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To characterize seasonal carbonaceous aerosol pollution in Taiyuan, a typical city in North China that mainly relies heavily on coal, a total of 124 PM2.5 samples were collected from August 2018 to the next May. The annual mean PM2.5 concentration was 83.8 ± 48.5 μg m−3, with a seasonal rank of winter (117.4 ± 47.6 μg m−3) > spring (79.2 ± 34.3 μg m−3) > fall (67.3 ± 34.7 μg m−3) > summer (31.8 ± 6.5 μg m−3), suggesting that fine particulate pollution was still serious in cold seasons. Organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC) showed similar seasonal patterns with PM2.5. The mean concentration values of OC in summer, fall, winter, and spring were 5.1 ± 0.9, 11.8 ± 6.4, 22.1 ± 14.9, and 12.2 ± 6.7 μg m−3, respectively. The mean concentration values of EC in summer, fall, winter, and spring were 1.5 ± 0.3, 2.5 ± 1.6, 4.4 ± 2.8, and 2.4 ± 1.5 μg m−3, respectively. The proportion of total carbon aerosol (TCA) was about 31.7%, 33.8%, 30.0%, and 27.0% in PM2.5 in summer, fall, winter, and spring, respectively. The good correlation between OC vs. EC and the high value of OC/EC suggests that coal and biomass combustion were the main emissions in cold seasons, aggravated by adverse meteorological conditions and the dustpan-shaped terrain. The mean annual secondary organic carbon (SOC) concentration was 6.1 ± 7.1μg m−3, representing 38.7% of the OC content. The present results presented the serious carbonaceous particulate pollution, which might affect haze pollution in cold seasons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transition metal dichalcogenides have been the most attractive two-dimensional layered materials for electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution due to their unique structure and multi-phase electronic states. However, the enhancement of the WSe2 electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) performance by bimetal co-doping has been rarely reported. Herein, the NiMo–WSe2 catalyst has been synthesized by a one-step hydrothermal reaction, with lower overpotentials of 177 and 188 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm−2 in 0.5 M H2SO4 and 1 M KOH, respectively. The large specific surface area and thinner edge morphology provide more active sites for hydrogen production, thereby significantly improving the charge transfer kinetics. Density functional theory calculation results show that under acidic conditions the ΔGH* values of NiMo–WSe2 with different structures and hydrogen adsorption sites are also different, when the hydrogen adsorption site was located at the top of the Se–Ni bond, the meta NiMo–WSe2 has a ΔGH* value (−0.04 eV) that is closest to 0. Meanwhile, NiMo–WSe2 (meta) also has a minimum of ΔGH* under alkaline conditions. DOS confirmed that Ni doping has a large impact on the electronic states at the WSe2 Fermi level, while NiMo co-doping greatly reduces the potential energy barrier of the HER reaction, jointly increasing the current density, and thus improving the HER performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multi‐size Bi2O3 nanoparticles supported by 1‐dimensional (1D) porous carbon microtubes (ms‐Bi2O3/CMTs) were favorably constructed through surface‐ion release and in‐ situ oxidation strategy. The prominent 1D porous microtube materials with multi‐size nanoparticles structure can furnish more plentiful electrochemical active sites and shorten lithium storage paths for high‐speed redox reactions, which was conducive to ion transport kinetics. The CV tests with various scan rates verified lithium storage mechanism of ms‐Bi2O3/CMTs with diffusion/capacitance control coexistence. The complexes illustrated an ultra‐long cycle life and extraordinary reversible capacity: it still had a specific capacity of 392.6 mAh g−1 after 3000 cycles at 1 A g−1; and it manifested 546.3 mAh g−1 when it returned to 0.05 A g−1 and continued to 100 cycles after experiencing different current densities of 0.05–5 A g−1, which indicated that ms‐Bi2O3/CMTs is a prospective anode for lithium‐ion batteries (LIBs). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: CH4 pyrolysis and CH4-CO2 reforming to produce syngas was carried out in a quartz tubular reactor over blank and carbonaceous catalyst. Material balance analysis of C atom was conducted according to the calculatedH. The gas composition was detected by an on line gas chromatograph with FPD and PID detector. It was found that CH4 pyrolysis decomposed into carbon and H2. For CH4-CO2 reforming, firstly CH4 decomposed into carbon and H2, the carbon then reacts with carbon monoxide to form carbon dioxide. As a comparison, blank tests were also performed. The results showed that the carbonaceous catalyst greatly decreased the initial reaction temperature (about decreased 50°C), and promoted CH4 conversion. From the material balance analysis of C atom, it can be found that the mass of carbonaceous catalyst reduce during the carbon dioxide reforming reaction of methane. It indicated that the gasification of carbonaceous materials by CO2 takes place during the synthesis process. The consumption kinetics parameters of carbonaceous materials were determined by an overall unreacted shrinking core model. The apparent activation energy of consumption carbonaceous materials was more than 230kJ/mol during CH4-CO2 reforming. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Climate change has been recognized as a threatening environmental problem around the world. CO2 is considered to be the main component of greenhouse gas. By using solar energy (light energy) as the energy source, photocatalytic conversion is one of the most effective technologies to reveal the clean utilization of CO2. Herein, using sodium tungstate, nickel nitrate, and selenium powder as the main raw materials, the high absorption and utilization of WSe2 for light energy and the high intrinsic conductivity of NiSe2 were combined by a hydrothermal method to prepare NiSe2/WSe2 and hydrazine hydrate as the reductant. Then, high-performance NiSe2/WSe2 photocatalytic material was prepared. The characterization results of XRD, XPS, SEM, specific surface area, and UV-visible spectroscopy show that the main diffraction peak of synthesized NiSe2/WSe2 is sharp, which basically coincides with the standard card. After doping NiSe2, the morphology of WSe2 was changed from a flake shape to smaller and more trivial crystal flakes, which demonstrates richer exposed edges and more active sites; the specific surface area increased from 3.01 m2 g−1 to 8.52 m2 g−1, and the band gap becomes wider, increasing from 1.66 eV to 1.68 eV. The results of a photocatalytic experiment show that when the prepared NiSe2/WSe2 catalyst is used to conduct photocatalytic reduction of CO2, the yield of CH3OH is significantly increased. After reaction for 10 h, the maximum yield could reach 3.80 mmol g−1, which presents great photocatalytic activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hippo signaling pathway is an evolutionarily conserved developmental network that governs the downstream transcriptional co-activators, YAP and TAZ, which bind to and activate the output of TEADs that responsible for cell proliferation, apoptosis, and stem cell self renewal. Emerging evidence has shown the tumor suppressor properties of Hippo signaling. However, limited knowledge is available concerning the downstream transcription factors of Hippo pathway in osteosarcoma (OS). In this study, we demonstrated that TEAD1 was the major transcription factor of Hippo signaling pathway in OS. Genetic silencing of TEAD1 suppressed multiple malignant phenotypes of OS cells including cell proliferation, apoptosis resistance, and invasive potential. Mechanistically, we showed that TEAD1 largely exerted its transcriptional control of its functional targets, PTGS2 and CYR61. Collectively, this work identifies the YAP1/TEAD1 complex as the representative dysregulated profile of Hippo signaling in OS and provides proof-of-principle that targeting TEAD1 may be a therapeutic strategy of osteosarcoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: CO2 reforming of CH4 was studied over laboratory-prepared carbonaceous catalysts at atmospheric pressure (0.1MPa) and high pressure (3.6MPa). The catalysts were characterized by BET and FITR techniques. The catalytic activity and stability of catalysts were closely related to the reaction pressure. It was observed that the use of higher pressure substantially decreased CO2 and CH4 conversion and increased catalyst deactivation during CO2 reforming of CH4, compared to runs at 0.5MPa for carbonaceous catalysts. Deactivation was related to carbon formation. Some process adjustment methods, such as increasing the reaction temperature, prolonging reaction residence time, and increasing CO2 and CH4 molar ratio, which could improve catalysts activity and stability. Besides, the positive effect of surface oxygen containing groups (C–O) on catalyst activity had been demonstrated over carbonaceous catalysts. The basic function of the carbonaceous materials surface area also seemed to increase H-abstraction of methane and CO2 adsorption. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• A simple strategy is developed to prepare CuO/Cu 2 O@C heterostructure polyhedron anode. • The anode materials are accumulated of hollow microspheres, possessing a unique cross-linked porous carbon network structure. • The anode materials exhibit superior high-rate capability and long-cycle stability. [Display omitted] In this work, CuO/Cu 2 O@C heterostructure polyhedron accumulated by hollow microspheres was obtained through a etching-pyrolysis-oxidation strategy. CuO/Cu 2 O@C composites, utilized for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) anodes, exhibited excellent initial discharge specific capacity (1053 mAh g−1 at 0.05 A g−1, initial Coulombic efficiency (ICE) is 70%) and long-cycle life (510 mAh g−1 after 1000 cycles at 1 A g−1). Even after cycle of various current densities (0.05–5 A g−1) for 70 cycles, discharge capacity backtracked to 663 mAh g−1 at 0.05 A g−1. Furthermore, energy storage behavior of CuO/Cu 2 O@C coexisting with diffusion and capacitance during the cycle was investigated by CV tests at different scanning rate. These exceptional electrochemical performances were ascribed to hollow spherical structure, cross-linked porous carbon network, and the synergy between the two components of CuO and Cu 2 O, making CuO/Cu 2 O@C polyhedron one of the promising anode materials for LIBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transition metal dichalcogenides have been the most attractive two-dimensional layered materials for electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution due to their unique structure and multi-phase electronic states. However, the enhancement of the WSe 2 electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) performance by bimetal co-doping has been rarely reported. Herein, the NiMo-WSe 2 catalyst has been synthesized by a one-step hydrothermal reaction, with lower overpotentials of 177 and 188 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm -2 in 0.5 M H 2 SO 4 and 1 M KOH, respectively. The large specific surface area and thinner edge morphology provide more active sites for hydrogen production, thereby significantly improving the charge transfer kinetics. Density functional theory calculation results show that under acidic conditions the Δ G H* values of NiMo-WSe 2 with different structures and hydrogen adsorption sites are also different, when the hydrogen adsorption site was located at the top of the Se-Ni bond, the meta NiMo-WSe 2 has a Δ G H* value (-0.04 eV) that is closest to 0. Meanwhile, NiMo-WSe 2 ( meta ) also has a minimum of Δ G H* under alkaline conditions. DOS confirmed that Ni doping has a large impact on the electronic states at the WSe 2 Fermi level, while NiMo co-doping greatly reduces the potential energy barrier of the HER reaction, jointly increasing the current density, and thus improving the HER performance.

Individuals with narcissism are, by definition, self-centered, focus on self-benefit, and demonstrate less prosocial behaviors. Trusting strangers is risky, as it can result in exploitation and non-reciprocation. Thus, the trust may be antagonistic to narcissism. However, how narcissists make the choice to trust remains to be elucidated. The current study examined 44 participants (22 rated high in narcissism) playing as trustors in one-shot trust games, and their electroencephalograms were recorded. Individuals high in narcissism exhibited less trust toward strangers, especially following gaining feedback for their trust. In addition, narcissists exhibited a larger N2 following distrust and a stronger negatively-valanced difference in feedback-related negativity (dFRN) after trustee feedback. Our findings provide insights into how individuals with narcissism trust strangers. The results also shed light on the temporal course of brain activity involved in trust decision-making and outcome evaluation in individuals with narcissism., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Guo, Yang, Liu and Gu.)

Background: Although a large number of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have investigated the neural bases of empathy, little is known about its spatiotemporal dynamics or its modulation by the level of friendship between the observer and the agent who is being hurt. Moreover, most of the previous studies on empathy have focused on empathy for pain rather than empathy for positive emotions, such as happiness. In the present study, we addressed this question by investigating the spatiotemporal brain dynamics of two different kinds of empathy (empathy for pain, empathy for happiness) with a behavioral priming empathy task involving two different level of primes (a close friend, a stranger)., Method/principal Findings: Electrical brain activity and behavioral data were analyzed from 30 subjects (12 males and 18 females). Half of the subjects performed a behavioral task on empathy for pain task (EPT), while the other half performed a behavioral task on empathy for happiness task (EHT). In each task, participants viewed prime photographs of either: (1) a stranger; or (2) a close friend (primes) followed by target photographs showing either a hand being hurt (or not; targets in the EPT), or a hand in happy circumstances (or not; targets in the EHT). In each task, participants were asked to judge the target situation and report whether they could feel the pain (in EPT) or the happiness (in the EHT), as a function of the primes i.e., either from the close friend's or from the stranger's perspective. Although our behavioral results didn't reveal any explicit differences among the different types of primes within each task, our electrophysiological results showed variations as a function of the primes. First, a early smaller N110 amplitude for pain was observed in the anterior prefrontal cortex during the friend prime condition compared to the stranger prime condition. No similar early effects were found for happiness. On the other hand, both empathy for happiness (EHT) and empathy for pain (EPT) elicited later differences. In the EPT, the friend prime elicited a larger late positive potential (LPP) than the stranger prime. In the EHT, the friend prime elicited a larger N250, a smaller P300, and a smaller LPP than the stranger prime., Conclusions: Taking the perspective of a close friend (as a prime stimulus) does have a dual-stage effect on empathy that is characterized by an early modulation for pain and later modulations for both pain and happiness. The early differences between friend and stranger primes for pain (but not for happiness) suggest that empathy for pain is an automatic process that has been socially learned and passed among friends. On the other hand, the later differences observed between stranger and friend prime suggest that additional cognitive appraisal take place for both pain and happiness. Our results suggest that it takes more cognitive attentional efforts to judge a stranger's happiness than a friend's happiness, whereas the opposite is true for pain. These findings open new avenues toward a better understanding of the empathic mind.