Magnetite (Fe3O4) nanoparticles (NPs) are attractive nanomaterials in the field of material science, chemistry, and physics because of their valuable properties, such as soft ferromagnetism, ...half-metallicity, and biocompatibility. Various structures of Fe3O4 NPs with different sizes, geometries, and nanoarchitectures have been synthesized, and the related properties have been studied with targets in multiple fields of applications, including biomedical devices, electronic devices, environmental solutions, and energy applications. Tailoring the sizes, geometries, magnetic properties, and functionalities is an important task that determines the performance of Fe3O4 NPs in many applications. Therefore, this review focuses on the crucial aspects of Fe3O4 NPs, including structures, synthesis, magnetic properties, and strategies for functionalization, which jointly determine the application performance of various Fe3O4 NP-based systems. We first summarize the recent advances in the synthesis of magnetite NPs with different sizes, morphologies, and magnetic properties. We also highlight the importance of synthetic factors in controlling the structures and properties of NPs, such as the uniformity of sizes, morphology, surfaces, and magnetic properties. Moreover, emerging applications using Fe3O4 NPs and their functionalized nanostructures are also highlighted with a focus on applications in biomedical technologies, biosensing, environmental remedies for water treatment, and energy storage and conversion devices.
Magnetic particles are widely used as signal labels in a variety of biological sensing applications, such as molecular detection and related strategies that rely on ligand-receptor binding. In this ...review, we explore the fundamental concepts involved in designing magnetic particles for biosensing applications and the techniques used to detect them. First, we briefly describe the magnetic properties that are important for bio-sensing applications and highlight the associated key parameters (such as the starting materials, size, functionalization methods, and bio-conjugation strategies). Subsequently, we focus on magnetic sensing applications that utilize several types of magnetic detection techniques: spintronic sensors, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) sensors, superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs), sensors based on the atomic magnetometer (AM), and others. From the studies reported, we note that the size of the MPs is one of the most important factors in choosing a sensing technique.
Nucleic acids are major targets for molecular sensing because of their wide involvement in biological functions. Determining their presence, movement, and binding specificity is thus well pursued. ...However, many current techniques are usually sophisticated, expensive, and often lack single-nucleotide resolution. In this paper, we report the force-induced visualization method that relies on the novel concept of mechanical force to determine the functional positions of nucleic acids with single-nucleotide resolution. The use of an adjustable mechanical force overcomes the variation of analyte concentration and differences in buffer conditions that are common in biological settings. Two examples are described to validate the method: one is probing the mRNA movement during ribosomal translocation, and the other is revealing the interacting sites and strengths of DNA-binding drugs based on the force amplitude. The flexibility of the method, simplicity of the associated device, and capability of multiplexed detection will potentially enable a broad range of biomedical applications.
Molybdenum (Mo) has been reported to alleviate drought stress by enhancing antioxidant defense in plants, but the underlying mechanism remains unclear. Here, we hypothesized that Mo mediates nitric ...oxide (NO)-induced antioxidant defense through Mo-enzymes, particularly by nitrate reductase (NR) in wheat under drought stress. The 30-day-old wheat seedlings cultivated in -Mo (0 μM Mo) and +Mo (1 μM Mo) Hoagland solutions were detached and then pretreated with Mo-enzyme inhibitors, NO scavengers, NO donors or their combinations according to demands of complementary experiment under 10% polyethylene glycol 6000 (PEG)-stimulated drought stress (PSD). Mo supplementation increased the activities and transcripts of antioxidant enzymes, decreased H
O
and MDA contents, and elevated NO production, implying that Mo-induced antioxidant defense may be related to NO signal. Complementary experiment showed that NO production was induced by Mo, while suppressed by Mo-enzyme inhibitors and NO scavengers, but restored by NO donors, suggesting that Mo-induced increase of NO production may be due to the regulation by Mo-enzymes. Further experiment indicated that the increased activities and transcripts of antioxidant enzymes induced by Mo were suppressed by Mo-enzyme inhibitors and NO scavengers, and NO donors could eliminate their suppressing effects. Moreover, Mo application increased NR activity and inhibitors of Mo-enzymes inhibited NR activity in wheat leaves under PSD, suggesting that NR might involve in the regulation of Mo-induced NO production. These results clearly indicate that NO mediates Mo-induced antioxidant defense at least partially through the regulation of NR.
Cadmium (Cd) is present in many soils and, when enter a food chain, represents a major health threat to humans. The existent large variation in grain Cd content amongst wheat genotypes opens ...prospects for genetic improvement for reduced Cd uptake in this species. However, selecting low-Cd-accumulating varieties comes with a possible caveat of affecting uptake other essential nutrients. In this work, we screened 134 wheat varieties in 3 various field studies and selected 15 high- and 15 low-Cd accumulating varieties in grains for ionomics analysis. Our results showed that high-Cd accumulating varieties also possessed an ability to accumulate mineral elements of calcium, magnesium, manganese, iron and zinc, while varieties with low Cd content were deficient in many essential nutrients and, especially, zinc (Zn). The above data was confirmed in an independent trail involving another 97 wheat varieties. Thus, selecting plants for high Zn accumulation (as a part of biofortification programs) resulted in an inadvertent increase in accumulation of the toxic Cd in wheat. Vice versa, selecting low Cd-accumulating varieties comes with a danger of reducing their Zn content, with major consequences to food quality and human health. We suggest that the above conundrum can be resolved by understanding the structure-function relations of various transporters isoforms involved in Zn and Cd transport and issue-specific mode of their operation, via cell-based phenotyping followed by molecular breeding.
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•15 high- and 15 low-Cd accumulating varieties were screened from 134 wheat varieties in 3 different Cd contaminated plots.•Ionomics analysis indicated that the concentration of Cd was significantly positively correlated with Zn in wheat grains.•The results provide new insights for the breeding and improvement of wheat varieties on Zn-enrichment and Cd-reduction.
Graph polynomials is one of the important research directions in mathematical chemistry. The coefficients of some graph polynomials, such as matching polynomial and permanental polynomial, are ...related to structural properties of graphs. The Hosoya index of a graph is the sum of the absolute value of all coefficients for the matching polynomial. And the permanental sum of a graph is the sum of the absolute value of all coefficients of the permanental polynomial. In this paper, we characterize the second to sixth minimal Hosoya indices of all bicyclic graphs. Furthermore, using the results, the second to sixth minimal permanental sums of all bicyclic graphs are also characterized.
A connected graph Γ is k-extendable for a positive integer k if every matching M of size k can be extended to a perfect matching. The extendability number of Γ is the maximum k such that Γ is ...k-extendable. In this paper, we prove that Cayley graphs generated by transposition trees on {1,2,…,n} are (n−2)-extendable and determine that the extendability number is n−2 for an integer n≥3.
The study was aimed at investigating the alterations of local spontaneous brain activity in preschool boys with autism spectrum disorders (ASD).
Based on regional homogeneity (ReHo), the acquired ...resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data sets, which included 86 boys with ASD and 54 typically developing (TD) boys, were used to detect regional brain activity. Pearson correlation analysis was used to study the relationship between abnormal ReHo value and the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS), Autism Behavior Checklist (ABC), developmental quotient, and age.
In the ASD group, we found increased ReHo in the right calcarine as well as decreased ReHo in the opercular part of the left inferior frontal gyrus, the left middle temporal gyrus, the left angular gyrus, and the right medial orbital frontal cortex (
< 0.05, false discovery rate correction). We did not find a correlation between the results of brain regions and the CARS, ABC, and age.
Our study found spontaneous activity changes in multiple brain regions, especially the visual and language-related areas of ASD, that may help to further understand the clinical characteristics of boys with ASD.
Neuroimaging studies have shown that autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) may be associated with abnormalities in brain structures and functions at rest as well as during cognitive tasks. However, it ...remains unclear if functional connectivity (FC) of all brain neural networks is also changed in these subjects. In this study, we acquired functional magnetic resonance imaging scans from 93 children with ASD and 79 matched healthy subjects. Group independent component analysis was executed for all of the participants to estimate FC. One-sample
-tests were then performed to obtain the networks for each group. Group differences in the different brain networks were tested using two-sample
-tests. Finally, relationships between abnormal FC and clinical variables were investigated with Pearson's correlation analysis. The results from one-sample
-tests revealed nine networks with similar spatial patterns in these two groups. When compared with the controls, children with ASD showed increased connectivity in the right dorsolateral superior frontal gyrus and left middle frontal gyrus (MFG) within the occipital pole network. Children with ASD also showed decreased connectivity in the left gyrus rectus, left middle occipital gyrus, right angular gyrus, right MFG and right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), orbital part within the lateral visual network (LVN), the left IFG, right precuneus, and right angular gyrus within the left frontoparietal (cognition) network. Furthermore, the mean FC values within the LVN showed significant positive correlations with total score of the Childhood Autism Rating Scale. Our findings indicate that abnormal FC extensively exists within some networks in children with ASD. This abnormal FC may constitute a biomarker of ASD. Our results are an important contribution to the study of neuropathophysiological mechanisms in children with ASD.
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