Photoswitchable Temperature Nanosensors Based on the Chemical Kinetics of Photochromic Naphthopyran for Live Cell Imaging.

Microscopic temperature imaging holds significant importance in various fields, particularly in the development of nanomaterials for photothermal therapy (PTT). In this study, we present an analytical method to probe cellular temperature based on chemical kinetics and additional luminescence quenching by photoswitchable naphthopyrans. Taking advantage of the rapid ring-closing reaction of naphthopyran, temperature sensing was realized with a linear relationship between the logarithmic decay time constant (ln τ) and the reciprocal temperature (T-1). To create luminescent temperature nanosensors, we harnessed the ability of ring-opened naphthopyran to quench the luminescence of a semiconducting polymer, resulting in a diverse array of probes. Structural modifications on the naphthopyran also provided a way to fine-tune the sensitivity and response window of the nanosensors. The method allowed cellular temperature imaging on a cost-effective fluorescence microscopic setup. As an application, the temperature increase induced by gold nanorods (AuNRs) in cell lysosomes was successfully monitored, laying the foundation for a new class of photoswitchable nanosensors with promising biological applications.

In Vitro Detection of S100B and Severity Evaluation of Traumatic Brain Injury Based on Biomimetic Peptide-Modified Nanochannels.

The diagnosis and evaluation of traumatic brain injury (TBI) are crucial steps toward the treatment and prognosis of patients. A common question remains as to whether it is possible to introduce an ideal device for signal detection and evaluation that can directly connect digital signals with TBI, thereby enabling prompt response of the evaluation signal and sensitive and specific functioning of the detection process. Herein, a method is presented utilizing polymetric porous membranes with TRTK-12 peptide-modified nanochannels for the detection of S100B (a TBI biomarker) and assessment of TBI severity. The method leverages the specific bonding force between TRTK-12 peptide and S100B protein, along with the nanoconfinement effect of nanochannels, to achieve high sensitivity (LOD: 0.002 ng mL-1) and specificity (∆I/I0: 44.7%), utilizing ionic current change as an indicator. The proposed method, which is both sensitive and specific, offers a simple yet responsive approach for real-time evaluation of TBI severity. This innovative technique provides valuable scientific insights into the advancement of future diagnostic and therapeutic integration devices.

Diffusive metasurfaces based on transverse magnetized ferrite for reduction of radar cross section.

Diffusive metasurfaces have attracted a great deal of interest in recent years for their promising radar cross section reduction ability. In this work, we proposed a methodology for designing non-tunable and tunable diffusive metasurfaces with transverse magnetized ferrite (TMF). The metasurfaces are two-dimensional arrays configured by metal plates and TMFs backed by metal plates, where the TMFs are functioned as perfect magnetic conductor and magnetic absorbers in lossless and lossy cases, respectively. The designed tunable metasurface allows for control of the operating frequency by adjusting the biased magnetic field, while the non-tunable version provides a wider operation band. This paper demonstrates that the ferrite-based metasurface have exotic stealth performance at microwave frequencies and offers a new approach to design stealth structures.

RotatedStomataNet: a deep rotated object detection network for directional stomata phenotype analysis.

KEY MESSAGE: Innovatively, we consider stomatal detection as rotated object detection and provide an end-to-end, batch, rotated, real-time stomatal density and aperture size intelligent detection and identification system, RotatedeStomataNet. Stomata acts as a pathway for air and water vapor in the course of respiration, transpiration, and other gas metabolism, so the stomata phenotype is important for plant growth and development. Intelligent detection of high-throughput stoma is a key issue. Nevertheless, currently available methods usually suffer from detection errors or cumbersome operations when facing densely and unevenly arranged stomata. The proposed RotatedStomataNet innovatively regards stomata detection as rotated object detection, enabling an end-to-end, real-time, and intelligent phenotype analysis of stomata and apertures. The system is constructed based on the Arabidopsis and maize stomatal data sets acquired destructively, and the maize stomatal data set acquired in a non-destructive way, enabling the one-stop automatic collection of phenotypic, such as the location, density, length, and width of stomata and apertures without step-by-step operations. The accuracy of this system to acquire stomata and apertures has been well demonstrated in monocotyledon and dicotyledon, such as Arabidopsis, soybean, wheat, and maize. The experimental results that the prediction results of the method are consistent with those of manual labeling. The test sets, the system code, and their usage are also given ( https://github.com/AITAhenu/RotatedStomataNet ).

Reduced microbial stability in the active layer is associated with carbon loss under alpine permafrost degradation.

Permafrost degradation may induce soil carbon (C) loss, critical for global C cycling, and be mediated by microbes. Despite larger C stored within the active layer of permafrost regions, which are more affected by warming, and the critical roles of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in C cycling, most previous studies focused on the permafrost layer and in high-latitude areas. We demonstrate in situ that permafrost degradation alters the diversity and potentially decreases the stability of active layer microbial communities. These changes are associated with soil C loss and potentially a positive C feedback. This study provides insights into microbial-mediated mechanisms responsible for C loss within the active layer in degraded permafrost, aiding in the modeling of C emission under future scenarios.

HostNet: improved sequence representation in deep neural networks for virus-host prediction.

BACKGROUND: The escalation of viruses over the past decade has highlighted the need to determine their respective hosts, particularly for emerging ones that pose a potential menace to the welfare of both human and animal life. Yet, the traditional means of ascertaining the host range of viruses, which involves field surveillance and laboratory experiments, is a laborious and demanding undertaking. A computational tool with the capability to reliably predict host ranges for novel viruses can provide timely responses in the prevention and control of emerging infectious diseases. The intricate nature of viral-host prediction involves issues such as data imbalance and deficiency. Therefore, developing highly accurate computational tools capable of predicting virus-host associations is a challenging and pressing demand. RESULTS: To overcome the challenges of virus-host prediction, we present HostNet, a deep learning framework that utilizes a Transformer-CNN-BiGRU architecture and two enhanced sequence representation modules. The first module, k-mer to vector, pre-trains a background vector representation of k-mers from a broad range of virus sequences to address the issue of data deficiency. The second module, an adaptive sliding window, truncates virus sequences of various lengths to create a uniform number of informative and distinct samples for each sequence to address the issue of data imbalance. We assess HostNet's performance on a benchmark dataset of "Rabies lyssavirus" and an in-house dataset of "Flavivirus". Our results show that HostNet surpasses the state-of-the-art deep learning-based method in host-prediction accuracies and F1 score. The enhanced sequence representation modules, significantly improve HostNet's training generalization, performance in challenging classes, and stability. CONCLUSION: HostNet is a promising framework for predicting virus hosts from genomic sequences, addressing challenges posed by sparse and varying-length virus sequence data. Our results demonstrate its potential as a valuable tool for virus-host prediction in various biological contexts. Virus-host prediction based on genomic sequences using deep neural networks is a promising approach to identifying their potential hosts accurately and efficiently, with significant impacts on public health, disease prevention, and vaccine development.

Analgesic effect of electroacupuncture on bone cancer pain in rat model: the role of peripheral P2X3 receptor.

Upregulation of P2X3 receptor (P2X3R) has been strongly implicated in nociceptive signaling including bone cancer pain (BCP). The present study, using rat bone cancer model, aimed to explore the role of P2X3R in regulating rat pain behavior under the intervention of electroacupuncture (EA). The BCP model was successfully established by injection with MRMT-1 breast cancer cell into the medullary cavity of left tibia for 3 × 104 cells/3 µL PBS in rats as revealed by obvious bone destruction, decreased paw withdrawal thresholds (PWTs), and reduced paw withdrawal latencies (PWLs). Western blot analyses showed that P2X3R expression was significantly upregulated in ipsilateral lumbar 4-6 (L4-6) dorsal root ganglia (DRG), but the difference not seen in spinal cord dorsal horn (SCDH). With the in-depth study of P2X3R activation, we observed that intrathecal injection of P2X3R agonist α,ß-meATP aggravated MRMT-1 induced BCP, while injection of P2X3R inhibitor A-317491 alleviated pain. Subsequently, we demonstrated that BCP induced mechanical allodynia and thermal hyperalgesia were attenuated after EA treatment. Under EA treatment, total P2X3R protein expression in ipsilateral DRGs was decreased, and it is worth mentioning that decreased expression of P2X3R membrane protein, which indicated that both the expression and membrane trafficking of P2X3R were inhibited by EA. The immunofluorescence assay showed that EA stimulation exerted functions by reducing the expression of P2X3R-positive cells in ipsilateral DRGs of BCP rats. Ca2+ imaging analysis revealed that the EA stimulation decreased the percentage of α,ß-meATP responsive neurons in DRGs and inhibited calcium influx. Notably, the inhibitory effect of EA on mechanical allodynia and nociceptive flinches was abolished by intrathecal injection of α,ß-meATP. These findings demonstrated EA stimulation ameliorated mechanical allodynia and thermal hyperalgesia in rat model of MRMT-1-induced BCP. EA exerts analgesic effect on BCP by reducing the overexpression and functional activity of P2X3R in ipsilateral DRGs of BCP rats. Our work first demonstrates the critical and overall role of P2X3R in EA's analgesia against peripheral sensitization of MRMT-1-induced BCP and further supports EA as a potential therapeutic option for cancer pain in clinic.

Seasonal Variation of Hypolithic Microbiomes in the Gobi Desert : Seasonal Variation of Hypolithic Microbiomes in the Gobi Desert.

Understanding how microbial communities adapt to environmental stresses is critical for interpreting ecological patterns and microbial diversity. In the case of the Gobi Desert, little is known on the environmental factors that explain hypolithic colonization under quartz stones. By analyzing nine hypolithic communities across an arid gradient and the effects of the season of the year in the Hexi Corridor of this desert, we found a significant decrease in hypolithic colonization rates (from 47.24 to 15.73%) with the increasing drought gradient and found two distinct communities in Hot and Cold samples, which survived or proliferated after a hot or a cold period. While Cold communities showed a greater species diversity and a predominance of Cyanobacteria, Hot communities showed a predominance of members of the Proteobacteria and the Firmicutes. In comparison, Cold communities also possessed stronger functions in the photosynthesis and carbon metabolism. Based on the findings of this study, we proposed that the hypolithic communities of the Hexi Corridor of the Gobi Desert might follow a seasonal developmental cycle in which temperature play an important role. Thus after a critical thermal threshold is crossed, heterotrophic microorganisms predominate in the hot period, while Cyanobacteria predominate in the cold period.

Comparative genomics reveals environmental adaptability and antimicrobial activity of a novel Streptomyces isolated from soil under black Gobi rocks.

A novel Streptomyces strain, designated 3_2T, was isolated from soil under the black Gobi rock sample of Northwest China. The taxonomic position of this strain was revealed by a polyphasic approach. Comparative analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that 3_2T was closely related to the members of the genus Streptomyces, with the highest similarity to Streptomyces rimosus subsp. rimosus CGMCC 4.1438 (99.17%), Streptomyces sioyaensis DSM 40032 (98.97%). Strain 3_2T can grow in media up to 13% NaCl. The genomic DNA G + C content of strain 3_2T was 69.9%. We obtained the genomes of 22 Streptomyces strains similar to strain 3_2T, compared the average nucleotide similarity, dDDH and average amino acid identity, and found that the genomic similarity of the new isolate 3_2T to all strains was below the threshold for interspecies classification. Chemotaxonomic data revealed that strain 3_2T possessed MK-9 (H6) and MK-9 (H8) as the major menaquinones. The cell wall contained LL-diaminopimelic acid (LL-DAP) and the whole-cell sugars were ribose and glucose. The major fatty acid methyl esters were iso-C16:0 (23.6%) and anteiso-C15:0 (10.4%). The fermentation products of strain 3_2T were inhibitory to Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus thuringiensi. The genome of 3_2T was further predicted using anti-smash and the strain was found to encode the production of 41 secondary metabolites, and these gene clusters may be key to the good inhibitory activity exhibited by the strain. Genomic analysis revealed that strain 3_2T can encode genes that produce a variety of genes in response to environmental stresses, including cold shock, detoxification, heat shock, osmotic stress, oxidative stress, and these genes may play a key role in the harsh environment in which the strain can survive. Therefore, this strain represents a novel Streptomyces species, for which the name Streptomyces halobius sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is 3_2T (= JCM 34935T = GDMCC 4.217T).

Design, Synthesis, and Insecticidal Activities of Novel meta-Diamide Compounds Containing Ethyl Acetate and Their Derivatives.

In this study, a series of meta-diamide compounds containing ethyl acetate group and their derivatives were designed and synthesized. Their insecticidal activities against Plutella xylostella, Spodoptera frugiperda and Alfalfa sprouts were evaluated. Preliminary bioassays showed that some of the title compounds exhibited excellent insecticidal activities. Especially compound ethyl N-(3-((2-bromo-4-(perfluoropropan-2-yl)-6-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)carbamoyl)-2-fluorophenyl)-N-(4-cyanobenzoyl)glycinate and ethyl N-(3-((2-bromo-4-(perfluoropropan-2-yl)-6-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)carbamoyl)-2-fluorophenyl)-N-(6-fluoronicotinoyl)glycinate showed 100 % mortality at 0.1 mg/L against Plutella xylostella and Spodoptera frugiperda, same to broflanilide. Their LC50 against Plutella xylostella is 0.286 mg/L and 0.0218 mg/L, respectively. Moreover, compound ethyl N-(3-((2-bromo-4-(perfluoropropan-2-yl)-6-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)carbamoyl)-2-fluorophenyl)-N-(6-fluoronicotinoyl)glycinate displayed faster control efficacy than broflanilide at 0.1 mg/L. The results indicated that meta-diamide compounds containing ethyl acetate group could be developed as novel and promising insecticides.

Performance and mechanism of co-culture of Monascus purpureus, Lacticaseibacillus casei, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae to enhance lovastatin production and lipid-lowering effects.

To facilitate lipid-lowering effects, a lovastatin-producing microbial co-culture system (LPMCS) was constituted with a novel strain Monascus purpureus R5 in combination with Lacticaseibacillus casei S5 and Saccharomyces cerevisiae J7, which increased lovastatin production by 54.21% compared with the single strain R5. Response Surface Methodology (RSM) optimization indicated lovastatin yield peaked at 7.43 mg/g with a fermentation time of 13.88 d, water content of 50.5%, and inoculum ratio of 10.27%. Meanwhile, lovastatin in LPMCS co-fermentation extracts (LFE) was qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed by Thin-Layer Chromatography (TLC) and High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). Cellular experiments demonstrated that LFE exhibited no obvious cytotoxicity to L-02 cells and exhibited excellent biosafety. Most notably, high-dose LFE (100 mg/L) exhibited the highest reduction of lipid accumulation, total cholesterol, and triglycerides simultaneously in oleic acid-induced L-02 cells, which decreased by 71.59%, 38.64%, and 58.85% than untreated cells, respectively. Overall, LPMCS provides a potential approach to upgrade the lipid-lowering activity of Monascus-fermented products with higher health-beneficial effects.

Detection of False Data Injection Attacks in Smart Grids Based on Expectation Maximization.

The secure operation of smart grids is closely linked to state estimates that accurately reflect the physical characteristics of the grid. However, well-designed false data injection attacks (FDIAs) can manipulate the process of state estimation by injecting malicious data into the measurement data while bypassing the detection of the security system, ultimately causing the results of state estimation to deviate from secure values. Since FDIAs tampering with the measurement data of some buses will lead to error offset, this paper proposes an attack-detection algorithm based on statistical learning according to the different characteristic parameters of measurement error before and after tampering. In order to detect and classify false data from the measurement data, in this paper, we report the model establishment and estimation of error parameters for the tampered measurement data by combining the the k-means++ algorithm with the expectation maximization (EM) algorithm. At the same time, we located and recorded the bus that the attacker attempted to tamper with. In order to verify the feasibility of the algorithm proposed in this paper, the IEEE 5-bus standard test system and the IEEE 14-bus standard test system were used for simulation analysis. Numerical examples demonstrate that the combined use of the two algorithms can decrease the detection time to less than 0.011883 s and correctly locate the false data with a probability of more than 95%.

A novel life cycle assessment and life cycle costing framework for carbon fibre-reinforced composite materials in the aviation industry.

Purpose: Carbon fibre-reinforced composite materials offer superior mechanical properties and lower weight than conventional metal products. However, relatively, little is known about the environmental impacts and economic costs associated with composite products displacing conventional metal products. The purpose of this study is to develop an integrated life cycle assessment and life cycle costing framework for composite materials in the aviation industry. Methods: An integrated life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle costing (LCC) framework has been developed. The displacement of a conventional aluminium door for an aircraft by a composite door is presented as an example of the use of this framework. A graphical visualisation tool is proposed to model the integrated environmental and economic performances of this displacement. LCA and LCC models for composite applications are developed accordingly. The environmental hotspots are identified, and the sensitivity of the environmental impact results to the different composite waste treatment routes is performed. Subsequently, the research suggests a learning curve to analyse the unit price for competitive mass production. Sensitivity analysis and Monte Carlo simulation have been applied to demonstrate the cost result changes caused by data uncertainty. Results: Energy consumption was the hotspot, and the choice of composite waste treatment routes had a negligible effect on the LCA outcomes. Concerning the costs, the most significant cost contribution for the unit door production was labour. The future door production cost was decreased by about 29% based on the learning curve theory. The uncertainties associated with the variables could lead to variations in the production cost of up to about 16%. The comparison between the two doors shows that the composite door had higher potential environmental impacts and cost compared to the conventional aluminium door during the production stage. However, the composite door would have better environmental and financial performance if a weight reduction of 47% was achieved in future designs. Conclusions: The proposed framework and relevant analysis models were applied through a case study in the aerospace industry, creating a site-specific database for the community to support material selection and product development. The graphical tool was proved to be useful in representing a graphical visualisation comparison based on the integration of the LCA and LCC results of potential modifications to the composite door against the reference door, providing understandable information to the decision-makers. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11367-023-02164-y.

Transcriptional and biochemical analyses of Planomicrobium strain AX6 from Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, China, reveal hydrogen peroxide scavenging potential.

BACKGROUND: The bacterial mechanisms responsible for hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) scavenging have been well-reported, yet little is known about how bacteria isolated from cold-environments respond to H2O2 stress. Therefore, we investigated the transcriptional profiling of the Planomicrobium strain AX6 strain isolated from the cold-desert ecosystem in the Qaidam Basin, Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, China, in response to H2O2 stress aiming to uncover the molecular mechanisms associated with H2O2 scavenging potential. METHODS: We investigated the H2O2-scavenging potential of the bacterial Planomicrobium strain AX6 isolated from the cold-desert ecosystem in the Qaidam Basin, Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, China. Furthermore, we used high-throughput RNA-sequencing to unravel the molecular aspects associated with the H2O2 scavenging potential of the Planomicrobium strain AX6 isolate. RESULTS: In total, 3,427 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in Planomicrobium strain AX6 isolate in response to 4 h of H2O2 (1.5 mM) exposure. Besides, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway and Gene Ontology analyses revealed the down- and/or up-regulated pathways following H2O2 treatment. Our study not only identified the H2O2 scavenging capability of the strain nevertheless also a range of mechanisms to cope with the toxic effect of H2O2 through genes involved in oxidative stress response. Compared to control, several genes coding for antioxidant proteins, including glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), Coproporphyrinogen III oxidase, and superoxide dismutase (SOD), were relatively up-regulated in Planomicrobium strain AX6, when exposed to H2O2. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, the results suggest that the up-regulated genes responsible for antioxidant defense pathways serve as essential regulatory mechanisms for removing H2O2 in Planomicrobium strain AX6. The DEGs identified here could provide a competitive advantage for the existence of Planomicrobium strain AX6 in H2O2-polluted environments.

YY1 promotes pancreatic cancer cell proliferation by enhancing mitochondrial respiration.

KRAS-driven metabolic reprogramming is a known peculiarity features of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) cells. However, the metabolic roles of other oncogenic genes, such as YY1, in PDAC development are still unclear. In this study, we observed significantly elevated expression of YY1 in human PDAC tissues, which positively correlated with a poor disease progression. Furthermore, in vitro studies confirmed that YY1 deletion inhibited PDAC cell proliferation and tumorigenicity. Moreover, YY1 deletion led to impaired mitochondrial RNA expression, which further inhibited mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) complex assembly and altered cellular nucleotide homeostasis. Mechanistically, the impairment of mitochondrial OXPHOS function reduced the generation of aspartate, an output of the tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA), and resulted in the inhibition of cell proliferation owing to unavailability of aspartate-associated nucleotides. Conversely, exogenous supplementation with aspartate fully restored PDAC cell proliferation. Our findings suggest that YY1 promotes PDAC cell proliferation by enhancing mitochondrial respiration and the TCA, which favors aspartate-associated nucleotide synthesis. Thus, targeting nucleotide biosynthesis is a promising strategy for PDAC treatment.

Responsive change of crop-specific soil bacterial community to cadmium in farmlands surrounding mine area of Southeast China.

In arable soils co-influenced by mining and farming, soil bacteria significantly affect metal (Cadmium, Cd) bioavailability and accumulation. To reveal the soil microecology response under this co-influence, three intersection areas (cornfield, vegetable field, and paddy field) were investigated. With a similar nutrient condition, the soils showed varied Cd levels (0.31-7.70 mg/kg), which was negatively related to the distance from mining water flow. Different soils showed varied microbial community structures, which were dominated by Chloroflexi (19.64-24.82%), Actinobacteria (15.49-31.96%), Acidobacteriota (9.46-20.31%), and Proteobacteria (11.88-14.57%) phyla. A strong correlation was observed between functional microbial taxon (e. g. Acidobacteriota), soil physicochemical properties, and Cd contents. The relative abundance of tolerant bacteria including Vicinamibacteraceae, Knoellia, Ardenticatenales, Lysobacter, etc. elevated with the increase of Cd, which contributed to the enrichment of heavy metal resistance genes (HRGs) and integration genes (intlI), thus enhancing the resistance to heavy metal pollution. Cd content rather than crop species was identified as the dominant factor that influenced the bacterial community. Nevertheless, the peculiar agrotype of the paddy field contributed to its higher HRGs and intlI abundance. These results provided fundamental information about the crop-specific physiochemical-bacterial interaction, which was helpful to evaluate agricultural environmental risk around the intersection of farmland and pollution sources.

Strategy for enhancing Cr(VI)-contaminated soil remediation and safe utilization by microbial-humic acid-vermiculite-alginate immobilized biocomposite.

Bioreduction is an efficient approach to in-situ remediate Cr(VI)-contaminated soil, but further strengthening methods are still urgently needed. Herein, a novel immobilized biocomposite (B-HA-VE-SA) was successfully synthesized by embedding a efficient strain Bacillus sp. CRB-7 with humic acid (HA) combined vermiculite (VE) and sodium alginate (SA). The performance and enhancement mechanism of the immobilized biocomposite on remediating Cr(VI)-contaminated soil were also investigated by analyzing the whole-genome of CRB-7, Cr(VI) detoxification, soil microecological regulation, and subsequent crop growth response. Genomic annotation demonstrated that CRB-7 contains multiple genes contributed to Cr(VI) tolerance, Cr(VI) reduction and other metals resistance. Results showed that embedded CRB-7 biocomposites exhibited more effective reduction of Cr(VI) in soil compared with control and free CRB-7 treatment, especially B-HA-VE-SA achieved the highest Cr(VI) removal efficiency (96.18%) and the residual Cr proportion (49.04%) via multiple mechanisms including carrier effects, nutrient sustained-release, and electron-shuttle effect enhanced the bioremediation process. Furthermore, the synergies of CRB-7 and immobilizers (HA, VE and SA) significantly improved soil microecology (soil enzyme activities, microbial quantity and diversity), and engendered the evolution of microbial community composition and functional pathways. Consequently, pot experiments (Brassica napus L.) verified the plant-growth-promoting (12.00-18.00% and 43.82-69.00% higher in emergence rate and biomass) and Cr-accumulation-reducing effects (19.47-91.09% and 29.11-89.80% lower in root and aerial parts) of free and immobilized CRB-7. Taken together, these findings highlighted the superiority of B-HA-VE-SA in simultaneous remediation, microecological improvement and safe utilization of Cr(VI)-contaminated soil.

Optical properties of biochemical compositions of microalgae within the spectral range from 300 to 1700 nm.

The optical properties of biochemical compositions of microalgae are vital for the improvement of biosensor design, photobioreactor design, biofuel, and biophotonics techniques. A combination method using both the double optical pathlength transmission method (DOPTM) and the ellipsometry method (EM) is called DOPTM-EM, and it is used to acquire the optical constants of protein, lipid, and carbohydrate of Haematococcus pluvialis, Nannochloropsis sp., and Spirulina in both a solid state and a solution state within the visible and near-infrared spectral range. For different types of microalgae, the refractive indices of protein and carbohydrate in the solid state are similar to each other, but show an observed difference from lipid in the solid state. The refractive indices of protein and carbohydrate in the solution state presents a visible distinction in the researched spectral range. The absorption indices of protein, lipid, and carbohydrate in the solid state for these three types of microalgae are close to each other in the spectral range of 300-500 nm. However, an observed difference is shown in the spectral range of 500-1700 nm. For ease of application, the refractive index of biochemical composition of microalgae was fitted based on the Sellmeier equation. We believe this work can provide a reference to obtain the optical properties of biomaterial with high accuracy.

Magnetic Order-Induced Polarization Anomaly of Raman Scattering in 2D Magnet CrI3.

The recent discovery of 2D magnets has revealed various intriguing phenomena due to the coupling between spin and other degrees of freedoms (such as helical photoluminescence, nonreciprocal SHG). Previous research on the spin-phonon coupling effect mainly focuses on the renormalization of phonon frequency. Here we demonstrate that the Raman polarization selection rules of optical phonons can be greatly modified by the magnetic ordering in 2D magnet CrI3. For monolayer samples, the dominant A1g peak shows an abnormally high intensity in the cross-polarization channel at low temperatures, which is forbidden by the selection rule based on the lattice symmetry. For the bilayer, this peak is absent in the cross-polarization channel for the layered antiferromagnetic (AFM) state and reappears when it is tuned to the ferromagnetic (FM) state by an external magnetic field. Our findings shed light on exploring the emergent magneto-optical effects in 2D magnets.

Calcineurin Immune Signaling in Response to Zinc Challenge in the Naked Carp Gymnocypris eckloni.

Zinc pollution impairs neural processes and protein function and also effects calcium-related transcriptional regulation and enzyme activity. In this study, we investigated pathways that potentially respond to calcium signaling under Zn2+ stress. Specifically we measured relative expressions of GeCNAα, GeCNB, GeMT, GeTNF-α, GeIL-1ß, and GeHsp90 in gills, livers, and kidneys of the indicator species Gymnocypris eckloni and found wide variation in their expression between tissues during the course of Zn2+ exposure. Notably, GeCNAα, GeCNB, GeTNF-α, GeIL-1ß, and GeMT were rapidly and strongly up-regulated in gills; GeIL-1ß and GeHsp90 transcription was quickly induced in kidneys; and GeCNB, GeTNF-α, GeIL-1ß, and GeHsp90 were most rapidly up-regulated in livers. GeCNAα and GeMT showed a contrasting late transcriptional up-regulation. These results suggest independent branches for chelation and immune responses during self-protection against Zn2+ toxicity, and the immune response appears to be faster than metal chelation.