Unfavorable Environment Research Articles

Stenotrophomonas maltophilia virulence: a current view.

Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is an opportunistic pathogen intrinsically resistant to multiple and broad-spectrum antibiotics. Although the bacterium is considered a low-virulence pathogen, it can cause various severe diseases and contributes significantly to the pathogenesis of multibacterial infections. During the COVID-19 pandemic, S. maltophilia has been recognized as one of the most common causative agents of respiratory co-infections and bacteremia in critically ill COVID-19 patients. The high ability to adapt to unfavorable environments and new habitat niches, as well as the sophisticated switching of metabolic pathways, are unique mechanisms that attract the attention of clinical researchers and experts studying the fundamental basis of virulence. In this review, we have summarized the current knowledge on the molecular aspects of S. maltophilia virulence and putative virulence factors, partially touched on interspecific bacterial interactions and iron uptake systems in the context of virulence, and have not addressed antibiotic resistance.

Evaluating tracemaker recovery after the Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) boundary event: different biotic responses at the Caravaca section

AbstractTrace fossils are an aid to characterize major extinction events, enriching evolutionary paleoecology research. Ichnological analysis at the Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) marine boundary interval, worldwide, points to a relatively minor disruption in the macrobenthic tracemaker community; that is, trace-fossil assemblages do not change significantly across the K–Pg boundary, showing relatively rapid recovery, locally in just a few years post-impact. To evaluate the incidence of this event and the rapid recovery of the tracemaker community afterwards, the evolution of planktic and benthic groups at the K–Pg boundary interval was analysed in the Caravaca section (Betic Cordillera) based on the integration of available data. In general terms, planktic foraminifera and calcareous nannoplankton dropped in abundance and diversity at the K–Pg boundary, whereas benthic foraminifera did not show significant extinction, but rather a sudden and dramatic decrease in diversity and reorganization. After the K–Pg boundary event, planktic communities exhibit a prolonged delay in recovery—mainly occurring above the dark boundary layer—with respect to benthic foraminifera. The K–Pg boundary event did not induce a severe crisis for the burrowing macroinfauna, as revealed by the similarity between pre- and post-event ichnotaxa, showing a comparatively rapid first colonization phase, less than 2 ky after the event. The record of Zoophycos and Chondrites at the base of the dark boundary layer evidences an opportunistic behaviour of tracemakers and a high independence from oxygen in pore waters and food in the sediment, allowing for the colonization of an overall unfavorable environment.

IMWMOTE: A novel oversampling technique for fault diagnosis in heterogeneous imbalanced data

In the realm of smart manufacturing, the urgent necessity of surmounting the technical hurdles associated with developing data-driven fault monitoring and intelligent diagnostic technologies for high-end equipment is imminent. In practical engineering applications, the challenging operating conditions and unfavorable environments for data collection often lead to the acquisition of health data that is not only constrained in terms of sample size but also exhibits imbalances and heterogeneity, collectively referred to as Small-Sample, Imbalanced, and Mixed-Class Scenarios. This poses a considerable challenge to the interpretability modeling of faults in high-end equipment, as identified by the scientific community. Prior investigations have highlighted the distinct benefits of resampling techniques in addressing the complexities of imbalanced fault modeling. Nevertheless, the suboptimal performance of current techniques remains a concern, primarily due to ambiguous representations of sample feature heterogeneity and the lack of sophisticated sampling balance strategies. For instance, the absence of tailored strategies and concomitant optimization approaches specifically designed for each heterogeneous feature remains a notable gap. In this study, we undertake a comprehensive analysis of the heterogeneity mechanisms inherent in fault feature data, with a particular emphasis on components like turbine rotor faults. Building upon these insights, we introduce a fault diagnosis framework utilizing the novel oversampling technique based-MWMOTE (IMWMOTE), to address these challenges effectively. This comprehensive framework not only ensures interpretability in classification but also seamlessly integrates an optimization mechanism. Notably, the efficacy and innovation of our proposed approach have been thoroughly verified through an extensive evaluation involving 20 fault diagnosis instances across three distinct categories: turbine rotor, bearings, and gears. The experimental outcomes clearly illustrate that IMWMOTE exhibits remarkable advantages in tackling the intricate challenges associated with imbalanced fault modeling, particularly when dealing with small sample heterogeneity. Given its demonstrated proficiency, the proposed approach holds significant potential in guiding interpretable fault modeling efforts in related domains, thus contributing to the advancement of fault diagnosis techniques.

Exploring the impact of endophytic bacteria on mitigating salinity stress in Solanum lycopersicum L.

In the era of climate change, plants are being compelled to adapt and endure progressively in unfavorable environments. Applying biostimulants to plants can improve their growth and resilience by mitigating the adverse effects of abiotic stresses. Endophytes are well-known for promoting plant growth and producing natural compounds. The current study focuses on the ability of endophytic bacteria to increase plant growth and reduce salt stress in tomato plants. Nine isolates from the stems of Fagonia indica and Ajuga bracteosa showed a variety of salt stress tolerances as well as solubilizing phosphate, indole acetic acid, ammonia production, siderophore production, and extracellular enzymes like protease, cellulase, and chitinase. Four Endophytic bacteria Enterobacter hormaechei (MOSEL-FLS1), Stenotrophomonas maltophilia (MOSEL-FLS2), Bacillus subtilis (MOSEL-S8), and Staphylococcus epidermidis (MOSEL-S9) were selected based on plant growth promoting traits and halotolerant assay. These endophytic bacteria were subjected to ex-situ activities to figure out their capacity to stimulate the growth of the tomato plant in the growth room under different concentrations of NaCl (50–200 mM). All bacterial strains stimulated tomato plant growth under salinity stress compared to uninoculated controls. Antioxidant enzymes (SOD and POD), chlorophyll, and proline level in the plants was increased after salt treatment. Moreover, the activity of antioxidant enzymes and their relative transcript levels were dependent on the concentration of salinity stress. These findings highlight the varied microbial community linked to medicinal plants and their capacity to promote plant growth, potentially mitigating salt stress through the regulation of osmolytes and antioxidant enzymes. This makes them promising contenders for biofertilizers.

Corporate Governance and Challenges of Financial Leverage of Privatised Cement Industry in Nigeria

The paper studies new corporate governance and the challenges of financial Leverage of privatised cement industry in Nigeria. The variables studied were leverage ratio as Performance proxy (dependent variables) and fourteen Corporate Governance proxies as independent variables. Data was collected from secondary sources, and the statistical tools employed in the Methodology were Trend Analysis and Pooled OLS regressions. Trend Analysis result suggests that;Devaluation, high cost of importation, insufficient power supply, bank strike, and deflation of global oil prices created capacity underutilization in cement industry and severe burden of financial leverage to sustain operational activities pre privatization. The result also, reveals that, the leverage ratio remarkably declined post privatization, however, the global financial crisis of 2009 inflicted high cost of production on the industry which necessitated increased leverage in order to cushion the effects on operational activities. Inferential Statistics Result suggests that corporate governance has positive and significant impact on the leverage ratio of the industry in general. The study concludes that, despite the challenges of unfavourable macroeconomic environment, the new corporate governance reduced the leverage ratio post privatisation and it has positive and significant impact on the financial leverage of the Cement Industry. The researcher recommends that Nigerian government should ensure favourable macroeconomic environment and improve private sector activities. Collectively, the new Corporate Governance of Cement Industry should strategize on how to; Increase Revenue, profitability, better management of inventory, and restructuring of debt to mitigate increased leverage.

Unveiling employee motivating factors during economic crisis periods: A structural approach

AbstractDespite the unfavourable labour market and work environment conditions that have emerged in the last decade, this study identifies the factors that positively influence employee motivation. The study was conducted in Greece's banking sector, which was at the epicentre of the economic crisis. A new research model is proposed exploring the relationships between employee motivating factors, employee performance and organizational effectiveness. This model is empirically tested using structural equation modelling on data from 328 bank employees. The results are controversial, showing that non‐financial incentives motivate Greek bank employees most, emphasizing their need to stay in their jobs. Highly motivated workers may boost corporate effectiveness by improving employee performance. Even though this study found that non‐financial incentives motivate employees most, management should not overlook financial and job‐related reward programmes. Managers must provide financial compensation, job security, and supportive leadership to reduce employee dissatisfaction and keep employees motivated. Managers should view recognition as an essential component of motivation because it contributes to the creation of an environment that is both productive and efficient for the organization. The conclusions drawn from studying Greece's 10‐year‐long economic crisis are significant because many other countries around the world are experiencing (or may experience) a similar crisis.

Lipidomic analysis by LC-MS/MS of wildtype, mutant and VBNC strains of Francisella tularensis LVS.

Francisella tularensis is one of the many bacteria that can enter a viable but nonculturable state (VBNC). The VBNC state acts as an adaptive strategy that allows for long-term survival of bacteria in unfavorable environments. A defining characteristic of VBNC bacteria is a loss of culturability, making VBNC bacteria difficult to detect in the environment using standard plating assays. Failure to identify VBNC bacteria in the food industry or water distribution centers poses a serious risk to human health. Our preliminary data suggests that lipid metabolism plays a role in VBNC adaptation in F. tularensis. To investigate further, genetic deletion mutants have been constructed from two predicted lipid metabolism genes, FTL_1569 (phosphoglycolate phosphatase) and FTL_1570 (phospholipase D family protein). Lipid extracts were collected from wildtype, mutant and VBNC strains of F. tularensis to determine any lipid species associated with the VBNC state. A single-phase lipid extraction method was used to obtain lipids from F. tularensis cultures grown for 24 hours (culturable) and 336 hours (VBNC). Liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS-MS) and the ThermoFisher Compound Discoverer software were utilized for lipid identification, and comparative analyses. Differences in the lipid profile of wildtype, mutant and VBNC strains of F. tularensis have been identified. (Supported by NIH Grant P20GM103434 to the West Virginia IDeA Network for Biomedical Research Excellence)

PERAN LEMBAGA PENDIDIKAN AL- QUR'AN JABAL IKHWAN DALAM MENGATASI BUTA AKSARA AL- QUR'AN BAGI MASYARAKAT DI DESA GUNUNG LANANG TEGALREJO BAYAT KLATEN TAHUN 2023

The purpose of this study was to determine the role of the Jabal Ikhwan Al- Qur’an Education Institute Gunung Lanang Tegalrejo Bayat Klaten. The approach used in this research is qualitative. Data analysis was used to reduce data, present, and verify data. The results of this study indicate that the role of Jabal Ikhwan Qur’anic Education Institution in combating Qur'anic illiteracy for the community of Gunung Lanang Tegalrejo Bayat Klaten Village is teaching the Qur'an to the community and supporting agents of change. The supporting factors are: hope, encouragement and wise advice from the managers of the Jabal Ikhwan Qur'anic education institution so that they are enthusiastic about learning to read the Qur'an. As for the factors that hinder the eradication of illiteracy and Quranic illiteracy for the community of Gunung Lanang Tegalrejo Bayat Klaten are the lack of self-confidence, the environment of learners or the community. lack of self-confidence, unfavourable environment for learners or the community and lack of support from local authorities.

“Online Teaching in Times of COVID-19 in India and Palestinian Universities: Challenges and Antidotes"

Purpose
 Covid-19 pandemic has influenced universities across the world to make an abrupt shift from face-to-face teaching to digital/online teaching. The present paper investigates challenges experienced by Indian and Palestinian universities while teaching online in times of Covid-19 pandemic.
 Design/methodology/approach
 Data was collected from instructors of four Palestinian and Indian universities using a semi-tailored electronic questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS.
 Findings
 Results showed that unique challenges experienced by four Palestinian and four Indian universities’ instructors when teaching online during the Covid-19 pandemic include difficulty in receiving feedback from students in online classes compared to traditional face-to-face classes; difficulty in categorizing students into sub-groups to facilitate group working; and unfavorable online environment at home because of the presence of other family members and children. On the basis of this study’s findings, universities should prepare for future crises by ensuring instructors are competent and have knowledge in information communication technologies (ICT) as well as take into consideration the development and enhancement of the quality of online (virtual) courses delivered during emergencies.
 Originality
 This paper aims to research the implications involved in online teaching and online learning. Through data collection, this research paper was able to measure the impact and suggest recommendations.
 Practical implications
 Study in the research will contribute to overcome the challenges of stakeholders involved in education profession. Online teaching and learning, both had its own challenge and discomfort whilst implementing it.
 Social implications
 This research will help to strengthen the bond between educators and learners. Online teaching and learning created an unsaid interest and dilution in education world. This research can pave the way to develop better understanding between stakeholders.

Acidic solution irrigation as a novel approach for treating infected walled-off pancreatic necrosis

Walled-off pancreatic necrosis (WOPN) is a severe complication of acute pancreatitis arising from pancreatic or peripancreatic necrosis complicated by infection, leading to elevated mortality rates. Extravasation of pancreatic juice creates a weakly alkaline microenvironment favorable for the survivial of translocated intestinal bacteria and activated pancreatic enzyme-mediated autodigestion of pancreatic and peripancreatic tissues. Conventional treatments for WOPN involve invasive procedures with irrigation to mitigate postoperative infections. However, there remains a lack of a unified standard for lavage fluid. Herein, we raise the hypothesis that the utilization of acidic solution irrigation may serve as a promising strategy for preventing and treating infected WOPN. Acidic solutions create an unfavorable environment for translocated intestinal bacteria in WOPN cases. Additionally, the acidic microenvironment may alleviate self-digestion of pancreatic and peripancreatic tissues by inhibiting pancreatic enzyme activity. This innovative approach holds potential for enhancing the management and outcomes of infected WOPN.

Assessment of the Sustainability of Productive Systems in Nariño, Colombia

Human development must ensure the welfare and survival of an ever-growing population. To assess the impact of agroecosystems on sustainability in Nariño (Colombia), variables related to sustainable development were evaluated through a semi-structured survey conducted with 122 producers from 6 municipalities in the Nariño department. The association between the categorical variables associated with the pillars of sustainability was analyzed using multiple correspondence analysis (MCA). From the MCA, 23 indicators were selected, representing quantitative information on the economic, social, and environmental characteristics of the participants. The municipalities were characterized according to the needs and strengths of the producers. Five groups encompass most characteristics of the producers, which are largely independent of geopolitical conditions. On the other hand, the population characterization indicates that the economic well-being of fruit growers can promote the conservation of natural resources. Finally, a principal component factor analysis (PCFA) was conducted to construct the General Sustainability Index (GSI). A network graph for each municipality revealed that the indicators of the production systems are in an unfavorable environment in almost all aspects related to sustainability. The GSI values reveal unstable agroecological conditions that are causing environmental deterioration, with critical levels in the municipalities of Arboleda, Sandoná, and Providencia. Social investment and public policies must be implemented to improve the economic conditions of the producers, accompanied by legislation on the proper management of natural resources.

The Powerful Influence of Appreciation and Work Environment on Retention in Saudi Arabia's Manufacturing Sector

This study aimed to analyze the impact of appreciation and work environment on the employees’ turnover in the Saudi Manufacturing Sector. The combination of unfavorable work environments and restrictive leadership styles creates significant challenge to talent retention in this sector. Addressing these challenges is crucial to attract and retain skilled individuals. In particular, the researcher observed the impact of manager appreciation and work environment on employees’ performance and how it relates to the employee’s retention. In this context, quantitative and qualitative analysis approaches were used to address the research objectives. Accordingly, 578 employees from this sector had participated in the survey questionnaires. Moreover, 30 employees working in panel boards manufacturing factory were purposely selected to participate in face-to-face interviews for the qualitative part. Findings from the quantitative analysis were verified using qualitative analysis. Results showed that the majority of the participants believed that appreciation and quality of the work environment are significantly impacted their decision to stay or leave the company. The research recommends providing competitive compensation packages, and the organization should invest in employees development, especially in leadership development programs and training which can improve managers and supervisors’ emotional skills, and Encouraging the creation of a healthy and productive work environment.

Assessment of Factors Associated With the Acquisition of Competencies among Undergraduate Nursing Students in Ugandan Universities

Purpose: Like other developing countries, Uganda grapples with the critical challenge of equipping nursing students with essential clinical competencies. These competencies encompass vital nursing skills, knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors crucial for effective nursing practice. This study assessed student perceptions and confidence in applying acquired clinical skills among undergraduate nursing students in Ugandan universities.
 Methodology: A descriptive cross-sectional study was used to assess bachelor's in nursing students from central and western Ugandan universities. Data were entered into Excel and exported to SPSS version 22. Results were presented using frequencies, pie charts, percentages, and tables. Chi-square tests were conducted to assess associations of the variables in the study.
 Findings: The study showed that acquisition of clinical competencies is positively correlated with students’ perceptions (r=0.775) (p=0.000), Institutional factors(r=0.668) (p=0.000), clinical learning environment (r=0.556) (p=0.000), clinical feedback (r=0.439) (p=0.000). The study further shows that 69.9% (n=70) had adequate clinical learning experience, while 31% (n=31) had inadequate clinical learning experience. This implies moderate student supervision, feedback, and an unfavorable clinical learning environment. Competency acquisition in student nurses is positively influenced by the active involvement of students' perceptions, institutional factors, and a supportive clinical learning environment. A sufficient amount of clinical experience is pivotal in developing competent student nurses.
 Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: Management should always invite experienced professionals to share career experiences to enhance realistic perceptions among nursing students. Students should be given more time to practice in clinical settings, and management should advocate for including student attitude tests in orientation programs across nursing and clinical training universities.

Evolution of cooperation on reinforcement-learning driven-adaptive networks.

Complex networks are widespread in real-world environments across diverse domains. Real-world networks tend to form spontaneously through interactions between individual agents. Inspired by this, we design an evolutionary game model in which agents participate in a prisoner's dilemma game (PDG) with their neighboring agents. Agents can autonomously modify their connections with neighbors using reinforcement learning to avoid unfavorable environments. Interestingly, our findings reveal some remarkable results. Exploiting reinforcement learning-based adaptive networks improves cooperation when juxtaposed with existing PDGs performed on homogeneous networks. At the same time, the network's topology evolves from homogeneous to heterogeneous states. This change occurs as players gain experience from past games and become more astute in deciding whether to join PDGs with their current neighbors or disconnect from the least profitable neighbors. Instead, they seek out more favorable environments by establishing connections with second-order neighbors with higher rewards. By calculating the degree distribution and modularity of the adaptive network in a steady state, we confirm that the adaptive network follows a power law and has a clear community structure, indicating that the adaptive network is similar to networks in the real world. Our study reports a new phenomenon in evolutionary game theory on networks. It proposes a new perspective to generate scale-free networks, which is generating scale-free networks by the evolution of homogeneous networks rather than typical ways of network growth and preferential connection. Our results provide new aspects to understanding the network structure, the emergence of cooperation, and the behavior of actors in nature and society.

ADHD: Development of a printable poster for parents, teachers and healthcare professionals

IntroductionADHD is a very frequent reason for consultation in child psychiatry. It affects 2.5% of children and 5% of adults. Diagnosis is clinical. Treatment is based on medication combined with psychosocial interventions.ObjectivesDevelop an ADHD guide for caregivers.MethodsWe carried out a literature review covering the last 5 years using the google scholar and pubmed search engines, including the key words ADHD, in order to produce a printable guide for caregivers working with children, in particular school teachers and healthcare personnel.ResultsAttention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder affecting 5% of school-age children.It is characterized by abnormally high levels of developmental inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity, leading to impaired personal, social, academic or occupational functioning. Because of its pervasiveness, ADHD can interfere negatively with general well-being, as well as with social life, academic performance and the development of social skills, which can lead to low self-esteem.ADHD has multiple etiologies. It is thought to be due to a complex interaction between genes and environment. In fact, genetic vulnerability predisposes to the disorder which, under the influence of an unfavorable environment, expresses itself in clinical symptoms represented by 2 dimensions: inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity.Diagnosis is essentially clinical, and treatment is based on medication combined with psychosocial interventions.ConclusionsADHD is one of the most frequently encountered disorders in general practice, pediatrics and child psychiatry. Early recognition of the disorder enables appropriate management, while limiting the impact of the disease on the functioning of the young person and his or her family.Disclosure of InterestNone Declared

Using transcriptome analysis to reveal the effects of bromoacetamide at drinking water ambient concentrations on the transformation of eDNA carrying ARGs

Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) are frequently detected in drinking water. Transformation of extracellular antibiotic resistance genes (eARGs) is an important pathway for horizontal gene transfer, which facilitates the spread of ARGs among different species. Although most studies have pointed out that the presence of some common carbon-containing disinfection by-products, such as trihalomethanes, can increase the frequency of transformation by increasing the content of reactive oxygen species (ROS), nitrogen-containing disinfection by-products (N-DBPs), such as bromoacetamide (BAcAm), can also induce bacterial resistance to antibiotics by stimulating ROS. However, it is unclear whether such N-DBPs can similarly promote the transformation of ARGs in bacteria. In this study, the effect of BAcAm on the transformation of eDNA carrying ARGs was investigated, and found that DNA integration and repair (ruv, rec), efflux pumps (emr), and genes related to membrane proteins (bam, opm) were up-regulated in E. coli after addition of BAcAm. Furthermore, in addition to analyzing common functional genes, in terms of metabolic gene expression, which is usually overlooked, the genes related to amino acid biosynthesis (pot, arg, lys) were up-regulated while genes related to sulfur metabolism, which has a higher metabolic cost (thi, sssu) were down-regulated, which suggests that E. coli is able to effectively defend itself against the threat posed by BAcAm to its survival. In conclusion, the factors affecting the conversion of eDNA carrying ARGs into E. coli cells by BAcAm were suggested and elaborated that E. coli carrying ARGs can adapt to various unfavorable environments by regulating relevant metabolic mechanisms and survive in drinking water environment for a long period of time.

Quantum aided efficient resource control for connected support in IRS assisted networks

Context:To achieve the vision of all connected world with uninterrupted communication support, 6G technology plays an important role. But the scarce radio spectrum and limited network resources is the main challenge in delivering its promised performance. Objectives:This paper presents an IRS-aided cell free NOMA network model that aims to provide uniform network coverage. The future 6G technology envisions for serving billions of interconnected devices with seamless communication support, data handling capabilities and computational accuracy. But the scarcity of network resources is the main limitation. Thus, the need is to design quantum enabled intelligent and dynamic networks capable of offering extended network capabilities. Proposed work is on intelligent network framework that provides uniform network coverage through efficient resource management for a 6G enabled expanded IoT network. Methods:To enable efficient resource management, a quantum enabled resource control algorithm is proposed that creates user clusters and associates each AP-IRS pair to each cluster. Each AP transmits the superimposed signals of its intended cluster against all the user clusters as in conventional NOMA system. The nodes in each cluster have been assigned unique pilots so as to avoid intracluster interference. The use of IRS enables desired NOMA beamforming such that the effect of unfavourable wireless environment is mitigated. Results:The performance of the IRS-aided cell-free NOMA network is evaluated for average sum rate with different AP transmit power, cluster sizes, IRS reflecting elements and IRS phase shifts. It is shown that at transmit power per AP of 30dBm, the average sum rate of the system improves by 7.52% with the proposed algorithm using equal power allocation scheme. Further, the comparative performance analysis of three different communication systems is carried out to validate the proposed communication model. Conclusion:It is observed that with more number of users per cluster, the average sum rate of the system initially increases for small cluster sizes and then it becomes constant for large cluster sizes. The proposed clustering method outperforms the random clustering approach achieving sum rate of 12.9 bits/s/Hz with N =300 and M= 8. The comparison of different communication scenarios reveals that the maximum sum rate of 12.2 bits/s/Hz is achieved with the proposed model incorporating proposed clustering mechanism. Further, the energy efficiency analysis suggests that energy efficiency improves with N and Pc with proposed clustering approach. The use case scenarios for the integration of quantum computing with IRS technology are also presented.

Contrastive Multiscale Transformer for Image Dehazing.

Images obtained in an unfavorable environment may be affected by haze or fog, leading to fuzzy image details, low contrast, and loss of important information. Recently, significant progress has been achieved in the realm of image dehazing, largely due to the adoption of deep learning techniques. Owing to the lack of modules specifically designed to learn the unique characteristics of haze, existing deep neural network-based methods are impractical for processing images containing haze. In addition, most networks primarily focus on learning clear image information while disregarding potential features in hazy images. To address these limitations, we propose an innovative method called contrastive multiscale transformer for image dehazing (CMT-Net). This method uses the multiscale transformer to enable the network to learn global hazy features at multiple scales. Furthermore, we introduce feature combination attention and a haze-aware module to enhance the network's ability to handle varying concentrations of haze by assigning more weight to regions containing haze. Finally, we design a multistage contrastive learning loss incorporating different positive and negative samples at various stages to guide the network's learning process to restore real and non-hazy images. The experimental findings demonstrate that CMT-Net provides exceptional performance on established datasets and exhibits superior visual outcomes.

The RopGEF Gene Family and Their Potential Roles in Responses to Abiotic Stress in Brassica rapa.

Guanine nucleotide-exchange factors (GEFs) genes play key roles in plant root and pollen tube growth, phytohormone responses, and abiotic stress responses. RopGEF genes in Brassica rapa have not yet been explored. Here, GEF genes were found to be distributed across eight chromosomes in B. rapa and were classified into three subfamilies. Promoter sequence analysis of BrRopGEFs revealed the presence of cis-elements characteristic of BrRopGEF promoters, and these cis-elements play a role in regulating abiotic stress tolerance and stress-related hormone responses. Organ-specific expression profiling demonstrated that BrRopGEFs were ubiquitously expressed in all organs, especially the roots, suggesting that they play a role in diverse biological processes. Gene expression analysis revealed that the expression of BrRopGEF13 was significantly up-regulated under osmotic stress and salt stress. RT-qPCR analysis revealed that the expression of BrRopGEF13 was significantly down-regulated under various types of abiotic stress. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis revealed interactions between RopGEF11, the homolog of BrRopGEF9, and the VPS34 protein in Arabidopsis thaliana, as well as interactions between AtRopGEF1, the homolog of BrRopGEF13 in Arabidopsis, and the ABI1, HAB1, PP2CA, and CPK4 proteins. VPS34, ABI1, HAB1, PP2CA, and CPK4 have previously been shown to confer resistance to unfavorable environments. Overall, our findings suggest that BrRopGEF9 and BrRopGEF13 play significant roles in regulating abiotic stress tolerance. These findings will aid future studies aimed at clarifying the functional characteristics of BrRopGEFs.

UVR8-TCP4-LOX2 module regulates UV-B tolerance in Arabidopsis.

The phytohormone jasmonate (JA) coordinates stress and growth responses to increase plant survival in unfavorable environments. Although JA can enhance plant UV-B stress tolerance, the mechanisms underlying the interaction of UV-B and JA in this response remain unknown. In this study, we demonstrate that the UV RESISTANCE LOCUS 8 - TEOSINTE BRANCHED1, Cycloidea and PCF 4 - LIPOXYGENASE2 (UVR8-TCP4-LOX2) module regulates UV-B tolerance dependent on JA signaling pathway in Arabidopsis thaliana. We show that the nucleus-localized UVR8 physically interacts with TCP4 to increase the DNA-binding activity of TCP4 and upregulate the JA biosynthesis gene LOX2. Furthermore, UVR8 activates the expression of LOX2 in a TCP4-dependent manner. Our genetic analysis also provides evidence that TCP4 acts downstream of UVR8 and upstream of LOX2 to mediate plant responses to UV-B stress. Our results illustrate that the UV-B-dependent interaction of UVR8 and TCP4 serves as an important UVR8-TCP4-LOX2 module, which integrates UV-B radiation and JA signaling and represents a new UVR8 signaling mechanism in plants.