Exogenous metabolite application is a potential strategy for expanding the use of direct rice seeding with the aim of reducing seeding costs.

Rice is a staple food for over half of the global population, necessitates efficient and cost-effective production methods to ensure food security. However, direct seeding of rice often encounters challenges due to adverse environmental conditions, resulting in increased seeding costs. In this study, we analyzed the germination and physiological data of sixty-six rice varieties under cold and submergence conditions. Our results demonstrate that selecting rice varieties with superior germination capacity in these adverse conditions can improve germination rates by 39.43%. Transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses of two contrasting varieties revealed potential regulatory mechanisms involving hormonal pathways and the glycerophospholipid metabolism pathway. Furthermore, we found that the exogenous application of specific metabolites provides a cost-effective seed enhancement strategy for varieties with poor germination capacity. These findings suggest that combining suitable variety selection with seed enhancement treatments can significantly reduce seeding costs in rice production. This research offers valuable insights for developing resilient rice varieties and cost-effective seeding strategies, potentially contributing to improved rice cultivation practices and enhanced global food security.

Local artifacts amplification for deepfakes augmentation.

With the rapid and continuous development of AIGC, It is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish between real and forged facial images, which calls for efficient forgery detection systems. Although many detection methods have noticed the importance of local artifacts, there has been a lack of in-depth discussion regarding the selection of locations and their effective utilization. Besides, the traditional image augmentation methods that are widely used have limited improvements for forgery detection tasks and require more specialized augmentation methods specifically designed for forgery detection tasks. In this paper, this study proposes Local Artifacts Amplification for Deepfakes Augmentation, which amplifies the local artifacts on the forged faces. Furthermore, this study incorporates prior knowledge about similar facial features into the model. This means that within the facial regions defined in this work, forged features exhibit similar patterns. By aggregating the results from all facial regions, the study can enhance the overall performance of the model. The evaluation experiments conducted in this research, achieving an AUC of 93.40% and an Acc of 87.03% in the challenging WildDeepfake dataset, demonstrate a promising improvement in accuracy compared to traditional image augmentation methods and achieve superior performance on intra-dataset evaluation. The cross-dataset evaluation also showed that the method presented in this study has strong generalization abilities.

Detection and Quantification of 5moU RNA Modification from Direct RNA Sequencing Data.

Background: Chemically modified therapeutic mRNAs have gained momentum recently. In addition to commonly used modifications (e.g., pseudouridine), 5moU is considered a promising substitution for uridine in therapeutic mRNAs. Accurate identification of 5-methoxyuridine (5moU) would be crucial for the study and quality control of relevant in vitro-transcribed (IVT) mRNAs. However, current methods exhibit deficiencies in providing quantitative methodologies for detecting such modification. Utilizing the capabilities of Oxford nanopore direct RNA sequencing, in this study, we present NanoML-5moU, a machine-learning framework designed specifically for the read-level detection and quantification of 5moU modification for IVT data. Materials and Methods: Nanopore direct RNA sequencing data from both 5moU-modified and unmodified control samples were collected. Subsequently, a comprehensive analysis and modeling of signal event characteristics (mean, median current intensities, standard deviations, and dwell times) were performed. Furthermore, classical machine learning algorithms, notably the Support Vector Machine (SVM), Random Forest (RF), and XGBoost were employed to discern 5moU modifications within NNUNN (where N represents A, C, U, or G) 5-mers. Results: Notably, the signal event attributes pertaining to each constituent base of the NNUNN 5-mers, in conjunction with the utilization of the XGBoost algorithm, exhibited remarkable performance levels (with a maximum AUROC of 0.9567 in the "AGTTC" reference 5-mer dataset and a minimum AUROC of 0.8113 in the "TGTGC" reference 5-mer dataset). This accomplishment markedly exceeded the efficacy of the prevailing background error comparison model (ELIGOs AUC 0.751 for site-level prediction). The model's performance was further validated through a series of curated datasets, which featured customized modification ratios designed to emulate broader data patterns, demonstrating its general applicability in quality control of IVT mRNA vaccines. The NanoML-5moU framework is publicly available on GitHub (https://github.com/JiayiLi21/NanoML-5moU). Conclusion: NanoML-5moU enables accurate read-level profiling of 5moU modification with nanopore direct RNA-sequencing, which is a powerful tool specialized in unveiling signal patterns in in vitro-transcribed (IVT) mRNAs.

Foliar spray of La2O3 nanoparticles regulates the growth, antioxidant parameters, and nitrogen metabolism of fragrant rice seedlings in wet and dry nurseries.

Nanoparticles (NPs) have been widely used in agriculture, and lanthanum oxide nanoparticles (La2O3) NPs can regulate plant growth. La2O3 NPs treatment was hypothesized to affect the accumulation and distribution of substances in rice seedlings under wet and dry nursery conditions. The objective of the present study was to ascertain the effects of La2O3 NPs foliar spray on the morphology and physiology of fragrant rice seedlings under wet and dry nursery conditions. Seedlings of two fragrant rice cultivars, namely 'Xiangyaxiangzhan' and 'Yuxiangyouzhan,' were grown under wet and dry nursery conditions with La2O3 NPs treatments at three concentrations (CK, La2O3 NPs 0 mg L-1; T1, La2O3 NPs 20 mg L-1; and T2, La2O3 NPs 40 mg L-1). The results showed that the seedling-raising method was significantly associated with La2O3 NPs application (P < 0.05), affecting the leaf area of both cultivars. Changes in plant morphological parameters, such as dry weight and root-shoot ratio, were the reasons for the differences in cultivars in response to La2O3 NPs application. Changes were also observed in the plant morphological and physiological parameters of leaf area, specific leaf area, chlorophyll contents, antioxidant properties, and activities of nitrogen metabolism enzymes. The relationship between morphological and physiological processes in fragrant rice was investigated to test the hypothesis. In both wet and dry nursery methods, the T2 concentration of La2O3 NPs was beneficial for rice seedlings and significantly increased their leaf area due to changes in morphological and physiological parameters. Therefore, the results of this study provide a theoretical basis for expanding the research on La2O3 NPs application in rice, as well as relevant references for strengthening rice seedlings in the nursery, which has a positive effect on the grain yield improvement in fragrant rice.

Visible-light-induced aerobic epoxidation with vitamin B2-based photocatalyst.

Herein we described the catalytic epoxidation of α,ß-enone, with peroxide in situ generated, via a predominant single electron transfer and a minor energy transfer pathway. We use inexpensive natural vitamin B2 (riboflavin, RF) or its simple ester (riboflavin tetraacetate, RFT) as the photocatalysts, commonly used 1,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]-7-undecene (DBU) as both the electron source and organic base, and ambient air as the terminal oxidant, under visible-light irradiation and room temperature.

Two Bulk-Heterojunctions Made of Blended Hybrid Nanocomposites for High-Performance Broadband, Self-Driven Photodetectors.

Heterojunctions based on low dimensional semiconducting materials are one of the most promising alternatives for next-generation optoelectronic devices. By choosing different dopants in high-quality semiconducting nanomaterials, p-n junctions can be realized with tailored energy band alignments. Also, p-n bulk-heterojunctions (BHJs) based photodetectors have shown high detectivity because of the suppressed dark current and high photocurrent, which are due to the larger built-in electric potential within the depletion region and can significantly improve the quantum efficiency by reducing the carriers' recombination. In this work, PbSe quantum dots (QDs) blended with ZnO nanocrystals (NCs) were used as the n-type layer, while CsPbBr3 NCs doped with P3HT were used as the p-type layer; as a result, a p-n BHJ was formed with a strong built-in electric field. Consequently, such a kind of p-n BHJ photodetector ITO/ZnO/PbSe:ZnO/CsPbBr3:P3HT/P3HT/Au showed a high ON/OFF current ratio of 105 with a photoresponsivity of 1.4 A/W and specific detectivity of 6.59 × 1014 Jones under 0.1 mW/cm2 532 nm illumination in self-driven mode. Moreover, the simulation performed by TCAD also agrees well with our experimental results, and the underlying physical mechanism for enhanced performance is discussed in detail for this type of p-n BHJ photodetector.

Cross-Sectional Study of Location-Based Built Environments, Physical Activity, Dietary Intake, and Body Mass Index in Adult Twins.

We examined relationships between walkability and health behaviors between and within identical twin pairs, considering both home (neighborhood) walkability and each twin's measured activity space. Continuous activity and location data (via accelerometry and GPS) were obtained in 79 pairs over 2 weeks. Walkability was estimated using Walk Score® (WS); home WS refers to neighborhood walkability, and GPS WS refers to the mean of individual WSs matched to every GPS point collected by each participant. GPS WS was assessed within (WHN) and out of the neighborhood (OHN), using 1-mile Euclidean (air1mi) and network (net1mi) buffers. Outcomes included walking and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) bouts, dietary energy density (DED), and BMI. Home WS was associated with WHN GPS WS (b = 0.71, SE = 0.03, p < 0.001 for air1mi; b = 0.79, SE = 0.03, p < 0.001 for net1mi), and OHN GPS WS (b = 0.18, SE = 0.04, p < 0.001 for air1mi; b = 0.22, SE = 0.04, p < 0.001 for net1mi). Quasi-causal relationships (within-twin) were observed for home and GPS WS with walking (ps < 0.01), but not MVPA, DED, or BMI. Results support previous literature that neighborhood walkability has a positive influence on walking.

Highly efficient removal of Se(IV) using reduced graphene oxide-supported nanoscale zero-valent iron (nZVI/rGO): selenium removal mechanism.

Se(IV) removal using nanoscale zero-valent iron (nZVI) has been extensively studied. Still, the synergistic removal of Se(IV) by reduced graphene oxide-supported nanoscale zero-valent iron (nZVI/rGO) has not been reported. In this study, nZVI/rGO was successfully synthesized for Se(IV) removal from wastewater. The effects of different environmental conditions (load ratio, dosage, initial pH) on Se(IV) removal by nZVI/rGO were investigated. When the load ratio is 10%, the dosage is 0.3 g/L, the initial pH is 3, and the removal rate is 99%. The adsorption isotherm and kinetics accorded with the Langmuir isotherm and first-order kinetics models (R2 > 0.99). The fitted maximum adsorption capacity reached up to 173.53 mg/g. NZVI/rGo and Se(IV) is a spontaneous endothermic reaction (△G < 0, △H > 0) and is characterized by EDS, XRD, and XPS before and after the reaction, to further clarify the reaction mechanism. The XPS narrow spectrum analysis suggested that Se(IV) was reduced to elemental selenium (Se(0)), while the intermediate Fe(II) was oxidized to form hydroxide precipitation. Therefore, nZVI/rGO was favored for Se-contaminated wastewater remediation.

Graphene oxide supported sulfidated nano zero-valent iron (S-nZVI@GO) for antimony removal: The role of active oxygen species and reaction mechanism.

Sulfidated nano zero-valent iron (S-nZVI) was used to remove various pollutants from wastewater. However, the instability, poor dispersibility, and low electron transfer efficiency of S-nZVI limit its application. Herein, graphene oxide supported sulfidated nano zero-valent iron (S-nZVI@GO) was successfully synthesized using graphene oxide (GO) as a carrier. The properties of S-nZVI@GO were characterized by scanning electron microscopy coupled to X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) concerning the surface morphology, crystalline structure, and elemental components. S-nZVI@GO displayed an excellent capacity for antimony (Sb) removal under aerobic conditions (96.7%), with a high adsorption capacity (Qmax = 311.75 mg/g). It maintained a high removal rate (over 90%) during a wide pH range (3-9). More importantly, S-nZVI@GO activated the molecular oxygen in water via a single-electron pathway to produce •O2－ and H2O2, and then oxidized trivalent antimony (Sb(III)) to pentavalent antimony (Sb(V)) and further separated it by synergistic adsorption and co-precipitation. Therefore, S-nZVI@GO shows excellent potential for Sb contamination remediation.

Risk factors for renal involvement and severe kidney disease in 2731 Chinese children with Henoch-Schönlein purpura: A retrospective study.

To identify the risk factors for developing renal involvement and severe kidney disease in Chinese childhood Henoch-Schönlein purpura (HSP) patients.This was a retrospective study of 2731 children with HSP diagnosed between 2012 and 2015. We analyzed their demographic data, clinical manifestations, and laboratory tests retrospectively. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to assess the risk factors.Renal involvement occurred in 844 HSP patients (35.60%), and severe kidney disease occurred in 104 HSP patients (4.39%). Age over 6 years old at onset, colder season, more than 8 days interval between symptom onset and diagnosis, residence in rural, recurrence, angioedema, and the central nervous system (CNS) involvement were the significant risk factors for renal involvement. At the same time, age over 6 years at onset, more than 8 days interval between symptom onset and diagnosis, recurrence, angioedema, and CNS involvement were highly associated with severe kidney disease. Angioedema, longer interval between symptom onset and diagnosis, older age at HSP onset, and recurrence are prognostic indicators for renal involvement and severe kidney disease in children with HSP. The onset in colder season and rural residence associated with an increased risk for renal involvement, and the CNS involvement had an increased risk for severe kidney disease.HSP tends not to be self-limiting, and could progress into renal involvement or severe kidney disease for some of the HSP patients. Pediatricians should pay more attention to the children diagnosed with HSP, who also have these risk factors, for potential to develop renal involvement, and severe kidney disease, especially.

Built environment effects on bike crash frequency and risk in Beijing.

INTRODUCTION: Building a safe biking environment is crucial to encouraging bicycle use. In developed areas with higher density and more mixed land use, the built environment factors that pose a crash risk may vary. This study investigates the connection between biking risk factors and the compact built environment, using data for Beijing. METHOD: In the context of China, this paper seeks to answer two research questions. First, what types of built environment factors are correlated with bike-automobile crash frequency and risk? Second, how do risk factors vary across different types of bikes? Poisson lognormal random effects models are employed to examine how land use and roadway design factors are associated with the bike-automobile crashes. RESULTS: The main findings are: (1) bike-automobile crashes are more likely to occur in densely developed areas, which is characterized by higher population density, more mixed land use, denser roads and junctions, and more parking lots; (2) areas with greater ground transit are correlated with more bike-automobile crashes and higher risks of involving in collisions; (3) the percentages of wider streets show negative associations with bike crash frequency; (4) built environment factors cannot help explain factors contributing to motorcycle-automobile crashes. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: In China's dense urban context, important policy implications for bicycle safety improvement drawn from this study include: prioritizing safety programs in urban centers, applying safety improvements to areas with more ground transit, placing bike-automobile crash countermeasures at road junctions, and improving bicycle safety on narrower streets.

Promoting public bike-sharing: A lesson from the unsuccessful Pronto system.

In 2014, Seattle implemented its own bike-sharing system, Pronto. However, the system ultimately ceased operation three years later on March 17th, 2017. To learn from this failure, this paper seeks to understand factors that encourage, or discourage, bike-sharing trip generation and attraction at the station level. This paper investigates the effects of land use, roadway design, elevation, bus trips, weather, and temporal factors on three-hour long bike pickups and returns at each docking station. To address temporal autocorrelations and the nonlinear seasonality, the paper implements a generalized additive mixed model (GAMM) that incorporates the joint effects of a time metric and time-varying variables. The paper estimates models on total counts of pickups and returns, as well as pickups categorized by user types and by location. The results clarify that effects of hilly terrain and the rainy weather, two commonly perceived contributors to the failure. Additionally, results suggest that users in the University District, presumably mostly university students, tend to use shared bikes in neighborhoods with a higher household density and a higher percentage of residential land use, and make bike-sharing trips regardless workdays or non-workdays. The paper also contributes to the discussion on the relationship between public transportation service and bike-sharing. In general, users tend to use bike-sharing more at stations that have more scheduled bus trips nearby. However, some bike-sharing users may shift to bus services during peak hours and rainy weather. Several strategies are proposed accordingly to increase bike ridership in the future.