Rapid kinetics of H transport by membrane pyrophosphatase: Evidence for a "direct-coupling" mechanism.

Stress resistance-conferring membrane pyrophosphatase (mPPase) found in microbes and plants couples pyrophosphate hydrolysis with H transport out of the cytoplasm. There are two opposing views on the energy-coupling mechanism in this transporter: the pumping is associated with either pyrophosphate binding to mPPase or the hydrolysis step. We used our recently developed stopped-flow pyranine assay to measure H transport into mPPase-containing inverted membrane vesicles on the timescale of a single turnover.

[What Actin and Myosin Do in the Nucleus: New Functions of the Well-Known Proteins].

The functions of actin and its motor proteins myosins in the cytoplasm have been the subject of research for more than 100 years, but the existence and function of these proteins in the nucleus has been a matter of debate until recently. Recent data has clarified the role of actin and myosin molecules in controlling the dynamics of processes in the cell nucleus, chromatin organization and genome integrity. New microscopy techniques and the use of modified actin-binding probes have made it possible for the first time to directly visualize the polymerization of actin filaments in the nucleus of living cells.

Graphene Oxide/Zinc Phthalocyanine Selective Singlet Oxygen Visible-Light Nanosensor for Raman-Inactive Compounds.

A novel phthalocyanine-based hybrid nanofilm is for the first time successfully applied as an oxidative platform for surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) sensing to fine-resolve Raman-inactive compounds. The hybrid is formed by self-assembly of zinc(II) 2,3,9,10,16,17,23,24-Octa[(3',5'-dicarboxy)-phenoxy]phthalocyaninate (ZnPc*) with the solid-supported monolayer of graphene oxide (GO) mediated by zinc acetate metal cluster. Atomic force microscopy, UV-vis and fluorescence spectroscopies confirm that this simple coordination motive in combination with molecular structure of ZnPc* prevents contact quenching of the light-excited triplet state through aromatic stacking with GO particles.

Individual identity of alarm calls in wild-living Brandt's voles (Lasiopodomys brandtii).

We investigated acoustic variation responsible for the individuality of alarm calls produced by 50 Brandt's voles Lasiopodomys brandtii derived from 50 different wild-living colonies. For the first time, we described the calling pattern of Brandt's voles, producing a long series of short alarm calls with short inter-call intervals. The alarm calls displayed four different contours of fundamental frequency but were nevertheless strongly individually distinct within a series of 50 successive alarm calls per caller (2500 analyzed alarm calls).

Capillary-driven self-assembly of soft ellipsoidal microgels at the air-water interface.

The adsorption of ellipsoidal colloidal particles on liquid interfaces induces interfacial deformation, resulting in anisotropic interface-mediated interactions and the formation of superstructures. Soft prolate-shaped microgels at the air-water interface offer an ideal model for studying spontaneous capillary-driven self-assembly due to their tunable aspect ratio, controlled functionality, and softness. These microgels consist of a polystyrene core surrounded by a cross-linked, fluorescently labeled poly([Formula: see text]-isopropylmethylacrylamide) shell.

Clinical and biochemical features of atherogenic hyperlipidemias with different genetic basis: A comprehensive comparative study.

Patients with genetically-based hyperlipidemias exhibit a wide phenotypic variability. Investigation of clinical and biochemical features is important for identifying genetically-based hyperlipidemias, determining disease prognosis, and initiating timely treatment. We analyzed genetic data from 3374 samples and compared clinical data, lipid levels (low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, and lipoprotein (a)), frequency, age at onset of coronary heart disease (CHD), and the severity of carotid and femoral atherosclerosis (plaque number, maximum stenosis, total stenosis, maximum plaque height, and plaque score) among patients with familial hypercholesterolemia (FH), familial dysbetalipoproteinemia (FD), polygenic hypercholesterolemia (HCL), severe HCL, and those without lipid disorders (n = 324).

Antimicrobial Activity of Different Collections of Medicinal Polypore Fungus Fomitopsis pinicola (Agaricomycetes).

The study of antimicrobial activity (AMA) of 14 genetically identified dikaryotic strains of red belted medicinal polypore Fomitopsis pinicola isolated from Betula sp. and other deciduous trees, as well as conifers Picea sp. and Abies alba in Russia, France and Italy against test fungi and bacteria is discussed.

Enhancing soil quality in soybean cultivation: Mycorrhizal technology combined with intercropping under high cadmium stress.

Cadmium (Cd) contamination presents a serious challenges for sustainable agriculture. This study evaluated the combined impact of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) inoculation and intercropping with Solanum nigrum on soil microbial diversity, enzyme activity, and environmental factors in soybean cultivation under high Cd stress. The combined treatment effectively reduced bioavailable Cd in soil, with the acid-soluble Cd fraction at 19.

Amphiphilic Photoluminescent Porous Silicon Nanoparticles as Effective Agents for Ultrasound-Amplified Cancer Therapy.

This study investigates the use of photoluminescent amphiphilic porous silicon nanoparticles (αϕ-pSiNPs) as effective ultrasound (US) amplifiers for cancer sonodynamic theranostics. αϕ-pSiNPs were synthesized via a novel top-down approach involving porous silicon (pSi) films electrochemical etching, borate oxidation, and hydrophobic coating with octadecylsilane (C18), resulting in milling into nanoparticles with hydrophilic exteriors and hydrophobic interiors. These properties promote gas trapping and cavitation nucleation, significantly lowering the US cavitation threshold and resulting in selective destruction of cancer cells in the presence of nanoparticles.

Metals and metalloids pollution levels, partitioning, and sources in the environmental compartments of a small urban catchment in Moscow Megacity.

This study examines the contamination levels and sources of 32 metals and metalloids (MMs) in environmental compartments (roadside soil, road dust, and river suspended sediments) of a small urbanized river catchment located in Moscow megacity. MMs partitioning between particle size fractions (PM, PM, and PM) was analyzed by ICP-MS and ICP-AES methods. The pollution level of particle size fractions with MMs decreases in the following series: road dust > suspended sediments > soils.

Role of H in Solvent Extraction of Am(III) and Eu(III) Using a Polydentate Bipyridine N-,O-Donor Ligand: Chemical Equilibrium States and Kinetic Aspects.

In this work, the influence of protonation on the kinetics and thermodynamics of extraction of the Am/Eu pair using N-heterocyclic dicarboxylic acid diamide ,'-diethyl-,'-bis(4-ethylphenyl)-[2,2'-bipyridine]-6,6'-dicarboxamide () was investigated. The extraction efficiency of the ligand did not decrease, even at a nitric acid concentration 4 times higher than that of the ligand in the organic phase. X-ray diffraction analysis established that protonation leads to the preorganization of the ligand due to the reversal of bipyridyl rings into the binding conformation when both nitrogen atoms are turned to one side.

A rare case of Na/Zn isomorphism in the crystal structure of acentric zincophosphate NaZn[Zn(PO)].

A microporous zincophosphate with the idealized formula NaZn[Zn(PO)] was obtained through high-temperature hydrothermal synthesis and characterized by scanning electron microscopy, microprobe analysis and X-ray diffraction. The orthorhombic compound, which crystallizes in acentric space group Pna2 with unit-cell parameters a = 12.9901 (2), b = 16.

Tactile imagery affects cortical responses to vibrotactile stimulation of the fingertip.

Mental imagery is a crucial cognitive process, yet its underlying neural mechanisms remain less understood compared to perception. Furthermore, within the realm of mental imagery, the somatosensory domain is particularly underexplored compared to other sensory modalities. This study aims to investigate the influence of tactile imagery (TI) on cortical somatosensory processing.

Description of a new species of Speiser , 1905 (Diptera: Hippoboscidae) from Southern Vietnam with the updated key to the subgenus .

The family Hippoboscidae, commonly known as "louse flies," comprises pupiparous Diptera that are ectoparasites of birds and mammals, with significant impacts on their hosts and epidemiological importance. The louse fly fauna of Vietnam is relatively understudied compared to other countries in the Southeast Asia region. In this study, we describe a new species of the genus Speiser, 1905 (Diptera: Hippoboscidae), , collected from the lesser coucal (Gmelin, JF, 1788) in Cat Tien National Park, Vietnam.

Optimizing the charge transport in redox-active gels: a computational study.

Redox-active polymer gels are promising materials for various applications, such as energy conversion and storage systems, organic electronics, soft-robotics, sensors and others. This is in part due to the remarkable structural tunability of these materials. The gel may adopt different conformations depending on the crosslinking density, solvent temperature and other conditions.

Correction: Elucidating the influence of side chains on the self-assembly of semi-flexible mesogens.

Correction for 'Elucidating the influence of side chains on the self-assembly of semi-flexible mesogens' by Raluca I. Gearba , , 2025, https://doi.org/10.

Printing Untethered Self-Reconfigurable, Self-Amputating Soft Robots from Recyclable Self-Healing Fibers.

Regarding the challenge of self-reconfiguration and self-amputation of soft robots, existing studies mainly focus on modular soft robots and connection methods between modules. Different from these studies, this study focus on the behavior of individual soft robots from a material perspective. Here, a kind of soft fibers, which consist of hot melt adhesive particles, magnetizable microparticles, and ferroferric oxide microparticles embedded in a thermoplastic polyurethane matrix are proposed.

Diffusion of fast and slow excitons with an exchange in quasi-two-dimensional systems.

By means of analytical calculations and numerical simulations, we study the diffusion properties in quasi-two-dimensional structures with two exciton subsystems with an exchange between them. The experimental realization is possible in systems where fast and slow exciton subsystems appear. For substantially different diffusion coefficients of the species, the negative diffusion can be observed if one measures the transport properties of only a single subsystem, just as was obtained in experimental studies for quasi-two-dimensional semiconductor systems.

Partially unitary learning.

The problem of an optimal mapping between Hilbert spaces IN of |ψ〉 and OUT of |ϕ〉 based on a set of wavefunction measurements (within a phase) ψ_{l}→ϕ_{l}, l=1,⋯,M, is formulated as an optimization problem maximizing the total fidelity ∑_{l=1}^{M}ω^{(l)}|〈ϕ_{l}|U|ψ_{l}〉|^{2} subject to probability preservation constraints on U (partial unitarity). The constructed operator U can be considered as an IN to OUT quantum channel; it is a partially unitary rectangular matrix (an isometry) of dimension dim(OUT)×dim(IN) transforming operators as A^{OUT}=UA^{IN}U^{†}. An iterative algorithm for finding the global maximum of this optimization problem is developed, and its application to a number of problems is demonstrated.

Pivotal Role of the Intracellular Microenvironment in the High Photodynamic Activity of Cationic Phthalocyanines.

To investigate the influence of phthalocyanine aggregation on their photodynamic activity, a series of six cationic water-soluble zinc(II) phthalocyanines bearing from four to sixteen 4-((diethylmethylammonium)methyl)phenoxy substituents was synthesized. Depending on their structure, the phthalocyanines have different aggregation behaviors in phosphate buffer solutions ranging from fully assembled to monomeric states. Remarkably, independent of aggregation in buffer, very high photodynamic efficiencies against the tumor cell lines MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 in the nanomolar range were found for all investigated phthalocyanine, and the IC(light) varied from 27 to 358 nM (3.

A genome-wide nucleosome-resolution map of promoter-centered interactions in human cells corroborates the enhancer-promoter looping model.

The enhancer-promoter looping model, in which enhancers activate their target genes via physical contact, has long dominated the field of gene regulation. However, the ubiquity of this model has been questioned due to evidence of alternative mechanisms and the lack of its systematic validation, primarily owing to the absence of suitable experimental techniques. In this study, we present a new MNase-based proximity ligation method called MChIP-C, allowing for the measurement of protein-mediated chromatin interactions at single-nucleosome resolution on a genome-wide scale.

[Claudin-18.2 and gastric cancer: from physiology to carcinogenesis].

Today a global problem for humanity is represented by cancer, in particular gastric cancer, which is characterized by high mortality and aggressive course. In this regard, there is a search for new approaches to the diagnosis and therapy of gastric cancer, one of these areas is the study of the expression level of the intercellular adhesion molecule claudin-18.2 in tumor tissue and its use as a target molecule.

[Localization features of FAP-positive activated stromal cells in fibrosis in patients with new coronavirus infection COVID-19].

Objective: To evaluate the representation and localization of FAP-positive activated stromal cells depending on the severity of fibrotic changes in tissues of patients with a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19.

Material And Methods: 20 autopsy observations of patients who died from COVID-19 were studied. Immunohistochemical studies were performed using antibodies to CD90, FAP and aSMA and a dual imaging system.

Conjugates of amiridine and salicylic derivatives as promising multifunctional CNS agents for potential treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

New conjugates of amiridine and salicylic derivatives (salicylamide, salicylimine, and salicylamine) with different lengths of alkylene spacers were designed, synthesized, and evaluated as potential multifunctional central nervous system therapeutic agents for Alzheimer's disease (AD). Conjugates demonstrated high acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) inhibition (IC: AChE, 0.265-4.