A Novel Flame-Retardant, Smoke-Suppressing, and Superhydrophobic Transparent Bamboo.

Silica glass, known for its brittleness, weight, and non-biodegradable nature, faces challenges in finding suitable alternatives. Transparent wood, made by infusing polymers into wood, shows promise but is hindered by limited availability of wood in China and fire risks associated with its use. This study explores the potential of utilizing bamboo, which has a shorter growth cycle, as a valuable resource for developing flame-retardant, smoke-suppressing, and superhydrophobic transparent bamboo. A 3-layered flame-retardant barrier, composed of a top silane layer, an intermediate layer of SiO2 formed through hydrolysis-condensation of Na2SiO3 on the surface, and an inner layer of Na2SiO3, has been confirmed to be effective in reducing heat release, slowing flame spread, and inhibiting the release of combustible volatiles, toxic smoke, and CO. Compared to natural bamboo and other congeneric transparent products, the transparent bamboo displays remarkable superiority, with the majority of parameters being notably lower by an entire order of magnitude. It achieves a long ignition time of 116 s, low total heat release (0.7 MJ/m2), low total smoke production (0.063 m2), and low peak CO concentration (0.008 kg/kg). Moreover, when used as a substrate for perovskite solar cells, the transparent bamboo displays the potential to act as a light management layer, leading to a marked efficiency enhancement of 15.29%. The excellent features of transparent bamboo make it an enticing choice for future advancements in flame-retardant glasses and optical devices.

Research Progress on the Application of Nanocellulose in Glucose Sensing.

BACKGROUND: Nanocellulose is not only a biocompatible and environmentally friendly material but also has excellent mechanical properties, biodegradability, and a large number of hydroxyl groups that have a strong affinity for water. These characteristics have attracted significant attention from researchers in the field of glucose sensing. OBJECTIVE: This review provides a brief overview of the current research status of traditional materials used in glucose sensors. The sensing performance, chemical stability, and environ-mental properties of nanocellulose-based glucose sensors are compared and summarized based on the three sensing methods: electrochemical sensing, colorimetric sensing, and fluo-rescence sensing. The article focuses on recent strategies for glucose sensing using nanocel-lulose as a matrix. The development prospects of nanocellulose-based glucose sensors are also discussed. CONCLUSION: Nanocellulose has outstanding structural characteristics that contribute signifi-cantly to the sensing performance of glucose sensors in different detection modes. However, the preparation process for high-quality nanocellulose is complicated and has a low yield. Furthermore, the sensitivity and selectivity of nanocellulose-based glucose sensors require further improvement.

Avermectin induces toxic effects in insect nontarget cells involves DNA damage and its associated programmed cell death.

Avermectin (AVM), is widely applied in the fields of agriculture, possess activities against mites and insects. AVM is generally thought to keep the GABA-related chloride channels open in insect cells. However, AVM induces cytotoxicity in non-neural cells still ambiguous. Here we evaluate the cytotoxicity and other mode of action of AVM in Spodoptera frugiperda (Sf9) cells. Our results showed that AVM suppressed the activity of Sf9 cells and induced programmed cell death. DNA damage of Sf9 cells was detected by alkaline comet assay and PARP. The cleavage of poly ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) and DNA double-strand breaks demonstrated AVM induced DNA damage in Sf9 cells. In addition, a series of established cytotoxicity tests were conducted to explore the mechanism of AVM toxicity in Sf9 cells. Typical apoptosis changes were occurred including increasing the expression of Bax/Bcl-2 and the activation of caspase-9/-3. Subsequently, Western blotting was used to detected autophagy related proteins including LC3, Beclin1 and p62. We found that AVM upregulated LC3, Beclin1 expression and downregulated p62 expressions. Moreover, we found that AVM induced autophagy may through AMPK/mTOR-mediated autophagy pathway. These results showed that AVM-induced DNA damage and programmed cell death in Sf9 cells.

Status and preliminary mechanism of resistance to insecticides in a field strain of housefly (Musca domestica, L)

ABSTRACT Resistance profiles of houseflies (Gol-RR) collected from a field in Golmud city, Qinghai province, China, were determined for seven insecticides using topical bioassays. Resistance ratios of >1219.51, 153.17, >35.43, 6.12, 3.24, 1.73, and 0.86-fold were obtained for propoxur, cypermethrin, imidacloprid, indoxacarb, chlorpyrifos, fipronil, and chlorfenapyr, respectively, relative to a laboratory susceptible strain (SS). Synergism experiments showed that piperonyl butoxide (PBO), triphenylphosphate (TPP), and diethyl maleate (DEM) increased propoxur toxicity by >105.71, >7.88, and >5.15-fold in the Gol-RR strain, compared with 5.25, 2.00, and 1.39-fold in the SS strain, indicating the involvement of P450 monooxygenases, esterases, and glutathione-S-transferase in conferring resistance. Although cypermethrin resistance was significantly suppressed with PBO, TPP, and DEM in the Gol-RR strain, the synergistic potential of these agents to cypermethrin was similar in the SS strain, demonstrating that metabolism-mediated detoxification was not important for conferring resistance to cypermethrin in the Gol-RR strain. However, the three agents did not act synergistically with imidacloprid, indicating that other mechanisms may be responsible for the development of resistance to this insecticide. Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity was 13.70-fold higher in the Gol-RR than in the SS strain, suggesting the properties of the AChE enzyme were altered in the Gol-RR strain. Thus, rotation of chlorfenapyr insecticide with other agents acting through a different mode with minimal/no resistance could be an effective resistance management strategy for housefly.

Insecticidal and Acetylcholinesterase Inhibition Activity of Veratrum nigrum Alkaloidal Extract against the German Cockroach (Blattella germanica).

BACKGROUND: Veratrum nigrum (Liliaceae) is perennial medicinal plant widely used to treat various conditions. To determine its insecticidal properties against the German cockroach (Blattella germanica), several laboratory tests were carried out. METHODS: A 4kg dry sample of V. nigrum root was purchased from the medicinal material market in Yunnan Province in 2015, China. In contact toxicity tests, V. nigrum alkaloidal extract was topically applied to the abdomen of cockroaches using a micro-applicator. In vitro acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity tests were performed using a modified Ellman method. RESULTS: Veratrum nigrum alkaloidal extract was toxic to male adults and 4th nymphs cockroaches, with median lethal dose (LD50) values of 14.90µg/insect, 14.21µg/insect for adults and 41.45µg/insect, 39.01µg/insect for 4th nymphs after 24h and 48h exposure, respectively. There was a significant difference between adults and nymphs in terms of tolerance to V. nigrum alkaloidal extract. There was no significant difference in mortalities at 24h and 48h, the lethal effect of V. nigrum alkaloidal extract on German cockroach was quick. AChE activity tests showed that V. nigrum alkaloidal extract had an excellent inhibitory effect on AChE: inhibition in the 4th nymphs and male adults had 50% inhibiting concentration (IC50) values of 3.56mg/ml and 5.78mg/ml respectively. The inhibitory effect of AChE activity was positively correlated with inhibitory time (0-20min), at a concentration of 1mg/ml, inhibition of nymph and adult AChE activity had 50% inhibiting time (IT50) values of 8.34min and 16.75min, respectively. CONCLUSION: V. nigrum may be explored as a potential natural insecticide for control of the German cockroach.