Pseudotransitions in a dilute Ising chain.

This study provides a comprehensive analysis of the ground state and thermodynamic properties of a spin-pseudospin chain representing a model of a one-dimensional dilute magnet with two types of nonmagnetic charged impurities. For this purpose, a method utilizing the transfer-matrix properties is employed. Despite the wide variety of intriguing frustrated phase states, we show that the model showcases pseudotransitions solely between simple charge and magnetic quasiorders.

Identification of key water environmental factor contributions and spatiotemporal differential characteristics for eutrophication in Dianchi Lake.

The main influencing factors of water environment and the spatiotemporal differences of eutrophication were identified in the Dianchi Lake, the results indicated a comparatively poor and fluctuating the water environmental condition in the Caohai compared to the Waihai, and differences in the correlation between water environment indicators were observed in Caohai and Waihai. The absolute contribution rates of the inner sources to water temperature, pH, electrical conductance, total nitrogen, chlorophyll a and algal density were the largest in Caohai, while offshore sources are pH, electrical conductance, permanganate index, total phosphorus and chlorophyll a in Waihai. The eutrophication level is relatively high near the Xiyuan Suidao section, and the comprehensive trophic level indexes are 61.

MXene Electrocatalysts: Transformative Approaches in Hydrogen Production with Alternative Anode Reactions.

Water electrolyzer is crucial for producing clean hydrogen, but the traditional approach faces challenges owing to the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) slow kinetics at the anode. Hybrid water splitting replaces the OER with the oxidation of an organic molecule to enhance hydrogen production along with value-added products. The scarcity of affordable and highly effective catalysts remains a major challenge.

Electronic perturbation of Cu nanowire surfaces with functionalized graphdiyne for enhanced CO reduction reaction.

Electronic perturbation of the surfaces of Cu catalysts is crucial for optimizing electrochemical CO reduction activity, yet still poses great challenges. Herein, nanostructured Cu nanowires (NW) with fine-tuned surface electronic structure are achieved via surface encapsulation with electron-withdrawing (-F) and -donating (-Me) group-functionalized graphdiynes (R-GDY, R = -F and -Me) and the resulting catalysts, denoted as R-GDY/Cu NW, display distinct CO reduction performances. electrochemical spectroscopy revealed that the *CO (a key intermediate of the CO reduction reaction) binding affinity and consequent *CO coverage positively correlate with the Cu surface oxidation state, leading to favorable C-C coupling on F-GDY/Cu NW over Me-GDY/Cu NW.

Dispersionless Flat Mode and Vibrational Anomaly in Active Brownian Vibrators Induced by Stringlike Dynamical Defects.

In recent years, active Brownian particles have emerged as a prominent model system for comprehending the behaviors of active matter, wherein particles demonstrate self-propelled motion by harnessing energy from the surrounding environment. A fundamental objective of studying active matter is to elucidate the physical mechanisms underlying its collective behaviors. Drawing inspiration from advancements in molecular glasses, our study unveils a low-energy "flat mode" within the transverse spectrum of active Brownian vibrators-a nearly two-dimensional, bidisperse granular assembly.

Molecular methods for the detection and identification of parasitoids within larval wheat midges.

Three species of cecidomyiid midges (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) cause significant yield losses on wheat in Europe: Sitodiplosis mosellana (Géhin), Contarinia tritici (Kirby) and Haplodiplosis marginata (von Roser). Eggs and young larvae may be parasitised by a complex of hymenopteran parasitoids belonging to the Pteromalidae and Platygastridae families which contributes to natural pest control. We have developed molecular tools for detecting and identifying seven parasitoid species previously encountered in Belgium inside individual wheat midge larvae.

Computational investigation of the effect of BODIPY labelling on peptide-membrane interaction.

Optical monitoring of peptide binding to live cells is hampered by the abundance of naturally occurring fluorophores such as tryptophan. Unnatural amino acids incorporating synthetic fluorophores such as BODIPY overcome these optical limitations. A drawback to using fluorophores in lipid binding peptide design is their propensity to override other interactions, potentially causing the peptides to lose their binding selectivity.

Dissecting the Herbicidal Mechanism of Microbial Natural Product Lydicamycins Using a Deep Learning-Based Nonlinear Regression Model.

The plant microbiome significantly influences plant-microbe interactions, but the mechanisms are often complex and nonlinear. Here we show the nonlinear regulatory effects of G7 on growth. We focused on lydicamycin, a molecule from this bacterium that interferes with auxin polar transport.

Highly Responsive Polar Vortices in All-Ferroelectric Heterostructures.

The discovery of polar vortices and skyrmions in ferroelectric-dielectric superlattices [such as (PbTiO)/(SrTiO)] has ushered in an era of novel dipolar topologies and corresponding emergent phenomena. The key to creating such emergent features has generally been considered to be related to counterpoising strongly polar and non-polar materials thus creating the appropriate boundary conditions. This limits the utility these materials can have, however, by rendering (effectively) half of the structure unresponsive to applied stimuli.

Phosphorus bioavailability and recycling potential in various organic Waste: Assessment by enzymatic hydrolysis and P NMR.

Phosphorus(P) recycling from waste streams is crucial to mitigate the P depletion crisis. P forms and contents in organic waste are critical for determining the recycling method and efficiency. We constructed an approach to characterize P forms in seven organic waste by combining chemical sequential extraction, enzymatic hydrolysis, and nuclear magnetic resonance(NMR).

The Throttle Effect in Metal-Organic Frameworks for Distinguishing Water Isotopes.

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have been widely used for separation, but amplifying subtle differences between similar molecules to achieve effective separation remains a great challenge. In this study, we utilize the fluorescent molecule uranine (Ura) to modulate the pores of zeolitic-imidazolate framework 8 (ZIF8), creating an unusual throttle effect. By monitoring fluorescence intensity changes in Ura, the transport diffusion process could be quantified to reveal the diffusion constant of solvents.

GraphPCA: a fast and interpretable dimension reduction algorithm for spatial transcriptomics data.

The rapid advancement of spatial transcriptomics technologies has revolutionized our understanding of cell heterogeneity and intricate spatial structures within tissues and organs. However, the high dimensionality and noise in spatial transcriptomic data present significant challenges for downstream data analyses. Here, we develop GraphPCA, an interpretable and quasi-linear dimension reduction algorithm that leverages the strengths of graphical regularization and principal component analysis.

Back flux during anaerobic oxidation of butane support archaea-mediated alkanogenesis.

Microbial formation and oxidation of volatile alkanes in anoxic environments significantly impacts biogeochemical cycles on Earth. The discovery of archaea oxidizing volatile alkanes via deeply branching methyl-coenzyme M reductase variants, dubbed alkyl-CoM reductases (ACR), prompted the hypothesis of archaea-catalysed alkane formation in nature (alkanogenesis). A combination of metabolic modelling, anaerobic physiology assays, and isotope labeling of Candidatus Syntrophoarchaeum archaea catalyzing the anaerobic oxidation of butane (AOB) show a back flux of CO to butane, demonstrating reversibility of the entire AOB pathway.

A bidirectional kinetic reaction model to predict uranium distribution in permeable reactive bio-barrier with high-sulfate environment.

The use of permeable reactive bio-barriers (Bio-PRBs) is a developing method for remediation of uranium groundwater pollution. However, some remediation effects are difficult to estimate when because of the subsurface environment. Advanced knowledge of uranium migration and reactions in Bio-PRBs is crucial for successful practical application.

Toward High-Performance Electrochemical Ammonia Synthesis by Circumventing the Surface H-Mediated N Reduction.

The rapid performance decay with potentials is a significant obstacle to achieving an efficient electrocatalytic N reduction reaction (eNRR), which is typically attributed to competition from hydrogen evolution. However, the potential-dependent competitive behavior and reaction mechanism are still under debate. Herein, we theoretically defined N adsorption, H mediation, and H evolution as three crucial regions along the potentials by revisiting the potential-dependent competitive adsorption between N and H on FeN and RuN catalysts.

A molecular mechanism for bright color variation in parrots.

Parrots produce stunning plumage colors through unique pigments called psittacofulvins. However, the mechanism underlying their ability to generate a spectrum of vibrant yellows, reds, and greens remains enigmatic. We uncover a unifying chemical basis for a wide range of parrot plumage colors, which result from the selective deposition of red aldehyde- and yellow carboxyl-containing psittacofulvin molecules in developing feathers.

Triple-oxygen isotopes of stony micrometeorites by secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS): Olivine, basaltic glass and iron oxide matrix effects for sensitive high-mass resolution ion microprobe-stable isotope (SHRIMP-SI).

Rationale: Micrometeorites are extraterrestrial particles smaller than ~2 mm in diameter, most of which melted during atmospheric entry and crystallised or quenched to form 'cosmic spherules'. Their parentage among meteorite groups can be inferred from triple-oxygen isotope compositions, for example, by secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). This method uses sample efficiently, preserving spherules for other investigations.

Functions and mechanisms of RNA tailing by nucleotidyl transferase proteins in plants.

The addition of non-templated nucleotides at the 3' terminus of RNA is a pervasive and evolutionarily conserved posttranscriptional modification in eukaryotes. Apart from canonical poly(A) polymerases (PAPs), which are responsible for catalyzing polyadenylation of messenger RNAs in the nucleus, a distinct group of non-canonical PAPs (ncPAPs), also known as nucleotidyl transferase proteins (NTPs), mediate the addition of uridine and adenosine or of more intricate combinations of nucleotides. Among these, HEN1 SUPPRESSOR 1 (HESO1) and UTP: RNA URIDYLYLTRANSFERASE (URT1) are the two most extensively studied NTPs responsible for the addition of uridine to the 3' ends of RNAs (RNA uridylation).

Profiling of five urinary exosomal miRNAs for the differential diagnosis of patients with diabetic kidney disease and focal segmental glomerulosclerosis.

Objective: The objective of this study is to investigate the diagnostic utility of microRNAs (miRNAs) for distinguishing between urine samples from patients with Diabetic Kidney Disease (DKD) and those with Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis (FSGS).

Methods: In this multicentric, cross-sectional investigation, we enrolled patients diagnosed with DKD, individuals with primary biopsy-proven FSGS, and healthy controls. The top 5 miRNAs (hsa-mir-21, hsa-mir-30a, hsa-mir-193a, hsa-mir-196a, hsa-mir-200a) were selected to quantify miRNAs in urine samples.