Metal-phenolic network as precursor complex coating for forward osmosis membrane with enhanced antifouling property.

In this study, a multi-functional layer was developed based on the commercially available cellulose triacetate (CTA) forward osmosis (FO) membrane to improve its antifouling property. Tannic acid/ferric ion (TA/Fe3+) complexes were firstly coated as a precursor layer on the membrane surface via self-assembly. Afterwards, the tannic acid/diethylenetriamine (TA/DETA) hydrophilic functional layer was further coated, following Ag/polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) anti-bacterial layer was formed in situ through the reducibility of TA to obtain TA/Fe3+-TA/DETA-Ag/PVP-modified membrane. The optimized precursor layer was acquired by adjusting the buffer solution pH to 8, TA/Fe3+ ratio to 4 and the number of self-assembled layers to 5. The permeability testing results illustrated that the functional layer had an insignificant effect on the membrane transport parameters. The TA/Fe3+-TA/DETA-Ag/PVP-modified membrane simultaneously exhibited excellent physical and chemical stability. The coated membrane also demonstrated enhanced anti-bacterial properties, achieving 98.63 and 97.30% inhibition against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, respectively. Furthermore, the dynamic fouling experiment showed a 12% higher water flux decrease for the TA/Fe3+-TA/DETA-Ag/PVP CTA membrane compared to the nascent CTA membrane, which proved its excellent antifouling performance. This work provides a feasible strategy to heighten the antifouling property of the CTA FO membrane.

Dual-polarization interferometric fiber optic gyroscope based on a four-port circulator.

The dual-polarization interferometric fiber optic gyroscope (IFOG) has been studied for many years and achieved remarkable performance. In this study, we propose a novel dual-polarization IFOG configuration based on a four-port circulator, in which the polarization coupling errors and the excess relative intensity noise are well handled meanwhile. Experimental measurements of the short-term sensitivity and long-term drift using a fiber coil with a length of 2 km and a diameter of 14 cm show that the angle random walk of 5.0×10-5∘/h and bias instability of 9.0 × 10-5 °/h are achieved. Moreover, the root power spectrum density of 20n r a d/s/H z is almost flat from 0.001 Hz to 30 Hz. We believe this dual-polarization IFOG is a preferred candidate for the reference-grade performance IFOG.

Angular accelerometer based on a dual-polarization fiber-optic Sagnac interferometer.

High-performance angular accelerometers are essential for precise dynamics control of aircraft, satellites, etc. Here, we propose, for the first time to the best of our knowledge, an angular accelerometer based on a dual-polarization fiber-optic Sagnac interferometer, which exhibits relatively high sensitivity and a broad bandwidth. The experimental results show that the angular accelerometer achieves a flat frequency response in the bandwidth range of 0.01-100 Hz. The sensitivity reaches 6.6 × 10-8 rad/s2/Hz. In addition, the proposed fiber-optic angular accelerometer does not rely on any mechanical structure and has strong environmental adaptability. This research provides a feasible solution for the design and implementation of new high-performance angular accelerometers, which contributes to their development in the fields of inertial navigation and rotational seismology.

Interferometric fiber-optic gyroscope based on mode-division multiplexing.

The interferometric fiber-optic gyroscope (IFOG) is widely used in the fields of inertial navigation and rotational seismology. A direct way to improve the sensitivity of the IFOG is to increase the length of the sensing fiber, but this increases the cost and size of the gyroscope. Here, we propose an IFOG based on mode-division multiplexing (MDM), which exhibits relatively high performance. The experimental results show that, the proposed IFOG is improved to twice as much in terms of sensitivity, angle random walk, and bias instability with the use of MDM. This research provides a novel, to the best of our knowledge, solution for the design and implementation of low-cost, high-sensitivity IFOGs, which could contribute to their application in a wider range of fields.

Compensation of scale factor nonlinear error introduced by harmonic distortion for open-loop fiber optic gyroscopes.

The scale factor (SF) of a gyroscope is the ratio of the detection output rotational rate and the input, and is expected to be a constant. However, for open-loop interferometric fiber optic gyroscopes (IFOGs) with sinusoidal modulation, harmonic amplitudes are inevitably affected by detection defects, such as nonuniform frequency response of the photodetector or unequal gain of amplification circuits. As a result, harmonic distortion leads to SF nonlinearity, which seriously hinders the accuracy of high-precision gyroscopes. In this Letter, the theoretical form of the SF error introduced by harmonic distortion of open-loop gyroscopes is analyzed, and an effective and simple compensation method is proposed. Instead of traversing the whole dynamic range, the proposed method simplifies the calibration pretest, where only a section of the dynamic range needs to be tested. Experimental results on an open-loop IFOG prototype show that, with our proposed method, the SF nonlinear error is suppressed to 2.5 ppm within the range -300 to +300∘/s, which is 33 times less than that before compensation.

Trumpet-Like ZnS@C Composite for High-Performance Potassium Ion Battery Anode.

ZnS has acquired increasing attention for high-performance PIBs anode because of its remarkable theoretical capacity, and redox reversibility for conversion reaction. However, the larger volume variation and delayed reaction kinetics for the ZnS in the discharge/charge processes lead to pulverization and severe capacity degradation. Herein, the trumpet-like ZnS@C composite was synthesized by template method by using sodium citrate as carbon source followed by vulcanization process. As potassium ion batteries (PIB) anode, ZnS@C composite exhibits good rate performance and long life (stable reversible capacity of 107.8 mAh/g over 2000 charge-discharge cycles at 5 A/g and high reversible capacity of 310 mAh/g at 0.1 A/g). The outstanding electrochemical performance of the ZnS@C composite is ascribed to its unique structure, which can mitigate the volume expansion of ZnS in the charge discharge process, expand the contact area between the electrode and electrolyte, and improve the conductivity of electrode materials by the introduction of carbon layer. This method of synthesizing trumpet-like ZnS@C composite provides an important strategy for obtaining potassium ion batteries anode with long cycle.

Characterization and repurposing of the endogenous Type I-F CRISPR-Cas system of Zymomonas mobilis for genome engineering.

Application of CRISPR-based technologies in non-model microorganisms is currently very limited. Here, we reported efficient genome engineering of an important industrial microorganism, Zymomonas mobilis, by repurposing the endogenous Type I-F CRISPR-Cas system upon its functional characterization. This toolkit included a series of genome engineering plasmids, each carrying an artificial self-targeting CRISPR and a donor DNA for the recovery of recombinants. Through this toolkit, various genome engineering purposes were efficiently achieved, including knockout of ZMO0038 (100% efficiency), cas2/3 (100%), and a genomic fragment of >10 kb (50%), replacement of cas2/3 with mCherry gene (100%), in situ nucleotide substitution (100%) and His-tagging of ZMO0038 (100%), and multiplex gene deletion (18.75%) upon optimal donor size determination. Additionally, the Type I-F system was further applied for CRISPRi upon Cas2/3 depletion, which has been demonstrated to successfully silence the chromosomally integrated mCherry gene with its fluorescence intensity reduced by up to 88%. Moreover, we demonstrated that genome engineering efficiency could be improved under a restriction-modification (R-M) deficient background, suggesting the perturbance of genome editing by other co-existing DNA targeting modules such as the R-M system. This study might shed light on exploiting and improving CRISPR-Cas systems in other microorganisms for genome editing and metabolic engineering practices.

MiR-509-3p Induces Apoptosis and Affects the Chemosensitivity of Cervical Cancer Cells by Targeting the RAC1/PAK1/LIMK1/Cofilin Pathway.

Chemoresistance is one of the main factors of treatment failure of cervical cancer (CC). Here, we intended to discover the role and mechanism of miR-509-5p in the paclitaxel chemoresistance of CC cells. RT-PCR was conducted to verify miR-509-3p expression. HCC94 and C-33A paclitaxel-resistant CC cell models were constructed. Additionally, 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay and flow cytometry were performed to verify the viability and apoptosis of HCC94 and C-33A cells after upregulating miR-509-3p. Besides, the downstream target of miR-509-3p was analyzed by bioinformatics, and the targeted relationship between miR-509-3p and RAC1 was identified by the dual-luciferase reporter assay and RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) assay. Further, the expression of apoptotic proteins (Bcl2, Bax, and Caspase3) and the RAC1/PAK1/LIMK1/Cofilin pathway was monitored by Western blot. The result showed that upregulating miR-509-3p markedly inhibited the viability and promoted the apoptosis of CC cells. On the other hand, miR-509-3p was distinctly downregulated in paclitaxel-resistant HCC94 and C-33A cells (vs. normal cells). The transfection of miR-509-3p mimics notably increased their sensitivity to paclitaxel. Meanwhile, RAC1 was found as the potential target of miR-509-3p in bioinformatics analysis. Moreover, the RAC1/p21 (RAC1) activated kinase 1 (PAK1)/LIM kinase 1 (LIMK1)/Cofilin pathway was significantly activated in paclitaxel-resistant HCC94 and C-33A cells, while miR-509-3p overexpression significantly inactivated this pathway. Additionally, downregulation of RAC1 also partly reversed the paclitaxel-resistance of CC cells and inhibited PAK1/LIMK1/Cofilin. All in all, miR-509-3p enhances the apoptosis and chemosensitivity of CC cells by regulating the RAC1/PAK1/LIMK1/Cofilin pathway.

Suppression of reverberations at fiber tips for optical ultrasound sensing.

Fabry-Perot-based ultrasound sensors at fiber tips have performed high sensitivity and immunity of electromagnetic interference with a relatively compact size. Nevertheless, the reverberation at fiber tips causes a strong noise that degrades the sensing capability. Here we propose a fiber optical-based ultrasound sensor with three design approaches to reduce the reverberation, including designs with an eccentric core, absorptive shield, and arc edge. The effect was experimentally validated with a photoacoustic signal excitation. Compared with bare single-mode fibers in simulation, the low-reverberation design increased the signal-to-noise ratio by 32.1 dB with identical excitation. The experimental results demonstrated the "clean" response with almost invisible reverberations, which was validated by a commercial hydrophone. This research solved the reverberation problems and provided a low-noise design for fiber optic ultrasound sensing.

General and Scalable Fabrication of Core-Shell Metal Sulfides@C Anchored on 3D N-Doped Foam toward Flexible Sodium Ion Batteries.

Flexible self-standing transitional metal sulfides (TMSs)/carbon nanoarchitectures have attracted widespread research interests for sodium ion batteries (SIBs), thanks to their enormous capability to address intrinsic issues of TMSs for SIBs applications. However, controllable synthesis of hierarchical hybrid structures is always laborious and involves complicated procedures. Herein, a simple yet general and scalable adsorption-annealing strategy is first devised to finely construct core-shell carbon-coated TMSs (TMSs@C, including Co9 S8 @C, FeS@C, Ni3 S2 @C, MnS@C, and ZnS@C) nanoparticles anchored on 3D N-doped carbon foam (3DNCF) via the coordination and hydrogen-bond adsorption. Benefiting from synergistic contributions from strong chemical affinity between nanodimensional TMSs and 3DNCF, efficient electronic/ionic transport channels, as well as a uniform carbon accommodating layer, the resulted self-standing TMSs@C/3DNCF electrodes exhibit distinguished sodium storage performances, including large reversible capacities, high rate behaviors, and exceptional long-span cycle stability in both half cells and flexible full devices. More significantly, the smart methodology developed holds huge promise for commercialization of binder-free TMSs@C/3DNCF anodes toward advanced flexible SIBs.

Fiber optic-based laser interferometry array for three-dimensional ultrasound sensing.

Ultrasound imaging has been widely used in medical diagnosis due to its noninvasive, radiation-free, and real-time features. Optical resonance-based ultrasound sensors possess high sensitivity and broad bandwidth, but they need to operate in specific laser wavelengths or angles, which restricts their application in array sensing. Non-resonance-based optical sensing arrays did not perform with sufficient bandwidths or frame rates. Here we propose a fiber optic-based ultrasound sensing array with relatively high sensitivity, wide bandwidth, and three-dimensional (3D) sensing capabilities, which is potentially useful in medical imaging. Specifically, we experimentally demonstrated that the optical ultrasound sensor exhibited a noise equivalent pressure of 165 Pa, pressure nonlinearity of ${\lt 5}\% $<5%, $ - {3}\,\,{\rm dB}$-3dB angular uniformity of $ \pm {71}^\circ ,$±71∘, and $ - {6}\,\,{\rm dB}$-6dB bandwidth from $\sim{0}$∼0 to 27.2 MHz. For 3D sensing capabilities in spherical coordinates, the errors of the radial distance were within 5%, and the errors for the polar and azimuthal angles were within 4° and 2°, respectively. This demonstrated the viability and high performance of the array for 3D ultrasound sensing.

Retardation of Trap-Assisted Recombination in Lead Halide Perovskite Solar Cells by a Dimethylbiguanide Anchor Layer.

Reaching the full potential of solar cells based on photo-absorbers of organic-inorganic hybrid perovskites requires highly efficient charge extraction at the interface between perovskite and charge transporting layer. This demand is generally challenged by the presence of under-coordinated metal or halogen ions, causing surface charge trapping and resultant recombination losses. These problems can be tackled by introducing a small molecule interfacial anchor layer based on dimethylbiguanide (DMBG). Benefitting from interactions between the nitrogen-containing functional groups in DMBG and unsaturated ions in CH3 NH3 PbI3 perovskites, the electron extraction of TiO2 is dramatically improved in association with reduced Schottky-Read-Hall recombination, as revealed by photoluminescence spectroscopy. As a consequence, the power conversion efficiency of CH3 NH3 PbI3 solar cells is boosted from 17.14 to 19.1 %, showing appreciably reduced hysteresis. The demonstrated molecular strategy based on DMBG enables one to achieve meliorations on key figures of merit in halide perovskite solar cells with improved stability.

Carnobacterium antarcticum sp. nov., a psychrotolerant, alkaliphilic bacterium isolated from sandy soil in Antarctica.

A novel, alkaliphilic, psychrotolerant, facultative anaerobe, designated CP1T, was isolated from sandy soil near the Davis Station in Antarctica. The short-rod-shaped cells displayed Gram-positive staining and did not form spores. Strain CP1T was able to grow at temperatures between 4 and 36 °C, pH 6.0-9.5, and in the presence of up to 5.0 % (w/v) NaCl. 16S rRNA gene and multilocus (pheS, rpoA, and atpA) sequence analysis revealed Carnobacterium mobile DSM 4848T and Carnobacterium iners LMG 26642T as the closest relatives (97.4 and 97.1 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity, respectively). The genomic G+C content was 38.1 mol%, and DNA-DNA hybridization with DSM 4848T revealed 32.4±3.4 % similarity. The major fatty acid components were C14 : 0 and C16 : 1ω9c. The cell wall contained meso-diaminopimelic acid and was of peptidoglycan type A1γ. Based on physiological, genotypic and biochemical characteristics, strain CP1T represents a novel species of the genus Carnobacterium for which the name Carnobacterium antarcticum sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is CP1T (=DSM 103363T=CGMCC 1.15643T).

Galectin-3 induces ovarian cancer cell survival and chemoresistance via TLR4 signaling activation.

Paclitaxel resistance becomes common in patients with aggressive ovarian cancer and results in recurrence after conventional therapy. Galectin-3 is a multifunctional lectin associated with cell migration, cell proliferation, cell adhesion, and cell-cell interaction in tumor cells. Whether circulating galectin-3 is involved in paclitaxel resistance in ovarian cancer remains unknown. The current study investigated the effect of galectin-3 on toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) signaling and thus paclitaxel resistance. With blood and cancer tissue samples obtained from 102 patients, we identified associations between serum galectin-3 level or TLR4 expression and paclitaxel resistance phenotype. In vitro, treatment with exogenous galectin-3 restored cell survival and migration of SKOV-3 and ES-2 cells was decreased by galectin-3 silencing and paclitaxel treatment. Furthermore, exogenous galectin-3 boosted expression of TLR4, MyD88, and p-p65, as well as interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) release induced by paclitaxel. Moreover, galectin-3 inhibited the interaction between TLR4 and caveolin-1 (Cav-1) in SKOV-3 and ES-2 cells. In addition, overexpression of Cav-1 dampened the expression of MyD88 and p-p65 stimulated by galectin-3 and enhanced apoptosis in SKOV-3 cells under paclitaxel exposure. In summary, our study elucidated that exogenous galectin-3 might induce paclitaxel resistance through TLR4 signaling activation by inhibiting TLR4-Cav-1 interaction, revealing a novel insight into paclitaxel resistance induction.

Heterogeneous integration of a III-V VCSEL light source for optical fiber sensing.

We propose a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensor interrogation system utilizing a III-V vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) as the on-chip light source. Binary blazed grating (BBG) for coupling between III-V VCSEL and silicon-on-insulator (SOI) waveguides is demonstrated for interrogation of the FBG sensor. The footprint size of the BBG is only 5.62 µm×5.3 µm, and each BBG coupler period has two subperiods. The diameter of the VCSEL's emitting window is 5 µm, which is slightly smaller than that of the BBG coupler, to be well-matched with the proposed structure. Results show that the coupling efficiency from vertical cavities of the III-V VCSEL to the in-plane waveguides reached as high as 32.6% when coupling the 1550.65 nm light. The heterogeneous integration of the III-V VCSEL and SOI waveguides by BBG plays a fundamental role in inducing a great breakthrough to the miniaturization of an on-chip light source for optical fiber sensing.

Polydopamine assisted fabrication of titanium oxide nanoparticles modified column for proteins separation by capillary electrochromatography.

Development of a simple method for preparation of stable open tubular (OT) columns for proteins separation by capillary electrochromatography is still challenging. In this work, the titanium oxide (TiO2) nanoparticles coated OT column was successfully prepared for separation of proteins by capillary electrochromatography. The polydopamine (PDA) film was first formed in the inner surface of a fused-silica capillary by the self-polymerization of dopamine under alkaline conditions. Then the TiO2 coating was deposited onto the surface of pre-modified capillary with PDA by a liquid phase deposition process. The plentifully active hydroxyl groups in PDA coating can chelate with Ti(4+) to boost the nucleation and growth of TiO2 film. The as-prepared TiO2 coated OT column was characterized by scanning electron microscopy and measurement of electroosmotic flow. Furthermore, the influence of liquid phase deposition time on the TiO2 coating was investigated. The TiO2 coated OT column was used for successful separation of two variants of ß-lactoglobulin and eight glycoisoforms of ovalbumin. The column demonstrated good repeatability and stability. The relative standard deviations of migration times of proteins representing run-to-run, day-to-day, and column-to-column were less than 3.7%. Moreover, the application of the column was verified by successful separation of acidic proteins in egg white.

EST-based in silico identification and in vitro test of antimicrobial peptides in Brassica napus.

BACKGROUND: Brassica napus is the third leading source of vegetable oil in the world after soybean and oil palm. The accumulation of gene sequences, especially expressed sequence tags (ESTs) from plant cDNA libraries, has provided a rich resource for genes discovery including potential antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). In this study, we used ESTs including those generated from B. napus cDNA libraries of seeds, pathogen-challenged leaves and deposited in the public databases, as a model, to perform in silico identification and consequently in vitro confirmation of putative AMP activities through a highly efficient system of recombinant AMP prokaryotic expression. RESULTS: In total, 35,788 were generated from cDNA libraries of pathogen-challenged leaves and 187,272 ESTs from seeds of B. napus, and the 644,998 ESTs of B. napus were downloaded from the EST database of PlantGDB. They formed 201,200 unigenes. First, all the known AMPs from the AMP databank (APD2 database) were individually queried against all the unigenes using the BLASTX program. A total of 972 unigenes that matched the 27 known AMP sequences in APD2 database were extracted and annotated using Blast2GO program. Among these unigenes, 237 unigenes from B. napus pathogen-challenged leaves had the highest ratio (1.15 %) in this unigene dataset, which is 13 times that of the unigene datasets of B. napus seeds (0.09 %) and 2.3 times that of the public EST dataset. About 87 % of each EST library was lipid-transfer protein (LTP) (32 % of total unigenes), defensin, histone, endochitinase, and gibberellin-regulated proteins. The most abundant unigenes in the leaf library were endochitinase and defensin, and LTP and histone in the pub EST library. After masking of the repeat sequence, 606 peptides that were orthologous matched to different AMP families were found. The phylogeny and conserved structural motifs of seven AMPs families were also analysed. To investigate the antimicrobial activities of the predicted peptides, 31 potential AMP genes belonging to different AMP families were selected to test their antimicrobial activities after bioinformatics identification. The AMP genes were all optimized according to Escherichia coli codon usage and synthetized through one-step polymerase chain reaction method. The results showed that 28 recombinant AMPs displayed expected antimicrobial activities against E. coli and Micrococcus luteus and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum strains. CONCLUSION: The study not only significantly expanded the number of known/predicted peptides, but also contributed to long-term plant genetic improvement for increased resistance to diverse pathogens of B.napus. These results proved that the high-throughput method developed that combined an in silico procedure with a recombinant AMP prokaryotic expression system is considerably efficient for identification of new AMPs from genome or EST sequence databases.

Nonsurgical management of live tubal ectopic pregnancy by ultrasound-guided local injection and systemic methotrexate.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To evaluate outcomes relative to treatment using systemic methotrexate (MTX) alone or systemic MTX combined with ultrasound (US)-guided local injection of potassium chloride (KCl) or MTX in women with live tubal ectopic pregnancies. DESIGN: Case-control study (Canadian Task Force classification II-2). SETTING: Departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology in 2 hospitals in China. PATIENTS: Eighty-two women with live tubal ectopic pregnancies. INTERVENTION: Participants in the study received treatment using either systemic MTX (n = 37; systemic treatment group) or systemic MTX and US-guided local injection of either MTX or KCl (n = 45; combined treatment group). MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Patient clinical features and outcomes were compared. There were no significant differences between the patient groups insofar as baseline gestational age, ß-human chorionic gonadotropin concentration, or size of conceptus. The success rate in patients who received combined therapy (93.3%) was much higher than in those who received only systemic treatment (73.0%) (p < .05). In the combined treatment group, the success rate was similar between women who received locally injected KCl (95.2%) and those who received locally injected MTX (91.7%). CONCLUSION: The significantly higher success rate in patients who received combined US-guided local injection and systemic MTX suggests that this is an efficient nonsurgical option in women with tubal pregnancy, high serum ß-human chorionic gonadotropin concentration, and fetal cardiac activity.

Four novel antimicrobial peptides derived from human C8α-MACPF.

Antimicrobial peptides are active against a diverse spectrum of microorganisms. Using a bioinformatics method, six potential novel antimicrobial peptides, A1, C1, A2, A3, C2 and A4, were identified in the C8α complement component. The corresponding genes were then cloned into a new vector as fusions with the self-cleavage protein N(pro) protein mutant EDDIE gene. The expressed or synthetic peptides, A1, A2, A3 and A4, showed antimicrobial activities against several bacteria, while peptides C1 and C2 did not. Peptides A1 to A4 showed no hemolytic activities over 3 h when at 500 µg/ml. Thus, A1, A2, A3 and A4, derived from the C8α complement system, are novel antimicrobial peptides.

AuPt/NF prepared with the lattice induction of substrate was applied to construct the electrochemical immunosensor for PCT detection.

For the electrodeposition, the conductivity and lattice structure of substrate is important to the morphology and lattice of the deposited material. In this study, gold-platinum (AuPt) nanopartical was deposited on nickel foam (NF) based on the lattice induced orientation of the Ni substrate, and the obtained AuPt/NF was applied to construct electrochemical impedimetric immunosensor for procalcitonin (PCT) detection. As a new immunosensor matrix, NF with higher electrical conductance, flexibility and specific surface area, which can improve the plasticity, sensitivity and universality of the immunoelectrode. Due to the lattice matching between Au and Ni, ultrathin AuPt nanolayer with good biocompatibility and large surface area can be modified on the NF surface, which can bind more biomolecules and amplifies the change of impedance signal. Based on the synergistic effect between AuPt and NF, PCT detection based on this electrochemical impedimetric immunosensor with a wide linear range (0.2 pg mL-1 to 20 ng mL-1) and low detection limit (0.11 pg mL-1). In addition, this impedimetric immunosensor exhibits high recovery in the PCT detection of serum samples. This work provides a new thought and method for the construction of electrochemical immunosensor.