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Magnesium has been doped into the B-site of BaBi 0.25 Pb 0.75 O 3− δ to form a solid solution Ba(Bi 0.25 Pb 0.75) 1− x Mg x O 3− δ (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.10) by solid-state reaction. The X-ray, neutron, and selected area electron diffraction are used to confirm that this solid solution crystallizes in triclinic space group P 1. The unit cell volume of Ba(Bi 0.25 Pb 0.75) 1− x Mg x O 3− δ increases with Mg, which is surprising because the radius of Mg2+ is smaller than any radius of Bi3+, Bi5+, Pb2+, and Pb4+. XPS and iodometric titration data of samples show that the oxygen vacancies increase with Mg in Ba(Bi 0.25 Pb 0.75) 1− x Mg x O 3− δ. The increased oxygen vacancies result in increase of Bi3+:Bi5+ and Pb2+:Pb4+ ratios, which is the utmost possible reason for unit cell volume increase. They are all superconductors with T C z e r o (the highest temperature at which the electrical resistivity becomes "zero") between 11.2 and 9.2 K. • Solis solution Ba(Bi 0.25 Pb 0.75) 1− x Mg x O 3− δ (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.10) synthesized successfully by solid-state reaction. • Their crystal structures have been analyzed through powder X-ray, neutron powder and selected area electron diffraction methods. • The unit cell volume increases by increase in Mg in the Ba(Bi 0.25 Pb 0.75) 1− x Mg x O 3− δ (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.10) solid-state reaction. • The increased oxygen vacancies with increase in Mg are the reason for the increase in unit cell volume. • All the synthesized samples are superconducting with superconductive transition temperature T C z e r o of 9.2 K for Ba(Bi 0.25 Pb 0.75) 0.90 Mg 0.10 O 3− δ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Previous studies have revealed that sodium-restricted diet intervention significantly decreased apnea frequency among patients with sleep apnea. However, the longitudinal association between the habit of adding salt to foods and sleep apnea in general populations is uncertain. Methods: The UK Biobank cohort study includes more than 500,000 participants aged 40 to 69 across the United Kingdom from 2006 to 2010. The frequency of adding salt to foods was collected through a touch screen questionnaire. Incident sleep apnea was ascertained by hospital inpatient records, death registries, primary care, and self-reported diagnosis. The association between the habit of adding salt to foods and incident sleep apnea was estimated using Cox proportional hazard regression models. Results: Among the 488,196 participants (mean age 56.5 years; 55.0% female) in this study. During a median follow-up of 12.3 years, 6394 sleep apnea events occurred. Compared to participants who never/rarely added salt to foods, those who sometimes, usually, and always added salt to foods had an 11% (hazard ratio [HR] 1.11, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.04 to 1.17), 15% (HR 1.15, 95% CI: 1.07 to 1.24), and 24% (HR 1.24, 95% CI: 1.12 to 1.37) higher risk for incident sleep apnea, respectively. Conclusions: In this large prospective study, the habit of adding salt to foods was associated with a higher risk of incident sleep apnea. The findings support the benefits of a salt reduction program in preventing sleep apnea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A multifunctional and biocompatible hybrid microgel (poly(VPBA-AAm)-CD) using N, S-doped carbon dots (CDs) and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) as cross-linking agents, and 4-vinylbenzene boronic acid (VPBA) and acrylamide (AAm) as monomers, was designed in this work. This microgel can be easily prepared by a simple one-pot radical dispersion polymerization of the reactants using a rationally designed hydrogen-bonded complex method. The hybrid microgels were spherical particles with a smooth surface and an average particle size of 234 ± 8 nm. The poly(VPBA-AAm)-CD microgel displayed the glucose-responsive swelling within a clinically concerned range at a physiological pH and could realize the controllable release of insulin. In addition, the release rate of insulin in the hybrid microgel (poly(VPBA-AAm)-CD) could be triggered by glucose concentrations in the solution, and the increasing glucose concentrations can accelerate the insulin release. Further in vitro cytotoxicity studies showed that the microgel had good biocompatibility and no obvious toxicity to the cells. These indicate that the prepared microgel (poly(VPBA-AAm)-CD) may supply a new pattern for the self-regulating therapy of insulin deficiency in diabetes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) are highly potential for next-generation electrochemical energy storage because of their abundant resources and low prices. Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) have an excellent capacity, high electrical conductivity, and diverse structures. However, its volume expansion and tendency to restack during charge/discharge cycles lead to inferior electrochemical properties, limiting its development in the battery field. Herein, we synthesized MoO 2 /NC rods covered with MoTe 2 nanosheets on the surface (MoTe 2 @MoO 2 /NC) by a high-temperature solid-phase synthesis method based on Mo-MOF a sacrificial template for sodium-ion batteries. The MoO 2 core enhances the electron transfer efficiency as a conductive backbone and prevents the volume expansion of MoTe 2 nanosheets. Meanwhile, the MoTe 2 nanosheets are tightly wrapped around the MoO 2 core, significantly reducing the ion diffusion path. Furthermore, the C and N doped substrates with conductivity ensure the integrity of the structure and enhance the conductivity of the electrodes. Benefiting from these advantages, MoTe 2 @MoO 2 /NC delivered a high electrochemical performance with high capacity (∼463.9 mAh g−1), superior fast-charge discharge ability (∼294.7, and 258.3 mAh g−1 at 5, and 10 A g−1, respectively). Even at a high current density of 1 A g−1, the specific capacity was maintained at about 328.3 mAh g−1 after 100 cycles. Schematic illustration of preparation MoTe 2 @MoO 2 /NC and MoO 2 /NC hybrids by using Mo-MOF as a precursor. [Display omitted] • Using a simple high-temperature solid-phase synthesis method without organic solvent. • The novel MoTe 2 @MoO 2 /NC hybrids exhibit excellent electrochemical performance. • MoO 2 core functions as a conductive backbone to enhance the electron transport rate. • MoTe 2 sheets are uniformly dispersed on MoO 2 /NC, avoiding the problem of restacking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An open‐cage fullerene derivative with a pyranone and a diiminopentanone moiety was prepared. Further reaction with aniline could convert the pyranone moiety into a pyrrole moiety through the pyridinone moiety as an intermediate. During the process, decarboxylation and dehydroxylation aromatization reactions also took place on the diiminopentanone moiety and the two adjacent hydroxyl groups, thus forming iminofuran or pyrrolone moiety on the rim of the open‐cage fullerene. Protonation experiment showed that the imino nitrogen atom on the rim of the orifice is more basic than the pyrrole nitrogen atom. The lone pair of the pyrrole nitrogen is partially conjugated with the π system of the fullerene cage as shown by single crystal X‐ray structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The carbonyl group on the rim of open‐cage C60 derivative was converted into an oxime group when treated with hydroxylamine. Nitrogen tetroxide could convert the oxime group into gem‐dinitro groups, similar to the Ponzio reaction of classical organic compounds. Single crystal X‐ray diffraction data shows that one of the nitro group is directly above the orifice acting as an effective stopper. Presence of the gem‐dinitro groups also showed significant effect on the reactivity of other functional groups on the rim of the orifice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long noncoding RNA small nucleolar RNA host gene 4 (SNHG4) is usually up-regulated in cancer and regulates the malignant behavior of cancer cells. However, its role in lung cancer remains elusive. In this study, we silenced the expression of SNHG4 in NCI-H1437 and SK-MES-1, two representative non-small-cell lung cancer cell lines, by transfecting them with siRNA (small interfering RNA) that specifically targets SNHG4. We observed significantly inhibited cell proliferation in vitro and reduced tumor growth in vivo after SNHG4 silencing. SNHG4 knockdown also led to cell cycle arrest at the G1 phase, accompanied with down-regulation of cyclin-dependent kinases CDK4 and CDK6. The migration and invasiveness of these two cell lines were remarkably inhibited after SNHG4 silencing. Moreover, our study revealed that the epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) of lung cancer cells was suppressed by SNHG4 silencing, as evidenced by up-regulated E-cadherin and down-regulated SALL4, Twist, and vimentin. In addition, we found that SNHG4 silencing induced up-regulation of miR-98-5p. MiR-98-5p inhibition abrogated the effect of SNHG4 silencing on proliferation and invasion of lung cancer cells. In conclusion, our findings demonstrate that SNHG4 is required by lung cancer cells to maintain malignant phenotype. SNHG4 probably exerts its pro-survival and pro-metastatic effects by sponging anti-tumor miR-98-5p. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters, one of the largest super families of membrane-associated microbial proteins involved in the transport of a wide range of substrates, play a vital role in bacterial physiology. In this study, we investigated the utility of heterologous expression of the ABC transporter AatA from Acetobacter pasteurianus AC2005 and homologous overexpression of the ABC transporter protein MdlB to improve butyric acid production in Clostridium tyrobutyricum. Compared to the starting wild-type strain C. tyrobutyricum ATCC 25755, recombinant strains of C. tyrobutyricum / aatA and C. tyrobutyricum / mdlB showed increased butyrate yield, productivity, selectivity, and titer during fed-batch fermentation. qRT-PCR revealed that AatA and MdlB upregulated the expression levels of ack , the gene encoding a key enzyme in the acetate synthesis pathway. This result was consistent with the observed increase in acetate titer in the recombinant strains. Moreover, overexpression of AatA or MdlB promoted the synthesis and secretion of acetic acid. An assay of cellular ATPase activities established that the two recombinant strains demonstrated two-folder higher ATPase activities compared to the wild-type strain. This increase in ATPase activity is proposed to accelerate sugar utilization, induce extracellular secretion of acetate for butyrate production, and shorten fermentation periods to improve butyrate productivity. [Display omitted] • AatA and MdlB were successfully expressed in C. tyrobutyricum (respectively). • Recombinant strains facilitated butyric acid production. • Butyrate titer, yield, selectivity and productivity were all increased in recombinant strains. • AatA or MdlB could accelerate substrate utilization and reduce intracellular acidification. • These findings can further understandings of hyper-production of butyrate in C. tyrobutyricum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract For the industry applications of zeolites, the pore sizes are limited between 8, 10 and 12-rings. Although there are many extra-large pore zeolites, the studies of their applications are very limited due to their low stabilities or limited catalytic sites. Here, we successfully synthesized the extra-large pore zeolite materials RZM-3 with the EWT topology with the template of TDDH in a very wide range of SiO 2 , Al 2 O 3 , H 2 O and NaOH content. The proton form of RZM-3 exhibits exceptionally high thermal and hydrothermal stability with reasonable amount of acid catalytic sites. Compared to H-ZSM-5, H-Y and KC111 resin, RZM-3 zeolite displays good catalytic activity and shape/size selectivity for the glycerol and isobutylene etherification reaction. This work shows that extra-large pore zeolites can be potentially used in industrial macromolecular conversion processes with great selectivity for the first time. Graphical abstract Image 1 Highlights • The RZM-3 could be synthesized with TDDH. • The RZM-3 exhibits high thermal and hydrothermal stability. • The RZM-3 shows good catalytic property in the etherification reaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents research on a procedure to grow large single crystals of three-dimensional imine-based covalent organic frameworks (COFs), allowing collection of single-crystal x-ray diffraction data.

Aim To investigate the role of translationally controlled tumor protein (TCTP) in lung cancer development. Main methods A549 and HCC827 cells were transfected with shRNA specifically targeting TCTP mRNA. Cell growth was assessed by colony formation assay and cell counting kit-8. Cell cycle and apoptosis were analyzed by flow cytometry. Cell migration and invasion was measured by scratch and transwell assays. In vivo tumorigenicity was evaluated by tumor xenografts in nude mice. Key findings TCTP -silenced cells displayed a reduced ability of colony formation and a lower rate of proliferation in vitro . Knockdown of TCTP arrested cell cycle at G1 phase and led to downregulated expression of cyclins B1, D1 and E. Moreover, silencing of TCTP induced apoptosis and altered the levels of apoptosis-regulatory proteins such as cleaved caspase-3, Bcl-2, Bax and p53. Silencing of TCTP also inhibited migration and invasion of lung cancer cells. In addition, TCTP -silenced A549 cells, when subcutaneously inoculated in nude mice, formed tumors at a significantly slower rate. Significance Our in vitro and in vivo data indicate that silencing of TCTP inhibits growth, migration and invasion of lung cancer cells. Thus, TCTP may be a potential target for lung cancer therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an important cash crop, cotton is often affected by Soil-drought stress. Soil-drought is a common abiotic stress that seriously affects the growth and development of crops. Since soil moisture is not easy to control and prolonged treatment is required to cause water stress, polyethylene glycol (PEG) is often used to simulate drought stress and cause dehydration in plants. However, whether there is a difference in the effects of these two types of drought stresses on cotton remains unclear. In this study, cotton seedlings with the same water potential under two stresses were used as research materials, and the differences in molecular mechanisms of cotton resistance to the different drought stresses were explored through physiological and biochemical detection, chloroplast ultrastructure observations and transcriptomic sequencing. The results showed that both Soil-drought and PEG-drought can cause water stress effects on cotton seedlings, causing them to dehydrate and wilt. The contents of soluble protein (SP), Proline (Pro), and malondialdehyde (MDA) and the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) showed similar changes under the two stresses. However, by observing the chloroplast ultrastructure, we found that starch accumulated in chloroplasts under Soil-drought, but was not obvious under PEG-drought. Stress-induced differentially expressed genes (DEGs) under both types of drought showed similar changes in Gene Ontology (GO) functional enrichment and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment, but Soil-drought induced more DEGs. The differential expression of sugar-related (sugar synthesis, sugar metabolism, sugar transport, etc.) genes in cotton seedlings under Soil-drought stress was higher than that under PEG-drought. In the case of consistent dehydration, there are clear differences in the sugar-pathway when cotton experiences Soil-drought and PEG-drought. PEG drought can simulate Soil drought in terms of the physiological effects of dehydration on cotton, but it is not applicable in terms of the effects of drought stress on the sugar pathway. This study enables us to better understand the response of cotton to different drought stress and provides a certain research basis for exploring cotton resistance to drought stress. • PEG-drought and Soil-drought caused similar changes in physiological and DEGs in GO and KEGG enrichment in cotton. • Soil-drought induced more DEGs than PEG-drought, and the sugar-pathway differed in response to Soil-drought and PEG-drought. • PEG-drought can simulate Soil-drought in physiological effects of dehydration, but it is not applicable in the sugar pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drought stress is the main abiotic stress causing damage to cotton growth and severe yield loss. Under environmental stress conditions, the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) folding environment is disturbed, resulting in the accumulation of unfolded/misfolded proteins, causing ER stress and triggering the unfolded protein response (UPR). Analysis of drought RNA-sequencing data revealed a Gh_D09G2402.1 (GhCNX) gene involved in ER protein processing. Through the observation of the ultrastructure of the ER under drought stress in cotton, the characteristic structure of the endoplasmic reticulum whorl was found. Virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) mediated GhCNX6 silenced cotton plants were found highly sensitive to drought stress. Arabidopsis thaliana plants overexpressing GhCNX6 showed stronger tolerance to drought stress, indicating that the GhCNX6 gene is involved in the action mechanism of cotton drought stress and enhances the tolerance to drought stress. Drought stress leads to ER stress response, and the resulting ER whorl and CNX gene play a role in the ER protein processing pathway, thereby regulating the mechanism of cotton response to drought stress. This study will help to further explore the mechanism of cotton drought resistance. • Endoplasmic reticulum whorls found in cotton under drought stress. • First preliminary verification of GhCNX6 positively responding to drought stress. • The regulatory mechanism of GhCNX6 and ER whorls under drought stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A modified sol–gel route, by combining gelation and coprecipitation processes, was developed for the synthesis of high surface area MgAl2O4 spinel precursors. The obtained precursors were then calcined in flowing air at temperatures ranging from 500 to 900 °C. The formation of new phases upon calcinations was investigated using X-ray diffraction, thermal gravimetric analysis, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Single-phase spinel powder with uniform pore size distribution was formed at temperatures as low as 600 °C. It was found that the thermal stability of the as-synthesized spinels is higher than that reported by other preparation methods. After calcinations at 800 and 950 °C for 8 h, the specific surface area reaches a level of 182 and 136 m2·g−1, respectively. And the degree of crystallinity is higher than other preparation methods as illustrated by samples calcined at 800 °C. The amount of PVA added significantly affects the surface area of the samples. With increasing the ratio of M/PVA, the surface area of the resulting spinels increased accordingly. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) belongs to the Arteriviridae family and is a single-stranded, positively stranded RNA virus. The currently available PRRSV vaccines are mainly inactivated and attenuated vaccines, yet none of the commercial vaccines can provide comprehensive, long-lasting, and effective protection against PRRSV. SR717 is a pyridazine-3-carboxamide compound, which is commonly used as a non-nucleoside STING agonist with antitumor and antiviral activities. Nevertheless, there is no evidence that SR717 has any antiviral effects against PRRSV. In this study, a dose-dependent inhibitory effect of SR717 was observed against numerous strains of PRRSV using qRT-PCR, IFA, and WB methods. Furthermore, SR717 was found to stimulate the production of anti-viral molecules and trigger the activation of the signaling cascade known as the stimulator of interferon genes (STING) pathway, which contributed to hindering the reproduction of viruses by a certain margin. Collectively, these results indicate that SR717 is capable of inhibiting PRRSV infection in vitro and may have potential as an antiviral drug against PRRSV.

Abstract: In natural disasters such as earthquakes and landslides, the main problem that wounded survivors are confronted with is Crush Syndrome (CS). The aim of this study was to explore more convenient and effective early treatment measures for it.In the present study, we investigated the protective effect of fasciotomy combined with different concentration of hypertonic saline flushing with CS rats. CS model was prepared by compressing the buttocks and both lowering limbs of rats with 7.5 kg dumbbell for 4 hours. The rats were divided into 10 groups, which were normal control group, model group, incision without flushing group, 0.45%, 0.9%, 3%, 5%, 7% saline group, 3%-0.45% and 7%-0.45% saline alternating flushing group respectively. 6 hours after the treatment, the blood was sampled for measurement of the potassium, calcium, AST, ALT, Cr, Urea, myoglobin, and lactic acid content. The blood flow of the compressed tissue and kidneys, the pathological changes of the kidneys and the survival rate of 3%-0.45% saline alternating flushing group were also observed.The experimental results showed that fasciotomy alone for treatment cannot improve the presentation of CS of rats. Instead, hypertonic saline flushing significantly improved the AST, ALT, Cr, Urea indices, blood flow of muscles and kidneys. It also enormously decreased the blood K+, myoglobin, lactic acid concentration and slight increased the blood Ca2+. Among them, alternating flushing with 3%-0.45% saline had the best therapeutic effect on CS. Finally, it can be found that 3%-0.45% saline treatment regimen dramatically raised the survival rate of CS rats.All in all, this study suggests that fasciotomy combined with hypertonic saline flushing is a good therapeutic approach for CS., Competing Interests: The authors report no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2024 by the Shock Society.)

Background: Lung cancer associated with cystic airspaces is a rare disease, and a rare imaging performance of non-small cell lung cancer. Due to the lack of conventional diagnosis methods, it is difficult to rely on imaging diagnosis. Therefore, the definitive diagnosis of these neoplastic lesions remains challenging., Case Presentation: We summarize the follow-up and diagnosis of a rare cystic airspaces lung metastatic carcinoma in an elderly man with annular density shadow in the right inferior lobe 2 years after surgery for squamous cell carcinoma in the left inferior lobe., Results: During the follow-up of the patient, after the lesion of the lower lobe of the right lung was enlarged, the structural and imaging characteristics were identified, and a special method was selected, namely biopsy of the lesion under the electromagnetic navigation bronchoscope, for clear diagnosis and subsequent treatment., Conclusion: For pulmonary cystic airspaces, it is important to correctly identify their imaging features. Because of the possibility of malignancy, it is essential to stop the radiological study in time and to acquire the pathological diagnosis by an appropriate method., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Li, Wang, Liu and Ren.)

Organic polyradicals with a high-spin ground state and quantum magnetic properties suitable for spin manipulation are valuable materials for diverse innovative technologies, including quantum devices. However, the typically high reactivity and low stability of conventional polyradicals present a major obstacle to such applications. In this study, a highly stable carbon-centered triradical TR with a quartet ground state and excellent stability (τ 1/2 of ∼90 days in air-saturated toluene at room temperature) is achieved, which shows apposite magnetic anisotropy and Zeeman splitting partition with favorable addressability. By virtue of the optimal stability, thorough structural and magnetic characterizations are realized. With X-ray crystallography unambiguously proving the molecular structure, the quartet ground state (Δ E D-Q = 0.78 kcal/mol) is confirmed by the SQUID measurements, while the cw- and pulsed EPR techniques offer additional supportive evidence for the high-spin nature. Remarkably, owing to the easily attained magnetic anisotropy, selective excitations between different Zeeman splitting levels are successfully demonstrated with TR in its frozen toluene solution without the requirement for special alignment, which is unprecedented for organic polyradicals. Along with the millisecond spin-lattice relaxation and microsecond coherence time manifested by TR , this triradical is promising for potential coherent spin manipulation applications as a multienergy-level quantum information carrier.

P-coumaric acid (p-CA), a pant metabolite with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity, is extensively utilized in biomedicine, food, and cosmetics industry. In this study, a synthetic pathway (PAL) for p-CA was designed, integrating three enzymes (AtPAL2, AtC4H, AtATR2) into a higher l-phenylalanine-producing strain Escherichia coli PHE05. However, the lower soluble expression and activity of AtC4H in the PAL pathway was a bottleneck for increasing p-CA titers. To overcome this limitation, the soluble expression of AtC4H was enhanced through N-terminal modifications. And an optimal mutant, AtC4H L373T/G211H , which exhibited a 4.3-fold higher k cat /K m value compared to the wild type, was developed. In addition, metabolic engineering strategies were employed to increase the intracellular NADPH pool. Overexpression of ppnk in engineered E. coli PHCA20 led to a 13.9-folds, 1.3-folds, and 29.1% in NADPH content, the NADPH/NADP + ratio and p-CA titer, respectively. These optimizations significantly enhance p-CA production, in a 5-L fermenter using fed-batch fermentation, the p-CA titer, yield and productivity of engineered strain E. coli PHCA20 were 3.09 g/L, 20.01 mg/g glucose, and 49.05 mg/L/h, respectively. The results presented here provide a novel way to efficiently produce the plant metabolites using an industrial strain., (© 2024 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Objectives: The objective of this study was to examine the association between dietary diversity and sleep quality among Chinese middle-aged and older adults., Methods: The Lifestyle and Healthy Aging of Chinese Square Dancer Study is a prospective, community-based cohort study that enrolled participants aged 45 years and above from 2020 to 2021. Using the semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire to investigate the diets of study participants, and using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) to assess sleep quality. Dietary diversity was assessed using two scoring methods covering ten food groups and 66 food items, respectively: the dietary diversity score (DDS) and the food variety score (FVS). The higher scores of DDS and FVS indicated greater dietary diversity and higher dietary quality. Logistic regression analysis explored the associations between these scores and sleep quality., Results: A total of 2409 individuals with completed information on PSQI and FFQ were included in this study, of whom 767 (31.8%) had poor sleep quality. Participants with higher DDS were associated with an 18% lower odds of poor sleep quality compared to those with low DDS (OR = 0.82, 95% CI, 0.68-0.98). Participants in the highest quartile of the FVS had a 32% lower odds of poor sleep quality than those in the lowest quartile (OR = 0.68, 95% CI, 0.52-0.89)., Conclusions: There was a positive correlation between higher FVS and DDS with better sleep quality. Therefore, ensuring a diverse diet may be beneficial for maintaining good sleep quality among middle-aged and older adults., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

l-Phenylalanine (l-Phe) is widely used in the food and pharmaceutical industries. However, the biosynthesis of l-Phe using Escherichia coli remains challenging due to its lower tolerance to high concentration of l-Phe. In this study, to efficiently synthesize l-Phe, the l-Phe biosynthetic pathway was reconstructed by expressing the heterologous genes aroK1 , aroL1 , and pheA1 , along with the native genes aroA , aroC , and tyrB in the shikimate-producing strain E. coli SA09, resulting in the engineered strain E. coli PHE03. Subsequently, adaptive evolution was conducted on E. coli PHE03 to enhance its tolerance to high concentrations of l-Phe, resulting in the strain E. coli PHE04, which reduced the cell mortality to 36.2% after 48 h of fermentation. To elucidate the potential mechanisms, transcriptional profiling was conducted, revealing MarA, a DNA-binding transcriptional dual regulator, as playing a crucial role in enhancing cell membrane integrity and fluidity for improving cell tolerance to high concentrations of l-Phe. Finally, the titer, yield, and productivity of l-Phe with E. coli PHE05 overexpressing marA were increased to 80.48 g/L, 0.27 g/g glucose, and 1.68 g/L/h in a 5-L fed-batch fermentation, respectively.

NaYF 4 systems have been widely studied as up-conversion host matrices, and their phase transitions are flexible and worth investigating in great detail. Herein, the evolution of morphology and crystal structure of a Eu 3+ -doped β-NaYF 4 single nanoparticle heated in an air atmosphere was investigated using in situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The annealing process revealed that the hexagonal β-NaYF 4 phase undergoes sequential transformations into high-temperature cubic phases at both 350 °C and 500 °C. The emission characteristics of Eu 3+ in the single nanoparticle after heating treatment were also analyzed using Correlative Cathodoluminescence Electron Microscopy (CCLEM). The results of CCLEM suggest a gradual decrease followed by a subsequent increase in structural symmetry. A comprehensive spectroscopic and structural analysis encapsulates the entire transformation process as NaYF 4 → YOF → Y 2 O 3 . In situ energy dispersive spectroscopy analyses (EDS) support this reaction process. The aforementioned technique yields correlative lattice-resolved TEM images and nanoscale spectroscopic information, which can be employed to assess the structure-function relationships on the nanoscale.

The development of facile methods for constructing highly active, cost-effective catalysts that meet ampere-level current density and durability requirements for an oxygen evolution reaction is crucial. Herein, a general topochemical transformation strategy is posited: M-Co 9 S 8 single-atom catalysts (SACs) are directly converted into M-CoOOH-TT (M = W, Mo, Mn, V) pair-sites catalysts under the role of incorporating of atomically dispersed high-valence metals modulators through potential cycling. Furthermore, in situ X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy is used to track the dynamic topochemical transformation process at the atomic level. The W-Co 9 S 8 breaks through the low overpotential of 160 mV at 10 mA cm -2 . A series of pair-site catalysts exhibit a large current density of approaching 1760 mA cm -2 at 1.68 V vs reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) in alkaline water oxidation and achieve a ≈240-fold enhancement in the normalized intrinsic activity compare to that reported CoOOH, and sustainable stability of 1000 h. Moreover, the O─O bond formation is confirmed via a two-site mechanism, supported by in situ synchrotron radiation infrared and density functional theory (DFT) simulations, which breaks the limit of adsorption-energy scaling relationship on conventional single-site., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

The Rh(III)-catalyzed annulation of benzoic acids with nitroalkenes was disclosed to afford a wide range of 3,4-disubstituted isochroman-1-ones with excellent regioselectivity and high catalytic efficiency. Both aromatic and aliphatic nitroalkenes participated in this cyclization reaction successfully. The synthetic value of 3,4-disubstituted isochroman-1-ones was proven by a series of derivatizations. Furthermore, a reliable mechanism is outlined on the basis of experimental investigations and related precedents.

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a disturbance of peripheral and central nerve conduction that causes disability in sensory and motor function. Currently, there is no effective treatment for SCI. Mitophagy plays a vital role in mitochondrial quality control during various physiological and pathological processes. The study aimed to elucidate the role of mitophagy and identify potential mitophagy-related hub genes in SCI pathophysiology. Two datasets (GSE15878 and GSE138637) were analyzed. Firstly, the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified and mitophagy-related genes were obtained from GeneCards, then the intersection between SCI and mitophagy-related genes was determined. Next, we performed gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA), weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA), protein-protein interaction network (PPI network), least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO), and cluster analysis to identify and define the hub genes in SCI. Finally, the link between hub genes and infiltrating immune cells was investigated and the potential transcriptional regulation/small molecular compounds to target hub genes were predicted. In total, SKP1 and BAP1 were identified as hub genes of mitophagy-related DEGs during SCI development and regulatory T cells (Tregs)/resting NK cells/activated mast cells may play an essential role in the progression of SCI. LINC00324 and SNHG16 may regulate SKP1 and BAP1, respectively, through miRNAs. Eleven and eight transcriptional factors (TFs) regulate SKP1 and BAP1, respectively, and six small molecular compounds target BAP1. Then, the mRNA expression levels of BAP1 and SKP1 were detected in the injured sites of spinal cord of SD rats at 6 h and 72 h after injury using RT-qPCR, and found that the level were decreased. Therefore, the pathways of mitophagy are downregulated during the pathophysiology of SCI, and SKP1 and BAP1 could be accessible targets for diagnosing and treating SCI., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Deciphering the three-dimensional (3D) insight into nanocatalyst surfaces at the atomic level is crucial to understanding catalytic reaction mechanisms and developing high-performance catalysts. Nevertheless, better understanding the inherent insufficiency of a long-range ordered lattice in nanocatalysts is a big challenge. In this work, we report the local structure of Pd nanocatalysts, which is beneficial for demonstrating the shape-structure-adsorption relationship in acetylene hydrogenation. The 5.27 nm spherical Pd catalyst (Pd sph ) shows an ethylene selectivity of 88% at complete acetylene conversion, which is much higher than those of the Pd octahedron and Pd cube and superior to other reported monometallic Pd nanocatalysts so far. By virtue of the local structure revelation combined with the atomic pair distribution function (PDF) and reverse Monte Carlo (RMC) simulation, the atomic surface distribution of the unique compressed strain of Pd-Pd pairs in Pd sph was revealed. Density functional theory calculations verified the obvious weakening of the ethylene adsorption energy on account of the surface strain of Pd sph . It is the main factor to avoid the over-hydrogenation of acetylene. The present work, entailing shape-induced surface strain manipulation and atomic 3D insight, opens a new path to understand and optimize chemical activity and selectivity in the heterogeneous catalysis process.

Developing cost-effective and sustainable acidic water oxidation catalysts requires significant advances in material design and in-depth mechanism understanding for proton exchange membrane water electrolysis. Herein, we developed a single atom regulatory strategy to construct Co-Co dinuclear active sites (DASs) catalysts that atomically dispersed zirconium doped Co 9 S 8 /Co 3 O 4 heterostructure. The X-ray absorption fine structure elucidated the incorporation of Zr greatly facilitated the generation of Co-Co DASs layer with stretching of cobalt oxygen bond and S-Co-O heterogeneous grain boundaries interfaces, engineering attractive activity of significantly reduced overpotential of 75 mV at 10 mA cm -2 , a breakthrough of 500 mA cm -2 high current density, and water splitting stability of 500 hours in acid, making it one of the best-performing acid-stable OER non-noble metal materials. The optimized catalyst with interatomic Co-Co distance (ca. 2.80 Å) followed oxo-oxo coupling mechanism that involved obvious oxygen bridges on dinuclear Co sites (1,090 cm -1 ), confirmed by in situ SR-FTIR, XAFS and theoretical simulations. Furthermore, a major breakthrough of 120,000 mA g -1 high mass current density using the first reported noble metal-free cobalt anode catalyst of Co-Co DASs/ZCC in PEM-WE at 2.14 V was recorded., (© 2023 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Objectives: To investigate the association between plant-based diet indices and sleep quality in Chinese middle-aged and older adults., Methods: The study included 2424 participants aged 45 years and older. Dietary data were collected using a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire, and sleep quality was assessed by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index scale. Plant-based diet was categorized based on 3 indices (score range, 17-85) covering 17 food groups: the overall plant-based diet index, healthful plant-based diet index, and unhealthful plant-based diet index. The associations between these plant-based diet indices and sleep quality were examined using logistic and linear regression analyses., Results: After controlling for sociodemographic, lifestyle, and multiple disease-related factors, participants in the highest quartile of the healthful plant-based diet index had 0.55 higher odds of better sleep quality (95% CI: 0.42, 0.72; P trend < .001). In contrast, participants in the highest quartile of the unhealthful plant-based diet index had 2.03 higher odds of poor sleep quality (95% CI: 1.51, 2.72; P trend < .001). In addition, plant-based diet index and healthful plant-based diet index were inversely associated with Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index scores, while unhealthful plant-based diet index and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index scores were positively associated., Conclusions: We found unhealthy plant-based diets are significantly associated with poor sleep quality. Adherence to overall plant-based diets, especially healthy plant-based diets, was positively associated with optimal sleep quality., (Copyright © 2023 National Sleep Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

A Dioscorea opposita Thunb polysaccharide (DOP)-modified ZIF8 material was developed in this study, which can be used as a "smart" glucose-responsive carrier to control the slow release of drugs. The 3-aminophenylboronic acid (APBA) functionalized carboxylated long-chain polymer poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) segments, which were first modified on the surface of ZIF8 nanoparticles with a hydrogen bond and then chemically cross-linked with DOP through a borate ester bond, leading to the drugs loaded on ZIF8 being "closed" in PBS but being "open" via taking off the DOP coating in high concentrations of glucose; thus, leakage can be prevented in the drug loaded and a glucose-triggered release can effectively result. Moreover, the materials showed good biocompatibility and the released trans - N - p -coumaroyltyramine (NCT) could work synergistically with the DOP to improve insulin resistance and promote glucose consumption in insulin-resistant HepG2 cells.

Mixed electronic and oxide ionic conduction was enabled in digermanate-type La 2- x Ca x Ge 2 O 7- x /2 containing Ge 3 O 10 chains and isolated GeO 4 units by substitution of La 3+ with Ca 2+ . The structure and solid solution limit of Ca doped La 2 Ge 2 O 7 were studied by systematic experiments, including rotation electron diffraction (RED), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and neutron powder diffraction (NPD) experiments, etc . The preferred occupation of Ca 2+ and oxygen vacancies was investigated by Rietveld analysis of the NPD data. The obtained conducting material La 1.925 Ca 0.075 Ge 2 O 6.963 exhibits superior thermal stability and an order of magnitude improvement in conductivity compared to the parent La 2 Ge 2 O 7 (∼9 × 10 -5 S cm -1 at 1000 °C). BVEL calculations reveal that the oxygen vacancies were stabilized and transported within the framework of La 2 Ge 2 O 7 by sharing oxygen and oxygen exchange between the adjacent Ge 3 O 10 chains and GeO 4 units, exhibiting a three-dimensional oxide ion transport nature.

Pressure-induced topochemical polymerization of molecular crystals with various stackings is a promising way to synthesize materials with different co-existing sub-structures. Here, by compressing the azobenzene crystal containing two kinds of intermolecular stacking, we synthesized an ordered van der Waals carbon nanoribbon (CNR) heterostructure in one step. Azobenzene polymerizes via a [4 + 2] hetero-Diels-Alder (HDA) reaction of phenylazo-phenyl in layer A and a para -polymerization reaction of phenyl in layer B at 18 GPa, as evidenced by in situ Raman and IR spectroscopies, X-ray diffraction, as well as gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and the solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance of the recovered products. The theoretical calculation shows that the obtained CNR heterostructure has a type II (staggered) band gap alignment. Our work highlights a high-pressure strategy to synthesize bulk CNR heterostructures.

The subtilisin-like proteases (SBTs) are a large family of serine peptidases that are unique to plants. Previous studies have shown that SBTs are associated with developmental processes and environmental responses. However, comprehensive identification and systematic analysis of the SBT family have not been conducted in cotton. We used bioinformatics methods to analyze the structural characteristics, phylogenetic relationships, gene structures, expression modes, evolutionary relationships, selection pressures and stress responses of SBT gene family members in upland cotton. In this study, we identified 120 and 112 SBTs in the tetraploid cotton species G. hirsutum and G. barbadense, while 67 and 69 SBTs were identified in the diploid species G. arboreum and G. raimondii, respectively; these SBTs were divided into five distinct subfamilies. We identified the SBT gene GhSBT27A, and explore its function through virus-induced gene silencing and transmission electron microscopy. These results suggested that the GhSBT27A gene was involved in the response to drought stress. These results lay a foundation for further study on the drought stress mechanism of cotton., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Dai, Zhou, Zhang, Zhang, Ni, Wu, Liu, Wang and Chen.)

Objective: In this article, the author aims to discuss and review the relationship between gut microbiota and Tourette syndrome, and whether the change in gut microbiota can affect the severity of Tourette syndrome., Sources: Literature from PubMed, Google Scholar, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure was mainly reviewed. Both original studies and review articles were discussed. The articles were required to be published as of May 2022., Summary of the Findings: Current studies on the gut microbiome have found that the gut microbiome and brain seem to interact. It is named the brain-gut-axis. The relationship between the brain-gut axis and neurological and psychiatric disorders has been a topic of intense interest. Tourette syndrome is a chronic neurological disease that seriously affects the quality of life of children, and there appears to be an increase in Ruminococcaceae and Bacteroides in the gut of patients with Tourette syndrome. After clinical observation and animal experiments, there appear to be particular gut microbiota changes in Tourette syndrome. It provides a new possible idea for the treatment of Tourette syndrome. Probiotics and fecal microbial transplantation have been tried to treat Tourette syndrome, especially Tourette syndrome which is not sensitive to drugs, and some results have been achieved., Conclusions: The relationship between gut microbiota and Tourette syndrome and how to alleviate Tourette syndrome by improving gut microbiota are new topics, more in-depth and larger sample size research is still needed., Competing Interests: Conflicts of interest The authors declare no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda.)

Background: Actin filament-associated protein 1 antisense RNA 1 (AFAP1-AS1) is associated with prognosis in many cancers. The aim of this study was to systematically evaluate the potential correlation between AFAP1-AS1 and the prognosis of digestive system cancers (DSC)., Methods: EMBASE, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, PubMed, Wanfang Data (Chinese), and CNKI (Chinese) were comprehensively searched for literature published from the establishment of the database to September 2021.All case-control studies that met the inclusion criteria were retrieved; additionally manual retrieval and literature tracing was performed. After extracting the relevant data, Revman 5.3.5 software was used for meta-analysis., Results: Eighteen studies were included in analyses, high expression of AFAP1-AS1 was significantly correlated with poor prognosis in DSC, including overall survival (HR = 1.93, 95% CI: 1.72-2.17, P < .001) and disease-free survival/progression-free survival (HR = 1.87, 95% CI: 1.56-2.26, P < .001). In addition, the expression of AFAP1-AS1 was significantly correlated with tumor size, tumor stage, and lymph node metastasis., Conclusion: High expression of AFAP1-AS1 was associated with poor prognosis in DSC. Therefore, it could be used as a potential marker for evaluating prognosis in DSC., Competing Interests: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare., (Copyright © 2022 the Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.)

Plants are sessile organisms suffering severe environmental conditions. Drought stress is one of the major environmental issues that affect plant growth and productivity. Although complex regulatory gene networks of plants under drought stress have been analyzed extensively, the response mechanism in the early stage of drought stress is still rarely mentioned. Here, we performed transcriptome analyses on cotton samples treated for a short time (10 min, 30 min, 60 min, 180 min) using 10% PEG, which is used to simulate drought stress. The analysis of differently expressed genes (DEGs) showed that the number of DEGs in roots was obviously more than that in stems and leaves at the four time points and maintained >2000 FDEGs (DEGs appearing for the first time) from 10 min, indicating that root tissues of plants respond to drought stress quickly and continuously strongly. Gene ontology (GO) analysis showed that DEGs in roots were mainly enriched in protein modification and microtubule-based process. DEGs were found significantly enriched in phosphatidylinositol signaling system at 10 min through Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis, implying the great importance of phosphatidylinositol signal in the early stage of drought stress. What was more, two co-expression modules, which were significantly positively correlated with drought stress, were found by Weighted Gene Co-expression Network Analysis (WGCNA). From one of the co-expression modules, we identified a hub-gene Gohir.A07G058200, which is annotated as "phosphatidylinositol 3- and 4-kinase" in phosphatidylinositol signaling system, and found this gene may interact with auxin-responsive protein. This result suggested that Gohir.A07G058200 may be involved in the crosstalk of phosphatidylinositol signal and auxin signal in the early stage of drought stress. In summary, through transcriptome sequencing, we found that phosphatidylinositol signaling system is an important signal transduction pathway in early stage in response to drought stress, and it may interact with auxin signal transduction through phosphatidylinositol 3- and 4-kinase., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

With the wide application of organic semiconductors (OSCs), researchers are now grappling with a new challenge: design and synthesize OSCs materials with specific functions to satisfy the requirements of high-performance semiconductor devices. Strain engineering is an effective method to improve the semiconductor material's carrier mobility, which is fundamentally originated from the rearrangement of the atomic packing model of materials under mechanic stress. Here, we design and synthesize a new OSC material named AZO-BTBT-8 based on high-mobility benzo[b]benzo[4,5]thieno[2,3-d]thiophene (BTBT) as the semiconductor backbone. Octane is employed to increase molecular flexibility and solubility, and azobenzene at the other end of the BTBT backbone provides photoisomerization properties and structural balance. Notably, the AZO-BTBT-8 photoisomerization leads to lattice strain in thin-film devices, where exceptional device performance enhancement is realized. On this basis, a large-scale flexible organic field-effect transistor (OFET) device array is fabricated and realizes high-resolution UV imaging with reversible light response., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

A novel hydrogel (DOP/PEI-PBA) based on the "three-component" reaction of 2-formylphenylboric acid (2-FPBA), the primary amine group of polyethyleneimine (PEI) and the cis-o-dihydroxy groups of Dioscorea opposita Thunb polysaccharide (DOP) was designed in this work. The hydrogel can be easily prepared by simply mixing the three reactants at room temperature. The hydrogel had dual responsiveness to glucose and pH, and can realize the controllable release of insulin. Moreover, the hydrogel combining insulin and DOP can inhibit the reactive oxygen species (ROS) level and malondialdehyde (MDA) content, and promote glucose consumption as well as the level of superoxide dismutase (SOD), in high-glucose-induced injury in HL-7702 cells, which reflects the synergistic effect of insulin and DOP to protect hepatocytes from oxidative stress at the same time. Further in vitro cytotoxicity studies showed that the hydrogel had good biocompatibility and no obvious toxicity to cells. These indicate that the prepared hydrogel (DOP/PEI-PBA) can be expected to be applied in the clinical treatment of insulin deficiency in diabetes.

Transition-metal-catalyzed directed C-H alkenylation with maleimides has attracted much attention in recent years, as maleimide core moieties are present in various natural products and pharmaceuticals. In addition, these derivatives can be readily modified into biologically important compounds including succinimides, pyrrolidines and γ-lactams. The efficient chelation-assisted inert C-H bond activation strategy provides straightforward access to a wide array of structurally diverse molecules containing maleimide units. This review describes the major progress and mechanistic investigations on Heck-type reaction/cyclization of maleimides with organic molecules until early 2022.

The mechanical properties of artificial skins are complicated to maintain under ensuring air permeability and antimicrobial. Thus, a series of hydrophilic antimicrobial polymer networks are prepared by crosslinking chitosan and polyvinyl alcohol with the lauramidopropyl betaine and hydrogen bond organic framework (CS/PVA/LPB/2D-HOF). The mechanical performance of the control groups and the complex are systematically evaluated to attain an artificial strength skin. The CS/PVA/LPB/2D-HOF complex exhibits strong mechanical abilities than other control groups. By analyzing the IR spectra and the morphology, the synergistic effect of hydrogen bonds between molecules and cracks significantly improves the mechanical properties of the complex. Its maximum tensile strength can reach 29 MPa, and its maximum load capacity can reach 3700 g. Notably, the composite membrane also performs an excellent antimicrobial activity. In vivo and in vitro experiments show that the hybrid membrane can promote tissue regeneration and wound healing (95％). These results may open up the opportunity for future composite material investigations in the artificial skin and tissue engineering field., (© 2021 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

To investigate the capability of π-π stacking motifs to enable spin-spin coupling, we designed and synthesized three pairs of regio-isomers featuring two radical moieties joined by a [2.2]paracyclophane (CP) unit. By fusing indeno units to CP, two partially stacked fluorene radicals are covalently linked, exhibiting evident antiferromagnetic (AFM) coupling regardless of the orientation of two spins. Remarkably, while possessing high diradical indices of 0.8 and 0.9, the two molecules demonstrate good air stability by virtue of their singlet ground state. Single crystals help unravel the structural basis of their AFM coupling behaviors. When two radical centers are arranged at the pseudometa-positions around CP, the face-to-face stacked phenylene rings intrinsically confer orbital interactions that promote AFM coupling. On the other hand, if two radicals are directed in the pseudopara-orientation, significant orbital overlapping is observed between the radical centers (i.e., C9 of fluorene) and the aromatic carbons laid on the side, rendering AFM coupling between the two spins. In contrast, when two fluorene radicals are tethered to CP via C9 through a single C-C bond, ferromagnetic (FM) coupling is manifested by both diradical isomers featuring pseudometa- and pseudopara-connectivity. With minimal spin distributed on CP and thus limited contribution from π-π stacking, their spin-spin coupling properties are more similar to a pair of nitroxide diradical analogues, in which the two spins are dominantly coupled via through-space interactions. From these results, important conclusions are elucidated such as that although through-space interactions may confer FM coupling, with weakened strength shown by PAH radicals due to their lower polarity, face-to-face stacked π-frameworks tend to induce AFM coupling, because favorable orbital interactions are readily achieved by PAH systems hosting delocalized spins that are capable of adopting varied stacking motifs.

Background: The Raffinose synthetase (RAFS) genes superfamily is critical for the synthesis of raffinose, which accumulates in plant leaves under abiotic stress. However, it remains unclear whether RAFS contributes to resistance to abiotic stress in plants, specifically in the Gossypium species., Results: In this study, we identified 74 RAFS genes from G. hirsutum, G. barbadense, G. arboreum and G. raimondii by using a series of bioinformatic methods. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the RAFS gene family in the four Gossypium species could be divided into four major clades; the relatively uniform distribution of the gene number in each species ranged from 12 to 25 based on species ploidy, most likely resulting from an ancient whole-genome polyploidization. Gene motif analysis showed that the RAFS gene structure was relatively conservative. Promoter analysis for cis-regulatory elements showed that some RAFS genes might be regulated by gibberellins and abscisic acid, which might influence their expression levels. Moreover, we further examined the functions of RAFS under cold, heat, salt and drought stress conditions, based on the expression profile and co-expression network of RAFS genes in Gossypium species. Transcriptome analysis suggested that RAFS genes in clade III are highly expressed in organs such as seed, root, cotyledon, ovule and fiber, and under abiotic stress in particular, indicating the involvement of genes belonging to clade III in resistance to abiotic stress. Gene co-expressed network analysis showed that GhRFS2A-GhRFS6A, GhRFS6D, GhRFS7D and GhRFS8A-GhRFS11A were key genes, with high expression levels under salt, drought, cold and heat stress., Conclusion: The findings may provide insights into the evolutionary relationships and expression patterns of RAFS genes in Gossypium species and a theoretical basis for the identification of stress resistance materials in cotton.

The constructure of a heterostructured interface is an effective way to design highly durable and efficient water oxidation electrocatalysts. Herein, Cu/CuCN with heterointerfaces is the first synthesized case through a simple epitaxial-like growth method, displaying superior activity and stability under pH-universal media. Associated with high electron transport and transfer of the epitaxial interfacial area, the Cu/CuCN pre-catalyst is applied to deliver the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) with lower overpotentials of 250 mV (forward scan) and 380 mV (backward scan) at 10 mA cm -2 and demonstrates better intrinsic activity ( j ECSA of 1.0 mA cm -2 at 420 mV) and impressive stability (136 h) in 1.0 M KOH, which exceeds most previous catalysts. Even using a nominal voltage of 1.5 V of a AA battery can drive the overall water-splitting setup. Experiments combined with theoretical simulations further uncover the existence of CuO species at the heterointerface during basic OER, which is evidence of better OER performance with abundant active sites that accelerate the conversion kinetics.