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Three-dimensional core–shell-structured TiO2@PPy/rGO nanocomposites were successfully constructed from TiO2@PPy nanospheres and graphene oxide via a polymerization method. First, TiO2 nanoparticles were uniformly coated with polypyrrole (PPy), forming core–shell TiO2@PPy nanospheres. The as-prepared TiO2@PPy nanospheres further self-assembled with graphene oxide (GO), resulting in the formation of three-dimensional ternary TiO2@PPy/rGO nanocomposites. Due to the strong interactions between TiO2@PPy and reduced graphene oxide (rGO), the three-dimensional TiO2@PPy/rGO electrode exhibited larger specific capacitance, lower charge transfer resistance, and more stable cycling performance compared to the TiO2@PPy nanospheres. More importantly, the existence of rGO increased the cycling stability of PPy and improved the capacitive performance, thus further demonstrating the positive effects of rGO, achieving a highest specific capacitance of 462.1 F g−1 at a current density of 0.5 A g−1. The present strategy will pave the way for the development of a new generation of advanced electrode materials for energy storage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Aims: To examine the association of weight status with the prevalence of blood pressure (BP), vital capacity, dental de-cay, and visual acuity among school-age children in Chengdu, China and to find the potential role of weight status to predict the common and frequently occurring diseases among school-age children. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 12,297 children aged 6-18 years from 10 schools in the Jinniu District of Chengdu, China. Body height, weight, waist circumference (WC), and BP were measured. Vital capacity, dental decay, and visual acuity were detected. Results: The overall prevalence of underweight, overweight, obesity, abdominal obesity, high BP, bad vital capacity weight index, dental decay, and low vision were 7.18, 13.47, 7.57, 18.90, 2.78, 21.93, 38.81, and 45.79%, respectively. After controlling for age, gender, and WC, it was found that overweight and obese children had a higher risk of developing high BP than normal weight children ([OR 4.20, p < 0.001] and [OR 8.76, p < 0.001], respectively), And adjusting forage, gender, and chest circumference, the risk of having bad vital capacity weight index among children with overweight and obesity was higher ([OR 2.15, p < 0.001] and [OR 5.40, p < 0.001], respectively), and the risk with underweight was lower (OR0.35, p < 0.001 ). After eliminating the influential factors of gender and age, children who were underweight were 1.16 times (OR 1.16, p = 0.048) more likely to have caries than children with normal weight, but obese children were found to have a lower prevalence for dental cavities than children with normal weight (OR 0.79, p = 0.002). Underweight and obese children had a higher prevalence of low vision; the OR of the appearance of low vision was 1.21 (p = 0.016) for underweight children and 1.23 (p = 0.009) for obese children after adjusting the age and gender. Conclusions: Abnormal weight status among Chengdu urban school-age children was found to be a severe health problem, and it was strongly associated with BP, vital capacity, dental decay, and visual acuity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hybrid organic-inorganic perovskite materials have attracted extensive attention due to their impressive performance in photovoltaic devices. One-dimensional perovskite CH3NH3PbI3 nanomaterials, possessing unique structural features such as large surface-to-volume ratio, anisotropic geometry and quantum confinement, may have excellent optoelectronic properties, which could be utilized to fabricate high-performance photodetectors. However, in comparison to CH3NH3PbI3 thin films, reports on the fabrication of CH3NH3PbI3 nanowires for optoelectrical application are rather limited. Herein, a two-step spin-coating process has been utilized to fabricate pure-phase and single-crystalline CH3NH3PbI3 nanowires on a substrate without mesoporous TiO2 or Al2O3. The size and density of CH3NH3PbI3 nanowires can be easily controlled by changing the PbI2 precursor concentration. The as-prepared CH3NH3PbI3 nanowires are utilized to fabricate photodetectors, which exhibit a fairly high switching ratio of ~600, a responsivity of 55 mA/W, and a normalized detectivity of 0.5 × 1011 jones under 532 nm light illumination (40 mW/cm2) at a very low bias voltage of 0.1 V. The as-prepared perovskite CH3NH3PbI3 nanowires with excellent optoelectronic properties are regarded to be a potential candidate for high-performance photodetector application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cyclic nucleotide-gated ion channels (CNGCs) are calcium-permeable channels that participate in a variety of biological functions, such as signaling pathways, plant development, and environmental stress and stimulus responses. Nevertheless, there have been few studies on CNGC gene family in cotton. Results: In this study, a total of 114 CNGC genes were identified from the genomes of 4 cotton species. These genes clustered into 5 main groups: I, II, III, IVa, and IVb. Gene structure and protein motif analysis showed that CNGCs on the same branch were highly conserved. In addition, collinearity analysis showed that the CNGC gene family had expanded mainly by whole-genome duplication (WGD). Promoter analysis of the GhCNGCs showed that there were a large number of cis-acting elements related to abscisic acid (ABA). Combination of transcriptome data and the results of quantitative RT–PCR (qRT–PCR) analysis revealed that some GhCNGC genes were induced in response to salt and drought stress and to exogenous ABA. Virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) experiments showed that the silencing of the GhCNGC32 and GhCNGC35 genes decreased the salt tolerance of cotton plants (TRV:00). Specifically, physiological indexes showed that the malondialdehyde (MDA) content in gene-silenced plants (TRV:GhCNGC32 and TRV:GhCNGC35) increased significantly under salt stress but that the peroxidase (POD) activity decreased. After salt stress, the expression level of ABA-related genes increased significantly, indicating that salt stress can trigger the ABA signal regulatory mechanism. Conclusions: we comprehensively analyzed CNGC genes in four cotton species, and found that GhCNGC32 and GhCNGC35 genes play an important role in cotton salt tolerance. These results laid a foundation for the subsequent study of the involvement of cotton CNGC genes in salt tolerance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The lack of appropriate preclinical models of ovarian yolk sac tumor (OYST) is currently hindering the pursuit of new methods of treatment and investigation of the pathogenesis of the disease. We developed and characterized an OYST patient-derived xenograft (PDX) model in this study. Methods: Tumor fragments from a patient with an OYST were implanted subcutaneously into BALB/c Nude mice. Engrafted xenografts were compared with the original tumor according to histology, immunohistochemistry, humanized identified, and drug efficacy testing with in vivo treatment programs. Results: There was a high degree of histologic and immunohistochemical (IHC) resemblance between the established PDX model and its corresponding human tumors. Bleomycin, etoposide, and cisplatin (JEB) chemotherapy regimens were effective in clinical patients and were effective in the OYST PDX model; therefore, the effect of PDX intervention was consistent with clinical outcomes of OYSTs. Conclusion: We have successfully established an OYST PDX model. This OYST model preserves the basic molecular features of the primary human tumor, thereby providing a valuable method to preclinically evaluate new treatments and explore disease pathogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Echinococcosis is a chronic neglected zoonotic disease with high endemic in western China. The aim of the study was to evaluate the Health-related Quality of Life (HRQoL) in patients with echinococcosis in Tibetan communities for investigating the physical and mental health challenges faced by the echinococcosis patients and meeting community health needs.Methods: The HRQoL was measured with 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) questionnaire in the case-control study. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) method was used to analyze the data.Results: 50 echinococcosis patients were collected in study group and divided into three subgroups by the duration of staying on albendazole tablets. 52 healthy individuals were collected in control group. In physical quality of life, the duration of staying on albendazole tables influenced the PF (F = 6.661, P < 0.001), RP (F = 3.130, P = 0.029), and GH (F = 4.105, P = 0.008). In mental quality of life, the duration of staying on albendazole tables influenced the SF (F = 10.764, P < 0.001) and RE (F = 5.573, P = 0.001). The income level was the important confounder in PF (F = 11.515, P = 0.001), GH (F = 10.315, P = 0.002), VT (F = 5.984, P = 0.016), and MH (F = 5.565, P = 0.020).Conclusions: The HRQoL in people with echinococcosis is reduced in comparison with the healthy individuals. It is necessary to shorten the duration of treatment and adopt the special methods adapting the local culture to improve the health-related quality of life in Tibetan communities. Meanwhile, the economic improvement is the foundation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vascular Plant One‑zinc Finger (VOZ) transcription factor can respond to a variety of abiotic stresses, however its function in cotton and the molecular mechanisms of response to salt tolerance remained unclear. In this study, we found that GhVOZ1 is highly expressed in stamen and stem of cotton under normal conditions. The expression of GhVOZ1 increased significantly after 3 h of salt treatment in three-leaf staged upland cotton. Overexpressed transgenic lines of GhVOZ1 in Arabidopsis and upland cotton were treated with salt stress and we found that GhVOZ1 could respond positively to salt stress. GhVOZ1 can regulate Arabidopsis Vacuolar Proton Pump Pyrophosphatase (H + -PPase) gene (AVP1) expression through specific binding to GCGTCTAAAGTACGC site on GhAVP1 promoter, which was examined through Dual-luciferase assay and Electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA). AVP1 expression was significantly increased in Arabidopsis with GhVOZ1 overexpression, while GhAVP1 expression was decreased in virus induced gene silenced (VIGS) cotton plants of GhVOZ1. Knockdown of GhAVP1 expression in cotton plants by VIGS showed decreased superoxide dismutase (SOD) and peroxidase (POD) activities, whereas an increased malondialdehyde (MDA) content and ultimately decreased salt tolerance. The GhVOZ1-AVP1 module could maintain sodium ion homeostasis through cell ion transport and positively regulate the salt tolerance in cotton, providing new ideas and insights for the study of salt tolerance. • GhVOZ1 positively responds to salt stress. • GhVOZ1 can specifically binding to the promoter of GhAVP1 and regulate its expression. • GhAVP1 can also actively regulate salt stress. • GhVOZ1-AVP1 module may regulate salt tolerance by regulating ion transport in cotton. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphene can form a liquid crystal phase due to its anisotropic flake characteristics, it shows great potential in the field of high dielectric composites. In this paper, the graphene oxide sheets are grafted onto copolymer to uniformly disperse and maintain the liquid crystal state in a non-polar solvent, then the modified graphene oxide liquid crystal is transferred to polydimethylsiloxane. Graphene/polydimethylsiloxane nanocomposites are obtained by high temperature reduction and curing reactions. When the filler content is 4 wt%, the permittivity increases by 800% compared to pure polydimethylsiloxane. Therefore, graphene liquid crystal can significantly improve the dielectric properties of the nanocomposites than ordinary graphene, which provides a new method for preparing high dielectric properties composites. Image 1 • Graphene oxide liquid crystal and PDMS can be uniformly mixed by grafting PAPMS-b-PDMS. • Graphene liquid crystal was obtained by thermal reduction of graphene oxide liquid crystal. • Many microcapacitors are formed resulting in a significant increase in the dielectric properties of the composites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Synthesis of Ni 3 S 2 @CuS supercapacitor electrode material. • The Ni 3 S 2 @CuS exhibit excellent power density and energy density. • A MD simulation on Ni 3 S 2 @CuS surface to monitor the ionic movements. • The deintercalation of the K+ atoms are restricted and the intercalation of the OH– is promoted. Supercapacitors have overwhelming advantages in cycle life, charging time and power density. Metal sulfides involve reversible Faraday redox reactions, and chemical reactions occur during charge and discharge, resulting in high specific capacity of the electrode. Different from the traditional nickel foam as a current collector, in this work, vulcanized nickel foam (Ni 3 S 2) is used to further grow CuS nanosheets by hydrothermal reaction to produce new cathode material. The results show that the electrochemical properties of the electrode material Ni 3 S 2 @CuS obtained at 190 °C for 4 h reach a mass specific capacity of 967.7F/g. When assembled as a supercapacitor device, it has an energy density of 103.7 Wh/kg and a power density of 15050.3 W/kg. The coulomb efficiency of the device remains 97.4 % after 10,000 cycles of constant current charge and discharge. To deeply understand the mechanism of the capacitance increase, we carry out a molecular dynamics (MD) simulation on pure Ni 3 S 2 electrode and Ni 3 S 2 @CuS to investigate the influence of this unique structure on capacitance for the first time. We discover that the CuS tunnel on the Ni 3 S 2 electrode surface will restrict the deintercalation of K+ ions and promote the intercalation of OH–, and this phenomenon will promote the reversible redox reaction on the surface of the metal sulfides and enhance the capacitance of this pseudocapacitor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Noble metal nanoparticles have excellent catalytic properties for organic dyes, and finding suitable carriers to deal with the extremely agglomerated noble metal nanoparticles has become a hot research topic. In this work, phenolic resin with strong sticky similar to mussel was obtained by polycondensation, Fe 3 O 4 NPs were obtained by hydrothermal method, and a core-shell Fe 3 O 4 @catechol-formaldehyde trapped satellite-like silver nanoparticles (denoted as Fe 3 O 4 @CFR@Ag) were obtained by reduction of Fe 3 O 4 @CFR loaded silver without external reducing agent. The existence of CFR shell ensured the silver nanoparticles were distributed like a satellite. Fe 3 O 4 @CFR@Ag exhibited excellent catalytic selective activity and recoverability for organic dyes. In particular, the catalytic performance of Fe 3 O 4 @CFR@Ag for the cationic dye methylene blue MB was higher than that of the anionic dye methyl orange MO due to electrostatic interactions. The Fe 3 O 4 @CFR core-shell structure with simple synthesis and friendly to the environment will be a reliable platform to realize multi-functionalization of nanomaterials. • Fe 3 O 4 @CFR material trapped satellite-like silver nanoparticles was prepared by using magnetic Fe 3 O 4 as the core material and CFR with strong sticky similar to mussel as the shell material. • The CFR acted as both a carrier and a reducing agent for the nano-silver without adding any external reducing agent. • The Fe 3 O 4 @CFR@Ag has excellent catalytic and cycling properties for organic pollutants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zinc-ion capacitors (ZICs) have attracted great attention due to a series of advantages. However, the cathode materials are still the bottleneck for high-performance ZICs to be achieved. Therefore, ZIF-8-derived porous carbons are one of the most promising candidates but ZIF-8 nanoparticles with different sizes exhibited various electrochemical performances in ZICs. Herein, a series of monodispersed ZIF-8 nanoparticles are first prepared by a temperature-controlled process to fabricate the corresponding ZIF-8-based porous carbon nanoparticles with pre-designed sizes. The as-prepared materials have been tested as cathode materials in ZICs. Thus, their size effect allowed us to disclose its correlation with other factors such as ion transport/storage and capacitance. The results reveal that the optimal-sized porous carbon particles can effectively shorten the ion transport distance and accelerate the ion diffusion rate, resulting in lower electrical resistance, larger ion diffusion coefficients, and faster electron transport. The presented findings can facilitate the design of new advanced cathode materials paving the way for the development of high-performance cathode materials for ZICs in the future., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) are emerging therapeutic targets for human diseases. However, probing their transient conformations remains challenging because of conformational heterogeneity. To address this problem, we developed a biosensor using a point-functionalized silicon nanowire (SiNW) that allows for real-time sampling of single-molecule dynamics. A single IDP, N-terminal transactivation domain of tumor suppressor protein p53 (p53 TAD1 ), was covalently conjugated to the SiNW through chemical engineering, and its conformational transition dynamics was characterized as current fluctuations. Furthermore, when a globular protein ligand in solution bound to the targeted p53 TAD1 , protein-protein interactions could be unambiguously distinguished from large-amplitude current signals. These proof-of-concept experiments enable semiquantitative, realistic characterization of the structural properties of IDPs and constitute the basis for developing a valuable tool for protein profiling and drug discovery in the future.