Environmental DNA Reveals Habitat Variables Driving Platypus () Distribution Across an Urbanised Landscape.

Freshwater waterways, and species that depend on them, are threatened by urbanisation and the consequences of the urban stream syndrome. In south-east Queensland, Australia, little is known about the impacts of the urban stream syndrome on the platypus (), meaning that populations cannot be adequately managed by conservation practitioners. The aim of this study was to determine how habitat and environmental variables, related to the urban stream syndrome, influenced platypus distribution across this region.

Characterization of Spirulina-derived extracellular vesicles and their potential as a vaccine adjuvant.

Spirulina is an edible cyanobacterium that increasingly gaining recognition for it untapped potential in the biomanufacturing of pharmaceuticals. Despite the rapidly accumulating information on extracellular vesicles (EVs) from most other bacteria, nothing is known about Spirulina extracellular vesicles (SPEVs). This study reports the successful isolation, characterization and visualization of SPEVs for the first time and it further investigates the potential therapeutic benefits of SPEVs using a mouse model.

Adjuvant strategies to tackle -mediated polymyxin resistance.

The emergence of the () gene is a demonstrable threat contributing to the worldwide antibiotic resistance crisis. The gene is encoded on plasmids and can easily spread between different bacterial strains. encodes a phosphoethanolamine (pEtN) transferase, which catalyses the transfer of the pEtN moiety from phosphatidylethanolamine to lipid A, the head group of lipopolysaccharides (LPS).

Effect of cyclic topology linear terpolymers on antibacterial activity and biocompatibility: antimicrobial peptide avatars.

Host-defense peptides (HDPs) and their analogs hold significant potential for combating multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacterial infections. However, their clinical use has been hindered by susceptibility to proteases, high production costs, and cytotoxicity towards mammalian cells. Synthetic polymers with diverse topologies and compositions, designed to mimic HDPs, show promise for treating bacterial infections.

Quadrupling the capacity of post aerobic digestion treating anaerobically digested sludge using a moving-bed biofilm (MBBR) configuration.

Wastewater treatment plants produce large amounts of sludge requiring stabilization before safe disposal. Traditional biological stabilization approaches are cost-effective but generally require either an extended retention time (10-40 days), or elevated temperatures (40-80 °C) for effective pathogens inactivation. This study overcomes these limitations via a novel acidic aerobic digestion process, leveraging an acid-tolerant ammonia-oxidizing bacterium (AOB) Nitrosoglobus.

-Sulfonylphenoxazines as neuronal calcium ion channel blockers.

Neuropathic pain is a type of chronic pain, usually caused by nerve damage, that responds poorly to traditional pain therapies. The N-type calcium channel (Ca2.2) is a well-validated pharmacological target to treat this condition.

A sequential liquid dispensing method in a centrifugal microfluidic device operating at a constant rotational speed for the multiplexed genetic detection of foodborne pathogens.

This study proposes a sequential liquid dispensing method using a centrifugal microfluidic device operating at a constant rotational speed for the multiplexed genetic detection of nucleic acid targets across multiple samples in a single operation. A pair of passive valves integrated into each microchamber enabled the liquid to fill towards the center of rotation against the centrifugal force, facilitating the complete removal of air inside the microchamber. Liquid manipulation can be achievable without any surface coating of the device by exploiting the inherent hydrophobicity of the polymer.

Why and how to use the SeqCode.

The SeqCode, formally called the Code of Nomenclature of Prokaryotes Described from Sequence Data, is a new code of nomenclature in which genome sequences are the nomenclatural types for the names of prokaryotic species. While similar to the International Code of Nomenclature of Prokaryotes (ICNP) in structure and rules of priority, it does not require the deposition of type strains in international culture collections. Thus, it allows for the formation of permanent names for uncultured prokaryotes whose nearly complete genome sequences have been obtained directly from environmental DNA as well as other prokaryotes that cannot be deposited in culture collections.

Nanomaterials for gas sensing and delivery.

Run Zhang, Songjun Zeng, and Rona Chandrawati introduce the themed issue 'Nanomaterials for gas sensing and delivery'.

Taxa-dependent temporal trends in the abundance and size of sea urchins in subtropical eastern Australia.

Subtropical reefs host a dynamic mix of tropical, subtropical, and temperate species that is changing due to shifts in the abundance and distribution of species in response to ocean warming. In these transitional communities, biogeographic affinity is expected to predict changes in species composition, with projected increases of tropical species and declines in cool-affinity temperate species. Understanding population dynamics of species along biogeographic transition zones is critical, especially for habitat engineers such as sea urchins that can facilitate ecosystem shifts through grazing.

Inhibition of N-type calcium channels by phenoxyaniline and sulfonamide analogues.

Building on previous investigations, structural modifications to the neuronal calcium ion channel blocker MONIRO-1 and related compounds were conducted that included replacement of the amide linker with an aniline and isosteric sulfonamide moiety, and the previously used strategy of substitution of the guanidinium group with less hydrophilic amine functionalities. A comprehensive SAR study revealed a number of phenoxyaniline and sulfonamide compounds that were more potent or had similar potency for the Ca2.2 and Ca3.

A review of frustrated Lewis pair enabled monoselective C-F bond activation.

Frustrated Lewis pair (FLP) bond activation chemistry has greatly developed over the last two decades since the seminal report of metal-free reversible hydrogen activation. Recently, FLP systems have been utilized to allow monoselective C-F bond activation (at equivalent sites) in polyfluoroalkanes. The problem of 'over-defluorination' in the functionalization of polyfluoroalkanes (where multiple fluoro-positions are uncontrollably functionalized) has been a long-standing chemical problem in fluorocarbon chemistry for over 80 years.

Assessing adequacy of citizen science datasets for biodiversity monitoring.

Tracking the state of biodiversity over time is critical to successful conservation, but conventional monitoring schemes tend to be insufficient to adequately quantify how species' abundances and distributions are changing. One solution to this issue is to leverage data generated by citizen scientists, who collect vast quantities of data at temporal and spatial scales that cannot be matched by most traditional monitoring methods. However, the quality of citizen science data can vary greatly.

Exploring coral speciation: Multiple sympatric taxa along a divergence continuum on the Great Barrier Reef.

Understanding how biodiversity originates and is maintained are fundamental challenge in evolutionary biology. Speciation is a continuous process and progression along this continuum depends on the interplay between evolutionary forces driving divergence and forces promoting genetic homogenisation. Coral reefs are broadly connected yet highly heterogeneous ecosystems, and divergence with gene flow at small spatial scales might therefore be common.

Habitat traits and predation interact to drive abundance and body size patterns in associated fauna.

Habitat-forming organisms provide three-dimensional structure that supports abundant and diverse communities. Variation in the morphological traits of habitat formers will therefore likely influence how they facilitate associated communities, either via food and habitat provisioning, or by altering predator-prey interactions. These mechanisms, however, are typically studied in isolation, and thus, we know little of how they interact to affect associated communities.

Self-Assembly of an [M L2 ] Intertwined Cube and a Giant [M L1 ] Orthobicupola.

Through coordination-driven self-assembly, aesthetically captivating structures can be formed by tuning the length or flexibility of various components. The self-assembly of an elongated rigid terphenyl-based tetra-pyridyl ligand (L1) with a cis-Pd(II) acceptor produces an [M L1 ] triangular orthobicupola structure (1). When flexibility is introduced into the ligand by the incorporation of a -CH - group between the dipyridylamine and terphenyl rings in the ligand (L2), anunique [M L2 ] water-soluble 'intertwined cubic structure' (2) results.

High-Performance Indoor Perovskite Solar Cells by Self-Suppression of Intrinsic Defects via a Facile Solvent-Engineering Strategy.

Lead halide perovskite solar cells have been emerging as very promising candidates for applications in indoor photovoltaics. To maximize their indoor performance, it is of critical importance to suppress intrinsic defects of the perovskite active layer. Herein, a facile solvent-engineering strategy is developed for effective suppression of both surface and bulk defects in lead halide perovskite indoor solar cells, leading to a high efficiency of 35.

Anterior Cervical Hybrid Decompression and Fusion Surgery to Treat Multilevel Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy.

Cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM) is a common disease resulting from intervertebral disc herniation, ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament, and other pathological changes that cause spinal cord compression. CSM progresses insidiously with mild upper-limb numbness, which patients tend to ignore. As the condition worsens, the patients may experience a limp, limited fine motor activity, and eventually, a loss of daily activity.

Dual functional WO/BiVO heterostructures for efficient photoelectrochemical water splitting and glycerol degradation.

Dual functional heterojunctions of tungsten oxide and bismuth vanadate (WO/BiVO) photoanodes are developed and their applications in photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting and mineralization of glycerol are demonstrated. The thin-film WO/BiVO photoelectrode was fabricated by a facile hydrothermal method. The morphology, chemical composition, crystalline structure, chemical state, and optical absorption properties of the WO/BiVO photoelectrodes were characterized systematically.