Schizophrenia is a complex psychiatric disorder with high genetic heterogeneity, however, the contribution of rare mutations to the disease etiology remains to be further elucidated. We herein performed exome sequencing in a Han Chinese schizophrenia family and identified a missense mutation (c.6724C>T, p.R2242C) in the teneurin transmembrane protein 4 (TENM4) gene in the SCZD2 locus, a region previously linked to schizophrenia at 11q14-21. The mutation was confirmed to co-segregate with the schizophrenia phenotype in the family. Subsequent investigation of TENM4 exons 31, 32, and 33 adjacent to the p.R2242C mutation revealed two additional missense mutations in 120 sporadic schizophrenic patients. Residues mutated in these mutations, which are predicted to be deleterious to protein function, were highly conserved among vertebrates. These rare mutations were not detected in 1000 Genomes, NHLBI Exome Sequencing Project databases, or our in-house 1136 non-schizophrenic control exomes. Analysis of RNA-Seq data showed that TENM4 is expressed in the brain with high abundance and specificity. In line with the important role of TENM4 in central nervous system development, our findings suggested that increased rare variants in TENM4 could be associated with schizophrenia, and thus TENM4 could be a novel candidate gene for schizophrenia in the SCZD2 locus.

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Capturing CO2 and subsequently converting into valuable chemicals has attracted extensive attention. Herein, a series of biomass‐based N‐rich porous carbon materials with high specific surface area and pore volume were prepared using biomass waste soybean dregs as precursors. The nitrogen content was up to 4 % with different forms in the carbon skeleton such as pyridine‐N, pyrrole‐N. The synergistic effect of ultra‐micropore (pore size <0.7 nm) and N‐containing groups endowed the materials with a high CO2 adsorption capacity, reaching 6.3 and 3.6 mmol g−1 at 0 and 25 °C under atmospheric pressure, respectively. In addition, the sufficient interaction between N‐containing groups and CO2 was demonstrated by solid‐state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and the captured CO2 was possibly activated in the form of carbamate, which is conducive to subsequent conversion. Therefore, the supported catalyst with the as‐synthetic porous carbon material as the carrier and ZnII as catalytic sites was prepared and successfully applied for carboxylative cyclization of propargylic amine with CO2 to afford the 3‐benzyl‐5‐methyleneoxazolidin‐2‐one. The results showed that CO2 capture and in‐situ conversion work effectively to produce highly value‐added chemicals. In this process, the captured CO2 could be activated and fixed into chemicals in mild conditions. More importantly, the energy consumption in CO2 desorption and adsorbent regeneration could be avoided. The valorization of both solid waste and CO2 to valuable chemicals provides an elegant strategy of killing three birds with one stone.

No abstract

Bio‐derived lubricants, especially those derived from vegetable oils, are considered to be promising alternatives to mineral oil‐based lubricants due to the features of sustainability and environmental friendliness. In this work, the polyol ricinoleates were prepared by esterification of ricinoleic acid with trimethylolpropane (TMP), neopentyl glycol (NPG) and pentaerythritol (PE) respectively using Lewis acidic stannous oxide as an efficient heterogeneous catalyst, affording the polyol ricinoleates up to 99.7% yield. Remarkably, the solid catalyst was readily recovered and reused at least for five cycles without significant loss of activity. The resulting polyol ricinoleates products were structurally characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT‐IR), 1H NMR, 13C NMR, electrospray ionization mass spectra (ESI‐MS); and were stable below 300°C through thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Furthermore, the physicochemical and lubricating properties of as‐synthesized polyol esters were also evaluated including viscosity at 40 and 100°C, viscosity index (VI), pour point and flash point, thermal stability and wear scar diameter. To our delight, the performance indicators of the target products were comparable or better than the commercial lubricants, showing their potential as lubricant base oil. This work represents an alternative access to useful lubricant products via effective and selective conversion of non‐edible vegetable oil.