A Novel Macrophage Subpopulation Conveys Increased Genetic Risk of Coronary Artery Disease.

BACKGROUND: Coronary artery disease (CAD), the leading cause of death worldwide, is influenced by both environmental and genetic factors. Although over 250 genetic risk loci have been identified through genome-wide association studies, the specific causal variants and their regulatory mechanisms are still largely unknown, particularly in disease-relevant cell types such as macrophages. METHODS: We utilized single-cell RNA-seq and single-cell multiomics approaches in primary human monocyte-derived macrophages to explore the transcriptional regulatory network involved in a critical pathogenic event of coronary atherosclerosis-the formation of lipid-laden foam cells. The relative genetic contribution to CAD was assessed by partitioning disease heritability across different macrophage subpopulations. Meta-analysis of single-cell RNA-seq data sets from 38 human atherosclerotic samples was conducted to provide high-resolution cross-referencing to macrophage subpopulations in vivo. RESULTS: We identified 18 782 cis-regulatory elements by jointly profiling the gene expression and chromatin accessibility of >5000 macrophages. Integration with CAD genome-wide association study data prioritized 121 CAD-related genetic variants and 56 candidate causal genes. We showed that CAD heritability was not uniformly distributed and was particularly enriched in the gene programs of a novel CD52-hi lipid-handling macrophage subpopulation. These CD52-hi macrophages displayed significantly less lipoprotein accumulation and were also found in human atherosclerotic plaques. We investigated the cis-regulatory effect of a risk variant rs10488763 on FDX1, implicating the recruitment of AP-1 and C/EBP-ß in the causal mechanisms at this locus. CONCLUSIONS: Our results provide genetic evidence of the divergent roles of macrophage subsets in atherogenesis and highlight lipid-handling macrophages as a key subpopulation through which genetic variants operate to influence disease. These findings provide an unbiased framework for functional fine-mapping of genome-wide association study results using single-cell multiomics and offer new insights into the genotype-environment interactions underlying atherosclerotic disease.

FAT10 induces immune suppression by upregulating PD-L1 expression in hepatocellular carcinoma.

The upregulation of programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) plays a crucial role in facilitating cancer cells to evade immune surveillance through immunosuppression. However, the precise regulatory mechanisms of PD-L1 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remain undefined. The correlation between PD-L1 and ubiquitin-like molecules (UBLs) was studied using sequencing data from 20 HCC patients in our center, combined with TCGA data. Specifically, the association between FAT10 and PD-L1 was further validated at both the protein and mRNA levels in HCC tissues from our center. Subsequently, the effect of FAT10 on tumor progression and immune suppression was examined through both in vivo and in vitro experiments. Utilizing sequencing data, qPCR, and Western blotting assays, we confirmed that FAT10 was highly expressed in HCC tissues and positively correlated with PD-L1 expression. Additionally, in vitro experiments demonstrated that the overexpression of FAT10 fostered the proliferation, migration, and invasion of HCC cells. Furthermore, the overexpression of FAT10 in HCC cells led to an increase in PD-L1 expression, resulting in the inhibition of T cell proliferation and the enhancement of HCC cell resistance to T cell-mediated cytotoxicity. Moreover, in vivo experiments utilizing the C57BL/6 mouse model revealed that overexpression of FAT10 effectively suppressed the infiltration of CD8 + GZMB + and CD8 + Ki67 + T cells, as well as reduced serum levels of TNF-α and IFN-γ. Mechanistically, we further identified that FAT10 upregulates PD-L1 expression via activating the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway, but not in a ubiquitin-like modification. In conclusion, our findings indicate that FAT10 promotes immune evasion of HCC via upregulating PD-L1 expression, suggesting its potential as a novel target to enhance the efficiency of immunotherapy in HCC.

The Remarkable Role of Indium in Synergistically Optimizing Carrier Concentration and Phase Distribution of AgCuTe-Based Materials.

Carrier regulation has proven to be an effective approach for optimizing the thermoelectric performance of materials. One common method to adjust the carrier concentration is through element doping. In the case of AgCuTe-based materials, it tends to form with cation vacancies, resulting in a high hole concentration and complex phase composition at low temperatures, which also hinders material stability. However, this also offers additional opportunities to manipulate the carrier concentration. In this study, the improved performance of AgCuTe through indium doping is reported, which leads to a reduction in hole concentration. In combination with a significant increase in the effective mass of the carriers, the enhanced Seebeck coefficient is also realized. Particularly, a notable improvement in power factor is observed in the hexagonal phase near room temperature. Furthermore, a lower electron thermal conductivity is achieved, contributing to an average figure of merit value of ≈1.21 (between 523 and 723 K). Additionally, the presence of indium inhibits the formation of the second phase and ensures a homogeneous phase distribution, which reduces the instability arising from phase transition. This work significantly enhances the potential of AgCuTe-based materials for low to medium-temperature applications.

Organic Cocrystal Alloys: From Three Primary Colors to Continuously Tunable Emission and Applications on Optical Waveguides and Displays.

Multicolor luminescence of organic fluorescent materials is an essential part of lighting and optical communication. However, the conventional construction of a multicolor luminescence system based on integrating multiple organic fluorescent materials of a single emission band remains complicated and to be improved. Herein, organic alloys (OAs) capable of full-color emission are synthesized based on charge transfer (CT) cocrystals. By adjusting the molar ratio of electron donors, the emission color of the OAs can be conveniently and continuously regulated in a wide visible range from blue (CIE: 0.187, 0.277), to green (CIE: 0.301, 0.550), and to red (CIE: 0.561, 0.435). The OAs show analogous 1D morphology with smooth surface, allowing for full-color waveguides with low optical-loss coefficient. Impressively, full-color optical displays are easily achieved through the OAs system with continuous emission, which shows promising applications in the field of optical display and promotes the development of organic photonics.

Comprehensive landscape and future perspective of long noncoding RNAs in non-small cell lung cancer: it takes a village.

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are a distinct subtype of RNA that lack protein-coding capacity but exert significant influence on various cellular processes. In non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), dysregulated lncRNAs act as either oncogenes or tumor suppressors, contributing to tumorigenesis and tumor progression. LncRNAs directly modulate gene expression, act as competitive endogenous RNAs by interacting with microRNAs or proteins, and associate with RNA binding proteins. Moreover, lncRNAs can reshape the tumor immune microenvironment and influence cellular metabolism, cancer cell stemness, and angiogenesis by engaging various signaling pathways. Notably, lncRNAs have shown great potential as diagnostic or prognostic biomarkers in liquid biopsies and therapeutic strategies for NSCLC. This comprehensive review elucidates the significant roles and diverse mechanisms of lncRNAs in NSCLC. Furthermore, we provide insights into the clinical relevance, current research progress, limitations, innovative research approaches, and future perspectives for targeting lncRNAs in NSCLC. By summarizing the existing knowledge and advancements, we aim to enhance the understanding of the pivotal roles played by lncRNAs in NSCLC and stimulate further research in this field. Ultimately, unraveling the complex network of lncRNA-mediated regulatory mechanisms in NSCLC could potentially lead to the development of novel diagnostic tools and therapeutic strategies.

Real-Time 3D Tracking of Multi-Particle in the Wide-Field Illumination Based on Deep Learning.

In diverse realms of research, such as holographic optical tweezer mechanical measurements, colloidal particle motion state examinations, cell tracking, and drug delivery, the localization and analysis of particle motion command paramount significance. Algorithms ranging from conventional numerical methods to advanced deep-learning networks mark substantial strides in the sphere of particle orientation analysis. However, the need for datasets has hindered the application of deep learning in particle tracking. In this work, we elucidated an efficacious methodology pivoted toward generating synthetic datasets conducive to this domain that resonates with robustness and precision when applied to real-world data of tracking 3D particles. We developed a 3D real-time particle positioning network based on the CenterNet network. After conducting experiments, our network has achieved a horizontal positioning error of 0.0478 µm and a z-axis positioning error of 0.1990 µm. It shows the capability to handle real-time tracking of particles, diverse in dimensions, near the focal plane with high precision. In addition, we have rendered all datasets cultivated during this investigation accessible.

Immunotherapy of thymic epithelial tumors: molecular understandings and clinical perspectives.

Immunotherapy has emerged to play a rapidly expanding role in the treatment of cancers. Currently, many clinical trials of therapeutic agents are on ongoing with majority of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) especially programmed death receptor 1 (PD-1) and its ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitors. PD-1 and PD-L1, two main immune checkpoints, are expressed at high levels in thymic epithelial tumors (TETs) and could be predictors of the progression and immunotherapeutic efficacy of TETs. However, despite inspiring efficacy reported in clinical trials and clinical practice, significantly higher incidence of immune-related adverse events (irAEs) than other tumors bring challenges to the administration of ICIs in TETs. To develop safe and effective immunotherapeutic patterns in TETs, understanding the clinical properties of patients, the cellular and molecular mechanisms of immunotherapy and irAEs occurrence are crucial. In this review, the progress of both basic and clinical research on immune checkpoints in TETs, the evidence of therapeutic efficacy and irAEs based on PD-1 /PD-L1 inhibitors in TETs treatment are discussed. Additionally, we highlighted the possible mechanisms underlying irAEs, prevention and management strategies, the insufficiency of current research and some worthy research insights. High PD-1/PD-L1 expression in TETs provides a rationale for ICI use. Completed clinical trials have shown an encouraging efficacy of ICIs, despite the high rate of irAEs. A deeper mechanism understanding at molecular level how ICIs function in TETs and why irAEs occur will help maximize the immunotherapeutic efficacy while minimizing irAEs risks in TET treatment to improve patient prognosis.

ADAM12 promotes clear cell renal cell carcinoma progression and triggers EMT via EGFR/ERK signaling pathway.

BACKGROUND: Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is a major worldwide health problem due to its high prevalence and mortality rate. A disintegrin and metalloproteinase 12 (ADAM12) is aberrantly expressed in various cancers and plays an important role in tumor progression. However, its explicit effect and molecular mechanism in ccRCC remain unclear. METHODS: We investigated the dysregulation of ADAM12 in ccRCC through public databases and bioinformatics analyses. The expression of ADAM12 was further verified in ccRCC tissues by RT-qPCR and immunohistochemistry (IHC). The relationship between ADAM12 expression and clinicopathological characteristics was analyzed statistically. The effects of ADAM12 on the proliferation, migration and invasion of ccRCC cells were examined by in vitro and in vivo experiments. RESULTS: ADAM12 was significantly upregulated in ccRCC tissues and associated with poor prognosis in ccRCC patients. ADAM12 promoted ccRCC cell proliferation, migration and invasion in vitro and the growth of subcutaneous tumors in vivo. Knockdown of ADAM12 successfully suppressed its oncogenic function. Mechanistically, its overexpression induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) by downregulating E-cadherin and upregulating N-cadherin and Snail. Moreover, ADAM12 participated in the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) pathway and activated the downstream signal ERK1/2 by shedding the EGFR ligand, thereby upregulating target genes including c-Myc, enhancing cell survival and invasion ability, and promoting tumor progression, metastasis and the induction of EMT. CONCLUSIONS: High expression of ADAM12 induced EMT and promoted cell proliferation, migration, and invasion by activating the EGFR/ERK signaling pathway in ccRCC.

Comparison of the Perioperative Outcomes for Thoracoscopic Thymectomy Between the Subxiphoid Approach and the Lateral Intercostal Approach for Masaoka-Koga I-II Thymoma: A Propensity Score-Matching Analysis.

BACKGROUND: The appropriate approach for video-assisted thoracic surgery for early-stage thymoma remains debatable. The current study compared the safety and feasibility between subxiphoid-approach thoracoscopic thymectomy (SATT) and lateral intercostal-approach thoracoscopic thymectomy (LATT) for Masaoka-Koga stages 1 and 2 thymoma. METHODS: The study retrospectively enrolled 461 patients without myasthenia gravis who underwent SATT or LATT at the Zhongshan Hospital of Fudan University between 2016 and 2020. A 1:1 propensity score-matching (PSM) analysis was performed to control for selection bias. A series of perioperative outcomes, including surgical outcomes, inflammatory factors, morbidity and mortality, pain assessment, and quality of life, were compared. RESULTS: Each group consisted of 144 patients after PSM. The results showed that the SATT group had a significantly higher rate of exposure to the bilateral phrenic nerves (SATT [98.6 %] vs. LATT [77.1 %]; p < 0.001) as well as a larger maximum length (9.20 ± 3.08 vs. 7.52 ± 3.44 cm; p < 0.001) and width (6.13 ± 1.81 vs. 5.04 ± 1.77 cm; p < 0.001) of resected tissue than the LATT group. In addition, the SATT group had lower postoperative high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) levels (9.37 ± 2.17 vs. 12.69 ± 2.13 mg/L; p < 0.001), better postoperative days 1, 3, and 7 visual analog pain scale (VAS) scores (p < 0.001), and better postoperative days 30 and 90 quality of life (p < 0.05). However, the two groups showed no significant increase in surgical time, estimated blood loss, total drainage time, postoperative total drainage volume, complications, or postoperative hospital stays. CONCLUSIONS: The study results suggest that the SATT is feasible and safe for Masaoka-Koga stages 1 and 2 thymoma.

Tumor-infiltrating CD36+CD8+T cells determine exhausted tumor microenvironment and correlate with inferior response to chemotherapy in non-small cell lung cancer.

BACKGROUND: The scavenger receptor CD36 was reported to be highly expressed on tumor-infiltrating CD8+ T cells, but the clinical role remains obscure. This study aims to explore the infiltration and clinical value of CD36+CD8+ T cells in NSCLC. METHODS: Immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence were conducted for survival analyses and immunological evaluation in 232 NSCLC patients in Zhongshan Hospital. Flow cytometry analyses were carried out to assess the immune cells from fresh tumor samples, non-tumor tissues and peripheral blood. In vitro tumor infiltrating lymphocytes cultures were conducted to test the effect of CD36 blockage. RESULTS: Accumulation of CD36+CD8+ T cells in tumor tissues was correlated with more advanced stage (p < 0.001), larger tumor size (p < 0.01), and lymph node metastasis (p < 0.0001) in NSCLC. Moreover, high infiltration of CD36+CD8+ T cells indicated poor prognosis in terms of both overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) and inferior chemotherapy response. CD36+CD8+ T cells showed decreased GZMB (p < 0.0001) and IFN-γ (p < 0.001) with elevated PD-1 (p < 0.0001) and TIGIT (p < 0.0001). Analysis of tumor-infiltrating immune cell landscape revealed a positive correlation between CD36+CD8+ T cells and Tregs (p < 0.01) and M2-polarized macrophages (p < 0.01) but a negative correlation with Th1 (p < 0.05). Notably, inhibition of CD36 partially restored the cytotoxic function of CD8+ T cells by producing more GZMB and IFN-γ. CONCLUSION: CD36+CD8+ T cells exhibit impaired immune function and high infiltration of CD36+CD8+ T cells indicated poor prognosis and inferior chemotherapy response in NSCLC patients. CD36 could be a therapeutic target in combination with chemotherapy in NSCLC patients.

Investigation on Pb2+ adsorption characteristics by AAEMs-rich biochar in aqueous solution: Performance and mechanism.

Biochar derived from soybean straw with AAEMs (alkali and alkaline earth metals) enrichment could efficiently remove heavy metals from contaminated water. In this study, the influences of pyrolysis temperature on the physicochemical property and adsorption performance of soybean straw biochar were investigated. The contributions of different adsorption mechanisms were analyzed quantitatively. The results show that the soybean straw biochar exhibits excellent Pb2+ adsorption performance (157.2-227.2 mg g-1), with an order of BC800 > BC400 > BC600 > BC700 > BC500. The mechanisms of metal ion exchange (37.49%-72.58%) and precipitation with minerals (22.38%-58.03%) mainly control the Pb2+ adsorption, whereas complexation with organic functional groups (OFGs) and cation-Cπ interaction make the less contribution. The order of cation exchange capacity (CEC) is BC400 > BC800 > BC700 > BC600 > BC500, showing a high correlation (0.965) with the contribution of metal ion exchange with AAEMs. Moreover, Ca exhibits the strongest exchange capacity. The contribution of precipitation is consistent with the variation of soluble CO32- content in biochar. These results suggest that soybean straw biochar rich in AAEMs is a prospective adsorbent for Pb2+ elimination.

Circadian Rhythms in Cardiovascular Function: Implications for Cardiac Diseases and Therapeutic Opportunities.

Circadian rhythms are internal 24-h intrinsic oscillations that are present in essentially all mammalian cells and can influence numerous biological processes. Cardiac function is known to exhibit a circadian rhythm and is strongly affected by the day/night cycle. Many cardiovascular variables, including heart rate, heart rate variability (HRV), electrocardiogram (ECG) waveforms, endothelial cell function, and blood pressure, demonstrate robust circadian rhythms. Many experiential and clinical studies have highlighted that disruptions in circadian rhythms can ultimately lead to maladaptive cardiac function. Factors that disrupt the circadian rhythm, including shift work, global travel, and sleep disorders, may consequently enhance the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Some cardiac diseases appear to occur at particular times of the day or night; therefore, targeting the disease at particular times of day may improve the clinical outcome. The objective of this review is to unravel the relationship between circadian rhythms and cardiovascular health. By understanding this intricate interplay, we aim to reveal the potential risks of circadian disruption and discuss the emerging therapeutic strategies, specifically those targeting circadian rhythms. In this review, we explore the important role of circadian rhythms in cardiovascular physiology and highlight the role they play in cardiac dysfunction such as ventricular hypertrophy, arrhythmia, diabetes, and myocardial infarction. Finally, we review potential translational treatments aimed at circadian rhythms. These treatments offer an innovative approach to enhancing the existing approaches for managing and treating heart-related conditions, while also opening new avenues for therapeutic development.

The Expression of MDM2 Gene Promoted Chondrocyte Proliferation in Rats with Osteoarthritis via the Wnt/ß-Catenin Pathway.

This study aimed to investigate the regulatory mechanism of MDM2 gene expression on cartilage cell proliferation in Osteoarthritis (OA) rats. For this purpose, 22 SD rats were randomly divided into normal control (10 cases) and treated (12 cases) groups. Treated group was used for OA modelling with the modified Hulth method. After a week, RT-PCR was used to detect MDM2 in cartilage tissue of rats, Wnt 1, Wnt 3 a, Wnt 10 b and ß-catenin genes mRNA expression. Rat chondrocytes were isolated and cultured, and the recombinant eukaryotic expression vector pcDNA3.1 myc-siRNA-MDM2-ß-catenin and co-expression plasmid pcDNA3.1 myc-siRNA-MDM2-ß-catenin was used to transfect chondrocytes and the proliferation and related gene expression levels of the transfected chondrocytes were detected by MTT method and RT-PCR. The results showed that compared with the control group, MDM2, Wnt 1, Wnt 3 a, Wnt 10b and ß-catenin genes in OA rat cartilage constructed by Hulth method were increased (p<0.05). The pcDNA3.1 myc-beta-catenin transfection slowed down the proliferation of OA chondrocytes, different from the non-transfected OA group (p<0.001), and increased Wnt 1, Wnt 3a, Wnt 10b and ß-catenin genes expression compared with the Control group (p<0.05), but did not affect the expression of MDM2. The transfection of siRNA-MDM2 was opposite to pcDNA3.1 myc-ß-catenin. The co-expression plasmid pcDNA3.1 myc-siRNA-MDM2-beta-catenin transfection did not affect the proliferation of OA chondrocytes. In general, the high expression of MDM2 in OA rats restricts the proliferation of chondrocytes, which may be related to the main pathogenesis of the occurrence and development of OA in vivo, and the regulation of MDM2 on the proliferation of chondrocytes may be achieved through the Wnt/ ß-catenin pathway.

Egg cell-secreted aspartic proteases ECS1/2 promote gamete attachment to prioritize the fertilization of egg cells over central cells in Arabidopsis.

Double fertilization is an innovative phenomenon in angiosperms, in which one sperm cell first fuses with the egg cell to produce the embryo, and then the other sperm fuses with the central cell to produce the endosperm. However, the molecular mechanism of the preferential fertilization of egg cells is poorly understood. In this study, we report that two egg cell-secreted aspartic proteases, ECS1 and ECS2, play an important role in promoting preferential fertilization of egg cells in Arabidopsis. We show that simultaneous loss of ECS1 and ECS2 function resulted in an approximately 20% reduction in fertility, which can be complemented by the full-length ECS1/2 but not by corresponding active site mutants or by secretion-defective versions of ECS1/2. Detailed phenotypic analysis revealed that the egg cell-sperm cell attachment was compromised in ecs1 ecs2 siliques. Limited pollination assays with cyclin-dependent kinase a1 (cdka;1) pollen showed that preferential egg cell fertilization was impaired in the ecs1 ecs2 mutant. Taken together, these results demonstrate that egg cells secret two aspartic proteases, ECS1 and ECS2, to facilitate the attachment of sperm cells to egg cells so that preferential fertilization of egg cells is achieved. This study reveals the molecular mechanism of preferential fertilization in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Deep Transfer Network with Multi-Space Dynamic Distribution Adaptation for Bearing Fault Diagnosis.

Domain adaptation-based bearing fault diagnosis methods have recently received high attention. However, the extracted features in these methods fail to adequately represent fault information due to the versatility of the work scenario. Moreover, most existing adaptive methods attempt to align the feature space of domains by calculating the sum of marginal distribution distance and conditional distribution distance, without considering variable cross-domain diagnostic scenarios that provide significant cues for fault diagnosis. To address the above problems, we propose a deep convolutional multi-space dynamic distribution adaptation (DCMSDA) model, which consists of two core components: two feature extraction modules and a dynamic distribution adaptation module. Technically, a multi-space structure is proposed in the feature extraction module to fully extract fault features of the marginal distribution and conditional distribution. In addition, the dynamic distribution adaptation module utilizes different metrics to capture distribution discrepancies, as well as an adaptive coefficient to dynamically measure the alignment proportion in complex cross-domain scenarios. This study compares our method with other advanced methods, in detail. The experimental results show that the proposed method has excellent diagnosis performance and generalization performance. Furthermore, the results further demonstrate the effectiveness of each transfer module proposed in our model.

Experimental study on the washing characteristics of fly ash from municipal solid waste incineration.

The disposal of fly ash with high salt content has become an important bottleneck for the further application of municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI). In this study, the soluble salt content and composition of fly ash from different MSWI were analysed. The composition of fly ash was affected by incinerator type and flue gas cleaning system, especially the type of deacidification solvent. The soluble salt content in fly ash from MSW grate incinerator can be over 35.16%. Most of the soluble salt was calcium salt and chloride salt. The effect of washing parameters including liquid/solid (L/S) ratio and washing time on salt removal from fly ash were studied. Raw fly ash contained high chlorine (Cl) with the maximum of 19.83% and it can be significantly reduced by washing. Double-washing and secondary-washing had better performance than single-washing on salt removal. The secondary-washing did not only save water, but also reduced the energy cost during evaporation for crystallising soluble salt. Based on the analysis of variance (ANOVA), L/S ratio was the most principal factor for salt and Cl removal of fly ash by washing.

RSM1, an Arabidopsis MYB protein, interacts with HY5/HYH to modulate seed germination and seedling development in response to abscisic acid and salinity.

MYB transcription factors are involved in many biological processes, including metabolism, development and responses to biotic and abiotic stresses. RADIALIS-LIKE SANT/MYB 1 (RSM1) belongs to a MYB-related subfamily, and previous transcriptome analysis suggests that RSM1 may play roles in plant development, stress responses and plant hormone signaling. However, the molecular mechanisms of RSM1 action in response to abiotic stresses remain obscure. We show that down-regulation or up-regulation of RSM1 expression alters the sensitivity of seed germination and cotyledon greening to abscisic acid (ABA), NaCl and mannitol in Arabidopsis. The expression of RSM1 is dynamically regulated by ABA and NaCl. Transcription factors ELONGATED HYPOCOTYL 5 (HY5) and HY5 HOMOLOG (HYH) regulate RSM1 expression via binding to the RSM1 promoter. Genetic analyses reveal that RSM1 mediates multiple functions of HY5 in responses of seed germination, post-germination development to ABA and abiotic stresses, and seedling tolerance to salinity. Pull-down and BiFC assays show that RSM1 interacts with HY5/HYH in vitro and in vivo. RSM1 and HY5/HYH may function as a regulatory module in responses to ABA and abiotic stresses. RSM1 binds to the promoter of ABA INSENSITIVE 5 (ABI5), thereby regulating its expression, while RSM1 interaction also stimulates HY5 binding to the ABI5 promoter. However, no evidence was found in the dual-luciferase transient expression assay to support that RSM enhances the activation of ABI5 expression by HY. In summary, HY5/HYH and RSM1 may converge on the ABI5 promoter and independently or somehow dependently regulate ABI5 expression and ABI5-downstream ABA and abiotic stress-responsive genes, thereby improving the adaption of plants to the environment.

Highly efficient free-space fiber coupler with 45° tilted fiber grating to access remotely placed optical fiber sensors.

In this work, a 45° tilted fiber grating (TFG) is used as a waveguide coupler for the development of a portable interrogation system to access remotely placed optical fiber sensors. The TFG is directly connected to a remote fiber sensor and serves as a highly efficient light coupler between the portable interrogation unit and the sensor. Variation of strain and temperatures are measured with a standard fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensor, which serves as a remotely placed optical sensor. A light beam from the interrogation unit is coupled into the TFG by a system of lenses, mirrors and optical collimator and acted as the input of the FBG. Reflected light from the FBG sensor is coupled back to the interrogation unit via the same TFG. The TFG is being used as a receiver and transmitter of light and constituent the key part of the system to connect "light source to the optical sensor" and "optical sensor to detector." A successful demonstration of the developed system for strain and temperature sensing applications have been presented and discussed. Signal to noise ratio of the reflected light from the sensors was greater than ∼ 40 dB.