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Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are cell-derived membrane particles that represent an endogenous mechanism for cell-to-cell communication. Since discovering that EVs have multiple advantages over currently available delivery platforms, such as their ability to overcome natural barriers, intrinsic cell targeting properties, and circulation stability, the potential use of EVs as therapeutic nanoplatforms for cancer studies has attracted considerable interest. To fully elucidate EVs’ therapeutic function for treating cancer, all current knowledge about cellular uptake and trafficking of EVs will be initially reviewed. In order to further improve EVs as anticancer therapeutics, engineering strategies for cancer therapy have been widely explored in the last decade, along with other cancer therapies. However, therapeutic applications of EVs as drug delivery systems have been limited because of immunological concerns, lack of methods to scale EV production, and efficient drug loading. We will review and discuss recent progress and remaining challenges in developing EVs as a delivery nanoplatform for cancer therapy.

Soft-oxometalates (SOMs) are colloid suspensions of superstructured assemblies of polyoxometalates (POMs) and are found to be very effective photo-catalysts in a number of chemical reactions. The stabilization of SOMs generally requires legends or stabilizers, e.g., polymers and surfactants. In this paper, a light responsive azobenzene surfactant, C10AZOC2N3, was developed and used to stable {Mo132} SOMs. Various techniques such as Dynamic light scattering, TEM, UV-Vis spectra and cyclic voltammetry were employed to characterize the experimental results. The outstanding structure-directing effect of surfactant self-assembly micelles in solution on inorganic counter-anions was demonstrated. Different amount of cyclohexane was solubilized into C10AZOC2N3 micelles to successfully control the size of {Mo132} SOMs cluster. Furthermore, the clusters exposed to UV light for a certain time can be served as a second trigger to control the size of SOMs due to the trans-cis conformation transition of surfactant molecules. The redox potentials of C10AZOC2N3-{Mo132} SOMs were investigated as the cluster size varied. Interestingly, the redox potential of {Mo132} was not affected by the cluster size, indicating that the presence of surfactant did not change the main function of {Mo132} as an electrochemical catalyst, but merely assisted in the size control of SOM aggregation.

Near infrared to ultraviolet (NIR-to-UV) up-conversion nanocomposites, composed of an upconversion nanoparticle (UCNP) core and a transformable polyspiropyran shell, were prepared by distillation precipitation polymerization and the template method. The polyspiropyran shell can undergo reversible hydrophoblic-hydrophilic transformations through the switching of UV and visible light and by variation of pH. About 10 wt% of the anticancer drug, doxorubicin (DOX), can be loaded into the drug carrying layer under pH 7.4 by electrostatic force. The NIR and pH responsive features of the polyspiropyran shell were shown by the dynamic light scattering (DLS) results, in which the size of nanocomposites (UCNPs@SP-MA/MAA) became larger under NIR irradiation and pH 4.5. The hydrophobic to hydrophilic surface transformation alters the permittivity of the polyspiropyran shell and the release behavior. The cumulative release rate of the DOX-loaded UCNPs@SP-MA/MAA reached 53.8% under pH 4.5 and NIR irradiation. The cytotoxicity of the bare UCNPs@SP-MA/MAA and the DOX-loaded UCNPs@SP-MA/MAA were evaluated against breast cancer cells and the results confirmed that the toxicity of UCNPs@SP-MA/MAA nanocomposites was minimal, even at high dosage (100 μg/mL), while the toxicity of DOX can be triggered by NIR light.

Hydrogels that possess adequate toughness in bulk and at soft interface are highly desirable. We report a fully physically crosslinked dual Amylopectin (Amy, the first network)/poly(N-hydroxyethyl acrylamide) (PHEAA, the second network) hydrogel, where both networks were hydrogen bonding (H-bonding) crosslinked, with super toughness in bulk and tunable adhesion at hydrogel-soft tissue interface. Through adjustment of hydrogen bond density, strong and tough hydrogels were prepared that exhibited different levels of adhesion strength and three adhesive failure mechanisms. We replaced Amy with oxidized starch (OSA) to synthesize dual and hybrid chemically/physically crosslinked OSA/PHEAA double network (DN) hydrogels that were capable of forming Schiff's bases at hydrogel-hydrogel or hydrogel-tissue interfaces, aside from interfacial H-bonding, incurring sustained, high interfacial toughness (1850 J m−2 hydrogel-hydrogel and 610 J m−2 hydrogel-tissue) in wet environments. Such tough and adhesive DN hydrogels have great potential in various applications such as engineering of artificial soft tissues or implantable devices that are intended to adhere to internal organs or tissues.

There existed ever-increasing structural diseases in the Dugongling tunnel after the completion of the construction. Systematic research was carried out based on the information of tunnel engineering geology, disease development, mineral composition of surrounding rock and concrete, and laboratory tests. Results showed that (1) the concrete structure from the Dugongling tunnel suffered from a typical thaumasite sulfate attack (TSA); (2) tunnel diseases developed under the influence of multiple geological factors such as groundwater, karst, gypsum bearing stratum, and geological tectonics. Groundwater aggravated the appearance of engineering defects of various geological factors and accelerated the softening and swelling of surrounding rock. Moreover, the additional load of supporting structure increased, and the concrete structure was prone to sulfate attack; (3) the development of tunnel diseases showed long-cycle and large-scale characteristics, and the types of diseases are heterogeneous. The tunnel diseases develop rapidly in the third year after the construction. The structure collapse disease, one of the most serious diseases of tunnel lining, occurred in the fifth year after construction; and (4) according to the conditions of TSA, technical treatment measures were proposed. These measures included blocking the flow of CO32−, improving the impermeability of concrete structures, and decreasing the diffusion of external ions and groundwater. This work provides a solution for the treatment of similar tunnel disease and mechanism analysis.

The effect of low atmospheric pressure of the environment on the air content and bubble stability of air-entrained concrete was investigated in Beijing and Lhasa. The results indicate that the reduction of atmospheric pressure can weaken the air-entraining capability of air-entraining agents (AEAs). The air content of fresh concrete decreased by 9%–39% when the atmospheric pressure dropped to 64 kPa. The bubble stability of concrete mixed at a low atmospheric pressure becomes worse. Within 50–55 min after mixing, the air content of concrete mixed at a low atmospheric pressure decreases greatly, and the void spacing factor increases obviously. The concrete mixed at a low atmospheric pressure will lose more air content when vibration time increases, leading to the decrease of air content and the increase of the spacing factor, which are more significant than the concrete mixed at normal atmospheric pressure. On the basis of the experiment results in this study, the type of AEAs must be carefully selected, and the vibration time must be strictly controlled to ensure that the air content of concrete will meet the design requirements in low atmospheric pressure areas.

Aimed at the characteristics of aeolian sand under rapid construction conditions in desert geotechnical engineering, a series of the true triaxial undrained test were carried out on the GDS apparatus. The 3D deformation, failure, and other characteristics of the dense sand are obtained. Under the condition of same pc, the state transition point where the void water pressure changes from increasing to decreasing appears earlier and leads to enhanced dilatancy with the increase of b, which means the enhanced dilatancy of dense sand caused the increase in strength. The results of the same b shows that the void water pressure generally indicates a decrease at low confining pressure and an increase at high confining pressure, indicating that the aeolian sand shows dilatancy at low confining pressure and contraction at high confining pressure. The state transition point increases with the increase of pc, but all points tend to the same critical state line and state transition line. When b = 0, the critical state line is q = 1.57 p′, and the state transition line is q = 1.23 p′. When b = 1, the critical state line is q = 1.24 p′, and the state transition line is q = 1.04 p′. The results at same b obtained the unified critical state line and the state transition line. Therefore, the true triaxial test can obtain the unified relationship of void ratio, pc and b, which overcomes the fact that the existing test cannot consider the influence of b. The test results provide a basis data for the design, construction, and maintenance of geotechnical engineering in Tengger Desert.

In this paper, series of full-scale cutting tests and cutting simulations are carried out to investigate the influence of installation parameter and geometry of the pick on cutting performance. The discrete element method is used to simulate the rock cutting process. A general process to calibrate macro properties of rock including uniaxial compressive strength (UCS), elastic modulus, Poisson’s ratio, cohesion and internal friction angle is proposed and used to complete the calibration of coal model. The cutting simulations are performed using picks with different tip angles and rake angles. The results show that the peak cutting force (PCF) decreases with the increase of rake angle following an inverse proportional function when the rake angle is positive, while it varies following a parabolic curve in the condition of negative rake angle. Moreover, the crack mode changes from primarily shear failure to primarily tensile failure with the increase of rake angle. Finally, a multiple-attribute index is proposed to evaluate the cutting performance and select the optimum cutting parameters.

Autophagy and apoptosis play crucial roles in tumorigenesis. Recent studies have shown that autophagy and apoptosis have a cross-talk relationship in anti-tumor therapy. It is well established that apoptosis is one of the main pathways of tumor cell death. While autophagy can occurs in tumors with opposite function: protective autophagy and lethal autophagy. Protective autophagy can inhibit tumor apoptosis induced by anticancer drugs, while lethal autophagy can induce tumor cell apoptosis in cooperation with anticancer drugs. Hence, autophagy and apoptosis have synergistic and antagonistic effects in tumor. Colorectal cancer is a common malignant tumor with high morbidity and mortality. In recent years, colorectal carcinoma has achieved improved clinical efficacy with drug treatment. Nonetheless, increasing drug-resistance limit the treatment efficacy, highlighting the urgency of exploring the molecular events that drive drug resistance. Researchers have found that autophagy is one of the major factors leading to drug resistance in colon cancer. Therefore, elucidating the interaction between autophagy and apoptosis is helpful to improve the efficacy of anticancer drugs in clinical treatment of colorectal cancer. This review attaches great importance to the relationship between autophagy and apoptosis and related factors in colorectal cancer.

Amphotericin B (AMB) is an antifungal drug used for serious fungal infections. However, AMB has adverse reactions such as nephrotoxicity, which limit the clinical application of AMB alone or in combination with other antifungal drugs. Nano or micro drug delivery systems (DDS) have been proven to be effective in reducing the toxic and side effects of drugs. Further, the combination of AMB with other compounds with antifungal activity, such as curcumin (CM), may enhance the synergistic effects. Herein, AMB and CM were co-loaded into porous poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) microparticles (MPs) to prepare AMB/CM-PLGA MPs. The AMB/CM-PLGA MPs showed a remarkably reduced hemolysis (62.2 ± 0.6%) compared to AMB (80.9 ± 1.1%). The nephrotoxicity of AMB/CM-PLGA MPs is significantly lower than that of AMB. In vitro, AMB/CM-PLGA MPs had better inhibitory effects on the adhesion and biofilm formation of Candida albicans compared with AMB. Experiments on mice infected with C. albicans showed that AMB/CM-PLGA MPs have a better therapeutic effect than AMB in vivo. In summary, AMB/CM-PLGA MPs may be a novel and promising therapeutic candidate for fungal infection.

Descurainia sophia L. (flixweeds) is a noxious broad-leaf weed infesting winter wheat fields in China that has evolved high resistance to tribenuron-methyl. In this work, a brand new gene CYP77B34 was cloned from tribenuron-methyl-resistant (TR) D. sophia and transferred into Arabidopsis thaliana, and the sensitivities of Arabidopsis with or without the CYP77B34 transgene to herbicides with a different mode of actions (MoAs) were tested. Compared to Arabidopsis expressing pCAMBIA1302-GFP (empty plasmid), Arabidopsis transferring pCAMBIA1302-CYP77B34 (recombinant plasmid) became resistant to acetolactate synthase (ALS)-inhibiting herbicide tribenuron-methyl, protoporphyrinogen oxidase (PPO)-inhibiting herbicides carfentrazone-ethyl and oxyfluorfen. Cytochrome P450 inhibitor malathion could reverse the resistance to tribenuron-methyl, carfentrazone-ethyl and oxyfluorfen in transgenic Arabidopsis plants. In addition, the metabolic rates of tribenuron-methyl in Arabidopsis expressing CYP77B34 were significantly higher than those in Arabidopsis expressing pCAMBIA1302-GFP. Other than that, the transgenic plants showed some tolerance to very-long-chain fatty acid synthesis (VLCFAs)-inhibiting herbicide pretilachlor and photosystem (PS) II-inhibiting herbicide bromoxynil. Subcellular localization revealed that the CYP77B34 protein was located in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). These results clearly indicated that CYP77B34 mediated D. sophia resistance to tribenuron-methyl and may have been involved in D. sophia cross-resistance to carfentrazone-ethyl, oxyfluorfen, pretilachlor and bromoxynil.

Drainage of freshwater wetlands is common in coastal regions, although the effects on microbial extracellular enzyme activity (a key mediator of soil organic matter decomposition) in relation to spatial variability (microtopography and soil depth) are poorly understood. Soils were collected from organic (Oi, Oe, Oa) and mineral (A, AB, B) horizons from a natural and drained coastal forested wetland in North Carolina, USA. Activity of seven enzymes were measured: α-glucosidase (AG), β-glucosidase (BG), cellobiohydrolase (CBH), xylosidase (XYL), phenol oxidase (POX), peroxidase (PER) and N-acetyl glucosamide (NAG). Enzyme activity rates were normalized by soil weight, soil organic C (SOC), and microbial biomass C (MBC). Specific enzyme activity (per SOC or MBC) was more sensitive to drainage and soil depth compared to normalization by soil weight. In Oi and Oa horizons, specific enzyme activity (per MBC) (AG, BG, XYL, POX, PER) was higher in the natural compared to drained wetland but lower (AG, CBH, XYL, POX, PER, NAG) in the AB or B mineral soils. Results from this study indicate that organic soil horizons of natural freshwater wetlands contain a highly active microbial community driven by inputs of plant-derived C, while deeper soils of the drained wetland exhibit higher microbial metabolic activity, which likely plays a role in SOC storage of these systems.

The structure, morphology, fracture toughness and flaw sensitivity length scale of chain-extended poly(butylene succinate) with various pre-stretch ratios were studied. PBS modification adopted from a multifunctional, commercially available chain-extension containing nine epoxy groups (ADR9) as the first step chain extension and hydroxyl addition modified dioxazoline (BOZ) as the second step. Time-temperature superposition (TTS) studies show that the viscosity increased sharply and the degree of molecular branching increased. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) confirm successful chain extension reactions. The orientation of the polymer in the pre-stretch state is such that spherulites deformation along the stretching direction was observed by polarized light optical microscopy (PLOM). The fracture toughness of sample (λfix = 5) is Γ ≈ 106 J m-2 and its critical flaw sensitivity length scale is Γ/Wc ≈ 0.01 m, approximately 5 times higher than PBS without chain-extension (Γ ≈ 2 × 105 J m-2 and Γ/Wc ≈ 0.002 m, respectively). The notch sensitivity of chain-extended PBS is significantly reduced, which is due to the orientation of spherulites more effectively preventing crack propagation. The principle can be generalized to other high toughness material systems.

With the emergence and rapid spread of new pandemic variants, especially variants of concern (VOCs), the development of next-generation vaccines with broad-spectrum neutralizing activities is of great importance. In this study, SCTV01C, a clinical stage bivalent vaccine based on trimeric spike extracellular domain (S-ECD) of SARS-CoV-2 variants Alpha (B.1.1.7) and Beta (B.1.351) with a squalene-based oil-in-water adjuvant was evaluated in comparison to its two corresponding (Alpha and Beta) monovalent vaccines in mouse immunogenicity studies. The two monovalent vaccines induced potent neutralizing antibody responses against the antigen-matched variants, but drastic reductions in neutralizing antibody titers against antigen-mismatched variants were observed. In comparison, the bivalent vaccine SCTV01C induced relatively higher and broad-spectrum cross-neutralizing activities against various SARS-CoV-2 variants, including the D614G variant, VOCs (B.1.1.7, B.1.351, P.1, B.1.617.2, B.1.1.529), variants of interest (VOIs) (C.37, B.1.621), variants under monitoring (VUMs) (B.1.526, B.1.617.1, B.1.429, C.36.3) and other variants (B.1.618, 20I/484Q). All three vaccines elicited potent Th1-biased T-cell immune responses. These results provide direct evidence that variant-based multivalent vaccines could play important roles in addressing the critical issue of reduced protective efficacy against the existing and emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants.

Different from the other roadbed material, the unique mechanical properties of aeolian sand bring great difficulties to the construction and maintenance of desert highways. However, the main attention was usually paid to the engineering properties of aeolian sand, such as collapsibility, strong permeability, and poor gradation. To investigate the shear behaviour of aeolian sand under different engineering conditions, the drained and undrained tests were performed on aeolian sand with relatively large range of density and confining pressure. Under this condition, both the drained and undrained tests tend to the same critical state line, and the shear behaviour of aeolian sand is directly dependent on its density. Under the undrained condition, the q-ε1 curves and the effective stress paths in triaxial stress space exhibit four types of undrained shear behaviour, such as flow, limited flow, strain hardening, and strain softening. Meanwhile all the specimens exhibit three types of failure, such as flow slip, bulging failure, and shear bands. In the q-p’ plane, the analogous drained and undrained stress paths can be followed by aeolian sand with same initial relative density but different confining pressures, and there are two critical state lines due to the generation of shear bands for dense sand. In addition, the critical state lines in e-lnp’ plane decrease with increasing initial relative density Dr, that is, the material constant eᴦ decreases with increasing Dr, and the λ is also not constant but decreases with the increase in Dr. The results suggest that the strength behaviours of aeolian sand can be fitted by a straight line considering relative density and confining pressure and that two empirical formulas are established to describe this feature.

Abstract A simple, multiple‐hydrogen‐bond approach to fabricating physically crosslinked, Amylopectin reinforced polyacrylamide/poly(vinyl alcohol) (Amy/PAAm/PVA) double‐network (DN) hydrogels with super toughness in bulk and at solid interfaces is reported. The Amy/PAAm/PVA DN hydrogels exhibit high tensile strength (854.1 kPa), high extensibility (≈eight times), high bulk toughness (4094.8 kJ m−3), good self‐recovery property (≈92% of self‐recovery at room temperature), and strong adhesion to nonporous glass surfaces (≈158 kPa). Such tough and adhesive DN hydrogels have great potential for various applications in engineering artificial soft tissues, flexible electronics, and wearable devices.

In recent years, China has made great efforts to resolve the health inequality caused by household registration restrictions, and the unequal allotment of health services faced by migrant workers has been effectively alleviated. However, inequality in health services may exist not only between migrant workers and local citizens but also among migrant workers. Thus, the unbalanced utilization of health services among migrant workers deserves attention. Using data from the 2017 China Migrants Dynamic Survey (CMDS), we examined the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and healthcare-seeking behavior through multivariate regression analysis. Then, from the perspective of SES, this study divided migrant workers into different groups to explore the characteristics of healthcare-seeking behavior in different groups. The results showed that SES had a significant relationship with healthcare-seeking behavior. Those with high SES were more likely to use high-quality health services. By subdividing the category of migrant workers, we found that the utilization of health services among migrant workers was unbalanced. Education and income had significant gradients in multiple measures of healthcare-seeking behavior, while occupation had no significant difference in the behavior. Migrant workers with higher income and education were more likely to use high-quality health services. Especially for migrant workers who had high incomes (above 15,000 CNY) or whose educational backgrounds were graduate level or above, their utilization of health resources was significantly higher than that of other groups. When designing particular policies to improve the healthcare-seeking behavior of different SES migrant workers, we should pay attention to the low-education groups and low-income groups. Policymakers can reduce the current health inequality of migrant workers by strengthening health education and increasing medical subsidies to achieve health equality among migrant workers and between migrant workers and local citizens.

Recent studies have indicated that the Zika virus (ZIKV) has a significant impact on the fetal brain, and autophagy is contributing to host immune response and defense against virus infection. Here, we demonstrate that ZIKV infection triggered increased LC3 punctuation in mouse monocyte-macrophage cell line (RAW264.7), mouse microglial cell line (BV2), and hindbrain tissues, proving the occurrence of autophagy both in vitro and in vivo. Interestingly, manual intervention of autophagy, like deficiency inhibited by 3-MA, can reduce viral clearance in RAW264.7 cells upon ZIKV infection. Besides, specific siRNA strategy confirmed that autophagy can be activated through Atg7-Atg5 and type I IFN signaling pathway upon ZIKV infection, while knocking down of Atg7 and Atg5 effectively decreased the ZIKV clearance in phagocytes. Furthermore, we analyzed that type I IFN signaling could contribute to autophagic clearance of invaded ZIKV in phagocytes. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that ZIKV-induced autophagy is favorable to activate host immunity, particularly through type I IFN signaling, which participates in host protection and defense against ZIKV infection.

For the lack of accurate test results in design and maintenance of desert-crossing highways in the Tengger Desert of western China, the GDS true-triaxial system was used to conduct the drained test on dense sand. Under the condition of different intermediate principal stress ratio b-value, the results showed that the stress-strain relationships in three orthogonal directions had significant differences, presenting significant anisotropy. The peak of the generalized shear stress increased with the increase of b-value. Except under the condition of b = 0, the specimen contracted firstly and then dilated, while the others dilated. The results of the different confining pressures showed that the stress-strain relationships appeared as a hardening type at low confining pressures, and as the confining pressure increased, the stress-strain relationships exhibit hardening, peaking, softening, and stable deformation characteristics. At low confining pressure, the contractive behaviors were not obvious, mainly as dilatancy, and as the confining pressure increased, the dilatancy increased gradually. The specimen transformed contract to dilatancy, and when the confining pressure reached 800 kPa, the specimen exhibited contractive behavior. The test results will provide data for subgrade design and construction in desert area.

To better control the strength and deformation of the roadbed, a constitutive model of rockfill was established based on property-dependent plastic potential theory for geomaterials. The effect of the particle gradation on the anisotropy was described in the model. According to the effect of the particle grading and crushing on the fractal dimension, the fractal theory and fabric tensor were introduced to establish the yield and failure criteria of the rockfill. By combining the property-dependent concepts of the materials and the results of the rockfill strength test, a critical state line considering the microstructure, fractal dimension, particle breakage, and stress state of the rockfill was established. The dilatancy equation was derived based on the novel potential theory and the hardening criterion affected by the critical state was established. A constitutive model of the rockfill in the general stress space was established under the framework of the novel potential theory. The 3D strength and its intensity change in the π plane were simulated through the drainage strength test results, which verified the description of the critical state under various stress paths. By simulating the stress-strain relationship, the validity and rationality of the model were verified.

The thaumasite sulfate attack (TSA) on tunnel concrete structure has been reported increasingly in the past decades. Previous investigations on the formation of thaumasite were focused on identifying the deterioration products and reaction mechanisms, while the occurrence time of TSA on tunnel concrete structures was not reported. A highway tunnel exposed to TSA was reported in the present study. The development of tunnel diseases and results of experimental tests conducted in the tunnel and in the laboratory were analyzed to investigate the occurrence time of TSA on concrete. Results revealed that the thaumasite was formed in a range of 18 to 36 months after the construction of Dugongling tunnel. The preconditions for the formation of thaumasite on tunnel concrete structures are available in Shanxi Province, China, due to the special conditions of stratum lithology and climate. The compositions of corrosion products of lining concrete under TSA varied for site studies and for laboratory tests. Site investigations on TSA on tunnel lining concrete should be paid more attention in further research.

Background. Emerging evidence reveals that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) play important roles in the pathogenesis of sepsis. However, the detailed regulatory mechanisms of lncRNAs or whether certain lncRNA could serve as a biomarker in the septic colon remains unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the profiles of lncRNAs and mRNAs in the septic colon through whole-transcriptome RNA sequencing and to reveal the associated regulatory mechanism. Method and Result. We established a mouse model of sepsis by cecal ligation and puncture (CLP). Colon samples were collected upon CLP or sham surgery after 24 h. Whole-transcriptome RNA sequencing was performed to profile the relative expressions of lncRNAs and mRNAs. 808 lncRNAs and 1509 mRNAs were differentially found in the septic group compared with the sham group. Bioinformatics analysis including Gene Ontology (GO) analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway analysis (KEGG) was performed to predict the potential functions of these RNAs. GO analysis showed that the altered lncRNAs were enriched and involved in multiple immune responses, which may be a response to sepsis stress. KEGG analysis indicated that upregulated lncRNAs were significantly enriched in the p53 signaling pathway, NF-κB signaling pathway, and HIF-1 signaling pathway. Downregulated lncRNAs were mostly found to be involved in tight junction, leukocyte transendothelial migration, and HIF-1 signaling pathway. Conclusion. Our results indicate that these altered lncRNAs and mRNAs may have crucial roles in the pathogenesis of sepsis. This study could contribute to extending the understanding of the function of lncRNAs in sepsis, which may help in searching for new diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets to treat sepsis.

Unsubstituted pyridin-2-amine has a high quantum yield and is a potential scaffold for a fluorescent probe. However, the facile access to conjugated highly substituted aminopyridines and the study of their fluorescent properties is scarce. In this paper, synthesis and fluorescent properties of multisubstituted aminopyridines were studied based on a recently developed Rh-catalyzed coupling of vinyl azide with isonitrile to form a vinyl carbodiimide intermediate, following tandem cyclization with an alkyne. An aminopyridine substituted with an azide group as a potential probe was further designed, synthesized, and evaluated. The “clicking-and-probing” experiment of it on BSA protein showed the potential of aminopyridine as a scaffold of a biological probe.

We used surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) for the rapid and sensitive detection and quantification of caffeine in solution. Such a technique incorporated into a portable device is finding wide applications in trace chemical analysis in various fields, including law enforcement, medicine, environmental monitoring, and food quality control. To realize such applications, we are currently developing portable and handheld trace chemical analyzers based on SERS, which are integrated with a sensor embedded with activated gold nanoparticles in a porous glass matrix. In this study, we used this gold SERS-active substrate to measure aqueous solutions of the drug caffeine as a test chemical to benchmark sensor performance by defining sensitivity (lowest measured concentration (LMC) and estimated limit of detection (LOD)), determining concentration dependence and quantification capabilities by constructing calibration curves; by evaluating the effects of pH values of 3, 7, and 11; and by examining the reproducibility of the SERS measurements. The results demonstrate that the SERS sensor is sensitive, with caffeine detected at an LMC of 50 parts per billion (ppb) with an LOD of 0.63 ppb. The results further show that the sensor is very stable and can be used to make reproducible measurements, even under extremely acidic to basic pH conditions. Vibrational assignments of all observed SERS peaks are made and reported for the first time for caffeine on a gold substrate.

Understanding the spatiotemporal variation of high-efficiency ride-hailing orders (HROs) is helpful for transportation network companies (TNCs) to balance the income of drivers through reasonable order dispatch, and to alleviate the imbalance between supply and demand by improving the pricing mechanism, so as to promote the sustainable and healthy development of the ride-hailing industry and urban transportation. From the perspective of TNCs for order management, this study investigates the spatiotemporal variation of HROs and common ride-hailing orders (CROs) for ride-hailing services using the trip data of Didi Chuxing in Haikou, China. Ordinary least squares (OLS) and geographically weighted regression (GWR) models are established to examine the factors that affect the densities of HROs and CROs during different time periods, such as morning, evening, afternoon and night, with considering various built environment variables. The OLS models show that factors including road density, average travel time rate, companies and enterprises and transportation facilities have significant impacts on HROs and CROs for most periods. The results of the GWR models are consistent with the global regression results and show the local effects of the built environment on HROs and CROs in different regions.

Abstract In this paper, we introduce a new mixed condition to obtain a new compact embedding theorem. Under this theorem, we study the existence and multiplicity of nontrivial homoclinic solutions for a class of second-order Hamiltonian systems with variable separated type nonlinear terms.

Fusarium head blight (FHB) is one of the most prevalent diseases of wheat and other small grain cereals that is predominantly caused by the fungal pathogen Fusarium graminearum. Extraction of total proteins were from tissues of A061-3 and A061-4 plants. Three biological replicates were carried out for each line at four time points. Samples were performed using iTRAQ (Isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantification). This data is being made available to increase the understanding of FHB resistance proteomics. The data from this study are related to the research article “Isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantification-based proteomic analysis of defense responses triggered by the fungal pathogen Fusarium graminearum in wheat” [1]. Keywords: Fusarium head blight, Resistance, Proteomics, iTRAQ, Protein mass

As the combine of cloud computing and Internet breeds many flexible IT services,cloud computing becomes more and more significant.In cloud computing,a user should be authenticated by a trusted third party or a certification authority before using cloud applications and services.Based on this,a protocol composition logic (PCL) secure user authentication protocol named UCAP for cloud computing was proposed.The protocol used a symmetric encryption symmetric encryption based on a trusted third party to achieve the authentication and confidentiality of the protocol session,which comprised the initial authentication phase and the re-authentication phase.In the initial authentication phase,the trusted third party generated a root communication session key.In the re-authentication phase,communication users negotiated a sub session key without the trusted third party.To verify the security properties of the protocol,a sequential compositional proof method was used under the protocol composition logic model.Compared with certain related works,the proposed protocol satisfies the PCL security.The performance of the initial authentication phase in the proposed scheme is slightly better than that of the existing schemes,while the performance of the re-authentication phase is better than that of other protocols due to the absence of the trusted third party.Through the analysis results,the proposed protocol is suitable for the mutual authentication in cloud computing.

Marine natural gas hydrate (NGH) reservoirs in China are characterized by shallow burial depth and weak cementing. In view of these characteristics, it is in an urgent need to develop a series of technologies and support tools to ensure safe, economical, green and efficient NGH exploitation. In this paper, a new technical idea of NGH jet breaking and fluidization exploitation without changing the temperature and pressure conditions of NGH reservoirs was proposed, and the support nozzle tools for NGH jet breaking was designed, experimentally tested and optimized. Then, the relationships between the jet breaking parameters of nozzles (e.g. working pressure drop, flow rate, and lifting and lowering velocity and frequency) and the borehole diameters and breaking rates of broken NGH were investigated based on laboratory tests, and the field construction engineering charts of NGH jet breaking and fluidization exploitation were established. Finally, this method was practically verified at Well Liwan 3 in the South China Sea. And following research results were obtained. First, the NGH jet breaking and fluidization exploitation technology can increase the production efficiency of NGH exploitation, protect the safety of reservoir bottom and reduce the energy consumption of NGH exploitation. Second, by using the nozzle tools of NGH jet breaking, the generated borehole diameters are regular, broken particles can flow back well, and the lowering velocity of jet breaking without pilot holes is less than 7.1 m/h. Third, the engineering charts of NGH jet breaking and fluidization exploitation interpret the influential laws of jet breaking behaviors and construction parameters on the borehole diameters and breaking rates of NGH so as to provide a reference for the selection of NGH production test technology parameters. And fourth, the successful implementation of the NGH jet breaking and fluidization technology in the production tests of Well Liwan 3 verifies the feasibility of NGH jet breaking and fluidization exploitation process, and exhibits its promising application prospects in NGH future commercial exploitation. Keywords: Natural gas hydrate (NGH), Jet breaking, Fluidization exploitation, Multi-functional nozzle, Breaking effect, Technological parameter, Construction chart, Production test, South China sea, Well Liwan 3

In this paper we develop a numerical procedure using finite element and augmented Lagrangian meth-ods that simulates electro-mechanical pull-in states of both cantilever and fixed beams in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) switches. We devise the augmented Lagrangian methods for the well-known Euler-Bernoulli beam equation which also takes into consideration of the fringing effect of electric field to allow a smooth transi-tion of the electric field between center of a beam and edges of the beam. The numerical results obtained by the procedure are tabulated and compared with some existing results for beams in MEMS switches in literature. This procedure produces stable and accurate numerical results for simulation of these MEMS beams and can be a useful and efficient alternative for design and determining onset of pull-in for such devices.

With the development of electric vehicles in recent years, lithium-ion batteries have been widely used. Accurate state of charge (SOC) estimation plays an important role in the safety of electric vehicles. Since the temperature has the significant influence on charge and discharge performance of the battery, it is critical to achieve accurate SOC estimation over the wide temperature range. In this paper, a polymer ternary lithium-ion battery is focused, and a Thevenin equivalent circuit model with temperature compensation is established. The validity of the established battery model was verified by the dynamic stress test. On this basis, the ternary lithium-ion battery SOC was estimated using the unscented Kalman filter (UKF). The New European Driving Cycle is used to verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. The simulation and experimental results show that the established Thevenin equivalent circuit model with temperature compensation can accurately represent the battery dynamics. Based on this model, the SOC was estimated using the UKF and the maximum errors are within 3%. Therefore, the proposed SOC estimation method is verified to be effective and robust.

Based on the principle of stereology to describe void fabric, the fabric tensor is redefined by the idea of normalization, and a novel quantitative description method for the orthotropic fabric of granular materials is presented. The scan line is described by two independent angles in the stereo space, and the projection of the scan line on three orthogonal planes is used to determine the plane tensor. The second-order plane tensor can be described equivalently by two invariants, which describe the degree and direction of anisotropy of the material, respectively. In the three-dimensional orthogonal space, there are three measurable amplitude parameters on the three orthogonal planes. Due to the normalized definition of tensor in this paper, there are only two independent variations of the three amplitude parameters, and any two amplitude parameters can be used to derive the three-dimensional orthotropic fabric tensor. Therefore, the same orthorhombic anisotropy structure can be described by three fabrics, which enriches the theoretical description of orthotropy greatly. As the geometric relationship of the stereoscopic space scan line changes, the three sets of orthotropic fabrics degenerate into different forms of transversely isotropic and isotropic fabrics naturally and have a clear physical meaning. The novel fabric tensor is quantitatively determined based on mathematical probability and statistics. The discrete distribution of voids in space is projected as a scalar measurable parameter on a plane. This parameter is related to the macroscopic constitutive relationship directly and can be used to describe the effect of microscopic voids on the macroscopic phenomenon of materials.

Wastewater propagation chains (WPCs) measure inter-sector average propagation lengths (APL) of wastewater discharge. To achieve sustainable wastewater management, one needs to understand the propagation mechanisms by identifying WPCs at a national level over time. However, the traditional model of identifying WPCs is prone to retaining APLs with lower values but larger wastewater discharge intensities, ignoring many linkages whereby intensities are less than a preset threshold. Nevertheless, these overlooked linkages are valuable in understanding wastewater propagation mechanisms. This study proposed a new model coupled input-output analysis with the graphical theory, called the average propagation lengths-hub covariance graph (APL-HCG). This model can investigate WPCs where the closeness of sector linkages exceeds the preset thresholds. Furthermore, it is capable of retaining linkages for identifying hub wastewater propagation chains (HWPCs). Based on APL-HCG, the resultant HWPCs are decomposed as separated sub-chains which are basically composed of linkages among certain significant sectors belonging to the secondary industry or the tertiary industry. Scenario analyses show that HWPCs are effective in reducing wastewater discharge in the national economic system. The total wastewater discharge would decrease by 1.36%, 2.53%, 2.46%, and 2.11% if we reduced 10% of the final demand of all sectors in HWPCs in 2002, 2007, 2012, and 2017. The APL-HCG model outperforms the traditional model on WPCs by 0.14%, 1.61%, 0.47%, and 0.10%, respectively. The APL-HCG model is 0.21%, 0.68%, 0.70%, and 0.35% better than the scenario of random sampling with the number of sectors equal to HWPCs, respectively. Certain policy implications were provided to reduce wastewater effectively at the national level.

Gallid alpha-herpesvirus 1, also known as avian infectious laryngotracheitis virus (ILTV), continues to cause huge economic losses to the poultry industry worldwide. Similar to that of other herpesvirus-encoded proteins, the expression of viral genes encoded by ILTV is regulated by a cascade, and the underlying regulatory mechanism remains largely unclear. The viral immediate-early (IE) gene ICP4 plays a prominent role in the initiation of the transcription of early and late genes during ILTV replication. In this study, we identified AP-1 as the key regulator of the transcription of ILTV genes by bioinformatics analysis of genome-wide transcriptome data. Subsequent functional studies of the key members of the AP-1 family revealed that Fos, but not Jun, regulates ILTV infection through AP-1 since knockdown of Fos, but not Jun, by gene silencing significantly reduced ICP4 transcription and subsequent viral genome replication and virion production. Using several approaches, we identified ICP4 as a bona fide target gene of Fos that regulated Fos and has Fos response elements within its promoter. Neither the physical binding of Jun to the promoter of ICP4 nor the transcriptional activity of Jun was observed. In addition, knockdown of Fos reduced the transcription of MDH1 and ATP5A1, genes encoding two host rate-limiting enzymes essential for the production of the TCA intermediates OAA and ATP. The biological significance of the transcriptional regulation of MDH1 and ATP5A1 by Fos in ILTV infection was supported by the fact that anaplerosis of OAA and ATP rescued both ICP4 transcription and virion production in infected cells under when Fos was silenced. Our study identified the transcription factor Fos as a key regulator of ILTV infection through its transcription factor function on both the virus and host sides, improving the current understanding of both avian herpesvirus–host interactions and the roles of AP-1 in viral infection.

Background/Aims: Bone marrow Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are promising for promoting cutaneous wound healing through reinforcing cellular processes. We evaluated the effect of GFP-tagged MSCs transplantation on skin regeneration in excisional wounds in mice. Methods: MSCs from GFP-labeled transgenic mice were co-cultured with acellular dermal matrix (ADM) scaffolds, and MSC-ADM scaffolds were transplanted into surgical skin wounds of BALB/c mice. After implantation, the survival and behavior of MSCs were examined by second harmonic generation and two-photon excitation fluorescence imaging, western blotting and DNA amplification and sequencing. Results: GFP-tagged MSCs were retained inside the regenerating skin until day 14 post-transplantation. Alpha-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) and vimentin (VIM) were detected at 3, 5, 7, and 14 days post-transplantation by immunofluorescence double labeling. Although the GFP+/α-SMA+- and GFP+/VIM+-cell numbers decreased gradually with healing time, α-SMA+- and VIM+-cell numbers significantly increased, most of them were endogenous functional cells which were related to angiogenesis and collagen fiber structural remodeling. Conclusion: Therefore, in the initial stage of wound healing, transplanted MSCs differentiated into functional cells and played paracrine roles to recruit more endogenous cells for tissue remodeling. With the disappearance of exogenous cells, endogenous cells were responsible for the latter stage of cutaneous wound healing.

WRKY proteins are a large group of plant transcription factors that are involved in various biological processes, including biotic and abiotic stress responses, hormone response, plant development, and metabolism. WRKY proteins have been identified in several plants, but only a few have been identified in Capsicum annuum. Here, we identified a total of 62 WRKY genes in the latest pepper genome. These genes were classified into three groups (Groups 1-3) based on the structural features of their proteins. The structures of the encoded proteins, evolution, and expression under normal growth conditions were analyzed and 35 putative miRNA target sites were predicted in 20 CaWRKY genes. Moreover, the response to cold or CMV treatments of selected WRKY genes were examined to validate the roles under stresses. And alternative splicing (AS) events of some CaWRKYs were also identified under CMV infection. Promoter analysis confirmed that CaWRKY genes are involved in growth, development, and biotic or abiotic stress responses in hot pepper. The comprehensive analysis provides fundamental information for better understanding of the signaling pathways involved in the WRKY-mediated regulation of developmental processes, as well as biotic and abiotic stress responses.

To study the strengthening mechanism and effect underlying the reinforcement of a fractured rock mass with grouting, compressive shear tests were conducted with an RMT-150B rock mechanics test system. Prefabricated structural surfaces were strengthened with a new inorganic dual-liquid grouting material at five water-cement ratios (0.6-1.5). The effects of these water-cement ratios of the grouting on the deformation, strength, and failure characteristics of the prefabricated structural surface were analyzed. The results show that reinforcement with grouting significantly influenced the bearing capacity of the structural surface. The shear strength of the structure was significantly improved and the deformation resistance of the structural surface was enhanced. The shear stress-displacement curves, generated in compressive shear tests of the grouting-reinforced structures, were all nonlinear. The shearing process comprised three stages: elasticity, yield, and failure. Decreasing the water-cement ratio of the grouting material weakened the plasticity of the grouted structural surface and enhanced its brittleness. The deformation type changed from plastic slip to brittle shear. The shear strength, cohesion, and angle of internal friction of the grouting-reinforced structural surface increased with decreasing water-cement ratio.

Cytochrome P450 2E1 (CYP2E1) plays an important role in both alcohol-induced and immune-mediated liver injury. However, the mechanism underlying CYP2E1 transcriptional regulation has not been clarified. This study focused on the NF-κB-mediated transcriptional regulation of rat CYP2E1 by two independent signaling pathways in alcohol-induced and immune-mediated liver injury rat models. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were used in pharmacokinetic, molecular pharmacology, and morphology experiments. A rat model of alcohol-induced liver injury (AL) was established by feeding an ethanol-containing diet (42 g/kg/day) for 5 weeks as indicated. A rat immune-mediated liver injury (IM) model was established by the sequential injection of bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG, 125 mg/kg, once) via the tail vein after test day 21 and 10 μg/kg LPS 13 days later. HPLC, real-time PCR, western blot and ELISA analyses were performed. CYP2E1 expression was enhanced during the process of alcohol-induced liver injury (increased by 56%, P < 0.05) and significantly reduced during that of immune-mediated liver injury (reducedby52%, P < 0.05). NF-κB was activated in both the AL and IM groups (increased by 56% and76%, respectively, P < 0.05). Compared to those in the livers of AL model rats, the interleukin (IL)-1β, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, and iNOS levels in IM model rat livers were increased (increased by 26%, 21% and 101%, respectively, P < 0.05). The differential changes in CYP2E1 in the processes of alcohol-induced and immune-mediated liver injury may result from the differential expression of inflammatory cytokines and iNOS after NF-κB activation, leading to the NF-κB-mediated transcriptional regulation of rat CYP2E1 by two independent signaling pathways.

Although ionizing radiation (IR) has provided considerable improvements in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) treatment, radioresistance is still a major threat for some subsets of patients. The insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor (IGF-1R) signaling pathway is tightly regulated and plays critical roles in mediating cell proliferation, growth, and survival. Thus, IGF-1R may be a potential therapeutic target for patients with different malignancies. However, its mechanism in NPC is not fully investigated. Linsitinib is an oral small molecule and is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) of IGF-1R, which has been known for antitumor effects used widely. Here, we evaluated the proliferation and radiosensitivity of NPC cell lines (CNE-2 and SUNE-1) after linsitinib treatment. We found that linsitinib suppresses IGF-1-induced cell proliferation through inhibiting Akt and ERK phosphorylation. Moreover, linsitinib further boosted IR-induced DNA damage, G2-M cell cycle delay, and apoptosis in NPC cells. Finally, linsitinib reversed radioresistant NPC cells by decreasing the phosphorylation of IGF-1R. Our data indicated that the combination of linsitinib and IR and targeting IGF-1R by linsitinib could be a promising therapeutic strategy for NPC.

Due to the existence of viral reservoirs, the rebound of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) viremia can occur within weeks after discontinuing combined antiretroviral therapy. Immunotherapy could potentially be applied to eradicate reactivated HIV-1 in latently infected CD4+ T lymphocytes. Although the existence of HIV-1-specific CD8+ T memory stem cells (TSCMs) is well established, there are currently no reports regarding methods using CD8+ TSCMs to treat HIV-1 infection. In this study, we quantified peripheral blood antigen-specific CD8+ TSCMs and then expanded HIV-1-specific TSCMs that targeted optimal antigen epitopes (SL9, IL9, and TL9) in the presence of interleukin- (IL-) 21 or IL-15. The suppressive capacity of the expanded CD8+ TSCMs on HIV-1 production was measured by assessing cell-associated viral RNA and performing viral outgrowth assays. We found that the number of unmutated TL9-specific CD8+ TSCMs positively correlated with the abundance of CD4+ T cells and that the expression of IFN-γ was higher in TL9-specific CD8+ TSCMs than that in non-TL9-specific CD8+ TSCMs. Moreover, the antiviral capacities of IL-21-stimulated CD8+ TSCMs exceeded those of conventional CD8+ memory T cells and IL-15-stimulated CD8+ TSCMs. Thus, we demonstrated that IL-21 could efficiently expand HIV-1-specific CD8+ TSCMs to suppress HIV-1 replication. Our study provides new insight into the function of IL-21 in the in vitro suppression of HIV-1 replication.

The bone marrow (BM) is not only a reservoir of hematopoietic stem cells but a repository of immunological memory cells. Further characterizing BM-resident memory T cells would be helpful to reveal the complicated relationship between the BM and immunological memory. In this study, we identified CD122high stem cell antigen-1 (Sca-1) high B cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) high CD4+ stem cell-like memory T cells (TSCMs) as a distinct memory T cell subset, which preferentially reside in the BM, where they respond vigorously to blood-borne antigens. Interestingly, the natural CD4+ TSCMs homing to the BM colocalized with VCAM-1+ IL-15+ IL-7+ CXCL-12+ stromal cells. Furthermore, compared to spleen-resident CD4+ TSCMs, BM-resident TSCMs induced the production of high-affinity antibodies against influenza by B lymphocytes more efficiently. Taken together, these observations indicate that the BM provides an appropriate microenvironment for the survival of CD4+ TSCMs, which broadens our knowledge regarding the memory maintenance of antigen-specific CD4+ T lymphocytes.

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) causes a serious threat to human health. Virus-like particles (VLPs) constitute a promising platform in SARS-CoV-2 vaccine development. In this study, the E, M, and S genes were cloned into multiple cloning sites of a new triple expression plasmid with one p10 promoter, two pPH promoters, and three multiple cloning sites. The plasmid was transformed into DH10 BacTMEscherichia coli competent cells to obtain recombinant bacmid. Then the recombinant bacmid was transfected in ExpiSf9TM insect cells to generate recombinant baculovirus. After ExpiSf9TM cells infection with the recombinant baculovirus, the E, M, and S proteins were expressed in insect cells. Finally, SARS-CoV-2 VLPs were self-assembled in insect cells after infection. The morphology and the size of SARS-CoV-2 VLPs are similar to the native virions.

BACKGROUND: Both kyphoplasty (KP) and vertebroplasty (VP) are effective for patients with osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture (OVCF), but which approach might be more effective remains unclear, so we decided to update earlier systematic reviews. OBJECTIVE: Review and analyze studies published as of August 2015 that compared clinical outcomes and complications of KP versus VP. DESIGN: Systematic review and meta-analysis. SEARCH METHOD: Published reports up to August 2015 were found in PubMed, EMBASE and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL). SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and prospective and retrospective cohort studies comparing KP and VP in patients with OVCF. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two authors independently assessed the studies and extracted data. RESULTS: Thirty-two studies involving 3274 patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria. There were significant differences between the two groups in short- and long-term postoperative changes in measures of pain intensity and dysfunction (P

The cutting efficiency in underground excavations relies on the optimum parameters of the cutting tool and the cutting process. However, the optimization of the cutting tool design and the cutting process is a challenge and requires knowledge about the tool-rock interaction. This paper aims to investigate the tool-rock interaction using a rock cutting mathematical model. The confining pressure was considered in the rock cutting model with conical cutters and the discrete element method was adopted to calculate the dynamics of the rock breakage of this model. Graded particle assemblies were created, calibrated, and compressed in the horizontal direction with a certain confining pressure. Afterwards, the initiation and propagation of cracks during the rock cutting processes were recorded. A series of small-scale rock cutting tests were also carried out to verify the numerical model. The analysis results demonstrate that: 1) the confining pressure induced larger cutting force than that in the unconfined condition; 2) with increase of the confining pressure, the rock failure mode experienced predominantly brittle to predominantly ductile failure; and 3) there was a critical confining pressure/compressive strength ratio of 0.53 when the transition of failure mode occurred.

With the rapid development of social networks, spam bots and other anomaly accounts’ malicious behavior has become a critical information security problem threatening the social network platform. In order to reduce this threat, the existing research mainly uses feature-based detection or propagation-based detection, and it applies machine learning or graph mining algorithms to identify anomaly accounts in social networks. However, with the development of technology, spam bots are becoming more advanced, and identifying bots is still an open challenge. This paper proposes a new semi-supervised graph embedding model based on a graph attention network for spam bot detection in social networks. This approach constructs a detection model by aggregating features and neighbor relationships, and learns a complex method to integrate the different neighborhood relationships between nodes to operate the directed social graph. The new model can identify spam bots by capturing user features and two different relationships among users in social networks. We compare our method with other methods on real-world social network datasets, and the experimental results show that our proposed model achieves a significant and consistent improvement.

Silver is an important and efficient bactericide. Nanoscale silver has a large specific surface area, high target adhesion, strong permeability and high bactericidal activity. At present, the control of plant bacterial diseases is difficult, and the resistance of plant bacterial pathogens develops rapidly. Silver nanoparticles are expected to become a new generation of agrochemical to control plant bacterial diseases. In this study, a simple and green natural sunlight-induced method was used to prepare carboxymethylcellulose sodium-stabilized silver nanoparticles (CMC-SNs) with a particle size of around 13.53 ± 4.72 nm. CMC-SNs were characterized by dynamic light scattering (DLS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy-dispersive spectrometry (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and UV-vis spectroscopy and found to be spherical and evenly dispersed. The bacteriostatic activity of the CMC-SNs toward Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) was tested. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of CMC-SNs to Xoo was 1 mg/L, and the minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) was 2 mg/L. In addition, the antibacterial mechanism was studied by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM), which confirmed that the CMC-SNs had high antibacterial activity. In order to verify its impact on the environment, we conducted an acute toxicity test on zebrafish and found that Half lethal concentration (LC50) > 100 mg/L in zebrafish, or no acute toxicity. The ability of CMC-SNs to control rice bacterial blight was verified by a pot experiment.