High-performance piezoelectric materials are pivotal to many electromechanical applications including piezoelectric actuators, sensors, and transducers. However, the general approach to achieve high piezoelectric properties by establishing morphotropic phase boundary (MPB) has limitation due to the weak anisotropy of the Gibbs free energy profile at the MPB region. Here, aliovalent Sm 3+ -doped 0.4Pb(Mg 1/3 Nb 2/3 )O 3 -(0.6−x)PbZrO 3 -xPbTiO 3 piezoelectric ceramics were fabricated by a solid-state method, where the optimized piezoelectric coefficient d 33 = 910 pC/N, dielectric constant ε r = 4090, and Curie temperature T C = 184 °C were obtained at x = 0.352, being attributed to the synergistic contributions from the MPB and enhanced local structural heterogeneity. Rayleigh analysis was adopted to study the intrinsic and extrinsic contributions in Sm-doped PMN-PZ-PT ceramics, where the extrinsic contribution was found to be on the order of 25−67% at 4 kV/cm. Of particular significance is that a large signal d 33 * = 820 pm/V (at 20 kV/cm) with a minimal strain variation of 5% was achieved for a composition of x = 0.372 over the temperature range of 20−160 °C, being superior to those previously reported piezoelectric ceramic materials. This work offers a good paradigm to simultaneously achieve high piezoelectric properties with good temperature stability in ferroelectric ceramics, which have great potential for piezoelectric application at elevated temperatures.

Effective sustainable algal cultivation techniques are essential for mass production of the marine microalga Tetraselmis for biofuel and array of co-products. The phycospheric communities affect the microalgal growth and metabolism through various allelochemical and nutrient interactions; hence, their potential to affect the quantity and quality of both biomass and bioproducts is significant. In the present study, we have screened the phycospheric communities of biofuel producing Tetraselmis striata (KCTC1432BP). A total of 26 bacterial strains were isolated and identified from the phycosphere of T. striata mass culture. Then, each bacterial strain was tested in co-cultivation conditions with T. striata for evaluating its growth promoting and inhibitory effects. Among these all strains, two promising strains (Pelagibaca bermudensis KCTC 13073BP and Stappia sp. KCTC 13072BP) were selected because of their maximum growth promoting effects and mutualistic interactions. The growth rate, biomass productivity, lipid contents, and fatty acids were analyzed during their combined growth in O3 media and compared with axenic growth of T. striata. Later, growth promoting mechanisms in the co-cultivation environment were investigated for these promising bacterial strains under replete and limited conditions of nutrients (nitrate, phosphate, and vitamin B12). The growth promoting potential of P. bermudensis was illustrated by the two fold enhancement in biomass productivity. These bacteria are promising for microalgal cultivation without any negative effects on the native seawater bacterial communities, as revealed by next generation sequencing analysis. This study represents, to date, the first report highlighting the role of phycospheric growth promoting bacteria of promising biofuel feedstock T. striata.

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Circular RNA (circRNA) can modulate the gene expression via sponging microRNA (miRNA) in multiple malignancies. Nevertheless, the detailed function of circ_0001658 in osteosarcoma (OS) and its regulatory mechanism remain elusive.Real-time PCR was carried out to detect the expressions of circ_0001658, miR-382-5p, and Y box-binding protein 1 (YB-1) mRNA in OS tissues. Besides, western blot was done to monitor YB-1 expression in OS cells. Chi-squared test was used to analyse the correlation between circ_0001658 and clinicopathologic characteristics of OS patients. CCK8 assay, colony formation assay, flow cytometry, and transwell assay were performed to determine the function of circ_0001658. Moreover, dualluciferase reporter gene assay was done to verify the targeting relationship between circ_0001658 and miR-382-5p. Compared with adjacent tissues, circ_0001658 displayed a significantly higher expression in OS tissues. Circ_0001658 could facilitate the proliferation, migration, and invasion of OS cells and impede apoptosis by sponging miR-382-5p. Further, circ_0001658 was proved to directly and negatively regulate the expression of miR-382-5 while positively modulate the expression of YB-1. Circ_0001658 promotes the proliferation and metastasis of OS cells via modulating miR-382-5p/YB-1 axis. Significance of the study:In recent years, the expression and function of circular RNA in cancer have been the focus of tumour research. The study on circular RNA helps elucidate the molecular pathology of tumorigenesis and cancer progression.This study demonstrated that circ_0001658 promotes the proliferation and metastasis of OS cells via modulating miR-382-5p/YB-1 axis. To our best knowledge, this work is the first to study the expression and function of circ_0001658 in cancer. K E Y W O R D Scirc_0001658, miR-382-5p, osteosarcoma, YB-1 | INTRODUCTIONOsteosarcoma (OS) is a common primary malignant bone tumour among children and adolescents, frequently diagnosed in the distal femur, the proximal tibia, and the proximal humerus. 1,2 Though multiple treatments offer symptomatic relief and modest improvement in survival for OS patients, the long-term disease-free survival rate of patients remains unfavourable, only 60% to 75%. 3,4 To make matters worse, the 5-year survival rate was only 27% to 55% in patients with local relapsing and distant metastasis treated by the available therapy clinically. 5 Hence, it is imperative to probe into the detailed mechanism of OS.Circular RNA (circRNA) is a novel class of endogenous noncoding RNA, which exists widely and stably in mammalian cells without the function of encoding proteins. 6,7 Circ-RNA, unlike linear RNAs, features a closed-loop structure. 8 This distinctive structure contributes

Three clades of Pseudo-nitzschia pungens, determined by the internal transcribed space (ITS) region, are distributed throughout the world. We studied 15 P. pungens clones from various geographical locations and confirmed the existence of the three clades within P. pungens, based on ITS sequencing and described the three subgroups (IIIaa, IIIab, and IIIb) of clade III. Clade III (clade IIIaa) populations were reported for the first time in Korean coastal waters and the East China Sea. In morphometric analysis, we found the ultrastructural differences in the number of fibulae, striae, and poroids that separate the three clades. We carried out physiological tests on nine clones belonging to the three clades growing under various culture conditions. In temperature tests, only clade III clones could not grow at lower temperatures (10°C and 15°C), although clade I and II clones grew well. The estimated optimal growth range of clade I clones was wider than that of clades II and III. Clade II clones were considered to be adapted to lower temperatures and clade III to higher temperatures. In salinity tests, clade II and III clones did not grow well at a salinity of 40. Clade I clones were regarded as euryhaline and clade II and III clones were stenohaline. This supports the hypothesis that P. pungens clades have different ecophysiological characteristics based on their habitats. Our data show that physiological and morphological features are correlated with genetic intraspecific differentiation in P. pungens.

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Rare earth (Eu3+)‐modified Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3‐PbTiO3 (PMN‐PT) polycrystalline ferroelectric ceramics were fabricated by high‐temperature solid‐state sintering, the phase structure, dielectric and piezoelectric properties were investigated. Eu3+ addition was found to significantly improve dielectric and piezoelectric properties of PMN‐PT, where the optimized properties were achieved for the composition of 2.5 mol%Eu: 0.72PMN‐0.28PT, with the piezoelectric d33 = 1420 pC/N, dielectric εr = 12 200 and electromechanical k33 = 0.78, respectively. All these results indicate that the Eu3+‐doped PMN‐PT ceramics are promising candidates for high‐performance room‐temperature piezoelectric devices.