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The complicated interactions between genetic background, environment and lifestyle factors make it difficult to study the genetic basis of complex phenotypes, such as cognition and anxiety levels, in humans. However, environmental and other factors can be tightly controlled in mouse studies. The Collaborative Cross (CC) is a mouse genetic reference population whose common genetic and phenotypic diversity is on par with that of humans. Therefore, we leveraged the power of the CC to assess 52 behavioral measures associated with locomotor activity, anxiety level, learning and memory. This is the first application of the CC in novel object recognition tests, Morris water maze tasks, and fear conditioning tests. We found substantial continuous behavioral variations across the CC strains tested, and mapped six quantitative trait loci (QTLs) which influenced these traits, defining candidate genetic variants underlying these QTLs. Overall, our findings highlight the potential of the CC population in behavioral genetic research, while the identified genomic loci and genes driving the variation of relevant behavioral traits provide a foundation for further studies.

Sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) and potassium-ion batteries (PIBs) have been considered as attractive alternatives for next-generation battery systems, which have promising application potential due to their earth abundance of potassium and sodium, high capacity and suitable working potential, however, the design and application of bi-functional high-performance anode still remain a great challenge up to date. Bismuth sulfide is suitable as anode owing to its unique laminar structure with relatively large interlayer distance to accommodate larger radius ions, high theoretical capacity and high volumetric capacity etc. In this study, dandelion-like Bi2S3/rGO hierarchical microspheres as anode material for PIBs displayed reversible capacity, and 206.91 mAh·g−1 could be remained after 1,200 cycles at a current density of 100 mA·g−1. When applied as anode materials for SIBs, 300 mAh·g−1 could be retained after 300 cycles at 2 A·g−1 and its initial Coulombic efficiency is as high as 97.43%. Even at high current density of 10 A·g−1, 120.3 mAh·g−1 could be preserved after 3,400 cycles. The Na3V2(PO4)3@rGO//Bi2S3/rGO sodium ion full cells were successfully assembled which displays stable performance after 60 cycles at 100 mA·g−1. The above results demonstrate that Bi2S3/rGO has application potential as high performance bi-functional anode for PIBs and SIBs.

A series of bimetallic nickel cobalt sulfides with hierarchical micro/nano architectures were fabricated via a facile synthesis strategy of bimetallic micro/nano structure precursor construction-anion exchange via solvothermal method. Among the nickel cobalt sulfides with different Ni/Co contents, the coral-like Ni1.01Co1.99S4 (Ni/Co, 1/2) delivers ultrafast and stable Na-ion storage performance (350 mAh·g−1 after 1,000 cycles at 1 A·g−1 and 355 mAh·g−1 at 5 A·g−1). The remarkable electrochemical properties can be attributed to the enhanced conductivity by co-existence of bimetallic components, the unique coral-like micro/nanostructure, which could prevent structural collapse and self-aggregation of nanoparticles, and the easily accessibility of electrolyte, and fast Na+ diffusion upon cycling. Detailed kinetics studies by a galvanostatic intermittent titration technique (GITT) reveal the dynamic change of Na+ diffusion upon cycling, and quantitative kinetic analysis indicates the high contribution of pseudocapacitive behavior during charge-discharge processes. Moreover, the ex-situ characterization analysis results further verify the Na-ion storage mechanism based on conversion reaction. This study is expected to provide a feasible design strategy for the bimetallic sulfides materials toward high performance sodium-ion batteries.

Lithium–sulfur batteries have attracted increasing attention in the field of energy storage due to their advantages of high specific energy and energy density. However, there are still many difficulties in the practical application of lithium–sulfur batteries, such as large volume expansion of sulfur and shuttle effect of polysulfides, which led to rapid capacity attenuation and poor cycling performance. To address these problems, herein, nanosized phosphorus-modified Fe4N supported by nitrogen, phosphorus co-doped graphene nanosheets (P-Fe4N@NPG) has been synthesized by a simple solvothermal method combined with subsequent nitriding and phosphating calcination, and then used as a sulfur host for lithium–sulfur batteries. Benefiting from the high electrical conductivity, multiple composition and unique structure, the obtained P-Fe4N@NPG/S cathode exhibits excellent electrochemical performances: the cathode presents a high initial specific capacity of 1386.1 mA h g−1 at 0.1C, distinct cycling performance (417.4 mA h g−1 at 1C after 1000 cycles) and excellent rate performance with a sulfur loading of 73 wt%. Even if the sulfur loading increases as high as 3.52 and 5.65 mg cm−2, the cathode still displays an excellent rate performance and outstanding areal capacity of 6.03 mA h cm−2, respectively. These results indicate that our design of P-Fe4N@NPG is a great development in the application of sulfur hosts for lithium–sulfur batteries.

Metal phosphides have exhibited great potential in the construction of highly efficient sulfur cathodes, benefiting from their high conductivity and catalytic property, which have been utilized to improve sulfur utilization, inhibit the drain of sulfur species during long-term cycling and facilitate the kinetics of the electrochemical reactions at the sulfur cathode of Li–S batteries. Here, porous polycrystalline NiCo2Px with an olivary morphology and robust structure has been fabricated via a facile derivation method. The NiCo2Px-derived sulfur cathode exhibited superior performance compared with the NiCo2O4 counterpart; besides high rate performance with a capacity of 610 mA h g−1 at 1C under an areal sulfur loading of 4.35 mg cm−2, areal capacity up to 8.54 mA h cm−2 was also achieved with high mass loadings of sulfur (5.79 mg cm−2) and a lean electrolyte (6 μL mg−1). The high conductivity and featured porous structure of NiCo2Px is considered to facilitate the electrochemical and kinetic behavior of the sulfur cathode, and its high catalytic activity was also preliminary established based on analyses of CV, EIS and symmetric batteries measurement. This work provides a new strategy for the fabrication of phosphides of elements in the iron family, broadens the application of metal phosphides in Li–S batteries, and deepens the understanding of the correlation between the morphology/phase structure of metal phosphides and the electrochemical performance of sulfur cathodes.

Transition metal selenides (TMSs) are suitable for SIBs and PIBs owing to their satisfactory theoretical capacity and superior electrical conductivity. However, the large radius of Na+/K+ easily leads to sluggish kinetics and poor conductivity, which hinder the development of SIBs and PIBs. Structure design is an effective method to solve these obstacles. In this study, Co2+ ions combined with glycerol molecules to form self-assembled nanospheres at first, and then they were in situ converted into CoSe2 nanoparticles embedded in a carbon matrix during the selenization process. This structure has three-dimensional ion diffusion channels that can effectively hamper the aggregation of metal compound nanoparticles. Meanwhile, the CoSe2/C of the yolk-shell structure and a large number of pores help alleviate volume expansion and facilitate electrolyte wettability. These structural advantages of CoSe2/C endow it with remarkable electrochemical performances for full/half SIBs and full/half PIBs. The obtained CoSe2/C exhibits superior stability and excellent performance (312.1 mA h g-1 at 4 A g-1 after 1600 cycles) for SIBs. When it is used as an anode material for PIBs, 369.2 mA h g-1 can be retained after 200 cycles at 50 mA g-1 and 248.1 mA h g-1 can be retained after 200 cycles at 500 mA g-1; in addition, CoSe2/C also shows superior rate capacity (186.4 mA h g-1 at 1000 mA g-1). A series of ex situ XRD measurements were adapted to explore the possible conversion mechanism of CoSe2/C as the anode for PIBs. It is worth noting that the full-cell of CoSe2/C//Na3V2(PO4)3@rGO for SIBs and the full-cell of CoSe2/C//PTCDA-450 for PIBs were successfully assembled. The relationship between the structure and performance of CoSe2/C was investigated through density functional theory (DFT).

Developing highly efficient, stable, recyclable, and application value heterogeneous catalysts in advanced oxidation processes has essential application value in the degradation of refractory pollutants. In this paper, the CoNi alloy anchored onto N-doped porous carbon (CoNi-600@NC) catalyst was prepared using bimetallic doped metal-organic frameworks as precursors. The magnetic CoNi-600@NC can activate peroxymonosulfate (PMS) to degrade sulfamethoxazole (SMX). Therefore, SMX can be removed 100% within 25 min. CoNi-600@NC/PMS has a broad pH (3-9) application range, good applicability, and repeatability. Radical quenching, quantitative and electrochemical experiments proved that the degradation of SMX was dominated by free radical (Superoxide anions) and non-free radical pathways (surface-bound radicals). Mechanistic analysis showed that the interaction between Co-N

Most proteins in the secretory pathway are glycosylated. However, the role of glycans in membrane trafficking is still unclear. Here, we discovered that transmembrane secretory cargos, such as interleukin 2 receptor α subunit or Tac, transferrin receptor and cluster of differentiation 8a, unexpectedly displayed substantial Golgi localization when their O-glycosylation was compromised. By quantitatively measuring their Golgi residence times, we found that the observed Golgi localization of O-glycan deficient cargos is due to their slow Golgi export. Using a super-resolution microscopy method that we previously developed, we revealed that O-glycan deficient Tac chimeras localize at the interior of the trans-Golgi cisternae. O-glycans were observed to be both necessary and sufficient for the efficient Golgi export of Tac chimeras. By sequentially introducing O-glycosylation sites to ST6GAL1, we demonstrated that O-glycan’s effect on Golgi export is probably additive. Finally, the finding that N-glycosylated GFP substantially reduces the Golgi residence time of a Tac chimera suggests that N-glycans might have a similar effect. Therefore, both O- and N-glycans might function as a generic Golgi export signal at the trans-Golgi to promote the constitutive exocytic trafficking. Ministry of Education (MOE) This work was supported by the following grants to L.L.: MOE AcRF Tier1 RG35/17, Tier2 MOE2015-T2-2-073 and Tier2 MOE2018-T2-2- 026.

Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) electrogenerated via two-electron oxygen reduction reaction at cathode plays an important role in electrochemical advanced oxidation processes for organic pollutants removal from wastewater. Herein, multi-walled carbon nanotubes and carbon black co-modified graphite felt electrode (MWCNTs-CB/GF) was prepared as an efficient cathode for H2O2 electrogeneration and amoxicillin removal by anodic oxidation with hydrogen peroxide (AO-H2O2) and electro-Fenton (EF) under mild pH condition. Besides, the physicochemical and electrochemical properties of MWCNTs-CB/GF were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, N2 adsorption and desorption experiment, contact angle measurement, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and linear sweep voltammetry. Compared with GF, MWCNTs-CB/GF showed a higher H2O2 generation of 309.0 mg L−1 with a current efficiency of 60.9% (after 120 min) and more effective amoxicillin removal efficiencies of 97.5% (after 120 min) and 98.7% (after 30 min) in AO-H2O2 and EF (with 0.5 mM Fe2+) processes, under the condition of current density 12 mA cm−2 and initial pH 5.5. Meanwhile, the TOC removal efficiency was 45.2% during EF process after 120 min. Anodic oxidation, H2O2 oxidation, and methanol capture indicated that ∙OH generated via electro-activation reaction at MWCNTs-CB/GF and Fenton reaction in solution played the dominant role in amoxicillin removal. Moreover, the TOC removal was associated with ∙OH generated during Fenton reaction in the solution. The major intermediates of AMX degradation by EF process were identified using LC-MS and the possible degradation pathways were proposed containing of β-lactam ring opening, hydroxylation reaction, decarboxylation reaction, methyl groups in the thiazolidine ring oxidation reaction, bond cleavage, and rearrangement processes. All of the above results proved that MWCNTs-CB/GF was an excellent cathode for AMX degradation under mild pH condition.

The hallmark event of the canonical transforming growth factor β (TGFβ) family signaling is the assembly of the Smad-complex, consisting of the common Smad, Smad4, and phos-phorylated receptor-regulated Smads. How the Smad-complex is assembled and regulated is still unclear. Here, we report that active Arl15, an Arf-like small G protein, specifically binds to the MH2 domain of Smad4 and colocalizes with Smad4 at the endolysosome. The binding relieves the auto-inhibition of Smad4, which is imposed by the intramolecular interaction between its MH1 and MH2 domains. Activated Smad4 subsequently interacts with phosphorylated receptor-regulated Smads, forming the Smad-complex. Our observations suggest that Smad4 functions as an effector and a GTPase activating protein (GAP) of Arl15. Assembly of the Smad-complex enhances the GAP activity of Smad4 toward Arl15, therefore dissociating Arl15 before the nuclear translocation of the Smad-complex. Our data further demonstrate that Arl15 positively regulates the TGFβ family signaling. Ministry of Education (MOE) Published version This work was supported by the following grants: MOE AcRF Tier1 RG35/17, Tier2 MOE2015-T2-2-073, and MOE2018-T2-2-026.

SARS-CoV-2 has been reported to show a capacity for invading the brains of humans and model animals. However, it remains unclear whether and how SARS-CoV-2 crosses the blood–brain barrier (BBB). Herein, SARS-CoV-2 RNA was occasionally detected in the vascular wall and perivascular space, as well as in brain microvascular endothelial cells (BMECs) in the infected K18-hACE2 transgenic mice. Moreover, the permeability of the infected vessel was increased. Furthermore, disintegrity of BBB was discovered in the infected hamsters by administration of Evans blue. Interestingly, the expression of claudin5, ZO-1, occludin and the ultrastructure of tight junctions (TJs) showed unchanged, whereas, the basement membrane was disrupted in the infected animals. Using an in vitro BBB model that comprises primary BMECs with astrocytes, SARS-CoV-2 was found to infect and cross through the BMECs. Consistent with in vivo experiments, the expression of MMP9 was increased and collagen IV was decreased while the markers for TJs were not altered in the SARS-CoV-2-infected BMECs. Besides, inflammatory responses including vasculitis, glial activation, and upregulated inflammatory factors occurred after SARS-CoV-2 infection. Overall, our results provide evidence supporting that SARS-CoV-2 can cross the BBB in a transcellular pathway accompanied with basement membrane disrupted without obvious alteration of TJs.

BackgroundThe laboratory mouse was domesticated from the wild house mouse. Understanding the genetics underlying domestication in laboratory mice, especially in the widely used classical inbred mice, is vital for studies using mouse models. However, the genetic mechanism of laboratory mouse domestication remains unknown due to lack of adequate genomic sequences of wild mice.ResultsWe analyze the genetic relationships by whole-genome resequencing of 36 wild mice and 36 inbred strains. All classical inbred mice cluster together distinctly from wild and wild-derived inbred mice. Using nucleotide diversity analysis, Fst, and XP-CLR, we identify 339 positively selected genes that are closely associated with nervous system function. Approximately one third of these positively selected genes are highly expressed in brain tissues, and genetic mouse models of 125 genes in the positively selected genes exhibit abnormal behavioral or nervous system phenotypes. These positively selected genes show a higher ratio of differential expression between wild and classical inbred mice compared with all genes, especially in the hippocampus and frontal lobe. Using a mutant mouse model, we find that the SNP rs27900929 (T>C) in geneAstn2significantly reduces the tameness of mice and modifies the ratio of the twoAstn2 (a/b)isoforms.ConclusionOur study indicates that classical inbred mice experienced high selection pressure during domestication under laboratory conditions. The analysis shows the positively selected genes are closely associated with behavior and the nervous system in mice. Tameness may be related to theAstn2mutation and regulated by the ratio of the twoAstn2 (a/b)isoforms.

In this work, the thermotropic liquid crystals (LCs) composed of a biological molecule, guanosine 5′-monophosphate disodium salt (GMP), with different cationic surfactants were reported. When GMP interacted with the surfactants, the length of the surfactant alkyl chains was found to be of great importance in modulating the LC phase. The smectic A (SmA) phase and columnar rectangular (Colr) phase were formed upon increasing the length of the aliphatic chains due to the enlargement of the steric hindrance. Interestingly, K+ ions were observed to cause the phase transition of LCs from the SmA or Colr mesophase to a columnar hexagonal (Colh) mesophase in the GMP-surfactant complexes, which was attributed to the formation of G-quadruplexes. Accordingly, the chirality and fluorescence properties of the complexes also exhibited K+-responsive characters as the phase transition of the LCs emerged. Compared with the reported LCs containing guanosine groups, the thermotropic LCs with high elasticity and tunable mesophase structures in this study are easy to be prepared and are hopeful to provide potential applications for constructing stimuli-responsive luminescent materials, biocatalysis and biosensor devices.

This study presents a comparative investigation of supporting electrolyte effect on the surface corrosion and anodic oxidation performance of graphite electrode. The effect of electrolyte on the electrochemical behavior is investigated in solution containing 0.05 mol L−1 sodium salt, using current-overpotential curves and Tafel lines. The surface morphology and composition of the graphite anodes before and after electrolysis are characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and Raman spectra. In aqueous solution, graphite anode is positive polarized, functionalizes the surface, and releases soluble organics. The light-absorbing corrosion products of graphite anode are recorded by a UV-Vis spectrophotometer in the ultraviolet wavelength range. Batch experiments on atrazine oxidation show that NaCl is more efficient than Na2SO4 and NaNO3 to promote the combustion of organics due to the mediated oxidation of the electrogenerated active chlorine species. The oxidation process is confirmed to employ a non-radical mechanism in which the organics are degraded at the active sites of graphite anode.

Photocatalysis has been proved a promising technology to alleviate the deterioration of environments by utilizing light energy. High efficiency and cycling stability are important for pollutant degradation in practical wastewater treatment. Herein we prepared C/titania@reduced graphene oxide nanofibers (C/TiO2@RGO NFs) by electrospun polyacrylonitrile/titania nanofibers (PAN/TiO2 NFs) wrapped with graphene oxide (GO)assisted with polydopamine, followed by one-step GO reduction, TiO2 crystallization and interface enhancing between anatase TiO2 and graphene by forming chemical bonding via heat treatment. The as-prepared C/TiO2@RGO NFs exhibited four times photocatalytic efficiency higher than commercial catalyst P25, and they also exhibited favorable cycling stability for methylene blue degradation under visible light illumination. The high photocatalytic efficiency is mainly attributed to the efficient charge separation and broadening visible light absorption originating from the interface enhancing between TiO2 and RGO. This work provides an insight to design more efficient graphene-based semiconductor photocatalysts for pollutant decomposition.

Economical and highly performed anode material is the critical factor affecting the efficiency of anodic oxidation toward organics. In this work, the graphite felt, a common carbonaceous electrode material, is etched by cobalt oxide to fabricated Co3O4/graphite composite anode to eliminate diuron in aqueous solution. The surface morphology, composition and structure of the Co3O4/graphite composite anode are characterized by scanning electron microscope, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. Low-current degradation of diuron is achieved in an anodic oxidation process using Co3O4/graphite composite anode. The influence of the applied current density, initial pH value and initial concentration of diuron on the oxidation efficiency are investigated and optimized. The prepared Co3O4/graphite composite anode exhibited excellent activity for oxidation of 20 mg L−1 diuron, obtaining 100% removal efficiency within 14 min under the condition of applied current density 3 mA cm−2 and initial pH 2.0. The process is confirmed to possess a non-radical mechanism in which the diuron is oxidized at the catalytic sites of composite anode under the synergy effect of Co3O4/graphite composite and anodic current. The accelerated service life test proved good electrochemical stability of the prepared Co3O4/GF composite electrode. The low energy demand and use of cheap graphite substrate endow the anodic process based on Co3O4/graphite composite anode in this work with great application prospect to effective removal of diuron.

Hydrogels based on G-quadruplexes (G-hydrogels) were prepared using guanosine 5′-monophosphate disodium salt, GMP, with a hyperbranched poly(ethylenimine), PEI, containing abundant –NH2 groups. The cation–dipolar interaction between Na+ ions and GMP-quartets and the hydrogen bonding between the phosphate groups of GMP and the –NH2 groups of PEI gave rise to the hydrogels at an appropriate pH range of 1.7–4.3. X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements and fluorescence enhancement of Thioflavin T (ThT) indicated the formation of the G-quadruplexes. The G-hydrogel showed high adsorption capacity for the contaminant, picric acid (PA), in water, ascribed to its plentiful –NH2 groups in the network structures.

Transition metal selenides (TMSs) are suitable for SIBs and PIBs owing to their satisfactory theoretical capacity and superior electrical conductivity. However, the large radius of Na+/K+ easily leads to sluggish kinetics and poor conductivity, which hinder the development of SIBs and PIBs. Structure design is an effective method to solve these obstacles. In this study, Co2+ ions combined with glycerol molecules to form self-assembled nanospheres at first, and then they were in situ converted into CoSe2 nanoparticles embedded in a carbon matrix during the selenization process. This structure has three-dimensional ion diffusion channels that can effectively hamper the aggregation of metal compound nanoparticles. Meanwhile, the CoSe2/C of the yolk-shell structure and a large number of pores help alleviate volume expansion and facilitate electrolyte wettability. These structural advantages of CoSe2/C endow it with remarkable electrochemical performances for full/half SIBs and full/half PIBs. The obtained CoSe2/C exhibits superior stability and excellent performance (312.1 mA h g-1 at 4 A g-1 after 1600 cycles) for SIBs. When it is used as an anode material for PIBs, 369.2 mA h g-1 can be retained after 200 cycles at 50 mA g-1 and 248.1 mA h g-1 can be retained after 200 cycles at 500 mA g-1; in addition, CoSe2/C also shows superior rate capacity (186.4 mA h g-1 at 1000 mA g-1). A series of ex situ XRD measurements were adapted to explore the possible conversion mechanism of CoSe2/C as the anode for PIBs. It is worth noting that the full-cell of CoSe2/C//Na3V2(PO4)3@rGO for SIBs and the full-cell of CoSe2/C//PTCDA-450 for PIBs were successfully assembled. The relationship between the structure and performance of CoSe2/C was investigated through density functional theory (DFT).

In this paper, nanoscale Cu

Emulsions and foams were constructed by using surfactant particles as stabilizers. Bis(2-ethylhexyl) phosphate, abbreviated as HDEHP, was used as both an oil in neutral form and an anionic surfactant in deprotonated form, DEHP-. In the system of HDEHP/H2O, upon adding NaOH, a portion of HDEHP was deprotonated to form DEHP- as stabilizers of O/W emulsions. After introducing some certain metal ions, the O/W emulsions were transformed to W/O Pickering emulsions due to the generation of insoluble particles by DEHP- and metal ions. In addition, DEHP- could also combine with some metal ions to produce particles absorbed at air/water interface, forming ultrastable foams. Accompanied with the formation of Pickering emulsions and foams, the extraction of metal ions from water could be realized with high removal efficiency. The extractant, HDEHP, could be effectively recycled through convenient demulsification of Pickering emulsions or destruction of foams. This work provides new ideas for the construction of particle-stabilized dispersion systems and proposes methods with potential applications in industrial wastewater treatments.

How Golgi glycosyltransferases and glycosidases (hereafter glycosyltransferases) localize to the Golgi is still unclear. Here, we first investigated the post-Golgi trafficking of glycosyltransferases. We found that glycosyltransferases can escape the Golgi to the plasma membrane, where they are subsequently endocytosed to the endolysosome. Post-Golgi glycosyltransferases are probably degraded by the ecto-domain shedding. We discovered that most glycosyltransferases are not retrieved from post-Golgi sites, indicating that retention but not retrieval should be the main mechanism for their Golgi localization. We proposed to use the Golgi residence time to study the Golgi retention of glycosyltransferases quantitatively and systematically. Various chimeras between ST6GAL1 and either transferrin receptor or tumor necrosis factor α quantitatively revealed the contributions of three regions of ST6GAL1, namely the N-terminal cytosolic tail, transmembrane domain and ecto-domain, to the Golgi retention. We found that each of the three regions is sufficient to produce a retention in an additive manner. The N-terminal cytosolic tail length negatively affects the Golgi retention of ST6GAL1, similar to what is known of the transmembrane domain. Therefore, long N-terminal cytosolic tail and transmembrane domain can be a Golgi export signal for transmembrane secretory cargos.

How Golgi glycosyltransferases and glycosidases (hereafter glycosyltransferases) localize to the Golgi is still unclear. Here, we first investigated the post-Golgi trafficking of glycosyltransferases. We found that glycosyltransferases can escape the Golgi to the plasma membrane, where they are subsequently endocytosed to the endolysosome. Post-Golgi glycosyltransferases are probably degraded by ectodomain shedding. We discovered that most glycosyltransferases are not retrieved from post-Golgi sites, indicating that retention rather than retrieval is the primary mechanism for their Golgi localization. We therefore used the Golgi residence time to study Golgi retention of glycosyltransferases quantitatively and systematically. Quantitative analysis of chimeras of ST6GAL1 and either transferrin receptor or tumor necrosis factor α revealed the contributions of three regions of ST6GAL1, namely the N-terminal cytosolic tail, the transmembrane domain and the ectodomain, to Golgi retention. We found that each of the three regions is sufficient for Golgi retention in an additive manner. N-terminal cytosolic tail length negatively affects the Golgi retention of ST6GAL1, similar to effects observed for the transmembrane domain. Therefore, the long N-terminal cytosolic tail and transmembrane domain could act as Golgi export signals for transmembrane secretory cargos. This article has an associated First Person interview with the first author of the paper. Ministry of Education (MOE) Published version This work was supported by grants from the Ministry of Education - Singapore (MOE AcRF Tier1 RG35/17, Tier2 MOE2015-T2-2-073 and Tier2 MOE2018-T2-2- 026 to L.L.).

Early-life neglect in critical developmental periods has been associated with emotional and cognitive consequences. Maternal separation (MS) has been commonly used as a rodent model to identify the developmental effects of child neglect. However, reports have shown considerable variability in behavioral results from MS studies in both mice and rats. Difficulties in developing reliable child neglect models have impeded advances in identifying the effects of early-life stress. Accumulating evidence shows that neuronal intrinsic excitability plays an important role in information processing and storage in the brain. The prefrontal cortex (PFC) integrates information from many cortical and subcortical structures. No studies to date have examined the impact of early-life stress on glutamatergic neuronal excitability in the PFC. This study aimed to develop a reliable child neglect rat model and observe glutamatergic neuronal excitability in the PFC. An MS with early weaning (MSEW) rat model was developed. Rats were separated from the dam for 4 h per day on postnatal days (PNDs) 2–5 and for 8 h per day on PNDs 6–16 and then weaned on PND 17. A battery of behavioral tests was used to assess anxiety-like behavior, coping behavior, working memory, spatial reference memory, and fear memory. The action potentials (APs) of glutamatergic neuronal membranes were recorded. MSEW resulted in anxiety-like behavior, a passive coping strategy and increased fear memory in male rats and decreased locomotor activity in both sexes. MSEW slightly impaired working memory during non-stressful situations in female rats but did not change spatial reference memory or associative learning under stressful circumstances in either sex. MSEW reduced the number of glutamatergic neuron APs in male rats. Our findings showed that MS with early weaning induced anxiety-like behavior in male rats. The reduced glutamatergic neuronal excitability may be associated with the emotional alteration induced by MSEW in male rats. In addition, MSEW induced adaptive modification, which depended on a non-stressful context.

The effective degradation of Sulfamethoxazole (SMX) is of great importance to alleviate environmental pollution. In this study, the degradation capacity of an ordinary sequencing batch activated sludge system (SBR) and montmorillonite (MMT) system was compared for their ability to degrade different concentrations of SMX. Compared with SBR system, the MMT system exhibited higher stability and degradation capacity. The changes in the composition of tightly bound extracellular polymeric substances (TB-EPS) were likely key to the observed stability of the system. High concentrations of SMX inhibited the degradation performance of SBR. MMT-supplemented reduced the generation of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). Thauera is a gene that is able to degrade SMX, and its abundance in MMT system reached 7.84%. As potential hosts of ARGs, the proportions of Paenarthrobacter and Caldilineacea were significantly correlated with sulfonamide resistance genes (sul1 and sul2). Overall, MMT-supplemented system was found to be a favorable method of treating antibiotic.

The synergistic activation of persulfate (PS) by electrochemical oxidation (EO) and transition metals has gradually attracted attention as an emerging wastewater method. In this work, a Co-Fe oxide modified graphite felt composite cathode (FeO-CoFeO/GF) was prepared by in-situ solvothermal growth and calcination for PS activation to degrade atrazine (ATZ). The surface morphology, phase composition, microstructure, specific surface area, element valence, and electrochemical properties of the materials were characterized. The EO/FeO-CoFeO/GF + PS system achieved 100% ATZ removal within 35 min and PS was effectively activated by the electrically enhanced FeO-CoFeO/GF compared with other control experiments. The FeO-CoFeO/GF composite cathode exhibited superior catalytic activity in a wide pH range (3–9) and demonstrated good stability in six consecutive cycles. Reactive oxide species were identified by radical quenching tests and electron paramagnetic resonance. Electrochemical oxidation, radical oxidation and non-radical oxidation jointly participate in attacking ATZ. A catalytic mechanism for this synergistic system was proposed to explain PS activation and subsequent ATZ degradation. Furthermore, potential ATZ degradation pathways were proposed. Toxicity changes were evaluated using the Ecological Structure Activity Relationships and Escherichia coli growth inhibition tests. This work provides a feasible strategy for synergistically strengthening PS activation and promoting the degradation of persistent organic pollutants.

ZnSe is regarded as a promising anode material for energy storage due to its high theoretical capacity and environment friendliness. Nevertheless, it is still a significant challenge to obtain superior electrode materials with stable performance owing to the serious volume change and aggregation upon cycling. Herein, a willow-leaf-like nitrogen-doped carbon-coated ZnSe (ZnSe@NC) composite synthesized through facile solvothermal and subsequent selenization process is beneficial to expose more active sites and facilitate the fast electron/ion transmission. These merits significantly enhance the electrochemical performances of ZnSe@NC for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) and potassium-ion batteries (PIBs). The obtained ZnSe@NC exhibits outstanding rate performance (440.3 mAh g-1 at 0.1 A g-1 and 144.4 mAh g-1 at 10 A g-1 ) and ultralong cycle stability (242.2 mAh g-1 at 8.0 A g-1 even after 3200 cycles) for SIBs. It is noted that 106.5 mAh g-1 can be retained after 550 cycles and 71.4 mAh g-1 is still remained after 1500 cycles at 200 mA g-1 when applied as anode for PIBs, indicating good cycle stability of the electrode. The possible electrochemical mechanism and the ionic diffusion kinetics of the ZnSe@NC are investigated using ex situ X-ray diffraction, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, and a series of electrochemical analyses.

Bifunctional electrodes have attracted significant research interest in the field of heterogeneous electro-Fenton (hetero-EF) process for efficient treatment of antibiotic-containing wastewater. In this study, etched graphite felt (EGF) was used as the matrix material because of its excellent electrochemical properties, rich pore structure, and large specific surface area. The transition metals Cu and Fe were in situ grown on the EGF electrode surface without polymer binder by a one-step hydrothermal method. The obtained electrode consisting of Cu-doped Fe2O3 nanoparticles/EGF (Cu-Fe2O3/EGF) was used in the hetero-EF process for in situ electro-generation and activation of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) for efficient degradation of sulfamethoxazole (SMX). The Cu-Fe2O3/EGF electrode demonstrated a wide pH application range of 3.0–9.0. According to electron spin resonance and free-radical quenching experiments, hydroxyl radical and superoxide anion were the dominant species in the hetero-EF process, while the hydroxyl radical played a major role in the degradation of SMX. In consecutive runs, the electrode exhibited low metal ion leaching and excellent stability. Furthermore, the possible mechanism for the production and activation of H2O2 as well as possible SMX degradation pathways were proposed. The toxicity of SMX samples during degradation exhibited a decreasing trend according to the results of toxicological simulation and Escherichia coli growth test. This study provides a new strategy for the construction of an efficient and stable bifunctional cathode for the advanced treatment of antibiotic-containing wastewater.

The phase transition of AgInS2 at high pressure has been predicted by means of a newly developed particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm for crystal structure prediction. When the pressure exceeds 12.5 GPa, a new phase which belongs to the cubic Fd-3m was found. In the whole Brillouin, no imaginary phonon frequencies zone indicates the phase is dynamically stable at zero pressure. Our calculations with the HSE06 functional yield a narrower band gap (1.2eV) for the high pressure structure than that for the ambient pressure structure. The calculations of optical properties predicate a red shift of the optical spectrum from Fd-3m to I-42d structure of AgInS2 compound.

Two stable Two-dimensional (2D) material with a hexagonal honeycomb structure, i.e., the Mg3X2 (X = C, Si) monolayer have been predicted using a newly developed particle swarm optimization algorithm based on first-principles calculations. We found that the Mg3X2 exhibit a Dirac feature which arises from the pz orbitals of Mg and X atoms under the nonmagnetic (NM) state. The Dirac cone are not affected by stress strains along both the x and y directions. After considering the magnetic configuration, the ground state of Mg3X2 is antiferromagnetic (AFM) state. This magnetic configuration breaks the Dirac feature and causes a sizeable band gap in Mg3X2 monolayer. The newly predicted Mg3X2 is both mechanically and dynamically stable, implying its experimentally synthetic feasibility. The results are beneficial to this new 2D material in applications and providing a feasible strategy for 2D materials design.

The amphiphilic derivatives of l -histidine with different alkyl chains, NIPCA, UIPCA, and TIPCA, have been designed and their self-assembly behaviors with citric acid were investigated. All l -histidine derivatives can form hydrogels with citric acid, and exhibit the increasing gelation ability and mechanical strength with the increasing chain length. The gelation ability is considered to be affected by the synergistic effect of electrostatic interaction, hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interaction. The hydrogels exhibit excellent releasing selectivity for charged dyes in aqueous solution, enlightening people to utilize this kind of hydrogels as intelligent carriers to separate the mixtures of charged dyes.

One-dimensional uniform zinc antimonide (ZnSb) nanorods were successfully synthesized via a facile solvothermal method using ethylenediamine (en) as a “shape modifier” for the controlled synthesis of nanorods. These ZnSb nanorods show hexagonal phase and good crystallinity in nature. Also, they exhibited the average size of lengths and diameters for 1.4 µm × 170 nm. Based on the crystal structures and morphologies evolution of ZnSb nanorods, the formation mechanism of ZnSb nanorods has been proposed to be that the nanosized clusters nucleated first and then to the orientation growth depending on en molecular template, namely, a solvent coordinating molecular template mechanism. The electrochemical properties of the ZnSb nanorods are investigated as anodes for lithium-ion battery, which exhibit high reversible lithium storage capacity (478.5 mAh g−1 after 200 cycles) and superior electronic conductivity.