The organization of biological sequences into constrained and unconstrained parts determines fundamental properties of genotype–phenotype maps

Biological information is stored in DNA, RNA and protein sequences, which can be understood as genotypes that are translated into phenotypes. The properties of genotype–phenotype (GP) maps have been studied in great detail for RNA secondary structure. These include a highly biased distribution of genotypes per phenotype, negative correlation of genotypic robustness and evolvability, positive correlation of phenotypic robustness and evolvability, shape-space covering, and a roughly logarithmic scaling of phenotypic robustness with phenotypic frequency. More recently similar properties have been discovered in other GP maps, suggesting that they may be fundamental to biological GP maps, in general, rather than specific to the RNA secondary structure map. Here we propose that the above properties arise from the fundamental organization of biological information into ‘constrained'' and ‘unconstrained'' sequences, in the broadest possible sense. As ‘constrained'' we describe sequences that affect the phenotype more immediately, and are therefore more sensitive to mutations, such as, e.g. protein-coding DNA or the stems in RNA secondary structure. ‘Unconstrained'' sequences, on the other hand, can mutate more freely without affecting the phenotype, such as, e.g. intronic or intergenic DNA or the loops in RNA secondary structure. To test our hypothesis we consider a highly simplified GP map that has genotypes with ‘coding'' and ‘non-coding'' parts. We term this the Fibonacci GP map, as it is equivalent to the Fibonacci code in information theory. Despite its simplicity the Fibonacci GP map exhibits all the above properties of much more complex and biologically realistic GP maps. These properties are therefore likely to be fundamental to many biological GP maps.     

Sequence-Dependent Nanofiber Structures of Phenylalanine and Isoleucine Tripeptides

The molecular design of short peptides to achieve a tailor-made functional architecture has attracted attention during the past decade but remains challenging as a result of insufficient understanding of the relationship between peptide sequence and assembled supramolecular structures. We report a hybrid-resolution model to computationally explore the sequence–structure relationship of self-assembly for tripeptides containing only phenylalanine and isoleucine. We found that all these tripeptides have a tendency to assemble into nanofibers composed of laterally associated filaments. Molecular arrangements within the assemblies are diverse and vary depending on the sequences. This structural diversity originates from (1) distinct conformations of peptide building blocks that lead to different surface geometries of the filaments and (2) unique sidechain arrangements at the filament interfaces for each sequence. Many conformations are available for tripeptides in solution, but only an extended β-strand and another resembling a right-handed turn are observed in assemblies. It was found that the sequence dependence of these conformations and the packing of resulting filaments are determined by multiple competing noncovalent forces, with hydrophobic interactions involving Phe being particularly important. The sequence pattern for each type of assembly conformation and packing has been identified. These results highlight the importance of the interplay between conformation, molecular packing, and sequences for determining detailed nanostructures of peptides and provide a detailed insight to support a more precise design of peptide-based nanomaterials.     

Tuning effect of silicon substitution on magnetic and high frequency electromagnetic properties of R2Fe17 and their composites

In this work, we report the tuning effect of the Si substitution on the magnetic and high frequency electromagnetic properties of R₂Fe₁₇ compounds and their paraffin composites. It is found that the introduction of Si can remarkably improve the magnetic and electromagnetic properties of the R₂Fe₁₇ compounds, making the R₂Fe_17–xSi_x-paraffin composites excellent microwave absorption materials (MAMs). By introducing the Si element, their saturation magnetizations decrease slightly, while much higher Curie temperatures are obtained. Furthermore, better impedance match is reached due to the decrease of the high-frequency permittivity ε′ by about 40%–50%, which finally enhances the performance of the microwave absorption. The peak frequency (f_RL) of the reflection loss (RL) curve moves toward high frequency domain and the qualified bandwidth (QB, RL ≤ ?10 dB) increases remarkably. The maximum QB of 3.3 GHz (12.0–15.3 GHz) is obtained for the Sm_1.5Y_0.5Fe₁₅Si₂-paraffin composite (d = 1.0 mm) and the maximum RL of ?53.6 dB is achieved for Nd₂Fe₁₅Si₂-paraffin composite (d = 2.2 mm), both surpassing most of the reported MAMs. Additionally, a distinguished dielectric microwave absorption peak is observed, which further increases the QB in these composites.     

Prediction of process parameters of water-assisted injection molding based on inverse radial basis function neural network

Because of the introduction of new processing parameters in water-assisted injection molding (WAIM), processes control has become more difficult. First, design of experiment (DOE) was carried out by using optimized Latin hypercubes (Opt LHS). On the basis of this, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method was used to simulate and calculate hollowed core ratios and wall thickness differences of cooling water pipe at different positions. Then inverse radial basis function (RBF) neural network model reflecting the fitting relationship between processing parameters and molding quality was established, and accuracy of the model was detected by cross validation. Finally, expected molding quality was applied to predict processing parameters, and the obtained molding quality under the predicted processing parameters was verified by computer aided engineering (CAE) simulation and experimental methods. The results showed that mean relative precisions of processing parameters such as melt temperature, delay time, short shot size, water pressure, and mold temperature for inverse RBF model were 98.6%, 93.6%, 98.5%, 93.9%, and 97.9%, respectively, which met the accuracy requirements. Furthermore, compared with expected values of hollowed core ratios and wall thickness differences, the average errors of CAE and experiment were 2.3% and 4.9%, respectively.     

燃油选择性吸附脱硫的多孔材料研究进展

吸附脱硫技术具有操作条件温和、节能、不改变燃油品质和成本低等特点而备受关注。针对噻吩类难脱除硫化物的深度脱除和转化问题，综述了近年来应用多孔吸附材料选择性吸附超深度脱除燃油中噻吩类硫化物的作用机理及最新研究进展。重点分析了分子筛、金属有机骨架、多孔炭材料、复合材料等不同吸附剂的研究现状，并探讨了各种吸附材料的吸附机理、改性方式和优缺点。本文指出分子筛因优异的热稳定性、高比表面积、均一的孔道结构、低成本和易于工业化等特点，是目前最具优势的吸附剂材料。未来研究应着重阐明吸附机理、提高合成便捷性、脱硫性能以及再生能力，更全面系统的研究将为开发具有理想选择性和再生能力的高效吸附剂奠定基础。     

基于开源技术的城市地理信息平台构建方法研究

摘 要：针对城市地理信息平台构建过程中存在的数据获取困难、研发成本较高等问题， 引入开源技术，对基于开源数据、开源开发平台与开源工具的城市地理信息平台构建技术进行 研究。所提出的城市地理信息平台由数据模块与可视化模块 2 部分组成。为构建数据模块，由 开源地理信息项目(OSM)获取了建筑与区划数据，并设计了建筑合并算法以提升数据质量。建 筑数据随之基于行政区划分级存储，通过由 ASP. NET 构建的数据接口提供给具体应用。可视 化模块则基于开源地理信息系统(GIS)项目 Cesium 实现，并设计了完善的用户界面。以北京市 为例，完成了原型系统的开发与测试，证实了该技术体系的可行性，通过开源技术降低平台研 发成本，推进城市地理信息平台的研究与应用。     

High-efficiency Silicon Solar Cells: A Review

Over the past few decades, crystalline silicon solar cells have been extensively studied due to their high efficiency, high reliability, and low cost. In addition, these types of cells lead the industry and account for more than half of the market. For the foreseeable future, Si will still be a critical material for photovoltaic devices in the solar cell industry. In this paper, we discuss key issues, cell concepts, and the status of recent high-efficiency crystalline silicon solar cells.     

Fatal Attraction: How Bacterial Adhesins Affect Host Signaling and What We Can Learn from Them

The ability of bacterial species to colonize and infect host organisms is critically dependent upon their capacity to adhere to cellular surfaces of the host. Adherence to cell surfaces is known to be essential for the activation and delivery of certain virulence factors, but can also directly affect host cell signaling to aid bacterial spread and survival. In this review we will discuss the recent advances in the field of bacterial adhesion, how we are beginning to unravel the effects adhesins have on host cell signaling, and how these changes aid the bacteria in terms of their survival and evasion of immune responses. Finally, we will highlight how the exploitation of bacterial adhesins may provide new therapeutic avenues for the treatment of a wide range of bacterial infections.     

Combination of vegetable soup and glucan demonstrates synergistic effects on macrophage-mediated immune responses

Vegetable soup (VS), a plant-based functional food, has been used as a traditional folk medicine and is attracting attention for its ability to enhance the immune response. β-Glucan, a well-established and effective immunomodulator, has synergistic effects when used in combination with some bioactive compounds. In the present study, we aimed to evaluate the synergistic immunomodulatory effects of the combination of VS and β-glucan on macrophage-mediated immune responses. β-Glucan was demonstrated to synergistically enhance the VS-stimulated immune response, including the production of interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-α, and nitric oxide, mainly through the mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway in macrophages. In addition, this combination has the potential for further development in functional foods with immune-enhancing activity.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10068-021-00888-x.