Taxonomy and molecular phylogeny of three marine benthic species of <i>Haslea</i> (Bacillariophyceae), with transfer of two species to <i>Navicula</i>

<p>Using light, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, and SSU rDNA and <i>rbc</i>L gene sequencing, we investigated three marine benthic diatoms: <i>Haslea avium</i> Tiffany, Herwig <i>et</i> Sterrenburg; <i>H. feriarum</i> Tiffany <i>et</i> Sterrenburg and <i>H. tsukamotoi</i> Sterrenburg <i>et</i> Hinz collected from intertidal sediments in China. These are the first records of these three species from China. Our observations showed that the typical valve structure of <i>Haslea</i>, with an inner basal layer and an outer tegumental layer, and walls (saepes sensu Sterrenburg et al.) between them is not present in either <i>H. tsukamotoi</i> or <i>H. avium</i>. Moreover, the two species possess small helictoglossae, an internal apical thickened area and hooked terminal fissures reaching to the valve mantle, suggesting a close relationship with <i>Navicula tripunctata</i>, the type species of <i>Navicula</i> s.s. In molecular phylogenetic analyses, <i>Haslea</i> was polyphyletic, being divided into two separate clades: <i>H. feriarum</i> belonged to a clade that comprised only <i>Haslea</i> species, including the type <i>H. ostrearia</i>, while <i>H. tsukamotoi</i> and <i>H. avium</i> were within the <i>Navicula</i> clade. Therefore, we propose transferring <i>H. tsukamotoi</i> and <i>H. avium</i> to <i>Navicula</i> and suggest that the presence of continuous longitudinal strips on the external valve surface is not a synapomorphy, but rather a homoplastic character for <i>Haslea</i>.</p

Experimental procedure.

(A) Illustration of a single trial in Experiment 1 (not to scale). Subjects were briefly presented with 1, 2, 4, 6, or 8 Gabor patches, which they had to keep in memory during the delay period. Thereafter, a randomly oriented Gabor patch would appear at one of the previous stimulus locations. The task was to match the orientation of this stimulus with the remembered orientation of the stimulus that had appeared earlier at this location. After submitting their response, the subject was presented with feedback about the size of their response error. Subjects received points on each trial (larger error = fewer points), which after the experiment were converted into monetary reward. Different groups of subjects received different levels of reward. (B) Predictions of the resource-rational model about the effect of reward level (x axis) on VWM error (y axis). The predictions were obtained by simulating responses of the model presented in Van den Berg & Ma (2018). Simulations were performed at five set sizes (separate lines) and 5 reward levels. Each of the simulations was performed six times, with each run using the maximum-likelihood parameters of one of the six subjects in experiment E4 Van den Berg & Ma (2018). Error bars represent ±1 SEM across the six runs. A two-way Bayesian ANOVA on the simulation data show strong evidence for an effect of both set size (BFincl > 1013) and reward level (BFincl > 108), as well as for an interaction effect (BFincl = 98).</p

Hydroxycitric acid prevents hyperoxaluric-induced nephrolithiasis and oxidative stress via activation of the Nrf2/Keap1 signaling pathway

Nephrolithiasis is a common and frequently-occurring disease in the urinary system with high recurrence. The present study aimed to explore the protective effect and underlying mechanism of hydroxycitric acid (HCA) in hyperoxaluria-induced nephrolithiasis in vitro and in vivo. Crystal deposition and pathophysiological injury in rat models of glyoxylate-induced nephrolithiasis were examined using H&E staining. Cell models of nephrolithiasis were established by oxalate-treated renal tubular epithelial cells. The levels of oxidative stress indexes were determined by ELISA kits. Cell proliferation in vivo and in vitro was evaluated using a cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assay and Ki-67 cell proliferation detection kit. Cell apoptosis was measured by flow cytometry and TUNEL staining. The protein levels were examined by western blotting. Our results showed that HCA administration significantly reduced crystal deposition and kidney injury induced by glyoxylate. HCA also alleviated oxidative stress via upregulating the antioxidant enzyme activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) and reducing the malondialdehyde (MDA) content. Moreover, HCA treatment promoted cell proliferation and inhibited apoptosis of renal tubular epithelial cells exposed to hyperoxaluria. Of note, Nrf2 activator dimethyl fumarate (DMF) exerted the same beneficial effects as HCA in nephrolithiasis. Mechanistically, HCA prevented crystal deposition and oxidative stress induced by hyperoxaluria through targeting the Nrf2/Keap1 antioxidant defense pathway, while knockdown of Nrf2 significantly abrogated these effects. Taken together, HCA exhibited antioxidation and anti-apoptosis activities in nephrolithiasis induced by hyperoxaluria via activating Nrf2/Keap1 pathway, suggesting that it may be an effective therapeutic agent for the prevention and treatment of nephrolithiasis.</p

Characterization of the complete chloroplast genome of ‘Quanhong poplar’ (<i>Populus deltoides</i> W. Bartram ex Humphry Marshall, 2011)

The color of the leaves is one of the most important factors for horticultural crops that are considered by breeders, and is also attracting more and more attention from economists and academics. 'Quanhong poplar’ (QHP), a rare, bright reddish-purple color-leaf cultivar that has been widely cultivated in China as a landscape tree, is a very precious color-leaf cultivar. In the present study, a reference-based assembly was performed using whole-genome sequencing data to characterize the chloroplast genome of 'QHP'. The total chloroplast genome size of ‘QHP’ is 156,950 bp, which is divided into two inverted repeat structures of 27,649 bp each, a small single-copy region of 16,563 bp, and a large single-copy region (LSC) of 85,089 bp. From the chloroplast genome, 130 genes have been predicted, including 85 protein-coding genes, 37 tRNA genes, and eight rRNA genes. A chloroplast genome containing 36.68% GC content was detected in 'QHP'. Three SNP sites have been developed between 'QHP' and Populus deltoides Zhonglin 2025. Based on the phylogenetic analysis of chloroplast genomes reported for Populus, the chloroplast of 'QHP' is closest to several strains of Populus deltoides.</p

Hybrids of Two-Dimensional Ti₃C₂ and TiO₂ Exposing {001} Facets toward Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity

Effectively harvesting light to generate long-lived charge carriers to suppress the recombination of electrons and holes is crucial for photocatalytic reactions. Exposing the highly active facets has been regarded as a powerful approach to high-performance photocatalysts. Herein, a hybrid comprised of {001} facets of TiO₂ nanosheets and layered Ti₃C₂, an emerging 2D material, was synthesized by a facile hydrothermal partial oxidation of Ti₃C₂. The in situ growth of TiO₂ nanosheets on Ti₃C₂ allows for the interface with minimized defects, which was demonstrated by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and density functional theory calculations. The highly active {001} facets of TiO₂ afford high-efficiency photogeneration of electron–hole pairs, meanwhile the carrier separation is substantially promoted by the hole trapping effect by the interfacial Schottky junction with 2D Ti₃C₂ acting as a reservoir of holes. The improved charge separation and exposed active facets dramatically boost the photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange dye, showing the promise of 2D transition metal carbide for fabricating functional catalytic materials

Interfacial Engineering Boosting the Activity and Stability of MIL-53(Fe) toward Electrocatalytic Nitrogen Reduction

The electrochemical nitrogen reduction reaction (eNRR) has emerged as a promising strategy for green ammonia synthesis. However, it suffers unsatisfactory reaction performance owing to the low aqueous solubility of N2 in aqueous solution, the high dissociation energy of NN, and the unavoidable competing hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Herein, a MIL-53(Fe)@TiO2 catalyst is designed and synthesized for highly efficient eNRR. Relative to simple MIL-53(Fe), MIL-53(Fe)@TiO2 achieves a 2-fold enhancement in the Faradaic efficiency (FE) with an improved ammonia yield rate by 76.5% at −0.1 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE). After four cycles of electrocatalysis, MIL-53(Fe)@TiO2 can maintain a good catalytic activity, while MIL-53(Fe) exhibits a significant decrease in the NH3 yield rate and FE by 79.8 and 82.3%, respectively. Benefiting from the synergetic effect between TiO2 and MIL-53(Fe) in the composites, Fe3+ ions can be greatly stabilized in MIL-53(Fe) during the eNRR process, which greatly hinders the catalyst deactivation caused by the electrochemical reduction of Fe3+ ions. Further, the charge transfer ability in the interface of composites can be improved, and thus, the eNRR activity is significantly boosted. These findings provide a promising insight into the preparation of efficient composite electrocatalysts

Supplementary document for Stretch tuning of dispersion in optical microfibers - 6722629.pdf

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Electrochemical Reduction of CO₂ into Tunable Syngas Production by Regulating the Crystal Facets of Earth-Abundant Zn Catalyst

The electrochemical reduction of CO₂ to syngas with a tunable CO/H₂ ratio is regarded as an economical and promising method for the future. Herein, a series of earth-abundant Zn catalysts with different crystal facet ratios of Zn(002) to Zn(101) in the bulk phase have been prepared on electrochemically polished Cu foam by the electrochemical deposition method. The Zn catalyst with more (101) crystal facets show good electrochemical activity for the CO₂ reduction reaction (CO₂RR) to CO and that with more (002) crystal facets favor the hydrogen evolution reaction. The linear relationship between the crystal facet ratio of Zn(101) to Zn(002) and the Faradaic efficiency (FE) of CO₂RR to CO has been revealed for the first time. The prepared catalyst with more (101) facets show greater than 85% FE to syngas at −0.9 V (vs reversible hydrogen electrode) in aqueous electrolyte, with tunable CO/H₂ ratios ranging from 0.2 to 2.31 that can be used in existing industrial systems. Meanwhile, the mechanism of electroreduction of CO₂ on the Zn electrode has been studied by in situ infrared absorption spectroscopy. The highly selective role of the Zn(101) crystal facet in the CO₂RR to CO has been evidenced by density functional theory calculations

Characterization of compound 16 as a reversible and competitive NAAA inhibitor.

<p>(A) Effect of compound 16 (10 µM) on NAAA activity in HEK293 cells heterogeneously overexpressing NAAA. ***, P<0.001 vs. vehicle, n = 4. (B) Concentration-dependent inhibition of NAAA by compound 16 using NAAA recombinant protein derived from HEK293 cell heterogeneously expressing NAAA. (C) Rapid dilution NAAA assay in the presence of vehicle (1% DMSO, open circles) or compound 16 (closed circles). (D) Effect of NAAA activity in the presence of vehicle (open bars) or compound 16 (closed bars) before dialysis (0) and 8 hr after dialysis (8). ***, P<0.001 vs vehicle, n = 4; (E) Michaelis-Menten analysis of the NAAA reaction in the presence of vehicle (open circles) or compound 16 (closed circles). Insert is shown in a Lineweaver-Burk plot.</p

Compound 16 reduced LPS-induced inflammation.

<p>(A) Effect of compound 16 (concentrations in µM) or Vehicle on PEA levels (A), mRNA expression levels of iNOS (B) and IL-6 (C) in RAW264.7 treated with vehicle (open bars) or LPS (closed bars). vehicle, 0.1% DMSO; LPS, 0.5 µg/mL. **, P<0.01; ***, P<0.001 vs. vehicle; ##, P<0.01; ###, P<0.001 vs. LPS control, n = 5.</p