Acoustofluidic Tweezers Integrated with Droplet Sensing Enable Multifunctional Closed-Loop Droplet Manipulation.

Droplet manipulation technologies with surface acoustic waves attract significant attention for applications in fluid handling and bioanalysis. However, existing technologies face challenges in automation, precision, and functional integration, limiting broader applications. In this work, a highly integrated droplet-sensing acoustofluidic tweezer is developed, incorporating orthogonally arranged slanted finger interdigital transducers and a custom-designed control and detection circuit system.

The puzzle of two tandem acyl-CoA ligases of F1.

Unlabelled: The F1 genome and those of many other pseudomonads contain two tandem genes encoding acyl-CoA ligases Pput_1340 () and Pput_1339 () with Pput_1339 () being the upstream gene. The designation was assigned when both genes were found to complement the growth of an acyl-CoA synthetase deletion strain with oleic acid as sole carbon source. Site-directed mutagenesis showed that residues of the ATP/AMP domain required for function of FadD were also essential for full function of FadD1 and FadD2.

The Enteric Bacterium Enterococcus faecalis Elongates and Incorporates Exogenous Short and Medium Chain Fatty Acids Into Membrane Lipids.

Enterococcus faecalis incorporates and elongates exogeneous short- and medium-chain fatty acids to chains sufficiently long to enter membrane phospholipid synthesis. The acids are activated by the E. faecalis fatty acid kinase (FakAB) system and converted to acyl-ACP species that can enter the fatty acid synthesis cycle to become elongated.

Physical Properties of CaTiO-Modified NaNbO Thin Films.

NaNbO(NN)-based lead-free materials are attracting widespread attention due to their environment-friendly and complex phase transitions, which can satisfy the miniaturization and integration for future electronic components. However, NN materials usually have large remanent polarization and obvious hysteresis, which are not conducive to energy storage. In this work, we investigated the effect of introducing CaTiO((1-)NaNbO-CaTiO) on the physical properties of NN.

Diversity in fatty acid elongation enzymes: The FabB long-chain β-ketoacyl-ACP synthase I initiates fatty acid synthesis in Pseudomonas putida F1.

The condensation of acetyl-CoA with malonyl-acyl carrier protein (ACP) by β-ketoacyl-ACP synthase III (KAS III, FabH) and decarboxylation of malonyl-ACP by malonyl-ACP decarboxylase are the two pathways that initiate bacterial fatty acid synthesis (FAS) in Escherichia coli. In addition to these two routes, we report that Pseudomonas putida F1 β-ketoacyl-ACP synthase I (FabB), in addition to playing a key role in fatty acid elongation, also initiates FAS in vivo. We report that although two P.

A switching method for traveling/standing wave transportation modes in two-dimensional acoustic fields using a dual-transducer support structure.

The dual-transducer support structure discussed has the advantages of a simple structure and low cost, as well as allowing for the use of both Traveling-Wave (TW) and Standing-Wave (SW) acoustic transportation, supporting its use in pharmaceutical and biochemical analysis, for example. By adjusting the distance between the vibrating plate and the reflector which forms SW field in the y direction, the control of the position of the SW nodes or the TW component along the x direction allows the formation of a Two-Dimensional Standing Wave (2D-SW) or a Traveling Wave (TW) acoustic field, and these could be used for transportation in the x direction. It has been found that the x position of the SW nodes can be adjusted through changing the temporal phase shift, θ, which permits multiple objects to be transported using the 2D-SW mode.

Acoustic-propelled micro/nanomotors and nanoparticles for biomedical research, diagnosis, and therapeutic applications.

Acoustic manipulation techniques have gained significant attention across various fields, particularly in medical diagnosis and biochemical research, due to their biocompatibility and non-contact operation. In this article, we review the broad range of biomedical applications of micro/nano-motors that use acoustic manipulation methods, with a specific focus on cell manipulation, targeted drug release for cancer treatment and genetic disease diagnosis. These applications are facilitated by acoustic-propelled micro/nano-motors and nanoparticles which are manipulated by acoustic tweezers.

Suppressor mutants demonstrate the metabolic plasticity of unsaturated fatty acid synthesis in PAO1.

PAO1 has two aerobic pathways for synthesis of unsaturated fatty acids (UFAs), DesA and DesB plus the oxygen independent FabAB pathway. The DesA desaturase acts on saturated acyl chains of membrane phospholipid bilayers whereas the substrates of the DesB desaturase are thought to be long chain saturated acyl-CoA thioesters derived from exogeneous saturated fatty acids that are required to support DesB-dependent growth. Under suitable aerobic conditions either of these membrane-bound desaturates can support growth of strains lacking the oxygen independent FabAB pathway.

A Graph-Based Hybrid Reconfiguration Deformation Planning for Modular Robots.

The self-reconfigurable modular robotic system is a class of robots that can alter its configuration by rearranging the connectivity of their component modular units. The reconfiguration deformation planning problem is to find a sequence of reconfiguration actions to transform one reconfiguration into another. In this paper, a hybrid reconfiguration deformation planning algorithm for modular robots is presented to enable reconfiguration between initial and goal configurations.

Combining LCA-MFA models to identify China's plastic value chain environmental impact mitigation pathways.

Characterizing material flows and environmental impacts of plastic value chain is crucial for sustainable plastic management. Here, we combine material flow analysis and life cycle assessment methods to map the flows of eight major plastics and investigate the multiple environmental impacts of China's plastic value chain. We find that packaging and textile sectors dominate plastic consumption and are responsible for the value chain environmental burdens, but with low recycling rates.

Growth of ∆ strains is restored by increased saturated fatty acid synthesis.

The acyl-acyl carrier protein (ACP) phosphate acyltransferase PlsX plays an important role in phospholipid synthesis and exogenous fatty acid incorporation. Loss of almost completely blocks growth by decreasing phospholipid synthesis, which leads to abnormally long-chain acyl chains in the cell membrane phospholipids. The ∆ strain failed to grow without supplementation with an appropriate exogenous fatty acid.

Prevalence and influencing factors of wheeze and asthma among preschool children in Urumqi city: a cross-sectional survey.

To investigate the prevalence and indoor environmental influencing factors of wheeze and asthma among preschool children in Urumqi, Xinjiang, China to provide a strong basis for prevention and control. In August 2019, a cross-sectional study involving 8153 preschool children was conducted in 60 kindergartens in Urumqi. The ALLHOME-2 questionnaire was used for childhood wheeze and asthma survey, and the dampness in buildings and health (DBH) questionnaire was used for the childhood home dwelling and living environment survey.

Divergent unsaturated fatty acid synthesis in two highly related model pseudomonads.

The genomes of the best-studied pseudomonads, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Pseudomonas putida, which share 85% of the predicted coding regions, contain a fabA fabB operon (demonstrated in P. aeruginosa, putative in P. putida).

Unsaturated fatty acid synthesis in Enterococcus faecalis requires a specific enoyl-ACP reductase.

The Enterococcus faecalis genome contains two enoyl-ACP reductases genes, fabK and fabI, which encode proteins having very different structures. Enoyl-ACP reductase catalyzes the last step of the elongation cycle of type II fatty acid synthesis pathway. The fabK gene is located within the large fatty acid synthesis operon whereas fabI is located together with two genes fabN and fabO required for unsaturated fatty acid synthesis.

The Two Acyl Carrier Proteins of Enterococcus faecalis Have Nonredundant Functions.

Enterococcus faecalis encodes two proteins, AcpA and AcpB, having the characteristics of acyl carrier proteins (ACPs). We report that the gene located in the fatty acid synthesis operon is essential for fatty acid synthesis and the Δ strain requires unsaturated fatty acids for growth. The Δ strain could be complemented by a plasmid carrying a wild-type gene, but not by a plasmid carrying a wild-type gene.

Droplet transportation by adjusting the temporal phase shift of surface acoustic waves in the exciter-exciter mode.

Droplet actuation using Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) technology has been widely employed in 'lab-on-a-chip' applications, such as for on-chip Polymerase Chain Reactions. The current strategy uses the exciter-absorber mode (exciting a single InterDigital Transducer, IDT) to form a pure Travelling Surface Acoustic Wave (TSAW) and to actuate the droplet, where the velocity and direction of the droplet can be adjusted by controlling the on-off and amplitude of the excitation signals applied to a pair of IDTs. Herein, in a way that is different from using the exciter-absorber mode, we propose a method of actuating droplets by using the exciter-exciter mode (exciting a pair of IDTs simultaneously), where the velocity and directional adjustment of the droplet can be realized by changing only one excitation parameter for the signals (the temporal phase shift, ), and the droplet velocity can also be significantly improved.

Allocating China's 2025 CO emission burden shares to 340 prefecture cities: methods and findings.

Peak emission is an important policy/scheme for all the countries to respond greenhouse gas mitigation. The key is how to distribute the emission burden shares to its sub-regions. This study aims to develop a prefecture city leveled CO emission allocation model by integrating multi-indicators method and benchmark method so that China's 2025 (end year of 14th Five-Year Plan, FYP) CO emission burdens can be allocated to its prefecture cities and provinces.

The FabT Transcription Factor Regulates Fatty Acid Biosynthesis in Response to Exogeneous Fatty Acids.

The phospholipid acyl chains of can be derived either by synthesis or by incorporation of exogenous fatty acids through the fatty acid kinase complex (Fak)-phosphate acyltransferase (PlsX) pathway. Exogenous fatty acids suppress fatty acid synthesis through the transcriptional repressor FabT, the loss of which eliminated regulation of fatty acid biosynthesis and resulted in decreased incorporation of exogenous unsaturated fatty acids. Purified FabT bound to the promoters of several fatty acid synthesis genes that contain a specific palindromic sequence and binding was enhanced by acylated derivatives of acyl carrier protein B (acyl-AcpB).

Machine learning based prediction for China's municipal solid waste under the shared socioeconomic pathways.

Reliable forecast of municipal solid waste (MSW) generation is crucial for sustainable and efficient waste management. Big data analysis is a novel method to forecast MSW more accurately. Thus, this study employs five kinds of supervised machine learning approaches including linear regression, polynomial regression, support vector machine, random forest, and extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost) to examine their forecast performances.

Formulation, Characterization, Antioxidant, Cytotoxicity, and Anti-acute Leukemia Effects of Fe Nanoparticles.

In this study, iron nanoparticles were prepared and synthesized in aqueous medium using Cinnamomum verum as stabilizing and reducing agents. We determined the anti-acute leukemia potentials of FeNPs against acute T cell leukemia and acute lymphoblastic leukemia cell lines. FeNPs inhibited half of the DPPH molecules in the concentration of 139 µg/mL.

Uncovering the overcapacity feature of China's industry and the environmental & health co-benefits from de-capacity.

Overcapacity is regarded as an inevitable problem for rapid economic developing countries like China, which also causes serious adverse impacts on the environment and public health. However, few studies have quantified the overcapacity feature and corresponding co-benefit from de-capacity policy. To fill such research gaps, this study constructed a comprehensive assessment model by combining the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model, the GAINS-China (Greenhouse gas - Air pollution Interactions and Synergies) model, and a meta-analysis and health impact assessment module, to measure the capacity utilization rate of 41 industrial sectors in 31 Chinese provinces and forecast the environmental and health co-benefits from de-capacity policy in 2050.

Role of Peer Coaching in Transmitting the Benefits of Leader Coaching.

Drawing on social information processing theory, the present study examines how and when leader coaching can be beneficial for team performance. Based on a sample of 58 teams from a sanitary product company in China, we found that peer coaching served as a mediator linking leader coaching and team performance. Moreover, the team individualistic/collectivism value moderated the first-stage relationship that the relationship between leader coaching and peer coaching was more positive when the team individualism value was low, but not significant when the team individualism value was high; while team task interdependence moderated the second-stage relationship that the relationship between peer coaching and team performance was more positive when the team task interdependence was high, but not significant when it was low.

A cryptic long-chain 3-ketoacyl-ACP synthase in the Pseudomonas putida F1 unsaturated fatty acid synthesis pathway.

The Pseudomonas putida F1 genome contains five genes annotated as encoding 3-ketoacyl-acyl carrier protein (ACP) synthases. Four are annotated as encoding FabF (3-ketoacyl-ACP synthase II) proteins, and the fifth is annotated as encoding a FabB (3-ketoacyl-ACP synthase I) protein. Expression of one of the FabF proteins, FabF2, is cryptic in the native host and becomes physiologically important only when the repressor controlling fabF2 transcription is inactivated.

Robust output-feedback torque controller design for series elastic actuators and its application in multi-level control frameworks.

Robust output-feedback torque controller is developed for series elastic actuators (SEAs) in the presence of parameter uncertainties and external disturbances. The strong robustness of the proposed controller results from the filter-based observer which can estimate the velocity signals and the system lumped disturbance. The dynamic surface method is adopted to make the time-domain controller independent of any derivatives of the command reference, making the torque controller an ideal building block for multi-level control frameworks.