Search

[Display omitted] • Use of ball milling, a method of nanotechnology, to prepare nano powder of Corni Fructus. • Nano powder of Corni Fructus could improve the symptoms of T2DM when compared with the alcohol extraction of Corni Fructus. • The molecular mechanisms of nano powder of Corni Fructus on T2DM may due to the activation of the INSR/PI3K/AKT/GLUT4 signaling pathways. • Nano powder of Corni Fructus could be a new kind of promising dosage form for the treatment of T2DM. As a traditional Chinese herbal medicine, Corni Fructus (CF) possesses varieties of pharmacological functions including anti-diabetes, anti-oxidation, anti-inflammatory, and hepatoprotective properties. However, the most commonly used forms of CF are pills and decoctions in the type 2 diabetes (T2DM) medical treatment. Until now, it remains unclear whether and how nano-powder CF (NPCF) improves T2DM. Here, we prepared NPCF via ball milling nanotechnology. NPCF significantly improved the symptoms of T2DM mice through alleviating hepatic inflammation and oxidative stress, reducing hyperglycemic and hyperlipidemic, and restoring pancreatic and liver damages. Network pharmacology screening was utilized to obtain 293 NPCF active ingredient targets and 1235 T2DM targets, and 195 cross-targets were obtained by crossover. Mechanistically, NPCF may enhance glucose transport, promote glycogen synthesis, and improve insulin resistance by acting on insulin receptor (INSR)/phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K/AKT)/glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4) signaling pathways. Therefore, NPCF may be a potential dosage form of CF for T2DM treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• ZnO:PEI nanocomposite was developed as electron transport layer for use in OSCs. • Higher stability of ZnO:PEI ink stored under ambient conditions more than 6 months. • Improved mechanical properties of the ZnO layer replaced by ZnO:PEI film. • Less thickness dependence for ZnO:PEI as electron transport layer fabricated by roll-to-roll printing. Large-scale roll-to-roll (R2R) micro-gravure printing is one of the most effective fabrication techniques to achieve the commercialization of organic solar cells (OSCs). In the high-performance OSC devices, the electron transport layer (ETL) plays an important role. In this paper, a composite ink of ZnO and polyethylenimine (PEI) was developed to fabricate large-area ETL for the inverted OSCs through R2R micro-gravure printing. It was found that the modification of ZnO nanoparticles by PEI effectively improved ink stability and enhanced the mechanical property. Using R2R micro-gravure printing, the thickness and coverage of the ZnO: PEI films were well regulated through changing the printing roller speed and web speed. Consequently, a high-power conversion efficiency around 6% was obtained for the flexible PTB7-Th: PC 71 BM device with the thickness of R2R printed ZnO: PEI layer up to 120 nm, demonstrating the high printability of this ZnO: PEI composite material for the use in printed flexible OSCs as the interface layer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • CF extracts improved weight loss and pathoglycemia in T2DM mice. • CF extracts promoted liver damage repair and improved lipid metabolism in T2DM mice. • CF extracts improved T2DM by regulating AMPK/ACC/CPT-1 signaling pathway in mice. • CF is a promising medicinal and food homologous agent to improve diabetes. As a common endocrine disease, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) has a rising incidence year by year, which is producing various complications seriously threatening human health. Therefore, great attention has been paid to T2DM treatment, in which medicinal and food homologous plants play key roles because of their natural, healthy and widely used characteristics. Corni Fructus (CF) has been used centuries for the hypoglycemics and hypolipidemics. However, the detailed mechanism of CF on T2DM is still far from elucidated. This study aimed to investigate the effect of different extracts of CF on T2DM hepatic lipid metabolism and the underlying mechanisms. The results showed that CF can inhibit the body weight loss, decrease blood glucose and regulate serum lipid contents in T2DM mice. It also restored the islet function of the mice and reversed their abnormal lipid metabolism. Additionally, the mechanism of CF extracts to improve T2DM was explored, CF enhanced the activation of AMP-activating protein kinase and upregulated lipid oxidation related proteins, such as ACC and CPT-1, these data suggested that CF significantly improved T2DM mice at least partially through AMPK/ACC/CPT-1 signaling pathway. Taken together, our data demonstrated that CF may be a novel potential agent for T2DM treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The improper disposal of vast discarded cotton fabrics results in environmental pollution and waste of valuable cellulose resource. Full-degradable composites were hence developed from biodegradable matrices, poly (lactic acid) (PLA) and cellulose acetate (CA), with the reinforcement of the cotton fabrics treated by a low-temperature alkali/urea treatment. This treatment could provide cotton fabrics with a compacter structure, 18.4% enhancement in tensile strength, roughened fiber surface and raised hydrophilicity. After the treatment, the composites displayed 9.7–10.1% enhancement in tensile strengths, 36.3–66.5% rise in tensile moduli, 24.7–39.62% increment in flexural strengths and 42.4–52.1% improvement in flexural moduli. Compared to the PLA composites, the treated cotton fabric/CA composites displayed higher improvements in their properties due to better interfacial bonding between fabrics and the hydrophilic CA matrix, which was proven by a 42.8% increment in peeling strength. The stronger interfacial adhesion also prevented the invasion of microorganism and feculence, and reduced the degradation rate of the CA composites in soil. However, the hydrophilic nature made the CA composites more vulnerable to degradation in water. Considering the low cost, saved resource, less pollution, and acceptable properties for applications, the approach developed in this work possesses the potential to promote an environmentally friendly and sustainable reuse process for discarded cotton fabrics. Image 1 • Facing the disposal problems of the most consumed industrial cellulose fibers. • Environmentally friendly full-degradable composites. • Reused with the original fabric structures to shorten and simply the processing. • A low temperature treatment enhanced fabric strength and interfacial bonding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • TGF-β1 up-regulated LOXL1 expression in LX2 cells. • Knockdown of LOXL1 inhibited TGF-β1-induced proliferation of LX2 cells. • Knockdown of LOXL1 suppressed TGF-β1-induced fibrogenic response. • Knockdown of LOXL1 repressed TGF-β1-induced Smad2/3 phosphorylation. Abstract Liver fibrosis is pathological condition that seriously threatens human health. The lysyl oxidase (LOX) family has been reported to promote liver fibrosis. However, the effect of LOX-like 1 (LOXL1), a member of LOX family, on fibrogenesis of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) remains unknown. The current study aimed to investigate the role of LOXL1 in liver fibrosis and the potential mechanism. We found that the mRNA and protein levels of LOXL1 were increased in transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-β1)-stimulated human hepatic stellate cell line LX-2. Knockdown of LOXL1 inhibited the proliferation of TGF-β1-stimulated LX-2 cells. Knockdown of LOXL1 suppressed TGF-β1-induced expression of metalloproteinase type 1 (TIMP1), α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), and collagen type I (Col-I), as well as phosphorylation of Smad2 and Smad3 in LX-2 cells. In addition, the cell proliferation and fibrogenesis mediated by TGF-β1 stimulation and LOXL1 overexpression were abolished by knockdown of Smad2 and Smad3. Collectively, knockdown of LOXL1 suppressed cell proliferation and fibrogenesis in TGF-β1-stimulated HSCs via regulating the phosphorylation of Smad2/3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanocomposite buffer layer based on metal oxide and polymer is merging as a novel buffer layer for organic solar cells, which combines the high charge carrier mobility of metal oxide and good film formation properties of polymer. In this work, a nanocomposite of zinc oxide and a commercialized available polyethylenimine (PEI) was developed and used as the cathode buffer layer (CBL) for the inverted organic solar cells and p-i-n heterojunction perovskite solar cells. The cooperation of PEI in nano ZnO offers a good film forming ability of the composite material, which is an advantage in device fabrication. In addition, power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the ZnO:PEI CBL based device was also improved when compared to that of ZnO-only and PEI-only devices. The highest PCE of P3HT:PC 61 BM and PTB7-Th:PC 61 BM devices reached to 3.57% and 8.16%, respectively. More importantly, there is no obvious device performance loss with the increase of the layer thickness of ZnO:PEI CBL to 60 nm in organic solar cells, which is in contrast to the PEI based devices, whose device performance decreases dramatically when the PEI layer thickness is higher than 6 nm. Such a nano composite material is also applicable in inverted heterojunction perovskite solar cells. A PCE of 11.76% was achieved for the perovskite solar cell with a thick ZnO:PEI CBL (150 nm) CBL, which is around 1.71% higher than that of the reference cell without CBL, or with ZnO CBL. In addition, stability of the organic and perovskite solar cells having ZnO:PEI CBL was also found to be improved in comparison with that of PEI based device. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The differences between biofilm and suspended sludge (S-sludge) in extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), microbial activity, and microbial community in an anoxic-aerobic sequencing batch biofilm reactor (SBBR) at different concentrations of divalent cadmium (Cd(II)) were investigated. As the increase of Cd(II) concentration from 0 to 50 mg L −1 , the specific ammonium oxidation rate (SAOR), specific nitrite oxidation rate (SNOR), and specific nitrate reduction rate (SNRR) of biofilm decreased from 4.85, 5.22 and 45 mg N g −1 VSS h −1 to 1.54, 2.38 and 26 mg N g −1 VSS h −1 , respectively, and the SAOR, SNOR and SNRR of S-sludge decreased from 4.80, 5.02 and 34 mg N g −1 VSS h −1 to 1.46, 2.20 and 17 mg N g −1 VSS h −1 , respectively. Biofilm had higher protein (PN) content in EPS than S-sludge. Contrast to S-sludge, biofilm could provide Nitrobacter vulgaris , beta proteobacterium INBAF015, and Pseudoxanthomonas mexicana with the favorable conditions of growth and reproduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spatio-temporal behavior of glaciers in the Himalayas has varied greatly in response to reported climate warming and other modulating factors such as topography, debris cover, and glacier morphology. In this paper, 429 glaciers were examined in the Kanchenjunga region in the middle of the Himalayas. Geodetic methods, feature-based image matching, and multi-parametric integrated approaches were used to detect differences of glacier change and the dominant characteristics driving these differences based on digital elevation models (DEMs), Landsat TM/ETM+/OLI images, Envisat/ASAR and Sentinel-1 data. The results showed that the average change rates in glacier area and surface elevation in 1975–2015 were −0.18 ± 0.07% a−1 and − 0.32 ± 0.02 m a−1, respectively. The rates of areal shrinkage of glaciers and the glacier surface velocity on the northern side of the Himalayan crest were 1.25 and 1.7 times larger than those of the glaciers on the southern slopes, respectively, whereas the rates of glacier thinning were lower in the north than in the south. The temperature increase from 1975 to 2015 caused an overall widespread glacier retreat in the region. However, differences in the topography of the Kanchenjunga region led to spatial variability in glacier changes with discrepancies as large as several times. The features of individual glaciers, such as glacier size, debris cover, and development of ice-contact glacial lakes enhanced the local complexity of glacier change and elusive response behaviors of the glaciers to climate warming led by the different topographic conditions. Unlabelled Image • Multi-parametric integrated approach was used to detect the characteristics of glacier changes. • The air temperature increasing determines the overall shrinkage trend of glaciers in 1975–2015. • The rate of glacier area shrinkage increased whereas the rate of glacier surface thinning slowed since 2000. • The smaller glaciers characterized by faster area shrinkage rates but smaller surface thinning rates and velocities • The different local topographic conditions led to the discrepancies of glacier changing rates as large as several times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Semi-transparent perovskite solar cells with spray coated silver nanowire (AgNW) and AgNW/ZnO composite top electrode were fabricated and investigated. For the spray coated AgNW electrode, both sheet resistance (Rs) and averaged visible light transmittance over 400–800 nm (AVT) decrease with the decrease of nozzle moving speed, which is ascribed to the increase of AgNW density of the electrode. A highest power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 13.27% with a low AVT of 16.3% was achieved for a small area cell having AgNW top electrode with Rs of 15 Ω/□. A thin layer of ZnO nano particles was coated onto the AgNW electrode, which decreases the sheet resistance of the AgNW/ZnO composite electrode. Such a conductivity enhancement is ascribed to the improvement the interconnection between AgNWs by filling the voids between AgNW wires with ZnO nanoparticles. In the meanwhile, owing to the light scattering effect of ZnO nano particles, light transparence in the visible light range (400–800 nm) of the AgNW/ZnO composite electrode increases slightly after the deposition of ZnO layer. Both device performance and reproducibility of the perovskite solar cells are improved by using the AgNW/ZnO top electrode. As an example, power conversion efficiency of 7.30% with an AVT of 23.3% was achieved for a small solar cell using AgNW electrode with Rs of 78 Ω/□. While a highest PCE of 11.13% with the same AVT was achieved for the same cell after the deposition of ZnO layer, demonstrating the cover effect of ZnO layer. A high PCE of 8.18% was also achieved for a AgNW/ZnO based cell with an area of 1 cm 2 , which is more than 50% enhancement than the AgNW based cell (5.35%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The long-term effects of combined divalent copper (Cu(II)) and tetracycline (TC) on the performance, microbial activity and community in a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) were investigated. The addition of Cu(II), TC or mixed Cu(II)/TC caused the decrease of the organics and nitrogen removal efficiencies, and their decreased degrees were the lowest at the addition of mixed Cu(II)/TC. The increase of mixed Cu(II)/TC concentrations in the influent did not change the antagonistic effects between Cu(II) and TC on nitrifying and denitrifying activities. Nitrifiers had higher tolerances to Cu(II), TC and mixed Cu(II)/TC than denitrifiers. Compared to the addition of Cu(II) or TC alone, the microbial community richness was higher at the addition of mixed Cu(II)/TC, while the microbial community diversity was lower. The increased protein (PN) in extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) was a protective response of bacteria to Cu(II), TC and mixed Cu(II)/TC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Shiyang river basin is a typical arid inland river basin in northwestern China, where significant climate change and ecological environment deterioration has been observed over the past several decades. The vegetation in Shiyang river basin is mostly concentrated in its upstream, and plays an important role in ecological environment of this watershed. However, how the regional vegetation responds to such climatic change is poorly understood. To address this question, the spatiotemporal changes of vegetation growth in upper Shiyang river basin together with their responses to climate changes were investigated using SPOT VEGETATION Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and climate datasets from 1999 to 2013. Results reveal that about 81.3% of the study area shows an increasing trend in NDVI. The average NDVI of the study area increases at rates of 7.75% for the growing season (March–November), 11.75% for spring (March–May), 9.62% for summer (June–August), and 5.98% for autumn (September–November) over the study period. The increase of NDVI in spring and autumn suggests the growing season of the vegetation in this study area has been prolonged. The effects of climate changes on vegetation growth vary with the types of vegetation and seasons, which shows a large spatial and temporal heterogeneity. As compared with temperature, precipitation is the dominant climatic factor affecting the interannual variations of vegetation. If the temperature and precipitation continue to increase in the study area, the sensitivity of vegetation growth to temperature and precipitation may decline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] In2S3 sensitized solar cells were prepared by a low cost chemical bath deposition (CBD) methodology. [•] Amorphous Y2O3 layer was firstly used as a passivation layer in quantum dot sensitized solar cells. [•] A high FF of 65% was achieved in the solar cell. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Quantum dot sensitized nanocrystalline TiO2 solar cells (QDSSCs) are promising third-generation photovoltaic devices. A series of CdS/CdSe co-sensitized TiO2 photoanodes for QDSSCs were prepared by successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) processes. The growth of CdS and CdSe layers were monitored by taking UV–Visible absorption spectra and the SILAR cycles of CdS and CdSe show different impact on the performance of QDSSCs. With the deposition times of CdS increasing (from 4 to 7 cycles), the short-circuit current density of the device is enhanced. On the contrary, the increasing deposition times of CdSe (from 4 to 7 cycles) has a negative effect for the generation and collection of photoelectron. In addition, the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy technology was used to investigate the impedance of diffusion and recombination in the various devices. Moreover, the effect of SILAR cycles on the recombination resistance was discussed based on the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy results. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Periodic accelerations of a lake-terminating glacier are linked to rapid frontal retreats. • Proglacial lake-ice interactions can greatly modify the ice flow regime. • Recent terminus acceleration has likely induced glacier upstream dynamic thinning. • In contrast, a neighboring land-terminating glacier shows on-going deceleration. Most lake-terminating glaciers in the Himalaya retreat rapidly due to periodic frontal ice loss at their terminus, but long-term observations are still limited regarding their flow dynamics, which is crucial for understanding the processes of ice mass loss and proglacial lake growth. We present multi-decadal surface velocity dynamics of the Longbasaba Glacier, a rapid retreating lake-terminating glacier in the Chinese Himalaya, using an image feature tracking method applied on optical satellite images between 1989 and 2018. We show that, in companion with rapid retreat (−51.7 m a−1), its lower 5 km tongue experienced high interannual fluctuations in velocity, comprising periodic acceleration and slowdown in 1989-1995 and 2001-2010 and a recent remarkable acceleration since 2012. The temporal variation of longitudinal velocity distribution indicates an upward propagation of the lake-ward acceleration (namely a downglacier inversion of strain from compression to extension). This propagation is coupled to the retreat of the glacier front and occurs along the lowermost 1∼1.5 km lake-adjacent section as the proglacial lake expands. The most recent acceleration of the near-lake section since 2012 has likely facilitated a dynamic thinning on its upper sections, where flow acceleration started two years later in 2014. This pattern contrasts markedly with a nearby decelerating land-terminating glacier, which has experienced a much slower retreat rate (−7.8 m a−1) and the same magnitude of mean thinning rate at its lower part since 2000. Our results confirm the strong influence of the proglacial lake on ice flow dynamics and suggest that lake-ice interactions are important to consider when analyzing, interpreting or modeling dynamics of rapidly retreating lake-terminating glaciers in the Himalayas as well as around the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marine pollution and monitoring have received more and more concern in recent years. Herein, a fully automatic whole-algae biosensor was designed for low-cost and fast detection of toxic contaminants in seawater. It consists of a digital microfluidic (DMF) diluter chip, an actuation element, a detector element, and a microalgae bioreporter. A feedback-control protocol based on charging-time compensation was introduced. It ensures precise actuation of the droplet with diverse salty concentrations and contents in the marine environment. The two-mixer cross-split dilution engine increases the accuracy of droplet dispensing and concentration diluting. By selecting motility of P. subcordiformis as the sensor signal, the developed biosensor showed good sensitivity and robustness for a wide range of salinity (10–37‰), temperature (0–25 °C), light levels (0–325 μmol photons m−2 s−1), and cell density factor (1.0–4.0). The biosensor responses were examined in the presence of copper, lead, phenol, and nonylphenol (NP). In all cases, toxic responses (i.e. dose-related inhibition of algal motion) were detected with the detection limits of 0.65 μmol.L−1, 1.90 μmol.L−1, 2.85 mmol.L−1, and 5.22 μmol.L−1 respectively. These results were obtained in a much shorter time (2 h for our biosensor vs. 24 h-10 d for growth inhibition test) and the data are consistent with previous classical studies. We thus developed a simple, rapid, and adaptable system for marine routine monitoring and early-warning detection for lab and on-site applications. • We develop a DMF diluter based biosensor towards automatic marine pollutants monitoring. • We set algae motion as bioassay sensor signal. • Platymonas subcordiformis as a sensitive and robust bioreporter was encapsulated in sensor system. • The biosensor response was successfully examined in the presence of commonly concerned marine contaminants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]