Separ

High-energy-density lithium metal batteries (LMBs) are confronted with crucial concerns of security and a short cycle lifespan caused by the uncontrollable formation of lithium (Li) dendrites. The poor thermal stability and heterogeneous Li deposition of conventional polyolefin separators often cause battery short circuiting and thermal runaway in LMBs. Herein, a novel dual-functional PE composite separator (PI-COOH/PE) coated by carboxyl polyimide (PI) microspheres is fabricated by an etching-acidification method...

In fission yeast lacking the telomere binding protein, Taz1, replication forks stall at telomeres, triggering deleterious downstream events. Strand invasion from one taz1Δ telomeric stalled fork to another on a separate (non-sister) chromosome leads to telomere entanglements, which are resolved in mitosis at 32°C; however, entanglement resolution fails at ≤20°C, leading to cold-specific lethality. Previously, we found that loss of the mitotic function of Rif1, a conserved DNA replication and repair factor, suppresses cold sensitivity by promoting resolution of entanglements without affecting entanglement formation...

Casimir torque, a rotational motion driven by zero-point energy minimization, is a problem that attracts notable research interest. Recently, it has been realized using liquid crystal phases and natural anisotropic substrates. However, for natural materials, substantial torque occurs only at van der Waals distances of ~10 nm. Here, we use Casimir self-assembly with triangular gold nanostructures for rotational self-alignment at truly Casimir distances (100 to 200 nm separation). The interplay of repulsive electrostatic and attractive Casimir potentials forms a stable quantum trap, giving rise to a tunable Fabry-Pérot microcavity...

Intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) that lie close to the empirical boundary separating IDPs and folded proteins in Uversky's charge-hydropathy plot may behave as "marginal IDPs" and sensitively switch conformation upon changes in environment (temperature, crowding, and charge screening), sequence, or both. In our search for such a marginal IDP, we selected Huntingtin-interacting protein K (HYPK) near that boundary as a candidate; PKIα, also near that boundary, has lower secondary structure propensity; and Crk1, just across the boundary on the folded side, has higher secondary structure propensity...

We developed a simple, paper-based device that enables sensitive detection by mass spectrometry (MS) without solid phase extraction or other sample preparation.  Using glass fiber filter papers within a 3D printed holder, the device employs electrokinetic manipulations to stack, separate, and desalt charged molecules on paper prior to spray into the MS. Due to counter-balanced electroosmotic flow and electrophoresis, charged analytes stack on the paper and desalting occurs in minutes.  One end of the paper strip was cut into a sharp point and positioned near the inlet of a MS...

Small interfering RNA (siRNA) is known for its ability to silence the expression of specific genes, demonstrating its promising potential as a therapeutic approach. Self-assembled micelle inhibitory RNA (SAMiRNA) is an oligonucleotide duplex developed to overcome the in vivo delivery limitations of siRNA. SAMiRNA has hydrophilic and hydrophobic groups at both ends of a sense strand, forming a spherical nanostructure that enhances the in vivo delivery efficiency. Ion-pairing reversed-phase liquid chromatography (IP-RPLC) is the most commonly used method for the analysis of oligonucleotides...

The use of elephant ivory as a commodity is a factor in declining elephant populations. Despite recent worldwide elephant ivory trade bans, mammoth ivory trade remains unregulated. This complicates law enforcement efforts, as distinguishing between ivory from extant and extinct species requires costly, destructive and time consuming methods. Elephant and mammoth ivory mainly consists of dentine, a mineralized connective tissue that contains an organic collagenous component and an inorganic component of calcium phosphate minerals, similar in structure to hydroxyapatite crystals...

The mammalian brain can store and retrieve memories of related events as distinct memories and remember common features of those experiences. How it computes this function remains elusive. Here, we show in rats that recent memories of two closely timed auditory fear events share overlapping neuronal ensembles in the basolateral amygdala (BLA) and are functionally linked. However, remote memories have reduced neuronal overlap and are functionally independent. The activity of parvalbumin (PV)-expressing neurons in the BLA plays a crucial role in forming separate remote memories...

We present a novel framework named NeuralRecon for real-time 3D scene reconstruction from a monocular video. Unlike previous methods that estimate single-view depth maps separately on each key-frame and fuse them later, we propose to directly reconstruct local surfaces represented as sparse TSDF volumes for each video fragment sequentially by a neural network. A learning-based TSDF fusion module based on gated recurrent units is used to guide the network to fuse features from previous fragments. This design allows the network to capture local smoothness prior and global shape prior of 3D surfaces when sequentially reconstructing the surfaces, resulting in accurate, coherent, and real-time surface reconstruction...

Multilabel feature selection solves the dimension distress of high-dimensional multilabel data by selecting the optimal subset of features. Noisy and incomplete labels of raw multilabel data hinder the acquisition of label-guided information. In existing approaches, mapping the label space to a low-dimensional latent space by semantic decomposition to mitigate label noise is considered an effective strategy. However, the decomposed latent label space contains redundant label information, which misleads the capture of potential label relevance...

Nuclear compartments form via biomolecular phase separation, mediated through multivalent properties of biomolecules concentrated within condensates. Certain compartments are associated with specific chromatin regions, including transcriptional initiation condensates, which are composed of transcription factors and transcriptional machinery, and form at acetylated regions including enhancer and promoter loci. While protein self-interactions, especially within low-complexity and intrinsically disordered regions, are known to mediate condensation, the role of substrate-binding interactions in regulating the formation and function of biomolecular condensates is under-explored...

BACKGROUND: Mental health (MH) problems in youth are prevalent, burdening, and frequently persistent. Despite the existence of effective treatment, the uptake of professional help is low, particularly due to attitudinal barriers. OBJECTIVE: This study evaluated the effectiveness and acceptability of 2 video-based microinterventions aimed at reducing barriers to MH treatment and increasing the likelihood of seeking professional help in young people. METHODS: This study was entirely web based and open access...

The analysis of pressure induced changes in the chemical shift of proteins allows statements on structural fluctuations proteins exhibit at ambient pressure. The inherent issue of separating general pressure effects from structural related effects on the pressure dependence of chemical shifts has so far been addressed by considering the characteristics of random coil peptides on increasing pressure. In this work, chemically and pressure denatured states of the cold shock protein B from Bacillus subtilis (BsCspB) have been assigned in 2D 1H-15N HSQC NMR spectra and their dependence on increasing hydrostatic pressure has been evaluated...

BACKGROUND: Geriatric patients, prone to adverse events (AEs) and low compliance with drugs, may benefit from minimally invasive surgical therapies (MISTs) for managing benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). We evaluated the efficacy, safety, and procedural characteristics of MISTs in geriatric patients with BPH. METHODS: PubMed/MEDLINE database was systematically searched for relevant articles through October 1, 2023. Eligible studies focused on geriatric patients (≥65 years) with BPH who were treated with MISTs and evaluated follow-up surgical, micturition, and/or sexual outcomes...

Connectivity is a fundamental process of population dynamics in marine ecosystems. In the last decade, with the emergence of new methods, combining different approaches to understand the patterns of connectivity among populations and their regulation has become increasingly feasible. The Western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) is characterized by complex oceanographic dynamics, where local conditions could act as barriers to population connectivity. Here, the notothenioid fish Harpagifer antarcticus, a demersal species with a complex life cycle (adults with poor swim capabilities and pelagic larvae), was used to assess connectivity along the WAP by combining biophysical modelling and population genomics methods...

BACKGROUND: Efficient separation and purification of proteins like C-phycocyanin (C-PC) from Spirulina platensis are essential for their commercialization, yet remain challenging. This study investigates three chromatographic methods: weak anion exchange chromatography (DEAE), strong anion exchange chromatography (Q Sepharose), and hydrophobic interaction chromatography (HIC) for C-PC purification. RESULTS: DEAE chromatography achieved a recovery of 36.80 mg unit (57...

OBJECTIVE: The aims of this study were to (a) evaluate the lifetime prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) according to sociodemographic characteristics, (b) determine sociodemographic factors associated with PTSD, (c) estimate the lifetime prevalence rates of comorbidities by age and gender, and (d) assess the proportion of traumatic events in the non-PTSD sample and the PTSD sample, according to gender. METHODS: The data used for the present study were obtained from the IRCAP study which was a cross-sectional, community-based study on 29,250 children and adolescents aged 6-18 years from all provinces of Iran, which was done using multistage cluster sampling...

Molecular anisotropy plays an important role in the glass transition of a liquid. Recently, a novel bulk glass state has been discovered by optical microscopy experiments on suspensions of ellipsoidal colloids. "Liquid glass" is a disordered analog of a nematic liquid crystal, in which rotation motion is hindered but particles diffuse freely. Global nematic order is suppressed as clusters of aligned particles intertwine. We perform Brownian dynamics simulations to test the structure and dynamics of a dense system of soft ellipsoidal particles...

Diverse abiotic and biotic factors drive the ecological variation of communities across spatial and temporal dimensions. Within the Amazonian landscape, various freshwater environments exhibit distinct physicochemical characteristics. Thus, our study delved into the fluctuations of Odonata assemblages amidst distinct water bodies within Amazonia, encompassing two distinct climatic seasons. Comparative analysis was conducted on Odonata species diversity and assemblage composition across a blackwater pond, a lake, and a stream, spanning the initiation and culmination of the dry season in the southwestern Amazon region in Peru...

Affordable and abundant sources of green hydrogen can give a large impetus to the Energy Transition. While conventional water electrolysis has positioned itself as a prospective candidate for this purpose, it lacks cost competitiveness. Hybrid water electrolysis (HWE) has been praised for its ability to address the issues of conventional water electrolysis due to its decreased energy requirements and its ability to generate value-added products, among other advantages. In this perspective, we discuss the challenges related to the applicability of HWE, using the glycerol oxidation reaction as an example, and we identify pitfalls often found in the literature...