Search

IntroductionThis study aimed to explore the potential genetic and epigenetic mechanisms associated with IDO1 mRNA dysregulation in esophageal cancer (ESCA).Material and methodsData from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA)-ESCA and The Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) project were obtained for analysis. Subgroup analysis was performed in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and esophageal adenocarcinoma (ESAD) respectively.ResultsIDO1 expression was significantly upregulated in ESAD and ESCC tissues than in normal esophagus. Although gene-level copy number alterations were common in both ESAD and ESCC, they were not associated with IDO1 dysregulation. Among 3 CpG sites (cg10262052 and cg08465774 in promoter and cg24188163 in gene body) in IDO1 gene locus examined, only cg10262052 was hypomethylated in cancerous tissues than in normal tissues in ESAD. All 3 sites showed significantly different methylation in ESCC than in normal tissues, among which cg10262052 and cg08465774 were hypomethylated, while cg24188163 was hypomethylated. Correlation analysis confirmed negative correlations between cg10262052/cg08465774 methylation and IDO1 expression while cg24188163 methylation was positively correlated with IDO1 expression (Pearson’s r=0.45) in ESCC patients. Genomic study confirmed that cg24188163 is in the flanking region of an intragenic promoter of IDO1. IDO1 expression had an independent prognostic value in terms of OS in ESCC patients (HR: 1.183, 95%CI: 1.025-1.367, p=0.022), but was not a risk factor of unfavorable OS in ESAD patients.ConclusionsIDO1 mRNA upregulation was associated with both promoter hypomethylation and gene body hypermethylation in ESCC. Its expression has a specific prognostic value in terms of OS in ESCC, but not in ESAD patients.

The Euro-Mediterranean region is subject to numerous and various aerosol loads, which interact with radiation, clouds and atmospheric dynamics, with ensuing impact on regional climate. However up to now, aerosol variations are hardly taken into account in most regional climate simulations, although anthropogenic emissions have been dramatically reduced in Europe since the 1980s. Moreover, inconsistencies between regional climate models (RCMs) and their driving global model (GCM) have recently been identified in terms of future radiation and temperature evolution, which could be related to the differences in aerosol forcing. The present study aims at assessing the role of aerosols in the future evolution of the Euro-Mediterranean climate, using a specific multi-model protocol carried out in the Flagship Pilot Study "Aerosol" of the CORDEX program. This protocol relies on three simulations for each RCM: a historical run (1971-2000) and two future RCP8.5 simulations (2021-2050), a first one with evolving aerosols, and a second one with the same aerosols as in the historical period. Six modeling groups have taken part in this protocol, providing nine triplets of simulations. The analysis of these simulations will be presented here. First results show that the future evolution of aerosols has a significant impact on the evolution of surface radiation and surface temperature. In addition RCM runs taking into account the evolution of aerosols are simulating climate change signal closer to the one of their driving GCM than those with constant aerosols.

The treatment of wastewater is a complicated biological reaction process. Reliable effluent prediction is critical in the scientific management of water treatment plants. This research proposes a soft sensor design strategy to address the issues above, Multi-Verse Optimizer (MVO)-based random vector functional link network (MVO-RVFL). The proposed approach is utilized to anticipate real-time effluent data obtained from the Benchmark Simulation Model 1 (BSM1). The results of the experiments demonstrate that the MVO methodology can successfully find the optimum input-hidden weights and hidden biases of the RVFL model while outperforming the original RVFL and other typical machine learning approaches in all types of influent datasets. In the situation of significant water quality variations, the use of the fusion process for model development was also investigated. The experimental results demonstrate that incorporating prior knowledge can effectively improve the model’s ability to cope with unexpected situations.

This work used the first-principles simulations to investigate interactions between orbital and electronic properties in the GaN m /AlN n quantum structure. By rotating the quantum well plane 90˚ from the c-plane, we delineated responses including a uniform bond length, an equal charge distribution on both well sides, and orbital changes at the quantum level near the valence band maximum (from the degenerated p x /p y to the separated p y and p z ). The found responses would positively contribute to wavelength reduction, quantum efficiency, and surface-emitting geometry. The tunable bandgap enables the production of electro-optic devices of Al-rich AlGaN for DUV applications.

Predicting students’ performance is very important in matters related to higher education as well as with regard to deep learning and its relationship to educational data. Prediction of students’ performance provides support in selecting courses and designing appropriate future study plans for students. In addition to predicting the performance of students, it helps teachers and managers to monitor students in order to provide support to them and to integrate the training programs to obtain the best results. One of the benefits of student’s prediction is that it reduces the official warning signs as well as expelling students because of their inefficiency. Prediction provides support to the students themselves through their choice of courses and study plans appropriate to their abilities. The proposed method used deep neural network in prediction by extracting informative data as a feature with corresponding weights. Multiple updated hidden layers are used to design neural network automatically; number of nodes and hidden layers controlled by feed forwarding and backpropagation data are produced by previous cases. The training mode is used to train the system with labeled data from dataset and the testing mode is used for evaluating the system. Mean absolute error (MAE) and root mean squared error (RMSE) with accuracy used for evolution of the proposed method. The proposed system has proven its worth in terms of efficiency through the achieved results in MAE (0.593) and RMSE (0.785) to get the best prediction.

Phototreatment is at the leading edge of a research hot topic as a driving force for structural transformation, spectral and electromagnetism improvements, and the functional performance of nanomaterials. Light irradiation can excite surface plasmons in noble metal nanoparticles, create electron-hole pairs, and produce charge transfer in semiconductor substrates, which have led to it being widely used in surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) for life sciences, environmental protection, and biological analysis. Photo-induced enhanced Raman spectroscopy (PIERS) is a new technology developed on the basis of traditional SERS and has proven to be an efficient way to resolve several critical challenges thanks to its incomparable superiority for incontiguous operation, efficient charge separation and enrichment, and a large signal enhancement for a wide range of biomolecules at the trace level. This makes PIERS a powerful technique with very appealing and promising applications in various branches of analytical science. In this review, the enhancement mechanisms of PIERS are analyzed in comparison with SERS. Afterward, the parameters influencing the enhancement of PIERS, including the substrate, light irradiation, and relaxation are discussed in detail. Finally, some perspectives on further developments of PIERS are exemplified. The PIERS technique will continue to evolve and grow with new developments and its successful application in bioanalysis and life sciences.

Background: Fms-like tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3) gene mutations occur in approximately 30% of all AML patients. Internal tandem duplication (ITD) in the juxtamembrane domain and point mutations within the tyrosine kinase domain (TKD) are two distinct types of FLT3 mutations. FLT3-ITD has been determined as an independent poor prognostic factor, but the prognostic impact of FLT3-TKD remains controversial. Hence, we performed a meta-analysis to investigate the prognostic significance of FLT3-TKD in patients with AML. Methods: A systematic retrieval of studies on FLT3-TKD in patients with AML was performed in PubMed, Embase, and CNKI databases on Sept. 30th, 2020. Hazard ratio (HR) and its 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were used to determine the effect size. Meta-regression model and subgroup analysis were used for heterogeneity analysis. Begg’s and Egger’s tests were performed to detect potential publication bias. The sensitivity analysis was performed to evaluate the stability of findings in meta-analysis. Findings: Twenty prospective cohort studies (n=10970) on the prognostic effect of FLT3-TKD in AML were included: 9744 subjects with FLT3-WT and 1226 subjects with FLT3-TKD. We found that FLT3-TKD revealed no significant effect on DFS (HR=1.12, 95% CI: 0.90-1.41) and OS (HR=0.98, 95% CI: 0.76-1.27) in general. However, meta-regressions demonstrated that ethnicity contributed to the high heterogeneity observed in the prognosis of FLT3-TKD in AML. To be specific, FLT3-TKD represented a beneficial prognosis of DFS (HR=0.56, 95% CI: 0.37-0.85) and OS (HR=0.63, 95% CI: 0.42-0.95) for Asians while it represented an adverse prognosis of DFS for Caucasians with AML (HR=1.34, 95% CI: 1.07-1.67). Interpretation: Our results showed that FLT3-TKD revealed no significant effects on DFS and OS of patients with AML, which is consistent with the controversial status nowadays. Distinct prognosis of FLT3-TKD in AML between Asians and Caucasians may attribute to different chemotherapy regimens (including the dose of cytarabine and daunorubicin in conventional "3+7" induction and the clinical usage of HHT) and diverse genetic background. The dose of cytarabine (100 mg/m2) and daunorubicin (50 mg/m2) used in Asian countries in "3+7" induction therapy may benefit Caucasians with AML carrying FLT3-TKD. Funding Information: National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC, Grant No. 82000150). Declaration of Interests: We declare no competing interests.

With the widespread application of information technology and the continuous deepening of my country’s education informatization construction, the educational field has increasingly higher requirements for teachers’ informatization quality. The advancement of the process of education informatization depends to a large extent on the level of teachers’ own level of informatization and has gradually become an important indicator to measure the informatization of education. The main body of education and the decisive factor are teachers. The scientific and reasonable evaluation of informatization education is an important content of today’s education informatization. This paper uses regression analysis to evaluate the teacher education information system and uses mathematical statistics to establish a linear regression model for the city and analyze and calculate it. Through the quantitative analysis of the evaluation index system of the education informatization level, the multiple linear regression analysis method was used to establish the linear regression mathematical model of the school education informatization level on each secondary index, and the influence of various indicators on the school education informatization level was analyzed to establish a scientific evaluation system to evaluate the literacy of teachers’ informatization education and to give suggestions for improving the level of school education informatization. The design of the evaluation system is more scientific and reasonable, the regression error is small, the results obtained are more accurate, and the impact of nonlinear errors is basically eliminated.

Background: Sepsis is most likely to cause lung damage in patients, and the detection rate and mortality rate are high. Here, we investigated the expression of miR-20a in sepsis-induced acute lung injury (ALI) rats and its effect on inflammatory response, and reveal its possible molecular mechanism. Method: The model of acute lung injury caused by sepsis in rats was established by cecal ligation and puncture. The expression of miR-20a in lung tissue was determined by RT-qPCR. Acute lung injury rats were injected with 5 nmol miR-20a agomir or agomir NC every day for 3 days. Rats were sacrificed by arterial bleeding and lung tissues were removed. Serum interleukin (IL) -1β, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) were detected by ELISA. HE staining was used to observe the pathology of lung tissue and calculate the pathological score of lung injury. Western blot to determine the level of TLR4 and nuclear transcription factor κB p65 (NF-κB p65) protein in lung tissue. The luciferase reporter assay was used to verify the binding effect of miR-20a on the 3 non-coding TLR4. Results: We found that compared with that in Normal group, the expression of miR-20a in lung tissues of rats with ALI was decreased (p < 0.05). In miR-20a agomir group, the plasma level of IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α was significantly lower than that in agomir NC group and ALI group (p < 0.05), while higher than those in Normal group (p < 0.05). The HE staining results showed that the pathological score of lung injury in rats in miR-20a agomir group was lower than that of agomir NC group and ALI group (p < 0.05). Compared with agomir NC group and ALI group, the expression of TLR4 and NF-κB p65 in miR-20a agomir group was decreased (p < 0.01). The luciferase reporting experiment confirmed that TLR4 was a target gene of miR-20a. Conclusion: To sum up, miR-20a exerts a protective effect on sepsis-induced ALI rats through its anti-inflammatory effect. The targeting of TLR4 by miR-20a may be an effective method to reduce the inflammatory response in sepsis-induced ALI.

— In this study, ginkgo powder was used as the research object, and neutral protease and flavor protease were selected to study the degree of hydrolysis of ginkgo protein. Using single factor test and orthogonal test, the results show that the addition amount of neutral protease is 1.6mg/ml, pH is 7.0, enzymolysis temperature is 44oC, and the reaction time is 4h, the best hydrolysis degree is 4.68%; flavor; The added amount of protease is 7.2mg/ml, pH is 6.5, enzymolysis temperature is 55oC, and the reaction time is 6h. The best hydrolysis degree is 24.95%; finally, the ginkgo polypeptide is obtained by separation and purification by 3kDa filter membrane. The yield rate was 8.73%, and the obtained filtrate was concentrated by a rotary evaporator to prepare a polypeptide concentrate.

Background: Chronic inflammation plays an important role in the development of cervical cancer. Studies have demonstrated that transcription factors forkhead box protein O1 (FoxO1) have been reported to play important roles in various cancers. Aim: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of FoxO1 gene on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammation and intracellular pyroptosis in the development and progression of human cervical cancer cells (SiHa).Methods: In this study, FoxO1 expression was examined using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR), western blotting and immunohistochemical staining. SiHa cells migration and proliferation was detected using the transwell assay and 3H‑TdR assay. Mitochondrial function was assessed based on reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and changes in the mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm). Results: Our study demonstrated that LPS inhibited FoxO1 gene expression, and the silence of FoxO1 gene caused the accumulation of ROS, decreases in the ΔΨm and mitochondrial morphology change). However, either overexpression of FoxO1 or metformin could reverse the LPS-induced mitochondrial dysfunction, cell pyroptosis, migration and proliferation.Conclusions: Our study indicated that FoxO1 as a potential therapeutic target to cure against LPS-induced human cervical cancer in a mitochondria-dependent manner.

Letter-based credit ratings are deeply rooted in commercial and regulatory practices, which in a way impedes a wider and quicker adoption of scientifically rigorous and operationally superior and granular credit risk measures such as probability of default (PD). This paper reverse-engineers a mapping methodology converting PDs to letter ratings by referencing the realized default rates of different rating categories experienced by a commercial rating agency such as standard & Poor’s or Moody’s.

BACKGROUND Germline mutations of BRCA2 have been reported in various malignancies. We investigated BRCA2 germline mutations in familial clusters with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). MATERIAL AND METHODS We screened the DNA of familial ESCC patients for BRCA2 germline mutations with whole gene sequencing. Multiple BRCA2 mutations including one novel splice variant, c.426-2A>G were identified. Other family members, sporadic ESCC patients, and controls were also assessed for the novel mutation. RESULTS The mutation c.426-2A>G was found in 2 affected ESCC sisters and 7 other family members. The splice variant mutation results in exon 5 skipping with a frame shift leading to a premature stop codon in exon 6 and truncation. Novel mutation tracking ruled out single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in 100 chromosomes of healthy individuals. CONCLUSIONS BRCA2 germline mutation in ESCC patients may play a role in genetic susceptibility to familial ESCC. Genetic analysis of BRCA2 in patients with familial ESCC could provide opportunities for targeted therapies.

Rhizobium species are essential symbionts of legumes, participating in nitrogen fixation and having an important impact on the protein content of soybeans. In this study, we isolated Rhizobia from the soybean cultivar Suinong14 growing in a soybean field in Harbin (45.75° N, 126.53° E), which is situated within one of the three largest black soil belts in the world. One Bradyrhizobium japonicum strain (High-Latitude Northeast Agricultural University 001, HLNEAU001) was identified. Two hundred fifteen core soybean germplasms from Northeast China were screened for nodule traits, with the nodule number ranging from 0 to 95. Phylogenetic analysis showed that B. japonicum HLNEAU001 is closely related to B. japonicum USDA6 and B. diazoefficiens USDA110. A nodulation capacity analysis showed that B. japonicum HLNEAU001 formed more nodules than B. japonicum USDA6 or B. diazoefficiens USDA110, with 30 soybean germplasms being assayed for each strain. Using a draft genome sequence of B. japonicum HLNEAU001 to compare the genomic differences between B. japonicum HLNEAU001, B. japonicum USDA6 and B. diazoefficiens USDA110 showed that the three strains contain 5790 core genes. Because B. japonicum HLNEAU001 and B. japonicum USDA6 exhibited collinearity, the genomic differences between these two strains were further analysed. In addition to type IV and type VI secreted proteins, we hypothesize that type III effectors are the key factors underlying the nodulation capacity differences between B. japonicum HLNEAU001 and B. japonicum USDA6. The results of this study indicate that B. japonicum HLNEAU001 is a distinctive cold-region, slow-growing Rhizobium strain that is capable of effective symbiotic nitrogen fixation in cold regions and black soil and may play a pivotal role in sustainable agricultural production.

Sorafenib is a standard targeted drug used to treat hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Notably, cytokine has been found to further enhance the therapeutic effectiveness of the targeted drug. Thereby, the aim of this study is to verify whether cytokine IL-2 could increase the anti-cancer effects of sorafenib on liver cancer in vitro. Huh7 cells were used in the present study and the cell apoptosis and migration were determined in response to sorafenib treatment. Then, siRNA and pathway blocker were used to determine the molecular mechanisms by which IL-2 enhance the therapeutic effectiveness of Huh7 liver cancer cell in vitro. The data in our study illustrated that sorafenib treatment induced apoptosis in Huh7 liver cancer cell in vitro, an effect that was accompanied with a drop in cell proliferation and migration. Biological investigation demonstrated that IL-2 supplementation further augmented the pro-apoptotic effects of sorafenib in vitro. At the molecular levels, the combination of IL-2 and sorafenib impaired mitochondrial respiratory function, reduced mitochondrial potential, promoted mitochondrial ROS overloading and activated mitochondrial apoptotic pathway. Meanwhile, we found that IL-2 supplementation induced mitochondrial stress via activating mitochondrial fragmentation in a manner dependent on MAPK-JNK signalling pathway and TAZ protein. Blockade of the JNK signalling pathway and/or knockdown of TAZ could abrogate the inhibitor effects of IL-2/sorafenib on liver cancer survival, growth and mobility. Collectively, these data indicated that IL-2 supplementation could further augment the anti-cancer effectiveness of sorafenib via activating mitochondrial fragmentation in a manner dependent on MAPK-JNK signalling pathway and TAZ protein. This finding identifies mitochondrial stress and the JNK-Hippo pathway as the potential targets to treat liver cancer.

Acquiring AlN/GaN digital alloys with matching coherent lattices, atomically sharp interfaces, and negligible compositional fluctuations remains a challenge. In this work, the nature and formation mechanism of the constituent elements of AlN and GaN atomic layers growth was examined by first-principle calculations and experimental demonstration. On the basis of the calculated formation enthalpies, we developed a hierarchical growth method wherein AlN and GaN growth units are digitally stacked layer by layer through metal organic vapor-phase epitaxy, which involves the growth sequence instantaneously to control chemical potentials of the hierarchical growth units under different atmospheres. High-resolution X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy confirmed that the hierarchical GaN and AlN growth units of digital-alloyed AlN/GaN structures had coherent lattices, abrupt interfaces, and integral monolayers at the atomic scale. The cathodoluminescence properties featured with single emission, c...

A record-high HCHO capture capacity, reaching 49 mg g−1, is achieved in about ten minutes, on defective NH2-UiO-66(Zr) nano-octahedra. The adjacent bifunctional base/acid catalytic centers significantly facilitate the efficient HCHO adsorption and regenerative transformation of the adsorbed HCHO into less toxic formic acid and methanol.

Two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials hold considerable potential in reforming the energy storage performance, and the efficient production of high-performance 2D energy storage materials through facile and sustainable approaches is highly desirable. Herein, for the first time, large-area and ultrathin carbon nanosheets doped with N/O were constructed by stripping bulk chitin via a “top-down” method. On the basis of the specific layered structure composed of nanofibers, chitin samples after removing the protein and CaCO3 could be efficiently exfoliated into nanosheets (CNs) via the hydrothermal method, which were then carbonized into N/O co-doped porous carbon nanosheets (CCNs). The CCNs with a thickness of about 3.8 nm retained the original nanosheet structure consisting of nanofibers, leading to a 2D structure with hierarchical porosities. When used as anode materials for sodium-ion batteries, the 2D porous nanostructures and abundant N/O doping of CCNs-600 (carbonized at 600 °C) enable a high reversible capacity of 360 mA h g−1 at 50 mA g−1, a good rate capability of 102 mA h g−1 at 10 A g−1, and an excellent cycling stability of 140 mA h g−1 after 10 000 cycles at a high density of 5 A g−1. Full cells consisting of a CCN anode and a Na3V2(PO4)3/C cathode exhibited favorable rate performance and cycling stability, showing potential application prospects in highly efficient energy storage systems.

Sulfurized polyacrylonitrile is a suitable cathode candidate for room temperature sodium–sulfur batteries. However, its limited reactivity results in low utilization of active materials, limited rate capability and poor cycling performance especially in ether electrolyte. Here, we demonstrate the effect of using selenium as a eutectic accelerator in sulfurized polyacrylonitrile in which a small amount of selenium is easily distributed at the molecular level and leads to significant improvement of reaction kinetics. As a result, the designed Se0.08S0.92@pPAN cathode exhibits superior rate and cycle performance as well as compatibility with both ether and carbonate electrolytes, delivers capacities of 1214 and 767 mA h g−1 at 0.1 and 3 A g−1 respectively, and maintains a good specific capacity of 770 mA h g−1 at 0.4 A g−1 over 500 cycles (0.045% decay per cycle) in carbonate electrolyte with nearly 100% coulombic efficiency. Furthermore, self-discharge tests reveal diminished soluble sodium polysulfides owing to the fast redox conversion enabled by Se-doping.

Countries around the world have sought to stop the spread of the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) by severely restricting travel and in-person commercial activities. Here, we analyse the economic footprint of such “lockdowns” using detailed datasets of global supply chains and a set of pandemic scenarios. We find that COVID-related economic losses are largely dependent on the number of countries imposing lockdowns, and that losses are more sensitive to the duration of a lockdown that its strictness—suggesting that more severe restrictions can reduce economic damages if they successfully shorten the duration of a lockdown. Our results also highlight several key vulnerabilities in global supply chains: Even countries that are not directly affected by COVID-19 can experience large losses (e.g., >20% of their GDP)—with such cascading impacts often occurring in low- and middle-income countries. Open and highly-specialized economies suffer particularly large losses (e.g., energy-exporting Central Asian countries or tourism-focused Caribbean countries). Supply bottlenecks and declines in consumer demand lead to especially large losses in globalized sectors such as electronics (production decreases of 13-53% across our scenarios) and automobiles (2-49%). Although retrospective analyses will undoubtedly provide further policy-relevant insights, our findings already imply that earlier, stricter, and thus shorter lockdowns are likely to minimize overall economic damages, and that global supply chains will magnify economic losses in some countries and industry sectors regardless of direct effects of the coronavirus.

Countries around the world have sought to stop the spread of the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) by severely restricting travel and in-person commercial activities. While it is too early to assess the cost of the current pandemics, we analyse the economic impacts of a set of “lockdowns” scenarios, using the latest developed modelling framework of global supply chains. We find that economic losses related to initial COVID-19 lockdowns are largely dependent on the number of countries imposing restrictions, and that losses are more sensitive to the duration of a lockdown than its strictness—suggesting that more severe restrictions can reduce economic damages if they successfully shorten the duration of a lockdown. However, a longer containment that can eradicate the disease imposes lower economic damages than a series of shorter ones. Our results also reveal some important vulnerabilities in global supply chains: Even countries that are not directly affected by COVID-19 can experience large losses (e.g., >20% of their GDP)—with such cascading impacts often occurring in low- and middle-income countries. Open and highly-specialized economies suffer particularly large losses (e.g., energy-exporting Central Asian countries or tourism-focused Caribbean countries). Supply bottlenecks and declines in consumer demand lead to especially large losses in globalized sectors such as electronics (production decreases of 13-53% across our scenarios) and automobiles (2-49%). Our findings suggest that earlier, stricter, and thus shorter lockdowns are likely to minimize overall economic damages, that a “go-slow” approach to lifting restrictions may reduce overall damages if it avoids further lockdowns, and that global supply chains will magnify economic losses in some countries and industry sectors regardless of direct effects of the coronavirus. Pandemics control is a public good but is dependent on the weakest link in the global division of production. Economic impacts can be only minimized if collective efforts are made to strengthen the least effective providers.

Drawing upon social comparison theory, we developed and tested a model to examine potential negative coworker reactions toward proactive employees. We theorized that a focal employee's proactive personality is positively related with his or her high relative standing in the group, which in turn exposes him or her to being the target of coworker envy. This may then reduce the focal employee's received help from coworkers and give rise to coworker undermining. We further reasoned that employee prosocial motivation moderates the serial mediated relationships. Our hypotheses were generally supported in 3 field studies involving a total of 1,069 employees from 223 groups. Proactive personality was negatively and indirectly related to received help from coworkers, via relative leader-member exchange (RLMX) and relative job performance, and then via being envied by coworkers (Study 1). Results also generally supported the positive and indirect effect of proactive personality on coworker undermining via the same set of sequential mediators (e.g., RLMX and then being envied, Study 2). The indirect effects of proactive personality on coworker helping and undermining (e.g., via relative job performance and coworker envy) were only significant when employees' prosocial motivation was low (Study 3). This research contributes to a more complete and balanced theorization of the influences of proactive personality in organizations. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

To study disease transmission with vaccination based on the network, we map an SIR model to a site-bond percolation model. In the case where the vaccination probability is zero, this model degenerates into a bond percolation model without the immunization. Using the method of generation functions, we obtain exact theoretical results for the epidemic threshold and the average outbreak size. From these exact solutions, we find that the epidemic threshold increases while the average outbreak size decreases with vaccination probability. Numerical simulations show that the size of giant component S increases with transmissibility T but decreases with the probability of vaccination. In addition, we compare the epidemic threshold and the size of the giant component for a Poisson network, an exponential network and a power-law network using numerical simulations. When the probability of vaccination is fixed, the epidemic threshold is the smallest for heterogeneous networks and the size of giant component S in homogeneous networks becomes largest for large transmissibility T(T close to 1).

As a new species in the financial ecosystem, internet finance has significantly impacted traditional finance and has improved the diversity and ended the long-term stability of the financial ecosystem. From the perspective of the interaction between the ecological subjects of the Internet and traditional finance, this study examines the influence of internet finance on the sustainability of the financial ecosystem in China. We tested the dynamic correlation and risk transmission at the volatility level between the ecological subjects of internet finance and the banking, securities, and insurance industries by establishing a dynamic conditional correlation-generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (GARCH) model of Baba, Engle, Kraft, and Kroner (DCC-GARCH-BEKK). The result indicates a positive dynamic correlation between internet finance and traditional finance almost all of the time. The introduction of internet finance has changed the risk transmission effect among the ecological subjects of traditional finance. Based on empirical findings, this study provides suggestions to promote the sustainable development of internet finance and the whole financial ecosystem. Our research not only has strong practical significance but also contributes significantly to the literature on internet finance and sustainable development.

Modification of protein substrates by small ubiquitin-related modifier (SUMO) plays a vital role in plants under biotic and abiotic stresses. However, its role in the stress responses of soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merrill) is poorly understood. In this study, we explored SUMOylation in soybean in response to Phytophthora sojae race 1 infection and heat shock. We selected two soybean cultivars for these analyses; one resistant to P. sojae race 1 (SN10), and one susceptible (HF25). The transcription and expression levels of SUMOylation-related genes were detected in SN10 and HF25 after inoculation with P. sojae race 1 and after exposure to heat shock (42 °C). After inoculation with P. sojae race 1, GmSUMO2/3 and GmSAE1b accumulated in the roots. After the heat shock treatment, GmSCEd and GmE3f accumulated in the leaves. The transcript levels of GmESD4d increased in response to both P. sojae infection and heat shock. We monitored SUMOylation in the root, stem, and leaves after the stress treatments. We detected SUMO conjugates in the unifoliolate leaf, trifoliolate leaf, root, and stem after the heat shock treatment. SUMO conjugates accumulated mainly in the root and stem in response to heat shock, but mainly in the root in response to P. sojae race 1 infection. The accumulation of SUMO conjugates in response to stress indicated that SUMOylation enhanced the resistance of soybean to P. sojae and heat shock. These results provide a foundation for further research on the role of SUMOylation in resistance to P. sojae and heat shock.

Hierarchical arrays of ZnO/Si nanowires were prepared through very convenient two-step solution method on silicon substrates. The tree-like nanowire structures showed high crystal quality, where well aligned Si nanowires were grown vertical to the substrate surface, whereas uniform assembly of branched ZnO nanowires was grown normal to the Si nanowires (backbones). Raman analysis indicated that among all the specimens having identical chemical compositions and dimensions but different forms (thin films or nanowires), Ag-decorated hierarchical arrays of ZnO/Si nanowires possessed the highest intensity peak in surface enhanced Raman scattering spectra. Such arrays demonstrated exceptional ability of detecting Rhodamine 6 G, limiting to a value as low as 1×10−8 mol/L and an enhancement factor up to 1.5 × 104. Both, experimental designing and band structure analysis indicated that electromagnetic effect of the localized surface plasmon resonance of Ag nanoparticles caused eight times enhancement, whereas chemical effect of hierarchical arrays of ZnO/Si nanowires played a more critical role in the high Raman sensitivity. Our results would be helpful to better understand the enhancement mechanisms and meanwhile, could be extended for further potential applications of hierarchical semiconducting nanowires.

As a clean and sustainable energy carrier, hydrogen is one of the most promising methods to address the energy and environmental crisis. However, hydrogen storage and transportation still face many challenges. Herein, we design a new hydrogen storage and production method based on s-trioxane. s-Trioxane has many advantages, such as convenient and safe storage method, high hydrogen content (6.7 wt % and 78.1 g L–1), and low cost. The organic solid is originally employed to produce high-quality hydrogen when catalyzed by organo ruthenium complex under mild condition. Notably, 1 cm3 of s-trioxane can generate 1872 cm3 of hydrogen at 25 °C, which performs better than methanol. The byproduct CO concentration is less than 10 ppm, while the turnover frequency (TOF) is up to 280 h–1 when catalyzed by Ru(p-cymene)(NH3)Cl2 at 90 °C. We also propose and prove the reaction mechanism during the s-trioxane decomposition in water, and the results show that formaldehyde and formic acid could be generated during the reaction.

In rhizobia, host specificity is controlled by the nodulation outer proteins (Nops). However, the host genes encoding proteins associated with Nops remain unknown. We constructed a Sinorhizobium fredii HH103ΩnopL mutant and analyzed the nodule number (NN) and nodule dry weight (NDW) of 10 germplasms inoculated with the mutant or wild-type strain. Using recombinant inbred lines (RILs), the conditional and unconditional quantitative trait loci (QTLs) associated with NopL were detected. The regions overlapping conditional and unconditional QTLs were identified. Additionally, the expression levels of selected candidate genes were analyzed by qRT-PCR. Depending on the germplasm, NopL positively or negatively affected NN and NDW. The NN and NDW of ‘Charleston’ and ‘Dongnong 594’ (RIL parents) were lower in samples inoculated with Sinorhizobium fredii HH103ΩnopL than in samples inoculated with the wild-type strain. In soybean inoculated independently with Sinorhizobium fredii HH103 and HH103ΩnopL, 11 and 5 unconditional QTLs were identified for NN and NDW, respectively, while five and two conditional QTLs were identified for NN and NDW, respectively. Two overlapping QTLs were identified among the conditional and unconditional QTLs. Furthermore, the enzymes encoded by Glyma.13g170500 and Glyma.07g099700 likely interacted with NopL. The Glyma.13g170500 and Glyma.07g099700 detected at QTLs represent candidate genes that encode enzymes that interact with NopL to regulate the establishment of symbiotic relationships between rhizobia and soybean.

Based on the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data and Chinese observational data during 1961–2013, atmospheric circulation patterns over East Asia in summer and their connection with precipitation and surface air temperature in eastern China as well as associated external forcing are investigated. Three patterns of the atmospheric circulation are identified, all with quasi-barotropic structures: (1) the East Asia/Pacific (EAP) pattern, (2) the Baikal Lake/Okhotsk Sea (BLOS) pattern, and (3) the eastern China/northern Okhotsk Sea (ECNOS) pattern. The positive EAP pattern significantly increases precipitation over the Yangtze River valley and favors cooling north of the Yangtze River and warming south of the Yangtze River in summer. The warm sea surface temperature anomalies over the tropical Ind-ian Ocean suppress convection over the northwestern subtropical Pacific through the Ekman divergence induced by a Kelvin wave and excite the EAP pattern. The positive BLOS pattern is associated with below-average precipitation south of the Yangtze River and robust cooling over northeastern China. This pattern is triggered by anomalous spring sea ice concentration in the northern Barents Sea. The anomalous sea ice concentration contributes to a Rossby wave activity flux originating from the Greenland Sea, which propagates eastward to North Pacific. The positive ECNOS pattern leads to below-average precipitation and significant warming over northeastern China in summer. The reduced soil moisture associated with the earlier spring snowmelt enhances surface warming over Mongolia and northeastern China and the later spring snowmelt leads to surface cooling over Far East in summer, both of which are responsible for the formation of the ECNOS pattern.

Plasmonic properties of the Ag nanocaps were analyzed by the finite-difference time-domain method, in addition to the fabrication and sensor application of the two-dimensional Ag nanocap arrays. The thickness limitation for the light penetration of the nanocaps was revealed. The evolution of the plasma modes with the shell thickness and structure of the nanocaps was illustrated. The hemisphere nanocap was found to own the strongest absorption intensity and field enhancement. The sensing ability of the fabricated Ag hemisphere nanocap arrays was evaluated by the Raman spectrum of the rhodamine 6G and methylene blue molecules. The ordered arrays displayed improved light absorption with intense plasmon coupling, resulting in the strong surface-enhanced Raman scattering with an enhanced factor 15 folds of the nanosphere arrays, which suggested that the metal nanocaps might be promising for biochemical sensor application.

Thickening electrodes can significantly increase the energy density and reduce the cost of batteries. However, the electrochemical performance of thick electrodes is limited by the kinetics of lithium-ion transport, resulting in severe polarization and poor electrochemical performance. Here, we investigate the electrochemical behavior of low-tortuous thick electrodes constructed by freeze-drying method. It is shown that low tortuosity can accelerate the transport of lithium-ions and mainly reduce the concentration polarization, leading to improved rate capability. Due to the fast lithium-ions transport kinetics, the electrochemical performance of low tortuous thick electrode is not dominantly determined by concentration polarization until a thickness of 125 μm, much higher than a thickness of 46 μm for the high tortuosity electrode. Thick electrodes with low tortuosity possess a stable cathode electrolyte interface, leading to superior cyclability. Area capacities of low tortuous thick electrodes increase linearly with active material loadings, indicating the independence of specific capacity and electrode thickness. Even at an ultrahigh area loading of 99.56 mg cm−2, this low-tortuous thick electrode delivers an area capacity of 14.8 mAh cm−2. This work reveals the electrochemical behavior of low tortuous thick electrode, providing guidance for applicable thick electrodes in high-performance lithium batteries.

BAlN exhibit intriguing properties for both fundamental research and potential application in optoelectronic devices operating in the deep ultraviolet spectral ranges. For BxAl1-xN, the crystal lattice constant derived for the whole range of the alloy composition closely follows Vegard's law. The mechanical stability is represented by elastic constants. The fundamental bandgap is converted from direct in AlN to indirect in BN. The orbital projected band structure of BAlN is obtained to gain insight into the electronic structure and the optical anisotropy with favorable light polarization is understood in terms of the crystal field split-off energy. The band structure parameters including the band gap, the effective masses of electrons and holes are presented and the corresponding electron mobility of BAlN with the direct band gap are predicted to be larger than that of AlN. It is worth noting that BAlN with the direct band gap are quite promising for application in electronic and optoelectronic devices operating in the UVC range.