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Abstract Background Triple‐negative breast cancer (TNBC), which is so called because of the lack of estrogen receptors (ER), progesterone receptors (PR), and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) receptors on the cancer cells, accounts for 10%–15% of all breast cancers. The heterogeneity of the tumor microenvironment is high. However, the role of plasma cells controlling the tumor migration progression in TNBC is still not fully understood. Methods We analyzed single‐cell RNA sequencing data from five HER2 positive, 12 ER positive/PR positive, and nine TNBC samples. The potential targets were validated by immunohistochemistry. Results Plasma cells were enriched in TNBC samples, which was consistent with validation using data from The Cancer Genome Atlas. Cell communication analysis revealed that plasma cells interact with T cells through the intercellular adhesion molecule 2–integrin–aLb2 complex, and then release interleukin 1 beta (IL1B), as verified by immunohistochemistry, ultimately promoting tumor growth. Conclusion Our results revealed the role of plasma cells in TNBC and identified IL1B as a new prognostic marker for TNBC.

Wheat hybrids have been widely demonstrated to have remarkable heterosis or hybrid vigor in increasing yield potential and stability since the 1960s. Two-line hybrid wheat can achieve higher yields than local varieties, especially in marginal environments. However, the commercial application of hybrid wheat is hindered by higher seed costs, primarily due to lower yields in hybrid seed production. Stigma exsertion has been verified as a decisive factor in increasing rice’s hybrid seed yield, but more investigation is needed in hybrid wheat breeding and production. In this study, four thermo-photo-sensitive genic male sterile lines, including K41S, K64S, K66S, and K68S, with different stigma exsertion rates (SERs) were used to compare the differences in floral architecture relative to stigma exsertion over two growing seasons. The results revealed that the K41S and K64S exhibited a relatively higher SER at 21.87% and 22.81%, respectively. No exserted stigma was observed in K66S, and K68S had an SER of only 0.82%. This study found that the stigma length, glume width and the length–width ratio of the glume were significantly correlated with the SER, with correlation coefficients of 0.46, −0.46 and 0.60, respectively. Other stigma features such as the branch angle, stretch width and hairbrush length, as well as the glume length, also had a weakly positive correlation with SER (r = 0.09–0.27). For K41S and K64S, the SER was significantly affected by the differences in the stigma branch angle and stigma stretch width among florets. A cross-pollination survey showed that the out-crossing ability of florets with an exserted stigma was about three times as high as that of florets with a non-exserted stigma. As a result, the stigma-exserted florets that accounted for 21.87% and 22.81% of the total florets in K41S and K64S produced 46.80% and 48.53% of the total cross-pollinated seeds in both sterile lines. These findings suggest that a longer stigma combined with a slender glume appears to be the essential floral feature of stigma exsertion in sterile wheat lines. It is expected that breeding and utilizing sterile lines with a higher SER would be a promising solution to cost-effective hybrid wheat seed production.

Background and objective Lung large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (LCNEC) is a rare and highly malignant lung tumor with a poor prognosis. Currently, most research on LCNEC is based on retrospective studies and lacks validation in the real world. The study aims to identify independent risk factors and establish and validate a predictive model for the prognosis of LCNEC. Methods Patient data were extracted from Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) and our department's hospitalization records from 2010 to 2015 and 2016 to 2020, respectively. Kaplan-Meier analysis was used to evaluate overall survival (OS). OS is defined as the time from diagnosis to death or last follow-up for a patient. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were performed to identify significant prognostic factors and construct a Nomogram for predicting the prognosis of LCNEC. Results In total, 1892 LCNEC patients were included and divided into a training cohort (n=1288) and two validation cohorts (n=552, n=52). Univariate Cox regression analysis showed that age, gender, primary tumor site, laterality, T stage, N stage, M stage, surgery, and radiotherapy were factors that could affect the prognosis of LCNEC patients (P

ABSTRACTObjective: Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma (DLBCL) is a common and frequently occurring subtype of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL). The effective treatment and prognosis of DLBCL are still urgently needed to be explored. This article aims to shed light on the connection between DLBCL survival and NR3C1 expression levels. Methods: First, we divided the 952 DLBCL patients into an NR3C1 high-expression group and an NR3C1 low-expression group and compared the baseline characteristics of the two groups. Second, we used multivariate analysis to predict the dependent variable for age, pathology, ECOG score, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) ratio, and NR3C1 expression level. Finally, we analyzed the progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival rate (OS) of DLBCL patients with high or low NR3C1 expression. Results: DLBCL patients with high NR3C1 expression had a better prognosis than those with low NR3C1 expression (OS, P

The construction of Z-scheme heterostructures is of great significance for realizing efficient photocatalytic water splitting. Here, the authors report an interfacial chemical bond and internal electric field modulated Z-Scheme Sv-ZnIn2S4/MoSe2 photocatalyst for efficient hydrogen evolution.

While H2 could be a renewable fuel, the large-scale preparation of cheap, active electrocatalysts for large-scale production remains a challenge. Here, authors use a rapid, solvent-free microwave pyrolysis method to synthesize nanostructured catalysts for large-scale industrial H2 production.

The design of nanostructured catalysts plays a key role in the electrocatalytic redox reaction performances. Here, authors prepared uniform and small-sized high-entropy alloy PtNiFeCoCu nanoparticles that showed improved activities for H2 evolution methanol oxidation reactions.

Abstract Background Two-line hybrid wheat system using thermo-photo sensitive genic male sterility (TPSGMS) is currently the most promising approach for wheat heterosis utilization in China. However, during past 20 years only few TPSGMS lines were developed in hybrid wheat breeding, which has been the main limiting factor to create heterotic hybrids. Application of doubled haploid (DH) breeding provides a useful strategy to efficiently develop practically usable TPSGMS lines. Results F1s and selected F2 and F3 sterile plants of eight crosses made from two commercial TPSGMS lines were used to produce DH lines. We developed a total of 24 elite DH sterile lines with stable sterility, good outcrossing and yield potential, resistance to yellow rust and powdery mildew, as well as desirable plant height (50–60 cm). These DH lines were developed within 4 years through at least 1 year of evaluation. The stability of male sterility was confirmed for most (20/24) of these elite DH sterile lines by multiple tests in two or 3 years. These lines are expected to be used in hybrid wheat breeding. The percentage of elite lines developed from the tested DH lines produced from filial generations was in the order of F2 > F3 > F1. Conclusions We demonstrate that coupling DH techniques with conventional breeding is an efficient strategy for accelerating the development of more practical wheat TPSGMS lines. Generation of DHs from F2 generation appeared to be the better choice considering the balance of shortening breeding time and overall breeding efficiency.

In this paper, a mold electromagnetic stirring (M-EMS) model was established to investigate the behavior of M-EMS for round bloom castings under different conditions, and an electromagnetic-flow-heat transfer-solidification coupling model was established to explore the problem of eccentric stirring for various formats of round blooms. The results show that the magnetic flux density decreased with the increase in the current frequency, but the electromagnetic torque increases first and then decreases with it, and the same structure of M-EMS for round blooms has the same optimal current frequency at any current intensity. The electromagnetic torque and electromagnetic force both increase as a quadratic function of the current intensity, and the electromagnetic torque, which drives the steel flow, can directly characterize the real M-EMS performance. The mold copper tube has a significant magnetic shielding effect on M-EMS, the stirring intensity decreases rapidly as the tube thickness increases, and the optimal stirring frequency decreases as well. In fact, the deviation between the stirrer center and the geometric center of the strand can result in the eccentric stirring phenomenon. When blooms with a section size of Φ350 mm are produced by Φ650 mm SMS-Concast casting machine, the upper region of the inner arc side and the lower region of the outer arc side are subject to a stronger washing effect, which makes the temperature of the inner and outer arcs show alternating differences. The jet flow from the five-port nozzle can suppress the difference in initial solidification symmetry between the inner and outer arcs of round blooms caused by eccentric stirring. This paper reveals the magnetic shielding effect of the mold copper tube and the magnetic field loss of the air between the stirrer and the inner and outer arcs of the copper, which lead to the stirring intensity and the eccentric stirring phenomenon.

Using styrene as a proxy for VOCs, a new method was developed to remove styrene gas in nitrogen atmospheres. The effect on the styrene removal efficiency was explored by varying parameters within the continuum dynamic experimental setup, such as ferrous ion concentration, hydrogen peroxide concentration, and pH values. The by-products are quantized by a TOC analyzer. The optimal process conditions were hydrogen peroxide at 20 mmol/L, ferrous ions at 0.3 mmol/L and pH 3, resulting in an average styrene removal efficiency of 96.23%. In addition, in this study, we construct a BAS-BP neural network model with experimental data as a sample training set, which boosts the goodness-of-fit of the BP neural network and is able to tentatively predict styrene gas residuals for different front-end conditions.

Localization is a keystone for a robot to work within its environment and with other robots. There have been many methods used to solve this problem. This paper deals with the use of beacon-based localization to answer the research question: Can ultra-wideband technology be used to effectively localize a robot with sensor fusion? This paper has developed an innovative solution for creating a sensor fusion platform that uses ultra-wideband communication as a localization method to allow an environment to be perceived and inspected in three dimensions from multiple perspectives simultaneously. A series of contributions have been presented, supported by an in-depth literature review regarding topics in this field of knowledge. The proposed method was then designed, built, and tested successfully in two different environments exceeding its required tolerances. The result of the testing and the ideas formulated throughout the paper were discussed and future work outlined on how to build upon this work in potential academic papers and projects.

The relationship between the popular hot charging associated surface crack sensitivity and the charging temperature was studied from the view of phase transformation. The austenite reversion with various charging temperatures was investigated through the thermal simulation experiments. And a two-dimensional representative volume element model was constructed to analyze the crack sensitivity related to microstructures. Compared to cold charging reversion, with the residual austenite in starting microstructure, the kinetics of hot charging reversion is slightly accelerated and the reversion behavior is changed. As the charging temperature increases, the austenite nucleation-growth from pearlite and ferrite grain boundaries are suppressed, while the austenitization through the growth of residual austenite is enhanced. The change of transformation behavior facilitates the formation of ferrite film during reversion through the morphological influence of austenitization modes. With the increasing of charging temperature, the film-like morphology of the evolved ferrite intensifies, especially in the two-phase temperature range. Consequently, the calculated crack sensitivity index rises sharply from 0.0006 to 0.029 when the charging temperature increases from Ar1 to Ar3 temperature, which is agreeable with the statistical production data. Additionally, it was observed that the incomplete γ → α → γ transformation cannot bring an effective austenite grain refining for the present steel.

With requirements to improve life quality, smart homes, and healthcare have gradually become a future lifestyle. In particular, service robots with human behavioral sensing for private or personal use in the home have attracted a lot of research attention thanks to their advantages in relieving high labor costs and the fatigue of human assistance. In this paper, a novel force-sensing- and robotic learning algorithm-based teaching interface for robot massaging has been proposed. For the teaching purposes, a human operator physically holds the end-effector of the robot to perform the demonstration. At this stage, the end position data are outputted and sent to be segmented via the Finite Difference (FD) method. A Dynamic Movement Primitive (DMP) is utilized to model and generalize the human-like movements. In order to learn from multiple demonstrations, Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) is used for the preprocessing of the data recorded on the robot platform, and a Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) is employed for the evaluation of DMP to generate multiple patterns after the completion of the teaching process. After that, a Gaussian Mixture Regression (GMR) algorithm is applied to generate a synthesized trajectory to minimize position errors. Then a hybrid position/force controller is integrated to track the desired trajectory in the task space while considering the safety of human-robot interaction. The validation of our proposed method has been performed and proved by conducting massage tasks on a KUKA LBR iiwa robot platform.

This paper developed a character recombination technology based on dynamic movement primitive (DMP) segmentation using verbal command on a Baxter robot platform. Movements are recorded from a human demonstrator. The operator physically guides the Baxter robot to perform the movements for five times. This training data set is also utilized for playback process. Subsequently, the dynamic time warping is employed to pre-treat the data. The DMP is used to model and generalize every single movement. Gaussian mixture model is used to generate multiple patterns after the teaching process. Then the Gaussian mixture regression algorithm is applied to reduce the position errors in 3D space after the generation of a synthesized trajectory. A remote PC is used to control the command of Baxter to record or playback any trajectories via user datagram protocol (UDP) by typing commands in a text file. In addition, Dragon NaturalSpeaking software is used to transfer the voice data to text data. This proposed approach is tested by performing a Chinese character writing task with a Baxter robot, where different Chinese characters are written by teaching only one character.

Solar steam generation to generate steam through solar light-driven surface evaporation can be an attractive methodology that utilizes green and inexhaustible solar energy to generate water steam and fresh water with superior efficiency. However, some drawbacks of the current photothermal conversion materials such as complicated fabrication process, high cost, and low salt tolerance often heavily restrict their wide applications. Herein, a green and low-cost method is designed and developed for constructing a free-standing, elastic, and highly tough 3D network of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and MXene through an efficient "egg-box" coordination mechanism in only one step for high-efficiency water evaporation. When the mass ratios of MXene and CNTs are designed at 1:1.5 and cross-linked with sodium alginate and CaCl2, the obtained MCS-3 shows the most excellent light absorption and hydrophilicity, leading to the best evaporation rate of 1.644 kgm-2 h-1, and the highest photothermal conversion efficiency of 96%. Moreover, subject to different harsh environments and durability tests, MCS-3 also shows desired structural stability and evaporation performance. As demonstrated by its extraordinary photothermal evaporation properties, MCS-3 can envision a wide range of commercial applications covering wastewater purification, brine seawater, desalination, etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to reduce the fire risk of rigid polyurethane foams (RPUF), three kinds of zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs) were prepared. The results of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscope (SEM and X-ray diffraction (XRD) showed that ZIFs were successfully prepared. The combustion test results showed that the heat and smoke production of the composite containing ZIFs was obviously reduced. In particular, the peak heat release rate (PHRR) of ZIF-8/RPUF decreased from 740.85 kW/m2 (Ref. RPUF) to 489.56 kW/m2, while the PHRR of ZIF-7/RPUF and ZIF-11/RPUF is 598.39 and 583.36 kW/m2, respectively. The addition of ZIFs improved the thermostability of the composite. The T50% of ZIF-8/RPUF, ZIF-7/RPUF and ZIF-11/RPUF increased to 364, 382 and 380 °C, respectively. The maximum light absorption of ZIF-7/RPUF and ZIF-11/RPUF was about 88%, which is higher than that of ZIF-8/RPUF (75%). The results of Raman spectroscopy showed that the ID/IG value of Ref. RPUF is 2.96, while the ID/IG value of ZIFs/RPUF reduces to less than 2.80. The main mechanism of ZIFs for reducing the fire risk of RPUF was the catalysis and incarbonization of ZIFs during combustion based on the results of thermogravimetric analysis and Raman spectroscopy of char residue.

To improve sulfuric acid recovery from sodium sulfate wastewater, a lab-scale bipolar membrane electrodialysis (BMED) process was used for the treatment of simulated sodium sulfate wastewater. In order to increase the concentration of sulfuric acid (H2SO4) generated during the process, a certain concentration of ammonium sulfate solution was added into the feed compartment. To study the influencing factors of sulfuric acid yield, we prepared different concentrations of ammonium sulfate solution, different feed solution volumes, and different membrane configurations in this experiment. As it can be seen from the results, when adding 8% (NH4)2SO4 into 15% Na2SO4 under the experimental conditions where the current density was 50 mA/cm2, the concentration of H2SO4 increased from 0.89 to 1.215 mol/L, and the current efficiency and energy consumption could be up to 60.12% and 2.59 kWh/kg, respectively. Furthermore, with the increase of the volume of the feed compartment, the concentration of H2SO4 also increased. At the same time, the configuration also affects the final concentration of the sulfuric acid; in the BP-A-C-BP (“BP” means bipolar membrane, “A” means anion exchange membrane, and “C” means cation exchange membrane; “BP-A-C-BP” means that two bipolar membranes, an anion exchange membrane, and a cation exchange membrane are alternately arranged to form a repeating unit of the membrane stack) configuration, a higher H2SO4 concentration was generated and less energy was consumed. The results show that the addition of the double conjugate salt is an effective method to increase the concentration of acid produced in the BMED process.

The development of a noble-metal-free cocatalyst is of great significance for boosting photocatalytic H2 evolution performance. Herein, SnSe2 is developed as a cocatalyst to in situ attachment on the surface of sulfur defect rich ZnIn2S4 (Vs-ZIS) via a simple hydrothermal method. Owing to the intimate atomic-level interface and the different work function between Vs-ZIS and SnSe2, a particular Ohmic junction with internal electric field is formed in Vs-ZIS/SnSe2, which facilitates the electrons in Vs-ZIS transfer to SnSe2 and participate in H2 evolution reaction rapidly. Moreover, the abundant S vacancies also benefit the separation of photocarriers in Vs-ZIS/SnSe2. The optimized Vs-ZIS/SnSe2 photocatalyst performs a high H2 evolution rate of 29.34mmol h-1 g-1 under visible light (p >420 nm) and an apparent quantum efficiency of 12.25% at 420 nm. Herein, constructive model on developing effective cocatalyst is afforded, and expediting photocarriers transfer through interfacial modulating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the Maxwell’s equations, a finite element model is established to study the characteristics of electromagnetic field in the mold of billet and bloom continuous casting with electromagnetic stirring (M-EMS). A novel integral method for calculating electromagnetic torque is proposed to evaluate the stirring intensity of stirrer. In order to verify the accuracy of the model, a well-designed electromagnetic torque detecting device is fabricated. The predicted value of electromagnetic torque and magnetic flux density are consistent with the measured data. The optimum frequency is determined by the maximal electromagnetic torque of the strand. The effect of stirring current intensity and different stirrer positions along the length of mold on the electromagnetic field has been studied numerically. The results show that the optimum frequency is smaller when the copper tube of the mold is thicker and the section size is bigger. Besides, the electromagnetic torque of the strand is a quadratic function of the running current intensity. Moreover, the installation position of stirrer strongly affects the prediction of electromagnetic field distribution, further influencing the optimum frequency and the electromagnetic torque of strand.

The flocculating ability of the flocculant directly affects the quality of the treated water. Poly-ferric sulfate flocculant (PFS) is a commonly used flocculant. The purpose of this study is to use the electrodialysis process to concentrate the solution and the bipolar membrane electrodialysis to dissociate water to produce acid and alkali to achieve the preparation of poly-ferric sulfate flocculant. The effects of current density, feed flow rate, and sulfuric acid addition on the quality of PFS were tested. Experiments have proved that the increase of current density is beneficial to the increase of PFS alkalinity and turbidity removal rate, and at the same time energy consumption will be reduced. When the current density is 30 mA/cm2, the alkalinity reaches a maximum of 21.04% and the energy consumption is 1.52 kW·h (kg H2SO4). When the current density is 20 mA/cm2, the turbidity removal rate reaches a maximum of 94.23% and the energy consumption is 2.46 kW·h (kg H2SO4). In addition, the solid PFS was subjected to scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy tests after vacuum drying to further confirm the structure of the PFS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rechargeable Li-O2 batteries have attracted worldwide attention due to their super-high energy density. However, there are still many critical challenges for Li-O2 batteries, such as huge overpotential caused by sluggish oxygen reduction/evolution reaction (ORR/OER) kinetics, and inferior cycle life derived from severe side reactions. Designing highly efficient cathode catalysts should be a good choice for Li-O2 batteries to solve the above problems. Herein, we developed Ir-coated Co nanoparticles confined into highly porous N-doped carbon nanocubes grafted with carbon nanotubes (Ir-Co/HP-NC/CNT) through carbonization of the Co/Zn-zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF) and the subsequent Ir-coating. Introduction of Zn into the ZIF precursor not only makes Ir-Co/HP-NC/CNT have high porosity that can promote ion/electron transfer, but also improves the surface content of pyridinic/graphitic N and CoxN phases which accelerate ORR/OER kinetics. Moreover, theoretical calculation/experimental results further confirm that the synergy between the Ir-coating and Co/HP-NC/CNT can effectively alleviate undesired parasitic reactions and also enhance reversibility in Li-O2 batteries by adjusting Li2O2 formation. As a result, Ir-Co/HP-NC/CNT based Li-O2 batteries show a super-high discharge capacity of 13 200 mA h g-1 at 100 mA g-1 and a very long cycling life up to 320 cycles at 500 mA g-1 with a fixed capacity of 1000 mA h g-1. Importantly, we have also designed large-size bulk-shaped Li-air batteries with Ir-Co/HP-NC/CNT cathodes that exhibit good performance even under bending conditions and effectively power practical electronic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, people were advised to keep a social distance from others. People's behaviors will also be noticed, such as lying down because of illness, regarded as abnormal conditions. This paper proposes a visual anomaly analysis system based on deep learning to identify individuals with various anomaly types. In the study, two types of anomaly detections are concerned. The first is monitoring the anomaly in the case of falling in an open public area. The second is measuring the social distance of people in the area to warn the individuals under a short distance. By implementing a deep model named You Only Look Once, the related anomaly can be identified accurately in a wide range of open spaces. Experimental results show that the detection accuracy of the proposed method is 91%. In the social distance, the actual social distance is calculated by calculating the plane distance to ensure that everyone can meet the specification. Integrating the two functions and implementing the environmental monitoring system will make it easier to monitor and manage the disease-related abnormalities on the site. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The information collected through multi-environment testing of wheat genotypes not only provides basis to identify promising genotypes but also to ascertain their yield potential and the genetic gains. For this purpose, in the presented study, the data originated from the Yunnan provincial Regional Yield Trials (RYT) conducted during 2006 and 2018 was used. During this period, 107 genotypes were evaluated at 18 locations under Upland Wheat (UW) management scheme, while 116 genotypes were evaluated at 21 locations under Field Wheat (FW) management scheme. By adopting standard statistical approaches and through repeated elimination procedures, 7 genotypes emerged as promising for UW and 11 for FW cultivation. These genotypes have genetic variance >1 and 44/33% higher average yield than that of UW/FW genotypes. Most of these promising genotypes were tested during 2016 and 2018 cropping seasons. This indicated a good genetic gain of around 0.7 t/ha in recent years from that of base year. These genotypes, however, needs to be further evaluated in diverse environments suitable for spring type wheat cultivation to ascertain the extent of their interaction with wider environmental conditions and possibility of using in local breeding programs of those target environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fullerene C60 nanotubes (FNTs) were prepared via liquid-liquid interfacial precipitation using N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) as solvent and isopropyl alcohol (IPA) as precipitation agent at 8°C. C60-saturated NMP solutions were exposed to visible light to promote the growth of FNTs. Scanning electron microscopy revealed that fibers prepared in the NMP/IPA system show three different morphologies. On the basis of the different morphologies of fullerene C60 nanofibers (FNFs), a possible growth mechanism to describe the formation process of FNTs is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Agricultural Science & Technology is the property of Hunan Academy of Agricultural Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Agricultural Science & Technology is the property of Hunan Academy of Agricultural Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Agricultural Science & Technology is the property of Hunan Academy of Agricultural Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Wheat hybrids have been widely demonstrated to have remarkable heterosis or hybrid vigor in increasing yield potential and stability since the 1960s. Two-line hybrid wheat can achieve higher yields than local varieties, especially in marginal environments. However, the commercial application of hybrid wheat is hindered by higher seed costs, primarily due to lower yields in hybrid seed production. Stigma exsertion has been verified as a decisive factor in increasing rice's hybrid seed yield, but more investigation is needed in hybrid wheat breeding and production. In this study, four thermo-photo-sensitive genic male sterile lines, including K41S, K64S, K66S, and K68S, with different stigma exsertion rates (SERs) were used to compare the differences in floral architecture relative to stigma exsertion over two growing seasons. The results revealed that the K41S and K64S exhibited a relatively higher SER at 21.87% and 22.81%, respectively. No exserted stigma was observed in K66S, and K68S had an SER of only 0.82%. This study found that the stigma length, glume width and the length–width ratio of the glume were significantly correlated with the SER, with correlation coefficients of 0.46, −0.46 and 0.60, respectively. Other stigma features such as the branch angle, stretch width and hairbrush length, as well as the glume length, also had a weakly positive correlation with SER (r = 0.09–0.27). For K41S and K64S, the SER was significantly affected by the differences in the stigma branch angle and stigma stretch width among florets. A cross-pollination survey showed that the out-crossing ability of florets with an exserted stigma was about three times as high as that of florets with a non-exserted stigma. As a result, the stigma-exserted florets that accounted for 21.87% and 22.81% of the total florets in K41S and K64S produced 46.80% and 48.53% of the total cross-pollinated seeds in both sterile lines. These findings suggest that a longer stigma combined with a slender glume appears to be the essential floral feature of stigma exsertion in sterile wheat lines. It is expected that breeding and utilizing sterile lines with a higher SER would be a promising solution to cost-effective hybrid wheat seed production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma (DLBCL) is a common and frequently occurring subtype of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL). The effective treatment and prognosis of DLBCL are still urgently needed to be explored. This article aims to shed light on the connection between DLBCL survival and NR3C1 expression levels. Methods: First, we divided the 952 DLBCL patients into an NR3C1 high-expression group and an NR3C1 low-expression group and compared the baseline characteristics of the two groups. Second, we used multivariate analysis to predict the dependent variable for age, pathology, ECOG score, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) ratio, and NR3C1 expression level. Finally, we analyzed the progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival rate (OS) of DLBCL patients with high or low NR3C1 expression. Results: DLBCL patients with high NR3C1 expression had a better prognosis than those with low NR3C1 expression (OS, P < 0.0001). In DLBCL patients of CHOP therapy, high NR3C1 expression was associated with a good survival prognosis in OS (OS, P = 0.028). Conclusion: In multivariate analysis, NR3C1 high expression was an independent prognostic factor that predicted a longer OS of DLBCL (OS, P = 0.0003). NR3C1 is considered an independent predictor of DLBCL patients and can be used as a biomarker for the prognosis of DLBCL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) begin to be used as flame retardants in polymer in recent years. Currently, most of researches focus on the traditional MOFs, which are designed for gas storage and separation fields. Herein, we reported that the zeolitic imidazolate frameworks with high nitrogen content (N-ZIF-8) were designed for producing more nitrogen-containing compounds to dilute the flammable gas. Subsequently, the effect of N-ZIF-8 on fire safety of RPUF was investigated. The results showed that the percentage of N in N-ZIF-8 increases by 79.17% from 26.12% (ZIF-8) to 46.80% and non-flammable gases produced by N-ZIF-8 is much more in early stage, which benefits to dilute the flammable gas during combustion. Furthermore, N-ZIF-8 increased the char residue of RPUF composites to more than 20% at 800 °C. At 300 s, the total heat release of Ref. RPUF reaches 36.48 MJ m−2, while the THR of RPUF1 and RPUF3 reaches 30.32 MJ m−2 and 26.20 MJ m−2, respectively. In conclusion, zeolitic imidazolate frameworks with high nitrogen was prepared and showed the considerable potential for application as flame retardant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acoustic materials embed with inorganic fillers in viscoelastic polymers have promising applications in industrial settings. However, optimizing the sound insulation of composites by adjusting the microstructure of nanofillers remains a challenge. In this study, we synthesize adjustable hollow hierarchical Zeolite Socony Mobil #5 (ZSM‐5) which can be used as nanofillers in a sound insulation nanocomposite based on the polyacrylate (PA). The results show that the nanocomposites with 0.5 wt% hierarchical hollow ZSM‐5 can increase the sound transmission loss (STL) by 33.4%. The maximum STL value reaches as high as 40 dB. The damping properties of the nanocomposites were also improved by adding ZSM‐5 into the PA matrix. When the loading of hollow ZSM‐5 is 0.5 wt%, the storage modulus increased by 44%, as high as 4486.7 MPa. This strategy opens up a promising way for the sound insulation of composites based on controllable inorganic nanofillers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sunlight, as one of the inexhaustible green energy sources, is attracting rising attention, particularly with the rapid depletion of traditional fossil fuels nowadays. Chitosan (CHT) is an abundant natural product that can be converted into N‐doped porous carbon which has a strong light absorption ability. Herein, chitosan is employed with the accordion‐like multilayered mMXene (mMXene) to fabricate the 3D thermally insulated and low‐cost composites using melamine foam (MF) as a template. The obtained MF/CHT/mMXene (MCM) composites with different mass ratios of mMXene/chitosan are then subject to a simple annealing treatment at 500 °C for 2 h to afford 3D and self‐floating carbonized carbonized MF/CHT/mMXene (CMCM) composites. The CMCM‐1 obtained with mass ratio of CHT/mMXene at 1:1 displays low thermal conductivity, high hydrophilicity, and good light absorbance. When it is utilized as the evaporator of pure water and seawater, its evaporation rates can reach at 1.554 and 1.428 kg m−2 h−1 under 1 kW m−2 irradiation and the photothermal conversion efficiency can reach at 89.8%. In addition, the CMCM‐1 composite also displays excellent desalination ability, self‐desalination ability, good cycle stability, and reliable safety performance. Combining these advantages, CMCM‐1 composite may have potential practical applications for seawater evaporation and wastewater treatment, etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Nearly half of adult acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients were classified into cytogenetic normal acute myeloid leukemia (CN-AML). The expression level of Trophinin associated protein (TROAP) was proven to be associated with the prognosis of several cancers, but it is still unclear in the prognosis of patients with CN-AML. METHODS: We integrated CN-AML patient samples from 4 datasets to analyze the relationship between TROAP expression and the survival of CN-AML. In addition, we investigated 92 AML patients of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database to analyze the relationship between TROAP expression and the survival of AML patients received chemotherapy. We investigated the relationship between the expression of TROAP and drug sensitivity in AML cell lines. RESULTS: CN-AML patients with high TROAP expression were related to good event-free survival (EFS) and overall survival (OS). In AML patients received chemotherapy, high TROAP expression was associated with good survival prognosis. Additionally, the expression of TROAP gene in leukemia stem cells (LSC) + group was lower. Among multiple drugs, the lower the expression of TROAP, the lower the IC50. CONCLUSION: TROAP could serve as an independent predictor of CN-AML patients and could act as a potential biomarker for the prognosis of CN-AML. TROAP expression levels were closely correlated with the drug sensitivity of multiple drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a significantly heterogeneous malignancy of the blood. Cytogenetic abnormalities are crucial for the prognosis of AML. However, since more than half of patients with AML are cytogenetically normal AML (CN-AML), predictive prognostic indicators need to be further refined. In recent years, gene abnormalities are considered to be strong prognostic factors of CN-AML, already having clinical significance for treatment. In addition, the relationship of methylation in some genes and AML prognosis predicting has been discovered. RASGEF1A is a guanine nucleotide exchange factors of Ras and widely expressed in brain tissue, bone marrow and 17 other tissues. RASGEF1A has been reported to be associated with a variety of malignant tumors, examples include Hirschsprung disease, renal cell carcinoma, breast cancer, diffuse large B cell lymphoma, intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma and so on [1, 2]. However, the relationship between the RASGEF1A gene and CN-AML has not been reported. METHODS: By integrating the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database 75 patients with CN-AML and 240 Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database CN-AML samples, we examined the association between RASGEF1A's RNA expression level and DNA methylation of and AML patients' prognosis. Then, we investigated the RASGEF1A RNA expression and DNA methylation's prognostic value in 77 patients with AML after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (Allo-HSCT) as well as 101 AML patients after chemotherapy respectively. We investigated the association between sensitivity to Crenolanib and expression level of RASGED1A in patients by integrating 191 CN-AML patients from BeatAML dadataset. We integrated the expression and methylation of RASGEF1A to predict the CN-AML patients' prognosis and investigated the relationship between prognostic of AML patients with different risk classification and expression levels or methylation levels of RASGEF1A. RESULTS: We found that RASGEF1A gene high expression group predicted poorer event-free survival (EFS) (P < 0.0001) as well as overall survival (OS) (P < 0.0001) in CN-AML samples, and the identical results were found in AML patients receiving chemotherapy (P < 0.0001) and Allo-HSCT (P < 0.0001). RASGEF1A RNA expression level is an CN-AML patients' independent prognostic factor (EFS: HR = 5.5534, 95% CI: 1.2982–23.756, P = 0.0208; OS: HR = 5.3615, 95% CI: 1.1014–26.099, P = 0.0376). The IC50 (half maximal inhibitory concentration) of Crenolanib of CN-AML samples with RASGEF1A high expression level is lower. In addition, patients with high RASGEF1A methylation level had significant favorable prognosis (EPS: P < 0.0001, OS: P < 0.0001). Furthermore, the integrative analysis of expression and methylation of RASGEF1A could classify CN-AML patients into subgroups with different prognosis (EFS: P = 0.034, OS: P = 0.0024). Expression levels or methylation levels of RASGEF1A help to improve risk classification of 2010 European Leukemia Net. CONCLUSION: Higher RASGEF1A RNA expression and lower DNA methylation predicts CN-AML patients' poorer prognosis. The RASGEF1A high expression level from patients with CN-AML have better sensitivity to Crenolanib. The integrative analysis of RASGEF1A RNA expression and DNA methylation can provide a more accurate classification for prognosis. Lower RASGEF1A expression is a favorable prognostic factor for AML patients receiving chemotherapy or Allo-HSCT. 2010 European Leukemia Net's risk classification can be improved by RASGEF1A expression levels or methylation levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using styrene as a proxy for VOCs, a new method was developed to remove styrene gas in nitrogen atmospheres. The effect on the styrene removal efficiency was explored by varying parameters within the continuum dynamic experimental setup, such as ferrous ion concentration, hydrogen peroxide concentration, and pH values. The by-products are quantized by a TOC analyzer. The optimal process conditions were hydrogen peroxide at 20 mmol/L, ferrous ions at 0.3 mmol/L and pH 3, resulting in an average styrene removal efficiency of 96.23%. In addition, in this study, we construct a BAS-BP neural network model with experimental data as a sample training set, which boosts the goodness-of-fit of the BP neural network and is able to tentatively predict styrene gas residuals for different front-end conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a mold electromagnetic stirring (M-EMS) model was established to investigate the behavior of M-EMS for round bloom castings under different conditions, and an electromagnetic-flow-heat transfer-solidification coupling model was established to explore the problem of eccentric stirring for various formats of round blooms. The results show that the magnetic flux density decreased with the increase in the current frequency, but the electromagnetic torque increases first and then decreases with it, and the same structure of M-EMS for round blooms has the same optimal current frequency at any current intensity. The electromagnetic torque and electromagnetic force both increase as a quadratic function of the current intensity, and the electromagnetic torque, which drives the steel flow, can directly characterize the real M-EMS performance. The mold copper tube has a significant magnetic shielding effect on M-EMS, the stirring intensity decreases rapidly as the tube thickness increases, and the optimal stirring frequency decreases as well. In fact, the deviation between the stirrer center and the geometric center of the strand can result in the eccentric stirring phenomenon. When blooms with a section size of Φ350 mm are produced by Φ650 mm SMS-Concast casting machine, the upper region of the inner arc side and the lower region of the outer arc side are subject to a stronger washing effect, which makes the temperature of the inner and outer arcs show alternating differences. The jet flow from the five-port nozzle can suppress the difference in initial solidification symmetry between the inner and outer arcs of round blooms caused by eccentric stirring. This paper reveals the magnetic shielding effect of the mold copper tube and the magnetic field loss of the air between the stirrer and the inner and outer arcs of the copper, which lead to the stirring intensity and the eccentric stirring phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Localization is a keystone for a robot to work within its environment and with other robots. There have been many methods used to solve this problem. This paper deals with the use of beacon-based localization to answer the research question: Can ultra-wideband technology be used to effectively localize a robot with sensor fusion? This paper has developed an innovative solution for creating a sensor fusion platform that uses ultra-wideband communication as a localization method to allow an environment to be perceived and inspected in three dimensions from multiple perspectives simultaneously. A series of contributions have been presented, supported by an in-depth literature review regarding topics in this field of knowledge. The proposed method was then designed, built, and tested successfully in two different environments exceeding its required tolerances. The result of the testing and the ideas formulated throughout the paper were discussed and future work outlined on how to build upon this work in potential academic papers and projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To study the influence of the T31 content on the combustion properties and thermal degradation behaviors of flame-retardant epoxy composites, a series of flame-retardant epoxy composites were prepared using E-44 epoxy resin as matrix, T31 curing agent as curing agent, and intumescent flame retardant (IFR, based on phosphorus acid, melamine, and pentaerythritol) as flame retardant. The influence of T31 content on combustion behaviors and thermal degradation properties of the flame-retardant epoxy composites were studied using cone calorimeter test (CCT) and thermal-gravimetric analysis (TG), respectively. The cone calorimeter test results indicate that the decrease of T31 can significantly decrease the HRR, THR, SPR, and enhance the char residue of the epoxy composites. EP-4 with 7.0 wt% T31 shows the lowest HRR, SPR and the highest char residue. Furthermore, the TG results indicate that the EP-4 has the highest char residue among all the epoxy composites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research of the spatial and temporal distribution of the extinguishant concentration is necessary for the design of a fire extinguishing system. The detection technique based on the differential pressure principle is very suitable for the extinguishant concentration measurement. This paper focused on studying the effect of sensing structure on sensing performance. It was found that due to the solid sensing structure, the sensor had good stability and reproducibility, and the response/sensitivity would increase with the increase of the throat diameter of the critical flow nozzle and temperature, and with the decrease of the inner diameter and the number of the tubes of the vascular bundles, which were in good agreement with the theoretical prediction. For the response rate, it could be improved by increasing the throat diameter and decreasing the external diameter of the vascular bundles, but these also caused the great increase in the response fluctuation, which could lead to the decrease in measuring accuracy despite the improvement in response and sensitivity, especially for the high concentration. However, the increase of the temperature would efficiently reduce the response fluctuation while improving the response and sensitivity. The research results can provide good theoretical suggestions for the sensor design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photocatalytic water-splitting with Z-scheme semiconductor heterojunctions is a promising way to achieve renewable solar fuels. Nevertheless, development of earth-abundant direct Z-scheme photocatalytic systems for efficient H2 production is still underdeveloped. In this work, porous heterostructures of S-deficient CoS/CdS hexagonal nanoplates (HNPs) were fabricated for the first time through a self-template approach combined with a solvothermal process. As indicated by scanning Kelvin probe microscopy and ˙OH radical measurements, such a CoS/CdS heterojunction follows the Z-scheme charge transfer pathway. Noticeably, these unique CoS/CdS HNPs demonstrated excellent photocatalytic activity and stability for the H2 evolution reaction (HER) under visible-light irradiation (λ >400 nm). Specifically, the optimal HER rate is as high as 39.29 mmol g−1 h−1 (corresponding to the apparent quantum yield of 14.5% at 400 nm), approximately 152, 112, and 51 times that of CoS, CdS, and 3 wt% Pt-loaded CdS, respectively. The exceptional HER capability of CoS/CdS HNPs could be associated with their outstanding visible-light harvesting capability, efficient Z-scheme charge separation, and abundant H2 evolution active sites. The findings indicated here could impel the rational design of high-performance Z-scheme photocatalysts for energy and environmental applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Znic‐air (Zn‐air) cell has gained lots of attention due to its high specific energy. High activity and good stability of bifunctional electrocatalysts are very critical for Zn‐air cell. Herein, Co particles embedded in highly porous N‐doping carbon nanocube (Co/HP‐NC) has been successfully fabricated by pyrolyzing bimetallic Co/Zn‐zeolitic‐imidazolate framework (ZIF) and further evenly loaded with metallic Ru nanoparticles to obtain Ru‐coated Co/HP‐NC (Ru@Co/HP‐NC). Benefiting from introduction of Zn, Ru@Co/HP‐NC shows the large pore volume, small Co particles, high surface contents of Co4N and pyridinic/graphitic N. Furthermore, theoretical and experimental results further demonstrate that synergy of Ru coating with Co/HP‐NC can greatly improve the oxygen reduction/evolution reaction (ORR/OER) property of Ru@Co/HP‐NC. Furthermore, Ru@Co/HP‐NC based Zn‐air batteries present the high open circuit potential of 1.4 V, large power density of ∼210 mW cm−2, high discharge capacity (791 mAh g−1) and super‐long cycling life (∼475 cycles) with small overpotantials (∼0.89 V). Notably, flexible Zn‐air cell with Ru@Co/HP‐NC cathode also displays excellent flexibility and superior cycling stability under different bending conditions. The work provides the simple and reliable way to prepare high‐efficient electrocatalysts for high‐performance metal‐air systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]