Linking coral fluorescence phenotypes to thermal bleaching in the reef-building Galaxea fascicularis from the northern South China Sea.

Coral fluorescence phenotypes have been suggested as an adaptation to a broad range of environmental conditions, yet the mechanisms linking thermal bleaching tolerance in reef-building coral populations, associated with fluorescence phenotypes due to GFP-like proteins, remains unclear. In this study, the relationship between the thermal sensitivity and phenotypic plasticity of corals was investigated using two phenotypes of Galaxea fascicularis, green and brown. The results reveal that brown G. fascicularis was more susceptible to bleaching than green G. fascicularis when exposed to a higher growth temperature of 32 °C. Both phenotypes of G. fascicularis were associated with the thermotolerant Symbiodiniaceae symbiont, Durusdinium trenchii. However, the brown G. fascicularis showed a significant decrease in Symbiodiniaceae cell density and a significant increase in pathogenic bacteria abundance when the growth temperature was raised from 29 to 32 °C. The physiological traits and transcriptomic profiles of Symbiodiniaceae were not notably affected, but there were differences in the transcriptional levels of certain genes between the two phenotype hosts of G. fascicularis. Under heat stress of 32 °C, the gene encoding green fluorescent protein (GFP)-like and chromosome-associated proteins, as well as genes related to oxidative phosphorylation, cell growth and death showed lower transcriptional levels in the brown G. fascicularis compared to the green G. fascicularis. Overall, the results demonstrate that the green form of G. fascicularis is better able to tolerate ocean warming and defend against pathogenic bacteria, likely due to higher gene transcription levels and defense ability. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s42995-023-00190-1.

Spatial and temporal evolution of urban resilience in China and analysis of barriers: Based on a sustainable development perspective.

With the increasing uncertainty of urban security, urban resilience construction with risk awareness and bottom-line thinking has become essential for promoting sustainable urban development. This paper measures China's urban resilience development index (CRDI) based on 284 cities in China (except Tibet) using the entropy method from four dimensions: economic, social, environmental, and infrastructure, and analyzes it by combining coupling coordination degree and barrier factor analysis. We find that: (1) At the national level, CRDI and its sub-dimensions show an increasing trend in time, a decreasing spatial layout from coastal to inland, and a "high-high-low-low" clustering feature in space. (2) At the regional level, the CRDI is from high to low in the east, middle, and west order. The sub-dimensions are from high to low in the order of east, middle, and west for economic, social, and infrastructure resilience and from high to low in the order of east, west, and middle for environmental resilience. (3) To coupling coordination degree, the CRDI index coupling coordination is increasing in time trend but is still on the verge of dissonance. (4) Social resilience is the main obstacle factor. In the indicator layer, human resources, innovation, education, security, living, and environmental protection are the areas where CRDI coordinated development is the key to improvement. Based on the above empirical evidence, this paper proposes countermeasures to optimize urban resilience construction from four perspectives: economic, social, environmental, and infrastructure.

Metabolic and immune costs balance during natural acclimation of corals in fluctuating environments.

Epigenetic modifications based on DNA methylation can rapidly improve the potential of corals to adapt to environmental pressures by increasing their phenotypic plasticity, a factor important for scleractinian corals to adapt to future global warming. However, the extent to which corals develop similar adaptive mechanisms and their specific adaptation processes remain unclear. Here, to reveal the regulatory mechanism by which DNA methylation improves thermal tolerance in Pocillopora damicornis under fluctuating environments, we analyzed genome-wide DNA methylation signatures in P. damicornis and compared the differences in the methylation and transcriptional responses of P. damicornis from fluctuating and stable environments using whole-genome bisulfite sequencing and nanopore-based RNA sequencingtranscriptome sequencing. We discovered low methylation levels in P. damicornis (average methylation 4.14%), with CpG accounting for 74.88%, CHH for 13.27%, and CHG for 11.85% of this methylation. However, methylation levels did not change between coral samples from the fluctuating and stable environments. The varied methylation levels in different regions of the gene revealed that the overall methylation level of the gene body was relatively high and showed a bimodal methylation pattern. Methylation occurs primarily in exons rather than introns within the gene body In P. damicornis, there was only a weak correlation between methylation and transcriptional changes at the individual gene level, and the methylation and gene expression levels generally exhibited a bell-shaped relationship, which we speculate may be due to the specificity of cnidarian species. Correlation analysis between methylation levels and the transcriptome revealed that the highest proportion of the top 20 enriched KEGG pathways was related to immunity. Additionally, P. damicornis collected from a high-temperature pool had a lower metabolic rate than those collected from a low-temperature pool. We hypothesize that the dynamic balance of energy-expenditure costs between immunity and metabolism is an important strategy for increasing P. damicornis tolerance. The fluctuating environment of high-temperature pools may increase the heat tolerance in corals by increasing their immunity and thus lowering their metabolism.

Nicotinamide mononucleotide attenuates airway epithelial barrier dysfunction via inhibiting SIRT3 SUMOylation in asthma.

Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) is an essential element in cellular metabolism that regulates fundamental biological processes. Growing evidence suggests that a decline in NAD+ is a common pathological factor in various diseases and aging. However, its role in airway epithelial barrier function in response to asthma remains underexplored. The current study aims to explore the efficacy of restoring cellular NAD+ concentration through supplementation with the NAD+ precursor, nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN), in the treatment of allergic asthma and to investigate the role of SIRT3 in mediating the effects of NAD+ precursors. In this research, NMN alleviated airway inflammation and reduced mucus secretion in house dust mite (HDM)-induced asthmatic mice. It also mitigated airway epithelial barrier disruption in HDM-induced asthma in vitro and in vivo. But inhibition of SIRT3 expression abolished the effects of NMN. Mechanistically, HDM induced SIRT3 SUMOylation and proteasomal degradation. Mutation of these two SIRT3 SUMO modification sites enhanced the stability of SIRT3. Additionally, SIRT3 was targeted by SENP1 which acted to de-conjugate SUMO. And down-regulation of SENP1 expression in HDM-induced models was reversed by NMN. Collectively, these findings suggest that NMN attenuates airway epithelial barrier dysfunction via inhibiting SIRT3 SUMOylation in asthma. Blockage of SIRT3 SUMOylation emerges as for the treatment of allergic asthma.

PM2.5-derived exosomal long noncoding RNA PAET participates in childhood asthma by enhancing DNA damage via m6A-dependent OXPHOS regulation.

Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is known to enhance DNA damage levels and is involved in respiratory diseases. Exosomes can carry noncoding RNAs, especially long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), as regulators of DNA damage, which participate in diseases. However, their role in PM2.5-induced childhood asthma remains unclear. We performed RNA-seq to profile aberrantly expressed exosomal lncRNAs derived from PM2.5-treated human bronchial epithelial (HBE) cell models. The role of exosomal lncRNAs in childhood asthma was determined in a case-control study. The intercellular communication mechanisms of exosomal lncRNA on DNA damage were determined in vitro. Exosomes secreted by PM2.5-treated HBE cells (PM2.5-Exos) could increase the DNA damage levels of recipient HBE cells and promote the expression levels of airway remodeling-related markers in sensitive human bronchial smooth muscle cells (HBSMCs). LncRNA PM2.5-associated exosomal transcript (PAET) was highly expressed in PM2.5-Exos and was associated with PM2.5 exposure in childhood asthma. Mechanistically, exosomal lncRNA PAET promoted methyltransferase-like 3 (METTL3) accumulation by increasing its stability, which stimulated N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modification of cytochrome c oxidase subunit 4I1 (COX4I1), and COX4I1 levels were decreased in a mechanism dependent on the m6A "reader" YTH domain family 3 (YTHDF3). COX4I1 deficiency subsequently disrupted oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS), resulting in attenuated adenosine triphosphate (ATP) production and accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which increased DNA damage levels. This comprehensive study extends the understanding of PM2.5-induced childhood asthma via DNA damage and identifies exosomal lncRNA PAET as a potential target for childhood asthma.

0D Pyramid-intercalated 2D Bimetallic Halides with Tunable Electronic Structures and Enhanced Emission under Pressure.

Hybrid metal halides are emerging semiconductors as promising candidates for optoelectronics. The pursuit of hybridizing various dimensions of metal halides remains a desirable yet highly complex endeavor. By utilizing dimension engineering, a diverse array of new materials with intrinsically different electronic and optical properties has been developed. Here, we report a new family of 2D-0D hybrid bimetallic halides, (C6 N2 H14 )2 SbCdCl9 ⋅ 2H2 O (SbCd) and (C6 N2 H14 )2 SbCuCl9 ⋅ 2H2 O (SbCu). These compounds adopt a new layered structure, consisting of alternating 0D square pyramidal [SbCl5 ] and 2D inorganic layers sandwiched by organic layers. SbCd and SbCu have optical band gaps of 3.3 and 2.3 eV, respectively. These compounds exhibit weak photoluminescence (PL) at room temperature, and the PL gradually enhances with decreasing temperature. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal that SbCd and SbCu are direct gap semiconductors, where first-principles band gaps follow the experimental trend. Moreover, given the different pressure responses of 0D and 2D components, these materials exhibit highly tunable electronic structures during compression, where a remarkable 11 times enhancement in PL emission is observed for SbCd at 19 GPa. This work opens new avenues for designing new layered bimetallic halides and further manipulating their structures and optoelectronic properties via pressure.

The diversity, community dynamics, and interactions of the microbiome in the world's deepest blue hole: insights into extreme environmental response patterns and tolerance of marine microorganisms.

IMPORTANCE: This study comprehensively examined the community dynamics, functional profiles, and interactions of the microbiome in the world's deepest blue hole. The findings revealed a positive correlation between the α-diversities of Symbiodiniaceae and archaea, indicating the potential reliance of Symbiodiniaceae on archaea in an extreme environment resulting from a partial niche overlap. The negative association between the α-diversity and ß-diversity of the bacterial community suggested that the change rule of the bacterial community was consistent with the Anna Karenina effects. The core microbiome comprised nine microbial taxa, highlighting their remarkable tolerance and adaptability to sharp environmental gradient variations. Bacteria and archaea played significant roles in carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur cycles, while fungi contributed to carbon metabolism. This study advanced our understanding of the community dynamics, response patterns, and resilience of microorganisms populating the world's deepest blue hole, thereby facilitating further ecological and evolutional exploration of microbiomes in diverse extreme environments.

Unfolding the secrets of microbiome (Symbiodiniaceae and bacteria) in cold-water coral.

Recent deep-ocean exploration has uncovered a variety of cold-water coral (CWC) ecosystems around the world ocean, but it remains unclear how microbiome is associated with these corals at a molecular levels. This study utilized metabarcoding, tissue section observation, and metatranscriptomes to investigate the microbiome (Symbiodiniaceae and bacteria) of CWC species (Narella versluysi, Heterogorgia uatumani, and Muriceides sp.) from depths ranging from 260 m to 370 m. Warm-water coral (WWC) species (Acropora pruinosa, Pocillopora damicornis, and Galaxea fascicularis) were used as control groups. Results revealed that CWC host diverse bacteria and Symbiodiniaceae cells were observed in endoderm of CWC tissues. Several new candidate bacterial phyla were found in both CWC and WWC, including Coralsanbacteria, Coralqiangbacteria, Coralgsqaceae, Coralgongineae, etc. Both the 16S rRNA gene sequencing and metatranscriptomes revealed that Actinobacteria and Proteobacteria were abundant bacterial phyla in CWC. At the gene transcription level, the CWC-associated Symbiodiniaceae community showed a low-level transcription of genes involved in photosynthesis, CO2 fixation, glycolysis, citric acid cycle, while bacteria associated with CWC exhibited a high-level transcription of genes for carbon fixation via the Wood-Lijungdahl pathway, short chain fatty acids production, nitrogen, and sulfur cycles. IMPORTANCE This study shed new light on the functions of both Symbiodiniaceae and bacteria in cold-water coral (CWC). The results demonstrated that Symbiodiniaceae can survive and actively transcribe genes in CWC, suggesting a possible symbiotic or parasitic relationship with the host. This study also revealed complete non-photosynthetic CO2 fixation pathway of bacteria in CWC, as well as their roles in short chain fatty acids production and assimilation of host-derived organic nitrogen and sulfur. These findings highlight the important role of bacteria in the carbon, nitrogen sulfur cycles in CWC, which were possibly crucial for CWC survival in in deep-water environments.

Adaptation strategies of relatively high-latitude marginal reef corals in response to severe temperature fluctuations.

The large seasonal temperature fluctuations caused by global warming and frequent marine heatwaves pose new challenges to survival of relatively high-latitude marginal reef corals. However, the adaptation strategies of high-latitude marginal corals are not fully understood. We employed integrated approach to investigate the response mechanism of hosts, Symbiodiniaceae, and symbiotic bacteria of marginal reef corals Acropora pruinosa and Pavona decussate in response to large seasonal temperature fluctuations. The coral holobiont maintained a high level of immunity to adapt to seasonal pressure by increasing Symbiodiniaceae energy supply. The symbiotic Symbiodiniaceae of two coral was dominated by C1 subgroup, and was stable across seasons. The α-diversity of symbiotic bacteria P. decussata and A. pruinosa in summer was higher than that in winter. The symbiotic bacterial community of two coral reorganized during different seasons. Scleractinian corals improve adaptability to seasonal stress by increasing energy supply to maintain high levels of immunity, increasing symbiotic bacterial α-diversity, and changing dominant bacteria. This study demonstrates the adaptation strategies of marginal reef corals to seasonal temperature fluctuations and provides novel insights into the study of the adaptation of corals and relatively high-latitude coral refuges in the context of global warming and intensified marine heatwaves.

Anomalous Charge Transfer from Organic Ligands to Metal Halides in Zero-Dimensional [(C6 H5 )4 P]2 SbCl5 Enabled by Pressure-Induced Lone Pair-π Interaction.

Low-dimensional (low-D) organic metal halide hybrids (OMHHs) have emerged as fascinating candidates for optoelectronics due to their integrated properties from both organic and inorganic components. However, for most of low-D OMHHs, especially the zero-D (0D) compounds, the inferior electronic coupling between organic ligands and inorganic metal halides prevents efficient charge transfer at the hybrid interfaces and thus limits their further tunability of optical and electronic properties. Here, using pressure to regulate the interfacial interactions, efficient charge transfer from organic ligands to metal halides is achieved, which leads to a near-unity photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) at around 6.0 GPa in a 0D OMHH, [(C6 H5 )4 P]2 SbCl5 . In situ experimental characterizations and theoretical simulations reveal that the pressure-induced electronic coupling between the lone-pair electrons of Sb3+ and the π electrons of benzene ring (lp-π interaction) serves as an unexpected "bridge" for the charge transfer. Our work opens a versatile strategy for the new materials design by manipulating the lp-π interactions in organic-inorganic hybrid systems.

Bacterial taxonomic and functional profiles from Bohai Sea to northern Yellow Sea.

Microbial distribution patterns are the result of a combination of biotic and abiotic factors, which are the core issues in microbial ecology research. To better understand the biogeographic pattern of bacteria in water environments from the Bohai Sea to the northern Yellow Sea, the effects of environmental factors, and spatial distance on the structure of bacterial communities in marine water were investigated using high-throughput sequencing technology based on 16S rRNA genes. The results showed that Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteri, Desulfobacterota, and Bdellovibrionota were the dominant phyla in the study area. A clear spatial pattern in the bacterial community was observed, and environmental factors, including salinity, nutrient concentration, carbon content, total phosphorus, dissolved oxygen, and seawater turbidity emerged as the central environmental factors regulating the variation in bacterial communities. In addition, the study provides direct evidence of the existence of dispersal limitation in this strongly connected marine ecological system. Therefore, these results revealed that the variation in bacterial community characteristics was attributed to environmental selection, accompanied by the regulation of stochastic diffusion. The network analysis demonstrated a nonrandom co-occurrence pattern in the microbial communities with distinct spatial distribution characteristics. It is implied that the biogeography patterns of bacterial community may also be associated with the characteristics of co-occurrence characterize among bacterial species. Furthermore, the PICRUSt analysis indicated a clear spatial distribution of functional characteristics in bacterial communities. This functional variation was significantly modulated by the environmental characteristics of seawater but uncoupled from the taxonomic characteristics of bacterial communities (e.g., diversity characteristics, community structure, and co-occurrence relationships). Together, this findings represent a significant advance in linking seawater to the mechanisms underlying bacterial biogeographic patterns and community assembly, co-occurrence patterns, and ecological functions, providing new insights for identifying the microbial ecology as well as the biogeochemical cycle in the marine environment.

Configuration-Induced Multichromism of Phenanthridine Derivatives: A Type of Versatile Fluorescent Probe for Microenvironmental Monitoring.

Fluorescent probes are attractive in diagnosis and sensing. However, most reported fluorophores can only detect one or few analytes/parameters, notably limiting their applications. Here we have designed three phenanthridine-based fluorophores (i.e., B1, F1, and T1 with 1D, 2D, and 3D molecular configuration, respectively) capable of monitoring various microenvironments. In rigidifying media, all fluorophores show bathochromic emissions but with different wavelength and intensity changes. Under compression, F1 shows a bathochromic emission of over 163 nm, which results in organic fluorophore-based full-color piezochromism. Moreover, both B1 and F1 exhibit an aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ) behavior, while T1 is an aggregation-induced emission (AIE) fluorophore. Further, F1 and T1 selectively concentrate in cell nucleus, whereas B1 mainly stains the cytoplasm in live cell imaging. This work provides a general design strategy of versatile fluorophores for microenvironmental monitoring.

Blockade of CBX4-mediated ß-catenin SUMOylation attenuates airway epithelial barrier dysfunction in asthma.

Epithelial barrier dysfunction is involved in the pathogenesis of asthma. Previous studies show that SUMOylation can regulate epithelial junction molecule localization. However, the role of SUMOylation in epithelial barrier dysfunction in asthma remains unclear. This study found that inhibition of SUMOylation attenuates house dust mite (HDM)-induced epithelial barrier dysfunction. The SUMOylation levels of junction molecules were determined by co-immunoprecipitation (CO-IP) and proximity ligation assay (PLA). HDM treatment significantly enhanced SUMOylation levels of ß-catenin, while no effect was seen on ZO-1, Occludin, and E-cadherin SUMOylation levels. Inhibition of ß-catenin SUMOylation through 2-D08 treatment or SUMOylation modification site mutant (K233A) promoted its membrane localization and repressed Wnt/ß-catenin signaling. Further, we identified that CBX4, an E3 ligase, mediated SUMOylation of ß-catenin. Knockdown of CBX4 promoted ß-catenin membrane localization and improved epithelial barrier function. In vivo analysis showed that AAV6-shCBX4-mediated knockdown of CBX4 attenuated HDM-induced allergic airway inflammation and epithelial barrier dysfunction. The findings showed that inhibiting ß-catenin SUMOylation by targeting CBX4 mitigated HDM-induced epithelial barrier dysfunction in asthma.

Spatial and temporal evolution of urban economic development efficiency in China's Yangtze River economic belt from the perspective of sustainable development.

Urban economic development is crucial to regional economy and people's life, and enhancing the efficiency of urban economic development is of great significance to boost sustainable and healthy economic and social development. In this paper, from the perspective of sustainable development, data of 104 cities in China's Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) from 2004 to 2019 are selected, and the urban resource consumption index and urban pollutant emission index are synthesized as new input-output indicators using the Time Series Global Principal Component Analysis (GPCA), combined with the Global Malmquist-Luenberger (GML) Index Model, Standard Deviation Ellipse (SDE) Model to measure the total factor productivity index of urban economic development in China's YREB and analyze its spatial and temporal evolution. The results show that from 2004 to 2019, the total factor productivity index of urban economic development in China's YREB showed an overall fluctuating upward trend with an average annual growth of 5.8%, and the analysis by decomposing indicators shows that the growth of total factor productivity of urban economic development in China's YREB is mainly influenced by the growth of technological progress. Meanwhile, there are obvious regional differences in the efficiency of urban economic development in China's YREB, with the largest difference in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, the second largest in the upper reaches, and the smallest in the lower reaches. From 2004 to 2019, the efficiency center of gravity of urban economic development efficiency in the YREB has always been located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River region. The spatial distribution pattern of urban economic development efficiency in the YREB is dominated by the northeast-southwest direction and tends to be concentrated in the study time period.

A new species of the genus Synanthedon Hbner [1819] (Lepidoptera Sesiidae) from Taiwan.

A new species of clearwing moth, Synanthedon suhua sp. nov., is described from Taiwan in this article. Adults and genitalia of both sexes are illustrated, DNA barcodes provided, and potential damage to Quercus longinux (Fagaceae) discussed.

Lower cold tolerance of tropical Porites lutea is possibly detrimental to its migration to relatively high latitude refuges in the South China Sea.

As high temperature stress due to climate change threatens tropical corals, cooler areas at relatively high latitudes may be potential refuges. Tolerance to low temperatures is critical in determining whether corals can successfully migrate to higher latitudes. However, the physiological and molecular adaptations that protect corals from low temperature stress are unclear. In this study, scleractinian Porites lutea samples from the tropical Xisha Islands (XS) and subtropical Daya Bay (DY) in the South China Sea were subjected to a reduction in ambient temperature from 26 to 12°C. Differences in physiological changes and gene expression were analysed. P. lutea from both XS and DY exhibited physiological bleaching under low temperature stress, and the Symbiodiniaceae density, Fv/Fm, and chlorophyll-α content were significantly reduced. Symbiosome antioxidative stress and metabolic enzyme activity first increased and then decreased. RNA-seq analysis showed that the host responded to low temperature stress by activating immune, apoptotic, and autophagic pathways and reducing metabolic levels. Nevertheless, Symbiodiniaceae lacked the physiological regulatory capacity to adapt to low temperatures. The lower cold tolerance of XS tropical P. lutea may attribute to lower oxidative stress resistance, lower photosynthetic capacity, worse energy supply, and higher susceptibility to bacterial and viral infections and diseases in XS corals. The difference in cold tolerance may result from genetic differences between the geographic populations and is possibly detrimental to the migration of tropical coral to relatively high latitude refuges. This study provides a theoretical basis for anthropogenically assisted coral migration as a response to global change.

An Outbreak of Severe Neonatal Pneumonia Caused by Human Respiratory Syncytial Virus BA9 in a Postpartum Care Centre in Shenyang, China.

Human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV) is a major pathogen of lower respiratory tract infections in children (<5 years) and older individuals, with outbreaks mainly reported among infants in hospital pediatric departments and intensive care units (ICUs). An outbreak of severe neonatal pneumonia occurred in a postpartum center in Shenyang city, China, from January to February 2021. In total, 34 respiratory samples were collected from 21 neonates and 13 nursing staff. The samples were screened for 27 pathogens using a TaqMan low-density array, and 20 samples tested positive for HRSV, including 16 neonates and 4 nursing staff samples. Among the 16 hospitalized neonates, seven were admitted to an ICU and nine to general wards. Four of the nursing staff had asymptomatic infections. To investigate the genetic characteristics of the HRSV responsible for this outbreak, the second hypervariable region (HVR2) sequences of the G gene were obtained from six neonates and two nursing staff. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that all eight sequences (SY strains) were identical, belonging to the HRSV BA9 genotype. Our findings highlight the necessity for strict hygiene and disease control measures so as to prevent cross-infection and further avoid potential outbreaks of severe infectious respiratory diseases. IMPORTANCE Human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV) is one of the leading causes of acute lower respiratory infections (ALRI) worldwide. In this study, we first reported an outbreak of severe neonatal pneumonia caused by HRSVB BA9 at a postpartum care center in mainland China. Among 20 confirmed cases, 16 were hospitalized neonates with 7 in the ICU ward, and the other four were nursing staff with asymptomatic infections. Our findings highlighted the importance of preventing cross-infection in such postpartum centers.

Research on coupling coordination and influencing factors between Urban low-carbon economy efficiency and digital finance-Evidence from 100 cities in China's Yangtze River economic belt.

China is a large country with rapid economic expansion and high energy consumption, which implies that the country's overall carbon emissions are enormous. It is vital to increase urban low-carbon economy efficiency (ULEE) to achieve sustainable development of China's urban economy. Digital finance is a significant tool to boost ULEE by providing a convenient and effective funding channel for urban low-carbon economic transformation. Analyzing the coupled and coordinated relationship between ULEE and digital finance is of vital importance for the sustainable development of the urban economy. This paper selects panel data of 100 cities in China's Yangtze River Economic Belt (YEB) in 2011-2019, and analyzes the research methods such as the Global Malmquist-Luenberger index model, coupling coordination degree (CCD) model, standard deviation ellipse model, gray model, and geographic detector by The spatial and temporal distribution, dynamic evolution characteristics and influencing factors of the CCD between ULEE and digital finance are analyzed. The study shows that: (1) the CCD of ULEE and digital finance grows by 3.42% annually, reflecting the increasingly coordinated development of the two systems; (2) The CCD of ULEE and digital finance shows a distribution pattern of gradient increase from the upstream region of Yangtze River to the downstream region, meanwhile, the spatial center of gravity moves mainly in the midstream region; (3) The spatial center of gravity of CCD of ULEE and digital finance is expected to move 22.17 km to the southwest from 2019 to 2040; (4) In terms of influencing factors, the influence of informatization and industrial structure on the CCD increases over time, while the influence of factors such as population development, greening, transportation, and scientific research decreases over time. Finally, this paper proposes policy recommendations for improving the CCD of ULEE and digital finance based on the empirical results.

Pressure-Enhanced Photocurrent in One-Dimensional SbSI via Lone-Pair Electron Reconfiguration.

Understanding the relationships between the local structures and physical properties of low-dimensional ferroelectrics is of both fundamental and practical importance. Here, pressure-induced enhancement in the photocurrent of SbSI is observed by using pressure to regulate the lone-pair electrons (LPEs). The reconfiguration of LPEs under pressure leads to the inversion symmetry broken in the crystal structure and an optimum bandgap according to the Shockley-Queisser limit. The increased polarization caused by the stereochemical expression of LPEs results in a significantly enhanced photocurrent at 14 GPa. Our research enriches the foundational understanding of structure-property relationships by regulating the stereochemical role of LPEs and offers a distinctive approach to the design of ferroelectric-photovoltaic materials.

Description of Prasinibacter corallicola gen. nov., sp. nov., a zeaxanthin-producing bacterium isolated from stony coral Porites lutea.

Thermal stress is considered one of the main causes of mass scleractinian coral degradation; however, it is still unknown how corals can adapt to future global warming. In this study, 11 strains of coral-associated Flavobacteria were shown to produce zeaxanthin, a carotenoid antioxidant, which may help coral holobionts to alleviate thermal stress. In addition, a novel zeaxanthin-producing Flavobacterium, designated R38T, was identified using polyphasic taxonomy. Although strain R38T shared a maximum 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity of 93% with Mesoflavibacter aestuarii KYW614T, phylogenetic analyses based on whole genome and 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that strain R38T forms a distinct branch in a robust cluster composed of strain R38T and Leptobacterium flavescens KCTC 22160T under the family Flavobacteriaceae. Strain R38T exhibited average nucleotide identities of 70.2% and 72.5% for M. aestuarii KYW614T and L. flavescens KCTC 22160T, respectively. The only detected respiratory quinone was menaquinone 6 (MK-6). The genomic DNA G + C content was 33.2 mol%. The major polar lipids were phosphatidylmethylethanolamine, phosphatidylethanolamine, one unidentified ninhydrin phospholipid, three unidentified ninhydrin-positive lipids, and three unidentified lipids. The major cellular fatty acids were iso - C15: 0, iso - C15: 0 ω6c, C16:2 DMA, and C13:1 ω3c. The distinct biochemical, chemotaxonomic, phylogenetic, and phylogenomic differences from validly published taxa suggest that strain R38T represents a new species of a new genus, for which Prasinibacter corallicola gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain R38T (= MCCC 1K03889T = KCTC 72444T).