A stimuli-responsive hydrogel for reversible information storage, encryption and decryption.

Smart hydrogel materials, known for their sensitivity to external stimuli, exhibit a reversible dynamic response and find applications in diverse fields, particularly in information storage. Despite significant efforts in this domain, developing a hydrogel with high-resolution, repeatable recording, and robust information encryption/decryption capabilities still remains a challenge. In this study, we synthesized a polymer hydrogel, namely polyvinyl alcohol-n-isopropylacrylamide-octadecyl polyoxyethylene ether acrylate hydrogel (PPNS), which features multiple hydrogen bonds through copolymerization, by using N-isopropylacrylamide, polyvinyl alcohol, and octadecyl polyoxyethylene ether acrylate (SGA15) as raw materials. The PPNS hydrogel demonstrated outstanding high-resolution, repeatable recording capabilities, enabling reversible recording, encryption, and decryption of information using anhydrous ethanol as the inducer. Varying the SGA15 monomer concentration revealed that the PPNS-2% hydrogel, prepared with 2% SGA15, outperformed the other hydrogels in terms of information recording and encryption/decryption when immersed in anhydrous ethanol and deionized water. Furthermore, the PPNS-2% hydrogel exhibited the ability to undergo multiple information cycles while maintaining excellent mechanical properties even after 25 cycles. Notably, ethanol served as a specialized ink for inscribing different patterns on the hydrogel surface for information recording. The recorded information could be erased through water wiping or ethanol volatilization, enabling reversible information recording, encryption, and decryption. Due to their responsive and dynamic nature of PPNS hydrogels are positions them as promising candidates for use as innovative information storage platforms.

Dimerized Nitrogen-Annulated Perylene Synthesized from 1,6-Diazecine as Chiral Emitter.

In this work, nitrogen-annulated perylene (NP) was dimerized into one framework connected by two nitrogen atoms, generating the target molecule of DNP-DA. Owing to the substructure of 1,6-diazecine ten-membered ring, DNP-DA illustrates helical chirality with moderate dissymmetry factor, elevated molecular levels, expanded conjugation and supramolecular interactions with acceptors etc. Notably, DNP-DA represents a limited example of nitrogen-perylene based CPL emitter with glum around 6×10-3 . Intrigued by the facile fabrication via a simple amination-cross coupling sequence and other above advancing features, this work demonstrates the potential generality of utilizing 1,6-diazecine as a chiral unit to build CPL-active materials.

Evaluating students' behavioral intention and system usability of augmented reality-aided distance design learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Because of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, learning modes had to change. This study applied augmented reality (AR) technology to improve the learning experience of product styling design students in a distance learning environment. An AR-aided learning interface combined with a distance learning concept was constructed to enhance students' content knowledge and communication between teachers and students. This study analyzed students' attitudes and behavioral intentions toward the technology acceptance model for this AR-aided distance learning interface. Additionally, a system usability scale was used to examine the usability level of this interface. The results demonstrated that learning content directly affected distance interaction, and perceived ease of use was an essential mediating variable. Furthermore, three-dimensional (3D) visualization was a predictive factor that directly affected students' attitudes toward AR use. Students had positive attitudes toward the AR-aided learning interface, and their feedback indicated that 3D visualization stimulated their learning motivation and enhanced their behavioral intentions. Overall, the AR-aided styling learning interface supported the distance learning of product styling design students and provided teachers and students with a valuable learning communication channel during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Synthesis and Properties of BN-embedded N-Perylene.

A B-N embedded nitrogen-annulated perylene has been successfully synthesized. The resultant molecule BN-NP is isoelectronic to coronene, but owns a five-membered pyrrole ring. Experiments and DFT calculations indicated that peripheral pyrrole and BN modifications endow BN-NP with various unique properties like bent structure, dual emission, efficient Lewis acidic response, peripheral aromaticity, narrowest energy band gap among all coronene isoelectronic structures and so on.

Molecular mapping of major QTL conferring resistance to orange wheat blossom midge (Sitodiplosis mosellana) in Chinese wheat varieties with selective populations.

KEY MESSAGE: Two novel midge resistance QTL were mapped to a 4.9-Mb interval on chromosome arm 4AL based on the genetic maps constructed with SNP markers. Orange wheat blossom midge (OWBM) is a devastating insect pest affecting wheat production. In order to detect OWBM resistance genes and quantitative trait loci (QTL) for wheat breeding, two recombinant inbred line (RIL) populations were established and used for molecular mapping. A total of seven QTL were detected on chromosomes 2D, 4A, 4D and 7D, respectively, of which positive alleles were all from the resistant parents except for the QTL on 7D. Two stable QTL (QSm.hbau-4A.2-1 and QSm.hbau-4A.2-2) were detected in both populations with the LOD scores ranging from 5.58 to 29.22 under all three environments, and they explained a combined phenotypic variation of 24.4-44.8%. These two novel QTL were mapped to a 4.9-Mb physical interval. The single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers AX-109543456, AX-108942696 and AX-110928325 were closely linked to the QTL and could be used for marker-assisted selection (MAS) for OWBM resistance in wheat breeding programs.

Screening for differential expression of genes for resistance to Sitodiplosis mosellana in bread wheat via BSR-seq analysis.

KEY MESSAGE: Five putative candidate genes for OWBM resistance in Chinese winter wheat 'Jimai 24' were identified via BSR-seq and differential expression analyses. Orange wheat blossom midge (OWBM), Sitodiplosis mosellana, is one of the most serious threats to wheat production worldwide. Conventional gene mapping methods to identify genes require significant amounts of financial support and time. Here, bulked segregant RNA-seq (BSR-seq) was applied to profile candidate genes and develop associated markers for OWBM resistance. Previously, we identified a major QTL (QSm.hebau-4A) for OWBM resistance on the long arm of chromosome 4A. In this study, we aimed at screening differentially expressed resistance genes associated with this QTL. Twelve differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were obtained based on BSR-seq and differential expression analyses. Among them, four were confirmed to be associated with OWBM resistance via quantitative reverse transcription PCR, using an additional set of wheat samples subjected to OWBM invasion. One SPI-like gene and one Malectin-like gene were revealed by gene annotation, respectively. Sequencing results confirmed that the four DEGs and the SPI gene had SNP polymorphisms between wheat parents. All these five resistance-related genes for OWBM were located in the same genomic region with QSm.hebau-4A. Furthermore, six new markers developed based on sequences of the five genes were also mapped in the same genomic region using genetic population. These five genes may be the candidate genes for OWBM resistance in Chinese wheat 'Jimai 24' and should be the targets for further positional isolation.

Association mapping of dynamic developmental plant height in common wheat.

Drought as a major abiotic stress often occurs from stem elongation to the grain filling stage of wheat in northern China. Plant height (PH) is a suitable trait to model the dissection of drought tolerance. The purposes of the present study were to validate molecular markers for PH developmental behavior and identify elite alleles of molecular markers. After the phenotyping of 154 accessions for PH dynamic development under well-watered (WW) and drought stressed (DS) conditions, and the genotyping of 60 SSR markers from six candidate chromosome regions related to PH found in our previous linkage mapping studies, both parameters PH and drought tolerance coefficient (DTC) calculated by the conditional analysis were used for association mapping. A total of 46 significant association signals (P < 0.01) were identified in 23 markers, and phenotypic variation ranged from 7 to 50%. Among them, four markers Xgwm261-2D, Xgwm495-4B, Xbarc109-4B and Xcfd23-4D were detected under both water regimes. Furthermore, 10 markers were associated with DTC, and four with both parameters PH and DTC at the same plant development stage. The results revealed different allelic effects of associated markers; for example, the 155 bp Xgwm495-4B allele was associated with a reduced height of -11.2 cm under DS and -15.3 cm under WW, whereas the 167 bp allele exhibited increased height effects of 3.9 and 8.1 cm, respectively. This study demonstrates a strong power of joint association analysis and linkage mapping for the identification of important genes in wheat.