Enhancing the catalytic performance of Co-N-C derived from ZIF-67 by mesoporous silica encapsulation for chemoselective hydrogenation of furfural.

Developing Cr-free and non-noble metal catalysts with high activity, selectivity and durability for chemoselective hydrogenation of furfural to furfuryl alcohol is highly desirable yet challenging. In this study, we design a hollow mesoporous Co-N-C@mSiO nanostructure derived from ZIF-67 the encapsulation-pyrolysis strategy. The Co-N-C@mSiO catalyst exhibits excellent catalytic performance in the furfural hydrogenation towards furfuryl alcohol with good stability, and is much better than the Co-N-C catalyst originating from plain ZIF-67 and other reported transition metal catalysts.

Synthesis and anticancer evaluation of novel flavonoid-based amide derivatives as regulators of the PI3K/AKT signal pathway for TNBC treatment.

Aberrant activation of the PI3K/AKT pathway is considered in many malignant tumors and plays a crucial role in mediating malignancy progression, metastasis, and chemoresistance. Consequently, development of PI3K/AKT pathway targeted drugs is currently an attractive research field for tumor treatment. In this study, twenty-six flavonoid-based amide derivatives were synthesized and evaluated for their antiproliferation effects against seven cancer cell lines, including MDA-MB-231, MCF-7, HCC1937, A549, HepG2, GTL-16 and HeLa.

Transcription factor OsNAC055 regulates GA-mediated lignin biosynthesis in rice straw.

Crop straws represent enormous biomass resource that mainly contain secondary cell walls (SCWs) consisting of cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin. Nevertheless, the regulatory mechanism of SCW biosynthesis still needs to be well understood. In this study, we identified a rice NAC (NAM, ATAF1/2, CUC2) transcription factor OsNAC055 that regulates GA-mediated lignin biosynthesis.

OsNAC016 regulates plant architecture and drought tolerance by interacting with the kinases GSK2 and SAPK8.

Ideal plant architecture and drought tolerance are important determinants of yield potential in rice (Oryza sativa). Here, we found that OsNAC016, a rice NAC (NAM, ATAF, and CUC) transcription factor, functions as a regulator in the crosslink between brassinosteroid (BR)-mediated plant architecture and abscisic acid (ABA)-regulated drought responses. The loss-of-function mutant osnac016 exhibited erect leaves and shortened internodes, but OsNAC016-overexpressing plants had opposite phenotypes.

CRISPR-Cas9 Mediated Mutation in Improves Grain Length and Weight in Rice by Promoting Cell Proliferation in Spikelet Hull.

Grain weight, a crucial trait that determines the grain yield in rice, is influenced by grain size. Although a series of regulators that control grain size have been identified in rice, the mechanisms underlying grain development are not yet well understood. In this study, we identified OsPUB43, a U-box E3 ubiquitin ligase, as an important negative regulator determining the gain size and grain weight in rice.

An Expectation Maximization Based Adaptive Group Testing Method for Improving Efficiency and Sensitivity of Large-Scale Screening of COVID-19.

The pathogen of the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is a newly discovered virus called severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Testing individuals for SARS-CoV-2 plays a critical role in containing COVID-19. For saving medical personnel and consumables, many countries are implementing group testing against SARS-CoV-2.

A pair of 2D chiral Ag(i) enantiomers with dual chiral elements: syntheses, structures, and photoluminescent and chiroptical properties.

In this work, two new enantiopure bis-monodentate -donor chiral ligands, namely (-)/(+)-2-(4'-pyridyl)-4,5-pinene-pyridine (L /L ), have been designed and synthesized. Using L and L as bridging ligands to react with AgClO, a pair of novel 2D chiral Ag(i) enantiomers formulated as [Ag(L )(ClO)] (-1) and [Ag(L )(ClO)] (-1) were isolated and characterized. In -1 and -1, each Ag(i) ion is bonded by two N atoms from two different chiral L or L ligands, leading to the formation of 1D right- or left-handed -L-Ag(i)-L- helical chains.

Effects of Preparation Parameters of NiAl Oxide-Supported Au Catalysts on Nitro Compounds Chemoselective Hydrogenation.

Effects of preparation parameters of NiAl oxide-supported Au nanocatalysts on their performance in the chemoselective hydrogenation of nitro compounds were investigated. The deposition-precipitation method, low Au loading, and low Ni/Al molar ratio of the support contributed to the generation of small-sized Au nanoparticles. High catalytic properties were related to the small sizes of Au particles and appropriate basicity of supports.

Heterogeneous gold catalysts for selective hydrogenation: from nanoparticles to atomically precise nanoclusters.

Gold nanocatalysts with different sizes (nanoparticles and nanoclusters) show different catalytic performances for various selective hydrogenation reactions. The recent breakthrough in a controllable synthesis of atomically precise gold nanoclusters provides unprecedented opportunities for understanding the catalytic behavior at the atomic/molecular levels. Herein, we review the progress in catalytic hydrogenation over gold nanoparticles and atomically precise gold nanoclusters in the last five years.

Characterization of Cr(V)-induced genotoxicity using CdTe nanocrystals as fluorescent probes.

CdTe nanocrystals capped by cysteamine were synthesized to study Cr(V)-induced genotoxicity. On the surface of TiO2 thin films, the stepwise process of DNA breakage induced by Cr(V)-GSH complexes was vividly observed by using CdTe-DNA self-assembled fluorescent probes; in acetate buffer solution, an analytical method was developed to detect Cr(V)-induced genotoxicity with CdTe fluorescent probes.

[Characterization of processing batch for preparation of radix scutellariae based on dependent component analysis and infrared spectrometry].

Dependent component analysis (DCA) was applied to directly estimate source spectral profiles from IR spectra of synthetic mixtures and characterize processing batch for preparation of radix scutellariae. The results show that DCA can estimate information of dependent components (DCs) from the measured infrared spectral (IR) signal obtained during the processing batch for preparation of radix scutellariae, and the estimated information of DCs is corresponding to the IR features of the active components of scutelliare; by inspection of the change trends of the estimated DCs, the endpoint of the processing batch was determined as 55 min. The proposed approach provides a novel way for process analysis and endpoint determination of procedure for preparation of scutellariae.

Flow injection analysis of volatile phenols in environmental water samples using CdTe/ZnSe nanocrystals as a fluorescent probe.

On the basis of flow injection analysis technology, a simple, accurate, and sensitive method has been developed for the determination of volatile phenols in environmental water samples by using CdTe/ZnSe nanocrystals as a fluorescent probe. The influences of coexisting metal ions and volatile phenol substitutes were also investigated. The method developed for analysis of volatile phenols displayed very good linearity in the range from 1.

[Extraction of spectral information of additives from activated manganese dioxide products using adaptive kernel independent component analysis].

The additives were abstracted from the manganese dioxide products with four kinds of organic solvents, ether, acetone, chloroform and toluene. The extracts were then baked and their attenuated total reflectance (ATR) FTIR spectra were measured using liquid membrane method. The number of chemical components of the additives was determined by median absolute deviation (MAD), and the spectral information of the pure component was extracted by kernel independent component analysis (KICA).

In situ synthesis of highly luminescent glutathione-capped CdTe/ZnS quantum dots with biocompatibility.

This paper focuses on the in situ synthesis of novel CdTe/ZnS core-shell quantum dots (QDs) in aqueous solution. Glutathione (GSH) was used as both capping reagent and sulfur source for in situ growth of ZnS shell on the CdTe core QDs. The maximum emission wavelengths of the prepared CdTe/ZnS QDs can be simply tuned from 569 nm to 630 nm.

Selective synthesis of CdTe and high luminescence CdTe/CdS quantum dots: the effect of ligands.

This paper describes the selective syntheses of high luminescence CdTe and core-shell CdTe/CdS quantum dots (QDs) in aqueous solution by simple heating refluxing at 100 degrees C. CdTe QDs are prepared by using three kinds of ligands (thioglycolic acid-TGA, tiopronin-TP, and glutathione-GSH) as stabilizer, respectively. The results of refluxing for 10 min to several hours indicate that GSH-capped CdTe QDs have higher photoluminescence quantum yields (QY 54%) than TGA (QY 41%)- and TP (QY 24%)-stabilized CdTe QDs.