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Bemisia tabaci is an important agricultural sucking pest, and it develops serious resistance to various insecticides. Although cytochrome P450 was involved in the resistance to cyantraniliprole, limited studies have been conducted on B. tabaci. In the present study, piperonyl butoxide significantly increased the toxicity of cyantraniliprole. P450 activities in two resistant populations were 1.97- and 2.17-fold higher than that in the susceptible population. Among 79 P450 genes, CYP6CX3 expressions in two resistant populations were 3.08- and 3.67-fold higher than that in the susceptible population. When CYP6CX3 was knocked down, the toxicity of cyantraniliprole increased significantly. The LC50 value of cyantraniliprole to the Drosophila melanogaster line overexpressing B. tabaciCYP6CX3 increased 7.34-fold. The content of cyantraniliprole was decreased by 25.74 ± 4.27% after mixing with CYP6CX3 and CPR for 2 h. These results suggested that the overexpression of CYP6CX3 was likely involved in the resistance to cyantraniliprole in B. tabaci.

The application of metabolomics in translational research suffers from several technological bottlenecks, such as data reproducibility issues and the lack of standardization of sample profiling procedures. Here, we report an automated high-throughput metabolite array technology that can rapidly and quantitatively determine 324 metabolites including fatty acids, amino acids, organic acids, carbohydrates, and bile acids. Metabolite identification and quantification is achieved using the Targeted Metabolome Batch Quantification (TMBQ) software, the first cross-vendor data processing pipeline. A test of this metabolite array was performed by analyzing serum samples from patients with chronic liver disease (N = 1234). With high detection efficiency and sensitivity in serum, urine, feces, cell lysates, and liver tissue samples and suitable for different mass spectrometry systems, this metabolite array technology holds great potential for biomarker discovery and high throughput clinical testing. Additionally, data generated from such standardized procedures can be used to generate a clinical metabolomics database suitable for precision medicine in next-generation healthcare.

The practical application of Na-S batteries is largely hindered by their low mass loading, inferior rate capability, and poor cycling performance. Herein, we report a design strategy for encapsulation of sodium polysulfides using Ti3C2Tx MXene. Porous nitrogen-doped Ti3C2Tx MXene microspheres have been synthesized by a facile synthesis method. Porous nitrogen-doped Ti3C2Tx MXene microspheres contain abundant pore structures and heteroatom functional groups for structural and chemical synergistic encapsulation of sodium polysulfides. Sodium-sulfur batteries, based on the as-proposed cathode, demonstrated outstanding electrochemical performances, including a high reversible capacity (980 mAh g-1 at 0.5 C rate) and extended cycling stability (450.1 mAh g-1 at 2 C after 1000 cycles at a high areal sulfur loading of 5.5 mg cm-2). This MXene-based hybrid material is a promising cathode host material for polysulfide-retention, enabling high-performance Na-S batteries.

© 2017 American Chemical Society. The rational design of highly active and durable electrocatalysts for overall water splitting is a formidable challenge. In this work, a double perovskite oxide, i.e., NdBaMn 2 O 5.5 , is proposed as a bifunctional electrode material for water electrolysis. Layered NdBaMn 2 O 5.5 demonstrates significant improvement in catalyzing oxygen and hydrogen evolution reactions (OER and HER, respectively), in contrast to other related materials, including disordered Nd 0.5 Ba 0.5 MnO 3-d as well as NdBaMn 2 O 5.5-d and NdBaMn 2 O 5.5+d (d < 0.5). Importantly, NdBaMn 2 O 5.5 has an OER intrinsic activity (~24 times) and a mass activity (~2.5 times) much higher than those of the benchmark RuO 2 at 1.7 V versus the reversible hydrogen electrode. In addition, NdBaMn 2 O 5.5 achieves a better overall water splitting activity at large potentials ( > 1.75 V) and catalytic durability in comparison to those of Pt/C-RuO 2 , making it a promising candidate electrode material for water electrolyzers. The substantially enhanced performance is attributed to the approximately half-filled e g orbit occupancy, optimized O p-band center location, and distorted structure. Interestingly, for the investigated perovskite oxides, OER and HER activity seem to be correlated; i.e., the material achieving a higher OER activity is also more active in catalyzing HER.

© 2017 American Chemical Society. We report a novel composite of fluorine-doped carbon-decorated LiMn0.75Fe0.25PO4(LMFP) nanoplates synthesized via a facile method by using hybrid sucrose and polyvinylidene fluoride as carbon and fluorine sources. In the composite, the thin LMFP nanoplates expose large amounts of (010) crystal face which shortens the Li+ion diffusion distance. Also, the fluorine-doped carbon coating layer can provide a sufficient pathway for rapid electron transport, and the partially formed metal fluorides in the interface between the LMFP nanoplates surface and fluorine-doped carbon coating layer will help reduce charge transfer resistance. Because of this unique structure, the resulting product exhibits a superior discharge capacity of 162.2 mA h g-1at the 1 C current rate, and the capacity is retained 94.8% over 200 cycles. Furthermore, this material also can deliver a reversible capacity of 130.3 mA h g-1at an ultrahigh current rate of 20 C, in which the discharge procedure can be accomplished only in 144 s. The celerity and cycling capability of the prepared material endow it with great potential for application in high performance lithium-ion batteries.

© 2016 American Chemical Society. The ingestion of foods and food-derived substances that may mediate the immune system is widely studied. Evidence suggests cereal arabinoxylans (AXs) have immunomodulatory activities that may impart health benefits in terms of immune enhancement. This study extracted AXs from corn bran using alkali and developed a modification process using three endoxylanases to obtain fractions of lower molecular weight ranges. In vitro studies showed extracted and modified AXs significantly (P < 0.05) elevated nitric oxide (NO) synthesis by the human U937 monocytic cell line (ranging from 53.7 ± 1.1 to 62.9 ± 1.2 μM per million viable cells) at all concentrations tested (5-1000 μg/mL), indicative of immune enhancement compared to an untreated control (43.7 ± 1.9 μM per million viable cells). The study suggested the dose range and Mw distribution of AXs are key determinants of immune-modulatory activity. AXs in the low Mw range (0.1-10 KDa) were the most effective at inducing NO secretion by U937 macrophages at low AX concentration ranges (5-50 μg/mL), with NO production peaking at 62.9 ± 1.2 μM per million viable cells with 5 μg/mL of AX (P = 0.0009). In contrast, AXs in the high Mw range (100-794 kDa) were most effective at inducing NO at high AX concentration ranges (500-1000 μg/mL) with NO production reaching a maximum of 62.7 ± 1.3 μM per million viable cells at 1000 μg/mL of AX (P = 0.0011). The findings suggest that dietary AXs from corn bran may heighten innate immune responses in the absence of infection or disease.

Mixed conducting perovskite oxides are promising catalysts for high-temperature oxygen reduction reaction. Pristine SrCoO3−δ is a widely used parent oxide for the development of highly active mixed conductors. Doping a small amount of redox-inactive cation into the B site (Co site) of SrCoO3−δ has been applied as an effective way to improve physicochemical properties and electrochemical performance. Most findings however are obtained only from experimental observations, and no universal guidelines have been proposed. In this article, combined experimental and theoretical studies are conducted to obtain fundamental understanding of the effect of B-site doping concentration with redox-inactive cation (Sc) on the properties and performance of the perovskite oxides. The phase structure, electronic conductivity, defect chemistry, oxygen reduction kinetics, oxygen ion transport, and electrochemical reactivity are experimentally characterized. In-depth analysis of doping level effect is also undertaken by first-principles calculations. Among the compositions, SrCo0.95Sc0.05O3−δ shows the best oxygen kinetics and corresponds to the minimum fraction of Sc for stabilization of the oxygen-vacancy-disordered structure. The results strongly support that B-site doping of SrCoO3−δ with a small amount of redox-inactive cation is an effective strategy toward the development of highly active mixed conducting perovskites for efficient solid oxide fuel cells and oxygen transport membranes.

The synthesis and structures of the perovskites Ln1/3TaO 3 are described. As the size of the Ln cation is reduced, the compounds display a sequence of structure: P4/mmm/La → Cmmm/Ce-Gd → Pmma/Tb, Dy → Pmc21/Ho, Er. Although apparently tetragonal in