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To develop multi‐mode fluorescence thermometer with high performance, Lu2WO6:Er3+,Yb3+ materials were successfully designed and prepared. Under 980 nm excitation, the material can achieve accurate temperature measurement under three models. The above three models are based on different parameters, including two FIR (fluorescence intensity ratio) derived from two thermally coupled energy levels (TCELs) (2H11/2/4S3/2) and two non‐thermally coupled energy levels (NTCELs) (2H11/2/4F9/2), as well as fluorescence lifetime (FL) monitoring of the 2H11/2 energy level transition to the ground state. In the FIR mode of TCELs, maximum relative sensitivity (SR‐max) and minimum temperature resolution are 1.261 %K–1 and 0.237 K, respectively. The repeatability of five‐cycle temperature measurements is above 98.5%. The SR‐max value of FIR (NTCELs) and FL mode reach 0.862 and 0.201 %K−1, respectively. The obtained outcomes suggest that Lu2WO6:Er3+,Yb3+ materials might be considered as promising candidates for three‐mode fluorescence thermometry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Herpes virus entry mediator (HVEM) is a costimulatory molecule, and has been proved to play an important role in airway inflammatory and remodeling processes of asthma. We aimed to investigate the expression of HVEM gene in patients with asthma as a means of assessing disease severity. Methods: This study was carried out on 59 subjects, 16 patients with mild persistent asthma, 11 patients with moderate persistent asthma, 13 patients with severe persistent asthma, and 19 age and gender matched healthy controls. The HVEM mRNA expressions of all subjects were determined by real time PCR. Correlations between HVEM mRNA expression and fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO), pulmonary function test values, total blood white cell count and differential, total immunoglobulin E (IgE) level, and Asthma Control Test (ACT) score were analyzed, respectively. The discrimination abilities of HVEM mRNA between different groups were tested using receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve analyses. Results: This study showed the expressions of HVEM mRNA were significantly higher in the patients with severe and moderate persistent asthma than in patients with mild persistent asthma and healthy subjects (2.97 ± 1.23 vs. 1.17 ± 0.42 vs. 0.62 ± 0.38 vs. 0.46 ± 0.18/NAPDH, p < 0.001), but there was no significant difference between patients with mild persistent asthma and health controls (0.62 ± 0.38 vs. 0.46 ± 0.18/NAPDH, p = 0.557). HVEM mRNA expression at cut off point [1.01/NAPDH, area under the ROC curve (AUC) = 0.99] is sufficient to discriminate severe patients from mild-to-moderate patients, and at cut off point (0.93/NAPDH, AUC = 0.91) for discrimination of moderate-to-severe patients from mild ones, while at cut off point (0.76/NAPDH, AUC = 0.75) for discrimination of asthmatic patients from controls. Furthermore, HVEM mRNA expression was positively correlated with FeNO level (r = 0.524, p = 0.015), and total lymphocyte count (r = 0.426, p = 0.017) in patients with persistent asthma. Conclusions: HVEM gene expressions can be used as a potential biomarker for evaluating the severity of patients with persistent asthma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To meet the requirements for the mechanical and electrochemical performance for carbon fiber-based (CF-based) composite electrode materials in the structural lithium-ion batteries application, better CF-based composite is urgently needed. Herein, we report a novel hierarchical structure formed by wrinkled reduced graphene oxide/tin oxide (rGO/SnO2) coating wrapping on the surface of CF for the first time via a facile self-assembly approach and subsequent annealing treatment. Although the mass ratio of rGO/SnO2 coating in this composite is only about 12.8%, it exhibits excellent tensile strength which is up to 5.01 GPa and cycling stability including a high reversible capacity of 369 mAh g−1 at 100 mA g−1, which increases 230% than that of the CF. Besides, the morphology of this composite after 100 cycles is firstly observed to further confirm it still maintains a layered and fibrous structure. The excellent properties may benefit from the design of hierarchical hybrid rGO/SnO2 coating and the synergistic effects of SnO2, rGO and CF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The exact role of fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) in older patients with chronic inflammatory diseases including asthma-chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) overlap (ACO) remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the differences in FeNO levels of elderly patients with ACO, asthma, COPD, and chronic cough. We conducted a retrospective study analysing the data of stable outpatients from Pulmonary Department of the Second Clinical College, Jinan University. All participants (Age≥55 years) were divided into the ACO group (n=19), asthma group (n=16), COPD group (n=25), and chronic cough group (n=22). The clinical data such as peripheral eosinophil counts, serum high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), FeNO, and spirometry was collected, and the correlations between FeNO levels and systemic markers or spirometric indices were analyzed. Patients with ACO and asthma had significantly elevated FeNO levels (37.7±16.5, and 36.3±17.7 ppb) compared with COPD, and chronic cough patients (21.9±10.3, and 16.1±8.8 ppb). The FeNO levels were negatively associated with forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1, p=0.003), FEV1% predicted (p=0.012), and FEV1/forced vital capacity (FVC, p=0.002) in all groups. However, there were no significant correlation between FeNO levels and FVC, peripheral eosinophil counts, or serum hs-CRP (p>0.05). Elderly patients with ACO have higher levels of FeNO, when compared with patients with COPD or chronic cough. These findings suggest that FeNO measurement may provide an important implication for the etiological diagnosis of ACO in the elderly patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: High temperature significantly alters the amylose content of rice, resulting in mature grains with poor eating quality. However, only few genes and/or quantitative trait loci involved in this process have been isolated and the molecular mechanisms of this effect remain unclear. Here, we describe a floral organ identity gene, OsMADS7, involved in stabilizing rice amylose content at high temperature. OsMADS7 is greatly induced by high temperature at the early filling stage. Constitutive suppression of OsMADS7 stabilizes amylose content under high temperature stress but results in low spikelet fertility. However, rice plants with both stable amylose content at high temperature and normal spikelet fertility can be obtained by specifically suppressing OsMADS7 in endosperm. GBSSI is the major enzyme responsible for amylose biosynthesis. A low filling rate and high expression of GBSSI were detected in OsMADS7 RNAi plants at high temperature, which may be correlated with stabilized amylose content in these transgenic seeds under high temperature. Thus, specific suppression of OsMADS7 in endosperm could improve the stability of rice amylose content at high temperature, and such transgenic materials may be a valuable genetic resource for breeding rice with elite thermal resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As one of the most promising structural anode materials, carbon fibers (CF) have gained much attention. One of the central problems in their application is retaining their tensile strength and simultaneously improving their electrochemical properties. Herein, we report reduced graphene oxide/SnO2@carbon fibers (rGO/SnO2@CF) with wrinkled surfaces, fabricated via a simple hydrothermal method followed by heat treatment. This material exhibits prominent tensile properties, improved reversible capacity, excellent cycling stability and significantly enhanced first cycle coulombic efficiency. Compared to the reversible capacity at the 20th cycle, the rGO/SnO2@CF retained 93.6% reversible capacity after 100 cycles at 50 mA g−1, corresponding to a capacity fading of only 0.08% per cycle. The Weibull scale parameter and shape parameter of rGO/SnO2@CF were up to 4.63 GPa and 7.87, respectively. Our measurements revealed that the positive influence of rGO effectively countervailed the negative influence of the hydrothermal process on the tensile strength; the interleaved structure of rGO/SnO2 prevented the dispersion degree of tensile strength from decreasing; the synergistic effect of rGO and SnO2 enhanced the properties of the carbon fibers, including the tensile strength and the electrochemical properties; the formed rGO network structure and bicontinuous electronic transport pathway are in favor of the cycling stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Borosilicate glass–ceramics precursors with varying compositional ratios in the CaO–SiO 2 –B 2 O 3 (CBS) system were synthesized by sol–gel method. The precursors were calcined at 1200 °C for 2 h to form glass powders. The glass–ceramics were prepared by overlaying glass slurries on the substrates before sintering at different temperatures. The as-prepared glasses and glass–ceramics were characterized by differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray diffraction. The crystallization activation energies ( E c ) were calculated using the Kissinger method from DSC results. The morphology and crystallization behavior of the glass–ceramics were monitored by scanning electron microscopy. Both glass transition and crystallization temperatures decreased, however, the metastable zone increased. The E c values of CBS glasses and glass–ceramics were 254.1, 173.2 and 164.4 kJ/mol with increasing B 2 O 3 content, whereas that of the calcined G3 glass was 104.9 kJ/mol. Finally, the coatings were prepared at a low temperature (700 °C). The crystals that grew on the surface of multilayer coatings demonstrated heterogeneous surface nucleation and crystallization after heat-treatment from 700 °C to 850 °C for 4 h. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High temperature significantly alters the amylose content of rice, resulting in mature grains with poor eating quality. However, only few genes and/or quantitative trait loci involved in this process have been isolated and the molecular mechanisms of this effect remain unclear. Here, we describe a floral organ identity gene, OsMADS7, involved in stabilizing rice amylose content at high temperature. OsMADS7 is greatly induced by high temperature at the early filling stage. Constitutive suppression of OsMADS7 stabilizes amylose content under high temperature stress but results in low spikelet fertility. However, rice plants with both stable amylose content at high temperature and normal spikelet fertility can be obtained by specifically suppressing OsMADS7 in endosperm. GBSSI is the major enzyme responsible for amylose biosynthesis. A low filling rate and high expression of GBSSI were detected in OsMADS7 RNAi plants at high temperature, which may be correlated with stabilized amylose content in these transgenic seeds under high temperature. Thus, specific suppression of OsMADS7 in endosperm could improve the stability of rice amylose content at high temperature, and such transgenic materials may be a valuable genetic resource for breeding rice with elite thermal resilience., (© 2017 The Authors. Plant Biotechnology Journal published by Society for Experimental Biology and The Association of Applied Biologists and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)