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Cobalt‐based sulfide is an excellent electrode material applied to supercapacitors (SCs) because of its good reversibility and abundant nanoforms. However, the feasibility of its practical application is reduced due to lack of stability and some difference with theoretical capacity. Herein, the hierarchical structures of Co3S4 hollow nanotube arrays wrapped with NiCo‐layered double hydroxide nanosheets (Co3S4@NiCo‐LDHs) are successfully fabricated on the nickel foam (NF) as the nonbinder electrode of SCs. Profiting from the synthetic effect of Co3S4 hollow nanotube arrays with effective diffusion channels, and NiCo‐LDH nanosheets with a stable interconnected network, the prepared Co3S4@NiCo‐LDH/NF composite electrode with a unique hierarchical structure attains an amazing areal capacity (7.45 C cm−2 at 2 mA cm−2) and impressive cycle stability (87.7% through 5000 charge and discharge cycles). In addition, the assembled asymmetric supercapacitor (Co3S4@NiCo‐LDH/NF//AC) shows pleasant energy density (0.661 mWh cm−2 under 1.359 mW cm−2). The capacity of the assembled device can still be retained at 92% after 5000 cycles, which verifies the feasibility of the device in practical application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is the most common subtype of kidney cancers. As cuproptosis, a new cell death mechanism proposed recently, differs from all other known mechanisms regulating cell death, we aimed to create prognostic markers using cuproptosis-related long non-coding ribonucleic acids (RNAs; lncRNAs) and elucidate the molecular mechanism. Methods. Data from transcriptome RNA sequencing of ccRCC samples and the relevant clinical data were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas, and Pearson's correlation analysis was implemented to obtain the cuproptosis-related lncRNAs. Then, univariate Cox, multivariate Cox, and Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator Cox analyses were performed to construct the risk signatures. The cuproptosis-related lncRNAs predictive signature was evaluated with receiver operating characteristic curves and subgroup analysis. Finally, Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA), single-sample GSEA (ssGSEA), tumor immune microenvironment (TIME), and immune checkpoints were performed to explore the relationship between immunity and patient prognosis. Results. Five cuproptosis-related lncRNAs, including FOXD2-AS1, LINC00460, AC091212.1, AC007365.1, and AC026401.3, were used to construct the signature. In the training and test sets, low-risk groups (as identified by a risk score lower than the median) demonstrated a better prognosis with an area under the curve for 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival being 0.793, 0.716, and 0.719, respectively. GSEA analysis suggested significant enrichment of the tricarboxylic acid cycle and metabolism-related pathways in the low-risk group. Besides, both ssGSEA and TIME suggested that the high-risk group exhibited more active immune infiltration. Conclusion. We proposed a cuproptosis-related lncRNAs signature, which had the potential for prognoses and prediction. Our findings might contribute to elucidating potential genomic biomarkers and targets for future therapies in the cuproptosis-related signaling pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The type IV pilus (T4P), a special class of bacterial surface filament, plays crucial roles in surface adhesion, motility, biofilm formation, and virulence in pathogenic bacteria. However, the regulatory mechanism of T4P and its relationship to bacterial virulence are still little understood in Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo), the causal pathogen of bacterial blight of rice. Our previous studies showed that the σ54 factor RpoN2 regulated bacterial virulence on rice in a flagellum‐independent manner in Xoo. In this study, both yeast two‐hybrid and pull‐down assays revealed that RpoN2 directly and specifically interacted with PilRX, a homolog of the response regulator PilR of the two‐component system PilS‐PilR in the pilus gene cluster. Genomic sequence and reverse transcription PCR (RT‐PCR) analysis showed 13 regulons containing 25 genes encoding T4P structural components and putative regulators. A consensus RpoN2‐binding sequence GGN10GC was identified in the promoter sequences of most T4P gene transcriptional units. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays confirmed the direct binding of RpoN2 to the promoter of the major pilin gene pilAX, the inner membrane platform protein gene pilCX, and pilRX. Promoter activity and quantitative RT‐PCR assays demonstrated direct and indirect transcriptional regulation by RpoN2 of the T4P genes. In addition, individual deletions of pilAX, pilCX, and pilRX resulted in significantly reduced twitching and swimming motility, biofilm formation, and virulence in rice. Taken together, the findings from the current study suggest that the RpoN2‐PilRX regulatory system controls bacterial motility and virulence by regulating T4P gene transcription in Xoo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Actively mode‐locked lasers offer varying degrees of flexibility for a wider range of applications than their passively modulated counterparts, due to their capability for electrically controlled ultrahigh repetition rate operation. Graphene based electrooptic modulators with unique advantages of broad operation bandwidth and ultrafast speed are suitable for light modulation in various optoelectronic applications. Here, an actively mode‐locked laser with a graphene based electrooptic modulator is reported for the first time. The active mode‐locking technique combined together with the intracavity nonlinear pulse shortening effect allows the generation of transform‐limited 1.44 ps pulses with pulse energy of 844 pJ. The electrically controlled repetition rate of generated pulses, a key performance advantage of active mode‐locking, is also demonstrated. These results provide a practical and effective approach for actively mode‐locked lasers with broad operation bandwidth and compact footprint, which contributes a new way for applications of two‐dimensional (2D) layered materials in ultrafast lasers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The elastic, electronic, and dielectric properties of layered transition metal dichalcogenides MX2 (M = Zr and Hf; X = S, Se) have been investigated using density functional theory (DFT) with van der Waals correction. The elastic modulus indicate that the structures belong to brittle materials. The band gaps of these materials through Heyd-Scuseria-Ernzerhof hybrid functional are in reasonable agreement with the experimental data. Partial density of state analysis suggests that the metallic atoms play a dominant role in the conduction band and the chalcogenide atoms have the main effect on the valence band. The presence of peaks in the dielectric constant spectra mainly result from the transition between first, second, third valence bands and the first conduction bands and the direction is from Γ to M, M to K, and K to Γ of the high symmetry k-points for bulk and monolayer structures, respectively. What is more, parallel band effect has been observed in monolayer structures, which suggests strong light-matter interactions in these materials. This work promotes the property understanding of these materials and holds potential for the development of optoelectronic devices based on these layered materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

van der Waals (vdW) heterojunctions enable arbitrary combinations of different layered semiconductors with unique band structures, offering distinctive band engineering for photonic and optoelectronic devices with new functionalities and superior performance. Here, an interlayer photoresponse of a few‐layer MoSe2/WSe2 vdW heterojunction is reported. With proper electrical gating and bias, the heterojunction exhibits high‐sensitivity photodetection with the operation wavelength extended up to the telecommunication band (i.e. 1550 nm). The photoresponsivity and normalized photocurrent‐to‐dark current ratio reach up to 127 mA W−1 and 1.9 × 104 mW−1, respectively. The results not only provide a promising solution to realize high‐performance vdW telecommunication band photodetectors, but also pave the way for using sub‐bandgap engineering of two‐dimensional layered materials for photonic and optoelectronic applications. van der Waals heterostructures are demonstrated as building blocks for photonics and optoelectronics. Herein, a sub‐bandgap photodetection at λ = 1550 nm based on a MoSe2/WSe2 heterojunction is demonstrated. The high responsivity as well as high normalized photocurrent‐to‐dark current ratio indicate that the heterojunction device has promising applications in future optoelectronic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]