Knockout of Auxin Response Factor SlARF4 Improves Tomato Resistance to Water Deficit

Auxin response factors (ARFs) play important roles in various plant physiological processes; however, knowledge of the exact role of ARFs in plant responses to water deficit is limited. In this study, SlARF4, a member of the ARF family, was functionally characterized under water deficit. Real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and β-glucuronidase (GUS) staining showed that water deficit and abscisic acid (ABA) treatment reduced the expression of SlARF4. SlARF4 was expressed in the vascular bundles and guard cells of tomato stomata. Loss of function of SlARF4 (arf4) by using Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats/Cas 9 (CRISPR/Cas 9) technology enhanced plant resistance to water stress and rehydration ability. The arf4 mutant plants exhibited curly leaves and a thick stem. Malondialdehyde content was significantly lower in arf4 mutants than in wildtype plants under water stress; furthermore, arf4 mutants showed higher content of antioxidant substances, superoxide dismutase, actual photochemical efficiency of photosystem II (PSII), and catalase activities. Stomatal and vascular bundle morphology was changed in arf4 mutants. We identified 628 differentially expressed genes specifically expressed under water deficit in arf4 mutants; six of these genes, including ABA signaling pathway-related genes, were differentially expressed between the wildtype and arf4 mutants under water deficit and unlimited water supply. Auxin responsive element (AuxRE) elements were found in these genes’ promoters indicating that SlARF4 participates in ABA signaling pathways by regulating the expression of SlABI5/ABF and SCL3, thereby influencing stomatal morphology and vascular bundle development and ultimately improving plant resistance to water deficit.     

Role of TRPA1 in Tissue Damage and Kidney Disease

TRPA1, a nonselective cation channel, is expressed in sensory afferent that innervates peripheral targets. Neuronal TRPA1 can promote tissue repair, remove harmful stimuli and induce protective responses via the release of neuropeptides after the activation of the channel by chemical, exogenous, or endogenous irritants in the injured tissue. However, chronic inflammation after repeated noxious stimuli may result in the development of several diseases. In addition to sensory neurons, TRPA1, activated by inflammatory agents from some non-neuronal cells in the injured area or disease, might promote or protect disease progression. Therefore, TRPA1 works as a molecular sentinel of tissue damage or as an inflammation gatekeeper. Most kidney damage cases are associated with inflammation. In this review, we summarised the role of TRPA1 in neurogenic or non-neurogenic inflammation and in kidney disease, especially the non-neuronal TRPA1. In in vivo animal studies, TRPA1 prevented sepsis-induced or Ang-II-induced and ischemia-reperfusion renal injury by maintaining mitochondrial haemostasis or via the downregulation of macrophage-mediated inflammation, respectively. Renal tubular epithelial TRPA1 acts as an oxidative stress sensor to mediate hypoxia–reoxygenation injury in vitro and ischaemia–reperfusion-induced kidney injury in vivo through MAPKs/NF-kB signalling. Acute kidney injury (AKI) patients with high renal tubular TRPA1 expression had low complete renal function recovery. In renal disease, TPRA1 plays different roles in different cell types accordingly. These findings depict the important role of TRPA1 and warrant further investigation.     

Epigallocatechin-3-Gallate-Loaded Liposomes Favor Anti-Inflammation of Microglia Cells and Promote Neuroprotection

Microglia-mediated neuroinflammation is recognized to mainly contribute to the progression of neurodegenerative diseases. Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), known as a natural antioxidant in green tea, can inhibit microglia-mediated inflammation and protect neurons but has disadvantages such as high instability and low bioavailability. We developed an EGCG liposomal formulation to improve its bioavailability and evaluated the neuroprotective activity in in vitro and in vivo neuroinflammation models. EGCG-loaded liposomes have been prepared from phosphatidylcholine (PC) or phosphatidylserine (PS) coated with or without vitamin E (VE) by hydration and membrane extrusion method. The anti-inflammatory effect has been evaluated against lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced BV-2 microglial cells activation and the inflammation in the substantia nigra of Sprague Dawley rats. In the cellular inflammation model, murine BV-2 microglial cells changed their morphology from normal spheroid to activated spindle shape after 24 h of induction of LPS. In the in vitro free radical 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay, EGCG scavenged 80% of DPPH within 3 min. EGCG-loaded liposomes could be phagocytized by BV-2 cells after 1 h of cell culture from cell uptake experiments. EGCG-loaded liposomes improved the production of BV-2 microglia-derived nitric oxide and TNF-α following LPS. In the in vivo Parkinsonian syndrome rat model, simultaneous intra-nigral injection of EGCG-loaded liposomes attenuated LPS-induced pro-inflammatory cytokines and restored motor impairment. We demonstrated that EGCG-loaded liposomes exert a neuroprotective effect by modulating microglia activation. EGCG extracted from green tea and loaded liposomes could be a valuable candidate for disease-modifying therapy for Parkinson’s disease (PD).     

Zirconium-Embedded Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxane Containing Phosphaphenanthrene-Substituent Group Used as Flame Retardants for Epoxy Resin Composites

A zirconium hybrid polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane derivative (Zr–POSS–bisDOPO) is synthesized by the corner-capping and Kabachnik–Fields reactions. It is characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR), and then used as a flame retardant in diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) to endow epoxy resin (EP) with flame retardancy. The flame retardancy, thermal stability, and mechanical properties of the cured EP/Zr–POSS–bisDOPO composites are investigated. The results show that when Zr–POSS–bisDOPO is added by 5–7 wt%, the EP/Zr–POSS–bisDOPO composites pass the UL-94 V-0 rating test. In addition, they have a better flame-retardant effect than pure EP. The combination of Zr atom embedded in the Si O cubic cage and the two phosphaphenanthrene substituent groups in one corner of cubic cage is expected to realize the Zr/Si/P ternary intramolecular hybrid synergistic effect and achieve the possibility of dispersing metal–POSS cages at a sub-micrometer-scale level into polymer matrix. It also proves that Zr–POSS–bisDOPO produces phosphorus-containing free radicals and terminates the chain reactions in gas phase. Meanwhile the Si O Si and Zr O units are retained in the solid phase, which promote the char formation and enhance the flame retardancy. This kind of Zr-doped POSS will be helpful for developing the new metal–POSS hybrid flame-retardant and polymer composites.     

Boron Nitride Nanosheets Strengthened PVA/Borax Hydrogels with Highly Efficient Self-Healing and Rapid pH-Driven Shape Memory Effect

Self-healing hydrogels often possess poor mechanical properties which largely limits their applications in many fields. In this work, boron nitride nanosheets are introduced into a network of the poly(vinyl alcohol)/borax (PVA/borax) hydrogels to enhance the mechanical properties of the hydrogel without compromising the self-healing abilities. The obtained hydrogels exhibit excellent mechanical properties with a tensile strength of 0.410 ± 0.007 MPa, an elongation at break of 1712%, a Young's Modulus of 0.860 ± 0.023 MPa, and a toughness of 3.860 ± 0.075 MJ m⁻³. In addition, the self-healing efficiency of the hydrogels is higher than 90% within 10 min at room temperature. Benefiting from the excellent self-healing properties, the shapeability of the hydrogel fragments is observed using different molds. In addition, the hydrogels display rapid pH-driven shape memory effects and can recover to their original shape within 260 s. Overall, this work provides a new approach to hydrogels with integrated excellent mechanical properties, self-healing abilities, and rapid pH-driven shape memory effects.     

Excellent Polyimide Dielectrics Containing Conjugated ACAT for High-Temperature Polymer Film Capacitor

In order to meet the requirements of polymer dielectric materials for high thermal stability and excellent dielectric properties in the application of high-temperature film capacitors, a series of polyimide (PI) films are fabricated by introducing a self-synthesized aniline trimer (ACAT) with a conjugated structure in this work. Since the conjugated ACAT in the main chains of PI improves the electron polarization and carrier mobility of the PI molecular chains, the dielectric constant of the ACAT-PI films is greatly enhanced (4.4–7.4). Meanwhile, the dissipation factor does not increase apparently (0.002–0.013). The dielectric properties are stable even when the temperature is up to 200 °C, the thermal degradation temperature is as high as 450 °C, and the mechanical properties are also excellent (70–105 MPa). Among all the films, the PI film with 5 mol% ACAT exhibits the maximal energy density of 3.6 J cm⁻³ under the field of 426 kV mm⁻¹, the high tensile strength (90 MPa) and the excellent thermal stability (T_d5 = 515 °C). The work paves the way to prepare high-temperature polymer dielectric film materials with high energy storage density.     

PPV Nanotube Sensor Arrays for Explosives Identification by Excitation Wavelength Regulation

The development of sensitive materials for standard and improvised explosives is greatly significant to homeland security. In this paper, the phosphotungstate (NaPT) doped polyphenylene vinylene (PPV) nanotube arrays (NTAs), with excellent optical response, chemical stability, and larger specific surface area, are successfully fabricated by means of the “precursor film” infiltration method. The efficient charge carriers' separation of PPV NTAs can be achieved by doping NaPT to realize the photoelectric detection of explosive vapors. In addition, the identification of six explosives, including ammonium nitrate (AN), dinitrotoluence (DNT), picric acid (PA), p-nitrotoluene (PNT), triacetone triperoxide (TATP), and trinitrotoluene (TNT), can also be realized through the fingerprint atlas. Moreover, the adsorption energy and excited oscillator intensity has also been employed to explain the interaction between NaPT doped PPV nanotube arrays and various explosive molecules. Obviously, the NaPT doped PPV developed has the potential to be used as an explosive sensor.     

铈基SCR脱硝催化剂研究进展

近年来铈（Ce）基脱硝催化剂成为低温脱硝领域的研究热点,按载体类型可分为金属氧化物催化剂、二氧化钛载体催化剂、分子筛载体催化剂、活性炭及氧化铝载体催化剂等。按催化剂种类分别介绍了掺杂改性、制备工艺、反应条件等对催化剂性能的影响,并阐述了可能的原因机理。目前,铈基催化剂大多处于实验室阶段,工业化应用尚存在问题,尤其作为低温脱硝催化剂,活性中心堵塞问题更加突出,并且催化剂成本较高。未来可从催化剂制备工艺入手解决催化剂成型问题,以实现工业应用。同时探讨催化剂中毒机理,进一步提升其抗中毒能力。另外,寻求适宜的材料与铈掺杂组合,达到高效脱硝和经济效益最大化。     

DMFC阳极催化剂用GRQD-NiCo2O4复合物的制备与电催化活性分析

采用水热法制备GRQD-NiCo₂O₄复合物,利用XRD、SEM及TEM分析其微结构,并探讨其作为DMFC阳极催化剂使用时的电化学性能。微结构分析表明所得GRQD-NiCo₂O₄复合物皆为具NiCo₂O₄单一相的尖晶石结构,且GRQD质量浓度高于0.25 g/mL后表面形貌将转变GRQD与NiCo₂O₄相互结合的状态。电化学分析表明添加GRQD可有效增强NiCo₂O₄的导电性并提升其电化学稳定性,其中GRQD质量浓度为0.25 g/mL时所得样品经500次循环测试后电流密度约为77.5 A/g,与循环5次后相比其电流密度剩余量最大（约为69.7%）,该样品作为DMFC阳极催化剂使用时性价比最佳。