Genetic dissection of quantitative trait loci for flag leaf size in bread wheat ( L.).

Flag leaf size is a crucial trait influencing plant architecture and yield potential in wheat. A recombinant inbred line (RIL) population derived from the cross of W7268 and Chuanyu 12 was employed to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) controlling flag leaf length (FLL), flag leaf width (FLW), and flag leaf area (FLA) in six environments and the best linear unbiased estimator (BLUE) datasets. Using a 55 K SNP-based genetic map, six major and stable QTL were detected with 6.

Quantitative trait loci identification and breeding value estimation of grain weight-related traits based on a new wheat 50K single nucleotide polymorphism array-derived genetic map.

Mining novel and less utilized thousand grain weight (TGW) related genes are useful for improving wheat yield. In this study, a recombinant inbred line population from a cross between Zhongkemai 138 (ZKM138, high TGW) and Chuanmai 44 (CM44, low TGW) was used to construct a new Wheat 50K SNP array-derived genetic map that spanned 1,936.59 cM and contained 4, 139 markers.

Biodegradable Therapeutic Microneedle Patch for Rapid Antihypertensive Treatment.

A hypertensive emergency causes severe cardiovascular diseases accompanied by acute target organ damage, requiring rapid and smooth blood pressure (BP) reduction. Current medicines for treating hypertensive emergencies, such as sodium nitroprusside (SNP), require careful dose control to avoid side effects (e.g.

Guanidine cyclic diimides and their polymers.

We report the formation and degradation of a unique guanidine cyclic diimide (GCDI) structure and GCDI-based polymers. The GCDI structure is readily formed under mild conditions. The X-ray crystal structure showed that the delocalized π-orbitals in the guanidine plane are significantly disrupted in the GCDI structure.

Functionalized Spiky Particles for Intracellular Biomolecular Delivery.

The intracellular delivery of biomolecules is of significant importance yet challenging. In addition to the conventional delivery of nanomaterials that rely on biochemical pathways, vertical nanowires have been recently proposed to physically penetrate the cell membrane, thus enabling the direct release of biomolecules into the cytoplasm circumventing endosomal routes. However, due to the inherent attachment of the nanowires to a planar 2D substrate, nanowire cell penetrations are restricted to in vitro applications, and they are incapable of providing solution-based delivery.

Protection of Nanostructures-Integrated Microneedle Biosensor Using Dissolvable Polymer Coating.

Real-time transdermal biosensing provides a direct route to quantify biomarkers or physiological signals of local tissues. Although microneedles (MNs) present a mini-invasive transdermal technique, integration of MNs with advanced nanostructures to enhance sensing functionalities has rarely been achieved. This is largely due to the fact that nanostructures present on MNs surface could be easily destructed due to friction during skin insertion.

Microneedle-Mediated Delivery of Lipid-Coated Cisplatin Nanoparticles for Efficient and Safe Cancer Therapy.

Cisplatin is the first-line chemotherapeutic agent, but its systemic toxicity and side effects severely limit its clinical use. We report a microneedle technique to mediate the transdermal delivery of lipid-coated cisplatin nanoparticles (LCC-NPs) for efficient and safe cancer therapy. Cisplatin was encapsulated by tumor-targeting pH-responsive lipid nanoparticles with a high loading rate of 80%, and the encapsulation substantially increased the solubility of cisplatin and enhanced its antitumor efficiency in vitro.

Hollow Nanoneedle-Electroporation System To Extract Intracellular Protein Repetitively and Nondestructively.

Techniques used to understand the dynamic expression of intracellular proteins are critical in both fundamental biological research and biomedical engineering. Various methods for analyzing proteins have been developed, but these methods require the extraction of intracellular proteins from the cells resulting in cell lysis and subsequent protein purifications from the lysate, which limits the potential of repetitive extraction from the same set of viable cells to track dynamic intracellular protein expression. Therefore, it is crucial to develop novel methods that enable nondestructive and repeated extraction of intracellular proteins.

Transdermal Delivery of Living and Biofunctional Probiotics through Dissolvable Microneedle Patches.

Bioactive functional probiotics play an important role in many health applications such as maintaining skin health and the immunity of the human host. Artificial supplementation of probiotics would enhance immune functions as well as regulate skin health. However, simple and effective methods to deliver probiotics into the dermis to regulate local dermal tissue are still lacking.

Anomalous dispersion of magnetic spiky particles for enhanced oil emulsions/water separation.

In situ effective separation of oil pollutants including oil spills and oil emulsions from water is an emerging technology yet remains challenging. Hydrophobic micro- or nano-materials with ferromagnetism have been explored for oil removal, yet the separation efficiency of an oil emulsion was compromised due to the limited dispersion of hydrophobic materials in water. A surfactant coating on microparticles prevented particle aggregation, but reduced oil absorption and emulsion cleaning ability.

Large Stroke High Fidelity PZN-PT Single-Crystal "Stake" Actuator.

A new piezoelectric actuator design, called "Stake" actuator, is proposed and demonstrated in this paper. As an example, the stake actuator is made of four d -mode PZN-5.5%PT single crystals (SCs), each of 25 mm ( L ) ×8 mm ( W ) ×0.

Simulating uptake and transport of TNT by plants using STELLA.

Understanding the uptake and transport of soil organic contaminants by plants is crucial to a successful application of phytoremediation technique. This study investigated the removal of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) from a contaminated sandy soil by a poplar tree (Populus fastigiata) through the examinations of temporal variations of xylem water potential, leaf water transpiration, and root water and TNT uptake. A dynamic model for Uptake and Translocation of Contaminants from a Soil-Plant ecosystem (UTCSP), developed using the STELLA software package, was modified for the purpose of this study.