Search

The development of 1D fiber‐shaped supercapacitors (SCs) with high volumetric energy density is of great significance for miniature wearable electronics, where limiting the device's volume is critical. In this study, a partially unzipped carbon nanotube/reduction graphene oxide (PUCNT/RGO) hybrid fiber with less "dead volume" and a well‐ordered porous structure is fabricated via wet spinning of a mixed partially unzipped oxidized carbon nanotube (PUOCNT)/GO solution and chemical reduction. The spinning solution is of low viscosity and high concentration, which can ensure smooth spinning while reducing the mass transfer during phase separation, thus lessen the "dead volume" derived from isolated pores. Moreover, PUOCNT with 1D and 2D hybrid nanoarchitecture, large specific surface area, and good water solubility can be a more effective spacer to inhibit the restacking of graphene oxide sheets while reducing the spacer itself and the large spacious voids formed "dead volume". The all‐solid‐state SC assembled from the PUCNT/RGO hybrid fiber exhibits an excellent volumetric energy density of 8.63 mWh cm−3, exceeding the values of previously reported carbon‐based fibers. The findings may open a door for finely controlling the density and pore structure of graphene‐based fiber for applications in high volumetric energy storage via a scalable and efficient process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the progenitor of durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) and common wheat (T. aestivum L.), wild emmer wheat (T. turgidum L. subsp. dicoccoides, TTD) has many valuable alleles for enlarging the genetic pool of common wheat. Chromosome arm substitution lines (CASLs) are useful genetic resources producing genome‐wide variations in the background of certain cultivars, with each CASL containing a pair of an individual chromosome arms from the donor parent. Therefore, CASLs can be used to identify a broad range of phenotypes that are usually different from the parental lines, to map causal genes or quantitative trait loci and to broaden the genetic pools of existing cultivars as prebreeding materials. In this review we summarize recent progress in wheat genetic studies and breeding using two sets of CASLs of the wild emmer accession TTD140 in two common wheat backgrounds of 'Chinese Spring' and 'Bethlehem'. We report the production of CASLs, confirmation of their chromosome structure using molecular markers, and their application in discovering and mapping agronomically important genes. We propose that, together with the release of high‐quality reference genomes of wild emmer and common wheat, wild emmer CASLs are useful resources for genetic study and breeding of wheat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Doped functional polymers, such as magnetic self‐healing polymers based on magnetic inorganic nanoparticles, have raised great attention and been applied in many fields recently due to their superior properties. However, the deficiency of interface compatibility between the inorganic nanoparticles and organic polymers, and the sedimentation and non‐uniform dispersion of the inorganic nanoparticles led to difficulties in the fabrication and development of doped functional polymer materials. In this work, we took magnetic doped self‐healing polymers as an example and proposed an accessible method to solve the problem. We prepared organic‐polymer‐coated Fe3O4 nanoparticles with high interface compatibility and then applied them to successfully synthesize magnetic self‐healing polymers. The average size of the resulting coated Fe3O4 nanoparticles was 8.82±1.09 nm, the practical saturation magnetization of the nanoparticles and the magnetic self‐healing polymers was 83.35, 24.29 emu/g, respectively. In addition, the self‐healing efficiency of the magnetic self‐healing polymers could reach 74.3% when healing for 1 hour and 78.4% when adding a magnetic field compared with 75.8% for the pure self‐healing polymers and 34.5% of magnetic polymers based on pure Fe3O4 nanoparticles. This work may offer a reference in fabricating doped functional polymers based on inorganic nanoparticles with high interface compatibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: High‐molecular‐weight glutenin subunits (HMW‐GSs) have important effects on bread‐making quality. Allelic variations of HMW‐GS in bread wheat varieties contribute in different ways to dough properties and bread volume. However, no systematic analysis has been done on the effects of allelic variation on bread‐crumb structure, an important parameter when evaluating bread‐making quality. In this study, seven Glu‐1 deletion lines and one intact line harboring different encoding loci and derived from a cross between two spring wheat cultivars were used to investigate the contribution of a single Glu‐1 locus, or combination of Glu‐1 loci, to the crumb structure. RESULTS: Deletion of HMW‐GS locus combinations resulted in a decline in slice size, brightness, and fineness of the bread crumb. A desirable crumb structure correlated well with preferred subunit combinations: high levels of GMPs, superior dough properties, and loaf volume. The effects of the HMW‐GS combinations were ranked as Dx5 + Dy10 > Bx17 + By18 > Ax1 + Null. The Ax1 + Null allele affected the crumb structure by interacting with the Bx17 + By18 or Dx5 + Dy10. CONCLUSION: High‐molecular‐weight glutenin subunits had significant effects on the loaf volume and crumb structure; varying effects from different subunit combinations were observed. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary : In wheat (Triticum aestivum) grain yield and grain protein content are negatively correlated, making the simultaneous increase of the two traits challenging. Apart from genetic approaches, modification of nitrogen fertilization offers a feasible option to achieve this aim. In this study, a range of traits related to nitrogen‐use efficiency in six Australian bread wheat varieties were investigated under different nitrogen treatments using 3‐year multisite field trials. Changes in the individual storage protein composition were detected by high‐performance liquid chromatography. Our results indicated that wheat grain yield and grain protein content reacted similarly to nitrogen availability, with grain yield being slightly more sensitive than grain protein content, and that genotype is a vital determinant of grain protein yield. Measurement of the glutamine synthetase activity of flag leaves and developing grains revealed that high nitrogen availability prompted the participation of glutamine in biological processes. In addition, a more significant accumulation of gluten macropolymer was observed under the high‐nitrogen treatment from 21 days post‐anthesis, and the underlying mechanism was elucidated by a comparative proteomics study. A yeast two‐hybrid experiment confirmed this mechanism. The results of this study revealed that peptidyl‐prolyl cis–trans isomerase (PPIase) was SUMOylated with the assistance of small ubiquitin‐related modifier 1 and that high nitrogen availability facilitated this connection for the subsequent protein polymerization. Additionally, luminal‐binding protein 2 in the endoplasmic reticulum played a similar role to PPIase in the aggregation of protein under high‐nitrogen conditions. Significance Statement: A large‐scale study of wheat nitrogen‐use efficiency under different nitrogen fertilization regimes revealed a mechanism of wheat grain protein biosynthesis mediated by nitrogen availability, which was confirmed through proteomics, bioinformatics and yeast two‐hybrid experiments. The results revealed that peptidyl‐prolyl cis–trans isomerase (PPIase) is SUMOylated with the assistance of SUMO1 and high nitrogen availability facilitates this connection for the subsequent protein polymerization. Additionally, BIP2 in the endoplasmic reticulum played a similar role to PPIase in the aggregation of protein under high‐nitrogen conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ideal theranostic nanoplatform for tumors is a single nanoparticle that has a single semiconductor or metal component and contains all multimodel imaging and therapy abilities. The design and preparation of such a nanoparticle remains a serious challenge. Here, with FeS2 as a model of a semiconductor, the tuning of vacancy concentrations for obtaining 'all-in-one' type FeS2 nanoparticles is reported. FeS2 nanoparticles with size of ≈30 nm have decreased photoabsorption intensity from the visible to near-infrared (NIR) region, due to a low S vacancy concentration. By tuning their shape/size and then enhancing the S vacancy concentration, the photoabsorption intensity of FeS2 nanoparticles with size of ≈350 nm (FeS2-350) goes up with the increase of the wavelength from 550 to 950 nm, conferring the high NIR photothermal effect for thermal imaging. Furthermore, this nanoparticle has excellent magnetic properties for T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Subsequently, FeS2-350 phosphate buffer saline (PBS) dispersion is injected into the tumor-bearing mice. Under the irradiation of 915-nm laser, the tumor can be ablated and the metastasis lesions in liver suffer significant inhibition. Therefore, FeS2-350 has great potential to be used as novel 'all-in-one' multifunctional theranostic nanoagents for MRI and NIR dual-modal imaging guided NIR-photothermal ablation therapy (PAT) of tumors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ink droplet spreading on fabric determines the printing accuracy of ink‐jet printing, and fabric pretreatment greatly affects the ink droplet spreading. In order to reveal the relationship between fabric pretreatment and printing accuracy of reactive dye ink on silk fabrics, the fabrics were pretreated by urea and sodium alginate to control the ink droplet spreading. Results showed that droplet spreading was influenced by surface energy, water absorbing capability and capillary distribution of the pretreatment agent on fabric surface. Urea acted as a moisture‐absorbing agent accelerating the migration of ink from the pretreatment paste to the silk fibers. Final diffusion image and diffused area of droplet on the pretreated fabrics were also investigated. The final image of droplet deposited on sodium alginate and urea pretreated fabrics were circular shape and crisscross shape, respectively. Compared with untreated fabric, results clearly demonstrated that sodium alginate could restrict the droplet spreading due to the diffused area reduced from 85 mm2 to 47–58 mm2. Moreover, urea and sodium alginate as the pretreatment agents were applied on ink‐jet penetration printing. The penetration printing exhibited good printing accuracy, and the color performance and printing accuracy almost the same between obverse side and reverse side of the printings. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2018, 135, 46703. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]