Perovskite oxides with formula ABO3 or A2BO4 are a very important class of functional materials that exhibit a range of stoichiometries and crystal structures. Because of the structural features, they could accommodate around 90% of the metallic natural elements of the Periodic Table that stand solely or partially at the A and/or B positions without destroying the matrix structure, offering a way of correlating solid state chemistry to catalytic properties. Moreover, their high thermal and hydrothermal stability enable them suitable catalytic materials either for gas or solid reactions carried out at high temperatures, or liquid reactions carried out at low temperatures. In this review, we addressed the preparation, characterization, and application of perovskite oxides in heterogeneous catalysis. Preparation is an important issue in catalysis by which materials with desired textural structure and physicochemical property could be achieved; characterization is the way to explore and understand the textural structures and physicochemical properties of the material; however, application reflects how and where the material could be used and what it can solve in practice, which is the ultimate goal of catalysis. This review is organized in five sections: (1) a brief introduction to perovskite oxides, (2) preparation of perovskite oxides with different textural structures and surface morphologies, (3) general characterizations applied to perovskite oxides, (4) application of perovskite oxides in heterogeneous catalysis, and (5) conclusions and perspectives. We expected that the overview on these achievements could lead to research on the nature of catalytic performances of perovskite oxides and finally commercialization of them for industrial use.

Haplotypic information in diploid organisms provides valuable information on human evolutionary history and plays an important role in identifying a candidate gene in the etiology of complex genetic diseases. However, haplotypes of diploid individuals cannot be acquired easily. Molecular haplotyping methods are very costly and have low throughput, and current genotyping and sequencing methods do not provide information on the linkage phase in diploid organisms. The application of statistical methods to infer the haplotype phase in samples of diploid sequences is a very cost-effective approach. Several computational and statistical methods have been developed for haplotype inference, including Clark's algorithm [1], the Expectation Maximization (EM) algorithm [2], and Gibbs sampler [3]. Because of its interpretability and stability, the EM algorithm has become one of the most widely used statistical algorithms. However, the standard EM algorithm has several weaknesses, including the inability to handle a large number of markers and convergence to the local optimum. To overcome these problems, various derivative methods have been developed, such as the Partition-Ligation EM (PLEM) algorithm to handle many more linked loci [4], the Optimal Step Length EM (OSLEM) algorithm to accelerate the calculations [5], and the Stochastic EM (SEM) algorithm to deal with missing genotypic data and to avoid convergence to local maxima [6]. However, most packages are intended for use with single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data in a biallelic manner.More and more researchers are analyzing both multiallelic and biallelic markers in the linkage and/or association studies of complex diseases. The analysis of linkage disequilibrium (LD) between multiallelic loci and haplotype inference of many loci (including bi-and multiallelic markers) present a number of common problems. The major difficulty for the haplotype inference problem npg

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Summary piRNAs guide an adaptive genome defense system that silences transposons during germline development. The Drosophila HP1 homolog Rhino is required for germline piRNA production. We show that Rhino binds specifically to the heterochromatic clusters that produce piRNA precursors, and that binding directly correlates with piRNA production. Rhino co-localizes to germline nuclear foci with Rai1/DXO related protein Cuff and the DEAD box protein UAP56, which are also required for germline piRNA production. RNA sequencing indicates that most cluster transcripts are not spliced, and that rhino, cuff and uap56 mutations increase expression of spliced cluster transcripts over 100 fold. LacI∷Rhino fusion protein binding suppresses splicing of a reporter transgene, and is sufficient to trigger piRNA production from a trans combination of sense and antisense reporters. We therefore propose that Rhino anchors a nuclear complex that suppresses cluster transcript splicing, and speculate that stalled splicing differentiates piRNA precursors from mRNAs.

The repolarization phase of cardiac action potential is prone to aberrant excitation that is common in cardiac patients. Here, we demonstrate that this phase is markedly sensitive to Ca 2؉ because of the surprising existence of a Ca 2؉ -activated K ؉ currents in cardiac cells. The current was revealed using recording conditions that preserved endogenous Ca 2؉ buffers. The Ca 2؉ -activated K ؉ current is expressed differentially in atria compared with ventricles. Because of the significant contribution of the current toward membrane repolarization in cardiac myocytes, alterations of the current magnitude precipitate abnormal action potential profiles. We confirmed the presence of a small conductance Ca 2؉ -activated K ؉ channel subtype (SK2) in human and mouse cardiac myocytes using Western blot analysis and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and have cloned SK2 channels from human atria, mouse atria, and ventricles. Because of the marked differential expression of SK2 channels in the heart, specific ligands for Ca 2؉ -activated K ؉ currents may offer a unique therapeutic opportunity to modify atrial cells without interfering with ventricular myocytes.Cardiac action potentials (APs) 1 are shaped predominantly by the interplay between transient inward Na ϩ , Ca 2ϩ , and outward K ϩ currents (1). While the repolarization phase of the AP can be wrought by the kinetics of the principal currents, small and sustained outward currents also define this phase, rendering this region prone to irregular membrane excitation.In humans, delineation of the outward currents that confer the late repolarization phase of the cardiac AP is crucial for our understanding of the etiology of arrhythmias. We provide a novel report that demonstrates that the repolarization phase of cardiac AP shows marked sensitivity toward apamin, an exclusive ligand for a small conductance Ca 2ϩ -activated K ϩ channel (2).Ca 2ϩ -activated K ϩ channels (K Ca ) are present in most neurons and mediate the afterhyperpolarizations following AP (3, 4). However, functional significance of K Ca in the heart has not previously been documented. K Ca channels can be divided into three main subfamilies (3, 5-7). These include the large-conductance Ca 2ϩ -and voltage-activated K ϩ channels (BK), the intermediate-conductance K Ca channels (IK), and the smallconductance K Ca channels (SK), which are sensitive to apamin and scyllatoxin. Among the SK channels, they are encoded by at least three genes, SK1, SK2, SK3 (4, 6), with differential sensitivity toward apamin. SK2 is highly sensitive to apamin, with a half-blocking concentration (IC 50 ) of 60 pmol/liter, whereas SK1 channels are not affected by 100 nmol/liter apamin (2). SK3 channels are intermediate.Here, we report for the first time, the presence of I K,Ca (Ca 2ϩ -activated K ϩ current) in cardiac myocytes that plays a crucial role in cardiac AP profile. Using a combination of electrophysiological recordings and biochemical and molecular biological techniques, we have identified the presence of SK2...

Southeast Asia is home to rich human genetic and linguistic diversity, but the details of past population movements in the region are not well known. Here, we report genome-wide ancient DNA data from 18 Southeast Asian individuals spanning from the Neolithic period through the Iron Age (4100 to 1700 years ago). Early farmers from Man Bac in Vietnam exhibit a mixture of East Asian (southern Chinese agriculturalist) and deeply diverged eastern Eurasian (hunter-gatherer) ancestry characteristic of Austroasiatic speakers, with similar ancestry as far south as Indonesia providing evidence for an expansive initial spread of Austroasiatic languages. By the Bronze Age, in a parallel pattern to Europe, sites in Vietnam and Myanmar show close connections to present-day majority groups, reflecting substantial additional influxes of migrants.

Solid-state refrigeration technology based on caloric effects are promising to replace the currently used vapor compression cycles. However, their application is restricted due to limited performances of caloric materials. Here, we have identified colossal barocaloric effects (CBCEs) in a class of disordered solids called plastic crystals. The obtained entropy changes are about 380 J kg -1 K -1 in the representative neopentylglycol around room temperature. Inelastic neutron scattering reveals that the CBCEs in plastic crystals are attributed to the combination of the vast molecular orientational disorder, giant compressibility and high anharmonic lattice dynamics. Our study establishes the microscopic scenario for CBCEs in plastic crystals and paves a new route to the next-generation solid-state refrigeration technology.

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