Electrochemically mediated redox‐active processes are gaining momentum as a promising liquid‐phase separation technology. Compared to conventional systems, they offer potential benefits, such as ...smaller energy footprints, nondestructive operation, reversibility, and tunability for specific analyte removal, with clear applications to societal and industrial challenges like water treatment and chemical synthesis. An asymmetric Faradaic cell heterogeneously functionalized with a metallopolymer at the anode and a hexacyanoferrate material at the cathode is presented for the first time. The redox‐active species' iron centers enhance the electrosorption of heavy metal oxyanions with up to 98% removal in the ppb range, and offer tunable operating windows as low as ≈0.1 V at ≈1 A m−2. By avoiding water splitting, the hexacyanoferrate cathode imparts additional advantages, namely a four‐fold reduction in adsorption energy requirements, full suppression of solution pH increase, and the ability to capture redox‐active catalytic anions such as polyoxometalates without altering their bulk oxidation state. This hybrid framework of a polymeric ferrocene anode and crystalline hexacyanoferrate cathode allows for simultaneous and synergistic uptake of anions and cations, respectively, creating a new asymmetric scheme for water‐based separations, with foreseeable future extension to fields such as ion‐sensing, energy storage, and electrocatalysis.
Redox‐active materials for electrochemically mediated ion removal are emerging as a potential next‐generation technology for water remediation. An asymmetric framework combining an anodic metallopolymer and a cathodic hexacyanoferrate crystal exhibits enhanced adsorption capability for toxic heavy metal oxyanions and polyoxometalate species, with operating windows that can be tuned to as low as ≈0.1 V at ≈1 A m−2.
The unprecedented increase in atmospheric CO2 concentration calls for effective carbon capture technologies. With distributed sources contributing to about half of the overall emission, CO2 capture ...from the atmosphere direct air capture, (DAC) is more relevant than ever. Herein, an electrochemically mediated DAC system is reported which utilizes affinity of redox‐active quinone moieties towards CO2 molecules, and unlike incumbent chemisorption technologies which require temperature or pH swing, relies solely on the electrochemical voltage for CO2 capture and release. The design and operation of a DAC system is demonstrated with stackable bipolar cells using quinone chemistry. Specifically, poly(vinylanthraquinone) (PVAQ) negative electrode undergoes a two‐electron reduction reaction and reversibly complexes with CO2, leading to CO2 sequestration from the feed stream. The subsequent PVAQ oxidation, conversely, results in release of CO2. The performance of both small‐ and meso‐scale cells for DAC are evaluated with feed CO2 concentrations as low as 400 ppm (0.04 %), and energy consumption is demonstrated as low as 113 kJ per mole of CO2 captured. Notably, the bipolar cell construct is modular and expandable, equally suitable for small and large plants. Moving forward, this work presents a viable and highly customizable electrochemical method for DAC.
Connecting for saving energy consumption: Poly(vinylanthraquinone)‐based system for electrochemically‐mediated direct air capture of CO2 is herein developed and investigated. Operation of the cell is systematically explored under various configurations, based on which a stackable bipolar cell with nearly equal distribution of applied voltages throughout eight pairs of electrodes is demonstrated, leading to the energy consumption as low as 113 kJ/mol at atmospheric level of CO2.
An acute respiratory disease, caused by a novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2, previously known as 2019-nCoV), the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has spread throughout China and received worldwide ...attention. On 30 January 2020, World Health Organization (WHO) officially declared the COVID-19 epidemic as a public health emergency of international concern. The emergence of SARS-CoV-2, since the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) in 2002 and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in 2012, marked the third introduction of a highly pathogenic and large-scale epidemic coronavirus into the human population in the twenty-first century. As of 1 March 2020, a total of 87,137 confirmed cases globally, 79,968 confirmed in China and 7169 outside of China, with 2977 deaths (3.4%) had been reported by WHO. Meanwhile, several independent research groups have identified that SARS-CoV-2 belongs to β-coronavirus, with highly identical genome to bat coronavirus, pointing to bat as the natural host. The novel coronavirus uses the same receptor, angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) as that for SARS-CoV, and mainly spreads through the respiratory tract. Importantly, increasingly evidence showed sustained human-to-human transmission, along with many exported cases across the globe. The clinical symptoms of COVID-19 patients include fever, cough, fatigue and a small population of patients appeared gastrointestinal infection symptoms. The elderly and people with underlying diseases are susceptible to infection and prone to serious outcomes, which may be associated with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and cytokine storm. Currently, there are few specific antiviral strategies, but several potent candidates of antivirals and repurposed drugs are under urgent investigation. In this review, we summarized the latest research progress of the epidemiology, pathogenesis, and clinical characteristics of COVID-19, and discussed the current treatment and scientific advancements to combat the epidemic novel coronavirus.
While thermodynamic detailed balance limits the maximum power conversion efficiency of a solar cell, the quality of its contacts can further limit the actual efficiency. The criteria for good ...contacts to organic semiconductors, however, are not well understood. Here, by tuning the work function of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) hole collection layers in fine steps across the Fermi-level pinning threshold of the model photoactive layer, poly(3-hexylthiophene):phenyl-C
-butyrate methyl ester, in organic solar cells, we obtain direct evidence for a non-ohmic to ohmic transition at the hole contact that lies 0.3 eV beyond its Fermi-level pinning transition. This second transition corresponds to reduction of the photocurrent extraction resistance below the bulk resistance of the cell. Current detailed balance analysis reveals that this extraction resistance is the counterpart of injection resistance, and the measured characteristics are manifestations of charge carrier hopping across the interface. Achieving ohmic transition at both contacts is key to maximizing fill factor without compromising open-circuit voltage nor short-circuit current of the solar cell.
Enhancer mapping has been greatly facilitated by various genomic marks associated with it. However, little is available in our toolbox to link enhancers with their target promoters, hampering ...mechanistic understanding of enhancer–promoter (EP) interaction. We develop and characterize multiple genomic features for distinguishing true EP pairs from noninteracting pairs. We integrate these features into a probabilistic predictor for EP interactions. Multiple validation experiments demonstrate a significant improvement over state-of-the-art approaches. Systematic analyses of EP interactions across 12 cell types reveal several global features of EP interactions: (i) a larger fraction of EP interactions are cell type specific than enhancers; (ii) promoters controlled by multiple enhancers have higher tissue specificity, but the regulating enhancers are less conserved; (iii) cohesin plays a role in mediating tissue-specific EP interactions via chromatin looping in a CTCF-independent manner. Our approach presents a systematic and effective strategy to decipher the mechanisms underlying EP communication.
Single-cell RNA-seq data contain a large proportion of zeros for expressed genes. Such dropout events present a fundamental challenge for various types of data analyses. Here, we describe the ...SCRABBLE algorithm to address this problem. SCRABBLE leverages bulk data as a constraint and reduces unwanted bias towards expressed genes during imputation. Using both simulation and several types of experimental data, we demonstrate that SCRABBLE outperforms the existing methods in recovering dropout events, capturing true distribution of gene expression across cells, and preserving gene-gene relationship and cell-cell relationship in the data.
Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is mainly produced in the mitochondrion and used as a universal energy source for various cellular events. Various fluorescent probes for ATP have been established ...successfully, but most of them are not appropriate for monitoring the fluctuation of the mitochondrial ATP level. Herein, a fluorescent probe named Mito-Rh is first synthesized and used to recognize ATP in mitochondrion. In the probe, rhodamine, diethylenetriamine, and triphenylphosphonium are selected as fluorophore, reaction site, and mitochondrion-targeting group, respectively. Probe Mito-Rh shows high sensitivity to ATP with 81-fold fluorescence enhancement, and the detection range (0.1-10 mM) can match the concentration level of ATP in the mitochondrion. Moreover, Mito-Rh provides excellent selectivity toward ATP over other biological anions (ADP, AMP, GTP, CTP, UTP) owing to a concurrent effect of dual recognition sites (hydrogen bond and π-π stacking). In particular, the probe can localize in mitochondrion specifically and demonstrates utility in the real-time detection of mitochondrial ATP concentration changes.
Purpose
To explore the efficacy and safety of combined low‐concentration atropine and orthokeratology (OK) for slowing the progression of myopia.
Methods
We performed a systematic search of English ...and Chinese databases to collect potentially eligible randomised controlled trials (RCTs), nonrandomised controlled trials (non‐RCTs) and retrospective cohort studies (REs) published between the establishment of the database and 1 January 2022. The weighted mean difference (WMD) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated for each outcome.
Results
Fifteen studies were ultimately included in the meta‐analysis, which indicated that compared with OK lenses alone, the combination of low‐concentration atropine with OK lenses significantly slowed axial growth (WMD = −0.12 mm; 95% CI: −0.13 to −0.11, p < 0.001) and reduced the rate of change of the spherical equivalent refraction (WMD = 0.15 D; 95% CI: 0.06 to 0.24, p < 0.001). Additionally, the combined treatment may cause a slight increase in pupil diameter (WMD = 0.62 mm; 95% CI: 0.42 to 0.81, p < 0.001). No significant difference in the amplitude of accommodation, intraocular pressure, tear film break‐up time or corneal endothelial cell density was found between the OK and combination therapy groups.
Conclusions
The combination therapy of low‐concentration atropine and OK lenses had a greater effect in slowing myopia progression during a 6‐to‐12‐month treatment interval and was still effective over a 24‐month period. Increased pupil diameter was the major side effect of the combination therapy, with no negative impact on the amplitude of accommodation, intraocular pressure, tear film break‐up time or corneal endothelial cell density.
The 3D structure of the genome plays a critical role in regulating gene expression. Recent progress in mapping technologies for chromatin interactions has led to a rapid increase in this kind of ...interaction data. This trend will continue as research in this burgeoning field intensifies.
We describe the 4DGenome database that stores chromatin interaction data compiled through comprehensive literature curation. The database currently covers both low- and high-throughput assays, including 3C, 4C-Seq, 5C, Hi-C, ChIA-PET and Capture-C. To complement the set of interactions detected by experimental assays, we also include interactions predicted by a recently developed computational method with demonstrated high accuracy. The database currently contains ∼8 million records, covering 102 cell/tissue types in five organisms. Records in the database are described using a standardized file format, facilitating data exchange. The vast major of the interactions were assigned a confidence score. Using the web interface, users can query and download database records via a number of annotation dimensions. Query results can be visualized along with other genomics datasets via links to the UCSC genome browser. We anticipate that 4DGenome will be a valuable resource for investigating the spatial structure-and-function relationship of genomes.
The original intensity value recorded by terrestrial laser scanners is influenced by multiple variables, among which incidence angle and distance play a crucial and dominant role. Further studies on ...incidence angle and distance effects are required to improve the accuracy of currently available methods and to implement these methods in practical applications. In this study, the effects of incidence angle and distance on intensity data of the Faro Focus3D 120 terrestrial laser scanner are investigated. A new method is proposed to eliminate the incidence angle and distance effects. The proposed method is based on the linear interpolation of the intensity values of reference targets previously scanned at various incidence angles and distances. Compared with existing methods, a significant advantage of the proposed method is that estimating the specific function forms of incidence angle versus intensity and distance versus intensity is no longer necessary; these are canceled out when the scanned and reference targets are measured at the same incidence angle and distance. Results imply that the proposed method has high accuracy and simplicity in eliminating incidence angle and distance effects and can significantly reduce the intensity variations caused by these effects on homogeneous surfaces.
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