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Water and electricity scarcity are two global challenges, especially in arid and remote areas. Harnessing ubiquitous moisture and sunlight for water and power generation is a sustainable route to address these challenges. Herein, we report a moisture-induced energy harvesting strategy to realize efficient sorption-based atmospheric water harvesting (SAWH) and 24-hour thermoelectric power generation (TEPG) by synergistically utilizing moisture-induced sorption/desorption heats of SAWH, solar energy in the daytime and radiative cooling in the nighttime. Notably, the synergistic effects significantly improve all-day thermoelectric power density (~346%) and accelerate atmospheric water harvesting compared with conventional designs. We further demonstrate moisture-induced energy harvesting for a hybrid SAWH-TEPG device, exhibiting high water production of 750 g m −2 , together with impressive thermoelectric power density up to 685 mW m −2 in the daytime and 21 mW m −2 in the nighttime. Our work provides a promising approach to realizing sustainable water production and power generation at anytime and anywhere. Collecting water directly from air provides one sustainable solution to water scarcity. Li et al. combine sorption-based atmospheric water harvesting with a thermoelectric module for efficient harvesting water and electricity in arid environments and show that the two components operate synergistically.

Extracting water from air is a promising route to address the global challenge of water scarcity. Sorption-based atmospheric water harvesting (SAWH) has the capability of capturing water from air anytime and anywhere. However, low water production is a long-standing challenge for realizing efficient SAWH. Here we report a facile strategy to synthesize bidirectionally aligned and hierarchically structured nanocomposite (BHNC) for scalable and efficient SAWH. Benefiting from the synergetic effects of ordered hierarchical structures for accelerating vertically oriented moisture convection and radially oriented intrapore diffusion, the BHNC exhibits ultrahigh water uptake of 6.61 kg water  kg sorbent −1 and ultrafast water sorption kinetics, superior to the state-of-the-art sorbents. We further engineer a scalable and efficient solar-driven SAWH prototype by assembling BHNC arrays, demonstrating rapid-cycling and high-yielding water production up to 2,820 ml water  kg sorbent −1  day −1 . This work provides new insights to bridge the gap between materials and devices for scalable, energy efficient and all-weather water harvesting from air powered by solar energy. Sorption-based atmospheric water harvesting has the capability of capturing water from air anytime and anywhere. A facile strategy to synthesize bidirectionally aligned and hierarchically structured nanocomposite could realize scalable and efficient sorption-based atmospheric water harvesting.

The effect of grain boundaries on small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) was investigated for pure nickel. A series of annealed cold-rolled nickel samples were characterized by SANS, electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The experimental results indicate that the proportion of low-angle grain boundaries (LAGBs) has a noticeable influence on the scattering intensity. Cold-rolled samples exhibited a similar proportion of LAGBs, leading to only slight differences in scattering intensity. The scattering intensity was found to be dependent on annealing time and temperature. For samples with low degrees of recrystallization, a large number of LAGBs remained, resulting in high scattering intensity at low q. In contrast, samples with a high degree of recrystallization showed a significant reduction in LAGBs, which caused a noticeable decrease in SANS intensity.

Despite identification of several sex-determining genes in non-mammalian vertebrates, their detailed molecular cascades of sex determination/differentiation are not known. Here, we used a novel RNAi to characterise the molecular mechanism of Dmy (the sex-determining gene of medaka)-mediated masculinity in XY fish. Dmy knockdown ( Dmy -KD) suppressed male pathway ( Gsdf, Sox9a2 , etc.) and favoured female cascade ( Rspo1 , etc.) in embryonic XY gonads, resulting in a fertile male-to-female sex-reversal. Gsdf, Sox9a2 and Rspo1 directly interacted with Dmy and co-injection of Gsdf and Sox9a2 re-established masculinity in XY- Dmy -KD transgenics, insinuating that Dmy initiates masculinity by stimulating and suppressing Gsdf / Sox9a2 and Rspo1 expression, respectively. Gonadal expression of Wt1a starts prior to Dmy and didn’t change upon Dmy -KD. Furthermore, Wt1a stimulated the promoter activity of Dmy , suggesting Wt1a as a regulator of Dmy . These findings provide new insights into the role of vertebrate sex-determining genes associated with the molecular interplay between the male and female pathways.

RNA replication and transcription machinery is an important drug target for fighting against coronavirus. Non-structure protein nsp8 was proposed harboring primase activity. However, the RNA primer synthesis mechanism of nsp8 is still largely unknown. Here, we purified dimer and tetramer forms of SARS-CoV-2 nsp8. Combined with dynamic light scattering, small-angle neutron scattering and thermo-stability analysis, we found that both dimer and tetramer become loosened and destabilized with decreasing salt concentration, and the dimer form is more stable than the tetramer form. Further investigation showed that nsp8 dimer and tetramer can undergo phase separation but exhibit different phase separation behaviors. Nsp8 dimer can form liquid-like droplets in the buffer with a low concentration of NaCl; phase separation of nsp8 tetramer depends on the assistance of RNA. Our findings on different phase separation behaviors of nsp8 dimer and tetramer may provide insight into the functional studies of nsp8 in coronavirus. The phase separation behaviour of non-structure protein nsp8 of SARS CoV2 in the primer synthesis mechanism is presented, underpinning the replication of coronavirus.

Small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) is an experimental technique to detect material structures in the nanometer to micrometer range. The solution of the structural model constructed from SANS strongly depends on the accuracy of the reduced data. The time-of-flight (TOF) SANS data are dependent on the wavelength of the pulsed neutron source. Therefore, data reduction must be handled very carefully to transform measured neutron events into neutron scattering intensity. In this study, reduction algorithms for TOF SANS data are developed and optimized using simulated data from a virtual neutron experiment. Each possible effect on the measured data is studied systematically, and suitable corrections are performed to obtain high-quality data. This work will facilitate scientific research and the instrument design at China Spallation Neutron Source.