As an important vertebrate model organism, zebrafish are typically studied at the embryonic stage to take advantage of their properties of transparency and rapid development. However, more and more studies require assays to be done on adults. Consequently, a good anesthetic is needed to sedate and immobilize the adult zebrafish during experimental manipulation. To date, MS-222 (tricaine methanesulfonate) is the only Food and Drug Administration approved anesthetic for aquaculture and is widely used by the zebrafish research community. Nevertheless, in adult zebrafish, MS-222 reduces heart rate and causes high mortality under long-term sedation. Consequently, adult zebrafish have limited research applications. In this study, we present a new anesthetic formula for the adult zebrafish that results in minimal side effects on its physiology under prolonged sedation. The combined use of MS-222 with isoflurane effectively extended the time of anesthesia, and the zebrafish recovered faster than when anesthetized with the traditional MS-222. Moreover, MS-222 + isoflurane did not cause reduction of heart rates, which enabled long-term electrocardiogram recording and microscopic observation on the adult zebrafish. Taken together, the new MS-222 + isoflurane formula will facilitate general applications of adult zebrafish in time-consuming experiments with minimal side effects on the model organism's overall physiology.

This communication demonstrates that the SiC coated glassy carbon electrode resolved the overlapping voltammetric responses of ascorbic acid (AA), dopamine (DA), and uric acid (UA), which could be used for selective determination of DA in the presence of AA and UA.

Electrochemical and in situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) measurements of various MnO2-coated carbon materials (MnO2/acid-functionalized carbon nanotubes (C-CNT), MnO2/reduced graphene oxide (RGO), and MnO2/RGO-Au electrodes) were conducted to evaluate the supercapacitive performances and electronic structures. MnO2 was deposited on the surface of C-CNT, RGO, and RGO-Au via a spontaneous redox reaction to facilitate the growth of the bulk form of MnO2/C-CNT and the surface forms of MnO2/RGO-based materials. Various forms of MnO2 on the carbon materials exhibited different charge/discharge behaviors. The specific capacitances of the MnO2/RGO and MnO2/RGO-Au electrodes at a current density of 1 A g(-1) were about 433 and 469 F g(-1), respectively; these values are about 1.5 times that of the MnO2/C-CNT (259 F g(-1)) electrode. Specific capacitances of 220 and 281 F g(-1) with retention rates of about 50-60% were obtained from MnO2/RGO and MnO2/RGO-Au, respectively, even at a high current density of 80 A g(-1). Experimental results revealed that the long-term electrochemical stability of the MnO2/RGO-based electrodes (with ∼90% retention) exceeded that of the MnO2/C-CNT electrode (with ∼60% retention) after 1000 cycles at a high scan rate of 80 A g(-1). This finding indicates that MnO2/RGO-based electrodes feature excellent cycling stability and rate capacity retention performance. To elucidate the atomic/electronic structures of the MnO2/C-CNT, MnO2/RGO, and MnO2/RGO-Au electrodes during the charge/discharge process, in situ XAS of the Mn K-edge was performed. The MnO2/RGO-based electrodes exhibited the least variations in the pre-peak intensity of the Mn K-edge during the charge/discharge process because a nano-network of MnO2 is homogeneously decorated on the outer surfaces of RGO-based electrodes to facilitate the growth of surface forms of MnO2/RGO and MnO2/RGO-Au. Analytical results further revealed suppression of changes in tunnel size and promotion of insertion/extraction behavior. This work, particularly the combination of cyclic voltammetry with in situ XAS measurements, will be of general value in the fields of nanomaterials and nanotechnology, and in their use in energy storage.

The high demand for scarce, clean and sustainable energy poses a challenge for modern societies. Increasing pollution leads to global warming, which can be stopped using current energy technologies and advanced energy materials. Synchrotron technology-based spectroscopy, such as x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) is a useful tool for revealing the atomic and electronic structures of a material. It is becoming widely used for the advanced analysis of various energy materials, such as energy storage, energy conversion, energy generation, and energy saving materials. Scanning transmission x-ray microscopy (STXM) resembles scanning/transmission electron microscopy but performs a chemical microscopy function using x-ray photons, rather than an electron beam. Thus, the uniqueness of STXM is that it features the advantages of both XAS and microscopy, which are elementally sensitivity and spatially selectivity, in nanoscale chemical imaging. Furthermore, in situ STXM is an emerging tool for identifying spatially resolved electronic structural dynamics in various energy materials in their operational environments. This review elucidates the development of in situ cells and advanced energy materials that are used in energy storage (Li x FePO4, Li, NiMnCo and Li1.2 Ni0.5 Co0.1 Mn0.55 O2), energy conversion Fischer–Tropsch synthesis, energy generation (Pt/perfluorosulfonic acid, Pt/Ru and ZnO/Fe2O3) and energy saving (V2O5 and Li2.34 NiZr0.28 O x ), all of which have been examined using in situ STXM/STXM. Future advances in in situ STXM are also considered.