A Stable Vanadium Redox‐Flow Battery with High Energy Density for Large‐Scale Energy Storage

The all‐vanadium redox flow battery is a promising technology for large‐scale renewable and grid energy storage, but is limited by the low energy density and poor stability of the vanadium electrolyte solutions. A new vanadium redox flow battery with a significant improvement over the current technology is reported in this paper. This battery uses sulfate‐chloride mixed electrolytes, which are capable of dissolving 2.5 M vanadium, representing about a 70% increase in energy capacity over the current sulfate system. More importantly, the new electrolyte remains stable over a wide temperature range of ?5 to 50 °C, potentially eliminating the need for electrolyte temperature control in practical applications. This development would lead to a significant reduction in the cost of energy storage, thus accelerating its market penetration.     

Effect of Charge Recombination on the Fill Factor of Small Molecule Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells

Solution‐processed organic BHJ solar cells based on 3,6‐bis[5‐(benzofuran‐2‐yl)thiophen‐2‐yl]‐2,5‐bis(2‐ethylhexyl)pyrrolo[3,4‐c]pyrrole‐1,4‐dione (DPP(TBFu)₂) or poly(3‐hexylthiophene) blended with [6,6]‐phenyl‐C₆₀₍₇₀₎ ‐butyric acid methyl ester (PC₆₀₍₇₀₎ BM) behave differently under various irradiation intensities. Small molecule‐based DPP(TBFu)₂:PC₆₀ BM solar cells show up to 5.2% power conversion efficiency and a high fill factor at low light intensity. At 100 mW cm^?2 illumination, the efficiency and fill factor decrease, resulting in stronger power losses. Impedance spectroscopy at various light intensities reveals that high charge recombination is the cause of the low fill factor in DPP(TBFu)₂:PC₆₀ BM.     

Signaling-mediated cross-talk modulates swarming and biofilm formation in a coral pathogen Serratia marcescens

Interactions within microbial communities associated with marine holobionts contribute importantly to the health of these symbiotic organisms formed by invertebrates, dinoflagellates and bacteria. However, mechanisms that control invertebrate-associated microbiota are not yet fully understood. Hydrophobic compounds that were isolated from surfaces of asymptomatic corals inhibited biofilm formation by the white pox pathogen Serratia marcescens PDL100, indicating that signals capable of affecting the associated microbiota are produced in situ. However, neither the origin nor structures of these signals are currently known. A functional survey of bacteria recovered from coral mucus and from cultures of the dinoflagellate Symbiodinium spp. revealed that they could alter swarming and biofilm formation in S. marcescens. As swarming and biofilm formation are inversely regulated, the ability of some native α-proteobacteria to affect both behaviors suggests that the α-proteobacterial signal(s) target a global regulatory switch controlling the behaviors in the pathogen. Isolates of Marinobacter sp. inhibited both biofilm formation and swarming in S. marcescens PDL100, without affecting growth of the coral pathogen, indicative of the production of multiple inhibitors, likely targeting lower level regulatory genes or functions. A multi-species cocktail containing these strains inhibited progression of a disease caused by S. marcescens in a model polyp Aiptasia pallida. An α-proteobacterial isolate 44B9 had a similar effect. Even though ∼4% of native holobiont-associated bacteria produced compounds capable of triggering responses in well-characterized N-acyl homoserine lactone (AHL) biosensors, there was no strong correlation between the production of AHL-like signals and disruption of biofilms or swarming in S. marcescens.     

Cadmium resistance in tobacco plants expressing the MuSI gene

MuSI, a gene that corresponds to a domain that contains the rubber elongation factor (REF), is highly homologous to many stress-related proteins in plants. Since MuSI is up-regulated in the roots of plants treated with cadmium or copper, the involvement of MuSI in cadmium tolerance was investigated in this study. Escherichia coli cells overexpressing MuSI were more resistant to Cd than wild-type cells transfected with vector alone. MuSI transgenic plants were also more resistant to Cd. MuSI transgenic tobacco plants absorbed less Cd than wild-type plants. Cd translocation from roots to shoots was reduced in the transgenic plants, thereby avoiding Cd toxicity. The number of short trichomes in the leaves of wild-type tobacco plants was increased by Cd treatment, while this was unchanged in MuSI transgenic tobacco. These results suggest that MuSI transgenic tobacco plants have enhanced tolerance to Cd via reduced Cd uptake and/or increased Cd immobilization in the roots, resulting in less Cd translocation to the shoots.     

Enhancement of centelloside production from cultured plants of Centella asiatica by combination of thidiazuron and methyl jasmonate

In order to produce centellosides from whole plant cultures of Centella asiatica (L.) Urban, we evaluated the synergistic effects of thidiazuron (TDZ) and methyl jasmonate (MJ) on whole plant growth and centelloside production. After 4 weeks of treatment with 0.025 mg/L of TDZ coupled with 0.1 mM MJ, the production of madecassoside and asiaticoside from whole plant cultures was estimated to be 2.40- and 2.44-fold, respectively, above that of MJ elicitation alone. When whole plants were treated with a growth regulator and an elicitor, the growth of whole plants, as compared to the controls, did not differ. Additionally, total phytosyterol content in the leaves of whole plants co-treated with MJ and TDZ was 1.08-fold greater than those of MJ alone. These results demonstrate that combined treatments not only stimulate the accumulation of centellosides in the leaves but also inhibit the reduction of phytosterol levels caused by MJ elicitation.     

Algae of periphyton of Lake Teletskoye

The generalized data are given on the composition and structure of phytoperiphyton of Lake Teletskoye on different substrates (rocks, macrophytes and their residues). It is noted that in spite of the differences in the taxonomic structure and level of development the algocenoses of periphyton of various substrates have similar ecological range. This gives a possibility of using the algocenoses of periphyton on different substrates for assessing the quality of the lake water.     

Characterization of an alternative splicing by a NAGNAG splice acceptor site in the porcine KIT gene

The KIT gene has been shown to have multiple functions in hematopoiesis, melanogenesis, and gametogenesis. In addition, mutations of this gene cause pigmentation disorders in humans and mice and are responsible for coat color differences in pigs. While characterizing polymorphisms in the porcine KIT gene, we detected alternative splicing (AS) of the NAGNAG splice acceptor site at the boundary of intron 4 and exon 5. This AS event generated the E and I isoforms, characterized by insertion or deletion, respectively, of CAG at the borders of coding sequence. AS patterns measured in tissue samples from two randomly selected animals did not identified any tissue-specific outcomes. Analysis of AS patterns using three breeds demonstrated that Landrace and Large White pigs expressed both the E and I isoforms. In contrast, a subset of specimens from Korean Native Pigs (KNP) yielded a single I isoform. Alignment of the sequence from several species revealed that the region between the branch point sequence (BPS) and 3′ acceptor site is conserved. However, it is appeared that the selection of either the proximal or distal splice site varied between species. To test the breed specificity the NAGNAG splice acceptor site, we constructed two lineages of minigenes from KNP and Landrace pigs harboring breed-specific mutations. The minigene splicing assay demonstrated that both types of minigenes expressed both the E and I isoforms in two host cell lines, and no differences were detected in the AS pattern between the two breeds. We conclude that the AS at the NAGNAG splice acceptor site on intron 4/exon 5 in the porcine KIT gene is the result of noise selection at the splice site by the splicing machinery. Therefore, this AS event in the porcine KIT gene is unlikely to have any relationship with the coat color variations of Landrace and KNP breeds.