bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A widely conserved protein Rof inhibits transcription termination factor Rho and promotes Salmonella virulence program
Authors: Zhang Jing , Zhang Shuo , Zhou Wei , Zhang Xiang , Li Guanjin , Li Ruoxuan , Lin Xingyu , Chen Ziying , Liu Fang , Shen Pan , Zhou Xiaogen , Gao Yue , Chen Zhenguo , Chao Yanjie , Wang Chengyuan 
Published: April 2024

AbstractTranscription is crucial for the expression of genetic information and its efficient and accurate termination is required for all living organisms. Rho-dependent termination could rapidly terminate unwanted premature RNAs and play important roles in bacterial adaptation to changing environments. Although Rho has been discovered for about five decades, the regulation mechanisms of Rho-dependent termination are still not fully elucidated. Here we report that Rof is a conserved antiterminator and determine the cryogenic electron microscopy structure of Rho-Rof antitermination complex. Rof binds to the open-ring Rho hexamer and inhibits the initiation of Rho-dependent termination. Rof’s N-terminal α-helix undergoes conformational changes upon binding with Rho, and is key in facilitating Rof-Rho interactions. Rof binds to Rho’s primary binding site (PBS) and excludes Rho from binding with PBS ligand RNA at the initiation step. Further in vivo analyses in Salmonella Typhimurium show that Rof is required for virulence gene expression and host cell invasion, unveiling a physiological function of Rof and transcription termination in bacterial pathogenesis.
Tunable stochastic memristors for energy-efficient encryption and computing
Authors: Woo Kyung Seok , Han Janguk , Yi Su-in , Thomas Luke , Park Hyungjun , Kumar Suhas , Hwang Cheol Seong 
Published: April 2024

AbstractInformation security and computing, two critical technological challenges for post-digital computation, pose opposing requirements – security (encryption) requires a source of unpredictability, while computing generally requires predictability. Each of these contrasting requirements presently necessitates distinct conventional Si-based hardware units with power-hungry overheads. This work demonstrates Cu0.3Te0.7/HfO2 (‘CuTeHO’) ion-migration-driven memristors that satisfy the contrasting requirements. Under specific operating biases, CuTeHO memristors generate truly random and physically unclonable functions, while under other biases, they perform universal Boolean logic. Using these computing primitives, this work experimentally demonstrates a single system that performs cryptographic key generation, universal Boolean logic operations, and encryption/decryption. Circuit-based calculations reveal the energy and latency advantages of the CuTeHO memristors in these operations. This work illustrates the functional flexibility of memristors in implementing operations with varying component-level requirements.
Chlorine bridge bond-enabled binuclear copper complex for electrocatalyzing lithium–sulfur reactions
Authors: Yang Qin , Cai Jinyan , Li Guanwu , Gao Runhua , Han Zhiyuan , Han Jingjing , Liu Dong , Song Lixian , Shi Zixiong , Wang Dong , Wang Gongming , Zheng Weitao , Zhou Guangmin , Song Yingze 
Published: April 2024

AbstractEngineering atom-scale sites are crucial to the mitigation of polysulfide shuttle, promotion of sulfur redox, and regulation of lithium deposition in lithium–sulfur batteries. Herein, a homonuclear copper dual-atom catalyst with a proximal distance of 3.5 Å is developed for lithium–sulfur batteries, wherein two adjacent copper atoms are linked by a pair of symmetrical chlorine bridge bonds. Benefiting from the proximal copper atoms and their unique coordination, the copper dual-atom catalyst with the increased active interface concentration synchronously guide the evolutions of sulfur and lithium species. Such a delicate design breaks through the activity limitation of mononuclear metal center and represents a catalyst concept for lithium–sulfur battery realm. Therefore, a remarkable areal capacity of 7.8 mA h cm−2 is achieved under the scenario of sulfur content of 60 wt.%, mass loading of 7.7 mg cm−2 and electrolyte dosage of 4.8 μL mg−1.
Conjunctive encoding of exploratory intentions and spatial information in the hippocampus
Authors: Zeng Yi-Fan , Yang Ke-Xin , Cui Yilong , Zhu Xiao-Na , Li Rui , Zhang Hanqing , Wu Dong Chuan , Stevens Raymond C. , Hu Ji , Zhou Ning 
Published: April 2024

AbstractThe hippocampus creates a cognitive map of the external environment by encoding spatial and self-motion-related information. However, it is unclear whether hippocampal neurons could also incorporate internal cognitive states reflecting an animal’s exploratory intention, which is not driven by rewards or unexpected sensory stimuli. In this study, a subgroup of CA1 neurons was found to encode both spatial information and animals’ investigatory intentions in male mice. These neurons became active before the initiation of exploration behaviors at specific locations and were nearly silent when the same fields were traversed without exploration. Interestingly, this neuronal activity could not be explained by object features, rewards, or mismatches in environmental cues. Inhibition of the lateral entorhinal cortex decreased the activity of these cells during exploration. Our findings demonstrate that hippocampal neurons may bridge external and internal signals, indicating a potential connection between spatial representation and intentional states in the construction of internal navigation systems.
Continuous and low-carbon production of biomass flash graphene
Authors: Zhu Xiangdong , Lin Litao , Pang Mingyue , Jia Chao , Xia Longlong , Shi Guosheng , Zhang Shicheng , Lu Yuanda , Sun Liming , Yu Fengbo , Gao Jie , He Zhelin , Wu Xuan , Li Aodi , Wang Liang , Wang Meiling , Cao Kai , Fu Weiguo , Chen Huakui , Li Gang , Zhang Jiabao , Wang Yujun , Yang Yi , Zhu Yong-Guan 
Published: April 2024

AbstractFlash Joule heating (FJH) is an emerging and profitable technology for converting inexhaustible biomass into flash graphene (FG). However, it is challenging to produce biomass FG continuously due to the lack of an integrated device. Furthermore, the high-carbon footprint induced by both excessive energy allocation for massive pyrolytic volatiles release and carbon black utilization in alternating current-FJH (AC-FJH) reaction exacerbates this challenge. Here, we create an integrated automatic system with energy requirement-oriented allocation to achieve continuous biomass FG production with a much lower carbon footprint. The programmable logic controller flexibly coordinated the FJH modular components to realize the turnover of biomass FG production. Furthermore, we propose pyrolysis-FJH nexus to achieve biomass FG production. Initially, we utilize pyrolysis to release biomass pyrolytic volatiles, and subsequently carry out the FJH reaction to focus on optimizing the FG structure. Importantly, biochar with appropriate resistance is self-sufficient to initiate the FJH reaction. Accordingly, the medium-temperature biochar-based FG production without carbon black utilization exhibited low carbon emission (1.9 g CO2-eq g−1 graphene), equivalent to a reduction of up to ~86.1% compared to biomass-based FG production. Undoubtedly, this integrated automatic system assisted by pyrolysis-FJH nexus can facilitate biomass FG into a broad spectrum of applications.
Electrocatalytic hydrogenation of acetonitrile to ethylamine in acid
Authors: Tang Chongyang , Wei Cong , Fang Yanyan , Liu Bo , Song Xianyin , Bian Zenan , Yin Xuanwei , Wang Hongbo , Liu Zhaohui , Wang Gongming , Xiao Xiangheng , Duan Xiangfeng 
Published: April 2024

AbstractElectrochemical hydrogenation of acetonitrile based on well-developed proton exchange membrane electrolyzers holds great promise for practical production of ethylamine. However, the local acidic condition of proton exchange membrane results in severe competitive proton reduction reaction and poor selection toward acetonitrile hydrogenation. Herein, we conduct a systematic study to screen various metallic catalysts and discover Pd/C exhibits a 43.8% ethylamine Faradaic efficiency at the current density of 200 mA cm−2 with a specific production rate of 2912.5 mmol g−1 h−1, which is about an order of magnitude higher than the other screened metal catalysts. Operando characterizations indicate the in-situ formed PdHx is the active centers for catalytic reaction and the adsorption strength of the *MeCH2NH2 intermediate dictates the catalytic selectivity. More importantly, the theoretical analysis reveals a classic d-band mediated volcano curve to describe the relation between the electronic structures of catalysts and activity, which could provide valuable insights for designing more effective catalysts for electrochemical hydrogenation reactions and beyond.
Global meta-analysis reveals overall higher nocturnal than diurnal activity in insect communities
Authors: Wong Mark K. L. , Didham Raphael K. 
Published: April 2024

AbstractInsects sustain key ecosystem functions, but how their activity varies across the day–night cycle and the underlying drivers are poorly understood. Although entomologists generally expect that more insects are active at night, this notion has not been tested with empirical data at the global scale. Here, we assemble 331 quantitative comparisons of the abundances of insects between day and night periods from 78 studies worldwide and use multi-level meta-analytical models to show that insect activity is on average 31.4% (CI: −6.3%–84.3%) higher at night than in the day. We reveal diel preferences of major insect taxa, and observe higher nocturnal activity in aquatic taxa than in terrestrial ones, as well as in warmer environments. In a separate analysis of the small subset of studies quantifying diel patterns in taxonomic richness (31 comparisons from 13 studies), we detect preliminary evidence of higher nocturnal richness in tropical than temperate communities. The higher overall (but variable) nocturnal activity in insect communities underscores the need to address threats such as light pollution and climate warming that may disproportionately impact nocturnal insects.
The development, evaluation, performance, and validation of micro-PCR and extractor for the quantification of HIV-1 &-2 RNA
Authors: Prakash Shyam , Aasarey Ram , Priyatma  , Sharma Meenakshi , Khan Shahid , Medha  
Published: April 2024

AbstractHIV infection has been a global public health threat and overall reported ~ 40 million deaths. Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is attributed to the retroviruses (HIV-1/2), disseminated through various body fluids. The temporal progression of AIDS is in context to the rate of HIV-1 infection, which is twice as protracted in HIV-2 transmission. Q-PCR is the only available method that requires a well-developed lab infrastructure and trained personnel. Micro-PCR, a portable Q-PCR device, was developed by Bigtec Labs, Bangalore, India. It is simple, accurate, fast, and operationalised in remote places where diagnostic services are inaccessible in developing countries. This novel micro-PCR determines HIV-1 and HIV-2 viral load using a TruePrep™ extractor device for RNA isolation. Five ml blood samples were collected at the blood collection centre at AIIMS, New Delhi, India. Samples were screened for serology, and a comparison of HIV-1/2 RNA was done between qPCR and micro-PCR in the samples. The micro-PCR assay of HIV-RNA has compared well with those from real-time PCR (r = 0.99, i < 0.002). Micro-PCR has good inter and intra-assay reproducibility over a wide dynamic range (1.0 × 102–1.0 × 108 IU/ml). The linear dynamic range was 102–108 IU/ml. The clinical and analytical specificity of the assay was comparable, i.e., 100%. Intra-assay and inter-assay coefficients of variation ranged from 1.17% to 3.15% and from 0.02% to 0.46%, respectively. Moreover, due to the robust, simple, and empirical method, the Probit analysis has also been done for qPCR LODs to avoid uncertainties in target recoveries. The micro-PCR is reliable, accurate, and reproducible for early detection of HIV-1 and HIV-2 viral loads simultaneously. Thus, it can easily be used in the field and in remote places where quantification of both HIV-1/2 is not reachable.
Selecting an optimal approach to reduce energy crises under interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy environment
Authors: Alghazzawi Dilshad , Alolaiyan Hanan , Ashfaq Humaira , Shuaib Umer , Khalifa Hamiden Abd El-Wahed , Gomaa Heba Ghareeb , Xin Qin 
Published: April 2024

AbstractThe concept of interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy sets is intellectually stimulating and holds significant utility in the representation and analysis of real-world problems. The development of similarity measures within the class of interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy sets possesses significant importance across various academic disciplines, particularly in the fields of decision-making and pattern recognition. The utilization of similarity measures is of utmost importance in the decision-making process when implementing interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy sets. This is due to its inherent capability to quantitatively assess the level of resemblance or similarity between two interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy sets. In this article, the drawbacks of the existing similarity measures in the context of an interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy environment are addressed, and a novel similarity measure is presented. Many fundamental properties of this new interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy similarity measure are also established, and the effectiveness of this similarity measure is illustrated by presenting a useful example. Moreover, a comparison is given to demonstrate the validity of the newly proposed similarity measure within the existing knowledge of similarity measures in the interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy environment. In addition, an algorithm is designed to solve multi-criteria decision making problems by means of the proposed measure in the interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy setting. Furthermore, this newly defined similarity measure is successfully applied to select an optimal renewable energy source to reduce energy crises. Finally, we conduct a comparative study to showcase the authenticity of the recently defined technique within the existing knowledge of similarity measures in the interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy environment.
Evidence of an active role of dreaming in emotional memory processing shows that we dream to forget
Authors: Zhang Jing , Pena Andres , Delano Nicole , Sattari Negin , Shuster Alessandra E. , Baker Fiona C. , Simon Katharine , Mednick Sara C. 
Published: April 2024

AbstractDreaming is a universal human behavior that has inspired searches for meaning across many disciplines including art, psychology, religion, and politics, yet its function remains poorly understood. Given the suggested role of sleep in emotional memory processing, we investigated whether reported overnight dreaming and dream content are associated with sleep-dependent changes in emotional memory and reactivity, and whether dreaming plays an active or passive role. Participants completed an emotional picture task before and after a full night of sleep and they recorded the presence and content of their dreams upon waking in the morning. The results replicated the emotional memory trade-off (negative images maintained at the cost of neutral memories), but only in those who reported dreaming (Dream-Recallers), and not in Non-Dream-Recallers. Results also replicated sleep-dependent reductions in emotional reactivity, but only in Dream-Recallers, not in Non-Dream-Recallers. Additionally, the more positive the dream report, the more positive the next-day emotional reactivity is compared to the night before. These findings implicate an active role for dreaming in overnight emotional memory processing and suggest a mechanistic framework whereby dreaming may enhance salient emotional experiences via the forgetting of less relevant information.
Functional differentiation and genetic diversity of rice cation exchanger (CAX) genes and their potential use in rice improvement
Authors: Lian Shangshu , Chen Yanjun , Zhou Yanyan , Feng Ting , Chen Jingsi , Liang Lunping , Qian Yingzhi , Huang Tao , Zhang Chenyang , Wu Fengcai , Zou Wenli , Li Zhikang , Meng Lijun , Li Min 
Published: April 2024

AbstractCation exchanger (CAX) genes play an important role in plant growth/development and response to biotic and abiotic stresses. Here, we tried to obtain important information on the functionalities and phenotypic effects of CAX gene family by systematic analyses of their expression patterns, genetic diversity (gene CDS haplotypes, structural variations, gene presence/absence variations) in 3010 rice genomes and nine parents of 496 Huanghuazhan introgression lines, the frequency shifts of the predominant gcHaps at these loci to artificial selection during modern breeding, and their association with tolerances to several abiotic stresses. Significant amounts of variation also exist in the cis-regulatory elements (CREs) of the OsCAX gene promoters in 50 high-quality rice genomes. The functional differentiation of OsCAX gene family were reflected primarily by their tissue and development specific expression patterns and in varied responses to different treatments, by unique sets of CREs in their promoters and their associations with specific agronomic traits/abiotic stress tolerances. Our results indicated that OsCAX1a and OsCAX2 as general signal transporters were in many processes of rice growth/development and responses to diverse environments, but they might be of less value in rice improvement. OsCAX1b, OsCAX1c, OsCAX3 and OsCAX4 was expected to be of potential value in rice improvement because of their associations with specific traits, responsiveness to specific abiotic stresses or phytohormones, and relatively high gcHap and CRE diversity. Our strategy was demonstrated to be highly efficient to obtain important genetic information on genes/alleles of specific gene family and can be used to systematically characterize the other rice gene families.
Early adversity and sexual diversity: the importance of self-reported and neurobiological sexual reward sensitivity
Authors: Alley Jenna C. , McDonnell Amy S. , Diamond Lisa M. 
Published: April 2024

AbstractWork shows that sexually-diverse individuals face high rates of early life adversity and in turn increased engagement in behavioral outcomes traditionally associated with adversity, such as sexual risk taking. Recent theoretical work suggests that these associations may be attributable to heightened sexual reward sensitivity among adversity-exposed women. We aimed to test these claims using a combination of self-report and EEG measures to test the relationship between early adversity, sexual reward sensitivity (both self-reported and EEG measured) and sexual risk taking in a sexually diverse sample of cis-gender women (N = 208) (Mage = 27.17, SD = 6.36). Results showed that childhood SES predicted self-reported sexual reward sensitivity which in turn predicted numbers of male and female sexual partners. In contrast we found that perceived childhood unpredictability predicted neurobiological sexual reward sensitivity as measured by EEG which in turn predicted male sexual partner number. The results presented here provide support for the notion that heightened sexual reward sensitivity may be a pathway through which early life adversity augments future sexual behavior, and underscores the importance of including greater attention to the dynamics of pleasure and reward in sexual health promotion.
Spectral shifted Chebyshev collocation technique with residual power series algorithm for time fractional problems
Authors: Rida Saad. Z. , Arafa Anas. A. M. , Hussein Hussein. S. , Ameen Ismail G. , Mostafa Marwa. M. M. 
Published: April 2024

AbstractIn this paper, two problems involving nonlinear time fractional hyperbolic partial differential equations (PDEs) and time fractional pseudo hyperbolic PDEs with nonlocal conditions are presented. Collocation technique for shifted Chebyshev of the second kind with residual power series algorithm (CTSCSK-RPSA) is the main method for solving these problems. Moreover, error analysis theory is provided in detail. Numerical solutions provided using CTSCSK-RPSA are compared with existing techniques in literature. CTSCSK-RPSA is accurate, simple and convenient method for obtaining solutions of linear and nonlinear physical and engineering problems.
Tactile shape discrimination for moving stimuli
Authors: Pélegrin Nicolas , Konishi Mahiko , Sarrazin Jean-Christophe 
Published: April 2024

AbstractIn this study, we explored spatial-temporal dependencies and their impact on the tactile perception of moving objects. Building on previous research linking visual perception and human movement, we examined if an imputed motion mechanism operates within the tactile modality. We focused on how biological coherence between space and time, characteristic of human movement, influences tactile perception. An experiment was designed wherein participants were stimulated on their right palm with tactile patterns, either ambiguous (incongruent conditions) or non-ambiguous (congruent conditions) relative to a biological motion law (two-thirds power law) and asked to report perceived shape and associated confidence. Our findings reveal that introducing ambiguous tactile patterns (1) significantly diminishes tactile discrimination performance, implying motor features of shape recognition in vision are also observed in the tactile modality, and (2) undermines participants’ response confidence, uncovering the accessibility degree of information determining the tactile percept’s conscious representation. Analysis based on the Hierarchical Drift Diffusion Model unveiled the sensitivity of the evidence accumulation process to the stimulus’s informational ambiguity and provides insight into tactile perception as predictive dynamics for reducing uncertainty. These discoveries deepen our understanding of tactile perception mechanisms and underscore the criticality of predictions in sensory information processing.
Investigating the role of common cis-regulatory variants in modifying penetrance of putatively damaging, inherited variants in severe neurodevelopmental disorders
Authors: Wigdor Emilie M. , Samocha Kaitlin E. , Eberhardt Ruth Y. , Chundru V. Kartik , Firth Helen V. , Wright Caroline F. , Hurles Matthew E. , Martin Hilary C. 
Published: April 2024

AbstractRecent work has revealed an important role for rare, incompletely penetrant inherited coding variants in neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs). Additionally, we have previously shown that common variants contribute to risk for rare NDDs. Here, we investigate whether common variants exert their effects by modifying gene expression, using multi-cis-expression quantitative trait loci (cis-eQTL) prediction models. We first performed a transcriptome-wide association study for NDDs using 6987 probands from the Deciphering Developmental Disorders (DDD) study and 9720 controls, and found one gene, RAB2A, that passed multiple testing correction (p = 6.7 × 10–7). We then investigated whether cis-eQTLs modify the penetrance of putatively damaging, rare coding variants inherited by NDD probands from their unaffected parents in a set of 1700 trios. We found no evidence that unaffected parents transmitting putatively damaging coding variants had higher genetically-predicted expression of the variant-harboring gene than their child. In probands carrying putatively damaging variants in constrained genes, the genetically-predicted expression of these genes in blood was lower than in controls (p = 2.7 × 10–3). However, results for proband-control comparisons were inconsistent across different sets of genes, variant filters and tissues. We find limited evidence that common cis-eQTLs modify penetrance of rare coding variants in a large cohort of NDD probands.