12 research outputs found
Oriented Design of Transition-Metal-Oxide Hollow Multishelled Micropolyhedron Derived from Bimetal–Organic Frameworks for the Electrochemical Detection of Multipesticide Residues
Transition-metal oxides (TMOs) with a hollow multishelled
structure
have emerged as highly potential materials for high-performance electrochemical
sensing, benefiting from their superior electronic conductivity, exceptionally
large specific surface area, excellent stability, and electrochemistry
properties. In particular, binary TMOs are expected to outperform
unitary TMOs due to the synergistic effect of the different metals.
Herein, MnCo2O4.5 hollow quadruple-shelled porous
micropolyhedrons (MnCo2O4.5 HoQS-MPs) were prepared
and employed to construct an ultrasensitive sensing platform for a
multipesticide assay. Profiting from complex hollow interior structures
and abundant active sites, the MnCo2O4.5 HoQS-MPs
manifest outstanding electrochemical properties as electrode materials
for the pesticide assay. The MnCo2O4.5 HoQS-MP-based
biosensor demonstrated remarkable performance for monocrotophos, methamidophos,
and carbaryl detection, with wide linear ranges, as well as low detection
limits. This work unveils a new pathway for the ultrasensitive detection
of pesticides and demonstrates tremendous potential for detecting
other environmentally deleterious chemicals
Highly Transparent and Efficient Counter Electrode Using SiO<sub>2</sub>/PEDOT–PSS Composite for Bifacial Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells
A highly transparent and efficient
counter electrode was facilely
fabricated using SiO<sub>2</sub>/polyÂ(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-polyÂ(styrenesulfonate)
(PEDOT–PSS) inorganic/organic composite and used in bifacial
dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs). The optical properties of SiO<sub>2</sub>/PEDOT–PSS electrode can be tailored by the blending
amount of SiO<sub>2</sub> and film thickness, and the incorporation
of SiO<sub>2</sub> in PEDOT–PSS provides better transmission
in the long wavelength range. Meanwhile, the SiO<sub>2</sub>/PEDOT–PSS
counter electrode shows a better electrochemical catalytic activity
than PEDOT–PSS electrode for triiodide reduction, and the role
of SiO<sub>2</sub> in the catalytic process is investigated. The bifacial
DSC with SiO<sub>2</sub>/PEDOT–PSS counter electrode achieves
a high power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 4.61% under rear-side
irradiation, which is about 83% of that obtained under front-side
irradiation. Furthermore, the PCE of bifacial DSC can be significantly
increased by adding a reflector to achieve bifacial irradiation, which
is 39% higher than that under conventional front-side irradiation
Background Nutrients Affect the Biotransformation of Tetracycline by <i>Stenotrophomonas maltophilia</i> as Revealed by Genomics and Proteomics
Certain bacteria are resistant to
antibiotics and can even transform
antibiotics in the environment. It is unclear how the molecular mechanisms
underlying the resistance and biotransformation processes vary under
different environmental conditions. The objective of this study is
to investigate the molecular mechanisms of tetracycline resistance
and biotransformation by <i>Stenotrophomonas maltophilia</i> strain DT1 under various background nutrient conditions. Strain
DT1 was exposed to tetracycline for 7 days with four background nutrient
conditions: no background (NB), peptone (P), peptone plus citrate
(PC), and peptone plus glucose (PG). The biotransformation rate follows
the order of PC > P > PG > NB ≈ 0. Genomic analysis
showed
that strain DT1 contained <i>tet</i>(X1), a gene encoding
an FAD-binding monooxygenase, and eight peroxidase genes that could
be relevant to tetracycline biotransformation. Quantitative proteomic
analyses revealed that nodulation protein transported tetracycline
outside of cells; hypoxanthine–guanine phosphoribosyltransferase
facilitated the activation of the ribosomal protection proteins to
prevent the binding of tetracycline to the ribosome and superoxide
dismutase and peroxiredoxin-modified tetracycline molecules. Comparing
different nutrient conditions showed that the biotransformation rates
of tetracycline were positively correlated with the expression levels
of superoxide dismutase
DataSheet1_Minoxidil delivered via a stem cell membrane delivery controlled release system promotes hair growth in C57BL/6J mice.docx
Objective: Umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cell membrane-loaded minoxidil (MXD) nanoparticles (STCM-MXD-NPs) were prepared to investigate their effects on hair growth in C57BL/6J mice.Methods: STCM-MXD-NPs were obtained by freeze-thawing and differential centrifugation, and their effects on hair growth were evaluated using C57BL/6J mice. The mRNA and protein expression levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) were detected by real-time polymerase chain reaction and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, respectively. Protein expression levels of marker of proliferation Ki-67 (MKI67) and β-catenin (CTNNB) in skin tissue were detected by immunohistochemistry.Results: STCM-MXD-NPs improved MXD solubility. They released the drug slowly, increasing its transdermal properties, accumulation in the skin, and content in the hair bulb tissues with a better efficacy than that of ordinary MXD. Moreover, STCM-MXD-NPs significantly upregulated the mRNA and protein levels of VEGF and IGF-1 and promoted the protein expression of MKI67 and CTNNB in mouse skin tissues, promoting mouse hair growth.Conclusion: Stem cell membrane-loaded MXD nanoparticles with slow-release properties increased MXD accumulation in the skin by improving its transdermal properties, increasing VEGF, IGF-1, MKI67, and CTNNB expression levels and promoting hair growth in C57BL/6J mice.</p
Highly Efficient and Operational Stability Polymer Solar Cells Employing Nonhalogenated Solvents and Additives
The power
conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of potential polymer solar cells have
been shown to rapidly exceed 15%. However, these high-performance
devices are based on halogenated solvents that pose a significant
hazard to the atmospheric environment and human beings. The use of
nonhalogenated solvents makes the device less efficient because of
its solubility issues. In this work, we report high-efficiency devices
utilizing PffBT4T-2OD and [6,6]-phenyl C<sub>71</sub> butyric acid
methyl ester system from nonhalogenated solvents such as <i>o</i>-xylene (<i>o</i>-XY) and 1-methylnaphthalene (Me) hydrocarbon
solvent. When Me was used as the additive, the PCE of prepared devices
improved from 1.83 to 10.13%, which is rather higher than that of
the devices processed with traditional solvents combined with chlorobenzene
and 1,8-diiodooctane (8.18%). Both atomic force
microscopy and transmission electron microscopy confirmed that after
nonhalogen solvents are treated, a more finely phase-separated dense
morphology of active layers than after halogen solvents. At the same
time, grazing incident wide-angle X-ray scattering patterns show that
the combination of nonhalogenated solvents <i>o</i>-XY and
Me ingeniously formed an ordered crystal and π–π
stacking. Also, the stability of devices prepared from nonhalogenated
solvents was significantly better than that of halogenated solvents
under continuous illumination in the air without encapsulation
Additional file 2: Figure S2 of Homology modeling and docking studies of ENPP4: a BCG activated tumoricidal macrophage protein
a: The binding pocked of ENPP4 (calculated by CASTp, 2237.4Â Ã…3); b: The binding pocket of ENPP1 (PDB Id 4GTX) (calculated by CASTp,. 1177.7Â Ã…3). (JPG 223Â kb
Additional file 1: Table S3. of A novel multi-epitope recombined protein for diagnosis of human brucellosis
The Accession Numbers of OMPs of Brucella spp. in NCBI Protein database. (DOC 32 kb
Additional file 3: Table S2. of A novel multi-epitope recombined protein for diagnosis of human brucellosis
Isotype specific reactivity positive results from the sera of brucellosis patients(146 samples) and controls(102 samples) in ELISA. (DOC 30 kb
Image_2.TIF
<p>Chilling stress affects plant growth and productivity. However, the multi-underlying mechanisms of chilling tolerance are not well understood. Arabidopsis PCaP2 is involved in regulating the dynamic of microtubules (MTs) and F-actin and Ca<sup>2+</sup>-binding ability. Here, the results showed that the PCaP2 expression was highly induced in roots, cotyledons, true leaves, lateral roots and flowers under cold stress. Compared with the wild type, PCaP2-overexpressing plants displayed the enhanced tolerance, whereas its RNAi and mutant were more sensitive in seed germination, seedling and reproductive growth under chilling stress in Arabidopsis. In addition, PCaP2 was also a positive regulator of ABA signaling pathway by analyzing the expression of PCaP2 and the phenotypes of PCaP2-overexpressing, mutant and RNAi plants under ABA treatment. Interestingly, disruption of PCaP2 inhibited the expression of CBF1, -3 and CBF-target COR genes, while increased the CBF2 expression in response to cold or ABA. Moreover, we found that SnRK2s were involved in cold stress and PCaP2 mutants down-regulated the transcription level of SnRK2.2, -2.3 and SnRK2-mediated downstream genes including ABF2, RD29A, KIN1, KIN2, but up-regulated SnRK2.6, ABF1, -3, -4 in ABA and cold treatments. It is well-accepted that PCaP2 as a Ca<sup>2+</sup>-binding protein triggers the gene expression to enhance plant chilling tolerance. Our further studies showed that MT destabilizing activity of PCaP2, but not F-actin-severing function, may be involved in chilling stress. Taken together, our results highlight that PCaP2 plays an important role in chilling tolerance and ABA response by triggering the CBF- and SnRK2-meditated transcriptional regulatory pathways, providing novel evidences of underlying mechanisms of multi-pathways in chilling stress.</p
Image_1.TIF
<p>Chilling stress affects plant growth and productivity. However, the multi-underlying mechanisms of chilling tolerance are not well understood. Arabidopsis PCaP2 is involved in regulating the dynamic of microtubules (MTs) and F-actin and Ca<sup>2+</sup>-binding ability. Here, the results showed that the PCaP2 expression was highly induced in roots, cotyledons, true leaves, lateral roots and flowers under cold stress. Compared with the wild type, PCaP2-overexpressing plants displayed the enhanced tolerance, whereas its RNAi and mutant were more sensitive in seed germination, seedling and reproductive growth under chilling stress in Arabidopsis. In addition, PCaP2 was also a positive regulator of ABA signaling pathway by analyzing the expression of PCaP2 and the phenotypes of PCaP2-overexpressing, mutant and RNAi plants under ABA treatment. Interestingly, disruption of PCaP2 inhibited the expression of CBF1, -3 and CBF-target COR genes, while increased the CBF2 expression in response to cold or ABA. Moreover, we found that SnRK2s were involved in cold stress and PCaP2 mutants down-regulated the transcription level of SnRK2.2, -2.3 and SnRK2-mediated downstream genes including ABF2, RD29A, KIN1, KIN2, but up-regulated SnRK2.6, ABF1, -3, -4 in ABA and cold treatments. It is well-accepted that PCaP2 as a Ca<sup>2+</sup>-binding protein triggers the gene expression to enhance plant chilling tolerance. Our further studies showed that MT destabilizing activity of PCaP2, but not F-actin-severing function, may be involved in chilling stress. Taken together, our results highlight that PCaP2 plays an important role in chilling tolerance and ABA response by triggering the CBF- and SnRK2-meditated transcriptional regulatory pathways, providing novel evidences of underlying mechanisms of multi-pathways in chilling stress.</p