Genome-Wide Identification and Expression Analysis of the Phytocyanin Gene Family in Nicotiana tabacum

Phytocyanin(PC)is a class of plant-specific blue copper proteins involved in electron transport,plant growth,development,and stress resistance.However,PC proteins have not been systematically evaluated in tobacco plants.We determined the whole-genome sequences of the PC family in the tobacco cultivar‘K326.’The transcriptome data were used to analyze the expression of the NtPC family at different development stages and tissue-specific genes.Real-time fluorescence quantitative analysis was used to analyze the expression of the NtPC gene family under low temperature and methyl jasmonate stress.The tobacco NtPC family contained 110 members and was divided into four subfamilies:early nodulin-like protein(NtENODL),uclacyanin-like protein,stellacyanin1-like protein,and plantacyanin-like protein.According to phylogenetic and structural analyses,the NtPC family could be divided into eight structural types.Fifty-three NtPCs were randomly distributed on 22 of 24 tobacco chromosomes.Collinearity analysis revealed 33 pairs of genes belonging to the NtPC family.Gene ontology analysis showed that the PC genes are components of the plasma membrane and may participate in plasma membrane-related functions.The NtPC family contained numerous elements related to hormonal and abiotic stress responses and was specifically expressed in the tobacco prosperous,maturation,and budding periods.Tissue-specific expression analysis showed that some genes were tissue specific.The expression of NtENODL58 and other genes was significantly induced by low-temperature and methyl jasmonate stress.Thus,the NtPC gene family plays an important role in plant stress response.

Machine Learning Based Resource Allocation of Cloud Computing in Auction

Resource allocation in auctions is a challenging problem for cloud computing.However,the resource allocation problem is NP-hard and cannot be solved in polynomial time.The existing studies mainly use approximate algorithms such as PTAS or heuristic algorithms to determine a feasible solution;however,these algorithms have the disadvantages of low computational efficiency or low allocate accuracy.In this paper,we use the classification of machine learning to model and analyze the multi-dimensional cloud resource allocation problem and propose two resource allocation prediction algorithms based on linear and logistic regressions.By learning a small-scale training set,the prediction model can guarantee that the social welfare,allocation accuracy,and resource utilization in the feasible solution are very close to those of the optimal allocation solution.The experimental results show that the proposed scheme has good effect on resource allocation in cloud computing.

Silica shell-assisted synthetic route for mono-disperse persistent nanophosphors with enhanced in vivo recharged near-infrared persistent luminescence

Near-infrared （NIR） persistent-luminescence nanoparticles have emerged as a new class of background-free contrast agents that are promising for in vivo imaging. The next key roadblock is to establish a robust and controllable method for synthesizing monodisperse nanoparticles with high luminescence brightness and long persistent duration. Herein, we report a synthesis strategy involving the coating/etching of the SiO2 shell to obtain a new class of small NIR highly persistent luminescent ZnGa2O4：Cr^3＋,Sn^4＋（ZGOCS） nanoparticles. The optimized ZGOCS nanoparticles have an excellent size distribution of -15 nm without any agglomeration and an NIR persistent luminescence that is enhanced by a factor of 13.5, owing to the key role of the SiO2 shell in preventing nanoparticle agglomeration after annealing. The ZGOCS nanoparticles have a signal-to-noise ratio -3 times higher than that of previously reported ZnGa204：Cr^3＋ （ZGC-1） nanoparticles as an NIR persistent-luminescence probe for in vivo bioimaging. Moreover, the persistent-luminescence signal from the ZGOCS nanoparticles can be repeatedly re-charged in situ with external excitation by a white light- emitting diode; thus, the nanopartides are suitable for long-term in vivo imaging applications. Our study suggests an improved strategy for fabricating novel high-performance optical nanoparticles with good biocompatibility.

SOCS3 Attenuates GM-CSF/IFN-γ-Mediated Inflammation During Spontaneous Spinal Cord Regeneration

SOCS3,a feedback inhibitor of the JAK/STAT signal pathway,negatively regulates axonal regrowth and inflammation in the central nervous system(CNS).Here,we demonstrated a distinct role of SOCS3 in the injured spinal cord of the gecko following tail amputation.Severing the gecko spinal cord did not evoke an inflammatory cascade except for an injury-stimulated elevation of the granulocyte/macrophage colony-stimulating factor(GM-CSF) and interferon gamma(IFN-γ) cytokines.Simultaneously,the expression of SOCS3 was upregulated in microglia,and unexpectedly not in neurons.Enforced expression of SOCS3 was sufficient to suppress the GMCSF/IFN-γ-driven inflammatory responses through its KIR domain by attenuating the activities of JAK1 and JAK2.SOCS3 was also linked to GM-CSF/IFN-y-induced crosstolerance.Transfection of adenovirus overexpressing SOCS3 in the injured cord resulted in a significant decrease of inflammatory cytokines.These results reveal a distinct role of SOCS3 in the regenerating spinal cord,and provide new hints for CNS repair in mammals.

Single-molecule force spectroscopy study of the effect of cigarette carcinogens on thrombomodulin–thrombin interaction

Exposure to cigarette smoke is a major risk factor for cancer and cardiovascular disease. Thrombosis is regarded as the main reason for smoking-related car- diovascular disease. However, the detail mechanism of how smoking promotes thrombosis is not fully under- stood. In this work, we investigated the impacts of one major cigarette carcinogens 4-（methylnitrosamino）-l-（3- pyridyl）-l-butanone （NNK） as well as its metabolite 4-（methylnitrosamino）- 1-（3-pyridyl）- 1-butanol （NNAL） on a key process in thrombosis regulation： thrombin- thrombomodulin （TM） binding. Atomic force microscopy based single-molecule force spectroscopy was applied to measure both in vitro and in vivo binding force of thrombin to TM in the absence and presence of NNK and NNAL respectively. The results revealed that NNK and NNAL can reduce the binding probability of TM and thrombin. The inhibition effect and underlying mechanism was further studied by molecular simulation. As indicated by our results, the cigarette carcinogens could cause a higher risk of thrombosis through the disruption of TM- thrombin interaction.

Carbon dots embedded in lead-free luminescent metal halide crystals toward single-component white emitters

The development of single-component white emitters for white light-emitting diodes(WLEDs)remains challenging.Herein,a rare earth-free white light-emitting composite is developed by assembling blue-emitting carbon dots(CDs)and yellow-emitting Cs_(2)InCl_(5)·H_(2)O:Sb^(3+)metal halide crystals via a facile liquid-liquid diffusion-assisted crystallization approach.The encapsulation mechanism is then analyzed.Depending on the ratios of blue/yellow emitters,these luminescent composites exhibit white light emission with tunable cold and warm hues.The composites also possess prominent ultraviolet resistance,thermal tolerance,and good stability at about 200°C.By employing such“CDs in metal halide”composites as a converter,a WLED is successfully fabricated with a high color rendering index of 93.6,benefiting from the assembled blue and yellow broadband emission.With this strategy,the developed composites show great promise in next-generation WLED lighting.

The role of fluorescent carbon dots in crops:Mechanism and applications

Fluorescent carbon dots(CDs)have been widely studied in biosensing,imaging,information encryption,and optoelectronic devices due to excellent optical properties,such as photostability,tunable luminescence range,and resistance to photobleaching.In recent years,CDs have been explored for use in agriculture.Based on their light harvest and light conversion capacity,as well as their characteristics of easy synthesis and low toxicity,CDs show great potential in improving crop photosynthesis.In addition,CDs can also be used for smart and anticounterfeiting packing,food safety detection,and preservation of crops after harvest.In this study,the application of CDs with excellent optical properties in crops has been summarized,including preharvest processes(photosynthesis and plant imaging),and postharvest processes(crop preservation and food safety).Then the toxicity of CDs to crops is introduced.Finally,the present challenges and future prospects are discussed.

Red, green and blue aggregation-induced emissive carbon dots

As one of the most promising fluorescent nanomaterials, carbon dots(CDs) have been extensively studied for their fluorescent properties in solution. However, research on the synthesis of multicolor solid-state fluorescence(SSF) CDs(from blue to red) is rarely reported. Herein, we used o-phenylenediamine, mphenylenediamine and p-phenylenediamine with dithiosalicylic acid(DTSA) in the solvothermal reaction using acetic acid as a solvent to obtain aggregation-induced emissive(AIE) CDs of red(620 nm), green(520 nm), and blue(478 nm), respectively. XPS spectra and TEM image show that with the red-shift of luminescence, the particle size and content of C=O of the CDs gradually increases. Finally, based on the non-matrix solid-state multicolor luminescence characteristics of CDs, the application of white light LED devices is realized. Besides, based on the fat-soluble properties of CDs, fingerprint detection applications are realized.

Experimental investigation of granular friction behaviors during reciprocating sliding

Granular friction behaviors are crucial for understanding the ubiquitous packing and flow phenomena in nature and industrial production.In this study,a customized experimental apparatus that can simultaneously measure the time history of normal and tangential forces on the inside-shearing unit is employed to investigate the granular friction behaviors during a linear reciprocating sliding process.It is observed that the evolution behaviors of two normal forces distributed separately on the shearing unit can qualitatively reflect the effects of the force chain network.During the half-loop of the reciprocating sliding,the total normal force,which indicates the load-bearing capacity of the granular system,experiences the following typical stages:decreases abruptly and stabilizes momentarily,further decreases significantly to the minimum,gradually increases to the maximum,and then remains stable.These stages are associated closely with the relaxation,collapse,reconstruction,and stabilization of the force chain,respectively.Interestingly,the coefficient of friction(COF)can reach a stable value rapidly within the initial sliding stage and subsequently remain constant.The average COF within stable ranges decreases significantly with the external load G in the power function form,G^(-0.5).Meanwhile,the COF increases slightly with the sliding velocity.Finally,a complete illustration of the dependences of the granular COF on the external load and sliding velocity is provided.Our study contributes to granular friction research by providing an innovative experimental approach for directly measuring the COF and implicitly correlating the evolution of the force chain network.

Transmittance and phase measurement via self-calibrated balanced heterodyne detection

It is rare for a conventional direct detection method to measure the transmittance uniformity of mirrors with rigorous standards, especially to meet the requirement of transmittance/reflectance and phase detection simultaneously. In this study, a new method of self-calibrated balanced heterodyne detection（SCBHD） is proposed. It can be self-calibrated by a two-channel structure to overcome the environmental effects in large optics scanning detection by employing highly accurate heterodyne interference. A typical transmittance measurement experiment was performed at 1053 nm wavelength via SCBHD. A standard deviation（SD） of 0.038% was achieved in the preliminary experiment. The experimental results prove to reduce the SD by approximately two orders of magnitude compared with the conventional direct detection method in the same condition. The proposed method was verified as being promising not only for its wider dynamic measurement range and its higher accuracy but also for its simultaneous transmittance and phase detection ability.