NtARF11 positively regulates cadmium tolerance in tobacco by inhibiting expression of the nitrate transporter NtNRT1.1.

Heavy metal cadmium (Cd) is widespread in contaminated soil and an important factor limiting plant growth. NO3- (nitrate) affects Cd uptake and thus changes Cd tolerance in plants; however, the underlying molecular regulatory mechanisms have not yet been elucidated. Here, we analyzed a novel gene, NtARF11 (auxin response factor), which regulates Cd tolerance in tobacco via the NO3- uptake pathway, through experiments with NtARF11-knockout and NtARF11-overexpression transgenic tobacco lines. NtARF11 was highly expressed under Cd stress in tobacco plants. Under Cd stress, overexpression of NtARF11 enhanced Cd tolerance in tobacco compared to that in wild-type tobacco, as shown by the low Cd concentration, high chlorophyll concentration, and low accumulation of reactive oxygen species in NtARF11-overexpressing tobacco. Moreover, low NO3- concentrations were observed in NtARF11-overexpressing tobacco plants. Further analyses revealed direct binding of NtARF11 to the promoter of the nitrate transporter NtNRT1.1, thereby negatively regulating its expression in tobacco. Notably, NtNRT1.1 knockout reduced NO3- uptake, which resulted in low Cd concentrations in tobacco. Altogether, these results demonstrate that the NtARF11-NtNRT1.1 module functions as a positive regulator of Cd tolerance by reducing the Cd uptake in tobacco, providing new insights for improving Cd tolerance of plants through genetic engineering.

Targeted inhibition of pyroptosis via a carbonized nanoinhibitor for alleviating drug-induced acute kidney injury.

Pyroptosis is a form of pro-inflammatory programmed cell death and it represents a potential therapeutic target for alleviating drug-induced acute kidney injury (AKI). However, there is a lack of effective and kidney-targeted pyroptosis inhibitors for AKI treatment so far. Herein, we report a pharmacologically active carbonized nanoinhibitor (P-RCDs) derived from 3,4',5-trihydroxystilbene that can preferentially accumulate in the kidneys and ameliorate chemotherapeutic drug-induced AKI by inhibiting pyroptosis. In particular, such a carbonized nanoformulation enables the transfer of desired pyroptosis inhibitory activity as well as the radical eliminating activity to the nanoscale, endowing P-RCDs with a favorable kidney-targeting ability. In cisplatin-induced AKI mice, P-RCDs can not only pharmacologically inhibit GSDME-mediated pyroptosis in renal cells with high efficacy, but also exhibit high antioxidative activity that protects the kidneys from oxidative injury. The present study proposes a feasible but efficacious strategy to construct versatile carbonized nanomedicine for targeted delivery of the desired pharmacological activities.

A DNA-Gated and Self-Protected Bioorthogonal Catalyst for Nanozyme-Assisted Safe Cancer Therapy.

Transition metal catalysts (TMCs) mediated bioorthogonal uncaging catalysis has sparked increasing interest in prodrug activation. However, due to their "always-on" catalytic activity as well as the complex and catalytic-detrimental intracellular environment, the biosafety and therapeutic efficiency of TMCs are unsatisfactory. Herein, a DNA-gated and self-protected bioorthogonal catalyst has been designed by modifying nanozyme-Pd0 with highly programmable nucleic acid (DNA) molecules to achieve efficient intracellular drug synthesis for cancer therapy. Monolayer DNA molecules could endow the catalyst with targeting and perform as a gatekeeper to achieve selective prodrug activation within cancer cells. Meanwhile, the prepared graphitic nitrogen-doped carbon nanozyme with glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and catalase (CAT)-like activities could improve the catalytic-detrimental intracellular environment to prevent the catalyst from being inactivated and sensitize the subsequent chemotherapy. Overall, we believe that our work will promote the development of secure and efficient bioorthogonal catalytic systems and provide new insights into novel antineoplastic platforms.

Renal Clearable Quantum Dot-Drug Conjugates Modulate Labile Iron Species and Scavenge Free Radicals for Attenuating Chemotherapeutic Drug-Induced Acute Kidney Injury.

Chemotherapeutic drug-induced acute kidney injury (AKI) involves pathologically increased labile iron species in the kidneys that mediate the excessive generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) to induce ferroptosis and apoptosis, subsequently driving renal dysfunction. Herein, we report renal clearable quantum dot-drug conjugates (QDCs) composed of carbon quantum dot (CDs), deferoxamine (DFO), and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) for attenuating chemotherapeutic drug-induced AKI. The CDs component in QDCs can not only provide DFO with high renal specificity to effectively remove the pathological labile iron species in the kidneys to block the source of ROS generation but also exert high antioxidative effects to avoid renal oxidative damage caused by the ROS that have been overproduced. In cisplatin-induced AKI mice, QDCs can inhibit ferroptosis and apoptosis with high efficacy for AKI treatment. This study will provide a new paradigm to realize enhanced therapeutic efficacy for AKI by simultaneously removing the pathological labile iron species and eliminating overproduced ROS in the kidneys to achieve the goal of addressing both symptoms and root causes.

Curved photonic nanojet generated by a rotating cylinder.

The curved photonic nanojet (CPNJ) produced due to the interaction between a dielectric circular cylinder rotating at a stable angular velocity and a plane wave is investigated. Based on this model, the optical Magnus effect of a dielectric circular cylinder is verified. And the analytical expression of both internal and external electric field are given based on the instantaneous rest-frame theory and the partial-wave series expansion method in cylindrical coordinates. The influence of the size parameter, the relative refractive index, and the rotating dimensionless parameter on the CPNJ are analyzed and discussed in numerical results. The "photonic nanojet curved" effect is highlighted, which can be used to generate the off-axis photonic nanojet (PNJ) controlling particles by adjusting the angular velocity of the dielectric cylinder. The results of this manuscript have promising application prospects in optical tweezers, particle manipulation, and optical trapping. Moreover, it also provides theoretical support for the particle spinning and generation of the off-axis CPNJ.

Modeling acute care utilization: practical implications for insomnia patients.

Machine learning models can help improve health care services. However, they need to be practical to gain wide-adoption. In this study, we investigate the practical utility of different data modalities and cohort segmentation strategies when designing models for emergency department (ED) and inpatient hospital (IH) visits. The data modalities include socio-demographics, diagnosis and medications. Segmentation compares a cohort of insomnia patients to a cohort of general non-insomnia patients under varying age and disease severity criteria. Transfer testing between the two cohorts is introduced to demonstrate that an insomnia-specific model is not necessary when predicting future ED visits, but may have merit when predicting IH visits especially for patients with an insomnia diagnosis. The results also indicate that using both diagnosis and medications as a source of data does not generally improve model performance and may increase its overhead. Based on these findings, the proposed evaluation methodologies are recommended to ascertain the utility of disease-specific models in addition to the traditional intra-cohort testing.

Optical radiation force on a dielectric sphere by a polarized Airy beam.

The optical radiation force acting on a homogeneous and lossless dielectric spherical particle by a polarized Airy beam is analyzed in terms of the generalized Lorenz-Mie theory. The transverse and longitudinal radiation force components are theoretically evaluated and numerically simulated, emphasizing the transverse scale ω0, attenuation parameter γ, and polarization of the incident Airy beam versus the size parameter ka of the sphere. These results reveal that a polarized Airy beam can trap the dielectric sphere in its main caustic or sidelobes of the beam by the optical transverse force and be guided along the parabolic trajectory of the longitudinal optical force. Moreover, γ and ω0 of the Airy beams and ka of the dielectric sphere can affect the amplitude and distribution of the optical force components. This research may be helpful for the development of Airy optical tweezers in applications involving particle manipulation, optical levitation, particle sorting, and other emergent areas.

Asymmetric organocatalytic sulfenylation for the construction of a diheteroatom-bearing tetrasubstituted carbon centre.

Catalytic enantioselective sulfenylation to construct diheteroatom-bearing carbon centres was achieved by employing chiral guanidine organocatalysts. This protocol provided a facile route towards the synthesis of α-fluoro-α-sulfenyl-ß-ketoamides, azlactone adducts and α-sulfur-substituted amino acid derivatives in high yields with good to excellent enantioselectivities. A possible working mode was proposed to elucidate the chiral control of the process.

Mutation of NtNRAMP3 improves cadmium tolerance and its accumulation in tobacco leaves by regulating the subcellular distribution of cadmium.

Cadmium (Cd) is a harmful element that affects plant growth and development. Genetic improvements could be applied for enhancing Cd tolerance and accumulation in plants. Here, a novel Cd stress-induced gene, NtNRAMP3, was identified in tobacco. We constructed two NtNRAMP3-knockout (KO) tobacco lines using the CRISPR/Cas9 system, which enhanced Cd tolerance and Cd accumulation in tobacco leaves compared with those in the wildtype (WT). Subcellular localization analysis suggested that NtNRAMP3 is a tonoplast protein and GUS (ß-glucuronidase) histochemical analysis showed that NtNRAMP3 is highly expressed in the conductive tissue of leaves. NtNRAMP3-KO tobacco showed reduced Cd translation from vacuole to cytosol in leaves compared with the WT, and its vacuolar Cd concentration was significantly higher (20.78-22.81%) than that in the WT; in contrast, Cd concentration in the cytosol was reduced by 13.72-20.15%, preventing chlorophyll degradation and reducing reactive oxygen species accumulation in the leaves. Our findings demonstrate that NtNRAMP3 is involved in regulating Cd subcellular distribution (controlling Cd transport from vacuoles to the cytosol) and affects Cd tolerance and its accumulation in tobacco. This provides a key candidate gene to improve the phytoremediation efficiency of plants via genetic engineering.

The yolk-shell nanorod structure of Ni3Se2@C electrodes boosting charge transfer and cyclability in high-performance supercapacitors.

Developing novel electrode materials with reasonable structures and ideal conductivity is of great significance for energy storage devices. In this work, Ni3Se2@C yolk-shell nanorods are grown on nickel foam (NF) via a one-step selenization and carbonization process. The carbon shell not only improves the conductivity and charge transfer of electrodes, but also inhibits the dissociation of Ni3Se2 core during redox reactions, which is crucial to electrochemical performances of SCs. Owing to the yolk-shell nanorod structure, the Ni3Se2@C electrode exhibits an outstanding specific capacitance of 1669.7F g-1 at 1 A g-1. Moreover, an asymmetric supercapacitor (ASC) is successfully assembled using Ni3Se2@C and active carbon (AC) electrodes as the anode and cathode respectively, which delivers remarkable energy-storage characteristics. Specifically, the Ni3Se2@C//AC ASC shows a high energy density (31.0 Wh kg-1) at a power density (723.7 W kg-1), and stable cycling performance (97% capacitance retention after 9000 cycles). These results make the Ni3Se2@C a promising electrode for SCs.

Electrochemical Decarboxylative Cyclization of α-Amino-Oxy Acids to Access Phenanthridine Derivatives.

Phenanthridines are a class of useful heterocycles in the field of drug development. In this work, a method via electrochemical decarboxylative cyclization of α-amino-oxy acids to access phenanthridine derivatives was developed. This reaction proceeded through iminyl radical formation cascade intramolecular cyclization from readily available materials under environmentally friendly conditions. A wide range of phenanthridine derivatives were obtained in moderate to high yields.

Synthesis of the cathode and anode materials from discarded surgical masks for high-performance asymmetric supercapacitors.

Advanced carbon-based electrode materials derived from wastes are essential to high-performance supercapacitors due to their abundance and sustainability. In this work, we fabricate novel cathodes and anodes based on discarded surgicalmask-derived carbon (DSM-C). Discarded surgicalmasks are good candidates for carbon-based electrode materials due to their unique fibrous structure and simple composition compared to conventional biomass sources. Benefiting from the excellent electrical conductivity of DSM-C and abundant redox reactions from nickel oxide (NiO), the electrochemical performances of NiO/DSM-C composites have been greatly improved. Specifically, the DSM-C and NiO/DSM-C electrodes show high specific capacitances of 240 F g-1 and 496 F g-1 at 1 A g-1 respectively, and excellent rate capability. Moreover,asymmetric supercapacitors (ASCs) are assembled using DSM-C and NiO/DSM-C as anodes and cathodes, respectively. They deliver a high energy density of 57 Wh kg-1 at a power density of 702 W kg-1, accompanied by superior cycling stability (98.5% capacitance retention after 10,000 cycles). This work shows prospective applications of DSM-C as an electrode material for energy storage systems.

In-situ growth of MnCo2O4 hollow spheres on nickel foam as pseudocapacitive electrodes for supercapacitors.

Pseudocapacitances combining ample redox reactions and relative rapid ion and charge transport have been extensively investigated in energy storage applications. Herein, we employ a simple two-step method to synthesize MnCo2O4 hollow spheres (MnCo2O4 HSs), and directly grow MnCo2O4 HSs on nickel foam (NF) to prepare MnCo2O4 HSs/NF. The three-dimensional (3D) macroporous structure of NF offers a perfect platform for the uniform growth of MnCo2O4 HSs and constructs interconnected charge transfer highways. The hollow structure of MnCo2O4 exposes abundant redox active sites for energy storage, increasing the utilization rate of electroactive materials. Benefiting from the 3D macroporous structure of NF and the hollow structure of MnCo2O4 HSs, the ion and charge transport is greatly improved. The resultant MnCo2O4 HSs/NF electrode shows a high specific capacitance of 648.4 F g-1 at 2 mV s-1 in sodium sulfate electrolyte. Furthermore, the MnCo2O4 HSs/NF//MnCo2O4 HSs/NF symmetrical supercapacitors are fabricated, which deliver a high energy density of 37.1 Wh kg-1 at 250.1 W kg-1 along with outstanding cycling stability.

Facile synthesis of strontium ferrite nanorods/graphene composites as advanced electrode materials for supercapacitors.

The exploration of efficient and stable electrode materials is important for supercapacitors. Composite electrode materials are promising candidates for supercapacitors since single component materials cannot satisfy the dual needs of high energy density and power density. In this study, uniform strontium ferrite nanorods are grown on graphene by a facile surfactant assisted hydrothermal method. The resultant SrFe12O19 nanorods/graphene (SrFe12O19 NR/G) composites combine the merits of both SrFe12O19 and graphene, and the SrFe12O19 NR/G based supercapacitors exhibit specific capacitances of 681.2 and 450.9 F g-1 at 1 and 20 A g-1, respectively, and 95.5% of capacitance retention after 10,000 cycles at 1 A g-1. Moreover, they exhibit outstanding energy density and power density characteristics (47.3 Wh kg-1 at 500.9 W kg-1 and 31.3 Wh kg-1 at 10247.7 W kg-1). In addition, the influence of component ratio on the electrochemical performances of SrFe12O19 NR/G composites is thoroughly studied. Finally, the energy storage behavior and mechanism of as-obtained SrFe12O19 NR/G composites are investigated to further understand their enhanced capacitive performances. This work not only provides a new supercapacitor electrode material, but also offers an idea that can be used for the construction of composite electrode materials.

Simultaneous determination of multi-allergens in surimi products by LC-MS/MS with a stable isotope-labeled peptide.

A novel LC-MS/MS method for simultaneous quantification of the allergens of soy, milk and egg in surimi products was established based on three signature peptides, namely EAFGVNMQIVR (soy glycinin G2), YLGYLEQLLR (milk α-S1-casein), GGLEPINFQTAADQAR (egg ovalbumin) and a stable isotope-labeled peptide EAFGVNMQI* (I*, 13C6, 15N) VR. After protein extraction and tryptic digestion, four selected marker peptides were measured by HPLC-MS/MS. The determination coefficient R2 was higher than 0.9914 at the range of 0.5-200 ng/mL and both the intra and interday precision RSD were less than 6.7% for three peptides. Limit of quantitation was shown as 0.054 µg/g for soy, 0.024 µg/g for milk and 0.032 µg/g for egg. Current validated method was successfully applied to analyze surimi products, which can not only provide accurate quantification information of allergens for sensitive consumers, but also it may be used for label management for surimi market.

[Determination of wilforine in honey using solid phase extraction purification and ultra performance liquid chromatography-tanden mas spectrometry].

A method based on solid phase extraction and ultra performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (SPE-UPLC-MS/MS) has been proposed for the determination of wilforine residue in honey. After the sample was dissolved with water, concentrated and purified by an HLB solid phase extraction cartridge, the UPLC separation was performed on a Hypersil GOLD C18 column (50 mm x 2.1 mm, 1.9 microm) utilizing a gradient elution program of methanol (containing 0.15% formic acid) and water as mobile phases at a flow rate of 0. 25 mL/min. The determination was carried out with electrospray ion source in the positive mode (ESI) and multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode. The mass concentration of wilforine in the range of 0.01-2 microg/L was linearly correlated with the peak area, and the correlation coefficients was greater than 0.998. The limit of quantification (S/N>10) for wilforine was 0.01 microg/kg. The recoveries were 76.1% to 96.2% in the spiked levels of 0.01, 0.05 and 0.5 microg/kg with the relative standard deviations (RSD, n=6) lower than 10%. The results indicate that the method is rapid, sensitive and accurate, and can be applied for the qualitative and quantitative analysis of wilforine in honey.