extreme environments

BACKGROUND: Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) has become a popular mobile health study design to understand the lived experiences of dynamic environments. The numerous study design choices available to EMA researchers, however, may quickly increase participant burden and could affect overall adherence, which could limit the usability of the collected data. OBJECTIVE: This study quantifies what study design, participant attributes, and momentary factors may affect self-reported burden and adherence...

Tardigrades, commonly known as water bears, are enigmatic organisms characterized by their remarkable resilience to extreme environments despite their simple and compact body structure. To date, there is still much to understand about their evolutionary and developmental features contributing to their special body plan and abilities. This research provides preliminary insights on the conserved and specific gene expression patterns during embryonic development of water bears, focusing on the species Hypsibius exemplaris...

Cyanobacterial mats are commonly reported as hotspots of microbial diversity across polar environments. These thick, multi-layered microbial communities provide a refuge from extreme environmental conditions, with many species able to grow and coexist despite the low allochthonous nutrient inputs. The visibly dominant phototrophic biomass is dependent on internal nutrient recycling by heterotrophic organisms within the mats, however the specific contribution of heterotrophic protists remains little explored...

Cr (VI) is extremely harmful to both the environment and human health, and it can linger in the environment for a very long period. In this research, the Leersia hexandra Swartz constructed wetland-microbial fuel cell (CW-MFC) system was constructed to purify Cr (VI) wastewater. By comparing with the constructed wetland (CW) system, the system electricity generation, pollutants removal, Cr enrichment, and morphological transformation of the system were discussed. The results demonstrated that the L. hexandra CW-MFC system promoted removal of pollutants and production of electricity of the system...

Accurate analysis of microRNAs (miRNAs) at the single-cell level is extremely important for deeply understanding their multiple and intricate biological functions. Despite some advancements in analyzing single-cell miRNAs, challenges such as intracellular interferences and insufficient detection limits still remain. In this work, an ultrasensitive nanopore sensor for quantitative single-cell miRNA-155 detection is constructed based on ionic current rectification (ICR) coupled with enzyme-free catalytic hairpin assembly (CHA)...

The development of single-system materials that exhibit both multi-color room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP) and thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) with tunable afterglow colors and channels is challenging. In this study, we developed four metal-free carbon dots (CDs) through structural tailoring and achieved panchromatic high-brightness RTP via strong chemical encapsulation in urea. The maximum lifetime and quantum yield reached 2141 ms and 56.55%, respectively. Moreover, CDs-IV@urea, prepared via core-shell interaction engineering, exhibited a dual afterglow of red RTP at 622 nm and green TADF...

Antarctic soils represent one of the most pristine environments on Earth, where highly adapted and often endemic microbial species withstand multiple extremes. Specifically, fungal diversity is extremely low in Antarctic soils and species distribution and diversity are still not fully characterized in the continent. Despite the unique features of this environment and the international interest in its preservation, several factors pose severe threats to the conservation of inhabiting ecosystems. In this light, we aimed to provide an overview of the effects on fungal communities of the main changes endangering the soils of the continent...

Laves phases exhibit a plethora of different structures and a multitude of physical properties. Investigations in the ternary system Hf-V-Al led to the discovery of numerous members of the solid solution Hf(V1- x Al x )2 , which adopt the hexagonal MgZn2 type (C14) for medium to high amounts of Al ( x = 0.2-1) and the cubic MgCu2 type (C15) for small Al amounts ( x = 0.05-0.1). While all members exhibit Pauli-paramagnetic behavior due to the absence of localized magnetic moments, the V-rich cubic member Hf(V0...

N-(1,3-dimethylbutyl)-N'-phenyl-p-phenylenediamine-quinone (6PPD-quinone) is a widespread contaminant of emerging concern resulting from oxidation of 6PPD, which is an antidegradant substance added to tires. The recent identification of 6PPD-quinone as the cause of acute mortality in coho salmon has quickly motivated studies on 6PPD-quinone toxicity to other species. Subsequent findings have shown that 6PPD-quinone toxicity is highly species specific. Closely related species can differ widely in response to 6PPD-quinone from extremely sensitive to tolerant...

Growing evidence demonstrates the key role of the gut microbiota in human health and disease. The recent success of microbiotherapy products to treat recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection has shed light on its potential in conditions associated with gut dysbiosis, such as acute graft-versus-host disease, intestinal bowel diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, or even cancer. However, the difficulty in defining a "good" donor as well as the intrinsic variability of donor-derived products' taxonomic composition limits the translatability and reproducibility of these studies...

The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau belongs to the area of extremely fragile environment and sensitive to human activities. In recent years, more and more human interference has been detected in this area. In this study, 128 surface soil samples were collected from the Sabao Chaqu watershed of the Tuotuo river at the source of the Yangtze River on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The soil pollution status and spatial distribution characteristics of Cd, Hg, As, Cu, Pb, Cr, Zn and Ni were evaluated by soil accumulation index, enrichment factor, pollution index and geographical detector...

It is a great challenge to restore northern mines after mining and achieve optimal results due to the extremely harsh environment and climate, as in Qinghe County of Xinjiang Province, China. Qinghe County has a climate of drought, cold, strong winds, and high altitude. After sand and iron mining, the soil in this area contains a large amount of sand and gravel with extremely low organic matter, nitrogen deficiency, and a high pH of 9.26. Our preliminary studies disclosed that only three plants, including Caligonum junceum, Atraphaxis virgata, and Melilotus albus Medic, can grow naturally in this environment without any artificial management...

Electrochromic (EC) displays with electronically regulating the transmittance of solar radiation offer the opportunity to increase the energy efficiency of the building and electronic products and improve the comfort and lifestyle of people. Despite the unique merit and vast application potential of EC technologies, long-awaited EC windows and related visual content displays have not been fully commercialized due to unsatisfactory production cost, durability, color, and complex fabrication processes. Here we develop a unique EC strategy and system based on the natural host and guest interactions to address the above issues...

Rising temperatures and extreme weather are setting the stage for increases in fungal diseases. As new pathogenic fungi emerge and known threats spread and evolve, scientists and decision makers are responding.

Algal blooms can give snowmelt a red color, reducing snow albedo and creating a runaway effect that accelerates snow melting. The occurrence of red snow is predicted to grow in polar and subpolar regions with increasing global temperatures. We hypothesize that these algal blooms affect virus-bacteria interactions in snow, with potential effects on snowmelt dynamics. A genomic analysis of double-stranded DNA virus communities in red and white snow from the Whistler region of British Columbia, Canada, identified 792 putative viruses infecting bacteria...

Experimental evolution was carried out to investigate the adaptive responses of extremotolerant fungi to a stressful environment. For 12 cultivation cycles, the halotolerant black yeasts Aureobasidium pullulans and Aureobasidium subglaciale were grown at high NaCl or glycerol concentrations, and the halophilic basidiomycete Wallemia ichthyophaga was grown close to its lower NaCl growth limit. All evolved Aureobasidium spp. accelerated their growth at low water activity. Whole genomes of the evolved strains were sequenced...

Improving the wide-temperature operation of rechargeable batteries is crucial for boosting the adoption of electric vehicles and further advancing their application scope in harsh environments like deep ocean and space probes. Herein, recent advances in electrolyte solvation chemistry are critically summarized, aiming to address the long-standing challenge of notable energy diminution at sub-zero temperatures and rapid capacity degradation at elevated temperatures (>45°C). This review provides an in-depth analysis of the fundamental mechanisms governing the Li-ion transport process, illustrating how these insights have been effectively harnessed to synergize with high-capacity, high-rate electrodes...

The study investigates the crash risk of powered two-wheelers (PTWs) involved in multiple conflict types, with different vehicle classes constituting a mixed traffic stream. This study uses the extreme value theory to estimate the crash risk after establishing the conflict thresholds for potential rear-end and side-swipe conflicts by accounting for interacting vehicle types. The study considers four vehicle pairs involving PTWs: PTW-PTW, PTW-MThW (motorized three-wheeler), PTW-Car, and PTW-Bus. The study found that the conflict thresholds corresponding to rear-end and side-swipe types increase with the interacting vehicle size...

Cultural relics as the crystallization of human history are non-renewable and irreplaceable resources. Microorganisms are widely colonized on ancient wall paintings, stone cultural relics, and other types of cultural heritages to cause harm. The dominant disease fungus, Parengyodontium album , is extensively distributed and can seriously threaten the long-term preservation of precious cultural heritage due to surviving in various cultural relics and extreme environments. The classification and nomenclature of P...

Exploring the correlations between ecosystem service value (ESV) and landscape ecological risk and the driving factors of their spatial variations is crucial for maintaining regional ecological security and promoting sustainable human well-being. We carried out a grid resampling size of 5 km×5 km assessment units of Jilin Pro-vince based on the remote sensing monitoring data of land use in 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2020. We quantitatively evaluated the landscape ecological risk and ESV, and analyzed their spatial-temporal variations...