Lithium ion batteries (LIB) are the most commonly used type of battery in consumer electronics and electric vehicles. Lithium cobalt oxide (LiCoO₂) is the compound used for the cathode in LIB for handheld electronics. Traditionally, the synthesis of this compound requires temperatures over 800°C and takes 10 to 20 hours to complete.

A team of researchers at Hokkaido University and Kobe University, led by Professor Masaki Matsui at Hokkaido University’s Faculty of Science, have developed a new method to synthesize lithium cobalt oxide at temperatures as low as 300°C and durations as short as 30 minutes. Their findings were published in the journal Inorganic Chemistry.

“Lithium cobalt oxide can typically be synthesized in two forms,” Matsui explains. “One form is layered rocksalt structure, called the high-temperature phase, and the other form is spinel-framework structure, called the low-temperature phase. The layered LiCoO₂ is used in Li-ion batteries.”

Using cobalt hydroxide and lithium hydroxide as starting materials, with sodium or potassium hydroxide as an additive, the team conducted a series of high-precision experiments under varying conditions to synthesize layered LiCoO₂ crystals. The process was called the “hydroflux process.” They were also able to determine the reaction pathway that led to the formation of the layered crystals.

“By understanding the reaction pathway, we were able to identify the factors that promoted the crystal growth of layered LiCoO₂,” Matsui said. “Specifically, the presence of water molecules in the starting materials significantly improved crystallinity of the end product.”

The team also measured the electrochemical properties of the layered LiCoO₂, showing that they were only marginally inferior to that of commercially available LiCoO₂ synthesized by the traditional high temperature method.

“This work is the first experimental demonstration of the thermochemical stability of layered LiCoO₂ at low temperatures under ambient pressure,” concludes Matsui. “Our development of this hydroflux process will enable energy saving measures in various ceramic production processes. Our immediate next steps will be the improvement of the hydroflux process based on our understanding of the reaction pathway.”

Antimicrobial resistance occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites change over time and no longer respond to the medicines and chemicals we use to kill them. These ‘superbugs’ make infections harder to treat and increase the risk of disease spread, severe illness and death.

Without significant intervention, global annual deaths involving antimicrobial resistance are estimated to reach 10 million by 2050, with low and middle-income countries bearing the highest burden.

The new study, Genomic surveillance for antimicrobial resistance — a One Health perspective, published in Nature Reviews Genetics, highlights the need for a multifaceted ‘One Health’ approach to the surveillance of antimicrobial resistance in the environment.

The research was led by Distinguished Professor Steven Djordjevic from the Australian Institute for Microbiology and Infection at the University of Technology Sydney, together with researchers from the University of Melbourne and the University of South Australia.

“Antimicrobial resistance is a complex and global threat requiring large-scale, co-ordinated and cross-disciplinary collaboration to tackle,” said Professor Djordjevic.

“Understanding the evolution, emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance within and between humans, animals, plants and natural environments is critical in mitigating the colossal impacts associated with this phenomenon.”

The use of genomic tracing during the Covid-19 pandemic has provided insight into the potential of genomic technologies to monitor the development and spread of antimicrobial genes and mutations.

“Antimicrobial resistance can occur when microorganisms acquire genetic information, either by mutation, recombination or transfer of antibiotic resistance genes from the bacterial gene pool,” said Professor Erica Donner from the University of South Australia.

“Genomic technologies, combined with AI and machine learning, are powerful platforms for determining resistance trends. They can identify instances where microbes and their genetic material move between different environments, evaluating the impact of intervention strategies.

“The evolution of antimicrobial resistance is a complex process that includes the overuse and misuse of antibiotics, metals and disinfectants in medicine and agriculture, and widely varying standards of water, sanitation and hygiene.”

The paper is a call to action for policymakers, highlighting the need to establish national genomic surveillance programs spanning human health, animal health, agriculture, food and environmental management sectors and to share data at both a national and international level.

“Utilising the technology of microbial genomics in the context of effective cross-sectoral data integration will enhance the understanding of antimicrobial resistance emergence and spread within and across these sectors and identify targeted interventions” said Professor Ben Howden from the University of Melbourne.

The researchers provide practical recommendations to implement genomics-enabled surveillance and mitigation strategies and underscore the need for equitable solutions that allow integration of partners from lower- and middle-income countries.

The recommendations include:

• Establishing a national One Health antimicrobial resistance surveillance programme incorporating genomics
• Increase antimicrobial resistance awareness and education and foster collaboration
• Enhancing laboratory capacity in lower and middle-income countries
• Encouraging research and innovation
• Strengthening regulation and oversight in agriculture
• Improving antibiotic stewardship

“The evolutionary nature of antimicrobial resistance makes it a constantly changing and evolving threat. There is no easy solution, but ongoing genomic surveillance can help us better understand and mitigate this global health challenge,” said Professor Djordjevic.

The eclipse was partially visible to much of the continental U.S. for several hours that Saturday, though the full “ring of fire” effect was only visible for less than five minutes, and only for those within its 125-mile-wide path of annularity.

However, the new observations of the radio Sun’s eclipse — much longer in duration than the partial eclipse recently experienced by millions on Earth due to the extended solar corona as seen at radio wavelengths — have yielded stunning images of the eclipse’s ring lasting for over an hour.

Researchers used the newly commissioned Owens Valley Radio Observatory Long Wavelength Array (OVRO-LWA) in the Owens Valley Radio Observatory, CA to make their breakthrough observation of radio waves emanating from the Sun’s extended corona, as the moon passed between Earth and its nearest star.

“To finally see a ‘ring of fire’ eclipse this way was spectacular … we haven’t seen this quality of radio imaging of the Sun before.” said Dale Gary, NJIT-CSTR distinguished professor of physics and co-investigator on the OVRO-LWA project, which is funded by the National Science Foundation.

“We normally cannot see the corona from the ground except during a total eclipse, but we can now see it all the time with OVRO-LWA. This eclipse makes it that much more dramatic.”

“From our observatory site in California we were not in the belt to see the annular eclipse, yet we’ve been able to ‘see’ it all clearly unfold in radio, which reveals a much larger solar disk than its visible counterpart thanks to its sensitivity to the extended solar corona,” said Bin Chen, NJIT-CSTR associate professor of physics who led the data reduction and processing together with NJIT researchers Surajit Mondal and Sijie Yu.

“Science-wise, this is a unique opportunity to study the Sun’s extended corona with the highest resolution possible at these wavelengths, taking advantage of the moon’s limb as a moving ‘knife edge’ to increase the effective angular resolution,” said Chen.

OVRO-LWA, a multi-institutional project directed by Gregg Hallinan at California Institute of Technology, uses a set of 352 antennas to sample thousands of radio wavelengths between ~20-88 MHz.

For solar science, it offers the highest-quality images yet of the radio Sun in this wavelength regime, which is roughly two times larger than the visible solar disk.

“Documenting this spectacular event was a great opportunity to announce the successful operation of OVRO-LWA as a new radio facility to study the Sun and many other objects including exoplanets, cosmic-rays, the early universe, and more,” said Hallinan.

While the next annular solar eclipse is expected to be visible from South America in October 2024, those in the U.S. will need to wait until June 2039 to view the next ‘ring of fire’ eclipse on home soil. However, a total eclipse visible across the central U.S. will occur sooner, next April 8.

However, the team say the recent eclipse event is an outstanding example of the first observations of the Sun with the instrument. With the new capabilities OVRO-LWA offers, exciting science is expected in the near future — particularly as solar activity of the current 11-year solar cycle peaks in 2025 during the expected “solar maximum.”

“We are now working on an automated data processing pipeline that will soon produce near-real-time solar images and make them available to the public,” said Chen. “These eclipse images serve as a proof-of-concept for this effort. The unprecedented data products coming soon will open new opportunities for discovery in solar astronomy and space weather studies.”

That is the finding of a recently published peer-reviewed journal article, whose authors recommend further study and consideration of changes to regulations to protect consumers, especially those who are immunocompromised. They examined data, previous studies, and U.S. and international regulations related to the cannabis and hemp industry.

The article was published in Frontiers in Microbiology. It was researched and written by Kimberly Gwinn, professor of entomology and plant pathology at the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture: Maxwell Leung, assistant professor, and Ariell Stephens, graduate student, both from the School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences at Arizona State University; and Zamir Punja, professor of plant pathology/biotechnology at Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada.

“Hemp and cannabis are new crops, and we are in the early stages of understanding relationships with their pathogens. Several pathogens produce mycotoxins, compounds that negatively impact human health and are regulated in other crops. In this review, we summarize the current literature on mycotoxins in hemp and cannabis products, identify research gaps in potential mycotoxin contamination in hemp and cannabis, and identify potential developments based on research in other crop systems,” Gwinn said.

Cannabis research has mostly focused on the substance and medical uses of the plant, but with the increased legalization of cannabis for various uses, this article addresses the need for more study of potential health risks.

“Although fungi and mycotoxins are common and well-studied contaminants in many agricultural crop species, they have been generally under-studied in cannabis and hemp. This is partly because human health risk assessment methodologies used to regulate food and pharmaceuticals have yet to become standard for the emerging cannabis and hemp industries. Additionally, the wide range of consumer uses of cannabis and hemp flowers, including for medical use by patients with susceptible conditions, makes it uniquely challenging to assess and manage human health risk of these contaminants,” according to the article.

The authors discuss Aspergillus, Penicillium, Fusarium, Mucor, and other fungi that can infect the plants and can produce mycotoxins; review the regulations and assessment methods of the contaminants; and offer recommendations to produce safer products for all consumers. Environmental factors such as where the plants are grown, whether indoors or outdoors, and in soil or soilless media, may impact the kinds of contaminants and ensuing health risks.

Studies reviewed by the authors show some fungi may cause infection on lung and skin tissues, and these infections were most common when smoked and less common in edibles. They also found cancer patients using cannabis to help with nausea and appetite as well as transplant patients and consumers with HIV and type 1 diabetes may be particularly susceptible to infection. Studies also show workers harvesting cannabis could also be at risk. The authors encouraged consumers who are immunocompromised to use products that have been sterilized until better data are obtained.

The authors studied international and U.S. standards for these contaminants, but there is a lack of data on the prevalence of the contaminants and their health impacts. Another issue for consumers is the varying levels of legalization of cannabis products from state to state, which has resulted in each state creating its own regulations. Fusarium mycotoxins, a prevalent class of fungal contaminants in agricultural commodities that can result in vomiting, are not currently regulated.

Assessing and testing for pathogens can be problematic, as the authors found when they studied various methods including culture-based assays, immuno-based technologies, and emerging technologies. The article also examines management of the possible toxins before harvest and after harvest. “A major hurdle faced by cannabis and hemp industries is addressing the disconnect between production-related issues and human safety issues,” the article states. Recreational use of hemp and cannabis is common in many areas and all case studies linking cannabis use and fungal infections, except one, involved patients who were immunocompromised. The authors suggest a potential solution is “to reduce potential harm to medical users of cannabis from toxigenic fungi is to develop a two-tier system that distinguishes products intended for medical and recreational use.”

“We wrote this article to bring these issues to the attention of the scientific, medical, and regulatory communities. We hope to encourage further research in this area, particularly in the areas of mycotoxins in product. Better data and public access to data will allow us to fully evaluate these risks and subsequently ensure safe products for consumers,” Gwinn said.

Urbanization and human activities have transformed a significant proportion of the land on Earth, resulting in the formation of urban environments. These urban environments are human-made habitats that often impose several selective pressures on their inhabitants. A key characteristic of such environments is the presence of impermeable, heat-retaining surfaces created using brick, stone, asphalt, and concrete. Notably, these surfaces form urban heat islands, i.e., regions with elevated surface temperatures. An unexpected result of heat stress is the impact on the behavior, physiology, and evolutionary trajectories of resident organisms. Although several studies have investigated the role of urban heat stress on evolution in animals, its effects on plant evolution remain largely unexplored.

To address this gap, a team of researchers led by Associate Professor Yuya Fukano from the Graduate School of Horticulture, Chiba University, Japan, investigated how urban heat islands affect the leaf colors of Oxalis corniculata, also known as the creeping woodsorrel. This plant exhibits diverse leaf colors ranging from green to red and is found in both urban and non-urban spaces across the world. Research suggests that these color variations serve as an evolutionary adaptation to protect the plant from environmental stress. Moreover, red pigments (anthocyanins) in the leaves are thought to mitigate heat and light-induced damage by intercepting light and forming antioxidants.

To investigate this evolutionary theory, Dr. Yuya Fukano and his team, comprising Dr. Wataru Yamori from the University of Tokyo, Dr. Yuuya Tachiki from Tokyo Metropolitan University, and Dr. Kenta Shirasawa from the Kazusa DNA Research Institute, conducted field observations of the leaf color distribution in the creeping woodsorrel, across urban and non-urban regions at the local, landscape, and the global scales. Their study findings were published in Science Advances on [date]. “We noticed that the red-leaved variants of the creeping woodsorrel commonly grew near impervious surfaces in urban areas but rarely grew in farmlands or green spaces in and around the city,” says Dr. Fukano, while discussing their observations. The team identified a pattern where green-leaved variants of the creeping woodsorrel dominated green spaces while their red-leaf counterparts dominated the urban sites of Tokyo at both the local and landscape levels. Upon further examination of an online database, the team discovered that these geographical findings were consistent across the globe, thereby confirming a link between urbanization and leaf color variations in the creeping woodsorrel.

This motivated the team to quantify the adaptive benefits of these leaf color variations by examining their influence over biomass growth and photosynthetic ability under heat stress and non-heat stress conditions across controlled and uncontrolled cultivation experiments.

Through these experiments, the team found that the red-leaf variants exhibited superior growth rates and higher photosynthetic efficiency under high temperatures, whereas green-leaf variants thrived in lower temperatures. As a result, red-leaf variants tend to thrive in urban areas with low plant density due to high stress tolerance. The opposite is true for their green-leaf counterparts, which display higher growth competitiveness in lush green areas. “Although these findings will not change much in the immediate future, this study showcases one of the most popular examples of ongoing evolution that can be observed in urban areas,” remarks Dr. Fukano.

The team also conducted genome-wide genetic analyses, which indicated that the red-leaf variant of O. corniculata may have evolved multiple times from the ancestral green-leaf plant. Discussing the implications of these findings, Dr. Fukano mentions, “Urban heat islands are precursors to global warming. Understanding the rapid adaptive evolution of urban organisms to high temperatures will provide valuable insights on ecosystem dynamics and sustainable crop production.”

These adaptations to high-temperature stress likely extend beyond leaf color, thereby warranting further research into various plant traits for a comprehensive understanding of plant adaptation to urban heat islands.