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In this paper, the preparation of a transparent superhydrophobic composite coating with a thermal insulation function using antimony-doped tin oxide (ATO) nanoparticles is proposed, which has advantages of being mass-producible and low-cost. In short, nanosilica and ATO are used as raw materials for constructing rough structures, and superhydrophobic coatings are obtained by mixing and adding binders after modification of each, which are then applied to the surface of various substrates by spraying to obtain a transparent superhydrophobic coating with a heat-insulating function. The specific role of each nanoparticle is discussed through comparative experiments that illustrate the mechanism by which the two particles construct rough structures. The coating achieves unique thermal insulation properties while possessing excellent superhydrophobicity (WCA of ∼163° and WSA of ∼3°) and high light transmission (∼70%). Heat-shielding experiments have demonstrated that the composite coating effectively reduces the room temperature by approximately 19% for the same irradiation time. The coating achieves a balanced improvement in visible transmittance, thermal insulation, and superhydrophobicity. In addition, the coating’s self-cleaning properties, mechanical properties, chemical weathering resistance, high-temperature resistance, and anti-icing properties were verified through various experiments.

The vapor–liquid critical parameters of mixtures are important in the establishment of equations of state and mixing rules to predict thermophysical properties and develop next-generation, low-carbon working fluids. Obtaining critical parameters through experimental measurement is the most efficient and straightforward approach but it is a time-consuming and labor-intensive process, thus necessitating the use of theoretical prediction methods. There is currently no prediction model that can attain the same level of precision as experimental measurements, and the existing models are not easily accessible. In this paper, the nonideal effect of the acentric factor of the mixture and the median deviation term of the critical parameters are introduced into the Redlich–Kister model. The newly developed model surpasses current fast estimation methods in terms of its accurate predictions, minimal adjustable factors, lack of a requirement for critical volume data of pure substances, and consideration of molecular polarity. This new fast estimation model can be applied to hundreds of binary combinations consisting of methane-free alkanes, alkenes, alkynes, alicyclic hydrocarbons, benzene and its derivatives, NH3, CO2, halogenated hydrocarbons, N2O, Kr, Xe, sulfur compounds, and oxygen-containing organic compounds. The absolute average relative deviation (AARD) of this method in calculating the critical temperature and critical pressure of binary mixtures is 1.21% and 4.22%, based on 4116 critical temperature experimental data points (521 groups of binary mixtures) and 2882 critical pressure experimental data points (342 groups of binary mixtures), respectively.

ABSTRACTZaire ebolavirus (EBOV) causes a severe hemorrhagic fever in humans and non-human primates with high morbidity and mortality. EBOV infection is dependent on its structural glycoprotein (GP), but high levels of GP expression also trigger cell rounding, detachment, and downregulation of many surface molecules that is thought to contribute to its high pathogenicity. Thus, EBOV has evolved an RNA editing mechanism to reduce its GP expression and increase its fitness. We now report that the GP expression is also suppressed at the protein level in cells by protein disulfide isomerases (PDIs). Although PDIs promote oxidative protein folding by catalyzing correct disulfide formation in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), PDIA3/ERp57 adversely triggered the GP misfolding by targeting GP cysteine residues and activated the unfolded protein response (UPR). Abnormally folded GP was targeted by ER-associated protein degradation (ERAD) machinery and, unexpectedly, was degraded via the macroautophagy/autophagy-lysosomal pathway, but not the proteasomal pathway. PDIA3 also decreased the GP expression from other ebolavirus species but increased the GP expression from Marburg virus (MARV), which is consistent with the observation that MARV-GP does not cause cell rounding and detachment, and MARV does not regulate its GP expression via RNA editing during infection. Furthermore, five other PDIs also had a similar inhibitory activity to EBOV-GP. Thus, PDIs negatively regulate ebolavirus glycoprotein expression, which balances the viral life cycle by maximizing their infection but minimizing their cellular effect. We suggest that ebolaviruses hijack the host protein folding and ERAD machinery to increase their fitness via reticulophagy during infection.Abbreviations:3-MA: 3-methyladenine; 4-PBA: 4-phenylbutyrate; ACTB: β-actin; ATF: activating transcription factor; ATG: autophagy-related; BafA1: bafilomycin A1; BDBV: Bundibugyoebolavirus; CALR: calreticulin; CANX: calnexin; CHX: cycloheximide; CMA: chaperone-mediated autophagy; ConA: concanamycin A; CRISPR: clusters of regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats; Cas9: CRISPR-associated protein 9; dsRNA: double-stranded RNA; EBOV: Zaireebolavirus; EDEM: ER degradation enhancing alpha-mannosidase like protein; EIF2AK3/PERK: eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2 alpha kinase 3; Env: envelope glycoprotein; ER: endoplasmic reticulum; ERAD: ER-associated protein degradation; ERN1/IRE1: endoplasmic reticulum to nucleus signaling 1; GP: glycoprotein; HA: hemagglutinin; HDAC6: histone deacetylase 6; HMM: high-molecular-mass; HIV-1: human immunodeficiency virus type 1; HSPA5/BiP: heat shock protein family A (Hsp70) member 5; IAV: influenza A virus; IP: immunoprecipitation; KIF: kifenesine; Lac: lactacystin; LAMP: lysosomal associated membrane protein; MAN1B1/ERManI: mannosidase alpha class 1B member 1; MAP1LC3/LC3: microtubule associated protein 1 light chain 3; MARV: Marburg virus; MLD: mucin-like domain; NHK/SERPINA1: alpha1-antitrypsin variant null (Hong Kong); NTZ: nitazoxanide; PDI: protein disulfide isomerase; RAVV: Ravn virus; RESTV: Reston ebolavirus; SARS-CoV: severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus; SBOV: Sudanebolavirus; sGP: soluble GP; SQSTM1/p62: sequestosome 1; ssGP: small soluble GP; TAFV: Taï Forest ebolavirus; TIZ: tizoxanide; TGN: thapsigargin; TLD: TXN (thioredoxin)-like domain; Ub: ubiquitin; UPR: unfolded protein response; VLP: virus-like particle; VSV: vesicular stomatitis virus; WB: Western blotting; WT: wild-type; XBP1: X-box binding protein 1.

A new variable-volume apparatus equipped with a metal-bellows volumeter was improved by replacing the temperature bath and sensors with higher accuracy. The measurement process was also optimized. The critical parameters for the binary mixture of R744 (carbon dioxide) + R1243zf (3,3,3-trifluoropropene) were measured. The critical point was determined by visually observing the critical opalescence and disappearance of the meniscus. The expanded uncertainties of the critical temperature, critical pressure, critical density, and composition measurements were assessed to be less than 50 mK, 21 kPa, 0.006, and 0.010 (k= 2, 0.95 level of confidence), respectively. The experimental critical properties for the mixture correlated by Redlich–Kister equations were 0.18% for critical temperature, 0.74% for critical pressure, 0.82% for critical density, and 0.81% for critical molar volume.

Implant surface topography plays a crucial role in achieving successful implantation. Simple and controllable surface topographical modifications are considered a promising method to accelerate bone osseointegration for biomedical applications. Moreover, comprehension of the mechanism between surface topography and cell osteogenic differentiation is vital for the manipulation of these processes to promote bone tissue regeneration. In this study, we investigated the effects of implant surfaces with various sized hierarchical microgroove/nanopore topographies on cell adhesion, osteogenesis, and their underlying mechanism both in vitroand in vivo. Our findings reveal that a titanium surface with an appropriately sized microgroove/nanopore topography (SLM-1MAH) exhibits the more satisfactory adhesive and osteogenic efficiency than the clinically used sand-blasted, large-grit, and acid-etched (SLA) surface. The underlying molecular mechanism lies in the activation of the integrin α2-PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, where the SLM-1MAH surface increased the protein expressions of integrin α2 (Itga2), phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), and phosphorylated serine/threonine kinase Akt (p-Akt) to enhance osteogenesis and osseointegration. Furthermore, the SLM-1MAH surface also displays better osseointegration efficiency with stronger bonding strength than that on the SLA surface. This work provides a novel strategy for implant surface topography design to improve bone–implant osseointegration.

Cobalt is an important strengthening element in superalloys, but its effect on 718 alloy family has rarely been studied and reported, and it is difficult to understand the controversy policy for controlling the Co content in the alloys such as 718 and 718 Plus. Therefore, the function of Co on the precipitation of 718 family alloy has been investigated in a reference alloy, in which 1.2 wt.% Al was added into the 718 base composition for raising the sensitivity of precipitation to the composition variation. It was found that the Co additions favored the intergranular Laves precipitation and refined the grains. The thermodynamic calculation showed that the range of the precipitation temperature was enlarged by the Co additions, and the peak temperature of the Laves precipitation was located around 980 °C. Unexpectedly, the Co addition increased the volume fraction of γ′ while decreased the volume fraction of γ″ precipitations. It was revealed by analyzing the distribution of elements in the microstructures of the as cast experimental alloys that the Co addition increased the solubility of Nb while hardly changed the solubility of Al in the γ matrix. It is apparent that the Co addition influenced the precipitations of γ′-Ni3Al and γ″-Ni3Nb by affecting the solubility of Al and Nb in the γ matrix and the precipitates of Nb-rich and Al-poor Laves phase. Accordingly, the controlling policy of Co content in alloys 718 and 718 Plus is discussed in the text.

Abstract: CuO-doped K0.5Na0.5NbO3(KNN)-based lead-free piezoelectric single crystals were realized by using a seed-free solid-state crystal growth (SFSSCG) method. The effect of the CuO addition on the single-crystal growth, microstructure and electrical properties of the systems was studied systemically. The addition of CuO is beneficial for the growth of the KNN-based crystals and decreases the width of ferroelectric domains of the crystals. In particular, the CuO doping significantly reduces the dielectric loss of the crystals. The lowest dielectric loss tanδof 1% was achieved for the CuO-doped crystals with high piezoelectric constant and Curie temperature. The study on the leakage behavior of the crystals shows that the main electrical conduction mechanism is the space-charge-limited-current (SCLC). A coexisting crystalline structure with orthorhombic and tetragonal phases forms in the (1 − x)[KNN-LiBiO3]-xCuO crystals at x= 0.007–0.009. The growth kinetics and mechanism of the crystals were also investigated. Graphic Abstract:

The vapor–liquid critical properties of mixtures, which represent the end points of vapor–liquid equilibrium curves, are crucial for the development of next-generation environmentally friendly working fluids and advancements in supercritical fluid technology. Experimental measurement and theoretical prediction are the main means to obtain the critical properties. However, the existing theoretical prediction methods have the problems of low accuracy, especially when predicting critical volumes of binary mixtures and critical properties of ternary mixtures. Moreover, in most prediction methods, all the data are used to fit the adjustable parameters. No prediction data set was added to test its prediction ability. In this work, new prediction models for critical properties, including critical temperature, critical pressure, and critical volume of binary mixtures and ternary mixtures, were proposed. New methods extend our previous work (Tang et al.’s model) to the prediction of critical volumes and critical properties of ternary mixtures and accurately evaluate the extrapolation ability. New prediction models inherit many advantages of Tang et al.’s model, including considering the effect of molecular polarity to some extent, possessing four fewer adjustable parameters, a simpler form in use, and not requiring the critical volume data of pure substances when predicting critical temperatures and critical pressures of mixtures. Moreover, three new methods possess fast prediction abilities for critical properties of mixtures, showing higher accuracy in predicting critical properties of binary and ternary mixtures in the fitting data set and prediction data set. When predicting critical temperatures and critical pressures, new models can be applied to binary and ternary mixtures consisting of methane-free alkanes, alkenes, alkynes, alicyclic hydrocarbons, benzene and its derivatives, NH3, CO2, halogenated hydrocarbon, N2O, Kr, Xe, sulfur-compounds, and oxygen-containing organic compounds. Notably, new methods are applicable only to class I (continuous curve of the critical point of two pure components) of the vapor–liquid critical locus, classified by Van Konynenburg and Scott. Class I covers many systems and most of the available critical property experimental data. Almost all systems can be covered in predicting critical volumes. About 9000 critical data points including critical temperatures, critical pressures, and critical volumes for binary mixtures and ternary mixtures are collected. About 80% of the data for binary mixtures were used to fit the empirical parameters. The remaining data were used to test the prediction ability for binary and ternary mixtures for three new prediction methods. The prediction model 1 shows the highest correlation and prediction accuracy among the three prediction models. The average absolute relative deviations are 1.13, 3.91, and 5.90 when correlating critical temperatures, critical pressures, and critical volumes; 1.43, 4.94, and 6.93 when predicting critical temperatures, critical pressures, and critical volumes of binary mixtures; and 1.12 and 3.99 when predicting critical temperature and critical pressures of ternary mixtures.

Effect of segregation behaviors of P at different cooling rates on the precipitation of γ″ and γ′ phases and the corresponding strength are investigated. The precipitation of γ″ and γ′ phases during cooling is sensitive to P concentration. With increasing the concentration of P, the amount of γ″ and γ′ particles increases after air cooling. With decreasing the cooling rate, the accelerating effect of P on the precipitation of γ″ and γ′ phases decreased first and then increased, which demonstrates the concentration of P dissolved in the grain interior decreases first and then increases. The different effects of P on γ″ and γ′ phases with different cooling rates were analyzed by the kinetic characteristic of nonequilibrium grain-boundary segregation. The characteristic of nonequilibrium grain-boundary segregation of P in superalloy is further confirmed, and the phenomenon caused by critical cooling rate is captured. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon nanospheres are successfully synthesized with a particle size of about 140 nm using a two‐step hydrothermal method and used the carbon nanospheres as the deposition template material on the surface of P25(TiO2) by means of vertical deposition method. The antiopaline TiO2photonic crystal (PC) structure is further prepared via immersed carbon nanospheres in TiO2precursor solution, and the antiopal PC is used as the scattering layer of the photoanode of dye‐sensitized solar cell (DSSCs). As a comparison, the antiopal PC reflective layer is also prepared on the photoanode of DSSCs using polystyrene nanospheres as the template material. The photoanodes with those PC scattering layers prepared with different template materials are fabricated into complete DSSCs. The final photoelectric conversion efficiency of the DSSCs prepared with carbon nanospheres as the template material reaches 7.02%, which is comparable to the cells prepared with polystyrene nanospheres as the template material. The efficiency of the cell with the scattering layer is increased by about 16% compared with that of the normal DSSC based on P25. Antiopal photonic crystal structures using carbon nanospheres as the template material for the vertical deposition method are successfully prepared. The prepared structures are used as the scattering layer of the photoanode, and the structure effectively enhances the light utilization of the photoanode, resulting in the improvement of the power conversion efficiency of the dye‐sensitized solar cells.

Supported molybdenum oxide nanoparticles (MoOxNPs) have attracted intensive interest due to their unique catalytic properties. Herein, MoOxNPs anchored on graphene-analogous boron nitride (g-BN) was prepared by a simple one-step method. The interaction between supports and NPs can be enhanced, and the size of MoOxNPs can be controlled during the immobilization process. Molecular oxygen (O2) in the air can be activated effectively with the as-prepared heterogeneous catalyst. It is noteworthy that experimental results indicate that the controlled MoOxNP size and strong metal oxide support interaction are the two key factors which could help to exhibit high aerobic oxidative desulfurization activity. Moreover, sulfur removal of DBT can still reach 98.0% after recycling 11 times, which indicates that the supported catalyst has a good stability and recycling performance. Finally, the Mo(IV) and Mo(V) parts serve as the active sites to promote the production of superoxide–molybdenum species and the reaction pathway is further proposed.

Correction for ‘Hierarchical microgroove/nanopore topography regulated cell adhesion to enhance osseointegration around intraosseous implants in vivo’ by Yujuan Tian et al., Biomater. Sci., 2022, 10, 560–580. DOI: 10.1039/D1BM01657A

Energy efficiency becomes increasingly important in today's high-performance storage systems. It can be challenging to save energy and improve performance at the same time in conventional (i.e. single-rotation-rate) disk-based storage systems. Most existing solutions compromise performance for energy conservation. In this paper, we propose a redundancy-based, two-level I/O cache architecture called RIMAC to address this problem. The idea of RIMAC is to enable data on the standby disk to be recovered by accessing data in the two-level I/O cache or on currently active/idle disks. At both cache and disk levels, RIMAC dynamically transforms accesses toward standby disks by exploiting parity redundancy in parity-based redundant disk arrays. Because I/O requests that require physical accesses on standby disks involve long waiting time and high power consumption for disk spin-up (tens of seconds for SCSI disks), transforming those requests to accesses in a two-level, collaborative I/O cache or on active disks can significantly improve both energy efficiency and performance.In RIMAC, we developed i) two power-aware read request transformation schemes called Transformable Read in Cache (TRC) and Transformable Read on Disk (TRD), ii) a power-aware write request transformation policy for parity update and iii) a second-chance parity cache replacement algorithm to improve request transformation rate. We evaluated RIMAC by augmenting a validated storage system simulator, disksim. For several real-life server traces including HP's cello 99, TPC-D and SPC's search engine, RIMAC is shown to reduce energy consumption by up to 33% and simultaneously improve the average response time by up to 30%.