How do landscape patterns in urban parks affect multiple cultural ecosystem services perceived by residents?

Cultural ecosystem services (CES) provided by urban parks are crucial for encouraging residents to engage with nature and enhance their physical and mental well-being. Measuring these services from the residents' perception perspective is essential. Previous studies often focus on a specific type of CES, lacking explicit links between the landscape composition and configuration of urban parks and residents' perceptions of various CES. The main objective of this study, therefore, was to explore the effects of urban park landscape patterns on residents' CES perceptions. We took 12 urban parks in Chengdu, China, and assessed residents' CES perceptions through content analysis of social media texts. Spatial patterns of the parks were analyzed using remote sensing interpretation and field surveys. Correlation analysis examined the relationship between landscape patterns and residents' perceptions, with further verification through questionnaires and face-to-face interviews. Findings revealed that at the landscape level, landscape aggregation of parks was negatively correlated with aesthetic perceptions but positively correlated with recreational perceptions. Landscape diversity negatively impacted perceptions of sports and health (S&H). At the class level, natural elements significantly influenced residents' perceptions of aesthetic and S&H. Specifically, aesthetic perceptions were minimized when the landscape shape index of water bodies reached 6.36 or when the proportion of green space was 56.5 %. Road edge density negatively affected perceptions of S&H and influenced the distribution of water bodies and green spaces. These findings are crucial for optimizing park structures to deliver efficient CES and provide strategies for integrating ecosystem services into environmental management from a public perception perspective.

Crocus genome reveals the evolutionary origin of crocin biosynthesis.

Crocus sativus (saffron) is a globally autumn-flowering plant, and its stigmas are the most expensive spice and valuable herb medicine. Crocus specialized metabolites, crocins, are biosynthesized in distant species, Gardenia (eudicot) and Crocus (monocot), and the evolution of crocin biosynthesis remains poorly understood. With the chromosome-level Crocus genome assembly, we revealed that two rounds of lineage-specific whole genome triplication occurred, contributing important roles in the production of carotenoids and apocarotenoids. According to the kingdom-wide identification, phylogenetic analysis, and functional assays of carotenoid cleavage dioxygenases (CCDs), we deduced that the duplication, site positive selection, and neofunctionalization of Crocus-specific CCD2 from CCD1 members are responsible for the crocin biosynthesis. In addition, site mutation of CsCCD2 revealed the key amino acids, including I143, L146, R161, E181, T259, and S292 related to the catalytic activity of zeaxanthin cleavage. Our study provides important insights into the origin and evolution of plant specialized metabolites, which are derived by duplication events of biosynthetic genes.

Backbone cationized highly branched poly(ß-amino ester)s as enhanced delivery vectors in non-viral gene therapy.

Gene therapy holds great potential for treating Lung Cystic Fibrosis (CF) which is a fatal hereditary condition arising from mutations in the CF transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene, resulting in dysfunctional CFTR protein. However, the advancement and clinical application of CF gene therapy systems have been hindered due to the absence of a highly efficient delivery vector. In this work, we introduce a new generation of highly branched poly(ß-amino ester) (HPAE) gene delivery vectors for CF treatment. Building upon the classical chemical composition of HPAE, a novel backbone cationization strategy was developed to incorporate additional functional amine groups into HPAE without altering their branching degree. By carefully adjusting the type, proportion, and backbone distribution of the added cationic groups, a series of highly effective HPAE gene delivery vectors were successfully constructed for CF disease gene therapy. In vitro assessment results showed that the backbone cationized HPAEs with randomly distributed 10% proportion of 1-(3-aminopropyl)-4-methylpiperazine (E7) amine groups exhibited superior transfection performance than their counterparts. Furthermore, the top-performed backbone cationized HPAEs, when loaded with therapeutic plasmids, successfully reinstated CFTR protein expression in the CFBE41o- disease model, achieving levels 20-23 times higher than that of normal human bronchial epithelial (HBE) cells. Their therapeutic effectiveness significantly surpassed that of the currently advanced commercial vectors, Xfect and Lipofectamine 3000.

Combined Application Effects of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi and Biochar on the Rhizosphere Fungal Community of Allium fistulosum L.

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are widespread soil endophytic fungi, forming mutualistic relationships with the vast majority of land plants. Biochar (BC) has been reported to improve soil fertility and promote plant growth. However, limited studies are available concerning the combined effects of AMF and BC on soil community structure and plant growth. In this work, a pot experiment was designed to investigate the effects of AMF and BC on the rhizosphere microbial community of Allium fistulosum L. Using Illumina high-throughput sequencing, we showed that inoculation of AMF and BC had a significant impact on soil microbial community composition, diversity, and versatility. Increases were observed in both plant growth (the plant height by 8.6%, shoot fresh weight by 12.1%) and root morphological traits (average diameter by 20.5%). The phylogenetic tree also showed differences in the fungal community composition in A. fistulosum. In addition, Linear discriminant analysis (LDA) effect size (LEfSe) analysis revealed that 16 biomarkers were detected in the control (CK) and AMF treatment, while only 3 were detected in the AMF + BC treatment. Molecular ecological network analysis showed that the AMF + BC treatment group had a more complex network of fungal communities, as evidenced by higher average connectivity. The functional composition spectrum showed significant differences in the functional distribution of soil microbial communities among different fungal genera. The structural equation model (SEM) confirmed that AMF could improve the microbial multifunctionality by regulating the rhizosphere fungal diversity and soil properties. Our findings provide new information on the effects of AMF and biochar on plants and soil microbial communities.

Controlled Polymerization of Acrylamide via One-Pot and One-Step Aqueous Cu(0)-Mediated Reversible-Deactivation Radical Polymerization.

Copper-catalyzed controlled polymerization of acrylamide (AM) has always been a challenge, which typically exhibits low monomer conversion and broad molecular weight distribution (MWD) or requires complex/multistep reaction procedures, due to the highly active nature of the AM radical and its side reactions. To overcome the above challenges, herein, we report the successful synthesis of well-defined polyacrylamide (PAM) via a facile one-pot and one-step aqueous Cu(0)-mediated reversible-deactivation radical polymerization (RDRP). The results of this strategy show that strong deactivation control is the key for the controllability of AM RDRPs, which depends on the equilibria of polymerization and mutual conversion of different copper species. With the fast-propagating monomer AM, extra addition of CuII into the reaction system is an effective way to enhance deactivation. Based on this kinetically controlled strategy, well-defined PAMs with narrow molecular weight distributions (MWDs) and varied molecular weights (Mws) were successfully achieved.

Soil microbial community composition and co-occurrence network responses to mild and severe disturbances in volcanic areas.

Soil physicochemical properties and vegetation types are the main factors affecting soil microorganisms, but there are few studies on the effects of the disturbance following volcanic eruption. To make up for this lack of knowledge, we used Illumina Miseq high-throughput sequencing to study the characteristics of soil microorganisms on both shores of a volcanically disturbed lake. Soil microorganisms in the two sites were subjected to different degrees of volcanic disturbance and showed significant heterogeneity. Mild volcanic disturbance area had higher enrichment of prokaryotic community. Co-occurrence network analysis showed that a total of 12 keystone taxa (9 prokaryotes and 3 fungi) were identified, suggesting that soil prokaryote may play a more significant role than fungi in overall community structure and function. Compared with severe volcanic disturbance area, the soil microbial community in mild volcanic disturbance area had the higher modular network (0.327 vs 0.291). The competition was stronger (positive/negative link ratio, P/N: 1.422 vs 1.159). Random forest analysis showed that soil superoxide dismutase was the most significant variable associated with soil microbial community. Structural equation model (SEM) results showed that keystone had a directly positive effect on prokaryotic (λ = 0.867, P < 0.001) and fungal (λ = 0.990, P < 0.001) multifunctionality while had also a directly positive effect on fungal diversity (λ = 0.553, P < 0.001), suggesting that keystone taxa played a key role in maintaining ecosystem stability. These results were important for understanding the effects of different levels of volcanic disturbance on soil ecosystems.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)-Aided Structure Optimization for Enhanced Gene Delivery: The Effect of the Polymer Component Distribution (PCD).

Gene therapy has emerged as a significant advancement in medicine in recent years. However, the development of effective gene delivery vectors, particularly polymer vectors, remains a significant challenge. Limited understanding of the internal structure of polymer vectors has hindered efforts to enhance their efficiency. This work focuses on investigating the impact of polymer structure on gene delivery, using the well-known polymeric vector poly(ß-amino ester) (PAE) as a case study. For the first time, we revealed the distinct characteristics of individual polymer components and their synergistic effects-the appropriate combination of different components within a polymer (high MW and low MW components) on gene delivery. Additionally, artificial intelligence (AI) analysis was employed to decipher the relationship between the polymer component distribution (PCD) and gene transfection performance. Guided by this analysis, a series of highly efficient polymer vectors that outperform current commercial reagents such as jetPEI and Lipo3000 were developed, among which the transfection efficiency of the PAE-B1-based polyplex was approximately 1.5 times that of Lipo3000 and 2 times that of jetPEI in U251 cells.

Branch Unit Distribution Matters for Gene Delivery.

As a key nonviral gene therapy vector, poly(ß-amino ester) (PAE) has demonstrated great potential for clinical application after two decades of development. However, even after extensive efforts in structural optimizations, including screening chemical composition, molecular weight (MW), terminal groups, and topology, their DNA delivery efficiency still lags behind that of viral vectors. To break through this bottleneck, in this work, a thorough investigation of highly branched PAEs (HPAEs) was conducted to correlate their fundamental internal structure with their gene transfection performance. We show that an essential structural factor, branch unit distribution (BUD), plays an important role for HPAE transfection capability and that HPAEs with a more uniform distribution of branch units display better transfection efficacy. By optimizing BUD, a high-efficiency HPAE that surpasses well-known commercial reagents (e.g., Lipofectamine 3000 (Lipo3000), jetPEI, and Xfect) can be generated. This work opens an avenue for the structural control and molecular design of high-performance PAE gene delivery vectors.

Effect and mechanism of polysilazane and platinum on tracking and erosion resistance of silicone rubber.

Polysilazane (PSiN) and platinum (Pt) were used to enhance the tracking and erosion resistance of silicone rubber. The suppression effects of PSiN and Pt on tracking and erosion were investigated using an inclined plane test (IPT), thermogravimetry, thermogravimetry-Fourier transform infrared spectrometry, scanning electron microscopy and laser Raman spectroscopy. It was determined that the addition of 1.8-2.4 part per hundred parts of rubber (phr) of PSiN and 8 ppm of Pt significantly enhanced the tracking and erosion resistance of silicone rubber, whereby the test specimens passed a 4.5 kV IPT with a low eroded mass and undamaged surfaces. This was attributed to the synergistic effect of PSiN and Pt on silicone chains. At high temperatures and produced by arc discharge, PSiN/Pt-catalysed radical crosslinking suppressed the degradation of silicone chains. Furthermore, the formation of a tightly crosslinked network protected the inner materials from arc ablation. In addition, carbon deposition was prevented by PSiN/Pt, making it harder for tracking to develop.

A New Optimization Strategy of Highly Branched Poly(ß-Amino Ester) for Enhanced Gene Delivery: Removal of Small Molecular Weight Components.

Highly branched poly(ß-amino ester) (HPAE) has become one of the most promising non-viral gene delivery vector candidates. When compared to other gene delivery vectors, HPAE has a broad molecular weight distribution (MWD). Despite significant efforts to optimize HPAE targeting enhanced gene delivery, the effect of different molecular weight (MW) components on transfection has rarely been studied. In this work, a new structural optimization strategy was proposed targeting enhanced HPAE gene transfection. A series of HPAE with different MW components was obtained through a stepwise precipitation approach and applied to plasmid DNA delivery. It was demonstrated that the removal of small MW components from the original HPAE structure could significantly enhance its transfection performance (e.g., GFP expression increased 7 folds at w/w of 10/1). The universality of this strategy was proven by extending it to varying HPAE systems with different MWs and different branching degrees, where the transfection performance exhibited an even magnitude enhancement after removing small MW portions. This work opened a new avenue for developing high-efficiency HPAE gene delivery vectors and provided new insights into the understanding of the HPAE structure-property relationship, which would facilitate the translation of HPAEs in gene therapy clinical applications.

A new nano hyperbranched ß-pinene polymer: Controlled synthesis and nonviral gene delivery.

Recently, an extensive research effort has been directed toward the improvement of nonviral transfection vectors, such as polymeric materials. The macromolecular structure of polymers has a substantial effect on their transfection efficacy. In this context, the modern advances in polymer production techniques, such as the deactivation-enhanced radical atom transfer polymerization (DE-ATRP), have been fundamental for the synthesis of controlled architecture nanomaterials. In this study, hyperbranched poly(ß-pinene)-PDMAEMA-PEGDMA nanometric copolymers were synthesised at high conversion via DE-ATRP using different concentrations of ß-pinene for gene delivery applications. The structural characterization and the biological performance of the materials were investigated. The copolymers' molar mass (10,434-16,438 mol l-1), dispersity, and conversion (90-95%) varied significantly with ß-pinene proportion on the polymerizations. The polymer-gene complexes generated (280-110 nm) presented excellent solution stability due to the ß-pinene segment on the copolymers. Gene delivery and transfection were highly dependent on the copolymer composition. The copolymers containing the highest ß-pinene proportions exhibited the best results with high transfection effectivity. In conclusion, the incorporation of ß-pinene in DMAEMA-PEGMA copolymer formulations is a renewable option to improve the materials' branching ratio, polyplex stability, and gene delivery performance without causing cytotoxic effects.

Modelling Development in Radical (Co)Polymerization of Multivinyl Monomers.

Radical polymerization (RP) of multivinyl monomers (MVMs) provides a facile solution for manipulating polymer topology and has received increasing attention due to their industrial and academic significance. Continuous efforts have been made to understand their mechanism, which is the key to regulating materials structure. Modelling techniques have become a powerful tool that can provide detailed information on polymerization kinetics which is inaccessible by experiments. Many publications have reported the combination of experiments and modelling for free radical polymerization (FRP) and reversible-deactivation radical polymerizations (RDRP) of MVMs. Herein, a minireview is presented for the most important modelling techniques and their applications in FRP/RDRP of MVMs. This review hopes to illustrate that the combination of modelling and wet experiments can be a great asset to polymer researchers and inspire new thinking for the future MVMs experiment optimization and product design.

Patterns and drivers of microbiome in different rock surface soil under the volcanic extreme environment.

Soil microbial communities were investigated under the volcanic extreme environment. Soil bacterial networks exhibited higher stability than fungal networks. Holocene granite had a more complex microbial network than basalt. Soil pH and total protein were key drivers of microbial network stability.

Characterization of soil microbial community activity and structure for reducing available Cd by rice straw biochar and Bacillus cereus RC-1.

The combination of biochar and specific bacteria has been widely applied to remediate Cadmium-contaminated soil. But little is known about how such composites affect the dynamic distribution of metal fractions. This process is accompanied by the alternations of soil properties and microbial community structures. Composite of rice straw biochar and Bacillus cereus RC-1 were applied to investigate its impacts on Cd alleviation and soil microbial diversity and structure. The bacterial/biochar composite treatment decreased the fraction of HOAc-extractable Cd by 38.82%, and increased residual Cd by 23.95% compared to the untreated control. Moreover, compared with the untreated control, the composite treatment significantly increased the soil pH by about 1.5 units, and the activities of catalase, urease and invertase enzymes were increased by 42.39%, 30.50% and 31.20%, respectively. Composite treatment increased soil bacterial and fungal alpha diversity, the relative abundance of Bacillus, Streptomyces, Arthrobacter, and Aspergillus species were also increased. Mantel test and correlation analysis indicated that the effects associated with fungal communities in influencing soil properties were lower than that those of bacterial communities by different treatment. Aggregated boosted tree (ABT) models analysis showed that soil chemical proprieties (as determined by SOM, CEC, AN, etc.,) contributed over 50% of the changes in bacterial and fungal communities by the composite treatment. The co-occurrence network results showed that all treatments enhanced the correlation between OUT groups and improved the possible relationships in the bacterial and fungal communities, especially the interrelationships between bacteria and fungi after the Cd fractions stabilized. These findings provide a new insight to optimal strategies for the remediation of Cd-contaminated soil.

Horizontal comparison of "red or blue shift" and binding energy of six fluoroquinolones: Fluorescence quenching mechanism, theoretical calculation and molecular modeling method.

In this article, the interaction between six fluoroquinolones (FQs) and bovine serum albumin (BSA) was initially studied at 298 K, 303 K and 310 K respectively under simulated physiological conditions by fluorescence spectroscopy. At the same time, the sub-structural domains on BSA that may bind to FQs were investigated by molecular docking simulation technique. A combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches was used in the analysis of the binding constants, binding sites and corresponding thermodynamic parameters in the interaction system, it was found that FQs forms a complex with BSA and undergoes static quenching, which is the main cause of fluorescence quenching. The results indicated that hydrogen bonds, Van der Waals force and electrostatic interaction were the main binding forces between the complexes, it also showed that these six fluoroquinolones mainly bound to the IIA and IIIA structural domains of BSA, while DANO and SARA may be more toxic than other antibiotics. Based on Foster's non-radiative energy transfer theory, the binding distance between FQs and BSA was calculated to be less than 7 nm, indicating the existence of energy transfer between small molecule drugs and proteins. Synchronous fluorescence and UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy further confirmed that FQs can alter the secondary conformational change of BSA. Lomefloxacin has a different effect from the other five fluoroquinolone antibiotics because it causes a decrease in polarity and an increase in hydrophobicity around tryptophan residues, while the other five FQs have the opposite effect. Together, the study of FQs-BSA is of great significance to elucidate the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of FQs.