Recent Findings Research Articles

Functional Test of a Naturally Occurred Tumor Modifier Gene Provides Insights to Melanoma Development.

Occurrence of degenerative interactions is thought to serve as a mechanism underlying hybrid unfitness. However, the molecular mechanisms underpinning the genetic interaction and how they contribute to overall hybrid incompatibilities are limited to only a handful of examples. A vertebrate model organism, Xiphophorus , is used to study hybrid dysfunction and it has been shown from this model that diseases, such as melanoma, can occur in certain interspecies hybrids. Melanoma development is due to hybrid inheritance of an oncogene, xmrk , and loss of a co-evolved tumor modifier. It was recently found that adgre5 , a G protein-coupled receptor involved in cell adhesion, is a tumor regulator gene in naturally hybridizing Xiphophorus species X. birchmanni and X. malinche . We hypothesized that one of the two parental alleles of adgre5 is involved in regulation of cell proliferation, migration and melanomagenesis. Accordingly, we assessed the function of adgre5 alleles from each parental species of the melanoma-bearing hybrids using in vitro cell proliferation and migration assays. In addition, we expressed each adgre5 allele with the xmrk oncogene in transgenic medaka. We found that cells transfected with the X. birchmanni adgre5 exhibited decreased proliferation and migration compared to those with the X. malinche allele. Moreover, X. birchmanni allele of adgre5 completely inhibited melanoma development in xmrk transgenic medaka, while X. malinche adgre5 expression did not exhibit melanoma suppressive activity in medaka. These findings showed that adgre5 is a natural melanoma suppressor and provide new insight in melanoma etiology.

Visualization of oxygen vacancies and self-doped ligand holes in La3Ni2O7-δ.

The recent discovery of superconductivity in La3Ni2O7-δ under high pressure with a transition temperature around 80 K (ref. 1) has sparked extensive experimental2-6 and theoretical efforts7-12. Several key questions regarding the pairing mechanism remain to be answered, such as the most relevant atomic orbitals and the role of atomic deficiencies. Here we develop a new, energy-filtered, multislice electron ptychography technique, assisted by electron energy-loss spectroscopy, to address these critical issues. Oxygen vacancies are directly visualized and are found to primarily occupy the inner apical sites, which have been proposed to be crucial to superconductivity13,14. We precisely determine the nanoscale stoichiometry and its correlation to the oxygen K-edge spectra, which reveals a significant inhomogeneity in the oxygen content and electronic structure within the sample. The spectroscopic results also reveal that stoichiometric La3Ni2O7 has strong charge-transfer characteristics, with holes that are self-doped from Ni sites into O sites. The ligand holes mainly reside on the inner apical O and the planar O, whereas the density on the outer apical O is negligible. As the concentration of O vacancies increases, ligand holes on both sites are simultaneously annihilated. These observations will assist in further development and understanding of superconducting nickelate materials. Our imaging technique for quantifying atomic deficiencies can also be widely applied in materials science and condensed-matter physics.

The unconventional resistance protein PTR recognizes the Magnaporthe oryzae effector AVR-Pita in an allele-specific manner.

Blast disease caused by the fungus Magnaporthe oryzae is one of the most devastating rice diseases. Disease resistance genes such as Pi-ta or Pi-ta2 are critical in protecting rice production from blast. Published work reports that Pi-ta codes for a nucleotide-binding and leucine-rich repeat domain protein (NLR) that recognizes the fungal protease-like effector AVR-Pita by direct binding. However, this model was challenged by the recent discovery that Pi-ta2 resistance, which also relies on AVR-Pita detection, is conferred by the unconventional resistance gene Ptr, which codes for a membrane protein with a cytoplasmic armadillo repeat domain. Here, using NLR Pi-ta and Ptr RNAi knockdown and CRISPR/Cas9 knockout mutant rice lines, we found that AVR-Pita recognition relies solely on Ptr and that the NLR Pi-ta has no role in it, indicating that it is not the Pi-ta resistance gene. Different alleles of Ptr confer different recognition specificities. The A allele of Ptr (PtrA) detects all natural sequence variants of the effector and confers Pi-ta2 resistance, while the B allele of Ptr (PtrB) recognizes a restricted set of AVR-Pita alleles and, thereby, confers Pi-ta resistance. Analysis of the natural diversity in AVR-Pita and of mutant and transgenic strains identified one specific polymorphism in the effector sequence that controls escape from PtrB-mediated resistance. Taken together, our work establishes that the M. oryzae effector AVR-Pita is detected in an allele-specific manner by the unconventional rice resistance protein Ptr and that the NLR Pi-ta has no function in Pi-ta resistance and the recognition of AVR-Pita.

Exploring tungsten-oxygen vacancy synergy: Impact on leakage characteristics in Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 ferroelectric thin films

The recent discovery of ferroelectric properties in HfO2 has sparked significant interest in the fields of nonvolatile memory and neuromorphic computing. Yet, as device scaling approaches sub-nanometer dimensions, leakage currents present a formidable challenge. While tungsten (W) electrodes are favored over traditional TiN electrodes for their superior strain and interface engineering capabilities, they are significantly hampered by leakage issues. In this study, we elucidate a positive feedback mechanism attributable to W electrodes that exacerbates oxygen vacancy defects, as evidenced by density functional theory computations. Specifically, intrinsic oxygen vacancies facilitate the diffusion of W, which, in turn, lowers the formation energy of additional oxygen vacancies. This cascade effect introduces extra defect energy levels, thereby compromising the leakage characteristics of the device. We introduce a pre-annealing method to impede W diffusion, diminishing oxygen vacancy concentration by 5%. This reduction significantly curtails leakage currents by an order of magnitude. Our findings provide a foundational understanding for developing effective leakage suppression strategies in ferroelectric devices.

Lipid metabolism: a central modulator of RORt-mediated Th17 cell differentiation.

Among the T helper cell subsets, Th17 cells contribute to the development of various inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, including psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, steroid-resistant asthma, and multiple sclerosis. Retinoid-related orphan receptor gamma t (RORγt), a nuclear hormone receptor, serves as a master transcription factor for Th17 cell differentiation. Recent findings have shown that modulating the metabolic pathway is critical for Th17 cell differentiation, particularly through the engagement of de novo lipid biosynthesis. Suppression of lipid biosynthesis, either through the pharmacological inhibition or gene deletion of related enzymes in CD4+ T cells, results in significant impairment of Th17 cell differentiation. Mechanistic studies indicate that metabolic fluxes through both the fatty acid and cholesterol biosynthetic pathways have a pivotal role in the regulation of RORγt activity through the generation of endogenous RORγt lipid ligands. This review discusses recent discoveries highlighting the importance of lipid metabolism in Th17 cell differentiation and function, as well as exploring specific molecular pathways involved in RORγt activation through cellular lipid metabolism. We further elaborate on a pioneering therapeutic approach to improve inflammatory and autoimmune disorders via the inhibition of RORγt.

Non-Oxidative Coupling of Methane Catalyzed by Heterogeneous Catalysts Containing Singly Dispersed Metal Sites

Direct upgrading of methane into value-added products is one of the most significant technologies for the effective transformation of hydrocarbon feedstocks in the chemical industry. Both oxidative and non-oxidative methane conversion are broadly useful approaches, though the two reaction pathways are quite distinguished. Oxidative coupling of methane (OCM) has been widely studied, but suffers from the low selectivity to C2 hydrocarbons because of the overoxidation leading to undesired byproducts. Therefore, non-oxidative coupling of methane is a worthy alternative approach to be developed for the efficient, direct utilization of methane. Recently, heterogeneous catalysts comprising singly dispersed metal sites, such as single-atom catalysts (SAC) and surface organometallic catalysts (SOMCat), have been proven to be effectively active for direct coupling of methane to product hydrogen and C2 products. In this context, this review summarizes recent discoveries of these novel catalysts and provides a perspective on promising catalytic processes for methane transformation via non-oxidative coupling.

Epigenetic regulation of innate lymphoid cells.

Innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) lack antigen-specific receptors and are considered the innate arm of the immune system, phenotypically and functionally mirroring CD4+ helper T cells. ILCs are categorized into groups 1, 2, and 3 based on transcription factors and cytokine expression. ILCs predominantly reside in mucosal tissues and play important roles in regional immune responses. The development and function of ILC subsets are controlled by both transcriptional and epigenetic mechanisms, which have been extensively studied in recent years. Epigenetic regulation refers to inheritable changes in gene expression that occur without affecting DNA sequences. This mainly includes chromatin status, histone modifications, and DNA methylation. In this review, we summarize recent discoveries on epigenetic mechanisms regulating ILC development and function, and how these regulations affect disease progression under pathological conditions. Although the ablation of specific epigenetic regulators can cause global changes in corresponding epigenetic modifications to the chromatin, only partial genes with altered epigenetic modifications change their mRNA expression, resulting in specific outcomes in cell differentiation and function. Therefore, elucidating epigenetic mechanisms underlying the regulation of ILCs will provide potential targets for the diagnosis and treatment of inflammatory diseases.

Differential reddening in 48 globular clusters: An end to the quest for the intracluster medium

For decades, it has been theorized that a tenuous but detectable intracluster medium should be present in globular clusters, which is continuously replenished by the gas and dust ejected by bright giants and periodically cleared by interactions with the Galactic disk. However, dedicated searches, especially in infrared and radio wavelengths, have returned mostly upper limits, which are lower than theoretical expectations by several orders of magnitude. We profited from recent wide-field photometry for 48 Galactic globular clusters to compute high-resolution maps of differential reddening, which can be used to correct any photometric catalog in these areas for reddening variations. Using 3D reddening maps from the literature, we evaluated the amount of foreground extinction. This allowed us to estimate the masses of the intracluster medium in our sample clusters, with an accuracy of one order of magnitude. Our estimates agree with the few available literature detections and with theoretical expectations. Because the discrepancy between observations and expectations only concerns literature upper limits, we explored possible reasons why they could be underestimated and we show that two recent discoveries can explain the discrepancy. The first is the recent discovery that the intracluster medium in 47 Tuc is not centrally concentrated. This is also supported by our maps, which in the majority of cases do not show a central reddening concentration. The second is the discovery that the dust in metal-poor ([Fe/H] ≲ −1 dex) globular clusters is dominated by iron grains rather than silicates, which undermines previous dust mass estimates from observed upper limits. We conclude that current evidence, including our maps, does not contradict theoretical expectations and the problem of the missing intracluster medium is no longer an issue.

Optimization of Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization Protocols in the Era of Precision Medicine.

Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) is a cytogenetic assay that is widely used in both clinical and research settings to validate genetic aberrations. Simple in principle, it is based on denaturation and hybridization of a DNA probe and its complementary sequence; however, it is subject to continuous optimization. Here we share how in-house FISH can be optimized using different control tissues to visualize and ultimately validate common and novel genetic abnormalities unearthed by next-generation sequencing (NGS). Seven specific FISH probes were designed and labeled, and conditions for eight tissue types and one patient-derived tumor organoid were optimized. Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue slides were used for each experiment. Slides were first deparaffinized, then placed in a pretreatment solution followed by a digestion step. In-house FISH probes were then added to the tissue to be denatured and hybridized, and then washed twice. To obtain optimal results, probe concentration, pepsin incubation time, denaturation, and the two post-hybridization washes were optimized for each sample. By modifying the above conditions, all FISH experiments were optimized in separate tissue types to investigate specific genomic alterations in tumors arising in those tissues. Signals were clear and distinct, allowing for visualization of the selected probes. Following this protocol, our lab has quickly optimized 11 directly labeled in-house FISH probes to support genetic aberrations nominated by NGS, including most recent discoveries through whole-genome sequencing analyses. We describe a robust approach of how to advance in-house labeled FISH probes. By following these guidelines, reliable and reproducible FISH results can be obtained to interrogate FFPE slides from benign, tumor tissues, and patient-derived tumor organoid specimens. This is of most relevance in the era of NGS and precision oncology. © 2024 Wiley Periodicals LLC. Basic Protocol 1: Metaphase FISH optimization Support Protocol 1: In-house probe labeling and preparation Support Protocol 2: Metaphase spread preparation Basic Protocol 2: Optimization of FISH on formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue.

Oblique streaming waves observed in multipactor-induced plasma discharge above a dielectric surface

In a recent discovery (Wen et al 2022 Phys. Rev. Lett. 129 045001), streaming waves were found in multipactor-induced plasma discharges. However, due to the limitations of a 1D simulation setup, these waves displayed only transverse dynamics. In this letter, an extended 2D particle-in-cell/Monte Carlo model is used to simulate multipactor-induced plasma discharge above a dielectric surface. The results reveal that the streaming waves are not solely transverse but oblique, featuring both transverse and longitudinal components of the wave vector. Furthermore, it is identified that the sheath-accelerated field-emission electrons, rather than the previously reported secondary emission electrons, predominantly cause the excitation of streaming waves. The simulated wave spectrum achieves an excellent agreement with the theoretical dispersion relation. The identification of oblique streaming waves provides new insights into multipactor physics and is anticipated to inspire novel mitigation strategies for multipactor-induced breakdown processes.

Disinfection and post-disinfection conditions drive bacterial and viral evolution across the environment and host

Water disinfection practices have long been established as a critical engineering intervention for controlling pathogen transmission and safeguarding individual and public health. However, recent discoveries have unveiled the significant role disinfection and post-disinfection play in accelerating the development of resistance to disinfectants and antimicrobial drugs within bacterial and viral communities in the environment. This phenomenon, in turn, may facilitate the emergence of persistent microbes and those with new genetic characteristics. These microbes may thrive in host environments with increased infectivity and resistance, posing challenges to current medical treatments and jeopardizing human health. In this perspective, we illuminate the intricate interplay between aquatic environments, microbes, and hosts and how microbial virulence evolves across the environment and host under the pressure of disinfection and post-disinfection conditions. We aim to draw attention to the previously overlooked potential risks associated with disinfection in driving the virulence evolution of bacteria and viruses, establish connections between pathogens in diverse environments and hosts within the overarching framework of the One Health concept, and ultimately provide guidelines for advancing future water disinfection technologies to effectively curb the spread of infectious diseases.

Barriers to the use of Methylphenidate in Pediatric Neuro-oncology Services.

Survivors of childhood CNS tumors are at a significant risk of chronic and multifaceted neurocognitive late effects. Recent findings indicate the potential utility of methylphenidate in addressing neurocognitive and academic plateauing and improving quality-of-life outcomes in this clinical population. However, the prescription of methylphenidate in neuro-oncology services remains inconsistent. To explore the neurocognitive assessment and rehabilitative interventions (including the use of methylphenidate) offered to survivors of childhood CNS tumors within mainland UK. We used a semi-structured questionnaire to gather qualitative data from clinical psychologists and neuropsychologists within National Health Service pediatric neuro-oncology principal treatment centers (PTCs) during May 2018. Thematic analytical methods were used to explore themes within the collected data. Eleven (58%) of the 19 PTCs returned the completed questionnaire. Respondents reported inadequate resource of psychology in many pediatric neuro-oncology PTCs, which limited the provision of methylphenidate to a restricted proportion of the patient group (i.e., those with the most profound neurocognitive difficulties). Respondents reported an interest in exploring the utility of methylphenidate in their patient group yet described a lack of appropriate evidence of its efficacy. In addition, respondents highlighted the need for the provision of accessible research summaries and treatment protocols addressing the use of methylphenidate. We anticipate that national collaboration between clinicians and researchers working in the cancer survivorship field will support the advancement of interventions such as methylphenidate for the growing clinical population of survivors of childhood CNS tumors.

Mesenchymal Stem Cells-Conditioned Medium; An Effective Cell-Free Therapeutic Option for in vitro Maturation of Oocytes.

Infertility is a major reproductive health issue worldwide. One of the main problems in infertile women is the failure to generate or release a mature egg. Therefore, the development of new technologies for in vitro generation or induction of mature oocytes can improve various ART procedures. Recently, stem cell-based therapy has opened a new window for several pathological complications. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are multipotent stem cells with the capacity to self-renew and differentiate into the mesodermal lineage. MSCs contain various bioactive molecules which are involved in the regulation of key biological processes. They can secret multiple paracrine factors, such as VEGF, IGF, HGF, EGF, and FGF to stimulate egg maturation. Although MSCs represent a promising source for cell therapy, the potential risk of tumor development reduces their clinical applications. Recent studies have suggested that the supernatant or conditioned medium of MSCs also contains similar components and regulates the oocyte behavior. The MSC-conditioned medium can eliminate the safety concerns associated with MSC transplantation and avoid rejection problems. Although MSC and MSC-CM could improve oocyte quality, ovarian function, and fertility, these improvements have not yet been demonstrated in clinical trials in humans. Hereby, we summarized recent research findings of MSCs-derived conditioned medium in in vitro development of immature oocytes.

Ultra-short circulating tumor DNA (usctDNA): A new paradigm for ctDNA liquid biopsy.

e20510 Background: Mononucleosomal ctDNA (mnctDNA, 157-bp, double-stranded) spearheads liquid biopsy (LB) for cancer detection, treatment and clinical care. The bottleneck of mnctDNA LB are low copy number of ctDNA and limit of detection of platform technologies. Recent discovery of ultra-short ctDNA (usctDNA, 52-54 nt, single-stranded) that harbors somatic mutations prompted us to explore the quantification and stoichiometry of usctDNA to mnctDNA in plasma and saliva of NSCLC patients. Methods: Paired plasma and saliva from 20 advanced NSCLC patients with tissue genotyped positive for L858R were processed for cfDNA extraction and quantification with Qubit and Tape Station. Digital PCR assays targeting L858R somatic mutation to generate amplicons of 57-bp (usctDNA) and 100-bp (mnctDNA) were performed by UCLA and independently by NIST. Results: Results in Table 1 revealed that three findings of usctDNA that will have potential to impact ctDNA liquid biopsy. First, the somatic mutation (L858R) is present in usctDNA. Second, The stoichiometric ratio of usctDNA to mnctDNA is similar in plasma and saliva at 1.6X. For the wild-type counterpart, the ratio is 1.1X for plasma and 0.6X for saliva. Third, the copy number of usctDNA and mnctDNA in saliva to plasma is 7.8X and 7.7X. Conclusions: Detection of tumor-associated/specific EGFR L858R somatic mutations in uscfDNA is translationally impactful, adding 1.6X of the ctDNA targets for molecular detection, effectively cumulating 2.6X of total ctDNA targets, permitting earlier cancer detection, treatment monitoring and therapy prognostication. The finding that saliva harbors 7X of the us- and mnctDNA further raises the prospect of advancing saliva ctDNA liquid biopsy for NSCLC detection as it may effectively allow 15.5X (7.8X+7.7X) ability to detect malignancy-associated ctDNA. [Table: see text]

Run-and-tumble kinematics of Enterobacter Sp. SM3.

The recent discovery of the peritrichous, swarm-competent bacterium Enterobacter sp. SM3 has offered a new opportunity to investigate the connection between bacterial swimming and swarming. Here, we report the run-and-tumble behavior of SM3 as planktonic swimming cells and as swarming cells diluted in liquid medium, drawing comparison between the two states. Swimming cells of SM3 run for an average of 0.77s with a speed of approximately 30µm/s before tumbling. Tumbles last for a duration of 0.12s on average and cause changes in direction averaging 69^{∘}. Swimming cells exposed to the common chemoattractant serine in bulk solution suppress the frequency of tumbles in the steady state, lengthening the average run duration and decreasing the average tumble angle. When exposed to aspartate, cells do not demonstrate a notable change in run-and-tumble parameters in the steady state. For swarming cells of SM3, the frequency of tumbles is reduced, with the average run duration being 50% longer on average than that of swimming cells in the same liquid medium. Additionally, the average tumble angle of swarming cells is smaller by 35%. These findings reveal that the newly identified species, SM3, performs run-and-tumble motility similar to other species of peritrichous bacteria such as E. coli, both in the swimming and swarming states. We present a simple mechanical model, which provides a physical understanding of the run-and-tumble behavior of peritrichous bacteria.

Selective and non-selective evolutionary signatures found in the simplest replicative biological entities.

Mitoviruses, which are considered evolutionary relics of extinct alpha-proteobacteria RNA phages, represent one of the simplest self-replicating biological systems. This study aims to quantitatively describe genomes and identify potential genomic signatures that support the protein phylogenetic-based classification criterion. Genomic variables, such as mononucleotide and dinucleotide composition, codon usage bias, and minimal free energy derived from optimized predicted RNA secondary structure, were analyzed. From the values obtained, the main evolutionary pressures were discussed, indicating that natural selection plays a significant role in shaping mitovirus genomes. However, neutral evolution also makes a significant contribution. This study reveals a significant discovery of structural divergence in Kvaramitovirus. The energy minimization approach employed to study 2D folding in this study reveals a distinct spatial organization of their genomes, providing evidence for the hypothesis of a single evolutionary event of circularization in the most recent common ancestor of the lineage. This hypothesis was discussed in light of recent discoveries by other researchers that partially support the existence of mitoviruses with circular genomes. Finally, this study represents a significant advancement in the understanding of mitoviruses, as it quantitatively describes the nucleotide sequence at the family and genus taxonomic levels. Additionally, we provide hypotheses that can be experimentally validated to inspire new research and address the gaps in knowledge of this fascinating, basally divergent RNA virus lineage.

A Comparative Analysis of Scale-invariant Phenomena in Repeating Fast Radio Bursts and Glitching Pulsars

The recent discoveries of a remarkable glitch/antiglitch accompanied by fast radio burst (FRB)-like bursts from the Galactic magnetar SGR J1935+2154 have revealed the physical connection between the two. In this work, we study the statistical properties of radio bursts from the hyperactive repeating source FRB 20201124A and of glitches from the pulsar PSR B1737–30. For FRB 20201124A, we confirm that the probability density functions of fluctuations of energy, peak flux, duration, and waiting time well follow the Tsallis q-Gaussian distribution. The derived q values from q-Gaussian distribution keep approximately steady for different temporal interval scales, which indicates that there is a common scale-invariant structure in repeating FRBs. Similar scale-invariant properties can be found in PSR B1737–30's glitches, implying an underlying association between the origins of repeating FRBs and pulsar glitches. These statistical features can be well understood within the same physical framework of self-organized criticality systems.

Preface

This significant increase in population has caused food availability in the world. Food is to become increasingly limited and it is not surprising that the world will experience a food crisis. There are many things that cause a food crisis, including increasing population growth, environmental damage, land conversion and a decline in the quality of agricultural land, changes in consumption patterns. The mindset of farmers which is completely practical and not in accordance with market predictions as well as the conversion of agricultural land into residential and industrial areas are several factors for the occurrence of a food crisis in the future. Efforts to fulfill food needs have been made by the government. Starting with the green revolution. It was used as a way to increase food production. Then continued with the blue revolution in order to meet human needs, especially the need for protein originating from fish. Apart from the two efforts above, efforts continue to be made to search for superior seeds, which is one of the efforts to increase agricultural production, using genetic engineering technology. Based on this, Faculty of Animal and Agricultural Sciences, Universitas Diponegoro would like to address issues around resilience of the agricultural sector in the global food crisis. It is our hope that the results from this seminar may form the basis for the decisions that policy makers and other stakeholders need to consider to improve food sovereignty in global world system. This seminar also places to discuss the solutions on achieving resilience of agricultural sector in the global food crisis. Therefore, on behalf Universitas Diponegoro, we believe that this conference will be a good place to share recent discoveries in the respective fields, to build partnership, so that we can move closer to answer the world feeding challenge, together. We would like to congratulate the committee for a job well done preparing this seminar. Special gratitude goes to keynote speakers, all participants, and all other parties supported this event. List of Committee and Participants of the 6th International Seminar on Agribusiness are available in this Pdf.

Boosting the Efficiency of Photoactive Rod-Shaped Nanomotors via Magnetic Field-Induced Charge Separation.

Photocatalytic nanomotors have attracted a lot of attention because of their unique capacity to simultaneously convert light and chemical energy into mechanical motion with a fast photoresponse. Recent discoveries demonstrate that the integration of optical and magnetic components within a single nanomotor platform offers novel advantages for precise motion control and enhanced photocatalytic performance. Despite these advancements, the impact of magnetic fields on energy transfer dynamics in photocatalytic nanomotors remains unexplored. Here, we introduce dual-responsive rod-like nanomotors, made of a TiO2/NiFe heterojunction, able to (i) self-propel upon irradiation, (ii) align with the direction of an external magnetic field, and (iii) exhibit enhanced photocatalytic performance. Consequently, when combining light irradiation with a homogeneous magnetic field, these nanomotors exhibit increased velocities attributed to their improved photoactivity. As a proof-of-concept, we investigated the ability of these nanomotors to generate phenol, a valuable chemical feedstock, from benzene under combined optical and magnetic fields. Remarkably, the application of an external magnetic field led to a 100% increase in the photocatalytic phenol generation in comparison with light activation alone. By using various state-of-the-art techniques such as photoelectrochemistry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, photoluminescence, and electron paramagnetic resonance, we characterized the charge transfer between the semiconductor and the alloy component, revealing that the magnetic field significantly improved charge pair separation and enhanced hydroxyl radical generation. Consequently, our work provides valuable insights into the role of magnetic fields in the mechanisms of light-driven photocatalytic nanomotors for designing more effective light-driven nanodevices for selective oxidations.

Nonclassical solid-state organic crystallization via particle migration and disintegration

Crystallization processes of organic molecules remain inadequately understood compared to their inorganic counterparts. Recent discoveries challenging classical theories of crystallization underscore the complexity of organic crystallization mechanism. We herein report the growth of rod-shaped diethyl 2,5-dihydroxyterephthalate (DDT) crystals at room temperature. Utilizing in-situ atomic force microscope (AFM) imaging, we observed multifaceted crystal growth which includes coalescence, ripening, and the long-range migration of micro-sized DDT particles. Additionally, we noted their simultaneous disintegration into nanoclusters before integrating into larger crystals. This study offers fresh insights into the non-classical crystallization processes of organic molecules.