A Pathogen Secreted Protein as a Detection Marker for Citrus Huanglongbing.

The citrus industry is facing an unprecedented crisis due to Huanglongbing (HLB, aka citrus greening disease), a bacterial disease associated with the pathogen Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (CLas) that affects all commercial varieties. Transmitted by the Asian citrus psyllid (ACP), CLas colonizes citrus phloem, leading to reduced yield and fruit quality, and eventually tree decline and death. Since adequate curative measures are not available, a key step in HLB management is to restrict the spread of the disease by identifying infected trees and removing them in a timely manner. However, uneven distribution of CLas cells in infected trees and the long latency for disease symptom development makes sampling of trees for CLas detection challenging. Here, we report that a CLas secreted protein can be used as a biomarker for detecting HLB infected citrus. Proteins secreted from CLas cells can presumably move along the phloem, beyond the site of ACP inoculation and CLas colonized plant cells, thereby increasing the chance of detecting infected trees. We generated a polyclonal antibody that effectively binds to the secreted protein and developed serological assays that can successfully detect CLas infection. This work demonstrates that antibody-based diagnosis using a CLas secreted protein as the detection marker for infected trees offers a high-throughput and economic approach that complements the approved quantitative polymerase chain reaction-based methods to enhance HLB management programs

Loureirin B attenuates amiodarone-induced pulmonary fibrosis by suppression of TGFβ1/Smad2/3 pathway

Purpose: To investigate the therapeutic effect of loureirin B (LB) on amiodarone (AD)-induced pulmonary fibrosis (PF).Methods: Forty-eight male C57BL/6 mice, 8–10 weeks of age, were divided into four groups (n=12). Oral administration of amiodarone hydrochloride (AD) was performed for 4 weeks to induce pulmonary fibrosis. The degree of fibrosis was assessed by Masson staining, while collagen I and α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) levels were evaluated by Western blot analysis. ELISA was used to measure the levels of cytokines TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and lung tissue. Levels of p- Smad2, Smad2, p-Smad3 and Smad3 were determined by western blotting.Results: AD treatment increased the collagen levels and expression levels of collagen I and α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) in lung tissue and of inflammatory cytokines TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6, in both bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and lung tissue in a dose-dependent manner (p < 0.01).Furthermore, AD increased the levels of p-Smad2/3. AD-induced increases in collagen I and α-SMA levels were reversed by loureirin B (LB). In addition, LB reduced AD-induced increased levels of the inflammatory cytokines TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 in both bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and lung tissue (p < 0.01).Conclusion: These results demonstrate that LB downregulates expression of fibrosis-related proteins and suppresses AD-induced PF. The  mechanism responsible for the protective effect of LB on ADinduced PF might involve inhibition of the Smad2/3 pathway. Thus, LB is a potential therapeutic agent for the management of PF. Keywords: Amiodarone, Loureirin B, Pulmonary fibrosis, Smad, Inflammatio

Effects of Charge Transport Materials on Blue Fluorescent Organic Light-Emitting Diodes with a Host-Dopant System

High efficiency blue fluorescent organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), based on 1,3-bis(carbazol-9-yl)benzene (mCP) doped with 4,4’-bis(9-ethyl-3-carbazovinylene)-1,1’-biphenyl (BCzVBi), were fabricated using four different hole transport layers (HTLs) and two different electron transport layers (ETLs). Fixing the electron transport material TPBi, four hole transport materials, including 1,1-Bis[(di-4-tolylamino)phenyl]cyclohexane (TAPC), N,N’-Di(1-naphthyl)-N,N’-diphenyl-(1,1’-biphenyl)-4’-diamine(NPB), 4,4’-Bis(N-carbazolyl)-1,1,-biphenyl (CBP) and molybdenum trioxide (MoO3), were selected to be HTLs, and the blue OLED with TAPC HTL exhibited a maximum luminance of 2955 cd/m2 and current efficiency (CE) of 5.75 cd/A at 50 mA/cm2, which are 68% and 62% higher, respectively, than those of the minimum values found in the device with MoO3 HTL. Fixing the hole transport material TAPC, the replacement of TPBi ETL with Bphen ETL can further improve the performance of the device, in which the maximum luminance can reach 3640 cd/m2 at 50 mA/cm2, which is 23% higher than that of the TPBi device. Furthermore, the lifetime of the device is also optimized by the change of ETL. These results indicate that the carrier mobility of transport materials and energy level alignment of different functional layers play important roles in the performance of the blue OLEDs. The findings suggest that selecting well-matched electron and hole transport materials is essential and beneficial for the device engineering of high-efficiency blue OLEDs

Improved Efficiency of Perovskite Light-Emitting Diodes Using a Three-Step Spin-Coated CH3NH3PbBr3 Emitter and a PEDOT:PSS/MoO3-Ammonia Composite Hole Transport Layer

High efficiency perovskite light-emitting diodes (PeLEDs) using PEDOT:PSS/MoO3-ammonia composite hole transport layers (HTLs) with different MoO3-ammonia ratios were prepared and characterized. For PeLEDs with one-step spin-coated CH3NH3PbBr3 emitter, an optimal MoO3-ammonia volume ratio (0.02) in PEDOT:PSS/MoO3-ammonia composite HTL presented a maximum luminance of 1082 cd/m2 and maximum current efficiency of 0.7 cd/A, which are 82% and 94% higher than those of the control device using pure PEDOT:PSS HTL respectively. It can be explained by that the optimized amount of MoO3-ammonia in the composite HTLs cannot only facilitate hole injection into CH3NH3PbBr3 through reducing the contact barrier, but also suppress the exciton quenching at the HTL/CH3NH3PbBr3 interface. Three-step spin coating method was further used to obtain uniform and dense CH3NH3PbBr3 films, which lead to a maximum luminance of 5044 cd/m2 and maximum current efficiency of 3.12 cd/A, showing enhancement of 750% and 767% compared with the control device respectively. The significantly improved efficiency of PeLEDs using three-step spin-coated CH3NH3PbBr3 film and an optimum PEDOT:PSS/MoO3-ammonia composite HTL can be explained by the enhanced carrier recombination through better hole injection and film morphology optimization, as well as the reduced exciton quenching at HTL/CH3NH3PbBr3 interface. These results present a promising strategy for the device engineering of high efficiency PeLEDs

The Protective Antibodies Induced by a Novel Epitope of Human TNF-α Could Suppress the Development of Collagen-Induced Arthritis

Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) is a major inflammatory mediator that exhibits actions leading to tissue destruction and hampering recovery from damage. At present, two antibodies against human TNF-α (hTNF-α) are available, which are widely used for the clinic treatment of certain inflammatory diseases. This work was undertaken to identify a novel functional epitope of hTNF-α. We performed screening peptide library against anti-hTNF-α antibodies, ELISA and competitive ELISA to obtain the epitope of hTNF-α. The key residues of the epitope were identified by means of combinatorial alanine scanning and site-specific mutagenesis. The N terminus (80–91 aa) of hTNF-α proved to be a novel epitope (YG1). The two amino acids of YG1, proline and valine, were identified as the key residues, which were important for hTNF-α biological function. Furthermore, the function of the epitope was addressed on an animal model of collagen-induced arthritis (CIA). CIA could be suppressed in an animal model by prevaccination with the derivative peptides of YG1. The antibodies of YG1 could also inhibit the cytotoxicity of hTNF-α. These results demonstrate that YG1 is a novel epitope associated with the biological function of hTNF-α and the antibodies against YG1 can inhibit the development of CIA in animal model, so it would be a potential target of new therapeutic antibodies

Plasmonic-Enhanced Organic Light-Emitting Diodes Based on a Graphene Oxide/Au Nanoparticles Composite Hole Injection Layer

Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) have drawn a great deal of attention due to their broad applications in lighting and displaying. With the development of nanotechnology, surface plasmas have been widely used in photonics, microscopes, solar cells and biosensors. In this paper, by inserting graphene oxide (GO), Au nanoparticles (Au NPs) and GO/Au NP composite structures between the hole transport layer (NPB) and indium tin oxide (ITO) anode, respectively, the electroluminescent performance of Alq3-based OLEDs was significantly enhanced. Compared to the reference devices, the devices with the composite inserting layer containing 10% GO/Au NP doping have the best electroluminescent performance, which improved 47.9% in maximum luminance, 49.2% in maximum current efficiency and 45.3% in maximum external quantum efficiency (EQE). Such substantial enhancement of photoelectric performance can be attributed to the combined effects of LSPR coupling and the better hole transport property by introducing Au NPs and a graphene oxide-doped layer

Incorporating pleiotropic quantitative trait loci in dissection of complex traits: seed yield in rapeseed as an example

© The Author(s) 2017 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, duplication, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.Most agronomic traits of interest for crop improvement (including seed yield) are highly complex quantitative traits controlled by numerous genetic loci, which brings challenges for comprehensively capturing associated markers/ genes. We propose that multiple trait interactions underlie complex traits such as seed yield, and that considering these component traits and their interactions can dissect individual quantitative trait loci (QTL) effects more effectively and improve yield predictions. Using a segregating rapeseed (Brassica napus) population, we analyzed a large set of trait data generated in 19 independent experiments to investigate correlations between seed yield and other complex traits, and further identified QTL in this population with a SNP-based genetic bin map. A total of 1904 consensus QTL accounting for 22 traits, including 80 QTL directly affecting seed yield, were anchored to the B. napus reference sequence. Through trait association analysis and QTL meta-analysis, we identified a total of 525 indivisible QTL that either directly or indirectly contributed to seed yield, of which 295 QTL were detected across multiple environments. A majority (81.5%) of the 525 QTL were pleiotropic. By considering associations between traits, we identified 25 yield-related QTL previously ignored due to contrasting genetic effects, as well as 31 QTL with minor complementary effects. Implementation of the 525 QTL in genomic prediction models improved seed yield prediction accuracy. Dissecting the genetic and phenotypic interrelationships underlying complex quantitative traits using this method will provide valuable insights for genomics-based crop improvement.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Zürich Statement on Future Actions on Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFASs).

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are man-made chemicals that contain at least one perfluoroalkyl moiety, [Formula: see text]. To date, over 4,000 unique PFASs have been used in technical applications and consumer products, and some of them have been detected globally in human and wildlife biomonitoring studies. Because of their extraordinary persistence, human and environmental exposure to PFASs will be a long-term source of concern. Some PFASs such as perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) have been investigated extensively and thus regulated, but for many other PFASs, knowledge about their current uses and hazards is still very limited or missing entirely. To address this problem and prepare an action plan for the assessment and management of PFASs in the coming years, a group of more than 50 international scientists and regulators held a two-day workshop in November, 2017. The group identified both the respective needs of and common goals shared by the scientific and the policy communities, made recommendations for cooperative actions, and outlined how the science-policy interface regarding PFASs can be strengthened using new approaches for assessing and managing highly persistent chemicals such as PFASs. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP4158

Fabrication of Composite Ultrafiltration Membrane by Coating Urea Formaldehyde Resin on Filter Paper

Urea-formaldehyde resin (UFR), a thermosetting resin, is used to prepare ultrafiltration membranes because of its excellent mechanical properties and filtration performance. Herein, a porous ultrafiltration membrane is prepared by coating a mixture of UFR and carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) on the surface of filter paper via a facile acid-curing treatment method. CMC is used as a thickening agent, and hydrochloric acid is used as a curing agent to accelerate composite membrane formation. The mesoporous UFR is embedded in the large pores of the paper matrix by coating treatment, and the presence of CMC can decrease the flowability of the resin. The effects of UFR concentration, CMC dosage, and hydrochloric acid concentration on the performance of the composite ultrafiltration membrane are studied. The ultrafiltration membrane demonstrates a rejection rate of 85% and a pure water flux of 850 L/(m2·h) with the optimized resin concentration, CMC dosage, hydrochloric acid concentration, and coating amount at 30%, 20% (resin dry), 12%, and 250 g/m2, respectively