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Atmospheric water vapor is an abundant and renewable resource that can alleviate growing water scarcity. Hybrid hydrogel desiccants composed of hygroscopic salts hold significant promise for atmospheric water harvesting (AWH) due to their increased capacity for water uptake. Thus far, many efforts in fabricating these desiccants require multistep processes, where the salt impregnation is achieved post-hydrogel fabrication. Here, we develop a scalable wet spinning methodology using aramid nanofibers (ANFs) to template and coagulate hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC) into filaments in a coagulation bath consisting of water and lithium chloride (LiCl). HPC serves as the matrix to retain the captured water vapor, and later releases it upon heating. ANFs serve as the physical cross-linker between HPC, allowing for wet spinning at a speed up to 61 m h–1. The composite filaments achieve up to 0.55 g g–1 water uptake at 30% relative humidity (RH) and 21 °C, reaching 80% saturation in 40 min. With a lower critical solution temperature of 39 °C, the desiccant filaments can release up to 72% of the captured water at 60 °C after 30 min. In an AWH chamber, the filaments can achieve daily water production of 5.21 L kg–1 day–1 at 30% RH and 21 °C. 

ABSTRACT Coastal fish populations are threatened by multiple anthropogenic impacts, including the accumulation of industrial contaminants and the increasing frequency of hypoxia. Some populations of the Atlantic killifish (Fundulus heteroclitus), like those in New Bedford Harbor (NBH), Massachusetts, USA, have evolved a resistance to dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) that may influence their ability to cope with secondary stressors. To address this question, we compared hepatic gene expression and DNA methylation patterns in response to mild or severe hypoxia in killifish from NBH and Scorton Creek (SC), a reference population from a relatively pristine environment. We hypothesized that NBH fish would show altered responses to hypoxia due to trade-offs linked to toxicant resistance. Our results revealed substantial differences between populations. SC fish demonstrated dose-dependent changes in gene expression in response to hypoxia, while NBH fish exhibited a muted transcriptional response to severe hypoxia. Interestingly, NBH fish showed significant DNA methylation changes in response to hypoxia, while SC fish did not exhibit notable epigenetic alterations. These findings suggest that toxicant-adapted killifish may face trade-offs in their molecular response to environmental stress, potentially impacting their ability to survive severe hypoxia in coastal habitats. Further research is needed to elucidate the functional implications of these epigenetic modifications and their role in adaptive stress responses. 

At least 53 mutations in the microtubule associated protein tau gene (MAPT) have been identified that cause frontotemporal dementia. 47 of these mutations are localized between exons 7 and 13. They could thus affect the formation of circular RNAs (circRNAs) from the MAPT gene that occurs through backsplicing from exon 12 to either exon 10 or exon 7. We analyzed representative mutants and found that five FTDP-17 mutations increase the formation of 12➔7 circRNA and three different mutations increase the amount of 12➔10 circRNA. CircRNAs are translated after undergoing adenosine to inosine RNA editing, catalyzed by ADAR enzymes. We found that the interferon induced ADAR1-p150 isoform has the strongest effect on circTau RNA translation. ADAR1-p150 activity had a stronger effect on circTau RNA expression and strongly decreased 12➔7 circRNA, but unexpectedly increased 12➔10 circRNA. In both cases, ADAR-activity strongly promoted translation of circTau RNAs. Unexpectedly, we found that the 12➔7 circTau protein interacts with eukaryotic initiation factor 4B (eIF4B), which is reduced by four FTDP-17 mutations located in the second microtubule domain. These are the first studies of the effect of human mutations on circular RNA formation and translation. They show that point mutations influence circRNA expression levels, likely through changes in pre-mRNA structures. The effect of the mutations is surpassed by editing of the circular RNAs, leading to their translation. Thus, circular RNAs and their editing status should be considered when analyzing FTDP-17 mutations. 

Anthropogenic climate change is projected to affect marine ecosystems by challenging the environmental tolerance of individuals. Marine fishes may be particularly vulnerable to emergent climate stressors during early life stages. Here we focus on embryos of Pacific herring(Clupea pallasii), an important forage fish species widely distributed across the North Pacific. Embryos were reared under a range of temperatures (10-16°C) crossed with twopCO₂levels (600 and 2000μatm) to investigate effects on metabolism and survival. We further tested how elevatedpCO₂affects critical thermal tolerance (CT_max) by challenging embryos to short-term temperature fluctuations. Experiments were repeated on embryos collected from winter and spring spawning populations to determine if spawning phenology corresponds with different limits of environmental tolerance in offspring. We found that embryos could withstand acute exposure to 20°C regardless of spawning population or incubation treatment, but that survival was greatly reduced after 2-3 hours at 25°C. We found thatpCO₂had limited effects onCT_max. The survival of embryos reared under chronically warm conditions (12°, 14°, or 16°C) was significantly lower relative to 10°C treatments in both populations. Oxygen consumption rates (MO₂) were also higher at elevated temperatures andpCO₂levels. However, heart contraction measurements made 48 hours afterCT_maxexposure revealed a greater increase in heart rate in embryos reared at 10°C compared to 16°C, suggesting acclimation at higher incubation temperatures. Our results indicate that Pacific herring are generally tolerant ofpCO₂but are vulnerable to acute temperature stress. Importantly, spring-spawning embryos did not clearly exhibit a higher tolerance to heat stress compared to winter offspring. 

Abstract Strong light-matter interactions in localized nano-emitters placed near metallic mirrors have been widely reported via spectroscopic studies in the optical far-field. Here, we report a near-field nano-spectroscopic study of localized nanoscale emitters on a flat Au substrate. Using quasi 2-dimensional CdSe/Cd_xZn_1-xS nanoplatelets, we observe directional propagation on the Au substrate of surface plasmon polaritons launched from the excitons of the nanoplatelets as wave-like fringe patterns in the near-field photoluminescence maps. These fringe patterns were confirmed via extensive electromagnetic wave simulations to be standing-waves formed between the tip and the edge-up assembled nano-emitters on the substrate plane. We further report that both light confinement and in-plane emission can be engineered by tuning the surrounding dielectric environment of the nanoplatelets. Our results lead to renewed understanding of in-plane, near-field electromagnetic signal transduction from the localized nano-emitters with profound implications in nano and quantum photonics as well as resonant optoelectronics. 

Magnetic micelles with surface decorated by S-rich chelates sequester ototoxic cisplatin in aqueous solutions, and the isolation of cisplatin-saturated micelles is steered by external magnets.