Ultrathin polyamide nanofiltration membrane prepared by triazine-based porous organic polymer as interlayer for dye removal

Separation membrane with high flux is generally encouraged in industrial application,because of the tremendous needs for decreasing membrane areas,usage costs and space requirements.The most effective and direct method for obtaining the high flux is to decrease membrane thickness.Polyamide(PA)nanofiltration membrane is conventionally prepared by the direct interfacial polymerization(IP)on substrate surface,and results in a thick PA layer.In this work,we proposed a strategy that constructing triazine-based porous organic polymer(TRZ-POP)as the interlayer to prepare the ultrathin PA nanofiltration membranes.TRZ-POP is firstly deposited on the polyethersulfone substrate,and then the formed TRZ-POP provides more adhesion sites towards PA based on its high specific surface areas.The chemical bonding between terminal amine group of TRZ-POP and the amide group of PA further improves the binding force,and strengthens the stability of PA layer.More importantly,the high porosity of TRZPOP layer causes the higher polymerization of initial PA owning to the stored sufficient amino monomer;and H-bonding interaction between amine groups of TRZ-POP and piperazine(PIP)can astrict the release of PIP.Thus,IP process is controlled,and the thinnest thickness of prepared PA layer is only<15 nm.As expected,PA/TRZ-POP membrane shows a more excellent water flux of 1414 L·m^(-2)·h^(-1)·MPa^(-1)than that of the state-of-the-art nanofiltration membranes,and without sacrificing dye rejection.The build of TRZPOP interlayer develops a new method for obtaining a high-flux nanofiltration membrane.

Rotating electroosmotic flows in soft parallel plate microchannels

We present a theoretical investigation of rotating electroosmotic flows(EOFs) in soft parallel plate microchannels. The soft microchannel, also called as the polyelectrolyte-grafted microchannel, is denoted as a rigid microchannel coated with a polyelectrolyte layer(PEL) on its surface. We compare the velocity in a soft microchannel with that in a rigid one for different rotating frequencies and find that the PEL has a trend to lower the velocities in both directions for a larger equivalent electrical double layer(EDL) thickness λFCL(λFCL = 0.3) and a smaller rotating frequency ω(ω < 5).However, for a larger rotating frequency ω(ω = 5), the main stream velocity u far away from the channel walls in a soft microchannel exceeds that in a rigid one. Inspired by the above results, we can control the EOF velocity in micro rotating systems by imparting PELs on the microchannel walls, which may be an interesting application in biomedical separation and chemical reaction.

Scale-dependent effects of habitat fragmentation on the genetic diversity of Actinidia chinensis populations in China

Spatial scale partly explains the differentiated effects of habitat fragmentation on plant biodiversity,but the mechanisms remain unclear.To investigate the effects of habitat fragmentation on genetic diversity at different scales,we sampled Actinidia chinensis Planch.at broad and fine scales,China.The broad-scale sampling included five mountain populations and one oceanic island population(Zhoushan Archipelago),and the fine-scale sampling covered 11 lake islands and three neighboring land populations in Thousand-Island Lake(TIL).These populations were genotyped at 30 microsatellite loci,and genetic diversity,gene flow,and genetic differentiation were evaluated.Genetic differentiation was positively related to geographical distance at the broad scale,indicating an isolation-bydistance effect of habitat fragmentation on genetic diversity.The oceanic population differed from the mainland populations and experienced recent bottleneck events,but it showed high gene flow with low genetic differentiation from a mountain population connected by the Yangtze River.At the fine scale,no negative genetic effects of habitat fragmentation were found because seed dispersal with water facilitates gene flow between islands.The population size of A.chinensis was positively correlated with the area of TIL islands,supporting island biogeography theory,but no correlation was found between genetic diversity and island area.Our results highlight the scale-dependent effects of habitat fragmentation on genetic diversity and the importance of connectivity between island-like isolated habitats at both the broad and fine scales.

Experimental investigation on plasma jet deflection with magnetic fluid control based on PIV measurement

This paper is devoted to experimentally investigating the influence of magnetic field intensity and gas temperature on the plasma jet deflection controlled by magneto hydrodynamics. The catalytic ionization seed CS_2CO_3 is injected into combustion gas by artificial forced ionization to obtain plasma fluid on a high-temperature magnetic fluid experimental platform. The plasma jet was deflected under the effect of an external magnetic field, forming a thrust-vector effect.Magnesium oxide was selected as a tracer particle, and a two-dimensional image of the jet flow field was collected using the particle image velocimetry(PIV) measurement method. Through image processing and velocity vector analysis of the flow field, the value of the jet deflection angle was obtained quantitatively to evaluate the thrust-vector effect. The variation of the jet deflection angle with the magnetic field intensity and gas temperature was studied under different experimental conditions. Experimental results show that the jet deflection angle increased gradually with a rise in gas temperature and then increased substantially when the gas temperature exceeded 2300 K. The jet deflection angle also increased with an increase in magnetic induction intensity. Experiments demonstrate it is feasible to use PIV test technology to study the thrust vector under magnetic control conditions.

Electromagnetohydrodynamic flows and mass transport in curved rectangular microchannels

Curved microchannels are often encountered in lab-on-chip systems because the effective axial channel lengths of such channels are often larger than those of straight microchannels for a given per unit chip length.In this paper,the effective diffusivity of a neutral solute in an oscillating electromagnetohydrodynamic(EMHD)flow through a curved rectangular microchannel is investigated theoretically.The flow is assumed as a creeping flow due to the extremely low Reynolds number in such microflow systems.Through the theoretical analysis,we find that the effective diffusivity primarily depends on five dimensionless parameters,i.e.,the curvature ratio of the curved channel,the Schmidt number,the tidal displacement,the angular Reynolds number,and the dimensionless electric field strength parameter.Based on the obtained results,we can precisely control the mass transfer characteristics of the EMHD flow in a curved rectangular microchannel by appropriately altering the corresponding parameter values.

Electroviscous effect on electromagnetohydrodynamic flows of Maxwell fluids in parallel plate microchannels

Considering the influence of the streaming potential and electroviscous effects, the analytical solutions for electromagnetohydrodynamic (EMHD) flows in parallel plate microchannels are obtained. The electrolyte solutions in the microchannels are taken as generalized Maxwell fluids, and slip boundary conditions are adopted. To accurately analyze the EMHD flow characteristics, the variation trends of the electroviscous effects with the corresponding parameters must be understood. The results show that the electroviscous effects increase with the increase in the relaxation time De, the slip coefficient , and the wall zeta potential 0. However, the increase in the inverse of the electrical double-layer (EDL) thickness K, the electrical oscillating Reynolds number Re, and the ionic P'eclet number Pe can decrease the electroviscous effects. We also demonstrate that the electroviscous effect on the EMHD flows of generalized Maxwell fluids is larger than that of Newtonian fluids. This work will be useful in designing EMHD flows in parallel plate microchannels.

Vertical nanowire/nanosheet FETs with a horizontal channel for threshold voltage modulation

A new type of vertical nanowire(VNW)/nanosheet(VNS)FETs combining a horizontal channel(HC)with bulk/back-gate electrode configuration,including Bulk-HC and FD-SOI-HC VNWFET,is proposed and investigated by TCAD simulation.Comparisons were carried out between conventional VNWFET and the proposed devices.FD-SOI-HC VNWFET exhibits better Ion/Ioff ratio and DIBL than Bulk-HC VNWFET.The impact of channel doping and geometric parameters on the electrical character-istic and body factor(γ)of the devices was investigated.Moreover,threshold voltage modulation by bulk/back-gate bias was im-plemented and a largeγis achieved for wide range V_(th)modulation.In addition,results of I_(on)enhancement and Ioff reduction in-dicate the proposed devices are promising candidates for performance and power optimization of NW/NS circuits by adopting dynamic threshold voltage management.The results of preliminary experimental data are discussed as well.

Porch Design Based on Family Health Needs

Physical health is the basic need for survival.There are many factors affecting health,and pathogenic bacteria and viruses are the main reasons.A healthy lifestyle can effectively reduce the risk of disease,and family living space is the main place of life,so improving family health awareness and living habits is an effective measure to maintain health.Indoor living space and outdoor space are relatively independent.The porch is the entrance of the family and the buffer space connecting indoor and outdoor.Therefore,optimizing the sanitary design of the porch is not only conducive to blocking the spread of viruses and bacteria,but also to form a good health awareness and maintain healthy living habits.

靶向难成药蛋白——蛋白质降解剂的力量

Undruggable targets typically refer to a class of therapeutic targets that are difficult to target through conventional methods or have not yet been targeted,but are of great clinical significance.According to statistics,over 80%of disease-related pathogenic proteins cannot be targeted by current conventional treatment methods.In recent years,with the advancement of basic research and new technologies,the development of various new technologies and mechanisms has brought new perspectives to overcome challenging drug targets.Among them,targeted protein degradation technology is a breakthrough drug development strategy for challenging drug targets.This technology can specifically identify target proteins and directly degrade pathogenic target proteins by utilizing the inherent protein degradation pathways within cells.This new form of drug development includes various types such as proteolysis targeting chimera(PROTAC),molecular glue,lysosome-targeting Chimaera(LYTAC),autophagosometethering compound(ATTEC),autophagy-targeting chimera(AUTAC),autophagy-targeting chimera(AUTOTAC),degrader-antibody conjugate(DAC).This article systematically summarizes the application of targeted protein degradation technology in the development of degraders for challenging drug targets.Finally,the article looks forward to the future development direction and application prospects of targeted protein degradation technology.

Genome assembly of autotetraploid Actinidia arguta highlights adaptive evolution and enables dissection of important economic traits

Actinidia arguta,the most widely distributed Actinidia species and the second cultivated species in the genus,can be distinguished from the currently cultivated Actinidia chinensis on the basis of its small and smooth fruit,rapid softening,and excellent cold tolerance.Adaptive evolution of tetraploid Actinidia species and the genetic basis of their important agronomic traits are still unclear.Here,we generated a chromosome-scale genome assembly of an autotetraploid male A.arguta accession.The genome assembly was 2.77 Gb in length with a contig N50 of 9.97 Mb and was anchored onto 116 pseudo-chromosomes.Resequencing and clustering of 101 geographically representative accessions showed that they could be divided into two geographic groups,Southern and Northern,which first diverged 12.9 million years ago.A.arguta underwent two prominent expansions and one demographic bottleneck from the midPleistocene climate transition to the late Pleistocene.Population genomics studies using paleoclimate data enabled us to discern the evolution of the species’adaptation to different historical environments.Three genes(AaCEL1,AaPME1,and AaDOF1)related to flesh softening were identified by multi-omics analysis,and their ability to accelerate flesh softening was verified through transient expression assays.A set of genes that characteristically regulate sexual dimorphism located on the sex chromosome(Chr3)or autosomal chromosomes showed biased expression during stamen or carpel development.This chromosome-level assembly of the autotetraploid A.arguta genome and the genes related to important agronomic traits will facilitate future functional genomics research and improvement of A.arguta.

Genome Assembly and Population Resequencing Reveal the Geographical Divergence of Shanmei(Rubus corchorifolius)

Rubus corchorifolius(Shanmei or mountain berry,2n=14)is widely distributed in China,and its fruits possess high nutritional and medicinal values.Here,we reported a highquality chromosome-scale genome assembly of Shanmei,with contig size of 215.69 Mb and 26,696 genes.Genome comparison among Rosaceae species showed that Shanmei and Fupenzi(Rubus chingii Hu)were most closely related,followed by blackberry(Rubus occidentalis),and that environmental adaptation-related genes were expanded in the Shanmei genome.Further resequencing of 101 samples of Shanmei collected from four regions in the provinces of Yunnan,Hunan,Jiangxi,and Sichuan in China revealed that among these samples,the Hunan population of Shanmei possessed the highest diversity and represented the more ancestral population.Moreover,the Yunnan population underwent strong selection based on the nucleotide diversity,linkage disequilibrium,and historical effective population size analyses.Furthermore,genes from candidate genomic regions that showed strong divergence were significantly enriched in the flavonoid biosynthesis and plant hormone signal transduction pathways,indicating the genetic basis of adaptation of Shanmei to the local environment.The high-quality assembled genome and the variome dataset of Shanmei provide valuable resources for breeding applications and for elucidating the genome evolution and ecological adaptation of Rubus species.

Discovery of small molecule degraders for modulating cell cycle

The cell cycle is a complex process that involves DNA replication,protein expression,and cell division.Dysregulation of the cell cycle is associated with various diseases.Cyclin-dependent kinases(CDKs)and their corresponding cyclins are major proteins that regulate the cell cycle.In contrast to inhibition,a new approach called proteolysis-targeting chimeras(PROTACs)and molecular glues can eliminate both enzymatic and scaffold functions of CDKs and cyclins,achieving targeted degradation.The field of PROTACs and molecular glues has developed rapidly in recent years.In this article,we aim to summarize the latest developments of CDKs and cyclin protein degraders.The selectivity,application,validation and the current state of each CDK degrader will be overviewed.Additionally,possible methods are discussed for the development of degraders for CDK members that still lack them.Overall,this article provides a comprehensive summary of the latest advancements in CDK and cyclin protein degraders,which will be helpful for researchers working on this topic.

PROTACs:great opportunities for academia and industry (an update from 2020 to 2021)

PROteolysis TArgeting Chimeras(PROTACs)technology is a new protein-degradation strategy that has emerged in recent years.It uses bifunctional small molecules to induce the ubiquitination and degradation of target proteins through the ubiquitin–proteasome system.PROTACs can not only be used as potential clinical treatments for diseases such as cancer,immune disorders,viral infections,and neurodegenerative diseases,but also provide unique chemical knockdown tools for biological research in a catalytic,reversible,and rapid manner.In 2019,our group published a review article“PROTACs:great opportunities for academia and industry”in the journal,summarizing the representative compounds of PROTACs reported before the end of 2019.In the past 2 years,the entire field of protein degradation has experienced rapid development,including not only a large increase in the number of research papers on protein-degradation technology but also a rapid increase in the number of small-molecule degraders that have entered the clinical and will enter the clinical stage.In addition to PROTAC and molecular glue technology,other new degradation technologies are also developing rapidly.In this article,we mainly summarize and review the representative PROTACs of related targets published in 2020–2021 to present to researchers the exciting developments in the field of protein degradation.The problems that need to be solved in this field will also be briefly introduced.

Association between Metabolic Dysfunction-associated Fatty Liver Disease and Cognitive Impairment

Background and Aims:Metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease(MAFLD)is a newly proposed term based on modified criteria.Although nonalcoholic fatty liver disease(NAFLD)has been well-documented as a multisystem dis-ease,research on the correlation of MAFLD and extra-hepatic diseases is limited.This study aimed to clarify the association of MAFLD,as well as NAFLD status with cognitive function.Methods:A total of 5,662 participants 20-59 years of age who underwent cognitive tests and liver ultrasonography in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey were included in the analysis.Cognitive function was evalu-ated using three computer-administered tests,the serial dig-it learning test(SDLT),the simple reaction time test(SRTT)and the symbol digit substitution test(SDST).Results:Par-ticipants with MAFLD had significantly poorer performance on the SRTT[odds ratio(OR)1.47,95%confidence interval(CI):1.14-1.89)].MAFLD with moderate-severe liver stea-tosis was associated with higher risks of scoring low in the SDLT(OR 1.37,95%CI:1.04-1.82)and SRTT(OR 1.55,95%CI:1.19-2.02).NAFLD combined with metabolic dys-function,instead of NAFLD without metabolic disorders,was associated an increased risk of a low SRTT score(OR 1.44,95%CI:1.10-1.82).MAFLD patients had a high probability of fibrosis,prediabetes,and diabetes and were also signifi-cantly associated with increased risks based on the SDST or SRTT score.Conclusions:MAFLD was significantly associ-ated with increased risk of cognitive impairment,especially among MAFLD patients with a high degree of liver fibrosis,moderate-severe steatosis,or hyperglycemia.

Environmental deterioration of farmlands caused by the irrational use of agricultural technologies

Without considering the ecosystem-depen- dence of agricultural production, irrational use of agricultural technologies could bring only short-term economic benefits but leave long-term environmental deterioration. If some agricultural lands have to be abandoned because of these technologies such as chemical films or groundwater depletion, it will aggravate the burden of remaining lands for maintaining or enhancing production. Thus, agricultural production should be a part of public services, requiring the consideration of interests of different stakeholders and sustainability.

PROTAC mediated FKBP12 degradation enhances Hepcidin expression via BMP signaling without immunosuppression activity

Dear Editor,Hepcidin is a 25-amino acid peptide acting as a pivotal negative regulator in iron homeostasis,which can bind to an iron exporter,ferroportin 1,and induce its internalization and degradation.1 Hepcidin is produced in hepatocytes mainly under the control of BMP signaling.BMP2/6,secreted by liver endothelial cells in response to iron level,binds to BMP type I and type II receptors and triggers the phosphorylation of Smad1/5/8 which directly promotes hepcidin expression.1 The immunophilin family protein FKBP12 is associated with BMP type I receptors to prevent uncontrolled receptor activation.