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Abstract [Objective] In order to examine the structural features of the chloroplast genome of Berberis diaphana and the phylogenetic relationship with the taxa of the same genus, we analyzed its chloroplast genome structure and performed phylogenetic analysis. [Methods] Sequencing was performed by Illumina Hiseq X Ten technology. The chloroplast genome characteristics of B. diaphana were analyzed by using CPGview, CodonW, MISA, Reputer, IRscope, and mVISTA. Phylogenetic tree was constructed by ML method in MEGA7 software. [Results] The chloroplast genome of B. diaphana showed a length of 166 225 bp, with a typical quadripartite structure and the GC content of the whole genome was 38.07%. A total of 144 genes were annotated, including 99 protein coding genes, 37 tRNA genes, and 8 rRNA genes. Among them, 23 genes contained introns, and 32 genes were present in duplicate copies, with preference for codons ending in A/U. A total of 98 SSR loci and 150 scattered repeat sequences were detected, and most SSR loci composed of A/T bases. The degree of variation in the SSC and IR regions was higher than that in the LSC region. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that B. diaphana was most closely related to B. weiningensis. [Conclusion] The chloroplast genome structure of B. diaphana is similar to other species of berberis, providing a theoretical basis for molecular identification and evolutionary relationship of this genus.

Producing hydrogen by water electrolysis suffers from the kinetic barriers in the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) that limits the overall efficiency. With spin-dependent kinetics in OER, to manipulate the spin ordering of ferromagnetic OER catalysts (e.g., by magnetization) can reduce the kinetic barrier. However, most active OER catalysts are not ferromagnetic, which makes the spin manipulation challenging. In this work, we report a strategy with spin pinning effect to make the spins in paramagnetic oxyhydroxides more aligned for higher intrinsic OER activity. The spin pinning effect is established in oxideFM/oxyhydroxide interface which is realized by a controlled surface reconstruction of ferromagnetic oxides. Under spin pinning, simple magnetization further increases the spin alignment and thus the OER activity, which validates the spin effect in rate-limiting OER step. The spin polarization in OER highly relies on oxyl radicals (O∙) created by 1st dehydrogenation to reduce the barrier for subsequent O-O coupling.

Selenium (Se) is an essential trace element in living systems. In this study, we applied a spray of 50 mg/kg sodium selenite to alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) at different stages of development (bud, initial bloom, and full bloom stages). After 0, 1, 3, 7, and 45 days of ensiling, we assessed the fermentation quality, chemical composition, and bacterial community of the alfalfa. Our findings indicated that the addition of Se led to an increase in the Se content and a decrease in the pH, acid detergent fiber (ADF), and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) contents. As ensiling fermentation progressed, the Se treatments increased the relative abundance of Lactobacillus, which was significantly greater than that in the control group (42.44% vs. 3.76%). In conclusion, the addition of sodium selenate to silage additive ensures the quality of the silage and reduces bacterial community diversity. This study provides valuable insights for the investigation of Se enrichment in alfalfa haylage silage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improving public health approaches to suicide prevention requires scalable evidence-based interventions that can be easily disseminated. Given empirical data supporting the association between insomnia and suicide risk, internet-delivered insomnia interventions are promising candidates to meet this need. The purpose of this study was to examine whether an unguided internet-delivered cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia (iCBT-I) improved insomnia severity, suicidal ideation (SI), and suicide risk correlates (depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, hostility, belongingness, hopelessness, agitation, irritability, concentration) in a sample of veterans. Secondary data analysis of Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Operation New Dawn veterans (n = 50) with clinically significant insomnia and elevated SI drawn from a larger randomized controlled trial (RCT) of an iCBT-I, Sleep Healthy Using the Internet (SHUTi). Two-sample t -tests or Wilcoxon rank sum tests were used to evaluate between-group differences (SHUTi vs. Insomnia Education Website control) in symptom improvement from baseline to post-intervention. SHUTi participants experienced a significant improvement in insomnia severity (P <.001; d = −1.08) and a non-significant with small (subthreshold medium) effect size reduction of SI (P =.17, d = 0.40), compared to control participants. Significant improvement in hopelessness was observed (medium effect size), with non-significant small to medium effect size reductions in most remaining suicide risk correlates. Self-administered iCBT-I was associated with improvements in insomnia severity in veterans at elevated risk for suicide. These preliminary findings suggest that SI and suicide risk correlates may improve following an iCBT-I intervention, demonstrating the need for future well-powered iCBT-I RCTs targeted for populations at elevated suicide risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A good understanding of the correlation between electronic properties and catalytic performance is vital to the rational design of active oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalysts. Here, a volcano-shaped correlation between the OER activity and the Cr substitution amount was found for spinel oxides ZnFe2-xCrxO4 (x = 0-2), in which Zn2+ resides in tetrahedral (Td) sites while Fe3+ and Cr3+ occupy octahedral (Oh) sites. Such a relationship probably is because Cr substitution tunes the eg occupancy of Oh-site transition metals (TMOh) via the Oh-Oh superexchange effect. Density functional calculations further revealed the hybridization degree between the TMOh 3d and the O 2p states, and a volcano-shaped trend was also found in the variation of TMOh 3d-O 2p hybridization with the amount of Cr substitution. The good correlation between the OER activity and the hybridization highlights the important role of metal-oxygen hybridization in determining the OER activity of these spinel oxides.