Thin walls of an AZ91 magnesium alloy with fine equiaxed grains were fabricated via cold arc-based wire arc additive manufacturing(CA-WAAM),and the droplet transfer behaviours,microstructures,and mechanical properties...Thin walls of an AZ91 magnesium alloy with fine equiaxed grains were fabricated via cold arc-based wire arc additive manufacturing(CA-WAAM),and the droplet transfer behaviours,microstructures,and mechanical properties were investigated.The results showed that the cold arc process reduced splashing at the moment of liquid bridge breakage and effectively shortened the droplet transfer period.The microstructures of the deposited samples exhibited layered characteristics with alternating distributions of coarse and fine grains.During layer-by-layer deposition,the β-phase precipitated and grew preferentially along grain boundaries,while the fineη-Al_(8)Mn_(5)phase was dispersed in the α-Mg matrix.The mechanical properties of the CA-WAAM deposited sample showed isotropic characteristics.The ultimate tensile strength and elongation in the building direction(BD)were 282.7 MPa and 14.2%,respectively.The microhardness values of the deposited parts were relatively uniform,with an average value of HV 69.6.展开更多
Kolbroek pigs have numerous advantages as an indigenous breed including its contributions to food security. However, there are numerous concerns over the current feed regime that compromises its growth performance and...Kolbroek pigs have numerous advantages as an indigenous breed including its contributions to food security. However, there are numerous concerns over the current feed regime that compromises its growth performance and carcass quality. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the growth performance traits, attainment of puberty, backfat thickness (BFT), and carcass traits when boar fed diets supplemented with 10% (standard diet), 13% and 16% crude protein. Fifteen pigs per protein diets were individually housed and fed <em>ad-libitum</em> for eight weeks in a complete randomised design. Average daily gain (ADG), average daily feed intake (ADFI) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were measured on a weekly basis. At the end of the trial, all boars were slaughtered and carcass quality parameters measured. Pearson’s correlation coefficients were calculated between growth performance parameters. Our data revealed that there was an increase in final body weight, ADG, ADFI accompanied by decreases in BFT and the age of attainment of puberty. There was also a positive correlation between ADFI and ADG (r = 0.78) accompanied by a low positive correlation between ADG and BFT (r = 0.12) with a high negative correlation between FCR and ADG (r = -0.94). The water holding capacity (WHC), dressing percentage and marbling mass appeared to decrease while the eye muscle area increased with protein supplementation of the diet. There were also increases in the lungs, liver, small plus large intestines and stomach with no changes in the pancreas and heart tissues. Accompanying these was observations that the meat colour lightness improved accompanied by a decline in meat redness and yellowness. In conclusion, supplementation of boar diet with increasing crude protein improved the carcass quality and growth performance of Kolbroek boars.展开更多
The Lachlan Orogen of New South Wales,Victoria and eastern Tasmania is the best understood element of the eastern Australian Tasmanides.The Tasmanides encompass continental growth in a Neoproterozoic passive margin se...The Lachlan Orogen of New South Wales,Victoria and eastern Tasmania is the best understood element of the eastern Australian Tasmanides.The Tasmanides encompass continental growth in a Neoproterozoic passive margin setting and a Paleozoic–Mesozoic active margin in east Gondwana,bounded to the east by the Pacific Ocean.In the Ordovician,the supra-subduction zone element in the Lachlan Orogen is the Macquarie Arc.This comprises one minor and three major belts of mafic to intermediate volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks,limestones and intrusions that,with two hiatuses in magmatism,span the Ordovician and extend into the Early Silurian.The three major belts in central New South Wales are separated by Silurian–Devonian rift basins and are therefore,inferred to have been rifted apart during crustal extension.Chemical and isotopic data suggest the Macquarie Arc is intraoceanic,developed on primitive oceanic crust.Despite this,key features such as its longevity,stacked magmatic phases,little deformation and flanking coeval craton-derived turbidites and black shales with no provenance mixing indicate differences from modern intraoceanic arcs.Paleogeographic setting and magmatic evolution of the Macquarie Arc provided perfect conditions for mainly porphyry-related,rich Au-Cu deposits,in the Ordovician,and especially in the Early Silurian after amalgamation of the arc with its flanking terranes.展开更多
Limited knowledge of the genetic causes of male infertility has resulted in few treatment and targeted therapeutic options. Although the ideal approach to identify infertility causing mutations is to conduct studies i...Limited knowledge of the genetic causes of male infertility has resulted in few treatment and targeted therapeutic options. Although the ideal approach to identify infertility causing mutations is to conduct studies in the human population, this approach has progressed slowly due to the limitations described herein. Given the complexity of male fertility, the entire process cannot be modeled in vitro. As such, animal models, in particular mouse models, provide a valuable alternative for gene identification and experimentation. Since the introduction of molecular biology and recent advances in animal model production, there has been a substantial acceleration in the identification and characterization of genes associated with many diseases, including infertility. Three major types of mouse models are commonly used in biomedical research, including knockoutJknockin/gene-trapped, transgenic and chemical-induced point mutant mice. Using these mouse models, over 400 genes essential for male fertility have been revealed. It has, however, been estimated that thousands of genes are involved in the regulation of the complex process of male fertility, as many such genes remain to be characterized. The current review is by no means a comprehensive list of these mouse models, rather it contains examples of how mouse models have advanced our knowledge of post-natal germ cell development and male fertility regulation.展开更多
Soybean(Glycine max(L.) Merr.) is a non-native and non-staple crop in sub-Saharan Africa(SSA) with potential to be a commercial crop owing to its wide range of uses as food, feed,and industrial raw material. Soybean w...Soybean(Glycine max(L.) Merr.) is a non-native and non-staple crop in sub-Saharan Africa(SSA) with potential to be a commercial crop owing to its wide range of uses as food, feed,and industrial raw material. Soybean was first introduced to SSA by Chinese traders in the19 th century and was cultivated as an economic crop as early as 1903 in South Africa. In the past four decades, soybean cultivation area and production in SSA has increased exponentially, from about 20,000 ha and 13,000 t in the early 1970 s to 1,500,000 ha and2,300,000 t in 2016. Soybean yield has been stagnant in SSA for decades at about 1.1 t ha^(-1),much lower than the world average, representing one of the most challenging issues in the soybean industry in SSA. The low soybean yield in SSA can be attributed to the use of poorperforming varieties and to the limited application of fertilizers and rhizobial inoculants in soils with no history of soybean production. South Africa, Nigeria, Zambia, and Uganda are the leading soybean producers in SSA. Soybean research in SSA is conducted by international and national research institutions, including IITA, national soybean improvement programs, universities, and the private sector. Between 1970 and 2011, 195 soybean varieties were released by IITA, private breeders, and national soybean improvement programs in SSA. This paper reviews the history and current state of soybean production and of the utilization and adoption of tropical varieties in SSA, addresses the major soybean yield-limiting factors across the region, and discusses the potential of the soybean industry in SSA. It also highlights soybean improvement efforts and lessons learned from previous soybean improvement efforts and the current progress of some national soybean improvement programs in SSA. Opportunities for scaling up tropical soybean as a major crop across SSA countries are promising.展开更多
The additive manufacturing(AM)process plays an important role in enabling cross-disciplinary research in engineering and personalised medicine.Commercially available clinical tools currently utilised in radiotherapy a...The additive manufacturing(AM)process plays an important role in enabling cross-disciplinary research in engineering and personalised medicine.Commercially available clinical tools currently utilised in radiotherapy are typically based on traditional manufacturing processes,often leading to non-conformal geometries,time-consuming manufacturing process and high costs.An emerging application explores the design and development of patient-specific clinical tools using AM to optimise treatment outcomes among cancer patients receiving radiation therapy.In this review,we:•highlight the key advantages of AM in radiotherapy where rapid prototyping allows for patient-specific manufacture•explore common clinical workflows involving radiotherapy tools such as bolus,compensators,anthropomorphic phantoms,immobilisers,and brachytherapy moulds;and•investigate how current AM processes are exploited by researchers to achieve patient tissuelike imaging and dose attenuations.Finally,significant AM research opportunities in this space are highlighted for their future advancements in radiotherapy for diagnostic and clinical research applications.展开更多
Electrochemical CO_(2) reduction reaction(CO_(2)RR)is a promising process for reducing CO_(2) emissions and producing high-value chemicals.However,this process remains hindered by diffusion-limited mass transfer,low a...Electrochemical CO_(2) reduction reaction(CO_(2)RR)is a promising process for reducing CO_(2) emissions and producing high-value chemicals.However,this process remains hindered by diffusion-limited mass transfer,low activity,and high overpotentials.Here,we controllably prepared hierarchically porous nitrogen-doped carbon,carbon nanosheets,and carbon nanotubes confined single-atom Fe catalysts for electrochemical CO_(2) reduction.The hierarchically porous Fe-N-C(Fe-HP)exhibited prominent performance with a Faradaic efficiency of CO(FECO)up to 80% and a CO partial current density(jCO)of -5.2 mA·cm^(-2) at -0.5 V vs.reversible hydrogen electrode(RHE),far outperforming the single-atom Fe on N-C nanosheets(Fe-NS)and N-C nanotubes(Fe-NT).The detailed characterizations and kinetic analysis revealed that the hierarchically porous structure accelerated the mass transfer and electron transfer processes toward single-atom Fe sites,promoting the desorption of CO and thereby enhancing CO_(2) reduction efficiency.This study provides a promising approach to designing efficient single-atom catalysts with porous structures for energy conversion applications.展开更多
Broad-spectrum photodetectors(PDs)are essential for various health monitoring,night vision,and telecommunications applications,but their detectivity in a wide absorbance region is limited by undesirable electronic res...Broad-spectrum photodetectors(PDs)are essential for various health monitoring,night vision,and telecommunications applications,but their detectivity in a wide absorbance region is limited by undesirable electronic response properties.Colloidal quantum dots(CQDs)are a promising system for broad-spectrum detection,whereas their practical potential is hindered by suboptimal dark current characteristics.To overcome these challenges,we propose a layered architecture comprising CQDs and a bulk heterojunction(BHJ)organic film as a hole transport layer.The integration of PbS CQDs offers multiple benefits,including bandgap tuning for minimizing thermal carriers,surface passivation to reduce recombination rates,and the formation of high-quality interfaces with organic layers,which collectively contribute to suppressing dark current leakage and thermal excitations by suppressing stray electrons.By integrating ITIC into the BHJ film,the device detectability is significantly enhanced,reaching 1013 Jones in the 400–1000 nm spectral range.This improvement is attributed to the higher lowest unoccupied molecular orbital(LUMO)of ITIC molecules,which effectively hinders electron injection.Additionally,J-aggregation-induced molecular stacking and optimized phase separation of BHJ films contribute to the enhanced performance.The integration of diverse materials offers greater flexibility in device design and functionality,enabling the development of more advanced and sophisticated optoelectronic devices.Furthermore,this approach could significantly enhance the theoretical and practical understanding of optoelectronic device engineering,leading to the development of more advanced optoelectronic devices.展开更多
The CTB Water Wall project is a maximal product life cycle utilization concept study by members of the space architecture design community.Its function is to demonstrate a human space activity Cargo Transport Bag(CTB)...The CTB Water Wall project is a maximal product life cycle utilization concept study by members of the space architecture design community.Its function is to demonstrate a human space activity Cargo Transport Bag(CTB)that becomes a primary water recycling membrane element after delivery of cargo,and then a permanent architectural building block for sustainable space habitation after its use in water treatment is complete.As such,it is intended as an experiment in radical life cycle product optimization in an extremely mass-constrained application environment(human space operations).It also introduces some fundamentally interesting concepts in architectural use of waste materials in extreme environments.Finally,it is in some ways a simple,tactile and visual demonstration of how far sustainable product design can be taken,if the motivation and technical justification are present.展开更多
The onset,cessation,and length of the rainy season are crucial for global water resources,agricultural practices,and food security.However,the response of precipitation seasonality to global warming remains uncertain....The onset,cessation,and length of the rainy season are crucial for global water resources,agricultural practices,and food security.However,the response of precipitation seasonality to global warming remains uncertain.In this study,we analyze how global warming levels(GWLs)of 1.5℃ and 2℃ could affect the timing of rainfall onset(RODs),rainfall cessation(RCDs),and the overall duration of the rainy season(LRS)over global land monsoon(GLM)regions using simulations from CMIP6 under the SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5 scenarios.With high model consensus,our results reveal that RODs are projected to occur later over Southern Africa,North Africa,and South America,but earlier over South Asia and Australia,in a warmer climate.The projected early RODs in Australia are more pronounced at the 2℃ GWL under SSP5-8.5.On the other hand,early RCDs are projected over South America and East Asia,while late RCDs are projected over North Africa,with high inter-model agreement.These changes are associated with a future decrease in LRS in most GLM regions.Additionally,we found that continuous warming over 1.5℃ will further reduce the length of the rainy season,especially over the South America,North Africa,and Southern Africa monsoon regions.The findings underscore the urgent need to mitigate global warming.展开更多
Automated classification of gas flow states in blast furnaces using top-camera imagery typically demands a large volume of labeled data,whose manual annotation is both labor-intensive and cost-prohibitive.To mitigate ...Automated classification of gas flow states in blast furnaces using top-camera imagery typically demands a large volume of labeled data,whose manual annotation is both labor-intensive and cost-prohibitive.To mitigate this challenge,we present an enhanced semi-supervised learning approach based on the Mean Teacher framework,incorporating a novel feature loss module to maximize classification performance with limited labeled samples.The model studies show that the proposed model surpasses both the baseline Mean Teacher model and fully supervised method in accuracy.Specifically,for datasets with 20%,30%,and 40%label ratios,using a single training iteration,the model yields accuracies of 78.61%,82.21%,and 85.2%,respectively,while multiple-cycle training iterations achieves 82.09%,81.97%,and 81.59%,respectively.Furthermore,scenario-specific training schemes are introduced to support diverse deployment need.These findings highlight the potential of the proposed technique in minimizing labeling requirements and advancing intelligent blast furnace diagnostics.展开更多
Ore sorting is a preconcentration technology and can dramatically reduce energy and water usage to improve the sustainability and profitability of a mining operation.In porphyry Cu deposits,Cu is the primary target,wi...Ore sorting is a preconcentration technology and can dramatically reduce energy and water usage to improve the sustainability and profitability of a mining operation.In porphyry Cu deposits,Cu is the primary target,with ores usually containing secondary‘pay’metals such as Au,Mo and gangue elements such as Fe and As.Due to sensing technology limitations,secondary and deleterious materials vary in correlation type and strength with Cu but cannot be detected simultaneously via magnetic resonance(MR)ore sorting.Inferring the relationships between Cu and other elemental abundances is particularly critical for mineral processing.The variations in metal grade relationships occur due to the transition into different geological domains.This raises two questions-how to define these geological domains and how the metal grade relationship is influenced by these geological domains.In this paper,linear relationship is assumed between Cu grade and other metal grades.We applies a Bayesian hierarchical(partial-pooling)model to quantify the linear relationships between Cu,Au,and Fe grades from geochemical bore core data.The hierarchical model was compared with two other models-‘complete-pooling’model and‘nopooling’model.Mining blocks were split based on spatial domain to construct hierarchical model.Geochemical bore core data records metal grades measured from laboratory assay with spatial coordinates of sample location.Two case studies from different porphyry Cu deposits were used to evaluate the performance of the hierarchical model.Markov chain Monte Carlo(MCMC)was used to sample the posterior parameters.Our results show that the Bayesian hierarchical model dramatically reduced the posterior predictive variance for metal grades regression compared to the no-pooling model.In addition,the posterior inference in the hierarchical model is insensitive to the choice of prior.The data is wellrepresented in the posterior which indicates a robust model.The results show that the spatial domain can be successfully utilised for metal grade regression.Uncertainty in estimating the relationship between pay metals and both secondary and gangue elements is quantified and shown to be reduced with partial-pooling.Thus,the proposed Bayesian hierarchical model can offer a reliable and stable way to monitor the relationship between metal grades for ore sorting and other mineral processing options.展开更多
Background:Tandem gene repeats naturally occur as important genomic features and determine many traits in living organisms,like human diseases and microbial productivities of target bioproducts.Methods:Here,we develop...Background:Tandem gene repeats naturally occur as important genomic features and determine many traits in living organisms,like human diseases and microbial productivities of target bioproducts.Methods:Here,we developed a bacterial type-II toxin-antitoxin-mediated method to manipulate genomic integration of tandem gene repeats in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and further visualised the evolutionary trajectories of gene repeats.We designed a tri-vector system to introduce toxin-antitoxin-driven gene amplification modules.Results:This system delivered multi-copy gene integration in the form of tandem gene repeats spontaneously and independently from toxin-antitoxin-mediated selection.Inducing the toxin(RelE)expressing via a copper(II)-inducible CUP1 promoter successfully drove the in-situ gene amplification of the antitoxin(RelB)module,resulting in~40 copies of a green fluorescence reporter gene per copy of genome.Copy-number changes,copy-number increase and copy-number decrease,and stable maintenance were visualised using the green fluorescence protein and blue chromoprotein AeBlue as reporters.Copy-number increases happened spontaneously and independent on a selection pressure.Increased copy number was quickly enriched through toxin-antitoxin-mediated selection.Conclusion:In summary,the bacterial toxin-antitoxin systems provide a flexible mechanism to manipulate gene copy number in eukaryotic cells and can be exploited for synthetic biology and metabolic engineering applications.展开更多
Rice was domesticated in Asia(Oryza sativa)and Africa(Oryza glaberrima)from Oryza rufipogon and Oryza bathii,respectively.The Oryza genus has a pantropical distribution.The genetic diversity in Oryza provides an exten...Rice was domesticated in Asia(Oryza sativa)and Africa(Oryza glaberrima)from Oryza rufipogon and Oryza bathii,respectively.The Oryza genus has a pantropical distribution.The genetic diversity in Oryza provides an extensive gene pool to adapt rice to climate change and address future food security.The primary gene pool of domesticated rice includes species that are readily accessible for rice breeding due to ease of crossing,while more distant species are also sources of useful genes that can be recovered with greater difficulty(Figure 1).Advances in genomics and gene editing provide a path for use of this wider diversity.Studies of Oryza species also offer potential insights into rice biology that may be critical for ongoing rice food security.展开更多
Hypoxia is a huge barrier for the development of photodynamic therapy(PDT).Chemodynamic therapy(CDT)could provide a possible solution to this dilemma.In this work,a controlled Schiff-base reaction was conducted betwee...Hypoxia is a huge barrier for the development of photodynamic therapy(PDT).Chemodynamic therapy(CDT)could provide a possible solution to this dilemma.In this work,a controlled Schiff-base reaction was conducted between amido groups on the surface of carbon dots(CDs)and aldehyde groups on aldehyde-modified cellulose nanocrystals(mCNCs)as well as aldehydemCNCs decorated with Fe_(3)O_(4)nanoparticles.In this process,the mCNCs not only prevent the agglomeration of Fe_(3)O_(4)but also form hydrogels with CDs.The CDs act as both photothermal agent and photosensitizer.The hypoxia could be effectively relieved through the Fenton reaction due to the addition of Fe_(3)O_(4),and the·OH produced in the reaction further induces CDT and enhances tumor therapy efficiency.The therapy performance was further verified through in vitro cell experiments and in vivo animal experiments.This convenient method provides inspirations for the design and preparation of advanced biomaterials with multiple functions for cancer therapy.展开更多
Previous studies ia our laboratory have shown that hypothalamic arcuate nucleus (ARC),locus coeruleus (LG) and dorsal raphe nucleus (DR) play an important role in pain modulation and acupuncture analgesia, There is su...Previous studies ia our laboratory have shown that hypothalamic arcuate nucleus (ARC),locus coeruleus (LG) and dorsal raphe nucleus (DR) play an important role in pain modulation and acupuncture analgesia, There is sufficient evidence that LG and DR are main sites concentrated with noradrenergic (NE) and serotonergic (5-HT) neuronal peri-展开更多
Designing ultrathick and hierarchical electrodes is effective to deal with the challenge of high areal capacity and high power density for lithium-ion batteries(LIBs)manufacturing.Here,a thick electrode with hierarchi...Designing ultrathick and hierarchical electrodes is effective to deal with the challenge of high areal capacity and high power density for lithium-ion batteries(LIBs)manufacturing.Here,a thick electrode with hierarchical porous and multidimensional conductive network is fabricated by 3D printing tech-nology,in which both the conducting polymer of poly(3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene):polystyrene sul-fonate(PEDOT:PSS)and graphene oxide(GO)play the dual roles as binders and conductive agents.As a consequence,the 3D-printed thick electrode(~900 mm)with a mass loading of~47 mg/cm^(2) exhibits a good rate capability of 122 mA·h/g at 2 C,a high areal capacity of up to 5.8 mA·h/cm^(2),and stable cycling performance of~95%capacity retention after 100 cycles.Moreover,the C-O-S bond is further confirmed by the spectral analysis and the DFT calculation,which not only hinders the stack of nanosheets but enhances the mechanical stability and electronic conductivity of electrodes.A stable covalent multidi-mensional conductive network constructed by 3D-printing technology provides a new design strategy to improve the performance of LIBs.展开更多
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.51805265)the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities,China(No.30922010921).
文摘Thin walls of an AZ91 magnesium alloy with fine equiaxed grains were fabricated via cold arc-based wire arc additive manufacturing(CA-WAAM),and the droplet transfer behaviours,microstructures,and mechanical properties were investigated.The results showed that the cold arc process reduced splashing at the moment of liquid bridge breakage and effectively shortened the droplet transfer period.The microstructures of the deposited samples exhibited layered characteristics with alternating distributions of coarse and fine grains.During layer-by-layer deposition,the β-phase precipitated and grew preferentially along grain boundaries,while the fineη-Al_(8)Mn_(5)phase was dispersed in the α-Mg matrix.The mechanical properties of the CA-WAAM deposited sample showed isotropic characteristics.The ultimate tensile strength and elongation in the building direction(BD)were 282.7 MPa and 14.2%,respectively.The microhardness values of the deposited parts were relatively uniform,with an average value of HV 69.6.
文摘Kolbroek pigs have numerous advantages as an indigenous breed including its contributions to food security. However, there are numerous concerns over the current feed regime that compromises its growth performance and carcass quality. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the growth performance traits, attainment of puberty, backfat thickness (BFT), and carcass traits when boar fed diets supplemented with 10% (standard diet), 13% and 16% crude protein. Fifteen pigs per protein diets were individually housed and fed <em>ad-libitum</em> for eight weeks in a complete randomised design. Average daily gain (ADG), average daily feed intake (ADFI) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were measured on a weekly basis. At the end of the trial, all boars were slaughtered and carcass quality parameters measured. Pearson’s correlation coefficients were calculated between growth performance parameters. Our data revealed that there was an increase in final body weight, ADG, ADFI accompanied by decreases in BFT and the age of attainment of puberty. There was also a positive correlation between ADFI and ADG (r = 0.78) accompanied by a low positive correlation between ADG and BFT (r = 0.12) with a high negative correlation between FCR and ADG (r = -0.94). The water holding capacity (WHC), dressing percentage and marbling mass appeared to decrease while the eye muscle area increased with protein supplementation of the diet. There were also increases in the lungs, liver, small plus large intestines and stomach with no changes in the pancreas and heart tissues. Accompanying these was observations that the meat colour lightness improved accompanied by a decline in meat redness and yellowness. In conclusion, supplementation of boar diet with increasing crude protein improved the carcass quality and growth performance of Kolbroek boars.
文摘The Lachlan Orogen of New South Wales,Victoria and eastern Tasmania is the best understood element of the eastern Australian Tasmanides.The Tasmanides encompass continental growth in a Neoproterozoic passive margin setting and a Paleozoic–Mesozoic active margin in east Gondwana,bounded to the east by the Pacific Ocean.In the Ordovician,the supra-subduction zone element in the Lachlan Orogen is the Macquarie Arc.This comprises one minor and three major belts of mafic to intermediate volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks,limestones and intrusions that,with two hiatuses in magmatism,span the Ordovician and extend into the Early Silurian.The three major belts in central New South Wales are separated by Silurian–Devonian rift basins and are therefore,inferred to have been rifted apart during crustal extension.Chemical and isotopic data suggest the Macquarie Arc is intraoceanic,developed on primitive oceanic crust.Despite this,key features such as its longevity,stacked magmatic phases,little deformation and flanking coeval craton-derived turbidites and black shales with no provenance mixing indicate differences from modern intraoceanic arcs.Paleogeographic setting and magmatic evolution of the Macquarie Arc provided perfect conditions for mainly porphyry-related,rich Au-Cu deposits,in the Ordovician,and especially in the Early Silurian after amalgamation of the arc with its flanking terranes.
文摘Limited knowledge of the genetic causes of male infertility has resulted in few treatment and targeted therapeutic options. Although the ideal approach to identify infertility causing mutations is to conduct studies in the human population, this approach has progressed slowly due to the limitations described herein. Given the complexity of male fertility, the entire process cannot be modeled in vitro. As such, animal models, in particular mouse models, provide a valuable alternative for gene identification and experimentation. Since the introduction of molecular biology and recent advances in animal model production, there has been a substantial acceleration in the identification and characterization of genes associated with many diseases, including infertility. Three major types of mouse models are commonly used in biomedical research, including knockoutJknockin/gene-trapped, transgenic and chemical-induced point mutant mice. Using these mouse models, over 400 genes essential for male fertility have been revealed. It has, however, been estimated that thousands of genes are involved in the regulation of the complex process of male fertility, as many such genes remain to be characterized. The current review is by no means a comprehensive list of these mouse models, rather it contains examples of how mouse models have advanced our knowledge of post-natal germ cell development and male fertility regulation.
基金supported by the Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Program of CAAS and China Agriculture Research System (CARS-04) awarded to T.Han of CAAS and S.E.Ibrahim of Agricultural Research Corporation(ARC)Soybean Research Program,Wad Medani,Sudan
文摘Soybean(Glycine max(L.) Merr.) is a non-native and non-staple crop in sub-Saharan Africa(SSA) with potential to be a commercial crop owing to its wide range of uses as food, feed,and industrial raw material. Soybean was first introduced to SSA by Chinese traders in the19 th century and was cultivated as an economic crop as early as 1903 in South Africa. In the past four decades, soybean cultivation area and production in SSA has increased exponentially, from about 20,000 ha and 13,000 t in the early 1970 s to 1,500,000 ha and2,300,000 t in 2016. Soybean yield has been stagnant in SSA for decades at about 1.1 t ha^(-1),much lower than the world average, representing one of the most challenging issues in the soybean industry in SSA. The low soybean yield in SSA can be attributed to the use of poorperforming varieties and to the limited application of fertilizers and rhizobial inoculants in soils with no history of soybean production. South Africa, Nigeria, Zambia, and Uganda are the leading soybean producers in SSA. Soybean research in SSA is conducted by international and national research institutions, including IITA, national soybean improvement programs, universities, and the private sector. Between 1970 and 2011, 195 soybean varieties were released by IITA, private breeders, and national soybean improvement programs in SSA. This paper reviews the history and current state of soybean production and of the utilization and adoption of tropical varieties in SSA, addresses the major soybean yield-limiting factors across the region, and discusses the potential of the soybean industry in SSA. It also highlights soybean improvement efforts and lessons learned from previous soybean improvement efforts and the current progress of some national soybean improvement programs in SSA. Opportunities for scaling up tropical soybean as a major crop across SSA countries are promising.
基金This research was conducted by the Australian Research Council Industrial Transformation Training Centre in Additive Biomanufacturing(IC160100026).The support of the Gross Foundation is also acknowledged.
文摘The additive manufacturing(AM)process plays an important role in enabling cross-disciplinary research in engineering and personalised medicine.Commercially available clinical tools currently utilised in radiotherapy are typically based on traditional manufacturing processes,often leading to non-conformal geometries,time-consuming manufacturing process and high costs.An emerging application explores the design and development of patient-specific clinical tools using AM to optimise treatment outcomes among cancer patients receiving radiation therapy.In this review,we:•highlight the key advantages of AM in radiotherapy where rapid prototyping allows for patient-specific manufacture•explore common clinical workflows involving radiotherapy tools such as bolus,compensators,anthropomorphic phantoms,immobilisers,and brachytherapy moulds;and•investigate how current AM processes are exploited by researchers to achieve patient tissuelike imaging and dose attenuations.Finally,significant AM research opportunities in this space are highlighted for their future advancements in radiotherapy for diagnostic and clinical research applications.
基金supported by the Australian Research Council(ARC)through Future Fellowship(FT210100298)Discovery Project(DP220100603)+5 种基金Linkage Project(LP210200504,LP220100088,LP230200897)Industrial Transformation Research Hub(IH240100009)schemesthe China Postdoctoral Science Foundation(2023M743430)the Australian Government through the Cooperative Research Centres Projects(CRCPXIII000077)the Australian Renewable Energy Agency(ARENA)as part of ARENA’s Transformative Research Accelerating Commercialisation Program(TM021)European Commission's Australia-Spain Network for Innovation and Research Excellence(AuSpire).
文摘Electrochemical CO_(2) reduction reaction(CO_(2)RR)is a promising process for reducing CO_(2) emissions and producing high-value chemicals.However,this process remains hindered by diffusion-limited mass transfer,low activity,and high overpotentials.Here,we controllably prepared hierarchically porous nitrogen-doped carbon,carbon nanosheets,and carbon nanotubes confined single-atom Fe catalysts for electrochemical CO_(2) reduction.The hierarchically porous Fe-N-C(Fe-HP)exhibited prominent performance with a Faradaic efficiency of CO(FECO)up to 80% and a CO partial current density(jCO)of -5.2 mA·cm^(-2) at -0.5 V vs.reversible hydrogen electrode(RHE),far outperforming the single-atom Fe on N-C nanosheets(Fe-NS)and N-C nanotubes(Fe-NT).The detailed characterizations and kinetic analysis revealed that the hierarchically porous structure accelerated the mass transfer and electron transfer processes toward single-atom Fe sites,promoting the desorption of CO and thereby enhancing CO_(2) reduction efficiency.This study provides a promising approach to designing efficient single-atom catalysts with porous structures for energy conversion applications.
基金the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grants 12204272,52073162,52272157)Taishan Scholars Program(Grant tstp20230610)+2 种基金Shandong Provincial Natural Science Foundation(Grants ZR2022YQ04,ZR2021QF016)State Key Laboratory of Crystal Materials(Grant KF2209)the Hubei Longzhong Laboratory(Grant 2022KF-01)for financial support.
文摘Broad-spectrum photodetectors(PDs)are essential for various health monitoring,night vision,and telecommunications applications,but their detectivity in a wide absorbance region is limited by undesirable electronic response properties.Colloidal quantum dots(CQDs)are a promising system for broad-spectrum detection,whereas their practical potential is hindered by suboptimal dark current characteristics.To overcome these challenges,we propose a layered architecture comprising CQDs and a bulk heterojunction(BHJ)organic film as a hole transport layer.The integration of PbS CQDs offers multiple benefits,including bandgap tuning for minimizing thermal carriers,surface passivation to reduce recombination rates,and the formation of high-quality interfaces with organic layers,which collectively contribute to suppressing dark current leakage and thermal excitations by suppressing stray electrons.By integrating ITIC into the BHJ film,the device detectability is significantly enhanced,reaching 1013 Jones in the 400–1000 nm spectral range.This improvement is attributed to the higher lowest unoccupied molecular orbital(LUMO)of ITIC molecules,which effectively hinders electron injection.Additionally,J-aggregation-induced molecular stacking and optimized phase separation of BHJ films contribute to the enhanced performance.The integration of diverse materials offers greater flexibility in device design and functionality,enabling the development of more advanced and sophisticated optoelectronic devices.Furthermore,this approach could significantly enhance the theoretical and practical understanding of optoelectronic device engineering,leading to the development of more advanced optoelectronic devices.
文摘The CTB Water Wall project is a maximal product life cycle utilization concept study by members of the space architecture design community.Its function is to demonstrate a human space activity Cargo Transport Bag(CTB)that becomes a primary water recycling membrane element after delivery of cargo,and then a permanent architectural building block for sustainable space habitation after its use in water treatment is complete.As such,it is intended as an experiment in radical life cycle product optimization in an extremely mass-constrained application environment(human space operations).It also introduces some fundamentally interesting concepts in architectural use of waste materials in extreme environments.Finally,it is in some ways a simple,tactile and visual demonstration of how far sustainable product design can be taken,if the motivation and technical justification are present.
基金supported by the Australian Research Council(Grant No.CE230100012)。
文摘The onset,cessation,and length of the rainy season are crucial for global water resources,agricultural practices,and food security.However,the response of precipitation seasonality to global warming remains uncertain.In this study,we analyze how global warming levels(GWLs)of 1.5℃ and 2℃ could affect the timing of rainfall onset(RODs),rainfall cessation(RCDs),and the overall duration of the rainy season(LRS)over global land monsoon(GLM)regions using simulations from CMIP6 under the SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5 scenarios.With high model consensus,our results reveal that RODs are projected to occur later over Southern Africa,North Africa,and South America,but earlier over South Asia and Australia,in a warmer climate.The projected early RODs in Australia are more pronounced at the 2℃ GWL under SSP5-8.5.On the other hand,early RCDs are projected over South America and East Asia,while late RCDs are projected over North Africa,with high inter-model agreement.These changes are associated with a future decrease in LRS in most GLM regions.Additionally,we found that continuous warming over 1.5℃ will further reduce the length of the rainy season,especially over the South America,North Africa,and Southern Africa monsoon regions.The findings underscore the urgent need to mitigate global warming.
基金financial support provided by the Natural Science Foundation of Hebei Province,China(No.E2024105036)the Tangshan Talent Funding Project,China(Nos.B202302007 and A2021110015)+1 种基金the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.52264042)the Australian Research Council(No.IH230100010)。
文摘Automated classification of gas flow states in blast furnaces using top-camera imagery typically demands a large volume of labeled data,whose manual annotation is both labor-intensive and cost-prohibitive.To mitigate this challenge,we present an enhanced semi-supervised learning approach based on the Mean Teacher framework,incorporating a novel feature loss module to maximize classification performance with limited labeled samples.The model studies show that the proposed model surpasses both the baseline Mean Teacher model and fully supervised method in accuracy.Specifically,for datasets with 20%,30%,and 40%label ratios,using a single training iteration,the model yields accuracies of 78.61%,82.21%,and 85.2%,respectively,while multiple-cycle training iterations achieves 82.09%,81.97%,and 81.59%,respectively.Furthermore,scenario-specific training schemes are introduced to support diverse deployment need.These findings highlight the potential of the proposed technique in minimizing labeling requirements and advancing intelligent blast furnace diagnostics.
基金This research was funded by the CSIRO ResearchPlus Science Leader Grant Program.
文摘Ore sorting is a preconcentration technology and can dramatically reduce energy and water usage to improve the sustainability and profitability of a mining operation.In porphyry Cu deposits,Cu is the primary target,with ores usually containing secondary‘pay’metals such as Au,Mo and gangue elements such as Fe and As.Due to sensing technology limitations,secondary and deleterious materials vary in correlation type and strength with Cu but cannot be detected simultaneously via magnetic resonance(MR)ore sorting.Inferring the relationships between Cu and other elemental abundances is particularly critical for mineral processing.The variations in metal grade relationships occur due to the transition into different geological domains.This raises two questions-how to define these geological domains and how the metal grade relationship is influenced by these geological domains.In this paper,linear relationship is assumed between Cu grade and other metal grades.We applies a Bayesian hierarchical(partial-pooling)model to quantify the linear relationships between Cu,Au,and Fe grades from geochemical bore core data.The hierarchical model was compared with two other models-‘complete-pooling’model and‘nopooling’model.Mining blocks were split based on spatial domain to construct hierarchical model.Geochemical bore core data records metal grades measured from laboratory assay with spatial coordinates of sample location.Two case studies from different porphyry Cu deposits were used to evaluate the performance of the hierarchical model.Markov chain Monte Carlo(MCMC)was used to sample the posterior parameters.Our results show that the Bayesian hierarchical model dramatically reduced the posterior predictive variance for metal grades regression compared to the no-pooling model.In addition,the posterior inference in the hierarchical model is insensitive to the choice of prior.The data is wellrepresented in the posterior which indicates a robust model.The results show that the spatial domain can be successfully utilised for metal grade regression.Uncertainty in estimating the relationship between pay metals and both secondary and gangue elements is quantified and shown to be reduced with partial-pooling.Thus,the proposed Bayesian hierarchical model can offer a reliable and stable way to monitor the relationship between metal grades for ore sorting and other mineral processing options.
基金supported partially by the Australian Government through the Australian Research Council Centres of Excellence funding scheme(project CE200100029)。
文摘Background:Tandem gene repeats naturally occur as important genomic features and determine many traits in living organisms,like human diseases and microbial productivities of target bioproducts.Methods:Here,we developed a bacterial type-II toxin-antitoxin-mediated method to manipulate genomic integration of tandem gene repeats in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and further visualised the evolutionary trajectories of gene repeats.We designed a tri-vector system to introduce toxin-antitoxin-driven gene amplification modules.Results:This system delivered multi-copy gene integration in the form of tandem gene repeats spontaneously and independently from toxin-antitoxin-mediated selection.Inducing the toxin(RelE)expressing via a copper(II)-inducible CUP1 promoter successfully drove the in-situ gene amplification of the antitoxin(RelB)module,resulting in~40 copies of a green fluorescence reporter gene per copy of genome.Copy-number changes,copy-number increase and copy-number decrease,and stable maintenance were visualised using the green fluorescence protein and blue chromoprotein AeBlue as reporters.Copy-number increases happened spontaneously and independent on a selection pressure.Increased copy number was quickly enriched through toxin-antitoxin-mediated selection.Conclusion:In summary,the bacterial toxin-antitoxin systems provide a flexible mechanism to manipulate gene copy number in eukaryotic cells and can be exploited for synthetic biology and metabolic engineering applications.
文摘Rice was domesticated in Asia(Oryza sativa)and Africa(Oryza glaberrima)from Oryza rufipogon and Oryza bathii,respectively.The Oryza genus has a pantropical distribution.The genetic diversity in Oryza provides an extensive gene pool to adapt rice to climate change and address future food security.The primary gene pool of domesticated rice includes species that are readily accessible for rice breeding due to ease of crossing,while more distant species are also sources of useful genes that can be recovered with greater difficulty(Figure 1).Advances in genomics and gene editing provide a path for use of this wider diversity.Studies of Oryza species also offer potential insights into rice biology that may be critical for ongoing rice food security.
基金Ministry of Education Joint Foundation(No.6141A02022264)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.51672173,U1733130,and 81770934)+3 种基金Shanghai Science and Technology Committee(Nos.21ZR1435700,18520744700,and 18JC1410500)Translational Medicine National Key Science and Technology Infrastructure(Shanghai)Open Project(No.TMSK2020128)Shanghai Municipal Education Commission-Gaofeng Clinical Medicine Grant Support(No.20181810)Clinical research MDT project of the Ninth People's Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine(No.201905).
文摘Hypoxia is a huge barrier for the development of photodynamic therapy(PDT).Chemodynamic therapy(CDT)could provide a possible solution to this dilemma.In this work,a controlled Schiff-base reaction was conducted between amido groups on the surface of carbon dots(CDs)and aldehyde groups on aldehyde-modified cellulose nanocrystals(mCNCs)as well as aldehydemCNCs decorated with Fe_(3)O_(4)nanoparticles.In this process,the mCNCs not only prevent the agglomeration of Fe_(3)O_(4)but also form hydrogels with CDs.The CDs act as both photothermal agent and photosensitizer.The hypoxia could be effectively relieved through the Fenton reaction due to the addition of Fe_(3)O_(4),and the·OH produced in the reaction further induces CDT and enhances tumor therapy efficiency.The therapy performance was further verified through in vitro cell experiments and in vivo animal experiments.This convenient method provides inspirations for the design and preparation of advanced biomaterials with multiple functions for cancer therapy.
基金Project supported by the Science Fund of Academia Sinica (82, No. 100).
文摘Previous studies ia our laboratory have shown that hypothalamic arcuate nucleus (ARC),locus coeruleus (LG) and dorsal raphe nucleus (DR) play an important role in pain modulation and acupuncture analgesia, There is sufficient evidence that LG and DR are main sites concentrated with noradrenergic (NE) and serotonergic (5-HT) neuronal peri-
基金supported by the Key Research of Gansu Province(21ZD4GA031)Development Program of Gansu Province(21YF5GA079)Excellent Postgraduate Innovation Star Project of Gansu Province(2022CXZX-422).
文摘Designing ultrathick and hierarchical electrodes is effective to deal with the challenge of high areal capacity and high power density for lithium-ion batteries(LIBs)manufacturing.Here,a thick electrode with hierarchical porous and multidimensional conductive network is fabricated by 3D printing tech-nology,in which both the conducting polymer of poly(3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene):polystyrene sul-fonate(PEDOT:PSS)and graphene oxide(GO)play the dual roles as binders and conductive agents.As a consequence,the 3D-printed thick electrode(~900 mm)with a mass loading of~47 mg/cm^(2) exhibits a good rate capability of 122 mA·h/g at 2 C,a high areal capacity of up to 5.8 mA·h/cm^(2),and stable cycling performance of~95%capacity retention after 100 cycles.Moreover,the C-O-S bond is further confirmed by the spectral analysis and the DFT calculation,which not only hinders the stack of nanosheets but enhances the mechanical stability and electronic conductivity of electrodes.A stable covalent multidi-mensional conductive network constructed by 3D-printing technology provides a new design strategy to improve the performance of LIBs.
