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The AP2/ERF family constitutes one of the largest groups of transcription factors in the Solanaceae. AP2/ERF contributes to various plant biological processes, including growth, development, and responses to various stresses. The origins and functional diversification of AP2/ERF within the Solanaceae family remain poorly understood, primarily because of the complex interactions between whole-genome duplications (WGDs) and tandem duplications. In this study, a total of 1282 AP2/ERF proteins are identified from 7 Solanaceae genomes. The amplification of AP2/ERF genes was driven not only by WGDs but also by the presence of clusters of tandem duplicated genes. The conservation of synteny across different chromosomes provides compelling evidence for the impact of the WGD event on the distribution pattern of AP2/ERF genes. Distinct expression patterns suggest that the multiple copies of AP2/ERF genes evolved in different functional directions, catalyzing the diversification of roles among the duplicated genes, which was of great significance for the adaptability of Solanaceae. Gene silencing and overexpression assays suggest that ERF-1 members' role in regulating the timing of floral initiation in C. annuum. Our findings provide insights into the genomic origins, duplication events, and function divergence of the Solanaceae AP2/ERF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the safe and efficient utilization of hydrogen-enriched natural gas combustion in industrial gas-fired boilers, the present study adopted a combination of numerical simulation and field tests to investigate its adaptability. Firstly, the combustion characteristics of hydrogen-enriched natural gas with different hydrogen blending ratios and equivalence ratios were evaluated by using the Chemkin Pro platform. Secondly, a field experimental study was carried out based on the WNS2-1.25-Q gas-fired boiler to investigate the boiler's thermal efficiency, heat loss, and pollutant emissions after hydrogen addition. The results show that at the same equivalence ratio, with the hydrogen blending ratio increasing from 0% to 25%, the laminar flame propagation speed of the fuel increases, the extinction strain rate rises, and the combustion limit expands. The laminar flame propagation speed of premixed methane/air gas reaches the maximum value when the equivalence ratio is 1.0, and the combustion intensity of the flame is the highest at this time. In the field tests, as the hydrogen blending ratio increases from 0% to nearly 10% with the increasing excess air ratio, the boiler's thermal efficiency decreases as well as the NOx emission. This indicates that there exists a tradeoff between the boiler thermal efficiency and NOx emission in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many nuclear power plants have been built along China's coasts, and the migration and diffusion of radioactive nuclides in coastal harbours is very concerning. In this study, considering the decay and free diffusion of radioactive nuclides, a local hydrodynamic model based on the FVCOM was built to investigate the migration and diffusion of the radioactive nuclide tritium in Haizhou Bay, China. This model was calibrated according to the observed tidal level and flow velocity and direction, which provide an accurate background. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of tides and monsoons on the migration path and concentration variations in tritium over time. The results demonstrated that the simulated flow field can reflect real-life receiving waters. The distribution of the tritium concentration is affected by the flow field, which is related to the tides. Moreover, more severe radioactive contamination was exhibited in winter than in summer because monsoons may have hindered the migration and diffusion of tritium within the harbour. Given the poor hydrodynamic conditions and slow water exchange in the open ocean in Haizhou Bay, the diffusion rate of radioactive nuclides outside the bay area was higher than that within it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To summarize development processes and research hotspots of MRI research on acupuncture and to provide new insights for researchers in future studies. Methods: Publications regarding MRI on acupuncture from inception to 2020 were downloaded from the Web of Science Core Collection. VOSviewer 1.6.15 and CiteSpace V software were used for bibliometric analyses. The main analyses include collaboration analyses between countries/institutions/authors, co-occurrence analysis between keywords, as well as analyses on keyword bursts, citation references, and clusters of references. Results: A total of 829 papers were obtained with a continually increased trend over time. The most productive country and institution in this field were the People's Republic of China (475) and KyungHee University (70), respectively. Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine (83) was the most productive journal, and Neuroimage (454) was the most co-cited journal. Dhond's et al. (2008) article (co-citation counts: 58) and Napadow's et al. (2005) article (centrality: 0.21) were the most representative and symbolic references, with the highest co-citation number and centrality, respectively. Jie Tian had the highest number of publications (35) and Kathleen K S Hui was the most influential author (280 co-citations). The four hot topics in MRI on acupuncture were acupuncture, fMRI, pain, and stimulation. The three frontier topics were connectivity, modulation, and fMRI. Based on the clustering of co-cited documents, chronic low back pain, sham electro-acupuncture treatment, and clinical research were the main research directions. Conclusion: This study provides an in-depth perspective for MRI research on acupuncture and provides researchers with valuable information to determine the current status, hot spots, and frontier trends of MRI research on acupuncture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of ethanol or acetone, as oil phase solvents, upon the form of paeonol-loaded poly(butyl-2-cyanoacrylate) encapsulated nanocapsules (Pae@PNCs) by interfacial spontaneously polymerization were investigated. Pae@PNCs characterizations including morphology, radius distribution, polydispersity index (PDI), particle size, zeta potential, entrapment efficiency (EE%), drug loading (DL%) andin vitropaeonol release kinetics were evaluated. Results show that 100% acetone have a significant effect on forming nanocapsules, which showed the smaller size (168.3 ± 6.76 nm) under scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and one radius distribution by the particle size analyser. The data showed that using 100% acetone to prepare Pae@PNCs was leading to smaller particle size and lower polydispersity index (PDI), higher zeta potential, better EE (%) and perfect DL (%), which is linear decrease in radius (r2 = 0.939) and PDI (r2 = 0.974) and linear increase EE% (r2 = 0.9879) and DL% (r2 = 0.9892) with the acetone concentration (range 10–100% v/v). Paeonol encapsulated into and adhered on PNCs were confirmed by UV–Visible spectra (UV–Vis), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Drug release behaviorin vitroshowed that 100% acetone as solvents on developing Pae@PNCs have greater advantages in controlling and prolonging paeonol release. Results demonstrated that solvents have a significant influence on forming Pae@PNCs. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Zr:GdYBCO films were grown by reel-to-reel metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) on hastelloy tapes with IBAD-MgO-based buffer. The composition was varied systematically to investigate the effects of changes in (Gd+Y)/Ba, (Gd+Y)/Cu and Gd/Y ratios and Zr-doping concentration on the critical current density (Jc) of the films in an applied magnetic field (B). The magnetic-field-angle dependence of Jc measured at 77 K and 1 T showed that (1) for Gd+Y content ranging from 1.2 to 1.5, the minimum Jc for any angle did not vary significantly with the Gd+Y content; while the Jc at B//c varied significantly and took its maximum value at Gd+Y content of 1.2; (2) increasing Gd+Y could suppress or level off the Jc peak at B//c which was associated with the pinning from BaZrO3 nano-columns; (3) the optimum Zr-concentration for the highest Jc(77\ \rm K,1\ \rm T) is in the range of 0.04–0.07 in the film; in this range under certain growth condition, the c-peak in the angular dependence of Jc could be higher than the ab-peak; (4) increasing Gd/Y ratio increased Jc\_\min(77\ K,1\ T); (5) in self-field or low field, however, the optimized Gd/Y ratio was about 1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary The clustered distribution of genes involved in metabolic pathways within the plant genome has garnered significant attention from researchers. By comparing and analyzing changes in the flanking regions of metabolic genes across a diverse array of species, we can enhance our understanding of the formation and distribution of biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs). In this study, we have designed a workflow that uncovers and assesses conserved positional relationships between genes in various species by using synteny neighborhood networks (SNN). This workflow is then applied to the analysis of flanking genes associated with oxidosqualene cyclases (OSCs). The method allows for the recognition and comparison of homologous blocks with unique flanking genes accompanying different subfamilies of OSCs. The examination of the flanking genes of OSCs in 122 plant species revealed multiple genes with conserved positional relationships with OSCs in angiosperms. Specifically, the earliest adjacency of OSC genes and CYP716 genes first appeared in basal eudicots, and the nonrandom occurrence of CYP716 genes in the flanking region of OSC persists across different lineages of eudicots. Our study showed the substitution of genes in the flanking region of the OSC varies across different plant lineages, and our approach facilitates the investigation of flanking gene rearrangements in the formation of OSC‐related BGCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the characteristics of hydrogen-doped natural gas combustion in industrial boilers were investigated by means of numerical simulations. Initially, a jet flame test bench was constructed to conduct single-variable experiments at various hydrogen doping ratios and excess air coefficients, thus analyzing the impact on flame combustion patterns. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) numerical simulations were performed using the Fluent software, focusing on the combustion zones within the burner and boiler chamber. Simulations were based on actual operating conditions to set parameters, employing the k-ε turbulence model. The SIMPLE algorithm facilitated examination of the effect of hydrogen doping ratios on the combustion temperature and concentration of pollutants, with a particular focus on the concentration of the flow field, temperature field, NOx generation rate, and the concentrations of O 2 and CO. The results show that: As the hydrogen doping percentage increases, the fuel flame propagation speed also increases, leading to a faster combustion process that yields a shorter, wider flame. Conversely, as the excess air coefficient rises, the flame becomes narrower, transitioning from a clearly-layered structure to a uniform one. Furthermore, an increase in the hydrogen doping ratio results in higher combustion temperatures and accelerated combustion reaction rates, accompanied by a decrease in CO concentration and an increase in NOx emission concentration. These results indicate that hydrogen doping enhances the combustion reaction and reduces pollutant emissions from gas combustion. This study provides a theoretical foundation for the practical application of hydrogen-doped natural gas in industrial boilers. • Experimental study of the effect of hydrogen doping ratio on flame morphology. • Effect of hydrogen doping ratio on combustion characteristics of natural gas. • Effect of excess air coefficient on combustion characteristics of natural gas. • Combining experimental and simulation to analyze combustion characteristics. • Analysis of combustion temperatures and pollutant generation characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]