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Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries are regarded as a promising next-generation system for advanced energy storage owing to a high theoretical energy density of 2600 Wh kg-1 . However, the practical implementation of Li-S batteries has been thwarted by the detrimental shuttling behavior of polysulfides, and the sluggish kinetics in electrochemical processes. Herein, a novel single atom (SA) catalyst with oversaturated Fe-N5 coordination structure (Fe-N5 -C) is precisely synthesized by an absorption-pyrolysis strategy and introduced as an effective sulfur host material. The experimental characterizations and theoretical calculations reveal synergism between atomically dispersed Fe-N5 active sites and the unique carbon support. The results exhibit that the sulfur composite cathode built on the Fe-N5 -C can not only adsorb polysulfides via chemical interaction, but also boost the redox reaction kinetics, thus mitigating the shuttle effect. Meanwhile, the robust three-dimensional nitrogen doped carbon nanofiber with large surface area, and high porosity enables strong physical confinement and fast electron/ion transfer process. Attributed to such unique features, Li-S batteries with S/Fe-N5 -C composite cathode realize outstanding cyclability and rate capability, as well as high areal capacities under raised sulfur loading, which demonstrates great potential in developing advanced Li-S batteries.

Inhibitor of DNA-binding 1 (ID1) protein has been studied intensively for its functions in tumorigenesis and maintenance of stem cell-like properties, but its roles in virus infection are less understood. In the present study, we have clearly shown that the foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) promotes ID1 degradation via Cdh1-mediated ubiquitination to facilitate its replication. Mechanistic investigations reveal Forkhead Box O1 (FOXO1) as an ID1 partner, which suppresses interferon regulatory factors 3 expression and interferon (IFN) production. Further investigation identified that ID1 suppresses FOXO1 transcription activity through HDAC4-mediated deacetylation, promoting IFN production and antiviral immune response. These studies establish a prominent role for ID1 in suppressing FDMV replication, which may be extended to other viruses.

Rational construction of sulfur electrodes is essential in pursuit of practically viable lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries. Herein, bimetallic NiCo‐layered double hydroxide (NiCo‐LDH) with a unique hierarchical micro‐nano architecture is developed as an advanced sulfur reservoir for Li–S batteries. Compared with the monometallic Co‐layered double hydroxide (Co‐LDH) counterpart, the bimetallic configuration realizes much enriched, miniaturized, and vertically aligned LDH nanosheets assembled in hollow polyhedral nanoarchitecture, which geometrically benefits the interface exposure for host–guest interactions. Beyond that, the introduction of secondary metal intensifies the chemical interactions between layered double hydroxide (LDH) and sulfur species, which implements strong sulfur immobilization and catalyzation for rapid and durable sulfur electrochemistry. Furthermore, the favorable NiCo‐LDH is architecturally upgraded into closely packed micro‐nano clusters with facilitated long‐range electron/ion conduction and robust structural integrity. Due to these attributes, the corresponding Li–S cells realize excellent cyclability over 800 cycles with a minimum capacity fading of 0.04% per cycle and good rate capability up to 2 C. Moreover, highly reversible areal capacity of 4.3 mAh cm−2 can be achieved under a raised sulfur loading of 5.5 mg cm−2. This work provides not only an effective architectural design but also a deepened understanding on bimetallic LDH sulfur reservoir for high‐performance Li–S batteries., A unique NiCo‐LDH@rGO micro‐nano hierarchical composite is developed as a synergistic sulfur immobilizer and promoter to realize high‐efficiency lithium–sulfur battery chemistry. The unique architecture of NiCo‐LDH@rGO and its strong chemical interactions with the intermediate polysulfides afford large space for sulfur, enable expedite ion/mass transfer, and effectively restrain and catalyze the conversion of polysulfide.

Remotely sensed solar-induced fluorescence (SIF) has emerged as a novel approach for terrestrial vegetation monitoring. The in situ continuous optical remote sensing tool in conjunction with concur...

It is important to understand how sun-sensor geometry affects satellite sun -induced fluorescence (SIF) in order to take full advantage of these measurements, particularly given their close relationship with gross primary production (GPP). A recent paper by Li et al. (2018) presented results on the relationship between OCO-2 SIF and GPP from 64 flux sites. Similar to Sun et al. (2017), this study suggested a nearly universal rather than biome-specific SIF-GPP relationship across biomes though a higher slope was found for C4 plants. Their results are distinct from previous studies. We argue that the universal relationship may be biased by not separating SIF data from three observation modes that have different sensor view zenith angles.

A one-pot method for the selective production of high-grade diesel-range alkanes from biomass-derived furfural and 2-methylfuran (2-MF) was developed by combining the hydroxyalkylation/alkylation (HAA) condensation of furfural with 2-MF and the subsequent hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) over a multifunctional Pd/NbOPO4 catalyst. The effects of various reaction conditions as well as a variety of solid-acid catalysts and metal-loaded NbOPO4 catalysts were systematically investigated to optimize the reaction conditions for both reactions. Under the optimal reaction conditions up to 89.1 % total yield of diesel-range alkanes was obtained from furfural and 2-MF by this one-pot method.

Mid-to-high latitude forests play an important role in the terrestrial carbon cycle, but the representation of photosynthesis in boreal forests by current modelling and observational methods is still challenging. In particular, the applicability of existing satellite-based proxies of greenness to indicate photosynthetic activity is hindered by small annual changes in green biomass of the often evergreen tree population and by the confounding effects of background materials such as snow. As an alternative, satellite measurements of sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) can be used as a direct proxy of photosynthetic activity. In this study, the start and end of the photosynthetically active season of the main boreal forests are analysed using spaceborne SIF measurements retrieved from the GOME-2 instrument and compared to that of green biomass, proxied by vegetation indices including the Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) derived from MODIS data. We find that photosynthesis and greenness show a similar seasonality in deciduous forests. In high-latitude evergreen needleleaf forests, however, the length of the photosynthetically active period indicated by SIF is up to 6 weeks longer than the green biomass changing period proxied by EVI, with SIF showing a start-of-season of approximately 1 month earlier than EVI. On average, the photosynthetic spring recovery as signalled by SIF occurs as soon as air temperatures exceed the freezing point (2-3 °C) and when the snow on the ground has not yet completely melted. These findings are supported by model data of gross primary production and a number of other studies which evaluated in situ observations of CO2 fluxes, meteorology and the physiological state of the needles. Our results demonstrate the sensitivity of space-based SIF measurements to light-use efficiency of boreal forests and their potential for an unbiased detection of photosynthetic activity even under the challenging conditions interposed by evergreen boreal ecosystems.

The propionyl-CoA dehydrogenase (PACD) gene was cloned from Candida rugosa by the cDNA RACE technique. The full cDNA of the PACD gene has a length of 1408 bp, which contains a complete open reading frame (ORF) of 1329 bp, coding for 442 amino acids. The cDNA of PACD was cloned into the expression plasmid pPIC9K and transformed into Pichia pastoris GS115. The recombinant protein was purified by Ni-NTA affinity chromatography, and its size was observed to be approximately 49 kDa as estimated by SDS-PAGE. Anti-His antibodies were used to characterise the recombinant PACD by western-blot analysis. The recombinant protein retained the activity of catalysing propionyl-CoA to acryloyl-CoA. The results of dot-blotting hybridisation using a PACD cDNA probe indicated that the PACD mRNA level was modified at different stages: mRNA levels were low for the first 36 h, then increased through 48 h and eventually reached a stable level. These results indicate that propionate induction could significantly activate PACD mRNA expression. Information from this study will be helpful in elucidating the metabolic pathway for 3-hydroxypropionic acid production in C. rugosa. ((c) 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Computing involving data in a logo-syllabic oriental language like Chinese is more difficult than in English. Many attempts have been made to develop bilingual or multilingual processing systems.1–3 Most of them are based on microcomputers like the IBM-PC. With the widespread use of workstations and window systems, much better multi-lingual processing environments can be provided. This paper describes the design and implementation of the program cxterm, a Chinese terminal emulator for the X Window System. We discuss the representation of multi-byte international characters, the problems of Chinese character input and output, the pros and cons of various approaches, and the design decisions for cxterm. A feature of cxterm is its independence of input methods. A user can incorporate new input methods into cxterm at run-time, without changing the program code. We also compare our approach with related work in multi-lingual input/output in X, and describe how cxterm performs better in terms of efficiency, flexibility, and user-friendliness.