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Yb3+–Er3+ and Yb3+–Ho3+ co-doped Ba3Lu2Zn5O11 phosphors were successfully obtained. The structure of the as-synthesized phosphor was determined by Rietveld refinement. The up-conversion (UC) spectra of Ba3Lu2Zn5O11:Yb3+,Er3+ exhibits two prominent emission bands centered at 560 and 663 nm, which originate from the 2H11/2/4S3/2→4I15/2 and 4F9/2→4I15/2 transitions of Er3+, respectively. Ba3Lu2Zn5O11:Yb3+,Ho3+ revealed a bright green emission at around 553 nm and negligible red emission peaking at 660 nm, which were assigned to the 5F4/5S2→5I8 and 5F5→5I8 transitions of Ho3+, respectively. The up-conversion luminescence of the samples was studied as a function of the concentration of the dopants. The origin of the UC mechanism is discussed in detail by analyzing energy-level diagrams, the dependence of the UC emission intensity on pump power, and the lifetimes. The results indicate that the Ba3Lu2Zn5O11:Yb3+,Er3+/Ho3+ phosphors are excellent up-conversion emitters and have potential applications in display and illumination technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Cd tolerance protein SaCTP3, which responds to Cd stress, was identified in Sedum alfredii ; however, how to improve the efficiency of phytoremediation of Cd–contaminated soil using the CTP gene remains unknown. In this study, the phytoremediation potential of SaCTP3 of Sedum alfredii was identified. In the yeast Cd–sensitive strain Δycf1 overexpressing SaCTP3 , the accumulation of Cd was higher than that in the Δycf1 strain overexpressing an empty vector. Transgenic sorghum plants overexpression SaCTP3 were further constructed to verify the function of SaCTP3. Compared to wild–type plants, the SaCTP3 –overexpressing lines exhibited higher Cd accumulation under 500 μM Cd conditions. The average Cd content in SaCTP3 –overexpressing plants is more than four times higher than that of WT plants. This was accompanied by an enhanced ability to scavenge ROS, as evidenced by the significantly increased activities of peroxidase, catalase, and superoxide dismutase in response to Cd stress. Pot experiments further demonstrated that SaCTP3 overexpression resulted in improved soil Cd scavenging and photosynthetic abilities. After 20 days of growth, the average Cd content in the soil planted with SaCTP3 –overexpressing sorghum decreased by 19.4%, while the residual Cd content in the soil planted with wild–type plants was only reduced by 5.4%. This study elucidated the role of SaCTP3 from S.alfredii , highlighting its potential utility in genetically modifying sorghum for the effective phytoremediation of Cd. [Display omitted] • SaCTP3 overexpression increased Cd accumulation in transgenic sorghum. • Overexpression of SaCTP3 in sorghum increased photosynthesis efficiency. • SaCTP3 –overexpressing sorghum has the potential to effectively remove Cd from the soil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Developed a method to assess UBGS's cooling capacity on the neighborhood scale. • Absolute and relative indicators of the cooling capacity of UBGS were compared. • The orders of impact indexes for different types of cooling capacity were derived. • The causes of the dynamics of the cooling capacity of UBGS over time are explored. • Developed a solution based on the surrounding features to achieve efficient cooling. In rapidly developing cities, in addition to the overall change of the climatic background, the fragmented blue-green space and the expanding impervious surface may gradually become the main factors for the deterioration of the thermal environment. The effect of urban blue-green spatial characteristics on cooling cities has been fully explored in existing studies. However, only some studies have analyzed the correlation between urban blue-green spatial characteristics and different types of cooling capacity in rapidly developing cities. In this paper, the cooling capacity in plaque and municipal scale in the existing research is mapped to the neighbourhood scale and the absolute cooling capacity and relative cooling capacity of the blue-green space are estimated in the central urban area of Tianjin during the rapid development of 2001∼2021. At the same time, correlation and random forest analysis were used to quantify the influence of blue-green spatial characteristics on the cooling capacity. The results show that: 1) The cooling capacity of blue-green space in rapidly developing cities has obvious phased characteristics. 2) The explanatory ability of UBGS features for the overall cool environment of the city is relatively stable in the rapid development process. In contrast, the explanatory ability for the cooling ability of the surrounding environment shows a yearly decline. 3) The relative importance of different influencing factors on the cooling capacity of UBGS is reflected as compositional features>configuration features>blue-green spatial relationship, and the other factors have a large difference in the performance of other indicators in different years. These results can further improve the cooling capacity of urban blue-green spaces. For rapidly developing cities with intensified fragmentation, the classification of cooling capacity in limited space is significant for improving the city's overall thermal comfort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pancreatic cancer, characterized by its poor prognosis, exhibits a marked resistance to conventional chemotherapy and immunotherapy, underscoring the urgent need for more effective treatment modalities. In light of this, the present study is designed to assess the potential antineoplastic efficacy of a combined regimen involving tetrandrine, a plant-derived alkaloid, and autophagy inhibitors in the context of pancreatic cancer. Electron microscopy and immunoblots showed that tetrandrine promoted the formation of autophagosomes and the upregulation of LC3II and the downregulation of p62 expression, indicating that tetrandrine induced autophagy in pancreatic cancer cells. Western blot revealed that tetrandrine inhibited the phosphorylation of AKT and mTOR, as well as the expression of Bcl-2, while upregulating Beclin-1 expression. Moreover, tetrandrine promoted the transcription and protein expression of ATG7. Following the combination of autophagy inhibitors and tetrandrine, the apoptotic rate and cell death significantly increased in pancreatic cancer cells. Consistent results were obtained when ATG7 was silenced. Additionally, tetrandrine induced the generation of ROS, which was involved in the activation of autophagy and apoptosis. Further investigation revealed that upon autophagy inhibition, ROS accumulated in pancreatic cancer cells, resulting in decreased mitochondrial membrane potential and further induction of apoptosis. The results of treating subcutaneous xenograft tumors with a combination of tetrandrine and chloroquine validated that autophagy inhibition enhances the toxicity of tetrandrine against pancreatic cancer in vivo. Altogether, our study demonstrates that tetrandrine induces cytoprotective autophagy in pancreatic cancer cells. Inhibiting tetrandrine-induced autophagy promotes the accumulation of ROS and enhances its toxicity against pancreatic cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crossbreeding can provide productive gains through heterosis, however, surveys about the effects of crossbreeding through global transcriptomic sequencing are few. This study revealed that Angus × Qinchuan cattle (AQF) have improved performance characteristics compared to Qinchuan cattle (QCF). We performed RNA-seq on the subcutaneous fat tissue of QCF and AQF. More than 42.2 million clean reads were obtained in each sample. We detected 40 and 21 breed-specific highly expressed genes (FPKM > 500) in QCF and AQF, respectively. Furthermore, a total of 353 differentially expressed genes (DEGs, |log2 ratio| ≥ 1 and Probability ≥ 0.8) were found between these two groups, of which 227 genes were upregulated in AQF and 126 genes were upregulated in QCF. Functional enrichment analyses showed that breed-specific highly expressed genes and DEGs were closely related to terms such as development in AQF, and adaption or immune in QCF. In addition, we also identified the novel transcript units, alternative splicing events, single-nucleotide polymorphisms and Indels. Our results revealed differences in inherent characteristics and genetic differences when comparing QCF with AQF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The bovine genetic resources in China are diverse, but their value and potential are yet to be discovered. To determine the genetic diversity and population structure of Chinese cattle, we analyzed the whole genomes of 46 cattle from six phenotypically and geographically representative Chinese cattle breeds, together with 18 Red Angus cattle genomes, 11 Japanese black cattle genomes and taurine and indicine genomes available from previous studies. Our results showed that Chinese cattle originated from hybridization between Bos taurus and Bos indicus. Moreover, we found that the level of genetic variation in Chinese cattle depends upon the degree of indicine content. We also discovered many potential selective sweep regions associated with domestication related to breed-specific characteristics, with selective sweep regions including genes associated with coat color (ERCC2, MC1R, ZBTB17, and MAP2K1), dairy traits (NCAPG, MAPK7, FST, ITFG1, SETMAR, PAG1, CSN3, and RPL37A), and meat production/quality traits (such as BBS2, R3HDM1, IGFBP2, IGFBP5, MYH9, MYH4, and MC5R). These findings substantially expand the catalogue of genetic variants in cattle and reveal new insights into the evolutionary history and domestication traits of Chinese cattle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cadmium (Cd) is a toxic heavy metal that is absorbed from the soil through roots and transmitted through the food chain, posing a serious threat to human health and food security. Exogenous NaCl can reduce the uptake of Cd by plants, but the underlying molecular mechanism is still unclear. In this study, we elucidated the molecular mechanism by which exogenous NaCl inhibited Cd absorption in wheat seedlings. Notably, 50 mM NaCl altered the wheat physiological response and reduce the Cd uptake by plants. Overexpression of the NaCl–responsive gene TaNHX2 increased the levels of chlorophyll and proline, enhanced antioxidant enzyme (CAT, POD, and SOD) activity, decreased the MDA content, and improved tolerance to Cd stress in transgenic wheat plants. We further found that TaWRKY13 binds directly to the TaNHX2 promoter to regulate its transcription. Subsequent research found that TaWRKY13 can also bind to the promoter of the heavy metal transporter gene TaHMA2 to activate its expression. TaNHX2 overexpression obviously downregulated the expression of TaHMA2 in the presence of both NaCl and Cd. In vivo and in vitro assays revealed that NaCl inhibited the binding of TaWRKY13 to the TaHMA2 promoter. This work reveals that NaCl and Cd antagonize uptake at the molecular level and provides new insights for future reductions in Cd accumulation in wheat. [Display omitted] • Exogenous NaCl can reduce the uptake of Cd by wheat plants. • Overexpression of TaNHX2 improved tolerance to Cd stress in wheat. • TaWRKY13 binds the promoters of TaNHX2 and TaHMA2. • NaCl promoted the binding of TaWRKY13 to the TaNHX2 promoter. • NaCl inhibited the binding of TaWRKY13 to the TaHMA2 promoter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]