the subject characteristics (p = .025). After stratification for delivery mode, children at high risk were more likely to develop eczema (relative risk [RR] = 1.46, p = .040) over 2 years of follow‐up compared with those at low risk. No significant associations were found between genetic risk and food allergy, wheezing and allergic rhinitis (p > .05). Conclusion The gene model was significantly associated with the development of eczema in Chinese Han toddlers. Long‐term follow‐up along with functional and replication studies on the gene model are still needed in future.

Abstract Hybrids produced by photo‐thermo‐sensitive genic male sterile (PTSGMS) rice (Oryza sativa L.) lines crossed with restorer lines have huge heterosis. However, PTSGMS rice lines show serious spikelet‐opening impairment as high temperature (HT) stress occurs during anthesis. Its physiological mechanism remains unclear. Jasmonates (JAs) are novel phytohormones and play important roles in responses to biotic and abiotic stresses. This study investigated whether and how JAs mediate the effect of HT stress during anthesis on spikelet‐opening of PTSGMS rice lines. Three PTSGMS rice lines were pot‐grown and subjected to HT stress during anthesis. The concentrations of jasmonic acid (JA), methyl jasmonate (MeJA), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), ascorbic acid (AsA), and soluble sugars and activities of catalase and α‐amylase in the lodicules that locate at the base inside the lemma and function spikelet‐opening were determined. The results showed that increases or decreases in JA and MeJA concentrations in the lodicules under HT stress varied with PTSGMS lines. A PTSGMS line with higher JA and MeJA concentrations under HT stress exhibited a higher opened‐spikelet rate and also showed a higher fertilized‐spikelet rate and a higher seed yield when the line was crossed with a restorer line. Both JA and MeJA concentrations were very significantly (p = .01) and positively correlated with AsA concentrations and activities of catalase and α‐amylase, whereas were negatively correlated with H2O2 concentration. Increases in concentrations of JAs in lodicules by applying JA or MeJA under HT stress during anthesis significantly increased activities of catalase and α‐amylase and concentrations of AsA and soluble sugars, and significantly decreased H2O2 concentration in the lodicules, and, accordingly, increased opened‐spikelet rate. The results suggest that JAs play an important role in alleviating spikelet‐opening impairment caused by HT stress during anthesis through enhancing antioxidant ability and osmotic regulation in the lodicules of PTSGMS rice lines.

Abstract The nonrenewable nutrient phosphorus (P) has low mobility in soil and is often present in forms that are unavailable to crop plants. Alternate wetting and drying irrigation is one of the widely promoted water‐saving irrigation techniques and can increase mineral nutrient availability; however, its interaction with P in paddy fields remains unclear. We conducted a 4‐year field experiment to determine whether a specific regime of frequent alternate wetting and drying (FAWD15) irrigation and low P usage (P45) had synergistic effects on rice yield, rice growth, water use efficiency (WUE), agronomic P use efficiency (AEp), and soil residual fertilizer P. We found that compared to the continuously flooded (CF) irrigation, FAWD15 irrigation maintained rice yield under low P usage condition in a 4‐year field trial. Our results also showed that under low P usage, FAWD15 resulted in high AEp and WUE, and reduced residual fertilizer P. Further, FAWD15 irrigation increased labile P release and resulted in increased root growth by improving root sucrose distribution. These results suggest that FAWD15 irrigation can mitigate the effect of low P usage on rice grain yield by increasing soil P release and root growth in paddy fields.

Abstract The plant steroid hormones brassinosteroids (BRs) play pivotal roles in modulating flower and fruit production. Nitrogen (N) is a key factor affecting rice (Oryza sativa L.) production. We hypothesized that BRs would respond to N application rates at spikelet differentiation (SD) and regulate spikelet degeneration in rice. Three rice cultivars were field‐grown and treated with five N rates at SD. Plant N and BRs contents, antioxidant capacity, and energy status were observed during meiosis in young panicles, and their relationships with spikelet degeneration were evaluated. In all the N treatments, the BRs, adenosine triphosphate, and energy charge levels, activities of the enzymes involved in energy metabolism, including cytochrome C oxidase and succinate dehydrogenase, total antioxidant capacity, and grain yield, were the highest, whereas hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) content and vacuolar processing enzymes (VPE) genes expression levels, and spikelet degeneration rate were the lowest when plant N content was 2.6% during meiosis. The rice BRs‐deficient mutants showed substantial reduction in BRs levels, antioxidant capacity, and energy status, but great increase in H2O2 content, VPE genes expression levels, and spikelet degeneration rate than the wild type (WT); moreover, these parameters in WT panicles could be regulated, whereas in BRs‐deficient mutant panicles, they were not distinctly affected by N application. The results indicated that BRs mediate the effects of N rates on spikelet degeneration, and elevated BRs levels in rice panicles effectively inhibit spikelet degeneration when plant N content is 2.6% during meiosis by elevating antioxidant capacity and energy status.

Abstract Moderate soil drying (MD) applied during the mid‐to‐late grain filling stages can promote carbon reserve remobilization in straws (sheaths and stems) and increase the grain weight. The coordination between starch‐to‐sucrose transition in straws and sucrose‐to‐starch conversion in inferior grains is essential for carbon reserve remobilization during grain filling. Herein, to reveal the regulating mechanism of carbon reserve remobilization from source to sink, RNA‐seq was utilized to analyze the dynamic transcript profile in source and sink of rice under MD treatment during grain filling. The expression of amylase genes and amylase activity was enhanced by MD treatment in straws, which is consistent with the increased amylase activity. In inferior grains, it was starch synthesis genes that were upregulated by MD treatment. Furthermore, an elevated ABA was found in both straws and inferior grains, which was caused by an increased expression of NCED1 and downregulation of ABA8OX2 by MD treatment, respectively. Additionally, the expression of MYB30, a transcription factor (TF) that negatively regulates beta‐amylase genes, was reduced in straws by MD, resulting in an increased amylase activity. In contrast, an increased expression of NAC activated the expressions of starch synthesis gene in inferior grains under MD. Therefore, it is MYB30 and NAC that cooperates in source and sink, respectively, to promote carbon reserve remobilization in response to MD. Taken together, genes involved in carbon flow from source to sink are different between rice straws and inferior grains.

Abstract Alternate wetting and drying (AWD) irrigation has been widely used to replace continuous flooding (CF), which does not result in yield loss while improving water productivity. However, it is still unexplored as to how this agricultural practice would affect gene expression to control plant physiology. In this study, we found that photosynthetic rate (Pn), stomatal conductance (Gs), transpiration rate (Tr), chlorophyll (Chl) content, and leaf water potential (Lwp) significantly decreased while abscisic acid (ABA) content and water use efficiency (WUE) increased when soil water potential reached to −15 kPa in the AWD irrigation regime. We then analyzed the differences between AWD and CF irrigation practices in transcriptomic profiles for flag leaves. Genes were found to be differentially expressed in photosynthesis related pathways namely, Chl biosynthesis, photosynthesis‐antenna proteins pathway, photosynthesis process, and ABA signal transduction pathway. The study provides important information on the morphological adaptations observed in the flag leaves in response to AWD irrigation, which will act as a basic framework to conduct molecular studies for improving rice cultivation.

Implementing synaptic functions with electronic devices is critical to achieve neuromorphic systems on the hardware platform, as synapses play important roles in brain computing and memory. Synapses modulated by light signals, which are also referred as photonic synapses, can not only make effective use of the outstanding properties of light to provide devices with ultrahigh propagation speed, high bandwidth and low crosstalk but also provide a noncontact writing method, which can facilitate the evolution of optical wireless communication and operation. More importantly, real‐time image processing can also be performed by photonic synapses which possess temporary memory. Thus far, tremendous efforts have been taken to design and fabricate photonic synapses. Herein, a summary of the development of different kinds of emerging materials utilized in photonic synaptic devices including memristors, field‐effect transistors, and phase change memory is presented, followed by the innovative applications of photonic synapses for neuromorphic systems. Finally, some current challenges and future study directions are discussed.

The continued growth of distributed generation (DG) in the electrical grid has led to the expansion of microgrids. Microgrids contain distributed power generation units, energy storage devices, and controllable loads with the capability to operate in both grid-connected and island modes. The economic operation of a microgrid is achieved through an energy management system that optimally schedules DGs and storage devices and continuously balances supply and demand. In this study, a formulation of optimal unit commitment (UC) and dispatch scheduling of DGs in a grid-connected microgrid system is presented. Mixed-integer linear programming is used to implement the optimal UC and dispatch scheduling model. The objective is to minimise the overall operating cost of the system by optimally utilising an energy storage device and a combined heat and power (CHP) generation unit using load and renewable energy generation prediction. Operational constraints such as generation limits of DGs, battery charging/discharging limits and state-of-charge limits are to be satisfied during all intervals of operation. Simulation results indicate that the operational cost of the system is significantly reduced through optimal scheduling of an energy storage system and a CHP unit using the proposed strategy.

Category‐independent object detection and localisation plays an important role in many computer vision tasks. In this study, an efficient method is proposed for generic objectness ranking by fusing two dimension (2D) or 3D information. A novel Bayesian model is designed to integrate multimodal cues and global cues to estimate object location, scale and number. In the pure trichannel colour space, the authors employ global spatial information as new global cues. From the colour+depth (red, green and blue+D) aspect, the authors compute multimodal saliency and oversegments to find two new multimodal cues. Local and regional depth cues are also explored and combined with them together so that a reliable objectness ranking scheme can be implemented. The proposed method is evaluated on web‐public common 2D and RGB+D datasets. In RGB+D cases, the experimental results show that the proposed method achieves an average 5% improvement over state‐of‐the‐art methods. Furthermore, for achieving the similar recall rates, the authors’ method only needs 30% amounts of sampled windows with respect of other available methods.

Surface textures have been demonstrated to have a positive effect on the friction reduction. However, sharp edges of the normally textured patterns usually cause stress concentration and severe wear during sliding, especially for non-conformal contacting pairs. In this study, protrusion-type textures were fabricated at different area ratios on stainless steel discs and edge profiling was performed for the protrusions, and friction tests were conducted in water to investigate the tribological properties. The results show that the friction was reduced markedly by edge profiling due to the formation of wedge contact and improvement of lubricant supply to the contact interfaces under low load. Under high load, severe wear destroyed the wedge contact resulting in high friction as those of the normally textured pairs. High area ratio exhibited better friction reduction effect. The stress analysis via ANSYS indicated that much high stress concentrated at the edges of the protrusions and could be reduced significantly by edge profiling.