Chromosome length genome assembly of the stone marten (Martes foina, Mustelidae): a new view on one of the cornerstones in carnivore cytogenetics.

The stone marten (Martes foina) is an important species for cytogenetic studies in the order Carnivora. ZooFISH probes created from its chromosomes provided a strong and clean signal in chromosome painting experiments and were valuable for studying the evolution of carnivoran genome architecture. The research revealed that the stone marten chromosome set is similar to the presumed ancestral karyotype of the Carnivora, which added an additional value for the species.

Protective Coating of Single-Crystalline Ni-Rich Cathode Enables Fast Charging in All-Solid-State Batteries.

Improving interfacial stability between cathode active material (CAM) and solid electrolyte (SE) is vital for developing high-performance all-solid-state batteries (ASSBs), with compatibility issues among the cell components representing a major challenge. CAM surface coating with a chemically inert ion conductor is a promising approach to suppress side reactions occurring at the cathode interfaces. Another strategy to mitigate mechanical degradation involves utilizing single-crystalline particle morphologies.

A hyperelastic torque-reversal mechanism for soft joints with compression-responsive transient bistability.

Snap-through, a rapid transition of a system from an equilibrium state to a nonadjacent equilibrium state, is a valuable design element of soft devices for converting a monolithic stimulus into systematic responses with impulsive motions. A common way to benefit from snap-through is to embody it within structures and materials, such as bistable structures. Torque-reversal mechanisms discovered in nature, which harness snap-through instability via muscular forces, may have comparative advantages.

Electronically Nonadiabatic Quenching of Excited States of O by Collisions with O Atoms.

The kinetics of electronically inelastic quenching of O(Δ) and O(Σ) by collisions with O(P) have been investigated using mixed quantum-classical trajectories governed by adiabatic potential energy surfaces and state couplings generated from a recently developed diabatic potential energy matrix (DPEM) for the 14 lowest-energy A' states of O. Using the coherent switching with decay of mixing (CSDM) method, dynamics calculations were performed both with 14 coupled electronic states and with 8 coupled electronical states, and similar results were obtained. The calculated thermal quenching rate coefficients are generally small, but they increase with temperature.

Simultaneous Unbinned Differential Cross-Section Measurement of Twenty-Four Z+jets Kinematic Observables with the ATLAS Detector.

Z boson events at the Large Hadron Collider can be selected with high purity and are sensitive to a diverse range of QCD phenomena. As a result, these events are often used to probe the nature of the strong force, improve Monte Carlo event generators, and search for deviations from standard model predictions. All previous measurements of Z boson production characterize the event properties using a small number of observables and present the results as differential cross sections in predetermined bins.

Programmable Stapling Peptide Based on Sulfonium as Universal Vaccine Adjuvants for Multiple Types of Vaccines.

Adjuvants are non-specific immune enhancers commonly used to improve the responsiveness and persistence of the immune system toward antigens. However, due to the undefined chemical structure, toxicity, non-biodegradability, and lack of design technology in many existing adjuvants, it remains difficult to achieve substantive breakthroughs in the adjuvant research field. Here, a novel adjuvant development strategy based on stapling peptides is reported to overcome this challenge.

Melamine-Copolymerization Strategy Engineered Fluorinated Polyimides for Membrane-Based Sour Natural Gas Separation.

Membrane-based gas separation provides an energy-efficient approach for the simultaneous CO and HS removal from sour natural gas. The fluorinated polyimide (PI) membranes exhibited a promising balance between permeability and permselectivity for sour natural gas separation. To further improve the separation efficiency of fluorinated PI membranes, a melamine-copolymerization synthetic approach is devised that aims to incorporate melamine motifs with high sour gas affinity into the structure of the PI membranes.

Sleep spindles and slow oscillations predict cognition and biomarkers of neurodegeneration in mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease.

Introduction: Changes in sleep physiology can predate cognitive symptoms by decades in persons with Alzheimer's disease (AD), but it remains unclear which sleep characteristics predict cognitive and neurodegenerative changes after AD onset.

Methods: Using data from a prospective cohort of mild to moderate AD (n = 60), we analyzed non-rapid eye movement sleep spindles and slow oscillations (SOs) at baseline and their associations with baseline amyloid beta (Aβ) and tau and with cognition from baseline to 3-year follow-up.

Results: Higher spindle and SO activity predicted significant changes in Aβ and tau at baseline, lower Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale Cognitive Subscale (better cognitive performance) score, and higher Mini-Mental State Examination score from baseline to 36 months.

WBSCR16 is essential for mitochondrial 16S rRNA processing in mammals.

Mitochondrial rRNAs play important roles in regulating mtDNA-encoded gene expression and energy metabolism subsequently. However, the proteins that regulate mitochondrial 16S rRNA processing remain poorly understood. Herein, we generated adipose-specific Wbscr16-/-mice and cells, both of which exhibited dramatic mitochondrial changes.

Down the Rabbit Hole: A Large-Scale Survey of Psychedelic Users' Patterns of Use and Perceived Effects.

The ever-changing landscape surrounding legality and accessibility of psychedelics and their increasing popularity make it imperative to better understand the nature of psychedelic use by the general population. To this end, 1,486 eligible respondents ( = 29.58, 67.

Computer-aided design of novel anthranilic diamides containing fluorinated alkoxy groups as potential ryanodine receptor insecticides.

Background: Increasing the diversity of lead compounds has been shown to enhance the efficacy of diamide insecticides. Fifty novel compounds were precisely designed and synthesized utilizing fragment-based assembly and virtual screening coupling.

Results: The median lethal concentration (LC) values of compounds X-30 and X-40 against Mythimna separata were 0.

Surface immobilization of single atoms on heteroatom-doped carbon nanospheres through phenolic-mediated interfacial anchoring for highly efficient biocatalysis.

Single-atom catalysts (SACs) dispersed on support materials exhibit exceptional catalytic properties that can be fine-tuned through interactions between the single atoms and the support. However, selectively controlling the spatial location of single metal atoms while simultaneously harmonizing their coordination environment remains a significant challenge. Here, we present a phenolic-mediated interfacial anchoring (PIA) strategy to prepare SACs with Fe single atoms anchored on the surface of heteroatom-doped carbon nanospheres.

Brain receptor dynamics in early and adult life stress: Gateways to maladaptive coping strategies.

Stress plays a significant role in the onset of numerous psychiatric disorders. Depending on individual resilience or stressor's nature, long-term changes to stress in the brain can lead to a wide range of behavioral symptoms, including social withdrawal, feelings of helplessness, and emotional overeating. The brain receptor molecules are key mediators of these processes, translating neuromodulatory signals into neuronal responses or circuit activity changes that ultimately shape behavioral outcomes.

The mCHEST Score for Incident Atrial Fibrillation: MESA (Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis).

Background: Assessing individuals' risk of developing incident atrial fibrillation (AF) is important for making preventive and screening strategies.

Objectives: The performance of the mCHEST score for predicting incident AF has scarcely been evaluated, especially in a multi-ethnic population.

Methods: Participants from the MESA (Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis were enrolled in the present study, which involved population of different ethnicities (Caucasian, African-American, Chinese-American, and Hispanic) aged between 45 and 84 from 6 communities in the United States.

Impact of cascade reservoir on the sources of organic matter in sediments of Lancang river.

The construction of dams to intercept natural rivers constitutes the most severe human activity influencing the underlying surface. This study focuses on four cascade reservoirs of the Lancang River and explores their impact on the migration of organic matter in sediments. The research reveals significant spatial variations in total organic carbon (TOC) and total nitrogen concentrations in the sediments of the four reservoirs.

Bacteriocin from the Raccoon Dog Oral Microbiota Inhibits the Growth of Pathogenic Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

The growing incidence of infections caused by antibiotic-resistant strains of pathogens is one of the key challenges of the 21 century. The development of novel technological platforms based on single-cell analysis of antibacterial activity at the whole-microbiome level enables the transition to massive screening of antimicrobial agents with various mechanisms of action. The microbiome of wild animals remains largely underinvestigated.

Regional brain iron correlates with transcriptional and cellular signatures in Alzheimer's disease.

Introduction: The link between overload brain iron and transcriptional/cellular signatures in Alzheimer's disease (AD) remains inconclusive.

Methods: Iron deposition in 41 cortical and subcortical regions of 30 AD patients and 26 healthy controls (HCs) was measured using quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM). The expression of 15,633 genes was estimated in the same regions using transcriptomic data from the Allen Human Brain Atlas (AHBA).

c-JUN: a chromatin repressor that limits mesoderm differentiation in human pluripotent stem cells.

Cell fate determination at the chromatin level is not fully comprehended. Here, we report that c-JUN acts on chromatin loci to limit mesoderm cell fate specification as cells exit pluripotency. Although c-JUN is widely expressed across various cell types in early embryogenesis, it is not essential for maintaining pluripotency.

Brain Age as a New Measure of Disease Stratification in Huntington's Disease.

Background: Despite advancements in understanding Huntington's disease (HD) over the past two decades, absence of disease-modifying treatments remains a challenge. Accurately characterizing progression states is crucial for developing effective therapeutic interventions. Various factors contribute to this challenge, including the need for precise methods that can account for the complex nature of HD progression.

Risk of residual/recurrent cervical diseases in HPV-positive women post-conization depends on HPV integration status.

Background: It is crucial to identify post-operative patients with HPV infection who are at high risk for residual/recurrent disease. This study aimed to evaluate the association between HPV integration and clinical outcomes in HPV-positive women after cervical conization, as well as to identify HPV integration breakpoints.

Methods: This retrospective study analyzed data of 791 women who underwent cervical conization for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grades 2-3 (CIN2-3) between September 2019 and September 2023, sourced from the Fujian and Hubei cervical lesion screening cohorts.

Investigating the role of intratumoral Streptococcus mitis in gastric cancer progression: insights into tumor microenvironment.

Growing evidence implicates that intratumoral microbiota are closely linked to cancer progression; however, research on the role of these microbiota in the development of gastric cancer remains limited. Here, using 16 S rRNA sequencing, tumor tissue proteomics and serum cytokines analysis, we identified enrichment of specific microbial communities within tumors of gastric cancer patients, possibly affecting the tumor microenvironment by immune modulation, metabolic processes, and inflammatory responses. Based on the results of in vivo experiments and intratumoral microbiota analysis, we found that Streptococcus mitis can inhibit gastric cancer progression via suppressing M2 macrophage polarization and infiltration, as well as altering the intratumoral microbial community.

Heatstroke characteristics and meteorological conditions in Hefei, China: thresholds and driving factors.

Background: Due to climate change and rapid urbanization, the frequency of heatwave events in East China has increased considerably since the 21st century, which has a considerable influence on human health, such as heatstroke. However, few studies have been conducted in this region on the relationship between heatstroke and meteorological conditions. To address this point, this study aimed to analyze the characteristics of heatstroke and their relationship with meteorological conditions in Hefei, China.

Myricetin exposure reduces PC differentiation in vitro in primary human B cells.

Background: The process of B cell activation and plasma cell (PC) formation involves morphological, transcriptional, and metabolic changes in the B cell. Blocking or reducing PC differentiation is one approach to treat autoimmune diseases that are characterized by the presence of pathogenic autoantibodies. Recent studies have suggested the potential of myricetin, a natural flavonoid with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, to block or reduce PC differentiation.