Alternative splicing event associated with immunological features in bladder cancer

Bladder cancer (BLCA) is the most prevalent urinary tumor with few treatments. Alternative splicing (AS) is closely related to tumor development and tumor immune microenvironment. However, the comprehensive analysis of AS and prognosis and immunological features in BLCA is still lacking. In this study, we downloaded RNA-Seq data and clinical information from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database, and AS events were acquired from the TCGA Splice-seq. A total of eight prognostic AS events (C19orf57|47943|ES, ANK3|11845|AP, AK9|77203|AT, GRIK2|77096|AT, DYM|45472|ES, PTGER3|3415|AT, ACTG1|44120|RI, and TRMU|62711|AA) were identified by univariate analysis and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression analysis to construct a risk score model. The Kaplan–Meier analysis revealed that the high-risk group had a worse prognosis compared with the low-risk group. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves (AUCs) for this risk score model in 1, 3, and 5 years were 0.698, 0.742, and 0.772, respectively. One of the prognostic AS event-related genes, TRMU, was differentially expressed between tumor and normal tissues in BLCA. The single-sample gene set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA) and CIBERSORT algorithm showed that both the risk score model and TRMU were significantly associated with tumor immune microenvironment and immune status (immune cells, immune-related pathway, and immune checkpoint) in BLCA patients. The TIMER database confirmed the relationship between the expression of TRMU and immune cells and checkpoint genes. Furthermore, Cytoscape software 3.8.0 was used to construct the regulatory network between AS and splicing factors (SFs). Our study demonstrated that AS events were powerful biomarkers to predict the prognosis and immune status in BLCA, which may be potential therapeutic targets in BLCA

On the Origin of Reversible and Irreversible Reactions in LiNix_{x}Co(1−x)/2_{(1-x)/2}Mn(1−x)/2_{(1-x)/2}O2_{2}

Bond formation and breakage is crucial upon energy storage in lithium transition metal oxides (LiMeO$_{2}$, Me = Ni, Co, Mn), i.e., the conventional cathode materials in Li ion batteries. Near-edge X-ray absorption finestructure spectroscopy (NEXAFS) of the Me L and O K edge performed upon the first discharge of LiNi$_{x}$Co$_{(1-x)/2}$Mn$_{(1-x)/2}$O$_{2}$ (x = 0.33: NCM111, x = 0.6: NCM622, x = 0.8: NCM811) in combination with charge transfer multiplet (CTM) calculations provide unambiguous evidence that redox reactions in NCMs proceed via a reversible oxidation of Ni associated with the formation of covalent bonds to O neighbors, and not, as widely assumed, via pure cationic or more recently discussed, pure anionic redox processes. Correlating these electronic changes with crystallographic data using operando synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction (SXPD) shows that the amount of ionic Ni limits the reversible capacity— at states of charge where all ionic Ni is oxidized (above 155 mAh g$^{-1}$), the lattice parameters collapse, and irreversible reactions are observed. Yet the covalence of the Ni–O bonds also triggers the electronic structure and thus the operation potential of the cathodes

Do Bird Assemblages Predict Susceptibility by E-Waste Pollution? A Comparative Study Based on Species- and Guild-Dependent Responses in China Agroecosystems

Indirect effects of electronic waste (e-waste) have been proposed as a causal factor in the decline of bird populations, but analyses of the severity impacts on community assembly are currently lacking. To explore how population abundance/species diversity are influenced, and which functional traits are important in determining e-waste susceptibility, here we surveyed breeding and overwintering birds with a hierarchically nested sampling design, and used linear mixed models to analyze changes in bird assemblages along an exposure gradient in South China. Total bird abundance and species diversity decreased with e-waste severity (exposed < surrounding < reference), reflecting the decreasing discharge and consequent side effects. Twenty-five breeding species exclusively used natural farmland, and nine species decreased significantly in relative abundance at e-waste polluted sites. A high pairwise similarity between exposed and surrounding sites indicates a diffuse effect of pollutants on the species assembly at local scale. We show that sensitivity to e-waste severity varies substantially across functional guild, with the prevalence of woodland insectivorous and grassland specialists declining, while some open farmland generalists such as arboreal frugivores, and terrestrial granivores were also rare. By contrast, the response of waterbirds, omnivorous and non-breeding visitors seem to be tolerable to a wide range of pollution so far. These findings underscore that improper e-waste dismantling results in a severe decline of bird diversity, and the different bird assemblages on polluted and natural farmlands imply species- and guild-dependent susceptibility with functional traits. Moreover, a better understanding of the impact of e-waste with different pollution levels, combined multiple pollutants, and in a food-web context on bird is required in future

闲聊会话的连续性初探 = An exploratory study of the continuity of casual conversations among Singaporean young Chinese working adults

Master'sMASTER OF ART

Manipulating rhizosphere microorganisms to improve crop yield in saline-alkali soil: a study on soybean growth and development

IntroductionRhizosphere microorganisms can effectively promote the stress resistance of plants, and some beneficial rhizosphere microorganisms can significantly promote the growth of crops under salt stress, which has the potential to develop special microbial fertilizers for increasing the yield of saline-alkali land and provides a low-cost and environmentally friendly new strategy for improving the crop yield of saline-alkali cultivated land by using agricultural microbial technology.MethodsIn May 2022, a field study in a completely randomized block design was conducted at the Heilongjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences to explore the correlation between plant rhizosphere microorganisms and soybean growth in saline-alkali soil. Two soybean cultivars (Hening 531, a salt-tolerant variety, and 20_1846, a salt-sensitive variety) were planted at two experimental sites [Daqing (normal condition) and Harbin (saline-alkali conditions)], aiming to investigate the performance of soybean in saline-alkali environments.ResultsSoybeans grown in saline-alkali soil showed substantial reductions in key traits: plant height (25%), pod number (26.6%), seed yield (33%), and 100 seed weight (13%). This underscores the unsuitability of this soil type for soybean cultivation. Additionally, microbial analysis revealed 43 depleted and 56 enriched operational taxonomic units (OTUs) in the saline-alkali soil compared to normal soil. Furthermore, an analysis of ion-associated microbes identified 85 mOTUs with significant correlations with various ions. A co-occurrence network analysis revealed strong relationships between specific mOTUs and ions, such as Proteobacteria with multiple ions. In addition, the study investigated the differences in rhizosphere species between salt-tolerant and salt-sensitive soybean varieties under saline-alkali soil conditions. Redundancy analysis (RDA) indicated that mOTUs in saline-alkali soil were associated with pH and ions, while mOTUs in normal soil were correlated with Ca2+ and K+. Comparative analyses identified significant differences in mOTUs between salt-tolerant and salt-sensitive varieties under both saline-alkali and normal soil conditions. Planctomycetes, Proteobacteria, and Actinobacteria were dominant in the bacterial community of saline-alkali soil, with significant enrichment compared to normal soil. The study explored the functioning of the soybean rhizosphere key microbiome by comparing metagenomic data to four databases related to the carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur cycles. A total of 141 KOs (KEGG orthologues) were identified, with 66 KOs related to the carbon cycle, 16 KOs related to the nitrogen cycle, 48 KOs associated with the phosphorus cycle, and 11 KOs linked to the sulfur cycle. Significant correlations were found between specific mOTUs, functional genes, and phenotypic traits, including per mu yield (PMY), grain weight, and effective pod number per plant.ConclusionOverall, this study provides comprehensive insights into the structure, function, and salt-related species of soil microorganisms in saline-alkali soil and their associations with salt tolerance and soybean phenotype. The identification of key microbial species and functional categories offers valuable information for understanding the mechanisms underlying plant-microbe interactions in challenging soil conditions

Interrelationship of Pyrogenic Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) Contamination in Different Environmental Media

Interrelationships between pyrogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were assessed in air, soil, water, sediment, and tree leaves by using multi-media monitoring data. Concurrent concentration measurements were taken bimonthly for a year for the multi-media at urban and suburban sites. PAH level correlations between air and other media were observed at the urban site but were less clear at the suburban site. Considering a closer PAHs distribution/fate characteristics to soil than suspended solids, contamination in sediment seemed to be governed primarily by that in soil. The partitioning of PAHs in waters could be better accounted for by sorption onto black carbon and dissolved organic carbon

Hybrid pooling and channel attention‐based single‐shot detector for printed circuit board defect detection

Abstract Automatic defect detection is a key but challenging technology for managing printed circuit board (PCB) production quality. In recent years, deep neural networks (DNNs) have attracted considerable attention for PCB defect detection. However, due to the complexity, diversity, and small‐scale characteristics of defects, it remains a challenge. In this letter, a single‐shot detector (SSD)‐based defects detection method is proposed. This method treats the test and template image as a single image with two channels. In order to reduce the information loss caused by the traditional pooling methods, a new pooling method combining three types of pooling features is proposed. To further improve the detection performance, the channel attention (CA) mechanism is introduced into the detection network. Our proposed method achieves 99.64% mean average precision (mAP) on the DeepPCB dataset, which surpasses the state‐of‐the‐art methods

Recent progress on sunflower broomrape research in China

Broomrape (Orobanche cumana Wallr.) is a holoparasitic plant which parasites sunflower roots. The infected sunflower plants are smaller, have a reduced kernel/husk ratio and yield decreases dramatically. It has become a severe problem for sunflower production all over the world. In recent years, due to importation of sunflower hybrid seeds, frequent local seed transportation and insufficient plant quarantine, broomrape widely occurs in sunflower production areas of China. This review addresses recent research progress on sunflower broomrape in China, focusing on occurrence, potential damage, seed germination mechanisms, physiological race identification, integrated control and breeding of resistant sunflowers. This review should provide useful reference information for future research and also integrated control of sunflower broomrape