microRNAs (miRNAs) are 20–24 nucleotide non‐coding small RNAs that play important roles in plant development. The stages of cotton fiber development include initiation, elongation, secondary wall ...thickening (SWT) and maturation. We constructed seven fiber RNA libraries representing the initiation, elongation and SWT stages. In total, 47 conserved miRNA families and seven candidate miRNAs were profiled using small RNA sequencing. Northern blotting and real‐time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analyses revealed the dynamic expression of miRNAs during fiber development. In addition, 140 targets of 30 conserved miRNAs and 38 targets of five candidate miRNAs were identified through degradome sequencing. Analysis of correlated expression between miRNAs and their targets demonstrated that specific miRNAs suppressed the expression of transcription factors, SBP and MYB, a leucine‐rich receptor‐like protein kinase, a pectate lyase, α‐tubulin, a UDP‐glucuronic acid decarboxylase and cytochrome C oxidase subunit 1 to affect fiber development. Histochemical analyses detected the biological activity of miRNA156/157 in ovule and fiber development. Suppressing miRNA156/157 function resulted in the reduction of mature fiber length, illustrating that miRNA156/157 plays an essential role in fiber elongation.
Geometric complexities play an important role in the nucleation, propagation, and termination of strike-slip earthquake ruptures. The 2021 Mw7.4 Maduo earthquake rupture initiated at a large ...releasing stepover with a complex fault intersection. In the epicentral region, we conducted detailed mapping and classification of the surface ruptures and slip measurements associated with the earthquake, combining high-resolution uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) images and optical image correlation with field investigations. Our findings indicate that the coseismic ruptures present discontinuous patterns mixed with numerous lateral spreadings due to strong ground shaking. The discontinuous surface ruptures are uncharacteristic in slip to account for the large and clear displacements of offset landforms in the epicentral region. Within the releasing stepovers, the deformation zone revealed from the optical image correlation map indicates that a fault may cut diagonally across the pull-apart basin at depth. The left-lateral horizontal coseismic displacements from field measurements are typically ≤0.6 m, significantly lower than the 1–2.7 m measured from the optical image correlation map. Such a discrepancy indicates a significant proportion of off-fault deformation or the possibility that the rupture stopped at a shallow depth during its initiation phase instead of extending to the surface. The fault network and multi-fault junctions west and south of the epicenter suggest a possible complex path, which retarded the westward propagation at the initial phase of rupture growth. A hampered initiation might enhance the seismic ground motion and the complex ground deformation features at the surface, including widespread shaking-related fissures.
Background Aging is a dynamic and heterogeneous process that may better be captured by trajectories of aging biomarkers. Biological age has been advocated as a better biomarker of aging than ...chronological age, and plant-based dietary patterns have been found to be linked to aging. However, the associations of biological age trajectories with mortality and plant-based dietary patterns remained unclear. Methods Using group-based trajectory modeling approach, we identified distinctive aging trajectory groups among 12,784 participants based on a recently developed biological aging measure acquired at four-time points within an 8-year period. We then examined associations between aging trajectories and quintiles of plant-based dietary patterns assessed by overall plant-based diet index (PDI), healthful PDI (hPDI), and unhealthful PDI (uPDI) among 10,191 participants who had complete data on dietary intake, using multivariable multinomial logistics regression adjusting for sociodemographic and lifestyles factors. Cox proportional hazards regression models were applied to investigate the association between aging trajectories and all-cause mortality. Results We identified three latent classes of accelerated aging trajectories: slow aging, medium-degree, and high-degree accelerated aging trajectories. Participants who had higher PDI or hPDI had lower odds of being in medium-degree (OR = 0.75, 95% CI: 0.65, 0.86 for PDI; OR = 0.73, 95% CI: 0.62, 0.85 for hPDI) or high-degree (OR = 0.63, 95% CI: 0.46, 0.86 for PDI; OR = 0.62, 95% CI: 0.44, 0.88 for hPDI) accelerated aging trajectories. Participants in the highest quintile of uPDI were more likely to be in medium-degree (OR = 1.72, 95% CI: 1.48, 1.99) or high-degree (OR = 1.70, 95% CI: 1.21, 2.38) accelerated aging trajectories. With a mean follow-up time of 8.40 years and 803 (6.28%) participants died by the end of follow-up, we found that participants in medium-degree (HR = 1.56, 95% CI: 1.29, 1.89) or high-degree (HR = 3.72, 95% CI: 2.73, 5.08) accelerated aging trajectory groups had higher risks of death than those in the slow aging trajectory. Conclusions We identified three distinctive aging trajectories in a large Asian cohort and found that adopting a plant-based dietary pattern, especially when rich in healthful plant foods, was associated with substantially lowered pace of aging. Keywords: Aging trajectory, All-cause mortality, Plant-based diet index, Diet quality, Cohort
The exploitation of efficient, robust, and easily recyclable catalysts is highly desirable for photochemical CO2 reduction to produce fuels and chemicals. Herein, we demonstrate the preparation of ...Ni@GC magnetic hollow spheres composed of metallic Ni nanoparticles surrounded by few-layered graphitic carbon (GC) for photocatalytic CO2 reduction with high efficiency. The Ni@GC hollow spheres were prepared by thermal annealing a Ni-containing metal–organic framework (Ni-MOF) under N2 atmosphere. A series of physiochemical characterizations reveal that the Ni@GC hollow spheres are successfully synthesized with large surface area and highly porous structure. In the presence of Ni–C bonding, the porous Ni@GC material can efficiently accelerate the separation and transportation of photoexcited charges, as well as improve CO2 adsorption. With the cooperation of a ruthenium photosensitizer under visible light irradiation, the Ni@GC catalyst exhibits a high CO2-to-CO conversion activity, giving a superior CO-production rate of 27 μmol h–1 (e.g., 9.0 mmol h–1 g–1). Moreover, the Ni@GC photocatalyst is highly stable and can be separated easily by a magnetic field for reuse. The possible photosensitized CO2 conversion mechanism is also proposed based on the relative energy levels of the Ni@GC catalyst and the ruthenium photosensitizer.
High-quality cotton fibre equates to a more comfortable textile. Fibre length is an important index of fibre quality. Hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) acts as a signalling molecule in the regulation of fibre ...elongation. Results from in vitro ovule culture suggest that the alteration of fibre cell H₂O₂ levels affects fibre development. Ascorbate peroxidase (APX) is an important reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging enzyme, and we found that GhAPX1AT/DT
encoded one member of the previously unrealized group of cytosolic APXs (cAPXs) that were preferentially expressed during the fibre elongation stage. Transgenic cottons with up- and down-regulation of GhAPX1AT/DT
were generated to control fibre endogenous levels of H₂O₂. Suppression of all cAPX (IAO) resulted in a 3.5-fold increase in H₂O₂ level in fibres and oxidative stress, which significantly suppressed fibre elongation. The fibre length of transgenic lines with over-expression or specific down-regulation of GhAPX1AT/DT
did not show any obvious change. However, the fibres in the over-expression lines exhibited higher tolerance to oxidative stress. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in fibres at 10 days post-anthesis (DPA) of IAO lines identified by RNA-seq were related to redox homeostasis, signalling pathways, stress responses and cell wall synthesis, and the DEGs that were up-regulated in IAO lines were also upregulated in the 10 DPA and 20 DPA fibres of wild cotton compared with domesticated cotton. These results suggest that optimal H₂O₂ levels and redox state regulated by cytosolic APX are key mechanisms regulating fibre elongation, and dysregulation of the increase in H₂O₂ induces oxidative stress and results in shorter fibres by initiating secondary cell wall-related gene expression.
For pulsed power load (PPL) accommodation in a medium‐voltage DC (MVDC) shipboard power system (SPS), the charging control of energy storage systems (ESSs) and the generation control of distributed ...generators (DGs) need to be properly coordinated. Targeting the important but not well‐studied problem, an optimal output‐constrained control algorithm for the offline PPL accommodation strategy is presented. Three control objectives including realising the generation and charging control references, maintaining the DC bus and supercapacitor voltages within the safe operating ranges, and minimising the total generation cost of DGs, are fulfilled concurrently. First, an SPS model with multiple DGs, a supercapacitor ESS, and regular loads is developed. By restricting the DC bus and supercapacitor voltages within pre‐defined constraints, both the transient‐ and steady‐state performances of the SPS are guaranteed. Furthermore, by incorporating the cost minimisation objective into designed virtual control signals, the third control objective on energy efficiency is realised. The stability of the presented algorithm is rigorously proven based on the Lyapunov method. Finally, detailed case studies are conducted to validate the performance of the designed algorithm.
An optimal output‐constrained control algorithm is presented for the MVDC SPS. Three objectives are simultaneously achieved, including realising the generation and charging control references, maintaining the DC bus and capacitor voltages within safe operating ranges, and minimising the total generation cost of DGs. Both the transient‐ and steady‐state control performances of the SPS are also improved.
This article presents a distributed periodic event-triggered (PET) optimal control scheme to achieve generation cost minimization and average bus voltage regulation in DC microgrids. In order to ...accommodate the generation constraints of the distributed generators (DGs), a virtual incremental cost is firstly designed, based on which an optimality condition is derived to facilitate the control design. To meet the discrete-time (DT) nature of modern control systems, the optimal controller is directly developed in the DT domain. Afterward, to reduce the communication requirement among the controllers, a distributed event-triggered mechanism is introduced for the DT optimal controller. The event-triggered condition is detected periodically and therefore naturally avoids the Zeno phenomenon. The closed-loop system stability is proved by the Lyapunov synthesis for switched systems. The generation cost minimization and average bus voltage regulation are obtained at the equilibrium point. Finally, switch-level microgrid simulations validate the performance of the proposed optimal controller.
GPIHBP1, an endothelial cell (EC) protein, captures lipoprotein lipase (LPL) within the interstitial spaces (where it is secreted by myocytes and adipocytes) and transports it across ECs to its site ...of action in the capillary lumen. GPIHBP1's 3-fingered LU domain is required for LPL binding, but the function of its acidic domain (AD) has remained unclear. We created mutant mice lacking the AD and found severe hypertriglyceridemia. As expected, the mutant GPIHBP1 retained the capacity to bind LPL. Unexpectedly, however, most of the GPIHBP1 and LPL in the mutant mice was located on the abluminal surface of ECs (explaining the hypertriglyceridemia). The GPIHBP1-bound LPL was trapped on the abluminal surface of ECs by electrostatic interactions between the large basic patch on the surface of LPL and negatively charged heparan sulfate proteoglycans (HSPGs) on the surface of ECs. GPIHBP1 trafficking across ECs in the mutant mice was normalized by disrupting LPL-HSPG electrostatic interactions with either heparin or an AD peptide. Thus, GPIHBP1's AD plays a crucial function in plasma triglyceride metabolism; it sheathes LPL's basic patch on the abluminal surface of ECs, thereby preventing LPL-HSPG interactions and freeing GPIHBP1-LPL complexes to move across ECs to the capillary lumen.
Abstract
Background
Laryngopharyngeal cancer (LPC) includes laryngeal and hypopharyngeal cancer, whose early diagnosis can significantly improve the prognosis and quality of life of patients. ...Pathological biopsy of suspicious cancerous tissue under the guidance of laryngoscopy is the gold standard for diagnosing LPC. However, this subjective examination largely depends on the skills and experience of laryngologists, which increases the possibility of missed diagnoses and repeated unnecessary biopsies. We aimed to develop and validate a deep convolutional neural network-based Laryngopharyngeal Artificial Intelligence Diagnostic System (LPAIDS) for real-time automatically identifying LPC in both laryngoscopy white-light imaging (WLI) and narrow-band imaging (NBI) images to improve the diagnostic accuracy of LPC by reducing diagnostic variation among on-expert laryngologists.
Methods
All 31,543 laryngoscopic images from 2382 patients were categorised into training, verification, and test sets to develop, validate, and internal test LPAIDS. Another 25,063 images from five other hospitals were used as external tests. Overall, 551 videos were used to evaluate the real-time performance of the system, and 200 randomly selected videos were used to compare the diagnostic performance of the LPAIDS with that of laryngologists. Two deep-learning models using either WLI (model W) or NBI (model N) images were constructed to compare with LPAIDS.
Results
LPAIDS had a higher diagnostic performance than models W and N, with accuracies of 0·956 and 0·949 in the internal image and video tests, respectively. The robustness and stability of LPAIDS were validated in external sets with the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve values of 0·965–0·987. In the laryngologist-machine competition, LPAIDS achieved an accuracy of 0·940, which was comparable to expert laryngologists and outperformed other laryngologists with varying qualifications.
Conclusions
LPAIDS provided high accuracy and stability in detecting LPC in real-time, which showed great potential for using LPAIDS to improve the diagnostic accuracy of LPC by reducing diagnostic variation among on-expert laryngologists.
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