Different responses of individuals, functional groups and plant communities in CSR strategies to nitrogen deposition in high-altitude grasslands.

The Competitor, Stress Tolerator, and Ruderal (CSR) theory delineates the ecological strategies of plant species. Nevertheless, how these ecological strategies shift at the levels of individuals, functional groups and plant communities to cope with increasing nitrogen deposition remains unclear. In this study, simulated nitrogen deposition experiments were performed in high-altitude grasslands of alpine meadows and alpine steppe on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) by employing the strategy and functional type framework (StrateFy) methodology to evaluate plant CSR strategies.

Lightweight Corn Leaf Detection and Counting Using Improved YOLOv8.

The number of maize leaves is an important indicator for assessing plant growth and regulating population structure. However, the traditional leaf counting method mainly relies on manual work, which is both time-consuming and straining, while the existing image processing methods have low accuracy and poor adaptability, making it difficult to meet the standards for practical application. To accurately detect the growth status of maize, an improved lightweight YOLOv8 maize leaf detection and counting method was proposed in this study.

Amination of Aminopyridines via η-Coordination Catalysis.

Pyridine, a widespread aromatic heterocycle, features a sp-hybridized nitrogen atom that can readily coordinate to metals, leading to distinctive achievements in catalysis. In stark contrast, π-coordination of pyridine and derivatives with transition metals is notably scarce, and the involvement of such activation mode in catalysis remains to be developed. Herein, we present amination reactions of aminopyridines that leverages the reversible π coordination with a ruthenium catalyst as the arenophilic π acid, rather than relying on the conventional κ-N coordination.

Nucleophilic Aromatic Substitution of Halobenzenes and Phenols with Catalysis by Arenophilic π Acids.

ConspectusLewis π acids, particularly high-valent transition metals with vacant orbitals, can coordinate with unsaturated compounds such as alkynes and alkenes by means of π-bonding. The coordination enhances the electrophilicity of the bound compounds, thereby facilitating reactions─such as nucleophilic addition─that take place at the ligated carbon-carbon multiple bonds. This activation phenomenon occurs at the ligand rather than at the metal atom, and it has been extensively utilized in the development of catalytic methods.

Ruthenium/η-Phenoxo-Catalyzed Amination of Phenols with Amines.

Ruthenium(II) complexes are known to form η-arene complexes with benzene-containing compounds through π-coordination, a property extensively utilized to initiate reactions not typically observed with free arenes. A prime example is nucleophilic aromatic substitution, where ruthenium-complexed aryl halides undergo nucleophilic attack, allowing the direct synthesis of diverse aromatic compounds by displacing halides with nucleophiles. However, this activation relies on the electron-withdrawing effect of the Ru(II) species, as well as is hindered by the resistance of η-arenes to arene exchange.

Dynamic Molecular Interphases Regulated by Trace Dual Electrolyte Additives for Ultralong-Lifespan and Dendrite-Free Zinc Metal Anode.

Metallic zinc is a promising anode material for rechargeable aqueous multivalent metal-ion batteries due to its high capacity and low cost. However, the practical use is always beset by severe dendrite growth and parasitic side reactions occurring at anode/electrolyte interface. Here we demonstrate dynamic molecular interphases caused by trace dual electrolyte additives of D-mannose and sodium lignosulfonate for ultralong-lifespan and dendrite-free zinc anode.

Prediction Model and Risk Factor Analysis of Adjacent Segment Disease After L4-5 Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion Through Preoperative Radiographic Features.

Study Design: A retrospective study.

Objective: To investigate the risk of adjacent segment disease (ASD) after L4-5 transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF) in patients diagnosed with lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS), a prediction model for ASD is established and validated.

Methods: A retrospective study was carried out on a sample of 290 patients who underwent L4-5 TLIF at Zhongda Hospital, Southeast University, from January 2015 to January 2021.

Multi-Instance Multi-Task Learning for Joint Clinical Outcome and Genomic Profile Predictions From the Histopathological Images.

With the remarkable success of digital histopathology and the deep learning technology, many whole-slide pathological images (WSIs) based deep learning models are designed to help pathologists diagnose human cancers. Recently, rather than predicting categorical variables as in cancer diagnosis, several deep learning studies are also proposed to estimate the continuous variables such as the patients' survival or their transcriptional profile. However, most of the existing studies focus on conducting these predicting tasks separately, which overlooks the useful intrinsic correlation among them that can boost the prediction performance of each individual task.

Highly Thermally Conductive and Structurally Ultra-Stable Graphitic Films with Seamless Heterointerfaces for Extreme Thermal Management.

Highly thermally conductive graphitic film (GF) materials have become a competitive solution for the thermal management of high-power electronic devices. However, their catastrophic structural failure under extreme alternating thermal/cold shock poses a significant challenge to reliability and safety. Here, we present the first investigation into the structural failure mechanism of GF during cyclic liquid nitrogen shocks (LNS), which reveals a bubbling process characterized by "permeation-diffusion-deformation" phenomenon.

Impact of AlphaFold on structure prediction of protein complexes: The CASP15-CAPRI experiment.

We present the results for CAPRI Round 54, the 5th joint CASP-CAPRI protein assembly prediction challenge. The Round offered 37 targets, including 14 homodimers, 3 homo-trimers, 13 heterodimers including 3 antibody-antigen complexes, and 7 large assemblies. On average ~70 CASP and CAPRI predictor groups, including more than 20 automatics servers, submitted models for each target.

Endoplasmic reticulum stress-mediated autophagy alleviates lipopolysaccharide-induced nucleus pulposus cell pyroptosis by inhibiting CHOP signaling in vitro.

Pyroptosis, a newly discovered pro-inflammatory programmed necrosis of cells, serves as an initiating and promoting event that leads to intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration (IDD). Endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) and autophagy are vital regulatory mechanisms of cellular homeostasis, which is also closely related to IDD. However, the role and relationship of ERS and autophagy in the pyroptosis of nucleus pulposus cell (NPC) are not well understood.

Indirect Puncture Using a Novel Arc Puncture-Guided Device in Percutaneous Transforaminal Puncture on Goat Lumbar Spine Specimens.

Objective: We investigated the indirect puncture method using a novel arc puncture-guided device in percutaneous transforaminal puncture to improve puncture accuracy and reduce the fluoroscopy, puncture, and operation times.

Methods: We have designed a novel arc puncture-guided device consisting of a 90° arc block and a 30° arc block. Punctures were performed on 8 fresh goat lumbar spine specimens.

Epigenetic Regulation of Hepatic Lipid Metabolism by DNA Methylation.

While extensive investigations have been devoted to the study of genetic pathways related to fatty liver diseases, much less is known about epigenetic mechanisms underlying these disorders. DNA methylation is an epigenetic link between environmental factors (e.g.

[Acupuncture for glaucoma-induced optic atrophy: a randomized controlled trial].

Objective: To observe the clinical effect of acupuncture for glaucoma-induced optic atrophy.

Methods: A total of 70 patients (89 affected eyes) with glaucoma-induced optic atrophy were randomized into an observation group and a control group, 35 cases in each group. The control group was given basic western medicine treatment.

Catalytic S Ar Hexafluoroisopropoxylation of Aryl Chlorides and Bromides.

Fluoroalkyl aryl ethers are valuable structural motifs in pharmaceuticals because compounds with these motifs are more metabolically stable and more lipophilic than their nonfluorinated analogues. However, hexafluoroisopropyl aryl ethers have not been extensively studied, presumably because of the lack of efficient synthetic methods. Herein, we describe a rhodium-catalyzed nucleophilic aromatic substitution of aryl chlorides or bromides, which act as the limiting reagents, with weakly nucleophilic hexafluoro-2-propanol under mild reaction conditions.

Hydrogen peroxide enhanced photoinactivation of Candida albicans by a novel boron-dipyrromethene (BODIPY) derivative.

Photodynamic inactivation (PDI) has received increasing attention as a promising approach to combat Candida albicans infections. This study aimed to evaluate the synergistic effect of a new BODIPY (4,4-difluoro-boradiazaindacene) derivative and hydrogen peroxide on C. albicans.

Prebiotic inulin nanocoating for pancreatic islet surface engineering.

Pancreatic islet surface engineering has been proposed as an "easy-to-adopt" approach to enhance post-transplantation islet engraftment for treatment against diabetes. Inulin is an FDA-approved dietary prebiotic with reported anti-diabetic, anti-inflammatory, anti-hypoxic and pro-angiogenic properties. We therefore assessed whether inulin would be a viable option for islet surface engineering.

Intraoperative Endplate Injury Following Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion.

Objective: To investigate the incidence, distribution characteristics, risk factors, and clinical outcomes of intraoperative endplate injury (EI) following transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion.

Methods: Patients who underwent single-level transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion from January 2018 to December 2020 were included. The patients were separated into EI and non-EI groups based on computed tomography obtained immediately postoperatively.

Adipose lipolysis is important for ethanol to induce fatty liver in the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism murine model of chronic and binge ethanol feeding.

Background And Aims: Alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) pathologies include steatosis, inflammation, and injury, which may progress to fibrosis, cirrhosis, and cancer. The liver receives ~60% of fatty acids from adipose tissue triglyceride hydrolysis, but the role of this lipolytic pathway in ALD development has not been directly examined in any genetic animal models with selective inactivation of adipose lipolysis.

Approach And Results: Using adipose-specific comparative gene identification-58 (CGI-58) knockout (FAT-KO) mice, a model of impaired adipose lipolysis, we show that mice deficient in adipose lipolysis are almost completely protected against ethanol-induced hepatic steatosis and lipid peroxidation when subjected to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism chronic and binge ethanol feeding model.

Experimental Study on Triaxial Compressive Mechanical Properties of Polypropylene Fiber Coral Seawater Concrete.

In order to study the mechanical properties of polypropylene fiber all-coral seawater concrete in triaxial compression, 36 specimens were developed and constructed for triaxial compression load testing employing confining pressure value (0, 6, 12, 18 MPa) and polypropylene fiber admixture (1 kg·m, 2 kg·m, 3 kg·m) as variation parameters. The test observed the failure mode of the specimen and obtained the stress-strain curve of the whole process of its force damage failure. An in-depth analysis of polypropylene fiber all-coral seawater concrete's peak stress, peak strain, initial elastic modulus, axial deflection, energy dissipation, ductility, and damage evolution process was carried out based on the experimental data.