Polymer Nanocomposites with Ultrahigh Energy Density and High Discharge Efficiency by Modulating their Nanostructures in Three Dimensions.

Manipulating microstructures of composites in three dimensions has been a long standing challenge. An approach is proposed and demonstrated to fabricate artificial nanocomposites by controlling the 3D distribution and orientation of oxide nanoparticles in a polymer matrix. In addition to possessing much enhanced mechanical properties, these nanocomposites can sustain extremely high voltages up to ≈10 kV, exhibiting high dielectric breakdown strength and low leakage current.

Microbial Community and Functional Gene Changes in Arctic Tundra Soils in a Microcosm Warming Experiment.

Microbial decomposition of soil organic carbon (SOC) in thawing Arctic permafrost is important in determining greenhouse gas feedbacks of tundra ecosystems to climate. However, the changes in microbial community structure during SOC decomposition are poorly known. Here we examine these changes using frozen soils from Barrow, Alaska, USA, in anoxic microcosm incubation at -2 and 8°C for 122 days.

The Buffering Effect of Mindfulness on Abusive Supervision and Creative Performance: A Social Cognitive Framework.

Our research draws upon social cognitive theory and incorporates a regulatory approach to investigate and abusive supervision influences employee creative performance. The analyses of data from multiple time points and multiple sources reveal that abusive supervision hampers employee self-efficacy at work, which in turn impairs employee creative performance. Further, employee mindfulness buffers the negative effects of abusive supervision on employee self-efficacy at work as well as the indirect effects of abusive supervision on employee creative performance.

Cas9 Nickase-Assisted RNA Repression Enables Stable and Efficient Manipulation of Essential Metabolic Genes in .

Essential gene functions remain largely underexplored in bacteria. is a promising candidate for consolidated bioprocessing; however, its genetic manipulation to reduce the formation of less-valuable acetate is technically challenging due to the essentiality of acetate-producing genes. Here we developed a Cas9 nickase-assisted chromosome-based RNA repression to stably manipulate essential genes in .

Regulates Jasmonate-Mediated Stamen Development.

The phytohormone jasmonates (JAs) regulate various defense responses and diverse developmental processes including stamen development and fertility. Previous studies showed that JA induces CORONATINE INSENSITIVE 1-mediated degradation of JA ZIM-domain (JAZ) proteins, and activates the MYB transcription factors (such as MYB21 and MYB24) to regulate stamen development. In this study, we further uncover the mechanism underlying how MYB24 interacts with JAZs to control JA-regulated stamen development.

Follower-Centered Perspective on Feedback: Effects of Feedback Seeking on Identification and Feedback Environment.

In the formation mechanism of the feedback environment, the existing research pays attention to external feedback sources and regards individuals as objects passively accepting feedback. Thus, the external source fails to realize the individuals' need for feedback, and the feedback environment cannot provide them with useful information, leading to a feedback vacuum. The aim of this study is to examine the effect of feedback-seeking by different strategies on the supervisor-feedback environment through supervisor identification.

Effects of Enzymatically Depolymerized Low Molecular Weight Heparins on CCl-Induced Liver Fibrosis.

With regard to identifying the effective components of LMWH drugs curing hepatic fibrosis disease, we carried out a comparative study on the efficacy of enzymatically depolymerized LMWHs on CCl induced mouse liver fibrosis. The results showed that the controlled enzymatic depolymerization conditions resulted in LMWHs with significantly different activities. The LMWH product depolymerized by Heparinase I (I-11) with a Mw of 7160, exhibited a significant advantage in reducing the liver inflammation by suppressing TNF-α and IL-1β secretion, and minimizing hepatic fibrogenesis.

Image-guided stem cells with functionalized self-assembling peptide nanofibers for treatment of acute myocardial infarction in a mouse model.

Aim: To investigate the survival of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) and the therapeutic effect for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) after co-transplantation with the functionalized self-assembling peptide nanofiber RAD/PRG or RAD/KLT.

Methods: AMI of balb/c mice was induced. Mice were randomly divided into four groups, and received treatment of phosphate buffered saline (PBS) (Group A), GFP/Fluc-BMSCs (Group B), GFP/Fluc-BMSCs + RAD/PRG (Group C), and GFP/Fluc-BMSCs + RAD/KLT (Group D), respectively.

Functional Disruption of a Chloroplast Pseudouridine Synthase Desensitizes Arabidopsis Plants to Phosphate Starvation.

Phosphate (Pi) deficiency is a common nutritional stress of plants in both agricultural and natural ecosystems. Plants respond to Pi starvation in the environment by triggering a suite of biochemical, physiological, and developmental changes that increase survival and growth. The key factors that determine plant sensitivity to Pi starvation, however, are unclear.

Conservation of Species- and Trait-Based Modeling Network Interactions in Extremely Acidic Microbial Community Assembly.

Understanding microbial interactions is essential to decipher the mechanisms of community assembly and their effects on ecosystem functioning, however, the conservation of species- and trait-based network interactions along environmental gradient remains largely unknown. Here, by using the network-based analyses with three paralleled data sets derived from 16S rRNA gene pyrosequencing, functional microarray, and predicted metagenome, we test our hypothesis that the network interactions of traits are more conserved than those of taxonomic measures, with significantly lower variation of network characteristics along the environmental gradient in acid mine drainage. The results showed that although the overall network characteristics remained similar, the structural variation was significantly lower at trait levels.

E-M, an Engineered Endostatin with High ATPase Activity, Inhibits the Recruitment and Alternative Activation of Macrophages in Non-small Cell Lung Cancer.

Endostatin recently was reported by our laboratory to possess ATPase activity that is indispensable for its anti-angiogenesis and anti-tumor effects. An engineered endostatin, E-M, which owns higher ATPase activity exhibits stronger inhibitory effects on angiogenesis. Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs), especially M2-polarized TAMs, contribute to tumor progression by promoting tumor cell proliferation, metastasis, angiogenesis, and immunosuppression, thus emerging as crucial targets for therapeutic intervention.

Functional Characterization of a Missing Branch Component in for Control of Algal Carotenoid Biosynthesis.

Cyclization of acyclic lycopene by cyclases marks an important regulatory point in carotenoid biosynthesis. Though some algal lycopene epsilon cyclases (LCYEs) have been predicted computationally, very few have been functionally identified. Little is known about the regulation mechanisms of algal LCYEs.

Experience with the Cardinal Coordinate System Contributes to the Precision of Cognitive Maps.

The coordinate system has been proposed as a fundamental and cross-culturally used spatial representation, through which people code location and direction information in the environment. Here we provided direct evidence demonstrating that daily experience with the cardinal coordinate system (i.e.

The "Depressive" Attributional Style Is Not That Depressive for Buddhists.

Numerous studies have shown that depression-prone people are characterized by a chronic style of attributing failures to internal, stable, and global causes, sometimes labeled as the "depressive attributional style." Much less is known, however, about how social-cultural factors such as religious beliefs might modulate these processes. In the current study, we hypothesized that Buddhism's view of ultimate internal controllability plays a buffering role against the depressive attributional style and reduces its negative impacts.

Functional Gene Diversity and Metabolic Potential of the Microbial Community in an Estuary-Shelf Environment.

Microbes play crucial roles in various biogeochemical processes in the ocean, including carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) cycling. Functional gene diversity and the structure of the microbial community determines its metabolic potential and therefore its ecological function in the marine ecosystem. However, little is known about the functional gene composition and metabolic potential of bacterioplankton in estuary areas.

The Biogeographic Pattern of Microbial Functional Genes along an Altitudinal Gradient of the Tibetan Pasture.

As the highest place of the world, the Tibetan plateau is a fragile ecosystem. Given the importance of microbial communities in driving soil nutrient cycling, it is of interest to document the microbial biogeographic pattern here. We adopted a microarray-based tool named GeoChip 4.

Sensitivity to Stroke Emerges in Kindergartners Reading Chinese Script.

To what extent are young children sensitive to individual stroke, the smallest unit of writing in Chinese that carries no phonological or semantic information? The present study examined Chinese kindergartners' sensitivity to stroke and the contribution of reading ability and age to stroke sensitivity. Fifty five children from Beijing, including 28 4-year-olds ( = 4.55 years, = 0.

Motivation Counts: Autonomous But Not Obligated Sharing Promotes Happiness in Preschoolers.

Research has demonstrated that prosocial sharing is emotionally rewarding, which leads to further prosocial actions; such a positive feedback loop suggests a proximal mechanism of human's tendency to act prosocially. However, it leaves open a question as to how the emotional benefits from sharing develop in young children and whether sharing under pressure promotes happiness as well. The current study directly compared 3- and 5-year-old Chinese children's happiness when sharing was autonomous (the recipient did not contribute to getting the reward) with when sharing was obligated (the recipient and the actor jointly earned the reward).

CIFAR10-DVS: An Event-Stream Dataset for Object Classification.

Neuromorphic vision research requires high-quality and appropriately challenging event-stream datasets to support continuous improvement of algorithms and methods. However, creating event-stream datasets is a time-consuming task, which needs to be recorded using the neuromorphic cameras. Currently, there are limited event-stream datasets available.

Genome-Wide Identification of Laccases Reveals Potential Targets for Lignin Modification.

Laccase is a key enzyme in plant lignin biosynthesis as it catalyzes the final step of monolignols polymerization. Sweet sorghum [ (L.) Moench] is considered as an ideal feedstock for ethanol production, but lignin greatly limits the production efficiency.

Multiple Neuroimaging Measures for Examining Exercise-induced Neuroplasticity in Older Adults: A Quasi-experimental Study.

Physical exercise can improve physical and mental health. A number of imaging studies have examined the role of neuroplasticity in improving cognition with physical exercise; however, such neuroplasticity changes are not consistent across the reports partly due to small sample sizes in some studies. We thought to explore the concept that identifying consistent findings across multi-modality imaging measures would provide relatively reliable results.

and Mediate RNAi-Based Antiviral Immunity.

RNA intereferencing (RNAi) pathway regulates antiviral immunity and mediates plant growth and development. Despite considerable research efforts, a few components in RNAi pathway have been revealed, including ARGONAUTEs (AGOs), DICER-LIKEs (DCLs), RNA-dependent RNA polymerase 1 and 6 (RDR1/6), and ALTERED MERISTEM PROGRAM 1 (AMP1). In this study, we performed a forward genetic screening for enhancers of via inoculation of CMV2aTΔ2b, a 2b-deficient Cucumber Mosaic Virus that is unable to suppress RNAi-mediated antiviral immunity.

Corrigendum: Effects of Short-Term Warming and Altered Precipitation on Soil Microbial Communities in Alpine Grassland of the Tibetan Plateau.

[This corrects the article on p. 1032 in vol. 7, PMID: 27446064.

MagR Alone Is Insufficient to Confer Cellular Calcium Responses to Magnetic Stimulation.

Magnetic manipulation of cell activity offers advantages over optical manipulation but an ideal tool remains elusive. The MagR protein was found through its interaction with cryptochrome (Cry) and the protein in solution appeared to respond to magnetic stimulation (MS). After we initiated an investigation on the specific role of MagR in cellular response to MS, a subsequent study claimed that MagR expression alone could achieve cellular activation by MS.