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An emerging innovation in the sustainable food space is low methane emissions in beef and dairy products. A leader in this space is Symbrosia,1an innovative aquaculture company based in Hawai’i. They produce SeaGraze™, a feed additive derived from the red algae Asparagopsis taxformis, which is designed for ruminant2livestock producers to reduce the methane emissions of their livestock by more than 80%. However, the feed additive SeaGraze™ represents an additional cost for livestock producers, and the consumer demand for low methane emissions beef and dairy products is relatively unknown. This study explores consumer demand and the willingness to pay for low emissions beef and dairy products. It reports on a survey of 495 participants, which found product-informed consumers are willing to pay between 51.7% and 72.3% more for low emissions milk and between 0.6% and 8.6% more for low emissions beef. A regression analysis found the most notable driver of consumer preference and willingness to pay more for these products was product information. This suggests that effective advertising of low methane emissions products is necessary for their financial success. These results should encourage producers in other countries to expand the production and consumption of these kinds of products to curb methane emissions.

The interaction between stromal and tumor cells in tumor microenvironment is a crucial factor in Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) progression and therapy resistance. We have identified a long non-coding RNA, CERS6-AS1, upregulated in MCL and associated with poor overall survival. CERS6-AS1 expression was elevated in primary MCL within stromal microenvironment and in a subset of MCL cells adhered to stromal layer. These stromal-adhered MCL-subsets exhibited cancer stem cell signatures than suspension counterparts. Mechanistically, we found that downregulating CERS6-AS1 in MCL reduced Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor-1 (FGFR1), expression attributed to loss of its interaction with RNA-binding protein nucleolin. In addition, using in-silico approach, we have discovered a direct interaction between nucleolin and 5’UTR of FGFR1, thereby regulating FGFR1 transcript stability. We discovered a positive association of CERS6-AS1 with cancer stem cell signatures, and Wnt signaling. Building on these, we explored potential therapeutic strategies where combining nucleolin-targeting agent with FGFR1 inhibition significantly contributed to reversing cancer stem cell signatures and abrogated primary MCL cell growth on stromal layer. These findings provide mechanistic insights into regulatory network involving CERS6-AS1, nucleolin, and FGFR1 axis-associated crosstalk between tumor cells and stromal cell interaction and highlights therapeutic potential of targeting a non-coding RNA in MCL.

ABSTRACTThe availability of the genomic sequence of the malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiaehas in recent years sparked the development of transgenic technologies with the potential to be used as novel vector control tools. These technologies rely on genome editing that confer traits able to affect vectorial capacity. This can be achieved by either reducing the mosquito population or by making mosquitoes refractory to the parasite infection. For any genetically modified organism that is regarded for release, molecular characterization of the transgene and flanking sites are essential for their safety assessment and post-release monitoring. Despite great advancements, Whole-Genome Sequencing data are still subject to limitations due to the presence of repetitive and unannotated DNA sequences. Faced with this challenge, we describe a number of techniques that were used to identify the genomic location of a transgene in the male bias mosquito strain Ag(PMB)1 considered for potential field application. While the initial inverse PCR identified the most likely insertion site on Chromosome 3 R 36D, reassessment of the data showed a high repetitiveness in those sequences and multiple genomic locations as potential insertion sites of the transgene. Here we used a combination of DNA sequencing analysis and in-situ hybridization to clearly identify the integration of the transgene in a poorly annotated centromeric region of Chromosome 2 R 19D. This study emphasizes the need for accuracy in sequencing data for the genome of organisms of medical importance such as Anophelesmosquitoes and other tools available that can support genomic locations of transgenes.

Increasing the proportion of locally produced plant protein in currently meat-rich diets could substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions and loss of biodiversity1. However, plant protein production is hampered by the lack of a cool-season legume equivalent to soybean in agronomic value2. Faba bean (Vicia fabaL.) has a high yield potential and is well suited for cultivation in temperate regions, but genomic resources are scarce. Here, we report a high-quality chromosome-scale assembly of the faba bean genome and show that it has expanded to a massive 13 Gb in size through an imbalance between the rates of amplification and elimination of retrotransposons and satellite repeats. Genes and recombination events are evenly dispersed across chromosomes and the gene space is remarkably compact considering the genome size, although with substantial copy number variation driven by tandem duplication. Demonstrating practical application of the genome sequence, we develop a targeted genotyping assay and use high-resolution genome-wide association analysis to dissect the genetic basis of seed size and hilum colour. The resources presented constitute a genomics-based breeding platform for faba bean, enabling breeders and geneticists to accelerate the improvement of sustainable protein production across the Mediterranean, subtropical and northern temperate agroecological zones.

Solid electrolytes are crucial for next-generation solid-state batteries, and Na3PS4is one of the most promising Na+conductors for such applications, despite outstanding questions regarding its structural polymorphs. In this contribution, we present a detailed investigation of the evolution in structure and dynamics of Na3PS4over a wide temperature range 30 < T< 600 °C through combined experimental–computational analysis. Although Bragg diffraction experiments indicate a second-order phase transition from the tetragonal ground state (α, P4̅21c) to the cubic polymorph (β, I4̅3m) above ∼250 °C, pair distribution function analysis in real space and Raman spectroscopy indicate remnants of a tetragonal character in the range 250 < T< 500 °C, which we attribute to dynamic local tetragonal distortions. The first-order phase transition to the mesophasic high-temperature polymorph (γ, Fddd) is associated with a sharp volume increase and the onset of liquid-like dynamics for sodium-cations (translational) and thiophosphate-polyanions (rotational) evident by inelastic neutron and Raman spectroscopies, as well as pair-distribution function and molecular dynamics analyses. These results shed light on the rich polymorphism of Na3PS4and are relevant for a range host of high-performance materials deriving from the Na3PS4structural archetype.

In this work, we investigate the crystal chemistry of Fe/V-mixed NASICON [sodium (Na) Super Ionic CONductor] compositions Na3FeV(PO4)3and Na4FeV(PO4)3that are structurally related to Na3V2(PO4)3, a positive electrode for Na-ion batteries. To synthesize Na4FeV(PO4)3, various synthesis routes (solid-state, sol–gel-assisted, and electrochemical syntheses) were investigated. Direct syntheses resulted in the formation of a NASICON-type phase in the presence of NaFePO4and Na3PO4impurities. The successful preparation of pure Na4FeV(PO4)3has been achieved by the electrochemical sodiation of Na3FeV(PO4)3. Both synchrotron X-ray absorption and Mössbauer spectroscopy allowed probing the local V and Fe environments and their oxidation states in Na3FeV(PO4)3and Na4FeV(PO4)3. Na3FeV(PO4)3crystallizes in the space group C2/c(a= 15.1394(2) Å; b= 8.72550(12) Å; c= 21.6142(3) Å; β = 90.1744(9)°; and Z= 12), and it is isostructural to an ordered α-form of Na3M2(PO4)3(M = Fe, V). It presents a superstructure due to Na+ordering, as confirmed by differential scanning calorimetry and in situtemperature X-ray diffraction. The electrochemically sodiated Na4FeV(PO4)3powder crystallizes in the space group R3̅c(a= 8.94656(8) Å, c= 21.3054(3) Å, and Z= 6) within which the two sodium sites, Na(1) and Na(2), are almost fully occupied. Na4FeV(PO4)3allows the electrochemical extraction of 2.76 Na+per formula unit within the voltage range of 1.3–4.3 V versus Na+/Na through the FeIII/II, VIV/III, and VV/IVredox couples. This identifies an interesting material for Na-ion batteries.

Solid electrolytes have regained tremendous interest recently in light of the exposed vulnerability of current rechargeable battery technologies. While designing solid electrolytes, most efforts concentrated on creating structural disorder (vacancies, interstitials, etc.) in a cationic Li/Na sublattice to increase ionic conductivity. In phosphates, the ionic conductivity can also be increased by rotational disorder in the anionic sublattice, via a paddle-wheel mechanism. Herein, we report on Na4Zn(PO4)2which is designed from Na3PO4, replacing Na+with Zn2+and introducing a vacancy for charge balance. We show that Na4Zn(PO4)2undergoes a series of structural transitions under temperature, which are associated with an increase in ionic conductivity by several orders of magnitude. Our detailed crystallographic study, combining electron, neutron, and X-ray powder diffraction, reveals that the room-temperature form, α-Na4Zn(PO4)2, contains orientationally ordered PO4groups, which undergo partial and full rotational disorder in the high-temperature β- and γ-polymorphs, respectively. We furthermore showed that the highly conducting γ-polymorph could be stabilized at room temperature by ball-milling, whereas the β-polymorph can be stabilized by partial substitution of Zn2+with Ga3+and Al3+. These findings emphasize the role of rotational disorder as an extra parameter to design new solid electrolytes.

By shortening solid-state diffusion times, the nanoscale size reduction of dielectric materials—such as ionic crystals—has fueled synthetic efforts toward their use as nanoparticles, NPs, in electrochemical storage and conversion cells. Meanwhile, there is a lack of strategies able to image the dynamics of such conversion, operando and at the single NP level. It is achieved here by optical microscopy for a model dielectric ionic nanocrystal, a silver halide NP. Rather than the classical core-shrinking mechanism often used to rationalize the complete electrochemical conversion and charge storage in NPs, an alternative mechanism is proposed here. Owing to its poor conductivity, the NP conversion proceeds to completion through the formation of multiple inclusions. The superlocalization of NP during such heterogeneous multiple-step conversion suggests the local release of ions, which propels the NP toward reacting sites enabling its full conversion.

Hollow mesoporous silica microsphere (HMSM) particles are one of the most promising vehicles for efficient drug delivery owing to their large hollow interior cavity for drug loading and the permeable mesoporous shell for controlled drug release. Here, we report an easily controllable aerosol-based approach to produce HMSM particles by continuous spray-drying of colloidal silica nanoparticles and Eudragit/Triton X100 composite (EUT) nanospheres as templates, followed by template removal. Importantly, the internal structure of the hollow cavity and the external morphology and the porosity of the mesoporous shell can be tuned to a certain extent by adjusting the experimental conditions (i.e., silica to EUT mass ratio and particle size of silica nanoparticles) to optimize the drug loading capacity and the controlled-release properties. Then, the application of aerosol-synthesized HMSM particles in controlled drug delivery was investigated by loading amoxicillin as an antibiotic compound with high entrapment efficiency (up to 46%). Furthermore, to improve the biocompatibility of the amoxicillin-loaded HMSM particles, their surfaces were functionalized with poly(allylamine hydrochloride) and alginate as biocompatible polymers via the layer-by-layer assembly. The resulting particles were evaluated toward Escherichia coli(Gram-negative) bacteria and indicated the bacterial inhibition up to 90% in less than 2 h. Finally, we explored the versatility of HMSMs as drug carriers for pancreatic cancer treatment. Because the pH value of the extracellular medium in pancreatic tumors is lower than that of the healthy tissue, chitosan as a pH-sensitive gatekeeper was grafted to the HMSM surface and then loaded with a pro-apoptotic NCL antagonist agent (N6L) as an anticancer drug. The obtained particles exhibited pH-responsive drug releases and excellent anticancer activities with inhibition of cancer cell growth up to 60%.

Single-phase maricite, NaFePO4, was synthesized from a mixture of monosodium phosphate and iron oxalate at 750 °C and atmospheric pressure. Thermal treatment of synthetic maricite in air led to its oxidative decomposition into Na3Fe23+(PO4)3 NASICON and a-Fe2O3, which started at temperatures slightly below 225 °C. Intergrowth of the two reaction products is found to occur at the nanoscale without identified crystallographic relationship with the maricite precursor. Electrochemical activity of the reaction product is confirmed with the reversible insertion of one Na at 2.55 V versus Na+/Na0.

Smoking is accountable for more than 80% of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD, 3rd cause of death worldwide), which is characterized by emphysema, chronic bronchitis associated to an impaired epithelial permeability. Exposure of the lung to cigarette smoke elicits the expression of elastinolytic cathepsin S (CatS), a cysteine protease, which remains active despite an oxidizing environment [1]. Recently, junctional and/or adhesion molecules were pinpointed as putative CatS targets, suggesting that CatS could proteolytically alter epithelial integrity during COPD.

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In situ proton reduction of the conjugated carboxylic acid during the early stage of the first battery discharge made of NDC/Li half-cell affords enhancing the electrochemical reactivity versus lithium by comparison to the related chemically obtained di-lithium Li2-NDC salt. We demonstrate the possibility to reduce electrochemically the carboxylic acid function from which the dihydrogen gas formation contributes to a mesoscale texturation of the particles. This mesoporosity created in the particles enhances triple-point contacts between the electrolyte, the conductive carbon, and the active material while reducing the electron/ionic diffusion length in the particles. We highlight that mesoscale texturation obtained by this method affords to significantly reduce the carbon content in organic-based battery electrode down to 10%, thus stressing the importance of the particles nanotexturation for the field.

When narrowly distributed silver nanoparticles (NPs) are functionalized by dodecanethiol, they acquire the ability to self-organize in organic solvents into 3D supercrystals (SCs). The NP surface chemistry is shown to introduce a light-driven thermomigration effect, thermophoresis. Using a laser beam to heat the NPs and generate steep thermal gradients, the migration effect is triggered dynamically, leading to tailored structures with high density of plasmonic hot spots. This work describes how to manipulate the hot spots and monitor the effect by holography, thus providing a complete characterization of the migration process on a single object basis. Extensive single object tracking strategies are employed to measure the SCs trajectories, evaluate their size, drift velocity magnitude and direction, allowing the identification of the physical chemical origins of the migration. The phenomenon is shown to happen as a result of the combination of thermophoresis (at short length scales) and convection (long-range), and does not require a metallic substrate. This constitutes a fully optical method to dynamically generate plasmonic platforms in situand on demand, without requiring substrate nanostructuration and with minimal interference on the chemistry of the system. The importance of the proof-of-concept herein described stems from the numerous potential applications, spanning over a variety of fields such as microfluidics and biosensing.

Actual parallel-plate architecture of lithium-ion batteries consists of lithium-ion diffusion in one dimension between the electrodes. To achieve higher performances in terms of specific capacity and power, configurations enabling lithium-ion diffusion in two or three dimensions is considered. With a view to build these complex three-dimensional (3D) battery architectures avoiding the electrodes interpenetration issues, this work is focused on fused deposition modeling (FDM). In this study, the formulation and characterization of a 3D-printable graphite/polylactic acid (PLA) filament, specially designed to be used as negative electrode in a lithium-ion battery and to feed a conventional commercially available FDM 3D printer, is reported. The graphite active material loading in the produced filament is increased as high as possible to enhance the electrochemical performance, while the addition of various amounts of plasticizers such as propylene carbonate, poly(ethylene glycol) dimethyl ether average Mn∼ 2000, poly(ethylene glycol) dimethyl ether average Mn∼ 500, and acetyl tributyl citrate is investigated to provide the necessary flexibility to the filament to be printed. Considering the optimized plasticizer composition, an in-depth study is carried out to identify the electrical and electrochemical impact of carbon black and carbon nanofibers as conductive additives.

AbstractMost temperate green orchids form mycorrhizae with rhizoctonias fungi and are considered autotrophic. Some orchids, however, associate with fungi that also form ectomycorrhizae with surrounding trees and derive part of their carbon from these fungi. This evolutionarily derived condition, called mixotrophy, is characterized by natural 13C enrichment and high N content. Some orchid genera display both syndromes depending on species. Here, we further document the isotopic features of a rhizoctonias-associated species, Epipactis palustris, in a genus otherwise encompassing many mixotrophic orchids. First, E. palustrisin two wetland sites from Northern Europe displayed similar to slightly-depleted 13C abundance and identical N content as compared with surrounding autotrophic plants, confirming published results on this species. Second, some individuals growing in darker conditions (63% reduced irradiation) revealed a decrease of 13C abundance as expected (and observed at the same place) for autotrophic plants. The latter result expands previous observations on other rhizoctonias-associated orchid species. We discuss our results in relationship with the current views of the two nutritional syndromes of green orchids (especially, with the doubts on autotrophy of rhizoctonias-associated species) and in the framework of the phylogeny of Epipactisthat evolved secondarily mixotrophy. The latter observation entails that the tribe Neottieae repeatedly evolved mixotrophy.

Anthracyclines have been a cornerstone in the cure of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and other hematological cancers. The ability of anthracyclines to eliminate DLBCL depends on the presence of topoisomerase-II-alpha (TopIIA), a DNA repair enzyme complex. We identified nucleolin as a novel binding partner of TopIIA. Abrogation of nucleolin sensitized DLBCL cells to TopIIA targeting agents (doxorubicin/etoposide). Silencing nucleolin and challenging DLBCL cells with doxorubicin enhanced the phosphorylation of H2AX (?H2AX-marker of DNA damage) and allowed DNA fragmentation. Reconstitution of nucleolin expression in nucleolin-knockdown DLBCL cells prevented TopIIA targeting agent-induced apoptosis. Nucleolin binding to TopIIA was mapped to RNA-binding domain 3 of nucleolin, and this interaction was essential for blocking DNA damage and apoptosis. Nucleolin silencing decreased TopIIA decatenation activity, but enhanced formation of TopIIA–DNA cleavable complexes in the presence of etoposide. Moreover, combining nucleolin inhibitors: aptamer AS1411 or nucant N6L with doxorubicin reduced DLBCL cell survival. These findings are of clinical importance because low nucleolin levels versus high nucleolin levels in DLBCL predicted 90-month estimated survival of 70% versus 12% (P<0.0001) of patients treated with R-CHOP-based therapy.

L’altération sévère et prolongée de la communication sociale rend invalidante l’adaptation des enfants présentant un trouble du spectre de l’autisme au niveau des interactions sociales. En 2010, la Haute Autorité de santé recommande notamment la pratique d’interventions psycho-éducatives structurées, reposant sur des techniques cognitivo-comportementales. Des groupes d’entraînement aux habiletés sociales, basés sur ce type d’approche, sont proposés aux enfants présentant un trouble du spectre de l’autisme.

Training data are usually limited or heterogeneous in many chemical and biological applications. Existing machine learning models for chemistry and materials science fail to consider generalizing beyond training domains. In this article, we develop a novel optimal transport-based algorithm termed MROT to enhance their generalization capability for molecular regression problems. MROT learns a continuous label of the data by measuring a new metric of domain distances and a posterior variance regularization over the transport plan to bridge the chemical domain gap. Among downstream tasks, we consider basic chemical regression tasks in unsupervised and semi-supervised settings, including chemical property prediction and materials adsorption selection. Extensive experiments show that MROT significantly outperforms state-of-the-art models, showing promising potential in accelerating the discovery of new substances with desired properties.

In the search for new cathode materials for sodium ion batteries, the exploration of polyanionic compounds has led to attractive candidates in terms of high redox potential and cycling stability. Herein we report the synthesis of the two new sodium transition-metal pentaborates Na3MB5O10(M = Fe, Co), where Na3FeB5O10represents the first sodium iron borate reported at present. By means of synchrotron X-ray diffraction, we reveal a layered structure consisting of pentaborate B5O10groups connected through M2+in tetrahedral coordination, providing possible three-dimensional Na-ion migration pathways. Inspired by these structural features, we examined the electrochemical performances versus sodium and showed that Na3FeB5O10is active at an average potential of 2.5 V vs Na+/Na0, correlated to the Fe3+/Fe2+redox couple as deduced from ex situMössbauer measurements. This contrasts with the case for Na3CoB5O10, which is electrochemically inactive. Moreover, we show that their electrochemical performances are kinetically limited, as deduced by complementary ac/dc conductivity measurements, hence confirming once again the complexity in designing high-performance borate-based electrodes.