Well-defined pomegranate-like N,P-doped Mo 2 C@C nanospheres were prepared by simply using phosphomolybdic acid (PMo 12 ) to initiate the polymerization of polypyrrole (PPy) and as a single source for Mo and P to produce N,P-doped Mo 2 C nanocrystals. The existence of PMo 12 at the molecular scale in the polymer network allows the formation of pomegranate-like Mo 2 C@C nanospheres with a porous carbon shell as peel and Mo 2 C nanocrystals welldispersed in the N-doped carbon matrix as seeds. This nanostructure provides several favorable features for hydrogen evolution application: (1) the conductive carbon shell and matrix effectively prevent the aggregation of Mo 2 C nanocrystals and facilitate electron transportation; (2) the uniform N,P-doping in the carbon shell/matrix and plenty of Mo 2 C nanocrystals provide abundant catalytically highly active sites; and (3) nanoporous structure allows the effective exposure of active sites and mass transfer. Moreover, the uniform distribution of P and Mo from the single source of PMo 12 and N from PPy in the polymeric PPy−PMo 12 precursor guarantees the uniform N-and P-co-doping in both the graphitic carbon matrix and Mo 2 C nanocrystals, which contributes to the enhancement of electrocatalytic performance. As a result, the pomegranate-like Mo 2 C@C nanospheres exhibit extraordinary electrocatalytic activity for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in terms of an extremely low overpotential of 47 mV at 10 mA cm −2 in 1 M KOH, which is one of the best Mo-based HER catalysts. The strategy for preparing such nanostructures may open up opportunities for exploring low-cost highperformance electrocatalysts for various applications.

Tomato chlorosis virus (ToCV, genus Crinivirus, family Closteroviridae) is an economically important virus in more than 20 countries. In China, ToCV was first detected in 2013 and has already spread throughout the country. ToCV is transmitted in a semi-persistent manner by the whitefly, Bemisia tabaci, but not seed. In the past two decades, the most invasive MEAM1 and MED have replaced the indigenous B. tabaci in China, and currently MED is the most dominant cryptic species. To better understand the prevalence of ToCV with their vectors, we tested the hypothesis that the rapid spread of ToCV in China is closely related to the dominance of MED. ToCV acquisition and accumulation rate following transmission was significantly higher by MED than MEAM1. In addition, ToCV persisted for more than 4 days in MED but only 2 days in MEAM1. Viruliferous MED preferred non-infected over virus-infected plants, although MED performed better on infected than on non-infected plants. Our combined results support the initial hypothesis that the rapid spread of ToCV is associated with the spread of B. tabaci MED in China.

Severe fever with thrombocytopenia virus (SFTSV) is an emerging tick-borne phlebovirus that causes lethal human disease, for which there are no licensed antiviral vaccines or therapies. Herein, we developed a live attenuated recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus (rVSV)-based vaccine candidate expressing the SFTSV Gn/Gc glycoproteins (rVSV-SFTSV/AH12-GP). High titers of cross-protective, broadly neutralizing antibodies were elicited by a single dose of rVSV-SFTSV/AH12-GP in both immunocompetent and immunocompromised mice against multiple strains of SFTSV and the related but distinct phlebovirus Heartland virus (HRTV). Remarkably, complete protection against lethal challenge with SFTSV was conferred in young and old immunocompromised mice irrespective of any pre-existing vector-specific immunity. Collectively, these results suggest that a rVSV vector expressing SFTSV glycoproteins is a promising candidate vaccine against two emerging phleboviruses associated with severe human diseases.

have been considered as attractive alternatives in next-generation energy storage systems due to their high energy density, safety, and environmental friendliness. [2] The big challenge for this technique is the development of highly efficient and stable air electrode. It requires highly active electrocatalysts for both oxygen reduction reactions (ORR) and oxygen evolution reactions (OER) to overcome sluggish kinetics for four electron transfer processes and significantly reduce the reaction overpotentials. [3] Although noblemetal-based catalysts, such as platinum (Pt), ruthenium (Ru), iridium (Ir), and their alloys, are the best-known oxygen electrocatalysts, their commercialization are greatly hindered by their reserves, high cost, and still insufficient catalytic performance for bifunctional oxygen reactions. [4] Over the past few years, much efforts have been devoted to developing non-noble metal bifunctional electrocatalysts, such as transition metal sulfide/oxides, [5] nitrides, [6] carbon materials, [7] and so on. [8] Among these catalysts, the transitional metal-containing N-doped carbon materials (M-N-C, M = Fe, Co, Ni, etc.) have attracted intense attention. The transition metals in such catalysts greatly enhance the graphitization and thus electrical conductivity of carbon matrix, which provide them the better protection in turn from corrosion and aggregation during the electrochemical reactions. [4b,9] Furthermore, the interactions and synergistic effects between metal species and N-doped carbon species enhance the intrinsic electrochemical activity for ORR and OER by electronically modulating the charge distribution on active sites and thus the adsorption/ desorption of O 2 and intermediates. [4c,10] M-N-C materials are usually obtained from the direct pyrolysis of precursors, such as transition metal macrocycles/ polymers (e.g., porphyrins and phthalocyanines) or the mixture of nitrogen-rich organic compounds and transition-metal salts, which commonly gives the inhomogeneous microstructures and uncontrollable agglomeration of active components due to the high reactivity of transition metal at high-temperature. Such structure could lead to the insufficient exposure of active sites as well as poor electron and mass transport. [11] 1D nanostructures such as nanotubes, [12] nanofibers, [13] nanorod, [14] etc., were thus introduced to improve the electron transportation. The shortcoming is the insufficient surface area for accommodating Highly efficient and stable bifunctional electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction and evolution are essential for aqueous rechargeable Zn-air batteries, which require highly active sites as well as delicate structural design for increasing effective active sites and facilitating mass/electron transfer. Herein, a scalable and facile self-catalyzed growth strategy is developed to integrate highly active Co-N-C sites with 3D brush-like nanostructure, achieving Co-N-C nanobrushes with Co,N-codoped carbon nanotube branches grown on Co,Ncodoped nanoparticle assembled na...