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Most solid-state materials are composed of p-block anions, only in recent years the introduction of hydride anions (1s 2 ) in oxides (e.g., SrVO 2 H, BaTi(O,H) 3 ) has allowed the discovery of various interesting properties. Here we exploit the large polarizability of hydride anions (H – ) together with chalcogenide (Ch 2– ) anions to construct a family of antiperovskites with soft anionic sublattices. The M 3 HCh antiperovskites (M = Li, Na) adopt the ideal cubic structure except orthorhombic Na 3 HS, despite the large variation in sizes of M and Ch. This unconventional robustness of cubic phase mainly originates from the large size-flexibility of the H – anion. Theoretical and experimental studies reveal low migration barriers for Li + /Na + transport and high ionic conductivity, possibly promoted by a soft phonon mode associated with the rotational motion of HM 6 octahedra in their cubic forms. Aliovalent substitution to create vacancies has further enhanced ionic conductivities of this series of antiperovskites, resulting in Na 2.9 H(Se 0.9 I 0.1 ) achieving a high conductivity of ~1 × 10 –4 S/cm (100 °C). Oxide-based lithium/sodium-rich antiperovskites are regarded as promising solid electrolytes. Here, authors report a series of antiperovskites with a soft lattice containing hydride (H – ) and chalcogenide (S 2– , Se 2– , Te 2– ) anions, enabling the fast Li + /Na + transport assisted by rotational phonon modes.

We investigated morphological changes of retinal arteries to determine their association with the blood flow and systemic variables in type 2 diabetes patients. The patients included 47 non-diabetic retinopathy eyes, 36 mild or moderate nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy (M-NPDR) eyes, 22 severe NPDR (S-NPDR) eyes, 32 PDR eyes, and 24 normal eyes as controls. The mean wall to lumen ratio (WLR) measured by adaptive optics camera was significantly higher in the PDR groups than in all of the other groups (all P  < 0.001). However, the external diameter of the retinal vessels was not significantly different among the groups. The mean blur rate (MBR)-vessel determined by laser speckle flowgraphy was significantly lower in the PDR group than in the other groups ( P  < 0.001). The WLR was correlated with MBR-vessel ( r  = − 0.337, P  < 0.001), duration of disease ( r  = 0.191, P  = 0.042), stage of DM ( r  = 0.643, P  < 0.001), systolic blood pressure ( r  = 0.166, P  < 0.037), and presence of systemic hypertension ( r  = 0.443, P  < 0.001). Multiple regression analysis demonstrated that MBR-vessel (β = − 0.389, P  < 0.001), presence of systemic hypertension (β = 0.334, P  = 0.001), and LDL (β = 0.199, P  = 0.045) were independent factors significantly associated with the WLR. The increased retinal vessel wall thickness led to a narrowing of lumen diameter and a decrease in the blood flow in the PDR group.

Humans naturally associate stimulus features of one sensory modality with those of other modalities, such as associating bright light with high-pitched tones. This phenomenon is called crossmodal correspondence and is found between various stimulus features, and has been suggested to be categorized into several types. However, it is not yet clear whether there are differences in the underlying mechanism between the different kinds of correspondences. This study used exploratory factor analysis to address this question. Through an online experiment platform, we asked Japanese adult participants (Experiment 1: N = 178, Experiment 2: N = 160) to rate the degree of correspondence between two auditory and five visual features. The results of two experiments revealed that two factors underlie the subjective judgments of the audiovisual crossmodal correspondences: One factor was composed of correspondences whose auditory and visual features can be expressed in common Japanese terms, such as the loudness–size and pitch–vertical position correspondences, and another factor was composed of correspondences whose features have no linguistic similarities, such as pitch–brightness and pitch–shape correspondences. These results confirm that there are at least two types of crossmodal correspondences that are likely to differ in terms of language mediation.

Humans naturally associate stimulus features of one sensory modality with those of other modalities, such as associating bright light with high-pitched tones. This phenomenon is called crossmodal correspondence and is found between various stimulus features, and has been suggested to be categorized into several types. However, it is not yet clear whether there are differences in the underlying mechanism between the different kinds of correspondences. This study used exploratory factor analysis to address this question. Through an online experiment platform, we asked Japanese adult participants (Experiment 1: N = 178, Experiment 2: N = 160) to rate the degree of correspondence between two auditory and five visual features. The results of two experiments revealed that two factors underlie the subjective judgments of the audiovisual crossmodal correspondences: One factor was composed of correspondences whose auditory and visual features can be expressed in common Japanese terms, such as the loudness-size and pitch-vertical position correspondences, and another factor was composed of correspondences whose features have no linguistic similarities, such as pitch-brightness and pitch-shape correspondences. These results confirm that there are at least two types of crossmodal correspondences that are likely to differ in terms of language mediation.

Non-tuberculosis mycobacterial (NTM) diseases are steadily increasing in prevalence and mortality worldwide. Mycobacterium avium and M. intracellulare , the two major pathogens of NTM diseases, are resistant to antibiotics, and chlorine, necessitating their capacity to survive in natural environments (e.g. soil and rivers) and disinfected municipal water. They can also form biofilms on artificial surfaces to provide a protective barrier and habitat for bacilli, which can cause refractory systemic disseminated NTM disease. Therefore, preventing biofilm formation by these pathogens is crucial; however, not many in vivo experimental systems and studies on NTM biofilm infection are available. This study develops a mouse model of catheter-associated systemic disseminated disease caused by M. intracellulare that reproduces the pathophysiology of catheter-associated infections observed in patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis. In addition, the bioluminescence system enabled noninvasive visualization of the amount and distribution of bacilli in vivo and conveniently examine the efficacy of antimicrobials. Furthermore, the cellulose-based biofilms, which were extensively formed in the tissue surrounding the catheter insertion site, reduced drug therapy effectiveness. Overall, this study provides insights into the cause of the drug resistance of NTM and may guide the development of new therapies for NTM diseases.

The electrification of heavy-duty transport and aviation will require new strategies to increase the energy density of electrode materials 1 , 2 . The use of anionic redox represents one possible approach to meeting this ambitious target. However, questions remain regarding the validity of the O 2− /O − oxygen redox paradigm, and alternative explanations for the origin of the anionic capacity have been proposed 3 , because the electronic orbitals associated with redox reactions cannot be measured by standard experiments. Here, using high-energy X-ray Compton measurements together with first-principles modelling, we show how the electronic orbital that lies at the heart of the reversible and stable anionic redox activity can be imaged and visualized, and its character and symmetry determined. We find that differential changes in the Compton profile with lithium-ion concentration are sensitive to the phase of the electronic wave function, and carry signatures of electrostatic and covalent bonding effects 4 . Our study not only provides a picture of the workings of a lithium-rich battery at the atomic scale, but also suggests pathways to improving existing battery materials and designing new ones. High-energy X-ray Compton measurements and first-principles modelling reveal how the electronic orbital responsible for the reversible anionic redox activity can be imaged and visualized, and its character and symmetry determined.

Autophagy is a highly conserved process from yeast to mammals in which intracellular materials are engulfed by a double-membrane organelle called autophagosome and degrading materials by fusing with the lysosome. The process of autophagy is regulated by sequential recruitment and function of autophagy-related (Atg) proteins. Genetic hierarchical analyses show that the ULK1 complex comprised of ULK1-FIP200-ATG13-ATG101 translocating from the cytosol to autophagosome formation sites as a most upstream ATG factor; this translocation is critical in autophagy initiation. However, how this translocation occurs remains unclear. Here, we show that ULK1 is palmitoylated by palmitoyltransferase ZDHHC13 and translocated to the autophagosome formation site upon autophagy induction. We find that the ULK1 palmitoylation is required for autophagy initiation. Moreover, the ULK1 palmitoylated enhances the phosphorylation of ATG14L, which is required for activating PI3-Kinase and producing phosphatidylinositol 3-phosphate, one of the autophagosome membrane’s lipids. Our results reveal how the most upstream ULK1 complex translocates to the autophagosome formation sites during autophagy. It was unknown how the most upstream Atg protein transits from the cytosol to autophagosome formation sites. Here, the authors show that ULK1 palmitoylation by ZDHHC13 recruits the complex to the formation site and enhances ATG14L phosphorylation.

Intraretinal cystoid cavities have been detected at the edges of macular holes (MHs) but their clinical characteristics and their relationship to the MH variables have not been determined. We measured the areas of the intraretinal cystoid cavity in 111 eyes with MHs in the OCT images preoperatively. Our results showed that the intraretinal cystoid cavities were located in the Henle fiber layer-outer nuclear layer (HFL-ONL) complex in 106 eyes and in the inner nuclear layer (INL) in 89 eyes. All were resolved after the initial vitrectomy to close the MH. The mean area of the cystoid cavity was greater in the HFL-ONL complex (55.9 ± 42.7 × 10 3  μm 2 ) than in the INL (9.1 ± 9.8 × 10 3  μm 2 ; P  < 0.001). The area of the cystoid cavities was significantly correlated with the basal MH size ( r  = 0.465, P  < 0.001), the external limiting membrane height ( r  = 0.793, P  < 0.001), and the maximum retinal thickness ( r  = 0.757, P  < 0.001). The area of the cystoid cavities was significantly correlated with the preoperative best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA; r  = 0.361, P  < 0.001), but not with the postoperative BCVA or the integrity of any of the outer retinal microstructural bands. The presence of intraretinal cystoid cavities was related to some morphological characteristics, but not to the postoperative BCVA or the restoration of the outer retinal bands.

To investigate ocular blood flow and correlations between ocular blood flow and variables in patients with severe non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (S-NPDR) following panretinal photocoagulation (PRP). In this retrospective, cross-sectional study, the blood flow on the optic nerve head (ONH) and choroid was assessed with laser speckle flowgraphy (LSFG) using the mean blur rate (MBR) in 76 eyes of 76 patients with S-NPDR who underwent PRP, 39 eyes of 39 patients with S-NPDR who did not undergo PRP, and 71 eyes of 71 normal subjects. The correlation between MBR and variables, including visual acuity (VA) and choroidal area determined by binarization method, was analyzed. The mean age was 62.9 ± 11.9 years in the S-NPDR with PRP eyes, 55.6 ± 11.4 years in the S-NPDR without PRP eyes, and 60.3 ± 11.1 years in the normal subject eyes. The ONH MBR in vessel and tissue areas and the choroidal MBR were significantly lower in the S-NDR with PRP group than in the other groups (p < 0.001, p < 0.001, and p < 0.001, respectively). The luminal and the stromal areas were significantly smaller in the S-NDR with PRP group than in the other groups (p < 0.001 and p < 0.001, respectively). LogMAR best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) exhibited significant negative correlation with the ONH MBR in vessel (r = -0.386, p < 0.001), tissue (r = -0.348, p < 0.001), and the choroid MBR (r = -0.339, p = 0.002) in the S-NDR with PRP group. Stepwise multiple regression analysis demonstrated that BCVA was a common independent factor associated with the ONH MBR in vessel, tissue, and the choroidal MBR in the S-NDR with PRP group. ONH and choroid MBR in addition to choroidal component, including the luminal area, were significantly lower in eyes of patients with S-NPDR after PRP compared with no PRP and normal subjects group. This could suggest that the significantly reduced ocular blood flow in PRP-treated S-NPDR eyes correlated with long-term decreased post-PRP luminal area and visual acuity.

Charge separation is one of the most crucial processes in photochemical dynamics of energy conversion, widely observed ranging from water splitting in photosystem II (PSII) of plants to photoinduced oxidation reduction processes. Several basic principles, with respect to charge separation, are known, each of which suffers inherent charge recombination channels that suppress the separation efficiency. We found a charge separation mechanism in the photoinduced excited-state proton transfer dynamics from Mn oxides to organic acceptors. This mechanism is referred to as coupled proton and electron wave-packet transfer (CPEWT), which is essentially a synchronous transfer of electron wave-packets and protons through mutually different spatial channels to separated destinations passing through nonadiabatic regions, such as conical intersections, and avoided crossings. CPEWT also applies to collision-induced ground-state water splitting dynamics catalyzed by Mn4CaO5 cluster. For the present photoinduced charge separation dynamics by Mn oxides, we identified a dynamical mechanism of charge recombination. It takes place by passing across nonadiabatic regions, which are different from those for charge separations and lead to the excited states of the initial state before photoabsorption. This article is an overview of our work on photoinduced charge separation and associated charge recombination with an additional study. After reviewing the basic mechanisms of charge separation and recombination, we herein studied substituent effects on the suppression of such charge recombination by doping auxiliary atoms. Our illustrative systems are X–Mn(OH)2 tied to N-methylformamidine, with X=OH, Be(OH)3, Mg(OH)3, Ca(OH)3, Sr(OH)3 along with Al(OH)4 and Zn(OH)3. We found that the competence of suppression of charge recombination depends significantly on the substituents. The present study should serve as a useful guiding principle in designing the relevant photocatalysts.