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Methane's global warming potential (GWP) is much larger than carbon dioxide and contributes significantly to global warming. Solar chimney power plant (SCPP) integrated with photocatalytic reactors can capture and remove atmospheric methane, and generate electrical power without fossil energy consumption simultaneously. In this paper, the performance of the flow characteristics, the CH4 removal, the CO2 emission reduction, and the power generation were analyzed for the SCPP integrated with different types of photocatalytic reactors under ambient crosswind (ACW). The results revealed that the SCPP integrated with a honeycomb reactor was more stable for the degradation of CH4 than that with a plate reactor. With an increase in ACW, the removal rate of atmospheric CH4 was reduced to a constant value of 0.41 g/s for the honeycomb reactor and 0.11 g/s for the plate reactor. The SCPP integrated with a honeycomb reactor achieved a maximum power generation of 88.31 kW, which was 1.63 times than that of the conventional SCPP when G = 857 W/m2 and ACW = 0 m/s. In addition, the improved SCPP could reduce CO2 emissions by 85.04 kg/h when G = 857 W/m2, ACW = 0 m/s, and △P = 320 Pa.

Orchids are distributed worldwide, and some species have considerable economic value. Orchid seeds are minute in size, simple in structure, and deficient in nutrient reserves. Asymbiotic seed germination is an important propagation strategy for orchids. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play an essential role in seed germination. However, few studies have examined miRNAs involved in seed germination in orchids. Here, we conducted comparative small RNA sequencing at five stages to characterize the miRNAs involved in asymbiotic seed germination in Bletilla striata. A total of 253 known and 125 novel miRNAs were identified. Of them, 71 known and 29 novel miRNAs showed distinct expression among the five stages. Quantitative PCR revealed negative correlations of expression between differentially expressed miRNAs (DE miRNAs) and their targets. Function annotation and enrichment analyses of the targets of DE miRNAs between adjacent stages indicate that miRNA-target regulations are involved in many important processes during germination, such as signaling, biosynthesis, and transport of plant hormones. Twenty-two miRNAs were inferred to participate in plant hormone-related processes. The contents of abscisic acid, gibberellin A3, indole-3-acetic acid, jasmonic acid, trans zeatin riboside, and N6-(Δ2-isopentenyl) adenine varied significantly among the five stages. Nine tested plant hormone-related miRNAs and their targets exhibited significant correlations with at least one plant hormone. 5'-RLM-RACE validated that a transcript encoding auxin response factor was cleaved by Bst-miR160e as predicted. For the first time, we characterized miRNAs associated with the asymbiotic seed germination of an orchid species, which will help understand the miRNA-mediated regulatory mechanism of seed germination in orchids.

The structure, surface topography and magnetic properties of LaCoO3 (LCO) thin films deposited epitaxially on the SrTiO3 substrates have been investigated in detail. The LCO thin films show a typical ferromagnetic-paramagnetic (FM-PM) phase transition at 78 K. Based on the measurements of isothermal magnetization around the Curie point, the magnetic entropy change (ΔSM) of LCO thin films under various applied magnetic fields were obtained. By utilizing scaling theory, all of the ΔSM curves can be re-scaled, confirming that the FM-PM phase transition is second-order magnetic phase transition. Moreover, the magnetic entropy change -ΔSM features a maximum around TC, whereas, power law fitting of - Δ S M max with H gives n = 0.9704, which is obviously deviating from the standard value n = 2/3 for the Landau mean field model. This indicates that the mean field theory cannot be used to explain the critical behavior of LCO thin films which implies that the critical behavior of LCO thin films may involve complex magnetic interactions. These interactions are correlated with a long-term puzzling finding in this system why its Curie point is always around 80 K regardless of the different fabrication methods and conditions used in the film growth.

Discovering protein complexes from protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks is one of the primary tasks in bioinformatics. However, most of the state-of-the-art methods still face some challenges, such as the inability to discover overlapping protein complexes, failure to consider the inherent structure of real protein complexes, and non-utilization of biological information. Based on the above mentioned aspects, we present a novel graph clustering method with a greedy heuristic search algorithm for mining protein complexes using a new clustering model in dynamic and static weighted PPI networks (named MPC-C). First, MPC-C constructed dynamic and static weighted PPI networks by combining biological and topological information. Second, initial clusters were obtained using core and multifunctional proteins, following which we proposed a greedy heuristic search algorithm to expand each initial cluster and form candidate protein complexes in dynamic and static weighted PPI networks. Finally, unreliable and highly overlapping protein complexes were discarded. To demonstrate the performance of MPC-C, we tested this method on five PPI networks and compared it with nine other effective methods. The experimental results indicate that MPC-C outperformed the other state-of-the-art methods with respect to various computational and biologically relevant metrics.

Crystal phases growth with corresponding preferential orientations plays a key role in determining functional characteristics of thin films. Here, a detailed comparison study on optical transmission and carrier transport of Ba0.96La0.04SnO3 (BLSO) films which was fabricated on (001) and (111)-oriented SrTiO3 substrate were reported. Two kinds of films all show a high optical transmittance (~ 82.5%) in the visible region. However, the optical transmittance of (001)-oriented film depends strongly on film thickness while the (111)-oriented film shows independence of film thickness. Although their electronic transports display a typical metallic behavior, the actual resistivity of (111)-film is two times larger than that of (001)-film. Based on the density functional calculation, we find that the charge distributions of Sn and O are much more denser on (001)-plane than (111)-plane, indicating that (001)-plane not only has a larger carrier concentration but also the electrons transport more easily on it. A phenomenological model was also applied to quantify the resistivity ration ρ111/ρ001 = 1.7, basically comparable to the experimental value of 2.5. Our results will offer experimental basis and theoretical reference for the design and application of perovskite BLSO transparent conducting films.

Nasal administration of Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has a long history of applications. With the gradual maturing of technology and pharmacological advances, nasal preparations of TCM have undergone significant changes. Nasal TCM formulations are used not only for treatment of pneumonia, asthma, sinusitis and allergic rhinitis but also Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease, as antidepressants and antiepileptics, and in ischemia reperfusion. However, according to the analysis of nasal preparations of TCM currently on the market, most of them were compound preparations, which were used to treat allergic rhinitis (AR), common cold, headache and other local treatments, with a small range of diseases. At the same time, the dosage forms were mainly traditional dosage forms, aerosols and sprays, but there were no new dosage forms, which can not meet the clinical needs in terms of variety number, variety diversity and disease types. In this manuscript, we reviewed the development and applications of different nasal preparations of TCM from the aspects of nasal structure, origin, factors affecting absorption and common dosage forms, pharmacodynamics, targeting of nasal delivery and safety. In the near future, we expect that more nasal preparations of Chinese medicine with independent intellectual property rights will be marketed to meet the needs of clinical disease management.

Polysaccharides as a functional prebiotic have numerous activities such as regulating intestinal microorganisms and polysaccharide is one of the functional active components in tea has been known. In this study, we aimed to investigate the physicochemical characteristics of polysaccharides from four kinds of Tibetan teas at simulated digestion stages and the effect on the microbiota of fecal fermentation stages in vitro. The results revealed that Tibetan tea polysaccharides were partially digested during digestion. Additionally, during in vitro fecal microbial fermentation, Tibetan tea polysaccharides can promote the growth of some beneficial bacteria such as Bifidobacterium, Prevotella and Phascolarctobacterium to change the composition of intestinal microorganisms and promote the production of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). Finally, a strong correlation was found between the production of SCFAs and microorganisms including Bacteroides, Bifidobacterium and Lachnoclostridium. These results suggest that Tibetan tea polysaccharides could be developed as a prebiotic to regulate human gut microbiota.

Electrochemiluminescence resonance energy transfer (ECL-RET) between quantum dots (QDs) was firstly proposed. In this work, boron nitride quantum dots (BNQDs) as the donor and nitrogen doped graphene quantum dots (NGQDs) as the acceptor were confirmed by the absorption spectrum, the emission spectrum and fluorescence spectrum. Based on the reaction between FA and the SO4•− in the ECL system of NGQDs/BNQDs/K2S2O8, the ECL sensing platform for FA was successfully constructed. Surprisingly, a stable and strong ECL signal was obtained based on the RET, which was used for signal-off detection of FA in the presence of coreactant K2S2O8. Notably, about 10-fold enhancement was observed compared with the absence of BNQDs. The proposed sensor showed wide linear ranges of 1.0 × 10−11 M to 1.0 × 10−4 M and a low detection limit of 5.13 × 10−12 M. Simultaneously, the sensor was successfully applied to detection of FA in human serum samples with excellent recoveries. Therefore, the NGQDs/BNQDs system provided a new perspective for development of novel ECL-RET sensors.

The bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling pathway plays pivotal roles in various biological processes during embryogenesis and adult homeostasis. Transmembrane anterior posterior transformation 1 (TAPT1) is an evolutionarily conserved protein involved in murine axial skeletal patterning. Genetic defects in TAPT1 result in complex lethal osteochondrodysplasia. However, the specific cellular activity of TAPT1 is not clear. Herein, we report that TAPT1 inhibits BMP signaling and destabilizes the SMAD1/5 protein by facilitating its interaction with SMURF1 E3 ubiquitin ligase, which leads to SMAD1/5 proteasomal degradation. In addition, we found that the activation of BMP signaling facilitates the redistribution of TAPT1 and promotes its association with SMAD1. TAPT1-deficient murine C2C12 myoblasts or C3H/10T1/2 mesenchymal stem cells exhibit elevated SMAD1/5/9 protein levels, which amplifies BMP activation, in turn leading to a boost in the transdifferentiation or differentiation processing of these distinct TAPT1-deficient cell lines changing into mature osteoblasts. Furthermore, the enhancing effect of TAPT1 deficiency on osteogenic differentiation of C3H/10T1/2 cells was observed in an in vivo ectopic bone formation model. Importantly, a subset of TAPT1 mutations identified in humans with lethal skeletal dysplasia exhibited gain-of-function activity on SMAD1 protein levels. Thus, this finding elucidates the role of TAPT1 in the regulation of SMAD1/5 protein stability for controlling BMP signaling.

Equilibrium in microbial dynamics and nitrogen transformation in the sediment is critical for maintaining healthy mariculture environment. However, our understanding about the impact of heavy metals on the bacterial community and nitrogen transformation functional genes in different mariculture patterns is still limited. Here, we analyzed 30 sediment samples in the vertical distribution from three different mariculture patterns mainly include open mariculture zone (K), closed mariculture pond (F) and pristine marine area (Q). Illumina MiSeq Sequencing was applied to investigate the bacterial community and structure in the sediment. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was used to determine the effect of heavy metals on nitrogen transformation functional genes. Results showed that bacterial community and structure varied greatly in different mariculture patterns. Chloroflexi, Proteobacteria and Desulfobacterota were predominant phyla in the coastal mariculture area. High concentrations of heavy metals mainly enriched in the up layer (5-40 cm) of the sediment in the mariculture zone. The abundance of functional genes in the closed mariculture pond was much higher than the open mariculture zone and pristine marine area. And the high abundance of nitrification and denitrification functional genes mainly accumulated at the depth from 5 cm to 40 cm. Heavy metals content such as Fe, Cr, Mn, Ni, As, Cd, Pb and nutrient content NH

Nitrogen-doped aqueous alkyd resin carbons are prepared by polymerization methods with biorenewable, biodegradable, and cheap raw materials (soybean oil) as precursor, and NH3·H2O as nitrogen source, and ZnCl2 as template pore-forming agent, followed by carbonization process. The effect of carbonization temperature on the pore structures and electrochemical properties of nitrogen-doped aqueous alkyd resin carbons is studied. Carbon materials prepared at higher carbonization temperature (PC-800) exhibits the higher graphitization and better porosity. The PC-800 maintains a high discharge specific capacity after 300 charge and discharge at a low current density. In addition, it shows good cycling stability, high rate capability and excellent reversible capacity, due to the good pore structure and N doping. Nitrogen-doped aqueous alkyd resin carbons with superior electrochemical performances as anode active material of lithium ion battery provide a new strategy to solve energy shortages.

Magnetic skyrmions, being one of the most promising candidates for the next generation memory-type application due to their nanometer-size and efficient current-driven dynamics, are mainly found and studied in alloy helimagnets in which the spin-orbit coupling induced by Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) enables noncollinear spin alignment and skyrmion formation. In this paper, we report a possible finding of skyrmions crystal near room-temperature in centrosymmetric structures perovskite manganite La 0.8 Sr 0.2 MnO 3 (LSMO). Based on the measurements of isothermal magnetization around the Curie temperature (∼298 K), an unusual magnetic behavior of a discontinuous magnetization was observed and existed only at moderate magnetic field region together with a narrow temperature range from 306 to 290 K. Apart from this range, all curves return to conventional magnetic behavior of continuous change with external magnetic field. This characteristic has been frequently observed in some reported helimagnets (such as FeGe, MnSi), implying the possible existence of skyrmions crystal in LSMO. To further unveil the physical origin and underlying mechanisms, we performed the first-principles calculation for LSMO compound and a large DMI ( Δ E DMI = 13.46 meV, d 1 = 1.68 meV) was found to exists at the interface of LaMnO 3 / SrMnO 3 layers. This result not only supports our experimental findings in the present composition but also is consistent with the formation mechanism of magnetic skyrmions.

PTHs are massively deployed for disaster-relief after various natural disasters. Following a previous experimental study on applying PCMs to an experimental PTH, where only a very limited number of designs were experimentally examined, in this paper, different designs of applying PCMs to a disaster-relief PTH were numerically examined and the best one identified for guiding future practical applications. A numerical model for a full-scale PTH was established using EnergyPlus and experimentally validated. Using the validated model, a two-part numerical study was carried out. In the first part, a total of 16 different designs were defined and D10 identified as the most effective one, resulting in the highest number of acceptable hours at 90. In the second part, increasing PCM's thickness to beyond 20 mm would lead to negligible effects on further improving indoor thermal environment. Hence, 20 mm thickness was recommended as a reference value for future practical applications. Furthermore, the developed EnergyPlus based model for the experimental PTH may be adapted for other types of PTHs used in different climates. Hence, the outcomes of the numerical study may also guide the future applications of PCM to disaster-relief PTHs of various configurations, and located in different climates.