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A pivotal challenge in quantum technologies lies in reconciling long coherence times with efficient manipulation of the quantum states of a system. Lanthanide atoms, with their well-localized 4f electrons, emerge as a promising solution to this dilemma if provided with a rational design for manipulation and detection. Here we construct tailored spin structures to perform electron spin resonance on a single lanthanide atom using a scanning tunneling microscope. A magnetically coupled structure made of an erbium and a titanium atom enables us to both drive the erbium's 4f electron spins and indirectly probe them through the titanium's 3d electrons. The erbium spin states exhibit an extended spin relaxation time and a higher driving efficiency compared to 3d atoms with spin ½ in similarly coupled structures. Our work provides a new approach to accessing highly protected spin states, enabling their coherent control in an all-electric fashion., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Direct methane protonic ceramic fuel cells are promising electrochemical devices that address the technical and economic challenges of conventional ceramic fuel cells. However, Ni, a catalyst of protonic ceramic fuel cells exhibits sluggish reaction kinetics for CH 4 conversion and a low tolerance against carbon-coking, limiting its wider applications. Herein, we introduce a self-assembled Ni-Rh bimetallic catalyst that exhibits a significantly high CH 4 conversion and carbon-coking tolerance. It enables direct methane protonic ceramic fuel cells to operate with a high maximum power density of ~0.50 W·cm -2 at 500 °C, surpassing all other previously reported values from direct methane protonic ceramic fuel cells and even solid oxide fuel cells. Moreover, it allows stable operation with a degradation rate of 0.02%·h -1 at 500 °C over 500 h, which is ~20-fold lower than that of conventional protonic ceramic fuel cells (0.4%·h -1 ). High-resolution in-situ surface characterization techniques reveal that high-water interaction on the Ni-Rh surface facilitates the carbon cleaning process, enabling sustainable long-term operation., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Psychological stressors, like the nearby presence of a predator, can be strong enough to induce physiological/hormonal alterations, leading to appetite changes. However, little is known about how threats can alter feeding-related hypothalamic circuit functions. Here, we found that proenkephalin (Penk)-expressing lateral hypothalamic (LH Penk ) neurons of mice exposed to predator scent stimulus (PSS) show sensitized responses to high-fat diet (HFD) eating, whereas silencing of the same neurons normalizes PSS-induced HFD overconsumption associated with a negative emotional state. Downregulation of endogenous enkephalin peptides in the LH is crucial for inhibiting the neuronal and behavioral changes developed after PSS exposure. Furthermore, elevated corticosterone after PSS contributes to enhance the reactivity of glucocorticoid receptor (GR)-containing LH Penk neurons to HFD, whereas pharmacological inhibition of GR in the LH suppresses PSS-induced maladaptive behavioral responses. We have thus identified the LH Penk neurons as a critical component in the threat-induced neuronal adaptation that leads to emotional overconsumption., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Autism spectrum disorder is characterized by early postnatal symptoms, although little is known about the mechanistic deviations that produce them and whether correcting them has long-lasting preventive effects on adult-stage deficits. ARID1B, a chromatin remodeler implicated in neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism spectrum disorder, exhibits strong embryonic- and early postnatal-stage expression. We report here that Arid1b-happloinsufficient (Arid1b +/- ) mice display autistic-like behaviors at juvenile and adult stages accompanied by persistent decreases in excitatory synaptic density and transmission. Chronic treatment of Arid1b +/- mice with fluoxetine, a selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitor, during the first three postnatal weeks prevents synaptic and behavioral deficits in adults. Mechanistically, these rescues accompany transcriptomic changes, including upregulation of FMRP targets and normalization of HDAC4/MEF2A-related transcriptional regulation of the synaptic proteins, SynGAP1 and Arc. These results suggest that chronic modulation of serotonergic receptors during critical early postnatal periods prevents synaptic and behavioral deficits in adult Arid1b +/- mice through transcriptional reprogramming., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Designing and characterizing the many-body behaviors of quantum materials represents a prominent challenge for understanding strongly correlated physics and quantum information processing. We constructed artificial quantum magnets on a surface by using spin-1/2 atoms in a scanning tunneling microscope (STM). These coupled spins feature strong quantum fluctuations due to antiferromagnetic exchange interactions between neighboring atoms. To characterize the resulting collective magnetic states and their energy levels, we performed electron spin resonance on individual atoms within each quantum magnet. This gives atomic-scale access to properties of the exotic quantum many-body states, such as a finite-size realization of a resonating valence bond state. The tunable atomic-scale magnetic field from the STM tip allows us to further characterize and engineer the quantum states. These results open a new avenue to designing and exploring quantum magnets at the atomic scale for applications in spintronics and quantum simulations.

Cell protrusion is morphodynamically heterogeneous at the subcellular level. However, the mechanism of cell protrusion has been understood based on the ensemble average of actin regulator dynamics. Here, we establish a computational framework called HACKS (deconvolution of heterogeneous activity in coordination of cytoskeleton at the subcellular level) to deconvolve the subcellular heterogeneity of lamellipodial protrusion from live cell imaging. HACKS identifies distinct subcellular protrusion phenotypes based on machine-learning algorithms and reveals their underlying actin regulator dynamics at the leading edge. Using our method, we discover "accelerating protrusion", which is driven by the temporally ordered coordination of Arp2/3 and VASP activities. We validate our finding by pharmacological perturbations and further identify the fine regulation of Arp2/3 and VASP recruitment associated with accelerating protrusion. Our study suggests HACKS can identify specific subcellular protrusion phenotypes susceptible to pharmacological perturbation and reveal how actin regulator dynamics are changed by the perturbation.

Shedding new light on conventional batteries sometimes inspires a chemistry adoptable for rechargeable batteries. Recently, the primary lithium-sulfur dioxide battery, which offers a high energy density and long shelf-life, is successfully renewed as a promising rechargeable system exhibiting small polarization and good reversibility. Here, we demonstrate for the first time that reversible operation of the lithium-sulfur dioxide battery is also possible by exploiting conventional carbonate-based electrolytes. Theoretical and experimental studies reveal that the sulfur dioxide electrochemistry is highly stable in carbonate-based electrolytes, enabling the reversible formation of lithium dithionite. The use of the carbonate-based electrolyte leads to a remarkable enhancement of power and reversibility; furthermore, the optimized lithium-sulfur dioxide battery with catalysts achieves outstanding cycle stability for over 450 cycles with 0.2 V polarization. This study highlights the potential promise of lithium-sulfur dioxide chemistry along with the viability of conventional carbonate-based electrolytes in metal-gas rechargeable systems.

Osteocytes are the terminally differentiated cell type of the osteoblastic lineage and have important functions in skeletal homeostasis. Although the transcriptional regulation of osteoblast differentiation has been well characterized, the factors that regulate differentiation of osteocytes from mature osteoblasts are poorly understood. Here we show that miR-23a∼27a∼24-2 (miR-23a cluster) promotes osteocyte differentiation. Osteoblast-specific miR-23a cluster gain-of-function mice have low bone mass associated with decreased osteoblast but increased osteocyte numbers. By contrast, loss-of-function transgenic mice overexpressing microRNA decoys for either miR-23a or miR-27a, but not miR24-2, show decreased osteocyte numbers. Moreover, RNA-sequencing analysis shows altered transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) signalling. Prdm16, a negative regulator of the TGF-β pathway, is directly repressed by miR-27a with concomitant alteration of sclerostin expression, and pharmacological inhibition of TGF-β rescues the phenotypes observed in the gain-of-function transgenic mice. Taken together, the miR-23a cluster regulates osteocyte differentiation by modulating the TGF-β signalling pathway through targeting of Prdm16.

With the demand for high-energy-storage devices, the rechargeable metal-oxygen battery has attracted attention recently. Sodium-oxygen batteries have been regarded as the most promising candidates because of their lower-charge overpotential compared with that of lithium-oxygen system. However, conflicting observations with different discharge products have inhibited the understanding of precise reactions in the battery. Here we demonstrate that the competition between the electrochemical and chemical reactions in sodium-oxygen batteries leads to the dissolution and ionization of sodium superoxide, liberating superoxide anion and triggering the formation of sodium peroxide dihydrate (Na2O2·2H2O). On the formation of Na2O2·2H2O, the charge overpotential of sodium-oxygen cells significantly increases. This verification addresses the origin of conflicting discharge products and overpotentials observed in sodium-oxygen systems. Our proposed model provides guidelines to help direct the reactions in sodium-oxygen batteries to achieve high efficiency and rechargeability.

TWIK-1 is a member of the two-pore domain K(+) (K2P) channel family that plays an essential part in the regulation of resting membrane potential and cellular excitability. The physiological role of TWIK-1 has remained enigmatic because functional expression of TWIK-1 channels is elusive. Here we report that native TWIK-1 forms a functional channel at the plasma membrane of astrocytes. A search for TWIK-1-binding proteins led to the identification of TREK-1, another member of the K2P family. The TWIK-1/TREK-1 heterodimeric channel is formed via a disulphide bridge between residue C69 in TWIK-1 and C93 in TREK-1. Gene silencing demonstrates that surface expression of TWIK-1 and TREK-1 are interdependent. TWIK-1/TREK-1 heterodimers mediate astrocytic passive conductance and cannabinoid-induced glutamate release from astrocytes. Our study sheds new light on the diversity of K2P channels.

Membranes with nano-apertures are versatile templates that possess a wide range of electronic, optical and biomedical applications. However, such membranes have been limited to silicon-based inorganic materials to utilize standard semiconductor processes. Here we report a new type of flexible and free-standing polymeric membrane with nano-apertures by exploiting high-wettability difference and geometrical reinforcement via multiscale, multilevel architecture. In the method, polymeric membranes with various pore sizes (50-800 nm) and shapes (dots, lines) are fabricated by a hierarchical mould-based dewetting of ultraviolet-curable resins. In particular, the nano-pores are monolithically integrated on a two-level hierarchical supporting layer, allowing for the rapid (<5 min) and robust formation of multiscale and multilevel nano-apertures over large areas (2 × 2 cm(2)).