Alfalfa, the "queen of forage", is the most extensively cultivated forage legume in the world. The development and yield of alfalfa are seriously limited by abiotic stress. MADS-box transcription ...factors are one of the largest gene families and play a pivotal role in plant development and abiotic stress. However, little is known regarding the MADS-box transcription factors in autotetraploid cultivated alfalfa.
In the present study, we identified 120 MsMADS-box genes in the alfalfa genome. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that 75 type-I MsMADS-box genes were classified into the Mα, Mβ, and Mγ subgroups, and 45 type-II MsMADS-box genes were classified into 11 subgroups. The promoter region of MsMADS-box genes containing several hormone and stress related elements. Chromosomal location analysis revealed that 117 MsMADS-box genes were unevenly distributed on 32 chromosomes, and the remaining three genes were located on unmapped scaffolds. A total of nine pairs of segmental duplications and four groups of tandem duplications were found. Expression analysis showed that MsMADS-box genes were differentially expressed in various tissues and under abiotic stresses. qRT-PCR analysis revealed that the expression profiles of eight selected MsMADS-box genes were distinct under various stresses.
In this study, MsMADS-box genes were identified in the cultivated alfalfa genome based on autotetraploid level, and further confirmed by Gene Ontology (GO) analysis, phylogenetic analysis, sequence features and expression analysis. Taken together, these findings will provide clues for further study of MsMADS-box functions and alfalfa molecular breeding. Our study is the first to systematically identify and characterize the MADS-box transcription factors in autotetraploid cultivated alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), and eight MsMADS-box genes were significantly involved in response to various stresses.
Highlights • This review focuses on genetic studies of the SNCA gene in PD. • Point mutation and multiplication are the main types of mutation in the SNCA gene. • Though the frequency of mutations is ...low, SNCA plays a central role in PD. • Genetic modified animal models of PD relating to the SNCA gene were summarized. • Genetic findings of SNCA can provide insights into pathogenesis and therapy of PD.
Although oxidase mimetic nanozymes have been widely investigated, specific biological molecules have rarely been explored as substrates, particularly in the case of ascorbate oxidase (AAO) mimetic ...nanozymes. Herein, we demonstrate for the first time that copper(II) oxide nanoparticles (CuO NPs) catalyze the oxidation of ascorbic acid (AA) by dissolved O
(as a green oxidant) to form dehydroascorbic acid (DHAA), thus functioning as a new kind of AAO mimic. Under neutral conditions, the Michaelis-Menten constant of CuO NPs (0.1302 mm) is similar to that of AAO (0.0840 mm). Furthermore, the robustness of CuO NPs is greater than that of AAO, thus making them suitable for applications under various conditions. As a demonstration, a fluorescence AA sensor based on the AAO mimetic activity of CuO NPs was developed. To obtain a fluorescent product, o-phenylenediamine (OPDA) was used to react with the DHAA produced by the oxidation of AA catalyzed by CuO NPs. The developed sensor was cost-effective and easy to fabricate and exhibited high selectivity/sensitivity with a wide linear range (1.25×10
to 1.125×10
m) and a low detection limit (3.2×10
m). The results are expected to aid in expanding the applicability of oxidase mimetic nanozymes in a variety of fields such as biology, medicine, and detection science.
Abstract
Whether modern-style plate tectonics operated on early Earth is debated due to a paucity of definitive records of large-scale plate convergence, subduction, and collision in the Archean ...geological record. Archean Alpine-style sub-horizontal fold/thrust nappes in the Precambrian basement of China contain a Mariana-type subduction-initiation sequence of mid-ocean ridge basalt blocks in a 1600-kilometer-long mélange belt, overthrusting picritic-boninitic and island-arc tholeiite bearing nappes, in turn emplaced over a passive margin capping an ancient Archean continental fragment. Picrite-boninite and tholeiite units are 2698 ± 30 million years old marking the age of subduction initiation, with nappes emplaced over the passive margin at 2520 million years ago. Here, we show the life cycle of the subduction zone and ocean spanned circa 178 million years; conservative plate velocities of 2 centimeters per year yield a lateral transport distance of subducted oceanic crust of 3560 kilometers, providing direct positive evidence for horizontal plate tectonics in the Archean.
In order to achieve the high-fidelity quantum control needed for a broad range of quantum information technologies, reducing the effects of noise and system inhomogeneities is an essential task. It ...is well known that a system can be decoupled from noise or made insensitive to inhomogeneous dephasing dynamically by using carefully designed pulse sequences based on square or delta-function waveforms such as Hahn spin echo or CPMG. However, such ideal pulses are often challenging to implement experimentally with high fidelity. Here, we uncover a new geometrical framework for visualizing all possible driving fields, which enables one to generate an unlimited number of smooth, experimentally feasible pulses that perform dynamical decoupling or dynamically corrected gates to arbitrarily high order. We demonstrate that this scheme can significantly enhance the fidelity of single-qubit operations in the presence of noise and when realistic limitations on pulse rise times and amplitudes are taken into account.
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•Oxygen vacancies-rich core-shell N-carbon@NiFe2O4 nanospheres was constructed.•ESR and XPS spectroscopies confirms the modulating effect of OV.•Owing to the abundant OV, ...NC@NFO-OV-rich presented remarkable OER & HER activity.•NC@NFO-OV-rich based electrolyser showed low cell voltage and good durability.
Exploration of low-cost, highly-efficient, robust electrocatalysts is highly necessary to minimize the cell potential of overall water splitting and encourage the practicality of related energy systems. Oxygen deficient (OV) metal oxides stand out as one of the efficient interfaces for water oxidation, nevertheless, the influence of volume of OV on their electrocatalytic efficiency has not been described yet. To resolve this issue, we establish a facile and low-temperature protocol for the fabrication of core-shell N-carbon@NiFe2O4 nanospheres (NC@NFO) with precisely controlled OV to boost the kinetics of OER and HER. Here, dopamine was used to introduce the N-doped carbon and OV defects in the NFO simultaneously. Furthermore, the ratio of OV can be tuned by the simply varying the reaction time, thus the number of active spots and the catalytic performance has been tuned. By virtue of its unique core-shell nanostructure, larger specific surface area, abundant oxygen vacancies, and excellent synergistic effect of N-carbon and NFO, the NC@NFO-OV-rich achieved current density of 100 mA/cm2 at a very low overpotential of 230 and 200 mV for OER (Tafel slope 42 mV/dec) and HER (Tafel slope 59.6 mV/dec), respectively, superior than most stated noble/non-noble metal-based catalysts. Also, NC@NFO-OV-rich exhibited an exceptional overall water splitting performance with low driving voltage of ≥ 1.45 V, current density of 10 mA cm−2 has achieved at a very low cell voltage of 1.47 V in 1 M KOH with insignificant activity deterioration over 12 h, which is among topmost activities described. Present work not only provides a novel and facile technique to construct N-doped carbon decorated metal oxides with abundant OV but also discovers their prospects as dual-functional electrocatalyst toward overall water splitting.
Abstract
There is currently a high level of demand for rapid COVID-19 tests, that can detect the onset of the disease at point of care settings. We have developed an ultra-portable, self-contained, ...point-of-care nucleic acid amplification test for diagnosis of active COVID-19 infection, based on the principle of loop mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP). The LAMP assay is 100% sensitive and specific to detect a minimum of 300 RNA copies/reaction of SARS-CoV-2. All of the required sample transportation, lysing and amplification steps are performed in a standalone disposable cartridge, which is controlled by a battery operated, pocket size (6x9x4cm
3
) unit. The test is easy to operate and does not require skilled personnel. The total time from sample to answer is approximately 35 min; a colorimetric readout indicates positive or negative results. This portable diagnostic platform has significant potential for rapid and effective testing in community settings. This will accelerate clinical decision making, in terms of effective triage and timely therapeutic and infection control interventions.
Short‐wave infrared (SWIR) image sensors based on colloidal quantum dots (QDs) are characterized by low cost, small pixel pitch, and spectral tunability. Adoption of QD‐SWIR imagers is, however, ...hampered by a reliance on restricted elements such as Pb and Hg. Here, QD photodiodes, the central element of a QD image sensor, made from non‐restricted In(As,P) QDs that operate at wavelengths up to 1400 nm are demonstrated. Three different In(As,P) QD batches that are made using a scalable, one‐size‐one‐batch reaction and feature a band‐edge absorption at 1140, 1270, and 1400 nm are implemented. These QDs are post‐processed to obtain In(As,P) nanocolloids stabilized by short‐chain ligands, from which semiconducting films of n‐In(As,P) are formed through spincoating. For all three sizes, sandwiching such films between p‐NiO as the hole transport layer and Nb:TiO2 as the electron transport layer yields In(As,P) QD photodiodes that exhibit best internal quantum efficiencies at the QD band gap of 46±5% and are sensitive for SWIR light up to 1400 nm.
A complete process flow to form photodiode stacks sensitive for short‐wave infrared (SWIR) light based on non‐restricted In(As,P) quantum dots (QDs) is proposed. Films made of semiconducting n‐In(As,P) QDs inks, formulated through apolar/polar QD phase transfer, form a rectifying junction with p‐NiO that is photosensitive beyond 1400 nm. This result highlights the prospect of printable SWIR opto‐electronics based on InAs QDs.
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•A ultra-facile technique is reported for synthesis of cobalt deficient Co(OH)2 nanosheets.•Vco-Co(OH)2 had large surface area, low impedance, high heterogeneous rate constant than ...that of defect-free Co(OH)2.•Vco-Co(OH)2-based disposable sensor shows excellent electrochemical sensing performance for Glucose and l-Cysteine.
Engineering of nanomaterials with atomic defects has becoming an effective way to boost the sensitivity of the electrochemical biosensors but challenging. Herein, a rational, facile and in-situ strategy has been reported to obtain cobalt hydroxide nanosheets (VCo-Co(OH)2) with abundant cobalt vacancies. The cobalt defects greatly enriched electroactive sites and charge transfer rates, thereby delivered excellent electrocatalytic oxidation performance towards glucose and l-cysteine. The dynamic range and low limit of detection of glucose at VCo-Co(OH)2 electrodes were found as 0.4 μM–8.23 mM and 295 nM respectively. Besides, VCo-Co(OH)2 electrodes accurately sensed the l-cysteine with lowest detection limit (76.5 nM), and broad linear sensing range (200 nM-1.94 mM), which are better than the performance of defect-free Co(OH)2 electrodes, evidence that construction of cobalt vacancy significantly boosted the electrocatalysis. Importantly, fabricated sensors had excellent interference immunity against the many biomolecules, owns good stability and reproducibility. Present work not only proposed a novel and simplistic approach to prepare the metal hydroxides with copious metal cation vacancies for electrocatalysis but also provides economical, precise, high-sensitive and disposable biosensors for clinical analysis glucose and l-cysteine.
Acute kidney injury (AKI) is commonly present in critically ill patients with sepsis. Early prediction of short-term reversibility of AKI is beneficial to risk stratification and clinical treatment ...decision. The study sought to use machine learning methods to discriminate between transient and persistent sepsis-associated AKI. Septic patients who developed AKI within the first 48 h after ICU admission were identified from the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care III database. AKI was classified as transient or persistent according to the Acute Disease Quality Initiative workgroup consensus. Five prediction models using logistic regression, random forest, support vector machine, artificial neural network and extreme gradient boosting were constructed, and their performance was evaluated by out-of-sample testing. A simplified risk prediction model was also derived based on logistic regression and features selected by machine learning algorithms. A total of 5984 septic patients with AKI were included, 3805 (63.6%) of whom developed persistent AKI. The artificial neural network and logistic regression models achieved the highest area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) among the five machine learning models (0.76, 95% confidence interval CI 0.74-0.78). The simplified 14-variable model showed adequate discrimination, with the AUC being 0.76 (95% CI 0.73-0.78). At the optimal cutoff of 0.63, the sensitivity and specificity of the simplified model were 63% and 76% respectively. In conclusion, a machine learning-based simplified prediction model including routine clinical variables could be used to differentiate between transient and persistent AKI in critically ill septic patients. An easy-to-use risk calculator can promote its widespread application in daily clinical practice.
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