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| 2. |
- Beal, Jacob, et al.
(author)
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Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density
- 2020
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In: Communications Biology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2399-3642. ; 3:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data.
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| 3. |
- Han, Ning, et al.
(author)
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Lowering the kinetic barrier via enhancing electrophilicity of surface oxygen to boost acidic oxygen evolution reaction
- 2024
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In: Matter. - 2590-2393 .- 2590-2385. ; 7:3, s. 1330-1343
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The acidic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is essential for many renewable energy conversion and storage technologies. However, the high energy required to break the strong covalent O-H bond of H2O in acidic media results in sluggish OER kinetics. Here, we report the critical role of iron in a new family of iron-containing yttrium ruthenate (Y2-xFexRu2O7-δ) electrocatalysts in highly increasing the electrophilicity of surface oxygen, leading to a significant reduction of the kinetics barrier by 33%, thus an exceptional OER mass activity of 1,021 A· up to 12.4 and 7.7 times that of Y2Ru2O7-δ and RuO2, respectively. Introducing iron reduces the Mulliken atomic charge on the O sites in the generated Ru-O-Fe structure, thereby facilitating the acid-base nucleophilic assault from H2O and reducing the free energy on the rate-determining step of OER. This work provides an effective strategy to reduce the kinetics barrier to achieve highly efficient and economic OER in acidic conditions.
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| 4. |
- Huang, Zheng, et al.
(author)
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Constructing type-II CuInSe2/CuInS2 core/shell quantum dots for high-performance photoelectrochemical cells
- 2024
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In: SCIENCE CHINA Materials. - 2095-8226. ; 67:1, s. 134-142
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- CuInSe2 (CISe) quantum dots (QDs) have shown promising applications in photoelectrochemical (PEC) cells due to their nontoxicity, high extinction coefficient, and wide optical absorption range; however, their low PEC performance prevents their applications due to insufficient charge carrier separation and severe charge recombination. Herein, CISe/CuInS2 (CISe/CIS) core/shell structured QDs are designed and constructed to promote charge separation and diminish interface defects. Afterward, the copper vacancy (VCu) state of CISe/CIS QDs is enriched by modulating the precursor molar ratios of In/Cu. Therefore, the radiative recombination of the conduction band edge electrons with the VCu localized holes becomes dominant and prolongs the carrier lifetime compared with intrinsic band-to-band recombination, thus promoting charge separation. Consequently, the VCu-rich CISe/CIS QD-based photoanode shows a high photocurrent density of 8.0 mA cm−2, which is one of the highest values reported for CISe QD-based PEC cells. This work provides an effective approach for promoting charge carrier separation and transfer through surface or intrinsic defect mediation for PEC applications of I–III–VI semiconductor nanocrystals.
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| 5. |
- Kattge, Jens, et al.
(author)
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TRY plant trait database - enhanced coverage and open access
- 2020
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In: Global Change Biology. - : Wiley-Blackwell. - 1354-1013 .- 1365-2486. ; 26:1, s. 119-188
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Plant traits-the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants-determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait-based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits-almost complete coverage for 'plant growth form'. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait-environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives.
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| 6. |
- Li, Ting, et al.
(author)
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Total genetic contribution assessment across the human genome
- 2021
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In: Nature Communications. - : Springer Nature. - 2041-1723. ; 12
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Quantifying the overall magnitude of every single locus' genetic effect on the widely measured human phenome is of great challenge. We introduce a unified modelling technique that can consistently provide a total genetic contribution assessment (TGCA) of a gene or genetic variant without thresholding genetic association signals. Genome-wide TGCA in five UK Biobank phenotype domains highlights loci such as the HLA locus for medical conditions, the bone mineral density locus WNT16 for physical measures, and the skin tanning locus MC1R and smoking behaviour locus CHRNA3 for lifestyle. Tissue-specificity investigation reveals several tissues associated with total genetic contributions, including the brain tissues for mental health. Such associations are driven by tissue-specific gene expressions, which share genetic basis with the total genetic contributions. TGCA can provide a genome-wide atlas for the overall genetic contributions in each particular domain of human complex traits. Quantifying the effects of individual loci on the human phenome is a challenging task. Here, the authors introduce a modelling technique, TGCA, that assesses total genetic contribution per locus and apply this to UK Biobank phenotype domains, revealing top loci and links to tissue-specific gene expression.
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| 7. |
- Lind, Lars, et al.
(author)
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Heterogeneous contributions of change in population distribution of body mass index to change in obesity and underweight NCD Risk Factor Collaboration (NCD-RisC)
- 2021
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In: eLife. - : eLife Sciences Publications Ltd. - 2050-084X. ; 10
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- From 1985 to 2016, the prevalence of underweight decreased, and that of obesity and severe obesity increased, in most regions, with significant variation in the magnitude of these changes across regions. We investigated how much change in mean body mass index (BMI) explains changes in the prevalence of underweight, obesity, and severe obesity in different regions using data from 2896 population-based studies with 187 million participants. Changes in the prevalence of underweight and total obesity, and to a lesser extent severe obesity, are largely driven by shifts in the distribution of BMI, with smaller contributions from changes in the shape of the distribution. In East and Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, the underweight tail of the BMI distribution was left behind as the distribution shifted. There is a need for policies that address all forms of malnutrition by making healthy foods accessible and affordable, while restricting unhealthy foods through fiscal and regulatory restrictions.
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| 8. |
- Mishra, A, et al.
(author)
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Diminishing benefits of urban living for children and adolescents' growth and development
- 2023
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In: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1476-4687 .- 0028-0836. ; 615:7954, s. 874-883
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Optimal growth and development in childhood and adolescence is crucial for lifelong health and well-being1–6. Here we used data from 2,325 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight from 71 million participants, to report the height and body-mass index (BMI) of children and adolescents aged 5–19 years on the basis of rural and urban place of residence in 200 countries and territories from 1990 to 2020. In 1990, children and adolescents residing in cities were taller than their rural counterparts in all but a few high-income countries. By 2020, the urban height advantage became smaller in most countries, and in many high-income western countries it reversed into a small urban-based disadvantage. The exception was for boys in most countries in sub-Saharan Africa and in some countries in Oceania, south Asia and the region of central Asia, Middle East and north Africa. In these countries, successive cohorts of boys from rural places either did not gain height or possibly became shorter, and hence fell further behind their urban peers. The difference between the age-standardized mean BMI of children in urban and rural areas was <1.1 kg m–2 in the vast majority of countries. Within this small range, BMI increased slightly more in cities than in rural areas, except in south Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and some countries in central and eastern Europe. Our results show that in much of the world, the growth and developmental advantages of living in cities have diminished in the twenty-first century, whereas in much of sub-Saharan Africa they have amplified.
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