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Specific selection on XEG1 and XLP1 genes correlates with host range and adaptability in Phytophthora
The spillover effects of Medicare’s comprehensive care for joint replacement (CJR) model in California
The Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CJR) model, a bundled Medicare payment for lower extremity joint replacement (LEJR), was initially randomized across the United States, providing a unique opportunity to study the broad impact of this alternative payment model. This study aimed to determine the spillover effects of the CJR model on older patients in California covered outside of the traditional Medicare program. The study analyzed hospitalizations for hip and knee joint replacement in California between January 2014 and December 2017 from the California Patient Discharge Dataset. The study used event study and difference-in-differences models to estimate changes in discharge-related outcomes in hospitals in treated and control areas before versus after CJR implementation (April 2016). Main outcomes were hospital length of stay and home discharge rates. All LEJR patients admitted to the treated or control hospitals were included in the study regardless of their primary payers. Of 312,914 analyzed LEJR hospitalizations (mean [SD] age, 68.3 [11.3] years; 189,575 [60.6%] women; 15,374 [4.9%] black), 113,590 (36.3%) were covered by traditional Medicare (TM), 83,277 (26.6%) were covered by Medicare Advantage (MA), and 116,047 (37.1%) were without Medicare coverage. After program implementation, TM and non-Medicare patients in treated hospitals experienced reductions in length of stay (-4.0% & -1.0%, p < 0.05) and TM, MA and non-Medicare patients in treated hospitals experienced increases in home discharge rates (3.4%, 4.7% & 2.3%, p < 0.001) relative to patients in untreated hospitals. CJR affected health care for non-targeted populations. Evaluating the program based on traditional Medicare beneficiaries alone does not capture the entire effect of the program on older adults.
An oncohistone-driven H3.3K27M/CREB5/ID1 axis maintains the stemness and malignancy of diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma
Correction: Several supplementary concepts for applied category-theoretical states over an extended Petri net using an example relating to genetic coding: Toward an abstract algebraic formulation of molecular/genetic biology
Pushing the limit of layered transition metal oxides with heterolattice oxygen-mediated redox for capacitive deionization
Fully-gapped superconductivity with rotational symmetry breaking in pressurized kagome metal CsV3Sb5
Abstract The discovery of the kagome metal CsV3Sb5 has generated significant interest in its complex physical properties, particularly its superconducting behavior under different pressures, though its nature remains debated. Here, we performed low-temperature, high-pressure 121/123Sb nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) measurements to explore the superconducting pairing symmetry in CsV3Sb5. At ambient pressure, we found that the spin-lattice relaxation rate 1/T 1 exhibits a kink at T ~ 0.4 T c within the superconducting state and follows a T 3 variation as temperature further decreases. This suggests the presence of two superconducting gaps with line nodes in the smaller one. As pressure increases beyond P c ~ 1.85 GPa, where the charge-density wave phase is completely suppressed, 1/T 1 shows no Hebel-Slichter peak just below T c, and decreases rapidly, even faster than T 5, indicating that the gap is fully opened for pressures above P c. In this high pressure region, the angular dependence of the in-plane upper critical magnetic field H c2 breaks the C 6 rotational symmetry. We propose the s + i d pairing at P > P c which explains both the 1/T 1 and H c2 behaviors. Our findings indicate that CsV3Sb5 is an unconventional superconductor and its superconducting state is even more exotic at high pressures.
Granulosa cell transcription is similarly impacted by superovulation and aging and predicts early embryonic trajectories
Abstract In vitro fertilization efficiency is limited in part because a fraction of retrieved oocytes fails to fertilize. Accurately evaluating their quality could significantly improve in vitro fertilization efficiency, which would require better understanding how their maturation may be disrupted. Here, we quantitatively investigate the interplay between superovulation and aging in mouse oocytes and their paired granulosa cells using a newly adapted experimental methodology. We test the hypothesis that superovulation disrupts oocyte maturation, revealing the key intercellular communication pathways dysregulated at the transcriptional level by forced hormonal stimulation. We further demonstrate that granulosa cell transcriptional markers can prospectively predict an associated oocyte’s early developmental potential. By using naturally ovulated old mice as a non-stimulated reference, we show that aging and superovulation dysregulate similar genes and interact with each other. By comparing mice and human transcriptional responses of granulosa cells, we find that age-related dysregulation of hormonal responses and cell cycle pathways are shared, though substantial divergence exists in other pathways.
σ-Bond insertion reactions of two strained diradicaloids
Quantifying interactions in the active encounter complex of frustrated Lewis pairs
Abstract Sustainable catalysts based on main-group elements, such as frustrated Lewis pairs (FLPs), have emerged as alternatives to precious metal systems. The initial reaction of the Lewis acid, Lewis base and small molecule ( e.g . H 2 ) is formally termolecular, but the reaction is rationalised by the pre-association of the acid and base in an encounter complex. Here we show that the charge-transfer band between P(mes) 3 and B(C 6 F 5 ) 3 can be analysed by supramolecular UV-vis spectroscopic techniques to provide the key thermodynamic parameter, the association constant ( K a ), for the active encounter complex, i.e . the pre-associated complex that is specifically in the correct orientation for small-molecule activation. We also demonstrate that a higher concentration of active encounter complex in solution leads to a faster activation of hydrogen. This method enables researchers to directly probe the complex that underpins FLP small-molecule activation and subsequent catalysis, and will aid the design of more active sustainable catalysts.
Will AI improve your life? Here’s what 4,000 researchers think
Tunable multi-electron redox polyoxometalates for decoupled water splitting driven by sunlight
Producing aryl halides from lignin
Abstract Lignin represents the most abundant biomass resource, which contains aromatic units. Lignin refinery is a promising, sustainable alternative for the production of aromatic chemicals. However, depolymerization and transformation of lignin into aryl halides, which are indispensable chemicals in both the academic and industrial communities, remain challenging. Here, we report a simple and mild method for the depolymerization and halogenation of lignin, leading to the production of useful aryl halides. Notably, hydrogen bond activation for halogenation reagents is essential for substantially increasing the reactivity, resulting a highly efficient cleavage of C–C bonds in lignin. This method is highly selective for breaking C(sp2)–C(sp3) bonds of lignin linkages, enabling the application of precise depolymerization and halogenation reactions from lignin models to native lignin from various wood resources, which provides a sustainable and efficient access to various synthetically useful aryl halides.
Addendum: Polyvinyl chloride degradation by a bacterium isolated from the gut of insect larvae
Seismic imaging of a basaltic Lesser Antilles slab from ancient tectonics
Abstract At subduction zones, lithospheric material descends through the upper mantle to the mantle transition zone (MTZ), where it may continue to sink into the lower mantle or stagnate1,2. Several factors may be important in influencing this flow, including chemical heterogeneity3–5. However, tight constraints on these mantle flows and the exact factors that affect them have proved challenging. We use P-to-S receiver functions to image the subducting slab and the MTZ beneath the Lesser Antilles subduction zone. We image a singular, superdeep (>700 km) 660-km discontinuity over a 200-km-wide zone within the slab, accompanied by nearby double 660 discontinuity phases (normal and superdeep). Combined geodynamic and waveform modelling shows that this observation cannot be explained by temperature effects in typical mantle compositions but requires a large basalt-rich chemical anomaly, strongest in the location of the singular, deep 660. The inferred basalt signature is near the proposed location of a subducted extinct spreading ridge6,7, where basalt is probably present in greater proportions. Our finding suggests that past tectonic events impart chemical heterogeneity into slabs, and the heterogeneities, in turn, may affect the inherent tendency of the slab to sink.
What makes us human? Milestone ape genomes promise clues
Overlapping nuclear import and export paths unveiled by two-colour MINFLUX
Abstract The nuclear pore complex (NPC) mediates nucleocytoplasmic exchange, catalysing a massive flux of protein and nucleic acid material in both directions1. Distinct trafficking pathways for import and export would be an elegant solution to avoid unproductive collisions and opposing movements. However, the three-dimensional (3D) nanoscale spatiotemporal dynamics of macromolecules traversing the NPC remains challenging to visualize on the timescale of millisecond-scale transport events. Here we used 3D MINFLUX2 to identify the nuclear pore scaffold and then to simultaneously monitor both nuclear import and nuclear export, thereby establishing that both transport processes occur in overlapping regions of the central pore. Whereas translocation-arrested import complexes bound at the pore periphery, tracks of translocating complexes within the central pore region revealed a preference for an approximately 40- to 50-nm diameter annulus with minimal circumferential movement, indicating activity-dependent confinement within the permeability barrier. Movement within the pore was approximately 1,000-fold slower than in solution and was interspersed with pauses, indicating a highly restricted environment with structural constraints and/or transient binding events during transport. These results demonstrate that high spatiotemporal precision with reduced photobleaching is a major advantage of MINFLUX tracking, and that the NPC permeability barrier is divided into annular rings with distinct functional properties.