AgNPs are nanomaterials with many potential biomedical applications. In this study, the two novel yeast strains HX-YS and LPP-12Y capable of producing biological silver nanoparticles were isolated. ...Sequencing of ribosomal DNA-ITS fragments, as well as partial D1/D2 regions of 26S rDNA indicated that the strains are related to species from the genus Metschnikowia. The BioAgNPs produced by HX-YS and LPP-12Y at pH 5.0-6.0 and 26 °C ranged in size from 50 to 500 nm. The antibacterial activities of yeast BioAgNPs against five pathogenic bacteria were determined. The highest antibacterial effect was observed on P. aeruginosa, with additional obvious effects on E. coli ATCC8099 and S. aureus ATCC10231. Additionally, the BioAgNPs showed antiproliferative effects on lung cancer cell lines H1975 and A579, with low toxicity in Beas 2B normal lung cells. Therefore, the AgNPs biosynthesized by HX-YS and LPP-12Y may have potential applications in the treatment of bacterial infections and cancer.
Full text
Available for:
IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
A panoptic driving perception system is an essential part of autonomous driving. A high-precision and real-time perception system can assist the vehicle in making reasonable decisions while driving. ...We present a panoptic driving perception network (you only look once for panoptic (YOLOP)) to perform traffic object detection, drivable area segmentation, and lane detection simultaneously. It is composed of one encoder for feature extraction and three decoders to handle the specific tasks. Our model performs extremely well on the challenging BDD100K dataset, achieving state-of-the-art on all three tasks in terms of accuracy and speed. Besides, we verify the effectiveness of our multi-task learning model for joint training via ablative studies. To our best knowledge, this is the first work that can process these three visual perception tasks simultaneously in real-time on an embedded device Jetson TX2(23 FPS), and maintain excellent accuracy. To facilitate further research, the source codes and pre-trained models are released at
https://github.com/hustvl/YOLOP
.
Full text
Available for:
EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
Intercropping is one of the most vital practice to improve land utilization rate in China that has limited arable land resource. However, the traditional intercropping systems have many disadvantages ...including illogical field lay-out of crops, low economic value, and labor deficiency, which cannot balance the crop production and agricultural sustainability. In view of this, we developed a novel soybean strip intercropping model using maize as the partner, the regular maize-soybean strip intercropping mainly popularized in northern China and maize-soybean relay-strip intercropping principally extended in southwestern China. Compared to the traditional maize-soybean intercropping systems, the main innovation of field lay-out style in our present intercropping systems is that the distance of two adjacent maize rows are shrunk as a narrow strip, and a strip called wide strip between two adjacent narrow strips is expanded reserving for the growth of two or three rows of soybean plants. The distance between outer rows of maize and soybean strips are expanded enough for light use efficiency improvement and tractors working in the soybean strips. Importantly, optimal cultivar screening and increase of plant density achieved a high yield of both the two crops in the intercropping systems and increased land equivalent ratio as high as 2.2. Annually alternative rotation of the adjacent maize- and soybean-strips increased the grain yield of next seasonal maize, improved the absorption of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potasium of maize, while prevented the continuous cropping obstacles. Extra soybean production was obtained without affecting maize yield in our strip intercropping systems, which balanced the high crop production and agricultural sustainability.
Full text
Available for:
GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Metabolite lactic acid has always been regarded as a metabolic by-product rather than a bioactive molecule. Recently, this view has changed since it was discovered that lactic acid can be used as a ...signal molecule and has novel signal transduction functions both intracellular and extracellular, which can regulate key functions in the immune system. In recent years, more and more evidence has shown that lactic acid is closely related to the metabolism and polarization of macrophages. During inflammation, lactic acid is a regulator of macrophage metabolism, and it can prevent excessive inflammatory responses; In malignant tumors, lactic acid produced by tumor tissues promotes the polarization of tumor-associated macrophages, which in turn promotes tumor progression. In this review, we examined the relationship between lactic acid and macrophage metabolism. We further discussed how lactic acid plays a role in maintaining the homeostasis of macrophages, as well as the biology of macrophage polarization and the M1/M2 imbalance in human diseases. Potential methods to target lactic acid in the treatment of inflammation and cancer will also be discussed so as to provide new strategies for the treatment of diseases.
Full text
Available for:
DOBA, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Bacteria‐mediated tumor therapy (BMTT) has been known for decades; however, its clinical use is inhibited by its association with infections. To address this issue, a spiky, bacterium‐like ...metal–organic framework (MOF), which can replicate the functional responses of BMTT without its adverse side‐effects, is proposed. MOFs are synthesized in a solvothermal reaction of aluminum sulfate, ruthenium chloride hydrate, and 2‐aminoterephthalic acid; they have a spherical morphology or many nanospikes on their surfaces, depending on the reaction temperature. Both spherical and spiky MOFs can function as photothermal agents, converting absorbed optical energy into local heat. Owing to their higher surface area of interaction, spiky MOFs are more easily phagocytosed by macrophages than are spherical MOFs, strengthening their immune responses. Moreover, when injected intratumorally, spiky MOFs reside significantly longer than spherical ones, enabling their use in repeated photothermal treatments. The combination of in situ vaccination with intratumorally injected bacterium‐like MOFs under exposure to an near‐infrared laser and the immune checkpoint blockade of systemically administered αPD‐1 is evaluated in tumor‐bearing mice. The results indicate that the checkpoint blockade acts synergistically with in situ vaccination to provide diverse antitumor functions of BMTT, destroying a primary tumor and suppressing tumor recurrence and metastasis.
The combination of in situ vaccination by intratumorally injected bacterium‐like MOFs under NIR exposure and the checkpoint blockade of systemically administered αPD‐1 is used to enable the diverse antitumor functions of bacteria‐mediated tumor therapy. The results indicate that the checkpoint blockade acts synergistically with in situ vaccination to strengthen immune memory responses, yielding remarkable antitumor efficacy.
Full text
Available for:
BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Iron is an essential metal ion in the human body and usually dysregulated in cancers. However, a comprehensive overview of the iron‐related genes and their clinical relevance in cancer is lacking. In ...this study, we utilized the expression profiling, proteomics, and epigenetics from the Cancer Genome Atlas database to systematically characterized the alterations of iron‐related genes. There were multiple iron‐related genes with dysregulation across 14 cancers and some of these ectopic changes may be associated with aberrant DNA methylation. Meanwhile, a variety of genes were significantly associated with patient survival, especially in kidney renal clear cell carcinoma. Then differentially expressed genes were validated in clinical samples. Finally, we found deferoxamine and erastin could inhibit proliferation in various tumor cells and influence the expression of several iron‐related genes. Overall, our study provides a comprehensive analysis of iron metabolism across cancers and highlights the potential treatment of iron targeted therapies for cancers.
We systematically analyzed dysregulation of iron metabolism genes using transcriptomics, epigenomics and proteomics data from the TCGA project. Our results showed that iron metabolism was dysregulated across different cancer types.
Full text
Available for:
BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Methylmercury (MeHg) is a neurotoxin, mainly derived from microbial mercury methylation in natural aquatic environments, and poses threats to human health. Polar regions and paddy soils are potential ...hotspots of mercury methylation and represent environmental settings that are susceptible to natural and anthropogenic perturbations. The effects of changing environmental conditions on the methylating microorganisms and mercury speciation due to global climate change and farming practices aimed for sustainable agriculture were discussed for polar regions and paddy soils, respectively. To better understand and predict microbial mercury methylation in the changing environment, we synthesized current understanding of how to effectively identify active mercury methylators and assess the bioavailability of different mercury species for methylation. The application of biomarkers based on the hgcAB genes have demonstrated the occurrence of potential mercury methylators, such as sulfate-reducing bacteria, iron-reducing bacteria, methanogen and syntrophs, in a diverse variety of microbial habitats. Advanced techniques, such as enriched stable isotope tracers, whole-cell biosensor and diffusive gradient thin film (DGT) have shown great promises in quantitatively assessing mercury availability to microbial methylators. Improved understanding of the complex structure of microbial communities consisting mercury methylators and non-methylators, chemical speciation of inorganic mercury under geochemically relevant conditions, and the pathway of cellular mercury uptake will undoubtedly facilitate accurate assessment and prediction of in situ microbial mercury methylation.
Display omitted
•Changing natural condition and human activity strongly affect mercury methylation.•Microorganisms possessing hgcAB genes are present in diverse habitats.•Mercury isotopes, whole-cell biosensor and DGT can assess mercury bioavailability.
Full text
Available for:
GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
The binary skutterudite CoSb
3
is a narrow bandgap semiconductor thermoelectric (TE) material with a relatively flat band structure and excellent electrical performance. However, thermal conductivity ...is very high because of the covalent bond between Co and Sb, resulting in a very low
ZT
value. Therefore, researchers have been trying to reduce its thermal conductivity by the different optimization methods. In addition, the synergistic optimization of the electrical and thermal transport parameters is also a key to improve the
ZT
value of CoSb
3
material because the electrical and thermal transport parameters of TE materials are closely related to each other by the band structure and scattering mechanism. This review summarizes the main research progress in recent years to reduce the thermal conductivity of CoSb
3
-based materials at atomic-molecular scale and nano-mesoscopic scale. We also provide a simple summary of achievements made in recent studies on the non-equilibrium preparation technologies of CoSb
3
-based materials and synergistic optimization of the electrical and thermal transport parameters. In addition, the research progress of CoSb
3
-based TE devices in recent years is also briefly discussed.
The surface plasmon resonance (SPR) induced photothermal and photoelectrocatalysis effects are crucial for catalytic reactions in many areas. However, it is still difficult to distinguish these two ...effects quantitatively. Here we used surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) to detect the photothermal and photoelectrocatalytic effects induced by SPR from Au core Pt shell Nanoparticles (Au@Pt NPs), and calculated the quantitative contribution of the ratio of the photothermal and photoelectrocatalysis effects towards the catalytic activity. The photothermal effect on the nanoparticle surface after illumination is detected by SERS. The photoelectrocatalytic effect generated from SPR is proved by SERS with a probe molecule of p‐aminothiophenol (PATP).
The contribution ratio of the SPR‐induced photothermal and photoelectrocatalytic effects during catalytic reactions can be detected. The photothermal effect can be measured by surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), and the photoelectrocatalytic process can be proved by SERS using p‐aminothiophenol as the probe molecule.
Full text
Available for:
BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are a type of crystalline porous polymers that possess ordered structures and eternal pores. Because of their unique structural characteristics and diverse ...functional groups, COFs have been used in various application fields, such as adsorption, catalysis, separation, ion conduction, and energy storage. Among COFs, the fluorine‐containing COFs (fCOFs) have been developed for special applications by virtue of special physical and chemical properties resulting from fluorine element, which is a nonmetallic halogen element and possesses strong electronegativity. In the organic chemistry field, introducing fluorine into chemicals enables those chemicals to exhibit many interesting properties, and fluorine chemistry increasingly plays an important role in the history of chemical development. The introduction of fluorine in COFs can enhance the crystallinity, porosity, and stability of COFs, making COFs having superior performances and some new applications. In this review, the synthesis and application of fCOFs are systematically summarized. The application involves photocatalytic production of hydrogen peroxide, photocatalytic water splitting, electrocatalytic CO2 reduction, adsorption for different substances (H2, pesticides, per‐/polyfluoroalkyl substances, polybrominated diphenyl ethers, bisphenols, and positively charged organic dye molecules), oil−water separation, energy storage (e.g., zinc‐ion batteries, lithium−sulfur batteries), and proton conduction. Perspectives of remaining challenges and possible directions for fCOFs are also discussed.
The fluorine‐containing covalent organic frameworks (fCOFs) have been developed for special applications by virtue of special physical and chemical properties resulting from fluorine element. The synthesis and application of fCOFs are systematically summarized in this review. Perspectives of remaining challenges and possible directions for fCOFs are also discussed.
Full text
Available for:
BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK