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Ralstonia solanacearum is a widespread plant bacterial pathogen that can launch a range of type III effectors (T3Es) to cause disease. In this study, we isolate a pathogenic R. solanacearum strain named P380 from tomato rhizosphere. Five out of 12 core T3Es of strain P380 are introduced into Pseudomonas syringae DC3000D36E separately to determine their functions in interacting with plants. DC3000D36E that harbors each effector suppresses FliC-triggered Pti5 and ACRE31 expression, ROS burst, and callose deposition. RipAE, RipU, and RipW elicit cell death, as well as upregulate the MAPK cascades in Nicotiana benthamiana. The derivatives RipC1

Aiming at the joint scheduling problem of AGV and shore bridge in automatic container terminal, considering the waiting and power exchange process of AGV, a mixed integer programming model with the goal of minimizing the final completion time of AGV is constructed. The model considers the changes of buffer area, AGV power and the power consumption differences of AGV in light load, heavy load and waiting state. Genetic algorithm (GA) is used to solve it. Finally, through the analysis of different scale examples, the optimal allocation of shore bridges, the number of AGVs and the AGV power exchange threshold are obtained, so as to reduce the waiting time and the overall completion time.

In the postharvest processing of tea leaves, withering is the first indispensable manufacturing process which produces the mellow, umami and sweet taste of white tea. In this study, we aimed to determine the dynamic changes of the main metabolites and clarify the key differentially expressed genes (DEGs) involved in forming the characteristic taste of white tea during withering. Phytochemical analyses revealed that the contents of total catechins and starch decreased continuously, whereas the contents of theaflavin, γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), maltose, and soluble sugars increased significantly during withering (from 0–48 h). Meanwhile, the elevation of α-amylase (AMY), β-amylase (BAM), total amylase, and glutamate decarboxylase (GAD) activities may be correlated with the accumulation of GABA and maltose. By transcriptome sequencing, we detected 9 707, 15 921, 17 353, and 17 538 DEGs at 12, 24, 36, and 48 h of the withering process, respectively, compared with 0 h sample (fresh leaves). The transcript levels of most of the DEGs involved in catechin biosynthesis were significantly inhibited, whereas those involved in catechin oxidation were significantly up-regulated, which could be correlated to a decrease in catechin content and an increase in theaflavin content. The DEGs involved in GABA biosynthesis were considerably up-regulated, and the down-regulation of SPMS could reduce the competition for converting spermidine to GABA. The up-regulation of the AMY and BAM genes could trigger starch degradation, resulting in the increase of soluble sugar content. These results provide new insights into the importance of the withering process to the characteristic taste of white tea.

CCCH (C3H) Zinc finger (Znf) transcription factors (TFs), as a novel type of Znf gene, regulate the expression of genes by binding to their mRNAs and play important roles in plant growth and development and abiotic stress resistance. Longan (Dimocarpous longan) is a tropical/subtropical fruit tree of great economic importance in Southeast Asia. However, genomic information on C3H and their functions in longan are still unknown. In this study, a comprehensive analysis of the longan C3H (DlC3H) gene family was carried out. A total of 49 DlC3H genes in three clades were identified from the longan genome database. Characteristics of the genes were analyzed with respect to gene structure, motif composition, phylogenetic tree and potential functions. The analysis of alternative splicing (AS) events suggested that AS events in DlC3H genes were related to the transformation from longan non-embryonic to embryonic cultures. Promoter analysis indicated that most of the DlC3H genes included cis-acting elements associated with hormones and stresses responses. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) analysis indicated that 26 of the 49 DlC3Hs, which possess methyl jasmonate (MeJA) and abscisic acid (ABA) responsive cis-acting elements, showed differential expression patterns under treatment with ABA, MeJA and their endogenous inhibitors, suggesting that DlC3Hs might be involved in the ABA and MeJA signaling pathways. The expression profiles of 17 of the 49 DlC3Hs in non-embryonic callus and three tissues of embryonic cultures showed that only five of the 17 DlC3Hs had the same expression trends as the FPKM trends in transcriptome data; the expression levels of DlC3H07/14/16/36/49 in embryogenic callus and DlC3H04/38 in globular embryos were high, suggesting that they have different functions in embryonic development. Further, we verified that DlC3H01/03/05/11/19/39 were regulated by sRNAs by a modified 5′ RLM-RACE method. This study provides the first systematic analysis of C3H genes in longan, and found that C3H genes may be involved in hormone and stress responses, and somatic embryogenesis. Our preliminary investigation may provide clues to further studies on the characteristics and functions of this family in longan.

Light quality is one of the key elicitors that directly affect plant cell growth and biosynthesis of secondary metabolites. In this study, the red callus of spine grape was cultured under nine light qualities (namely, dark, white, red, yellow, blue, green, purple, warm-yellow, and warm-white light). The effects of different light qualities were studied on callus growth, accumulation of phenolic compounds, and total antioxidant capacity of the red callus of spine grape. The results showed that blue and purple light induced increased red coloration in the callus, whereas yellow light induced the greatest callus proliferation. Among all of the light quality treatments, darkness treatment downregulated the contents of phenolic compounds, whereas blue light was the treatment most conducive to the accumulation of total phenolics. White, blue, and purple light induced increased anthocyanin accumulation. Mixed-wavelength light was beneficial to the accumulation of flavonoids. Blue and purple light were conducive to the accumulation of proanthocyanidins. A further study showed that cyanidin 3-glucoside (Cy3G) and peonidin 3-glucoside (P3G) were the main anthocyanin components in the callus, and blue, purple, and white light treatments promoted their accumulation, whereas flavan-3-ols and flavonols were the main components of non-anthocyanin phenolics, and their accumulation changed in response to not only light quality but also culture duration. The total antioxidant capacity of the callus cultures changed significantly in response to different light qualities. These results will provide evidence for an abiotic elicitor strategy to stimulate callus growth and enhance the accumulation of the main phenolic compounds in the red callus of spine grape.

Efficient separations of both water-in-oil (W/O) and oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions are still challenging. In this study, a alginate-based carbon aerogel (AB carbon aerogel) as oil-water separation m...

The NAM, ATAF1/2, and CUC2 form a huge plant-specific gene family of NAC TFs that are involved in the growth, development, and regulation of biotic and abiotic stress responses. Although the draft genome of longan (Dimocarpus longan Lour.) has been published, however the comprehensive data regarding the functions, evolution, and expression patterns of the NAC family are still unavailable. In this study, a comprehensive analysis of the NAC transcription factor family in longan was performed, and a total of 114 NAC genes were found. We investigated the NAC gene family exploring the phylogeny, domain conservation, intron/exon, motifs, cis-regulatory elements, protein-protein interaction, and expression profiles of RNA-seq samples in different tissues and early somatic embryogenesis of longan. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the genes with similar gene structure and motif distribution were clustered in the same group. Cis-element identification indicates the possible role of NAC genes in biological and physiological processes. Protein-protein interaction identified the DlNACs homologous with Arabidopsis proteins. We further investigated the expression pattern of DlNAC genes in different tissues (pulp, stem, large fruit, young fruit, and flower) during somatic embryogenesis at embryogenic callus (EC), incomplete compact pro-embryogenic cultures (ICpEC), and globular embryos (GE) stages. The qRT-PCR results showed that the DlNAC genes were expressed higher at EC and GE stage compared with ICpEC stage. In conclusion, our results provide insight into the evolution, diversity, and characterization of NAC genes in the longan and provide a base for understanding their biological roles and molecular mechanisms in plants.

Development of versatile, broad-spectrum adsorbents for the removal of diverse dyes from contaminated water and oil is highly desirable. In this study, a calcium alginate carbon aerogel (CCA) as an...

As important factors to oolong tea quality, the accumulation and dynamic change in aroma substances attracts great attention. The volatile composition of oolong tea is closely related to the precursor contents. Fatty acids (FAs) and their derivatives are basic components of oolong tea fragrance during the postharvest process. However, information about the precursors of FAs during the postharvest process of oolong tea production is rare. To investigate the transformation of fatty acids during the process of oolong tea production, gas chromatograph–flame ionization detection (GC-FID) was conducted to analyze the composition of FAs. The results show that the content of total polyunsaturated FAs initially increased and then decreased. Specifically, the contents of α-linolenic acid, linoleic acid and other representative substances decreased after the turn-over process of oolong tea production. The results of partial least squares discrimination analysis (PLS-DA) showed that five types of FAs were obviously impacted by the processing methods of oolong tea (VIP > 1.0). LOX (Lipoxygenase, EC 1.13.11.12) is considered one of the key rate-limiting enzymes of long-chain unsaturated FAs in the LOX-HPL (hydroperoxide lyase) pathway, and the mechanical wounding occurring during the postharvest process of oolong tea production greatly elevated the activity of LOX.

Light-responsive hydrogel actuators show attractive biomedical applications for in vivo drug delivery tool, surgical tissue repair operation, and vascular cleaning due to its non-contact, rapid, precise, and remote spatial control of light. Conventional visible–light–responsive hydrogels contain special chemical structure or groups, and the difficulty in synthesis results in that few can be applied to fabricate visible–light–driven hydrogel actuators. In this study, based on photothermal effect, surface-modified Fe3O4 nanoparticles were incorporated into poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-acrylamide) hydrogel by UV photopolymerization, which revealed excellent green–light–responsive volume change. Under a laser irradiation of 200 mW at 520 nm, the bending angle deformation of hydrogel strips with 2.62 wt% Fe3O4 reached 107.8°. Strip-shaped hydrogel actuators could be applied to transport tiny objects. Furthermore, a boomerang-like hydrogel actuator was designed and fabricated to drive floating foam on water. By 12 cycles of continuous laser on–off irradiation to a hydrogel actuator underwater, a circular returning movement of the float was accomplished. The study on driving a float using visible–light–triggered hydrogel actuators provides a new idea for the design of light-driven biomedical devices and soft robots.

The dynamic alterations in cell wall (CW) biosynthesis play an essential role in physiological isolation during the plant somatic embryogenesis (SE). However, the mechanisms underlying the functions of cell wall-associated miRNAs (CW-miRNA) remain poorly understood in plant SE. Here, we have identified 36 distinct candidate miRNAs associated with CW biosynthesis from longan third-generation genome as well as miRNA transcriptome, and modified RLM-RACE validated four distinct miRNA, which specifically targeted four CW-related genes. More importantly, we found that the dlo-miR397a-antagomir significantly enhanced DlLAC7 expression and improved laccase activity. Interestingly, inhibition of dlo-miR397a increased CW lignin deposition and promoted the tightening of protodermal cell by miRNA-mimic technology during early SE. Moreover, overexpression of dlo-miR408-3p (dlo-miR408-3p-agomir) markedly decreased DlLAC12 expression. dlo-miR408-3p-agomir activated rapid cell division, thus promoting the globular embryo (GE) development, which might be due to high DNA synthesis activity in protoepidermal cells, rather than affecting lignin synthesis. The subcellular location also indicated that both DlLAC7 and DlLAC12 proteins were primarily localized in CW and regulated CW biosynthesis. Overall, our findings provided new insight on the molecular regulatory networks comprising various miRNAs associated with cell wall, and established that dlo-miR397a and dlo-miR408-3p played differential roles during early SE in longan. The findings also shed some light on the potential role of miRNA target DlLAC regulating in vivo embryonic development of plant.

Aroma is an essential quality indicator of oolong tea, a tea derived from the Camellia sinensis L. plant. Carboxylic 6 (C6) acids and their derivative esters are important components of fatty acid (FA)-derived volatiles in oolong tea. However, the formation and regulation mechanism of C6 acid during postharvest processing of oolong tea remains unclear. To gain better insight into the molecular and biochemical mechanisms of C6 compounds in oolong tea, a combined analysis of alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) activity, CsADH2 key gene expression, and the FA-derived metabolome during postharvest processing of oolong tea was performed for the first time, complemented by CsHIP (hypoxia-induced protein conserved region) gene expression analysis. Volatile fatty acid derivative (VFAD)-targeted metabolomics analysis using headspace solid-phase microextraction–gas chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry (HS-SPEM-GC-TOF-MS) showed that the (Z)-3-hexen-1-ol content increased after each turnover, while the hexanoic acid content showed the opposite trend. The results further showed that both the ADH activity and CsADH gene expression level in oxygen-deficit-turnover tea leaves (ODT) were higher than those of oxygen-turnover tea leaves (OT). The C6-alcohol-derived ester content of OT was significantly higher than that of ODT, while C6-acid-derived ester content showed the opposite trend. Furthermore, the HIP gene family was screened and analyzed, showing that ODT treatment significantly promoted the upregulation of CsHIG4 and CsHIG6 gene expression. These results showed that the formation mechanism of oolong tea aroma quality is mediated by airflow in the lipoxygenase–hydroperoxide lyase (LOX-HPL) pathway, which provided a theoretical reference for future quality control in the postharvest processing of oolong tea.

This paper presents a D-band (110–170 GHz) transmitter/receiver (Tx/Rx) chipset with end-fire on-chip antennas (OCAs) using 0.13-μm SiGe BiCMOS technology. The input LO signal frequency of the chipset is 31.25 GHz. A 62.5-GHz frequency doubler, a D-band 2nd-harmonic up-conversion mixer, a power amplifier (PA), and an end-fire antenna are integrated in the Tx. An end-fire antenna, a D-band low-noise amplifier (LNA), a 2nd-harmonic down-conversion mixer, and a 62.5-GHz frequency doubler are integrated in the Rx. The end-fire OCA has gain and efficiency of 4.1 dBi and 83%, respectively. Maximum measured effective isotropic radiation power (EIRP) of 9.2 dBm and conversion gain of 21 dB are achieved for the Tx and Rx, respectively. The Tx/Rx are packaged on PCBs through wire bonding and chip-to-chip wireless communication using 16QAM modulation with the data rate of 4 Gb/s is demonstrated. The DC power consumption of the whole chip is ~1150 mW, and the total chip size is 2 × 3.5 mm2.

Activity recognition benefits the lives of residents in a smart home on a daily basis. One of the aims of this technology is to achieve good performance in activity recognition. The extraction and selection of the daily activity feature have a significant effect on this performance. However, commonly used extraction of daily activity features have limited the performance of daily activity recognition. Based on the nature of the time series of sensor events caused by daily activities, this paper presents a novel extraction approach for daily activity feature. First, time tuples are extracted from sensor events to form a time series. Subsequently, several common statistic formulas are proposed to form the space of daily activity features. Finally, a feature selection algorithm is employed to generate final daily activity features. To evaluate the proposed approach, two distinct datasets are adopted for activity recognition based on four different classifiers. The results of the experiment reveal that the proposed approach is an improvement over the commonly used approach.

This paper focuses on the tracking problem for fully-actuated mechanical systems with uncertain parameters and external disturbances. Based on the state feedback control of contraction analysis, the robust controller with extra gains is suggested to provide for the tracking of mechanical systems with uncertainties. The proposed control scheme can be redesigned with dual ideas and theoretically prove that the robust control renders uniform roundedness. Further more, the inertia matrices being uniformly bounded above are limited. The simulation is proposed to account for the effectiveness and robustness of the provided method.

This study focuses on stabilization problem of a class of nonlinear systems. Generally, Lyapunov stability-based sliding mode technique is widely used to design controllers for nonlinear systems with uncertainties. In this paper, however, based on contraction property and sliding surfaces, the sliding mode control is suggested to provide incremental stability for nonlinear systems with uncertainties. The effectiveness of the method is illustrated by numerical simulations.

Summary Ascorbic acid-glutathione (AsA-GSH) cycle represents important antioxidant defense system in planta. Here we utilized Oncidium cytosolic ascorbate peroxidase (OgCytAPX) as a model to demonstrate that CytAPX of several plants possess dual catalytic activity of both AsA and GSH, compared with the monocatalytic activity of Arabidopsis APX (AtCytAPX). Structural modeling and site-directed mutagenesis identified that three amino acid residues, Pro63, Asp75, and Tyr97, are required for oxidization of GSH in dual substrate catalytic type. Enzyme kinetic study suggested that AsA and GSH active sites are distinctly located in cytosolic APX structure. Isothermal titration calorimetric and UV-visible analysis confirmed that cytosolic APX is a heme-containing protein, which catalyzes glutathione in addition to ascorbate. Biochemical and physiological evidences of transgenic Arabidopsis overexpressing OgCytAPX1 exhibits efficient reactive oxygen species-scavenging activity, salt and heat tolerances, and early flowering, compared with Arabidopsis overexpressing AtCytAPX. Thus results on dual activity CytAPX impose significant advantage on evolutionary adaptive mechanism in planta., Graphical Abstract, Highlights • Cytosolic ascorbate peroxidase in several plants possess two substrate oxidation • Amino acid residues Pro63, Asp75, and Tyr97 were identified as GSH oxidation • OgcytAPX1-catalyzing GSH is an independent biochemical step in AsA-GSH cycle • CytAPXs with two substrate-binding activities enhance stress tolerance and flowering, Plant Biochemistry; Plant Biology; Plant Evolution

Developing flame-retardant, environment-friendly, sustainable functional textiles is highly desirable. Alginate fibers, typically as the calcium alginate, whose raw material is extracted from natural brown seaweed, possess excellent intrinsic flame retardancy, biocompatibility, and hydrophilicity. To overcome the problem of water-absorption-induced deformation of alginate fibers, superhydrophobic alginate fabrics were prepared by a one-step dip-coating process in hexadecyltrimethoxysilane (HDTMS) alcosol. Alginate fabrics treated with 3 wt% HDTMS alcosol exhibited excellent water repellence with an average contact angle of 158.2° and a sliding angle less than 10°. The surface morphology and chemical composition of alginate textiles treated with various HDTMS concentrations were thoroughly characterized. The mechanism of the one-step dip-coating strategy was explored. Superhydrophobic surface treatment improves the deformation resistance of alginate fabrics in water, which reveals no obvious change for 7 days with a swelling absorbency of 124.1%. Salt resistance of treated alginate fabrics was also enhanced. Due to the intrinsic flame retardancy of calcium alginate, the treated alginate fabrics possessed outstanding fire-proof behaviour with a limiting oxygen index value of 28.0. Notably, a decorative flower fabricated from treated fabrics showed good water resistance and flame retardancy, which broadens the application of alginate textile in the field of environment-friendly flame-retardant functional textiles.

Taking the three Tibetan middle schools in Gansu and Qinghai-Tibet areas as examples, there are many reasons for the poor efficiency of high school math classroom teaching. We are based on OBE teaching philosophy, the investigation and analysis were carried out from three dimensions: interest and feelings of mathematics learning, motivation of mathematics learning, and attitude of math teaching, and use the fuzzy comprehensive analysis method to conclude that the satisfaction of teaching efficiency is general. Based on the OBE teaching philosophy, student-centered and reverse-designed teaching plans should start from the following aspects: Stimulate interest and set reasonable goals; student-centered, positioning the driving force; with a smile and friendly get along.

N-doped carbon dots (N-CDs) were successfully synthesized via simple one-step hydrothermal carbonization using chitosan as carbon and nitrogen sources. The obtained N-CDs contained a variety of functional groups on the NCDs surface, and exhibited excitation-independent behavior and strong blue fluorescence with a relatively higher fluorescence quantum yield (QY = 35%). It also presented excellent water solubility, resistance to pH change, high ion strength and UV irradiation. Since the fluorescence of the N-CDs could be selectively quenched by NO2–, they could act as a fluorescent sensor for the determination of NO2– in real tap water and lake water samples with a wide linear range (1–500 μM) and low detection limit (0.1 μM). They could also be used for bacterial imaging as multicolor fluorescent probes. The results indicated that N-CDs could be a promising candidate material for biomedical applications.

The inhibition of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity based methods have been widely used for rapid detection of organophosphate (OP) pesticide residues. However, the sensitivity of the enzyme toward pesticides is not desirable and complex purification steps increase production cost. In this study, we optimized and synthesized the cDNA of carp AChE based on the preferred codon using Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which was ligated into expression vector pYD1.The AChE was successfully presented on yeast surface through a-agglutinin mediated display system. In shake-flask after induction with galactose in YPD medium for 24 h, this strain expressed AChE activity at a high level of 0.15 U/OD600/ml. The correct location of AChE was confirmed by immunofluorescence analysis. The whole cell catalyst was applied to visible spectrophotometry detection for OP pesticides based on inhibition rate. The inhibition rate was linear with paraoxon concentration in the range of 0.5 ng/ml–10 μg/ml and parathion concentration in the range of 5 ng/ml–10 μg/ml. The low detection limit was 0.136 ng/ml paraoxon and 3.72 ng/ml parathion (S/N = 3). The proposed method is applicable to analyzing OP pesticides in real samples. Therefore, the recombinant strain developed could be an efficient and affordable biomaterial for rapid and accurate detection of OP pesticide residues.

In the biomedical micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) field, the fabrication of three-dimensional (3D) magnetic hydrogel microdevices and microactuators with sizes smaller than 100 μm is difficult. In this paper, magnetic-field-driven 3D hydrogel microstructures were fabricated through four steps: the synthesis of surface-modified Fe3O4 nanoparticles (Fe3O4 NPs), the preparation of a magnetic gel photoresist, two-photon polymerization microfabrication, and a solvent-exchange process. For the preparation of a stable magnetic gel photoresist, surface-modified Fe3O4 NPs with an average size of 7.8 nm were synthetized and well dispersed in gel photoresist. The magnetic gel photoresist exhibited a good UV photopolymerization effect, and a magnetic-field-driven macroscopic hydrogel was prepared. The two-photon polymerization properties of gel photoresists with various Fe3O4 NP contents were investigated in detail, and the minimum width of fabricated lines reached 106 nm for the photoresist with 0.32 wt% Fe3O4 NPs. Three hydrogel microstructures—the Qingdao University logo, a magnetically actuated micro-rod, and a magnetically actuated micro-nail—were successfully fabricated using a gel photoresist with 0.96 wt% Fe3O4 NPs. Importantly, obvious and reversible external-magnetic-field-driven bending behavior of the 3D hydrogel micro-nail with a size of 10 μm was observed.

Sanming wild banana (Musa itinerans) is a cold resistant wild banana found in Fujian province of China. In this study, we characterized its complete chloroplast genome using BGISEQ-500 sequencing. The chloroplast genome is 171,815 bp in size, containing a pair of IR regions (35,142 bp), a large single copy region (89,995 bp), and a small single copy region (11,464 bp). The whole chloroplast genome contains 111 unique genes, including 78 protein-coding genes, 29 tRNAs, and 4 rRNAs. Phylogenetic maximum likelihood analysis revealed that Sanming wild banana showed the closest relationship with Musa itinerans that collected from Yunnan Province of China.

Addressing the impact of quantization error in analog-to-digital converter (ADC) for signal processing, a Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) based method for the generation of dithering signals is presented. Effective in reducing quantization error, the dithering signal generated using the method is not only independent of the input signal but also can improve the performance of the ADC. To illustrate the advantages of the dithering signal reconstructed using the method, three kinds of typical dithering effects, namely, Triangular Distribution Dithering, Gaussian Distribution Dithering and Uniform Distribution Dithering on the quantization error in an ADC are considered. The properties of three practical dithering signals are investigated. It is shown that while these typical dithering may be useful they are some potential problems. The dithering signals reconstructed using the DFT based generation scheme is shown to contribute significantly to reducing quantization error. Numerical experiments and theoretical analyses demonstrate that the DFT based dithering reconstruction can obtain prominent performance for ADC in comparison to typical dithering signals.

This paper presents a sub-harmonic mixer at 340 GHz based on anti-parallel Schottky diodes (SBDs). Intrinsic resonances in low-pass hammer-head filter have been adopted to enhance the isolation for different harmonic components, while greatly minimizing the transmission loss. The application of new DC grounding structure, impedance matching structure, and suspended micro-strip mitigates the negative influences of fabrication errors from metal cavity, quartz substrate, and micro-assembly. An improved lumped element equivalent circuit model of SBDs guarantees the accuracy of simulation, which takes current-voltage (I/V) behavior, capacitance-voltage (C/V) behavior, carrier velocity saturation, DC series resistor, plasma resonance, skin effect, and four kinds of noise generation mechanisms into consideration thoroughly. The measurement indicates that with local oscillating signal of 2 mW, the lowest double sideband conversion loss is 5.5 dB at 339 GHz; the corresponding DSB noise temperature is 757 K. The 3 dB bandwidth of conversion loss is 50 GHz from 317 to 367 GHz.

Ran is involved in response to external stimuli. In this study, six MsRan gene cDNA sequences were isolated from wild banana (Musa spp. AB group) from Sanming City, China. Sequence analysis reveals that MsRan3A, MsRan3A-1a, and MsRan3C contained Ran protein domains including a GTP hydrolysis domain, a RanGAP-binding domain, and an acidic tail, whereas two G boxes (G4 and G5) were absent in MsRan3A-6a. The physicochemical property of MsRan3A, MsRan3A-1a, MsRan3A-6a, and MsRan3C appeared to differ significantly. Real time quantitative PCR (qPCR) analysis indicates that MsRan3A-1, MsRan3A-5, MsRan3A-6, MsRan3A-6a, and MsRan3C-1 were expressed in roots, leaves, peduncles, bracts, flowers, peels, and pulp of the wild banana. MsRan3A-1a was expressed at extremely low levels in these tissues and was undetectable by qPCR. The MsRan genes were found to be involved in responses to a low temperature stress but with different response patterns. Furthermore, salicylic acid significantly enhanced MsRan gene expressions suggesting the involvement of these genes in salicylic acid signal transduction.

This paper presents two endfire on-chip antennas (OCAs) at 140 and 320 GHz using a standard 0.13- $\mu \text{m}$ SiGeBiCMOS technology; quasi-Yagi antenna concept is used with loaded dielectric. In order to eliminate the influence of the low-resistivity silicon substrate, the substrate thickness is chosen as $\sim 84~\mu \text{m}$ (for 140 GHz), and the antenna is mounted on the edge of a metal supporter with the front part ungrounded. The loaded dielectric is designed using the silicon and silicon dioxide (SiO2) layers to improve the gain. The antenna shows the measured impedance bandwidth of >45% at 140 GHz, with the peak gain of 4.1 dBi, and the simulated peak radiation efficiency of 83%. A $1 \times 2$ array at 140 GHz is also designed and implemented; the corresponding measured impedance bandwidth, peak gain, and simulated radiation efficiency are >36%, 7 dBi, and 72%, respectively. With the proposed structure, the OCA at 320 GHz is also designed and fabricated with the substrate thickness of $\sim 34~\mu \text{m}$ . The measured gain of 3.9 dBi and the simulated radiation efficiency of 80% are achieved at 320 GHz, respectively.

There are few activated carbons that are capable of adsorbing both ionic and solvent dyes. In this paper, activated carbon was prepared from Chondrus crispus as a marine material by a high-temperature carbonization procedure for the first time. The Chondrus crispus activated carbon (CCAC) can effectively adsorb methylene blue (MB) as a cationic dye, methyl orange (MO) as an anionic dye, oil red O (ORO) as a solvent dye, and other eight dyes. The adsorption capacities for MB and MO in water, and ORO in n-hexane are 132.81, 49.48, and 33.17 mg g−1, respectively. CCAC was characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) method, and zeta potential analysis. CCAC was proved to have a porous and gully structure with a specific surface area of 60.0687 m2 g−1. The effects of initial dye concentration, dosage, pH, contact time, and temperature on the adsorption were investigated. The adsorption kinetic data proved that the adsorption process accorded with pseudo-second-order model. The adsorption isotherms fit to both the Langmuir and Freundlich models. The broad-spectrum dye adsorption mechanism is attributed to the π-π interaction between CCAC and dye.

Objective: Cell division cycle 7 (CDC7), a receptor serine/threonine kinase which features high-affinity with protein DBF4, plays an important role in DNA replication and DNA damage response via MCM2 phosphorylation. CDC7 has been reported to be up-regulated by about 50% in various human cancers and is being investigated as a therapeutic target in clinical trials. The purpose of this study is to investigate the in-vitro and in-vivo antitumor activities of TQB3824, a small molecule of CDC7 kinase inhibitor, in preclinical models with CDC7 overexpression. Method: Kinase inhibition activities of TQB3824 were determined with CDC7/DBF4 kinase assays. Cellular anti-proliferative activities were evaluated in COLO205 cell line and NCI-H226 cell line, which features CDC7 overexpression and no CDC7 expression, respectively. Three CDX models, colorectal cancer COLO205/SW620 and pancreatic cancer CAPAN-1 with KRAS mutation, were used to test the efficacy of TQB-3824 in vivo. Result: TQB3824 showed potent activities in both kinase inhibition and COLO205 cell anti-proliferation, with IC50 of 2.9 nM and 14.5 nM, separately. In contrast, TQB3824 showed much weaker anti-proliferative activity in NCI H226 cells with IC50 of 8154 nM. TQB3824 displayed strong antitumor efficacy in CDC7 highly expressed colorectal cancer CDX model COLO205 (TGI = 77% @5 mpk, BID), SW620 CDX model (TGI = 100% @5 mpk, BID), and pancreatic cancer CAPAN-1 CDX model (TGI = 115% @6 mpk, BID). Conclusion: We have identified a novel potent CDC7 inhibitor TQB3824, which shows high antitumor efficacy in CDC7 overexpressed solid tumor models. TQB3824 represents a promising clinical candidate for treating solid tumors with high CDC7 expression. Citation Format: Gang Li, Xiquan Zhang, Ling Yang, Xin Tian, Zhong xiong, Lihong Hu, Yuanfeng xia, Chi-chung chan, Charles Z. Ding, Shuhui Chen. Preclinical candidate TQB3824, a small molecule inhibitor of CDC7, shows strong antitumor efficacy in colorectal and pancreatic tumor models [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2021; 2021 Apr 10-15 and May 17-21. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2021;81(13_Suppl):Abstract nr 1970.

In this work, novel branched palladium–gold (PdAu) bimetallic nanowires supported on graphene (PdAu/graphene) were fabricated at relatively low temperatures for the first time by a one-pot co-reduction method with the aid of poly(diallyldimethyl-ammonium chloride). The structural characteristics of PdAu/graphene were confirmed by X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, high-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy and element mapping observations. The electrochemical properties of the PdAu/graphene were characterised by cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry (CA) in the formic acid oxidation reaction. Compared with a commercial Pd/C catalyst, the PdAu/graphene catalyst prepared in this work exhibited enhanced electrocatalytic activity including a higher oxidation current density, enhanced CO tolerance, and a more negative onset potential. Moreover, CA analyses demonstrated that PdAu/graphene shows higher stability than the Pd/C catalyst. The PdAu/graphene catalyst exhibited higher activity and strong poisoning resistance, which could be attributed to its special branched structure from PdAu nanowires.

Background. Previous studies have revealed that gene polymorphisms of inflammatory factors may influence the development or progression of periodontitis, a main cause of tooth loss in adults; however, due to limitations of individual studies, inconsistent findings were reported.Objective. To meta-analytically investigate the relationship between periodontitis and the Interleukin-4 (IL-4) and Interleukin-4 receptor (IL-4R) gene polymorphisms.Methods. Databases were searched for relevant case-control studies. After study selection based on the predefined selection criteria, methodological quality assessment and data extraction were conducted independently by two reviewers, before subsequent statistical analyses.Results. 37 studies involving 4,385 patients and 5,168 controls were included. All the studied IL-4 polymorphisms were not significantly associated with periodontitis, except the -33C/T (CT versus CC: OR = 0.50, 95% CI = 0.28–0.88) associated with reduced AgP susceptibility. Positive association was found between IL-4R Q551 polymorphism and periodontitis susceptibility in three genetic models (R versus Q: OR = 1.59, 95% CI = 1.14–2.22; QR versus QQ: OR = 1.84, 95% CI = 1.21–2.80; RR + QR versus QQ: OR = 1.82, 95% CI = 1.22–2.72).Conclusions. A positive association exists between the IL-4R Q551R polymorphism and occurrence of CP. The IL-4 -33 CT genotype is negatively associated with the occurrence of AgP.

This paper presents the detailed design and demonstration of a Ka-band single-chip transmit (TX)/receive (RX) front-end in 0.13- $\mu \text{m}$ SiGe BiCMOS technology. The front-end includes single-pole double-throw (SPDT) switches, low-noise amplifier, loss compensation amplifiers (LCAs), phase shifter, and power amplifier. Distributed structures are utilized in gain amplifiers to ensure broadband performance while stacked structure is adopted in power amplifier to deliver high output power in the TX mode. A 5-b phase shifter with design strategies for low rms phase/gain errors serves as the common leg of the RX and TX paths. In the RX mode, measurements show a gain of 17 dB, an output $P_{\mathrm { {-1~dB}}}$ of −1 dBm, an rms phase error less than 4°, and an rms gain error less than 0.6 dB with 0.528-W dc power from 30 to 40 GHz. In the TX mode, measurements show a gain of 14 dB, an output $P_{\mathrm { {-1~dB}}}$ of 20.5 dBm, an rms phase error less than 3.7°, and an rms gain error less than 0.55 dB with 1.587-W dc power from 30 to 40 GHz. The whole front-end occupies $3.2 \times 2.2$ mm2 including the testing pads. By choosing inductors and capacitors with reasonable values, designing a well-matched SPDT switch with high isolation, and optimum ordering of phase shift cells and LCAs in the phase shifter design, this TX/RX front-end achieves excellent rms phase/gain error performance without any trimming in a system-level measurement at Ka-band.

Nano zerovalent iron (nZVI) is a promising remediation technology utilizing in situ chemical reduction (ISCR) to clean up contaminated groundwater at hazardous waste sites. The small particle size and large surface area of nZVI result in high reactivity and rapid destruction of contaminants. Over the past 20 years, a great deal of research has advanced the nZVI technology from bench-scale tests to field-scale applications. However, to date, the overall number of well-characterized nZVI field deployments is still small compared to other alternative remedies that are more widely applied. Apart from the relatively high material cost of nZVI and questions regarding possible nanotoxicological side effects, one of the major obstacles to the widespread utilization of nZVI in the field is its short persistence in the environment due to natural reductant demand (NRD). The NRD for nZVI is predominantly due to reduction of water, but other reactions with naturally present oxidants (e.g., oxygen) occur, resulting in situ conditions that are reducing (high in ferrous iron phases and H2) but with little or no Fe(0). This article reviews the main biogeochemical processes that determine the selectivity and longevity of nZVI, summarizes data from prior (laboratory and field) studies on the longevity of various common types of nZVI, and describes modifications of nZVI that could improve its selectivity and longevity for full-scale applications of ISCR. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Recently, we have reported that apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) regulates the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) process of cancers, but the mechanisms underlying the regulation of AIF expression in cancers remain greatly unknown. Here, we report that hypoxia inversely correlates with the expression of AIF in tumor tissues from a cohort of colon cancer patients and inhibits AIF expression in multiple colon cancer cell lines. This inhibition is mediated by hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1), which transcriptionally represses AIF through direct binding to the hypoxia-response element in AIF promoter as revealed by luciferase reporter and chromatin immunoprecipitation assays. We also show that downregulation of AIF contributes to hypoxia-induced EMT as overexpression or silencing of AIF partially reverses or potentiates the EMT program initiated by hypoxic treatment. Mechanistic study reveals that downregulation of AIF by hypoxia causes oxidative inactivation of the lipid phosphatase activity of phosphatase and tensin homolog on chromosome 10 (PTEN), with ensuing activation of Akt kinase, phosphorylation of the Akt substrate GSK-3β and activation of WNT/β-catenin signaling in colon cancer cells. These results identify AIF as a novel target gene of HIF-1 and reveal the role of AIF downregulation in hypoxia-induced EMT.

Using l -cysteine as the precursor, carbon dots with nitrogen and sulfur heteroatoms co-doped (N, S-CDs) were synthesized via a simple hydrothermal method. The doped N and S atoms enhance the fluorescence intensity, and the modified functional group on N, S-CDs facilitate the coordination interaction between N, S-CDs and Co2+. Thus, the prepared N, S-CDs can be used as fluorescence probe to detect Co2+ with excellent selectivity and sensitivity. Moreover, various interferences displayed unobvious effect on the sensing of N, S-CDs to Co2+. This probe provided a rapid, visual method to monitor Co2+ with a wide monitoring range to Co2+ (1–50 μM) and a low detection limit of 26 nM. More interestingly, the quenched fluorescence (turn-off) of N, S-CDs induced by Co2+ could be recovered (turn-on) with the addition of H2O2 or EDTA. The fluorescence quenching mechanism is a static quenching, accompanied with electron transfer by forming the complex between Co2+ and functional groups of N, S-CDs.

Background: More than 30% of de novo AML patients were identified with FLT3 mutations. Two kinds of mutations, internal tandem duplication (ITD) and tyrosine kinase domain (TKD) mutations, account for 23% and 7% of all AML cases, respectively. FLT3 inhibitors, which have been recommended by both NCCN and ELN guidelines, are often used as single or combo agent to treat FLT3 m+ AML. However, primary and secondary acquired resistance to FLT3 inhibitors is a remarkable challenge. It has been revealed that AXL can activate FLT3, resulting in reduction of response to FLT3 inhibitors. Furthermore, TKD mutations can also lead to development of drug resistance. Therefore, FLT3/AXL dual inhibitor with potent FLT3-TKD inhibition may provide better efficacy as novel AML treatment option. Results: JRF104 is a potent FLT3/AXL dual inhibitor with a kinase inhibition IC50 value of 0.42 nM and 1.22 nM, respectively. In vitro studies suggested that JRF104 could potently inhibit the proliferation of MV4-11 and Molm-13 cells, which endogenously express FLT3-ITD mutation. JRF104 shows wide spectrum in vitro antiproliferation activity against all FLT3 mutation types, including the “gate-keeper” F691L mutation. JRF104 can effectively reduce MDA-MB-231 cell migration in vitro, accomplished by blocking tumor migration pathway regulated by AXL. In MV4-11 xenograft model, JRF104 inhibited tumor growth at the dose of 1 mg/kg, QD (TGI: 65%); significantly reduce tumor volume at 5 mg/kg, QD (TGI: 118%). In Molm-13 xenograft model, tumor volume was well controlled at 15 mg/kg, QD (TGI: 94%), and all tumor volume reduced to zero at 50 mg/kg, QD (TGI: 104%). In CT-26 syngeneic model, JRF104 enhanced anti-tumor growth effect when combined with anti-PD-1 antibody and suppressed pERK and pAKT in tumor tissues. Additionally, JRF104 demonstrated high oral bioavailability in mouse, rat, and dog. In 28 days pre-clinical toxicology studies, JRF104 was well tolerated in all tested rats. HNSTD and NOEAL were determined to be 20 mg/kg QD and 3 mg/kg QD, respectively. All results support that JRF104 with high efficacy and safety. Conclusion: JRF104 demonstrated consistently potent inhibition of FLT3 and strong antitumor efficacy against FLT3-driven tumors in preclinical studies. Based on these datas, JRF104 may overcome resistance caused by AXL and FLT3-TKD mutation, representing a novel promising clinical antitumor agent for treating AML patients with FLT3 mutations. Citation Format: yuquan wei, Xiawei Wei, Yanzhong Zhang, Wanru Qin, Xiangyu Fu, Lihong Hu, Yuanfeng Xia, Jian Zuo, Zhong Xiong, Shanshan Yin, Shaohua Qin, Ge Dong, Ying Chen, Charles Ding, Chichung Chan, Shuhui Chen. Development of new FLT3/AXL dual inhibitor JRF104 with potent FLT3-TKD inhibition [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research 2020; 2020 Apr 27-28 and Jun 22-24. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(16 Suppl):Abstract nr 3766.

A pre-exploration well was drilled in the Xihu Sag of East China Sea basin, and commercial oil and gas flow had been achieved. But the oil and gas bearing trap had a big depth with low closure height and small area. The resolution of seismic data acquired by towed streamer is low, so it's difficult to obtain seismic velocity precisely. There were great risk and uncertainty in description of the trap and distribution of gas-bearing sandstone, reservoir prediction of sweet spot, direct hydrocarbon indication, and reserves assessment. In consideration of the drilling platform on the trap, seismic acquisition technique of walkaway VSP and walk around VSP were introduced, meanwhile some innovative methods in source, receivers and geometry were applied. Twenty three-component hydrophones were composed as signal receivers which had a sample interval of ten meters in the well, two straight shot lines and two loop shot lines were designed around the drilling platform. Besides, volume and depth of air gun array were optimized, and the sailing route of seismic source vessel was planned properly in order to improve the efficiency of collecting work. The collecting work of walkaway VSP and walk around VSP was accomplished efficiently, and more than seventy kilometers VSP seismic data was achieved. Afterwards, the new data was processed finely in company with zero offset VSP data, so high resolution VSP profiles and accurate seismic velocity were obtained. Reprocess to original seismic data acquired by towed streamer was implemented on the basis of walkaway VSP and walk around VSP data. The quality of normal seismic data was improved through reprocess constrained by walkaway VSP data, and S/N and resolution were much higher than old data. So it would be credible to research the distribution of gas-bearing sandstone and direct hydrocarbon indication using the reprocessed seismic data. It was the first time to use joint acquisition technique of walkaway VSP and walk around VSP in offshore China which was an important breakthrough. High resolution VSP seismic profiles and precise seismic velocity could be acquired, and the data was important basis for refined evaluation of pre-exploration targets. It's very necessary to popularize and utilize these new techniques further.

Design and analysis of a fully-differential master-slave sample-and-hold amplifier (SHA) is presented in this paper using 0.13um SiGe BiCMOS process. To achieve broad bandwidth, Cherry-Hooper topology is employed in the input buffer of SHA. With feedthrough-attenuation capacitors and clock-controlled auxiliary transistors in track-hold switch, signal feed-through and clock feedthrough are reduced. To shorten trackhold transition time, sinusoidal clock signal is converted to square wave in clock buffer. Input bandwidth of 18GHz, spurious free dynamic rang above 33dB are measured for 2 GSample/s and −5dBm single-ended input signal. The proposed SHA is suit for high-speed high-broadband analog-to-digital converter used in high-speed wireless communication.

This paper presents the design of an X-band phased-array transceiver core chip in 0.13- $\mu{\hbox{m}}$ SiGe BiCMOS technology. The system is based on the all-RF architecture and contains switches, low-noise amplifier (LNA), power amplifier (PA), and the common leg 5-bit phase shifter with loss compensation amplifiers. A distributed structure is used in the gain amplifiers design to ease the multi-stage gain roll-off in the transmit (TX)/receive (RX) paths. A distributed LNA is utilized in the RX path to achieve broadband amplification with acceptable noise figure (NF) while a stacked PA is utilized in the TX path to get high output power. In the RX mode, the receiver demonstrates a gain of $> {\hbox{25 dB}}$ , an average NF of 3 dB, an output ${ P} _{-1~{\rm dB}}$ of 6 dBm, a root mean square (rms) phase error less than 3.8 $^{\circ}$ and an rms gain error less than 1.2 dB from 9 to 11 GHz; while dissipating 352-mW dc power. In the TX mode, the transmitter demonstrates a gain of $> {\hbox{22 dB}}$ , an output ${ P} _{-1~{\rm dB}}$ of 28 dBm, an rms phase error less than 3 $^{\circ}$ , and an rms gain error less than 0.6 dB from 9 to 11 GHz; while dissipating 4.128-W dc power. The whole transceiver occupies 5.2 $\,\times\,$ 3 ${\hbox{mm}}^{2}$ chip area including the testing pads.

Water-soluble magnetic nanoparticles were synthesized using a method that combines co-precipitation, surface-modification, and decomposition of a hybrid hydrogel. The resulting Fe3O4 nanoparticles were analyzed by various analytical methods, including transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID), and dynamic light scattering (DLS). The results showed that the average size of the synthesized Fe3O4 nanoparticles was 7.7 nm and their surfaces were grafted with water-soluble polymer chains. The zeta potentials of aqueous Fe3O4 solutions were measured as −34.1 mV, −68.3 mV and −60.5 mV at pH 5.3, 7 and 11.3, respectively. Furthermore, the stability of the magnetic nanoparticles was found to be good not only in aqueous media of different pHs but also in mixed solvents of water and hydrophilic organic solvents, including ethanol, methanol, acetone, dimethyl sulphoxide (DMSO), and dimethylformamide (DMF).

A 340-GHz on-chip antenna (OCA) with high-gain and high-radiation efficiency is designed using a standard ${0}.{13}\hbox{-}\upmu {\rm m}$ SiGe BiCMOS technology without any postprocesses. In the proposed OCA structure, a rectangular slot loop is etched in the upper wall of a substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) to form a magnetic current loop radiator. The SIW structure forms a back cavity to suppress the surface waves and separate the radiation aperture from the low-resistivity substrate. Furthermore, the side wall of the SIW cavity and the edge of the slot form a ${{{\lambda }}_{{g}}}/4$ resonator to reflect the power back to the slot loop. As a result, the radiation efficiency is improved. By etching a slot properly in the SIW upper wall, another resonating point is constructed and hence, the bandwidth is broadened. Single antenna element and a ${2} \times {2}$ array are both designed and fabricated with- and without- the slot structure; a maximum gain of 7.9 dBi with the radiation efficiency of 48% at 340 GHz is achieved for the proposed SIW cavity-backed antenna structure.