Enhanced thermal and mechanical properties of lignin/polypropylene wood-plastic composite by using flexible segment-containing reactive compatibilizer

A reactive compatibilizer containing flexible segment (RCFS) was synthesized and characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and gel permeation chromatography (GPC). The RCFS was used as a compatibilizer for the preparation of lignin/polypropylene (PP) wood plastic composites, and the effect of the RCFS on the properties of composites (e.g., mechanical properties, thermal properties, crystal structure, and morphology) were investigated in detail. Experimental results indicated that the lignin/PP composite displayed the best performance with the addition of 2 wt% RCFS. Its impact strength, flexural strength, and modulus were 56.8%, 37.3%, and 20.6%, respectively, which are higher than those of the untreated composites. Moreover, RCFS treatment could also increase the thermal stability, crystallization rate, and degree of crystallinity of lignin/PP composites

Genome-Wide Identification of MYB Transcription Factors and Their Function on Floral Volatile Compounds Biosynthesis in <i>Antirrhinum majus</i> L.

The v-MYB avivan myoblastsis virus oncogene homolog (MYB) family is the largest gene family of the transcription factor in plants, involved in plant growth and development, secondary metabolism and resistance to biotic/abiotic stress. Antirrhinum majus (snapdragon) is an ideal material for studying ornamental traits. Nevertheless, there has been no systematic investigation into the AmMYB family of snapdragons. In this study, we identified a total of 162 members of the AmMYB gene family in snapdragons. Gene structure analysis showed that the AmMYB family within the same subgroup had a similar structure and motifs. Analysis of gene duplication events revealed that the amplification of the AmMYB family was driven by whole-genome duplication (WGD) and dispersed duplication. The analysis of cis-acting elements in the promoter region of AmMYB genes reveals a collaborative involvement of light-responsive growth and development elements, stress resistance elements, and hormone-responsive elements jointly participating in the regulation of the AmMYB gene. Collinearity analysis demonstrates significant functional distinctions between AmMYB and monocotyledonous plants. The classification of AmMYB members results in 3 main subgroups with 36 smaller subgroups. All AmMYB genes are distributed across all eight chromosomes, with no apparent correlation between subfamily distribution and chromosome length. Through phylogenetic analysis and RNA-seq analysis, we have identified 9 R2R3-MYB genes that potentially play a role in the regulation of floral volatile organic compounds (FVOCs) biosynthesis. Their expression patterns were verified by qRT-PCR experiments. This study establishes a robust foundation for further investigations into the functionality of AmMYB genes and their molecular mechanisms underlying FVOC biosynthesis in snapdragons

Simultaneously Quantifying Both Young’s Modulus and Specific Membrane Capacitance of Bladder Cancer Cells with Different Metastatic Potential

Both Young&rsquo;s modulus and specific membrane capacitance (SMC) are two important physical parameters for characterizing cell status. In this paper, we utilized a thin-neck-micropipette aspiration system to simultaneously quantify Young&rsquo;s modulus and SMC value of six types of cell lines in different progression grades, which include four grades from the lowest metastatic potential G1 to the highest potential G4. We investigated how these two physical properties possess heterogeneities in bladder cancer cells with different grades and what roles they might play in grading bladder cancer. The characterization results of these cells of different cancer grades is linearly correlated with the cancer grades, showing that the Young&rsquo;s modulus is negatively linearly correlated with bladder cancer grades, while SMC shows a positive linear correlation. Furthermore, the combination of these two physical properties on a scatter diagram clearly shows the cell groups with different cancer grades, which means that this combination could be a potential tumor grading marker to identify cancer cells with different metastatic potential

Proteome of mouse oocytes at different developmental stages

The mammalian oocyte possesses powerful reprogramming factors, which can reprogram terminally differentiated germ cells (sperm) or somatic cells within a few cell cycles. Although it has been suggested that use of oocyte-derived transcripts may enhance the generation of induced pluripotent stem cells, the reprogramming factors in oocytes are undetermined, and even the identified proteins composition of oocytes is very limited. In the present study, 7,000 mouse oocytes at different developmental stages, including the germinal vesicle stage, the metaphase II (MII) stage, and the fertilized oocytes (zygotes), were collected. We successfully identified 2,781 proteins present in germinal vesicle oocytes, 2,973 proteins in MII oocytes, and 2,082 proteins in zygotes through semiquantitative MS analysis. Furthermore, the results of the bioinformatics analysis indicated that different protein compositions are correlated with oocyte characteristics at different developmental stages. For example, specific transcription factors and chromatin remodeling factors are more abundant in MII oocytes, which may be crucial for the epigenetic reprogramming of sperm or somatic nuclei. These results provided important knowledge to better understand the molecular mechanisms in early development and may improve the generation of induced pluripotent stem cells

Development of an Unmanned Surface Vehicle for the Emergency Response Mission of the ‘Sanchi’ Oil Tanker Collision and Explosion Accident

Unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) as unmanned intelligent devices can replace humans to perform missions more efficiently and safely in dangerous areas. However, due to the complex navigation environment and special mission requirements, USVs face many challenges in emergency response missions for marine oil spill accidents. To solve these challenges in the emergency response mission of the &lsquo;Sanchi&rsquo; oil tanker collision and explosion accident, we designed and deployed an USV to perform the missions of real-time scanning and water sampling in the shipwreck waters. Compared with the previous USVs, our USV owned the following characteristics: Firstly, the improved navigation control algorithms (path following and collision avoidance) can provide high navigation accuracy while ensuring navigation safety; Secondly, an improved launch and recovery system (LARS) enabled the USV to be quickly deployed and recovered in the mission area; Thirdly, a new sampling system was specially designed for the USV. Our USV completed the missions successfully, not only providing a lot of information for rescuers but also offering a scientific basis for follow-up work

Oocyte-Specific Homeobox 1, Obox1, Facilitates Reprogramming by Promoting Mesenchymal-to-Epithelial Transition and Mitigating Cell Hyperproliferation

Summary: Mammalian oocytes possess fascinating unknown factors, which can reprogram terminally differentiated germ cells or somatic cells into totipotent embryos. Here, we demonstrate that oocyte-specific homeobox 1 (Obox1), an oocyte-specific factor, can markedly enhance the generation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from mouse fibroblasts in a proliferation-independent manner and can replace Sox2 to achieve pluripotency. Overexpression of Obox1 can greatly promote mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition (MET) at early stage of OSKM-induced reprogramming, and meanwhile, the hyperproliferation of THY1-positive cells can be significantly mitigated. Subsequently, the proportion of THY1-negative cells and Oct4-GFP-positive cells increased dramatically. Further analysis of gene expression and targets of Obox1 during reprogramming indicates that the expression of Obox1 can promote epithelial gene expression and modulate cell-cycle-related gene expression. Taken together, we conclude that the oocyte-specific factor Obox1 serves as a strong activator for somatic cell reprogramming through promoting the MET and mitigating cell hyperproliferation. : Mammalian oocytes possess unknown factors, which can reprogram differentiated cells into totipotent embryos and thereafter give rise to a new organism. In this article, Gao and colleagues found that Obox1, an oocyte factor, can enhance somatic cell reprogramming to iPSCs by promoting mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition and mitigating cell hyperproliferation. Keywords: oocyte factor, reprogramming, mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition, hyperproliferation, iPSCs, cell cycle, M phase, Obox