Marine biofouling is a severe problem with a wide‐reaching impact on ship maintenance, the economy, and ecosystem safety, among others. Inspired by complex multifunctional frogskins, wrinkled ...slippery coatings are created that exhibit remarkable antifouling, anti‐icing, and self‐cleaning properties through a combination of degradable di‐block copolymer self‐assembly i.e., polystyrene‐b‐polylactide (PS‐b‐PLA) and hydrolysis‐driven dynamic release‐induced surface wrinkling. Microwrinkled patterns can generate curved surfaces that are resistant to biofouling. Gyroid‐forming PS‐b‐PLA can be used to produce nanoporous templates with cocontinuous nanochannels, which generate strong capillary forces for trapping and storing infiltrated lubricants. In this study, block‐copolymer‐derived hierarchically wrinkled slippery liquid‐infused nanoporous surfaces (i.e., micro wrinkles with nanochannels infused with slippery fluids) are successfully fabricated after silicone oil infiltration. The antibiofouling performance of these surfaces is examined against different foulers under various conditions. The produced coatings exhibited flexible, stable, transparent, and easily tunable antibiofouling characteristics. In particular, the formation of an eco‐friendly silicon‐based lubricant layer without the use of fluorinated compounds and costly material precursors is an advantage in industrial practice that can be adopted in various applications, such as fuel transport, self‐cleaning windows, anticorrosion protection, nontoxic coatings for medical devices, and optical instruments.
Inspired by complex multifunctional frogskins, wrinkled slippery coatings are created that exhibit remarkable antifouling, anti‐icing, and self‐cleaning properties through a combination of degradable di‐block copolymer self‐assembly (i.e., polystyrene‐b‐polylactide) and hydrolysis‐driven dynamic release‐induced surface wrinkling. The formation of an eco‐friendly silicon‐based lubricant layer with flexible, stable, transparent, and easily tunable antibiofouling characteristics is an advantage in industrial practice.
SUMMARY
Thermosensitive genic female sterility (TGFS) is a promising property to be utilized for hybrid breeding. Here, we identified a rice TGFS line, tfs2, through an ethyl methyl sulfone (EMS) ...mutagenesis strategy. This line showed sterility under high temperature and became fertile under low temperature. Few seeds were produced when the tfs2 stigma was pollinated, indicating that tfs2 is female sterile. Gene cloning and genetic complementation showed that a point mutation from leucine to phenylalanine in HEI10 (HEI10tfs2), a crossover formation protein, caused the TGFS trait of tfs2. Under high temperature, abnormal univalents were formed, and the chromosomes were unequally segregated during meiosis, similar to the reported meiotic defects in oshei10. Under low temperature, the number of univalents was largely reduced, and the chromosomes segregated equally, suggesting that crossover formation was restored in tfs2. Yeast two‐hybrid assays showed that HEI10 interacted with two putative protein degradation‐related proteins, RPT4 and SRFP1. Through transient expression in tobacco leaves, HEI10 were found to spontaneously aggregate into dot‐like foci in the nucleus under high temperature, but HEI10tfs2 failed to aggregate. In contrast, low temperature promoted HEI10tfs2 aggregation. This result suggests that protein aggregation at the crossover position contributes to the fertility restoration of tfs2 under low temperature. In addition, RPT4 and SRFP1 also aggregated into dot‐like foci, and these aggregations depend on the presence of HEI10. These findings reveal a novel mechanism of fertility restoration and facilitate further understanding of HEI10 in meiotic crossover formation.
Significance Statement
Our study promotes the understanding of HEI10/TFS2 for meiotic crossover formation and provides a mechanism for the female fertility restoration of TGFS lines under low temperature.
We examine how mandatory disclosure of corporate social responsibility (CSR) impacts firm performance and social externalities. Our analysis exploits China's 2008 mandate requiring firms to disclose ...CSR activities, using a difference-in-differences design. Although the mandate does not require firms to spend on CSR, we find that mandatory CSR reporting firms experience a decrease in profitability subsequent to the mandate. In addition, the cities most impacted by the disclosure mandate experience a decrease in their industrial wastewater and SO2 emission levels. These findings suggest that mandatory CSR disclosure alters firm behavior and generates positive externalities at the expense of shareholders.
Hard carbon (HC) has attracted considerable research interest as the most promising anode for potassium‐ion batteries (PIBs) due to its tunable interlayer spacing and abundant voids to accommodate ...K+. However, the practical application of hard carbon is severely hampered by low initial Coulombic efficiency (ICE) and high plateau potential. Herein, a manganese ion‐catalyzed pyrolysis strategy is explored to regulate the graphitic microcrystalline structure and localized electron distribution in hard carbon that greatly improve K+ plateau storage and ICE. Systematic experimental measurements, in situ/ex situ observations, dynamic analysis, and density functional theory calculations elucidate that the introduction of Mn2+ ions could catalyze the formation of short‐ordered graphitic nanodomains in hard carbon to provide abundant insertions of K+, and meanwhile induce localized electron distribution through the Mn─N3─C coordination structure to enable dynamic K+ diffusion and electron transfer kinetics. Consequently, the modulated hard carbon exhibits a high low‐potential–plateau capacity, excellent rate capability, and high initial Coulombic efficiency in potassium half‐cell configurations. More importantly, the charge storage mechanism of “adsorption–intercalation” is proposed based on the correlation between carbon structures and discharge/charge plateau. This work provides an in‐depth insight into the fundamentals of microstructure regulation of hard carbon anode for high‐performance PIBs.
A manganese ion‐catalyzed pyrolysis strategy is explored to regulate the graphitic microcrystalline structure and localized electron distribution in hard carbon that greatly improve K+ plateau storage and initial Coulombic efficiency (ICE). The as‐prepared hard carbon anode possesses high low‐potential–plateau capacity, excellent rate capability, and high ICE for potassium ion half‐cells, as well as high energy/power density for potassium‐ion hybrid capacitors.
A high configurational entropy, achieved through a proper design of compositions, can minimize the Gibbs free energy and stabilize the quasi‐equilibrium phases in a solid‐solution form. This leads to ...the development of high‐entropy materials with unique structural characteristics and excellent performance, which otherwise could not be achieved through conventional pathways. This work develops a high‐entropy nonlinear dielectric system, based on the expansion of lead magnesium niobate–lead titanate. A dense and uniform distribution of nano‐polar regions is observed in the samples owing to the addition of Ba, Hf, and Zr ions, which lead to enhanced performance of nonlinear dielectrics. The fact that no structural phase transformation is detected up to 250 °C, and no noticeable change or a steep drop in structural and electrical characteristics is observed at high temperatures suggests a robust thermal stability of the dielectric systems developed. With these advantages, these materials hold vast potential for applications such as dielectric energy storage, dielectric tunability, and electrocaloric effect. Thus, this work offers a new high‐entropy configuration with elemental modulation, with enhanced dielectric material features.
This work creates a high‐entropy nonlinear dielectric system based on the expansion of lead magnesium niobate–lead titanate with the additive Ba, Hf, and Zr ions. The structural phase transformation is not detected up to 250 °C, accompanied by excellent thermal stability at high temperatures on the structural and electrical characteristics. With these advantages, these materials hold vast potential applications.
Nitrogen (N), potassium (K), and phosphorus (P) are essential macronutrients for plant growth and development, and their availability affects crop yield. Compared with N, the relatively low ...availability of K and P in soils limits crop production and thus threatens food security and agricultural sustainability. Improvement of plant nutrient utilization efficiency provides a potential route to overcome the effects of K and P deficiencies. Investigation of the molecular mechanisms underlying how plants sense, absorb, transport, and use K and P is an important prerequisite to improve crop nutrient utilization efficiency. In this review, we summarize current understanding of K and P transport and signaling in plants, mainly taking Arabidopsis thaliana and rice (Oryza sativa) as examples. We also discuss the mechanisms coordinating transport of N and K, as well as P and N.
Potassium (K) and phosphorus (P) are essential macronutrients for plant growth, development, and crop yield. This review summarizes the current understanding of K and P transport and signaling in plants and discusses the mechanisms coordinating N (nitrogen), K, and P.
Lung cancer in East Asia is characterized by a high percentage of never-smokers, early onset and predominant EGFR mutations. To illuminate the molecular phenotype of this demographically distinct ...disease, we performed a deep comprehensive proteogenomic study on a prospectively collected cohort in Taiwan, representing early stage, predominantly female, non-smoking lung adenocarcinoma. Integrated genomic, proteomic, and phosphoproteomic analysis delineated the demographically distinct molecular attributes and hallmarks of tumor progression. Mutational signature analysis revealed age- and gender-related mutagenesis mechanisms, characterized by high prevalence of APOBEC mutational signature in younger females and over-representation of environmental carcinogen-like mutational signatures in older females. A proteomics-informed classification distinguished the clinical characteristics of early stage patients with EGFR mutations. Furthermore, integrated protein network analysis revealed the cellular remodeling underpinning clinical trajectories and nominated candidate biomarkers for patient stratification and therapeutic intervention. This multi-omic molecular architecture may help develop strategies for management of early stage never-smoker lung adenocarcinoma.
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•First deep proteogenomic landscape of non-smoking lung adenocarcinoma in East Asia•Identified age, sex-related endogenous, and environmental carcinogen mutagenic processes•Proteome-informed classification distinguished clinical features within early stages•Protein networks identified tumorigenesis hallmarks, biomarkers, and druggable targets
Deep proteogenomic landscape of early stage lung adenocarcinoma in a cohort of mostly non-smokers reveals unique drivers and biomarkers, as well as gender-associated mutagenesis.
Organic heterostructures (OHSs) integrating the intrinsic heterostructure characters as well as the organic semiconductor properties have attracted intensive attention in material chemistry. However, ...the precise bottom-up synthesis of OHSs is still challenging owing to the general occurrence of homogeneous-nucleation and the difficult manipulation of noncovalent interactions. Herein, we present the rational synthesis of the longitudinally/horizontally-epitaxial growth of one-dimensional OHSs including triblock and core/shell nanowires with quantitatively-manipulated microstructure via a hierarchical self-assembly method by regulating the noncovalent interactions: hydrogen bond (-15.66 kcal mol
) > halogen bond (-4.90 kcal mol
) > π-π interaction (-0.09 kcal mol
). In the facet-selective epitaxial growth strategy, the lattice-matching and the surface-interface energy balance respectively facilitate the realization of triblock and core/shell heterostructures. This hierarchical self-assembly approach opens up avenues to the fine synthesis of OHSs. We foresee application possibilities in integrated optoelectronics, such as the nanoscale multiple input/out optical logic gate with high-fidelity signal.
A redox-active vanadium-based polyoxometalate, V
O
, was post-synthetically immobilized into a water-stable zirconium-based metal-organic framework, NU-902. The adsorbed V
O
in NU-902 renders charge ...hopping in the framework in aqueous electrolytes, and the obtained V
O
@NU-902 can be used as a heterogeneous electrocatalyst for electrochemical dopamine sensors.
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common type of liver cancer, is the second leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. Processes involved in HCC progression and development, ...including cell transformation, proliferation, metastasis, and angiogenesis, are inflammation-associated carcinogenic processes because most cases of HCC develop from chronic liver damage and inflammation. Inflammation has been demonstrated to be a crucial factor inducing tumor development in various cancers, including HCC. Cytokines play critical roles in inflammation to accelerate tumor invasion and metastasis by mediating the migration of immune cells into damaged tissues in response to proinflammatory stimuli. Currently, surgical resection followed by chemotherapy is the most common curative therapeutic regimen for HCC. However, after chemotherapy, drug resistance is clearly observed, and cytokine secretion is dysregulated. Various chemotherapeutic agents, including cisplatin, etoposide, and 5-fluorouracil, demonstrate even lower efficacy in HCC than in other cancers. Tumor resistance to chemotherapeutic drugs is the key limitation of curative treatment and is responsible for treatment failure and recurrence, thus limiting the ability to treat patients with advanced HCC. Therefore, the capability to counteract drug resistance would be a major clinical advancement. In this review, we provide an overview of links between chemotherapeutic agents and inflammatory cytokine secretion in HCC. These links might provide insight into overcoming inflammatory reactions and cytokine secretion, ultimately counteracting chemotherapeutic resistance.
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