PVDF Membrane-Based Dual-Channel Acoustic Sensor Integrating the Fabry-Pérot and Piezoelectric Effects.

A resonant acoustic wave detector combined with Fabry-Pérot interference (FPI) and piezoelectric (PE) effects based on a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) piezoelectric film was proposed to enhance the ability of the sensor to detect acoustic signals in a specific frequency band. The deformation of circular thin films was indicated by the interference and piezoelectric effects simultaneously, and the noise level was decreased by the real-time convolution of the two-way parallel signal. This study reveals that, at the film's resonance frequency, the minimum detection limits for the FPI and piezoelectric impacts on acoustic waves are 3.39 µPa/Hz1/2 and 20.8 µPa/Hz1/2, respectively. The convolution result shows that the background noise was reduced by 98.81% concerning the piezoelectric signal, and by 85.21% concerning the FPI signal. The convolution's signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) was several times greater than the other two signals at 10 mPa. Therefore, this resonance sensor, which the FPI and the piezoelectric effect synergistically enhance, can be applied to scenarios of acoustic wave detection in a specific frequency band and with ultrahigh sensitivity requirements.

Construction of magnetically separable NiAl LDH/Fe3O4-RGO nanocomposites with enhanced photocatalytic performance under visible light.

Magnetic NiAl layered doubled hydroxide (LDH)/Fe3O4-RGO composites were successfully synthesized via a simple hydrothermal route. The as-prepared samples were well characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results showed that NiAl LDH nanoplatelets and Fe3O4 nanoparticles sized around 15 nm were uniformly anchored on the surface of graphene sheets. The NiAl LDH/Fe3O4-RGO25 photocatalyst was employed to degrade ciprofloxacin (CIP) in an aqueous solution under visible light irradiation. It exhibited enhanced photocatalytic activity compared to pure NiAl LDH, the degradation rate of the as-prepared NiAl LDH/Fe3O4-RGO25 was 1.5 and even 3 times faster than that of NiAl LDH/RGO25 and pure NiAl LDH, respectively. This enhancement of photocatalytic activity is attributed to the addition of graphene and Fe3O4 NPs, which both efficiently promote the separation of charge carriers and improve the optical absorption properties, synergistically facilitating the photocatalysis process. Furthermore, the NiAl LDH/Fe3O4-RGO25 photocatalyst was magnetically separable and exhibited stable catalytic activity, which is beneficial to its practical application.

Near Stochiometric LiNbO3 Crystal: the Piezoelectric Features and the Shear Horizontal Guided Wave Transducer for Structural Health Monitoring up to 650 °C.

The application of shear horizontal (SH) guided wave transducers in high-temperature structural health monitoring (SHM) is a topic of significant interest across various industrial engineering sectors. In this study, we utilized the novelty piezoelectric crystal of near stoichiometric lithium niobate (NSLN), which exhibited a robust piezoelectric response (d15 = 77.6 pC/N@room temperature). Next, the pure thickness shear vibration mode d15' through size optimization was designed. It was demonstrated that the NSLN-based ultrasonic guided wave transducers utilizing the optimum d15' mode were proficient in transmitting and receiving pure fundamental SH wave (SH0 wave) along two orthogonal main directions (0° and 90°) over a wide frequency range (100-350 kHz), exhibiting strong response to the SH0 wave. Under the driving voltage of 100 V, the signal voltages of the NSLN-based transducer were found to be on the order of 200.3 and 11.8 mV at room temperature and high temperature of 650 °C, respectively. Moreover, the NSLN-based SH0 transducer showcased its better defect localization ability, and the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) sensitivity of NSLN-based transducer was evaluated to be 16.1 dB at high temperature of 650 °C. To sum up, the ultrasonic wave transducer based on NSLN crystal demonstrated higher potential applications for in situ SHM under elevated temperatures.

Sterol-Sensing Domain (SSD)-Containing Proteins in Sterol Auxotrophic Phytophthora capsici Mediate Sterol Signaling and Play a Role in Asexual Reproduction and Pathogenicity.

Phytophthora species are devastating filamentous plant pathogens that belong to oomycetes, a group of microorganisms similar to fungi in morphology but phylogenetically distinct. They are sterol auxotrophic, but nevertheless exploit exogenous sterols for growth and development. However, as for now the mechanisms underlying sterol utilization in Phytophthora are unknown. In this study, we identified four genes in Phytophthora capsici that encode proteins containing a sterol-sensing domain (SSD), a protein domain of around 180 amino acids comprising five transmembrane segments and known to feature in sterol signaling in animals. Using a modified CRISPR/Cas9 system, we successfully knocked out the four genes named PcSCP1 to PcSCP4 (for P. capsici SSD-containing protein 1 to 4), either individually or sequentially, thereby creating single, double, triple, and quadruple knockout transformants. Results showed that knocking out just one of the four PcSCPs was not sufficient to block sterol signaling. However, the quadruple "all-four" PcSCPs knockout transformants no longer responded to sterol treatment in asexual reproduction, in contrast to wild-type P. capsici that produced zoospores under sterol treatment. Apparently, the four PcSCPs play a key role in sterol signaling in P. capsici with functional redundancy. Transcriptome analysis indicated that the expression of a subset of genes is regulated by exogenous sterols via PcSCPs. Further investigations showed that sterols could stimulate zoospore differentiation via PcSCPs by controlling actin-mediated membrane trafficking. Moreover, the pathogenicity of the "all-four" PcSCPs knockout transformants was significantly decreased and many pathogenicity related genes were downregulated, implying that PcSCPs also contribute to plant-pathogen interaction. IMPORTANCE Phytophthora is an important genus of oomycetes that comprises many destructive plant pathogens. Due to the incompleteness of the sterol synthesis pathway, Phytophthora spp. do not possess the ability to produce sterols. Therefore, these sterol auxotrophic oomycetes need to recruit sterols from the environment such as host plants to support growth and development, which seems crucial during pathogen-plant interactions. However, the mechanisms underlying sterol utilization by Phytophthora spp. remain largely unknown. Here, we show that a family of sterol-sensing domain-containing proteins (SCPs) consisting of four members in P. capsici plays a key role in sterol signaling with functional redundancy. Moreover, these SCPs play a role in different biological processes, including asexual reproduction and pathogenicity. Our study overall revealed the multiple functions of PcSCPs and addressed the question of how exogenous sterols regulate the development of heterothallic Phytophthora spp. via SSD-containing proteins.

Phytophthora capsici sterol reductase PcDHCR7 has a role in mycelium development and pathogenicity.

The de novo biosynthesis of sterols is critical for the majority of eukaryotes; however, some organisms lack this pathway, including most oomycetes. Phytophthora spp. are sterol auxotrophic but, remarkably, have retained a few genes encoding enzymes in the sterol biosynthesis pathway. Here, we show that PcDHCR7, a gene in Phytophthora capsici predicted to encode Δ7-sterol reductase, displays multiple functions. When expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, PcDHCR7 showed the Δ7-sterol reductase activity. Knocking out PcDHCR7 in P. capsici resulted in loss of the capacity to transform ergosterol into brassicasterol, which means PcDHCR7 has the Δ7-sterol reductase activity in P. capsici itself. This enables P. capsici to transform sterols recruited from the environment for better use. The biological characteristics of ΔPcDHCR7 transformants were compared with those of the wild-type strain and a PcDHCR7 complemented transformant, and the results showed that PcDHCR7 plays a key role in mycelium development and pathogenicity of zoospores. Further analysis of the transcriptome indicated that the expression of many genes changed in the ΔPcDHCR7 transformant, which involve in different biological processes. It is possible that P. capsici compensates for the defects caused by the loss of PcDHCR7 by remodelling its transcriptome.

A Miniature Fabry-Pérot Fiber Interference Sensor Based on Polyvinyl Chloride Membrane for Acoustic Pressure Sensing in Mid-High-Frequency Band.

In this paper, a Fabry-Pérot interference fiber sensor was fabricated by using a Polyvinyl chloride membrane (20 µm in thickness) attached at the end of a ferrule with an inner diameter of 1.1 mm. In consideration of the vibration response of the membrane, the feature of the first-order natural frequency of membrane was analyzed by COMSOL Multiphysics. The acoustic sensing performance of the Fabry-Pérot fiber interference sensor was studied in air. The results reveal that the sensor possessed good acoustic pressure sensitivity, in the order of 33.26 mV/Pa. In addition, the noise-limited minimum detectable pressure level was determined to be 58.9 µPa/Hz1/2 and the pressure-induced deflection obtained was 105 nm/Pa at the frequency of 1 kHz. The response of the sensor was approximately consistent with the reference sensor from 1 to 7 kHz. All these results support that the fabricated Fabry-Pérot fiber interference sensor may be applied for ultra-sensitive pressure sensing applications.