Recently, sensors that can imitate human skin have received extensive attention. Capacitive sensors have a simple structure, low loss, no temperature drift, and other excellent properties, and can be ...applied in the fields of robotics, human–machine interactions, medical care, and health monitoring. Polymer matrices are commonly employed in flexible capacitive sensors because of their high flexibility. However, their volume is almost unchanged when pressure is applied, and they are inherently viscoelastic. These shortcomings severely lead to high hysteresis and limit the improvement in sensitivity. Therefore, considerable efforts have been applied to improve the sensing performance by designing different microstructures of materials. Herein, two types of sensors based on the applied forces are discussed, including pressure sensors and strain sensors. Currently, five types of microstructures are commonly used in pressure sensors, while four are used in strain sensors. The advantages, disadvantages, and practical values of the different structures are systematically elaborated. Finally, future perspectives of microstructures for capacitive sensors are discussed, with the aim of providing a guide for designing advanced flexible and stretchable capacitive sensors via ingenious human‐made microstructures.
The advantages, disadvantages, and practical applications of several popular microstructures that are widely employed in capacitive sensors are summarized. A microstructured dielectric layer or electrode can improve sensor sensitivity, reduce hysteresis, and endow the rigid electronic device with excellent elastic stretchability, which is an essential part of next‐generation wearable devices and soft robots.
Protists, functionally divided into consumers, phototrophs, and parasites act as integral components and vital regulators of microbiomes in soil–plant continuums. However, the drivers of community ...structure, assembly mechanisms, co‐occurrence patterns, and the associations with human pathogens and different protistan trophic groups remain unknown. Here, we characterized the phyllosphere and soil protistan communities associated with three vegetables under different fertilization treatments (none and organic fertilization) at five growth stages. In this study, consumers were the most diverse soil protist group, had the role of inter‐kingdom connector, and were the primary biomarker for rhizosphere soils which were subjected to decreasing deterministic processes during plant growth. In contrast, phototrophs had the greatest niche breadth and formed soil protistan hubs, and were the primary biomarkers for both bulk soils and the phyllosphere. Parasites had minimal input to microbial co‐occurrence networks. Organic fertilization increased the relative abundance (RA) of pathogenic protists and the number of pathogen–consumer connections in rhizosphere soils but decreased protistan richness and the number of internal protistan links. This study advances our understanding of the ecological roles and potential links between human pathogens and protistan trophic groups associated with soil–plant continuums, which is fundamental to the regulation of soil–plant microbiomes and maintenance of environmental and human health.
Protists are integral components of the microbiome in soil–plant systems, yet little is known about the dynamics of each protistan trophic group during plant growth and their association with human health. Here, we systematically characterized the protistan communities from the phyllosphere, rhizosphere, and bulk soils at different growth stages of three vegetables under different fertilization treatments (none and organic fertilization). Phototrophs were the dominant phyllosphere protists and also represented the major soil protistan module hub within co‐occurrence networks. Soil consumers were essential inter‐kingdom connectors being closely associated with potential human pathogens. Organic fertilization increased both pathogenic protists and pathogen–consumer connections in rhizosphere soils, suggesting that rhizosphere soil was a potential hotspot for pathogen transmission. Our findings present novel insights into the dynamics and ecological roles of each protistan trophic group and have implications for environmental applications of protists, fertilization management optimization, and supporting human health.
Since neutrino oscillations (NOs) show nonclassical features with the Leggett–Garg inequality and exhibit potential applications in quantum information processing and telecommunications, in order to ...further reveal quantum properties of the NO systems, we herein focus on investigating entanglement and entropic uncertainty relation in the context of three-flavor NOs. Specifically, we take advantage of three different types of entanglement measures to characterize quantum resources originating from NO systems, and examine the hierarchical relationship among them. Moreover, we analyze the experiment data from different neutrino sources including Daya Bay (0.5 and 1.6 km) and MINOS+ (735 km) collaborations in comparison with our theoretical results. We find that the dynamical evolution of both the entropic uncertainty and entanglement of system shows non-monotonicity, and the experimental results coincide with our theoretical prediction very well. Interestingly, it shows that neutrinos always maintain quantum properties during oscillation process. More importantly, we reveal that the variation of the uncertainty is almost anti-correlated with that of the entanglement of system. Therefore, the nature of entanglement and uncertainty in NOs can be explored in the practical experiment when the three-flavor neutrino states are treated as three-qubit ones, which might be useful for the potential NO-based applications on prospective quantum information processing.
Depression has become the leading cause of disability worldwide and a growing public health problem in China. In addition, intestinal flora may be associated with depression. This study investigated ...the effect of the decoction Xiaoyaosan (XYS) against depressive behavior through the regulation of intestinal flora. Fifty-two healthy male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into four groups (i.e., control, model, XYS, and fluoxetine). The latter three groups were subjected to 21 days of chronic restraint stress to produce the stress depression model. Rats in the XYS and fluoxetine groups received intragastric administration of XYS and fluoxetine, respectively. The behavioral changes of the rats were observed after 21 days. Stool specimens were sequenced using the 16S rDNA high-throughput method to detect the structure and changes in intestinal flora. There was no difference observed in alpha diversity among the groups. At the phylum level, XYS regulated the abundance of Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Chloroflexi, and Planctomycetes. At the genus level, XYS reduced the abundance of the Prevotellaceae_Ga6A1_group, Prevotellaceae_UCG-001, and Desulfovibrio. On the contrary, it increased the abundance of the Ruminococcaceae family to improve depression-like behavior. The mechanism involved in this process may be related to short-chain fatty acids, lipopolysaccharides, and intestinal inflammation.
Combination chemotherapy refers to the use of multiple drugs to treat cancer. In this therapy, the optimal ratio of the drugs is essential to achieve drug synergism and the desired therapeutic ...effects. However, most delivery strategies are unable to precisely control the ratio of the drugs during the drug loading and delivery processes, resulting in inefficient synergy and unpredictable efficacy. Herein, a macrocyclic‐amphiphile‐based self‐assembled nanoparticle (MASN) that achieves precise loading and ratiometric delivery of therapeutic combinations is presented. By integrating multiple macrocyclic cavities within a single nanoparticle, the MASN can load multiple drug molecules via the host–guest interaction, and the ratio of the drugs loaded can be predicted with their initial concentrations and characteristic binding affinity. Moreover, MASNs are readily degraded under a hypoxic microenvironment, allowing spontaneous release of the drugs upon reaching tumor tissues. With precise drug loading and controlled release mechanisms, MASNs achieve ratiometric delivery of multiple commercial drugs to tumors, thereby achieving optimal anti‐tumor effects. Since the optimal drug ratio of a therapeutic combination can be quickly determined in vitro, MASNs can translate this optimal ratio to the therapeutic benefits in vivo, providing a potential platform for the rapid development of effective combination cancer therapies involving multiple drugs.
A macrocyclic‐amphiphile‐based self‐assembled nanoparticle (MASN) with the capability of precise loading and ratiometric delivery of different drugs is developed for effective combination chemotherapy. The MASN can quickly convert the optimal drug ratio of a therapeutic combination identified in vitro into therapeutic benefits in vivo, providing a potential platform for the rapid development of effective combinations of cancer therapies.
Although the fates of microplastics (0.1-5 mm in size) and nanoplastics (<100 nm) in marine environments are being increasingly well studied
, little is known about the behaviour of nanoplastics in ...terrestrial environments
, especially agricultural soils
. Previous studies have evaluated the consequences of nanoplastic accumulation in aquatic plants, but there is no direct evidence for the internalization of nanoplastics in terrestrial plants. Here, we show that both positively and negatively charged nanoplastics can accumulate in Arabidopsis thaliana. The aggregation promoted by the growth medium and root exudates limited the uptake of amino-modified polystyrene nanoplastics with positive surface charges. Thus, positively charged nanoplastics accumulated at relatively low levels in the root tips, but these nanoplastics induced a higher accumulation of reactive oxygen species and inhibited plant growth and seedling development more strongly than negatively charged sulfonic-acid-modified nanoplastics. By contrast, the negatively charged nanoplastics were observed frequently in the apoplast and xylem. Our findings provide direct evidence that nanoplastics can accumulate in plants, depending on their surface charge. Plant accumulation of nanoplastics can have both direct ecological effects and implications for agricultural sustainability and food safety.
•Rubber-modified recycled aggregate concrete with 3 different rubber contents was tested.•The best mix ratio of rubber content was provided.•Addition of recycled aggregate and rubber enhanced fatigue ...life of concrete.•Fatigue life equation of rubber-modified recycled aggregate concrete was presented.
Based on the performance requirements for airport pavement concrete, this study analyzes the mechanical properties, fatigue properties and damage characteristics of rubber-modified recycled aggregate concrete (RRAC) with waste rubber replacement rates of 10%, 20% and 30%. The test results for compressive strength, four-point flexural bending, elasticity modulus and fatigue life on RRAC showed that the compressive strength of recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) increased by 10.1% from that of normal concrete (NC) (rubber-free and recycled-aggregate-free concrete). The compressive strength, flexural strength and elasticity modulus of the RRAC decreased with the increase in rubber particle content. However, the peak deflection, peak strain and ultimate strain increased with the increase of rubber particle content with a certain range. When rubber particle content reached 20% of the sand, the ultimate strain of RRAC was 3.45times that of rubber-free RAC. Based on the Weibull theory, statistical analysis was performed on the test results, and double logarithm fatigue equations for RRAC under different failure probabilities were provided, which could be used to predict the ultimate fatigue strength of RRAC. An analysis of the damage characteristics showed that both recycled aggregate and rubber particle could enhance the concrete’s fatigue life. This enhancement was most significant when the rubber particle content reached 20%.
Smart regulation of substance permeability through porous membranes is highly desirable for membrane applications. Inspired by the stomatal closure feature of plant leaves at relatively high ...temperature, here we report a nano-gating membrane with a negative temperature-response coefficient that is capable of tunable water gating and precise small molecule separation. The membrane is composed of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) covalently bound to graphene oxide via free-radical polymerization. By virtue of the temperature tunable lamellar spaces of the graphene oxide nanosheets, the water permeance of the membrane could be reversibly regulated with a high gating ratio. Moreover, the space tunability endows the membrane with the capability of gradually separating multiple molecules of different sizes. This nano-gating membrane expands the scope of temperature-responsive membranes and has great potential applications in smart gating systems and molecular separation.
Wild relatives of crops are an important source of genetic diversity for agriculture, but their gene repertoire remains largely unexplored. We report the establishment and analysis of a pan-genome of ...Glycine soja, the wild relative of cultivated soybean Glycine max, by sequencing and de novo assembly of seven phylogenetically and geographically representative accessions. Intergenomic comparisons identified lineage-specific genes and genes with copy number variation or large-effect mutations, some of which show evidence of positive selection and may contribute to variation of agronomic traits such as biotic resistance, seed composition, flowering and maturity time, organ size and final biomass. Approximately 80% of the pan-genome was present in all seven accessions (core), whereas the rest was dispensable and exhibited greater variation than the core genome, perhaps reflecting a role in adaptation to diverse environments. This work will facilitate the harnessing of untapped genetic diversity from wild soybean for enhancement of elite cultivars.
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