Signatures of adaptation and purifying selection in highland populations of Dasiphora fruticosa.

High mountains harbor a considerable proportion of biodiversity, but we know little about how diverse plants adapt to the harsh environment. Here we finished a high-quality genome assembly for Dasiphora fruticosa, an ecologically important plant distributed in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and lowland of the Northern Hemisphere, and resequenced 592 natural individuals to address how this horticulture plant adapts to highland. Demographic analysis revealed D. fruticosa underwent a bottleneck after Naynayxungla Glaciation. Selective sweep analysis of two pairs of lowland and highland population identified 63 shared genes related to cell wall organization or biogenesis, cellular component organization, and dwarfism, suggesting parallel adaptation to highland habitats. Most importantly, we found that stronger purging of estimated genetic load due to inbreeding in highland populations apparently contributed to their adaptation to the highest mountain. Our results revealed how plants could tolerate the extreme plateau, which could provide potential insights for species conservation and crop breeding.

Fabrication of p-n Heterostructured Photocatalysts with Triazine-Based Covalent Organic Framework and CuInS2 for High-Efficiency CO2 Reduction.

The application of covalent organic frameworks (COFs) for the photocatalytic reduction of CO2 is mostly limited by severe charge recombination and low sunlight utilization. Herein, a triazine-based COF with an electron-rich and large π-conjugated system (TCOF) was employed as a building block and integrated with CuInS2 (CIS) to construct a noble-metal-free and high-efficiency photocatalyst for CO2 reduction. The in situ growth of CIS nanosheets on TCOF creates a p-n heterojunction, named CIS@TCOF. Compared with TCOF, the CIS@TCOF heterostructure exhibits a dramatically boosted photocatalytic performance in the reduction of CO2. The produced HCOOH yield over 10 wt % CIS@TCOF can be up to 171.2 µmol g-1 h-1 under visible light irradiation with good reproducibility, which is about 3 times as high as that over TCOF. Further in-depth studies indicate that the introduction of CIS not only enhances the visible light utilization but also restrains the recombination of photogenerated electron-hole pairs efficiently and facilitates the photoinduced charge transfer via the p-n heterojunction system due to the unique structural and compositional features. This research shows the great potential of COFs as efficient photocatalytic carbon fixation materials and provides a versatile route to construct semiconductor-COF heterostructures for photocatalysis.

Single Bolus r-SAK Before Primary PCI for ST-Segment-Elevation Myocardial Infarction.

BACKGROUND: It is uncertain whether adjunctive thrombolysis is beneficial for patients with ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) within 120 minutes of presentation. This study was to determine whether in patients presenting with ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction a single bolus recombinant staphylokinase (r-SAK) before timely PCI leads to improved patency of the infarct-related artery and reduces the infarct size. METHODS: This is an open-label, prospective, multicenter, randomized study. We enrolled patients aged 18 to 75 years who were within 12 hours of symptom onset of ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction and expected to undergo PCI within 120 minutes. Patients were administered loading doses of aspirin and ticagrelor and intravenous heparin and were randomized to receive 5 mg bolus of r-SAK or normal saline intravenously before PCI. The primary end point was Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction flow grade 2 to 3 or grade 3 in the infarct-related artery 60 minutes after thrombolysis. The infarct size was detected by cardiac magnetic resonance 5 days after randomization. The safety end point was major bleeding (Bleeding Academic Research Consortium ≥3) during 30-day follow-up. RESULTS: A total of 283 patients were screened from 8 centers and 200 were randomized (median age, 58.5 years; 14% female). The median symptom to thrombolysis time was 252.5 (interquartile range, 142.8-423.8) minutes and thrombolysis to coronary arteriography was 50.0 (interquartile range, 37.0-66.0) minutes. Patients randomized to r-SAK compared with normal saline more often had Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction flow grade 2 to 3 (69.0% versus 29.0%; P<0.001) and Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction flow grade 3 (51.0% versus 18.0%; P<0.001) and had smaller infarct size (21.91±10.84% versus 26.85±12.37%; P=0.016). There was no increase in major bleeding (r-SAK, 1.0% versus control, 3.0%; P=0.616). CONCLUSIONS: A single bolus r-SAK before primary PCI for ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction improves infarct-related artery patency and reduces infarct size without increasing major bleeding. REGISTRATION: URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov; Unique identifier: NCT05023681.

Genetic architecture of ecological divergence between Oryza rufipogon and Oryza nivara.

Ecological divergence due to habitat difference plays a prominent role in the formation of new species, but the genetic architecture during ecological speciation and the mechanism underlying phenotypic divergence remain less understood. Two wild ancestors of rice (Oryza rufipogon and Oryza nivara) are a progenitor-derivative species pair with ecological divergence and provide a unique system for studying ecological adaptation/speciation. Here, we constructed a high-resolution linkage map and conducted a quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis of 19 phenotypic traits using an F2 population generated from a cross between the two Oryza species. We identified 113 QTLs associated with interspecific divergence of 16 quantitative traits, with effect sizes ranging from 1.61% to 34.1% in terms of the percentage of variation explained (PVE). The distribution of effect sizes of QTLs followed a negative exponential, suggesting that a few genes of large effect and many genes of small effect were responsible for the phenotypic divergence. We observed 18 clusters of QTLs (QTL hotspots) on 11 chromosomes, significantly more than that expected by chance, demonstrating the importance of coinheritance of loci/genes in ecological adaptation/speciation. Analysis of effect direction and v-test statistics revealed that interspecific differentiation of most traits was driven by divergent natural selection, supporting the argument that ecological adaptation/speciation would proceed rapidly under coordinated selection on multiple traits. Our findings provide new insights into the understanding of genetic architecture of ecological adaptation and speciation in plants and help effective manipulation of specific genes or gene cluster in rice breeding.

Application of Indian ink markers for locating gastric varices under endoscopic ultrasonography.

OBJECTIVE: The present study aimed to investigate the accuracy of endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) combined with Indian ink in locating target vessels of gastric varices (GVs) compared with conventional endoscopic techniques. Additionally, the characteristics of GVs under conventional endoscopy were also explored. METHODS: All 50 cirrhotic patients with GVs between August 2021 and December 2022 were included in the study. Firstly, conventional endoscopy was employed to identify GVs and to record the expected injection sites. Subsequently, EUS was used to locate the perforated vessel and the injection site was them marked with India ink followed by injection with cyanoacrylate (CYA). Finally, conventional endoscopy was used to examine GVs, to identify the marker points of Indian ink and to compare whether the injection points under conventional endoscopy were consistent with those marked with Indian ink. Furthermore, patients with consistent and inconsistent distribution of endoscopic markers and injection sites were divided into two groups. RESULTS: EUS could detect the perforating vessels in real time and intuitively. The distribution of markers using EUS was significantly different compared with the injection points obtained by conventional endoscopy (P < 0.001). Therefore, 20 cases were allocated to the consistent group and 30 cases to the non-consistent group. 16 patients who showed red wale signs were obtained in the consistent group and 11 patients in the non-consistent group (P = 0.048). The diameter of the largest GVs was 13.5 (10-15) mm in the consistent group compared with 10 (7.5-10) mm in the non-consistent group (P = 0.006). CONCLUSION: EUS could provide the exact location of GVs, thus more accurately describing the endoscopic characteristics of the GVs. Furthermore, the red wale signs and diameter of the largest GVs obtained using conventional endoscopy were helpful in determining the location of target GVs.

Correction: A hierarchical integrated 3D carbon electrode derived from gingko leaves via hydrothermal carbonization of H3PO4 for high-performance supercapacitors.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1039/D3NA90045B.][This corrects the article DOI: 10.1039/D2NA00758D.].

Machine discovery of partial differential equations from spatiotemporal data: A sparse Bayesian learning framework.

This study presents a general framework, namely, Sparse Spatiotemporal System Discovery (S3d), for discovering dynamical models given by Partial Differential Equations (PDEs) from spatiotemporal data. S3d is built on the recent development of sparse Bayesian learning, which enforces sparsity in the estimated PDEs. This approach enables a balance between model complexity and fitting error with theoretical guarantees. The proposed framework integrates Bayesian inference and a sparse priori distribution with the sparse regression method. It also introduces a principled iterative re-weighted algorithm to select dominant features in PDEs and solve for the sparse coefficients. We have demonstrated the discovery of the complex Ginzburg-Landau equation from a traveling-wave convection experiment, as well as several other PDEs, including the important cases of Navier-Stokes and sine-Gordon equations, from simulated data.

Photoinduced reductive Reformatsky reaction of α-haloesters and aldehydes or ketones by cooperative dual-metal catalysis.

A photoinduced reductive Reformatsky reaction by cooperative dual-metal catalysis is described. This methodology enables the implementation of this venerable reaction in environmentally friendly conditions, obviating the need for a stoichiometric amount of metals. A broad range of synthetically useful ß-hydroxy esters can be efficiently prepared in moderate to high yields using this protocol.

Catalytic Asymmetric Polycyclization of Tertiary Enamides with Silyl Enol Ethers: Total Synthesis of (-)-Cephalocyclidin A.

A catalytic enantioselective polycyclization of tertiary enamides with terminal silyl enol ethers has been developed by virtue of Cu(OTf)2 catalysis with a novel spiropyrroline-derived oxazole (SPDO) ligand. This tandem reaction offers an effective approach to assemble bicyclic and tricyclic N-heterocycles bearing both aza- and oxa-quaternary stereogenic centers, which are primal subunits in a range of natural alkaloids. Strategic application of this methodology and a late-stage radical cyclization as key steps have been showcased in the concise total synthesis of (-)-cephalocyclidin A.

Enantioselective Synthesis of 2,3,3a,8a-Tetrahydrofuro[2,3-b]benzofuran Scaffolds Enabled by Cu(II)/SPDO-Catalyzed [3+2] Cycloaddition of 2,3-Dihydrofuran and Quinone Esters.

An asymmetric [3+2] cycloaddition of quinone esters with 2,3-dihydrofuran has been realized via a newly developed Cu(II)/SPDO complex. It provides straightforward access to 2,3,3a,8a-tetrahydrofuro[2,3-b]benzofurans (TFB) with high enantioselectivity (up to 97.5:2.5 er) and diastereoselectivity (all >20:1 dr). The resulting adducts contain two adjacent stereocenters and a continuously functionalized benzene ring. Additionally, this transformation could be easily performed on a gram scale, allowing for expedient synthesis of natural dihydroaflatoxin D2 and aflatoxin B2.

Two-dimensional InTeClO3: an ultrawide-bandgap material with potential application in a deep ultraviolet photodetector.

Ultrawide-bandgap semiconductors, possessing bandgaps distinctly larger than the 3.4 eV of GaN, have emerged as a promising class capable of achieving deep ultraviolet (UV) light detection. Based on first-principles calculations, we propose an unexplored two-dimensional (2D) InTeClO3 layered system with ultrawide bandgaps ranging from 4.34 eV of bulk to 4.54 eV of monolayer. Our calculations demonstrate that 2D InTeClO3 monolayer can be exfoliated from its bulk counterpart and maintain good thermal and dynamic stability at room temperature. The ultrawide bandgaps may be modulated by the small in-plane strains and layer thickness in a certain range. Furthermore, the 2D InTeClO3 monolayer shows promising electron transport behavior and strong optical absorption capacity in the deep UV range. A two-probe InTeClO3-based photodetection device has been constructed for evaluating the photocurrent. Remarkably, the effective photocurrent (5.7 A m-2 at photon energy of 4.2 eV) generation under polarized light has been observed in such a photodetector. Our results indicate that 2D InTeClO3 systems have strong photoresponse capacity in the deep UV region, accompanying the remarkable polarization sensitivity and high extinction ratio. These distinctive characteristics highlight the promising application prospects of InTeClO3 materials in the field of deep UV optoelectronics.

Catalytic Enantioselective Alkylation of Aldehydes with 3-Bromooxindoles.

An asymmetric conjugate addition of aldehydes with o-azaxylylene intermediates (indol-2-ones) from 3-bromooxindoles has been developed. The use of a novel spiro-pyrrolidine (SPD)-derived bifunctional N-sulfonylated amide catalyst is essential for a highly diastereo- and enantioselective transformation to provide a wide array of enantioenriched C3 quaternary oxindoles with structurally diverse ß-aldehyde appendages. Further application of this synthetic methodology enables the construction of the tricyclic cores of akuammiline-type alkaloids.

NiH-Catalyzed Regio- and Enantioselective Hydroalkylation for the Synthesis of ß- or γ-Branched Chiral Aromatic N-Heterocycles.

A nickel hydride-catalyzed regio- and enantioselective hydroalkylation reaction was developed to give access to a library of chiral ß- or γ-branched aromatic N-heterocycles. This intriguing asymmetric transformation features excellent selectivities, step- and atom-economies, and generating two kinds of chiral products through one synthetic strategy. Furthermore, the possible reaction mechanism was extensively investigated using numerous control experiments and density functional theory calculations.

Simple and precise calibration of the line-structured light vision system using a planar target.

When calibrating a line-structured light vision system using a planar target, noise easily affects the solution of the coordinates of light stripe points at the camera coordinate frame. Therefore, the planar target must be placed in the measurement space many times to capture more target images for improving calibration stability and achieving relatively high calibration accuracy. This complicates the calibration process. This paper proposes a calibration method considering the measurement baselines of a planar target. The planar target is placed only two times, and two target images are captured correspondingly. A three-point subset is made up of the two calibration points that form the measurement baseline with the longest 2D projection and any other calibration point. In this way, it is less affected by noise when using the three-point subsets to establish the equations. Then, we use the lengths of the measurement baselines provided by all three-point subsets and their 2D projections to solve the coordinates of light stripe points at the camera coordinate frame more accurately to calibrate the line-structured light vision system. Both the simulation and actual experiment results demonstrate the feasibility of our method. Based on our calibration method, the RMS error is 0.035 mm for length measurement and 0.054 mm for height measurement. Compared with other existing methods, our method needs only two target images. It can also achieve more accurate calibration results than the other methods. In addition, our calibration method increases the applicability of the line-structured light measurement method by reducing the number of target swings.

Endoscopic ultrasonography-guided injection of cyanoacrylate in the treatment of gastroesophageal varices type 1: a single-center randomized study.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: First, it has been demonstrated that endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS)-guided cyanoacrylate (CYA) injection (EUS-CYA) has greater efficacy than direct endoscopic injection of cyanoacrylate (DEI-CYA) for treating type 1-isolated gastric varices. However, it is necessary to conduct further studies to determine whether EUS has any advantage over the current guidelines for treating gastroesophageal varices type 1 (GOV1). Second, liver function is an important prognostic factor in patients with liver cirrhosis. Therefore, we evaluated the liver function of patients treated with EUS-CYA. METHODS: In a single-center study, a prospective cohort from February 2021 to September 2022 involving 89 patients with cirrhosis with GOV1 were assigned to undergo EUS-CYA (n = 45) or DEI-CYA (n = 44). The success rate of CYA injection, the rate of overall rebleeding, the rate of reintervention, the complications during the follow-up period, and the liver function were compared. RESULTS: In both groups, 100% of the operations were successful. The follow-up time of the two groups was 290 (153-398) days and 267 (177-416) days, respectively. In the EUS group, the perforating veins had an average diameter of 7.0 ± 2.7 mm, and they had a 100% occlusion rate. A statistically significant difference was found between the two groups regarding the number of sessions needed to eradicate GV (p = 0.005, pairwise comparisons were conducted using the Bonferroni correction method.), the late rebleeding rate after EUS-CYA [n = 3 (6.7%) vs n = 10 (22.7%); p = 0.032], and the incidence of postinjection ulcers [n = 4 (8.9%) vs n = 12 (27.3); p = 0.023)]. Following EUS or DEI-CYA treatment, the patient's liver function did not show any significant deterioration or decline. CONCLUSION: EUS-CYA has a higher eradication success rate and fewer complications, recurrences, and rebleeding episodes than DEI-CYA used for GOV1 treatment. In addition, EUS-CYA did not impair liver function.

Multiple domestications of Asian rice.

The origin of domesticated Asian rice (Oryza sativa L.) has been controversial for more than half a century. The debates have focused on two leading hypotheses: a single domestication event in China or multiple domestication events in geographically separate areas. These two hypotheses differ in their predicted history of genes/alleles selected during domestication. Here we amassed a dataset of 1,578 resequenced genomes, including an expanded sample of wild rice from throughout its geographic range. We identified 993 selected genes that generated phylogenetic trees on which japonica and indica formed a monophyletic group, suggesting that the domestication alleles of these genes originated only once in either japonica or indica. Importantly, the domestication alleles of most selected genes (~80%) stemmed from wild rice in China, but the domestication alleles of a substantial minority of selected genes (~20%) originated from wild rice in South and Southeast Asia, demonstrating separate domestication events of Asian rice.

Enantioselective total syntheses of six natural and two proposed meroterpenoids from Psoralea corylifolia.

The first enantioselective total syntheses of six natural and two proposed meroterpenoids isolated from Psoralea corylifolia have been achieved in 7-9 steps from 2-methylcyclohexanone. The current synthetic approaches feature a high level of synthetic flexibility, stereodivergent fashion and short synthetic route, thereby providing a potential platform for the preparation of numerous this-type meroterpenoids and their pseudo-natural products.

Visible-light-induced photocatalytic CO2 reduction over zirconium metal organic frameworks modified with different functional groups.

The reduction of CO2 into high value-added chemicals and fuels by a photocatalytic technology can relieve energy shortages and the environmental problems caused by greenhouse effects. In the current work, an amino-functionalized zirconium metal organic framework (Zr-MOF) was covalently modified with different functional groups via the condensation of Zr-MOF with 2-pyridinecarboxaldehyde (PA), salicylaldehyde (SA), benzaldehyde (BA), and trifluoroacetic acid (TA), named Zr-MOF-X (X = PA, SA, BA, and TA), respectively, through the post-synthesis modification. Compared with Zr-MOF and Zr-MOF-TA, the introduction of PA, SA, or BA into the framework of Zr-MOF can not only enhance the visible-light harvesting and CO2 capture, but also accelerate the photogenerated charge separation and transfer, thereby improving the photocatalytic ability of Zr-MOF for CO2 reduction. These results indicate that the modification of Zr-MOF with electron-donating groups can promote the photocatalytic CO2 reduction. Therefore, the current work provides an instructive approach to improve the photocatalytic efficiency of CO2 reduction through the covalent modification of MOFs.

Efficacy and safety of a bolus of half-dose r-SAK prior to primary PCI in ST-elevation myocardial infarction: Rationale and design of the OPTIMA-6 trial.

BACKGROUND: Time to reperfusion is the key to the treatment of patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). It is uncertain whether adjunctive thrombolytic therapy combined with contemporary antiplatelet agent ticagrelor improves outcomes as administered prior to primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) expected to be performed within 120 minutes. METHODS: OPTIMA-6 is a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, and superiority trial to evaluate the efficacy of a bolus of half-dose recombinant staphylokinase (r-SAK) vs placebo prior to timely primary PCI in patients with STEMI. Enrollment began in April 2023 and is expected to enroll 2,260 patients at approximately 50 centers. Patients with acute STEMI presenting ≤12 hours of symptom onset and expected to undergo primary PCI within 120 minutes but more than 30 minutes are to be randomized to a bolus of half-dose r-SAK or placebo. All recruited patients will be mandatory to take aspirin and ticagrelor and receive a bolus of loading dose heparin before the thrombolytic therapy. The primary efficacy endpoint is major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) within 90 days, and the MACE is defined as a composite of all-cause death, reinfarction, unplanned target vessel revascularization, heart failure or cardiogenic shock, and major ventricular arrhythmia. The primary safety endpoints are major bleeding events (BARC 3, 5) within 90 days. CONCLUSIONS: OPTIMA-6 will reveal the efficacy and safety of a contemporary facilitated PCI with a bolus of half-dose r-SAK in combination with ticagrelor in patients with STEMI.