Spatial heterogeneity of soil factors enhances intraspecific variation in plant functional traits in a desert ecosystem.

Introduction: Functional traits of desert plants exhibit remarkable responsiveness, adaptability and plasticity to environmental heterogeneity.

Methods: In this study, we measured six crucial plant functional traits (leaf carbon, leaf nitrogen, leaf phosphorus, leaf thickness, chlorophyll concentration, and plant height) and employed exemplar analysis to elucidate the effects of soil environmental heterogeneity on intraspecific traits variation in the high-moisture-salinity and low-moisture-salinity habitats of the Ebinur LakeWetland National Nature Reserve.

Results: The results showed that (1) The soil moisture and electrical conductivity heterogeneity showed significant differences between the two moisture-salinity habitats.

Insights into plutonium in marine biota along the coast of China.

Radiation risk through seafood consumption is a big public concern under the discharge of nuclear contaminated water. Plutonium is an important radionuclide in view of radiation risk due to its high radiological and chemical toxicity, as well as consistent presence in the environment. The distribution and level of plutonium isotopes (Pu, Pu) in marine biota collected along the coast of China in 2022-2023 were investigated.

Higher CSF sTREM2 attenuates APOE ε4-related risk for amyloid pathology in cognitively intact adults: The CABLE study.

The triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 (TREM2) is a transmembrane protein found in microglia within the brain, and its soluble form (sTREM2) has been shown to reduce amyloid deposition. Whether elevated TREM2-mediated microglial activity decreases the risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is unclear. The aim of this study was to assess whether high cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of sTREM2 attenuate the risk of APOE ε4-associated amyloid pathology.

Whole-Genome Identification and Characterization of the DKK Gene Family and Its Transcription Profiles: An Analysis of the Chinese Soft-Shell Turtle ().

The DKK family is a canonical small family of WNT antagonists. Though recent studies have suggested that the DKK gene family may be involved in sex differentiation in , there are still a lot of things about the DKK gene family that we do not know. In this study, we used bioinformatics methods to identify members of the DKK gene family in and analyzed their phylogeny, covariance, gene structure, structural domains, promoter conserved sites, signal peptides, gonadal transcription factors, transcriptional profiles, and tissue expression profiles.

Nanofluidic memristor based on the elastic deformation of nanopores with nanoparticle adsorption.

The memristor is the building block of neuromorphic computing. We report a new type of nanofluidic memristor based on the principle of elastic strain on polymer nanopores. With nanoparticles absorbed at the wall of a single conical polymer nanopore, we find a pinched hysteresis of the current within a scanning frequency range of 0.

Identification of Sex-Specific Markers and Candidate Genes Using WGS Sequencing Reveals a ZW-Type Sex-Determination System in the Chinese Soft-Shell Turtle ().

Male and female Chinese soft-shelled turtles () have sex-dimorphic growth patterns, and males have higher commercial value because of their larger size and thicker calipash. Thus, developing sex-specific markers is beneficial to studies on all-male breeding in . Here, we developed an accurate and efficient workflow for the screening of sex-specific sequences with ZW or XY sex determination systems.

Comparative genomic survey and functional analysis of DKKL1 during spermatogenesis in the Chinese soft-shelled turtle (Pelodiscus sinensis).

A feature of the Chinese soft-shelled turtle (Pelodiscus sinensis) is seasonal spermatogenesis; however, the underlying molecular mechanism is not well clarified. Here, we firstly cloned and characterized P. sinensis DKKL1, and then performed comparative genomic studies, expression analysis, and functional validation.

Genome-wide identification, evolution and expression analysis of bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) gene family in chinese soft-shell turtle ().

Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) play a crucial role in bone formation and differentiation. Recent RNA-Seq results suggest that BMPs may be involved in the sex differentiation of , yet more relevant studies about BMPs in are lacking. Herein, we identified BMP gene family members, analyzed the phylogeny, collinear relationship, scaffold localization, gene structures, protein structures, transcription factors and dimorphic expression by using bioinformatic methods based on genomic and transcriptomic data of .

TiC 2D MXene: Recent Progress and Perspectives in Photocatalysis.

In 2011, with the successful isolation of TiC, a door of 2D layered MXene has been opened and received growing attention from researchers. MXene refers to a family of two-dimensional (2D) materials made up of atomic layers of the transition metal, carbide, nitrides, or carbonitrides. Given the large surface area, adjustable surface terminal groups, and excellent conductivity of MXene, it has shown exciting potential in photocatalysis, energy conversion, and many other fields.

Copper(I)-Catalyzed Aerobic Oxidation of α-Diazoesters.

A practical Cu-catalyzed oxidation of α-diazoesters to α-ketoesters using molecular oxygen as an oxidant has been developed. Both electron-poor and electron-rich aryl α-diazoesters are suitable substrates and provide the α-ketoesters in good yields. In this oxidative system, α-diazo-β-ketoesters are also compatible as substrates but unexpectedly furnish α-ketoesters via C-C bond cleavage, rather than the vicinal tricarbonyl products.

Dimension Reduction for Hyperspectral Remote Sensor Data Based on Multi-Objective Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm and Game Theory.

Information entropy and interclass separability are adopted as the evaluation criteria of dimension reduction for hyperspectral remote sensor data. However, it is rather single-faceted to simply use either information entropy or interclass separability as evaluation criteria, and will lead to a single-target problem. In this case, the chosen optimal band combination may be unfavorable for the improvement of follow-up classification accuracy.

Oxidative α-Trichloromethylation of Tertiary Amines: An Entry to α-Amino Acid Esters.

α-Trichloromethylation of tertiary amines with trimethyl(trichloromethyl)silane by oxidative coupling, using DDQ as an oxidant, has been realized. The reaction is instantaneous, is scalable, and tolerates a broad range of functional groups and heteroarenes. The trichloromethylated products can be easily converted into β,β-dichloroamines, enamines, and α-amino acid esters under operationally simple conditions.

Deep Belief Network for Spectral⁻Spatial Classification of Hyperspectral Remote Sensor Data.

With the development of high-resolution optical sensors, the classification of ground objects combined with multivariate optical sensors is a hot topic at present. Deep learning methods, such as convolutional neural networks, are applied to feature extraction and classification. In this work, a novel deep belief network (DBN) hyperspectral image classification method based on multivariate optical sensors and stacked by restricted Boltzmann machines is proposed.

Hyperspectral Remote Sensing Image Classification Based on Maximum Overlap Pooling Convolutional Neural Network.

In a traditional convolutional neural network structure, pooling layers generally use an average pooling method: a non-overlapping pooling. However, this condition results in similarities in the extracted image features, especially for the hyperspectral images of a continuous spectrum, which makes it more difficult to extract image features with differences, and image detail features are easily lost. This result seriously affects the accuracy of image classification.

Grey Model Optimized by Particle Swarm Optimization for Data Analysis and Application of Multi-Sensors.

Data on the effective operation of new pumping station is scarce, and the unit structure is complex, as the temperature changes of different parts of the unit are coupled with multiple factors. The multivariable grey system prediction model can effectively predict the multiple parameter change of a nonlinear system model by using a small amount of data, but the value of its parameters greatly influences the prediction accuracy of the model. Therefore, the particle swarm optimization algorithm is used to optimize the parameters and the multi-sensor temperature data of a pumping station unit is processed.

Suppression of STIM1 inhibits the migration and invasion of human prostate cancer cells and is associated with PI3K/Akt signaling inactivation.

Store-operated calcium entry (SOCE) plays an important role in the invasion and migration of cancer cells. Stromal-interacting molecule 1 (STIM1) is a critical component in the SOCE. STIM1 has been attracting more and more attention due to its oncogenic potential.

Comparison of 120 W 2-μm laser resection of the prostate outcomes in patients with or without preoperative urinary retention.

Introduction: The 2-μm (thulium) laser is a new surgical laser for benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).

Aim: To report on the long-term outcome of 120 W TmLRP-TT in BPH patients with or without preoperative urinary retention.

Material And Methods: The study was conducted from May 2013 to April 2015 among patients who were diagnosed with BPH and underwent TmLRP-TT.

Effects of dietary protein and energy levels on digestive enzyme activities and electrolyte composition in the small intestinal fluid of geese.

The present study was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary protein and energy levels on digestive enzymes and electrolyte composition in jejunum of geese. A 3×3 factorial and completely randomized design was adopted with three protein levels and three energy levels. The experiment included four replicates for each treatment, and three geese for each replicate.

Form-cue invariant second-order neuronal responses to contrast modulation in primate area V2.

A fundamental task of the visual system is to extract figure-ground boundaries between images of objects, which in natural scenes are often defined not only by luminance differences but also by "second-order" contrast or texture differences. Responses to contrast modulation (CM) and other second-order stimuli have been extensively studied in human psychophysics, but the neuronal substrates of second-order responses in nonhuman primates remain poorly understood. In this study, we have recorded single neurons in area V2 of macaque monkeys, using both CM patterns as well as conventional luminance modulation (LM) gratings.

Functional degradation of the primary visual cortex during early senescence in rhesus monkeys.

Visual function in humans degrades during the early stage of senescence beginning from middle 50s to 60s. To identify its underlying neural mechanisms, we investigated the aging effects on the primary visual cortex (V1) cells in early senescent (ES) monkeys (Macaca mulatta). Under anesthesia, receptive field properties of V1 cells were examined by extracellular single-unit recordings in the young adult (YA; 5-6 years old), ES (19-24 years old), and late senescent (LS; 28-32 years old) monkeys.

catena-Poly[[diaqua-cobalt(II)]-μ(2)-7-oxa-bicyclo-[2.2.1]heptane-2,3-dicarboxyl-ato-κO,O,O:O].

The polymeric title complex, [Co(C(8)H(8)O(5))(H(2)O)(2)](n) was synthesized by reaction of cobalt acetate with 7-oxabicyclo-[2,2,1]heptane-2,3-dicarb-oxy-lic anhydride. The Co(II) ion is six-coordinated in a distorted octa-hedral environment, binding to two water O atoms, to the ether O atom of the bicyclo-heptane unit, to two carboxyl-ate O atoms from two different carboxyl-ate groups of the same anion and to one carboxyl-ate O atom from a symmetry-related anion. The bridging character of the dianion leads to the formation of ribbons along [001].

Robust active stereo vision using Kullback-Leibler divergence.

Active stereo vision is a method of 3D surface scanning involving the projecting and capturing of a series of light patterns where depth is derived from correspondences between the observed and projected patterns. In contrast, passive stereo vision reveals depth through correspondences between textured images from two or more cameras. By employing a projector, active stereo vision systems find correspondences between two or more cameras, without ambiguity, independent of object texture.

Period coded phase shifting strategy for real-time 3-D structured light illumination.

Phase shifting structured light illumination for range sensing involves projecting a set of grating patterns where accuracy is determined, in part, by the number of stripes. However, high pattern frequencies introduce ambiguities during phase unwrapping. This paper proposes a process for embedding a period cue into the projected pattern set without reducing the signal-to-noise ratio.

The sexual difference of aging-associated functional degradation in visual cortical cells of rats.

Function of visual cortical cells declines during normal aging. Whether there are sex-related differences in this functional degradation is still unknown. In the present study we compared the properties of adaptation, onset latency, and signal-to-noise ratio of visual cortical cells between age-matched sexes in order to investigate any sex related difference.

Maximum SNR pattern strategy for phase shifting methods in structured light illumination.

Structured light illumination by means of phase shifting patterns is a widely employed method for three-dimensional (3-D) image acquisition that is robust to ambient light and object albedo but may be especially susceptible to sensor and environment noise. In this paper, we study the specific technique of phase measuring profilometry (PMP) and the maximization of a pattern's signal to noise ratio (SNR). By treating the design of an N-pattern PMP process as placing points in an N-dimensional coding space, we define a pattern's SNR in terms of a pattern set's computational length and the number of coded phase periods in the projected patterns.