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Supramolecular aggregation-induced emission (AIE) has become a research hotspot in cell imaging. Herein, supramolecular assembly with AIE effect was constructed in two stages, where adamantane modified tetraphenylethene self-assembly emitted weak fluorescence, and then after adding β-cyclodextrin modified hyaluronic acid, the formed nanoparticles enhanced AIE fluorescence for targeted cancer cell imaging.

ABSTRACT This paper investigates reciprocal decision‐making in multi‐player pursuit‐evasion (MPE) differential games by analyzing altruistic decision‐making among players. The irrational decision‐making motivated by altruism is modeled by introducing a distance term between cooperative players and common adversaries into the original performance function. Based on the new performance function, the Nash policy under irrationality is first sought using the maximum principle, based on which reinforcement learning is proposed to approximate the Nash policy. Subsequently, sufficient conditions are proposed to determine whether irrational decision‐making is egoistic or altruistic and whether reciprocity is generated under altruistic decision‐making among players. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed results is verified by a numerical example. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Loess is the most well-known collapsible soil. The field immersion test is one of the effective means to assess the in situ self-weight collapsibility of soil. However, the reason why huge differences appeared in collapse settlements in different regions remains unclear, and which factors largely determine the amount of collapse deformation of loess during field immersion tests are worthy of being discussed. In this study, a numerical model for hydromechanical (HM) behaviors of loess was developed, in which the effects of the porosity on the water retention behavior and intrinsic permeability were incorporated. A field immersion test associated with the monitored collapse settlement, water retention curve measurements, and the variation of self-weight collapsibility with depth were used to testify to the effectiveness of the numerical model. The model was then adopted to clarify the effects of compression index, initial suction, and yield stress on the coupled HM or collapse settlement behavior of loess in field immersion tests. The aforementioned three parameters are relatively easy to be determined from various sites and have obvious differences. Then, a total of 126 numerical cases were conducted by the HM model, with the range of the collapse settlement from 0.334 m to 1.136, which covers the most range of the collapse settlement of the field immersion test systematically summarized by previous researchers. The result shows that yield stress and compression index have a significant influence on collapse settlement. The initial suction has a slight influence on collapse settlement, which mainly affects the velocity of water transport. The model herein can be used in the assessment of the in situ collapsibility of loess, and when the basic physical properties of a site are determined, the numerical simulation database of this study can preliminarily determine the site's collapsibility grade and amount of the collapsibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leaf width is a key determinant of planting density and photosynthetic efficiency. In an effort to determine which genes regulate maize plant leaf width, we performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of 1.49 × 106 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 80 sequenced backbone inbred maize lines in Jilin Province, China, based upon phenotypic leaf width data from two years. In total, 14 SNPs were identified as being significantly related to leaf width (p < 0.000001), with these SNPs being located on chromosomes 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9. A total of five candidate genes were identified within a mean linkage disequilibrium (LD) distance of 9.7 kb, with a significant SNP being identified within the Zm00001d044327 candidate gene. RNA was then isolated from 12 different inbred maize lines from this GWAS study cohort and was used to conduct qPCR analyses which revealed significant differences in Zm00001d044327 expression among strains exhibiting significant differences in leaf width. Based on an assessment of EMS mutant lines harboring a conserved amino acid stop mutation and two non-synonymous mutations in Zm00001d044327 that exhibited a narrow leaf width, these data suggested that Zm00001d044327 is a key regulator of maize leaf width. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Infertility represents a significant health concern, with sperm quantity and quality being crucial determinants of male fertility. Oligoasthenoteratozoospermia (OAT) is characterized by reduced sperm motility, lower sperm concentration, and morphological abnormalities in sperm heads and flagella. Although variants in several genes have been implicated in OAT, its genetic etiologies and pathogenetic mechanisms remain inadequately understood. In this study, we identified a homozygous nonsense mutation (c.916C>T, p.Arg306*) in the coiledcoil domain containing 146 (CCDC146) gene in an infertile male patient with OAT. This mutation resulted in the production of a truncated CCDC146 protein (amino acids 1–305), retaining only two out of five coiled-coil domains. To validate the pathogenicity of the CCDC146 mutation, we generated a mouse model (Ccdc146mut/mut) with a similar mutation to that of the patient. Consistently, the Ccdc146mut/mut mice exhibited infertility, characterized by significantly reduced sperm counts, diminished motility, and multiple defects in sperm heads and flagella. Furthermore, the levels of axonemal proteins, including DNAH17, DNAH1, and SPAG6, were significantly reduced in the sperm of Ccdc146mut/mut mice. Additionally, both human and mouse CCDC146 interacted with intraflagellar transport protein 20 (IFT20), but this interaction was lost in the mutated versions, leading to the degradation of IFT20. This study identified a novel deleterious homozygous nonsense mutation in CCDC146 that causes male infertility, potentially by disrupting axonemal protein transportation. These findings offer valuable insights for genetic counseling and understanding the mechanisms underlying CCDC146 mutant-associated infertility in human males. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The structural integrity of the sperm flagellum is essential for proper sperm function. Flagellar defects can result in male infertility, yet the precise mechanisms underlying this relationship are not fully understood. CCDC181, a coiledcoil domain-containing protein, is known to localize on sperm flagella and at the basal regions of motile cilia. Despite this knowledge, the specific functions of CCDC181 in flagellum biogenesis remain unclear. In this study, Ccdc181 knockout mice were generated. The absence of CCDC181 led to defective sperm head shaping and flagellum formation. Furthermore, the Ccdc181 knockout mice exhibited extremely low sperm counts, grossly aberrant sperm morphologies, markedly diminished sperm motility, and typical multiple morphological abnormalities of the flagella (MMAF). Additionally, an interaction between CCDC181 and the MMAF-related protein LRRC46 was identified, with CCDC181 regulating the localization of LRRC46 within sperm flagella. These findings suggest that CCDC181 plays a crucial role in both manchette formation and sperm flagellum biogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]