In the absence of nuclear-genomic differentiation between two populations, deep mitochondrial divergence (DMD) is a form of mito-nuclear discordance. Such instances of DMD are rare and might variably be explained by unusual cases of female-linked selection, by male-biased dispersal, by “speciation reversal” or by mitochondrial capture through genetic introgression. Here, we analyze DMD in an Asian Phylloscopus leaf warbler (Aves: Phylloscopidae) complex. Bioacoustic, morphological, and genomic data demonstrate close similarity between the taxa affinis and occisinensis, even though DMD previously led to their classification as two distinct species. Using population genomic and comparative genomic methods on 45 whole genomes, including historical reconstructions of effective population size, genomic peaks of differentiation and genomic linkage, we infer that the form affinis is likely the product of a westward expansion in which it replaced a now-extinct congener that was the donor of its mtDNA and small portions of its nuclear genome. This study provides strong evidence of “ghost introgression” as the cause of DMD, and we suggest that “ghost introgression” may be a widely overlooked phenomenon in nature.

Cellulase was immobilized onto silica gel surfaces pretreated with (3-aminopropyl) triethoxy-silane (3-APTES), and glutaraldehyde (GA) was used as a cross-linker. A carboxymethyl cellulose sodium salt (CMC) solution was used for activity experiments. Protein assay was performed to determine the mass immobilized and compare with free enzyme. Cellulase was successfully demonstrated to be immobilized on the modified silica gel surface, and no detectable amount of enzyme was stripped off during the hydrolysis of the CMC solution. The specific activity of the immobilized cellulase is 7 ± 2 % compared to the similar amount of free cellulase. Significant activity over multiple reuses was observed. The seventh batch achieved 82 % activity of the initial batch, and the fifteenth batch retained 31 %. It was observed that the immobilized cellulase retained 48 % of its initial activity after 4 days, and 22 % even after 14 days.

The effect of dangling chains on phaseseparated microstructure and molecular dynamics for polyurethanes (PUs) was investigated. PUs with different dangling chain lengths and polar groups were prepared through changing the types of diol extender. The molecular dynamics was studied by a combination of dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) and broadband dielectric relaxation spectroscopy (BDRS). Four relaxations (processes), namely, a secondary relaxation (β), the soft phase segmental relaxation (α), the I process associated with hydrogen bond, and Maxwell− Wagner−Sillars (MWS) interfacial polarization process caused by charge accumulation at hard/soft phase interfaces, were detected. The I process occurred in temperatures lower than that of MWS process but higher than α relaxation in general. The β relaxation remains unaffected with changing dangling chain lengths or polar groups. However, the glass transition temperature (T g ) of the soft phase shifts to lower temperature, and the segmental motion becomes faster with increasing dangling chain length, while the introduction of a polar ester group into the dangling chains makes it slow down, corresponding to a higher T g , and results in a higher fragility. On the other hand, there is an absence of I process, and the MWS process shifts to higher frequencies when longer dangling chain is introduced. In the case of increasing the hard segment content, the I process reappears and the MWS process slows down. It is suggested that these results are related to the H-bond interactions within hard segments and the micromorphologies of PUs.