In  a  paper  published  on  aBIOTECH,  the  authors  revealed  the  joint  regulation  of  chromatin structure and gene expression by BMI1s, the core components of Arabidopsis PRC1, and the condensin complexes.

Text-to-image technology has made significant progress in the field of general computing, attracting attention from academia, industry, and the general public. To explore the impact of text-to-image technology on urban and rural planning design, Academician Zhang Xinchang's team has addressed key challenges in this field and proposed corresponding solutions based on text-to-image technology. Through multiple real-world application cases, they have demonstrated the application value and potential of this technology in urban and rural planning design. The journal Geographic Information Science has published an article reporting on these findings.

In a paper published in MedComm, scientists from an international team present the accumulation of secreted phosphoprotein 1 (SPP1) positive macrophages in the lung due to environmental particle pollution exposure. The persistence of these macrophages contributes to the development of emphysema and serves as a potential preventive target for COPD.

The National Natural Science Foundation of China initiated a major research program to study formation and response mechanism of Air Pollution Complex in China. Through the program’s 76 projects, scientists have achieved tremendous advances in air pollution research. To raise awareness of air pollution complex, the journal Advances in Atmospheric Sciences recently published a special issue on the topic.

This review summarises the dynamic reconstruction behaviour of Cu-based catalysts in electrochemical CO₂ reduction and provides insights into the atomic-level mechanism of this reconstruction. In addition, new insights into the effects of electrolyte, electrolysis mode, and other factors are provided from the perspective of dynamic surfaces. Finally, the development and potential problems of multidimensional in situ characterisation are discussed with a view to facilitating more in-depth studies of the dynamic surfaces of Cu catalysts.

Professor Kazunari Domen was recognized as “Clarivate Citation Laureate 2024” for his pioneering breakthroughs in photocatalysis, especially photocatalytic water splitting. He spearheaded novel photocatalytic materials, transformative synthesis, modification strategies and advanced characterization techniques. Leveraging his originated materials and technologies, he demonstrated the world’s first scalable 100-square-metre solar hydrogen plant, operable under natural sunlight – a monumental milestone in the field. His groundbreaking contributions, highlighted in this article, would enlighten researchers to shape a more sustainable future.

The superior catalytic performance of ZrO₂ in catalytic propane dehydrogenation is attributed to be the unsaturated coordination zirconium (Zr_cus) near the oxygen vacancy. However, the calculations revealed the double-edged role of oxygen vacancy in reaction, which significantly reduced C-H bond activation barrier but hinder the facile desorption of products due to strong binding. Moreover, the localized electron within oxygen vacancy is identified as the driving force for the C-H bond activation. The complete two different mechanisms are also noted for pristine and defective surfaces which also resulted from the double-edges effects of oxygen vacancy.

A new study has unveiled the molecular mechanisms that enable grafted cucumbers to withstand cold stress, offering a new pathway for enhancing crop resilience.

A new study has revealed the existence of bifunctional diterpene cyclases/synthases (DCSs) in bacteria, offering compelling evidence that the plant terpene synthase gene family, termed TPS, originated from bacterial genes. 

Next-generation high-brightness laser lighting confronts a key challenge in developing static luminescent materials with remarkable optical-thermal performances and low cost. Herein, a unique composite architecture of Y₃Al₅O₁₂:Ce³⁺ (YAG) phosphor-in-glass film coated on different heat-conducting substrates (PiGF@HCSs), i.e., PiGF@sapphire, PiGF@Al₂O₃, PiGF@AlN, and PiGF@BN-AlN composites, was designed and prepared by a simple film printing and low-temperature sintering technology. The heat-conducting substrates significantly affect the luminescence saturation and phosphor conversion of PiGF@HCSs, making the substrates with higher thermal conductivity (TC) can bear higher laser power density (LPD) and higher reflectivity can enable higher luminous efficacy (LE). These findings will provide the guiding idea for the commercial applications of PiGF@HCS converters in high-brightness laser lighting and display.