Isolation of Toxoplasma gondii from the placenta of northern fur seals (Callorhinus ursinus) and potential transplacental transmission of the parasite.

Toxoplasma gondii infects almost all warm-blooded animals, including marine mammals. Toxoplasmosis has been reported in wild and captive marine mammals in North America; however, no viable T. gondii strains have been isolated from northern fur seals.

Rh(III)-Catalyzed Direct C-H Selenylation/Cyclization of Benzylamines with Elemental Selenium for the Rapid Construction of Benzoisoselenazole Frameworks.

Herein, we disclose the first Rh(III)-catalyzed direct C-H selenylation/cyclization cascade reaction of unprotected benzylamines using elemental selenium as the straightforward selenium source. This protocol provides a concise and efficient approach for the rapid assembly of benzoisoselenazole and dihydrobenzoisoselenazole frameworks with excellent functional group compatibility and exclusive regioselectivity. The successful late-stage modification of bioactive molecules and divergent synthesis of novel organo-Se compounds not only underscore the synthetic utility and potential of this method but also further expand the chemical space of organo-Se chemistry.

Automatic porcine diarrhea viruses classification using pathological images and hybrid semantic neural network.

Porcine epidemic diarrhea is a highly contagious intestinal disease in pigs, caused by various strains of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV). The infection rate in suckling piglets can reach 100%. Manual analysis of pathological images is the primary method for distinguishing PEDV types.

First isolation of viable Toxoplasma gondii from a black mangabey (Lophocebus aterrimus) reveals the emergence of the Africa 1 lineage in East Asia.

Toxoplasma gondii is an intracellular protozoan whose intermediate hosts encompass nearly all warm-blooded animals, including humans and non-human primates (NHPs). In this study, molecular, serological, immunohistochemical and bioassay methods were used to investigate T. gondii infection in 17 captived NHPs in zoos from China between 2022 and 2023.

Curcumin promotes spermatogenesis in mice with cryptorchidism by regulating testicular protein -GlcNAcylation.

Introduction: Curcumin has garnered increasing attention in male reproductive research due to its potential anti-infertility properties. This study aimed to explore the protective effects of curcumin on spermatogenesis impairment in mice with cryptorchidism and to elucidate the underlying mechanisms.

Methods: A total of 56 male Kunming mice aged 10 to 15 days were randomly assigned to different groups, including a control group (BO) and a cryptorchid group with five curcumin treatment groups (CC25, CC50, CC100, CC200, and CC300) receiving varying doses of curcumin (25, 50, 100, 200, and 300 mg/kg, respectively).

Pharmacokinetics of difloxacin in Sichuan Shelducks after single or multiple dosing.

This study evaluated both single and multiple dosing regimens of difloxacin administered via different routes to Sichuan Shelducks: single intramuscular (sIM), intravenous (sIV), oral gavage (sPO), and multiple intramuscular (mIM) and oral gavage (mPO) administrations. The sIV, sPO, and sIM groups received a single dose of difloxacin at 10 mg/kg body weight (BW). The mPO and mIM groups received multiple doses of 10 mg/kg BW at 12-hour intervals: the mPO group received 10 oral doses, and the mIM group received 6 intramuscular doses.

Probing Anisotropic Quasiparticle Dynamics and Topological Phase Transitions in Quasi-1D Topological Insulator ZrTe.

The transition metal pentatelluride ZrTe exhibits rich lattice-sensitive topological electronic states, and demonstrates great potential in photoelectric and thermoelectric devices. However, a comprehensive investigation of electron-phonon coupling and phonon scattering process remains limited, despite their importance for transport properties and device optimization. Here, the hot carrier dynamics and a 1.

Structural optimization of phthalazine derivatives for anti-HBV activities to improve oral bioavailability.

The hepatitis B virus (HBV) capsid protein forms a protective nucleocapsid essential for viral replication, establishing capsid assembly modulation as a promising therapeutic strategy. Based on previous mechanistic studies, we identified phthalazine derivatives as potent HBV capsid assembly modulators (CAMs), with Yhhu6517 exhibiting submicromolar antiviral activity in vitro. However, its clinical translation was hindered by poor oral pharmacokinetics (PK), due to rapid first-pass metabolism of oxidation-prone primary alcohol groups.

Merging Paired Electrolysis and Copper Catalysis Enables Electrochemical Arylation of Aziridine for the Synthesis of 1,2-Amino Tertiary Alcohols.

1,2-Amino alcohols are omnipresent in bioactive molecules. Conventional approaches to this motif require multistep reactions. Herein, we develop an electrochemical strategy for copper-catalyzed convergent paired electrolysis.

Promoting Mn Spin-State Transitions from t to e through Ni Doping in Antiperovskite CuNMn for Highly Efficient Ammonia Synthesis.

The electrochemical nitrogen reduction reaction (e-NRR) offers a sustainable approach to ammonia synthesis under ambient conditions, with the potential to replace the energy-intensive Haber-Bosch process. Despite significant progress in this promising field, the low NH yield rate and limited Faradaic efficiency (FE) remain formidable challenges. Here, we introduce antiperovskite CuNiNMn, where partial substitution of Cu by Ni in CuNMn is developed as an effective and robust e-NRR electrocatalyst.

Ir-Catalyzed, Stereoselective Total Synthesis of (+)-Rubriflordilactone A.

A stereocontrolled asymmetric total synthesis of the nortriterpenoid (+)-rubriflordilactone A employing Krische's Ir-catalyzed 2-(alkoxycarbonyl)allylation for late-stage γ-butenolide formation is described. Additional noteworthy aspects include the integration of Carreira's Ir/amine dual-catalyzed allylation, Suzuki coupling, and Catellani reaction, resulting in the formation of an indane iodide. The alkylation of lactone , followed by RCM, A-ring formation via condensation of the B-ring lactone with Bestmann ylide, and Morken's Pt-catalyzed diboration/oxidation, facilitates the stereoselective formation of the ABCDEF ring system.

Large low-field-driven electrocaloric effect in organic-inorganic hybrid TMCM-CdCl.

Due to environmental-friendliness and high-efficiency, electrocaloric effect (ECE) is widely regarded as a refrigeration technology for tomorrow. Herein, utilizing organic-inorganic hybridization strategy, we achieve the largest low-field-driven ECE and highest directly-measured electrocaloric strength (ECS) via packing sphere-like organic cation (CH)NCHCl (TMCM) into inorganic one-dimension (1-D) CdCl chain framework. Single-crystal X-ray (SC-XRD) diffraction combined with Raman Spectra reveals that the simultaneous order-disorder transition of organic cations and dramatic structure change of inorganic framework are responsible for the large ECE.

Toxoplasmosis in Sheep Caused by Clonal Type I.

Ovine toxoplasmosis has a significant negative impact on sheep farming, and abortion is the main clinical manifestation. The objective of the present study was to survey ovine toxoplasmosis and assess its potential harm in sheep. Sheep serum or heart fluid was collected from 1035 sheep, along with the tissue or blood samples collected from 164 of them.

Nanoscale heterophase regulation enables sunlight-like full-spectrum white electroluminescence.

Traditional white light-emitting diodes operate by exciting phosphors using blue light-emitting diodes, leading to the absence of specific colour bands compared with the visible light region of the sunlight spectrum (400-780 nm), and excess blue light increases the risk of harmful effects on ecosystems and organisms. Here, we precisely design and regulate heterophase γ/δ-CsPb(I/Cl) at the nanoscale for uniform heterophase distribution, balanced flow of charges and tunable spectrum. Then, γ/δ-CsPb(I/Cl) directly excited by electricity shows full-spectrum white electroluminescence covering 400-780 nm with standard Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage coordinates of (0.

Skyrmion nanodomains in ferroelectric-antiferroelectric solid solutions.

Polar skyrmions have demonstrated rich physics and exotic properties for developing novel functionalities. However, so far, skyrmion nanodomains exist only in a few material systems, such as ferroelectric/dielectric superlattices, free-standing PbTiO/SrTiO epitaxial bilayers and ultrathin Pb(Zr,Ti)O/SrTiO/Pb(Zr,Ti)O sandwiches. These heterostructures are fabricated with elaborately designed boundary conditions to meet the delicate energy balance for stabilizing topological phases.

Giant energy density nitride dielectrics enabled by a paraelectric-metaparaelectric phase transition.

Electrostatic dielectric capacitors are foundational to advance the electronics and electric power devices due to their ultrafast charging/discharging capability and high-power density. However, the low energy density limits the potential for next generation devices in terms of miniaturization and integration. We propose a strategy that relies on inducing a field-driven phase transition that we denote paraelectric-metaparaelectric, which yields an ultrahigh energy density in III-nitrides.

Synthesis of vinyl, alkyl-substituted chiral acrylates Krische iridium complex-catalysed allylic phosphonation.

An enantioselective preparation of vinyl, alkyl-substituted chiral α-stereogenic acrylates is reported using two consecutive steps of Ir-catalysed allylic alkylation of aliphatic allylic acetates with phosphonates and Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons olefination. Unlike commonly utilised iridium-phosphoramidite catalysts, Krische's catalyst was uniquely effective in promoting highly regio- and enantioselective reactions of alkyl-substituted allylic substrates, thus constituting a significant alternative to the known protocol.

Electrically Switchable Longitudinal Nonlinear Conductivity in Magnetic Semiconductors.

Writing data by electric field (as opposed to electric current) offers promises for energy efficient memory devices. While this data writing scheme is enabled by the magnetoelectric effect, the narrow spectrum of room-temperature magnetoelectrics hinders the design of practical magnetoelectric memories, and the exploration of other mechanisms toward low-power memories is greatly demanding. Here, we propose a mechanism that allows the electric-field writing of data beyond the framework of magnetoelectric effect.

Morphological and Molecular Identification of in Captive Cheetahs () in China Helps Clarify Phylogenetic Relationships with and .

To date, only one case is known where protozoan parasites of the genus were found to infect cheetahs (); the cysts in the musculature were morphologically identified as . Here, we characterized sarcocysts by morphological and molecular methods that were observed in cheetahs who died in zoos in China. Only one type of sarcocyst was present in two of six cheetahs.

Two dimensional confinement induced discontinuous chain transitions for augmented electrocaloric cooling.

Overheating remains a major barrier to chip miniaturization, leading to device malfunction. Addressing the urgent need for thermal management promotes the development of solid-state electrocaloric cooling. However, enhancing passive heat dissipation through two-dimensional materials in electrocaloric polymers typically compromises the electrocaloric effect.

SEE: A Method for Predicting the Dynamics of Chromatin Conformation Based on Single-Cell Gene Expression.

The dynamics of chromatin conformation involve continuous and reversible changes within the nucleus of a cell, which participate in regulating processes such as gene expression, DNA replication, and damage repair. Here, SEE is introduced, an artificial intelligence (AI) method that utilizes autoencoder and transformer techniques to analyze chromatin dynamics using single-cell RNA sequencing data and a limited number of single-cell Hi-C maps. SEE is employed to investigate chromatin dynamics across different scales, enabling the detection of (i) rearrangements in topologically associating domains (TADs), and (ii) oscillations in chromatin interactions at gene loci.

Total syntheses of the parvistemoline alkaloids enabled by stereocontrolled Ir/Pd-catalyzed allylic alkylation.

The functionalized polycycle with densely contiguous tertiary stereocenters is a formidable challenge in synthesizing the parvistemoline family of Stemona alkaloids. We herein report their catalytic, asymmetric total syntheses in 13-14 steps from commercially available 2-(methoxycarbonyl)-pyrrole, featuring the development and deployment of an Ir/Pd-synergistically-catalyzed allylation of α-non-substituted keto esters with secondary aryl-substituted alcohols, stereodivergently accessible to four stereoisomers. Using chiral Pd-enolate and Ir π-allyl complex under neutral conditions, no epimerization occurs.

Ultrafast Switching of Sliding Polarization and Dynamical Magnetic Field in van der Waals Bilayers Induced by Light.

Sliding ferroelectricity is a unique type of polarity recently observed in van der Waals bilayers with a suitable stacking. However, electric-field control of sliding ferroelectricity is hard and could induce large coercive electric fields and serious leakage currents that corrode the ferroelectricity and electronic properties, which are essential for modern two-dimensional electronics and optoelectronics. Here, we proposed laser-pulse deterministic control of sliding polarization in bilayer hexagonal boron nitride by first principles and molecular dynamics simulation with machine-learned force fields.

Creating Ferroelectricity in Monoclinic (HfO_{2})_{1}/(CeO_{2})_{1} Superlattices.

Ferroelectricity in CMOS-compatible hafnia (HfO_{2}) is crucial for the fabrication of high-integration nonvolatile memory devices. However, the capture of ferroelectricity in HfO_{2} requires the stabilization of thermodynamically metastable orthorhombic or rhombohedral phases, which entails the introduction of defects (e.g.