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Seed dormancy and germination play pivotal roles in the agronomic traits of plants, and the degree of dormancy intuitively affects the yield and quality of crops in agricultural production. Seed priming is a pre-sowing seed treatment that enhances and accelerates germination, leading to improved seedling establishment. Seed priming technologies, which are designed to partially activate germination, while preventing full seed germination, have exerted a profound impact on agricultural production. Conventional seed priming relies on external priming agents, which often yield unstable results. What works for one variety might not be effective for another. Therefore, it is necessary to explore the internal factors within the metabolic pathways that influence seed physiology and germination. This review unveils the underlying mechanisms of seed metabolism and germination, the factors affecting seed dormancy and germination, as well as the current seed priming technologies that can result in stable and better germination.

Abstract Spintronics-based microwave devices, such as oscillators and detectors, have been the subject of intensive investigation in recent years owing to the potential reductions in size and power consumption. However, only a few concepts for spintronic amplifiers have been proposed, typically requiring complex device configurations or material stacks. Here, we demonstrate a spintronic amplifier based on two-terminal magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) produced with CMOS-compatible material stacks that have already been used for spin-transfer torque memories. We achieve a record gain (|S 11 | > 2) for input power on the order of nW (

In this study, we investigated the effects of modified aging treatments on the microstructures and hardness in a commercial 6016 Al alloy through hardness tests and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observations. The results demonstrate that many fine needle-like β″ phases contribute to the high hardness of peak-aged (T6) alloys. Over-aging treatments lead to the precipitation of lath-like β′, β″/disordered, or B′/disordered composite phases. Moderate over-aging treatment results in the coarsening of grain boundary precipitates (GBPs) and widening of the precipitate-free zone (PFZ), while heavy over-aging treatment triggers the re-precipitation of Cu-containing GBPs and increases the number density of GBPs. A retrogression and re-aging (RRA) treatment precipitates β″, lath-like β′, and disordered phases, while a two-step aging (T78) treatment precipitates β″, B′, and disordered phases. Both the T78 and the RRA treatments lead to the coarsening of GBPs and the widening of PFZs. The decreased hardness during over-aging treatments is attributed to a combination of coarsening intragranular precipitates and/or wider PFZs. The T78 and RRA tempers achieve 95.5% and 94% of the hardness values of the T6 treatment, respectively. The hardness values of the RRA and T78 treated alloys are related to the finer nano-sized precipitates formed during the high temperature process. These precipitates can compensate for the loss of hardness caused by the increase in the widths of the PFZs and the coarsening of the matrix precipitates. The relationship between the hardness and microstructures such as PFZs and precipitates in the matrix during various heat treatments is elucidated.

In accordance with the actual production circumstances of enterprises, a scheduling problem model is designed for open-shop environments, considering AGV transport time. A Q-learning-based method is proposed for the resolution of such problems. Based on the characteristics of the problem, a hybrid encoding approach combining process encoding and AGV encoding is applied. Three pairs of actions are constituted to form the action space. Decay factors and a greedy strategy are utilized to perturb the decision-making of the intelligent agent, preventing it from falling into local optima while simultaneously facilitating extensive exploration of the solution space. Finally, the proposed method proved to be effective in solving the open-shop scheduling problem considering AGV transport time through multiple comparative experiments.

Abstract Background Tuberculosis (TB) caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tb) remains a global health issue. The characterized virulent M. tb H37Rv, avirulent M. tb H37Ra and BCG strains are widely used as reference strains to investigate the mechanism of TB pathogenicity. Here, we attempted to determine metabolomic signatures associated with the Mycobacterial virulence in human macrophages through comparison of metabolite profile in THP-1-derived macrophages following exposure to the M. tb H37Rv, M. tb H37Ra and BCG strains. Results Our findings revealed remarkably changed metabolites in infected macrophages compared to uninfected macrophages. H37Rv infection specifically induced 247 differentially changed metabolites compared to H37Ra or BCG infection. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis revealed H37Rv specifically induces tryptophan metabolism. Moreover, quantitative PCR (qPCR) results showed that indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase 1 (IDO1) and tryptophan 2,3-dioxygenase 2 (TDO2) which converts the tryptophan to a series of biologically second metabolites were up-regulated in H37Rv-infected macrophages compared to H37Ra- or BCG-infected macrophages, confirming the result of enhanced tryptophan metabolism induced by H37Rv infection. These findings indicated that targeting tryptophan (Trp) metabolism may be a potential therapeutic strategy for pulmonary TB. Conclusions We identified a number of differentially changed metabolites that specifically induced in H37Rv infected macrophages. These signatures may be associated with the Mycobacterial virulence in human macrophages. The present findings provide a better understanding of the host response associated with the virulence of the Mtb strain.

Abstract Background The most common type of cancer of the digestive system is hepatocellular carcinoma. In China, many patients harbour HBV. The lin28B/Let-7c/MYC axis is associated with the occurrence of many cancers. Therefore, we aimed to illuminate the function of the lin28B/Let-7c/MYC axis in hepatocellular carcinoma. We aimed to evaluate the critical involvement of lin28B and Let-7c in the carcinogenesis of human hepatocellular carcinoma (B-HCC). Methods Data from the GEO database were used to analyse differentially expressed genes and IRGs. A protein − protein interaction (PPI) network and Venn diagram were generated to analyse relationships. Real-time RT-PCR, Western blotting, and cell counting kit-8 assays were used to examine the association of lin28B, Let-7c, and MYC with cell proliferation. Results A total of 2552 functionally annotated differentially expressed RNAs were analysed in HBV patients from the GSE135860 database. In addition, 46 let-7c target genes were screened in HBV patients, and the interactions were analysed through PPI network analysis. The results confirmed that Let-7c and its target genes play a key role in HBV-related diseases. Next, we discovered a gradual decrease in Let-7c expression during the progression from HBV-associated chronic hepatitis (B-CH) and HBV-associated liver cirrhosis (B-LC) to B-HCC. We found evidence for a negative association between lin28B expression and Let-7c expression. The expression of MYC was obviously upregulated when Let-7c was inhibited. Conclusion Our results highlight that Let-7c and lin28B participate in the carcinogenesis of HBV-associated diseases through the lin28B/Let-7c/MYC axis.

Background At present, whether the expression of programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) and the density of CD8+ tumor-infiltrating T lymphocytes (TILs) in gastric cancer tissue can be used as prognostic indicators for gastric cancer patients has been still unclear. Objective To analyze the expression of PD-L1 and density of CD8+ TILs in gastric cancer tissues and their relations with clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of patients with gastric cancer. Methods A total of 125 gastric cancer patients underwent surgical treatment in Nanyang First People's Hospital from January 2016 to March 2018 were selected, and the expression level of PD-L1 mRNA in gastric cancer tissue was detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction, the density of CD8+ TILs in gastric cancer tissue was detected by immunohistochemical methods. The relations of the relative expression quantity of PD-L1 mRNA and the density of CD8+ TILs in gastric cancer tissue with the clinicopathological characteristics of patients with gastric cancer was analyzed; the correlation between the relative expression quantity of PD-L1 mRNA and the density of CD8+ TILs in gastric cancer tissue was analyzed by Pearson correlation analysis; telephone follow-up was conduct till to 36 months after operation, taking death or loss to follow-up as outcome event, Kaplan-Meier survivorship curve was drawn to conduct survival analysis; univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis was used to analyze the influencing factors of prognosis of gastric cancer patients. Results The average relative expression quantity of PD-L1 mRNA was 3.1 in gastric cancer tissue, the average number of CD8+ TILs was 36 in cancer nests, thus the 125 patients were divided into low-level group (with relative expression quantity of PD-L1 mRNA less than 3.1, n=73) , high-level group (with relative expression quantity of PD-L1 mRNA equal or over 3.1, n=52) , low-density group (with number of CD8+ TILs less than 31, n=55) and high-density group (with number of CD8+ TILs equal or over 31, n=70) . There were significant differences in lymph node metastasis, vascular invasion and peritoneal metastasis between the the low-level group and high-level group (P

Abstract Background The aim of this study was to explore whether or to what extent metabolic syndrome (METs) and its components were associated with hypoxemia in acute type A aortic dissection (ATAAD) patients after surgery. Methods This study involved 271 inpatients who underwent surgery. Demographic and clinical data were collected. Subgroup analysis, mixed model regression analysis, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis were performed, and a scoring system was evaluated. Results The 271 inpatients were assigned to the hypoxemia group (n = 48) or no hypoxemia group (n = 223) regardless of METs status. Compared to the no hypoxemia group, the hypoxemia group had a higher incidence of METs. Hypoxemia was present in 0%, 3.7%, 19.8%, 51.5%, 90.0% and 100% in the groups of individuals who met the diagnostic criteria of MetS 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 times, respectively. In the multivariable logistic regression analysis, BMI quartile was still a risk factor for hypoxemia after adjustment for other risk factors. After adjustment for potential confounding factors, METs was an independent risk factor for hypoxemia in several models. After assigning a score for each METs component present, the AUCs were 0.852 (95% CI 0.789–0.914) in all patients, 0.728 (95% CI 0.573–0.882) in patients with METs and 0.744 (95% CI 0.636–0.853) in patients without METs according to receiver operating characteristic analysis. Conclusions METs, especially body mass index, confers a greater risk of hypoxemia in ATAAD after surgery.

Aims We investigated the incidence and clinical features of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in inpatients with mental illnesses. Methods We retrospectively analyzed records of inpatients with mental illnesses and confirmed VTE at The First Hospital of Hebei Medical University between August 2018 and July 2022. We recorded demographic characteristics, psychosis-related conditions, and thrombus distribution. Results Among 12939 patients diagnosed with mental illness, 156 (1.21%) presented with VTE at the first visit or during the disease course. Crude VTE incidence varied significantly across mental illnesses, being highest in patients with organic mental disorders (5.20%), followed by emotional disorders (1.10%), and others ( P

Abstract Magnetic skyrmions are promising information carriers for dense and energy‐efficient information storage owing to their small size, low driving‐current density, and topological stability. Electrical detection of skyrmions is a crucial requirement to drive skyrmion devices toward applications. The use of a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) is commonly suggested for this purpose as MTJs are key spintronic devices for large‐scale commercialization that can convert magnetic textures into electrical signals. To date, however, it has been challenging to realize skyrmions in MTJs due to incompatibility between standard skyrmion materials and highly efficient MTJ electrodes. Here, a material stack combining magnetic multilayers, which host 100 nm scale skyrmions, with a perpendicularly magnetized MTJ, is reported. The devices are designed so that the skyrmions in the multilayer are imprinted into the MTJ's free layer via magnetostatic interactions. The electrical response of a single skyrmion is successfully identified by employing simultaneous imaging of the magnetic texture and the electrical measurement of the MTJ resistance. The results are an important step toward all‐electrical detection of skyrmions.

Abstract High‐entropy materials, composed of five or more elements in near‐equiatomic percentage, have been attracting tremendous interests due to their advantageous properties in a variety of applications. Recently, electrocatalysis on high‐entropy alloys (HEAs) and high‐entropy compounds (HECs) has emerged as a new and promising material owing to the tailored composition and the disordered configuration of HEAs and HECs. Though extensive efforts have been devoted to investigating the catalytic nature of HEAs and HECs, the details related to the active sites and intrinsic activity of such catalysts still remain uncertain due to the complexity of the multicomponent systems. In this review, the recent progress of HEAs and HECs is systematically reviewed in terms of their synthetic strategies and electrocatalytic applications. Importantly, the computationally assisted methods (e.g., density functional theory [DFT]) are also presented to discover and design the optimum HEA‐ and HEC‐based catalysts. Subsequently, the applications of HEAs and HECs in electrocatalytic energy conversion reactions will be discussed, including hydrogen evolution reaction, oxygen evolution reaction, oxygen reduction reaction, carbon dioxide reduction reaction, nitrogen reduction reaction, methanol oxidation reaction, and ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR). Moreover, the prospects and future opportunities for this research field are cautiously discussed. A series of upcoming challenges and questions are thoroughly proposed from the experimental and theoretical aspects as well as other future applications in electrocatalysis.

Bulk amorphous alloys, as a material with broad application prospects, are highly expected in many cutting-edge applications. However, its plastic deformation relies on highly localized shear bands, resulting in brittle fracture characteristics of materials with low plastic strain as a whole. Therefore, strengthening and toughening of amorphous alloys is one of the key topics in the research of amorphous applications. In this paper, the effects of different isothermal annealing temperature on the microstructure and uniaxial compression properties of Cu _45 Zr _45 Ag _7 Al _3 amorphous alloy were studied by means of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results show that Cu _10 Zr _7 , AlCu _2 Zr, Cu _8 Zr _3 and Al _2 Zr phases precipitated successively from the amorphous alloy matrix with the increase of annealing temperature, and the fracture strength and plastic strain increased first and then decreased; At an isothermal annealing temperature of 741 K, the precipitated nanocrystalline Cu _10 Zr _7 phase can improve the fracture strength of the alloy; when the annealing temperature rises to 746 K, the strength of the alloy decreases slightly, but the plasticity increases; with the continuous increase of annealing temperature, the plasticity of the alloy decreases and the strength continues to increase; As the annealing temperature continues to increase, the fracture strength of the alloy decreases, exhibiting significant brittle fracture characteristics.

To address the problem that the performance of hyperspectral target tracking will be degraded when facing background clutter, this paper proposes a novel hyperspectral target tracking algorithm based on the deep edge convolution feature (DECF) and an improved context filter (ICF). DECF is a fusion feature via deep features convolving 3D edge features, which makes targets easier to distinguish under complex backgrounds. In order to reduce background clutter interference, an ICF is proposed. The ICF selects eight neighborhoods around the target as the context areas. Then the first four areas that have a greater interference in the context areas are regarded as negative samples to train the ICF. To reduce the tracking drift caused by target deformation, an adaptive scale estimation module, named the region proposal module, is proposed for the adaptive estimation of the target box. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm has satisfactory tracking performance against background clutter challenges.

The effect of biochar (BC) addition on NOx gas emissions was investigated from a calcareous soil. Application rates of zero (BC0), 1 (BC1), 2 (BC2), 5 (BC5), and 10 (BC10) percent weight/weight were used. The NOx emission flux was measured in a dynamic flux chamber. The flux was generally higher in BC0 than in the amended plots. The total NOx emission from BC1, BC2, BC5, and BC10 fell by 50.3, 75.3, 80.4, and 79.6%, respectively, relative to BC0. The emission flux from the BC5 showed a minimum average of 21.1 ± 13.5 μg N/(m2•h) for NO, −0.81 ± 1.31 μg N/(m2•h) for NO2, and 20.6 ± 13.8 μg N/(m2•h) for NOx. By comparison, the measured maximum average emission flux from the BC0 was 107.2 ± 30.98 μg N/(m2•h) for NO, −2.31 ± 2.56 μg N/(m2•h) for NO2, and 105.3 ± 45.3 μg N/(m2•h) for NOx. The results indicate that biochar amendment can potentially reduce NOx emissions.

The low separation efficiency of photoinduced carriers in BiPO4 system limited its photocatalytic application. Here, lotus flower-like heterostructure Ti3C2/BiPO4 was constructed via a simple hydrothermal synthesis without surface active agent. The Schottky barrier between BiPiO4 and Ti3C2 interface could be formed due to the large gap in work function for two components, which efficiently promoted the photoproduced holes extraction, the separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs and further inhibited photo-corrosion for BiPO4 and strengthened photostability. The heterostructure could totally photodegrade RhB under visible light irradiation for 20 min. The enhanced photocatalytic mechanism was explained in detail in this work. It is hoped that this photocatalytic system will be applied into another wastewater treatment and the used preparation method will be widely applied into many composite materials.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.