MOLECULAR INSIGHTS INTO THE HEME-BINDING POTENTIAL OF PLANT NCR247-DERIVED PEPTIDES.

Heme is involved in many critical processes in pathogenic bacteria as iron acquisition by these microorganisms is achieved by either direct uptake of heme or use of heme-binding proteins called hemophores. Exploring the underlying mechanisms on a molecular level can open new avenues in understanding the host-pathogen interactions. Any imbalance of the heme concentration has a direct impact on the bacterial growth and survival.

Plant Species Richness and the Root Economics Space Drive Soil Fungal Communities.

Trait-based approaches have been increasingly used to relate plants to soil microbial communities. Using the recently described root economics space as an approach to explain the structure of soil-borne fungal communities, our study in a grassland diversity experiment reveals distinct root trait strategies at the plant community level. In addition to significant effects of plant species richness, we show that the collaboration and conservation gradient are strong drivers of the composition of the different guilds of soil fungi.

STOUT V2.0: SMILES to IUPAC name conversion using transformer models.

Naming chemical compounds systematically is a complex task governed by a set of rules established by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC). These rules are universal and widely accepted by chemists worldwide, but their complexity makes it challenging for individuals to consistently apply them accurately. A translation method can be employed to address this challenge.

ProQ-associated small RNAs control motility in Vibrio cholerae.

Gene regulation at the post-transcriptional level is prevalent in all domains of life. In bacteria, ProQ-like proteins have emerged as important RNA chaperones facilitating RNA stability and RNA duplex formation. In the major human pathogen Vibrio cholerae, post-transcriptional gene regulation is key for virulence, biofilm formation, and antibiotic resistance, yet the role of ProQ has not been studied.

Tracing the Formation of Femtosecond Laser-Induced Periodic Surface Structures (LIPSS) by Implanted Markers.

The generation of laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) using femtosecond lasers facilitates the engineering of material surfaces with tailored functional properties. Numerous aspects of their complex formation process are still under debate, despite intensive theoretical and experimental research in recent decades. This particularly concerns the challenge of verifying approaches based on electromagnetic effects or hydrodynamic processes by experiment.

Comparative genomics of Fervidobacterium: a new phylogenomic landscape of these wide-spread thermophilic anaerobes.

Background: Fervidobacterium is a genus of thermophilic anaerobic Gram-negative rod-shaped bacteria belonging to the phylum Thermotogota. They can grow through fermentation on a wide range of sugars and protein-rich substrates. Some can also break down feather keratin, which has significant biotechnological potential.

Old but not ancient: Rock-leached organic carbon drives groundwater microbiomes.

More than 90% of earth's microbial biomass resides in the continental subsurface, where sedimentary rocks provide the largest source of organic carbon (C). While many studies indicate microbial utilization of fossil C sources, the extent to which rock-organic C is driving microbial activities in aquifers remains largely unknown. Here we incubated oxic and anoxic groundwater with crushed carbonate rocks from the host aquifer and an outcrop rock of the unsaturated zone characterized by higher organic C content, and compared the natural abundance of radiocarbon (C) of available C pools and microbial biomarkers.

Impact of absolute values and changes in meteorological and air quality conditions on community-acquired pneumonia in Germany.

Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a major global health concern as it is a leading cause of morbidity, mortality and economic burden to the health care systems. In Germany, more than 15,000 people die every year from CAP. Climate change is altering weather patterns, and it may influence the probability and severity of CAP.

New from opposite ends of the world.

The is a group of ancient fungi with global distribution. In the current study we accessed mucoralean fungi isolated from two countries on opposite sides of the Earth and in different hemispheres: South Korea and Brazil. isolates were obtained from freshwater, soil, invertebrates, and fruit seeds and identified using phenotypic techniques combined with the DNA sequence data.

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy: a half-century historical perspective.

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) has evolved significantly over fifty years into a powerful analytical technique. This review aims to achieve five main goals. (1) Providing a comprehensive history of SERS's discovery, its experimental and theoretical foundations, its connections to advances in nanoscience and plasmonics, and highlighting collective contributions of key pioneers.

ICT-based fluorescent nanoparticles for selective cyanide ion detection and quantification in apple seeds.

In this report, we successfully engineered a novel probe based on an acceptor-donor-acceptor (A-D-A) architecture featuring dicyanovinyl-substituted thieno[3,2-]thiophene, termed DCVTT. The designed probe self-assembles into luminous nanoparticles (DCVTT NPs) upon introducing mixed aqueous solutions. These fluorescent nanostructures served as a ratiometric probe for detecting cyanide (CN) ions in aqueous-based environments, owing to the robust Intramolecular Charge Transfer (ICT) characteristics of DCVTT.

Enhancing intercultural competence of German medical students through innovative teaching on medical ethics with a focus on Muslim patients - a pilot study.

Background: Effective healthcare delivery in today's diverse society necessitates healthcare providers' adeptness in navigating cultural and religious nuances in patient care. However, the integration of cultural competence training into medical education remains inadequate, particularly concerning the care of Muslim patients. In response, we introduce a novel educational intervention aimed at enhancing intercultural proficiency among medical students, emphasizing care for Muslim patients.

Eplerenone, a mineralocorticoid receptor inhibitor, reduces cirrhosis associated changes of hepatocyte glucose and lipid metabolism.

Background: Recent studies suggest a contribution of intrahepatic mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) activation to the development of cirrhosis. As MR blockade abrogates the development of cirrhosis and hypoxia, common during the development of cirrhosis, can activate MR in hepatocytes. But, the impact of non-physiological hepatic MR activation is unknown.

A General and Transferable Local Hybrid Functional for Electronic Structure Theory and Many-Fermion Approaches.

Density functional theory has become the workhorse of quantum physics, chemistry, and materials science. Within these fields, a broad range of applications needs to be covered. These applications range from solids to molecular systems, from organic to inorganic chemistry, or even from electrons to other Fermions, such as protons or muons.

From text to insight: large language models for chemical data extraction.

The vast majority of chemical knowledge exists in unstructured natural language, yet structured data is crucial for innovative and systematic materials design. Traditionally, the field has relied on manual curation and partial automation for data extraction for specific use cases. The advent of large language models (LLMs) represents a significant shift, potentially enabling non-experts to extract structured, actionable data from unstructured text efficiently.

Generation of a human induced pluripotent stem cell lines (UKJi003-A) from a patient with Fabry disease and healthy donor (UKJi004-A).

Fabry disease (FD, OMIM #301500) is a rare metabolic disorder, X-linked glycosphingolipidosis that is characterized by pathogenic mutations in the GLA (Galactosidase Alpha) gene (OMIM *300644) that result in reduced α-galactosidase A (α-GAL) activity and accumulation of globotriaosylceramide (Gb3) in tissues and organs. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were used to generate human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC). UKJi004-A was produced from a healthy donor, whereas UKJi003-A was produced from a patient who had FD with GLA-mutation (IVS6-10G>A).

Late Glacial summer paleohydrology across Central Europe.

It is generally accepted that a weakening of the North Atlantic thermohaline circulation caused the Younger Dryas cooling. Although the role of seasonality was emphasized previously, this aspect is rarely considered yet, and it remains elusive how this impacted hydroclimate during winters and summers across Central Europe. Here, we coupled biomarker-based δO and δH from Bergsee in southern Germany to reconstruct deuterium excess as a proxy for evaporation history from the Bølling-Allerød to the Preboreal.

Studies on the hysteresis of trunk muscles-Muscular specificities must be taken into account.

Hysteresis refers to a physical phenomenon in which the response or state of a system depends on both the input variable and its history. Hysteresis phenomena are also observed in biological systems and have been described for the sensorimotor system. The aim of the present study was to determine whether hysteresis phenomena can also be detected in trunk muscles during isometric load-varying situations.

Optically Pumped and Electrically Switchable Microlaser Array Based on Elliptic Deformation and Q-Attenuation of Organic Droplet Oscillators.

Conventional laser panel displays are developed through the mass integration of electrically pumped lasers or through the incorporation of a beam steering system with an array of optically pumped lasers. Here a novel configuration of a laser panel display consisting of a non-steered pumping beam and an array of electrically Q-switchable lasers is reported. The laser oscillator consists of a robust, self-standing, and deformable minute droplet that emits laser through Whispering-Gallery Mode resonance when optically pumped.

Surface Modification of Gold Nanorods (GNRDs) Using Double Thermo-Responsive Block Copolymers: Evaluation of Self-Assembly and Stability of Nanohybrids.

A series of copolymers containing a thermo-responsive biocompatible first block of poly[di(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate)--(oligo(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate], P(DEGMA--OEGMA) were chain-extended to incorporate either poly(-isopropylacrylamide), PNIPAAm or poly(-isopropylacrylamide--butyl acrylate), P(NIPAAm-co-BA) as second thermo-responsive block using reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization. P(DEGMA--OEGMA)--PNIPAAm copolymers showed two response temperatures at 33 and 43 °C in an aqueous solution forming stable aggregates at 37 °C. In contrast, P(DEGMA--OEGMA)--P(NIPAAm--BA) copolymers showed aggregation below room temperature due to the shift in response temperature provoked by the presence of hydrophobic butyl acrylate (BA) units, and shrinkage upon heating up to body temperature, while maintaining the second response temperature above 40 °C.

The Impact of Temperature on Host-Parasite Interactions and Metabolomic Profiles in the Marine Diatom .

Diatoms are single-celled photosynthetic eukaryotes responsible for CO fixation and primary production in aquatic ecosystems. The cosmopolitan marine diatom can form seasonal blooms in coastal areas and interact with various microorganisms, including the parasitic oomycete . This unicellular eukaryote is mainly present in the northern hemisphere as an obligate parasite of the genus Understanding the interplay of abiotic factors such as temperature and biotic factors like parasitism on algal physiology is crucial as it dictates plankton community composition and is especially relevant during environmental changes and warming events.

Identification of Novel Nexilin Splice Variants in Mouse and Human Tissues.

There is no doubt that the proper development of the heart is important for its correct function, in addition, maturation processes of the heart are crucial as well. The actin-binding protein nexilin seems to take over central roles in the latter processes, as nexilin-deficient mice are phenotypically inconspicuous at birth but die within short time thereafter. Recently, it has been proposed that nexilin plays a role in the formation and function of transverse tubules (T-tubules), which are essential for excitation-contraction coupling in the hearts of mature animals.