Developmental deficits, synapse and dendritic abnormalities in a Clcn4 KO autism mice model: endophenotypic target for ASD.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is linked to ion channel dysfunction, including chloride voltage-gated channel-4 (CLCN4). We generated Clcn4 knockout (KO) mice by deleting exon 5 of chromosome 7 in the C57BL/6 mice. Clcn4 KO exhibited reduced social interaction and increased repetitive behaviors assessed using three-chamber and marble burying tests.

Size-controlled assembly of phase separated protein condensates with interfacial protein cages.

Phase separation of specific proteins into liquid-like condensates is a key mechanism for forming membrane-less organelles, which organize diverse cellular processes in space and time. These protein condensates hold immense potential as biomaterials capable of containing specific sets of biomolecules with high densities and dynamic liquid properties. Despite their appeal, methods to manipulate protein condensate materials remain largely unexplored.

The impact of climate change on Korea's agricultural sector under the national self-sufficiency policy.

Evolving environmental conditions due to climate change have brought about changes in agriculture, which is required for human life as both a source of food and income. International trade can act as a buffer against potential negative impacts of climate change on crop yields, but recent years have seen breakdowns in global trade, including export bans to improve domestic food security. For countries that rely heavily on imported food, governments may institute policies to protect their agricultural industry from changes in climate-induced crop yield changes and other countries' potential trade restrictions.

Synthetic Bilirubin-Based Nanomedicine Protects Against Renal Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury Through Antioxidant and Immune-Modulating Activity.

Renal ischemia/reperfusion injury (IRI) is a common form of acute kidney injury. The basic mechanism underlying renal IRI is acute inflammation, where oxidative stress plays an important role. Although bilirubin exhibits potent reactive oxygen species (ROS)-scavenging properties, its clinical application is hindered by problems associated with solubility, stability, and toxicity.

Single-Step Production of Doubly Re-entrant Microstructures Through Reaction-Diffusion Photolithography for Omniphobic Surfaces.

Omniphobic surfaces, which repel virtually any liquid regardless of its wettability, have been developed using doubly re-entrant microstructures. Although various microfabrication techniques have been explored, these often require multiple complex steps. In this study, reaction-diffusion photolithography (RDP) is used to fabricate micropost arrays with doubly re-entrant geometries through a single-step ultraviolet (UV) exposure process.

Ultrahigh Specific Strength by Bayesian Optimization of Carbon Nanolattices.

Nanoarchitected materials are at the frontier of metamaterial design and have set the benchmark for mechanical performance in several contemporary applications. However, traditional nanoarchitected designs with conventional topologies exhibit poor stress distributions and induce premature nodal failure. Here, using multi-objective Bayesian optimization and two-photon polymerization, optimized carbon nanolattices with an exceptional specific strength of 2.

Memory consolidation from a reinforcement learning perspective.

Memory consolidation refers to the process of converting temporary memories into long-lasting ones. It is widely accepted that new experiences are initially stored in the hippocampus as rapid associative memories, which then undergo a consolidation process to establish more permanent traces in other regions of the brain. Over the past two decades, studies in humans and animals have demonstrated that the hippocampus is crucial not only for memory but also for imagination and future planning, with the CA3 region playing a pivotal role in generating novel activity patterns.

Cation Effect on the Electrochemical Platinum Dissolution.

Ensuring the stability of electrocatalysts is paramount to the success of electrochemical energy conversion devices. Degradation is a fundamental process involving the release of positively charged metal ions into the electric double layer (EDL) and their subsequent diffusion into the bulk electrolyte. However, despite its vital importance in achieving prolonged electrocatalysis, the underlying causality of catalyst dissolution with the EDL structure remains largely unknown.

Exome sequencing of 18,994 ethnically diverse patients with suspected rare Mendelian disorders.

We investigated the effectiveness of exome sequencing (ES) in diagnosing ethnically diverse patients with rare genetic disorders. A total of 18,994 patients referred to a single reference laboratory for ES between 2020 and 2022 were studied for the diagnostic rate and factors influencing the diagnostic rate. The overall diagnostic rate was 31.

Active learning framework to optimize process parameters for additive-manufactured Ti-6Al-4V with high strength and ductility.

Optimizing process and heat-treatment parameters of laser powder bed fusion for producing Ti-6Al-4V alloys with high strength and ductility is crucial to meet performance demands in various applications. Nevertheless, inherent trade-offs between strength and ductility render traditional trial-and-error methods inefficient. Herein, we present Pareto active learning framework with targeted experimental validation to efficiently explore vast parameter space of 296 candidates, pinpointing optimal parameters to augment both strength and ductility.

Advancing efficiency in deep-blue OLEDs: Exploring a machine learning-driven multiresonance TADF molecular design.

The pursuit of boron-based organic compounds with multiresonance (MR)-induced thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) is propelled by their potential as narrowband blue emitters for wide-gamut displays. Although boron-doped polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in MR compounds share common structural features, their molecular design traditionally involves iterative approaches with repeated attempts until success. To address this, we implemented machine learning algorithms to establish quantitative structure-property relationship models, predicting key optoelectronic characteristics, such as full width at half maximum (FWHM) and main peak wavelength, for deep-blue MR candidates.

Attractor Landscape Analysis Reveals a Reversion Switch in the Transition of Colorectal Tumorigenesis.

A cell fate change such as tumorigenesis incurs critical transition. It remains a longstanding challenge whether the underlying mechanism can be unraveled and a molecular switch that can reverse such transition is found. Here a systems framework, REVERT, is presented with which can reconstruct the core molecular regulatory network model and a reversion switch based on single-cell transcriptome data over the transition process is identified.

Unraveling Redox Mediator-Assisted Chemical Relithiation Mechanism for Direct Recycling of Spent Ni-Rich Layered Cathode Materials.

The increasing demand for Li-ion batteries across various energy storage applications underscores the urgent need for environmentally friendly and efficient direct recycling strategies to address the issue of substantial cathode waste. Diverse reducing agents for Li supplements, such as quinone molecules, have been considered to homogenize the Li distribution in the cathode materials obtained after cycling; however, the detailed reaction mechanism is still unknown. Herein, the ideal electrochemical potential factor and reaction mechanism of the redox mediator 3,5-di-tert-butyl-o-benzoquinone (DTBQ) for the chemical relithiation of high-Ni-layered cathodes are elucidated.

Engineering probiotic Escherichia coli for inflammation-responsive indoleacetic acid production using RiboJ-enhanced genetic circuits.

Background: As our understanding of gut microbiota's metabolic impacts on health grows, the interest in engineered probiotics has intensified. This study aimed to engineer the probiotic Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 (EcN) to produce indoleacetic acid (IAA) in response to gut inflammatory biomarkers thiosulfate and nitrate.

Results: Genetic circuits were developed to initiate IAA synthesis upon detecting inflammatory signals, optimizing a heterologous IAA biosynthetic pathway, and incorporating a RiboJ insulator to enhance IAA production.

Harnessing Large Language Models to Collect and Analyze Metal-Organic Framework Property Data Set.

This research focused on the efficient collection of experimental metal-organic framework (MOF) data from scientific literature to address the challenges of accessing hard-to-find data and improving the quality of information available for machine learning studies in materials science. Utilizing a chain of advanced large language models (LLMs), we developed a systematic approach to extract and organize MOF data into a structured format. Our methodology successfully compiled information from more than 40,000 research articles, creating a comprehensive and ready-to-use data set.

Ganglioside-incorporating lipid nanoparticles as a polyethylene glycol-free mRNA delivery platform.

Incorporation of polyethylene glycol (PEG) is widely used in lipid nanoparticle (LNP) formulation in order to achieve adequate stability due to its stealth properties. However, studies have detected the presence of anti-PEG neutralizing antibodies after PEGylated LNP treatment, which are associated with anaphylaxis, accelerated LNP clearance and premature release of cargo. Here, we report the development of LNPs incorporating ganglioside, a naturally occurring stealth lipid, as a PEG-free alternative.

Pace of Life Is Faster for a Bored Person: Exploring the Relationship Between Trait Boredom and Fast Life History Strategy.

Life history theory suggests that in harsh, unpredictable environments, individuals may benefit from adopting a fast life history strategy. This may involve experiencing boredom more frequently and intensely as an adaptive mechanism to seek novel stimuli, potentially increasing the number of sexual partners and offspring. This study explored the relationship between trait boredom-a chronic characteristic of feeling bored-and fast life history strategies.

Novel Isothermal Amplification Integrated with CRISPR/Cas13a and Its Applications for Ultrasensitive Detection of SARS-CoV-2.

We herein developed an ultrasensitive and rapid strategy to identify genomic nucleic acids by integrating a clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated protein 13a (Cas13a) into our recently developed isothermal technique, nicking and extension chain reaction system-based amplification (NESBA) reaction. In this technique, named CESBA, the NESBA reaction isothermally produces a large amount of RNA amplicons from the initial target genomic RNA (gRNA). The RNA amplicons bind to the crispr RNA (crRNA) and activate the collateral cleavage activity of Cas13a, which would then cleave the reporter probe nearby, consequently producing the final signals.

Electro-tactile modulation of muscle activation and intermuscular coordination in the human upper extremity.

Electro-tactile stimulation (ETS) can be a promising aid in augmenting sensation for those with sensory deficits. Although applications of ETS have been explored, the impact of ETS on the underlying strategies of neuromuscular coordination remains largely unexplored. We investigated how ETS, alone or in the presence of mechano-tactile environment change, modulated the electromyogram (EMG) of individual muscles during force control and how the stimulation modulated the attributes of intermuscular coordination, assessed by muscle synergy analysis, in human upper extremities.

Engineered CRISPR-Cas9 for Streptomyces sp. genome editing to improve specialized metabolite production.

The CRISPR-Cas9 system has frequently been used for genome editing in Streptomyces; however, cytotoxicity, caused by off-target cleavage, limits its application. In this study, we implement innovative modification to Cas9, strategically addressing challenges encountered during gene manipulation using Cas9 within strains possessing high GC content genome. The Cas9-BD, a modified Cas9 with the addition of polyaspartate to its N- and C-termini, is developed with decreased off-target binding and cytotoxicity compared with wild-type Cas9.

Zincophilic CuO as electron sponge to facilitate dendrite-free zinc-based flow battery.

Zinc (Zn)-based batteries have been persistently challenged by the critical issue of inhomogeneous zinc deposition/stripping process on substrate surface. Herein, we reveal that zinc electrodeposition behaviors dramatically improved through the introduction of highly zincophilic copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO NPs). Strong electronic redistribution between Zn and CuO explains the high Zn affinity on CuO, with negligible nucleation overpotential.

Multigas Identification by Temperature-Modulated Operation of a Single Anodic Aluminum Oxide Gas Sensor Platform and Deep Learning Algorithm.

Semiconductor metal oxide (SMO) gas sensors are gaining prominence owing to their high sensitivity, rapid response, and cost-effectiveness. These sensors detect changes in resistance resulting from oxidation-reduction reactions with target gases, responding to a variety of gases simultaneously. However, their inherent limitations lie in selectivity.

Exploring the Impact of Ionic Additives on the Structure and Energetics of Dye-Sensitized NiO Interfaces: Insights from Electrochemistry and First-Principles Calculations.

The efficient functioning of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) is governed by the interplay of three essential components: the semiconductor, the dye, and the electrolyte. While the impact of the electrolyte composition on the device's performance has been extensively studied in n-type DSSCs, much less is known about p-type-based devices. Here, we investigate the effect of potential-determining ions on the energetics and stability of dye-sensitized NiO surfaces by using electrochemical, ab initio molecular dynamics simulations, and ab initio electronic structure calculations.

Reduced UPF1 levels in senescence impair nonsense-mediated mRNA decay.

Cells regulate gene expression through various RNA regulatory mechanisms, and this regulation often becomes less efficient with age, contributing to accelerated aging and various age-related diseases. Nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD), a well-characterized RNA surveillance mechanism, degrades aberrant mRNAs with premature termination codons (PTCs) to prevent the synthesis of truncated proteins. While the role of NMD in cancer and developmental and genetic diseases is well documented, its implications in human aging remain largely unexplored.

Metabolic engineering of Escherichia coli for enhanced production of p-coumaric acid via L-phenylalanine biosynthesis pathway.

p-Coumaric acid (p-CA), an invaluable phytochemical, has novel bioactivities, including antiproliferative, anxiolytic, and neuroprotective effects, and is the main precursor of various flavonoids, such as caffeic acid, naringenin, and resveratrol. Herein, we report the engineering of Escherichia coli for de novo production of p-CA via the PAL-C4H pathway. As the base strain, we used the E.