Quantitative Measurement of Interfacial Adhesion of CVD Grown Bilayer WS on Various Substrates.

The interfacial adhesion between transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) and the growth substrate significantly influences the employment of flakes in various applications. Most previous studies have focused on MoS and graphene, particularly their interaction with SiO/Si substrates. In this work, the adhesion strength of CVD-grown bilayer WS is directly measured using the nano scratch technique on three different substrates-Sapphire, SiO/Si, and fused quartz.

Vibration Behavior of 3D-Printed Graded Composites: Fabrication and Testing.

Multi-head 3D printers afford the ability to create composite structures with significant differences in properties compared to those created through traditional molding techniques. In addition to the usage of different viscoelastic polymeric materials, the selective spatial placement of the build materials enables the creation of layered and graded geometries to achieve specific mechanical and/or vibrational characteristics. This paper describes how the mechanical properties of the individual materials can be used to predict the damping and natural frequencies of a 3D-printed graded structure.

ZMIX: estimating ancestry proportions using GWAS association Z-scores.

Motivation: With larger and more diverse studies becoming the standard in genome-wide association studies (GWAS), accurate estimation of ancestral proportions is increasingly important for summary-statistics-based methods such as those for imputing association summary statistics, adjusting allele frequencies (AFs) for ancestry, and prioritizing disease candidate variants or genes. Existing methods for estimating ancestral proportions in GWAS rely on the availability of study reference AFs, which are often inaccessible in current GWAS due to privacy concerns.

Results: In this study, we propose ZMIX (Z-score-based estimation of ethnic MIXing proportions), a novel method for estimating ethnic mixing proportions in GWAS using only association Z-scores, and we compare its performance to existing reference AF-based methods in both real-world and simulated GWAS settings.

Mechanics of the artillery fungus.

Species of artillery fungus, Sphaerobolus, use a unique, snap-through buckling mechanism to discharge their spores over a longer distance than any other known fungi. Here, we provide new information on biomechanics of glebal discharge by capturing the launch using high-speed video, measuring the force generated by the inner cup that expels the gleba, and modeling the relationship between the force and speed of the gleba to its trajectory. Associated calculations reveal that patches of the artillery fungus consume 80 times more energy than an individual gilled mushroom to release the same number of spores.

Increased cytoplasmic expression of PETase enzymes in E. coli.

Background: Depolymerizing polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastics using enzymes, such as PETase, offers a sustainable chemical recycling route. To enhance degradation, many groups have sought to engineer PETase for faster catalysis on PET and elevated stability. Considerably less effort has been focused toward expressing large quantities of the enzyme, which is necessary for large-scale application and widespread use.

Forecasting demand data for critical materials.

Gallium, Indium and Cobalt are critical materials that are vital to ramping up the adoption of clean energy technologies such as solar photovoltaics (PVs), electric vehicles (EVs) and wind turbines (WTs). Like other critical materials, they are prone to supply chain risks resulting in future uncertainty associated with supply, demand and price parameters. Understanding current and future market dynamics will mitigate this uncertainty.

In silico analysis of R2R3-MYB transcription factors in the basal eudicot model, .

Unlabelled: R2R3-MYBs are an important group of transcription factors that regulate crucial developmental processes across the plant kingdom; yet no comprehensive analysis of the R2R3-MYBs in the early-diverging eudicot clade of Ranunculaceae has been conducted so far. In the present study,  is chosen to understand the extent of conservation and divergence of R2R3-MYBs as a representative of the family by analysing the genomic distribution, organization, gene structure, physiochemical properties, protein architecture, evolution and possible mode of expansion. Genome-wide analysis showed the presence of 82 putative homologues classified into 21 subgroups, based on phylogenetic analysis of full-length protein sequences.

Phosphoketolase and KDPG aldolase metabolisms modulate photosynthetic carbon yield in cyanobacteria.

Cyanobacteria contribute to roughly a quarter of global net carbon fixation. During diel light/dark growth, dark respiration substantially lowers the overall photosynthetic carbon yield in cyanobacteria and other phototrophs. How respiratory pathways participate in carbon resource allocation at night to optimize dark survival and support daytime photosynthesis remains unclear.

Cultural Insiders and Graphic Stories to Promote Research Readiness Among the South Asian Community: A Focus on Purpose, Protection, and Participation.

South Asians living in the United States are frequently underrepresented in health research. Their lack of participation limits the generalizability of research to them and keeps them from receiving the high-quality care and innovation that some studies may offer. "Research Ready" is a five-panel, community co-created graphic-style story that encourages discussion around the purpose of research, safety/protection while participating, and why diverse participation-including South Asians-improves study results and leads to more effective interventions/treatments.

Microballistics in fungi and plants.

Ballistic movements in biology are powered by muscle contraction, explosive chemical reactions, the formation and collapse of gas bubbles, merger of fluid droplets, and release of hydrostatic pressure. At the macroscopic end of this kinetic carnival we find jumping fleas, violent spider jaws, shrimp claw hammers, and squirting beetles and cucumbers. The speeds are startling, but the mechanisms seem familiar because they occur on a spatial scale that overlaps with our physical experiences.

Fabrication and characterization of long-lasting antifungal film containing cinnamaldehyde-loaded complex coacervation microcapsules based on gelatin and gum Arabic.

A novel long-acting antifungal active film was successfully created, as an alternative to conventional chemical food preservatives. The antifungal films incorporated with cinnamaldehyde (CA) microcapsules achieved long-lasting antifungal activity, mitigated yellowing caused by the direct addition of CA, and showed improved flexibility properties. CA multinuclear microcapsules were produced using gelatin with a Bloom value of 200 and gum Arabic, resulting in increased encapsulation efficiency (99.

Determinants of willingness to add pollinator beneficial plants to residential yards differ by plant type.

Yards (i.e. residential gardens) can provide suitable food and refuge for a variety of pollinators, but residents' decisions to make such changes to their yards depend on socio-economic characteristics of residents, their lifestyle and life stage, perceived or existing social norms surrounding yard appearance and associated care, as well as yard characteristics such as yard size and characteristics of the plants themselves.

Controlling carbodiimide-driven reaction networks through the reversible formation of pyridine adducts.

Carbodiimides and pyridines form reversible adducts that slowly deliver carbodiimide "fuels" to out-of-equilibrium reaction networks, slowing activation kinetics and elongating transient state lifetimes. More-nucleophilic pyridines give more adduct under typical conditions. This approach can be used to extend the lifetimes of transient polymer hydrogels.

Batch-effect correction in single-cell RNA sequencing data using JIVE.

Motivation: In single-cell RNA sequencing analysis, addressing batch effects-technical artifacts stemming from factors such as varying sequencing technologies, equipment, and capture times-is crucial. These factors can cause unwanted variation and obfuscate the underlying biological signal of interest. The joint and individual variation explained (JIVE) method can be used to extract shared biological patterns from multi-source sequencing data while adjusting for individual non-biological variations (i.

Drug discovery of N-methyl-pyrazole derivatives as potent selective estrogen receptor degrader (SERD) for the treatment of breast cancer.

Nowadays, ERα is considered to be a primary target for the treatment of breast cancer, and selective estrogen receptor degraders (SERDs) are emerging as promising antitumor agents. By analysing ERα-SERDs complexes, the pharmacophore features of SERDs and the crucial protein-ligand interactions were identified. Then, by utilizing the scaffold-hopping and bioisosteres strategy, 23 novel derivatives were designed, synthesized and biologically evaluated.

Oxidation of Small Phenolic Compounds by Mn(IV).

Plant secondary metabolites, including phenolics, represent a large quantity of organic material that enters soil and contributes to the formation of soil organic matter (SOM). The process of phenolics forming SOM remains poorly understood. One possible mechanism is oxidation of the phenolic compound catalyzed by redox active metals such as manganese (Mn) and iron (Fe) in soils.

Effective Teacher Professional Development for School-Based Mental Health Promotion: A Review of the Literature.

Teachers are critically involved in the delivery of school-based mental health promotion (SMHP) interventions in school, though pre-service teacher education often leaves teachers feeling underprepared in this area. Thus, understanding how best to build teachers' capacity for delivery through effective professional development (PD) is essential for teachers to fulfill their role as delivery agents to achieve SMHP outcomes. This systematized review focuses on identifying components of high-quality teacher PD for SMHP and examining the empirical support for these components.

Improving the texture of braised pork by gradient-temperature heating and its molecular mechanism.

A novel gradient-temperature heating regime was proposed to improve the texture of braised pork. Compared with one-stage pressure heat treatment of around 107 °C, the gradient-temperature heat regime of preheating at 60 °C, followed by a slow increase of temperature to 107 °C and simmering at 97 °C increased the retention of immobilized water and reduced the shear force of meat. In this cooking regime, preheating treatment at 50-60 °C could promote the dissociation of thin and thick myofilaments, which contributed to a weakened shrinkage of myofibrils during the subsequent high temperature heating process.

Chronic cold exposure causes left ventricular hypertrophy that appears to be physiological.

Exposure to winter cold causes an increase in energy demands to meet the challenge of thermoregulation. In small rodents, this increase in cardiac output leads to a profound cardiac hypertrophy, 2-3 times that typically seen with exercise training. The nature of this hypertrophy and its relevance to winter mortality remains unclear.

Permanent Stress Adaptation and Unexpected High Light Tolerance in the Shade-Adapted .

The Antarctic photopsychrophile, UWO241, is adapted to extreme environmental conditions, including permanent low temperatures, high salt, and shade. During long-term exposure to this extreme habitat, UWO241 appears to have lost several short-term mechanisms in favor of constitutive protection against environmental stress. This study investigated the physiological and growth responses of UWO241 to high-light conditions, evaluating the impacts of long-term acclimation to high light, low temperature, and high salinity on its ability to manage short-term photoinhibition.