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Aluminum oxide (Al2O3) ceramics have been widely utilized as circuit substrates owing to their exceptional performance. In this study, boron nitride microribbon (BNMR)/Al2O3 composite ceramics are prepared using spark plasma sintering (SPS). This study examines the effect of varying the amount of toughened phase BNMR on the density, mechanical properties, dielectric constant, and thermal conductivity of BNMR/Al2O3 composite ceramics while also exploring the mechanisms behind the toughening and increased thermal conductivity of the fabricated ceramics. The results showed that for a BNMR content of 5 wt%, BNMR/Al2O3 composite ceramics displayed more enhanced characteristics than pure Al2O3 ceramics. In particular, the relative density, hardness, fracture toughness, and bending strength were 99.95%±0.025%, 34.11±1.5 GPa, 5.42±0.21 MPa·m1/2, and 375±2.5 MPa, respectively. These values represent increases of 0.76%, 70%, 35%, and 25%, respectively, compared with the corresponding values for pure Al2O3 ceramics. Furthermore, during the SPS process, BNMRs are subjected to high temperatures and pressures, resulting in the bending and deformation of the Al2O3 matrix; this leads to the formation of special thermal pathways within it. The dielectric constant of the composite ceramics decreased by 25.6%, whereas the thermal conductivity increased by 45.6% compared with that of the pure Al2O3 ceramics. The results of this study provide valuable insights into ways of enhancing the performance of Al2O3-based ceramic substrates by incorporating novel BNMRs as a second phase. These improvements are significant for potential applications in circuit substrates and related fields that require high-performance materials with improved mechanical properties and thermal conductivities.

Developing a suitable activation method to extend the application of molybdenum tailings (MT) in construction materials is crucial for maximizing MT utilization and reducing carbon emissions in the construction industry. In this study, MT was substituted for different levels of cement to prepare cement-MT composite paste, and direct electric curing (DEC) was used attempting to improve the reactivity of MT. The results indicated that MT doping decreased the compressive strength of the specimens, increased the pore content, and reduced the generation of hydration products. On the other hand, DEC effectively improved the early strength of the cement-MT composite and the hydration activity of MT. At 28 d, the cementitious coefficient of MT using DEC increased by 6.25 %-675 % compared with standard curing (SC) prepared specimens. Meanwhile, XRD and TG test results showed that DEC effectively promoted the hydration process through the ohmic heating effect. However, it did not change the types of hydration products or the morphology of the specimens. DEC reduced the pore content and refined the pore size distribution in the early stage of the specimens. Moreover, the carbon emission and cost per unit of strength in the early stage of DEC specimens were significantly reduced compared with those of SC. This paper proved that DEC was a feasible way to activate MT activity, and DEC could effectively promote the application of MT in construction materials.

Addressing the scarcity of research on the residual expansion deformation of steam-cured concrete and its underlying factors, this study introduces a testing apparatus to characterize the internal stress in fresh concrete during the thermal treatment. It explores the impact of water-to-cement ratio (w/c) and paste-to-aggregate ratio (p/a) on internal stress and elucidates the developmental patterns of internal stress in concrete throughout the thermal treatment phase. The key findings are as follows: (i) During the thermal treatment, the internal stress in concrete under constraint is predominantly compressive, exhibiting a rapid increase in the heating stage, followed by a gradual decline in the constant temperature treatment stage, and a continued decrease with a decelerating trend during the cooling stage. (ii) Both w/c and p/c significantly influence internal stress in concrete, and this stress can be enhanced by reducing the initial free water content and augmenting the initial structural strength of the concrete. This paper serves as a valuable foundation and reference for further investigations into the residual expansion deformation of steam-cured concrete.

In this paper, the concept of incorporating core–shell structured units as secondary phases to toughen Al2O3 ceramics is proposed. Al2O3 composite ceramics toughened by B4C@TiB2 core–shell units are successfully synthesized using a combination of molten salt methodology and spark plasma sintering. The synthesis of B4C@TiB2 core–shell toughening units stems from the prior production of core–shell structural B4C@TiB2 powders, and this core–shell structure is effectively preserved within the Al2O3 matrix after sintering. The B4C@TiB2 core–shell toughening unit consists of a micron-sized B4C core enclosed by a shell approximately 500 nm in thickness, composed of numerous nanosized TiB2 grains. The regions surrounding these core–shell units exhibit distinct geometric structures and encompass multidimensional variations in phase composition, grain dimensions, and thermal expansion coefficients. Consequently, intricate stress distributions emerge, fostering the propagation of cracks in multiple dimensions. This behavior consumes a considerable amount of crack propagation energy, thereby enhancing the fracture toughness of the Al2O3 matrix. The resulting Al2O3 composite ceramics display relative density of 99.7%±0.2%, Vickers hardness of 21.5±0.8 GPa, and fracture toughness 6.92±0.22 MPa·m1/2.

Visualizing the decision-making process is a key aspect of research regarding explainable arrhythmia recognition. This study proposed a visualized lead selection method to classify arrhythmia for multi-lead ECG signals. The proposed method has several advantages, as it uses a visualized approach to select effective leads, avoiding redundant leads and invalid information. It also captures the temporal dependencies of ECG signals and the complementary information between leads. The method deployed a lead activation heatmap (LA heatmap) based on a lead-wise network to select the proper 5 leads from 12-lead ECG heartbeats extracted from the public 2018 Chinese Physiological Signal Challenge database (CPSC 2018 DB), which were then fed into a ResBiTime network combining bidirectional long short-term memory (Bi-LSTM) networks and residual connections for a classification task of nine heartbeat categories (i.e., N, AF, I-AVB, RBBB, PAC, PVC, STD, LBBB, and STE). The results indicate an average precision of 93.25%, an average recall of 93.03%, an average F1-score of 0.9313, and that the proposed method can effectively extract additional information from ECG heartbeat data.

Advances in deep learning and computer vision have overcome many challenges inherent in the field of autonomous intelligent vehicles. To improve the detection accuracy and efficiency of EdgeBoard intelligent vehicles, we proposed an optimized design of EdgeBoard based on our PP-YOLOE+ model. This model innovatively introduces a composite backbone network, incorporating deep residual networks, feature pyramid networks, and RepResBlock structures to enrich environmental perception capabilities through the advanced analysis of sensor data. The incorporation of an efficient task-aligned head (ET-head) in the PP-YOLOE+ framework marks a pivotal innovation for precise interpretation of sensor information, addressing the interplay between classification and localization tasks with high effectiveness. Subsequent refinement of target regions by detection head units significantly sharpens the system’s ability to navigate and adapt to diverse driving scenarios. Our innovative hardware design, featuring a custom-designed mainboard and drive board, is specifically tailored to enhance the computational speed and data processing capabilities of intelligent vehicles. Furthermore, the optimization of our Pos-PID control algorithm allows the system to dynamically adjust to complex driving scenarios, significantly enhancing vehicle safety and reliability. Besides, our methodology leverages the latest technologies in edge computing and dynamic label assignment, enhancing intelligent vehicles’ operations through seamless sensor integration. Our custom dataset, specifically designed for this study, includes 4777 images captured by intelligent vehicles under a variety of environmental and lighting conditions. The dataset features diverse scenarios and objects pertinent to autonomous driving, such as pedestrian crossings and traffic signs, ensuring a comprehensive evaluation of the model’s performance. We conducted extensive testing of our model on this dataset to thoroughly assess sensor performance. Evaluated against metrics including accuracy, error rate, precision, recall, mean average precision (mAP), and F1-score, our findings reveal that the model achieves a remarkable accuracy rate of 99.113%, an mAP of 54.9%, and a real-time detection frame rate of 192 FPS, all within a compact parameter footprint of just 81 MB. These results demonstrate the superior capability of our PP-YOLOE+ model to integrate sensor data, achieving an optimal balance between detection accuracy and computational speed compared with existing algorithms.

Abstract Background DNA mutations of diverse types provide the raw material required for phenotypic variation and evolution. In the case of crop species, previous research aimed to elucidate the changing patterns of repetitive sequences, single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), and small InDels during domestication to explain morphological evolution and adaptation to different environments. Additionally, structural variations (SVs) encompassing larger stretches of DNA are more likely to alter gene expression levels leading to phenotypic variation affecting plant phenotypes and stress resistance. Previous studies on SVs in rice were hampered by reliance on short-read sequencing limiting the quantity and quality of SV identification, while SV data are currently only available for cultivated rice, with wild rice largely uncharacterized. Here, we generated two genome assemblies for O. rufipogon using long-read sequencing and provide insights on the evolutionary pattern and effect of SVs on morphological traits during rice domestication. Results In this study, we identified 318,589 SVs in cultivated and wild rice populations through a comprehensive analysis of 13 high-quality rice genomes and found that wild rice genomes contain 49% of unique SVs and an average of 1.76% of genes were lost during rice domestication. These SVs were further genotyped for 649 rice accessions, their evolutionary pattern during rice domestication and potential association with the diversity of important agronomic traits were examined. Genome-wide association studies between these SVs and nine agronomic traits identified 413 candidate causal variants, which together affect 361 genes. An 824-bp deletion in japonica rice, which encodes a serine carboxypeptidase family protein, is shown to be associated with grain length. Conclusions We provide relatively accurate and complete SV datasets for cultivated and wild rice accessions, especially in TE-rich regions, by comparing long-read sequencing data for 13 representative varieties. The integrated rice SV map and the identified candidate genes and variants represent valuable resources for future genomic research and breeding in rice.

Abstract Background The assembly of the rhizomicrobiome, i.e., the microbiome in the soil adhering to the root, is influenced by soil conditions. Here, we investigated the core rhizomicrobiome of a wild plant species transplanted to an identical soil type with small differences in chemical factors and the impact of these soil chemistry differences on the core microbiome after long-term cultivation. We sampled three natural reserve populations of wild rice (i.e., in situ) and three populations of transplanted in situ wild rice grown ex situ for more than 40 years to determine the core wild rice rhizomicrobiome. Results Generalized joint attribute modeling (GJAM) identified a total of 44 amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) composing the core wild rice rhizomicrobiome, including 35 bacterial ASVs belonging to the phyla Actinobacteria, Chloroflexi, Firmicutes, and Nitrospirae and 9 fungal ASVs belonging to the phyla Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, and Rozellomycota. Nine core bacterial ASVs belonging to the genera Haliangium, Anaeromyxobacter, Bradyrhizobium, and Bacillus were more abundant in the rhizosphere of ex situ wild rice than in the rhizosphere of in situ wild rice. The main ecological functions of the core microbiome were nitrogen fixation, manganese oxidation, aerobic chemoheterotrophy, chemoheterotrophy, and iron respiration, suggesting roles of the core rhizomicrobiome in improving nutrient resource acquisition for rice growth. The function of the core rhizosphere bacterial community was significantly (p < 0.05) shaped by electrical conductivity, total nitrogen, and available phosphorus present in the soil adhering to the roots. Conclusion We discovered that nitrogen, manganese, iron, and carbon resource acquisition are potential functions of the core rhizomicrobiome of the wild rice Oryza rufipogon. Our findings suggest that further potential utilization of the core rhizomicrobiome should consider the effects of soil properties on the abundances of different genera. Video Abstract

The macroscopic structural fractures (joints) and geostress distribution characteristics of coal reservoirs are important factors affecting the exploitation of coalbed methane (CBM). In this study, the joints in the sedimentary strata of the Dahebian block in Liupanshui area, Guizhou Province were investigated. Directional coal samples were collected for observation and statistical analysis of coal microfractures, the paleotectonic stress fields of the study area were reconstructed, and the tectonic evolution was elucidated. The geostress distribution characteristics of the target coal seam (coal seam No. 11, P3l) in the study area were analyzed using the finite element numerical simulation method. The results indicate that the structural evolution of the Dahebian syncline in the study area can be divided into two stages. The Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous stage (Early Yanshanian) is the first stage. Affected by the sinistral strike slip of the Weining–Ziyun–Luodian (WZL) fault zone, the derived stress field in the study area exhibits maximum principal stress (σ1) in the NEE–SWW direction. The Late Cretaceous stage (Late Yanshanian) is the second stage. Affected by the dextral strike slip of the WZL fault zone, the derived stress field exhibits σ1 in the NNW–SSE direction. The folds and faults formed in the first stage were modified by the structural deformation in the second stage. The dominant strikes of joints in the sedimentary strata are found to be in the NW–NNW (300°–360°) and NE (30°–60°) directions, with dip angles mostly ranging from 60° to 90°. The dominant strikes of coal microfractures are in the NW (285°–304°) and NE (43°–53°) directions. The distribution of geostress in the study area is characterized by high levels of geostress in the syncline center, decreasing towards the surrounding periphery. The overall trend of the geostress contour line is similar to the shape of the syncline and is influenced by folds and faults. The σ1 of coal seam No. 11 is vertical stress. The prediction results show that the joint density of coal seam No. 11 in the block is 36–50 joints/m, and the shape of the joint density contour line is also affected by the axial direction of the Dahebian syncline and the surrounding faults. The variation in coal seam joint density and the control effect of geostress on joints opening or closing affects the permeability of coal reservoirs. The study results provide significant guidance for the exploitation of CBM.

The DUF26 domain-containing protein is an extracellular structural protein, which plays an important role in signal transduction. Dongxiang wild rice (Oryza rufipogon Griff.) is the northern-most common wild rice in China. Using domain analysis, 85 DUF26 domain-containing genes were identified in Dongxiang wild rice (DXWR) and further divided into four categories. The DUF26 domain-containing genes were unevenly distributed on chromosomes, and there were 18 pairs of tandem repeats. Gene sequence analysis showed that there were significant differences in the gene structure and motif distribution of the DUF26 domain in different categories. Motifs 3, 8, 9, 13, 14, 16, and 18 were highly conserved in all categories. It was also found that there were eight plasmodesmata localization proteins (PDLPs) with a unique motif 19. Collinearity analysis showed that DXWR had a large number of orthologous genes with wheat, maize, sorghum and zizania, of which 17 DUF26 domain-containing genes were conserved in five gramineous crops. Under the stress of anaerobic germination and seedling submergence treatment, 33 DUF26 domain-containing genes were differentially expressed in varying degrees. Further correlation analysis with the expression of known submergence tolerance genes showed that these DUF26 domain-containing genes may jointly regulate the submergence tolerance process with these known submergence tolerance genes in DXWR.

Along with the construction industrialization degree, precast concrete is being utilized more and more frequently in construction to speed up the process and guarantee the quality of structural concrete. In order to make the precast concrete reach the required strength quickly and speed up the turnover of formwork, various rapid concrete curing methods emerged. Currently steam curing, direct electric curing, and microwave curing are the widely studied rapid curing methods. Rapid curing methods could promote early strength growth by changing the internal and external temperature and humidity of concrete, but may lead to late strength shrinkage, increased internal micro-cracks, coarsening of pore structure and other problems. Based on the comprehensive analysis of the curing principles of the three rapid curing methods, this paper reviews the effects of the three rapid curing methods on the hydration process, properties, and microscopic pore structure of concrete. The shortcomings of different rapid curing methods, and the topics of future researchs are also included.

Abstract Background Rice, which serves as a staple food for more than half of the world’s population, is grown worldwide. The hybridization of wild and cultivated rice has enabled the incorporation of resistance to varying environmental conditions. Endophytic microbiota are known to be transferred with their host plants. Although some studies have reported on the endophytic microbiota of wild and cultivated rice, the inheritance from wild and cultivated rice accessions in next generations, in terms of endophytic microbiota, has not been examined. Results In the present study, the endophytic microbial community structures of Asian and African wild and cultivated rice species were compared with those of their F1 offspring. High-throughput sequencing data of bacterial 16S rDNA and fungal internal transcribed spacer regions were used to classify the endophytic microbiota of collected samples of rice. Results indicated that when either African or Asian wild rice species were crossed with cultivated rice accessions, the first generation harbored a greater number of root endophytic fungi than the cultivated parent used to make the crosses. Network analysis of the bacterial and fungal operational taxonomic units revealed that Asian and African wild rice species clustered together and exhibited a greater number of significant correlations between fungal taxa than cultivated rice. The core bacterial genus Acidovorax and the core fungal order Pleosporales, and genera Myrothecium and Bullera connected African and Asian wild rice accessions together, and both the wild rice accessions with their F1 offspring. On the other hand, the core bacterial genus Bradyrhizobium and the core fungal genera Dendroclathra linked the African and Asian cultivated rice accessions together. Conclusions This study has theoretical significance for understanding the effect of breeding on the inheritance of endophytic microbiota of rice and identifying beneficial endophytic bacteria and fungi among wild and cultivated rice species, and their F1 offspring.

SPX-domain proteins (small proteins with only the SPX domain) have been proven to be involved in phosphate-related signal transduction and regulation pathways. Except for OsSPX1 research showing that it plays a role in the process of rice adaptation to cold stress, the potential functions of other SPX genes in cold stress are unknown. Therefore, in this study, we identified six OsSPXs from the whole genome of DXWR. The phylogeny of OsSPXs has a strong correlation with its motif. Transcriptome data analysis showed that OsSPXs were highly sensitive to cold stress, and real-time PCR verified that the levels of OsSPX1, OsSPX2, OsSPX4, and OsSPX6 in cold-tolerant materials (DXWR) during cold treatment were higher than that of cold-sensitive rice (GZX49). The promoter region of DXWR OsSPXs contains a large number of cis-acting elements related to abiotic stress tolerance and plant hormone response. At the same time, these genes have expression patterns that are highly similar to cold-tolerance genes. This study provides useful information about OsSPXs, which is helpful for the gene-function research of DXWR and genetic improvements during breeding.

Transmission ratio distortion (TRD) denotes the observed allelic or genotypic frequency deviation from the expected Mendelian segregation ratios in the offspring of a heterozygote. TRD can severely hamper gene flow between and within rice species. Here, we report the fine mapping and characterization of two loci (TRD4.1 and TRD4.2) for TRD using large F2 segregating populations, which are derived from rice chromosome segment substitution lines, each containing a particular genomic segment introduced from the japonica cultivar Nipponbare (NIP) into the indica cultivar Zhenshan (ZS97). The two loci exhibited a preferential transmission of ZS97 alleles in the derived progeny. Reciprocal crossing experiments using near-isogenic lines harboring three different alleles at TRD4.1 suggest that the gene causes male gametic selection. Moreover, the transmission bias of TRD4.2 was diminished in heterozygotes when they carried homozygous TRD4.1ZS97. This indicates an epistatic interaction between these two loci. TRD4.2 was mapped into a 35-kb region encompassing one candidate gene that is specifically expressed in the reproductive organs in rice. These findings broaden the understanding of the genetic mechanisms of TRD and offer an approach to overcome the barrier of gene flow between the subspecies in rice, thus facilitating rice improvement by introgression breeding.

In this work, a new orthorhombic organic-inorganic hybrid single crystal (C2H10N2)2MnBr4.2Br with-Zero-dimensional structure was synthesized by slow evaporation method at 75 °C. The crystal structure and intermolecular interactions were performed by single crystal X-ray diffraction and Hirshfeld surface. Optical properties of (C2H10N2)2MnBr4.2Br were systematically studied by Raman, infrared spectrum, UV–vis, photoexcitation spectra, and photoluminescence spectra. The optical band gap (Eg = 2.61 eV) were calculated from the absorption spectra of (C2H10N2)2MnBr4.2Br. This hybrid materials also had shown good thermal stability (decomposition temperature: 288–660 °C). Finally, photoluminescence measurements showed a strong excitation line at 362 nm and a strong fluorescence at 537 nm which makes it a promising material in luminescence field. Keywords: Organic-inorganic materials, Single crystal, Photoluminescence property, Manganese (II) based hybrid compound, Crystal structure

Rice, a cold-sensitive crop, is a staple food for more than 50% of the world’s population. Low temperature severely compromises the growth of rice and challenges China’s food safety. Dongxiang wild rice (DXWR) is the most northerly common wild rice in China and has strong cold tolerance, but the genetic basis of its cold tolerance is still unclear. Here, we report quantitative trait loci (QTLs) analysis for seedling cold tolerance (SCT) using a high-density single nucleotide polymorphism linkage map in the backcross recombinant inbred lines that were derived from a cross of DXWR, and an indica cultivar, GZX49. A total of 10 putative QTLs were identified for SCT under 4 °C cold treatment, each explaining 2.0–6.8% of the phenotypic variation in this population. Furthermore, transcriptome sequencing of DXWR seedlings before and after cold treatment was performed, and 898 and 3413 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) relative to 0 h in cold-tolerant for 4 h and 12 h were identified, respectively. Gene ontology and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) analysis were performed on these DEGs. Using transcriptome data and genetic linkage analysis, combined with qRT-PCR, sequence comparison, and bioinformatics, LOC_Os08g04840 was putatively identified as a candidate gene for the major effect locus qSCT8. These findings provided insights into the genetic basis of SCT for the improvement of cold stress potential in rice breeding programs.

Regardless of its good electron-transfer ability and chemical stability, pure Zn2SnO4 (ZSO) still has intrinsic deficiencies of a narrow spectral response region, poor absorption ability, and high photo-activated carrier recombination rate. Aiming to overcome the deficiencies above-mentioned, we designed a facile hydrothermal route for etching ZSO nanoparticles in a dilute acetic acid solution, through which efficient oxygen vacancy defect engineering was accomplished and SnO2−x nanocrystals were obtained with an ultrafine particle size. In comparison with the untreated ZSO nanoparticles, the specific surface area of SnO2−x nanocrystals was substantially enlarged, subsequently leading to the notable augmentation of active sites for the photo-degradation reaction. Aside from the above, it is worth noting that SnO2−x nanocrystals were endowed with a broad spectral response, enhancing light absorption capacity and the photo-activated carrier transfer rate with the aid of oxygen vacancy defect engineering. Accordingly, SnO2−x nanocrystals exhibited significantly enhanced photoactivity toward the degradation of the organic dye rhodamine B (RhB), which could be imputed to the synergistic effect of increasing active sites, intensified visible-light harvesting, and the separation rate of the photo-activated charge carrier caused by the oxygen vacancy defect engineering. In addition, these findings will inspire us to open up a novel pathway to design and prepare oxide compound photocatalysts modified by oxygen vacancy defects in pursuing excellent visible-light photoactivity.

Abstract Herein, γ-AlO(OH) as an inorganic was successfully inserted into MgAl-LDH layer by a one-pot synthesis, the composite as an adsorbent for removing methyl orange (MO) from wastewater. The structure and adsorption performance of γ-AlO(OH)/MgAl-LDH were characterized. The research shows that the expansion (003) plane and the hydroxyl active site of γ-AlO(OH)/MgAl-LDH can promote adsorption capacity and adsorption kinetics, respectively. Therefore, γ-AlO(OH)/MgAl-LDH exhibits a super adsorption performance, which completely adsorbs MO at the concentration of 1000 mg g−1. In addition, the maximum adsorption capacity of MO was 4681.40 mg g−1 according to the Langmuir model. These results indicate that γ-AlO(OH)/MgAl-LDH is a potential adsorbent for the removal of organic dyes in water.

Abstract Background As a new entity included in the 4th edition of the WHO classification of tumours of soft tissue and bone in 2013, hybrid peripheral nerve sheath tumours are benign composite neoplasms that demonstrate features of more than one type of nerve sheath tumour, with a wide age distribution and a predilection for superficial location. Those involving deep sites are relatively rare. To the best of our knowledge, only one case of primary intraosseous hybrid peripheral nerve sheath tumours has been documented. In this article, we report another case of hybrid peripheral nerve sheath tumours occurring in bone with different clinical, radiological and pathological features from those in the previously reported cases. Case presentation A 28-year-old female presented with a painful nodule in the right tibia. Radiological examination revealed an oval eccentric osteolytic lesion in the proximal tibia. Histologically, the circumscribed but unencapsulated lesion demonstrated biphasic cellular differentiation. Bland, small epithelioid cells arranged in clusters in the myxoid or collagenous stroma and inconspicuous spindle cells scattered in the hypercellular areas were suggested to originate from Schwann cells according to the detection of S100. Both the elongated spindle cells with thin, wavy nuclei and the spindle cells in fascicular or storiform pattern in hypercellular areas showed a positive immunoreaction for epithelial membrane antigen, indicating perineurial differentiation. Based on histological and immunochemical examinations, the patient was diagnosed with hybrid epithelioid schwannoma/perineurioma. The lesion was resected and has not recurred for 8 months since resection. Conclusion The present case is the second primary intraosseous hybrid peripheral nerve sheath tumour to be reported. This is also the first reported intraosseous tumour composed of epithelioid schwannoma and perineurioma with hypercellularity, indicating diverse involvement sites and a wide range of histological features among hybrid peripheral nerve sheath tumours. Awareness of such diversity is critical for accurate diagnoses. The morphological overlap with other spindle and epithelioid cell neoplasms, especially pure peripheral nerve sheath tumours, requires that immunochemical and molecular examinations be used as objective tools to provide the necessary information for a differential diagnosis.

Quadrature spatial modulation (QSM) is a novel index modulation technology, which extends the antenna index (AI) to two dimensions of both in-phase AI and quadrature AI. In order to further make full use of the idle transmit antennas (TAs) resource and to exploit the signal constellation domain, taking advantage of the spatial dimension of QSM, we propose a new three-dimension (3D) structure of quadrature index modulation (QIM), which is capable of not only transmitting directly a 3D constellation symbol but also carrying more extra information bits, named as quadrature index modulation with three-dimensional constellation (QIM-TDC). More specifically, a 3D framework of QIM-TDC is designed for transmitting a 3D constellation symbol that is constructed by the X-axis, V-axis and Z-axis components. In the proposed QIM-TDC scheme, by utilizing an in-phase AI vector, two active TAs are activated simultaneously to transmit the X-axis and V-axis components of the 3D symbol, respectively. Similarly, by utilizing the quadrature AI vector, an active TA is activated to transmit the Z-axis component of the 3D symbol. Then, for further achieving the better bit error probability (BEP) performance, the design of a modified 3D constellation for maximizing the squared minimum Euclidean distance (MED) between the transmitted spatial vectors (TSVs) is illustrated. Moreover, the squared MEDs for QIM-TDC are analyzed and compared with the squared MEDs of the conventional spatial modulation schemes. Finally, The average BEP is analyzed in this paper. Numerical results with comparison among the other schemes demonstrate the QIM-TDC scheme achieves the improved performance.

Wild rice is an important improved resource for cultivated rice and its unique ability to resist biotic and abiotic stress has attracted the attention of many scholars. The microbial community structure in the rhizosphere and leaf area of different rice varieties is also different, which may be one of the reasons for the difference in stress resistance between wild rice and cultivated rice. Forty-six bacteria were screened from the rhizosphere and phyllospheric of four different wild rice varieties. The results of functions of the screened strains showed that 18 strains had a good inhibitory effect on rice blast, and 33 strains had the ability to dissolve phosphorus, potassium, or fix nitrogen. Through potted experiment, the three bacterial strains, 499G2 (Peribacillus simplex), 499G3 (Bacillus velezensis), and 499G4 (B. megaterium) have a positive effect on the growth of cultivated rice in addition to the resistance to rice blast. The contents of total nitrogen, total phosphorus, total potassium, indole acetic acid (IAA), and chlorophyll in plant leaves were increased. In addition, in the verification test of rice blast infection, the application of inoculants can significantly reduce the content of malondialdehyde (MDA), increase the content of soluble sugar, and increase the activity of plant antioxidant enzymes, which may thereby improve rice in resisting to rice blast.

Grain quality is a key determinant of commercial value in rice. Efficiently improving grain quality, without compromising grain yield, is a challenge in rice breeding programs. Here we report on the identification and application of a grain quality gene, Chalk7, which causes a slender shape and decreases grain chalkiness in rice. Three allele-specific markers for Chalk7, and two other grain genes (GS3 and Chalk5) were developed, and used to stack the desirable alleles at these loci. The effects of individual or combined alleles at the loci were evaluated using a set of near-isogenic lines, each containing one to three favorable alleles in a common background of an elite variety. We found that the favorable allele combination of the three loci, which rarely occurs in natural rice germplasm, greatly reduces chalky grains without negatively impacting on grain yield. The data for newly developed allele-specific markers and pre-breeding lines will facilitate the improvement of grain appearance quality in rice.

Background: The effect of metformin on gut microbiota has been reported, but whether metformin can suppress colorectal cancer (CRC) by affecting gut microbiota composition and rescue F. nucleatum-induced tumourigenicity remains unclear. Methods: To identify microbiota associated with both CRC occurrence and metformin treatment, first, we reanalyzed the gut microbiome of our previous data on two human cohorts of normal and CRC individuals. Subsequently, we summarized microbiota altered by metformin from published literatures. Several taxa, including Fusobacterium, were associated with both CRC occurrence and metformin treatment. We investigated the effect of metformin on APCMin/+ mice given with or without F. nucleatum. 16S rRNA gene sequencing was performed. Findings: We summarized 131 genera altered by metformin from 18 published literatures. Five genera reported to be changed by metformin, including Bacteroides, Streptococcus, Achromobacter, Alistipes and Fusobacterium, were associated with CRC in both of our human cohorts. Metformin relieved the symptoms caused by F. nucleatum administration in APCMin/+ mice, and showed promise in suppressing intestinal tumour formation and rescuing F. nucleatum-induced tumourigenicity. Administration of F. nucleatum and/or metformin had effect on gut microbiome structure, composition and functions of APCMin/+ mice. Interpretation: This study pioneers in predicting critical CRC-associated taxa contributing to the antitumour effect of metformin, and correlating gut microbiome with the antitumour effect of metformin in experimental animals. We presented a basis for future investigations into metformin's potential effect on suppressing F. nucleatum-induced tumor formation in vivo. Funding: This work was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31701250).

Transmission ratio distortion (TRD) refers to a widespread phenomenon in which one allele is transmitted by heterozygotes more frequently to the progeny than the opposite allele. TRD is considered as a mark suggesting the presence of a reproductive barrier. However, the genetic and molecular mechanisms underlying TRD in rice remain largely unknown. In the present study, a population of backcross inbred lines (BILs) derived from the cross of a japonica cultivar Nipponbare (NIP) and an indica variety 9311 was utilized to study the genetic base of TRD. A total of 18 genomic regions were identified for TRD in the BILs. Among them, 12 and 6 regions showed indica (9311) and japonica (NIP) alleles with preferential transmission, respectively. A series of F2 populations were used to confirm the TRD effects, including six genomic regions that were confirmed by chromosome segment substitution line (CSSL)-derived F2 populations from intersubspecific allelic combinations. However, none of the regions was confirmed by the CSSL-derived populations from intrasubspecific allelic combination. Furthermore, significant epistatic interaction was found between TRD1.3 and TRD8.1 suggesting that TRD could positively contribute to breaking intersubspecific reproductive barriers. Our results have laid the foundation for identifying the TRD genes and provide an effective strategy to breakdown TRD for breeding wide-compatible lines, which will be further utilized in the intersubspecific hybrid breeding programs.

This paper presents the on-site monitoring of a medium–long highway tunnel constructed above a goaf of a multi-layer coal seam, in order to evaluate and maintain safety during operation. The case study of the Tianzimiao medium–long highway tunnel in Shanxi province was conducted above a goaf of a multi-layer coal seam with typical geological and engineering conditions in China, where a total of four coal seams (seam no. 3, 8, 12, and 15) were mined out with a total thickness of up to 11 m. Methods including data collection, engineering geological survey, drilling, geophysical prospecting, testing, and on-site monitoring were adopted, and a geo-mechanical model was established to conduct the research. Stratified monitoring was applied to investigate the individual settlement and deformation of the four layers of the goaf below, and a prediction of the possible deformation in tunnel floor ground was made based on the stratified measurements. The settlement of the tunnel sidewall, the internal stress in the fractured zone of the surrounding rock, and the deformation above the tunnel entrance were also monitored, and the monitoring data were compared with the numerical simulation results for the safety evaluation of the tunnel. The results show that the current tunnel deformation values and trend are both within the safety scope of the evaluation and prediction. The stability evaluation method for the multi-layer goaf used in this paper and the long-term on-site monitoring and timely feedback during operation is helpful to ensure the safe use of the tunnels above the goaves of multi-layer thick coal seams.

In this work, a reaction coupling self-propagating high-temperature synthesis (RC-SHS) method was developed for the in situ controlled synthesis of novel, high activity TiB2/(TiB2–TiN) hierarchical/heterostructured nanocomposites using TiO2, Mg, B2O3, KBH4 and NH4NO3 as raw materials. The as-synthesized samples were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDX), transition electron microscopy (TEM), high-resolution TEM (HRTEM) and selected-area electron diffraction (SAED). The obtained TiB2/TiN hierarchical/heterostructured nanocomposites demonstrated an average particle size of 100–500 nm, and every particle surface was covered by many multibranched, tapered nanorods with diameters in the range of 10–40 nm and lengths of 50–200 nm. In addition, the tapered nanorod presents a rough surface with abundant exposed atoms. The internal and external components of the nanorods were TiB2 and TiN, respectively. Additionally, a thermogravimetric and differential scanning calorimetry analyzer (TG-DSC) comparison analysis indicated that the as-synthesized samples presented better chemical activity than that of commercial TiB2 powders. Finally, the possible chemical reactions as well as the proposed growth mechanism of the TiB2/(TiB2–TiN) hierarchical/heterostructured nanocomposites were further discussed.

A novel kind of g-C _3 N _4 micro-nano bouquets were successfully prepared via a simple method using melamine and ammonium chloride as raw materials. X-ray diffractometer (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), x-ray energy spectrometer (EDX), transmission electron microscope (TEM), high resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM),fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FT-IR) and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were used to characterize the as-synthesized samples. The results indicated that the samples presented graphitic C _3 N _4 micro-nano bouquets. Every microstructure was composed of many petals cross gathered along with the different directions. And the tip of every single petal contained quantities of nano bouquet structures with smaller diameters. In addition, abundant nanoparticles/nanorods distributed and intertwined together on the surface of the nano bouquet structure, and then formed cocoon-like porous morphology. Besides, based on the experimental results, the reasonable chemical reactions and the corresponding growth mechanism during the preparation process of g-C _3 N _4 micro-nano bouquets were proposed. Finally, the UV–vis results showed that the sample was a wide band gap (about 3.11 eV) semiconductor.

Many Rho GTPase activation proteins (RhoGAPs) are deleted or downregulated in cancers, but the functional consequences are still unclear. Here, we show that the RhoGAP ArhGAP11A induces cell-cycle arrest and apoptosis by binding to the tumor suppressor p53. The RhoGAP domain of ArhGAP11A binds to the tetramerization domain of p53, but not to its family members p63 or p73. The interaction stabilizes the tetrameric conformation of p53 and enhances its DNA-binding activity, thereby inducing cell-cycle arrest and apoptosis. Upon DNA damage stress, ArhGAP11A accumulates in the nucleus and interacts with p53, whereas knockdown of ArhGAP11A partially blocks p53 transcriptional activity. These findings explain why RhoGAPs are frequently deleted in cancers and suggest that the RhoGAP family sits at the crossroads between the cell-migration and proliferation pathways.

In order to predict in advance the coal and gas outburst risks in the No. 3 coal seam in the non-mining area of the Xinjing mine, the strata were divided into seven rock assemblage types based on the lithologic characteristics of strata in the research area, and eight geological profile models were constructed. The finite element methods were used to simulate the ground stress field of the No. 3 seam floor. Based on the log curve, the coal structural type of the No. 3 coal seam was identified, with the thicknesses of the coal body under different types of damage being marked off in each borehole. A damage index of the coal structure (DV) was also proposed, and the DV indexes for all boreholes were calculated. The coal and gas outburst risks in the research area were comprehensively evaluated and predicted through a superposition analysis of the spatial distribution states of three indexes, namely: ground stress, coal structure damage degree, and coal seam gas content. The results show that the equivalent stress of the No. 3 coal seam floor is usually within the range of 9–26 MPa. The high-stress zone presents a strip distribution along the northeast–southwest (NE–SW) direction. The distribution of ground stress is mainly subject to the folds and buried depth of the coal seam. The distribution range where the damage degree of the coal structure falls under Types II and III is DV ≥ 22. The gas outburst risk in the mid-southern and northeastern parts of the research area is high, whereas that in the mid-western part is low. The zones with a high and low degrees of gas outburst risks are all mainly present as strips in the NE–SW direction. The gas outburst risk in the northwest and southeast is moderate. The research results can provide guidance for gas control in non-mining areas.