Superhydrophobic Modification of Atomic Layer Deposition Antireflection Aluminum Oxide Film: A Simple Evaporative Coating Technique.

The antireflective transmittance-enhancing films have important applications in solar cells and other applications due to their self-cleaning and high light transmittance. However, obtaining high transmittance, highly durable, and superhydrophobic surfaces in a simple and easily accessible way is still a challenge. A simple evaporative coating technique has been proposed that can be used to prepare antireflective superhydrophobic aluminum oxide films using 1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluoroalkyltriethoxysilanes. The results show that the contact angle of grass-like alumina increased from 99.5° to 155°. The surface energy of grass-like alumina decreased from 17.96 to 1.93 mN/m. The maximum value of light transmittance is close to 98%, and the average transmittance is above 95%. The films have excellent ultraviolet resistance and thermal stability along with relative mechanical and chemical stability. Meanwhile, this method has an excellent capacity for shape preservation. The relationships between the evaporation temperature and time and the light transmittance and hydrophobic angle of the films were also investigated together. This approach has the potential to be extended to large-scale industrial production.

A dual-function transcription factor, SlJAF13, promotes anthocyanin biosynthesis in tomato.

Unlike modern tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) cultivars, cv. LA1996 harbors the dominant Aft allele, which is associated with anthocyanin synthesis in tomato fruit peel. However, the control of Aft anthocyanin biosynthesis remains unclear. Here, we used ethyl methanesulfonate-induced and CRISPR/Cas9-mediated mutation of LA1996 to show, respectively, that two class IIIf basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factors, SlJAF13 and SlAN1, are involved in the control of anthocyanin synthesis. These transcription factors are key components of the MYB-bHLH-WD40 (MBW) complex, which positively regulates anthocyanin synthesis. Molecular and genetic analyses showed that SlJAF13 functions as an upstream activation factor of SlAN1 by binding directly to the G-Box motif of its promoter region. On the other hand, SlJAZ2, a JA signaling repressor, interferes with formation of the MBW complex to suppress anthocyanin synthesis by directly binding these two bHLH components. Unexpectedly, the transcript level of SlJAZ2 was in turn repressed in a SlJAF13-dependent manner. Mechanistically, SlJAF13 interacts with SlMYC2, inhibiting SlMYC2 activation of SlJAZ2 transcription, thus constituting a negative feedback loop governing anthocyanin accumulation. Taken together, our findings support a sophisticated regulatory network, in which SlJAF13 acts as an upstream dual-function regulator that fine tunes anthocyanin biosynthesis in tomato.

Systematic analysis and molecular profiling of EGFR allosteric inhibitor cross-reactivity across the proto-oncogenic ErbB family kinases by integrating dynamics simulation, energetics calculation and biochemical assay.

Human ErbB family of proteins contains four receptor tyrosine kinases (EGFR, Her2, Her3 and Her4) and has been established as a group of attractive druggable targets against diverse cancers. Over the past decades, a variety of ATP-competitive inhibitors have been discovered to target the orthosteric site of EGFR, which, however, would eventually develop acquired drug resistance due to the missense mutations T790M/C797S occurring in orthosteric site. In recent years, a number of forth-generation inhibitors have been successfully designed to overcome the T790M/C797S-induced drug resistance by targeting EGFR allosteric site instead of orthosteric site. Considering that the four proto-oncogenic ErbB kinases share a high conservation in sequence, structure and function, we herein attempted to investigate the binding potency and cross-reactivity of cognate EGFR allosteric inhibitors over noncognate Her2, Her3 and Her4 kinases--they are closely related to gynecological tumors such as ovarian cancer but no allosteric inhibitors have been reported specifically for them to date. A systematic affinity profile of 12 allosteric inhibitors and 4 orthosteric inhibitors to the 4 ErbB kinases was created by integrating dynamics simulations, energetics calculations and biochemical assays, which was then used to derive a systematic inhibitor selectivity profile for EGFR over other three kinases. It is found that allosteric and orthosteric inhibitors exhibit moderate and modest cross-reactivity across the ErbB family, respectively, but the former generally has a higher binding potency than the latter due to the additional energy cost used for inducing kinase conformational change. Moreover, most allosteric inhibitors can be sensitized by Her2 T798M gatekeeper mutation, a counterpart of EGFR T790M gatekeeper mutation that has been previously reported to cause generic drug resistance for orthosteric inhibitors.

An ab initio molecular dynamics investigation of the behaviour of amorphous substances in anodic aluminium oxide under electric field.

In order to elucidate the diffusion behaviour of ions in alumina during the anodic alumina process, the effects of electric field strength, hydration content, and electrolyte on amorphous alumina and hydrated alumina were studied using ab initio molecular dynamics. The results show that the diffusion rate of ions in alumina increases with the increase in electric field strength, but there is an extreme value. The maximum diffusion rate of Al ions in alumina monohydrate is 21.8 µm2/ms/V, while in alumina trihydrate, it is 16.7 µm2/ms/V. The ionic diffusion rate of hydrated alumina is one to two orders of magnitude larger than that of anhydrous amorphous alumina due to the effect of the drag of H ions, which reduces the migration activation energy. Electrolytes also affect the diffusion rate of alumina through the action of H ions. The increase in H ions will not only enhance the diffusion rate of hydrated alumina but also render the hydrous compound more vulnerable to breakdown.

An investigation using DFT into the impact of hydrogen on oxygen migration processes during aluminum anodization.

First-principles computations were utilized to examine the impact of H atoms on the surface behavior of O atoms on the (111) surface of Al and their infiltration behavior into the Al crystal, with the aim of elucidating the behavior of ions in the anodic process during aluminum oxidation. According to the findings, the "abstract" action of H atoms significantly lowers the energy barrier preventing O from entering the Al crystal. The addition of a H atom influences the diffusion of O atoms in the Al crystal as well, and this can lower the activation energy of O atom migration between the tetrahedral interstitial locations from 1.23 eV to 0.35 eV. We can benefit from knowing how ions are transported and anodic oxidation occurs.

Deletion and tandem duplications of biosynthetic genes drive the diversity of triterpenoids in Aralia elata.

Araliaceae species produce various classes of triterpene and triterpenoid saponins, such as the oleanane-type triterpenoids in Aralia species and dammarane-type saponins in Panax, valued for their medicinal properties. The lack of genome sequences of Panax relatives has hindered mechanistic insight into the divergence of triterpene saponins in Araliaceae. Here, we report a chromosome-level genome of Aralia elata with a total length of 1.05 Gb. The loss of 12 exons in the dammarenediol synthase (DDS)-encoding gene in A. elata after divergence from Panax might have caused the lack of dammarane-type saponin production, and a complementation assay shows that overexpression of the PgDDS gene from Panax ginseng in callus of A. elata recovers the accumulation of dammarane-type saponins. Tandem duplication events of triterpene biosynthetic genes are common in the A. elata genome, especially for AeCYP72As, AeCSLMs, and AeUGT73s, which function as tailoring enzymes of oleanane-type saponins and aralosides. More than 13 aralosides are de novo synthesized in Saccharomyces cerevisiae by overexpression of these genes in combination. This study sheds light on the diversity of saponins biosynthetic pathway in Araliaceae and will facilitate heterologous bioproduction of aralosides.

[Detection of thromboxane B2, 6-keto-prostaglandin F1alpha and anticardiolipin antibody in patients with obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the changes of thromboxane B(2) (TXB(2)), 6-keto-prostaglandin F1alpha (6-K-PGF1alpha) and anticardiolipin antibody (ACA) in patients with obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) before and after institution of nasal continuous positive airway pressure (nCPAP). METHODS: Sixty cases of OSAHS confirmed by polysomnography (PSG) were selected as the trial group, and 20 normal donors without OSAHS were recruited as the control group. Nineteen patients with severe OSAHS were treated by nCPAP. Plasma levels of TXB(2), 6-K-PGF1alpha were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). RESULTS: Plasma (serum) level of TXB(2) (ACA) was significantly higher in patients with moderate to severe OSAHS than that in control group (P < 0.01), and nCPAP therapy decreased its level significantly (P < 0.01). Plasma level of 6-K-PGF1alpha was significantly lower than that in the control group (P < 0.01), and nCPAP therapy increased its level significantly (P < 0.01). TXB(2) and ACA were correlated positively with AHI, and negatively with minimal oxygen saturation (P < 0.01). 6-K-PGF1alpha was correlated negatively with AHI, and positively with minimal oxygen saturation (P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that patients with OSAHS are susceptible to thromboembolism disease. TXB(2), 6-K-PGF1alpha, ACA may be associated with the high prevalence of thromboembolism in patients with OSAHS. nCPAP therapy is effective in correcting TXB(2), 6-K-PGF1alpha, ACA.