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Balancing the biomass requirements of different functions for the purpose of population reproduction and persistence can be challenging for alpine plants due to extreme environmental stresses from both above- and below-ground sources. The presence of ecosystem engineers in alpine ecosystems effectively alleviates microenvironmental stresses, hence promoting the survival and growth of other less stress-tolerant species. However, the influence of ecosystem engineers on plant resource allocation strategies remains highly unexplored. In this study, we compared resource allocation strategies, including biomass accumulation, reproductive effort (RE), root fraction (RF), as well as relationships between different functions, among four alpine plant species belonging to Gentianaceae across bare ground, tussock grass-, cushion-, and shrub-engineered microhabitats. Shrub-engineered microhabitats exerted the strongest effects on regulating plant resource allocation patterns, followed by tussock grass- and cushion-engineered microhabitats. Additionally, apart from microhabitats, population background and plant life history also significantly influenced resource allocation strategies. Generally, plants established within engineered microhabitats exhibited higher biomass accumulation, as well as increased flower, leaf and stem production. Furthermore, individuals within engineered microhabitats commonly displayed lower RF, indicating a greater allocation of resources to above-ground functions while reducing allocation to root development. RE of annual plants was significantly higher than that of perennial plants. However, individuals of annual plants within engineered microhabitats showed lower RE compared to their counterparts in bare ground habitats; whereas perennial species demonstrated similar RE between microhabitat types. Moreover, RE was generally independent of plant size in bare-ground habitats but exhibited size-dependency in certain populations for some species within specific engineered microhabitat types. However, size-dependency did exist for absolute reproductive and root biomass allocation in most of the cases examined here. No trade-offs were observed between flower mass and flower number, nor between leaf mass and leaf number. The capacity of ecosystem engineers to regulate resource allocation strategies in associated plants was confirmed. However, the resource allocation patterns resulted synergistically from the ecosystem engineering effects, population environmental backgrounds, and plant life history strategies. In general, such regulations can improve individual survival and reproductive potential, potentially promoting population persistence in challenging alpine environments.

Lithium-ion solid-state batteries with spinel Li4Ti5O12 (LTO) electrodes have significant advantages, such as stability, long life, and good multiplication performance. In this work, the LTO electrode was obtained by the atmospheric plasma spraying method, and a composite solid electrolyte was prepared by in situ ultraviolet (UV) curing on the LTO electrode. The composite solid electrolyte was designed using a soft–hard combination strategy, and the electrolyte was prepared into a composite of a poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP) flexible structure and high-conductivity Li1.3Al0.3Ti1.7(PO4)3 (LATP) hard particles. The composite electrolyte exhibited a good ionic conductivity up to 0.35 mS cm−1 at 30 °C and an electrochemical window above 4.0 V. In situ and ex situ electrolytes were assembled into LTO//electrolyte//Li solid-state batteries to investigate their impact on the electrochemical performance of the batteries. As a result, the assembled Li4Ti5O12//in situ electrolytes//Li batteries exhibited excellent rate of performance, and their capacity retention rate was 90% at 0.2 mA/cm2 after 300 cycles. This work provides a new method for the fabrication of novel advanced solid-state electrolytes and electrodes for applications in solid-state batteries.

In recent years, as a renewable clean energy with many excellent characteristics, solar energy has been widely concerned. In this paper, we propose an ultra-broadband solar absorber based on metal tungsten and semiconductor GaAs structure. A multilayer metal semiconductor composite structure composed of W-Ti-GaAs three-layer films and GaAs gratings is proposed. The finite difference time domain method is used to simulate the performance of the proposed model. High efficiency surface plasmon resonance is excited by adjusting the geometric parameters, and the broadband absorption of up to 2,350 nm in 500–2850 nm is realized. The spectrum of the structure can be changed by adjusting the geometric parameters to meet different needs. The proposed absorber has good oblique incidence characteristics (0–60°) and high short-circuit current characteristics. The geometry of the absorber is clear, easy to manufacture, and has good photoelectric performance. It can realize solar energy collection, light heat conversion, high sensitive sensing and other functions.

Solid-state lithium batteries have attracted much attention due to their special properties of high safety and high energy density. Among them, the polymer electrolyte membrane with high ionic conductivity and a wide electrochemical window is a key part to achieve stable cycling of solid-state batteries. However, the low ionic conductivity and the high interfacial resistance limit its practical application. This work deals with the preparation of a composite solid electrolyte with high mechanical flexibility and non-flammability. Firstly, the crystallinity of the polymer is reduced, and the fluidity of Li+ between the polymer segments is improved by tertiary polymer polymerization. Then, lithium salt is added to form a solpolymer solution to provide Li+ and anion and then an inorganic solid electrolyte is added. As a result, the composite solid electrolyte has a Li+ conductivity (3.18 × 10−4 mS cm−1). The (LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4)LNMO/SPLL (PES-PVC-PVDF-LiBF4-LAZTP)/Li battery has a capacity retention rate of 98.4% after 100 cycles, which is much higher than that without inorganic oxides. This research provides an important reference for developing all-solid-state batteries in the greenhouse.

Foxtail millet (Setaria italica) growth was inhibited because of waterlogging stress, which has caused yield reduction. ERF family plays an important role to plant adversity tolerance. In our study, we obtained 19,819 differential expressed genes (DEGs) between the two treatments based on the RNA-seq sequencing of foxtail millet of waterlogging stress. Furthermore, a total of 28 ERF family members were obtained, which have a complete open reading frame. We studied the evolution and function of SiERF family and how they affected the waterlogging tolerance. It was found that SiERF1A/B/C (GenBank ID: OR775217, OR775219, OR775218) and SiRAP2-12 (GenBank ID: OR775216) have similar functions to the known waterlogging tolerance genes of other plants. Among them, the SiRAP2-12 expression was obviously significantly up-regulated in foxtail millet after 5d waterlogging stress. After SiRAP2-12 was silenced, the activity of defense enzymes in millet decreased significantly. In details, superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and peroxidase (POD), the osmotic regulator proline (Pro), and the activity of the anaerobic respiratory enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) content were decreased by 78.61%, 29.52%, 79.95%, 19.41% and 54.77%, respectively. In contrast, the relative electrical conductivity contents (REC), malondialdehyde (MDA), and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) of the foxtail millet subjected to virus-induced gene silencing clearly increased by 1.03-fold, 36.09%, and 15.21%, respectively. The content of sodium (Na+) in the SiRAP2-12-silenced foxtail millet also increased, but that of potassium (K+) decreased. Interestingly, we found that ethylene content was significantly reduced. Further, the SiAOC1 expression, an essential gene for ethylene synthesis, was inhibited in SiRAP2-12-silenced foxtail millet after waterlogging stress. Taken together, we hypothesized that SiRAP2-12 might be a positive regulator of millet tolerance to waterlogging stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To solve the problem of complex structure and narrow absorption band of most of today′s terahertz absorbers, this paper proposes and utilizes the finite element (COMSOL) method to numerically simulate a broadband absorber based on a straightforward periodic structure consisting of a disk and concentric ring. The final results show that our designed absorber has an absorption rate of over 99% in the broadband range of 9.06 THz to 9.8 THz and an average of over 97.7% in the ultra-broadband range of 8.62 THz to 10 THz. The reason for the high absorption is explained by the depiction of the electric field on the absorber surface at different frequencies. In addition, the materials for the top pattern of the absorber are replaced by Cu, Ag, or Al, and the absorber still achieves perfect absorption with different metal materials. Due to the perfect symmetry of the absorber structure, the absorber is very polarization-insensitive. The overall design is simple, easy to process and production. Therefore, our research will offer great potential for applications in areas such as terahertz electromagnetic stealth, sensing, and thermal imaging.

In this work, retinal penetration of fluorescein was achieved in vitro by covalent attachment of taurine to fluorescein, yielding the F–Tau conjugate. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and high resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) were used to confirm the successful synthesis of F–Tau. The cellular uptake of F–Tau in adult retinal pigment epithelial cells (ARPE-19) and human retinal microvascular endothelial cells (hRMECs) was visualized via confocal scanning microscopy. The results indicated an improvement of solubility and a reduction of logP of F–Tau compared with fluorescein. As compared with fluorescein, F–Tau showed little toxicity, and was retained longer by cells in uptake experiments. F–Tau also displayed higher transepithelial permeabilities than fluorescein in ARPE-19 and hRMECs monolayer cells (P