Activating TiO2 through the Phase Transition-Mediated Hydrogen Spillover to Outperform Pt for Electrocatalytic pH-Universal Hydrogen Evolution.

Endowing conventional materials with specific functions that are hardly available is invariably of significant importance but greatly challenging. TiO2 is proven to be highly active for the photocatalytic hydrogen evolution while intrinsically inert for electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) due to its poor electrical conductivity and unfavorable hydrogen adsorption/desorption behavior. Herein, the first activation of inert TiO2 for electrocatalytic HER is demonstrated by synergistically modulating the positions of d-band center and triggering hydrogen spillover through the dual doping-induced partial phase transition. The N, F co-doping-induced partial phase transition from anatase to rutile phase in TiO2 (AR-TiO2|(N,F)) exhibits extraordinary HER performance with overpotentials of 74, 80, and 142 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm-2 in 1.0 M KOH, 0.5 M H2SO4, and 1.0 M phosphate-buffered saline electrolytes, respectively, which are substantially better than pure TiO2, and even superior to the benchmark Pt/C catalysts. These findings may open a new avenue for the development of low-cost alternative to noble metal catalysts for electrocatalytic hydrogen production.

Transcription factors NtHD9 and NtHD12 control long glandular trichome formation via jasmonate signaling.

Glandular trichomes are universal epidermal structures that produce abundant specialized metabolites. However, knowledge of the initiation of glandular heads in glandular trichomes is limited. Herein, we found an intrinsic link of morphogenesis between glandular trichomes and non-glandular trichomes. Two novel homeodomain leucine zipper II members in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum), NtHD9 and NtHD12, played important roles in long glandular trichome formation: NtHD9 was responsible for glandular head formation, while NtHD12 simultaneously controlled the formation of stalks and glandular heads. DAP-seq analysis suggested that NtHD9 can bind to the KKGCATTWAWTR motif of the cytochromes P450 94C1 (NtCYP94C1) promoter, which is involved in jasmonoyl-isoleucine oxidation. RNA-seq analysis of non-transformed tobacco and nthd9 plants revealed that NtHD9 modulates the expression of jasmonate (JA) signaling- and six trichome development-related genes. Notably, MeJA treatment restored the morphogenesis of long glandular trichomes in nthd9 and nthd12 plants, and the size of glandular heads increased with increasing MeJA concentration. However, the phenotype of long glandular trichome absence in double mutants of NtHD9 and NtHD12 could not be restored by MeJA. Our data demonstrate that NtHD9 and NtHD12 have distinct major functions yet overlapping roles in long glandular trichome formation via JA signaling.

Efficient Removal of Nickel from Wastewater Using Copper Sulfate-Ammonia Complex Modified Activated Carbon: Adsorption Performance and Mechanism.

The necessity to eliminate nickel (Ni) from wastewater stems from its environmental and health hazards. To enhance the Ni adsorption capacity, this research applied a copper sulfate-ammonia complex (tetraamminecopper (II) sulfate monohydrate, [Cu(NH3)4]SO4·H2O) as a modifying agent for a Phragmites australis-based activated carbon preparation. The physiochemical properties of powdered activated carbon (PAC) and a modified form ([Cu(NH3)4]-PAC) were examined by measuring their surface areas, analyzing their elemental composition, and using Boehm's titration method. Batch experiments were conducted to investigate the impact of various factors, such as Ni(II) concentration, contact time, pH, and ionic strength, on its substance adsorption capabilities. Additionally, the adsorption mechanisms of Ni(II) onto activated carbon were elucidated via Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The findings indicated that modified activated carbon ([Cu(NH3)4]-PAC) exhibited a lower surface area and total volume than the original activated carbon (PAC). The modification of PAC enhanced its surface's relative oxygen and nitrogen content, indicating the incorporation of functional groups containing these elements. Furthermore, the modified activated carbon, [Cu(NH3)4]-PAC, exhibited superior adsorption capacity relative to unmodified PAC. Both adsorbents' adsorption behaviors conformed to the Langmuir model and the pseudo-second-order kinetics model. The Ni(II) removal efficiency of PAC and [Cu(NH3)4]-PAC diminished progressively with rising ionic strength. Modified activated carbon [Cu(NH3)4]-PAC demonstrated notable pH buffering and adaptability. The adsorption mechanism for Ni(II) on activated carbon involves surface complexation, cation exchange, and electrostatic interaction. This research presents a cost-efficient preparation technique for preparing activated carbon with enhanced Ni(II) removal capabilities from wastewater and elucidates its underlying adsorption mechanisms.

VqWRKY56 interacts with VqbZIPC22 in grapevine to promote proanthocyanidin biosynthesis and increase resistance to powdery mildew.

Powdery mildew (PM) is a severe fungal disease of cultivated grapevine world-wide. Proanthocyanidins (PAs) play an important role in resistance to fungal pathogens; however, little is known about PA-mediated PM resistance in grapevine. We identified a WRKY transcription factor, VqWRKY56, from Vitis quinquangularis, the expression of which was significantly induced by PM. Overexpression (OE) of VqWRKY56 in Vitis vinifera increased PA content and reduced susceptibility to PM. Furthermore, the transgenic plants showed more cell death and increased accumulation of salicylic acid and reactive oxygen species. Transient silencing of VqWRKY56 in V. quinquangularis and V. vinifera reduced PA accumulation and increased the susceptibility to PM. VqWRKY56 interacted with VqbZIPC22 in vitro and in planta. The protein VqWRKY56 can bind to VvCHS3, VvLAR1, and VvANR promoters, and VqbZIPC22 can bind to VvANR promoter. Co-expression of VqWRKY56 and VqbZIPC22 significantly increased the transcript level of VvCHS3, VvLAR1, and VvANR genes. Finally, transient OE of VqbZIPC22 in V. vinifera promoted PA accumulation and improved resistance to PM, while transient silencing in V. quinquangularis had the opposite effect. Our study provides new insights into the mechanism of PA regulation by VqWRKY56 in grapevine and provides a basis for further metabolic engineering of PA biosynthesis to improve PM resistance.

LncRNA MEG3 attenuates the malignancy of retinoblastoma cells through inactivating PI3K /Akt/mTOR signaling pathway.

Retinoblastoma (RB) is the most common neoplasm found in the eye of children. There are increasing interests to develop targeted gene therapy for this disease. This study was performed to investigate the impact of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) MEG3 on the biological features of RB cells. Vector overexpressing MEG3 was constructed and introduced into two RB cell lines. Transfected RB cells were assessed for proliferation, apoptosis, migration ability, expression levels of important genes in the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway using qRT-PCR and Western blot analysis. Xenograft mouse models were constructed to determine the tumorigenicity of RB cells overexpressing MEG3. MEG3 mRNA level was significantly lower in RB cells than in non-cancer cells (p < 0.01). Overexpressing MEG3 resulted in significant reduction in cell proliferation (p < 0.05), migration (p < 0.01) and significant increase in apoptosis (p < 0.01). After overexpressing MEG3, p-PI3K, p-Akt and p-mTOR levels were significantly downregulated (p < 0.01). Furthermore, in the xenograft model, RB cells overexpressing MEG3 generated significantly smaller tumors as compared to RB cells that did not overexpress MEG3 (p < 0.05). Our data suggest that MEG3 increases apoptosis and reduces tumorigenicity of RB cells through inactivating the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway. Therefore, MEG3 could be further investigated as a potential new therapeutic agent and target for RB therapy.

Palladium-Catalyzed Direct Esterification via C-H Bond Activation of Aldehydes.

A concise and highly efficient synthesis method of direct esterification of aldehydes via Pd-catalyzed C-H bond activation of aldehyde group has been developed. The strategy avoids the preoxidation step of aldehyde or use of condensing agents in ester synthesis, which is not only applicable to various alcohols but also suitable for the esterification of phenolics which are usually difficult to be esterified. The methodology has the significant advantages of broad substrate scope, mild reaction conditions, and nonrequirement of additional oxidants.

NtCycB2 negatively regulates tobacco glandular trichome formation, exudate accumulation, and aphid resistance.

KEY MESSAGE: NtCycB2 negatively regulates the initiation of tobacco long stalk glandular trichomes and influences the expression of diterpenoid biosynthesis- and environmental stress resistance-related genes. Many asterid plants possess multicellular trichomes on their surface, both glandular and non-glandular. The CycB2 gene plays a key role in multicellular trichome initiation, but has distinct effects on different types of trichomes; its mechanisms remain unknown. In tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), SlCycB2 negatively regulates non-glandular trichome formation, but its effects on glandular trichomes are ambiguous. In this study, we cloned the SlCycB2 homolog of Nicotiana tabacum, NtCycB2, and analyzed its effect on three types of trichomes, long stalk glandular trichomes (LGT), short stalk glandular trichomes (SGT), and non-glandular trichomes (NGT). Knocking out NtCycB2 (NtCycB2-KO) promoted LGT formation, while overexpression of NtCycB2 (NtCycB2-OE) decreased LGT density. SGT and NGT were not significantly influenced in either NtCycB2-KO or NtCycB2-OE plants, indicating that NtCycB2 regulated only LGT formation in tobacco. In addition, compared with NtCycB2-OE and control plants, NtCycB2-KO plants produced more trichome exudates, including diterpenoids and sugar esters, and exhibited stronger aphid resistance. To further elucidate the function of NtCycB2, RNA-Seq analysis of the NtCycB2-KO, NtCycB2-OE, and control plants was conducted. 2,552 and 1,933 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were found in NtCycB2-KO and NtCycB2-OE plants, respectively. Gene Ontology analysis of the common DEGs revealed that ion transport, carbohydrate and amino acid metabolism, photosynthesis, and transcription regulation processes were significantly enriched. Among these DEGs, diterpenoid biosynthesis genes were upregulated in NtCycB2-KO plants and downregulated in NtCycB2-OE plants. Two MYB transcription factors and several stress resistance-related genes were also identified, suggesting they may participate in regulating LGT formation and aphid resistance.

Temperature-responsive regulation of the fermentation of hypocrellin A by Shiraia bambusicola (GDMCC 60438).

BACKGROUND: Hypocrellin A (HA) is a perylene quinone pigment with high medicinal value that is produced by Shiraia bambusicola Henn. (S. bambusicola) and Hypocrella bambusae (Berk. & Broome) Sacc. (Ascomycetes) with great potential in clinical photodynamic therapy. Submerged cultivation of S. bambusicola is a popular technique for HA production. However, there is not much research on how temperature changes lead to differential yields of HA production. RESULTS: The temperature regulation of submerged fermentation is an efficient approach to promote HA productivity. After a 32 °C fermentation, the HA content in the mycelia S. bambusicola (GDMCC 60438) was increased by more than three- and fivefold when compared to that at 28 °C and 26 °C, respectively. RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) analysis showed that the regulation of the expression of transcription factors and genes essential for HA biosynthesis could be induced by high temperature. Among the 496 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) explicitly expressed at 32 °C, the hub genes MH01c06g0046321 and MH01c11g0073001 in the coexpression network may affect HA biosynthesis and cytoarchitecture, respectively. Moreover, five genes, i.e., MH01c01g0006641, MH01c03g0017691, MH01c04g0029531, MH01c04g0030701 and MH01c22g0111101, potentially related to HA synthesis also exhibited significantly higher expression levels. Morphological observation showed that the autolysis inside the mycelial pellets tightly composted intertwined mycelia without apparent holes. CONCLUSIONS: The obtained results provide an effective strategy in the submerged fermentation of S. bambusicola for improved HA production and reveal an alternative regulatory network responsive to the biosynthesis metabolism of HA in response to environmental signals.

NbJAZ3 is required for jasmonate-meditated glandular trichome development in Nicotiana benthamiana.

Exogenous methyl jasmonate (MeJA) treatment induces glandular trichome development in Nicotiana benthamiana, but the function of JAZ proteins, acting as core repressors, and their downstream genes have not been clearly shown in plants. Here, a bioinformatics analysis of 71 JAZ genes from tobacco, Arabidopsis thaliana, and tomato was carried out and shown to share highly conserved domains. Then, the expression profile of 17 NbJAZs in different tissues was analyzed, and NbJAZ3 was highly expressed in trichome. Through transgenic technology, we demonstrated that the glandular trichome density of NbJAZ3-overexpression lines significantly decreased with lower expression levels of NbWo, NbCycB2, and NbMIXTA. In contrast, the trichome density of NbJAZ3 RNAi lines slightly increased with higher expression level of NbWo. Given the negative protein feedback regulation relationship between NbCycB2 and NbWo, we verified that MeJA induced NbWo expression. NbWo was a direct target gene of NbJAZ3 and further demonstrated that NbJAZ3 inhibited the transcriptional activation of NbCycB2 by NbWo. Together, our findings outline a novel JA-meditated glandular trichome development model consisting of the NbJAZ3-NbWo-NbCycB2 axis.

Methyl jasmonate treatment, aphid resistance assay, and transcriptomic analysis revealed different herbivore defensive roles between tobacco glandular and non-glandular trichomes.

KEY MESSAGE: Methyl jasmonate treatment and aphid resistance assays reveal different roles in herbivore defensive responses between tobacco glandular and non-glandular trichomes. These roles correlate with trichome gene expression patterns. In plants, trichomes greatly contribute to biotic stress resistance. To better understand the different defensive functions between glandular and non-glandular trichomes, we used Nicotiana tabacum as a model. This species bears three types of trichomes: long and short stalk glandular trichomes (LGT and SGT, respectively), and non-glandular trichomes (NGT). Tobacco accession T.I.1068 (lacking NGT) and T.I.1112 (lacking LGT) were used for the experiment. After methyl jasmonate (MeJA) treatment, LGT formation was promoted not only in T.I.1068, but also in T.I.1112, whereas NGT remained absent in T.I.1068, and was slightly reduced in T.I.1112. Diterpenoids, which play important roles in herbivore resistance, accumulated abundantly in T.I.1068 and were elevated by MeJA; however, they were not found in T.I.1112 but became detectable after MeJA treatment. The aphid resistance of T.I.1068 was higher than that of T.I.1112, and both were enhanced by MeJA, which was closely correlated with LGT density. Trichomes detached from T.I.1068 and T.I.1112 were used for RNA-Seq analysis, the results showed that pentose phosphate, photosynthesis, and diterpenoid biosynthesis genes were much more expressed in T.I.1068 than in T.I.1112, which was consistent with the vigorous diterpenoid biosynthesis in T.I.1068. In T.I.1112, citrate cycle, propanoate, and glyoxylate metabolism processes were enriched, and some defensive protein genes were expressed at higher levels than those in T.I.1068.These results suggested that LGT plays a predominant role in aphid resistance, whereas NGT could strengthen herbivore resistance by accumulating defensive proteins, and the roles of LGT and NGT are associated with their gene expression patterns.

Biochar mitigation of soil acidification and carbon sequestration is influenced by materials and temperature.

The alleviation effects on soil acidification by different raw materials and pyrolysis temperatures can broaden the utilization of biochar. In this study, nine types of biochar produced from three raw materials, namely fruit tree branch, peanut shell, and cow dung, at three pyrolysis temperatures (300, 450, and 600 °C) were used to amend acidified brown soil; the rape growth, physiology character, soil chemical and microbial, along with soil organic carbon mineralization were also investigated. The results showed that application of biochar increased soil pH by 8.48-79.25% and reduced exchangeable acidity, exchangeable Al, and exchangeable H by 56.94-94.95%, 34.38-95.66%, and 58.72-93.27%, respectively. Biochar alleviated oxidative stress in plants, reduced malondialdehyde and glutathione content in leaves, promoted rape growth, and increased microbial community diversity and the relative abundances of Acidobacteria and Olpidiomycota in the acidic soil. Moreover, biochar reduced the mineralization rate of organic carbon and the proportion of mineral-bonded organic carbon. Overall, biochar application is an effective strategy to ameliorate soil acidification and enhance rape production and carbon sequestration. The mitigation effect of branch biochar and cow dung biochar on soil acidification was superior to that of peanut shell biochar. The effects of biochar depended on the pyrolysis temperature; the positive effects of biochar samples pyrolyzed at 450 and 600 â„ƒ were stronger than those pyrolyzed at 300 â„ƒ. In this study, the optimum biochar materials and carbonization temperature for acidified soil improvement, as well as the effects of biochar application on soil microbial and carbon mineralization were clarified, which provides a new potential strategy for acidified soil improvement and expand the application range of biochar.

Emulsion Designer Using Microfluidic Three-Dimensional Droplet Printing in Droplet.

Hierarchical emulsions are interesting for both scientific researches and practical applications. Hierarchical emulsions prepared by microfluidics require complicated device geometry and delicate control of flow rates. Here, a versatile method is developed to design hierarchical emulsions using microfluidic 3D droplet printing in droplet. The process of droplet printing in droplet mimics the dragonfly laying eggs and has advantages of easy processing and flexible design. To demonstrate the capability of the method, double emulsions and triple emulsions with tunable core number, core size, and core composition are prepared. The hierarchical emulsions are excellent templates for the developments of functional materials. Flattened crescent-moon-shaped particles are then fabricated using double emulsions printed in confined 2D space as templates. The particles are excellent delivery vehicles for 2D interfaces, which can load and transport cargos through a well-defined trajectory under external magnetic steering. Microfluidic 3D droplet printing in droplet provides a powerful platform with improved simplicity and flexibility for the design of hierarchical emulsions and functional materials.

Grape Transcriptome Response to Powdery Mildew Infection: Comparative Transcriptome Profiling of Chinese Wild Grapes Provides Insights Into Powdery Mildew Resistance.

Erysiphe necator, the fungal pathogen of grape powdery mildew disease, poses a great threat to the grape market and the wine industry. To better understand the molecular basis of grape responses to E. necator, we performed comparative transcriptome profiling on two Chinese wild grape accessions with varying degrees of resistance to E. necator. At 6-, 24-, and 96-h postinoculation of E. necator, 2,856, 2,678, and 1,542 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in the susceptible accession Vitis pseudoreticulata 'Hunan-1', and at those same time points, 1,921, 2,498, and 3,249 DEGs, respectively, were identified in the resistant accession V. quinquangularis 'Shang-24'. 'Hunan-1' had a substantially larger fraction of down-regulated genes than 'Shang-24' at every infection stage. Analysis of DEGs revealed that up-regulated genes were mostly associated with defense response and disease resistance-related metabolite biosynthesis, and such signaling genes were significantly suppressed in 'Hunan-1'. Interestingly, fatty acid biosynthesis- and elongation-related genes were suppressed by the fungus in the 'Shang-24' accession but somehow induced in the 'Hunan-1' accession, consistent with the concept that E. necator is likely to be a fatty acid auxotroph that requires lipids from the host. Moreover, genes involved in biosynthesis and signaling of phytohormones, such as jasmonic acid and cytokinin, as well as genes encoding protein kinases and nucleotide-binding domain leucine-rich repeat proteins, differentially responded to E. necator in the two wild grapes. The variation of gene regulation associated with nutrient uptake by the fungus and with signaling transduction and pathogen recognition suggests a multilayered regulatory network that works in concert to assist in the establishment of fungal pathogen infections.

Genome-wide characterization of NtHD-ZIP IV: different roles in abiotic stress response and glandular Trichome induction.

BACKGROUND: The plant-specific homeodomain-leucine zipper class IV (HD-ZIP IV) gene family has been involved in the regulation of epidermal development. RESULTS: Fifteen genes coding for HD-ZIP IV proteins were identified (NtHD-ZIP-IV-1 to NtHD-ZIP-IV-15) based on the genome of N. tabacum. Four major domains (HD, ZIP, SAD and START) were present in these proteins. Tissue expression pattern analysis indicated that NtHD-ZIP-IV-1, - 2, - 3, - 10, and - 12 may be associated with trichome development; NtHD-ZIP-IV-8 was expressed only in cotyledons; NtHD-ZIP-IV-9 only in the leaf and stem epidermis; NtHD-ZIP-IV-11 only in leaves; and NtHD-ZIP-IV-15 only in the root and stem epidermis. We found that jasmonates may induce the generation of glandular trichomes, and that NtHD-ZIP-IV-1, - 2, - 5, and - 7 were response to MeJA treatment. Dynamic expression under abiotic stress and after application of phytohormones indicated that most NtHD-ZIP IV genes were induced by heat, cold, salt and drought. Furthermore, most of these genes were induced by gibberellic acid, 6-benzylaminopurine, and salicylic acid, but were inhibited by abscisic acid. NtHD-ZIP IV genes were sensitive to heat, but insensitive to osmotic stress. CONCLUSION: NtHD-ZIP IV genes are implicated in a complex regulatory gene network controlling epidermal development and abiotic stress responses. The present study provides evidence to elucidate the gene functions of NtHD-ZIP IVs during epidermal development and stress response.

Facile Synthesis of Porous Pd3 Pt Half-Shells with Rich "Active Sites" as Efficient Catalysts for Formic Acid Oxidation.

Exploring highly efficient electrocatalysts is greatly important for the widespread uptake of the fuel cells. However, many newly generated nanocrystals with attractive nanostructures often have extremely limited surface area or large particle-size, which leads them to display limited electrocatalytic performance. Herein, a novel anode catalyst of hollow and porous Pd3 Pt half-shells with rich "active sites" is synthesized by using urea as a guiding surfactant. It is identified that the formation of Pd3 Pt half-shells involves the combination of bubble guiding, in situ deposition of particles and bubble burst. The obtained Pd3 Pt half-shells demonstrate a rich edge area with abundant exposed active sites and surface defects, indicating great potential for the electrocatalysis. When used as an electrocatalyst, the Pd3 Pt half-shells exhibit remarkably improved electrocatalytic performance for formic acid oxidation (FAO), where it promotes the dehydrogenation process of FAO by suppressing the formation of poisonous species COads via the electronic effect and ensemble effect.

Integrated analysis of miRNA and mRNA expression profiling in bovine endometrial cells in response to lipopolysaccharide-stimulation.

MicroRNAs (miRNA) play an important role in regulating gene expression, making them important resources for exploring molecular mechanisms. Molecular mechanisms involved in the inflammatory responses of bovine endometrial cells induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) have not been widely studied. In the present study, miRNA and mRNA expression profiling of bovine endometrial cells treated with 1 µg/mL LPS for 24 h were evaluated by RNA-Seq (RNA-sequencing). The results showed that LPS induced 20 (11 up- and 9 down-regulated) differentially-expressed miRNAs and 108 (90 up- and 18 down-regulated) differentially-expressed mRNAs of bovine endometrial cells. The results for 5 mRNAs and 4 miRNAs were evaluated by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) to validate the reliability of the RNA-seq data. Integrating analysis of the miRNA and mRNA expression profiles revealed 116 miRNA-target gene pairs. GO and KEGG pathway analysis of differentially expressed miRNAs and target genes predicted the likely roles of differentially expressed miRNAs in inflammatory responses in bovine endometrial cells induced by LPS. The reliability of the integrating analysis of the miRNA and mRNA data were validated by measuring the expression of three miRNA-target gene pairs by qRT-PCR. Our results improve the understanding of the role of miRNA involvement in inflammatory response of bovine endometrial cells induced by LPS.

Heterologous Expression of the Grapevine JAZ7 Gene in Arabidopsis Confers Enhanced Resistance to Powdery Mildew but Not to Botrytis cinerea.

Jasmonate ZIM-domain (JAZ) family proteins comprise a class of transcriptional repressors that silence jasmonate-inducible genes. Although a considerable amount of research has been carried out on this gene family, there is still very little information available on the role of specific JAZ gene members in multiple pathogen resistance, especially in non-model species. In this study, we investigated the potential resistance function of the VqJAZ7 gene from a disease-resistant wild grapevine, Vitis quinquangularis cv. "Shang-24", through heterologous expression in Arabidopsis thaliana. VqJAZ7-expressing transgenic Arabidopsis were challenged with three pathogens: the biotrophic fungus Golovinomyces cichoracearum, necrotrophic fungus Botrytis cinerea, and semi-biotrophic bacteria Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000. We found that plants expressing VqJAZ7 showed greatly reduced disease symptoms for G. cichoracearum, but not for B. cinerea or P. syringae. In response to G cichoracearum infection, VqJAZ7-expressing transgenic lines exhibited markedly higher levels of cell death, superoxide anions (O2¯, and H2O2 accumulation, relative to nontransgenic control plants. Moreover, we also tested the relative expression of defense-related genes to comprehend the possible induced pathways. Taken together, our results suggest that VqJAZ7 in grapevine participates in molecular pathways of resistance to G. cichoracearum, but not to B. cinerea or P. syringae.

In Situ Integration of Ultrathin PtCu Nanowires with Reduced Graphene Oxide Nanosheets for Efficient Electrocatalytic Oxygen Reduction.

Ultrathin Pt-based nanowires are considered as promising electrocatalysts owing to their high atomic utilization efficiency and structural robustness. Moreover, integration of Pt-based nanowires with graphene oxide (GO) could further increase the electrocatalytic performance, yet remains challenging to date. Herein, for the first time we demonstrate the in situ synthesis of ultrathin PtCu nanowires grown over reduced GO (PtCu-NWs/rGO) by a one-pot hydrothermal approach with the aid of amine-terminated poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide) (PNIPAM-NH2 ). The judicious selection of PNIPAM-NH2 facilitates the in situ nucleation and anisotropic growth of nanowires on the rGO surface and oriented attachment mechanism accounts for the formation of PtCu ultrathin nanowires. Owing to the synergy between PtCu NWs and rGO support, the PtCu-NWs/rGO outperforms the rGO supported PtCu nanoparticles (PtCu-NPs/rGO), PtCu-NWs, and commercial Pt/C toward the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) with higher activity and better stability, making it a promising cathodic electrocatalyst for both fuel cells and metal-air cells. Moreover, the present synthetic strategy could inspire the future design of other metal alloy nanowires/carbon hybrid catalysts.

Reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the autoimmune bullous disease quality of life (ABQOL) questionnaire.

BACKGROUND: The autoimmune bullous diseases quality of life (ABQOL) questionnaire was recently developed by an Australian group and has been validated in Australian and North American patient cohorts. It is a 17-item, multidimensional, self-administered English questionnaire. The study aimed to validate the Chinese version of the ABQOL questionnaire and evaluate the reliability in Chinese patients. METHODS: The Chinese version of the ABQOL questionnaire was produced by forward-backward translation and cross-cultural adaptation of the original English version. The ABQOL questionnaire was then distributed to a total of 101 patients with autoimmune bullous diseases (AIBDs) together with the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) and the 36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36). Validity was analyzed across a range of indices and reliability was assessed using internal consistency and test-retest methods. RESULTS: The Chinese version of the ABQOL questionnaire has a high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha coefficient, 0.88) and test-retest reliability (the intraclass correlation coefficient, 0.87). Face and content validity were satisfactory. Convergent validity testing showed that the correlation coefficients for the ABQOL and DLQI was 0.77 and for the ABQOL and SF-36 was -0.62. In terms of discriminant validity, there was no significant difference between the proportions of insensitive items in ABQOL and DLQI (p = 0.236). There was no significant difference between the proportions of insensitive items in ABQOL and SF-36 (p = 0.823). CONCLUSIONS: The Chinese version of the ABQOL questionnaire has adequate validity and reliability. It may constitute a useful instrument to measure disease burden in Chinese patients with AIBDs.