Analysis of cell death-related genes to evaluate the prognostic and immunotherapeutic value in bladder cancer.

To enhance therapeutic approaches, we created a distinctive pattern utilizing the cell demise indicator (CDI) to predict the effectiveness of immunotherapy in individuals with bladder carcinoma (BLCA). Hub prognostic CDIs were identified from the TCGA database using differential gene expression and survival analysis, encompassing 763 genes across 13 death modes. The subtype assessment was employed to evaluate the impact of these genes on the prognosis and immunotherapeutic outcomes in patients with BLCA. The LASSO regression method was used to identify significant CDIs, while Cox regression and nomogram analyses were conducted to explore the impact of CDIs on prognosis. CHMP4C and GSDMB were selected as the hub genes for the following research. Subsequently, These two central genes underwent further investigation to explore their association with immunotherapy, followed by an analysis of their potential regulatory network. Subtype analysis showed that these CDIs were significantly associated with the prognosis and immunotherapy of BLCA patients. The regulatory network in BLCA was evaluated through the establishment of the lncRNA XIST/NEAT1-CDIs-miR-146a-5p/miR-429 axis. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed a significant up-regulation of CHMP4C in bladder cancer tissues, which was strongly associated with an unfavorable prognosis for BLCA patients. Moreover, our findings provide compelling evidence that CHMP4C plays a pivotal role in promoting BLCA progression through the activation of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) pathway. These findings highlight the negative impact of CHMP4C on BLCA patient prognosis, while also providing insights into the oncogenic mechanisms and immunotherapy in which CHMP4C may be involved.

Cellulose supported TiO2/Cu2O for highly asymmetric conjugate addition of α,ß-unsaturated compounds in aqueous phase.

A series of new kind green cellulose-supported bimetallic TiO2/Cu2O (Cell@TiO2/Cu2O) catalytic materials were obtained by in-situ reduction method employing cellulose as the carrier. The effects of metal percentage composition on the morphology and construction of the catalytic materials were systematically investigated. The Cell@TiO2/Cu2O were characterized by FT-IR, TG, XPS, SEM, TEM, EDS, and the element content was obtained by elemental analysis. Then, the achieved catalytic materials were applied to the chiral borylation reaction of α,ß-unsaturated compounds, including nitrile compounds, esters, and α,ß-unsaturated ketones. Remarkably, this approach provides an efficient strategy to gain an important class of chiral organic boron compounds with target chiral products in high yields as well as enantioselectivities. Besides, the Cell@TiO2/Cu2O could be easily recycled and effectively reused. This work constructed bimetallic TiO2/Cu2O on cellulose as a newly catalyst to obtain chiral boron compounds in aqueous phase.

A real-time energy management strategy for fuel cell vehicle based on Pontryagin's minimum principle.

This paper proposes a Pontryagin's minimum principle (PMP) energy management strategy (EMS) based on driving cycle recognition for fuel cell vehicle powertrains, aiming to minimize hydrogen consumption and fuel cell degradation. Firstly, the neural network-based driving cycle recognizer is optimized using the tuna swarm optimization (TSO) algorithm and trained under four typical driving cycles. Then, the optimal co-state variables for the four driving cycles are obtained by iteration. Finally, the co-state variables are dynamically updated based on real-time driving cycle recognition results. Comparative analysis demonstrates that the PMP-DCR effectively improves fuel cell lifetime and vehicle economy under short-distance driving cycles. Based on the combined driving cycle, the proposed PMP-DCR EMS exhibits similar economy performance to optimal dynamic programming (DP) EMS, reducing equivalent hydrogen consumption by 13.8% and 9.2%, and decreasing fuel cell degradation rates by 93% and 8.7% in comparison to the conventional power-following and PMP EMS, respectively.

Diversity, composition, metabolic characteristics, and assembly process of the microbial community in sewer system at the early stage.

Sewer systems play vital roles in wastewater treatment facilities, and the microbial communities contribute significantly to the transformation of domestic wastewater. Therefore, this study conducted a 180-day experiment on a sewer system and utilized the high-throughput sequencing technology to characterize the microbial communities. Additionally, community assembly analysis was performed to understand the early-stage dynamics within the sewer system. The results demonstrated that the overall diversity of microbial communities exhibited fluctuations as the system progressed. The dominant phyla observed were Chloroflexi, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, and Proteobacteria, accounting for over 85.4% of the total relative abundances. At the genus level, bacteria associated with fermentation displayed a high relative abundance, particularly during days 75 to 180. A random-forest machine-learning model identified a group of microbes that confirmed the substantial contribution of fermentation. During the process of fermentation, microorganisms predominantly utilized propionate formation as the main pathway for acidogenesis, followed by acetate and butyrate formation. In terms of nitrogen and sulfur cycles, dissimilatory nitrate reduction and assimilatory sulfate reduction played significant roles. Furthermore, stochastic ecological processes had a dominant effect during the experiment. Dispersal limitation primarily governed the assembly process almost the entire experimental period, indicating the strong adaptability and metabolic plasticity of microorganisms in response to environmental variations. This experiment provides valuable insights into the metabolic mechanisms and microbial assembly associated with sewer systems.

Targeting the prostate tumor microenvironment by plant-derived natural products.

Prostate cancer is among the most common malignancies for men, with limited therapy options for last stages of the tumor. There are some different options for treatment and control of prostate tumor growth. However, targeting some specific molecules and cells within tumors has been attracted interests in recent years. The tumor microenvironment (TME) has an important role in the initiation of various malignancies, which can also expand the progression of tumor and facilitate invasion of malignant cells. By regulating immune responses and distinct changes in the metabolism of cells in the tumor, TME has substantial effects in the resistance of cancer cells to therapy. TME in various solid cancers like prostate cancer includes various cells, including cancer cells, supportive stromal cells, immunosuppressive cells, and anticancer inflammatory cells. Natural products including herbal-derived agents and also other natural compounds have been well studied for their anti-tumor potentials. These compounds may modulate various signaling pathways involved in TME, such as immune responses, the metabolism of cells, epigenetics, angiogenesis, and extracellular matrix (ECM). This paper provides a review of the current knowledge of prostate TME and complex interactions in this environment. Additionally, the potential use of natural products and also nanoparticles loaded with natural products as therapeutic adjuvants on different cells and therapeutic targets within prostate TME will be discussed.

Tetracycline hydrochloride degradation in polarity inverted microbial fuel cells: Performance, mechanisms and microbiology.

Tetracycline antibiotics are widely used in veterinary medicine, human therapy and agriculture, and their presence in natural water raises environmental concerns. In this study, more than 94% of tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH) could be rapidly degraded within 48 h in polarity-inverted microbial fuel cells. The electrochemically active bacteria had the best electrochemical performance at 1 mg/L of TCH with the minimum internal resistance of 77.38 Ω. The electron-rich functional groups of TCH were continuously attacked and finally degradated into small molecules in three possible degradation pathways. Microbial community structure analysis showed that Comamonas and Shinella were enriched at the electrode as polarity-inverted bacteria. Genomic analysis showed that both direct and indirect electron transfer participated in the degradation of TCH in polarity-inverted microbial fuel cell (MFC) and the functional genes related to electrical conductivity in polarity-inverted MFC were more enriched on the electrode surface than non-polarity-inverted MFC. This study can facilitate further investigations about the biodegradation of TCH in polarity-inverted microbial fuel cell.

Genome-Wide Association Study Reveals the Genetic Basis of Total Flavonoid Content in Brown Rice.

Flavonoids have anti-inflammatory, antioxidative, and anticarcinogenic effects. Breeding rice varieties rich in flavonoids can prevent chronic diseases such as cancer and cardio-cerebrovascular diseases. However, most of the genes reported are known to regulate flavonoid content in leaves or seedlings. To further elucidate the genetic basis of flavonoid content in rice grains and identify germplasm rich in flavonoids in grains, a set of rice core collections containing 633 accessions from 32 countries was used to determine total flavonoid content (TFC) in brown rice. We identified ten excellent germplasms with TFC exceeding 300 mg/100 g. Using a compressed mixed linear model, a total of 53 quantitative trait loci (QTLs) were detected through a genome-wide association study (GWAS). By combining linkage disequilibrium (LD) analysis, location of significant single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), gene expression, and haplotype analysis, eight candidate genes were identified from two important QTLs (qTFC1-6 and qTFC9-7), among which LOC_Os01g59440 and LOC_Os09g24260 are the most likely candidate genes. We also analyzed the geographic distribution and breeding utilization of favorable haplotypes of the two genes. Our findings provide insights into the genetic basis of TFC in brown rice and could facilitate the breeding of flavonoid-rich varieties, which may be a prevention and adjuvant treatment for cancer and cardio-cerebrovascular diseases.

Efficiency of CT radiomics model in assessing the microsatellite instability of colorectal cancer liver metastasis.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to investigate the efficiency of a radiomics model in identifying high-frequency microsatellite instability (MSI-H) and microsatellite stability (MSS) of colorectal liver metastasis (CRLM) according to machine learning radiomics features of enhanced CT liver images. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 12 patients with MSI-H CRLM and 96 patients with MSS CRLM were randomly divided into the training group and internal validation group according to the ratio of 7: 3 (training: 75 cases, validation: 33 cases). From the enhanced CT (portal phase) image data of patients, 788 radiomics features were extracted, and a random forest model was established with the optimal features selected. The receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve analysis was performed to assess the model's diagnostic efficacy. RESULTS: The training group comprised 8 patients with MSI-H CRLM and 67 patients with MSS CRLM, and the internal validation group included 4 patients with MSI-H CRLM and 29 patients with MSS CRLM. After feature selection, 7 radiomics features good for distinguishing MSI-H CRLM and MSS CRLM were screened out. The ROC curve analysis demonstrated that the random forest model had the AUC (area under the ROC curve) value 0.88, accuracy 0.85, sensitivity 0.85, specificity 0.92, and F1 score 0.88 in the training group. The model had an AUC value of 0.75, accuracy of 0.74, sensitivity of 0.81, specificity of 0.85, and F1_score of 0.78 in the internal validation group in identifying the MSI-H from the MSS CRLM. In order to evaluate the robustness of the overall model, the 788 features obtained were all applied to the 5-fold cross-validation, with the model being built on the random forest and analyzed with the ROC curve analysis. The AUC value of the model was 0.86 (P＜0.05), accuracy value 0.91, sensitivity 0.60, and specificity 0.95. CONCLUSION: The random forest prediction model built on the radiometric features extracted from enhanced CT images can be used to identify the MSI-H from the MSS CRLM and may provide effective guidance for clinical immunotherapy of CRLM patients with unknown MSI status.

Application of Chitosan/Poly(vinyl alcohol) Stabilized Copper Film Materials for the Borylation of α, ß-Unsaturated Ketones, Morita-Baylis-Hillman Alcohols and Esters in Aqueous Phase.

A chitosan/poly(vinyl alcohol)-stabilized copper nanoparticle (CP@Cu NPs) was used as a heterogeneous catalyst for the borylation of α, ß-unsaturated ketones, MBH alcohols, and MBH esters in mild conditions. This catalyst not only demonstrated remarkable efficiency in synthesizing organoboron compounds but also still maintained excellent reactivity and stability even after seven recycled uses of the catalyst. This methodology provides a gentle and efficient approach to synthesize the organoboron compounds by efficiently constructing carbon-boron bonds.

Clinical and health care resource use burden of hospitalizations for oral factor Xa inhibitor-associated major bleeding: A real-world analysis of Medicare beneficiaries.

Objective: To characterize the burden of illness associated with oral factor Xa (FXa) inhibitor-related bleeding in the US Medicare population. Methods: This retrospective cohort study used the full 20% Medicare random sample claims database to identify patients who experienced their first hospitalization for an FXa inhibitor-related major bleed between October 2013 and September 2017. Bleeding types were classified as intracranial hemorrhage (ICH), gastrointestinal (GI), and other. Associations between risk factors and outcomes (in-hospital and 30-day mortality, 30-day readmission, and discharge to a location other than home) adjusted for patient demographic characteristics, baseline clinical conditions, index event characteristics, treatment with hemostatic/factor replacement agents or transfusion (ie, usual care prereversal agent availability), multicompartment ICH and neurosurgical procedures (ICH cohort), and endoscopy (GI cohort) were assessed using multivariable regression and reported as crude incidences and adjusted odds ratios (ORs) stratified by bleed type. Results: Of the 11,593 patients identified, 2737 (23.6%) had ICH, 8169 (70.5%) had GI bleeds, and 687 (5.9%) had other bleeds. The incidences of in-hospital mortality, 30-day mortality, need for postdischarge out-of-home care, and 30-day readmission were 15.7%, 29.1%, 78.3%, and 20.3% in the single-compartment ICH cohort, respectively; and 1.7%, 6.8%, 41.3%, and 18.8% in the GI bleeds cohort, respectively. Increased odds of both in-hospital mortality and 30-day mortality were significantly associated with: multicompartment ICH (reference, single compartment ICH; OR = 3.35 [95% confidence interval (CI): 2.41-4.66]; 2.18 [95% CI: 1.63-2.91]), loss of consciousness during index hospitalization (yes vs no; OR = 2.03 [95% CI: 1.38-2.97]; 1.49 [95% CI: 1.11-2.02]), receiving usual care (yes vs no; OR = 1.55 [95% CI: 1.22-1.98]; 1.33 [95% CI: 1.09-1.63]) during index hospitalization, and increasing number of Elixhauser comorbidities at baseline (OR = 1.07 [95% CI: 1.03-1.10]; 1.09 [95% CI: 1.06-1.12]) in the ICH cohort; intensive care unit admission (yes vs no; OR = 1.88 [95% CI: 1.32-2.67]; 1.51 [95% CI: 1.26-1.81]), increasing number of Elixhauser comorbidities at baseline (OR = 1.12 [95% CI: 1.07-1.18]; 1.15 [1.12-1.18]), and increasing age on index date (OR = 1.04 [95% CI: 1.02-1.07]; 1.05 [95% CI: 1.04-1.07]) in the GI bleeds cohort. Conclusions: In this large sample of Medicare patients, FXa inhibitor-related major bleeding was associated with substantial burden in terms of adverse clinical outcomes and health care resource use. Incidence of ICH was lower than GI bleeds; however, burden of illness was notably higher with ICH.

Hemodialysis Access Type and Access Patency Loss: An Observational Cohort Study.

Rationale & Objective: Access patency outcomes for arteriovenous fistulas (AVFs) as compared with arteriovenous grafts (AVGs) in patients receiving hemodialysis (HD) who have achieved a functioning permanent access are not fully explored. Study Design: Observational cohort study. Setting & Population: Fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries aged ≥18 years with kidney failure who were newly using a permanent access for maintenance HD from the United States Renal Data System (2010-2015). Patients using an oral anticoagulant were excluded. Exposure: AVG or AVF. Outcomes: Loss of primary unassisted, primary assisted, and secondary patency. Analytical Approach: Outcomes were characterized using cumulative incidence curves, and HRs adjusted for sociodemographic and clinical factors were estimated for the comparison of AVF versus AVG. Results: The cohort included 60,329 and 17,763 patients newly using an AVF and AVG, respectively, for HD. Over 3 years of follow-up, AVG users, compared to AVF users, had a higher cumulative incidence of loss of primary unassisted patency (87% vs 69%; HR, 1.56; 95% CI, 1.52-1.60), loss of primary assisted patency (69% vs 25%; HR, 3.79; 95% CI, 3.67-3.92), and loss of secondary patency (22% vs 10%; HR, 2.03; 95% CI, 1.92-2.16). Stratified analyses revealed differences by subgroups; in particular, incidence of patency loss was higher among patients who underwent prior interventions to maintain prefunctional access patency and Black patients. Limitations: This analysis focused on outcomes occurring after first successful use of a permanent access and thus does not inform about risk of patency loss during access maturation. Conclusions: Among patients with kidney failure who successfully used a permanent access for HD, patency loss was consistently substantially higher in those using AVGs compared with AVFs. New interventions, such as prophylactic drugs, are needed to improve access longevity and reduce the need for invasive interventions, particularly among patients unable to receive a fistula.

Study on multi-objective decision-making operation strategy of heat supply tower.

In northern China, the long-term operation of ground source heat pumps brings the problem of soil cold accumulation, which can be effectively solved by adopting the heat supply tower to recharge the ground in summer. In this paper, seven indexes affecting the performance of the heat supply tower, such as temperature difference between inlet and outlet water, heating approach, thermal efficiency, and exergy destruction, are studied experimentally, and the energy efficiency ratio of the heat supply tower is analyzed. Then, based on the experimental data, the decision of the operating conditions is made. The results show that it is impossible to judge the performance of the heat supply tower based on a single index, and multiple criteria need to be considered at the same time. The energy efficiency ratios of the heat supply tower range from 12.7 to 22.5 and the optimal operating conditions of the heat supply tower under the experimental conditions are derived based on the TOPSIS decision. This paper provides a theoretical basis for the performance analysis and operation condition study of the heat supply tower.

Multigene manipulation of photosynthetic carbon metabolism enhances the photosynthetic capacity and biomass yield of cucumber under low-CO2 environment.

Solar greenhouses are important in the vegetable production and widely used for the counter-season production in the world. However, the CO2 consumed by crops for photosynthesis after sunrise is not supplemented and becomes chronically deficient due to the airtight structure of solar greenhouses. Vegetable crops cannot effectively utilize light resources under low-CO2 environment, and this incapability results in reduced photosynthetic efficiency and crop yield. We used cucumber as a model plant and generated several sets of transgenic cucumber plants overexpressing individual genes, including ß-carbonic anhydrase 1 (CsßCA1), ß-carbonic anhydrase 4 (CsßCA4), and sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphatase (CsSBP); fructose-1,6-bisphosphate aldolase (CsFBA), and CsßCA1 co-expressing plants; CsßCA4, CsSBP, and CsFBA co-expressing plants (14SF). The results showed that the overexpression of CsßCA1, CsßCA4, and 14SF exhibited higher photosynthetic and biomass yield in transgenic cucumber plants under low-CO2 environment. Further enhancements in photosynthesis and biomass yield were observed in 14SF transgenic plants under low-CO2 environment. The net photosynthesis biomass yield and photosynthetic rate increased by 49% and 79% compared with those of the WT. However, the transgenic cucumbers of overexpressing CsFBA and CsSBP showed insignificant differences in photosynthesis and biomass yield compared with the WT under low-CO2.environment. Photosynthesis, fluorescence parameters, and enzymatic measurements indicated that CsßCA1, CsßCA4, CsSBP, and CsFBA had cumulative effects in photosynthetic carbon assimilation under low-CO2 environment. Co-expression of this four genes (CsßCA1, CsßCA4, CsSBP, and CsFBA) can increase the carboxylation activity of RuBisCO and promote the regeneration of RuBP. As a result, the 14SF transgenic plants showed a higher net photosynthetic rate and biomass yield even under low-CO2environment.These findings demonstrate the possibility of cultivating crops with high photosynthetic efficiency by manipulating genes involved in the photosynthetic carbon assimilation metabolic pathway.

Adherence to colorectal cancer screening and healthcare resource utilization: a longitudinal analysis in Medicare beneficiaries aged 66-75 years.

OBJECTIVE: In this study, we examined colorectal cancer (CRC) screening adherence in Medicare beneficiaries and associated healthcare resource utilization (HCRU) and Medicare costs. METHODS: Using 20% Medicare random sample data, the study population included Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries aged 66-75 years on 1 January 2009, at average risk for CRC and continuously enrolled in Medicare Part A/B from 2008 to 2018. We excluded those who had undergone colonoscopy or flexible sigmoidoscopy during 2007-2008 and assumed everyone was due for screening in 2009; screening patterns were determined for 2009-2018. Based on US Preventive Services Task Force recommendations, individuals were categorized as adherent to screening, inadequately screened or not screened. HCRU and Medicare costs were calculated as mean per patient per year (PPPY). RESULTS: Of 895,846 eligible individuals, 13.2% were adherent to screening, 53.4% were inadequately screened, and 33.4% were not screened. Compared with those not screened, adherent or inadequately screened individuals were more likely to be female, White and have comorbidities. These individuals also used more healthcare services, generating higher Medicare costs. For example, physician visits were 14.6, 22.9 and 25.9 PPPY and total Medicare costs were $6102, $8469 and $9102 PPPY for those not screened, inadequately screened and adherent, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: In Medicare beneficiaries at average risk, adherence to CRC screening was low, although the rate might be underestimated due to lack of early Medicare data. The link between HCRU and screening status suggests that screening initiatives independent of clinical visits may be needed to reach unscreened or inadequately screened individuals.

Incident colorectal cancer screening and associated healthcare resource utilization and Medicare cost among Medicare beneficiaries aged 66-75 years in 2016-2018.

BACKGROUND: While prevalence of up-to-date screening status is the usual reported statistic, annual screening incidence may better reflect current clinical practices and is more actionable. Our main purpose was to examine incident colorectal cancer (CRC) screening rates in Medicare beneficiaries and to explore characteristics associated with CRC screening. METHODS: Using 20% Medicare random sample data, the study population included 2016-2018 Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries covered by Parts A and B aged 66-75 years at average CRC risk. For each study year, we excluded individuals who had a Medicare claim for a colonoscopy within 9 years, flexible sigmoidoscopy within 4 years, and multitarget stool DNA test (mt-sDNA) within 2 years prior; therefore, any observed screening during study year was considered an "incident screening". Incident screening rates were calculated as number of incident screenings per 1000 Medicare beneficiaries. Overall rates were normalized to 2018 Medicare population distributions of age, sex, and race. RESULTS: Each year, > 1.4 million individuals met the inclusion/exclusion criteria from > 6.5 million Medicare beneficiaries. The overall adjusted incident CRC screening rate per 1000 Medicare beneficiaries increased from 85.2 in 2016 to 94.3 in 2018. Incident screening rates decreased 11.4% (22.9 to 20.3) for colonoscopy and 2.4% (58.3 to 56.9) for fecal immunochemical test/guaiac-based fecal occult blood test; they increased 201.5% (6.5 to 19.6) for mt-sDNA. The 2018 unadjusted rate was 76.0 for men and 110.4 for women. By race/ethnicity, the highest 2018 rate was for Asian individuals and the lowest rate was for Black individuals (113.4 and 72.8, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The 2016-2018 observed incident CRC screening rate in average-risk Medicare beneficiaries, while increasing, was still low. Our findings suggest more work is needed to improve CRC screening overall and, especially, among male and Black Medicare beneficiaries.

Scalable Preparation of Sub-Millimeter Double-Shelled Al2O3 Hollow Spheres and Their Rapid Separation from Wastewater after Adsorption of Congo Red.

Porous double-shelled ceramic hollow spheres (PDSs) have attracted extensive attention due to their high specific surface areas and multifunctional designs. When used in wastewater treatment, millimeter or sub-millimeter spheres can be quickly separated from water by commercial sieves. However, the simple, scalable, and low-cost preparation of sub-millimeter PDSs in the solid phase remains a challenge. Herein, porous PDSs were facilely fabricated via a spheronization process utilizing pseudoboehmite powders and wet gelatin spheres as templates, which broke through the difficulty of preparing PDSs by one-step solid-state synthesis. Treating pseudoboehmite powder with nitric acid can improve the compressive strength of the PDSs. By controlling the rolling time and gelatin concentration of gelatin microspheres, the integrity, shell thickness, and double-shelled spacing of the gelatin microspheres were tuned. When the rolling time was 8-12 min, and the gelatin concentration in gelatin spheres was 250 g/L, and PDSs with a complete double-shelled structure, good mechanical property, and high specific surface area (327.5-509.6 m2/g) were obtained at 600 °C. The adsorption capacities of the PDSs for 100 mg/L Congo red solution (70.7 mg/g) were larger than those of single-shelled hollow spheres (49 mg/g), and larger diameters (608-862 µm) of the PDSs allow them to be rapidly separated from solution by a commercial sieve. This paper provides a facile and scalable method for the preparation of sub-millimeter PDSs and demonstrates their excellent adsorption capacity for Congo red solution.

Combined transcriptome and metabolome reveal glutathione metabolism plays a critical role in resistance to salinity in rice landraces HD961.

Rice (Oryza sativa) is one of the most important food crops around the world, which is sensitive to salt stress, especially in the seedling and booting stage. HD961 is a salt-tolerant rice landrace that grows along coastal beaches and has disease and insect pest resistance, salt tolerance, and vigorous growth characteristics. We performed a combined transcriptome and metabolome analysis to clarify salinity resistance mechanisms in cultivar HD961, which has adapted to salinity soil at the early seedling stage. The results showed that the growth and antioxidant capacity of HD961 were stronger than 9311 under salt stress (SS). Transcriptomic analysis showed that a total of 6,145, 3,309, 1,819, and 1,296 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in the groups of TH60 (control group vs. 60 mM group of HD961 for transcriptome), TH120 (control group vs. 120 mM group of HD961 for transcriptome), T60 (control group vs. 60 mM group of 9311 for transcriptome), and T120 (control group vs. 120 mM group of 9311 for transcriptome), respectively. Starch and sucrose metabolism and phenylpropanoid biosynthesis were shared in the four treatment groups based on a KEGG enrichment analysis of DEGs. In addition, alpha-linolenic acid metabolism, plant hormone signal transduction, plant-pathogen interaction, and fatty acid elongation were specific and significantly different in HD961. A total of 92, 158, 151, and 179 significantly regulated metabolites (SRMs) responded to SS in MH60 (control group vs. 60 mM group of HD961 for metabolome), MH120 (control group vs. 120 mM group of HD961 for metabolome), M60 (control group vs. 60 mM group of 9311 for metabolome), and M120 (control group vs. 120 mM group of 9311 for metabolome), respectively. The KEGG analysis showed that eight common metabolic pathways were identified in the four treatment groups, of which biosynthesis of amino acids was the most significant. Three specific metabolic pathways were identified in the HD961, including glutathione metabolism, ascorbate and aldarate metabolism, and pantothenate and CoA biosynthesis. Integrative analysis between the transcriptome and metabolome showed that glutathione metabolism was specific and significantly affected under SS in HD961. A total of seven SRMs and 48 DEGs and four SRMs and 15 DEGs were identified in the glutathione metabolism pathway in HD961 and 9311, respectively. The Pearson correlation analysis showed a significant correlation between reduced glutathione and 16 genes (12 upregulated and four downregulated genes), suggesting these genes could be candidates as salt-tolerance regulation genes. Collectively, our data show that glutathione metabolism plays a critical role in response to SS in rice. Moreover, the stronger regulative ability of related common genes and metabolites might contribute to salt resistance in HD961.

Synthesis of a Magnetic Carnation-like Hydroxyapatite/Basic Calcium Carbonate Nanocomposite and Its Adsorption Behaviors for Lead Ions in Water.

Calcium-enriched compounds have great potential in the treatment of heavy-metal contaminated wastewater. Preparing stable basic calcium carbonate (BCC), which is a calcium-enriched compound, and applying it in practice is a great challenge. This work investigated the formation process of hierarchical hydroxyapatite (HAP)/BCC nanocomposites and their adsorption behaviors regarding lead ions (Pb2+). The morphology of the HAP/BCC nanocomposite was controlled by the addition of monododecyl phosphate (MDP). The carnation-like HAP/BCC nanocomposite was achieved with the addition of 30 g of MDP. The carnation-like HAP/BCC nanocomposite had a high Pb2+ adsorption capacity of 860 mg g-1. The pseudo-second-order and Freundlich model simulation results indicated that the adsorptions of Pb2+ on the nanocomposites belonged to the chemisorption and multilayer adsorption processes. The main effective adsorption components for the nanocomposites were calcium-enriched HAP and BCC. Through the Ca2+ ions exchanging with Pb2+, the HAP and BCC phases were converted to hydroxyl-pyromorphite (Pb-HAP) and hydrocerussite (Pb3(CO3)2(OH)2), respectively. The carnation-like HAP/BCC nanocomposite has great potential in the treatment of heavy metal ions. This facile method provides a new method for preparing a stable HAP/BCC nanocomposite and applying it in practice.

Research and Implementation of Robot Vision Scanning Tracking Algorithm Based on Deep Learning.

In order to solve the difficult problem of deep learning-based robot vision tracking algorithm research and implementation, a deep learning-based target tracking algorithm and a classical tracking algorithm were proposed. It mainly uses the combination of traditional TLD algorithm and GOTURN algorithm to benefit from a large number of offline training data and updates the learner online, so that the whole system has better performance in real-time and accuracy. The results show that the performance of the TLD algorithm is poor regardless of the accuracy curve or the accuracy curve, and the performance of GOTURN-LD is significantly improved when the illumination changes. In the face of occlusion problem, the TLD algorithm shows strong robustness. Although GOTURN-LD is not very stable, its performance is better than GOTURN on the whole.

Systematic Analysis of NB-ARC Gene Family in Rice and Functional Characterization of GNP12.

The NB-ARC (nucleotide-binding adaptor shared by APAF-1, R proteins, and CED-4) gene family plays a critical role in plant development. However, our understanding of the mechanisms of how NB-ARC genes regulate plant development in the plant panicle is still limited. Here, we subjected 258 NB-ARC genes in rice to genome-wide analysis to characterize their structure, function, and expression patterns. The NB-ARC genes were classified into three major groups, and group II included nine subgroups. Evolutionary analysis of NB-ARC genes in a dicotyledon plant (Arabidopsis thaliana) and two monocotyledonous plants (Oryza sativa L. and Triticum aestivum) indicated that homologous genome segments were conserved in monocotyledons and subjected to weak positive selective pressure during evolution. Dispersed and proximal replication events were detected. Expression analysis showed expression of most NB-ARC genes in roots, panicles, and leaves, and regulation at the panicle development stage in rice Ce253. The GNP12 gene encodes RGH1A protein, which regulates rice yield according to panicle length, grain number of panicle, and grain length, with eight major haplotypes. Most members of NB-ARC protein family are predicted to contain P-loop conserved domains and localize on the membrane. The results of this study will provide insight into the characteristics and evolution of NB-ARC family and suggest that GNP12 positively regulates panicle development.