We report log K values for the formation of the structures Hg(Mem-RS)2, Hg(Cys)(Mem-RS), and Hg(Mem-RSRO) to be 39.1 ± 0.2, 38.1 ± 0.1, and 25.6 ± 0.1, respectively, for Geobacter and 39.2 ± 0.2, 38.2 ± 0.1, and 25.7 ± 0.1, respectively, for ND132. Combined with results obtained from previous studies using the same methodology to determine chemical speciation of Hg(II) in the presence of natural organic matter (NOM; Suwannee River DOM) and 15 LMM thiols, an internally consistent thermodynamic data set is created, which we recommend to be used in studies of Hg transformation processes in bacterium-NOM-LMM thiol systems.The methylation of amide nitrogen atoms can improve the stability, oral availability, and cell permeability of peptide therapeutics. Chemical N-methylation of peptides is challenging. Omphalotin A is a ribosomally synthesized, macrocylic dodecapeptide with nine backbone N-methylations. The fungal natural product is derived from the precursor protein, OphMA, harboring both the core peptide and a SAM-dependent peptide α-N-methyltransferase domain. OphMA forms a homodimer and its α-N-methyltransferase domain installs the methyl groups in trans on the hydrophobic core dodecapeptide and some additional C-terminal residues of the protomers. These post-translational backbone N-methylations occur in a processive manner from the N- to the C-terminus of the peptide substrate. We demonstrate that OphMA can methylate polar, aromatic, and charged residues when these are introduced into the core peptide. Some of these amino acids alter the efficiency and pattern of methylation. Proline, depending on its sequence context, can act as a tunable stop signal. Crystal structures of OphMA variants have allowed rationalization of these observations. Our results hint at the potential to control this fungal α-N-methyltransferase for biotechnological applications.Creating adaptive, sustainable, and dynamic biomaterials is a forthcoming mission of synthetic biology. Engineering spatially organized bacterial communities has a potential to develop such bio-metamaterials. However, generating living patterns with precision, robustness, and a low technical barrier remains as a challenge. Here we present an easily implementable technique for patterning live bacterial populations using a controlled meniscus-driven fluidics system, named as MeniFluidics. We demonstrate multiscale patterning of biofilm colonies and swarms with submillimeter resolution. Utilizing the faster bacterial spreading in liquid channels, MeniFluidics allows controlled bacterial colonies both in space and time to organize fluorescently labeled Bacillus subtilis strains into a converged pattern and to form dynamic vortex patterns in confined bacterial swarms. The robustness, accuracy, and low technical barrier of MeniFluidics offer a tool for advancing and inventing new living materials that can be combined with genetically engineered systems, and adding to fundamental research into ecological, evolutional, and physical interactions between microbes.3D printing of cementitious materials holds a great promise for construction due to its rapid, consistent, modular, and geometry-controlled ability. However, its major drawback is low cohesion in the interlayer region. Herein, we report a combined experimental and computational approach to understand and control fabrication of 3D-printed cementitious materials with significantly enhanced interlayer strength using multimaterial 3D printing, in which the composition, function, and structure of the materials are programmed. Our results show that the intrinsic low interlayer cohesion is caused by excess moisture and time lag that block the majority of valuable interactions in the interlayer zone between the adjacent cement matrices. As a remedy, a thin epoxy layer is introduced as an intermediator between the adjacent extruded layers, both to improve the interlayer cohesion and to extend the possible time delay between printed adjacent layers. Our ab initio calculations demonstrate that an orbital overlap between the calcium ions, as the main electrophilic part of the cement structure, and the hydroxyl groups, as the nucleophilic part of the epoxy, create strong interfacial absorption sites. These electronic absorptions lead to several iono-covalent bonds between the cement matrix and epoxy, leading to significant improvements in tensile, shear, and compressive strengths as well as ductility of the 3D-printed composites. This is verified by our experimental data, which showed an average of 84% improvement in interlayer bonding. The upward augmentation of interlayer bonding helps 3D printing cementitious material to overcome their intrinsic limitation of weak interlayer cohesion, thereby mitigating/eliminating the key bottleneck of additive manufacturing in constructing materials.Though chemical vapor deposition (CVD) methods have been widely used in the growth of two-dimensional transition-metal dichalcogenides (2D TMDCs), the controllable fabrication of 2D TMDCs is yet hard to achieve because of the great challenge of concisely controlling the release of precursors vapor, one of the most critical growth kinetic factors. To solve this important issue, here we report the utilization of oxide inhibitors covering Mo source during CVD reactions to manipulate the release of Mo vapor. In contrast to the lack of capability of conventional CVD methods, 2D molybdenum dichalcogenide (MoX2, X = S, Se, Te) monolayers were successfully fabricated through the proposed CVD protocol with the oxide-inhibitor-assisted growth (OIAG) strategy. In this way, despite the fact that only separated MoTe2 flakes were prepared, both MoS2 (continuous and clean) and MoSe2 (continuous but dotted) monolayer films at the scale of centimeter were obtained. The presented OIAG method enables a comprehensive understanding and precise control of the reaction kinetics for improved growth of 2D MoX2.Devices operating with excitons have promising prospects for overcoming the dilemma of response time and integration in current generation of electron- or/and photon-based elements and devices. Although the intrinsic properties including edges, grain boundaries, and defects of atomically thin semiconductors have been demonstrated as a powerful tool to adjust the bandgap and exciton energy, investigating the intrinsic modulation of spatiotemporal dynamics still remains challenging on account of the short exciton diffusion length.  https://www.selleckchem.com/products/Rapamycin.html  Here, we achieve the attractive remote lightening phenomenon, in which the emission region could be far away (up to 14.6 μm) from the excitation center, by utilizing a femtosecond laser with ultrahigh peak power as excitation source and the edge region with high photoluminescence efficiency as a bright emitter. Furthermore, the ultrafast transition between exciton and trion is demonstrated, which provides insight into the intrinsic modulation on populations of exciton and trion states.