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Abstract Members of the Metal Tolerance Protein (MTP) family are critical in mediating the transport and tolerance of divalent metal cations. Despite their significance, the understanding of MTP genes in mustard (Brassica juncea) remains limited, especially regarding their response to heavy metal (HM) stress. In our study, we identified MTP gene sets in Brassica rapa (17 genes), Brassica nigra (18 genes), and B. juncea (33 genes) using the HMMER (Cation_efflux; PF01545) and BLAST analysis. For the 33 BjMTPs, a comprehensive bioinformatics analysis covering the physicochemical properties, phylogenetic relationships, conserved motifs, protein structures, collinearity, spatiotemporal RNA-seq expression, GO enrichment, and expression profiling under six HM stresses (Mn2+, Fe2+, Zn2+, Cd2+, Sb3+, and Pb2+) were carried out. According to the findings of physicochemical characteristics, phylogenetic tree, and collinearity, the allopolyploid B. juncea’s MTP genes were inherited from its progenitors, B. rapa and B. nigra, with minimal gene loss during polyploidization. Members of the BjMTP family exhibited conserved motifs, promoter elements, and expression patterns across subgroups, consistent with the seven evolutionary branches (G1, G4–G9, and G12) of the MTPs. Further, spatiotemporal expression profiling under HM stresses successfully identified specific genes and crucial cis-regulatory elements associated with the response of BjMTPs to HM stresses. These findings may contribute to the genetic improvement of B. juncea for enhanced HM tolerance, facilitating the remediation of HM-contaminated areas.

Abstract Revealing transient electronic properties in anisotropic 2D materials is a prerequisite for developing ultrafast optoelectronic functional devices. Here, the ultrafast electronic dynamics of polarization anisotropy for the AB‐stacked rhenium disulfide (ReS2) are studied using time‐ and energy‐resolved photoemission electron microscopy. The ultrafast electronic relaxation process exhibits sensitive layer‐dependent polarization anisotropy. The linear dichroism of the ultrafast electronic dynamics is also measured, indicating that the polarization anisotropy is determined by the fast process on the sub‐picosecond scale. With ab initio theory calculations, it is confirmed that the ultra‐sensitive layer dependence of the lifetime of the fast process originates from a stronger interlayer coupling in the K‐Γ direction (along the b‐axis) of ReS2. Further, by analyzing the time‐resolved photoemission energy spectrum, distinct “fast” and “slow” regimes are found in the ultrafast dynamics of excited electrons with different energies. The corresponding energy windows also show substantial polarization anisotropy, which is associated with the linear dichroism of the electron‐phonon coupling in the AB‐stacked ReS2. This work has implications for the design of angle‐sensitive optoelectronic functional devices with the AB‐stacked ReS2.

Background Vitamin D is associated with vascular function; however, the impact of different vitamin D levels on vascular elasticity following prolonged exercise remains uncertain. The primary objective of this study was to investigate the association of vitamin D levels with changes in peripheral pulse wave velocity (pPWV) and the magnitude of acute post-exercise hypotension (PEH) following prolonged endurance exercise in healthy young men.Methods All the participants were divided into two groups: the 25‐hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) sufficiency group (25(OH)D ≧50 nmol/L) and the deficiency group (25(OH)D

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is the most lethal form of AML due to disease relapse. Cyclin dependent kinase 8 (CDK8) is a serine/threonine kinase that belongs to the family of Cyclin-dependent kinases and is an emerging target for the treatment of AML. MK256, a potent, selective, and orally available CDK8 inhibitor was developed to target AML. We sought to examine the anticancer effect of MK256 on AML. In CD34+/CD38- leukemia stem cells, we found that MK256 induced differentiation and maturation. Treatment of MK256 inhibited proliferation of AML cell lines. Further studies of the inhibitory effect suggested that MK256 not only downregulated phosphorylated STAT1(S727) and STAT5(S726), but also lowered mRNA expressions of MCL-1 and CCL2 in AML cell lines. Efficacy of MK256 was shown in MOLM-14 xenograft models, and the inhibitory effect on phosphorylated STAT1(S727) and STAT5(S726) with treatment of MK256 was observed in vivo. Pharmacologic dynamics study of MK256 in MOLM-14 xenograft models showed dose-dependent inhibition of the STAT pathway. Both in vitro and in vivo studies suggested that MK256 could effectively downregulate the STAT pathway. In vitro ADME, pharmacological kinetics, and toxicity of MK256 were profiled to evaluate the drug properties of MK256. Our results show that MK256 is a novel CDK8 inhibitor with a desirable efficacy and safety profile and has great potential to be a promising drug candidate for AML through regulating the STAT pathway.

To improve the spare parts support capacity of civil aircrafts and given the actual lack of evaluation methods at present, the evaluation problem of spare parts support capacity was solved in this study by proposing a multi-attribute decision method based on Type-2 hesitant Pythagorean fuzzy sets and an improved Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS). First, the basic definitions of Type-2 hesitant Pythagorean fuzzy sets were given, which were further promoted to Type-n hesitant Pythagorean fuzzy sets, and the basic order relation criterion of Type-2 hesitant Pythagorean fuzzy sets was introduced. Second, a complete evaluation system for spare parts supply support capacity was established with the spare parts of civil aircrafts as the study objects, and each evaluation indicator was introduced in detail. Then, the spare parts support solutions were preferentially sorted using the correlation coefficient formula of Type-2 hesitant Pythagorean fuzzy sets and improved TOPSIS. Finally, the reliability and reasonability of the proposed method were verified through an example calculation and comparative analysis. The experimental results indicate that the proposed method can acquire the evaluation results of spare parts support capacity more scientifically and can be referenced by relevant studies.

In response to the challenge of single navigation methods failing to meet the high precision requirements for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) navigation in complex environments, a novel algorithm that integrates Global Navigation Satellite System/Inertial Navigation System (GNSS/INS) navigation information is proposed to enhance the positioning accuracy and robustness of UAV navigation systems. First, the fundamental principles of Kalman filtering and its application in navigation are introduced. Second, the basic principles of Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) and Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) networks and their applications in the navigation domain are elaborated. Subsequently, an algorithm based on a CNN and LSTM-assisted Kalman filtering fusion navigation is proposed. Finally, the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed algorithm are validated through experiments. Experimental results demonstrate that the Kalman filtering fusion navigation algorithm assisted by a CNN and LSTM significantly improves the positioning accuracy and robustness of UAV navigation systems in highly interfered complex environments.

This study aims to address the issue of redundancy and interference in data-collection systems by proposing a novel feature-selection method based on maximum information coefficient (MIC) and graph symmetry structure in complex-network theory. The method involves establishing a weighted feature network, identifying key features using dominance set and node strength, and employing the binary particle-swarm algorithm and LS-SVM algorithm for solving and validation. The model is implemented on the UNSW-NB15 and UCI datasets, demonstrating noteworthy results. In comparison to the prediction methods within the datasets, the model’s running speed is significantly reduced, decreasing from 29.8 s to 6.3 s. Furthermore, when benchmarked against state-of-the-art feature-selection algorithms, the model achieves an impressive average accuracy of 90.3%, with an average time consumption of 6.3 s. These outcomes highlight the model’s superiority in terms of both efficiency and accuracy.

Wettability of the material surface is extremely important for the separation of mixtures/emulsions (e.g. oil and water or conversely water and oil). The development of superwetting materials has shown great potential for recovering water from oil-water emulsions and provide maximum anti-fouling properties. In industrial production process, the oil and natural gas industry continuously produces large amounts of wastewater, the wastewater is discharged in water and lead to water pollution, which has seriously affected the development of human society. Therefore, there is an urgent need for an efficient technology to treat the oily wastewater generated from industrial production processes. Among various separation technologies, membrane-based separation techniques have been used to separate oil-water mixtures/emulsions in oily wastewater. In this paper, the properties of wettable materials and their relevant applications in the field of oily wastewater treatment were systematically described in terms of hydrophilicity, hydrophobicity and superwettability. The different roles of wettability modification in the treatment of oily wastewater were summarized. Finally, the importance, challenges and future prospects of wettability modification were pointed out, which would provide necessary guidance for the selection and design of wettability modification, and provide support for the further applications and development in oily wastewater treatment.

The release of mitochondrial genome sequences provides the basis for characterizing interspecific and intraspecific variation in Brassica mitochondrial genomes. However, few B. juncea (mustard) mitochondrial genomes have been published. We assembled the mitochondrial genomes of three B. juncea subspecies and compared them with previously published genomes. The genomes were phylogenetically classified into A, B, C, and Bna clades. Two variant sites, a transversion (C → A) at nt 79,573 and a 31-bp copy-number variation between nts 65,564 and 65,596, were identified. Based on these variant sites, mitotype-specific sequence markers were developed to characterize the variation among worldwide 558 B. juncea accessions. Three mitochondrial genome types (mitotypes MT1–MT3) were identified. In terms of geographical distribution, MT1 and MT2 accessions were distributed mainly to the north and MT3 to the south of 34°N. Root mustards carried only MT1, leaf and stem mustards carried mainly MT3, and seed mustards carried all three mitotypes, implying that the mitotypes underwent selection during B. juncea domestication. A new form of oil mustard evolved by hybridization between two gene pools in southwest China.

The hepatitis delta virus (HDV) is a unique pathogen with significant global health implications, affecting individuals who are coinfected with the hepatitis B virus (HBV). HDV infection has profound clinical consequences, manifesting either as coinfection with HBV, resulting in acute hepatitis and potential liver failure, or as superinfection in chronic HBV cases, substantially increasing the risk of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Given the complex dynamics of HDV infection and the urgent need for advanced research tools, this article introduces vHDvDB 2.0, a comprehensive HDV full-length sequence database. This innovative platform integrates data preprocessing, secondary structure prediction, and epidemiological research tools. The primary goal of vHDvDB 2.0 is to consolidate HDV sequence data into a user-friendly repository, thereby facilitating access for researchers and enhancing the broader scientific understanding of HDV. The significance of this database lies in its potential to streamline HDV research by providing a centralized resource for analyzing viral sequences and exploring genotype-specific characteristics. It will also enable more in-depth research within the HDV sequence domains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Yellow seeds are desirable in rapeseed breeding because of their higher oil content and better nutritional quality than black seeds. However, the underlying genes and formation mechanism of yellow seeds remain unclear. Here, a novel yellow-seeded rapeseed line (Huangaizao, HAZ) was crossed with a black-seeded rapeseed line (Zhongshuang11, ZS11) to construct a mapping population of 196 F2 individuals, based on which, a high-density genetic linkage map was constructed. This map, comprising 4174 bin markers, was 1618.33 cM in length and had an average distance of 0.39 cM between its adjacent markers. To assess the seed color of the F2 population, three methods (imaging, spectrophotometry, and visual scoring) were used and a common major quantitative trait locus (QTL) on chromosome A09, explaining 10.91–21.83% of the phenotypic variance, was detected. Another minor QTL, accounting for 6.19–6.69% of the phenotypic variance, was detected on chromosome C03, only by means of imaging and spectrophotometry. Furthermore, a dynamic analysis of the differential expressions between the parental lines showed that flavonoid biosynthesis-related genes were down-regulated in the yellow seed coats at 25 and 35 days after flowering. A coexpression network between the differentially expressed genes identified 17 candidate genes for the QTL intervals, including a flavonoid structure gene, novel4557 (BnaC03.TT4), and two transcription factor genes, namely, BnaA09G0616800ZS (BnaA09.NFYA8) and BnaC03G0060200ZS (BnaC03.NAC083), that may regulate flavonoid biosynthesis. Our study lays a foundation for further identifying the genes responsible for and understanding the regulatory mechanism of yellow seed formation in Brassica napus.

Germanium diselenide (GeSe2) has recently emerged as a promising material for high‐performance optoelectronic devices due to its high absorption coefficient, wide direct bandgap, and anisotropic electronic properties. For the future applications, it is necessary to understand the dynamic evolution of carriers with ultrafast response. In this work, the transient absorption spectroscopy measurements are performed to study the anisotropic dynamic evolution of GeSe2 under the polarized photoexcitation. It is find that the dynamics exhibit linear dichroism and show a significant Auger recombination process when the photoexcitation is perpendicular to the b‐axis of GeSe2. Using first‐principle and transition dipole moment calculations, it is confirmed that the more carrier localization at Γ point along the Γ‐X (perpendicular to the b‐axis) and increase the Auger recombination. In addition, the Auger recombination coefficient ≈ 1.1×10−31 cm6 s−1 is determined and demonstrated that the defect‐assisted indirect Auger recombination plays a key role in the carrier relaxation process. Through time‐resolved transient absorption spectra, it is further revealed that the ultrafast dynamical evolution of excited state absorption peaks under polarized photoexcitation. These results have implications for improving the quantum efficiency of high‐field polarization‐sensitive optoelectronics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Rice false smut, a devastating grain disease in rice, is a great challenge to global food security. Rice–crayfish coculture (RC) has been widely used in recent years because it increases farmers' income, stabilizes rice yield, and reduces the use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers. Currently, rice false smut is becoming a threat to the stability of RC systems. A field experiment demonstrated that rice false smut in RC was much more serious than the disease in rice monoculture (RM) among most rice varieties in both 2019 and 2020. The fold change (RC vs. RM) range of the disease index of different rice varieties ranged from 1.23 to 19.35. Some varieties displayed resistance to rice false smut in RM, but were susceptible in RC, suggesting that the RC system that utilizes deep water irrigation is a better model than the RM to evaluate the resistance of rice varieties to false smut. Under the RC system, varieties YG 16, GBYJZ, and HD 5 displayed good natural resistance to rice false smut. A three‐way ANOVA with year, rice varieties, and culture types as factors showed that each factor had highly significant effects on the disease index. To identify the main factors causing differences between the RC and RM systems, we recorded the field microclimate around rice panicles. In comparison with RM, RC showed higher relative humidity (RH) and more moderate temperatures from the rice booting stage to early filling stage. Under simulated conditions of RC and RM, the germination rate of U. virens conidia under RC was significantly higher than that under RM. These findings indicate that higher RH and more moderate temperatures increase the severity of rice false smut disease in the RC system, and this provides unique insights into how to manage the threat of rice false smut.