Certain doping concentrations caused half-metallic graphene

This work is supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 21173096).The singly B and N doped graphene systems are carefully studied. The highly concentrated dopants cause a spin polarization effect in the systems. The spin polarization limits are affirmed in the singly B and N doped graphene systems through periodic hybrid density functional theory studies. The spin polarization effects must be considered indeed in the B and N doped graphene systems if the dopant concentration is above 3.1% and 1.4%, respectively. The system symmetry cooperating with the presence of the spin polarization brings half-metallic properties into the doping systems. The semiconducting channels in the half-metallic systems are in two different spin directions due to the different electron configurations of the B and N dopants in graphene.National Natural Science Foundation of China 21173096; Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia as the Center of Excellence has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme H2020-WIDESPREAD-01-2016-2017-TeamingPhase2 under grant agreement No. 739508, project CAMART

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Chemically Mediated Plant–Plant Interactions: Allelopathy and Allelobiosis

Plant–plant interactions are a central driver for plant coexistence and community assembly. Chemically mediated plant–plant interactions are represented by allelopathy and allelobiosis. Both allelopathy and allelobiosis are achieved through specialized metabolites (allelochemicals or signaling chemicals) produced and released from neighboring plants. Allelopathy exerts mostly negative effects on the establishment and growth of neighboring plants by allelochemicals, while allelobiosis provides plant neighbor detection and identity recognition mediated by signaling chemicals. Therefore, plants can chemically affect the performance of neighboring plants through the allelopathy and allelobiosis that frequently occur in plant–plant intra-specific and inter-specific interactions. Allelopathy and allelobiosis are two probably inseparable processes that occur together in plant–plant chemical interactions. Here, we comprehensively review allelopathy and allelobiosis in plant–plant interactions, including allelopathy and allelochemicals and their application for sustainable agriculture and forestry, allelobiosis and plant identity recognition, chemically mediated root–soil interactions and plant–soil feedback, and biosynthesis and the molecular mechanisms of allelochemicals and signaling chemicals. Altogether, these efforts provide the recent advancements in the wide field of allelopathy and allelobiosis, and new insights into the chemically mediated plant–plant interactions

Investigation of Properties of Mg_<i>n</i> Clusters and Their Hydrogen Storage Mechanism: A Study Based on DFT and a Global Minimum Optimization Method

The global minimum structures of Mg_<i>n</i> clusters have been determined using the so-called “kick method”. With the improved DFT method of B3PW91 functional and Grimme’s dispersion correction, a series of the most stable structure of Mg_<i>n</i> have been found and a novel Mg₉ structure has been located. Subsequently, the chemisorption of hydrogen onto Mg clusters was systemically studied. Considering the average adsorption energies and the ratio of Mg and H, we developed a function that can describe the relation between average adsorption energy and number of Mg and H atoms. Our results may be helpful in the future for developing different kinds of gas chemisorption materials

Plant neighbor detection and allelochemical response are driven by root-secreted signaling chemicals

Plant growth and physiology respond to the presence of neighboring plants. Here the authors show that the chemicals (-)-loliolide and jasmonic acid, which were present in the root exudates of a range of plant species, can be detected by wheat and induce allelochemical production

Vaccine-associated Rubella – a report of two cases and a review of the literature

We report the clinical characteristics of two adult patients, presenting with a typical erythematous rash consistent with rubella disease after MMR vaccination. Both patients had an uncomplicated clinical course and recovered uneventfully. One patient was confirmed to have vaccine-associated rubella via sequencing of virus isolated in viral culture. The other patient had a pharyngeal swab positive for rubella virus PCR, with sequencing matching the vaccine strain. There are few reports of clinical disease from rubella vaccine-strains in the literature. Previous authors have reported severe disseminated vaccine-associated rubella in both immunodeficient and immunocompetent patients. Further study is required to ascertain the incidence, risk factors, and clinical characteristics of this condition; as well as investigate the extent of horizontal transmission to guide infection control recommendations