Differential contributions of fetal mononuclear phagocytes to Zika virus neuroinvasion versus neuroprotection during congenital infection.

Fetal immune cell functions during congenital infections are poorly understood. Zika virus (ZIKV) can vertically transmit from mother to fetus, causing nervous system infection and congenital ZIKV syndrome (CZS). We identified differential functional roles for fetal monocyte/macrophage cell types and microglia in ZIKV dissemination versus clearance using mouse models.

Deciphering spatial domains from spatial multi-omics with SpatialGlue.

Advances in spatial omics technologies now allow multiple types of data to be acquired from the same tissue slice. To realize the full potential of such data, we need spatially informed methods for data integration. Here, we introduce SpatialGlue, a graph neural network model with a dual-attention mechanism that deciphers spatial domains by intra-omics integration of spatial location and omics measurement followed by cross-omics integration.

Spatially informed clustering, integration, and deconvolution of spatial transcriptomics with GraphST.

Spatial transcriptomics technologies generate gene expression profiles with spatial context, requiring spatially informed analysis tools for three key tasks, spatial clustering, multisample integration, and cell-type deconvolution. We present GraphST, a graph self-supervised contrastive learning method that fully exploits spatial transcriptomics data to outperform existing methods. It combines graph neural networks with self-supervised contrastive learning to learn informative and discriminative spot representations by minimizing the embedding distance between spatially adjacent spots and vice versa.

Natural siderite derivatives activated peroxydisulfate toward oxidation of organic contaminant: A green soil remediation strategy.

Natural siderite (FeCO), simulated synthetic siderite and nZVI/FeCO composite were used as green and easily available iron-based catalysts in peroxydisulfate activation for remediating 2-chlorophenol as the target contaminant and this technique can effectively degrade organic pollutants in the soil. The key reaction parameters such as catalysts dosage, oxidant concentration and pH, were investigated to evaluate the catalytic performance of different materials in catalytic systems. The buffering property of natural soil conduced satisfactory degradation performance in a wide pH range (3-10).

Optimization of PAHs oxidation from contaminated soil using modified nanoscale zero-valent iron combined with potassium permanganate.

A novel synergistic oxidation technology based on modified nanoscale zero-valent iron (nZVI) and potassium permanganate (KMnO) was developed for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) remediation in actual contaminated soil. In this study, three surfactants were used as dispersants to modify nZVI, including poly acrylic (PAA), sorbitan monolaurate (SPAN-20) and sugar esters (SE). The following parameters were studied to optimize the coupling oxidation process: dispersants/nZVI ratio, dosage of oxidant based on soil oxidation demand (SOD), amount of modified nanomaterials added in the coupling system.

Applying modified biochar with nZVI/nFeO to immobilize Pb in contaminated soil.

Lead (Pb) pollution in soil has become one of the most serious environmental problems, and it is more urgent in areas where acid rain is prevalent. Curing agents to solidify heavy metals in soil are efficiently applied to remediate Pb-contaminated soil. In this study, we prepared biochar, biochar loaded with nano-zero-valent iron (BC-nZVI), and biochar loaded with nano-ferroferric oxide (BC-nFeO), and investigated the Pb-immobilizing efficiency in contaminated soil in the condition of acid rain by them.

Identification of an itaconic acid degrading pathway in itaconic acid producing Aspergillus terreus.

Itaconic acid, one of the most promising and flexible bio-based chemicals, is mainly produced by Aspergillus terreus. Previous studies to improve itaconic acid production in A. terreus through metabolic engineering were mainly focused on its biosynthesis pathway, while the itaconic acid-degrading pathway has largely been ignored.