The first GaS nanosheet-based photodetectors are demonstrated on both mechanically rigid and flexible substrates. Highly crystalline, exfoliated GaS nanosheets are promising for optoelectronics due to strong absorption in the UV-visible wavelength region. Photocurrent measurements of GaS nanosheet photodetectors made on SiO2/Si substrates and flexible polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrates exhibit a photoresponsivity at 254 nm up to 4.2 AW(-1) and 19.2 AW(-1), respectively, which exceeds that of graphene, MoS2, or other 2D material-based devices. Additionally, the linear dynamic range of the devices on SiO2/Si and PET substrates are 97.7 dB and 78.73 dB, respectively. Both surpass that of currently exploited InGaAs photodetectors (66 dB). Theoretical modeling of the electronic structures indicates that the reduction of the effective mass at the valence band maximum (VBM) with decreasing sheet thickness enhances the carrier mobility of the GaS nanosheets, contributing to the high photocurrents. Double-peak VBMs are theoretically predicted for ultrathin GaS nanosheets (thickness less than five monolayers), which is found to promote photon absorption. These theoretical and experimental results show that GaS nanosheets are promising materials for high-performance photodetectors on both conventional silicon and flexible substrates.

Increasing numbers of proteins, nucleic acids and other molecular entities have been explored as therapeutic targets, hundreds of which are targets of approved and clinical trial drugs. Knowledge of these targets and corresponding drugs, particularly those in clinical uses and trials, is highly useful for facilitating drug discovery. Therapeutic Target Database (TTD) has been developed to provide information about therapeutic targets and corresponding drugs. In order to accommodate increasing demand for comprehensive knowledge about the primary targets of the approved, clinical trial and experimental drugs, numerous improvements and updates have been made to TTD. These updates include information about 348 successful, 292 clinical trial and 1254 research targets, 1514 approved, 1212 clinical trial and 2302 experimental drugs linked to their primary targets (3382 small molecule and 649 antisense drugs with available structure and sequence), new ways to access data by drug mode of action, recursive search of related targets or drugs, similarity target and drug searching, customized and whole data download, standardized target ID, and significant increase of data (1894 targets, 560 diseases and 5028 drugs compared with the 433 targets, 125 diseases and 809 drugs in the original release described in previous paper). This database can be accessed at http://bidd.nus.edu.sg/group/cjttd/TTD.asp.

The basic leucine zipper (bZIP) transcription factor HY5 plays a multifaceted role in plant growth and development. Here the apple MdHY5 gene was cloned based on its homology with Arabidopsis HY5. Expression analysis demonstrated that MdHY5 transcription was induced by light and abscisic acid treatments. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays and transient expression assays subsequently showed that MdHY5 positively regulated both its own transcription and that of MdMYB10 by binding to E-box and G-box motifs, respectively. Furthermore, we obtained transgenic apple calli that overexpressed the MdHY5 gene, and apple calli coloration assays showed that MdHY5 promoted anthocyanin accumulation by regulating expression of the MdMYB10 gene and downstream anthocyanin biosynthesis genes. In addition, the transcript levels of a series of nitrate reductase genes and nitrate uptake genes in both wild-type and transgenic apple calli were detected. In association with increased nitrate reductase activities and nitrate contents, the results indicated that MdHY5 might be an important regulator in nutrient assimilation. Taken together, these results indicate that MdHY5 plays a vital role in anthocyanin accumulation and nitrate assimilation in apple.

DNA N6-methyldeoxyadenosine (6mA) is a well-known prokaryotic DNA modification that has been shown to exist and play epigenetic roles in eukaryotic DNA. Here we report that 6mA accumulates up to ∼0.1–0.2% of total deoxyadenosine during early embryogenesis of vertebrates, but diminishes to the background level with the progression of the embryo development. During this process a large fraction of 6mAs locate in repetitive regions of the genome.

Extensive efforts have been devoted to construct a fiber-shaped energystorage device to fulfill the increasing demand for power consumption of textile-based wearable electronics. Despite the myriad of available material selections and device architectures, it is still fundamentally challenging to develop eco-friendly fiber-shaped aqueous rechargeable batteries (FARBs) on a single-fiber architecture with high energy density and long-term stability. Here, we demonstrate flexible and high-voltage coaxialfiber aqueous rechargeable zinc-ion batteries (CARZIBs). By utilizing a novel spherical zinc hexacyanoferrate with prominent electrochemical performance as cathode material, the assembled CARZIB offers a large capacity of 100.2 mAh cm −3 and a high energy density of 195.39 mWh cm −3 , outperforming the state-of-the-art FARBs. Moreover, the resulting CARZIB delivers outstanding flexibility with the capacity retention of 93.2% after bending 3000 times. Last, high operating voltage and output current are achieved by the serial and parallel connection of CARZIBs woven into the flexible textile to power high-energy-consuming devices. Thus, this work provides proof-of-concept design for next-generation wearable energy-storage devices.

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The emergence of fiber-shaped supercapacitors (FSSs) has led to a revolution in portable and wearable electronic devices. However, obtaining high energy density FSSs for practical applications is still a key challenge. This article exhibits a facile and effective approach to directly grow well-aligned three-dimensional vanadium nitride (VN) nanowire arrays (NWAs) on carbon nanotube (CNT) fiber with an ultrahigh specific capacitance of 715 mF/cm in a three-electrode system. Benefiting from their intriguing structural features, we successfully fabricated a prototype asymmetric coaxial FSS (ACFSS) with a maximum operating voltage of 1.8 V. From core to shell, this ACFSS consists of a CNT fiber core coated with VN@C NWAs as the negative electrode, NaSO poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) as the solid electrolyte, and MnO/conducting polymer/CNT sheets as the positive electrode. The novel coaxial architecture not only fully enables utilization of the effective surface area and decreases the contact resistance between the two electrodes but also, more importantly, provides a short pathway for the ultrafast transport of axial electrons and ions. The electrochemical results show that the optimized ACFSS exhibits a remarkable specific capacitance of 213.5 mF/cm and an exceptional energy density of 96.07 μWh/cm, the highest areal capacitance and areal energy density yet reported in FSSs. Furthermore, the device possesses excellent flexibility in that its capacitance retention reaches 96.8% after bending 5000 times, which further allows it to be woven into flexible electronic clothes with conventional weaving techniques. Therefore, the asymmetric coaxial architectural design allows new opportunities to fabricate high-performance flexible FSSs for future portable and wearable electronic devices.

BackgroundQuantitative real-time reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-qPCR) has been widely used for quantification of mRNA as a way to determine key genes involved in different biological processes. For accurate gene quantification analysis, normalization of RT-qPCR data is absolutely essential. To date, normalization is most frequently achieved by the use of internal controls, often referred to as reference genes. However, several studies have shown that the reference genes used for the quantification of mRNA expression can be affected by the experimental set-up or cell type resulting in variation of the expression level of these key genes. Therefore, the evaluation of reference genes is critical for gene expression profiling, which is often neglected in gene expression studies of insects. For this purpose, ten candidate reference genes were investigated in three different tissues (midgut, Malpighian tubules, and fat body) of the oriental fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel).ResultsTwo different programs, geNorm and Normfinder, were used to analyze the data. According to geNorm, α-TUB + ACT5 are the most appropriate reference genes for gene expression profiling across the three different tissues in the female flies, while ACT3 + α-TUB are considered as the best for males. Furthermore, we evaluated the stability of the candidate reference genes to determine the sexual differences in the same tissue. In the midgut and Malpighian tubules, ACT2 + α-TUB are the best choice for both males and females. However, α-TUB + ACT1 are the best pair for fat body. Meanwhile, the results calculated by Normfinder are quite the same as the results with geNorm; α-TUB is always one of the most stable genes in each sample validated by the two programs.ConclusionsIn this study, we validated the suitable reference genes for gene expression profiling in different tissues of B. dorsalis. Moreover, appropriate reference genes were selected out for gene expression profiling of the same tissues taking the sexual differences into consideration. This work not only formed a solid basis for future gene expression study in B. dorsalis, but also will serve as a resource to screen reference genes for gene expression studies in any other insects.