Enhanced weathering in the US Corn Belt delivers carbon removal with agronomic benefits.

Terrestrial enhanced weathering (EW) of silicate rocks, such as crushed basalt, on farmlands is a promising scalable atmospheric carbon dioxide removal (CDR) strategy that urgently requires performance assessment with commercial farming practices. We report findings from a large-scale replicated EW field trial across a typical maize-soybean rotation on an experimental farm in the heart of the United Sates Corn Belt over 4 y (2016 to 2020). We show an average combined loss of major cations (Ca2+ and Mg2+) from crushed basalt applied each fall over 4 y (50 t ha-1 y-1) gave a conservative time-integrated cumulative CDR potential of 10.5 ± 3.8 t CO2 ha-1. Maize and soybean yields increased significantly (P < 0.05) by 12 to 16% with EW following improved soil fertility, decreased soil acidification, and upregulation of root nutrient transport genes. Yield enhancements with EW were achieved with significantly (P < 0.05) increased key micro- and macronutrient concentrations (including potassium, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, and zinc), thus improving or maintaining crop nutritional status. We observed no significant increase in the content of trace metals in grains of maize or soybean or soil exchangeable pools relative to controls. Our findings suggest that widespread adoption of EW across farming sectors has the potential to contribute significantly to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions goals while simultaneously improving food and soil security.

A bioenergy-focused versus a reforestation-focused mitigation pathway yields disparate carbon storage and climate responses.

Limiting global warming to 2 °C requires urgent action on land-based mitigation. This study evaluates the biogeochemical and biogeophysical implications of two alternative land-based mitigation scenarios that aim to achieve the same radiative forcing. One scenario is primarily driven by bioenergy expansion (SSP226Lu-BIOCROP), while the other involves re/afforestation (SSP126Lu-REFOREST). We find that overall, SSP126Lu-REFOREST is a more efficient strategy for removing CO2 from the atmosphere by 2100, resulting in a net carbon sink of 242 ~ 483 PgC with smaller uncertainties compared to SSP226Lu-BIOCROP, which exhibits a wider range of -78 ~ 621 PgC. However, SSP126Lu-REFOREST leads to a relatively warmer planetary climate than SSP226Lu-BIOCROP, and this relative warming can be intensified in certain re/afforested regions where local climates are not favorable for tree growth. Despite the cooling effect on a global scale, SSP226Lu-BIOCROP reshuffles regional warming hotspots, amplifying summer temperatures in vulnerable tropical regions such as Central Africa and Southeast Asia. Our findings highlight the need for strategic land use planning to identify suitable regions for re/afforestation and bioenergy expansion, thereby improving the likelihood of achieving the intended climate mitigation outcomes.

In situ visualizing reveals potential drive of lattice expansion on defective support toward efficient removal of nitrogen oxides.

As a sustainable and promising approach of removing of nitrogen oxides (NOx), catalytic reduction of NOx with H2 is highly desirable with a precise understanding to the structure-activity relationship of supported catalysts. In particular, the dynamic evolution of support at microscopic scale may play a critical role in heterogeneous catalysis, however, identifying the in situ structural change of support under working condition with atomic precision and revealing its role in catalysis is still a grand challenge. Herein, we visually capture the surface lattice expansion of WO3-x support in Pt-WO3-x catalyst induced by NO in the exemplified reduction of NO with H2 using in situ transmission electron microscopy and first reveal its important role in enhancing catalysis. We find that NO can adsorb on the oxygen vacancy sites of WO3-x and favorably induce the reversible stretching of W-O-W bonds during the reaction, which can reduce the adsorption energy of NO on Pt4 centers and the energy barrier of the rate-determining step. The comprehensive studies reveal that lattice expansion of WO3-x support can tune the catalytic performance of Pt-WO3-x catalyst, leading to 20% catalytic activity enhancement for the exemplified reduction of NO with H2. This work reveals that the lattice expansion of defective support can tune and optimize the catalytic performance at the atomic scale.

Modeling direct air carbon capture and storage in a 1.5 °C climate future using historical analogs.

Limiting the rise in global temperature to 1.5 °C will rely, in part, on technologies to remove CO2 from the atmosphere. However, many carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technologies are in the early stages of development, and there is limited data to inform predictions of their future adoption. Here, we present an approach to model adoption of early-stage technologies such as CDR and apply it to direct air carbon capture and storage (DACCS). Our approach combines empirical data on historical technology analogs and early adoption indicators to model a range of feasible growth pathways. We use these pathways as inputs to an integrated assessment model (the Global Change Analysis Model, GCAM) and evaluate their effects under an emissions policy to limit end-of-century temperature change to 1.5 °C. Adoption varies widely across analogs, which share different strategic similarities with DACCS. If DACCS growth mirrors high-growth analogs (e.g., solar photovoltaics), it can reach up to 4.9 GtCO2 removal by midcentury, compared to as low as 0.2 GtCO2 for low-growth analogs (e.g., natural gas pipelines). For these slower growing analogs, unabated fossil fuel generation in 2050 is reduced by 44% compared to high-growth analogs, with implications for energy investments and stranded assets. Residual emissions at the end of the century are also substantially lower (by up to 43% and 34% in transportation and industry) under lower DACCS scenarios. The large variation in growth rates observed for different analogs can also point to policy takeaways for enabling DACCS.

Widespread Enhancer Dememorization and Promoter Priming during Parental-to-Zygotic Transition.

The epigenome plays critical roles in controlling gene expression and development. However, how the parental epigenomes transit to the zygotic epigenome in early development remains elusive. Here we show that parental-to-zygotic transition in zebrafish involves extensive erasure of parental epigenetic memory, starting with methylating gametic enhancers. Surprisingly, this occurs even prior to fertilization for sperm. Both parental enhancers lose histone marks by the 4-cell stage, and zygotic enhancers are not activated until around zygotic genome activation (ZGA). By contrast, many promoters remain hypomethylated and, unexpectedly, acquire histone acetylation before ZGA at as early as the 4-cell stage. They then resolve into either activated or repressed promoters upon ZGA. Maternal depletion of histone acetyltransferases results in aberrant ZGA and early embryonic lethality. Finally, such reprogramming is largely driven by maternal factors, with zygotic products mainly contributing to embryonic enhancer activation. These data reveal widespread enhancer dememorization and promoter priming during parental-to-zygotic transition.

Disrupting hate: The effect of deplatforming hate organizations on their online audience.

How does removing the leadership of online hate organizations from online platforms change behavior in their target audience? We study the effects of six network disruptions of designated and banned hate-based organizations on Facebook, in which known members of the organizations were removed from the platform, by examining the online engagements of the audience of the organization. Using a differences-in-differences approach, we show that on average the network disruptions reduced the consumption and production of hateful content, along with engagement within the network among periphery members. Members of the audience closest to the core members exhibit signs of backlash in the short term, but reduce their engagement within the network and with hateful content over time. The results suggest that strategies of targeted removals, such as leadership removal and network degradation efforts, can reduce the ability of hate organizations to successfully operate online.

Photocatalytic chlorine atom production on mineral dust-sea spray aerosols over the North Atlantic.

Active chlorine in the atmosphere is poorly constrained and so is its role in the oxidation of the potent greenhouse gas methane, causing uncertainty in global methane budgets. We propose a photocatalytic mechanism for chlorine atom production that occurs when Sahara dust mixes with sea spray aerosol. The mechanism is validated by implementation in a global atmospheric model and thereby explaining the episodic, seasonal, and location-dependent 13C depletion in CO in air samples from Barbados [J.E. Mak, G. Kra, T. Sandomenico, P. Bergamaschi, J. Geophys. Res. Atmos. 108 (2003)], which remained unexplained for decades. The production of Cl can also explain the anomaly in the CO:ethane ratio found at Cape Verde [K. A. Read et al., J. Geophys. Res. Atmos. 114 (2009)], in addition to explaining the observation of elevated HOCl [M. J. Lawler et al., Atmos. Chem. Phys. 11, 7617-7628 (2011)]. Our model finds that 3.8 Tg(Cl) y-1 is produced over the North Atlantic, making it the dominant source of chlorine in the region; globally, chlorine production increases by 41%. The shift in the methane sink budget due to the increased role of Cl means that isotope-constrained top-down models fail to allocate 12 Tg y-1 (2% of total methane emissions) to 13C-depleted biological sources such as agriculture and wetlands. Since 2014, an increase in North African dust emissions has increased the 13C isotope of atmospheric CH4, thereby partially masking a much greater decline in this isotope, which has implications for the interpretation of the drivers behind the recent increase of methane in the atmosphere.

Spem2, a novel testis-enriched gene, is required for spermiogenesis and fertilization in mice.

Spermiogenesis is considered to be crucial for the production of haploid spermatozoa with normal morphology, structure and function, but the mechanisms underlying this process remain largely unclear. Here, we demonstrate that SPEM family member 2 (Spem2), as a novel testis-enriched gene, is essential for spermiogenesis and male fertility. Spem2 is predominantly expressed in the haploid male germ cells and is highly conserved across mammals. Mice deficient for Spem2 develop male infertility associated with spermiogenesis impairment. Specifically, the insufficient sperm individualization, failure of excess cytoplasm shedding, and defects in acrosome formation are evident in Spem2-null sperm. Sperm counts and motility are also significantly reduced compared to controls. In vivo fertilization assays have shown that Spem2-null sperm are unable to fertilize oocytes, possibly due to their impaired ability to migrate from the uterus into the oviduct. However, the infertility of Spem2-/- males cannot be rescued by in vitro fertilization, suggesting that defective sperm-egg interaction may also be a contributing factor. Furthermore, SPEM2 is detected to interact with ZPBP, PRSS21, PRSS54, PRSS55, ADAM2 and ADAM3 and is also required for their processing and maturation in epididymal sperm. Our findings establish SPEM2 as an essential regulator of spermiogenesis and fertilization in mice, possibly in mammals including humans. Understanding the molecular role of SPEM2 could provide new insights into future therapeutic treatment of human male infertility and development of non-hormonal male contraceptives.

The Paf1 complex is required for RNA polymerase II removal in response to DNA damage.

Rpb1, the largest subunit of RNA polymerase II (RNAPII), is rapidly polyubiquitinated and degraded in response to DNA damage; this process is considered to be a "mechanism of last resort'' employed by cells. The underlying mechanism of this process remains elusive. Here, we uncovered a previously uncharacterized multistep pathway in which the polymerase-associated factor 1 (Paf1) complex (PAF1C, composed of the subunits Ctr9, Paf1, Leo1, Cdc73, and Rtf1) is involved in regulating the RNAPII pool by stimulating Elongin-Cullin E3 ligase complex-mediated Rpb1 polyubiquitination and subsequent degradation by the proteasome following DNA damage. Mechanistically, Spt5 is dephosphorylated following DNA damage, thereby weakening the interaction between the Rtf1 subunit and Spt5, which might be a key step in initiating Rpb1 degradation. Next, Rad26 is loaded onto stalled RNAPII to replace the Spt4/Spt5 complex in an RNAPII-dependent manner and, in turn, recruits more PAF1C to DNA lesions via the binding of Rad26 to the Leo1 subunit. Importantly, the PAF1C, assembled in a Ctr9-mediated manner, coordinates with Rad26 to localize the Elongin-Cullin complex on stalled RNAPII, thereby inducing RNAPII removal, in which the heterodimer Paf1/Leo1 and the subunit Cdc73 play important roles. Together, our results clearly revealed a new role of the intact PAF1C in regulating the RNAPII pool in response to DNA damage.

Structural Reversibility of Nanoscaled Sn Anodes.

Alloying-type anode materials provide high capacity for lithium-ion batteries; however, they suffer pulverization problems resulting from the volume change during cycling. Realizing the cycling reversibility of these anodes is therefore critical for sustaining their electrochemical performance. Here, we investigate the structural reversibility of Sn NPs during cycling at atomic-level resolution utilizing in situ high-resolution TEM. We observed a surprisingly near-perfect structural reversibility after a complete cycle. A three-step phase transition happens during lithiation, accompanied by the generation of a significant number of defects, grain boundaries, and up to 202% volume expansion. In subsequent delithiation, the volume, morphology, and crystallinity of the Sn NPs were restored to their initial state. Theoretical calculations show that compressive stress drives the removal of vacancies generated within the NPs during delithiation, therefore maintaining their intact morphology. This work demonstrates that removing vacancies during cycling can efficiently improve the structural reversibility of high-capacity anode materials.

Intracerebroventricular BDNF infusion may reduce cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury by promoting autophagy and suppressing apoptosis.

Here, it was aimed to investigate the effects of intracerebroventricular (ICV) Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) infusion for 7 days following cerebral ischemia (CI) on autophagy in neurons in the penumbra. Focal CI was created by the occlusion of the right middle cerebral artery. A total of 60 rats were used and divided into 4 groups as Control, Sham CI, CI and CI + BDNF. During the 7-day reperfusion period, aCSF (vehicle) was infused to Sham CI and CI groups, and BDNF infusion was administered to the CI + BDNF group via an osmotic minipump. By the end of the 7th day of reperfusion, Beclin-1, LC3, p62 and cleaved caspase-3 protein levels in the penumbra area were evaluated using Western blot and immunofluorescence. BDNF treatment for 7 days reduced the infarct area after CI, induced the autophagic proteins Beclin-1, LC3 and p62 and suppressed the apoptotic protein cleaved caspase-3. Furthermore, rotarod and adhesive removal test times of BDNF treatment started to improve from the 4th day, and the neurological deficit score from the 5th day. ICV BDNF treatment following CI reduced the infarct area by inducing autophagic proteins Beclin-1, LC3 and p62 and inhibiting the apoptotic caspase-3 protein while its beneficial effects were apparent in neurological tests from the 4th day.

P1' specificity of the S219V/R203G mutant tobacco etch virus protease.

Proteases that recognize linear amino acid sequences with high specificity became indispensable tools of recombinant protein technology for the removal of various fusion tags. Due to its stringent sequence specificity, the catalytic domain of the nuclear inclusion cysteine protease of tobacco etch virus (TEV PR) is also a widely applied reagent for enzymatic removal of fusion tags. For this reason, efforts have been made to improve its stability and modify its specificity. For example, P1' autoproteolytic cleavage-resistant mutant (S219V) TEV PR was found not only to be nearly impervious to self-inactivation, but also exhibited greater stability and catalytic efficiency than the wild-type enzyme. An R203G substitution has been reported to further relax the P1' specificity of the enzyme, however, these results were obtained from crude intracellular assays. Until now, there has been no rigorous comparison of the P1' specificity of the S219V and S219V/R203G mutants in vitro, under carefully controlled conditions. Here, we compare the P1' amino acid preferences of these single and double TEV PR mutants. The in vitro analysis was performed by using recombinant protein substrates representing 20 P1' variants of the consensus TENLYFQ*SGT cleavage site, and synthetic oligopeptide substrates were also applied to study a limited set of the most preferred variants. In addition, the enzyme-substrate interactions were analyzed in silico. The results indicate highly similar P1' preferences for both enzymes, many side-chains can be accommodated by the S1' binding sites, but the kinetic assays revealed lower catalytic efficiency for the S219V/R203G than for the S219V mutant.

Harmonic field extension for QSM with reduced spatial coverage using physics-informed generative adversarial network.

Quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) is frequently employed in investigating brain iron related to brain development and diseases within deep gray matter (DGM). Nonetheless, the acquisition of whole-brain QSM data is time-intensive. An alternative approach, focusing the QSM specifically on areas of interest such as the DGM by reducing the field-of-view (FOV), can significantly decrease scan times. However, severe susceptibility value underestimations have been reported during QSM reconstruction with a limited FOV, largely attributable to artifacts from incorrect background field removal in the boundary region. This presents a considerable barrier to the clinical use of QSM with small spatial coverages using conventional methods alone. To mitigate the propagation of these errors, we proposed a harmonic field extension method based on a physics-informed generative adversarial network. Both quantitative and qualitative results demonstrate that our method outperforms conventional methods and delivers results comparable to those obtained with full FOV. Furthermore, we demonstrate the versatility of our method by applying it to data acquired prospectively with limited FOV and to data from patients with Parkinson's disease. The method has shown significant improvements in local field results, with QSM outcomes. In a clear illustration of its feasibility and effectiveness in real clinical environments, our proposed method addresses the prevalent issue of susceptibility underestimation in QSM with small spatial coverage.

Inverse priority effects: A role for historical contingency during species losses.

Communities worldwide are losing multiple species at an unprecedented rate, but how communities reassemble after these losses is often an open question. It is well established that the order and timing of species arrival during community assembly shapes forthcoming community composition and function. Yet, whether the order and timing of species losses can lead to divergent community trajectories remains largely unexplored. Here, we propose a novel framework that sets testable hypotheses on the effects of the order and timing of species losses-inverse priority effects-and suggests its integration into the study of community assembly. We propose that the order and timing of species losses within a community can generate alternative reassembly trajectories, and suggest mechanisms that may underlie these inverse priority effects. To formalize these concepts quantitatively, we used a three-species Lotka-Volterra competition model, enabling to investigate conditions in which the order of species losses can lead to divergent reassembly trajectories. The inverse priority effects framework proposed here promotes the systematic study of the dynamics of species losses from ecological communities, ultimately aimed to better understand community reassembly and guide management decisions in light of rapid global change.

Exploring and Analyzing the Systemic Delivery Barriers for Nanoparticles.

Most nanomedicines require efficient in vivo delivery to elicit diagnostic and therapeutic effects. However, en route to their intended tissues, systemically administered nanoparticles often encounter delivery barriers. To describe these barriers, we propose the term "nanoparticle blood removal pathways" (NBRP), which summarizes the interactions between nanoparticles and the body's various cell-dependent and cell-independent blood clearance mechanisms. We reviewed nanoparticle design and biological modulation strategies to mitigate nanoparticle-NBRP interactions. As these interactions affect nanoparticle delivery, we studied the preclinical literature from 2011-2021 and analyzed nanoparticle blood circulation and organ biodistribution data. Our findings revealed that nanoparticle surface chemistry affected the in vivo behavior more than other nanoparticle design parameters. Combinatory biological-PEG surface modification improved the blood area under the curve by ~418%, with a decrease in liver accumulation of up to 47%. A greater understanding of nanoparticle-NBRP interactions and associated delivery trends will provide new nanoparticle design and biological modulation strategies for safer, more effective, and more efficient nanomedicines.

An Active Strategy Based on Different Droplet Removal Modes on Polydimethylsiloxane Magnetic Microstructures.

The efficient removal of droplets on solid surfaces holds significant importance in the field of fog collection, condensation heat transfer, and so on. However, on current typical surfaces, droplets are characterized by a passive and single removal mode, contingent on the traction force (e.g., capillary force, Laplace pressure, etc.) generated by the surface's physics and chemistry design, posing challenges for enhancing the efficiency of droplet removal. In this paper, an effective active strategy based on different removal modes is demonstrated on magnetic responsive polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) superhydrophobic microplates (RM-MPSM). By regulating the parameters of microplates and droplet volume, different effective departure modes (top jumping and side departure) can be induced to facilitate the removal of droplets. Moreover, the removal volume of droplets through the side departure mode exhibits a significant reduction compared to that observed in the top jumping mode. The exceptional removal ability of RM-MPSM demonstrates adaptability to diverse functional applications: efficient fog collection, removal of condensation droplets and micro-particles. The efficient modes of droplet removal demonstrated in this work hold significant implications for broadening its application in many fields, such as droplet collection, heat transfer, and anti-icing.

Efficient Exciton Dissociation on Ceria Chelated Cerium-Based MOF Isogenous S-Scheme Photocatalyst for Acetaldehyde Purification.

Long-term exposure to low concentration indoor VOCs of acetaldehyde (CH3CHO) is harmful to human health. Thus, a novel isogenous heterojunction CeO2/Ce-MOF photocatalyst is synthesized via a one-step hydrothermal method for the effective elimination of CH3CHO in this work. This CeO2/Ce-MOF photocatalyst performs well in CH3CHO removal and achieves an apparent quantum efficiency of 7.15% at 420 nm, which presents ≈6.7 and 3.4 times superior to those generated by CeO2 and Ce-MOF, respectively. The enhanced efficiency is due to two main aspects including i) an effective photocarrier separation ability and the prolonged reaction lifetime of excitons play crucial roles and ii) the formation of an internal electric field (IEF) is sufficient to overcome the considerable exciton binding energy, and increases the exciton dissociation efficiency by up to 50.4%. Moreover, the reasonable pathways and mechanisms of CH3CHO degradation are determined by in situ DRIFTS analysis and simulated DFT calculations. Those results demonstrated that S-scheme heterojunction successfully increases the efficiency of harmful volatile organic compounds elimination, and it offers essential guidance for designing rare earth-based MOF photocatalysts.

Targeting Nanoplatform for Atherosclerosis Inhibition and Degradation via a Dual-Track Reverse Cholesterol Transport Strategy.

As a main cause of serious cardiovascular diseases, atherosclerosis is characterized by deposited lipid and cholesterol crystals (CCs), which is considered as a great challenge to the current treatments. In this study, a dual-track reverse cholesterol transport strategy is used to overcome the cumulative CCs in the atherosclerotic lesions via a targeting nanoplatform named as LPLCH. Endowed with the active targeting ability to the plaques, the nanoparticles can be efficiently internalized and achieve a pH-triggered charge conversion for the escape from lysosomes. During this procedure, the liver X receptor (LXR) agonists loaded in nanoparticles are replaced by the deposited lysosomal CCs, leading to a LXR mediated up-regulation of ATP-binding cassette transporte ABCA1/G1 with the local CCs carrying at the same time. Thus, the cumulative CCs are removed in a dual-track way of ABCA1/G1 mediated efflux and nanoparticle-based carrying. The in vivo investigations indicate that LPLCH exhibits a favorable inhibition on the plaque progression and a further reversal of formed lesions when under a healthy diet. And the RNA-sequencing suggests that the cholesterol transport also synergistically activates the anti-inflammation effect. The dual-track reverse cholesterol transport strategy performed by LPLCH delivers an exciting candidate for the effective inhibition and degradation of atherosclerosis.

Spiky Magnetic Microparticles Synthesized from Microrod-Stabilized Pickering Emulsion.

Tailoring the microstructure of magnetic microparticles is of vital importance for their applications. Spiky magnetic particles, such as those made from sunflower pollens, have shown promise in single cell treatment and biofilm removal. Synthetic methods that can replicate or extend the functionality of such spiky particles would be advantageous for their widespread utilization. In this work, a wet-chemical method is introduced for spiky magnetic particles that are templated from microrod-stabilized Pickering emulsions. The spiky morphology is generated by the upright attachment of silica microrods at the oil-water interface of oil droplets. Spiky magnetic microparticles with control over the length of the spikes are obtained by dispersing hydrophobic magnetic nanoparticles in the oil phase and photopolymerizing the monomer. The spiky morphology dramatically enhances colloidal stability of these particles in high ionic strength solutions and physiologic media such as human saliva and saline-based biofilm suspension. To demonstrate their utility, the spiky magnetic particles are applied for magnetically controlled removal of oral biofilms and retrieval of bacteria for diagnostic sampling. This method expands the toolbox for engineering microparticle morphology and could promote the fabrication of functional magnetic microrobots.

Piezo-catalysis in BiFeO3@In2Se3 Heterojunction for High-Efficiency Uranium Removal.

Piezo-catalysis emerges as an efficient, safe, and affordable strategy for removing hazardous substances from aquatic environments. Here, the BiFeO3@In2Se3 heterojunction demonstrates remarkable prowess as a piezo-catalyst, enabling the high-efficiency removal of uranium (U) from U(VI)-containing water. A total U(VI) removal efficiency of 94.6% can be achieved under ultrasonic vibration without any sacrificial agents. During the entire catalytic process, piezo-induced electrons, hydroxyl radicals, and superoxide radicals play important roles in U(VI) removal, while the generated H2O2 is responsive to the transformation of soluble U(VI) into insoluble (UO2)O2•2H2O and UO3. Furthermore, auxiliary illumination can accelerate the increase of free charges, enabling the piezo-catalyst to retain more charges. This leads to an improved U(VI) removal efficiency of 98.8% and a significantly increased reaction rate constant. This study offers a comprehensive analysis of the fabrication of high-efficiency piezo-catalysts in the removal or extraction of U(VI) from U(VI)-containing water.