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Research on silicon (Si), an element considered beneficial for plant growth, has focused on abiotic and biotic stress mitigation. However, the effect of Si on tomato fruit quality under normal growth conditions remains unclear. This study investigated the effects of applying different levels of Si (0 mmol·L -1 [CK], 0.6 mmol·L -1 [T1], 1.2 mmol·L -1 [T2], and 1.8 mmol·L -1 [T3]) in foliar sprays on tomato fruit quality cultivated in substrates, and the most beneficial Si level was found. Compared to CK, exogenous Si treatments had a positive influence on the appearance and nutritional quality of tomato fruits at the mature green, breaker, and red ripening stages. Of these, T2 treatment significantly increased peel firmness and single-fruit weight in tomato fruits. The contents of soluble sugars, soluble solids, soluble proteins, and vitamin C were significantly higher, and the nitrate content was significantly lower in the T2 treatment than in the CK treatment. Cluster analysis showed that T2 produced results that were significantly different from those of the CK, T1, and T3 treatments. During the red ripening stage, the a* values of fruits in the T2 treatment tomato were significantly higher than those in the other three treatments. Moreover, the lycopene and lutein contents of the T2 treatment increased by 12.90% and 17.14%, respectively, compared to CK. T2 treatment significantly upregulated the relative gene expression levels of the phytoene desaturase gene ( PDS ), the lycopene ε -cyclase gene ( LCY-E ), and the zeaxanthin cyclooxygenase gene ( ZEP ) in the carotenoid key genes. The total amino acid content in tomato fruits in the T2 treatment was also significantly higher than that of CK. In summary, foliar spraying of 1.2 mmol·L -1 exogenous Si was effective in improving the appearance and nutritional quality of tomato fruits under normal growth conditions. This study provides new approaches to further elucidate the application of exogenous silicon to improve tomato fruit quality under normal conditions.

The monitoring of micro-droplets parameters is significant to the development of droplet microfluidics. However, existing monitoring methods have drawbacks such as high cost, interference with droplet movement, and even the potential for cross-contamination. Herein, a micro-droplets monitoring method (MDMM) based on liquid-solid triboelectric nanogenerator (LS-TENG) is proposed, which can realize non-invasive and self-powered monitoring of micro-droplets in a microfluidic chip. The droplet frequency is monitored by voltage pulse frequency and a mathematical model is established to monitor the droplet length and velocity. Furthermore, this work constructs micro-droplets sensor (MDS) based on the MDMM to carry out the experiment. The coefficients of determination (R 2 ) of the fitting curves of the micro-droplets frequency, length, and velocity monitoring are 0.998, 0.997, and 0.995, respectively. To prove the universal applicability of the MDMM, the micro-droplets generated by different liquid media and channel structures are monitored. Eventually, a micro-droplet monitoring system is built, which can realize the counting of micro-droplets and the monitoring of droplet frequency and length. This work provides a novel approach for monitoring micro-droplets parameters, which holds the potential to advance developments in the field of microfluidics., (© 2023 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Geopolymer has been considered as a green and low-carbon material with great potential application due to its simple synthesis process, environmental protection, excellent mechanical properties, good chemical resistance, and durability. In this work, the molecular dynamics simulation is employed to investigate the effect of the size, content, and distribution of carbon nanotubes on the thermal conductivity of geopolymer nanocomposites, and the microscopic mechanism is analyzed by the phonon density of states, phonon participation ratio, spectral thermal conductivity, etc. The results show that there is a significant size effect in the geopolymer nanocomposites system due to the carbon nanotubes. In addition, when the content of carbon nanotubes is 16.5%, the thermal conductivity in carbon nanotubes vertical axial direction (4.85 W/(m k)) increases by 125.6% compared with the system without carbon nanotubes (2.15 W/(m k)). However, the thermal conductivity in carbon nanotubes vertical axial direction (1.25 W/(m k)) decreases by 41.9%, which is mainly due to the interfacial thermal resistance and phonon scattering at the interfaces. The above results provide theoretical guidance for the tunable thermal conductivity in carbon nanotube-geopolymer nanocomposites.

Rabies is a zoonotic infectious disease with a high fatality rate. It is caused by a virus in the genus Lyssavirus and is a global public health threat. The rabies virus invades and infects cells mainly via a glycoprotein, which may involve multiple receptors. Neutralizing antibodies against the rabies virus function by blocking the binding of the glycoprotein to a receptor or preventing the membrane fusion process. Vaccination combined with anti-rabies virus neutralizing antibodies is essential for postexposure prophylaxis for category III exposure to the rabies virus. In this review, we discussed the neutralizing epitopes of the rabies virus and the neutralization mechanism of monoclonal antibodies. The neutralizing antibodies that have been commercialized or are under development are also summarized. Our review would provide a basis for the further development of safe and effective broad-spectrum neutralizing antibodies to replace the rabies virus immunoglobulin in rabies post-exposure prophylaxis., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of Tsinghua University Press.)

The emergence of antibiotic resistance in bacteria is a major public-health issue. Synthesis of efficient antibiotic-free material is very important for fighting bacterial infection-related diseases. Herein, red-carbon dots (R-CDs) with a broad range of spectral absorption (350-700 nm) from organic bactericides or intermediates were synthesized through a solvothermal route. The prepared R-CDs not only had intrinsic antibacterial activities, but also could kill multidrug-resistant bacteria (multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (MRAB) and multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)) effectively by generating reactive oxygen species. Furthermore, R-CDs could eliminate and inhibit the formation of MRAB biofilms, while conferring few side effects on normal cells. A unique property of R-CDs was demonstrated upon in vivo treatment of antibiotic-sensitive MRAB-induced infected wounds. These data suggested that this novel R-CDs-based strategy might enable the design of next-generation agents to fight drug-resistant bacteria., Electronic Supplementary Material: Supplementary material is available for this article at 10.1007/s40843-021-1770-0 and is accessible for authorized users., (© Science China Press and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2021.)

Efficient electron transmission is an important step in the process of CO 2 photoreduction. In this paper, a multi-interface-contacted In 2 S 3 /Au/reduced graphene oxide (rGO) photocatalyst with the fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) mechanism has been successfully prepared by the solvothermal, self-assembly, and hydrothermal reduction processes. Photocatalytic CO 2 reduction experiments showed that the In 2 S 3 /Au/rGO (IAr-3) composite exhibited excellent photoreduction performance and photocatalytic stability. The yields of CO and CH 4 obtained after the photoreduction process with IAr-3 as the catalyst were around 4 and 6 times higher than those of pure In 2 S 3 , respectively. Photoelectrochemical analysis showed that the multi-interface contact and FRET mechanism greatly improved the generation, transmission, and separation efficiency of carriers photogenerated within the photocatalyst. In situ FTIR test was applied to analyze the photocatalytic CO 2 reduction process. 13 C isotope tracer test confirmed that the carbon source of CO and CH 4 was the CO 2 molecules in the photoreduction process rather than the decomposition of catalyst or TEOA. A potential enhanced photocatalytic mechanism has been discussed in total.

Previous studies showed that restraint water-immersion stress (RWIS) increases the expression of Fos protein in the ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus (VMH), indicating the VMH involving in the stress-induced gastric mucosal injury (SGMI). The present study was designed to investigate its possible neuro-regulatory mechanisms in rats receiving either VMH lesions or sham surgery. The model for SGMI was developed by restraint and water (21 ± 1 °C) immersion for 2 h. Gastric mucosal injury index, gastric motility, gastric acid secretion and Fos expression in the hypothalamus and brainstem were examined on the 15th postoperative day in RWIS rats. Gastric mucosal injury in VMH-lesioned rats was obviously aggravated compared to the control. Gastric acidity under RWIS was obviously higher in VMH-lesioned rats than that in sham rats. Meantime, the VMH-lesioned rats exhibited marked increases in the amplitude of gastric motility in the VMH lesions group after RWIS. In VMH-lesioned rats, Fos expression significantly increased in the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus (DMV), the nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS), the area postrema (AP), the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) and the supraoptic nucleus (SON) in response to RWIS. These results indicate that VMH lesions can aggravate the stress-induced gastric mucosal injury through the VMH-dorsal vagal complex (DVC)-vagal nerve pathway.

A useful animal model of intestinal injury is pivotal for studying its pathogenesis and developing nutritional interventions (e.g., amino acid supplementation). Here, we propose the use of indomethacin (IDMT) to induce intestinal inflammation in neonatal pigs. Fourteen-day-old piglets fed a milk replacer diet receive intraperitoneal administration of IDMT (5 mg/kg body weight) for 3 consecutive days. On day 4, blood and intestinal samples are obtained for physiological and biochemical analyses. IDMT increases blood DAO activity, I-FABP concentration, neutrophil and eosinophil numbers; intestinal MMP3 mRNA levels, MPO activity, and MDA concentration; but reduces the plasma concentration of citrulline (synthesized exclusively by enterocytes of the small intestine), intestinal GSH-Px activity, and mRNA levels for villin , I-FABP , TRPV6 , AQP10 , and KCNJ13 . Moreover, extensive hemorrhagic spots, thinned intestinal wall, and ulcers in the distal jejunum and ileum are observed in IDMT-challenged piglets. Furthermore, IDMT decreases intestinal villus height and villus surface area in the piglet jejunum. Collectively, this work establishes a porcine model of intestinal injury for designing novel nutritional means to improve gut function in pigs and humans.