A wide array of microorganisms, including many novel, phylogenetically deeply rooted taxa, survive and thrive in extreme environments. These unique and reduced-complexity ecosystems offer a ...tremendous opportunity for studying the structure, function and evolution of natural microbial communities. Marker gene surveys have resolved patterns and ecological drivers of these extremophile assemblages, revealing a vast uncultured microbial diversity and the often predominance of archaea in the most extreme conditions. New omics studies have uncovered linkages between community function and environmental variables, and have enabled discovery and genomic characterization of major new lineages that substantially expand microbial diversity and change the structure of the tree of life. These efforts have significantly advanced our understanding of the diversity, ecology and evolution of microorganisms populating Earth's extreme environments, and have facilitated the exploration of microbiota and processes in more complex ecosystems.
Brassica napus (2n = 4x = 38, AACC) is an important allopolyploid crop derived from interspecific crosses between Brassica rapa (2n = 2x = 20, AA) and Brassica oleracea (2n = 2x = 18, CC). However, ...no truly wild B. napus populations are known; its origin and improvement processes remain unclear. Here, we resequence 588 B. napus accessions. We uncover that the A subgenome may evolve from the ancestor of European turnip and the C subgenome may evolve from the common ancestor of kohlrabi, cauliflower, broccoli, and Chinese kale. Additionally, winter oilseed may be the original form of B. napus. Subgenome-specific selection of defense-response genes has contributed to environmental adaptation after formation of the species, whereas asymmetrical subgenomic selection has led to ecotype change. By integrating genome-wide association studies, selection signals, and transcriptome analyses, we identify genes associated with improved stress tolerance, oil content, seed quality, and ecotype improvement. They are candidates for further functional characterization and genetic improvement of B. napus.
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•Granulation followed by ferric loading had the best phosphate adsorption capacity.•The phosphate adsorption capacity was increased from 0 to 0.963mg/g.•Both granulation and ferric ...oxides loading obviously increased the surface areas.•Pseudo-first order model is allowable to estimate the adsorption kinetics.
Granulation of biochar powder followed by immobilization of ferric oxides on the macroporous granular biochar (Bg-FO-1) substantially enhanced phosphate removal from water. BET analysis confirmed that both granulation and ferric oxides loading can increase the surface areas and pore volumes effectively. Bg-FO-1 was proven to be a favorable adsorbent for phosphate. The phosphate adsorption capacity was substantially increased from 0mg/g of raw biochar powder to 0.963mg/g (Bg-FO-1). When the ferric oxides loading was prior to granulation, the adsorption capacity was decreased by 59–0.399mg/g, possibly due to the decrease of micropore and mesopore area as well as the overlaying of binders to the activated sites produced by ferric oxides.
Abstract
As one of the most ideal display approaches, holographic 3-dimensional (3D) display has always been a research hotspot since the holographic images reproduced in such system are very similar ...to what humans see the actual environment. However, current holographic 3D displays suffer from critical bottlenecks of narrow viewing angle and small size. Here, we propose a tunable liquid crystal grating-based holographic 3D display system with wide viewing angle and large size. Our tunable liquid crystal grating, providing an adjustable period and the secondary diffraction of the reconstructed image, enables to simultaneously implement two different hologram generation methods in achieving wide viewing angle and enlarged size, respectively. By using the secondary diffraction mechanism of the tunable liquid crystal grating, the proposed system breaks through the limitations of narrow viewing angle and small size of holographic 3D display. The proposed system shows a viewing angle of 57.4°, which is nearly 7 times of the conventional case with a single spatial light modulator, and the size of the reconstructed image is enlarged by about 4.2. The proposed system will have wide applications in medical diagnosis, advertising, education and entertainment and other fields.
Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have recently demonstrated high efficiencies of over 22%, but the thermal stability is still a major challenge for commercialization. In this work, the thermal ...degradation process of the inverted structured PSCs induced by the silver electrode is thoroughly investigated. Elemental depth profiles indicate that iodide and methylammonium ions diffuse through the electron‐trasnporting layer and accumulate at the Ag inner surface. The driving force of forming AgI then facilitates the ions extraction. Variations on the morphology and current mapping of the MAPbI3 thin films upon thermal treatment reveal that the loss of ions occurs at the grain boundaries and leads to the reconstruction of grain domains. Consequently, the deteriorated MAPbI3 thin film, the poor electron extraction, and the generation of AgI barrier result in the degradation of efficiencies. These direct evidences provide in‐depth understanding of the effect of thermal stress on the devices, offering both experimental support and theoretical guidance for the improvement on the thermal stability of the inverted PSCs.
Silver‐electrode‐induced thermal degradation of the inverted perovskite solar cells is investigated with direct evidences. The diffusion of iodide and methylamine ions is directly observed in the elemental depth profile during thermal treatment only when the Ag electrode is introduced. The loss of ions leads to the reconstruction of the grain boundaries and forming thick PbI2 gaps between crystal grains.
The valorization of tannins from forest by‐products is a major opportunity for the sustainable development of the forestry industry. Herein we report the laccase‐mediated polymerization of tannins ...obtained from an aqueous pine bark extract. The reaction was conducted under an oxygen atmosphere at 50°C for 60 min and followed by UV–Vis, fluorescence intensity, phenol content, and viscosity measurements. An insoluble polymer was obtained after 45 min, which was attributed to coupling reactions triggered by phenoxyl radicals within the tannins mixture. The polymer showed a marked increase in thermal stability compared with the precursor pine bark extract, with a total mass loss of less than 12% at temperatures up to 500°C, suggesting potential practical applications in flame retardant materials. Additionally, the polymer showed an 85% DPPH activity and a 60% attenuation of singlet oxygen release upon light irradiation, which supports antioxidant and photoprotective properties for the prepared material. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report to describe the formation of an insoluble polymer by direct enzymatic reaction of an aqueous tannin extract. In this case, soluble tannins are the sole reactants used to produce a promising versatile material for forest waste valorization.
Polymerization of tannins from a pine bark extract.
Metal–organic framework (MOF) and covalent organic framework (COF) nanosheets are a new type of two‐dimensional (2D) materials with unique design principles and various synthesis methods. They are ...considered ideal electrochemical devices due to the ultrathin thickness, easily tunable molecular structure, large porosity and other unique properties. There are two common methods to synthesize 2D MOF/COF nanosheets: bottom‐up and top‐down. The top‐down strategy mainly includes ultrasonic assisted exfoliation, electrochemical exfoliation and mechanical exfoliation. Another strategy mainly includes interface synthesis, modulation synthesis, surfactant‐assisted synthesis. In this Review, the development of ultrathin 2D nanosheets in the field of electrochemistry (supercapacitors, batteries, oxygen reduction, and hydrogen evolution) is introduced, and their unique dimensional advantages are highlighted.
Materials for electrochemistry: Metal–organic framework and covalent organic framework nanosheets represent one promising kind of power materials for electrochemical. Synthesis strategies, tailored material properties and different electrochemical performances are prominent features of supercapacitors, batteries, OER and HER. Metal–organic framework and covalent organic framework nanosheets comprehensively summarized and evaluations are given in this Review.
Exosomes released by cells can serve as vehicles for delivery of biological materials and signals. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are non-coding RNAs longer than 200 nt, which roles are increasingly ...appreciated in various biological content. Tumor-derived exosomal lncRNAs have been implicated as signaling mediators to orchestrate cell function among neighbor tumor cells. However, the role of tumor-derived lncRNAs in cross-talk with environmental macrophages has yet to be explored. In this paper, we demonstrated that hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells⁻derived exosomes contain elevated levels of lncRNA TUC339 and that HCC-derived exosomes could be taken up by THP-1 cells. In seeking to dissect the biological function of tumor secreting TUC339 in macrophages, we applied loss-of-function and gain-of-function strategies. We observed increased pro-inflammatory cytokine production, increased co-stimulatory molecule expression, and enhanced phagocytosis upon suppression of TUC339 by siRNA in THP-1 cells, and the opposite effect upon over-expression of this lncRNA, which indicates that TUC339 was involved in the regulation of macrophage activation. Moreover, we detected an elevated level of TUC339 in M(IL-4) macrophages as compared to M(IFN-γ + LPS) macrophages and a down-regulation of TUC339 expression during M(IL-4)-to-M(IFN-γ + LPS) repolarization and vice versa. Furthermore, suppression of TUC339 in macrophages diminished the expression of M(IL-4) markers upon IL-4 treatment while overexpression of TUC339 in macrophages enhanced M(IL-4) markers upon IFN-γ + LPS treatment, which suggests a critical function of TUC339 in the regulation of macrophage M1/M2 polarization. Lastly, using microarray analysis, we identified cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, CXCR chemokine receptor binding, Toll-like receptor signaling, FcγR-mediated phagocytosis, regulation of the actin cytoskeleton, and cell proliferation are related with TUC339 function in macrophages. Our results provide evidence for a novel regulatory function of tumor-derived exosomal lncRNA TUC339 in environmental macrophages and shed light on the complicated interactions between tumor and immune cells through exosomal lncRNAs.
There is an increasing interest in the development of magnesium alloys both for industrial and biomedical applications. Industrial interest in magnesium alloys is based on strong demand of weight ...reduction of transportation vehicles for better fuel efficiency, so higher strength, and better ductility and corrosion resistance are required. Nevertheless, biomedical magnesium alloys require appropriate mechanical properties, suitable degradation rate in physiological environment, and what is most important, biosafety to human body. Rather than simply apply commercial magnesium alloys to biomedical field, new alloys should be designed from the point of view of nutriology and toxicology. This article provides a review of state-of-the-art of magnesium alloy implants and devices for orthopedic, cardiovascular and tissue engineering applications. Advances in new alloy design, novel structure design and surface modification are overviewed. The factors that influence the corrosion behavior of magnesium alloys are discussed and the strategy in the future development of biomedical magnesium alloys is proposed.
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