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Comprehensive Summary Key Scientists The construction of acyclic quaternary carbon stereocenters, which are ubiquitous in many bioactive compounds, pharmaceuticals and natural products, has been a long persuit in synthetic organic chemistry. Among numerous methods, enantioselective nickel‐catalysis has attracted incremental attention in recent years. This review summarizes the recent development in the asymmetric strategies, research progress, mechanistic investigations for the generation of acyclic quaternary carbon stereocenters via enantioselective nickel catalysis.In 2006, the Zhou group and RajanBabu group realized the nickel‐catalyzed enantioselective hydrovinylation of α‐substituted styrenes and ethylene to construct acyclic quaternary carbon stereocenters (QCSs) by using spiro‐ and binaphthyl phosphoramidite ligands, respectively. In 2016, Watson developed a nickel‐catalyzed Suzuki‐Miyaura arylation to generate acyclic QCSs via chirality transfer reaction. In 2017, the Feng and the Fu group developed nickel‐catalyzed enantioselective conjugated/Michael additions to build acyclic QCSs, respectively. In 2020, the Fang group made the first success in the construction of QCSs by nickel‐catalyzed hydrocyanation of alkenes and allenes. In 2021, Gregory C. Fu and co‐workers disclosed a nickel‐catalyzed enantioselective α‐functionalization of carbonyl compounds that could form acyclic QCSs. At the same time, the Shi group constructed chiral acyclic QCSs via nickel‐catalyzed functionalization of alkenes. In 2023, Kleij and co‐workers applied a new strategy for Ni‐catalyzed regio‐ and enantioselective homoallylic coupling to construct acyclic QCSs. In the same year, Tao and co‐workers demonstrated a novel strategy that is dinickel‐catalyzed enantioselective α‐alkylation of carbonyl compounds with alkyl iodides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Active soil organic carbon (SOC) fractions are major driving factors of soil fertility. Understanding the effects of water and fertilizer management on changes in active SOC fractions helps improve soil quality and maintain high agricultural productivity. We conducted a 3-year field experiment in Northeast China. In this experiment, natural soil (CKT) was used as a blank, and two irrigation regimes were established: conventional flooded irrigation (FI) and controlled irrigation (CI). Four nitrogen application levels were set for both irrigation regimes under deep placement of basal fertilizer N: Nd0 (0 kg ha–1), Nd (110 kg ha–1), Nd1 (99 kg ha–1), and Nd2 (88 kg ha–1). After 3 years, at similar N fertilizer application rate, the rice yield, total organic carbon (TOC), and active SOC fraction content of CI were higher under CI than FI. The growth rate of rice yield was 3.8% − 8.63% under CI than FI. Under CI, the rice yield, active SOC fractions contents and carbon pool management index (CPMI) did not decrease with decreasing N application rate but instead reached the highest level in the CNd1 treatment. Overall, CI with Nd1 treatment appears to be the best practice for improving soil fertility and crop productivity in Northeast China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To improve the phenomenon of serious power consumption of a ladle furnace, the impact of argon flow rate on power consumption in the refining process is investigated through theoretical calculations based on the principle of alternating current measurement using Rogowski coil and integrator circuit. The study divides the power supply phase into four distinct flow rate regions in a single furnace of DH36 steel, a low‐alloy, high‐strength ship plate steel commonly used in shipbuilding and offshore platforms. The analysis of active power, current, and voltage trends, along with average power consumption per second at each flow rate region, reveals a potential for efficient reduction in power consumption. Additionally, experiments with different argon flow rates (300, 400, and 500 NL min−1) during the power supply stages of multifurnace argon tests of AB/A steel show improvements in desulfurization rate, heating rate, processing time, and power consumption per ton of steel heated by 1 °C and power consumption per ton of steel per second. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The operations of the operators are important for nuclear safety, but conventional operating experience feedback and common data-driven methods make it difficult to explicitly find valuable information hidden in these operational sequences that can help the operator to provide advice at the operational level. During the nuclear power plant (NPP) operation, a large amount of historical operating data is accumulated, which records the operational sequences of the operators and the state parameters of equipment. Therefore, this paper proposes the use of association rule techniques to mine the NPP operating data to discover the operational characteristics of operators and reveal their possible impact on the NPP operation. This work helps to improve the operational performance of operators and prevent human-factor events. To this end, the concept of state switching values for describing the operating states of NPPs is proposed to enable the proposed method to be adapted to different practical application scenarios. A sequence segmentation method is proposed to be able to transform historical NPP operating data into a sequence data set for association rule mining. Furthermore, an ensemble algorithm based on sequence pattern mining and sequence rule mining and its postprocessing method are designed. The empirical study was carried out using 20 batches of historical operating data of the cold start-up. A total of 164 original association rules are generated using the proposed method and were analyzed by experts. The recommendations were made for 4 different cases that would improve the operational performance of the operators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alcoholic liver disease (ALD) is the main factor that induces liver-related death worldwide and represents a common chronic hepatopathy resulting from binge or chronic alcohol consumption. This work focused on revealing the role and molecular mechanism of nodakenin (NK) in ALD associated with hepatic inflammation and lipid metabolism through the regulation of Nur77-P2X7r signaling. In this study, an ALD model was constructed through chronic feeding of Lieber–DeCarli control solution with or without NK treatment. Ethanol (EtOH) or NK was administered to AML-12 cells, after which Nur77 was silenced. HepG2 cells were exposed to ethanol (EtOH) and subsequently treated with recombinant Nur77 (rNur77). Mouse peritoneal macrophages (MPMs) were treated with lipopolysaccharide/adenosine triphosphate (LPS/ATP) and NK, resulting in the generation of conditioned media. In vivo, histopathological alterations were markedly alleviated by NK, accompanied by reductions in serum triglyceride (TG), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels and the modulation of Lipin-1, SREBP1, and Nur77 levels in comparison to the EtOH-exposed group (p < 0.001). Additionally, NK reduced the production of P2X7r and NLRP3. NK markedly upregulated Nur77, inhibited P2X7r and Lipin-1, and promoted the function of Cytosporone B, a Nur77 agonist (p < 0.001). Moreover, Nur77 deficiency weakened the regulatory effect of NK on P2X7r and Lipin-1 inhibition (p < 0.001). In NK-exposed MPMs, cleaved caspase-1 and mature IL-1β expression decreased following LPS/ATP treatment (p < 0.001). NK also decreased inflammatory-factor production in primary hepatocytes stimulated with MPM supernatant. NK ameliorated ETOH-induced ALD through a reduction in inflammation and lipogenesis factors, which was likely related to Nur77 activation. Hence, NK is a potential therapeutic approach to ALD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Earthquake-induced plane failure is typically generated on bedding rock slopes. This failure mode has been widely observed in the past earthquakes in Western China (e.g., Wenchuan earthquake). Among them, the multi-slip plane failure may occur with the presence of multiple bedding planes or internal discontinuities within the slopes. This study developed an extended Newmark sliding block model to investigate the multi-slip seismic displacements of the bedding rock slopes. The unified formulation is presented for seismic sliding analysis of bedding rock slopes with arbitrary numbers and inclinations of bedding planes. Both horizontal and vertical earthquake ground motions and the possible amplifications that may result from site and topographic effects are considered. The developed model is validated by the results from shaking table test. The multi-slip mechanism and the effects of dip angle of bedding planes and vertical ground motion are investigated. The results show that (1) the multi-slip failure evolution is different to that identified from the traditional method, indicating the significant interactions among the seismic sliding behavior associated with bedding planes. (2) The influence of the vertical component of ground motion on the multi-sliding displacement is within a range of 20%. (3) The dip angle of sliding planes has a large effect on the sliding displacement, even if the yield coefficient remains the same. Finally, the proposed method is used to evaluate the seismic displacement and performance of the Liujiawan landslide that was triggered in Wenchuan earthquake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Neonatal stress disrupts brain development and increases the risk of neurological disorders later in life. However, the impact of neonatal stress on the development of the glymphatic system and susceptibility to Parkinson's disease (PD) remains largely unknown. Methods: Neonatal maternal deprivation (NMD) was performed on mice for 14 consecutive days to model chronic neonatal stress. Adeno‐associated virus expressing A53T‐α‐synuclein (α‐syn) was injected into the substantia nigra to establish PD model mice. Glymphatic activity was determined using in vivo magnetic resonance imaging, ex vivo fluorescence imaging and microplate assay. The transcription and expression of aquaporin‐4 (AQP4) and other molecules were evaluated by qPCR, western blotting, and immunofluorescence. Animal's responses to NMD and α‐syn overexpression were observed using behavioral tests. Results: Glymphatic activity was impaired in adult NMD mice. AQP4 polarization and platelet‐derived growth factor B (PDGF‐B) signaling were reduced in the frontal cortex and hippocampus of both young and adult NMD mice. Furthermore, exogenous α‐syn accumulation was increased and PD‐like symptoms were aggravated in adult NMD mice. Conclusion: The results demonstrated that NMD could disrupt the development of the glymphatic system through PDGF‐B signaling and increase the risk of PD later in life, indicating that alleviating neonatal stress could be beneficial in protecting the glymphatic system and reducing susceptibility to neurodegeneration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) drive system with small dc‐link capacitor will have the problem of unstable drive system due to the small damping of the LC filter and the negative impedance characteristics of the constant power load. The input LC filter can suppress interference and is essential for the normal operation of the drive, but it may not match the impedance of the post‐stage inverter, causing the drive system to become unstable. In this paper, by constructing the dc‐link voltage prediction model, combined with the PMSM current predictive control, the weighted cost function of the model predictive control (MPC) strategy is designed to realize the motor optimal control and the dc‐link voltage fluctuation suppression control. To avoid introducing additional sensors when constructing the dc‐link voltage model, a source state observer that can estimate the dc‐link voltage and input current is constructed. Simulation and experimental results are provided to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Waardenburg Syndrome (WS) is a rare genetic disorder that leads to congenital hearing loss and pigmentation defects. Microphthalmia‐associated transcription factor (MITF) is one of its significant pathogenic genes. Despite the comprehensive investigation in animal models, the pathogenic mechanism is still poorly described in humans due to difficulties accessing embryonic tissues. In this work, we used induced pluripotent stem cells derived from a WS patient carrying a heterozygous mutation in the MITF gene c.626A>T (p.His209Leu), and differentiated toward melanocyte lineage, which is the most affected cell type involved in WS. Compared with the wild‐type cell line, the MITFmut cell line showed a reduced expression of the characteristic melanocyte‐related genes and a lesser proportion of mature, fully pigmented melanosomes. The transcriptome analysis also revealed widespread gene expression changes at the melanocyte stage in the MITFmut cell line. The differentially expressed genes were enriched in melanogenesis and cell proliferation‐related pathways. Interestingly, ion transport‐related genes also showed a significant difference in MITFmut‐induced melanocytes, indicating that the MITF mutant may lead to the dysfunction of potassium channels and transporters produced by intermediate cells in the cochlea, further causing the associated phenotype of deafness. Altogether, our study provides valuable insights into how MITF mutation affects WS patients, which might result in defective melanocyte development and the related phenotype based on the patient‐derived iPSC model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Guided by 1H NMR spectroscopic experiments using the characteristic enol proton signals as probes, three pairs of new tautomeric cinnamoylphloroglucinol-monoterpene adducts (1–3) were isolated from the buds of Cleistocalyx operculatus. Their structures with absolute configurations were established by spectroscopic analysis, modified Mosher's method, and quantum chemical electronic circular dichroism calculation. Compounds 1–3 represent a novel class of cinnamoylphloroglucinol-monoterpene adducts featuring an unusual C-4–C-1′ linkage between 2,2,4-trimethyl-cinnamyl-β-triketone and modified linear monoterpenoid motifs. Notably, compounds 1–3 exhibited significant in vitro antiviral activity against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A synthetic strategy based on biogenetic building blocks for the collective and divergent biomimetic synthesis of cleistoperlones A−F, a cinnamoylphloroglucinol collection discovered from Cleistocalyx operculatus, has been developed. These syntheses proceeded successfully in only six to seven steps starting from commercially available 1,3,5‐benzenetriol and involving oxidative activation of stable biogenetic building blocks as a crucial step. Key features of the syntheses include a unique Michael addition/ketalization/1,6‐addition/enol‐keto tautomerism cascade reaction for the construction of the dihydropyrano[3,2‐d]xanthene tetracyclic core of cleistoperlones A and B, and a rare inverse‐electron‐demand hetero‐Diels–Alder cycloaddition for the establishment of benzopyran ring in cleistoperlones D−F. Moreover, cleistoperlone A exhibited significant antiviral activity against acyclovir‐resistant strains of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV‐1/Blue and HSV‐1/153). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A synthetic strategy based on biogenetic building blocks for the collective and divergent biomimetic synthesis of cleistoperlones A−F, a cinnamoylphloroglucinol collection discovered from Cleistocalyx operculatus, has been developed. These syntheses proceeded successfully in only six to seven steps starting from commercially available 1,3,5‐benzenetriol and involving oxidative activation of stable biogenetic building blocks as a crucial step. Key features of the syntheses include a unique Michael addition/ketalization/1,6‐addition/enol‐keto tautomerism cascade reaction for the construction of the dihydropyrano[3,2‐d]xanthene tetracyclic core of cleistoperlones A and B, and a rare inverse‐electron‐demand hetero‐Diels–Alder cycloaddition for the establishment of benzopyran ring in cleistoperlones D−F. Moreover, cleistoperlone A exhibited significant antiviral activity against acyclovir‐resistant strains of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV‐1/Blue and HSV‐1/153). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under optimal tournament design, equilibrium effort is invariant to the shape of the mean-zero additive stochastic component, often referred to as a "shock" or "noise". We report data from laboratory experiments providing the first test of this prediction. Consistent with theory, we find that average effort does not significantly differ between a negatively skewed and uniform shock distribution. In addition, we test a second theoretical prediction that, in winner tournaments, when the shock distribution is asymmetric as in our design, one should exert minimum effort whenever one's competitors are exerting above equilibrium effort. With a symmetric shock distribution as in our design, efforts should generally remain substantial, even when one's competitors are exerting effort above equilibrium value. Our data reveal that subjects actively engage in the tournament even when faced with aggressive competitors under both shock distributions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Change detection is a critical task in studying the dynamics of ecosystems and human activities using multi-temporal remote sensing images. While deep learning has shown promising results in change detection tasks, it requires a large number of labeled and paired multi-temporal images to achieve high performance. Pairing and annotating large-scale multi-temporal remote sensing images is both expensive and time-consuming. To make deep learning-based change detection techniques more practical and cost-effective, we propose an unsupervised single-temporal change detection framework based on intra- and inter-image patch exchange (I3PE). The I3PE framework allows for training deep change detectors on unpaired and unlabeled single-temporal remote sensing images that are readily available in real-world applications. The I3PE framework comprises four steps: (1) intra-image patch exchange method is based on an object-based image analysis (OBIA) method and adaptive clustering algorithm, which generates pseudo-bi-temporal image pairs and corresponding change labels from single-temporal images by exchanging patches within the image; (2) inter-image patch exchange method can generate more types of land-cover changes by exchanging patches between images; (3) a simulation pipeline consisting of several image enhancement methods is proposed to simulate the radiometric difference between pre- and post-event images caused by different imaging conditions in real situations; (4) self-supervised learning based on pseudo-labels is applied to further improve the performance of the change detectors in both unsupervised and semi-supervised cases. Extensive experiments on two large-scale datasets covering Hong Kong, Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Chengdu, China, demonstrate that I3PE outperforms representative unsupervised approaches and achieves F1 value improvements of 10.65% and 6.99% to the state-of-the-art method. Moreover, I3PE can improve the performance of the change detector by 4.37% and 2.61% on F1 values in the case of semi-supervised settings. Additional experiments on a dataset covering a study area with 144 km 2 in Wuhan, China, confirm the effectiveness of I3PE for practical land-cover change analysis tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerical dispersion caused by mesh discretization is a critical factor affecting finite difference numerical simulation accuracy. High-order implicit finite difference operator may be used to solve this problem because the convergence rate increases with the order, but the efficiency is low because of the computation of the band matrix. We derived a low-order implicit difference operator with partial fraction expansion in the wave number domain from the plane wave theory to improve the accuracy of numerical simulation. Using this operator, the routine multi-diagonal matrix is rewritten as multi-parallel linear tri-diagonal matrices in different directions to simplify the solution of the sparse linear equations. We adopted the chasing method to solve the linear equations composed of tri-diagonal matrices. This improves the computational efficiency of the space partial derivative in the implicit difference forward modeling process. Dispersion analysis and numerical simulations show that our method yields excellent results with high accuracy and acceptable computational efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The origins of Archean continents and subcontinental lithospheric mantle (SCLM) were important events in the early Earth. The mechanisms for the origins of Archean continents and the SCLM remain unclear. This study suggests that these events were controlled by the evolution of the hydrous magma ocean (MO). With solidification, the basal MO eventually became gravitationally unstable because of the enrichment of water. The triggered massive mantle overturns resulted in the major pulses of the crust and thick SCLM generations. The model avoids a fatal drawback of the oceanic plateau model for the origin of continents: the source of H2O needed for the formation of tonalite‐trondhjemite‐granodiorite (TTG). The model can also account for why the TTG and thick SCLM basically occurred in the Archean. Plain Language Summary: Among the inner solar system planets, the Earth is the only planet that has continental crust, plate tectonics, and life. The formation of Archean continents, which should play a crucial role in the initiation of plate tectonics and the evolution of life, remains hotly debated. In this study, we show that water in the basal magma ocean plays a fundamental role in the formation of Archean continents. With progressive crystallization, the basal magma ocean becomes increasingly enriched in water because the major lower‐mantle minerals have limited water storage capacity. The basal magma ocean eventually becomes gravitationally unstable because of the enrichment of water and generates mantle overturns. The mantle overturns transported a large amount of water upward to the shallow part of the Earth and controlled the formation of the continental crust and can account for many observations including the source of H2O needed for generation of the continental crust and the major pulse of crustal growth around the end of the Archean. Key Points: Water in the basal magma ocean plays a fundamental role in the formation of Archean continents and subcontinental lithospheric mantleThe basal magma ocean eventually became gravitationally unstable and generated the mantle overturns because of the enrichment of waterThe water‐induced mantle overturns resulted in the major pulses of the thick subcontinental lithospheric mantle and continental crust generations in the Neoarchean [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel dansyl-based fluorescent probe (DG) was designed via the introduction of a dipeptide, glycyl-L-glutamine. DG showed good selectivity and sensitivity towards Cu2+ in aqueous solutions in the pH span of ~ 6–12. The coordination of Cu2+ with the dipeptide moiety led to the fluorescent quenching of the dansyl fluorophore. The association constant value for Cu2+ was 0.78 × 104 M− 1 in a 1 to 1 stoichiometric ratio. The detection limit in HEPES buffer solution (10 mM, pH 7.4) was 1.52 µM. DG also showed strong anti-interference capability in the presence of other metal ions. It was worth noting that DG maintained the detection ability towards Cu2+ in real water samples and cell imaging, implying the potential application opportunities in complicated environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Perovskite ferroelectric thin films exhibit unique dielectric and piezoelectric properties owing to their internal polarized domains that accommodate the out‐of‐plane (ferroelectric) and in‐plane (ferroelastic) polarization‐induced electrostatic and elastic energy. These domains are generally treated as 2D defects with distinctive differences in domain morphology and domain‐wall characteristics, although they are indeed 3D volumetric defects. Here, by using atomistic simulation and microscopy characterization, a "pseudo‐ferroelectric domain" that has the morphology similar to a ferroelectric domain but holds the same defect character of ferroelastic domain‐wall, i.e., semi‐coherent (100)matrix||(100)domain interface is identified. Such pseudo‐ferroelectric domain walls will play a critical role in the migration kinetics of ferroelastic domains and in the piezoelectric responses of ferroelectric thin films during cyclic mechanical/electrical loading. The study throws light on a novel aspect of domains, namely, the 3D configuration and mobility of domain walls, and their role in the overall domain engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The vine growth habit (VGH) is a notable property of wild soybean plants that also holds a high degree of importance in domestication as it can preclude using these wild cultivars for breeding and improving domesticated soybeans. Here, a bulked segregant analysis (BSA) approach was employed to study the genetic etiology of the VGH in soybean plants by integrating linkage mapping and population sequencing approaches. To develop a recombinant inbred line (RIL) population, the cultivated Zhongdou41 (ZD41) soybean cultivar was bred with ZYD02787, a wild soybean accession. The VGH status of each line in the resultant population was assessed, ultimately leading to the identification of six and nine QTLs from the BSA sequencing of the F4 population and F6-F8 population sequence mapping, respectively. One QTL shared across these analyzed generations was detected on chromosome 19. Three other QTLs detected by BSA-seq were validated and localized to the 90.93 kb, 2.9 Mb, and 602.08 kb regions of chromosomes 6 and 13, harboring 14, 53, and 4 genes, respectively. Three consistent VGH-related QTLs located on chromosomes 2 and 19 were detected in a minimum of three environments, while an additional six loci on chromosomes 2, 10, 13, and 18 were detected in at least two environments via ICIM mapping. Of all the detected loci, five had been reported previously whereas seven represent novel QTLs. Together, these data offer new insights into the genetic basis of the VGH in soybean plants, providing a rational basis to inform the use of wild accessions in future breeding efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microwave-induced thermoacoustic imaging (TAI) is a hybrid imaging technique that combines electromagnetic radiation and ultrasonic waves to achieve high imaging contrast and submillimeter spatial resolution. These characteristics make TAI a good candidate to detect material anomalies that change the material electric properties without a noticeable variation in material density. Conventional pulsed TAI systems work by sending a single short pulse to the imaged target and then detecting the generated pressure signal; therefore, a very high peak power microwave pulse or data averaging is needed to produce images with a high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). In this paper, we propose to enhance the SNR of pulsed TAI systems by using non-coherent pulse compression. In this approach, a predefined pulse coded signal is used to illuminate the imaged sample and the received pressure signal is cross correlated with a template that is related to the power profile of the excitation signal. The proposed approach can be easily deployed to pulsed TAI systems without the need for major system modifications to the RF source because it only requires a timing circuit to control the triggering time of the RF pulses. In this paper, we demonstrate experimentally that the proposed approach highly improves the SNR of TAI signals and images and can be used to reduce the acquisition time by lowering the number of data averaging or reduce the required peak power from RF sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The phenotypic color of seeds is a complex agronomic trait and has economic and biological significance. The genetic control and molecular regulation mechanisms have been extensively studied. Here, we used a multi-omics strategy to explore the color formation in soybean seeds at a big data scale. We identified 13 large quantitative trait loci (QTL) for color with bulk segregating analysis in recombinant inbreeding lines. GWAS analysis of colors and decomposed attributes in 763 germplasms revealed associated SNP sites perfectly falling in five major QTL, suggesting inherited regulation on color during natural selection. Further transcriptomics analysis before and after color accumulation revealed 182 differentially expression genes (DEGs) in the five QTL, including known genes CHS, MYB, and F3′H involved in pigment accumulation. More DEGs with consistently upregulation or downregulation were identified as shared regulatory genes for two or more color formations while some DEGs were only for a specific color formation. For example, five upregulated DEGs in QTL qSC-3 were in flavonoid biosynthesis responsible for black and brown seed. The DEG (Glyma.08G085400) was identified in the purple seed only, which encodes gibberellin 2-beta-dioxygenase in the metabolism of colorful terpenoids. The candidate genes are involved in flavonoid biosynthesis, transcription factor regulation, gibberellin and terpenoid metabolism, photosynthesis, ascorbate and aldarate metabolism, and lipid metabolism. Seven differentially expressed transcription factors were also speculated that may regulate color formation, including a known MYB. The finds expand QTL and gene candidates for color formation, which could guide to breed better cultivars with designed colors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract \nHighlights Mechanical metamaterials as a category of lightweight materials have exhibited superior specific mechanical properties and energy absorption. However, lack of reasonable structural design always results in weakening or failure to achieve the optimal mechanical performance of metamaterials. Here, we firstly adopted bio-inspired and structural optimization methods to guideline the design of microlattice structures. Inspired by the strong and ductile ‘Moso’ bamboo, three bamboo-inspired hierarchical microlattice structures (BHMSs) were initially designed, and the bamboo’s features, viz., hollow, gradient distribution, and cellular, were imitated by designed BHMSs. Optimization design with the objective of maximum ratio of strain energy and reaction force was carried out to furthermore improve the mechanical properties of BHMSs. Afterwards, the optimal BHMSs were printed via Stereolithography. The compressive responses of BHMSs were elaborated by experiments and simulation. Results show that these designed biomimetic structures can be easily tailored via tuning the geometric sizes of unit cell, achieving high compressive specific modulus and strength 48.16 kPa m3 kg−1 and 1389.23 Pa m3 kg−1 and the energy-absorbing efficient 85.43% in the octet bamboo-inspired hierarchical microlattice structures (OCT BHMSs). The design strategies and findings shed light on the realization of advanced metamaterials with tailored mechanical properties. How to design ordered cellular structures for lightweight structures with high mechanical strength and energy absorption efficiency remains a crucial challenge in automation, aerospace and lightweight construction fields. Inspired by the lightweight and high load-bearing capacity of nature bamboos and metamaterials in the previous researches (Song et al., Materials & Design, 2019, 173: 107773; Song et al., International Journal of Fatigue, 2017, 100: 126), here a comprehensive approach of bionics and optimization was proposed to design hierarchical microlattice structures with lightweight, good mechanical properties and high energy absorption efficiency. The bamboo’s characteristics, including hollow, gradient enhancement, and cellular, were completely copied to reasonably produce hierarchical microlattice configurations, while the optimal sizes were obtained though the optimization design. A combination strategy of bamboo-inspired and optimization design to realize light-weight and high mechanical metamaterials was provided. Mechanical properties of biomimetic structures can be tailored by tuning dimensions based on optimization. A high energy absorption efficiency in octet-truss bamboo-inspired hierarchical microlattice structures. A combination strategy of bamboo-inspired and optimization design to realize light-weight and high mechanical metamaterials was provided.Mechanical properties of biomimetic structures can be tailored by tuning dimensions based on optimization.A high energy absorption efficiency in octet-truss bamboo-inspired hierarchical microlattice structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study ferromagnetic Ising models on finite graphs with an inhomogeneous external field, where a subset of vertices is designated as the boundary. We show that the influence of boundary conditions on any given spin is maximised when the external field is identically 0. One corollary is that spin–spin correlations are maximised when the external field vanishes and the boundary condition is free, which proves a conjecture of Shlosman. In particular, the random field Ising model on Z d , d ⩾ 3 , exhibits exponential decay of correlations in the entire high temperature regime of the pure Ising model. Another corollary is that the pure Ising model in d ⩾ 3 satisfies the conjectured strong spatial mixing property in the entire high temperature regime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Detection of omics sample outliers is important for preventing erroneous biological conclusions, developing robust experimental protocols, and discovering rare biological states. Two recent publications describe robust algorithms for detecting transcriptomic sample outliers, but neither algorithm had been incorporated into a software tool for scientists. Here we describe Ensemble Methods for Outlier Detection (EnsMOD) which incorporates both algorithms. EnsMOD calculates how closely the quantitation variation follows a normal distribution, plots the density curves of each sample to visualize anomalies, performs hierarchical cluster analyses to calculate how closely the samples cluster with each other, and performs robust principal component analyses to statistically test if any sample is an outlier. The probabilistic threshold parameters can be easily adjusted to tighten or loosen the outlier detection stringency. EnsMOD can be used to analyze any omics dataset with normally distributed variance. Here it was used to analyze a simulated proteomics dataset, a multiomic (proteome and transcriptome) dataset, a single-cell proteomics dataset, and a phosphoproteomics dataset. EnsMOD successfully identified all of the simulated outliers, and subsequent removal of a detected outlier improved data quality for downstream statistical analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Let X= \{X(t), t \in \mathbb {R}^N\} be a centered Gaussian random field with values in \mathbb {R}^d satisfying certain conditions and let F \subset \mathbb {R}^d be a Borel set. In our main theorem, we provide a sufficient condition for F to be polar for X, i.e. \mathbb P\big (X(t) \in F \text { for some } t \in \mathbb {R}^N\big) = 0, which improves significantly the main result in Dalang et al. [Ann. Probab. 45 (2017), pp. 4700–4751], where the case of F being a singleton was considered. We provide a variety of examples of Gaussian random field for which our result is applicable. Moreover, by using our main theorem, we solve a problem on the existence of collisions of the eigenvalues of random matrices with Gaussian random field entries that was left open in Jaramillo and Nualart [Random Matrices Theory Appl. 9 (2020), p. 26] and Song et al. [J. Math. Anal. Appl. 502 (2021), p. 22]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metal‐halide perovskites, especially for 3D halide perovskite single crystals (SCs), are emerging as the promising scintillators. However, the strong self‐absorption and low light yield of these perovskites restrict their practical applications. Quantum cutting can convert a high energy photon into multiple low energy photons, endowing a large Stokes shift and high photoluminescent quantum yield (PLQY). Here, this work reports a novel quantum cutting material, CsPbClxBr3−x:Yb3+ perovskite SCs, with the PLQY of 149% and a Stokes shift >550 nm, successfully conquering the issues of poor PLQY induced by the thermal quenching and the large self‐absorption in perovskite SCs. Benefiting from the extremely high PLQY and negligible self‐absorption effect, the first high‐performance quantum cutting scintillators based on CsPbClxBr3−x:Yb3+ perovskite SCs are developed, exhibiting high transmittance, large X‐ray absorption/conversion efficiency, outstanding light yield of ≈1.12 × 105 photons MeV−1, and a detection limit as low as 176.5 nGyair s−1. Finally, a single‐pixel X‐ray imaging is achieved by integrating CsPbCl3:Yb3+ SCs with silicon photomultiplier. This work sheds light on exploring highly competitive scintillators beyond the scope of traditional perovskites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lead zirconate titanate (PZT) films have shown great potential in piezoelectric micro-electronic-mechanical system (piezo-MEMS) owing to their strong piezoelectric response. However, the fabrication of PZT films on wafer-level suffers with achieving excellent uniformity and properties. Here, we successfully prepared perovskite PZT films with similar epitaxial multilayered structure and crystallographic orientation on 3-inch silicon wafers, by introducing a rapid thermal annealing (RTA) process. Compared to films without RTA treatment, these films exhibit (001) crystallographic orientation at certain composition that expecting morphotropic phase boundary. Furthermore, dielectric, ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties on different positions only fluctuate within 5%. The relatively dielectric constant, loss, remnant polarization and transverse piezoelectric coefficient are 850, 0.1, 38 μC/cm2 and −10 C/m2, respectively. Both uniformity and properties have reached the requirement for the design and fabrication of piezo-MEMS devices. This broadens the design and fabrication criteria for piezo-MEMS, particularly for piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Various epitaxial mechanisms have been proposed to control the growth orientation of vapor‐deposited nanowires, yet the required lattice matching between target nanowires and supporting substrates limits their applicability. In this work, a versatile hot stamping protocol for fabricating parallel hydrophobic nanogrooves on flexible polymer films (e.g., polyimide (PI), polyethylene naphthalate (PEN), polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)) is proposed. More interestingly, various organic small molecules, including several metal phthalocyanines (MPc, M = Cu, Zn, Fe, Ni, Co), 9,10‐bis(phenylethynyl)anthracene (BPEA), 9,10‐diphenylanthracene (DPA), and tris‐(8‐hydroxyquinoline)aluminium (Alq3), are directly assembled into horizontally‐oriented nanowires along the hot‐stamped nanogrooves on a flexible PI film, thereby breaking the lattice‐matching limitation for oriented nanowire growth. These submillimeter‐long horizontally oriented nanowires can be integrated into flexible photodetectors directly on their growth film, eliminating the need for laborious post‐growth transfer and alignment steps and the associated structural damage and contamination. Consequently, the in situ integrated flexible photodetector made of aligned CuPc nanowires maintains a stable and fast photoresponse to a spectrum in the region of 405‐980 nm even when the detector is bent to a radius of curvature of 2.5 mm and 1000 times. This work will open new opportunities to develop in situ integrated flexible devices based on organic crystalline nanowires for practical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The X-discontinuity is characterized by 2–8% wave impedance contrasts and indistinguishable seismological Clapeyron slopes. Its origin is not yet entirely understood and attributed to a variety of plausible causes, among which the coesite-stishovite transition is a popular mechanism due to its large impedance contrasts. However, the sole coesite-stishovite transition is insufficient to explain indistinguishable seismological Clapeyron slopes of the X-discontinuity. The orthopyroxene (OPX) to high-pressure clinopyroxene (HPCPX) transition has been excluded as a candidate mechanism in recent seismic studies because it can only cause small impedance contrasts based on the first-order estimate from the Birch's law without direct sound velocity measurements. In this study, we performed first-principles calculations to obtain the elasticity of high-pressure clinoenstatite at high pressure and temperature. Our results show that the impedance contrast caused by the OPX-HPCPX transition is ∼5.7% for P wave and ∼6.9% for S wave, which are much larger than the previous empirical estimation and hence cannot be ignored. Given that eclogite is subject to partial melting in hot or wet regions, which will promote the enrichment of orthopyroxene by consuming silica, we suggested that both the coesite-stishovite transition and the OPX-HPCPX transition may be dominant mechanisms for the X-discontinuity, with the former dominating where eclogite is hard to melt and the latter dominating where partial melting of eclogite occurs. The model is consistent with seismological observations, indicating the important role of the OPX-HPCPX transition in the X-discontinuity and extensive occurrence of partial melting of eclogite. The proposed origin of the X-discontinuity provides a plausible way to illuminate the melting situation of eclogite in the deep earth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. LR family pyrin domain-containing 14 (NLRP14 or NALP14) is one of the important members of the NLR family and was mainly expressed in testis. It is reported that deficiency in the NALP14 gene in mice can cause spermatogenic failure, and several NALP14 mutations have been found in oligospermia and infertile men. Case Presentation. This study reported two novel NALP14 mutations (c.2076delC: p.L697X and c.T2963C: p.F988S) in our patients with azoospermia. The exonic deletion mutation (c.2076delC) and one missense mutation (c.T2963C) were firstly screened out by whole-exome sequencing (WES) and further verified by amplifying and sequencing the specific exons 5 and 10. Histological analysis of testicular biopsy revealed that NALP14 expression was detected strongly in spermatogonia and weakly in early spermatocytes. Additionally, mutations in this gene caused meiotic arrest, and no postmeiotic round spermatids and mature spermatozoa were observed in the seminiferous tubules. Conclusions. This study and previous literatures showed that NLRP14 mutations are closely related to male infertility; we discovered two novel NALP14 mutations and summarized the kinds of literatures on NLRP14 mutations and male infertility. This is the first report that deletion mutation (c.2076delC) and one missense mutation (c.T2963C) in NALP14 all lead to azoospermia, which is still significant to the clinical auxiliary diagnosis of male infertility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The prevalence of COVID-19-related anosmia or dysgeusia during Omicron. • Improved assessment method, which avoided simple "yes" or "no" self-reports. • Specific association between the initial symptoms and smell or taste alterations. • Three-dose vaccination demonstrated a protective effect. • An important indicator of viral invasion of the nervous system. To characterize the prevalence, severity, correlation with initial symptoms, and role of vaccination in patients with COVID-19 with smell or taste alterations (STAs). We conducted an observational study of patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron admitted to three hospitals between May 17 and June 16, 2022. The olfactory and gustatory functions were evaluated using the taste and smell survey and the numerical visual analog scale at two time points. The T1 and T2 time point assessments were completed by 688 and 385 participants, respectively. The prevalence of STAs at two time points was 41.3% vs 42.6%. Furthermore, no difference existed in the severity distribution of taste and smell survey, smell, or taste visual analog scale scores between the groups. Patients with initial symptoms of headache (P = 0.03) and muscle pain (P = 0.04) were more likely to develop STAs, whereas higher education; three-dose vaccination; no symptoms yet; or initial symptoms of cough, throat discomfort, and fever demonstrated protective effects, and the results were statistically significant. The prevalence of STAs did not decrease significantly during the Omicron dominance, but the severity was reduced, and vaccination demonstrated a protective effect. In addition, the findings suggest that the presence of STAs is likely to be an important indicator of viral invasion of the nervous system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We prove a local volume noncollapsing estimate for Kähler metrics induced from a family of complex Monge–Ampère equations, assuming a local Ricci curvature lower bound. This local volume estimate can be applied to establish various diameter and gradient estimate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well known that the Kähler–Ricci flow on a Kähler manifold X admits a long-time solution if and only if X is a minimal model, i.e., the canonical line bundle K X is nef. The abundance conjecture in algebraic geometry predicts that K X must be semi-ample when X is a projective minimal model. We prove that if K X is semi-ample, then the diameter is uniformly bounded for long-time solutions of the normalized Kähler–Ricci flow. Our diameter estimate combined with the scalar curvature estimate in Song and Tian (Am J Math 138(3):683–695, 2016) for long-time solutions of the Kähler–Ricci flow are natural extensions of Perelman's diameter and scalar curvature estimates for short-time solutions on Fano manifolds. As an application, the normalized Kähler–Ricci flow on a minimal threefold X always converges sequentially in Gromov–Hausdorff topology to a compact metric space homeomorphic to its canonical model X can . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to explore the distribution of cyanobacteria in paddy soil under different ecological conditions, the composition, diversity, and environmental drivers of soil cyanobacteria communities in rice fields from six regions of Jilin Province (China) were investigated. The results showed that the 16S amplicon high-throughput sequence detected the existence of cyanobacteria of 16 phyla, 33 orders, 60 families, and 113 genera in the soil of rice fields in Jilin Province. The dominant cyanobacteria populations in Jilin Province paddy soils comprised Cyanobium_PCC-6307, Synechocystis_PCC-6803, Planktothrix_NIVA-CYA_15, and Nodosilinea_PCC-7104. Each soil sample included a significant proportion of nitrogen-fixing filamentous cyanobacteria Anabaena and Nostoc according to microscopic analysis. The structural properties and diversity of cyanobacteria communities differed by geography, with soil pH and SOC being the main environmental drivers of cyanobacteria community structure. The alkaline soils S1, S2, and S5 displayed greater diversity than the acidic soils S3, S4, and S6, with S5 displaying the greatest cyanobacteria diversity. This research has crucial implications for developing and utilizing local cyanobacteria resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a subtype of breast cancer with a poor prognosis that seriously threatens women's health. There is still a lack of effective therapeutic targets for TNBC treatment. We conducted a meta-analysis to evaluate the efficacy and safety of programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1)/programmed death protein ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitors in combination with chemotherapy for TNBC patients. We searched PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) related to PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors combined with chemotherapy. Literature conforming to the research content was identified according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The endpoints of efficacy were pathological complete response (pCR), event-free survival (EFS), progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS). Safety outcomes included adverse events (AEs) of any grade, AEs of grade ≥3, serious AEs, and the incidence of various AEs. We obtained odds ratios (OR), hazard ratio (HR), and 95% confidence interval (CI) for the included studies. Data analysis was performed using Review Manager software (version 5.3). A total of 4468 patients from eight RCTs were analyzed. PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors in combination with chemotherapy significantly improved pCR (OR, 1.59; 95% CI, 1.28 − 1.98, p < 0.0001), EFS (HR, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.48 − 0.91, p = 0.01), and OS (HR, 0.72; 95% CI, 0.52 − 0.99, p = 0.05) in patients with TNBC compared to chemotherapy alone or placebo in combination with chemotherapy. Furthermore, we found that the pCR rate was almost identical in the PD-L1 positive group (OR, 1.65; 95% CI, 1.26 − 2.16, p = 0.0002) and the PD-L1 negative group (OR, 1.56; 95% CI, 1.04 − 2.33, p = 0.03). Among patients with advanced-stage TNBC, PFS (HR, 0.82; 95% CI, 0.74 − 0.90, p < 0.0001) was longer in the combination therapy group than in the chemotherapy group. There were no statistically significant differences between the experimental and control groups in OS (HR, 1.03; 95% CI, 0.74 − 1.42, p = 0.87). In terms of safety, we found that the combination therapy group had a significantly higher incidence of hyperthyroidism in patients with early and advanced TNBC (OR, 5.76; 95% CI, 2.38 − 13.95, p = 0.0001) (OR, 7.86; 95% CI, 2.65 − 23.29, p = 0.0002). The combination of PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors and chemotherapy could improve the survival and prognosis of patients with early and advanced TNBC. Combination treatment may be harmful to the thyroid; therefore, active surveillance and regular follow-up are necessary during treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Multi-dimensional feature indexes (MDFI) are applied to portray the firing activity of neurons. • Compared to traditional methods of determining DBS parameters, MDFI is a quantitative analysis and more accurate. • The application of MDFI effectively distinguishes the activity state of neurons and networks. • The spatial representation of MDFI perfectly tracks and predicts the network activity state. Although the exact etiology of Parkinson's disease (PD) is still unknown, there are a variety of treatments available to alleviate its symptoms according to the development stage of PD. Deep brain stimulation (DBS), the most common surgical treatment for advanced PD, accurately locates and implants stimulating electrodes at specific targets in the brain to deliver high-frequency electrical stimulation that alters the excitability of the corresponding nuclei. However, for different patients and stages of PD development, there exists a choice of the optimal DBS protocol. In this paper, we propose a quantitative method (multi-dimensional feature indexes) to determine the stimulation pattern, stimulation parameters, and target of DBS from the perspective of the network model. On the other hand, based on this method, the development of PD can be predicted so that timely treatment can be given to patients. Simulation results show that, first, different network states can be distinguished by extracting features of the firing activity of neuronal populations within the basal ganglia network system. Secondly, the optimal DBS treatment can be selected by comparing the feature indexes vectors of the pre- and post-state of the network after the action of different modes of DBS. Lastly, the evolution of the network state from normal to pathological is simulated. The critical point of network state transitions is determined. These results provide a quantitative and qualitative method for determining the optimal regimen for DBS for PD, which is helpful for clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A highly enantioselective kinetic resolution of racemic 1,3-amino alcohols via O-Acylation was achieved using a chiral organotin as the catalyst. Alkyl- and aryl-substituted 1,3-amino alcohols were resolved with excellent efficiencies to afford the recovered 1,3-amino alcohols and acylative products with high enantioselectivities, with s factors up to >600. Notably, the chiral organotin catalyst was more selective for anti-1,3-amino alcohols than for syn-isomers. A Gram-scale reaction with loading using 2 mol% catalysts demonstrated the utility of this protocol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the real atmosphere, the development of large-scale motion is often related to the baroclinic properties of the atmosphere. So, it is necessary to discuss the stability condition of baroclinic flow. It is advantageous to use a layered model to discuss baroclinic instability, not only to apply the potential vortex equation directly, but also to deal with shear of basic flow. The stability and oscillatory shear ability of Rossby waves are studied based on the two-layer Phillips model in the β plane; then, we summarize the baroclinic instability of time-dependent zonal shear flows. The multiscale method is used to eliminate some terms of natural frequency oscillations of nonlinear operators in the third-order expansion, thus generating an equation about the amplitude of the lowest-order Rossby wave in the long-time variable. The large amplitude perturbation begins to decrease, which produces the desired behavior. After the amplitude decreases for some time, the amplitude of Rossby waves can still be found to oscillate periodically with the time variable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sail-assisted ships have garnered widespread interest as a sustainable technology. The three-degree-of-freedom (3-DOF) stabilized system of ship propulsion-assisted sail is used to track the optimal azimuth of the sail and isolate the swaying of the ship's hull. In this paper, the problem of tracking control for the system with prescribed performance is investigated. By using an appointed-time prescribed performance function (APPF), a novel bi-limit homogeneous sliding surface with expected trajectory is proposed to improve the convergence rate, accuracy, and overshoot. Considering the external disturbance, a wind resistance model is established and compensated to reduce the conservatism and chattering. Adaptive extreme learning machines (AELMs) are employed to estimate the mismatch parameters caused by Reynolds number fluctuations and unmodelled dynamics. Finally, an adaptive bi-limit homogeneous sliding mode controller is constructed, by which the system can track the 3-DOF target signals with prescribed performance and suppress disturbances. The fixed-time reachability of the system is verified by Lyapunov analysis and fixed-time theory. To validate the effectiveness of the presented controller, numerical simulations and principle prototype experiments are conducted. The results are compared with other algorithms and show that regardless of the control performance or energy-saving benefits, the proposed method has a better effect. • A control for 3-DOF stabilized system of ship propulsion-assisted sail is designed. • A novel bi-limit homogeneous sliding surface with expected trajectory is proposed. • A wind resistance model is established and compensated to reduce conservatism. • The optimization effect on control and energy saving is verified experimentally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents a novel tensegrity camber morphing airfoil (TenCMA), which has the ability of the large and smooth camber morphing. The configuration of TenCMA is determined by the error bound method. The optimal configuration of TenCMA is obtained by comparing the aerodynamic characteristics of TenCMA and traditional airfoil. Based on the beam-tensegrity dynamics, the shape control law of TenCMA is presented to control the camber morphing, whereas the force in strings are the control variables. The optimal actuator selection method is derived by the positive spanning set to select the minimum number of actuators and give the optimal control energy of TenCMA. The results of shape control show that TenCMA can smoothly change the trailing edge with the optimal selected actuators and minimum control energy. Finally, we compared the aerodynamic characteristics of TenCMA and traditional airfoil with the same equivalent deflection angle. Results show that TenCMA can significantly improve the aerodynamic performance of the morphing airfoil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large aspect ratio organic nano-micro-fiber is prepared and multi-functional devices show promising properties. [Display omitted] • Super-long organic semiconductor flexible nanowires with big aspect ratios. • Single nanowire miniature devices and regular multi-wires devices fabricated. • Devices have excellent heat, gas and photo detectable ability. • The nanowire formation mechanism was unveiled by theory and experimental methods. Ultra-long high aspect ratio one dimensional (1D) organic semiconductor nanowire is extremely valuable but very challenging to prepare. Based on diacetylene-bridged perylene mono-imide small molecule, scalable 1D nanowire is prepared by simple method, lengths of wires are more than 3 mm and aspect ratios are higher up to ∼9000. Organic flexible conductive wires made devices exhibit good multi-functional sensibilities to light, organic gases and heat. Single wire photodetector shows 80 mA/W responsivity and 3.05×1012 Jones detectivity at 532 nm. Mass-wire sensors demonstrate excellent sensibility, (tetrahydrofuran 0.0166 Ω/ppm; acetone 0.0139 Ω/ppm; ethanol 0.0164 Ω/ppm), low detection limitation and good repeatability to various volatile compounds and sensitive temperature variation response (0.394 mA K−1). The nanowires provide flexible media of sensors for the next generation miniature devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigations of the adsorptions of representative gases (NO2, NH3, H2S, SO2, CO, and HCHO) on different Ag-functionalized monolayer MoS2 surfaces were performed by first principles methods. The adsorption configurations, adsorption energies, electronic structure properties, and charge transfer were calculated, and the results show that the adsorption activities to gases of monolayer MoS2 are dramatically enhanced by the Ag-modification. The Ag-modified perfect MoS2 (Ag-P) and MoS2 with S-vacancy (Ag-Vs) substrates exhibit a more superior adsorption activity to NO2 than other gases, which is consistent with the experimental reports. The charge transfer processes of different molecules adsorbed on different surfaces exhibit various characteristics, with potential benefits to gas selectivity. For instance, the NO2 and SO2 obtain more electrons from both Ag-P and Ag-Vs substrates but the NH3 and H2S donate more electrons to materials than others. In addition, the CO and HCHO possess totally opposite charge transfer directs on both substrates, respectively. The BS and PDOS calculations show that semiconductor types of gas/Ag-MoS2 systems are more determined by the metal-functionalization of material, and the directs and numbers of charge transfer process between gases and adsorbents can cause the increase or decline of material resistance theoretically, which is helpful to gas detection and distinction. The further analysis indicates suitable co-operation between the gain-lost electron ability of gas and metallicity of featuring metal might adjust the resistivity of complex and contribute to new thought for metal-functionalization. Our works provide new valuable ideas and theoretical foundation for the potential improvement of MoS2-based gas sensor performances, such as sensitivity and selectivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The thermoelastic martensitic transformation and its reverse transformation of the Cu-Al-Mn cryogenic shape memory alloy, both with and without compressive stress, has been dynamically in situ observed. During the process of thermoelastic martensitic transformation, martensite nucleates and gradually grow up as they cool, and shrink to disappearance as they heat. The order of martensite disappearance is just opposite to that of their formation. Observations of the self-accommodation of martensite variants, which were carried out by using a low temperature metallographic in situ observation apparatus, showed that the variants could interact with each other. The results of in situ synchrotron radiation X-ray and metallographic observation also suggested there were some residual austenites, even if the temperature was below Mf, which means the martensitic transformation could not be 100% accomplished. The external compressive stress would promote the preferential formation of martensite with some orientation, and also hinder the formation of martensite with other nonequivalent directions. The possible mechanism of the martensitic reverse transformation is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Co 3 O 4 , as a potential anode of lithium-ion batteries, has gained considerable attention because of high theoretical capacity. However, the Co 3 O 4 is suffering from serious structure deterioration and rapid capacity fading due to its bulky volume change during cyclic charge/discharge process. Herein, to stabilize the lithium storage performance of the Co 3 O 4 nanoparticles, a characteristic carbon scaffold (HPC) integrating hollow and porous structures has been fabricated by a well-designed method for the first time. The ultrafine Co 3 O 4 nanoparticles are cleverly anchored on the HPC (HPC@Co 3 O 4) and hence achieve significantly improved electrochemical properties including high capacity, improved reaction kinetics and outstanding cycle stability, showing high capacity of 1084.7 mAh g-1 after 200 cycles at 200 mA g-1 as well as 681.4 mAh g-1 after 300 cycles at 1000 mA g-1. The HPC@Co 3 O 4 therefore shows good promising for application in advanced lithium-ion battery anodes. The results of the systematically material and electrochemical characterizations indicate that the synergistic effects of ultrafine Co 3 O 4 nanoparticles and well-designed HPC scaffolds are responsible for the outstand performance of the HPC@Co 3 O 4 anode. Moreover, this work can enrich the understanding and development of stable and high-performance metal oxide-based lithium-ion battery anodes for advanced lithium storage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) and circular RNAs (circRNAs) play important roles in glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). Aerobic glycolysis is a metabolic characteristic of GBM. However, the roles of RBPs and circRNAs in aerobic glycolysis in GBM remain unclear. The aim of this study is to explore the mechanisms by which RBPs and circRNAs regulate aerobic glycolysis in GBM cells. Methods: RNA sequencing and circRNA microarray analysis were performed to identify RBPs and circRNAs for further study. Mass spectrometry validated the encoded protein and its interacting proteins. Quantitative reverse transcription PCR and western blot assays were used to determine the mRNA and protein expression, respectively. Furthermore, immunofluorescence and fluorescence in situ hybridization assays were used to determine the protein and RNA localization, respectively. Glucose and lactate measurement assays, Seahorse XF glycolysis stress assays and cell viability assays were conducted to investigate the effects on glycolysis and proliferation in GBM cells. Results: We selected zinc finger CCHC-type and RNA-binding motif 1 (ZCRB1) and circRNA HEAT repeat containing 5B (circHEATR5B) as candidates for this study. These genes were expressed at low levels in GBM tissues and cells. Both ZCRB1 and circHEATR5B overexpression suppressed aerobic glycolysis and proliferation in GBM cells. ZCRB1 overexpression promoted the Alu element-mediated formation of circHEATR5B. In addition, circHEATR5B encoded a novel protein HEATR5B-881aa which interacted directly with Jumonji C-domain-containing 5 (JMJD5) and reduced its stability by phosphorylating S361. JMJD5 knockdown increased pyruvate kinase M2 (PKM2) enzymatic activity and suppressed glycolysis and proliferation in GBM cells. Finally, ZCRB1, circHEATR5B and HEATR5B-881aa overexpression inhibited GBM xenograft growth and prolonged the survival time of nude mice. Conclusions: This study reveals a novel mechanism of regulating aerobic glycolysis and proliferation in GBM cells through the ZCRB1/circHEATR5B/HEATR5B-881aa/JMJD5/PKM2 pathway, which can provide novel strategies and potential targets for GBM therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]