Dopamine receptors are involved in several immunological diseases. We previously found that dopamine D3 receptor (D3R) on mast cells showed a high correlation with disease activity in patients with ...rheumatoid arthritis, but the mechanism remains largely elusive. In this study, a murine collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) model was employed in both DBA/1 mice and D3R knockout mice. Here, we revealed that D3R-deficient mice developed more severe arthritis than wild-type mice. D3R suppressed mast cell activation in vivo and in vitro via a Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)-dependent pathway. Importantly, D3R promoted LC3 conversion to accelerate ubiquitin-labeled TLR4 degradation. Mechanistically, D3R inhibited mTOR and AKT phosphorylation while enhancing AMPK phosphorylation in activated mast cells, which was followed by autophagy-dependent protein degradation of TLR4. In total, we found that D3R on mast cells alleviated inflammation in mouse rheumatoid arthritis through the mTOR/AKT/AMPK-LC3-ubiquitin-TLR4 signaling axis. These findings identify a protective function of D3R against excessive inflammation in mast cells, expanding significant insight into the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis and providing a possible target for future treatment.
•Study atmospheric leaching characteristics of Scandium in laterite from Indonesia.•Study the kinetics and mechanism of Scandium dissolution.•Analyze the relationship and interaction of Scandium and ...other metals.•This research assists in the development of a more efficient process for exacting Scandium.
Atmospheric acid leaching behaviour of scandium (Sc) in two different types of laterite nickel ore from Indonesia was investigated. Ore and leaching residue characterization was performed by XRD, FTIR, XPS, and SEM-EDX. Ore characterisation showed that the major minerals in limonitic laterite were goethite, magnetite, hematite, and saprolitic laterite mainly consisted of goethite, magnetite, lizardite, clinochlore. Sc in two different types of laterite nickel ore are distributed widely among minerals, but it mainly hosts in Al-bearing goethite and silicate minerals. Sc host minerals in limonitic and saprolitic laterite nickel ore are different. 84.27% and 59.86% of Sc in limonitic and saprolitic laterite could be leached under the experimental conditions of 3 mol/L H2SO4, 80℃ reaction temperature, leaching duration 3 h and liquid to solid ratio 6:1, respectively. The results show that Sc and Mn, Mg in limonitic laterite have similar dissolution characteristics because the extractions of Sc and Mn, Mg are linearly correlated. Sc in limonitic laterite is susceptible to acid attack and easier to be extracted than other metals except for Mn. Sc and Ni in saprolitic laterite have similar dissolution characteristics because Sc is not strongly related to metals other than Ni. Sc in saprolitic laterite is more difficult to extract than Mg and Ni, but it is easier to be leached than other metals. The dissolution kinetics was found to fit well to the shrinking core model with the diffusion through the product layer as the rate controlling step. Results of this research may assist in the development of a more efficient process for exacting Sc from laterite nickel ores.
Summary
Both sugar and the hormone gibberellin (GA) are essential for anther‐enclosed pollen development and thus for plant productivity in flowering plants. Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) ...AtSWEET13 and AtSWEET14, which are expressed in anthers and associated with seed yield, transport both sucrose and GA. However, it is still unclear which substrate transported by them directly affects anther development and seed yield.
Histochemical staining, cross‐sectioning and microscopy imaging techniques were used to investigate and interpret the phenotypes of the atsweet13;14 double mutant during anther development. Genetic complementation of atsweet13;14 using AtSWEET9, which transports sucrose but not GA, and the GA transporter AtNPF3.1, respectively, was conducted to test the substrate preference relevant to the biological process.
The loss of both AtSWEET13 and AtSWEET14 resulted in reduced pollen viability and therefore decreased pollen germination. AtSWEET9 fully rescued the defects in pollen viability and germination of atsweet13;14, whereas AtNPF3.1 failed to do so, indicating that AtSWEET13/14‐mediated sucrose rather than GA is essential for pollen fertility.
AtSWEET13 and AtSWEET14 function mainly at the anther wall during late anther development stages, and they probably are responsible for sucrose efflux into locules to support pollen development to maturation, which is vital for subsequent pollen viability and germination.
The urgent expectation of the next-generation energy storage devices for electric vehicles has driven researchers’ attention to the lithium-oxygen (Li-O
2
) batteries due to the satisfied specific ...energy density. Herein, spatially-controlled Co
3
O
4
nanoflake arrays with three-dimensional-networked morphology are adopted as flexible and self-standing oxygen cathodes in Li-O
2
batteries. The spinel-phase Co
3
O
4
nanoflakes were converted from two-dimension metal-organic frameworks with abundant available channels and large specific surface area. The open-structure nanoflake arrays possess sufficient Li
2
O
2
/cathode contact interface, great bifunctional catalytic performance and adequate Li
2
O
2
accommodation, leading to the enhanced electrochemical performance of the Li-O
2
batteries. As expected, the binder-free porous Co
3
O
4
/CT cathode delivers a high capacity of 6,509 mAh·g
−1
(200 mA·g
−1
) and enhanced stability over 100 cycles (limited by 1,000 mAh·g
−1
). In addition, pouch-type Li-O
2
batteries were successfully designed and cycled with Co
3
O
4
/CT cathode as oxygen electrodes, demonstrating its potential application for flexible electronics and wearable energy storage devices.
•Thermosetting polyphenylene oxide/hydrocarbon resin with ultra-low dielectric loss is prepared.•Oxidative aging of ultra-low loss resin material causes a rapid increase in high frequency dielectric ...loss.•Oxidative crosslinking of 1,2-polybutadiene segments is the primary cause of material aging.•High frequency dissipation factor of the material is a reliable indicator of the aging degree and polar oxidation products.
Deterioration of the low-loss property of substrate materials significantly affects the service life of high-frequency and high-speed circuits. In this work, the effect of short-term thermal aging on the microwave dielectric property of thermosetting polyphenylene oxide/hydrocarbon resin was investigated. Dielectric and dynamic thermo-mechanical spectra were used to evaluate changes in polar structure and crosslinking structure over the aging process. Infrared spectroscopy was applied to monitor the evolution of chemical structure, and the changes in microwave dielectric properties at 10GHz were recorded. An apparent linear relationship was discovered between the polar group accumulation in the superficial layer and the change in microwave dielectric loss factor. Finally, the effect of aging on moisture absorption and the influence of thickness on the aging rate were preliminarily examined to investigate the impact of aging on practical applications.
In this work, a synergistic imprinting strategy combined with metal coordination based on ligand-free Fe3O4–Cu was proposed to fabricate molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) for the recognition and ...isolation of bovine hemoglobin (BHb) specifically in biological samples. Copper doped magnetic microspheres prepared solvothermally in a one-pot pathway act as both magnetic core and metal affinity substrate. Upon anchoring BHb to Fe3O4–Cu through metal coordination, the imprinted layer was formed via dopamine self-polymerization. Profiting from the synergistic effect, the obtained imprinted microspheres exhibited an enhanced adsorption performance with the adsorption capacity of 400.86 mg g−1, imprinting factor of 11.88, selectivity coefficient above 5.8, superior to most of other reported BHb-MIPs. Furthermore, kinetic adsorption analyses pointed to a chemisorption-limited process as described by the pseudo-second-order model, and the isothermal adsorption analyses implied monolayer adsorption, as described by the Langmuir model. In addition, the resultant magnetic MIPs can be used at least six adsorption-desorption cycles without re-incubation in the metallic salt solution, avoiding secondary environmental pollution. Furthermore, the well-defined materials showed selectivity both in individual protein samples and bovine serum, providing a promising potential in bioseparation.
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•A synergistic imprinting strategy combined with metal coordination based on ligand-free Fe3O4–Cu was proposed.•A simple and environmentally friendly synthesis procedure was presented.•Enhanced imprinting effect with high adsorption capacity and selectivity was achieved.•Fe3O4–Cu@BHb-MIPs specifically separated BHb in bovine serum.
Solid electrolytes have attracted much attention due to their great prospects in a number of energy‐ and environment‐related applications including fuel cells. Fast ion transport and superior ...mechanical properties of solid electrolytes are both of critical significance for these devices to operate with high efficiency and long‐term stability. To address a common tradeoff relationship between ionic conductivity and mechanical properties, electrolyte membranes with proton‐conducting 2D channels and nacre‐inspired architecture are reported. An unprecedented combination of high proton conductivity (326 mS cm−1 at 80 °C) and superior mechanical properties (tensile strength of 250 MPa) are achieved due to the integration of exceptionally continuous 2D channels and nacre‐inspired brick‐and‐mortar architecture into one materials system. Moreover, the membrane exhibits higher power density than Nafion 212 membrane, but with a comparative weight of only ≈0.1, indicating potential savings in system weight and cost. Considering the extraordinary properties and independent tunability of ion conduction and mechanical properties, this bioinspired approach may pave the way for the design of next‐generation high‐performance solid electrolytes with nacre‐like architecture.
The advancement of solid electrolytes is severely impeded by the strong tradeoff relationship between ion‐conduction and mechanical properties. Through integrating 2D channels and “brick‐and‐mortar” architecture into one materials system, an unprecedented combination of high proton conductivity and superior mechanical strength are achieved. This intriguing design may pave the way for the bioinspired design of next‐generation high‐performance solid electrolytes.
•CO2 release as result of photo-triggered phase transition in nanogel polymer is observed.•Photothermal conversion efficiency is improved with a proper dopamine concentration.•CO2 desorption dynamics ...and light absorbability are enhanced by polydopamine doping.•Average CO2 regeneration efficiency is reached up to 92.45% in five cycles.
Solar energy has been utilized to strip CO2 for saving the CO2 capture energy consumption. However, a large temperature swing is necessary for higher regeneration efficiency, which also will result in a serious materials degradation. Herein, we report a photo triggered phase transition strategy for reversible capture CO2 using amine containing nanogel particles-based solvents with a small temperature swing. The composite absorbents were prepared by combing N-3-(dimethylamino)propylmethacrylamide containing nanogel particles with polydopamine. The phenomenon of photoinduced phase transition was observed in both nanogel particles-based solvents and the composite absorbents. Although the nanogel particles can release most of CO2 undergo a light irradiation, the composite absorbents present a more faster desorption rate than the former, which can be explained by an enhanced light absorbability and photothermal conversion efficiency of the latter. An average CO2 regeneration efficiency can reach up to 92.45% in five CO2 uptake and release cycles, indicating that the photo triggered phase transition can be used to develop energy efficient CO2 capture technology.
The pyridine alkaloid nicotine acts as one of best-studied plant resistant traits in tobacco. Previous research has shown that
and
, acting as master regulators within the
and
locus, quantitatively ...contribute to nicotine accumulation levels in
. Genome editing-created
(
) and
(
) double mutant provides an ideal platform for precisely dissecting the defensive role of nicotine and the connection between the nicotine biosynthetic pathway with other putative metabolic networks. Taking this advantage, we performed a comparative transcriptomic analysis to reevaluate the potential physiological and metabolic changes in response to nicotine synthesis defect by comparing the
and
plants. Our findings revealed that nicotine reduction could systematically diminishes the expression intensities of genes associated with stimulus perception, signal transduction and regulation, as well as secondary metabolic flux. Consequently, this global expression reduction might compromise tobacco adaptions to environmental fitness, herbivore resistances, and plant growth and development. The up-regulation of a novel set of stress-responsive and metabolic pathway genes might signify a newly established metabolic reprogramming to tradeoff the detrimental effect of nicotine loss. These results offer additional compelling evidence regarding nicotine's critical defensive role in nature and highlights the tight link between nicotine biosynthesis and gene expression levels of quantitative resistance-related genes for better environmental adaptation.
•Bound water (BW) enhanced non-Fickian characteristics.•Immobile water fraction increased with increasing estimated bound water.•Solute exchange rate decreased with increasing bound water.•Moderately ...non-Fickian solute transport occurred in porous media with BW < 16.4 %.•Highly non-Fickian solute transport occurred in porous media with BW ≥ 16.4 %.
Bound water (BW) has significant effects on the physical and chemical properties of soils and other geologic formations. However, little is known about its effect on the non-Fickian transport of solute in porous media. This paper investigated the effect of BW on the non-Fickian solute transport characteristics in mixed porous media. Different porous media of quartz sand with variable contents of powdered minerals were prepared. The low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (LF-NMR) was used to quantitatively characterise BW and its spatial distribution. Then solute transport experiments were conducted in different prepared porous media and the measured breakthrough curves (BTCs) were analysed using the advection–dispersion equation (ADE), mobile-immobile (MIM) and continuous time random walk (CTRW) models. The results revealed that all measured BTCs exhibited the characteristics of early arrival and late-time tailing. However, stronger non-Fickian characteristics were observed as BW increased in content, indicating that BW influenced the non-Fickian transport of the solute. The optimised immobile water fraction of the MIM model consistently increased with increasing estimated BW fraction. Moreover, the coefficient of mass transfer rate (α) of MIM decreased as BW increased, meaning that the solute exchange between the mobile and immobile fluids became slower and consequently yielded strongly tailed BTCs. From the CTRW model, the solute transport velocity (vCTRW) increased with increasing BW, leading to a reduction in the breakthrough time of the solute. An increase in BW yielded a decreasing power law exponent (βCTRW) of the CTRW model, implying an enhancement of the non-Fickian transport characteristics. Furthermore, the porous media with BW<16.4% showed moderately non-Fickian solute transport whereas those with BW≥16.4% exhibited highly non-Fickian solute transport.
