Long nanopore reads are advantageous in de novo genome assembly. However, nanopore reads usually have broad error distribution and high-error-rate subsequences. Existing error correction tools cannot ...correct nanopore reads efficiently and effectively. Most methods trim high-error-rate subsequences during error correction, which reduces both the length of the reads and contiguity of the final assembly. Here, we develop an error correction, and de novo assembly tool designed to overcome complex errors in nanopore reads. We propose an adaptive read selection and two-step progressive method to quickly correct nanopore reads to high accuracy. We introduce a two-stage assembler to utilize the full length of nanopore reads. Our tool achieves superior performance in both error correction and de novo assembling nanopore reads. It requires only 8122 hours to assemble a 35X coverage human genome and achieves a 2.47-fold improvement in NG50. Furthermore, our assembly of the human WERI cell line shows an NG50 of 22 Mbp. The high-quality assembly of nanopore reads can significantly reduce false positives in structure variation detection.
Quantum key distribution (QKD) uses individual light quanta in quantum superposition states to guarantee unconditional communication security between distant parties. However, the distance over which ...QKD is achievable has been limited to a few hundred kilometres, owing to the channel loss that occurs when using optical fibres or terrestrial free space that exponentially reduces the photon transmission rate. Satellite-based QKD has the potential to help to establish a global-scale quantum network, owing to the negligible photon loss and decoherence experienced in empty space. Here we report the development and launch of a low-Earth-orbit satellite for implementing decoy-state QKD-a form of QKD that uses weak coherent pulses at high channel loss and is secure because photon-number-splitting eavesdropping can be detected. We achieve a kilohertz key rate from the satellite to the ground over a distance of up to 1,200 kilometres. This key rate is around 20 orders of magnitudes greater than that expected using an optical fibre of the same length. The establishment of a reliable and efficient space-to-ground link for quantum-state transmission paves the way to global-scale quantum networks.
A hundred years on, the energy‐intensive Haber–Bosch process continues to turn the N2 in air into fertilizer, nourishing billions of people while causing pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. The ...urgency of mitigating climate change motivates society to progress toward a more sustainable method for fixing N2 that is based on clean energy. Surface oxygen vacancies (surface Ovac) hold great potential for N2 adsorption and activation, but introducing Ovac on the very surface without affecting bulk properties remains a great challenge. Fine tuning of the surface Ovac by atomic layer deposition is described, forming a thin amorphous TiO2 layer on plasmon‐enhanced rutile TiO2/Au nanorods. Surface Ovac in the outer amorphous TiO2 thin layer promote the adsorption and activation of N2, which facilitates N2 reduction to ammonia by excited electrons from ultraviolet‐light‐driven TiO2 and visible‐light‐driven Au surface plasmons. The findings offer a new approach to N2 photofixation under ambient conditions (that is, room temperature and atmospheric pressure).
Surface oxygen vacancies play a promotional role in the outer amorphous TiO2 (a‐TiO2) thin layer during the adsorption and activation of N2. The process facilitates N2 reduction to ammonia by excited electrons derived from UV‐light‐driven rutile TiO2 nanorod arrays and visible‐light‐driven gold surface plasmons.
Solid/liquid interfaces are ubiquitous in nature and knowledge of their atomic-level structure is essential in elucidating many phenomena in chemistry, physics, materials science and Earth science
. ...In electrochemistry, in particular, the detailed structure of interfacial water, such as the orientation and hydrogen-bonding network in electric double layers under bias potentials, has a significant impact on the electrochemical performances of electrode materials
. To elucidate the structures of electric double layers at electrochemical interfaces, we combine in situ Raman spectroscopy and ab initio molecular dynamics and distinguish two structural transitions of interfacial water at electrified Au single-crystal electrode surfaces. Towards negative potentials, the interfacial water molecules evolve from structurally 'parallel' to 'one-H-down' and then to 'two-H-down'. Concurrently, the number of hydrogen bonds in the interfacial water also undergoes two transitions. Our findings shed light on the fundamental understanding of electric double layers and electrochemical processes at the interfaces.
Designing copper (Cu) current collectors is a convenient way to stabilize lithium (Li) metal anodes. However, Cu current collectors and their derived Li/Cu anodes still face several obstacles, ...including lithiophobic and oxidizable Cu surface, cumbersome anode fabrication process, and low Li utilization. Here, a formate‐treatment strategy is presented to reconstruct Cu current collectors with a passivation layer covered Cu(110) surface. This method can easily be generalized to increase the lithiophilicity and oxidation resistibility of Cu current collectors. Using the formate‐treated Cu nanowire network as an anode current collector, the full cell consisting of a LiFePO4 cathode and Li/Cu anode with a low negative/positive capacity ratio delivers an excellent cycling performance with 74.8% capacity retention after 1000 cycles at 1 C. In addition, a concept of an upper current collector is introduced to simplify the manufacturing procedure of Li/Cu anodes. This work provides new insights into the design and construction of high‐performance Li/Cu anodes.
A formate‐treatment method is proposed to reconstruct copper current collectors with a passivation layer covered Cu(110) surface. Benefiting from the enhanced lithiophilicity and inoxidizability, the formate‐treated copper current collectors can guide dendrite‐free lithium deposition at high current densities and remarkably improve the cycling stabilities of lithium metal batteries.
Sustainable solutions on fabricating and using a face mask to block the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) spread during this coronavirus pandemic of 2019 (COVID‐19) are ...required as society is directed by the World Health Organization (WHO) toward wearing it, resulting in an increasingly huge demand with over 4 000 000 000 masks used per day globally. Herein, various new mask technologies and advanced materials are reviewed to deal with critical shortages, cross‐infection, and secondary transmission risk of masks. A number of countries have used cloth masks and 3D‐printed masks as substitutes, whose filtration efficiencies can be improved by using nanofibers or mixing other polymers into them. Since 2020, researchers continue to improve the performance of masks by adding various functionalities, for example using metal nanoparticles and herbal extracts to inactivate pathogens, using graphene to make masks photothermal and superhydrophobic, and using triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) to prolong mask lifetime. The recent advances in material technology have led to the development of antimicrobial coatings, which are introduced in this review. When incorporated into masks, these advanced materials and technologies can aid in the prevention of secondary transmission of the virus.
Masks are critical during the coronavirus pandemic of 2019 (COVID‐19), and there is a huge demand for them globally. Many countries use cloth masks and 3D‐printed masks as substitutes, but the filtration efficiencies are unqualified. Herein, various new mask technologies and advanced materials, including metal nanoparticles, graphene, metal organic framework (MOF), and triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) are reviewed, to deal with critical shortages, cross‐infection, and secondary transmission risk of masks.
Ultrasmall metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) may generate unique properties to expand the scope of applications. However, the synthesis is still a great challenge. Herein, we propose a strategy to ...synthesize ultrasmall MOFs by high gravity technology. With the aid of tremendous intensification of molecular mixing and mass transfer in high‐gravity field, six typical MOFs were obtained instantaneously in a continuous way. These samples are monodispersed with sub‐5 nm in size, smaller than the previously reported values and even close to the length of one crystal unit cell. As a proof‐of‐concept, catalytic activity for Knoevenagel reaction can be significantly enhanced using ultrasmall ZIF‐8. Conversion time of benzaldehyde was decreased by 94 % or 75 % compared to those using conventional or hierarchically porous ZIF‐8. More importantly, this approach is readily scalable with the highest space‐time yield for nano‐MOFs, which may promote the convenient synthesis and practical applications of ultrasmall MOFs in large‐scale.
A series of ultrasmall MOF nanoparticles could be instantaneously synthesized in a continuous way by a facile and universal strategy with the aid of high gravity intensification technology. This approach is readily scalable with the highest space‐time yield for nano‐MOFs. The as‐prepared ultrasmall ZIF‐8 exhibits extremely high catalytic activity for the Knoevenagel reaction.
Objectives
White matter hyperintensities (WMH) increase the risk of stroke and cognitive impairment. This study aims to determine the cross‐sectional and longitudinal associations between adiposity ...and WMH.
Methods
Participants were enrolled from the UK Biobank cohort. Associations of concurrent, past, and changes in overall and central adiposity with WMH were investigated by linear and nonlinear regression models. The association of longitudinal adiposity and WMH volume changes was determined by a linear mixed model. Mediation analysis investigated the potential mediating effect of blood pressure.
Results
In 34,653 participants with available adiposity measures and imaging data, the concurrent obese group had a 25.3% (β 95% CI = 0.253 0.222–0.284) higher WMH volume than the ideal weight group. Increment in all adiposity measures was associated with a higher WMH volume. Among them, waist circumference demonstrated the strongest effect (β 95% CI = 0.113 0.101–0.125). Past adiposity also demonstrated similar effects. Among the subset of 2664 participants with available WMH follow‐up data, adiposity measures were predictive of WMH change. Regarding changes of adiposity, compared with ideal weight stable group, those who turned from ideal weight to overweight/obese had a 8.1% higher WMH volume (β 95% CI = 0.081 0.039–0.123), while participants who turned from overweight/obese to ideal weight demonstrated no significant WMH volume change. Blood pressure partly meditates the associations between adiposity and WMH.
Conclusions
Both concurrent and past adiposity were associated with a higher WMH volume. The detrimental effects of adiposity on WMH occurred throughout midlife and in the elderly and may still exist after changes in obesity status.
After selection of included participants and clarification of the time points of these participants, we studied the linear and non‐linear association between adiposity measures and WMH. Sensitivity analysis was conducted by stratification of sex, age, and follow‐up duration. Then, we explored the possible mediator for association between adiposity and WMH.
Metabolomics offers a noninvasive methodology to identify metabolic markers for pathogenesis and diagnosis of diseases. This work aimed to characterize circulating metabolic signatures of benign ...thyroid nodule (BTN) and papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) via serum‐plasma matched metabolomics. A cohort of 1,540 serum‐plasma matched samples and 114 tissues were obtained from healthy volunteers, BTN and PTC patients enrolled from 6 independent centers. Untargeted metabolomics was determined by liquid chromatography‐quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometric and multivariate statistical analyses. The use of serum‐plasma matched samples afforded a broad‐scope detection of 1,570 metabolic features. Metabolic phenotypes revealed significant pattern differences for healthy versus BTN and healthy versus PTC. Perturbed metabolic pathways related mainly to amino acid and lipid metabolism. It is worth noting that, BTN and PTC showed no significant differences but rather overlap in circulating metabolic signatures, and this observation was replicated in all study centers. For differential diagnosis of healthy versus thyroid nodules (BTN + PTC), a panel of 6 metabolic markers, namely myo‐inositol, α‐N‐phenylacetyl‐L‐glutamine, proline betaine, L‐glutamic acid, LysoPC(18:0) and LysoPC(18:1) provided area under the curve of 97.68% in the discovery phase and predictive accuracies of 84.78–98.18% in the 4 validation centers. Taken together, serum‐plasma matched metabolomics showed significant differences in circulating metabolites for healthy versus nodules but not for BTN versus PTC. Our results highlight the true metabolic nature of thyroid nodules, and potentially decrease overtreatment that exposes patients to unnecessary risks.
What's new?
When thyroid nodules are classified “indeterminate,” is it better to wait and see, or take out the thyroid? Usually, doctors remove the thyroid, resulting in a lifetime of levothyroxine replacement, yet most often the nodules are not cancerous. Here, the authors investigated whether metabolic profile could give a more accurate prediction of whether a thyroid nodule is cancerous. They tested healthy patients, those with benign nodules, and those with papillary thyroid carcinoma. Healthy patients showed distinct differences from those with benign nodules and those with carcinomas, while significant overlap was observed between circulating metabolites from BTN and PTC patients.
Summary
Microbe‐associated molecular pattern (MAMP)‐triggered immunity plays critical roles in the basal resistance defense response in plants. Chitin and peptidoglycan (PGN) are major molecular ...patterns for fungi and bacteria, respectively. Two rice (Oryza sativa) lysin motif‐containing proteins, OsLYP4 and OsLYP6, function as receptors that sense bacterial PGN and fungal chitin. These membrane receptors, which lack intracellular kinase domains, likely contain another component for transmembrane immune signal transduction. Here, we demonstrate that the rice LysM receptor‐like kinase OsCERK1, a key component of the chitin elicitor signaling pathway, also plays an important role in PGN‐triggered immunity in rice. Silencing of OsCERK1 suppressed PGN‐induced (and chitin‐induced) immunity responses, including reactive oxygen species generation, defense gene expression, and callose deposition, indicating that OsCERK1 is essential for both PGN and chitin signaling initiated by OsLYP4 and OsLYP6. OsLYP4 associated with OsLYP6 and the rice chitin receptor chitin oligosaccharide elicitor‐binding protein (CEBiP) in the absence of PGN or chitin, and treatment with PGN or chitin led to their disassociation in vivo. OsCERK1 associated with OsLYP4 or OsLYP6 when induced by PGN but it associated with OsLYP4, OsLYP6, or CEBiP under chitin treatment, suggesting the presence of different patterns of ligand‐induced heterooligomeric receptor complexes. Furthermore, the receptor‐like cytoplasmic kinase OsRLCK176 functions downstream of OsCERK1 in the PGN and chitin signaling pathways, suggesting that these MAMPs share overlapping intracellular signaling components. Therefore, OsCERK1 plays dual roles in PGN and chitin signaling in rice innate immunity and as an adaptor involved in signal transduction at the plasma membrane in conjunction with OsLYP4 and OsLYP6.
PDF
