Browse Articles

Biased adrenergic receptor agonist tackles metabolic disease

Qian Zhao

Reversible Structural Oscillation Mediates Stable Oxygen Evolution Reaction

Abstract The dynamic dissolution of active species of electrocatalysts suffers severe durability issues, thus limiting practical sustainable electrochemical application despite the enormous strides in the activity. An atomistic understanding of the dynamic pattern is a fundamental prerequisite for realizing prolonged stability. Herein, modeling on NiFe LDHs, multiple operando spectroscopies revealed the structural oscillation of the local [Ni–O 2 –Fe] unit identified a strong dependence on the alternant Fe dissolution and redeposition during the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) process, thus mediating the dynamic stability. At this point, a proof‐of‐concept strategy with S, Co co‐doping was demonstrated to tune structural oscillations. In situ S leaching that alleviates the lattice mismatch suppresses Fe dissolution, while the electron‐withdrawing Co as a deposition site promotes Fe redeposition, thus achieving the reversible oscillation of local [Ni/Co–O 2 –Fe] units and dynamic stability. The implementation of the modified NiFe LDH in industrial water electrolysis equipment operated steadily over 800 h (5000‐h lifetime obtained by epitaxial method with 10% attenuation) with an energy consumption of 4.05 kWh Nm −3 H 2 @ 4000 A m −2 . The levelized cost of hydrogen of US$ 2.315 per kg H2 overmatches the European Commission's target for the coming decade (<US$ 2.5 per kg H2 ).

Computer vision based efficient segmentation and classification of multi brain tumor using computed tomography images

Kueselia aquadivae gen. nov., sp. nov., the first member of the family Isosphaeraceae isolated from subsurface percolates

Abstract Subsurface habitats, found under various geological conditions, exhibit diverse microbial communities. The vadose zone, a previously unexplored subsurface compartment, connects the surface to phreatic groundwater. Drilling into the subsurface allows access to these habitats for microbial diversity study. Due to nutrient limitation, subsurface microbiomes adapt, potentially producing biotechnologically important biomolecules. Planctomycetota, known for possessing about 20 to 45% of protein-coding genes of unknown function, may be relevant in this context. A percolate water sample from the weathered bedrock of the Hainich Critical Zone Exploratory (CZE; Thuringia, Germany) was processed to enrich planctomycetes, leading to the isolation of an uncharacterized Isosphaeraceae member, strain EP7T. Strain EP7T forms round, pink colonies, and spherical, non-motile cells that divide asymmetrically by budding. It grows between 10 and 24 °C and over a range of pH 5 to pH 10. Its genome size is 7.2 Mbp, and its DNA G + C content is 66.7%. Polyphasic characterization justifies the assignment of strain EP7T to a novel species within a novel genus. We introduce the name Kueselia aquadivae for the novel taxon with strain EP7T as the type strain of the novel species. Strain EP7T represents the first Isosphaeraceae member isolated from vadose zone percolate water.

The ConPET Mechanism Remains Veiled: Reply to “Unlocking the ConPeT Mechanism”

Abstract In this journal, a Correspondence by Ventura, Cozzi, and Ceroni reported time‐resolved absorption spectroscopy studies in the electron transfer process from cyanoarene photocatalyst 3,4,5,6‐tetrakis(diphenyl amino)phthalonitrile (4DPAPN) in the presence of tetrabutylammonium oxalate (TBAOx). This was used as a model reaction to investigate the mechanism of consecutive photoinduced electron transfer (ConPET) in our previously reported asymmetric [3+2] photocycloaddition. They proposed a new electron transfer pathway in which the electron from the excited state of the radical anion 4DPAPN* •− solvated in acetonitrile. This article replies to their Correspondence, including: the experimental and theoretical analysis on the driving force of electron transfer and a series of new experiments conducted with purer reagents under more stringent conditions, which suggest that the process of proton‐coupled electron transfer (PCET) followed by ConPET cannot be excluded, as proposed in our previous publication. Yet, Ceroni et al.’s efforts to study organic photochemical reactions using time‐resolved spectroscopy remain worthwhile, and their proposed mechanism also led us to consider other possible pathways for the reaction. This article concludes with a series of constructive suggestions for further studying the ConPET mechanism using time‐resolved absorption spectroscopy and other techniques.

A repetitive amplitude encoding method for enhancing the mapping ability of quantum neural networks

Abstract With the rapid development of quantum machine learning, quantum neural networks (QNNs) have become a research hotspot. However, the quantum gates used to implement feature mapping in this model are all linear transformations, which directly affects the mapping ability of the model. Therefore, how to enhance the mapping capability of QNN is an important issue that has not yet been effectively addressed. This paper proposes a repetitive amplitude encoding method that encodes the probability amplitudes of multiple qubit blocks by repeatedly using the same set of classical data, effectively improving the mapping capability of QNN. Taking the MNIST dataset as an example, the experimental results comparing the repetitive amplitude encoding method with several existing encoding methods show that, firstly, when the number of classes is fixed, the repetitive amplitude encoding is superior to other methods. Secondly, when the number of hidden layers in QNN is fixed, as the number of classes increases, the performance of repetitive amplitude encoding not only consistently outperforms other methods, but this advantage becomes increasingly apparent. Finally, the repetitive amplitude encoding-based QNN was applied to reservoir lithology identification in the field of oil and gas exploration, IRIS and WINe classification datasets. By comparing with classical neural networks, the proposed method was validated for its adaptability to different classification problems and superior classification performance compared to classical neural networks.

Multi-objective hybrid optimized coil design for enhanced efficiency, improved voltage gain, and compactness for inductive power transfer

Abstract With a rising global population and vehicle usage, electric vehicles (EVs) have emerged as a sustainable solution for carbon neutrality. The paper’s main objective is to test the performance of the optimized coil design for the Inductive power transfer (IPT) prototype designed for 48 V light EV (LEV) applications operating at 86 kHz. The coils are optimized for objectives such as compactness and power transfer efficiency, using a hybrid multi-objective optimization algorithm combining Taylor-series tuning and Dove Swarm (DSO) optimization. The optimized coil design achieved power transfer efficiency (PTE) of 94% with a voltage gain of 0.93 and current gain of 0.9. A minimum drop of approximately 0.7 V (1.5%) is observed between the primary to secondary coils. Simulation and hardware tests showed minimal voltage loss and strong coupling, validated for variable frequency operation. This shows the robustness of the LC optimized coil compact IPT system designed in this paper. Compact coil design in this research aids in high power transfer efficiency while reducing size, making it well-suited for LEV wireless charging.

Quality of life and well-being in Colombian centenarians

Unmet needs in vaccine development

Assessing flood susceptibility in a Triyuga watershed, Nepal using statistical models

Functional roles of purified yapsins from Candida glabrata (Nakaseomyces glabratus) in immune modulation and cross-species biofilm formation

Abstract Candida glabrata (currently classified as Nakaseomyces glabratus) is an opportunistic yeast-like fungus that causes infections in humans, with limited treatment options due to resistance to antifungal drugs. In contrast to C. albicans, which produces secreted aspartic proteases (Saps) involved in pathogenicity, C. glabrata expresses a distinct group of cell surface-associated aspartic proteases known as yapsins (Yps). While YPS gene deletion mutants have proposed roles in cellular homeostasis, their precise contribution to fungal virulence and host interactions remains unclear. Herein, we present the first detailed biochemical and functional characterization of two native Yps proteins, Yps3 and Yps9, purified from C. glabrata cultures. Both proteases displayed robust activity in a mildly acidic to neutral pH range (5.5–7.0), resistance to the classical aspartic protease inhibitor pepstatin A, and selectively degraded key host antimicrobial peptides, including LL-37 cathelicidin, histatin 5 (Hst5), and kininogen-derived peptide NAT26, by hydrolyzing lysine residues. Additionally, Yps9 promoted C. albicans biofilm dispersal. In a Galleria mellonella infection model, a pre-treatment with each protease enhanced larval survival and increased phenol oxidase activity, implying a role of yapsins in immune priming. Collectively, these findings reveal multifunctional roles for Yps3 and Yps9 in fungal virulence, biofilm modulation, and host immune interactions.

Pine fruit activated carbon modified with CuCo2Se4 for the application in high-performance battery-type supercapacitor

Household adoption of domestic water filtration for combating waterborne diseases in developing countries

Robust fault diagnosis of fractional order Takagi–Sugeno systems with uncertainties in premise variables

The mechanism of academic self-efficacy in the relationship between professional identity and learning engagement among university students

Investigation of mechanical properties and performance of automotive brake pads

Abstract This study evaluates the performance of three powder metallurgy-based brake pad formulations (BP1, BP2, and BP3) by examining mass loss, hardness, braking force, coefficient of friction (COF), noise, and vibration under 5 and 8 bar pressures. BP1 exhibited the highest braking force (640.99 N) and COF (0.3873) at 8 bars, with improvements of 7.7–13.6% and 4.4–6.8% over BP2 and BP3, respectively. However, this came with the highest mass loss (1.2 g/h), noise (17.5 dB), and vibration (0.743 m/s²), attributed to three-body abrasive wear from SiC and ZrO₂ particles.BP3 demonstrated the lowest mass loss (1.07 g/h, ~ 20% lower than BP1), noise (14.8 dB), and vibration (0.571 m/s²), making it suitable for quiet, long-life applications. BP2 showed balanced behavior across all parameters. Hardness values were 46 HRC (BP1), 38 HRC (BP2), and 44 HRC (BP3), aligning with observed braking forces and structural compactness.

A comprehensive study on drug-related Raynaud’s phenomenon based on the FDA adverse event reporting system

A field experiment to improve initial patient engagement for hypertension prevention in South Korea

Alkali Metal Cations Impact the Selectivity of Radical‐Mediated Electrochemical C─H Chlorination

Abstract Electrochemistry offers a promising route toward facilitating organic transformation reactions in a sustainable manner. However, there are often a multitude of factors at play; hence, it can be unclear how operating conditions can be rationally tuned to optimize selectivity. Here, we demonstrate how the identity of alkali metal cations in the electrolyte can control the selectivity of electrochemical C─H chlorination. Specifically, we obtained a 90.3% Faradaic efficiency with KCl as compared to 78.4% with LiCl for the conversion of cyclohexane to chlorocyclohexane at 1000 mA using an IrO x electrode. Electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy experiments indicate a greater propensity for Cl − oxidation to generate Cl radicals in the order: K +  > Na +  > Li + . This leads to an increase in the selectivity toward the chlorination of cyclohexane and a concomitant decrease in competitive Cl 2 formation. Density functional theory calculations and in situ Raman spectroscopy experiments indicate that this is likely due to a decrease in *Cl binding energy on IrO x in the presence of K + . These findings highlight the important role of alkali metal cations, which can be a key consideration for designing electrochemical organic synthesis systems.