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The plant mitochondria play a crucial role in various cellular energy synthesis and conversion processes and are essential for plant growth. Watercress (Oenanthe javanica) is a fast-growing vegetable with strong adaptability and wide cultivation range, and it possesses high nutritional value. In our study, we assembled the O. javanica mitochondrial genome using the Illumina and Nanopore sequencing platforms. The results revealed that the mitochondrial genome map of watercress has a circular structure of 384,074 bp, containing 28 tRNA genes, 3 rRNA genes, and 34 protein-coding genes. A total of 87 SSR (simple sequence repeat) loci were detected, with 99% composed of palindrome repeats and forward repeats, while no complementary repeats were identified. Codon preference analysis indicated that watercress prefers to use codons encoding leucine, isoleucine, and serine with a preference for A/U-ending codons. Phylogenetic analysis showed that watercress is closely related to species of Bupleurum, Apium, Angelica, and Daucus, with the closest evolutionary relationship observed with Saposhnikovia divaricata and Apium graveolens. This study provides a valuable resource for the study of the evolution and molecular breeding of watercress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Porous structure design is critical and challenging in the fabrication of high-performance electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding materials. Herein, the porous Ni skeleton is prepared by solution combustion method and cured through polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), forming a Ni foam by the stacking of porous Ni. The properties of PDMS and porous Ni endow Ni foam with stable structure, excellent electrical conductivity, magnetic properties and porous internal structure, which make electromagnetic waves not only experience conductive loss and magnetic loss, but also reflect and scatter several times in the porous interface during propagation inside the foam, further improving the shielding efficiency (SE) of Ni foam. Compared with the as-prepared foam mixed with graphene (rGO) and polyaniline (Pani) powder, the Ni foam shows the best structural strength, lowest resistivity (1.32 Ω/cm) and highest SE (56 dB). Moreover, the rough surface and PDMS modification enable Ni foam to obtain self-cleaning and anti-fouling properties, expanding its application range. This study opens an innovative, simple and efficient synthesis method for porous shielding materials which extends the application prospects of porous materials in the field of EMI shielding. [Display omitted] • Rapid preparation by solution combustion method for porous structures of Ni. • Curing of porous Ni by PDMS to construct stable Ni foam. • The mechanism of Ni foam electromagnetic shielding was proposed. • Structural and material properties impart hydrophobic properties to Ni foam. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enrofloxacin (ENR) is a fluoroquinolone antibiotic that has been used to treat bacterial diseases in aquaculture extensively. ENR might accumulate in the body and cause severe liver damage. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a method for rapid detection of ENR. Herein, amine monomers with different numbers of amino groups, charge and length (1,3-diaminoguanidine monohydrochloride: DMGH, triaminoguanidine hydrochloride: TAGH, hydrazine: H) were used to regulate the fluorescence of benzotrithiophene tricar-baldehyde (BTT)-based covalent organic frameworks (COFs) for real-time visual onsite assays of ENR for the first time. The C 3 symmetric COF BTT-TAGH only had one emission peak at 540 nm, while C 6 symmetric COF BTT-DMGH and COF BTT-H had two emission peaks. COF BTT-TAGH could achieve the color transition from green to blue with increasing ENR. Thus test paper and gel were designed as real-time detection tools, combined with a smartphone APP. The detection limits obtained by RGB analysis were 106.2 nM for test paper and 26.00 nM for test gel, respectively. This method was applied to detect ENR in fish and clam metabolite successfully. This work also provides important reference to regulate fluorescence of COFs according to actual application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Serious nonradiative recombination and decomposition of perovskite film exist in MAPbBr3-based perovskite light-emitting diodes (PeLED) due to the residue of lead atoms from an incomplete reaction, thereby limiting the efficiency of PeLEDs. Excessive Methylammonium bromide (MABr) added into the precursor of methylammonium lead bromide (MAPbBr3) can solve this problem. However, how the excessive MABr self-passivates perovskite films improves the performance of PeLEDs requires further examination. The self-passivated perovskite film by overdoping MABr was investigated by varying stoichiometric ratios of perovskite precursors. It was found that, as the content of MABr increased, the interaction between free charge and longitudinal optical phonons was enhanced, thus reducing the exciton binding energy, resulting in emission broadening and blue shift of the PL spectra. With the molar ratio of PbBr2 and MABr of 1:1.315, the PeLED achieved a good trade-off between the brightness and the stability, thus demonstrating a maximum brightness of 9981 cd m − 2 and a lifetime of 14 min, with a maximum current efficiency of 6.59 cd A − 1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms and their associated factors in bladder and renal cancer patients are not well evaluated in China. Given the growing attention to positive psychological constructs in the field of oncology, it is necessary to explore the effects of these constructs on depressive and anxiety symptoms. This study aims to explore the associations of psychological stress with depressive and anxiety symptoms among Chinese bladder and renal cancer patients and the mediating role of resilience in these relationships. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at the First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University in Liaoning province. 327 bladder cancer patients and 268 renal cancer patients completed questionnaires on demographic variables, the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, Zung Self-Rating Anxiety Scale, Resilience Scale-14, and Perceived Stress Scale-10 during the period from July 2013 to July 2014. Hierarchical linear regression analyses were performed to explore the mediating role of resilience. Results: The prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms was 78.0% and 71.3% in bladder cancer patients, and 77.6% and 68.3% in renal cancer patients. Psychological stress was positively related to depressive and anxiety symptoms, while resilience was negatively related to these symptoms. Resilience partially mediated the relations of psychological stress with depressive and anxiety symptoms. Conclusions: The high prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms among Chinese bladder and renal cancer patients should receive more attention from medical institutions and government agencies. In addition to reducing depressive and anxiety symptoms, resilience development should be included in depression and anxiety prevention and treatment strategies in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on regulation of perspectives based on emotion regulation and intergroup reconciliation. Topics discussed include simplification of social psychological elements for social relationships, growth of reconciliatory attitude through reparation, and escalation of conflict management.

We demonstrate a forming-free electrochemical metallization resistive memory device (Ag/TiO x N y /Pt) based on the nanoporous titanium oxynitride (TiO x N y ) thin film. Due to the nanoporous structure of TiO x N y , Ag atoms can migrate into the film during the Ag electrode evaporation process, resulting in a pre-formed Ag conductive filament inside the switching layer. This is responsible for the forming-free resistive switching behavior. Subsequently, resistive switching with attractive performance is achieved after a reset process, including good endurance, low operation voltages, and fast switching speed. The forming-free and reliable switching characteristics suggest that nanoporous TiO x N y thin film is one of the promising material candidates for future nonvolatile memory applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A newly developed hydrophobic composite coating was fabricated by incorporating modified TiO 2 nanoparticles and hydrophobic material polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) micropowders dispersed in fluorocarbon resin. Moreover, the surface characteristics and self-cleaning properties of the newly developed composite material were examined. The material was found to exhibit sufficient hydrophobicity with a water contact angle of 133°. The surface free energy of the composite coating was 4.11 mJ/m 2 . Scanning electron microscopy results revealed a micro/nanocomposite structure composed of PTFE micropowders and TiO 2 nanoparticles, which was verified by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy results. Through ultraviolet irradiation the modified TiO 2 -PTFE/FEVE composite coating successfully removed oleic acid absorbed on its surface. These results showed that the functional composite coating had a sufficiently hydrophobic surface with an efficient self-cleaning effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The international community has developed multiple approaches to address large-scale human rights (HR) violations (e.g., genocide). In the current contribution, we first provide a review of different approaches to intergroup violence (AIVs), and explain how these approaches might (re-)establish HR consciousness and behavior in postconflict societies. We then integrate this literature with the HR literature and propose a framework to guide future research on the psychological underpinnings of different AIVs and their effects on HR. Informed by HR research, we argue for a multidimensional conception of HR consciousness (encompassing HR knowledge, endorsement, commitment, and restriction) and a distinction of internalized HR behavior versus HR compliance. These outcomes should be affected by an AIV through appraisals of the AIV (e.g., perceived fairness) and subsequent perceptions of ingroup and outgroup norms, perceptions of the outgroup, and emotions (e.g., anger). Further, appraisals should be affected largely by people's group memberships and preexisting belief and attitudinal systems. Rather than providing an overall research program with a coherent and specific set of hypotheses, we provide a conceptual framework that clarifies what, according to AIV and HR literature, future research should focus on, and that can help to systematically take stock of past research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sea urchin-like zinc oxide (ZnO) micro/nanostructures were fabricated via a simple soft template method. In the single ammonia system, the template was H 2 gas bubbles generated by NaBH 4 . The morphology, crystalline structure, elements and the photoelectric properties of the as-prepared ZnO were characterized and tested by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and photocurrent–voltage measurements. The results demonstrated that the ZnO prepared in 25% ammonia and 48 mmol NaBH 4 at 120 °C for 3 h had pure and the best 3-D sea urchin-like micro/nanostructures and high crystalline with hexagonal structure. Compared to ZnO nanorod arrays, the as-prepared ZnO showed preferable photoelectric properties as the anode of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), among which the efficiency of power conversion ( η ) was increased by 51.05%. It can be attributed to the special geometric morphologies. Moreover, a new multistep mechanism was proposed to illustrate how to form such a structure by this simple soft template method, which can provide a theoretical basis for the fabrication of 3-D materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We review and integrate existing literature on perceptions of humanness and dehumanization. Synthesizing three independent lines of research (Haslam's two senses of humanness, mind perception theory, the stereotype content model), we provide a taxonomy of different phenomena (e.g., animalistic and mechanistic dehumanization, objectification, demonization, etc.) that all fall under the broad category of dehumanization. In our current framework, humanness is understood in terms of two basic dimensions: one concerned with agency, competence, and other characteristics that are seen as uniquely human, and the other concerned with experience, interpersonal warmth, and other characteristics that are seen as the essence of human nature. Combinations of these two dimensions result in a mixed model with four main clusters depicting different ways in which humanness is denied or recognized in others. Implications for intergroup and interpersonal relations are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Solubility of LAlMe 2 in selected pure solvents and binary solvents was measured. • The experimental solubility data were correlated by different models. • The apparent thermodynamic properties of dissolution process were calculated. • Hansen solubility parameter and entropy enthalpy compensation were used to explain the dissolution behavior of LAlMe 2. Organoaluminum compounds are supported by β -diketimine ligands were widely used in organic synthesis, homogeneous catalysis and other fields due to their unique structure and properties. In this article, the static equilibrium method was used to determine the solubility of LAlMe 2 (L = HC(CMeNAr) 2 , Ar = 2,6- i Pr 2 C 6 H 3) in four pure solvents (n -hexane, toluene, tetrahydrofuran, dichloromethane) and two binary solvent systems (n -hexane + toluene, n -hexane + dichloromethane). All operations were performed under Schlenk technology or a glove box under nitrogen atmosphere, and measurement temperature was 263.15 K to 308.15 K. The experimental results showed that the solubility of LAlMe 2 gradually increased with the elevated of temperature and presents an increasing trend with the increase of the mass fraction of co-solvent in the mixed solvent. Hansen solubility parameter explained the dissolution behavior of LAlMe 2. Six thermodynamic models were used to correlate the solubility data. The results showed that the Apelblat model and the Yaws model have the most extensive applicability in both pure solvent and binary solvent systems. In addition, thermodynamic parameters, such as Δ sol Ho, Δ sol So and Δ sol Go were calculated by Gibbs function and Van't Hoff equation and the enthalpy- entropy compensation in the dissolution process was analyzed. It was concluded that dissolution is an endothermic process driven by entropy and Δ sol Ho is the main factor affecting Δ sol Go. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • A surfactant-free approach to produce Cu-doped PbS nanoparticles is presented. • Oxide removal via a reduction annealing process allows enhancing electrical conductivity. • Incorporation of Cu improvement of thermoelectric figure of merit is demonstrated. • A maximum ZT of 1.22 at 773 K with a record average ZT ave = 0.76 for Pb 0.955 Cu 0.045 S is achieved. A versatile, scalable, room temperature and surfactant-free route for the synthesis of metal chalcogenide nanoparticles in aqueous solution is detailed here for the production of PbS and Cu-doped PbS nanoparticles. Subsequently, nanoparticles are annealed in a reducing atmosphere to remove surface oxide, and consolidated into dense polycrystalline materials by means of spark plasma sintering. By characterizing the transport properties of the sintered material, we observe the annealing step and the incorporation of Cu to play a key role in promoting the thermoelectric performance of PbS. The presence of Cu allows improving the electrical conductivity by increasing the charge carrier concentration and simultaneously maintaining a large charge carrier mobility, which overall translates into record power factors at ambient temperature, 2.3 mWm-1K−2. Simultaneously, the lattice thermal conductivity decreases with the introduction of Cu, leading to a record high ZT = 0.37 at room temperature and ZT = 1.22 at 773 K. Besides, a record average ZT ave = 0.76 is demonstrated in the temperature range 320–773 K for n-type Pb 0.955 Cu 0.045 S. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herbicides pose a potential threat to the soil biodiversity and health. Carfentrazone-ethyl (CE), a triazolinones herbicide, is increasingly used in agricultural production. Its non-target toxic effects on soil microorganisms and soil enzymes are reported recently. However, the sublethal toxicity of CE on soil invertebrates like earthworms is not yet known. Therefore, in this work, the sublethal toxic effects of CE (0.05, 0.5, and 5.0 μg/g in soil) on the soil earthworm (Eisenia fetida) were evaluated using a battery of biomarkers including reactive oxygen species (ROS), enzyme (superoxide dismutase-SOD, catalase-CAT, peroxidase-POD, and glutathione S-transferase-GST) activities, malondialdehyde (MDA) contents, histopathological and DNA damage. Results indicated that CE increased ROS contents, enzyme activities, and MDA contents in the short-time (14 d), thus, causing a slight oxidative stress to E. fetida. However, the toxic effects of CE on earthworms gradually disappeared after 14 days. The CE did not cause histopathological and DNA damage in earthworms. Integrated Biological Response index (IBR) indicated that both concentration and exposure time of CE regulated its sublethal toxicity on earthworms. In conclusion, herbicide CE is safe to soil invertebrate earthworms when applied at the recommended doses. Our results contribute to the current understanding of CE effects on soil earthworms, and can be useful in developing soil health strategies under agrochemical use. [Display omitted] • Sublethal toxic effects of carfentrazone-ethyl on earthworms were studied using multiple biomarkers. • Carfentrazone-ethyl (0–5.0 μg/g) caused oxidative stress to the earthworms in 14 days. • Carfentrazone-ethyl (0–5.0 μg/g) did not cause histopathological and DNA damage to the earthworms. • Integrated Biological Response index is an effective tool to evaluate toxicity effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• MAPbI 3 /RGO material with high TCR and low heat capacity synthesized by composite engineering. • The hot carrier injection is introduced to enhance the bolometric effect in graphene. • The responsivity and the response time of the terahertz detector are synchronously improved. Thermal photodetectors, such as bolometers, are the most promising option for detecting infrared (IR) to terahertz (THz) radiation at room temperature. Previous studies have shown that graphene has great potential for broadband thermal photodetection because of its distinctive optical and electrical properties. However, the responsivity of graphene photodetector is limited by the weak absorption and the finite temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR). Here, we synthesize the methylamine lead iodide perovskite (MAPbI 3)/graphene oxide (RGO) composite material, exhibiting high TCR of −0.89%K−1 and low heat capacity at room temperature. The composite is designed to construct a sensitive and fast IR to THz bolometer. The MAPbI 3 /RGO detector shows significant performance breakthroughs, with the responsivity as high as 805 mA/W, the response time of about 700 μs, at 220 GHz, which are about an order of magnitude higher than those of pure RGO detector. These results suggest that compositing engineering gives a new approach to the technological innovation of THz detectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Solubility of organic zinc and β -diimine ligand in selected pure solvents was measured. • Six thermodynamic models were applied for correlating the experimental solubility data. • Polarity, dielectric constant, cohesive energy density of solvents all affect solubility. • Hirshfeld surface analysis revealed that solutes formed non-Van der Waals' force. • The law of solubility variation provides a theoretical basis for recrystallization. In this work, a static analysis method was used to determine the solubility data of β -diimine ligand (1) (L 1 = HC(CMeNAr) 2 , Ar = 2,6-Me 2 C 6 H 3), and organic zinc compounds: L 1 ZnEt (2), L 2 ZnEt (3) (L 2 = HC(CMeNAr) 2 , Ar = 2,6- i Pr 2 C 6 H 3) in six pure solvents (methanol, ethanol, n -hexane, toluene, ether, dichloromethane, tetrahydrofuran) under nitrogen atmosphere. Experimental data are crucial for optimizing the purification, recrystallization process and the design of homogeneous catalysis for compounds 1 , 2 , and 3 in the industry. Six common thermodynamic models were utilized to correlate the experimental solubility data: Apelblat model, Polynomial empirical equation, λh model, Yaws model, NRTL model and Scatchard-Hildebrand activity coefficient model. These thermodynamic models were evaluated by average absolute relative deviation (AARD) to come to the best fitting model. Among them, the Polynomial empirical equation and the Scatchard-Hildebrand activity coefficient model had wide applicability, and the average AARD was <1. For compounds 1 and 3, Hirshfeld surface analysis was utilized to study the intermolecular interaction. The simulation results showed that H···H contact was obviously predominant in all contact interactions. In addition, apparent thermodynamic functions were derived. Results showed that the dissolution process was entropy increasing and endothermic under the experimental conditions, and the difference in solubility could be explained by spontaneous energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Plasmid-mediated polymyxin resistance genes (mcr) have been detected worldwide. • Polymyxin causes a concentration-dependent transcriptomic response in mcr-1 Escherichia coli. • The bacterial cell envelope and oxidative stress systems are perturbed by polymyxin. • Identification of crucial cellular pathways is key for optimizing the use of polymyxin. Polymyxins remain important last-line antibiotics against multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria. Unfortunately, polymyxin resistance is emerging and the mobile polymyxin resistance gene, mcr , is contributing to the wide dissemination of polymyxin resistance, especially among Escherichia coli , with mcr-1 being the most commonly found variant. The objective of this study was to provide mechanistic insights into concentration-dependent transcriptomic responses of mcr- harbouring E. coli following polymyxin treatment. An mcr-1 -carrying clinical isolate of E. coli (LH30) was treated with polymyxin B at 2 and 8 mg/L. Bacterial cultures were collected before and 1 h following treatment for viable counting and transcriptomic analysis. Growth of E. coli LH30 was unaffected by 2 mg/L polymyxin B, whereas killing of approximately 2 log 10 colony-forming units/mL occurred with 8 mg/L at 1 h. All four phosphoethanolamine (pEtN) transferase genes (mcr-1, eptA, eptB and eptC) were upregulated (fold change 2.4–4.0) by 8 mg/L polymyxin B, indicating that pEtN modifications were the preferred polymyxin resistance mechanism. The higher polymyxin B concentration also affected the expression of genes involved in fatty acid, lipopolysaccharide, lipid A, phospholipid biosynthesis, iron homeostasis and oxidative stress pathways. This transcriptomic analysis revealed that cell envelope remodelling, pEtN modification, iron acquisition and oxidative stress protective mechanisms play a key role in the survival of mcr- carrying E. coli treated with polymyxin. These findings provide new mechanistic information at the gene expression level to counter polymyxin resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The preparation of hollow zeolite with a large cavity structure to improve the accessibility to the active sites of catalyst is of great significance. A thin-walled Ti-rich hollow Titanium silicalite-1 (TS-1) Nanobox was synthesized by dissolution-recrystallization using Silicalite-1 (S-1) as the parent zeolite and (NH 4) 2 SO 4 as the dual-function crystallization-mediating agent. The wall thickness of the zeolite is about 30 nm, the hollow percentage (the ratio of the cavity area in the middle of the zeolite to the overall area of the zeolite) can reach 0.57, and the Si/Ti ratio is 39.63. The formation mechanism of hollow TS-1 was studied. As the parent zeolite, S-1 is easier to dissolve than TS-1, making it easier for the hollow zeolite to get a complete cavity. When the molar ratio of (NH 4) 2 SO 4 /TEOS reaches 0.25, the dissolution rate matches the crystallization rate best, and a perfect hollow structure is obtained. The pH of the initial gel is the key factor for the hollow structure. The catalytic activity and stability were tested by 1-hexene epoxidation. The conversion of 1-hexene using HTS-1#S0.25 as the catalyst is much higher than that using hollow TS-1 prepared by the conventional method as the catalyst. HTS-1#S0.25 remains a high oxidation activity and high selectivity after five recycle experiments. In addition, the type of anion also has a great influence on the reactivity. This method can provide a new idea for the preparation of hollow TS-1. Two hollow structures under the action of (NH 4) 2 SO 4 (a), the mechanism of HTS-1 formation (b) and HTS-1 using (NH 4) 2 SO 4 as the crystallization-mediating agent (c). [Display omitted] • A Ti-rich TS-1 Nanobox is synthesized by dissolution-recrystallization. • pH is a key factor affecting the competition between dissolution and crystallization. • (NH 4) 2 SO 4 is the dual-functional crystallization-mediating agent. • Silicalite-1 is used as parent zeolite for the synthesis of hollow TS-1. • The material has the high activity for 1-hexene epoxidation reaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the scale of rural land transfer has gradually expanded, and the phenomenon of non-grain-oriented cultivated land has emerged. Obtaining crop planting information is of the utmost importance to guaranteeing national food security; however, the acquisition of the spatial distribution of crops in large-scale areas often has the disadvantages of excessive calculation and low accuracy. Therefore, the IO-Growth method, which takes the growth stage every 10 days as the index and combines the spectral features of crops to refine the effective interval of conventional wavebands for object-oriented classification, was proposed. The results were as follows: (1) the IO-Growth method obtained classification results with an overall accuracy and F1 score of 0.92, and both values increased by 6.98% compared to the method applied without growth stages; (2) the IO-Growth method reduced 288 features to only 5 features, namely Sentinel-2: Red Edge1, normalized difference vegetation index, Red, short-wave infrared2, and Aerosols, on the 261st to 270th days, which greatly improved the utilization rate of the wavebands; (3) the rise of geographic data processing platforms makes it simple to complete computations with massive data in a short time. The results showed that the IO-Growth method is suitable for large-scale vegetation mapping. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lakes are sensitive indicators of climate change in the Tibetan Plateau (TP), which have shown high temporal and spatial variability in recent decades. The driving forces for the change are still not entirely clear. This study examined the area change of the lakes greater than 1 km2 in the endorheic basins of the Tibetan Plateau (EBTP) using Landsat images from 1990 to 2019, and analysed the relationships between lake area and local and large-scale climate variables at different geographic scales. The results show that lake area in the EBTP has increased significantly from 1990 to 2019 at a rate of 432.52 km2·year−1. In the past 30 years, lake area changes in the EBTP have mainly been affected by local climate variables such as precipitation and temperature. At a large scale, Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) has correlations with lake area in western sub-regions in the Inner Basin (IB). While Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) has a significant connection with lake area, the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) does not. We also found that abnormal drought (rainfall) brought by the El Niño/La Niña events are significantly correlated with the lake area change in most sub-regions in the IB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wasabi (Eutrema japonicum) is a vegetable of Brassicaceae family, currently cultivated in East Asia. It is rich in nutritional and has a spicy flavour. It is regarded as a rare condiment worldwide. Its genetic profile for yield improvement and the development of E. japonicum germplasm resources remains unknown. Cognizant of this, this study sequenced and assembled the chloroplast (cp) genome of E. japonicum to enrich our genomic information of wasabi and further understand genetic relationships within the Eutrema species. The structural characteristics, phylogeny, and evolutionary relationship of cp genomes among other Brassicaceae plants were analyzed and compared to those of Eutrema species. The cp genome of E. japonicum has 153,851 bp with a typical quadripartite structure, including 37 tRNA genes, 8 rRNA genes, and 87 protein-coding genes. It contains 290 simple sequence repeats and prefers to end their codons with an A or T, which is the same as other Brassicaceae species. Moreover, the cp genomes of the Eutrema species had a high degree of collinearity and conservation during the evolution process. Nucleotide diversity analysis revealed that genes in the IR regions had higher Pi values than those in LSC (Large single copy) and SSC (Small single copy) regions, making them potential molecular markers for wasabi diversity studies. The analysis of genetic distance between Eutrema plants and other Brassicacea plants showed that intraspecies variation was found to be low, while large differences were found between genera and species. Phylogenetic analysis based on 29 cp genomes revealed the existence of a close relationship amongst the Eutrema species. Overall, this study provides baseline information for cp genome-based molecular breeding and genetic transformation studies of Eutrema plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The thermal transport in Joesphson junctions, particularly, based on topological insulators (TIs), has not been extensively studied so far. Herein, we theoretically investigate the magnetoanisotropic thermal transport in a TI-based Josephson hybrid structure with a ferromagnetic insulator sandwiched between two superconductors (SCs). It is shown that the thermal conductance and current both are considerably sensitive to the orientation and magnitude of the exchange field. In particular, the negative differential thermal conductance is exhibited, which is modulated by the exchange field. More interestingly, zero-energy Andreev bound states are confirmed with the help of the thermal conductance, which in turn demonstrates itself to be of significance in the thermal transport. It is expected that these findings could have potential applications for the energy control in various hybridized mesoscopic systems. • Thermal conductance is sensitive to orientation and magnitude of the exchange field. • The NDTC is exhibited and tuned by the magnitude of the exchange field. • The interplay of zero-energy ABSs and thermal transport has been well inferred. • Our findings can apply to the energy control in hybridized mesoscopic systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, removing rain streaks from a single image has been a significant issue for outdoor vision tasks. In this paper, we propose a novel recursive residual atrous spatial pyramid pooling network to directly recover the clear image from rain image. Specifically, we adopt residual atrous spatial pyramid pooling (ResASPP) module which is constructed by alternately cascading a ResASPP block with a residual block to exploit multi-scale rain information. Besides, taking the dependencies of deep features across stages into consideration, a recurrent layer is introduced into ResASPP to model multi-stage processing procedure from coarse to fine. For each stage in our recursive network we concatenate the stage-wise output with the original rainy image and then feed them into the next stage. Furthermore, the negative SSIM loss and perceptual loss are employed to train the proposed network. Extensive experiments on both synthetic and real-world rainy datasets demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms the state-of-the-art deraining methods. • We propose a recursive residual atrous spatial pyramid pooling network for single image deraining. • ResASPP module is introduced to utilize the multi-scale features of rainy image, which can enlarge the receptive field. • Recursive learning is used to strengthen the model capability by multi-stage deraining processing from coarse to fine while maintain the model parameters. • Extensive experiments on both real-world and synthetic datasets demonstrate that our approach significantly outperforms state-of-the-art in image deraining task. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To investigate the pharmacological effects of different erlotinib (ER) and gemcitabine (GM) combination schedules by in vitro and in vivo experiments and PK/PD models in non-small cell lung cancer cells. Methods: H1299 cells were exposed to different ER combined with GM schedules. Cell growth inhibition was analyzed to evaluate these schedules. A preclinical in vivo study was then conducted to compare tumor suppression effects of different schedules in H1299 xenografts. PK/PD models were developed to quantify the anti-tumor interaction of ER and GM. Results: Synergism was observed when ER preceded GM, but other sequences showed antagonism. The optimal in vitro schedule, or interval schedule, was applied to the animal study, which showed greater anti-tumor effect than simultaneous group. PK/PD models implied that interaction of the two drugs was additive in simultaneous treatment but synergistic in interval schedule. The simulation results showed that interval schedule can delay tumor growth for a longer time, and demonstrated more evident anti-tumor effect compared with simultaneous group if the treatment duration was longer. Conclusions: Interval schedule of the two drugs can achieve synergistic anti-tumor effect, and is superior to simultaneous treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study, based on the PERMA model, proposed and examined a hypothetical model exploring the effects of academic self-efficacy, positive relationships, and psychological resilience on university students' life satisfaction. We collected data from a large sample of 1,089 university students in southwest China. The participants completed a battery of self-report questionnaire items measuring academic self-efficacy, positive relationships, psychological resilience, and life satisfaction. The results of the structural equation modeling analysis demonstrated a good fit for our data, suggesting that academic self-efficacy positively predicted university students' life satisfaction through two independent mediators: positive relationships and psychological resilience. Findings yielded from the empirically validated hypothetical model add value to and enrich the PERMA model within a group of Chinese university students. The implications and practical suggestions for improving university students' life satisfaction are discussed in light of these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, STO-coated NCM811 cathode materials were obtained through a facile wet chemical method, exhibiting excellent cyclic stability. Additionally, the STO-coated NCM811 could also mitigate the Li 2 CO 3 generation on the cathode surface by effective isolation from H 2 O and CO 2. Thus, higher specific capacity was retained after long-term storage in the air compared to the uncoated NCM811 sample. Our studies proposed an effective surface modification strategy to enhance the electrochemical performance of layered ternary oxides for high performance-cathodes in commercial LIBs. [Display omitted] Ni-rich layered oxides, such as LiNi 0.8 Co 0.1 Mn 0.1 O 2 (NCM811), are promising cathode materials for high-energy lithium-ion batteries. However, the relatively high reactivity of Ni in NCM811 cathodes results in severe capacity fading originating from the undesired side reactions that occur at the cathode-electrolyte interface during prolonged cycling. Therefore, the trade-off between high capacity and long cycle life can obstruct the commercialization process of Ni-rich cathodes in modern lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). In addition, high sensitivity toward air upon storage greatly limits the commercial application. Herein, a facile surface modification strategy is introduced to enhance the cycling and in-air storage stability of NCM811. The NCM811 with a uniform SrTiO 3 (STO) nano-coating layer exhibited outstanding electrochemical performances that could deliver a high discharge capacity of 173.5 mAh⋅g−1 after 200 cycles under 1C with a capacity retention of 90%. In contrast, the uncoated NCM811 only provided 65% capacity retention of 130.8 mAh⋅g−1 under the same conditions. Structural evolution analysis suggested that the STO coating acted as a buffer layer to suppress the dissolution of transition metal ions caused by the HF attack from the electrolyte and promote the lithium diffusion during the charge–discharge process. In addition, the constructed STO layer prevented the exposure of NCM811 to H 2 O and CO 2 and thus effectively improved the in-air storage stability. This work offers an effective way to enhance the performance stability of Ni-rich oxides for high-performance cathodes of lithium-ion batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, STO-coated NCM811 cathode materials were obtained through a facile wet chemical method, exhibiting excellent cyclic stability. Additionally, the STO-coated NCM811 could also mitigate the Li 2 CO 3 generation on the cathode surface by effective isolation from H 2 O and CO 2. Thus, higher specific capacity was retained after long-term storage in the air compared to the uncoated NCM811 sample. Our studies proposed an effective surface modification strategy to enhance the electrochemical performance of layered ternary oxides for high performance-cathodes in commercial LIBs. [Display omitted] Ni-rich layered oxides, such as LiNi 0.8 Co 0.1 Mn 0.1 O 2 (NCM811), are promising cathode materials for high-energy lithium-ion batteries. However, the relatively high reactivity of Ni in NCM811 cathodes results in severe capacity fading originating from the undesired side reactions that occur at the cathode-electrolyte interface during prolonged cycling. Therefore, the trade-off between high capacity and long cycle life can obstruct the commercialization process of Ni-rich cathodes in modern lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). In addition, high sensitivity toward air upon storage greatly limits the commercial application. Herein, a facile surface modification strategy is introduced to enhance the cycling and in-air storage stability of NCM811. The NCM811 with a uniform SrTiO 3 (STO) nano-coating layer exhibited outstanding electrochemical performances that could deliver a high discharge capacity of 173.5 mAh⋅g−1 after 200 cycles under 1C with a capacity retention of 90%. In contrast, the uncoated NCM811 only provided 65% capacity retention of 130.8 mAh⋅g−1 under the same conditions. Structural evolution analysis suggested that the STO coating acted as a buffer layer to suppress the dissolution of transition metal ions caused by the HF attack from the electrolyte and promote the lithium diffusion during the charge–discharge process. In addition, the constructed STO layer prevented the exposure of NCM811 to H 2 O and CO 2 and thus effectively improved the in-air storage stability. This work offers an effective way to enhance the performance stability of Ni-rich oxides for high-performance cathodes of lithium-ion batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A novel DNA biosensor was fabricated by modified multilayer of ssDNA, cytochrome c, l-cysteine, metal gold nanoparticles and Chitosan (denoted as ssDNA/Cyt c/l-Cys/GNPs/Chits/GCE). The behavior of the DNA biosensor was then investigated by voltammetry, impedance spectrum and atomic force microscope (AFM), and the morphologic differences among each layer of the DNA biosensor were also observed. Results revealed that two well-defined redox peaks exhibited at 0.120V and 0.362V, and the amount of adsorbed DNA was 1.672×10−10 molcm−2. We concluded that the modified electrode could be used to detect DNA with the indicator daunomycin. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The cost-effective conversion of low-grade heat into electricity using thermoelectric devices requires developing alternative materials and material processing technologies able to reduce the currently high device manufacturing costs. In this direction, thermoelectric materials that do not rely on rare or toxic elements such as tellurium or lead need to be produced using high-throughput technologies not involving high temperatures and long processes. Bi2Se3 is an obvious possible Te-free alternative to Bi2Te3 for ambient temperature thermoelectric applications, but its performance is still low for practical applications, and additional efforts toward finding proper dopants are required. Here, we report a scalable method to produce Bi2Se3 nanosheets at low synthesis temperatures. We studied the influence of different dopants on the thermoelectric properties of this material. Among the elements tested, we demonstrated that Sn doping resulted in the best performance. Sn incorporation resulted in a significant improvement to the Bi2Se3 Seebeck coefficient and a reduction in the thermal conductivity in the direction of the hot-press axis, resulting in an overall 60% improvement in the thermoelectric figure of merit of Bi2Se3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sentinel-2 NDVI and surface reflectance time series have been widely used in various geoscience research, but the data is deteriorated or missing due to the cloud contamination, so it is necessary to reconstruct the Sentinel-2 NDVI and surface reflectance time series. At present, there are few studies on reconstructing the Sentinel-2 NDVI or surface reflectance time series, and these existing reconstruction methods have some shortcomings. We proposed a new method to reconstruct the Sentinel-2 NDVI and surface reflectance time series using the penalized least-square regression based on discrete cosine transform (DCT-PLS) method. This method iteratively identifies cloud-contaminated NDVI over NDVI time series from the Sentinel-2 surface reflectance data by adjusting the weights. The NDVI and surface reflectance time series are then reconstructed from cloud-free NDVI and surface reflectance using the adjusted weights as constraints. We have made some improvements to the DCT-PLS method. First, the traditional discrete cosine transformation (DCT) in the DCT-PLS method is matrix generated from discrete and equally spaced data, we reconfigured the DCT formulas to adapt for irregular interval time series, and optimized the control parameters N and s according to the typical vegetation samples in China. Second, the DCT-PLS method was deployed in the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform for the efficiency and convenience of data users. We used the DCT-PLS method to reconstruct the Sentinel-2 NDVI time series and surface reflectance time series in the blue, green, red, and near infrared (NIR) bands in typical vegetation samples and the Zhangjiakou and Hangzhou study area. We found that this method performed better than the SG filter method in reconstructing the NDVI time series, and can identify and reconstruct the contaminated NDVI as well as surface reflectance with low root mean square error (RMSE) and high coefficient of determination (R2). However, in cases of a long range of cloud contamination, or above water surface, it may be necessary to increase the control parameter s for a more stable performance. The GEE code is freely available online and the link is in the conclusions of this article, researchers are welcome to use this method to generate cloudless Sentinel-2 NDVI and surface reflectance time series with 10 m spatial resolution, which is convenient for landcover classification and many other types of research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sirtuins (SRTs) are a group of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+)‐dependent deacetylase that target both histone and nonhistone proteins. The biological function of SRT in horticultural plants has been rarely studied. In this study, FaSRT1‐2 was identified as a key member of the 8 FaSRTs encoded in cultivated strawberry genome. Transient overexpression of FaSRT1‐2 in strawberry fruit accelerated ripening, increased the content of anthocyanins and sugars, enhanced ripening‐related gene expression. Moreover, stable transformation of FaSRT1‐2 in strawberry plants resulted in enhanced vegetative growth, increased sensitivity to heat stress and increased susceptibility to Botrytis cinerea infection. Interestingly, knocking out the homologous gene in woodland strawberry had the opposite effects. Additionally, we found the content of stress‐related hormone abscisic acid (ABA) was decreased, while the growth‐related gibberellin (GA) concentration was increased in FaSRT1‐2 overexpression lines. Gene expression analysis revealed induction of heat shock proteins, transcription factors, stress‐related and antioxidant genes in the FaSRT1‐2‐overexpressed plants while knocked‐out of the gene had the opposite impact. In conclusion, our findings demonstrated that FaSRT1‐2 could positively promote strawberry plant vegetative growth and fruit ripening by affecting ABA and GA pathways. However, it negatively regulates the resistance to heat stress and B. cinerea infection by influencing the related gene expression. Summary statement: FaSRT1‐2 is likely to exert a positive regulatory effect on both strawberry fruit ripening and vegetative growth by stimulating sugar, anthocyanin, and the gibberellin metabolism pathway. Moreover, FaSRT1‐2 appears to enhance the susceptibility of strawberry plants to heat stress while also promoting defence against Botrytis cinerea through alterations in abscisic acid metabolism and stress‐related genes expression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-sensitivity and fast-response photodetectors (PDs) are vital part of optical wireless communication (OWC) system. In this work, we develop an organic–inorganic hybrid perovskite material (MAPbI3) based p–i–n structured PD. By optimizing the precursor solution concertation, the PD showed a high responsivity of 0.98 A W−1, a fast response time t rise/ t fall of 12/12.5 μs, a specific detectivity of 2.62 × 1013 Jones, and the f−3dB of 24 kHz under the 532 nm laser and −0.2 V bias voltage. Furthermore, we designed an OWC system based on the prepared PD. With the baud rate of 19200 bps, the system exhibits a bit error rate less than 10−6, and it can realize 9.63 m long-distance communication and quick transmission applications such as strings, texts, photos, and audios. Our work demonstrates the great application potential of perovskite PDs in the field of optical communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evaporation‐driven electricity generators have been proposed to generate electricity by water interacting with nanostructured materials. However, several proposed mechanisms, such as intrinsic gradient of polar functional groups principle and electrokinetic effect perspective, are in wide discrepancy. Here, through the combination of theoretical calculations involving time dimension on material's moisturizing process and experimental analyses, it is revealed the working principle through the water molecule triple roles in driving moisture electric generators (MEGs): 1) intrinsic H2O absorption on the material surface and splitting into hydroxy group and proton due to the polarizability of the material surface determined by the static electric potential of the materials. This process induces the electrochemical potential difference of the materials via the work function changes; 2) freely diffused protons derived from the H2O splitting work as the ions charge carriers; 3) via the hydrogen bond of the water molecules to drive charge carriers diffuse between opposite electrodes, maintaining the internal circuit current flow. It is successfully unveiled that anatase TiO2 based materials for output voltage changes correlated to the domains’ work function's difference, tuning by the surface adsorption species (H, Cl, OH) and anisotropic exposed crystal facets of the material. This work unveils MEG's general working principle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Predicting urban morphology based on local attributes is an important issue in urban science research. The deep generative models represented by generative adversarial network (GAN) models have achieved impressive results in this area. However, in such methods, the urban morphology is assumed to follow a specific probability distribution and be able to directly approximate the distribution via GAN models, which is not a realistic strategy. As demonstrated by the score-based model, a better strategy is to learn the gradient of the probability distribution and implicitly approximate the distribution. Therefore, in this paper, an urban morphology prediction method based on the conditional diffusion model is proposed. Implementing this approach results in the decomposition of the attribute-based urban morphology prediction task into two subproblems: estimating the gradient of the conditional distribution, and gradient-based sampling. During the training stage, the gradient of the conditional distribution is approximated by using a conditional diffusion model to predict the noise added to the original urban morphology. In the generation stage, the corresponding conditional distribution is parameterized based on the noise predicted by the conditional diffusion model, and the final prediction result is generated through iterative sampling. The experimental results showed that compared with GAN-based methods, our method demonstrated improvements of 5.5%, 5.9%, and 13.2% in the metrics of low-level pixel features, shallow structural features, and deep structural features, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lanthanide ions, as dopants, have evoked widespread research interest owing to the rich optical, magnetic, and electrical properties, but their luminescent intensity is always limited by typical concentration quenching. Herein, a holmium‐based double perovskite of Cs2NaHoCl6 is reported, which surprisingly breaks through this barrier and achieves efficient red‐NIR emission by virtue of the large unit cell, low phonon energy, high content of activators, and cross relaxation phenomenon between Ho3+. The heavy Ho3+ also endows the intriguing half‐metallic nature with a down‐spin conducting band and an up‐spin insulating band. After performing ion doping on crystallographic sites of Na+ and Ho3+, the photoluminescence quantum yield of such red‐NIR emitter under 450 nm excitation is dramatically promoted to 82.3%, benefiting from the improved crystal field environment that alleviates the parity forbidden rule and suppresses non‐radiative recombination loss. Furthermore, the heat‐favorable phonon‐assisted population processes enable the robust photostability against thermal quenching. By combining a 450 nm chip, the red‐NIR light‐emitting diodes are fabricated, in which the wide‐coverage NIR emissions are ideally suited for medical light source, night vision, nondestructive examination, and transmission imaging. It is believed that this work will open an avenue for enhancing the fluorescence of lanthanide ions and developing advanced spintronic materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study evaluated the salt tolerance in 40 celery germplasm resources to clarify the different salt tolerances of celery germplasm. A gradient treatment with different concentrations of NaCl solutions (100, 200, and 300 mmol·L−1) was used to simulate salt stress. After 15 days of salt treatment, 14 indicators related to plant growth, physiology, and biochemistry were determined. The results showed that different celery varieties responded differently to salt stress. Notably, there were significant variations in below-ground dry weight, root–crown ratio, antioxidant enzyme activity, and soluble protein content among the accessions under salt stress. Principal component analysis was used to identify important indices for evaluating salt tolerance, including plant height, spread, content of soluble protein, and so on. A comprehensive evaluation was conducted utilizing the salt damage index, principal component analysis, affiliation function analysis, and cluster analysis. The 40 celery germplasms were classified into five highly salt-tolerant, seven salt-tolerant, fifteen moderately salt-tolerant, nine salt-sensitive, and four highly salt-sensitive germplasms. SHHXQ, MXKQ, XBQC, XQ, and TGCXBQ were highly salt-tolerant germplasms, and BFMSGQ, HNXQ, ZQ, and MGXQW were highly salt-sensitive germplasms. The results of this study provide a reference for the variety of celery cultivation in saline areas and lay a foundation for the selection and breeding of salt-tolerant varieties of celery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To clarify the impact of continuous dark stress on lignin and cellulose synthesis in celery, shade-tolerant celery varieties were screened. Yellow celery variety 'Qianhuang No.1' and green celery variety 'Qianlv No.1' were separately grown in vegetable greenhouses. Dark treatments were applied using PVC shading sleeves for 4, 8, 12, and 16 d after celery had grown 10–13 true leaf blades. This study aimed to investigate the impact of varying periods of dark treatment on the morphological characteristics, lignin accumulation, and cellulose accumulation in celery. The results showed that dark treatment led to celery yellowing, a reduced stem thickness, and an increased plant height. Analysis of lignin and cellulose contents, as well as the expression of related genes, showed that dark treatment caused down-regulation of AgLAC, AgC3′H, AgCCR, AgPOD and AgCAD genes, leading to changes in lignin accumulation. Dark treatment inhibited the expression of the AgCesA6 gene, thus affecting cellulose synthesis. Under dark conditions, the expression of AgF5H and AgHCT genes had little effect on lignin content in celery, and the expression of the AgCslD3 gene had little effect on cellulose content. Analysis of morphological characteristics, lignin accumulation and cellulose accumulation after different lengths of dark treatment demonstrated that 'Qianlv No.1' is a shade-tolerant variety in contrast to 'Qianhuang No.1'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Direct growth of transition metal doped 1T-MoS 2 nanosheets on carbon paper. • Successfully reducing work function by bandgap engineering via doping. • Close-to-zero Gibbs free energy of hydrogen binding induced by vanadium doping. • Outstanding HER performance in both acidic and alkaline solutions. Electrocatalysis plays a major role in the development of clean and sustainable energies. For efficient hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in water splitting, active, robust, and cost-effective catalysts are highly desired. Here, we present a facile approach to fabricate 1T-phase dominant V-doped MoS 2 nanosheets which can be easily grown on carbon paper at a large scale. The 5 at.% V-doped MoS 2 nanosheets achieve excellent catalytic performance, showing more than 10-fold increase of current density compared with 2H MoS 2 and a surprisingly low onset potential of 102 mV vs reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE). Moreover, it exhibits good catalytical stability in both acidic and alkaline solutions. The remarkable HER performance mainly attributes to the synergistic effects of the modified structure of MoS 2 with enhanced active sites, increased electrical conductivity, optimised energy level and near-zero Gibbs free energy of hydrogen binding. This work may shed light on achieving highly efficient electrocatalysts toward practical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interaction of 1-Phenyl-3-(pyren-1-yl) urea (LH) and fluoride anion (F−) with a unique ON1-OFF-ON2 fluorescent response has been investigated by the density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) calculations. The hydrogen-bonding dynamics and photophysical properties of the complex LH-F, as well as its isolated receptor LH and anion form L-H 1 , have been studied in detail. We demonstrate that the intermolecular hydrogen bond (N–H...F) of the complex LH-F is greatly enhanced in the electronically excited state. The nonradiative deactivation via electron transfer and internal conversion rather than excited-state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) can be facilitated by the excited state hydrogen bond strengthening. The results have been cross-validated by molecular structure, electronic spectra, frontier molecular orbitals, and infrared spectra as well as hydrogen bond binding energy. These results indicate that the current calculations completely reproduce the experimental results and provide compelling evidence for the sensing mechanism of LH for F−. TDDFT study on the sensing mechanism of LH for fluoride anion Unlabelled Image • The N–H...F hydrogen bond is significantly strengthened from S 0 to S 1 state. • Hydrogen bond strengthening in excited state is confirmed by vibrational spectra and bind energies. • Strengthening hydrogen bond facilitate nonradiative deactivation via ET and IC rather than ESIPT. • Unique ON1-OFF-ON2 type sensing mechanism is studied by DFT/TDDFT [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land surface temperature (LST) with fine spatiotemporal resolution is a much-needed parameter in the earth’s surface system. The LST downscaling is an efficient way to improve the spatiotemporal resolution of LST and has been developed rapidly in recent years. Due to the simple operations and discernable effects of statistical regression and its extension algorithms, these algorithms have been widely researched. However, most statistical regression models assume scale invariance, which makes the downscaled LST inaccurate. This study analyzed the scale effect in the process of LST upscaling/downscaling, then proposed a new algorithm based on Taylor expansion for Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) LST downscaling. The Taylor expansion algorithm estimates regression coefficients between LST and auxiliary parameters in the consistent scale. It is tested in three typical areas of different landscapes with different auxiliary parameters, and the results are significantly improved compared to the traditional algorithm. However, the new algorithm may introduce the temporal discrepancy between MODIS LST and empirical concavity factor ($S$), which is estimated with Landsat 8 data, into the downscaling procedure in some circumstances. To discuss the influence of temporal discrepancy, we designed three schemes for pairing MODIS and $S$ and analyzed the downscaled results. The results show that the proposed algorithm got the best downscaled results when the MODIS LST acquired time is consistent with the time of $S$. When the time is inconsistent, the pairing scheme of a similar season gives better results than that of different seasons. The algorithm performs generally well so long as the spatial distribution of auxiliary parameters in the date of Landsat 8 acquisition is similar to the date of MODIS acquisition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on the impact of politically connected CEOs on the firms' green innovation. Using the data from Chinese listed industrial firms from 2008 to 2015, we find that politically connected CEOs and CEOs with stronger political connections promote more green innovation. In addition, we compared the impact of CEOs with connections involving central or local government on green innovation. The results suggest that only CEOs have political connections with central government significantly affect green innovation. Furthermore, we investigated the moderating effects of the three external governance factors, environmental enforcement intensity (EEI), media coverage (Media_JF) and analyst coverage (Analyst), and our results show that EEI negatively moderates this relationship, the moderating effect of Media is negligible, and Analyst significantly and positively regulates the relationship between CEO political connections and green innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of multimodal media compensates for the lack of information expression in a single modality and thus gradually becomes the main carrier of sentiment. In this situation, automatic assessment for sentiment information in multimodal contents is of increasing importance for many applications. To achieve this, we propose a joint sentiment part topic regression model (JSP) based on latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA), with a sentiment part, which effectively utilizes the complementary information between the modalities and strengthens the relationship between the sentiment layer and multimodal content. Specifically, a linear regression module is developed to share implicit variables between image–text pairs, so that one modality can predict the other. Moreover, a sentiment label layer is added to model the relationship between sentiment distribution parameters and multimodal contents. Experimental results on several datasets verify the feasibility of our proposed approach for multimodal sentiment analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The effects of sulfentrazone on earthworms were investigated using multiple biomarkers. • Sulfentrazone could cause oxidative stress, tissue and DNA damage in the short term. • GST plays a key role in earthworm responses to the sulfentrazone stress. • IBRv2 indicated that the toxicity of sulfentrazone on earthworms was reduced with time. Earthworms are highly important for soil health and functioning. However, the soil-applied agrochemicals may impact their survival and functioning. Sulfentrazone, a triazolinones herbicide, is widely used in modern agriculture while its toxicity to some aquatic organisms and amphibians has been reported. However, we know little about the impact of sulfentrazone on ecologically important soil earthworms such as Eisenia fetida. Thus, we investigated the toxicity of sulfentrazone (0.2, 1.0 and 5.0 mg/kg in soil) on E. fetida at day 7, 14, 21 and 28. We investigated the effects of sulfentrazone on oxidative stress, histopathological change, and DNA damage in earthworms. Our results showed an enhanced production of reactive oxygen species in earthworms corresponding to the sulfentrazone concentrations. The activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase, guaiacol peroxidase and glutathione S-transferase (GST) also exhibited similar trends during sulfentrazone exposure at various time intervals. The malondialdehyde contents increased at day 7, 14 and 21, and returned to the control level at day 28. Sulfentrazone at 1.0 and 5.0 mg/kg concentrations damaged epidermal and intestinal tissues while we observed low DNA damage at day 21. Integrated Biological Response index (IBR) indicated that GST played a key role to minimize the oxidative stress caused by sulfentrazone. Moreover, the IBRv2 values also showed that the effect of sulfentrazone was reduced after 14 days, thus indicating that sulfentrazone (≤5.0 mg/kg) caused reversible toxicological effects to E. fetida. Our findings provide insight into the toxic effects of sulfentrazone on earthworm and may be useful for risk assessment of sulfentrazone on soil ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Individuals differ systematically in how much they are concerned with matters of justice or injustice. So far, in various domains of life, such as romantic relationships, work, and school contexts, dispositional justice sensitivity has been found to be a powerful predictor of individual-level processing and interpersonal behaviors. Yet, matters of justice and injustice often materialize at the group level, especially when conflicts about status, rights, and resources occur between groups. Here, we propose a theoretical framework to understand how different facets of justice sensitivity (i.e., victim, beneficiary/perpetrator, and observer sensitivities) are relevant for group-level processes in intergroup contexts. Integrating research on justice sensitivity and intergroup conflict, we develop several propositions regarding how and under which conditions justice sensitivity influences intergroup experiences, attitudes, and behaviors. We selectively review the existing empirical evidence that can speak to the validity of these propositions, and outline future research that can test our propositions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecosystem water use efficiency (WUE) is a key indicator that depicts the carbon-water coupling relationship in terrestrial ecosystems. Separating the effects of climate change and human activities to the variation in WUE are essential for water resources and ecosystem management, especially for fragile ecosystems such as the Tibetan Plateau (TP). In this study, we introduced an analytical framework that combined the attribution approach with the elastic coefficient separation method to assess the impact of climate change and human activities on WUE variation in the TP from 1982 to 2015. The results are the following: (1) the multiyear mean annual WUE over the TP was 0.65 g C·kg−1 H 2 O and had a slightly increasing trend with a slope of 0.004 g C·kg−1 H 2 O yr−1 with about 87% of the vegetated area showed increasing trend. (2) WUE was positively correlated with temperature, precipitation and air pressure. The northwest TP tends to be a water-limited condition, while the thermal stress is spatially universal in the TP, climate warming and wetting promoted the gross primary productivity (GPP) and WUE enhancement in the TP. (3) WUE was more sensitive to GPP, and variation in WUE was mainly contributed by GPP. Climate change and human activities tend to cause more variations in GPP rather than evapotranspiration (ET), but great differences exist for different regions and vegetation types. (4) There was a good consistency between the WUE variation calculated by the framework and the actual WUE variation (R2 = 0.95). Climate change dominated the increase of WUE in the TP with a contribution rate of 79.8%, while human activities tend to reduce WUE (−20.2%). Ecological projects played a positive role in the ecological restoration of the TP, but there may be other human activities, which caused ecological degradation, that may need more attention in future ecological protections. Unlabelled Image • Individual effects of climate change and human activities on WUE variation in the Tibetan Plateau were quantified. • Climate change dominates the WUE increase in the TP with negative effects on ET and positive effects on GPP. • WUE is more sensitive to GPP compared with ET, and the variation in WUE is mainly controlled by GPP. • The variation in GPP and ET induced by environmental changes are not equal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reusing domestic sewage for crop irrigation is a promising practice, particularly in developing countries, since it is a substitute for chemical fertilizer and reduces water contamination. More attention was paid to the effect of sewage irrigation on crop yield and soil nutrients, but little attention was paid to greenhouse gas (GHG) emission from straw-returning paddy fields. In this study, a soil column monitoring experiment was conducted to assess the effects of untreated domestic sewage (dominated with ammonia) and treated domestic sewage (dominated with nitrate) irrigation on methane (CH 4), nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emission, and related soil microorganisms in straw-returning paddy fields. Results showed that straw-returning dramatically promoted CH 4 emission but had little effect on N 2 O emission. Both untreated and treated domestic sewage irrigation decreased CH 4 emission of straw-returning paddy whether nitrogen fertilizer applied or not. The mitigating effect of treated sewage irrigation on CH 4 emission was greater than untreated sewage irrigation. CH 4 emission had a significant correlation with the abundance of soil methanogens and methanogens/methanotrophs. N 2 O emission increased with untreated or treated domestic sewage irrigation, although the total N input, including the N carried by sewage water, was the same for all treatments. No significant correlation between N 2 O and denitrification functional genes was found in this study. Treated domestic sewage irrigation reduced the global warming potential (GWP) by 66.7%, but untreated domestic sewage had no evident influence on the GWP. Results indicated that treated domestic sewage irrigation could significantly inhibit CH 4 emission and the GWP by decreasing the ratio of methanogens to methanotrophs, and is promising in mitigating GWP from straw-returned paddy fields. Unlabelled Image • Treated domestic sewage (W2) irrigation significantly decreased CH 4 emissions. • Treated domestic sewage significantly decreased methanogens/methanotrophs. • Untreated domestic sewage (W1) significantly increased N 2 O emissions • W2 and W1 irrigation could reduce the GWP by 66.7% and 2%, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are few reports on the reproductive biology of celery, which produces small flowers in a long flowering period. Anther development was analyzed by paraffin sectioning and related genes were examined by transcriptome sequencing and qPCR. The development process was divided into nine stages based on the significant changes in the cell and tissue morphologies. These stages included: archesporial stage, sporogenous cell stage, microspore mother cell stage, dyad and tetrad stage, mononuclear microspore stage, late uninucleate microspore stage, binuclear cell stage, mature pollen stage, and dehiscence stage. A total of 1074 differentially expressed genes were identified by transcriptome sequencing in the early flower bud, middle flower bud, and early flowering period. Functional annotation indicated that these genes were involved in physiological and biochemical processes such as ribosomes metabolism, sugar metabolism, and amino acid metabolism. Transcription factors such as C2H2, AP2/ERF, bZIP, WRKY, and MYB played key regulatory roles in anther development and had different regulatory capabilities at various stages. The expression patterns based on qPCR and transcriptome data of the selected transcription factor genes showed consistency, suggesting that these genes played an important role in different flower development stages. These results provide a theoretical basis for molecular breeding of new celery varieties with pollen abortion. Furthermore, they have enriched research on the reproductive biology of celery and the Apiaceae family. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate analysis of gene expression requires selection of appropriate reference genes. In this study, we report analysis of eight candidate reference genes (ACTIN, UBQ, EF-1α, UBC, IF-4α, TUB, PP2A, and HIS), which were screened from the genome and transcriptome data in Brassica juncea. Four statistical analysis softwares geNorm, NormFinder, BestKeeper, and RefFinder were used to test the reliability and stability of gene expression of the reference genes. To further validate the stability of reference genes, the expression levels of two CYCD3 genes (BjuB045330 and BjuA003219) were studied. In addition, all genes in the xyloglucan endotransglucosylase/hydrolase (XTH) family were identified in B. juncea and their patterns at different periods of stem enlargement were analyzed. Results indicated that UBC and TUB genes showed stable levels of expression and are recommended for future research. In addition, XTH genes were involved in regulation of stem enlargement expression. These results provide new insights for future research aiming at exploring important functional genes, their expression patterns and regulatory mechanisms for mustard development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The promotion of excess low-density lipoprotein (LDL) clearance stands as an effective clinical approach for treating hyperlipidemia. Tetrahydroberberine, a metabolite of berberine, exhibits superior bioavailability compared to berberine and demonstrates a pronounced hypolipidemic effect. Despite these characteristics, the impact of tetrahydroberberine on improving excessive LDL clearance in hyperlipidemia has remained unexplored. Thus, this study investigates the potential effects of tetrahydroberberine on high-fat diet-induced hyperlipidemia in mice. The findings reveal that tetrahydroberberine exerts a more potent lipid-lowering effect than berberine, particularly concerning LDL-cholesterol in hyperlipidemic mice. Notably, tetrahydroberberine significantly reduces serum levels of upstream lipoproteins, including intermediate-density lipoprotein (IDL) and very low-density lipoprotein, by promoting their conversion to LDL. This reduction is further facilitated by the upregulation of hepatic LDL receptor expression induced by tetrahydroberberine. Intriguingly, tetrahydroberberine enhances the apolipoprotein E (ApoE)/apolipoprotein B100 (ApoB100) ratio, influencing lipoprotein assembly in the serum. This effect is achieved through the activation of the efflux of ApoE-containing cholesterol in the liver. The ApoE/ApoB100 ratio exhibits a robust negative correlation with serum levels of LDL and IDL, indicating its potential as a diagnostic indicator for hyperlipidemia. Moreover, tetrahydroberberine enhances hepatic lipid clearance without inducing lipid accumulation in the liver and alleviates existing liver lipid content. Importantly, no apparent hepatorenal toxicity is observed following tetrahydroberberine treatment for hyperlipidemia. In summary, tetrahydroberberine demonstrates a positive impact against hyperlipidemia by modulating lipoprotein assembly-induced clearance of LDL and IDL. The ApoE/ApoB100 ratio emerges as a promising diagnostic indicator for hyperlipidemia, showcasing the potential clinical significance of tetrahydroberberine in lipid management. [Display omitted] • THB is better than BBR in alleviating HFD-induced hyperlipidemia. • THB clears serum LDL and IDL by enhancing hepatic LDLR expression. • THB enhances LDLR expression by activating PPARα and inhibiting PCSK9. • THB improves lipoprotein assembly to augmente LDL and IDL clearance. • THB activates hepatic TREM2/DAP12 to regulate ApoE dominated lipoprotein assembly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]