Whether droplet jumping velocity is enhanced or weakened depends on the impact position of liquid bridge.

Plant genetic engineering, a recent technological advancement in the field of plant science, is an important tool used to improve crop quality and yield, to enhance secondary metabolite content in medicinal plants or to develop crops for sustainable agriculture. A new approach based on nanoparticle-mediated gene transformation can overcome the obstacle of the plant cell wall and accurately transfer DNA or RNA into plants to produce transient or stable transformation. In this review, several nanoparticle-based approaches are discussed, taking into account recent advances and challenges to hint at potential applications of these approaches in transgenic plant improvement programs. This review also highlights challenges in implementing the nanoparticle-based approaches used in plant genetic engineering. A new technology that improves gene transformation efficiency and overcomes difficulties in plant regeneration has been established and will be used for the de novo production of transgenic plants, and CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing has accelerated crop improvement. Therefore, we outline future perspectives based on combinations of genome editing, nanoparticle-mediated gene transformation and de novo regeneration technologies to accelerate crop improvement. The information provided here will assist an effective exploration of the technological advances in plant genetic engineering to support plant breeding and important crop improvement programs.

The mechanism of coalescence-induced droplet jumping on superhydrophobic surfaces has been relatively well-established over the years. Most of the related studies are only considering the coalescence process of equal-sized water droplets. However, the coalescence of droplets with different sizes is actually more frequently encountered and the effect of the size ratio on droplet jumping is very crucial to the hydrodynamics of this process. In this work, the effect of the initial droplet size ratio on coalescence-induced jumping of two water droplets is investigated experimentally and numerically. For the previously reported jumping droplet sizes (∼1–100 μm), it is found that the critical droplet size ratio below which the jumping does not occur is about 0.56. The results agree well with the experimental data as the size ratios of observed jumping events collapse into the predicted jumping regime. These findings will gain insights into droplet jumping which has great potential in a number of industrial processes.