Bifunctional bimetallic oxide nanowires for high-efficiency electrosynthesis of 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid and ammonia.

It is an appealing avenue for electrosyntheis of high-valued chemicals at both anode and cathode by coupling 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) oxidation and nitrate reduction reactions simultaneously, while the development such bifunctional electrocatalysts is still in its infancy with dissatisfied selectivity and low yield rate. Here, we first report that Zn-doped Co3O4 nanowires array can be served as an efficient and robust dual-functional catalyst for HMF oxidation and nitrate reduction at ambient conditions. Specifically, the catalyst shows a faradaic efficiency of 91 % and a yield rate of 241.2 µmol h-1 cm-2 for 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid formation together with a high conversion of nearly 100 % at a potential of 1.40 V. It also displays good cycling stability. Besides, the catalyst is capable of catalyzing the reduction of nitrate to NH3, giving a maximal faradaic efficiency of 92 % and a peak NH3 yield rate of 4.65 mg h-1 cm-2 at a potential of -0.70 V. These results surpass those obtained using pristine Co3O4 and are comparable to those of state-of-the-art electrocatalysts. Moreover, the catalyst is further employed as the cathode catalyst to assemble a Zn-nitrate battery, giving a peak power density of 5.24 mW cm-2 and a high yield rate of 0.72 mg h-1 cm-2. Theoretical simulations further reveal that Zn-doping favors the adsorption and dissociation of nitrate and HMF species and reduces the energy barrier as well. Our work demonstrates the potential interest of Co3O4-based materials for the highly selective production of valuable feedstocks via ambient electrolysis.

Waste to wealth: atomically dispersed cobalt-nitrogen-carbon from spent LiCoO2.

Atomic cobalt-nitrogen-carbon (Co-NC) material was synthesized using spent LiCoO2, and contained a heavy Co-N4 loading (1.42 at%). The synthesized Co-NC exhibited high oxygen reduction reaction activity (with onset and half-wave potentials of 0.97 V and 0.87 V, respectively) and robust Al-air battery performance, delivering a specific power of 121.3 mW cm-2.

Integrated analysis of expression profiles with meat quality traits in cattle.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play a vital role in improving meat quality by binding to messenger RNAs (mRNAs). We performed an integrated analysis of miRNA and mRNA expression profiling between bulls and steers based on the differences in meat quality traits. Fat and fatty acids are the major phenotypic indices of meat quality traits to estimate between-group variance. In the present study, 90 differentially expressed mRNAs (DEGs) and 18 differentially expressed miRNAs (DEMs) were identified. Eighty-three potential DEG targets and 18 DEMs were used to structure a negative interaction network, and 75 matching target genes were shown in this network. Twenty-six target genes were designated as intersection genes, screened from 18 DEMs, and overlapped with the DEGs. Seventeen of these genes enriched to 19 terms involved in lipid metabolism. Subsequently, 13 DEGs and nine DEMs were validated using quantitative real-time PCR, and seven critical genes were selected to explore the influence of fat and fatty acids through hub genes and predict functional association. A dual-luciferase reporter and Western blot assays confirmed a predicted miRNA target (bta-miR-409a and PLIN5). These findings provide substantial evidence for molecular genetic controls and interaction among genes in cattle.

Strongly coupled Fe-doped NiS2/MoS2 composite for high-efficiency water splitting.

We developed a simple method to fabricate a strongly coupled Fe-doped NiS2/MoS2 composite by introducing dual confinement effects during the vapor vulcanization of precursors, which involves the controlled release of metal species and the in situ formation of an N-doped carbon layer. The Fe-doped NiS2/MoS2 composite exhibited a much-enhanced hydrogen/oxygen evolution reaction performance.

Mycoplasma suis Alpha-Enolase Subunit Vaccine Induces an Immune Response in Experimental Animals.

Recombinant protein technology has emerged as an excellent option for vaccine development. However, prior to our study, the immune induction ability of recombinant Mycoplasma suis alpha-enolase (rMseno) in animals remained unclear. The purpose of this study was to develop a rMseno protein subunit vaccine and to determine its ability to elicit an immunological response. To accomplish this, we cloned the gene into pET-15b, expressed it in BL21 cells, and purified it. Following the establishment of immunity, the immunogenicity and potential for protection of rMseno were evaluated in mice and piglets. The results demonstrate that anti-M. suis serum recognized the pure rMseno protein in both mice and piglets as evidenced by high levels of specific anti-rMseno antibodies, significantly increased levels of IFN-γ and IL-4 cytokines, and significantly increased T lymphocyte proliferation index. Piglets also had significantly increased levels of specific IgG1, IgG2a, CD4+, and CD8+ cells. The rMseno findings demonstrated a robust immunological response in mice and piglets, affording partial clinical protective efficacy in piglets.

Intracellular transglutaminase-catalyzed polymerization and assembly for bioimaging of hypoxic neuroblastoma cells.

Hypoxia is an indicative feature of human neuroblastoma solid tumor. Bioimaging of hypoxic neuroblastoma cells will be beneficial for tracing and locating the tumor in vivo. In this work, we developed a hypoxic neuroblastoma cell imaging probe based on the mechanism of transglutaminase 2 (TG2)-catalyzed polymerization of fluorescence molecule-labeled peptide monomers and intracellular self-assembly of polymerized elastin-like polypeptides (ELPs) specifically for hypoxic neuroblastoma cells. The key influencing parameters, namely thermosensitivity, molecular weight, and upper critical solution temperature, for TG2-catalyzed polymerization into ELPs are discussed. More than 25 repeat units of ELPs were obtained by optimized TG2-catalyzed polymerization. The intracellular polymerization and assembly generated the assembly/aggregation-induced retention effect specifically in TG2-overexpressed cells (e.g., HeLa) with retention efficiencies over 55% up to 24 h. Based on the up-regulation of TG2 expression under hypoxic conditions, our probe can selectively light hypoxic neuroblastoma cells rather than normoxic cells. Our strategy offers useful imaging probes to further study the mechanism of invasion and metastasis of hypoxic brain tumor in vivo with cell tracing and imaging functions.

Time-Resolved In†Situ X-ray Diffraction Reveals Metal-Dependent Metal-Organic Framework Formation.

Versatility in metal substitution is one of the key aspects of metal-organic framework (MOF) chemistry, allowing properties to be tuned in a rational way. As a result, it important to understand why MOF syntheses involving different metals arrive at or fail to produce the same topological outcome. Frequently, conditions are tuned by trial-and-error to make MOFs with different metal species. We ask: is it possible to adjust synthetic conditions in a systematic way in order to design routes to desired phases? We have used in situ X-ray powder diffraction to study the solvothermal formation of isostructural M2 (bdc)2 dabco (M=Zn, Co, Ni) pillared-paddlewheel MOFs in real time. The metal ion strongly influences both kinetics and intermediates observed, leading in some cases to multiphase reaction profiles of unprecedented complexity. The standard models used for MOF crystallization break down in these cases; we show that a simple kinetic model describes the data and provides important chemical insights on phase selection.