Aspect markings of Niesu, a dialect of Nuosu in Sichuan, China

This paper describes the aspectual markings of Niesu, an understudied Tibeto-Burman language, spoken in Sichuan, Southwest China. Niesu is the dialect of Nuosu, both of which are classified as Nuosu proper. By describing the data of the two subdialects of Niesu, namely Suondi and Adur, this paper categorizes Niesu aspectual markings into two types: simplex and complex. Except for the perfective o44 , which is an enclitic, all other aspectual markings are auxiliary. Unlike the simplex markers, the complex aspectual markers are formed through compounding or modification, making them further analyzable regarding the internal structure. Meanwhile, different nuances of meaning or function accompany the complex forms, compared with the basic forms. The grammaticalizations of the aspectual markings in Niesu are cross-linguistically well-attested phenomena, namely the continuous and progressive markings are grammaticalized from the existential verb, ‘be at, stay’, ‘put, place’, the motion verbs and the posture verbs. But the source and formation can be different. For example, Niesu metaphorically makes use of the verbs po55 ‘run’ (Suondi) in compound aspectual auxiliary ko33po55nɯ44kɯ44 (Suondi) to denote the progressive. The functions of the complex aspectual markings are determined by the grammaticalization of the core verbs in the construction

Effect of Sodium Trimetaphosphate on Chitosan-Methylcellulose Composite Films: Physicochemical Properties and Food Packaging Application

Environmentally friendly food packaging currently attracts much interest. Sodium trimetaphosphate (STMP) finds specialized applications in food, but it is rarely used as a crosslinking agent. In this study, STMP was used as a crosslinking agent to prepare chitosan/methylcellulose composite films. Both antibacterial and physicochemical properties of the composite film were improved by crosslinking with STMP. The crosslinked films, with good antibacterial activity (~99%), had increased tensile strength, a higher elongation at break, a lower swelling ratio and solubility, and a lower enzymatic degradation than the non-crosslinked films. Furthermore, the crosslinked films showed an excellent preservative effect on fresh-cut wax gourd after three days at room temperature. The obtained films crosslinked by STMP can be potentially applied to the food industry, such as food functional packaging, providing a novel alternative to traditional plastic packages

When Livestock Genomes Meet Third-Generation Sequencing Technology: From Opportunities to Applications

Third-generation sequencing technology has found widespread application in the genomic, transcriptomic, and epigenetic research of both human and livestock genetics. This technology offers significant advantages in the sequencing of complex genomic regions, the identification of intricate structural variations, and the production of high-quality genomes. Its attributes, including long sequencing reads, obviation of PCR amplification, and direct determination of DNA/RNA, contribute to its efficacy. This review presents a comprehensive overview of third-generation sequencing technologies, exemplified by single-molecule real-time sequencing (SMRT) and Oxford Nanopore Technology (ONT). Emphasizing the research advancements in livestock genomics, the review delves into genome assembly, structural variation detection, transcriptome sequencing, and epigenetic investigations enabled by third-generation sequencing. A comprehensive analysis is conducted on the application and potential challenges of third-generation sequencing technology for genome detection in livestock. Beyond providing valuable insights into genome structure analysis and the identification of rare genes in livestock, the review ventures into an exploration of the genetic mechanisms underpinning exemplary traits. This review not only contributes to our understanding of the genomic landscape in livestock but also provides fresh perspectives for the advancement of research in this domain

UV-Curable Hydrophobic Coatings of Functionalized Carbon Microspheres with Good Mechanical Properties and Corrosion Resistance

Polyurethane acrylates (PUAs) are a kind of UV curable prepolymer with excellent comprehensive performance. However, PUAs are highly hydrophilic and when applied outdoors, presenting serious problems caused by rain such as discoloring, losing luster and blistering. Thus, it’s important to improve their hydrophobicity and resistance against corrosion. In this paper, carbon microspheres (CMSs) were modified through chemical grafting method. Active double bonds were introduced onto the surface of organic carbon microspheres (OCMSs) and the functional product was referred to as FCMS. The results of Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM), X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) and Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) showed that organic chain segments were successfully connected to the surface of OCMSs and the grafting efficiency was as high as 16%. FCMSs were successfully added into UV-curable polyurethane acrylate prepolymer to achieve a hydrophobic coating layer with good mechanical properties, thermal stability and corrosion resistance. When the addition of FCMSs were 1%, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) results showed that 5% of the initial mass was lost at 297 °C. The water absorption decreased from 52% to 38% and the water contact angle of the PUA composite increased from 72° to 106°. The pencil hardness increased to 4H and obvious crack termination phenomenon was observed in SEM images. Moreover, the corrosion rate was decreased from 0.124 to 0.076 mm/a

Recent Advances in Chitosan-Based Hydrogels for Flexible Wearable Sensors

Flexible wearable sensors show great potential for applications in wearable devices, remote health monitoring, artificial intelligence, soft robotics, and artificial skin due to their stretchability, bendability, thinness and portability, and excellent electrical properties. Hydrogels have tunable mechanical properties, excellent biocompatibility, and flexibility, making them attractive candidates for wearable flexible sensors. Among them, tremendous efforts have focused on the advancement of chitosan-based hydrogels (CS-Gels) to realize multifunctional wearable sensing by modifying hydrogel networks with additives/nanofillers/functional groups. Recently, remarkable progress has been made in flexible wearable sensors. Herein, this review summarizes recent advances in CS-Gels wearable sensors for applications such as human motion monitoring, health monitoring, human-machine interface and soft robotics. Representative synthesis methods and strategies for CS-Gels are briefly described, the problems and deficiencies of CS-Gels for wearable sensors are discussed. Finally, the possible opportunities and challenges for the future development of CS-Gels flexible wearable devices are proposed

VO₂(B)/Graphene Composite-Based Symmetrical Supercapacitor Electrode via Screen Printing for Intelligent Packaging

More multipurpose and convenient demand driven by Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and intelligent packaging require flexible power sources. A VO2(B)/graphene (VO2(B)/GN) core-shell composite was successfully synthesized by the hydrothermal treatment with V2O5 and graphite. The as-obtained sample was characterized by XRD, FT-IR, SEM, TEM, and XPS measurements. In addition, the electrochemical properties of VO2(B)/GN were tested. Due to its great electrochemical performance and mechanical properties, graphene could increase the electrochemical performance and strengthen the structural stability of the material at the same time. With increasing loading amount of GN, the specific capacitance of VO2(B)/GN increased correspondingly. With 20% GN loading, the initial discharge specific capacity could reach 197 F g−1 at 0.5 A g−1, and 160 F g−1 at 1 A g−1 in 0.5 M Na2SO4 electrolyte, which is better than that of pure rod-like VO2(B). The capacitance of the VO2(B)/GN (20%) composite electrode retains 95.49% after 1000 cycles, which is higher than that of a pure VO2(B) electrode (85.43%), indicating that the VO2(B)/GN composite possesses better cycling stability. Moreover, a symmetrical solid-state supercapacitor (SCs) using VO2(B)/GN(20%) as the anode was assembled. Four printed SCs were connected in series to light up a 1.5 V red LED. This demonstrates its potential application in intelligent packaging to trace food safety

A live attenuated strain of HY9901ΔvscB provides protection against Vibrio alginolyticus in pearl gentian grouper (♀Epinephelus fuscoguttatus × ♂Epinephelus lanceolatu)

Vibrio alginolyticus, a bacterial pathogen in fish and humans, expresses a type III secretion system (T3SS) that is critical for pathogen virulence and disease development. In this study, the T3SS chaperone protein gene vscB was cloned from V. alginolyticus wild-type strain HY9901and the vscB gene has a length of 429 bp and encodes 142 amino acids. The amino acid sequence homology comparison results showed that VscB had the highest similarity with that of Vibrio parahaemolyticus VscB, reaching 91%. The mutant strain HY9901ΔvscB was constructed by the in-frame deletion method. The HY9901ΔvscB showed an attenuated swarming phenotype and a 23-fold decrease in virulence to pearl gentian grouper (♀Epinephelus fuscoguttatus × ♂Epinephelus lanceolatu). However, the HY9901ΔvscB showed no difference in morphology, growth, biofilm formation and extracellular protease (ECPase) activity. The results of antibiotic susceptibility testing showed that the wild-type HY9901 is more sensitive to Doxycycline, Minocyline and Kanamycin than in the HY9901ΔvscB. A total of 95 differentially expressed genes were screened by transcriptome sequencing analysis of HY9901 and strain ΔvscB, revealing 57 genes up-regulated and 38 genes were down-regulated in the ΔvscB compared to HY9901. qRT-PCR was employed to analyze the transcription levels of T3SS-related genes showing that ΔvscB had decreased expression of vopN and vscO and increased expression of hop, vscN, vscK, vscL and vopS compared to HY9901. Finally, grouper vaccinated via intraperitoneal (IP) injection with HY9901ΔvscB had a relative percent survival (RPS) of 77.6% following challenge with HY9901. Real-time qPCR assays showed that vaccination with HY9901ΔvscB enhanced the expression of immune-related genes, including MHC-I, IgM, and CD8α both in the liver and spleen, indicating that HY9901ΔvscB is able to induce humoral and cell-mediated immune responses in pearl gentian grouper. These results demonstrate that the HY9901ΔvscB mutant could be used as an effective live attenuated vaccine to combat V. alginolyticus infection in pearl gentian grouper