Search Results (189)

Erythropoiesis is tightly regulated by lineage-specific transcription factors that govern erythroid commitment, proliferation, and differentiation. A core erythroid transcriptional network, together with non-DNA-binding cofactors, occupies regulatory regions of genes essential for erythroid development. This process is further shaped by epigenetic mechanisms, including histone post-translational modifications and long-range chromatin interactions. CCCTC-binding factor (CTCF) is a multifunctional regulator with a central role in three-dimensional chromatin organization. Although CTCF has been implicated in hematopoietic differentiation and leukemogenesis, its specific function in erythropoiesis remains poorly defined. Here, we investigated the role of CTCF during erythroid differentiation using two complementary models: pluripotent K562 leukemia cells and primary human CD34⁺ hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells, each induced toward the erythroid lineage by distinct stimuli. In both systems, CTCF silencing impaired erythroid differentiation by repression of key erythroid transcription factor genes, including LMO2, KLF1, MYB, and ETS1. This repression was associated with enrichment of repressive histone marks at CTCF-binding sites within their regulatory regions. Moreover, CTCF cooperated with cohesin to establish and stabilize long-range chromatin interactions at these loci. These results provide new insight into how CTCF-dependent chromatin regulation contributes to normal erythroid development and suggest that perturbation of this regulatory axis may have implications for hematopoietic disorders and malignancies. Full article

Neonicotinoid insecticides and fluoroquinolone antibiotics frequently co-occur in aquatic and terrestrial environments, posing a threat to human health, yet their combined neurotoxic potential remains poorly characterized. This study aimed to assess the cytotoxicity of typical neonicotinoids and fluoroquinolones as well as their mixtures in human neuroblastoma SK-N-SH cells and identify affected pathways. SK-N-SH cells were exposed to clothianidin (CLO), imidacloprid (IMI), enrofloxacin (ENR), and ofloxacin (OFX) individually and in fixed-ratio mixtures (50% of each compound’s IC₅₀) for 24 h and 48 h, and cell viability was quantified using the alamarBlue^® method. Single-compound dose–response testing showed time-dependent cytotoxicity, with higher potency for fluoroquinolones (24 h IC₅₀: ENR 1.446 mM, OFX 2.742 mM; 48 h IC₅₀: ENR 0.826 mM, OFX 2.005 mM) than neonicotinoids (24 h IC₅₀: IMI 4.754 mM, CLO 5.356 mM; 48 h IC₅₀: IMI 3.631 mM, CLO 4.029 mM). Concentration-addition analysis indicated that most mixtures produced synergistic interaction in reduction in cell viability, with ENR+OFX showing the strongest effect at 48 h (Observed viability 7.138% vs. Predicated viability 82.368%). RNA-seq (24 h) revealed that binary mixtures generally induced more differentially expressed genes than single exposures, and ENR-containing mixtures showed the largest transcriptomic shifts, enriching pathways related to cellular stress and injury as well as neuronal signaling and connectivity. RT-qPCR validated the changes in expressions of five key neurobiology-relevant genes (LMO3, NOS1, ADCY8, FGF7 and TNFRSF12A). These findings highlight the importance of assessing insecticide–antibiotic mixtures when evaluating their hazards in environment. Full article

Background: Multidrug-resistant bacteria have quadrupled globally, impacting effective treatment of infectious diseases. A growing concern is that many Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria harbor genes conferring resistance to various antibiotics including colistin. The alarming emergence of colistin resistance is exacerbated by the growing threat of MDR Salmonella species and Listeria monocytogenes (LMO), which pose an escalating risk to global public health. Materials and Methods: In the present study, red meat samples were collected from randomly selected key retail markets in the Eastern Cape province, South Africa, and were evaluated for the incidence of LMO and the Salmonella species using standard culture-based and molecular methods. The confirmed isolates were subjected to antibiotic susceptibility testing. Results: This study demonstrated the occurrence of multidrug-resistant LMO (62%) and Salmonella species (spp.) (58%) in the red meat specimen. There were high resistance rates in both LMO and Salmonella isolates, with LMO exhibiting resistance to penicillin (89%), colistin (81%), nitrofurantoin (78%), and erythromycin (29%), while Salmonella showed resistance to trimethoprim (96.87%), tetracycline, and colistin (90.62%). Antibiotic resistance genes were also detected including BlaTem, erm, Sul1, Sul2 and mcr 1–6. Notably, Salmonella did not harbor any mcr genes that were screened in this study, whereas Listeria isolates harbored the mcr 2 (10%), 3 (7%), 4 (10%), and 6 (3%), with mcr 5 being the most prevalent with 57%. Conclusions: These findings highlight a threat to food security and public health, emphasizing the need for sturdier food handling procedures to ensure safety, enhanced antimicrobial stewardship, and alternative therapeutic strategies to combat antibiotic-resistant pathogens. Full article

Glycyrrhiza glabra L. (Fabaceae) is a plant species with already demonstrated countless biological properties and many more still to be discovered. Here, root sample extracts from different geographical areas were compared based on their phytochemical profiles and biological activities. Both raw and hydrolysate extracts, as well as 18β-glycyrrhetinic acid, glycyrrhizin, and isoliquiritigenin, considered as the main licorice secondary metabolites, were screened for antiproliferative and anti-migration properties in MCF-7, MDA-MB-231, A2780, HeLa, SiHa, and C33A breast and gynecological cancer cell lines. Hydrolysate extracts showed higher cytotoxicity than the raw extracts at the same final concentrations, 30 and 60 µg/mL, respectively. Among the standards, isoliquiritigenin showed the most pronounced cytotoxic activity, with inhibitory percentages exceeding 70% in each of the investigated cell lines at the lowest tested dose of 30 µg/mL. Then, the most effective extracts in the MTT assay, LIT2-H and LMO-H, were screened in a wound-healing test, demonstrating efficacy against ovarian (A2780) and cervical (C33A) cancer cell lines after 24 and 48 h of exposure. Full article

Estimating 6D object pose from monocular RGB images remains a critical yet data-intensive challenge in computer vision. In this work, we propose a novel few-shot 6D pose estimation framework that explicitly decouples rotation and translation estimation, significantly reducing dependence on large-scale annotated real-world data. Our method employs a viewpoint encoder trained solely on synthetic data to generate a codebook for rotation retrieval, complemented by an in-plane rotation regression module. For translation, we adopt a geometry-aware regression network based on dense 2D–3D correspondences. Experimental results on LINEMOD, LM-O, and YCB-V datasets demonstrate that our approach achieves state-of-the-art performance (97.6%, 65.3%, and 65.9% ADD(-S), respectively), using only 600 real images per object—cutting real data requirements by 80% compared to typical fully-supervised 6D pose estimation methods. These findings highlight the effectiveness and generalization ability of our method under limited supervision. Full article

Thick (900–1500 µm), crack-free lithium manganese oxide (LMO) electrodes with a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)-based polymer electrolyte were prepared using an innovated slurry casting method. The selectivity and intercalation capacity of the thick electrodes of 900–1500 μm were evaluated in aqueous chloride solutions containing main cations in synthetic Salar de Atacama brine using cyclic voltammetry (CV) measurements. The CV data indicated that a high Li⁺ selectivity of Li/Na = 152.7 could be achieved under potentiostatic conditions. With the thickest electrode, while the mass specific intercalation capacity was 6.234 mg per gram of LMO, the area specific capacity was increased by 3–11 folds compared to that for conventional thin electrodes to 0.282 mg per square centimeter. In addition, 82% of capacity was retained over 30 intercalation/dis-intercalation cycles. XRD and electrochemical analyses revealed that both Faradaic diffusion-controlled or battery-like intercalation and Faradaic non-diffusion controlled or pseudocapacitive intercalation contributed to the capacity and selectivity. This work demonstrates a practical technology for thick electrode fabrication that promises to result in a significant reduction in manufacturing and operational costs for lithium extraction from brines. Full article

Digital battery passports are being adopted to provide traceable records of lithium-ion batteries across their lifecycle, credible performance, and durability. However, it requires continuous diagnostics rather than lab-based tests and conditions. This review establishes a materials-informed system that links (i) battery-passport frameworks, (ii) cell-level design, and (iii) online electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) observables. Therefore, a chemistry-aware indicator set is proposed for passport reporting that relies on capacity and impedance indices, each accompanied by explicit tests. A review of the common and commercial LIBs (LCO, NCA, NMC, LMO, LFP) explains differences and characteristics. In addition, online EIS is reviewed, and different techniques for battery online diagnostics and state estimation are described, with details on how this online analysis is incorporated into the battery passport framework. This review covers the battery passport framework, the materials used in commercial batteries that must be documented and traced, and how these materials evolve throughout the degradation process. It concludes with the state of the art in online battery cell inspection, which enables comparable health reporting, conformity assessment, and second-life grading. Finally, it outlines key implementation priorities related to the reliability and accuracy of battery passport deployment and online battery diagnostics. Full article

The replacement of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) with environmentally friendly binders offers potential advantages in the development of aqueous lithium-ion batteries (ALIBs) and flow batteries (FBs) incorporating solid charge carriers (so-called solid boosters). This study investigates the electrochemical stability of ethyl cellulose and cross-linked gluten as substitutes for PVDF in LiMn₂O₄ (LMO) cathodes for aqueous Li-ion battery electrodes and solid boosters for FBs. The millimetre-scaled solid booster beads must be easily produced on a large scale, and at the same time, their charging and discharging must be reversible over long durations under electrolyte tank conditions. The binders were tested under standardized conditions for discharge capacity and cycling stability. Our results demonstrate that ethyl cellulose and cross-linked gluten can rival the electrochemical stability of PVDF, maintaining initial discharge capacities near 100 mAh g⁻¹ at 0.2 C for LMO cathodes and exhibiting reasonable capacity retention over hundreds of cycles. This work supports the feasibility of sustainable electrode processing, provides promising directions for scalable, eco-friendly electrode fabrication methods, and highlights promising binder candidates for use in aqueous energy storage systems. Full article

This study develops a multi-stage, Arrhenius-type reaction rate model for exothermic heat release during thermal runaway (TR) that depends on the local active material temperature, T_Cell, and the remaining reactant fraction, Y. Model parameters are identified from an accelerating rate calorimetry (ARC) test on an NMC721 pouch cell. Validation across other cell formats (cylindric and prismatic) and cathode chemistries (LCO, LMO, NCA, LFP) is left for future work. Model performance is evaluated in a 3D CFD (AVL FIRE™ M 2021.2) representation of the ARC assembly and benchmarked against Gaussian and polynomial one-step TR formulations that depend solely on T_Cell. The three TR models are further applied to a generic 4S4P pouch cell module under stagnant and actively cooled conditions to assess thermal propagation. In the ARC test, the Arrhenius-type model shows improved agreement with measured cell skin temperatures for the NMC721 cell; in the 4S4P module, it exhibits a trend toward higher thermal propagation rates relative to the Gaussian and polynomial models. Full article

Viral diseases pose a significant threat to lily (Lilium spp.) cultivation; however, large-scale assessments of virus prevalence and diversity in South Korea are limited. This study combined RT-PCR surveys, high-throughput sequencing (HTS), and analyses of 48 lily hybrid transcriptomes to characterize the lily virome. RT-PCR screening of 100 samples from 13 regions showed that 87% were infected, primarily with lily mottle virus (LMoV, 65%), Plantago asiatica mosaic virus (PlAMV, 34%), cucumber mosaic virus (CMV, 34%), and lily symptomless virus (LSV, 25%). Mixed infections were approximately twice as frequent as single infections and were associated with greater symptom severity, particularly in triple-virus combinations. High-throughput sequencing expanded detection to six viruses, including milk vetch dwarf virus (MDV) and lily virus B (LVB), the latter confirmed as a variant of strawberry latent ringspot virus (SLRSV). Near-complete genomes of several viruses were assembled and validated through RT-PCR. Transcriptome mining identified eight virus species across 26 cultivars; PlAMV was the most common, and viral loads varied significantly among hybrids. Phylogenetic analyses revealed close relationships between Korean and Chinese isolates and host-related clustering in PlAMV. These findings highlight the complexity of lily viromes in South Korea and provide essential resources for diagnostics, disease management, and biosecurity. Full article

2,2-Bis(3,5-dimethylpyrazol-1-yl)-1,1-diphenylethanol (HL) is a heteroscorpionate ligand capable of coordinating metal ions through two nitrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. We report a base free synthetic route to metal complexes of L and explore the resulting structural diversity. Notably, complex composition varies substantially depending on the metal ion, including dinuclear molybdenum species and distinct coordination behavior with silicon and copper. The isolated compounds include the dinuclear, oxygen-bridged complexes (LMoO₂)₂O and (LMoO)(μ-O)₂, as well as the mononuclear complexes LTi(NMe₂)₃, LZrCl₃, LGeCl₃, LWO₂Cl, LCu(acetate)₂H, and LSiMe₂Cl. Single crystal X-ray diffraction reveals that the bulky complex structures generate cavities in the crystal lattice, frequently occupied by solvent molecules. The titanium, zirconium, molybdenum, tungsten, and germanium complexes exhibit octahedral coordination, while structural peculiarities are observed for copper and silicon. The copper(II) complex shows a distorted octahedral geometry with one elongated ligand bond; the silicon complex is pentacoordinated in the solid state. Additional characterization includes melting points, NMR, and IR spectroscopy. The developed synthetic strategy provides a straightforward and versatile route to heteroscorpionate metal complexes. Full article

Background: T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) is an aggressive malignancy of immature T cells, driven by dysregulated transcriptional networks and oncogenic signaling pathways. Here, we present the first comprehensive analysis of the expression and regulation of TSPAN32, a tetraspanin implicated in lymphocyte homeostasis, in T-ALL. Methods: Transcriptomic data from the Leukemia MILE study (GSE13159) were analyzed to assess TSPAN32 expression across leukemic subtypes. Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) was performed to explore biological pathways associated with TSPAN32-correlated genes. For mechanistic validation, HPB-ALL cells were used as a model, with NOTCH signaling inhibited by γ-secretase inhibitor (GSI) treatment and TAL1–LMO1 overexpression induced through doxycycline-inducible lentiviral vectors. Gene expression changes were quantified by RT-qPCR. Results: TSPAN32 was frequently downregulated in T-ALL compared to healthy bone marrow, although expression was retained in a subset of cases. GSEA revealed that TSPAN32-correlated genes were inversely associated with cell cycle–related programs, consistent with its established role as a negative regulator of T cell proliferation. Mechanistically, TAL1–LMO1 overexpression strongly induced TSPAN32, while GSI-mediated NOTCH inhibition partially reactivated its expression. Interestingly, GSI treatment also increased TAL1 levels despite downregulating LMO1. Conversely, TAL1–LMO1 overexpression suppressed NOTCH1 and NOTCH3, highlighting a reciprocal regulatory interplay between NOTCH and TAL1/LMO1 oncogenic circuits that shapes TSPAN32 expression dynamics in T-ALL. Conclusions: This study identifies TSPAN32 as a novel transcriptional target under the influence of key leukemogenic pathways and suggests its potential role as a modulator of leukemic T cell proliferation, with implications for therapeutic strategies targeting TAL1 and NOTCH signaling. Full article

Exposure of LIB materials to ambient conditions with some level of humidity, either accidentally owing to imperfect fabrication or cell damage, or deliberately due to battery opening operations for analytical or recycling purposes, is a rather common event. As far as humidity-induced damage is concerned, on the one hand the general chemistry is well known, but on the other hand, concrete structural details of these processes have received limited explicit attention. The present study contributes to this field with an investigation centered on the use of Raman spectroscopy for the assessment of structural modifications using common lithium iron phosphate (LFP) and nickel–cobalt–manganese/lithium–manganese oxide (NCM-LMO) cathodes. The impact of humidity has been followed through the observation of differences in Raman bands of pristine and humidity-exposed cathode materials. Vibrational spectroscopy has been complemented with morphological (SEM), chemical (EDS), and electrochemical analyses. We have thus pinpointed the characteristic morphological and compositional changes corresponding to corrosion and active material dissolution. Electrochemical tests with cathodes reassembled in coin cells allowed for the association of specific capacity losses with humidity damaging. Full article

Lithium-ion batteries (LiBs) are utilized in numerous applications due to advancements in technology, and the recovery of end-of-life (EoL) LiBs is imperative for environmental and economic reasons. Pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical methods have been used in the recovery of metals such as Li, Co, and Ni in the EoL LiBs. Hydrometallurgical methods, which have been demonstrated to exhibit higher recovery efficiency and reduced energy consumption, have garnered increased attention in recent research. Inorganic acids, including HCl, HNO₃, and H₂SO₄, as well as organic acids such as acetic acid and citric acid, are employed in the hydrometallurgical recovery of these metals. It is imperative to acknowledge the environmental hazards posed by these acids. Consequently, solvometallurgical processes, which involve the use of organic solvents with minimal or no water, are gaining increasing attention as alternative or complementary techniques to conventional hydrometallurgical processes. In the context of solvent systems that have been examined for a range of solvometallurgical methods, deep eutectic solvents (DESs) have garnered particular interest due to their low toxicity, biodegradable nature, tunable properties, and efficient metal recovery potential. In this study, the leaching process of black mass containing graphite, LCO, NMC, and LMO was carried out in a short time using the ternary DES system. The ternary DES system consists of choline chloride (ChCl), glycolic acid (GLY), and ascorbic acid (AA). As a result of the leaching process of cathode powders in the black mass without any pre-enrichment process, Li, Co, Ni, and Mn elements passed into solution with an efficiency of over 95% at 60 °C and within 1 h. Moreover, the kinetics of the leaching process was investigated, and Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations were used to explain the leaching mechanism. Full article

Listeria monocytogenes is a life-threatening bacterial foodborne pathogen that can persist in food-processing facilities for years. Although phages can control L. monocytogenes during food production, phage-resistant bacterial subpopulations can regrow in phage-treated environments. In this study, an L. monocytogenes hly defective strain, NJ05-Δhly, was produced, which considerably regulated the interactions between L. monocytogenes and phages. Specifically, we observed a 76.92-fold decrease in the efficiency of plating of the defective strain following infection with the Listeria phage vB-LmoM-NJ05. The lytic effect was notably diminished at multiplicities of infection of 1 and 10. Furthermore, the inactivation of LLO impaired biofilm formation, which was completely suppressed and eliminated following treatment with 10⁸ PFU/mL of phage. Additionally, phages protected cells from mitochondrial membrane damage and the accumulation of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species induced by L. monocytogenes invasion. Transcriptomic analysis confirmed these findings, revealing the significant downregulation of genes associated with phage sensitivity, pathogenicity, biofilm formation, and motility in L. monocytogenes. These results underscore the vital role of LLO in regulating the pathogenicity, phage susceptibility, and biofilm formation of L. monocytogenes. These observations highlight the important role of virulence factors in phage applications and provide insights into the potential use of phages for developing biosanitizers. Full article