Micropollutants removal from aquaculture water using layer-by-layer self-assembled nanofiltration membranes.

Micropollutants (MPs) in aquaculture water are directly related to human health, but largely overlooked. The conventional water treatment technologies could not effectively remove MPs, and new technologies have been pursued with high MP removal rate, low cost and small footprint. This paper reported the first endeavor of using layer-by-layer (LBL) hollow fiber (HF) nanofiltration (NF) membranes to treat real aquaculture water.

Functional Segregation-Integration Preference Configures the Cognitive Decline Against Cerebral Small Vessel Disease: An MRI Study.

Introduction: Cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) is highly prevalent in elder individuals, and its variable cognitive outcomes indicate some cognitive reserve mechanisms. Contribution from functional network features is still unclear. Here we explore how functional segregation-integration preference influences the cognitive changes against CSVD.

Effects of nonmagnetic Cr substitution for Mn on kagome magnet DyMnSn.

MnSn(= rare-earth) kagome magnets have been one of the research focuses in condensed matter physics, primarily due to their exotic physical properties rooted in the interplay between magnetism and nontrivial topological band structures. We reported herein the crystal growth of Cr substituted DyMnCrSnand investigations on their magnetotransport properties. It is unveiled that the Mn kagome layer is destroyed and the in-plane ferromagnetic exchange is consequently weakened by the substituted nonmagnetic Cr.

Second Hydration Shell of Mg: Competition between Ion-Water Interaction and Hydrogen Bonding Interaction.

Hydration in Mg solutions is critical in the chemical and biological industries. Researchers have identified a rigid first hydration shell, but the effects of ion-water and hydrogen bonding (HB) interactions beyond the first shell of Mg, especially when ion pairs form at high concentrations, remain controversial. On the basis of density functional theory, machine learning molecular dynamics was performed to study the second shell of Mg in MgCl solutions at various concentrations.

Permeability-Engineered Compartmentation System-Enabled Digital PCR (PECS-dPCR): A Digital Platform toward Multistep Biomolecular Assays.

Droplet-based digital PCR has emerged as a powerful platform for nucleic acid-based detection. However, the formation of droplet compartments and the subsequent amplification process in oil present significant drawbacks: instability under harsh thermal conditions, high background fluorescent noise inside droplets, and major difficulty in supporting multistep assays. Alternatively, droplets made of a hydrogel, or other advanced materials, have been adopted and demonstrate promising improvement over conventional droplet-based platforms.

Pixel-Based Long-Wave Infrared Spectral Image Reconstruction Using a Hierarchical Spectral Transformer.

Long-wave infrared (LWIR) spectral imaging plays a critical role in various applications such as gas monitoring, mineral exploration, and fire detection. Recent advancements in computational spectral imaging, powered by advanced algorithms, have enabled the acquisition of high-quality spectral images in real time, such as with the Uncooled Snapshot Infrared Spectrometer (USIRS). However, the USIRS system faces challenges, particularly a low spectral resolution and large amount of data noise, which can degrade the image quality.

Silk Fibroin Seed Coatings: Towards Sustainable Seed Protection and Enhanced Growth.

Seed coating technology is vital in agriculture, enhancing seed protection and growth. However, conventional coatings often include chemical fungicides that pose environmental risks, highlighting the need for sustainable alternatives. This study explores silk fibroin (SF), a natural biopolymer with excellent film-forming properties, as a potential seed coating agent, addressing its antimicrobial limitations by combining it with the commercial agent CRUISER and the antimicrobial peptide Nisin.

In-situ generation and stabilization of gas bubbles for multiphase catalysis.

Introducing stable gas bubbles in liquid is important for the industrial synthesis of chemicals and intermediates via multiphase reactions because of limited solubility of gaseous reactants such as H and O. Herein, a bubble-stabilized system is constructed via in-situ nucleation of bubbles at the surfaces of various polymer nanofibers that circumvents the repulsive interactions between gas-liquid interfaces and nanofibers. During bubble growth processes, nanofibers are self-assembled and interwoven to build spatial nanofiber network surrounding bubbles, firmly trapping bubbles in the liquid phase.

Single-cell data-driven design of armed oncolytic virus and combination therapy to activate a cooperative innate-adaptive immunity against cancer.

Oncolytic viruses have been considered promising cancer immunotherapies. However, oncovirotherapy agents impart durable responses in only a subset of cancer patients. Thus, exploring the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the heterogeneous responses in patients can provide guidance to develop more effective oncolytic virus therapies.

Protocol for generating a pericyte reporter zebrafish line Ki(pdgfrb-P2A-GAL4-VP16) using a CRISPR-Cas9-mediated knockin technique.

Pericytes, the mural cells that envelop small blood vessels, play crucial roles in the formation of the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Here, we present a protocol for generating a pericyte reporter zebrafish line Ki(pdgfrb-P2A-GAL4-VP16) using a CRISPR-Cas9-mediated knockin technique. We describe steps for identifying efficient single guide RNA (sgRNA), constructing donor plasmid, and generating and maintaining the knockin line.

Selective Ni(I)/Ni(III) Process for Consecutive Geminal C(sp)-C(sp) Bond Formation.

Ni-catalyzed multicomponent cross-couplings have emerged as a powerful strategy for efficiently constructing complex molecular architectures from a diverse array of organic halides. Despite its potential, selectively forming multiple chemical bonds in a single operation, particularly in the realm of cross-electrophile coupling catalysis, remains a significant challenge. In this study, we have developed a consecutive open-shell reductive Ni catalysis, enabling the formation of two geminal C(sp)-C(sp) bonds from two stereoelectronically similar C(sp)-I reactants in conjunction with a methylene electrophile.

Trade-offs among brain structural network characteristics across the cognitive decline process in cerebral small vessel disease.

Objectives: To investigate the potential trade-offs among brain structural network characteristics across different stages of cognitive impairment in cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) based on diffusion tensor imaging (DTI).

Methods: A total of 264 CSVD patients, including 95 patients with non-cognitive impairment (NCI), 142 with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), 27 with vascular dementia (VaD), and 30 healthy controls (HC) underwent cognitive test and brain diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The brain structural network was constructed using connections between 90 cortical and subcortical regions.

Characterizing Y224 conformational flexibility in FtmOx1-catalysis using F NMR spectroscopy.

α-Ketoglutarate-dependent non-haem iron (αKG-NHFe) enzymes play a crucial role in natural product biosynthesis, and in some cases exhibiting multifunctional catalysis capability. This study focuses on αKG-NHFe enzyme FtmOx1, which catalyzes endoperoxidation, dealkylation, and alcohol oxidation reactions in verruculogen biosynthesis. We explore the hypothesis that the conformational dynamics of the active site Y224 confer the multifunctional activities of FtmOx1-catalysis.

Unraveling the Growth Mechanism of Chiral Inorganic Nanocrystals via High-Resolution Electron Microscopy.

Chiral inorganic nanomaterials have attracted broad interest due to their intriguing chirality-dependent performances. However, there is a lack of experimental studies and atomic-level evidence on their growth mechanism. Herein, high-crystalline chiral tellurium nanowires were synthesized in an alkali solution by using tellurium oxide as an inorganic source and hydrazine hydrate as a reductant.

Pd/Cu Catalyzed Asymmetric Allylation for Stereodivergent Synthesis of Glutamic Acid Derivatives.

A synergistic Pd/Cu catalyst system has been developed for stereodivergent transformation of Morita-Baylis-Hillman (MBH) carbonates and Schiff bases derived from simple amino acids to afford a series of optically active β-branched γ-methyleneglutamic acid derivatives with adjacent tertiary/tertiary and quaternary/tertiary stereocenters in high yields (up to 96 %) with excellent diastereo- and enantioselectivities (>20/1 dr and >99 % ee in most cases) under mild conditions. The use of SKP ligand is disclosed to be crucial for the success of the transformation, and in particular allowing the reaction to proceed at low catalyst loading (0.02 mol % for Pd and 0.

DropNaE: Alleviating irregularity for large-scale graph representation learning.

Large-scale graphs are prevalent in various real-world scenarios and can be effectively processed using Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) on GPUs to derive meaningful representations. However, the inherent irregularity found in real-world graphs poses challenges for leveraging the single-instruction multiple-data execution mode of GPUs, leading to inefficiencies in GNN training. In this paper, we try to alleviate this irregularity at its origin-the irregular graph data itself.

Molecular basis of lipid and ligand regulation of prostaglandin receptor DP2.

Prostaglandin D2 receptor 2 (DP2) is an important anti-inflammatory and antiallergic drug target. While inactive DP2 structures are known, its activation mechanisms and biased signaling remain unclear. Here, we report cryo-EM structures of an apo DP2-Gi complex, a DP2-Gi complex bound to the endogenous ligand Prostaglandin D (PGD), and a DP2-Gi complex bound to indomethacin, an arrestin-biased ligand, at resolutions of 2.

The Chemical Recovery of PMMA into Monomer.

Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), commonly known as plexiglass, is widely used in the areas of aircraft, automobile, construction and transplants, due to its high mechanical strength, good corrosion resistance, and excellent compatibility with human tissue. With the increase in production and usage of PMMA, the vast accumulation of PMMA waste has posed a challenge to the recycling of PMMA waste. However, at present, only less than 10 % of PMMA is recycled each year.

Robust Topological Interface States in a Lateral Magnetic-Topological Heterostructure.

Introducing uniform magnetic order in two-dimensional (2D) topological insulators by constructing heterostructures of TI and magnet is a promising way to realize the high-temperature Quantum Anomalous Hall effect. However, the topological properties of 2D materials are susceptible to several factors that make them difficult to maintain, and whether topological interface states (TISs) can exist at magnetic-topological heterostructure interfaces is largely unknown. Here, it is experimentally shown that TISs in a lateral heterostructure of CrTe/Bi(110) are robust against disorder, defects, high magnetic fields (time-reversal symmetry-breaking perturbations), and elevated temperature (77 K).

Strong electron-phonon coupling in magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene.

The unusual properties of superconductivity in magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene (MATBG) have sparked considerable research interest. However, despite the dedication of intensive experimental efforts and the proposal of several possible pairing mechanisms, the origin of its superconductivity remains elusive. Here, by utilizing angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy with micrometre spatial resolution, we reveal flat-band replicas in superconducting MATBG, where MATBG is unaligned with its hexagonal boron nitride substrate.

Cryo-EM structure of Nipah virus RNA polymerase complex.

Nipah virus, a member of the family, is a highly pathogenic nonsegmented, negative-sense RNA virus (nsNSV) which causes severe neurological and respiratory illnesses in humans. There are no available drugs or vaccines to combat this virus. A complex of large polymerase protein (L) and phosphoprotein (P) of Nipah virus supports replication and transcription and affords a target for antiviral drug development.