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IntroductionSalt stress severely inhibit plant growth and development. Uniconazole has been considered to significantly increase plant stress tolerance. However, the mechanism by which Uniconazole induces salt tolerance in rice seedlings and its impact on yield is still unclear.MethodsIn this study, the effects of exogenous Uniconazole on morphogenesis, physiological metabolism, and yield of rice seedlings under salt stress were analyzed using the salt-tolerant rice variety HD961 and the salt-sensitive rice variety 9311.ResultsThe results showed that salt stress significantly inhibited rice growth, disrupted the antioxidant system and pigment accumulation, and reduced photosynthesis, and yield. There were corresponding percent decreases of 13.0% and 24.1% in plant height, 31.6% and 55.8% in leaf area, 65.7% and 85.3% in root volume, respectively for HD961 and 9311. spraying However, compared to salt stress, the US treatment increased the percentage to 4.7% and 139.0% in root volume, 7.5% and 38.0% in total chlorophyll, 4.5% and 14.3% in peroxidase (POD) of leaves, 14.4% and 54.2% in POD of roots, 18.7% and 22.7% in catalase (CAT) of leaves, and 22.6% and 53.9% in CAT of roots, respectively, for HD961 and 9311. In addition, it also significantly enhanced photosynthesis at the reproductive stage, promoted the transport of carbohydrate to grains. And US treatment significantly increased the percentage to 9.0% in panicle length, 28.0% in panicle number per hole, 24.0% in filled grain number, 3.0% in 1000-grain weight, and 26.0% in yield per plant, respectively, for HD961, compared to salt stress.DiscussionIn summary, applying Uniconazole at the seedling stage can alleviate the damage induced by NaCl stress on rice by regulating the physiological metabolism of rice plants. This reduces the negative effects of salt stress, enhance salt tolerance, and boost rice production.

Soil salinity pollution is increasing worldwide, seriously affecting plant growth and crop production. Existing reports on how potassium indole-3-butyric acid (IBAK) regulates rice salt stress adaptation by affecting rice carbon metabolism, transcription factor (TF) genes expression, and biosynthesis of secondary metabolites still have limitations. In this study, an IBAK solution at 40 mg L−1 was sprayed on rice leaves at the seedling stage. The results showed that the IBAK application could promote shoot and root growth, decrease sucrose and fructose content, increase starch content, and enhance acid invertase (AI) and neutral invertase (NI) activity under salt stress, indicating altered carbon allocation. Furthermore, the expression of TF genes belonging to the ethylene responsive factor (ERF), WRKY, and basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) families was influenced by IBAK. Many key genes (OsSSIIc, OsSHM1, and OsPPDKB) and metabolites (2-oxoglutaric acid, fumaric acid, and succinic acid) were upregulated in the carbon metabolism pathway. In addition, this study highlighted the role of IBAK in regulating the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites pathway, potentially contributing to rice stress adaptability. The results of this study can provide new sustainable development solutions for agricultural production.

Salt stress is a key environmental factor altering rice plant growth. Strigolactones (GR24) play a vital role in responding to various abiotic stresses and regulating plant growth. However, the regulatory mechanisms of SLs on rice seedlings under salt stress have not yet been clarified. A pot experiment was undertaken to evaluate the effects of GR24 soaking on the rice variety ‘Huanghuazhan’ (salt-sensitive) seedling growth, antioxidant metabolism, and endogenous hormones under NaCl stress. Results showed that NaCl stress significantly inhibited rice growth; disrupted antioxidant enzymes activity; and increased the content of soluble proteins (SPs), proline (Pro), malondialdehyde (MDA) and hydrogen–peroxide (H2O2). GR24 significantly improved photosynthetic pigments and antioxidant–enzyme activities, including superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), peroxidase (POD), and ascorbate–peroxidase (APX); increased SP, ascorbic acid (AsA); and reduced glutathione (GSH) content and MDA, H2O2, and Pro content, resulting in the mitigation of oxidative injury caused by NaCl stress. Moreover, GR24 significantly increased the content of strigolactones (SLs), cytokinin (CTK), auxin (IAA), Gibberellin A3 (GA3), and IAA/ABA and CTK/ABA ratios and decreased the abscisic acid (ABA). Findings indicated that GR24 alleviated oxidative damage caused by NaCl stress by increasing photosynthetic and antioxidant capacity and maintaining the balance of endogenous hormones, thus improving the salt tolerance of rice seedlings.

Salinity stress imposes severe constraints on plant growth and development. Here, we explored the impacts of prohexadione-calcium (Pro-Ca) on rapeseed growth under salt stress. We designed a randomized block design pot experiment using two rapeseed varieties, ‘Huayouza 158R’ and ‘Huayouza 62’. We conducted six treatments, S0: non-primed + 0 mM NaCl, Pro-Ca+S0: Pro-Ca primed + 0 mM NaCl, S100: non-primed + 100 mM NaCl, Pro-Ca+S100: Pro-Ca primed + 100 mM NaCl, S150: non-primed + 150 mM NaCl, Pro-Ca+S150: Pro-Ca primed + 150 mM NaCl. The morphophysiological characteristics, and osmoregulatory and antioxidant activities were compared for primed and non-primed varieties. Our data analysis showed that salt stress induced morph-physiological traits and significantly reduced the antioxidant enzyme activities in both rapeseed varieties. The Pro-Ca primed treatment significantly improved seedlings, root, and shoot morphological traits and accumulated more dry matter biomass under salt stress. Compared to Huayouza 158R, Huayouza 62 performed better with the Pro-Ca primed treatment. The Pro-Ca primed treatment significantly enhanced chlorophyll content, net photosynthetic rate (Pn), stomatal conductance (Gs), transpiration rate (Tr), and actual photochemical quantum efficiency (ФPSII). Furthermore, the Pro-Ca primed treatment also improved ascorbic acid (ASA) content, superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), catalase (CAT), and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) activity, and stimulated the accumulation of soluble proteins. These findings strongly suggested that the Pro-Ca primed treatment may effectively counteract the negative impacts of salinity stress by regulating the morph-physiological and antioxidant traits.

The aim of this experiment was to investigate the effects of exogenous sprays of 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) and 2-Diethylaminoethyl hexanoate (DTA-6) on the growth and salt tolerance of rice (Oryza sativa L.) seedlings. This study was conducted in a solar greenhouse at Guangdong Ocean University, where ‘Huanghuazhan’ was selected as the test material, and 40 mg/L 5-ALA and 30 mg/L DTA-6 were applied as foliar sprays at the three-leaf-one-heart stage of rice, followed by treatment with 0.3% NaCl (W/W) 24 h later. A total of six treatments were set up as follows: (1) CK: control, (2) A: 40 mg⋅ L−1 5-ALA, (3) D: 30 mg⋅ L−1 DTA-6, (4) S: 0.3% NaCl, (5) AS: 40 mg⋅ L−1 5-ALA + 0.3% NaCl, and (6) DS: 30 mg⋅ L−1 DTA-6+0.3% NaCl. Samples were taken at 1, 4, 7, 10, and 13 d after NaCl treatment to determine the morphology and physiological and biochemical indices of rice roots. The results showed that NaCl stress significantly inhibited rice growth; disrupted the antioxidant system; increased the rates of malondialdehyde, hydrogen peroxide, and superoxide anion production; and affected the content of related hormones. Malondialdehyde content, hydrogen peroxide content, and superoxide anion production rate significantly increased from 12.57% to 21.82%, 18.12% to 63.10%, and 7.17% to 56.20%, respectively, in the S treatment group compared to the CK group. Under salt stress, foliar sprays of both 5-ALA and DTA-6 increased antioxidant enzyme activities and osmoregulatory substance content; expanded non-enzymatic antioxidant AsA and GSH content; reduced reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation; lowered malondialdehyde content; increased endogenous hormones GA3, JA, IAA, SA, and ZR content; and lowered ABA content in the rice root system. The MDA, H2O2, and O2− contents were reduced from 35.64% to 56.92%, 22.30% to 53.47%, and 7.06% to 20.01%, respectively, in the AS treatment group compared with the S treatment group. In the DS treatment group, the MDA, H2O2, and O2− contents were reduced from 24.60% to 51.09%, 12.14% to 59.05%, and 12.70% to 45.20%. In summary, NaCl stress exerted an inhibitory effect on the rice root system, both foliar sprays of 5-ALA and DTA-6 alleviated damage from NaCl stress on the rice root system, and the effect of 5-ALA was better than that of DTA-6.

The submerged floating tunnel is a marine transportation infrastructure that links two shorelines. The tunnel tube body’s buoyancy exceeds gravity, with anchoring ensuring equilibrium. Anchoring reliability is crucial. This study presents a three-way coupled kinematic model for the mooring structure, formulated on Hamilton’s principle and Kirchhoff’s assumption. It explores the impact of the tube body’s buoyancy-to-weight ratio and the sea current’s angle of incidence on mooring motion response. By solving the motion analysis model, Hill’s equation system is derived to assess the parameter instability of the anchor cable structure. The coefficient of excitation instability intervals for the submerged floating tunnel is determined and validated. The findings indicate the following: (1) Increasing the float-weight ratio reduces displacement response amplitudes in all directions, bringing downstream and transverse currents closer to their initial positions; (2) Changes in current direction angles result in decreased downstream excitation strength and increased transverse displacement response with the same excitation direction; (3) The instability interval visualization effectively predicts anchor cable structure instability under parametric excitation. Structures within the instability region are deemed unstable, while those outside are considered stable.

Salt stress is one of the major abiotic stresses that damage the structure and composition of cell walls. Alginate oligosaccharides (AOS) have been advocated to significantly improve plant stress tolerance. The metabolic mechanism by which AOS induces salt tolerance in rice cell walls remains unclear. Here, we report the impact of AOS foliar application on the cell wall composition of rice seedlings using the salt-tolerant rice variety FL478 and the salt-sensitive variety IR29. Data revealed that salt stress decreased biomass, stem basal width, stem breaking strength, and lodging resistance; however, it increased cell wall thickness. In leaves, exogenous AOS up-regulated the expression level of OSCESA8, increased abscisic acid (ABA) and brassinosteroids (BR) content, and increased β-galacturonic activity, polygalacturonase activity, xylanase activity, laccase activity, biomass, and cellulose content. Moreover, AOS down-regulated the expression levels of OSMYB46 and OSIRX10 and decreased cell wall hemicellulose, pectin, and lignin content to maintain cell wall stability under salt stress. In stems, AOS increased phenylalamine ammonia-lyase and tyrosine ammonia-lyase activities, while decreasing cellulase, laccase, and β-glucanase activities. Furthermore, AOS improved the biomass and stem basal width and also enhanced the cellulose, pectin, and lignin content of the stem, As a result, increased resistance to stem breakage strength and alleviated salt stress-induced damage, thus enhancing the lodging resistance. Under salt stress, AOS regulates phytohormones and modifies cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, and pectin metabolism to maintain cell wall structure and improve stem resistance to lodging. This study aims to alleviate salt stress damage to rice cell walls, enhance resistance to lodging, and improve salt tolerance in rice by exogenous application of AOS.

In order to explore the regulating role and the physiological and biochemical mechanisms of trans-abscisic acid (hereinafter referred as S-ABA) in the process of rice growth and development under salt stress, we took Chaoyou 1000 and Yuxiangyouzhan as materials and set up three salt concentration treatments, CK0 (Control treatment), N1 (50 mmol L−1 NaCl), and N2 (100 mmol L−1 NaCl), in potted trials; we aimed to study the mechanism of rice’s response to salt stress from the perspective of agricultural traits and physiological biochemicals and to improve rice’s resistance to salt stress through exogenously applying the regulating technology of S-ABA. The following results were obtained: Under salt stress, the growth of rice was significantly suppressed compared to CK0, exhibiting notable increases in agricultural indicators, photosynthesis efficiency, and the NA+ content of leaves. However, we noted a significant decrease in the K+ content in the leaves, alongside a prominent increase in NA+/K+ and a big increase in MDA (malondialdehyde), H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide), and O2− (superoxide anion). This caused the cytomembrane permeability to deteriorate. By applying S-ABA under salt stress (in comparison with salt treatment), we promoted improvements in agronomic traits, enhanced photosynthesis, reduced the accumulation of NA+ in leaves, increased the K+ content and the activity of antioxidant enzymes, and reduced the active oxygen content, resulting in a sharp decrease in the impact of salt stress on rice’s development. The application of S-ABA decreased the endogenous ABA (abscisic acid) content under salt stress treatment but increased the endogenous GA (gibberellin) and IAA (indole acetic acid) contents and maintained the hormonal homeostasis in rice plants. To summarize, salt stress causes damage to rice growth, and the exogenous application of S-ABA can activate the pouring system mechanism of rice, suppress the outbreak of active oxygen, and regulate NA+/K+ balance and hormone homeostasis in the blades, thus relieving the salt stress.

A large number of dead seedlings can occur in saline soils, which seriously affects the large-scale cultivation of rice. This study investigated the effects of plant growth regulators (PGRs) and nitrogen application on seedling growth and salt tolerance (Oryza sativa L.), which is of great significance for agricultural production practices. A conventional rice variety, “Huang Huazhan”, was selected for this study. Non-salt stress treatments included 0% NaCl (CK treatment), CK + 0.05 g N/pot (N treatment), CK + 40 mg·L−1 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) (A treatment), and CK + 30 mg·L−1 diethylaminoethyl acetate (DTA-6) (D treatment). Salt stress treatments included 0.3% NaCl (S treatment), N + 0.3% NaCl (NS treatment), A + 0.3% NaCl (AS treatment), and D + 0.3% NaCl (DS treatment). When 3 leaves and 1 heart emerged from the soil, plants were sprayed with DTA-6 and 5-ALA, followed by the application of 0.3% NaCl (w/w) to the soil after 24 h. Seedling morphology and photosynthetic indices, as well as carbohydrate metabolism and key enzyme activities, were determined for each treatment. Our results showed that N, A, and D treatments promoted seedling growth, photosynthesis, carbohydrate levels, and the activities of key enzymes involved in carbon metabolism when compared to the CK treatment. The A treatment had the most significant effect, with increases in aboveground dry weight and net photosynthetic rates (Pn) ranging from 17.74% to 41.02% and 3.61% to 32.60%, respectively. Stomatal limiting values (Ls) significantly decreased from 19.17% to 43.02%. Salt stress significantly inhibited seedling growth. NS, AS, and DS treatments alleviated the morphological and physiological damage of salt stress on seedlings when compared to the S treatment. The AS treatment was the most effective in improving seedling morphology, promoting photosynthesis, increasing carbohydrate levels, and key enzyme activities. After AS treatment, increases in aboveground dry weight, net photosynthetic rate, soluble sugar content, total sucrose synthase, and amylase activities were 17.50% to 50.79%, 11.39% to 98.10%, 20.20% to 80.85%, 21.21% to 33.53%, and 22.17% to 34.19%, respectively, when compared to the S treatment. In summary, foliar sprays of 5-ALA, DTA-6, and additional nitrogen fertilizer enhanced rice seedling growth, increased photosynthesis, lowered Ls values, and improved seedling salt tolerance. Spraying two regulators, 5-ALA and DTA-6, quantitatively increased the effect of nitrogen fertilizer, with comparable effects on NaCl stress regulation. This study provides the basis for efficient agricultural production.

β-Carbolines are potentially strong alkaloids with a wide range of bioactivities, and their dimers exhibit stronger antitumor activity other than the monomers. However, the detailed mechanisms of the β-carboline dimers in inhibiting sarcoma (SARC) remain unclear. The results showed that β-carboline-3-carboxylic acid dimers Comp1 and Comp2, which were synthesized in our lab and modified at the N9 position and linked at the C3 position, exhibited effective inhibition activity on MG-63 proliferation (IC50 = 4.6μM). Meanwhile, the large scale transcriptome profiles of SARC from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) were analyzed, and found that abnormal expression of genes relevant to apoptosis, cell cycle, and signaling pathways of Hedgehog, HIF, Ras involved in the SARC pathogenesis. Interestingly, both dimers could promote the apoptosis and arrest the cell cycle in S phase to inhibit proliferation of MG-63. Moreover, Comp1 and Comp2 inhibited the expression CDK2, CCNA2, DBF4, and PLK1 associated with various immune cells and cell cycle in MG-63. Remarkably, drug-target interaction network analysis showed that numerous proteins involved in cell cycle were the potential targets of Comp1 and Comp2, especially CCNA2. Further molecular docking, isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) and Cellular Thermal Shift Assay (CETSA) confirmed that both dimers could directly interact with CCNA2, which is significantly correlated with CD4+ T cells, by strong hydrophobic interactions (Kd=5.821 ×106 N). Meanwhile, the levels of CCNA2 and CDK2 were inhibited to decrease in MG-63 by both dimer treatments at transcription and protein levels, implying that Comp1 and Comp2 blocked the interaction between CCNA2 and CDK2 through competitive binding with CCNA2 to arrest the cell cycle of MG-63 cells in the S phase. Additionally, the transcriptome profiles of β-carboline-treated mice from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) were obtained, and found that similar antitumor mechanism was shared among β-carboline derivatives. Overall, our results elucidated the antitumor mechanisms of Comp1 and Comp2 through dual-suppressing the function of CCNA2 to profoundly arrest cell cycle of MG-63, then effectively inhibited cell proliferation of MG-63. These results provide new insights into the antitumor mechanism of β-carboline dimers and new routes of various novel cancer-related drug targets for future possible cancer therapy.

Spherical Ag@Ni immiscible alloy powders were successfully fabricated combining in situ de-wetting of metal droplets from a metalloid solid medium with phase separation of immiscible alloys. The effects of atom ratio and temperature on morphology, structure, and phase separation were investigated. The spherical morphology of alloy powders confirmed the de-wetting of the liquid–solid interface between the liquid Ni–Ag immiscible alloy and the solid alumina powder medium. The Ni-rich phase was scattered in the Ag-rich phase matrix at 1673 K while the spherical Ni-core at the center was surrounded by a ring-shaped shell of Ag at the outer layer with an egg-type structure at 1753 K. The egg-type microstructure of the Ni–Ag particle resulted from the liquid–liquid immiscible phase separation. Such spherical Ag@Ni alloy powders with an egg-type microstructure have a good combination of a high strength Ni-rich phase core and a high electric and thermal conductivity Ag-rich phase shell with many potential advanced applications in electronic packaging.

Background Gouty arthritis (GA) is a common type of inflammatory arthritis. Recent studies demonstrated that 1,25-dihydroxy vitamin D3 (1,25(OH) 2 VD3) and vitamin D3 receptor (VD-R) play a protective role in acute inflammation, but interleukin-22(IL-22) promotes inflammation, especially for arthritis. However, our understanding of the responses of 1,25(OH) 2VD3 and IL-22 to gout was still unclear. Presently, in-depth metabolomics, bioinformatics and clinical characteristics analyses were performed to elucidate the pathogenesis and valuable clinical indicators of gouty arthritis. Methods Peripheral venous blood was taken for investigation. The levels of IL-22 and 1,25(OH)2VD3 were determined in patient’s plasma via ELISA, and the mRNA levels of IL-22 and VD-R were measured via qRT-PCR. The interaction network of VD-R and IL22 were constructed by the Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting Genes/Proteins (STRING), and the biological function of the related proteins were analyzed by Clusterprofiler Metabolomics were performed to decipher the metabolic variations of GA. Results The levels of VD-R and 1,25(OH) 2 VD3 were identified to be low. What,s more, GA patients were reported to have high expression of IL-22. And IL-22 levels positively correlated with C-reactiveprotein (CRP) serum levels in the bivariate correlation analysis, whereas the level of 1,25(OH) 2VD3 negatively correlated with that of CRP. GO and KEGG analyses revealed that IL-22 and 1,25(OH) 2 VD3 were involved in stress immunity and inflammatory responses. These pathways are known to play a role in GA pathogenesis. Meanwhile, the metabolic profiles of GA serum showed that the increase in various amino acids and uric acid are involved in GA pathogenesis. Importantly, VD-R and IL22 closely correlated with the level of key metabolites uric acid, whose increase promoted the occurrence of GA. Conclusion GA patients have low levels of VD-R and 1,25(OH) 2 VD3, and high levels of IL-22 together with various amino acids and uric acid. The levels of IL-22 and 1,25(OH) 2VD3 were positively and negatively correlated with C-reactive protein (CRP) serum levels, respectively. Both IL-22 and 1,25(OH) 2 VD3 functioned in GA-related immune and inflammatory responses, and closely correlated with the level of GA-related uric acid. Overall, IL-22, VD-R and 1,25(OH) 2 VD3 play functionally important roles in inflammatory responses and are relevant to gout pathogenesis.

Condensed matter physics: intrinsic magnetism emerges in graphene quantum dots A local magetic moment emerges in nanoscale high purity graphene quantum dots, probably resulting from edge passivation. A team led by Nujiang Tang at Nanjing University synthesized high purity graphene quantum dots with an average diameter of about 2.04 nm and average height of about 0.52 nm. They found that a local moment of 1.2 µB were carried by spin polarized edge state appearing in a small number of quantum dots at 2K, with the likely origin from hydroxyl passivation on carbon. The majority dots are nonmagnetic due to the suppression of edge magnetism by defects or reconstruction at the edge. These results may provide insights into the intrinsic magnetism of graphene quantum dots and pave a way towards edge magnetism by various chemical passivation.

Realizing the strong ferromagnetism (FM) with both the Curie temperature above room temperature and high magnetization in graphene, is key for its real application in future spintronics. Nitrogen-doping has been confirmed to be one of the most promising ways for experimental realization of room temperature FM in graphene. However, the comprehensive mechanism, which needs to verify the enhancements of both the nitrogen complexes-induced magnetism and the FM coupling among them, remains to be completely explored, which impedes the experimental optimization of the FM in nitrogen-doped graphene (NG). Here, we theoretically perform a comprehensive analysis on the FM enhancement in NG. The enhancement of both the magnetic moments and FM coupling highly depends on the N concentration and relative geometric configuration of the N complexes. Especially, the magnetic moments and FM coupling are attributed to the σ – π magnetic interaction between the localized and itinerant moments, the band reconstruction originated from the proximity of N complexes, and the sublattice match/mismatch. The FM enhancement is high sensibility to the geometric configurations of the N complexes, and only the presence of graphitic-3N combined with trimerized pyridine can realize the sublattice-independent strong FM in the high N-concentration limit. Whereas the low N-concentration limit favors the substantial FM enhancement in all systems, but would unavoidably undergo both the low Curie temperature and low magnetization due to the relatively low N-concentration. We hope that the comprehensive mechanism of FM enhancement we offered can push the optimization of the FM in NG via tuning its N concentration and geometric configuration of the N complexes by the rational design of the specific experimental strategies.

Doping of low-dimensional graphitic materials with heteroatoms can enhance their catalytic, electrochemical and magnetic properties. Here, the authors report a tunable method to ‘superdope’ these materials with high levels of nitrogen, sulfur, or boron, via a simple fluorination and annealing procedure.

NiZn ferrites were selected as coating agents to prepare NiZn/FeSiAl soft magnetic composites (SMCs) in order to improve the soft magnetic property. It is based upon the higher permeability of magnetic NiZn ferrites than that of traditional nonmagnetic coatings, and also relative higher resistance than that of MnZn ferrites. The effects of molding pressure, annealing temperature, and content of insulation on the magnetic properties were studied. As molding pressure increases, the effective permeability increases firstly and then decreases, while the core loss shows a reverse trend, and both get the best performance at 1.6 GPa. With increasing temperature, the permeability increases, reaches the maximum value at 660 °C and then decreases, while the core loss has a reverse trend, and both get the minimum value at 700 °C. The permeability increases with increasing NiZn from 0.1% to 3%, and then decreases. The D-C bias property of FeSiAl SMCs increases with increasing both mica and NiZn content. The larger resistance of mica also causes the better D-C bias property.

Solid-state refrigeration based on the caloric effects is promising to replace the traditional vapor-compressing refrigeration technology due to environmental protection and high efficiency. However, the narrow working temperature region has hindered the application of these refrigeration technologies. In this paper, we propose a method of combined caloric, through which a broad refrigeration region can be realized in a multiferroic alloy, Ni–Mn–Ga, by combining its elastocaloric and magnetocaloric effects. Moreover, the materials’ efficiency of elastocaloric effect has been greatly improved in our sample. These results illuminate a promising way to use multiferroic alloys for refrigeration with a broad refrigeration temperature region.

Reduced graphene oxide–carbon nanotube (RGO–CNT) hybrid materials were prepared by a simple catalyst-free route. The thermostability, photoluminescence (PL) and electrical properties of RGO–CNTs were investigated systematically. The results revealed that compared to RGO, RGO–CNTs showed multicolor PL, and higher thermostability and conductivity. The RGO–CNTs therefore have important potential applications in the fields of photonic and electrical devices.

OBJECTIVE: Many studies have shown that magnetic fields (MF) inhibit tumor growth and influence the function of immune system. However, the effect of MF on mechanism of immunological function in tumor-bearing mice is still unclear. METHODS: In this study, tumor-bearing mice were prepared by subcutaneously inoculating Balb/c mice with hepatocarcinoma cell line H22. The mice were then exposed to a low frequency MF (0.4 T, 7.5 Hz) for 30 days. Survival rate, tumor growth and the innate and adaptive immune parameters were measured. RESULTS: MF treatment could prolong survival time (n = 28, p

The search for candidates of spintronic materials, especially among the two-dimensional (2D) materials, has attracted tremendous attentions over the past decades. By using a particle swarm optimization structure searching method combined with density functional calculations, two kinds of boron carbonitride monolayer structures (B _4 CN _3 and B _3 CN _4 ) are proposed and confirmed to be dynamically and kinetically stable. Intriguingly, we demonstrate that the magnetic ground states of the two B _x C _y N _z systems are ferromagnetic ordering with a high Curie temperature of respectively 337 K for B _4 CN _3 and 309 K for B _3 CN _4 . Furthermore, based on their respective band structures, the B _4 CN _3 is found to be a bipolar magnetic semiconductor (BMS), while the B _3 CN _4 is identified to be a type of spin gapless semiconductor (SGS), both of which are potential spintronic materials. In particular, carrier doping in the B _4 CN _3 can induce a transition from BMS to half-metal, and its spin polarization direction is switchable depending on the doped carrier type. The BMS property of B _4 CN _3 is very robust under an external strain or even a strong electric field. By contrast, as a SGS, the electronic structure of B _3 CN _4 is relatively sensitive to external influences. Our findings successfully disclose two promising materials toward 2D metal-free spintronic applications.

We report the experimental results on the magnetism of curvature-induced helical carbon nanotubes (HCNTs). It is demonstrated that without any magnetic impurities in the sample, the as-prepared HCNTs show clear ferromagnetism with a Curie point as high as 970 K.

In order to obtain the vibration response characteristics of the propeller spindle system effectively and accurately, and provide the basis for the subsequent fault diagnosis, the modal simulation and test of the spindle model were carried out. With the propeller set as eccentric mass, the amplitude and torsion angle of the spindle model were simulated under the condition of excited vibration and unexcited vibration respectively, and the frequency response of bending and torsion under the coupled condition was obtained. The newmark-β method was used to solve the transient response of the bent-torsional coupling model. The results shows that when the propeller spindle system undergoes rotation at a specific frequency and experiences bending vibration excitation force, the latter will induce torsional vibration response. Moreover, the amplitude of the torsional vibration response varies with changes in the frequency of the bending vibration excitation force. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]