Original article Early Pleistocene Dicerorhinus sumatrensis remains from the

The Liucheng Gigantopithecus Cave is very famous for its rich mammalian fauna and Gigantopithecus fossils. The Gigantopithecus Cave Fauna has been regarded as the typical Early Pleistocene fauna in South China. The majority of the fossils unearthed has been studied and published during the past decades. The only group remaining unpublished is the rhinoceros, which is studied in this paper. The rhino materials available today are only mandibles and lower cheek teeth. The dimensions of the tooth rows and the isolated teeth fall well within the range of the recent Dicerorhinus sumatrensis. Therefore, the rhino fossils from the Liucheng Gigantopithecus Cave can be referred to this living species. The reduced lower incisors and the U-shaped lingual contour of the mandible also support this taxonomic determination. The rhino materials from the Liucheng Gigantopithecus Cave represent the earliest known record of this species and the smallest Pleistocene rhinocerotid in China

Topological states of thermoelectric Yb-filled skutterudites

The effects of topological states on the thermoelectric performance of a highly efficient thermoelectric Yb-filled CoSb3 skutterudite are investigated through combined ab initio calculations and electrical transport measurements. The nontrivial topological states are revealed by ab initio calculations and inferred from anoma-lous Hall conductivity and magnetoresistance. The linear bands associated with the topological states lead to low single-band effective mass and high carrier mobility, and consequently high power factor. Furthermore, the additional band minima due to filling the voids with Yb atoms raise the valley degeneracy, which favors the density-of-states effective mass and thus the Seebeck coefficient but scarcely changing the carrier mobility. These effects together contribute to the high power factor of Yb-filled CoSb3 skutterudite. Our results show that topological states play a crucial role in improving the performance of thermoelectric materials

In Silico Investigations on the Synergistic Binding Mechanism of Functional Compounds with Beta-Lactoglobulin

Piceatannol (PIC) and epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) are polyphenolic compounds with applications in the treatment of various diseases such as cancer, but their stability is poor. β-lactoglobulin (β-LG) is a natural carrier that provides a protective effect to small molecule compounds and thus improves their stability. To elucidate the mechanism of action of EGCG, PIC, and palmitate (PLM) in binding to β-LG individually and jointly, this study applied molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations combined with in-depth analyses including noncovalent interaction (NCI) and binding free energy to investigate the binding characteristics between β-LG and compounds of PIC, EGCG, and PLM. Simulations on the binary complexes of β-LG + PIC, β-LG + EGCG, and β-LG + PLM and ternary complexes of (β-LG + PLM) + PIC, (β-LG + PLM) + EGCG, β-LG + PIC) + EGCG, and (β-LG + EGCG) + PIC were performed for comparison and characterizing the interactions between binding compounds. The results demonstrated that the co-bound PIC and EGCG showed non-beneficial effects on each other. However, the centrally located PLM was revealed to be able to adjust the binding conformation of PIC, which led to the increase in binding affinity with β-LG, thus showing a synergistic effect on the co-bound PIC. The current study of β-LG co-encapsulated PLM and PIC provides a theoretical basis and research suggestions for improving the stability of polyphenols