How plants defend themselves from microbial infection is one of the most critical issues for sustainable crop production. Some TGA transcription factors belonging to bZIP superfamily can regulate ...disease resistance through NPR1-mediated immunity mechanisms in Arabidopsis. Here, we examined biological roles of OsTGA2 (grouped into the same subclade as Arabidopsis TGAs) in bacterial leaf blight resistance. Transcriptional level of OsTGA2 was accumulated after treatment with salicylic acid, methyl jasmonate, and Xathomonas oryzae pv. Oryzae (Xoo), a bacterium causing serious blight of rice. OsTGA2 formed homo- and hetero-dimer with OsTGA3 and OsTGA5 and interacted with rice NPR1 homologs 1 (NH1) in rice. Results of quadruple 9-mer protein-binding microarray analysis indicated that OsTGA2 could bind to TGACGT DNA sequence. Overexpression of OsTGA2 increased resistance of rice to bacterial leaf blight, although overexpression of OsTGA3 resulted in disease symptoms similar to wild type plant upon Xoo infection. Overexpression of OsTGA2 enhanced the expression of defense related genes containing TGA binding cis-element in the promoter such as AP2/EREBP 129, ERD1, and HOP1. These results suggest that OsTGA2 can directly regulate the expression of defense related genes and increase the resistance of rice against bacterial leaf blight disease.
Dopamine neurons are essential for voluntary movement, reward learning, and motivation, and their dysfunction is closely linked to various psychological and neurodegenerative diseases. Hence, ...understanding the detailed signaling mechanisms that functionally modulate dopamine neurons is crucial for the development of better therapeutic strategies against dopamine-related disorders. Phospholipase Cγ1 (PLCγ1) is a key enzyme in intracellular signaling that regulates diverse neuronal functions in the brain. It was proposed that PLCγ1 is implicated in the development of dopaminergic neurons, while the physiological function of PLCγ1 remains to be determined. In this study, we investigated the physiological role of PLCγ1, one of the key effector enzymes in intracellular signaling, in regulating dopaminergic function in vivo. We found that cell type-specific deletion of PLCγ1 does not adversely affect the development and cellular morphology of midbrain dopamine neurons but does facilitate dopamine release from dopaminergic axon terminals in the striatum. The enhancement of dopamine release was accompanied by increased colocalization of vesicular monoamine transporter 2 (VMAT2) at dopaminergic axon terminals. Notably, dopamine neuron-specific knockout of PLCγ1 also led to heightened expression and colocalization of synapsin III, which controls the trafficking of synaptic vesicles. Furthermore, the knockdown of VMAT2 and synapsin III in dopamine neurons resulted in a significant attenuation of dopamine release, while this attenuation was less severe in PLCγ1 cKO mice. Our findings suggest that PLCγ1 in dopamine neurons could critically modulate dopamine release at axon terminals by directly or indirectly interacting with synaptic machinery, including VMAT2 and synapsin III.
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The gas sensing properties of Al-doped ZnO nanoparticles (NPs), which were synthesized via a hydrothermal method, have been described for the detection of volatile organic compounds ...(VOCs) such as acetaldehyde, toluene, and benzene. The maximum sensing response (R = 2250) of these Al-doped ZnO NPs was observed upon exposure to 10 ppm acetaldehyde at an optimal operating temperature of 500 °C, which was almost 173 and 125 times higher than that observed for toluene and benzene, respectively. The highest dipole moment of acetaldehyde among the three VOCs is responsible for its highest sensitivity. The Al-doped ZnO NPs also show a higher selectivity toward acetaldehyde than that of different interfering gases and their response to acetaldehyde was superior compared with the previously reported responses of other materials. The enhanced sensing performance of Al-doped ZnO NPs to acetaldehyde compared to undoped ones may be explained by an increase in specific surface area, oxygen vacancies, and conductivity after Al doping.
A low complexity on-board vector calibration network for optimal microwave wireless power transmission (MWPT) efficiency is proposed in this work. The proposed technique is based on sequentially ...tracking the minimum power level of two antenna elements in an array for both phase and amplitude error discrimination. Unlike conventional vector calibration networks based on a down-conversion topology, the proposed architecture can perform vector calibration by only monitoring the magnitude of each antenna element. Thus, high system efficiency can be achieved by reducing hardware costs and eliminating any unnecessary power consumption by extra active devices. Further, phase and amplitude imbalances between antenna elements in an array can be accurately captured with higher precision compared to the conventional rotating-element electric-field vector (REV) method. The proposed technique achieved higher resolutions for both amplitude and phase error detection than REV, which suffers from low resolution near the maximum or minimum field crests. To verify the MWPT efficiency improvement based on the proposed calibration network, a 1 × 4 phased array MWPT system was fabricated and tested at 5.8 GHz with a reference rectenna. With the calibrated power transmission, the total RF-DC conversion efficiencies at ± 45° beamforming angles were improved by up to a maximum of 138.79%.
•Amplitude and phase calibration for high efficiency microwave wireless power transfer.•Low complexity magnitude-only detection for high accuracy vector calibration.•High resolution amplitude and phase error detection and precise correction.•Rectenna RF-to-DC conversion efficiency enhancement.•Realization of cost-effective calibration network.
Most memory-chip manufacturers keep trying to supply cost-effective storage devices with high-performance characteristics such as shorter tPROG, lower power consumption and higher endurance. For many ...years, every effort has been made to shrink die size to lower cost and to improve performance. However, the previously used node-shrinking methodology is facing challenges due to increased cell-to-cell interference and patterning difficulties caused by decreasing dimension. To overcome these limitations, 3D-stacking technology has been developed. As a result of long and focused research in 3D stacking technology, we succeed in developing 128 Gb 3b/cell Vertical NAND with 32 stack WL layers for the first time, which is the smallest 128 Gb NAND Flash. The die size is 68.9 mm 2 , program time is 700 us and I/O rate is 1 Gb/s.
Gold nanoshells have been actively applied in industries beyond the research stage because of their unique optical properties. Although numerous methods have been reported for gold nanoshell ...synthesis, the labor-intensive and time-consuming production process is an issue that must be overcome to meet industrial demands. To resolve this, we report a high-throughput synthesis method for nanogap-rich gold nanoshells based on a core silica support (denoted as SiO
@Au NS), affording a 50-fold increase in scale by combining it with a dual-channel infusion pump system. By continuously dropping the reactant solution through the pump, nanoshells with closely packed Au nanoparticles were prepared without interparticle aggregation. The thickness of the gold nanoshells was precisely controlled at 2.3-17.2 nm by regulating the volume of the reactant solution added dropwise. Depending on the shell thickness, the plasmonic characteristics of SiO
@Au NS prepared by the proposed method could be tuned. Moreover, SiO
@Au NS exhibited surface-enhanced Raman scattering activity comparable to that of gold nanoshells prepared by a previously reported low-throughput method at the same reactant ratio. The results indicate that the proposed high-throughput synthesis method involving the use of a dual-channel infusion system will contribute to improving the productivity of SiO
@Au NS with tunable plasmonic characteristics.
As the application of oxide semiconductor thin-film transistors (oxide TFTs) expands, higher electrical properties are required. Hydrogen (H) is a crucial element related to both the mobility and ...stability of oxide TFTs. Appropriate H incorporation induces enhanced characteristics; however, excessive H degrades TFTs. In this letter, we suggest inserting an interfacial layer (IL) deposited via plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition of several cycles to control H at the atomic-scale. As the number of IL deposition cycles increase from 0 to 10 cy, both mobility and stability improve. Furthermore, TFT with IL of 15 cy lost its on/off characteristic. Considering the analysis results, it was confirmed that the control of H concentration through IL can effectively improve the electrical characteristics of oxide TFTs. The oxide TFT with IL of 10 cy and optimized incorporation of H exhibits a high mobility of 50.12 cm2/V.s with great stability.
G-protein coupled receptor 43 (GPR43) serves as a receptor for short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), implicated in neutrophil migration and inflammatory cytokine production. However, the intracellular ...signaling pathway mediating GPR43 signaling remains unclear. Here, we show that β-arrestin 2 mediates the internalization of GPR43 by agonist. Agonism of GPR43 reduced the phosphorylation and nuclear translocation of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB), which was relieved by short interfering RNA (siRNA) of β-arrestin 2. Subsequently, mRNA expression of proinflammatory cytokines, interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-1β, was downregulated by activation of GPR43 and knockdown of β-arrestin 2 recovered the expression of the cytokines. Taken together, these results suggest that GPR43 may be a plausible target for a variety of inflammatory diseases.
A new level-set algorithm is developed that distinguishes the interior from the exterior of complex geometry by parameterizing the correlation between the stereolithography (STL) information and grid ...points in order to embody three-dimensional boundary interfaces in the Cartesian coordinate system. The method is applied to the flame and shock wave interactions in hydrocarbon fuel blends including the transition to a detonation in various three-dimensional geometric complexities for predicting the maximum chamber pressure. The locations of the strong shock-flame interactions and the onset of the hot spot initiation in the regions of the strongest interaction are investigated. Moreover, the study is intended for providing safety assessments of the pressure confinements that include bends, steps, and narrow channels connecting cavities by utilizing the present algorithm that can identify the triggering effects of the transition to detonation.
•Stereolithography based level-set algorithm is developed for shock-flame analysis.•Transition to a detonation in hydrocarbon fuel blends is investigated.•Results support safety assessments of pressure confinements of various complexity.
Substitutional doping is known to be effective in reducing lattice thermal conductivity in order to enhance the thermoelectric efficiency. However, the effect of co‐doping of two different ...substituents has not been investigated exclusively. Here, the effect of Ag and Ga co‐doping in p‐type Bi0.42Sb1.58Te3 alloys is examined with respect to the electronic and thermal transport properties, and the results are compared to cases of Ag‐doping and Ga‐doping separately. When the Ag and Ga are individually doped, the Ag‐doping increases the hole concentration, and the Ga‐doping reduces it. When both Ag and Ga are co‐doped, their opposite effects on the carrier concentration cancelled each other while maintaining the optimal concentration of the pristine Bi0.42Sb1.58Te3. An analysis of the lattice thermal conductivity reduction by the Ag and Ga co‐doping confirms that the co‐doping is as effective as the cumulative effect of each single doping. As a result, the co‐doped Bi0.42Sb1.58Te3 alloys have power factors comparable to that of the pristine Bi0.42Sb1.58Te3, and a drastically reduced lattice thermal conductivity owing to cumulative influences from the two independent dopants. Consequently, the co‐doping provides a beneficial effect in enhancing the thermoelectric efficiency by effectively suppressing the lattice thermal conductivity while maintaining high power factors.
The effect of co‐doping in p‐type Bi0.42Sb1.58Te3 thermoelectric alloys is examined with respect to the electronic and thermal properties. The co‐doped alloys have power factors comparable to that of the pristine Bi0.42Sb1.58Te3, and a reduced thermal conductivity owing to cumulative influences from the two independent dopants. Consequently, the co‐doping provides a beneficial effect in thermoelectric efficiency by effectively suppressing the thermal conductivity while maintaining high‐power factors.
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