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Background: With the accumulating omics data, an efficient and time-saving transient assay to express target genes is desired. Mesophyll protoplasts, maintaining most stress-physiological responses and cellular activities as intact plants, offer an alternative transient assay to study target genes' effects on heat and oxidative stress responses. Results: In this study, a perennial ryegrass (Loliumperenne L.) mesophyll protoplast-based assay was established to effectively over- or down-regulate target genes. The relative expression levels of the target genes could be quantified using RT-qPCR, and the effects of heat and H2O2-induced oxidative stress on protoplasts' viability could be quantitatively measured. The practicality of the assay was demonstrated by identifying the potential thermos-sensor genes LpTT3.1/LpTT3.2 in ryegrass that over-expressing these genes significantly altered protoplasts' viability rates after heat stress. Conclusion: This protoplast-based rapid stress regulatory gene identification assay was briefed as 'PRIDA' that will complement the stable genetic transformation studies to rapidly identify candidate stress-regulatory genes in perennial ryegrass and other grass species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Coral-like Co@CoO/RGO nanohybrids with crosslinked structure have been successfully fabricated. • The crosslinked structure builds abundant heterointerfaces and conductive network. • Yielding good electromagnetic wave absorption performance via the synergy of dielectric loss and magnetic loss. • The absorption reaches to −64.67 dB and effective bandwidth covers the whole X band at a thickness of 2.53 mm. The combination of magnetic and dielectric materials followed by appropriate structure design is an effective approach to achieve high electromagnetic wave absorption properties. Here, crosslinked Co@CoO/reduced graphene oxide nanohybrids (CCRGO) were fabricated via a simple three-step method. The experimental results show that compared with previous works, the as-prepared CCRGO nanohybrids achieve higher electromagnetic wave absorption and broader effective bandwidth at a lower filler loading. The electromagnetic parameters and electromagnetic wave absorption performance could be apparently adjusted by controlling the adding content of graphene oxide (GO) and the reduction temperature. Among a series of samples, CCRGO3-650 nanohybrid yields the best electromagnetic wave absorption performance benefiting from the proper GO addition and reduction temperature. At a filler loading of 20 wt%, the maximal reflection loss reaches to −64.67 dB at a thickness of 2.53 mm and the effective bandwidth below −10 dB covers the whole X band at a thickness of 2.51 mm. The good performance may be ascribed to the advantages of the dielectric and magnetic component as well as the special crosslinked structure, which triggers a synergistic absorption mechanism including multiple reflection/scattering, interface polarization, dipole polarization, conductive loss, eddy current loss, exchange resonance in the electromagnetic wave dissipation process. The good electromagnetic wave absorption performance affirms the potential application of CCRGO nanohybrids in the field of stealth materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) has been associated with higher pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) risk in observational studies. However, the causal relationship between them remains unclear. This study aimed to assess the causal effect between T1DM and PTB using bidirectional Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis. Methods: Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of T1DM and PTB were extracted from the public genetic variation summary database. In addition, GWAS data were collected to explore the causal relationship between PTB and relevant clinical traits of T1DM, including glycemic traits, lipids, and obesity. The inverse variance weighting method (IVW), weighted median method, and MR‒Egger regression were used to evaluate the causal relationship. To ensure the stability of the results, sensitivity analyses assess the robustness of the results by estimating heterogeneity and pleiotropy. Results: IVW showed that T1DM increased the risk of PTB (OR = 1.07, 95% CI: 1.03–1.12, P < 0.001), which was similar to the results of MR‒Egger and weighted median analyses. Moreover, we found that high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C; OR = 1.28, 95% CI: 1.03–1.59, P = 0.026) was associated with PTB. There was no evidence of an effect of glycemic traits, remaining lipid markers, or obesity on the risk of PTB. In the reverse MR analysis, no causal relationships were detected for PTB on T1DM and its relevant clinical traits. Conclusion: This study supported that T1DM and HDL-C were risk factors for PTB. This implies the effective role of treating T1DM and managing HDL-C in reducing the risk of PTB, which provides an essential basis for the prevention and comanagement of concurrent T1DM and PTB in clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The single-walled carbon nanotubes and multi-walled carbon nanotubes were grown on the same ZrO 2 /Fe catalyst by adjusting the carbon sources. • A combination of experimental data and density functional theory simulations was able to reveal the underlying activity competition mechanism between hyperactive catalysts and hypoactive supports. Activity competition commonly exist when using multiple catalyst particles for growing carbon nanotubes (CNTs), and the diverse catalysts can compete with the carbon source and affect the growth kinetics and morphology of the nanotubes. However, the existed problem is that whether the support materials themselves also can engage in activity competition with the catalysts, and how this may impact the growth of CNTs. Here, we investigated the influence of hypoactive ZrO 2 support material and hyperactive ZrO 2 /Fe catalysts on the growth of CNTs, and the activity competition relationship between the support and the catalysts. ZrO 2 /Fe catalysts were prepared via a facile hydrothermal method, and employed both CH 4 and C 2 H 5 OH as carbon sources for growing CNTs. It is interesting that single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) were grown by utilizing CH 4 as carbon source, and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were synthesized for the use of C 2 H 5 OH as carbon source. A combination of experimental data and density functional theory simulations was able to reveal the underlying activity competition mechanism between hyperactive catalysts and hypoactive supports. It would provide new insight into the growth mechanisms of CNTs, and provide new ideas for the rational design and controlled growth of CNTs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To optimize the electromagnetic wave performance for absorbers, it is crucial to implement rational structural designs and integrate multiple loss modes in a coordinated manner. Here, three-dimensional (3D) porous macroscopic coral-like Co/CoO/reduced graphene oxide aerogels (Co/CoO/RGO), are successfully fabricated by an ice-templated freeze-drying and thermal reduction techniques, and their pore structures, involving aperture and total pore volume, are availably regulated by manipulating the water addition. The electromagnetic parameters and electromagnetic wave performance appear strong response toward the variation of pore structure. By controlling the pore structure, these parameters can be efficaciously tunned, thus manipulating the performance. The optimized absorption performance is obtained when the water addition is 1 ml, the minimum reflection loss reaches to −61.8 dB and the effective bandwidth is 4.2 GHz. Such good performance is inseparable with the 3D crosslinked conductive framework, the hybrid of magnetic and dielectric units, numerous heterointerfaces and countless pores walls in aerogels, which brings multiple electromagnetic wave loss mechanism. Moreover, it is very important that Co/CoO/RGO aerogels also integrate good hydrophobicity and heat insulation properties, allowing their application in harsh conditions. This work shows the potential of pore structural control engineering for producing multifunctional aerogels. [Display omitted] • Co/CoO/RGO aerogels with porous interconnected framework are successfully fabricated. • The porous network creates numerous heterointerfaces, and establish conductive pathways. • Good EM wave absorption property is achieved via the integration dielectric and magnetic components. • The minimum reflection loss and the effective bandwidth reaches to −61.8 dB and 4.2 GHz respectively. • The material exhibits multifunction, e.g., good EM wave absorption, hydrophobic and heat insulation properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Porous Fe/FeO/Fe 2 O 3 nanorods anchored on RGO form crosslinked FFORGO composite. • Coupling high loss and impedance match by adjusting dielectric and magnetic components. • Achieving multiple absorption mechanism and good EM wave absorption property. Electromagnetic wave absorbers composed of reduced graphene oxide (RGO) and magnetic nanoparticles integrates dielectric and magnetic loss features, which is extremely desirable for enhancing electromagnetic wave absorption ability. Here, porous Fe/FeO/Fe 2 O 3 nanorods/RGO composites (FFORGO) are synthesized via anchoring FeO(OH) nanorods on graphene oxide (GO) through dopamine polymerization followed by thermal reduction treatment. The porous Fe/FeO/Fe 2 O 3 nanorods are anchored on RGO, and crosslinked structure formed in FFORGO composites when the GO addition is higher than 5 mg‧ml−1. The abundant active sites (e.g., functional groups, dangling bonds, and lattice defects), the numerous heterointerfaces (among Fe, FeO, Fe 2 O 3 and RGO) and crosslinked structure trigger multiple dipole polarization, interface polarization and enhanced conductive loss. The EM wave absorption property is optimized by tuning the GO addition. FORGO4 with filler loading of 30 wt% achieves the maximal reflection loss of −24.1 dB at a thickness of 1.9 mm and the effective bandwidth below −10 dB of 3.01 GHz with a thickness of 2.2 mm, owing to the proper ratio of Fe/FeO/Fe 2 O 3 nanorods/RGO and synergistic effect between dielectric loss (dipole polarization, interface polarization, conductive loss) and magnetic loss (eddy current loss and exchange resonance). With the filler loading of 35 wt%, the maximal reflection loss of FFORGO4 is −50.7 dB at a thickness of 1.7 mm and the effective bandwidth reaches to 3.74 GHz at a thickness of 1.8 mm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]