Browse Articles

Benchmarking short- and long-read sequencing technologies for metagenomic profiling of microbiomes

Time‐Resolved Native Mass Spectrometry Reveals Reversible Light‐Driven Oligomerization of <i>Arabidopsis</i> Cryptochrome 1 and Its Antagonism by BIC1

ABSTRACT Cryptochromes (CRYs) are blue‐light photoreceptors that mediate light‐dependent signaling in plants. Here, we uncover the molecular mechanism underlying blue‐light activation of the Arabidopsis thaliana cryptochrome 1 photolyase homology region (CRY1‐PHR) using time‐resolved native mass spectrometry combined with kinetic modeling. This approach enables direct monitoring of light‐driven complex formation with temporal and molecular resolution. We show that blue‐light activation of CRY1‐PHR follows a reversible assembly pathway in which monomers rapidly form dimers that further assemble into tetramers. A quantitative two‐step kinetic model captures the dynamic interplay between light‐induced oligomerization and thermal disassembly. Strikingly, ATP accelerates tetramer formation and stabilizes oligomers by tuning the underlying photochemistry of the flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) chromophore. In contrast, the Blue‐light Inhibitor of Cryptochromes 1 (BIC1) acts as a potent antagonist. BIC1 binds to CRY1‐PHR even in the dark, with significantly increased affinity under blue light, thereby inhibiting oligomerization and actively disassembling pre‐formed tetramers. This disassembly is light‐independent and occurs regardless of CRY's redox state. Together, these findings provide a kinetic and mechanistic framework for reversible blue‐light signaling by plant CRYs and highlight how opposing regulators precisely modulate photoreceptor activation at the molecular level.

Knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding childhood epilepsy among parents of children with epilepsy: a questionnaire-based study

Abstract This study examined the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) among caregivers of children with epilepsy. A cross-sectional survey was conducted from September 2024 to February 2025 in two hospitals in Zibo, China. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was applied to explore the relationships among the KAP components. A total of 385 caregivers participated; most were female (59.5%) and urban residents (44.7%). Regarding education, 39.5% held an associate degree or higher, and 49.1% were employed. Most children were aged 7–12 years (45.7%). Mean scores for knowledge, attitudes, and practices were 19.76 ± 2.68, 23.43 ± 3.18, and 23.57 ± 2.52, respectively. Although overall knowledge levels met the threshold for adequacy, important gaps remained, such as uncertainty regarding vaccination safety. Attitudes were often negative, with 70.9% of caregivers believing epilepsy would adversely affect career and marriage prospects and 35.6% expecting social prejudice. In addition, some caregivers reported potentially unsafe practices, such as inserting objects into the mouth during seizures. SEM results indicated that knowledge was positively associated with attitude (β = 0.303, P  &lt; 0.001) and practice (β = 0.204, P  = 0.001), while attitude showed a strong association with practice (β = 0.708, P  &lt; 0.001). Knowledge also demonstrated an indirect association with practice through attitude (β = 0.215, P  &lt; 0.001), although the magnitude of this effect was modest. In conclusion, caregivers of children with epilepsy demonstrated knowledge levels that met the adequacy threshold but exhibited persistent misconceptions, negative attitudes, and suboptimal caregiving practices. These findings suggest that improving caregiving behavior may require multifaceted interventions that address not only knowledge but also attitudinal and contextual factors.

Synergistic Engineering of Bulk Integrity and Interfacial Reversibility via a Hierarchical Triphase Matrix for Stable Na Metal Batteries

ABSTRACT Considerable volume fluctuation and sluggish Na + diffusion capability have been identified as the key factors triggering uncontrolled growth of dendrite, hindering the practical exploration of sodium metal batteries (SMBs). Herein, a triphase Na 3 Bi/Na 2 S/Na 2 O composite anode ( abbr . BOS‐Na), with both enhanced bulk mechanical strength and interfacial structural stability, is fabricated through a two‐birds‐with‐one‐stone strategy by impregnating 2D Bi 2 O 2 S nanosheets into molten metallic Na. The formed hierarchical high sodiophilic Na 3 Bi skeleton not only withstands dramatic volume expansion, improving the structural stability upon long‐term cycling, but also facilitates charge transfer throughout the bulk electrode, lowering the reaction energy barrier. Concurrently, the uniformly distributed Na 2 S accelerates Na + diffusion, regulating ion flux and electrical field on the Na surface, contributing to compact Na + deposition. Additionally, the electronically insulating Na 2 O component on the interface suppresses electron transport between the active material and organic electrolytes, avoiding the occurrence of side reactions and “dead Na”. Crucially, the Na + deposition behavior and mechanism are comprehensively revealed through ex situ characterizations, in‐depth XPS analysis, and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Consequently, the BOS‐Na symmetric cell operates smoothly for 1300 h at 0.5 mA cm −2 /1 mAh cm −2 , while the BOS‐Na//NVP full cell also achieves a lifespan of 2000 cycles at 5 A g −1 .

Characterization of Alternaria alternata alternariol monomethyl ether with a potential antiproliferative activity by topoisomerases inhibition; molecular docking and dynamic simulations

Abstract The drug resistance is one of the challenges in cancer chemotherapy, due to the development of different drug-efflux pumps that expels the drug out of the cells, thus, searching for new compounds with multiple targets in tumor cells, could be an affordable chemotherapy. Alternariol monomethyl ether (AME) was preliminary recognized as a cytotoxic compound, however, its availability and equivocal activity are the hurdles for further applications. Alternaria alternata EFBL-025, PV342518.1 , endophyte of Catharanthus roseus, exhibited the highest AME productivity (550 μg/l). Chemically, the structure of putative compound of A. alternata was committed from the TLC, HPLC and LC-MS/MS, with molecular mass 274.2 m/z, and typical fragmentation pattern of authentic AME. The purified AME of A. alternata exhibited a substantial activity against the MCF-7 (IC 50 2.5 μM), HepG-2 (IC 50 3.5 μM), Caco2 (IC 50 3.9 μM), compared to OEC (IC 50 13.5 μM), i.e with selectivity indices 5.4, 3.9 and 3.5, respectively. The AME has a highest inhibitory activity of Topoisomerase II (IC 50 10.2 nM), than Topoisomerase I (IC 50 16.7 nM), with a noticeable ability to arrest the division of MCF-7 cells at the G2/M and S phases by 1.5 and 2 folds, respectively, compared to the control. The AME of A. alternata significantly induces the total apoptosis, early apoptosis and necrosis of MCF-7 by 20, 22 and 2.9 folds. The docking analysis showed that AME had a favorable binding affinity for topoisomerases I/II with binding scores -7.72 and -6.06 kcal/mol, normalized to camptothecin and etoposide that have binding scores -9.44 and -6.82 kcal/mol, respectively. The molecular dynamics simulations explored the reliable stability of protein-AME complexes.

Ligand‐Controlled Switchable Synthesis of Fused Polycycles by Selective 1,4‐Palladium Migration

ABSTRACT The palladium migration strategy has been employed for the functionalization of remote C─H bonds, offering an efficient approach to construct fused heterocycles. In this study, a novel ligand‐controlled switchable synthesis of fused quinolinone skeletons from 1,7‐enynes and perfluoroalkyl iodides via selective 1,4‐palladium migration is disclosed. When DPEphos is used as the ligand, vinyl‐to‐aryl 1,4‐palladium migration is promoted, affording a wide range of perfluoroalkyl‐containing 4,5,10‐fused quinolinone derivatives. In contrast, the use of DPPPy as the ligand facilitates vinyl‐to‐alkyl 1,4‐palladium migration, yielding various perfluoroalkyl‐containing 3,4‐fused quinolinone derivatives. Notably, this protocol also enables modifications of various drug molecules. DFT calculations have been conducted to elucidate the cis‐trans isomerization pathways of alkenyl palladium intermediates with different ligands.

Perspectives and lessons from a community-based collaborative eye care model in Singapore

Automated classification of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo from video-nystagmography using a delay-aware neural network

Abstract Nystagmus is a key indicator of vestibular disorders, including benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV). Accurate diagnosis of BPPV is essential, as it is treatable with specific bedside maneuvers that lead to rapid symptom resolution, thereby improving patient outcomes and reducing unnecessary treatments. In clinical practice, identification of positional nystagmus relies on eliciting and interpreting eye movements during provocative maneuvers, with or without video nystagmography (VNG). This process can be subjective and difficult to standardize when signals are subtle, noisy, or temporally variable. We present DSF-BPPVNet, a delay-aware neural architecture for BPPV classification from VNG traces. The model combines temporal convolution, delayed-state feedback, and residual refinement to support classification from temporally structured eye-movement signals. The model was evaluated on 3,111 VNG traces from 705 patients using 5-fold cross-validation and compared with established deep-learning baselines. In the patient-independent setting, DSF-BPPVNet achieved the strongest overall performance among the evaluated models, with an F1-score of 0.819 ± 0.020. Explainability analyses were also performed to characterize model attribution patterns and temporal weighting behavior.

Wafer‐Scale MgO:Li ⁺ ,Cr ³⁺ Transparent Ceramic Scintillators With NIR Emission for X‐Ray Dual‐Mode Fusion and Time‐Lapse Imaging

ABSTRACT The integration of X‐ray and near‐infrared (NIR) imaging holds great potential for nondestructive detection and biomedical analysis. However, premature carrier recombination leads to the loss of imaging information, and the development of reliable transparent scintillators with exceptional light yield (LY) remains a challenge. Here, we report a wafer‐scale bifunctional MgO:Li + ,Cr 3+ NIR‐transparent ceramic with a diameter of 45 mm. Under 460 nm blue light and X‐ray excitation, the ceramic exhibits a narrow emission peak at 722 nm with a broad shoulder at 750 nm. The LY and detection limit are determined to be 25683 Ph·MeV −1 and 0.84 µGy·s −1 , respectively. Notably, oxygen vacancy‐related deep traps in the MgO:Li + ,Cr 3+ ceramic enable efficient electron storage and persistent luminescence exceeding 120 min. Fused X‐ray and NIR dual‐modal imaging enables clear visualization for the profile of a concealed soft robot. Its in situ localization through 5 mm‐thick pork tissue is achieved via X‐ray‐activated persistent luminescence, which demonstrates the transformative potential of the MgO:Li + ,Cr 3+ ceramic for advanced biomedical and industrial inspection applications.

Mechanochemical optimization and scope of triple and multiple Sonogashira couplings of triethynylbenzene for conjugated porous polymer synthesis

Isostructural Transformation From a Hydrogen‐Bonded Metal‐Complex Framework to a Metal–Organic Framework for Enhanced Ammonia Tolerance

ABSTRACT Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are promising sorbents for ammonia (NH 3 ) storage and capture. However, rationally synthesizing target MOFs with NH 3 tolerance and reversible uptake still remains challenging. Here, we present a hydrogen‐bonded metal‐complex framework (ALP‐HOF‐1) that can isostructurally transform to a porous MOF (ALP‐MOF‐4) via a ligand substitution strategy to dramatically enhance NH 3 tolerance and reversibility. The remarkable NH 3 tolerance was unambiguously confirmed by the retention of NH 3 adsorption capacities after consecutive adsorption/desorption cycles and breakthrough experiments. At 298 K and 1.0 bar, ALP‐MOF‐4 exhibits a high NH 3 packing density comparable to liquid NH 3 . X−ray photoelectron spectroscopy and computational studies ascertain the binding domains of adsorbed NH 3 molecules. Open metal sites, Brønsted basic carbonyl (─C═O), and acidic ─NH groups in ALP‐MOF‐4 act cooperatively as preferred anchoring sites for NH 3 capture, resulting in excellent trace NH 3 capture performance under mixed NH 3 , CO 2 , and N 2 streams with effluent NH 3 below 50 ppm. The structural integrity and recyclability of ALP‐MOF‐4 demonstrate its potential as a durable NH 3 sorbent. This work provides design principles for rational transformations from HOFs to MOFs featuring active‐site environments for selective gas capture.

Characteristics, source analysis, and health risk assessments of heavy metals for karst water in Shentou spring area, northern China

Lattice Hydroxyl‐Assisted Platinum Single Atom Catalyst Toward Hydrogen Production From Methanol Aqueous Reforming

ABSTRACT Methanol aqueous reforming reaction (APRM) provides a green and clean route towards hydrogen production, in which the structure design and preparation of efficient catalysts remains a challenge. Herein, we report a platinum catalyst supported on the porous hydroxyl lanthanum oxide, which is prepared via glycine combustion method followed by a reduction process. The optimized 0.8%Pt/La catalyst, which is featured by Pt single‐atom dispersed on a La 2 (OH) 2 x O 3‐2 x support, exhibits an extraordinary catalytic performance towards APRM. A H 2 production rate of 7672 µmol H2 g cat −1 min −1 and an average turnover frequency (ATOF) of 11973 h ‒1 are obtained, which is preponderant to the state‐of‐the‐art catalysts. An in‐depth investigation based on kinetic isotope analysis, in situ spectroscopy characterizations and theoretical calculations substantiates that Pt single atom coordinated with adjacent lattice hydroxyl (OH L ) with electron transfer from Pt to support serves as the intrinsic active site, in which the Pt δ + site promotes the dehydrogenation of methoxyl whilst lattice hydroxyl directly participates in the oxidative coupling process (CH 2 O* + OH L → CH 2 OOH*). Furthermore, the Pt δ + −(OH L ) x −La interface sites can remarkably reduce the energy barrier of CH 2 OOH* dehydrogenation (rate‐determining step), and the resulting hydroxyl vacancies can boost H 2 O dissociation to recover consumed OH L , accounting for the exceptional catalytic performance.

Exploring how textual complexity affects cognitive load during reading: an eye-tracking study

Axial compression behavior and design of perforated high-strength steel square hollow section stub columns

Abstract Perforations are frequently introduced in steel structural members to accommodate service ducts and reduce structural weight; however, their presence can significantly affect the load-carrying capacity of compression members. This study presents a numerical investigation on the performance of cold-formed high-strength steel (CFHSS) square hollow section (SHS) stub columns having double-sided perforations. Finite element (FE) models were developed and validated against available experimental results for non-perforated high-strength steel (HSS) SHS stub columns and perforated carbon steel SHS stub columns, due to the absence of experimental data for perforated HSS members. This limitation is acknowledged and discussed. A comprehensive set of experimental and numerical column capacities from previous studies and the present parametric analysis were used to evaluate the accuracy of existing codified and proposed design equations, including the Direct Strength Method (DSM). The comparisons show that most current design equations for perforated stub columns provide overly conservative and highly scattered predictions of column capacity for perforated stub columns. To further investigate these effects, a parametric study covering the influence of thickness, perforation shape, size, and height on column capacity was conducted. Among all parameters, the size effect was found to have a significant impact on the stub column capacity. Hence, a modified DSM design equation has been proposed for various perforation size ratios (i.e. diameter of perforation to the width of the column specimen) considering the previous test results and current FE column capacities. A tri-linear equation for the size ratios d/D ≤ 0.5 and 0.5 &lt; d/D &lt; 0.7 were separately proposed. The proposed design equation demonstrates improved predictive accuracy and reliability within the investigated parameter range and may serve as a useful basis for future development of design provisions for perforated high-strength steel tubular stub columns, subject to further experimental validation.

Programmable Diacetylene‐Bridged Cyclotetrathiophenes With Nonplanar π‐Expanded Skeleton for Electrochemical Sodium Storage

ABSTRACT Fused aromatic ring systems offer flexibility in molecular‐level design, facilitating programmable redox activity and exhibiting remarkable energy‐storage performance. Nevertheless, the planar backbone structure and strong π–π stacking significantly impede their practical capacity and cycle stability. Herein, we present a novel three‐dimensional (3D) polymer, diacetylene‐linked cyclic tetrathiophene ( 3D‐PTE‐COTh ) with a partial crystalline structure, which is based on the thiophene‐fused [8]cycloene framework and intramolecular acetylene connecting wires. This construction exploits the electrochemically induced micro‐telescopic behavior regulated by Hückel's rule, allowing for dynamic conformational alterations that alleviate π–π stacking effects. Simultaneously, the combination of fused thiophene and graphdiyne‐like linkages improves electronic conductivity and introduces a plethora of electron‐deficient redox‐active sites. As a cathode material, the synergistic sodium storage of the cyclooctatetraene (C 8 ring), ─C≡C─C≡C─ bonds, and fused‐thiophene enables 3D‐PTE‐COTh to achieve a high specific capacity of 347.9 mAh g −1 at 0.5 A g −1 , thereby presenting new prospects for the design of advanced organic electrode materials.

Novel blue hydrogen production process through chemical looping water splitting with sorption enhanced—steam methane reforming (CLWS + SE-SMR) coupling

Serum creatinine to cystatin C ratio and risk of incident digestive diseases in middle-aged and older adults: a prospective national cohort study

Dithioketal Polymers Via Radical Polymerization of γ‐Dithiobutyrolactone

ABSTRACT Polymers bearing in‐chain dithioketal groups are an emerging class of materials with specific properties like reactive oxygen species (ROS)‐responsiveness and vitrimer‐type behavior. Until now, these polymers have been exclusively produced by step‐growth polymerization or polyaddition; herein, we report the first chain polymerization leading to dithioketal polymers. γ‐dithiobutyrolactone (DTBL) is radically copolymerized with a series of conjugated monomers to yield copolymers with ring‐retained dithioketal units exclusively. DFT calculations rationalize the contrasting behaviors of DTBL and its thionolactone analogue γ‐thionobutyrolactone (TBL), highlighting how electronic effects of the ring heteroatoms govern propagation efficiency and ring‐retention versus ring‐opening pathways. The ability of DTBL to bring degradability to thermosets, latexes, and RAFT‐derived complex architectures is revealed.

Shaping green workplace behavior in tourism and hospitality through organizational learning, workforce agility and organizational intelligence