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Abstract Despite the pivotal role of stannum doping in achieving ultrahigh piezoelectric performance in barium titanate-based ceramics, the fundamental mechanisms underlying this enhancement remain elusive. Here, we introduce a single variable nonstoichiometric stannum strategy in lead-free barium titanate-based ceramics with giant piezoelectricity, revealing that stannum doping contributes intrinsically and extrinsically to enhance piezoelectricity. Density functional theory calculations elucidate the intrinsic enhancement of polarization arising from lattice distortion and increased space for titanium-oxygen bonds induced by optimal stannum doping, which is corroborated by Rayleigh analysis. A phase transition from ferroelectric multiphase coexistence to paraelectric phase is observed, alongside a rapid miniaturized and eventually disappeared domains with increasing stannum doping. This evolution in phase structure and domain configuration induces a nearly vanishing polarization anisotropy and low domain wall energy, facilitating easy polarization rotation and domain wall motion, thereby significantly contributing to the extrinsic piezoelectric response. Consequently, the origins of ultrahigh performance can be attributed to the synergistic effect of stannum-induced intrinsic and extrinsic contributions in barium titanate-based ceramics. This study provides fundamental insights into the role of doping elements and offers guidance for the design of high-performance piezoelectrics.

Abstract Implant-associated infections due to the formation of bacterial biofilms pose a serious threat in medical healthcare, which needs effective therapeutic methods. Here, we propose a multifunctional nanoreactor by spatiotemporal ultrasound-driven tandem catalysis to amplify the efficacy of sonodynamic and chemodynamic therapy. By combining piezoelectric barium titanate with polydopamine and copper, the ultrasound-activated piezo-hot carriers transfer easily to copper by polydopamine. It boosts reactive oxygen species production by piezoelectrics, and facilitates the interconversion between Cu2+ and Cu+ to promote hydroxyl radical generation via Cu+ -catalyzed chemodynamic reactions. Finally, the elevated reactive oxygen species cause bacterial membrane structure loosening and DNA damage. Transcriptomics and metabolomics analysis reveal that intracellular copper overload restricts the tricarboxylic acid cycle, promoting bacterial cuproptosis-like death. Therefore, the polyetherketoneketone scaffold engineered with the designed nanoreactor shows excellent antibacterial performance with ultrasound stimulation and promotes angiogenesis and osteogenesis on-demand in vivo.

Abstract Perovskite-type lead-free piezoelectric ceramics allow access to illustrious piezoelectric coefficients (d 33) through intricate composition design and experimental modulation. Developing a swift and accurate technology for identifying (K, Na)NbO3 (KNN)-based ceramic compositions with high d 33 in exceedingly large “compositional” space will establish an innovative research paradigm surpassing the traditional empirical trial-and-error method. Herein, we demonstrate an interpretable machine learning (ML) framework for quick evaluation of KNN-based ceramics with high d 33 based on data from published literature. Specifically, a thorough feature construction was carried out from the global and local dimensions to establish tree regression models with d 33 as the target property. Subsequently, the feature-property mapping rules of KNN-based piezoelectric ceramics are further optimized through feature screening. To intuitively understand the correlation mechanisms between ML regression targets and features, the sure independence screening and sparsifying operator (SISSO) method was employed to extract the essential descriptors to explain d 33. A straightforward descriptor, $${\text{e}}^{({{NM}}_{\text{B}}-{{MV}}_{\text{B}})}\cdot {ST}/{(I{D}_{\text{A}})}^{2}$$ e ( NM B − MV B ) ⋅ ST / ( I D A ) 2 , consisting of only four easily accessible parameters, can accelerate the evaluation of a series of novel KNN-based ceramics with high d 33 while exhibiting strong theoretical interpretability. This work not only provides a tool for the rapid discovery of high piezoelectric performance in KNN-based ceramics but also offers a data-driven route for the design of property descriptors in perovskites.

In this work, the frequency dependence of ferroelectric and electrocaloric properties in barium titanate-based ceramics was studied based on Maxwell relations. It is found that the maximum and remnant polarization will decrease while the coercive field increases a lot with rising frequency from 0.1 to 10[Formula: see text]Hz, indicating that polarization rotation and domain switching become difficult at high frequencies. The electrocaloric properties show the different frequency dependence at different phase structures. Isothermal entropy change ([Formula: see text]) and adiabatic temperature change ([Formula: see text]) are similar around/above Curie temperature ([Formula: see text], showing tiny frequency dependence. However, [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] display the obvious frequency dependence below [Formula: see text], especially in the orthorhombic–tetragonal phase-transition region with a stable ferroelectric phase, and this frequency dependence becomes more obvious under a low-electric field. It is also found that increasing the frequency can weaken the electric field dependence of electrocaloric strength. This work gives a general profile of frequency dependence for electrocaloric properties in ferroelectric ceramics.

Abstract Exploring the microhabitat determinants of organisms distribution and functional traits differences can help us better understand the importance of intraspecific variations in ecological niches. Investigations on animals functional niche primarily focused on differences among species and tended to neglect the potential variability within species, despite the fact that the ecological and evolutionary importance of intraspecific variations was widely recognized. In this study, we examined the influence of microhabitat features on the intraspecific variability of the distribution and functional traits of a highest elevational distributed lizard species Phrynocephalus erythrurus. To do so, field work was conducted between July and August, 2020 and August and September, 2021 in Namtso watershed in central Xizang, China. Specifically, 11 transects were sampled for P. erythrurus individuals, which were measured for a set of 10 morphological traits. Moreover, 11 microhabitat variables that potentially affect the distribution of lizards were also measured for each transect. Our results indicated that juveniles, males, and females exhibited different functional traits, allowing them to occupy distinct functional space. The distribution of juveniles, males, and females was determined by different microhabitat variables such as illuminance and air temperature. More importantly, these variables also determined the intraspecific functional traits variability in this lizard species. All of these results supported previous claims that intraspecific traits variation should be incorporated into functional ecological studies, and diverse microhabitat features should be conserved to maintain high intraspecific diversity. Future studies can focus on the food analysis to explore the linkage between functional traits and resources utilization within animal populations.

Background Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a diverse neurodevelopmental disease primarily distinguished by limited and stereotyped activities as well as impaired social interaction. Due to the high heritability of ASD, research on the disorder has emphasised on identifying the underlying genetic and epigenetic aetiology. Many ASD loci have been identified by genome-wide association studies (GWASs). However, GWASs are more susceptible to bias due to population stratification. Moreover, GWASs barely reflect the genetic aetiology of subtypes of behavioural deficits.Methods We applied whole-genome transmission disequilibrium test (TDT) to reveal the gene sets that are significantly associated with the four behavioural subtypes of restricted repetitive behaviours in 334 ASD trios. We further mapped the clustered genes to pathways and enriched the SFARI genes in these pathways.Results Four unique gene clusters (181 genes in total) that are related to four different behavioural subtypes in ASD were identified. 23 SFARI genes were enriched in these four clusters. Through pathway analysis, nine non-SFARI genes (CNDP1, ETNK1, ITPKB, KCNQ5, PDE4D, PDGFRA, PPARGC1A, ULK2, SYNJ2) were found to be linked to the SFARI genes, which may contribute to the development of ASD. Furthermore, we found that the mTOR pathway enriched with the CNDP1, PDE4D, ULK2 genes is associated with neurodevelopment.Conclusions Whole-genome TDT test is a unique tool in clustering genes related to ASD subtypes of behavioural deficits. Several new candidate genes for ASD are revealed by pathway analysis of the clustered genes. These findings are useful for understanding the underlying mechanism of ASD.

Abstract Background Functional diversity is important to maintain ecosystem functioning. Species with different ecomorphological traits may display distinct functional roles in ecosystems. Accordingly, functionally extreme species are more important as they can exhibit specific strategies. However, little is known about the distribution patterns of functionally extreme species at a local scale and whether the prior extinction of extreme species can cause significant effects on functional diversity. In addition, no empirical studies have been conducted on the microhabitat determinants of extreme species to maintain the functional diversity. Results This study collected 1470 tadpoles belonging to 6 families and 20 anuran species. These species were subsequently divided into 65 functional entities based on their developmental stages to incorporate intraspecific traits variability. As a result, we detected seven extreme functional entities, accounting for 10.7% of the total number of entities. Moreover, the prior extinction of extreme entities can lead to a significant decrease in functional diversity compared with the random extinction of entities. Microhabitat variables such as conductivity, water depth, and current velocity determined the distribution of extreme entities. Conclusion Although the functionally extreme entities only represented a small proportion of the total number of tadpoles, they played irreplaceable roles in maintaining functional diversity. Their extinction may induce high functional vulnerability in tadpole communities. Therefore, anuran species with extreme tadpole traits need to be projected for amphibian conservation.

Simultaneous measurement of multiple modalities in single-cell analysis, represented by CITE-seq, is a promising approach to link transcriptional changes to cellular phenotype and function, requiring new computational methods to define cellular subtypes and states based on multiple data types. Here, we design a flexible single-cell multimodal analysis framework, called CITEMO, to integrate the transcriptome and antibody-derived tags (ADT) data to capture cell heterogeneity from the multi omics perspective. CITEMO uses Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to obtain a low-dimensional representation of the transcriptome and ADT, respectively, and then employs PCA again to integrate these low-dimensional multimodal data for downstream analysis. To investigate the effectiveness of the CITEMO framework, we apply CITEMO to analyse the cell subtypes of Cord Blood Mononuclear Cells (CBMC) samples. Results show that the CITEMO framework can comprehensively analyse single-cell multimodal samples and accurately identify cell subtypes. Besides, we find some specific immune cells that co-express multiple ADT markers. To better describe the co-expression phenomenon, we introduce the co-expression entropy to measure the heterogeneous distribution of the ADT combinations. To further validate the robustness of the CITEMO framework, we analyse Human Bone Marrow Cell (HBMC) samples and identify different states of the same cell type. CITEMO has an excellent performance in identifying cell subtypes and states for multimodal omics data. We suggest that the flexible design idea of CITEMO can be an inspiration for other single-cell multimodal tasks. The complete source code and dataset of the CITEMO framework can be obtained from https://github.com/studentiz/CITEMO.

Biological diversity is a concept that contains multiple facets, of which functional diversity is considered to be more integrative to describe the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. In recent decades, functional diversity patterns have been assessed along elevational gradients in plants and birds. However, few empirical studies have been conducted to reveal amphibian functional diversity patterns between elevational zonations on mountains. In the present study, we investigated amphibian ecomorphologically functional diversity patterns in different elevational zonations of Nepal Himalaya. Our results indicated that functional space occupied by amphibian assemblages differed in size between elevational zonations, with assemblages in zonation-2 (500–1300 m) occupying the highest proportion. In terms of the position in functional space, assemblages in low elevational zonations (zonation 1 & 2) differed significantly from those in high elevational zonations (zonation 3–5). Distribution of individuals in the five assemblages along the six axes of the functional space was significantly different between most pairs of comparisons, while the difference varied between assemblages along axes. Interestingly, despite morphologically extreme amphibians accounted for small proportions of the total number of amphibians, they filled a large proportion of the six dimensional functional space. More importantly, most of the extreme amphibians were also the most functional uniqueness individuals, and they were widely distributed in all the zonations. Therefore, functional vulnerability of amphibian assemblages exists throughout all the elevational zonations. Accordingly, extreme amphibians with most functional uniqueness should be in particular well protected to maintain amphibian functional diversity. Further research can explore the mechanism underlying the unique amphibian functional diversity patterns in Nepal Himalaya.

The widespread use of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in many fields has brought convenience to human lives but has also caused unavoidable environmental pollution issues. In particular, the resistance gene problem resulting from accumulating antibiotics that cannot be fully absorbed by biological individuals has been a concern; thus, it is urgent to find efficient technologies to boost the degradation efficiency of antibiotics in the environment. Here, an ε-MnO2 catalyst was prepared by a novel droplet-interface-drying method and utilized as a Fenton-like catalyst for efficiently degrading ciprofloxacin (CIP). The ε-MnO2 shell was formed preferentially at the gas–liquid interface and then continued to decompose into ε-MnO2 with abundant O vacancies in the air-insulated microcavity. The XPS result confirms that this particular preparation method can regulate the content of O vacancies in the material. Compared with ε-MnO2 samples obtained by the direct drying method (ε-MnO2-B), the catalytic performance of ε-MnO2 prepared by the droplet-interface-drying method (ε-MnO2-P) is significantly improved. By activating peroxymonosulfate (PMS) with the ε-MnO2-P catalyst, the CIP degradation efficiency can reach 84.1%. The detection and analysis of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the ε-MnO2-P/PMS oxidation system confirms that ·OH, SO4·− and 1O2 are the main ROS for CIP degradation. This study highlights the creation of miniature hypoxic space to regulate the content of O vacancies in ε-MnO2, providing a new idea for the synthesis of other O-vacancy-rich materials.

Purpose: To establish an effective genomic diagnosis pipeline for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) for its genetic etiology and intervention.Methods: A cohort of 354 autism spectrum disorder patients were obtained from Beijing Children’s Hospital, Capital Medical University. Peripheral blood samples of the patients were collected for whole genome sequencing (WGS) and RNA sequencing (RNAseq). Sequencing data analyses were performed for mining the single nucleotide variation (SNV), copy number variation (CNV) and structural variation (SV). Sanger sequencing and quantitative PCR were used to verify the positive results.Results: Among 354 patients, 9 cases with pathogenic/likely pathogenic copy number variation and 10 cases with pathogenic/likely pathogenic single nucleotide variations were detected, with a total positive rate of 5.3%. Among these 9 copy number variation cases, 5 were de novo and 4 were inherited. Among the 10 de novo single nucleotide variations, 7 were previously unreported. The pathological de novo mutations account for 4.2% in our cohort.Conclusion: Rare mutations of copy number variations and single nucleotide variations account for a relatively small proportion of autism spectrum disorder children, which can be easily detected by a genomic testing pipeline of combined whole genome sequencing and RNA sequencing. This is important for early etiological diagnosis and precise management of autism spectrum disorder with rare mutations.

External stimuli induced effective regulations of luminescent material are of significant interest in the development of smart optical devices. Here, by simply doping with Er3+ in the 0.94Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3-0.06BaTiO3 (BNTBT) ferroelectric host, using the bendable mica substrate, and exerting mechanical strain (bending) or light illumination (via photochromic reaction), the all-inorganic, highly-transparent and flexible Er-doped BNTBT/Mica luminescent-ferroelectric thin films were designed and fabricated, displaying strain-induced dramatically elevation of up-conversion photoluminescence (PL) intensity, suppression of PL concentration quenching, outstanding endurance and durability, convenient illumination-mediated PL quenching. And the strain-induced structural changes and local lattice distortions of the thin films were further explored through theoretical calculations and Raman measurement. Our results can supply the guidance of designing other luminescent-ferroelectric materials with controlled PL properties via easy mechanical/photo stimuli for expanding the application of multifunctional wearable memory devices.

Understanding the spatial patterns and the maintenance of biodiversity is a central target in ecology and biogeography, which provide important insights into community assembly processes. Mountain ecosystems provide informative systems for examining how biodiversity is distributed and identifying the mechanisms underlying those patterns. However, most of the existed studies only focused on plants, birds, and microbes, while little attention has been paid on amphibians, especially tadpoles. In the present study, we explored the elevational patterns of multiple facets of tadpole diversity and the community assembly mechanisms in temperate montane streams of Mount Emei, China. The taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity of tadpole assemblages in montane streams were quantified. Their elevational patterns were investigated using first and second-order polynomial regression analyses. The microhabitat determinants of these patterns were assessed by ordinary least squares models and hierarchical partitioning analyses. The phylogenetic tree of tadpoles and the Eucliden distance of traits between tadpoles were constructed. They were subsequently used to calculate the standardized effect size of mean pairwise phylogenetic and functional distances, and to speculate the tadpole assembly rules. Our results indicated that the Faith’s PD and the standardized effect size of Faith’s PD had hump-shaped responses to elevation, while the relationships between elevation and observed taxonomic diversity, observed functional diversity, and the standardized effect size of functional diversity were not significant. Interestingly, these patterns were determined by microhabitat variables, such as water conductivity, river width, water depth, and substrate type. Mean pairwise phylogenetic distance also showed hump-shaped correlations with the elevational gradient. Tadpole functional and phylogenetic structures were more clustered in low and high elevational streams, suggesting that environmental filtering was the main driver. At mid-elevations, functional and phylogenetic structures were overdispersal, indicating that limiting similarity plays a dominant role in shaping the tadpole assemblages.

Microorganisms play as fundamental contributors to maintain hosts’ fitness, which can be shaped by external environment. Moreover, symbiotic microbiome also varied within species (e.g., between sexes and developmental stages). However, we still need more studies to quantify whether the intraspecific variation patterns of symbiotic microbes can be modified with the change of environment. The Chinese giant salamander (CGS; Andrias davidianus) is a Critically Endangered species. Despite quantitative captive bred individuals were released to rebuild wild populations, the effectiveness is limited. More importantly, no studies have revealed the adaptation of released CGSs to the complex field conditions. In the present study, we explored whether reintroduction can reshape the intraspecific variations of symbiotic microbiota in captive bred CGSs using high-throughput amplicon sequencing of the16S rRNA gene. We found no significant difference of symbiotic microbiome in captive bred males and females, but released males and females differed significantly in skin microbiome. Juveniles had higher diversity of microbial symbiont than adults in hatchery, but lower diversity in field. Moreover, dominant bacterial taxa differed between juveniles and adults in both hatchery and field. Importantly, this symbiotic microbiome variations within species can be modified (alpha and beta diversity, and community composition) when captive bred individuals were released to the field. Overall, we observed a lower alpha diversity and higher relative abundance of Chryseobacterium, Plesiomonas, and Acinetobacter in the bacterial community of captive bred individuals. Instead, higher alpha diversity of symbiotic microbiota and higher relative abundance of S24-7 and Lactobacillus was detected in released individuals. These modifications may associate with the change of living environment, as well as the specific behavior within CGSs (e.g., movement patterns and foraging activities). Future studies can incorporate other approaches (e.g., blood physiology) to better evaluate the growth and health of reintroduced CGSs.

In this work, to systematically investigate the evolution characteristics of electrical properties in polymorphic piezoceramics, the Ba(Ti0.92Zr0.08)O3 ceramics are selected as a paradigm that possesses all the general phase structures above room temperature. It is found that the evolution of electrical properties with temperature change can be divided into three stages based on phase structure transforming: high ferroelectric and stable strain properties at R and R-O, high ferroelectric and enhanced strain/converse piezoelectric properties at O, O-T, and T phase, and the rapidly decreased ferroelectric and strain properties in T-C and C phase. However, the ferroelectric and strain properties all increase with rising electric field and their evolution can be divided into two parts based on phase structures. The high property and slow increase rate are present at R, R-O, O, and O-T, while the poor property but a high increase rate is present around T-C. Similar results can be found in the evolution of electrostrictive property. Finally, the highest d33* of ~1240 pm/V and Q33 of ~0.053 m4/C2 are obtained at O-T due to the high ferroelectricity but easy domain switching. This work affords important guidance for the property optimization of polymorphic piezoceramics.

The reintroduction of captive-bred individuals is a primary approach to rebuild the wild populations of the Chinese giant salamander (Andrias davidianus), the largest extant amphibian species. However, the complexity of the wild habitat (e.g., diverse microorganisms and potential pathogens) potentially threatens the survival of reintroduced individuals. In this study, fresh (i.e., containing environmental microbiota) or sterilized river sediments (120°C sterilized treatment) were added to the artificial habitats to treat the larvae of the Chinese giant salamander (control group—Cnt: 20 individuals, treatment group 1 with fresh river sediments—T1: 20 individuals, and treatment group 2 with sterilized river sediments—T2: 20 individuals). The main objective of this study was to test whether this procedure could provoke their wild adaptability from the perspective of commensal microbiotas (skin, oral cavity, stomach, and gut) and larvae transcriptomes (skin, spleen, liver, and brain). Our results indicated that the presence of habitat sediments (whether fresh or sterilized) reshaped the oral bacterial community composition. Specifically, Firmicutes decreased dramatically from ~70% to ~20–25% (mainly contributed by Lactobacillaceae), while Proteobacteria increased from ~6% to ~31–36% (mainly contributed by Gammaproteobacteria). Consequently, the proportion of antifungal operational taxonomic units (OTUs) increased, and the function of oral microbiota likely shifted from growth-promoting to pathogen defense. Interestingly, the skin microbiota, rather than the colonization of habitat microbiota, was the major source of the pre-treated oral microbiota. From the host perspective, the transcriptomes of all four organs were changed for treated individuals. Specifically, the proteolysis and apoptosis in the skin were promoted, and the transcription of immune genes was activated in the skin, spleen, and liver. Importantly, more robust immune activation was detected in individuals treated with sterilized sediments. These results suggested that the pathogen defense of captive-bred individuals was improved after being treated, which may benefit their survival in the wild. Taken together, our results suggested that the pre-exposure of captive-bred Chinese giant salamander individuals to habitat sediments could be considered and added into the reintroduction processes to help them better adapt to wild conditions.

Low power electronics endowed with artificial intelligence and biological afferent characters are beneficial to neuromorphic sensory network. Here, the authors report contact-electrification-activated artificial afferent at femtojoule energy, which is able to carry out spatiotemporal recognition on external stimuli.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.

Abstract Global environmental concerns on the toxicity of lead‐based piezoelectrics impel the great mass fervor on investigations of lead‐free alternatives. Barium titanate (BaTiO3, BT) ceramics, the first discovered perovskite ferroelectrics, were widely employed to fabricate dielectric capacitors from 1950s. Since a piezoelectric breakthrough was achieved via chemical modification, intensive researches have been performed embracing lead‐free BT‐based piezoelectrics and their extensional functionalities. In this review, we encompass the state‐of‐the‐art progress on chemical modification tuning phase structure toward advanced electrical properties in BT‐based ceramics. Generally, modulated regularity of cations substitution on phase transition is summarized and clarified. Then, we highlight the common methodologies of phase structure (phase boundary, relaxor phase, room‐temperature phase transition, etc.) design for optimizing piezoelectricity, electrostrictive strain, electrocaloric, dielectric energy storage or permittivity performances, and cover the noticeable developments and relevant physical mechanisms. Finally, perspectives and challenges on future research issues are featured. This review proposes to exert the significant guidance and service for material design of BT‐based and other lead‐free perovskite materials with superior functionalities.

The BiAlO3 (BA) and (Bi0.5Na0.5)ZrO3 (BNZ) are selected to form a solid solution with (K0.48Na0.52)NbO3 via traditional solid state technique to optimize the electrical performance and temperature stability of KNN-based lead-free ceramics, simultaneously. Here we show that doped BA has a great influence on phase structure, morphologies, and electrical properties. The XRD patterns and dielectric constant versus temperature curves reveal that an increase in the BA content results in a transform of phase structures from a coexistence state of rhombohedral, orthorhombic and tetragonal phases to pseudocubic phase. Owing to the construction of R-O-T phase boundary, optimized performances (TC ∼ 336 °C, d33 ∼ 306 pC/N, kp = 0.48) are obtained in 0.962(K0.48Na0.52)NbO3-0.003BiAlO3-0.035(Bi0.5Na0.5)ZrO3 (KNN-3) ceramics. Based on the sintered KNN-3 ceramic samples, high-frequency ultrasound imaging transducers are designed and fabricated, which exhibits a high center frequency of 24.5 MHz, a broad −6 dB bandwidth of 97% and a high-sensitivity. Finally, the imaging characteristic of the lead-free transducers is demonstrated via ex vivo imaging of biological tissue structure. As environment friendly materials, the excellent electrical and acoustic performance of developed KNN-based ceramics has great potential for practical applications.

Global climate change is considered to be one of the main threats to organisms. As poikilothermic animals, amphibians are in particular sensitive because they cannot adapt to the dramatic climate change through active physiological regulation. Using 104 representative species, the present study conducted an assessment of amphibians vulnerability to climate change in China through the combination of two approaches. Specifically, 18 vulnerability criteria belonging to five categories (i.e., thermal tolerance, individual reproductive, population diffusion and diversity, food and habitat, and climate conditions) were first selected and scored based on literatures and experts opinions. Species were then ranked into three levels of climate change vulnerability (i.e., high, moderate, and low) by calculating vulnerability scores and conducting natural breaks analyses, as well as performing a principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) and k-means cluster analyses, respectively. To integrate the two results, a matrix with the ranks from each result was developed to produce a final integrated list. Our results indicated that the 104 amphibian species were classified into three types by natural breaks, with 54 low vulnerable species, 41 moderately vulnerable species, and nine highly vulnerable species. Based on the results of PCoA and k-means cluster analyses, five species were highly vulnerable, 38 species were moderately vulnerable, and 61 species were low vulnerable. The combination of the two ranks suggested that 36 species such as Hyla tsinlingensis and Liangshantriton taliangensis were of low vulnerability, 54 species such as Echinotriton chinhaiensis and Hynobius chinensis were of moderate vulnerability, and 14 species such as Ichthyophis kohtaoensis and Zhangixalus prasinatus were of high vulnerability. Overall, our results indicated that climate change could have strong potential effects on amphibians in China. And the highly vulnerable species such as Ichthyophis kohtaoensis, Zhangixalus prasinatus, and Theloderma corticale should be the priority in future conservation activities.

In this work, the effects of Sb doping on the electrical conductivity of fine-grain 0.9(K0.5Na0.5)(Nb1−xSbx)O3-0.1Bi(Ni2/3Nb1/3)O3 (KNNSx-BNN) ceramics were systemically investigated. It was found that the grain size decreases from ~900 nm (x = 0) to ~340–400 nm (x = 0.06–0.08), and then increases again to ~700 nm (x = 0.10). This is because the solubility limit of Sb doping is about 0.08 in this ceramic, and more Sb doping will facilitate the grain growth as the sintering aids. Impedance and conductivity analyses reveal that the grain resistance and its activation energy show a similar changing tendency with grain size, while grain boundary conductivity steadily increases after Sb doping. In this process, the grain contribution on ceramic conductivity changes with grain size variation, and grain boundary contribution becomes more obvious with increasing doping content. The reduction in grain size, improvement in grain boundary density and doping ions entering into the grain boundary should contribute to the evolution of electrical conductivity properties after Sb doping in KNN-based ferroelectric ceramics.

The study on the mechanism driving the spatial patterns of biological diversity along elevational gradients is a main focus in ecology, biogeography, and conservation biology. Based on the intraspecific variability of tadpole communities in 18 mountainous streams, the present study quantified the spatial patterns of taxonomic and functional diversity, and the environmental factors underlying the process of spatial distribution and diversity. First, our results illustrated that both elevation and microhabitat features (e.g., water pH, dissolve oxygen, current velocity, chlorophyll a, and ammonium nitrogen) determined tadpole community compositions. Second, the richness of functional entities showed a hump-shape response to the change of elevation. However, no significant relationships were detected between other diversity indices at both taxonomic and functional levels and site elevation. Finally, microhabitat environmental variables were the primary drivers of the taxonomic variation and functional diversity in tadpole communities. However, the relative contribution to the variation of specific diversity indices differed among microhabitat environmental variables. Our results supported the claim that the assembly of montane communities is determined by both spatial processes and environmental filtering. Importantly, tadpole taxonomic and functional diversities were strongly determined by microhabitat features in mountainous streams, providing evidence that microhabitat should be a priority in this study of tadpole diversity conservation. This study suggests that tadpole diversity should be considered in the long-time monitoring of species conservation, as the tadpole is part of the life history in amphibians.

Abstract Background The E2A gene, which encodes two basic helix–loop–helix transcription factors, E12 and E47, regulates colorectal cancer progression and epithelial-mesenchymal transition. However, whether E2A regulates the tumor-initiating capacity of colorectal cancer is unclear. Thus, we have studied E2A expression in the initiation of colorectal cancer in vivo and in vitro. Methods Immunohistochemistry and immunoblot were performed to determine protein levels of E2A in colorectal cancer specimens and cells. RNAi was employed to downregulate E2A expression, and the subsequent change in protein level was evaluated by immunoblot. Sphere-forming assay and enumeration of liver metastasis in mouse models were used to identify the tumor formation ability of colorectal cancer cells. Results E2A expression in colorectal cancer clinical specimens was inversely associated with patients’ progression-free survival. Functional studies demonstrated that E2A significantly decreased tumor formation in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, nuclear translocation of beta-catenin and activation of the Wnt/beta-catenin pathway occurred after suppression of E2A in colorectal cancer cells. FoxM1 was identified as a down-stream target by mRNA microarray, implying that FoxM1 plays a main role in determining how E2A regulates the tumor-initiating capacity of colorectal cancer. Conclusion E2A suppresses tumor-initiating capacity by targeting the FoxM1-Wnt/β-catenin pathway.

Understanding mechanisms determining the coexistence between different species is one of the key issues in community ecology and biodiversity conservation. Microhabitat segregation is a way for species to coexist, which reflects the specific habitat selection of coexisting species in a finer spatial scale. Despite quantitative studies have been conducted to investigate the microhabitat segregation of coexisting species, this type of studies was not often performed on tadpoles. In this study, we assessed the habitat selection of two coexisting tadpoles (Quasipaa boulengeri and Leptobrachium boringii) in a stream on Emei Mountain, China. Our results demonstrated that L. boringii and Q. boulengeri tadpoles occupied different microhabitats. Specifically, Q. boulengeri tadpoles preferred deep, narrow, and weak acid stream segments with slow current velocity and low value of conductivity, while L. boringii tadpoles tended to occur in a wide, shallow water bodies with relatively higher pH, conductivity, and current velocity. Overall, our study supported the Hutchinson’s niche concept, showing that at least one dimension of niche differentiation (i.e., microhabitat) occurred between coexisting tadpole species.

An increasing number of studies have shown that warming also influences the animal gut microbiome (altering the community structure and decreasing its diversity), which might further impact host fitness. Here, based on an analysis of the stomach and gut (the entire intestine: from the anterior intestine to the cloaca) microbiome in laboratory larva of giant salamanders (Andrias davidianus) under different living water temperatures (5, 15, and 25°C) at two sample time points (80 and 330 days after the acclimation), we investigated the potential effect of temperature on the gastrointestinal microbiome community. We found the significant Interaction between sampling time and temperature, or type (stomach and gut) on Shannon index in the gastrointestinal microbiome of the giant salamanders. We also found the significant difference in Shannon index among temperature groups within the same sample type (stomach or gut) at each sample time. 10% of variation in microbiome community could be explained by temperature alone in the total samples. Both the stomach and gut microbiomes displayed the highest similarity in the microbiome community (significantly lowest pairwise unweighted Unifrac distance) in the 25-degree group between the two sampling times compared to those in the 5-degree and 15-degree groups. Moreover, the salamanders in the 25°C treatment showed the highest food intake and body mess compared to that of other temperature treatments. A significant increase in the abundance of Firmicutes in the gastrointestinal microbiome on day 330 with increasing temperatures might be caused by increased host metabolism and food consumption. Therefore, we speculate that the high environmental temperature might indirectly affect both alpha and beta diversity of the gastrointestinal microbiome.

Abstract A series of N-doped graphene (NG) and TiO2 supported MnOx–CeO2 catalysts were prepared by a hydrothermal method. The catalysts with different molar ratios of Mn/Ce (6: 1, 10: 1, 15: 1) were investigated for the low-temperature selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of NO x with NH3. The synthesized catalysts were characterized by HRTEM, SEM, XRD, BET, XPS, and NH3-TPD technologies. The characterization results indicated that manganese and cerium oxide particles dispersed on the surface of the TiO2–NG support uniformly, and that manganese and cerium oxides existed in different valences on the surface of the TiO2–NG support. At Mn element loading of 8 wt%, MnO x –CeO2(10: 1)/TiO2–1%NG displayed superior activity and improved SO2 resistance. On the basis of the catalyst characterization, excellent catalytic performance and SO2 tolerance at low temperature were attributed to the high content of manganese with high oxidation valence, extensive oxidation of NO into NO2 by CeO2 and strong NO adsorption capacity, and electron transfer of N-doped graphene.

Abstract Background LncRNA TUG1 has been reported to be highly expressed in CRC samples and cells and promoted metastasis by affecting EMT, indicating a poor prognosis for colorectal cancer (CRC). In this study, we determined the underlying mechanism for tumor oncogenesis of lncRNA TUG1 in CRC metastasis. Methods The expressions of miR-600 and KIAA1199 in 76 CRC patients and CRC cells and CRC metastatic tissues were determined using qRT-PCR. Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related proteins were determined using western blot. CRC cell metastasis was assessed by colony formation, wound healing and transwell assay. Luciferase reporter gene assay was used to confirm miR-600 binding to KIAA1199 3’UTR. Results Our data showed that lncRNA TUG1 was upregulated in CRC cells, miR-600 was downregulated in CRC tissues, cell lines and CRC metastatic tissues, and low miR-600 expression predicted a poor clinical prognosis. Overexpression of miR-600 suppressed CRC cell migration/invasion and EMT-related proteins in vitro, inhibited tumor volume and weight, and decreased the number of CRC liver metastasis in vivo. KIAA1199 was upregulated in CRC tissues, and was negatively regulated by miR-600. KIAA1199 overexpression promoted CRC cell migration and invasion, which reversed the inhibition effect of miR-600 mimic on migration and invasion of CRC cells. Moreover, TUG1 negatively regulated miR-600, and inhibition of TUG1 suppressed CRC cell migration and invasion and EMT-related proteins via regulating miR-600. Conclusion Our study proved that TUG1 promoted KIAA1199 expression to accelerate EMT and metastasis of CRC cell through inhibition of miR-600 expression.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.

Diabetes is a metabolic disorder leading to many complications. The treatment of diabetes mainly depends on hypoglycemic drugs, often with side effects, which drive us to develop novel agents. AWRK6 was a peptide developed from the antimicrobial peptide Dybowskin-2CDYa in our previous study, and the availability of AWRK6 on diabetes intervention was unknown. Here, in vivo and in vitro experiments were carried out to investigate the effects of AWRK6 against diabetes. In diabetic mice, induced by high-fat diet followed by streptozocin (STZ) administration, the daily administration of AWRK6 presented acute and sustained hypoglycemic effects. The plasma insulin was significantly elevated by AWRK6 during an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). The relative β cell mass in diabetic mice was increased by AWRK6 treatment. The body weight and food intake were remarkably reduced by AWRK6 administration. In the mouse pancreatic β cell line Min6 cells, the intracellular calcium concentration was found to be enhanced under the treatment with AWRK6, and protein kinase A (PKA) inhibitor H-89 and Epac2 inhibitor HJC0350 represented inhibitory effects of the insulinotropic function of AWRK6. By FITC-AWRK6 incubation and GLP-1 receptor (GLP-1R) knockdown, AWRK6 proved to be a novel GLP-1R agonist. In addition, AWRK6 showed no toxicity in cell viability and membrane integrity in Min6 cells, and no hypoglycemia risk and no lethal toxicity in mice. In summary, AWRK6 was found as a novel agonist of GLP-1R, which could stimulate insulin secretion to regulate blood glucose and energy metabolism, via cAMP-calcium signaling pathway, without significant toxicity. The peptide AWRK6 might become a novel candidate for diabetes treatment.

It is essential to have three-dimensional orientation of cells under a microscope for biological manipulation. Conventional manual cell manipulation is highly dependent on the operator’s experience. It has some problems of low repeatability, low efficiency, and contamination. The current popular robotic method uses an injection micropipette to rotate cells. However, the optimal poking direction of the injection micropipette has not been established. In this paper, a strategy of robotic cell rotation based on optimal poking direction is proposed to move the specific structure of the cell to the desired orientation. First, analysis of the force applied to the cell during rotation was done to find the optimal poking direction, where we had the biggest moment of force. Then, the moving trajectory of the injection micropipette was designed to exert rotation force based on optimal poking direction. Finally, the strategy was applied to oocyte rotation in nuclear transfer. Experimental results show that the average completion time was up to 23.6 s and the success rate was 93.3% when the moving speed of the injection micropipette was 100 μm/s, which demonstrates that our strategy could overcome slippage effectively and with high efficiency.