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The preparation of subnanoporous covalent-organic-framework (COF) membranes with high performance for ion/molecule sieving still remains a great challenge. In addition to the difficulties in fabricating large-area COF membranes, the main reason is that the pore size of 2D COFs is much larger than that of most gas molecules and/or ions. It is urgently required to further narrow their pore sizes to meet different separation demands. Herein, we report a simple and scalable way to grow large-area, pliable, free-standing COF membranes via a one-step route at organic–organic interface. The pore sizes of the membranes can be adjusted from >1 nm to sub-nm scale by changing the stacking mode of COF layers from AA to AB stacking. The obtained AB stacking COF membrane composed of highly-ordered nanoflakes is demonstrated to have narrow aperture (∼0.6 nm), uniform pore distribution and shows good potential in organic solvent nanofiltration, water treatment and gas separation. Fabrication of large scale and defect free covalent organic framework (COF) membranes with pores small enough for gas sieving remains challenging. Here, the authors report a scalable fabrication method to grow large area defect free COF membranes and to tune the pore size in the sub-nm region by adjusting the stacking modes of the COF layers.

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been reported to be involved in the development of various cardiovascular diseases, including chronic heart failure (CHF). In this study, we aimed to investigate the role of ZFAS1/miR-590-3p axis in the diagnosis and prognosis of CHF. The expression of ZFAS1 and miR-590-3p in the serum samples of CHF was measured using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Pearson correlation coefficient was applied to analyze the correlation between ZFAS1 and miR-590-3p. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to examine the diagnostic accuracy of ZFAS1, miR-590-3p, and brain natriuretic peptide (BNP). The Kaplan–Meier curve and Cox regression analysis were used to assess the prognostic value of ZFAS1 and miR-590-3p in CHF. This study found that the serum levels of ZFAS1 were significantly higher, while miR-590-3p levels were significantly lower in CHF. ROC results indicated that the combined diagnostic accuracy of ZFAS1 + miR-590-3p + BNP was significantly higher than that of these indicators used alone. Kaplan– Meier results showed that patients with low expression of miR-590-3p or high expression of ZFAS1 had poor prognosis. In conclusion, CHF patients had increased ZFAS1 and decreased miR-590-3p expression. ZFAS1 and miR-590-3p might serve as novel non-invasive diagnostic and prognostic markers for patients with CHF.

Hyperlipidaemia and hypertension are often treated together with curcumin and amlodipine. It is necessary to investigate the drug-drug interaction between curcumin and amlodipine. The interaction between curcumin and amlodipine was investigated in rats and with rat liver microsomes. The pharmacokinetics of amlodipine (1 mg/kg) was investigated in rats with or without curcumin pre-treatment (2 mg/kg), six rats in each group. The metabolic stability of amlodipine was investigated with rat liver microsomes. Curcumin significantly increased the C max (26.19 ± 2.21 versus 17.80 ± 1.56 μg/L), AUC (0-t) (507.27 ± 60.23 versus 238.68 ± 45.59 μg·h/L), and t 1/2 (14.69 ± 1.64 versus 11.43 ± 1.20 h) of amlodipine (p < 0.05). The metabolic stability of amlodipine was significantly increased with the half-life time in rat liver microsomes increased from 34.23 ± 3.33 to 44.15 ± 4.12 min, and the intrinsic rate decreased from 40.49 ± 3.26 to 31.39 ± 2.78 μL/min/mg protein. These results indicated that drug-drug interaction might appear during the co-administration of curcumin and amlodipine. The potential mechanism may be due to the inhibition of CYP3A4 by curcumin. Thus, this interaction should be given special attention in the clinic and needs further experiments to characterize the effect in humans.

It is a central issue to eliminate radioactive uranium (U(VI)) efficiently from water. In this manuscript, β-cyclodextrin was cross-linked with 2,3,5,6-tetrafluoro-1,4-benzenedicarbonitrile, and then a carboxylation reaction was used to prepare porous cross-linked polymers rich in carboxyl groups (CA-PCDPs). Subsequently, magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) were loaded onto the CA-PCDPs via coprecipitation, and magnetic porous β-cyclodextrin polymer nanoparticles (CA-PCDP@MNPs) were successfully obtained, which were used for efficient elimination of U(VI) from nuclear wastewater solution. Moreover, SEM, FTIR, VSM, BET, and XRD were employed to investigate the CA-PCDP@MNP and found that it had a well-developed porous structure, high specific surface area, and abundant oxygen-containing functional groups (carboxyl, hydroxyl, C-O-C, Fe-O, etc.), providing sufficient active sites for chelating uranyl ions. Experiments illustrated that the CA-PCDP@MNP had efficient removal ability for U(VI), and the maximum theoretical adsorption amount for U(VI) reached 245.66 mg/g at pH 6.0 and 303 K. Moreover, the adsorption process was more suitable for the quasi second-order kinetic model and Langmuir adsorption isotherm model, indicating that the adsorption process was chemical adsorption. Meanwhile, the CA-PCDP@MNPs also exhibited fast response magnetic recovery ability and excellent regeneration and recycling ability. In addition, the data of the adsorption mechanism demonstrated that oxygen-containing functional groups, which were rich on the surface of CA-PCDP@MNPs, were the main binding active sites of U(VI). From the above results, it can be deduced that the CA-PCDP@MNP has a good application prospect in the practical application of nuclear wastewater treatment.

At Crypto 2015, Blondeau et al. showed a known-key analysis on the full PRESENT lightweight block cipher. Based on some of the best differential distinguishers, they introduced a meet in the middle（Mit M）layer to pre-add the differential distinguisher, which extends the number of attacked rounds on PRESENT from 26 rounds to full rounds without reducing differential probability. In this paper, we generalize their method and present a distinguisher on a kind of permutations called PRESENT-like permutations. This generic distinguisher is divided into two phases. The first phase is a truncated differential distinguisher with strong bias, which describes the unbalance of the output collision on some fixed bits, given the fixed input in some bits, and we take advantage of the strong relation between truncated differential probability and capacity of multidimensional linear approximation to derive the best differential distinguishers. The second phase is the meet-in-the-middle layer, which is pre-added to the truncated differential to propagate the differential properties as far as possible.Different with Blondeau et al.＇s work, we extend the Mit M layers on a 64-bit internal state to states with any size, and we also give a concrete bound to estimate the attacked rounds of the Mit M layer. As an illustration,we apply our technique to all versions of SPONGENT permutations. In the truncated differential phase, as a result we reach one, two or three rounds more than the results shown by the designers. In the meet-in-the-middle phase, we get up to 11 rounds to pre-add to the differential distinguishers. Totally, we improve the previous distinguishers on all versions of SPONGENT permutations by up to 13 rounds.

CD97 belongs to the adhesion GPCR family characterized by a long ECD linked to the 7TM via a GPCR proteolytic site （GPS） and plays important roles in modulating cell migration and invasion. CD97 （EGF1-5） is a splicing variant of CD97 that recognizes a specific ligand chondroitin sulfate on cell membranes and the extracellular matrix. The aim of this study was to elucidate the extracellular molecular basis of the CD97 EGF1-5 isoform in protein expression, auto-proteolysis and cell adhesion, including epidermal growth factor （EGF）- like domain, GPCR autoproteolysis-inducing （GAIN） domain, as well as GPS mutagenesis and N-glycosylation. Both wild-type （WT） CD97-ECD and its truncated, GPS mutated, PNGase F-deglycosylated, and N-glycosylation site mutated forms were expressed and purified. The auto-proteolysis of the proteins was analyzed with Western blotting and SDS-PAGE. Small angle X-ray scattering （SAXS） and molecular modeling were used to determine a structural profile of the properly expressed receptor. Potential N-glycosylation sites were identified using MS and were modulated with PNGase F digestion and glyco-site mutations. A flow cytometry-based HeLa cell attachment assay was used for all aforementioned CD97 variants to elucidate the molecular basis of CD97-HeLa interactions. A unique concentration-dependent GPS auto-proteolysis was observed in CD97 EGF1-5 isoform with the highest concentration （4 mg/mL） per sample was self-cleaved much faster than the lower concentration （0.1 mg/mL）, supporting an intermolecular mechanism of auto-proteolysis that is distinct to the reported intramolecular mechanism for other CD97 isoforms. N-glycosylation affected the auto-proteolysis of CD97 EGF1-5 isoform in a similar way as the other previously reported CD97 isoforms. SAXS data for WT and deglycosylated CD97ECD revealed a spatula-like shape with GAIN and EGF domains constituting the body and handle, respectively. Structural modeling indicated a potential interaction between the GAIN and EGF5 domains accounting for the absence of expression of the GAIN domain itself, although EGF5-GAIN was expressed similarly in the wild-type protein. For HeLa cell adhesion, the GAIN- truncated forms showed dramatically reduced binding affinity. The PNGase F-deglycosylated and GPS mutated forms also exhibited reduced HeLa attachment compared with WT CD97. However, neither N-glycosylation mutagenesis nor auto-proteolysis inhibition caused by N-glycosylation mutagenesis affected CD97-HeLa cell interactions. A comparison of the HeLa binding affinities of PNGase F-digested, GPS-mutated and N-glycosylation-mutated CD97 samples revealed diverse findings, suggesting that the functions of CD97 ECD were complex, and various technologies for function validation should be utilized to avoid single-approach bias when investigating N-glycosyiation and auto-proteolysis of CD97. A unique mechanism of concentration-dependent auto-proteolysis of the CD97 EGF1-5 isoform was characterized, suggesting an intermolecular mechanism that is distinct from that of other previously reported CD97 isoforms. The EGF5 and GAIN domains are likely associated with each other as CD97 expression and SAXS data revealed a potential interaction between the two domains. Finally, the GAIN and EGF domains are also important for CD97-HeLa adhesion, whereas N-glycosylation of the CD97 GAIN domain and GPS auto-proteolysis are not required for HeLa cell attachment.

Understanding the molecular mechanisms that regulate grain yield is important for improving agricultural productivity. Protein ubiquitination controls various aspects of plant growth but lacks understanding on how E2-E3 enzyme pairs impact grain yield in major crops. Here, we identified a RING-type E3 ligase SGD1 and its E2 partner SiUBC32 responsible for grain yield control in Setaria italica . The conserved role of SGD1 was observed in wheat, maize, and rice. Furthermore, SGD1 ubiquitinates the brassinosteroid receptor BRI1, stabilizing it and promoting plant growth. Overexpression of an elite SGD1 haplotype improved grain yield by about 12.8% per plant, and promote complex biological processes such as protein processing in endoplasmic reticulum, stress responses, photosystem stabilization, and nitrogen metabolism. Our research not only identifies the SiUBC32-SGD1-BRI1 genetic module that contributes to grain yield improvement but also provides a strategy for exploring key genes controlling important traits in Poaceae crops using the Setaria model system. Researchers identify an E3 ligase SGD1 and its E2 partner responsible for grain yield control using foxtail millet, and reveal its conserved role in wheat, maize, and rice. Furthermore, SGD1 ubiquitinates the brassinosteroid receptor BRI1 thus stabilizing it and promoting grain yield in crops.

We analyzed the compositions and basic properties of agricultural and forest biomass carbon,and used the pot method to study the influence of such element on the remediation of contaminated soils and growth of crops.Results show that agricultural and forest biomass carbon contains various nutrients that are necessary for crop growth,high specific surface area,and pore structure development.Cotton stalk charcoal can reduce bioavailability of Cadmium(Cd) in soil.Under mild Cd pollution,soil treated with cotton stalk charcoal adsorbs Cd at a rapid rate.With increasing extent of Cd pollution,Cd adsorption rate gradually slows down and Cd adsorption amount gradually increases.In soil treated with cotton stalk charcoal,the amount of Cd accumulated in the edible portions and roots of Brassica chinensis significantly decrease.The Cd mass fraction of the edible portions and roots are reduced by 49.43%- 68.29%,64.14%- 77.66% respectively.Appropriately adding carbon cotton stalks increases crop biomass.At a certain range,increasing cotton stalk charcoal also promotes the absorption of major nutrients in Brassica chinensis.

Background Chromochloris zofingiensis is emerging as an industrially relevant alga given its robust growth for the production of lipids and astaxanthin, a value-added carotenoid with broad applications. Nevertheless, poor understanding of astaxanthin synthesis has limited engineering of this alga for rational improvements. Results To reveal the molecular mechanism underlying astaxanthin accumulation in C. zofingiensis, here we conducted an integrated analysis by combining the time-resolved transcriptomes and carotenoid profiling in response to nitrogen deprivation (ND). A global response was triggered for C. zofingiensis to cope with the ND stress. Albeit the little variation in total carotenoid content, individual carotenoids responded differentially to ND: the primary carotenoids particularly lutein and β-carotene decreased, while the secondary carotenoids increased considerably, with astaxanthin and canthaxanthin being the most increased ones. The carotenogenesis pathways were reconstructed: ND had little effect on the carbon flux to carotenoid precursors, but stimulated astaxanthin biosynthesis while repressing lutein biosynthesis, thereby diverting the carotenoid flux from primary carotenoids to secondary carotenoids particularly astaxanthin. Comparison between C. zofingiensis and Haematococcus pluvialis revealed the distinctive mechanism of astaxanthin synthesis in C. zofingiensis. Furthermore, potential bottlenecks in astaxanthin synthesis were identified and possible engineering strategies were proposed for the alga. Conclusions Collectively, these findings shed light on distinctive mechanism of carotenogenesis for astaxanthin biosynthesis in C. zofingiensis, identify key functional enzymes and regulators with engineering potential and will benefit rational manipulation of this alga for improving nutritional traits.

Silicon (Si)‐based solid‐state batteries (Si‐SSBs) are attracting tremendous attention because of their high energy density and unprecedented safety, making them become promising candidates for next‐generation energy storage systems. Nevertheless, the commercialization of Si‐SSBs is significantly impeded by enormous challenges including large volume variation, severe interfacial problems, elusive fundamental mechanisms, and unsatisfied electrochemical performance. Besides, some unknown electrochemical processes in Si‐based anode, solid‐state electrolytes (SSEs), and Si‐based anode/SSE interfaces are still needed to be explored, while an in‐depth understanding of solid–solid interfacial chemistry is insufficient in Si‐SSBs. This review aims to summarize the current scientific and technological advances and insights into tackling challenges to promote the deployment of Si‐SSBs. First, the differences between various conventional liquid electrolyte‐dominated Si‐based lithium‐ion batteries (LIBs) with Si‐SSBs are discussed. Subsequently, the interfacial mechanical contact model, chemical reaction properties, and charge transfer kinetics (mechanical–chemical kinetics) between Si‐based anode and three different SSEs (inorganic (oxides) SSEs, organic–inorganic composite SSEs, and inorganic (sulfides) SSEs) are systemically reviewed, respectively. Moreover, the progress for promising inorganic (sulfides) SSE‐based Si‐SSBs on the aspects of electrode constitution, three‐dimensional structured electrodes, and external stack pressure is highlighted, respectively. Finally, future research directions and prospects in the development of Si‐SSBs are proposed. This review provides a systematic overview of silicon‐based solid‐state batteries (Si‐SSBs), focusing on the different interfacial configuration characteristics and mechanisms between various types of solid‐state electrolytes and Si‐based anodes as well as the correlations between these interfacial characteristics and electrochemical performance. We envision that this review can point navigation for benefiting the future advancement of Si‐SSBs.