Oxide-Based Solid-State Batteries: A Perspective on Composite Cathode Architecture

The garnet-type phase Li₇La₃Zr₂O₁₂ (LLZO) attracts significant attention as an oxide solid electrolyte to enable safe and robust solid-state batteries (SSBs) with potentially high energy density. However, while significant progress has been made in demonstrating compatibility with Li metal, integrating LLZO into composite cathodes remains a challenge. The current perspective focuses on the critical issues that need to be addressed to achieve the ultimate goal of an all-solid-state LLZO-based battery that delivers safety, durability, and pack-level performance characteristics that are unobtainable with state-of-the-art Li-ion batteries. This perspective complements existing reviews of solid/solid interfaces with more emphasis on understanding numerous homo- and heteroionic interfaces in a pure oxide-based SSB and the various phenomena that accompany the evolution of the chemical, electrochemical, structural, morphological, and mechanical properties of those interfaces during processing and operation. Finally, the insights gained from a comprehensive literature survey of LLZO–cathode interfaces are used to guide efforts for the development of LLZO-based SSBs.     

Low genetic diversity and population connectivity fuel vulnerability to climate change for the Tertiary relict pine Pinus bungeana

Endemic species are important components of regional biodiversity and hold the key to understanding local adaptation and evolutionary processes that shape species distributions. This study investigated the biogeographic history of a relict conifer Pinus bungeana Zucc. ex Endl. confined to central China. We examined genetic diversity in P. bungeana using genotyping-by-sequencing and chloroplast and mitochondrial DNA markers. We performed spatial and temporal inference of recent genetic and demographic changes, and dissected the impacts of geography and environmental gradients on population differentiation. We then projected P. bungeana's risk of decline under future climates. We found extremely low nucleotide diversity (average π 0.0014), and strong population structure (global F_ST 0.234) even at regional scales, reflecting long-term isolation in small populations. The species experienced severe bottlenecks in the early Pliocene and continued to decline in the Pleistocene in the western distribution, whereas the east expanded recently. Local adaptation played a small (8%) but significant role in population diversity. Low genetic diversity in fragmented populations makes the species highly vulnerable to climate change, particularly in marginal and relict populations. We suggest that conservation efforts should focus on enhancing gene pool and population growth through assisted migration within each genetic cluster to reduce the risk of further genetic drift and extinction.     

Systematics of Mukdenia and Oresitrophe (Saxifragaceae): Insights from genome skimming data

Oresitrophe and Mukdenia (Saxifragaceae) are epilithic sister genera used in traditional Chinese medicine. The taxonomy of Mukdenia, especially of M. acanthifolia, has been controversial. To address this, we produced plastid and mitochondrial data using genome skimming for Mukdenia acanthifolia and Mukdenia rossii, including three individuals of each species. We assembled complete plastomes, mitochondrial CDS and nuclear ribosomal ETS/ITS sequences using these data. Comparative analysis shows that the plastomes of Mukdenia and Oresitrophe are relatively conservative in terms of genome size, structure, gene content, RNA editing sites and codon usage. Five plastid regions that represent hotspots of change (trnH-psbA, psbC-trnS, trnM-atpE, petA-psbJ and ccsA-ndhD) are identified within Mukdenia, and six regions (trnH-psbA, petN-psbM, trnM-atpE, rps16-trnQ, ycf1 and ndhF) contain a higher number of species-specific parsimony-informative sites that may serve as potential DNA barcodes for species identification. To infer phylogenetic relationships between Mukdenia and Oresitrophe, we combined our data with published data based on three different datasets. The monophyly of each species (Oresitrophe rupifraga, M. acanthifolia and M. rossii) and the inferred topology ((M. rossii, M. acanthifolia), O. rupifraga) are well supported in trees reconstructed using the complete plastome sequences, but M. acanthifolia and M. rossii did not form a separate clade in the trees based on ETS + ITS data, while the mitochondrial CDS trees are not well-resolved. We found low recovery of genes in the Angiosperms353 target enrichment panel from our unenriched genome skimming data. Hybridization or incomplete lineage sorting may be the cause of discordance between trees reconstructed from organellar and nuclear data. Considering its morphological distinctiveness and our molecular phylogenetic results, we strongly recommend that M. acanthifolia be treated as a distinct species.     

COMPARATIVE ULTRASTRUCTURE OF ZOOSPORES WITH PARALLEL BASAL BODIES FROM THE GREEN ALGAE DICTYOCHLORIS FRAGRANS AND BRACTEACOCCUS SP.

The chlorococcalean algae Dictyochloris fragrans and Bracteacoccus sp. produce naked zoospores with two unequal flagella and parallel basal bodies. Ultrastructural features of the flagellar apparatus of these zoospores are basically identical and include a banded distal fiber, two proximal fibers, and four cruciately arranged microtubular rootlets with only one microtubule in each dexter rootlet. In D. fragrans, each proximal fiber is composed of two subfibers, one striated and one nonstriated, and each sinister rootlet is composed of five microtubules (4/1), decreasing to four away from the basal bodies. In Bracteacoccus sp., each proximal fiber is a single unit, the sinister rootlets are four (3/1) or rarely five (4/1) microtubules, and each basal body is associated with an unusual curved structure. The basic features of the flagellar apparatus of the zoospores of these two algae resemble those of Heterochlamydomonas rather than most other chlorococcalean algae that have equal length flagella, basal bodies in the V-shape arrangement, and clockwise absolute orientation. It is proposed that these algae with unequal flagella and parallel basal bodies have a shared common ancestry within the green algae.     

First chemical synthesis of a scorpion alpha-toxin affecting sodium channels: the Aah I toxin of Androctonus australis hector.

Aah I is a 63-residue alpha-toxin isolated from the venom of the Buthidae scorpion Androctonus australis hector, which is considered to be the most dangerous species. We report here the first chemical synthesis of Aah I by the solid-phase method, using a Fmoc strategy. The synthetic toxin I (sAah I) was renatured in DMSO-Tris buffer, purified and subjected to thorough analysis and comparison with the natural toxin. The sAah I showed physico-chemical (CD spectrum, molecular mass, HPLC elution), biochemical (amino-acid composition, sequence), immunochemical and pharmacological properties similar to those of the natural toxin. The synthetic toxin was recognized by a conformation-dependent monoclonal anti-Aah I antibody, with an IC50 value close to that for the natural toxin. Following intracerebroventricular injection, the synthetic and the natural toxins were similarly lethal to mice. In voltage-clamp experiments, Na(v) 1.2 sodium channel inactivation was inhibited by the application of sAah I or of the natural toxin in a similar way. This work describes a simple protocol for the chemical synthesis of a scorpion alpha-toxin, making it possible to produce structural analogues in time.     

An Improved Enrichment Broth for Isolation of Escherichia coli O157, with Specific Reference to Starved Cells, from Radish Sprouts

An enrichment broth was developed for the efficient isolation of Escherichia coli O157 from radish sprouts. The broth was buffered peptone water containing 0.5% sodium thioglycolate (STG-BPW), which was designed to allow growth of E. coli O157 in starved and unstarved states. However, this medium suppressed the growth of non-carbohydrate-fermenting obligate aerobes whose colonial appearance on sorbitol MacConkey agar containing cefixime and tellurite (CT-SMAC) resembled that of E. coli O157. Both starved and unstarved cells of E. coli O157 experimentally inoculated into radish sprouts were successfully recovered with STG-BPW enrichment in all cases, most of which showed marked disappearance of E. coli O157-like colonies on CT-SMAC.     

悬钩子属种质的评价

在进行了７省悬钩子资源调查的基础上,在南京建立了悬钩子属田间基因库。３年来对田间基因库内保存并开花结果的３０个种进行了开花结果性状的记栽和评价。内容包括果实特征,糖、酸、维生素类、氨基酸、矿质元素含量分析,染色体计数等。分析了种间和种内多样性物存在及在良种选育中利用的可能性。     

广州抽水蓄能电站蓄水库蓄水初期浮游生物调查

对我国首座核电站配套工程的抽水蓄能电站水库蓄水初期的浮游生物进行了调查。蓄水水库由上下两水库组成。两水库的浮游生物种类组成显著不同。上水库浮游植物共记录到３０种（属）,浮游动物１２种（属）;下水库浮游植物１９种（属）;浮游动物２５种（属）。上下两水库浮游生物数量均较贫乏,表明浮游生物群落尚处于初期发育阶段,但在局部浅水处已出现小规模的蓝藻水花,认为是水库蓄水初期必然的结果