Neurotransmitter and receptor systems are involved in different neurological and
neuropsychological disorders such as Parkinson's disease, depression, Alzheimer's disease and
epilepsy. Recent ...advances in studies of signal transduction pathways or interacting proteins of
neurotransmitter receptor systems suggest that different receptor systems may share the common
signal transduction pathways or interacting proteins which may be better therapeutic targets for
development of drugs to effectively control brain diseases. In this paper, we reviewed metabotropic glutamate receptors
(mGluRs) and their related signal transduction pathways or interacting proteins in status epilepticus and temporal lobe
epilepsy, and proposed some novel therapeutical drug targets for controlling epilepsy and epileptogenesis.
A power-transformed-and-managed triboelectric nanogenerator (PTM-TENG) is invented that is intended to give regulated power output for driving electronics. The design is based on a synchronized ...mechanical agitation that not only drives the TENG but also switches the connections for the capacitors for lowering the output voltage and increasing the output charges. An energy preservation efficiency of >95% was demonstrated. The PTM-TENG not only detected the external mechanical triggering action but also generated enough power for sending out an infrared signal.
Some studies verified that the pulsed current charging technique could extend the battery lifetime and improve the charging performance of lithium-ion batteries. However, some researchers are ...skeptical of this opinion because their studies have not found any advantages of pulsed current charging over conventional Constant Current (CC) charging. Positive Pulsed Current (PPC), the most common pulsed current mode, was selected for the investigation in this work. The effect of the PPC with various parameters, including the duty cycle, amplitude, and frequency, on the performance and lifetime of lithium-ion batteries, are investigated by experiments. According to the experimental results, the charging speed, charging capacity, and maximum rising temperature are mainly determined by the duty cycle and amplitude of the PPC. The battery lifetime with PPC under the frequency range from 0.05 Hz to 2 kHz has been verified to be extendable. Moreover, the battery lifetime extension can even be over 100% under a specific frequency PPC compared with CC charging. This is the first work that summarizes the law of the pulse frequency on battery lifetime extension. In the future, the pulsed current is expected to be used in fast charging technologies without compromising battery lifetime.
We demonstrate a new approach for synthesizing Ag−ZnO heterogeneous nanostructures in which single-crystalline ZnO nanorods were selectively grown on {111} rather than {100} facets of ...single-crystalline Ag truncated nanocubes. We have identified the fine structure of the Ag−ZnO heterostructures and proposed a mechanism indicating that structure match plays a critically important role in this type of facet-selective growth. These heterogeneous nanostructures are of special interest and have potential applications in electrical contacts, functional devices, biological sensors, and catalysis.
Two-dimensional (2-D) materials of atomic thickness have attracted considerable interest due to their excellent electrical, optoelectronic, mechanical, and thermal properties, which make them ...attractive for electronic devices, sensors, and energy systems. Scavenging the otherwise wasted energy from the ambient environment into electrical power holds promise to address the emerging energy needs, in particular for the portable and wearable devices. The versatile properties of 2-D materials together with their atomically thin body create diverse possibilities for the conversion of ambient energy. The present review focuses on the recent key advances in emerging energy-harvesting devices based on monolayer 2-D materials through various mechanisms such as photovoltaic, thermoelectric, piezoelectric, triboelectric, and hydrovoltaic devices, as well as progress for harvesting the osmotic pressure and Wi-Fi wireless energy. The representative achievements regarding the monolayer heterostructures and hybrid devices are also discussed. Finally, we provide a discussion of the challenges and opportunities for 2-D monolayer material-based energy-harvesting devices in the development of self-powered electronics and wearable technologies.
Environmental pollution by organic pollutants poses a great threat to the ecosystem and human development. Solar-powered catalytic oxidation technology can solve the existing energy and pollution ...crisis. Hence, in this work, cubic nano-In2O3 modified g-C3N4 composite was synthesized by in situ calcination, then it was coupled with hydrogen peroxide for the degradation of antibiotic under visible light. The results of SEM and XPS showed that In2O3 and g-C3N4 were closely combined. The catalytic oxidation efficiency of the antibiotic doxycycline was greatly improved when the as-prepared compound was coupled with hydrogen peroxide, and 88.2% of doxycycline was degraded within 80 min. By designing the active species inhibition test, it was found that a large number of hydroxyl radicals were generated in the system after adding hydrogen peroxide, which accelerated the degradation of the target. Hydrogen peroxide not only acts as a source of hydroxyl radical, but also as an active electron acceptor, which promotes the separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs in the composite photocatalyst. Therefore, the double oxidation system formed by In2O3/g-C3N4 coupled with hydrogen peroxide can degrade the target at a higher rate. This work provided a research basis for the synthesis of In2O3 with regular morphology and simplified synthesis of In2O3/g-C3N4, and explored the practicability of the coupling method of double advanced oxidation for pollutant degradation.
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•Cubic nano-In2O3 modified g-C3N4 composite was synthesized.•In2O3/g-C3N4 was coupled with H2O2 for double oxidation of the antibiotic.•88.2% of doxycycline could be degraded at 80 min
To adapt to changing environments, plants have evolved elaborate regulatory mechanisms balancing their growth with stress responses. It is currently unclear whether and how the tryptophan (Trp), the ...growth-related hormone auxin, and the stress hormone abscisic acid (ABA) are coordinated in this trade-off. Here, we show that tryptophan synthase β subunit 1 (TSB1) is involved in the coordination of Trp and ABA, thereby affecting plant growth and abiotic stress responses. Plants experiencing high salinity or drought display reduced TSB1 expression, resulting in decreased Trp and auxin accumulation and thus reduced growth. In comparison with the wild type, amiR-TSB1 lines and TSB1 mutants exhibited repressed growth under non-stress conditions but had enhanced ABA accumulation and stress tolerance when subjected to salt or drought stress. Furthermore, we found that TSB1 interacts with and inhibits β-glucosidase 1 (BG1), which hydrolyses glucose-conjugated ABA into active ABA. Mutation of BG1 in the amiR-TSB1 lines compromised their increased ABA accumulation and enhanced stress tolerance. Moreover, stress-induced H2O2 disrupted the interaction between TSB1 and BG1 by sulfenylating cysteine-308 of TSB1, relieving the TSB1-mediated inhibition of BG1 activity. Taken together, we revealed that TSB1 serves as a key coordinator of plant growth and stress responses by balancing Trp and ABA homeostasis.
Plants can precisely balance their growth with their need for adaptive responses to abiotic stresses; however, the mechanism underlying this trade-off remains elusive. Our study demonstrates that tryptophan synthase β subunit 1 coordinates the homeostasis between the growth-promoting amino acid tryptophan and stress phytohormone abscisic acid, thereby affecting plant growth and abiotic stress responses in Arabidopsis.
In order to develop a low-cost wearable electromyography (EMG) sensor system that can be used at home, compacting the data size is studied first to extract potential features via frequency analysis. ...A low-cost wearable home-use EMG sensor is then developed. Results show the frequency band at 40-60 Hz of tibialis anterior offers significant differences to identify walking problems (p-value < 0.05), which can be used as a detection standard with a smaller data size. More significantly, data sizes are dramatically reduced by 95.06% compared to the original data size. This finding suggests a potential examining method for identifying pathological gait with the compacted data in satisfactory processing time that can be used at home.
Abstract
SALT OVERLY SENSITIVE1 (SOS1) is a key component of plant salt tolerance. However, how SOS1 transcription is dynamically regulated in plant response to different salinity conditions remains ...elusive. Here, we report that C-type Cyclin1;1 (CycC1;1) negatively regulates salt tolerance by interfering with WRKY75-mediated transcriptional activation of SOS1 in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). Disruption of CycC1;1 promotes SOS1 expression and salt tolerance in Arabidopsis because CycC1;1 interferes with RNA polymerase II recruitment by occupying the SOS1 promoter. Enhanced salt tolerance of the cycc1;1 mutant was completely compromised by an SOS1 mutation. Moreover, CycC1;1 physically interacts with the transcription factor WRKY75, which can bind to the SOS1 promoter and activate SOS1 expression. In contrast to the cycc1;1 mutant, the wrky75 mutant has attenuated SOS1 expression and salt tolerance, whereas overexpression of SOS1 rescues the salt sensitivity of wrky75. Intriguingly, CycC1;1 inhibits WRKY75-mediated transcriptional activation of SOS1 via their interaction. Thus, increased SOS1 expression and salt tolerance in cycc1;1 were abolished by WRKY75 mutation. Our findings demonstrate that CycC1;1 forms a complex with WRKY75 to inactivate SOS1 transcription under low salinity conditions. By contrast, under high salinity conditions, SOS1 transcription and plant salt tolerance are activated at least partially by increased WRKY75 expression but decreased CycC1;1 expression.
CycC1;1 forms a transcriptional repression complex with the transcription factor WRKY75 to downregulate SOS1 expression, thereby negatively regulating salt stress tolerance in Arabidopsis.
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