Bryantbigum2848

Industrial ammonia production without CO2 emission and with low energy consumption is one of the technological grand challenges of this age. Current Haber-Bosch ammonia mass production processes work with a thermally activated iron catalyst needing high pressure. The need for large volumes of hydrogen gas and the continuous operation mode render electrification of Haber-Bosch plants difficult to achieve. Electrochemical solutions at low pressure and temperature are faced with the problematic inertness of the nitrogen molecule on electrodes. Direct reduction of N2 to ammonia is only possible with very reactive chemicals such as lithium metal, the regeneration of which is energy intensive. Here, the attractiveness of an oxidative route for N2 activation was presented. N2 conversion to NOx in a plasma reactor followed by reduction with H2 on a heterogeneous catalyst at low pressure could be an energy-efficient option for small-scale distributed ammonia production with renewable electricity and without intrinsic CO2 footprint.The prevalence of sexual assault cases and increasingly sensitive DNA analysis methods have resulted in sexual assault kit backlogs in the United States. Although traditional DNA extraction and purification utilizing detergents, proteinase K, and DTT have been the primary technique for lysing sperm cell fractions from these samples, it is labor-intensive and inefficient regarding time and sperm DNA recovery - hindering the ability of forensic analysts to keep pace with evidence submissions. Thus, this study examined seven alternative sperm cell lysis techniques to develop a method that could efficiently lyse sperm and consistently generate high-quality profiles while also reducing time, labor, and cost requirements. Microscopic examination of lysates indicated only Casework Direct and alkaline techniques could lyse all spermatozoa within samples, while quantification results demonstrated all methods performed comparably to the control method of forensicGEM™ Sperm (p > 0.06). Amplification with 0.25 ng DNA revealed that unpurified lysates from Casework Direct, alkaline, and NP-40 techniques produced DNA profiles with acceptable mean STR peak heights and interlocus balance, both of which were similar to or better than the control. Overall, this study demonstrated the ability of Casework Direct, alkaline, and NP-40 methods to efficiently lyse spermatozoa and provide high-quality STR profiles despite the absence of a purification step. Ultimately, based on the data reported herein, alkaline lysis is the recommended alternative sperm lysis approach given its ability to generate high-quality profiles, save time, and decrease the cost per reaction when compared to traditional sperm cell lysis methods.The cell stress-responsive transcription factor p53 influences the expression of its target genes and subsequent cellular responses based in part on its dynamics (changes in level over time). The mechanisms decoding p53 dynamics into subsequent target mRNA and protein dynamics remain unclear. We systematically quantified p53 target mRNA and protein expression over time under two p53 dynamical regimes, oscillatory and rising, using RNA-sequencing and TMT mass spectrometry. Oscillatory dynamics allowed for a greater variety of dynamical patterns for both mRNAs and proteins. Mathematical modeling of empirical data revealed three distinct mechanisms that decode p53 dynamics. Specific combinations of these mechanisms at the transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels enabled exclusive induction of proteins under particular dynamics. In addition, rising induction of p53 led to higher induction of proteins regardless of their functional class, including proteins promoting arrest of proliferation, the primary cellular outcome under rising p53. Our results highlight the diverse mechanisms cells employ to distinguish complex transcription factor dynamics to regulate gene expression.Conceptual alignment is a prerequisite for mutual understanding. However, little is known about the neurophysiological brain-to-brain underpinning during conceptual alignment for mutual understanding. Here, we recorded multi-channel electroencephalogram (EEG) simultaneously from two participants in Experiment 1 and adopted the dual-tACS techniques in Experiment 2 to investigate the underlying brain-to-brain EEG coupling during conceptual alignment and the possible enhancement effect. Our results showed that 1) higher phase-locking value (PLV), a sensitive measure for quantifying neural coupling strength between EEG signals, at the gamma frequency band (28-40 Hz), was observed in the left temporoparietal site (left TP) area between successful versus unsuccessful conceptual alignment. The left TP gamma coupling strength correlated with the accuracy of conceptual alignment and differentiated whether subjects belonged to the SUCCESS or FAILURE groups in our study. 2) In-phase gamma-band transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) over the left TP area increased the accuracy of subjects in the SUCCESS group but not the FAILURE group. 3) The effect of perspective-taking on the accuracy was mediated by the gamma coupling strength within the left TP area. Our results support the role of gamma-band coupling between brains for interpersonal conceptual alignment. We provide dynamic interpersonal neurophysiological insights into the formation of successful communication.In Arctic regions, thawing permafrost soils are projected to release 50 to 250 Gt of carbon by 2100. This data is mostly derived from carbon-rich wetlands, although 71% of this carbon pool is stored in faster-thawing mineral soils, where ecosystems close to the outer boundaries of permafrost regions are especially vulnerable. Although extensive data exists from currently thawing sites and short-term thawing experiments, investigations of the long-term changes following final thaw and co-occurring drainage are scarce. Here we show ecosystem changes at two comparable tussock tundra sites with distinct permafrost thaw histories, representing 15 and 25 years of natural drainage, that resulted in a 10-fold decrease in CH4 emissions (3.2 ± 2.2 vs. 0.3 ± 0.4 mg C-CH4 m-2 day-1 ), while CO2 emissions were comparable. These data extend the time perspective from earlier studies based on short-term experimental drainage. The overall microbial community structures did not differ significantly between sites, although the drier top soils at the most advanced site led to a loss of methanogens and their syntrophic partners in surface layers while the abundance of methanotrophs remained unchanged. The resulting deeper aeration zones likely increased CH4 oxidation due to the longer residence time of CH4 in the oxidation zone, while the observed loss of aerenchyma plants reduced CH4 diffusion from deeper soil layers directly to the atmosphere. Our findings highlight the importance of including hydrological, vegetation and microbial specific responses when studying long-term effects of climate change on CH4 emissions and underscores the need for data from different soil types and thaw histories.Pyrolysis is one of the most widely utilized protocols for the preparation of nanoconfined metal species for heterogeneous catalysis, but it still suffers from the uncontrollable composition evolution process with undesired metal sintering and porous structure collapse. Herein, a novel and versatile molten salt-assisted pyrolysis strategy was demonstrated for the preparation of ultrasmall transition-metal nanoparticles embedded in hollow hierarchical carbon skeletons. The preparation only involved the fabrication of metal-organic framework templates and subsequent pyrolysis with the addition of KCl-KBr molten salt, which played a crucial role in pore size extending and metal sintering inhibiting. Benefitting from the encapsulation effect, the as-synthesized Cu@HHC materials exhibited remarkable catalytic performance and recycling stability in the selective oxidation of biomass-derived 5-hydroxymethylfurfural into 2,5-diformylfuran under mild reaction conditions.Non-small cell lung cancer is a common respiratory tumor. The mortality rate of lung cancer patients has continued to rise in recent years. Several studies revealed that the expression of melanoma antigen 6 (MAGE-A6) promoted the development of multiple types of cancer. In addition, the suppression of AMPK pathway could restrict the radiosensitization of prostate cancer cells. Inhibition of MAGE-A6 activated the AMPK pathway in colorectal cancer cells. However, whether the MAGE-A6 could regulate the radiosensitivity of non-small cell lung cancer cells by regulating of the AMPK pathway is unclear. In this study, we established the MAGE-A6 knockdown in A549 and H1299 cells. Next, the apoptosis and proliferation of these cells were detected by the flow cytometry analysis and colony formation assay after the irradiation, respectively. Then, the expression of p-AMPKα1 and p-S6K1 in these cells was explored by the western blotting. After that, we inhibited the expression of AMPKα1 in MAGE-A6 knockdown cells. The proliferation and apoptosis of these cells were detected with colony formation assay and flow cytometry analysis. Finally, the tumor formation of these cells was detected in nude mice. Our results showed that inhibition of MAGE-A6 suppressed the proliferation and aggravated the apoptosis of A549 and H1299 cells after the irradiation. Knockdown of MAGE-A6 activated the expression of p-AMPKα1 and repressed the expression of p-S6K1 in these cells. Suppression of AMPKα1 in MAGE-A6 knockdown cells abolished these effects. Knockdown of MAGE-A6 also enhanced the radiosensitivity of these cells in vivo. These results suggested that inhibition of MAGE-A6 promoted the radiosensitivity of non-small cell lung cancer cells by activating AMPK pathway. Therefore, MAGE-6 has the potential to be explored as the therapeutic target for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer in clinical.Arctic greening (the increase in plant biomass and productivity at high latitudes) is one of the clearest large-scale vegetation changes seen in recent decades. However, despite being the subject of considerable research effort, our understanding of this phenomenon is far from complete. Challenges around remote sensing, process based understanding, and the spatial and temporal heterogeneity of greening-including the opposite process of Arctic browning-challenges our ability to model and predict Arctic vegetation change and its biogeochemical consequences.Composite vortex beams (CVBs) have attracted considerable interest recently due to the unique optical properties and potential applications. However, these beams are mainly generated using spatial light modulators, which suffer from large volume, high cost, and limited resolution. Benefiting from the ultrathin nature and unprecedented capability in light manipulation, optical metasurfaces provide a compact platform to perform this task. MALT1 inhibitor A metasurface approach to creating these CVBs is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. The design is based on the superposition of multiple circularly polarized vortex beams with different topological charges, which is realized based on a geometric metasurface consisting of metallic nanorods with spatially variant orientations. The effects of the initial phases, amplitude coefficients, incident polarization state, and propagation distance on the generated CVBs, which are in good agreement with the theoretical prediction, are experimentally analyzed. This work has opened a new avenue for engineering CVBs with a minimal footprint, which has promising applications ranging from multiple optical traps to quantum science.