A sequence-aware merger of genomic structural variations at population scale.

Merging structural variations (SVs) at the population level presents a significant challenge, yet it is essential for conducting comprehensive genotypic analyses, especially in the era of pangenomics. Here, we introduce PanPop, a tool that utilizes an advanced sequence-aware SV merging algorithm to efficiently merge SVs of various types. We demonstrate that PanPop can merge and optimize the majority of multiallelic SVs into informative biallelic variants. We show its superior precision and lower rates of missing data compared to alternative software solutions. Our approach not only enables the filtering of SVs by leveraging multiple SV callers for enhanced accuracy but also facilitates the accurate merging of large-scale population SVs. These capabilities of PanPop will help to accelerate future SV-related studies.

Substantial Impact of Built-in Electric Field and Electrode Potential on the Alkaline Hydrogen Evolution Reaction of Ru-CoP Urchin Arrays.

Although great efforts on the delicate construction of a built-in electric field (BIEF) to modify the electronic properties of active sites have been conducted, the substantial impact of BIEF coupled with electrode potential on the electrochemical reactions has not been clearly investigated. Herein, we designed an alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) catalyst composed of heterogeneous Ru-CoP urchin arrays on carbon cloth (Ru-CoP/CC) with a strong BIEF with the guidance of density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Impressively, despite its unsatisfactory activity at 10 mA cm-2 (overpotential of 44 mV), Ru-CoP/CC exhibited better activity (357 mV) than the benchmark Pt/C catalyst (505 mV) at 1 A cm-2 . Experimental and theoretical studies revealed that strong hydrogen adsorption on the interfacial Ru atoms created a high energy barrier for hydrogen desorption and spillover, resulting in unsatisfactory activity at low current densities. However, as the electrode potential became more negative (i.e., the current density increased), the barrier for hydrogen spillover from the interfacial Ru to the Co site, which had near-zero hydrogen adsorption energy, significantly decreased, thus greatly accelerating the whole alkaline HER process. This explains why the activity of Ru-CoP is relatively susceptible to the electrode potential compared to Pt/C.

Grain Boundary Tailors the Local Chemical Environment on Iridium Surface for Alkaline Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution.

Even though grain boundaries (GBs) have been previously employed to increase the number of active catalytic sites or tune the binding energies of reaction intermediates for promoting electrocatalytic reactions, the effect of GBs on the tailoring of the local chemical environment on the catalyst surface has not been clarified thus far. In this study, a GBs-enriched iridium (GB-Ir) was synthesized and examined for the alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Operando Raman spectroscopy and density functional theory (DFT) calculations revealed that a local acid-like environment with H3 O+ intermediates was created in the GBs region owing to the electron-enriched surface Ir atoms at the GBs. The H3 O+ intermediates lowered the energy barrier for water dissociation and provided enough hydrogen proton to promote the generation of hydrogen spillover from the sites at the GBs to the sites away from the GBs, thus synergistically enhancing the hydrogen evolution activity. Notably, the GB-Ir catalyst exhibited a high alkaline HER activity (10 mV @ 10 mA cm-2 , 20 mV dec-1 ). We believe that our findings will promote further research on GBs and the surface science of electrochemical reactions.

In Situ Activation Endows Orthorhombic Fluorite-Type Samarium Iridium Oxide with Enhanced Acidic Water Oxidation.

Developing electrochemical catalysts for acidic water oxidation with improved activity and stability has been the key to the further popularization of proton exchange membrane electrolyzers. In this work, an orthorhombic fluorite-type samarium iridium oxide (Sm3IrO7) catalyst is synthesized by a simple solid-state reaction. After in situ activation, the as-prepared Sm3IrO7 exhibits higher mass activity and durability than that of commercial IrO2. The in-depth analyses indicate the formation of amorphous IrOx species on the surface to evolve to a new heterostructure IrOx/Sm3IrO7, along with Sm leaching during the in situ activation process. More importantly, strong electronic interactions exist between newborn IrOx species and remaining Sm3IrO7, leading to the compressed Ir-O bonds in IrOx compared to commercial IrO2, thus reducing the energy barrier for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) intermediates to improve the OER process. Based on the above-mentioned analyses, it is speculated that the actual active species for enhanced acidic water oxidation should be IrOx/Sm3IrO7, rather than Sm3IrO7 itself. Theoretical calculations confirm that the optimal energy level path of IrOx/Sm3IrO7 follows the lattice oxygen mechanism, and the energy level of surface Ir 5d orbitals is lower than O 2p orbitals in IrOx/Sm3IrO7, enabling it a superior OER activity.

Boosting Hydrogen Evolution Reaction by Phase Engineering and Phosphorus Doping on Ru/P-TiO2.

Synergistic optimization of the elementary steps of water dissociation and hydrogen desorption for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in alkaline media is a challenge. Herein, the Ru cluster anchored on a trace P-doped defective TiO2 substrate (Ru/P-TiO2 ) was synthesized as an electrocatalyst for the HER; it exhibited a commercial Pt/C-like geometric activity and an excellent mass activity of 9984.3 mA mgRu -1 at -0.05 V vs. RHE, which is 34.3 and 18.7 times higher than that of Pt/C and Ru/TiO2 , respectively. Experimental and theoretical studies indicated that using a rutile-TiO2 -crystal-phase substrate enhanced the HER activity more than the anatase phase. Rich surface oxygen vacancies on rutile-TiO2 facilitated the adsorption and dissociation of water, while the partial substitution of Ti4+ with P5+ enhanced H2 generation by facilitating hydrogen spillover from the Ru site to the surface P site, synergistically enhancing the HER activity.

Hierarchical MoP Hollow Nanospheres Anchored on a N,P,S-Doped Porous Carbon Matrix as Efficient Electrocatalysts for the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction.

Developing efficient, nonprecious, and durable electrocatalysts with favorable nanostructures is a persistent challenge yet is significant for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Herein, for the first time, a rationally designed strategy is reported for the synthesis of hierarchical hollow MoP nanospheres anchored on N,P,S co-doped porous carbon (hs-MoP/NPSC). Importantly, the porous shell of the hollow nanosphere is constructed of a number of interwoven MoP subunits, which is beneficial for exposing surface active sites as much as possible and promoting the mass transport during the HER process. In addition, the heteroatom-enriched porous carbon networks can further reduce the electron/ion transfer resistance. As expected, the hs-MoP/NPSC electrocatalyst exhibits an encouraging HER activity with a low overpotential of only 70 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm-2 , a small Tafel slope, and long-term durability in alkaline media, outperforming most of reported Pt-free MoP-based electrocatalysts to date. This present work not only develops a highly efficient electrocatalyst for HER but also opens up opportunities to engineer novel architectures for various applications.

Facile Synthesis of Well-Dispersed Ni2P on N-Doped Nanomesh Carbon Matrix as a High-Efficiency Electrocatalyst for Alkaline Hydrogen Evolution Reaction.

The development of non-noble metal hydrogen evolution catalysts that can replace Pt is crucial for efficient hydrogen production. Herein, we develop a type of well-dispersed Ni2P on N-doped nanomesh carbon (NC) electrocatalyst by a facile pyrolysis method, which shows excellent hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) catalytic performance. It is rather remarkable that the overpotential of Ni2P/NC prepared under optimal proportion is 108 mV at 10 mA·cm-2 current density in 1 M KOH solution with the tafel slope of 67.3 mV·dec-1, the catalytic activity has no significant attenuation after 1000 cycles of cyclic voltammetry (CV)method. The hydrogen evolution performance of the electrocatalytic is better than most similar catalysts in alkaline media. The unique mesh structure of the carbon component in the catalyst facilitates the exposure of the active site and reduces the impedance, which improves the efficiency of electron transport as well as ensuring the stability of the hydrogen evolution reaction. In addition, we prove that nitrogen doping and pore structure are also important factors affecting catalytic activity by control experiments. Our results show that N-doped nanomesh carbon, as an efficient support, combined with Ni2P nanoparticles is of great significance for the development of efficient hydrogen evolution electrodes.

Solid self-microemulsifying drug delivery system of Sophoraflavanone G: Prescription optimization and pharmacokinetic evaluation.

Sophoraflavanone G (SFG) is promising component in clinical treatment. The purpose of this study was to develop a drug delivery system in order to improve oral bioavailability of SFG. The optimum formulation of Self-microemulsifying Drug Delivery System with SFG (SFG-SMEDDS) was selected by the solubility test, self-emulsifying grading test and ternary phase diagram test. The optimized formulation of SFG-S-SMEDDS was composed of Ethyl Oleate (38.5%, w/w), Cremophor RH40 (47.5%, w/w), PEG 400 (14.0%, w/w), and drug loading (20 mg/g). Mannitol as a solid absorbent was added to SFG-SMEDDS formulation with the mass adsorption ratio of 2:1 (w/w). The vitro release rate of SFG-S-SMEDDS reached 60% in 10 min and 80% in 30 min. After SD rats were given SFG and SFG-S-SMEDDS by oral administration, it was found that the area under the curve of SFG-S-SMEDDS was significantly larger than that of SFG suspension and the relative bioavailability of SFG in rats was 343.84%. In addition, the SFG-S-SMEDDS did not change greatly within 3 months. Therefore, the results show that SFG-S-SMEDDS can significantly improve the oral bioavailability of SFG so as to lay a foundation of further research on the new dosage form of SFG.

Enhanced Electromagnetic Microwave Absorption Property of Peapod-like MnO@carbon Nanowires.

Investigating lightweight electromagnetic microwave absorption materials is still urgent because of the issue related to the electromagnetic pollution or military defense. Our findings indicate that core-shell MnO@carbon nanowires (MnO@C NWs) achieve substantially enhanced microwave absorption, suggesting the suitable impedance matching induced by the synergetic effect between MnO and carbon. Furthermore, the peapod-like MnO@C NWs with internal void space can be facially synthesized by partial etching of core-shell MnO@C NWs. The peapod-like MnO@C NWs with internal voids/cavities exhibit dramatically enhanced electromagnetic microwave absorption property when the carbon content is about 64 wt %, a minimum reflection loss (RL) of -55 dB at 10 wt % loading was observed at 13.6 GHz, and the bandwidth of RL less than -10 dB (90% absorption) covers 6.2 GHz at the thickness of 2 mm. The excellent electromagnetic microwave absorption performance is superior to the most of MnO x/C composites in the literatures, which probably benefits from the dielectric polarization among conductive network structure between MnO and carbon, as well as the multiple reflection and absorption induced by internal void space. Our work is expected to pave an effective way to extend the electromagnetic microwave absorption performance of MnO/C composites through partial etching to create a void space.

Shear-Assisted Production of Few-Layer Boron Nitride Nanosheets by Supercritical CO2 Exfoliation and Its Use for Thermally Conductive Epoxy Composites.

Boron nitride nanosheets (BNNS) hold the similar two-dimensional structure as graphene and unique properties complementary to graphene, which makes it attractive in application ranging from electronics to energy storage. The exfoliation of boron nitride (BN) still remains challenge and hinders the applications of BNNS. In this work, the preparation of BNNS has been realized by a shear-assisted supercritical CO2 exfoliation process, during which supercritical CO2 intercalates and diffuses between boron nitride layers, and then the exfoliation of BN layers is obtained in the rapid depressurization process by overcoming the van der Waals forces. Our results indicate that the bulk boron nitride has been successfully exfoliated into thin nanosheets with an average 6 layers. It is found that the produced BNNS is well-dispersed in isopropyl alcohol (IPA) with a higher extinction coefficient compared with the bulk BN. Moreover, the BNNS/epoxy composite used as thermal interface materials has been prepared. The introduction of BNNS results in a 313% enhancement in thermal conductivity. Our results demonstrate that BNNS produced by supercritical CO2 exfoliation show great potential applications for heat dissipation of high efficiency electronics.

[Research on the protein C-activating property and influencial factors of protein C activator isolated from the venom of Agkistrodon halys].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the protein C-activating property and experimental conditions that may affect the activities of protein C activator (PCA-SV). METHODS: PCA-SV's functional characteristic, possible anticoagulant and amidase activities were measured by method of APTT and that of specific chromogenic substrate respectively in various experimental conditions. RESULTS: PCA-SV can specifically act on protein C. The pH-optimum and temperature-optimum for the action of PCA-SV were 6.0 - 7.0 and 37 - 40 degrees C respectively. The anticoagulants (heparin, sodium citrate) had no effect on the activities. CONCLUSION: PCA-SV is a new protein C-activating reagent that has high potency and specificity.

[Effect of fractions isolated from Naja naja atra venom on antioxidation in animals].

OBJECTIVE: To study the antioxidation of fraction F and H isolated from Naja naja atra venom on homogenate and RBC autoxidation. And to explore the effect of two fractions on the activities of antioxidation enzymes in mice. METHOD: Samples of tissues homogenates and RBC suspension were pretreated with fraction F/H, and then their generation of malondialdehyde(MDA) was examined. The effects of fraction F/H on O2-* produced by pyrogallol autoxidation and *OH produced by Cu2+ -VitC were checked. After being administrated i.p. with fraction F/H for 15 days, superoxide dismutase and hydroperoxidase in mice were measured for their activities. RESULT: Fraction F/H inhibited RBC autohemolysis and the generation of MDA decreased. The production of lipid peroxides in normal brain, liver and heart homogenate of rat and the elevation of lipid peroxides induced by cysteine and FeSO4 in homogenate were inhibited by addition of fraction F/H. The O2-* produced by autoxidation of pyrogallol and the *OH produced by Cu2+ -VitC system could be scavenged by fraction F/H (the potency of scavenging oxygen free radical is that fraction H > fraction F). Fraction F/H all increased the activities of several antioxidation enzymes in mice to different extents. CONCLUSION: Fraction F/H have the effect of antilipid peroxidation,may scavenge active oxygen free radical and increase the activity of SOD.