Browse Articles
Discover research articles across all indexed journals
Upcycling polyolefins to methane-free liquid fuel by a Ru1-ZrO2 catalyst
Abstract Upcycling waste plastics into liquid fuels presents significant potential for advancing the circular economy but is hindered by poor selectivity and low-value methane byproduct formation. In this work, we report that atomic Ru-doped ZrO2 can selectively convert 100 grams of post-consumer polyethylene and polypropylene, yielding 85 mL of liquid in a solvent-free hydrocracking. The liquid (C5-C20) comprises ~70% jet-fuel-ranged branched hydrocarbons (C8-C16), while the gas product is liquefied-petroleum-gas (C3-C6) without methane and ethane. We found that the atomic Ru dopant in the Ru-O-Zr moiety functionalizes its neighboring O atom, originally inert, to create a Brønsted acid site. This Brønsted acid site, rather than the atomic Ru dopant itself, selectively governs the internal C−C bond cleavage in polyolefins through a carbonium ion mechanism, thereby enhancing the yield of jet-fuel-ranged hydrocarbons and suppressing methane formation. This oxide modulation strategy provides a paradigm shift in catalyst design for hydrocracking waste plastics and holds potential for a broad spectrum of applications.
Impact of proximity definitions and sampling rates on social networks in pigs based on tracking using computer vision
Ayu: a machine intelligence tool for identification of extracellular proteins in the marine secretome
Abstract Microbes are the engines driving the elemental cycles. In order to interact with their environment and the community, microbes secrete proteins into the environment (known collectively as the secretome), where they remain active for prolonged periods of time. Despite the environmental relevance of microbes, our knowledge of the marine secretome remains limited due to a lack of effective in silico methods for the study of secreted proteins. An alternative approach to characterise the secretome is to combine modern machine learning tools with the evolutionary adaptation changes of the proteome to the marine environment. In this study, we identify and describe adaptations of marine extracellular proteins, which vary between phyla, resulting in differences in ATP costs, amino acid composition and nitrogen and sulphur content. We develop ‘Ayu’, a machine prediction tool that does not employ homology-based predictors and achieves better and quicker performance than current state-of-the-art software. When applied to oceanic samples (Tara Oceans dataset), our method was able to recover more than double the proteins compared to the most widely used method to identify secreted proteins. The application of this tool to open ocean samples allows better characterisation of the composition of the marine secretome.
Metabarcoding identifies macroalgal composition as a driver of benthic invertebrate assemblages in restored habitats
Abstract Large brown macroalgal forests support diverse communities of associated invertebrates. However, human activities have led to their degradation, replacing the original macroalgal assemblages with less-complex habitats and altering the associated invertebrate communities. To counteract this, restoration actions are currently being performed aiming at their recovery. Here, we used metabarcoding of the COI gene to describe the invertebrate community of a 10-year restored macroalgal forest dominated by Gongolaria barbata. This invertebrate assemblage was compared with an assemblage adjacent to the restoration site where G. barbata is absent, and two healthy assemblages also dominated by G. barbata, used as references. Results showed that arthropods, molluscs, and annelids were the most abundant groups. Specific MOTUs representing sponge and ascidian species were exclusively found in G. barbata assemblages, suggesting that the restoration particularly benefited some of these organisms. Crustaceans and molluscs, however, were similarly abundant across assemblages, including the one dominated by photophilous macroalgae (without G. barbata), thus indicating that these mobile groups may equally colonise these alternative habitats. The overall composition of the restored assemblage did not completely resemble references, suggesting that recovering all associated diversity is a complex process, most likely influenced by multiple factors that require further investigation.
A standalone bismuth vanadate-silicon artificial leaf achieving 8.4% efficiency for hydrogen production
Abstract The development of scalable photoelectrochemical water splitting with high solar-to-hydrogen efficiency and long-term stability is essential while challenging for practical application. Here, we design a BiVO4 photoanode with gradient distributed oxygen vacancies, which induces strong dipole fields to promote charge separation. Growing sea-urchin-like FeOOH cocatalyst on the photoanode leads to a photocurrent density of 7.0 mA cm−2 at 1.23 V versus the reversible hydrogen electrode and is stable for over 520 h under AM 1.5 G illumination. By integrating with a silicon photovoltaic cell, the standalone artificial leaf achieves a solar-to-hydrogen efficiency of 8.4%. The scale-up of these artificial leaves up to 441 cm2 in size can deliver a solar-to-hydrogen efficiency of 2.7% under natural sunlight. Life cycle assessment analysis shows that solar water splitting has little environmental footprint for hydrogen production. Our study demonstrates the possibility of designing metal oxide-based artificial leaves for scalable solar hydrogen production.
Student dropout prediction through machine learning optimization: insights from moodle log data
Emergence and global spread of a dominant multidrug-resistant clade within Acinetobacter baumannii
Prenatal bisphenol A exposure causes sperm quality and functional defects via Leydig cell impairment and meiosis arrest in mice offspring
Comprehensive promotion of iPSC-CM maturation by integrating metabolic medium with nanopatterning and electrostimulation
Abstract The immaturity of human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (iPSC-CMs) is a major limitation for their use in drug screening to identify pro-arrhythmogenic or cardiotoxic molecules. Here, we demonstrate an approach that combines lipid-enriched maturation medium with a high concentration of calcium, nanopatterning of culture surfaces and electrostimulation to generate iPSC-CMs with advanced electrophysiological, structural and metabolic phenotypes. Systematic testing reveals that electrostimulation is the key driver of enhanced mitochondrial development and metabolic maturation and improved electrophysiological properties of iPSC-CMs. Increased calcium concentration strongly promotes electrophysiological maturation, while nanopatterning primarily facilitates sarcomere organisation with minor effect on electrophysiological properties. Transcriptome analysis reveals that activation of HMCES and TFAM targets contributes to mitochondrial development, whereas downregulation of MAPK/PI3K and SRF targets is associated with iPSC-CM polyploidy. These findings provide mechanistic insights into iPSC-CM maturation, paving the way for pharmacological responses that more closely resemble those of adult CMs.