An Exceptionally Active and Highly Selective Perchlorate Transporter Containing a Trimesic Amide Scaffold

We report here a series of alkyl group-modified trimesic amide molecules (TAs) with excellent anion transport activities. Among them, TA6, with the highest ion transport activity and excellent selectivity, efficiently transports anions across the membrane in the order of ClO4− > I− > NO3− > Br− > Cl−, with an EC50 value as low as 17.6 nM (0.022 mol% relative to lipid molecules) for ClO4−, which outperforms other anions by 5- to 22-folds and manifests as the best perchlorate transporter ever reported

The mediating effect of bullying on parental–peer support matching and NSSI behaviour among adolescents

Abstract Background Being subjected to bullying is a significant risk factor for non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) among adolescents. Parental support, peer support, and social connectedness play protective roles in mitigating NSSI in this population. However, the precise impact of the combined effects of parental and peer support on bullying and NSSI requires further investigation. Methods This study employed the Child and Adolescent Social Support Scale, Delaware Bullying Victimisation Scale, Social Connectedness Scale, and the Ottawa Self-Injury Inventory to survey 1277 Chinese adolescents. Polynomial regression analysis and response surface analysis were applied to examine the mediating role of bullying and social connectedness in the relationship between parental and peer support matching and NSSI. Results The results indicate that parental support (r = 0.287, P < 0.001), peer support (r = 0.288, P < 0.001), and social connectedness (r = 0.401, P < 0.001) were protective factors against NSSI in adolescents. Conversely, bullying (r = 0.425, P < 0.001) acts as a risk factor for NSSI in this population. Adolescents with low parental and peer support experienced more bullying than those with high parental and peer support, while those with low parental but high peer support experienced less bullying than those with high parental but low peer support (R^2 = 0.1371, P < 0.001). Social connectedness moderated the effect between bullying and NSSI in this model (β = 0.006, P < 0.001). Limitations Due to the under-representation of participants and lack of longitudinal data support, the explanatory power of causality between variables was limited. Future studies should include national samples and incorporate longitudinal studies to enhance the generalisability and robustness of the findings. Conclusion This study reveals the influence mechanism of parental and peer support matching experienced by adolescents on bullying and NSSI and the moderating role of social connectedness. These findings enrich the developmental theory of adolescent NSSI and provide reference for the prevention and intervention of adolescent NSSI behaviour

Weighted Synapses Without Carry Operations for RRAM-Based Neuromorphic Systems

The parallel updating scheme of RRAM-based analog neuromorphic systems based on sign stochastic gradient descent (SGD) can dramatically accelerate the training of neural networks. However, sign SGD can decrease accuracy. Also, some non-ideal factors of RRAM devices, such as intrinsic variations and the quantity of intermediate states, may significantly damage their convergence. In this paper, we analyzed the effects of these issues on the parallel updating scheme and found that it performed poorly on the task of MNIST recognition when the number of intermediate states was limited or the variation was too large. Thus, we propose a weighted synapse method to optimize the parallel updating scheme. Weighted synapses consist of major and minor synapses with different gain factors. Such a method can be widely used in RRAM-based analog neuromorphic systems to increase the number of equivalent intermediate states exponentially. The proposed method also generates a more suitable ΔW, diminishing the distortion caused by sign SGD. Unlike when several RRAM cells are combined to achieve higher resolution, there are no carry operations for weighted synapses, even if a saturation on the minor synapses occurs. The proposed method also simplifies the circuit overhead, rendering it highly suitable to the parallel updating scheme. With the aid of weighted synapses, convergence is highly optimized, and the error rate decreases significantly. Weighted synapses are also robust against the intrinsic variations of RRAM devices

Metabolism and Regulation of Ascorbic Acid in Fruits

Ascorbic acid, also known as vitamin C, is a vital antioxidant widely found in plants. Plant fruits are rich in ascorbic acid and are the primary source of human intake of ascorbic acid. Ascorbic acid affects fruit ripening and stress resistance and plays an essential regulatory role in fruit development and postharvest storage. The ascorbic acid metabolic pathway in plants has been extensively studied. Ascorbic acid accumulation in fruits can be effectively regulated by genetic engineering technology. The accumulation of ascorbic acid in fruits is regulated by transcription factors, protein interactions, phytohormones, and environmental factors, but the research on the regulatory mechanism is still relatively weak. This paper systematically reviews the regulation mechanism of ascorbic acid metabolism in fruits in recent decades. It provides a rich theoretical basis for an in-depth study of the critical role of ascorbic acid in fruits and the cultivation of fruits rich in ascorbic acid

Transcriptome Sequencing Reveals Pathways Related to Proliferation and Differentiation of Shitou Goose Myoblasts

Chinese Shitou goose is a type of large goose with high meat yield. Understanding the genetic regulation of muscle development in Shitou goose would be beneficial to improve the meat production traits of geese. Muscle development is regulated by genes related to myoblast proliferation and differentiation. In this study, the RNA-seq method was used to construct the mRNA and lncRNA expression profiles of Shitou goose myoblasts and myotubes. A total of 1664 differentially expressed (DE) mRNAs and 244 DE-lncRNAs were identified. The alternative mRNA splicing in proliferation and differentiation stages was also analyzed. Notably, pathways enriched in DE-mRNAs, DE-splicing transcripts, and DE-lncRNAs all point to the Wnt signaling pathway, indicating that the Wnt signaling is a key regulatory pathway of muscle development in Shitou goose. We also constructed the interactive network of DE-lncRNAs and DE-mRNAs and revealed some key genes of lncRNAs regulating the proliferation and differentiation of myoblasts. These results provide new insights for the study of the muscle development of the Shitou goose

Asperversins A and B, Two Novel Meroterpenoids with an Unusual 5/6/6/6 Ring from the Marine-Derived Fungus Aspergillus versicolor

Asperversins A (1) and B (2), two novel meroterpenoids featuring an uncommon 5/6/6/6 ring system, along with five new analogues (3&ndash;7) and a known compound asperdemin (8), were obtained from the marine-derived fungus Aspergillus versicolor. Their structures and absolute configurations were confirmed by extensive spectroscopic analyses, single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies, and electronic circular dichroism (ECD) calculation. All new compounds were tested for their acetylcholinesterase enzyme (AChE) inhibitory activities and cytotoxic activities, of which compound 7 displayed moderate inhibitory activity against the AChE with an IC50 value of 13.6 &mu;M

Structural characterization and anti-pigmentation of a novel heteropolysaccharide from Gracilaria lemaneiformis via α-MSH/MC1R pathway

Gracilaria lemaneiformis, a commercially edible red alga, is rich in polysaccharide. In this study, we investigated the structural characteristics and anti-pigmentation activities of a novel heteropolysaccharide (GLHP) isolated from Gracilaria lemaneiformis. The structure of GLHP was characterized using gel chromatography (GCP), FT-IR and NMR spectroscopy, while anti-pigmentation activity was evaluated using HaCaT, A375, B16F10 cells and zebrafish models. The results indicated that the molecular weight of GLHP was 47,600 Da and it was mainly composed of galactose (62.08%) and glucosamine (14.72%). The backbone of GLHP was identified to be → 4)-α-D-Glcp-(1 → 4)-α-D-Glcp-(1 → 4)-β-D-Galp-(1 → 6)-α-D-Glcp-(1 → 6)-α-D-Glcp-(1 →. Additionally, GLHP via α-Melanocyte-Stimulating Hormone (α-MSH)/Melanocortin 1 receptor (MC1R) pathway inhibited the tyrosinase activity and the melanogenesis in UVA-stimulated melanoma cells, and suppressed the migration of MLANA in UVA-induced A375 and HaCaT cells. Furthermore, it upregulated the melanin contents in zebrafish tails. In conclusion, these results suggested GLHP could be used in cosmetics as a novel anti-pigmentation agent

Rh(III)-Catalyzed Carboamination of Propargyl Cycloalkanols with Arylamines via Csp²–H/Csp³–Csp³ Activation

A Rh­(III)-catalyzed carboamination of alkynyl cycloalkanols with arylamines has been developed. This transformation involves a novel Csp²–H/Csp³–Csp³ activation relay and provides an efficient approach to versatile 1,2,3-trisubstituted indoles with a broad range of functional group tolerance