Nutrients—and by extension biosynthetic capacity—positively impact cell size in organisms throughout the tree of life. In bacteria, cell size is reduced three-fold in response to nutrient starvation or accumulation of the alarmone ppGpp, a global inhibitor of biosynthesis. However, whether biosynthetic capacity as a whole determines cell size or if particular anabolic pathways are more important than others remains an open question. Here we identify fatty acid synthesis as the primary biosynthetic determinant of Escherichia coli size and present evidence supporting a similar role for fatty acids as a positive determinant of size in the Gram-positive bacterium Bacillus subtilis and the single celled eukaryote, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Altering fatty acid synthesis recapitulated the impact of altering nutrients on cell size and morphology, while defects in other biosynthetic pathways had either a negligible or fatty acid-dependent effect on size. Together our findings support a novel “outside-in” model in which fatty acid availability sets cell envelope capacity, which in turn dictates cell size. In the absence of ppGpp, limiting fatty acid synthesis leads to cell lysis, supporting a role for ppGpp as a linchpin linking expansion of cytoplasmic volume to growth of the cell envelope to preserve cellular integrity.

No abstract

Nanomaterials play crucial roles in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases. Photothermal and photodynamic therapy, as two minimally invasive therapeutic methods, have promising potential in the diagnosis and prevention of cancer. Recently, many photothermal materials (such as noble metal material, transition metal sulfur oxides, carbon material and upconversion nanomaterial) and photodynamic materials (such as phthalein cyanogen, porphyrins and other dye molecules) have been applied in photothermal therapy (PTT) and photodynamic therapy (PDT). Moreover, as nanomaterials have suitable biocompatibility, these materials have been applied in cancer therapy. In the present review, we summarized the effects of different material types, synthesis methods, material morphologies and surface modifications on the outcomes of cancer therapy. The application of nanomaterials in PTT and PDT was introduced and the advantages and disadvantages of PTT and PDT in the prevention of cancer were discussed. Finally, we discussed the application of nanomaterials in the combination of PTT and PDT in cancer treatment.

Surface deformation behavior of beta solution treated and overaged Ti-6Al-4V during laser shock processingIn laser forming, phase transformations in the heat-affected zone take place under steep thermal cycles, and have a significant effect on the flow behavior of Ti-6Al-4V alloy and the laser-forming process. The flow-stress data of a material are generally provided as only dependent on strain, strain rate, and temperature, while phase transformations are determined by both temperature and temperature history. Therefore, effect of phase transformations on the flow behavior of materials in thermomechanical processing is not given necessary considerations. In the present work, both the ␣ → ␤ transformation during heating and the decomposition of ␤ phase, producing martensite ␣Ј or lamellae ␣ dependent on cooling rate, are numerically investigated. The spatial distribution of volume fractions of phases is obtained by coupling thermal and phase transformation kinetic modeling. Consequently, the flow stress of Ti-6Al-4V alloy is calculated by the rule of mixtures based on the phase ratio and the flow stress of each single phase, which is also a function of temperature, strain, and strain rate. According to the obtained flow-stress data, the laser-forming process of Ti-6Al-4V alloy is modeled by finite element method, and the deformation is predicted. A series of carefully controlled experiments are conducted to validate the theoretically predicted results.