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In this work, a CoNxC active sites-rich three-dimensional porous carbon nanofibers network derived from bacterial cellulose and bimetal-ZIFs is prepared via a nucleation growth strategy and a pyrolysis process. The material displays excellent electrocatalytic activity for the oxygen reduction reaction, reaching a high limiting diffusion current density of −7.8 mA cm−2, outperforming metal–organic frameworks derived multifunctional electrocatalysts, and oxygen evolution reaction and hydrogen evolution reaction with low overpotentials of 380 and 107 mV, respectively. When the electrochemical properties are further evaluated, the electrocatalyst as an air cathode for Zn-air batteries exhibits a high cycling stability for 63 h as well as a maximum power density of 308 mW cm−2, which is better than those for most Zn-air batteries reported to date. In addition, a power density of 152 mW cm−2 is provided by the solid-state Zn-air batteries, and the cycling stability is outstanding for 24 h. The remarkable electrocatalytic properties are attributed to the synergistic effect of the 3D porous carbon nanofibers network and abundant inserted CoNxC active sites, which enable the fast transmission of ions and mass and simultaneously provide a large contact area for the electrode/electrolyte.

Silicosis is a fatal profession-related disease linked to long-term inhalation of silica. The present study aimed to determine whether meprin α, a master regulator of anti-fibrotic peptide N-acetyl-seryl-aspartyl-lysyl-proline (Ac-SDKP), is diminished by miR-155-5p in silicotic and control lung macrophages and fibroblasts upon activation. NR8383 macrophages, primary lung fibroblasts, and mouse embryonic fibroblasts were used to evaluate the expression and function of meprin α and miR-155-5p. In vitro meprin α manipulation was performed by recombinant mouse meprin α protein, actinonin (its inhibitor), and small interfering RNA knockdown. Macrophage and fibroblast activation was assessed by western blotting, real-time PCR, matrix deposition, and immunohistochemical staining. The roles of meprin α and miR-155-5p were also investigated in mice exposed to silica. We found that the meprin α level was stably repressed in silicotic rats. In vitro, silica decreased meprin α, and exogenous meprin α reduced activation of macrophages and fibroblasts induced by profibrotic factors. miR-155-5p negatively regulated Mep1a by binding to the 3′ untranslated region. Treatment with anti-miR-155-5p elevated meprin α, ameliorated macrophage and fibroblast activation, and attenuated lung fibrosis in mice induced by silica. The sustained repression of meprin α and beneficial effects of its rescue by inhibition of miR-155-5p during silicosis indicate that miR-155-5p/meprin α are two of the major regulators of silicosis.

Agroforestry systems provide a wide range of soil multiple functions (that is, soil multi-functionality) to human society, including the regulation of nutrients and water in soils and the sequestration of atmospheric carbon dioxide, whereas how these effects varied with agroforestry practices and environmental conditions remain unclear. Here, by comparing the soil multi-functionality in agroforestry systems to forests through the field experiment and global scale meta-analysis, we tested, 1) how agroforestry affected soil multi-functionality in a single field study and at the global scale, 2) whether the effects of agroforestry on soil multi-functionality changed in different agroforestry practices, 3) whether the effects of agroforestry on soil multi-functionality varied with environmental conditions. Our study showed that most of the soil functions in agroforestry systems is higher than in forests at the global scale, but show no significant differences between agroforestry and planted forests in our field study. We also found that the effects of agroforestry on soil multi-functionality were varied with agroforestry practices, showing a greater positive in forest-herbage systems than in other practices. In addition, the positive effects of agroforestry on soil organic carbon and total phosphorus declined with the extension of experimental duration. Furthermore, our analysis found that climate conditions had a minor effect on the effects of agroforestry on soil functions. Our analysis revealing that the effects of agroforestry on soil functions depend on agroforestry practices, highlighting that the effects of agroforestry may be diminished with age, and suggesting that the evaluation of ecological impacts of agroforestry should be based on long-term experiments across multiple practices.

Parenting is a demanding task associated with parents' mental health, which is likely exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. The present study investigated daily parenting hassles and their effects on parents' mental health during this period.A total of 7314 parents with children aged 3-14 years old completed a sociodemographic questionnaire and reported on their perceived daily parenting hassles, mental health, family support, and co-parenting during the COVID-19 school closure.Most parents (73.4%) showed different degrees of daily hassles, and a relatively higher prevalence of depression (18.7%), anxiety (22.4%), and stress (12.1%) were found. Motherhood, parents' younger ages, lower education parents, job loss, and having younger children, boys, and multiple children were associated with elevated daily parenting hassles and mental health issues. Importantly, daily parenting hassles were uniquely associated with mental health problems after controlling for various sociodemographic characteristics, family support, and co-parenting. Furthermore, family support and co-parenting can attenuate daily parenting hassles, which, in turn, protect parents' mental health.The findings of the present study underscore the critical need to consider daily parenting hassles and their effects on the mental health of parents during the COVID-19 lockdown. The present study also outlines potential factors (family support and co-parenting) that attenuate parents' daily parenting hassles and protect their mental health during the COVID-19 lockdown.

We performed liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) on control and TGF-β1-exposed rat lung fibroblasts to identify proteins differentially expressed between cell populations. A total of 1648 proteins were found to be differentially expressed in response to TGF-β1 treatment and 196 proteins were expressed at ≥ 1.2 fold relative to control. Guided by these results, we next determined whether similar changes in protein expression were detectable in the rat lung after chronic exposure to silica dust. Of the five proteins selected for further analysis, we found that levels of all proteins were markedly increased in the silica-exposed rat lung, including the proteins for the very low density lipoprotein receptor (VLDLR) and the transmembrane (type I) heparin sulfate proteoglycan called syndecan 2 (SDC2). Because VLDLR and SDC2 have not, to our knowledge, been previously linked to the pathobiology of silicosis, we next examined whether knockdown of either gene altered responses to TGF-β1 in MRC-5 lung fibroblasts. Interestingly, we found knockdown of either VLDLR or SDC2 dramatically reduced collagen production to TGF-β1, suggesting that both proteins might play a novel role in myofibroblast biology and pathogenesis of silica-induced pulmonary fibrosis. In summary, our findings suggest that performing LC-MS/MS on TGF-β1 stimulated lung fibroblasts can uncover novel molecular targets of activated myofibroblasts in silica-exposed lung.HighlightsWe identified 196 proteins differentially expressed between control and TGF-β1 treated fibroblastsby LC-MS/MS.Several proteins identified by LC-MS/MS were also found to be differentially expressed in whole lung tissues and isolated fibroblasts after chronic exposure to silica dust, including the very low density lipoprotein receptor (VLDLR) and the transmembrane type I heparan sulfate proteoglycan called syndecan 2Knockdown of SDC2 or VLDLR markedly inhibited collagen production in MRC-5 fibroblasts, suggesting a novel pathogenic role for these proteins in myofibroblast biology.

In this paper, we propose a novel method to detect abnormal events from videos based on two global grid motion templates (GGMTs) which are able to capture the motion distribution, space and scale information. The GGMTs contain the maximum and minimum grid motion templates which can effectively distinguish the anomalies from the normal motion distribution. One GGMT is composed of several non-overlap local grid motion templates with each one corresponding to a special location. Each local grid motion template is represented by a motion histogram obtained by computing the maximum/minimum motion distribution from the training samples. Experiments on the public datasets show that our method can effectively detect abnormal events in complex scenes.

In this paper, a hierarchical method for human body segmentation in static images is proposed. Based on the face detection, a torso model is developed to locate the torso to provide the foreground seeds for torso segmentation with graph cuts. Similarly, an upper leg model is designed for lower body segmentation based on the segmented torso. Besides, a general method which combines shape information into graph cuts is presented, which can make the segmentation more accurate. The main contributions of this paper include two models and a new method of integrating shape information into graph cuts. Experiments on our collected real world images show that our method can accurately recover human body from static images with a variety of individuals, poses, backgrounds and clothing.

The three-dimensional (3D) flexible piezoresistive sensors have promising potentials in wearable electronics because of their abundant structure forms and sensing functions. It is desired to develop 3D flexible piezoresistive sensors with high sensitivity and good stability. Herein, highly sensitive, stable and 3D flexible piezoresistive sensor with novel surface-filled (SF) graphene nanosheets (GNs) conductive layer was fabricated by fused deposition molding (FDM) 3D printing. Due to the surface-filled GNs conductive layer, the flexible piezoresistive sensor shows high stretchability of 1960% strain, good sensitivity of 175.57 kPa−1 at an applied pressure 2000 cycles), the short mechanical response time (105 ms) and recovery time (66 ms). Compared with the SF-CNTs@styrene-ethylene-butylene-styrene (SEBS) sensor, the sensitivity of the SF-GNs@SEBS sensor is increased by 15.6%, and the GF values are increased by 167% (0–50%) and 974% (50–100%) respectively, indicating that GNs is more suitable for the sensor with the SF structure than CNTs. After 2000 compression/release cycles, the response signal of the GNs surface-filled sensor is basically not degraded, while the response signal of the GNs surface-coated sensor is degraded by 50%, indicating that the GNs surface-filled sensor has a far better stability than the GNs surface-coated sensor. Besides, the piezoresistive sensor was demonstrated the applications in detecting human activities, such as speaking, finger tapping, cheek bulging, and neck bending, exhibiting its great potential for application in health monitoring.

We investigate ( 1 + 1 ) dimensional higher order nonlinear Schrodinger equation with higher order nonlinear interaction which models systems incorporating higher order dispersion and nonlinear effects. Through the F-expansion method, we analytically solved the higher order nonlinear Schrodinger equation model andidentify bright soliton type solution under certain parametric setting, demonstrating the practical significance of the theoretical treatment presented in this study.

This work first reported ethylene as hydrate formation guest gas for facilitating orange juice concentration process. Ethylene hydrate with orange juice equilibrium conditions under this process were measured by employing the classic isochoric pressure search method. Based on the obtained equilibrium conditions, the effects of feed ethylene pressure and temperature on dehydration ratio were investigated. The gas consumption curves were recorded and distinctly from that CO2 hydrate formation process in the presence orange juice, which could be caused by the multiple nucleation of ethylene hydrate crystal. The dehydration ratio increased with the increase of the feed ethylene pressure. Maximum dehydration ratio of 92.8% was found at 4.43 MPa. Dehydration ratio ranged from 52.5% to 61.8% in the temperature range of 0.5–10.0 °C. The results demonstrated that ethylene hydrate formation can be an efficient technology on water removal for orange juice concentration.

Background: Pneumoconiosis is a chronic occupational lung disease caused by long-term inhalation of dust in the workplace. Identifying accurate and reliable biomarkers would enable earlier detection before irreversible deteced radiology changes occurred in the lung. Methods: We created a rat model that closely approximates the exposure and development of pneumoconiosis in humans. iTRAQ coupled with LC-MS technology was used to screen differentially-expressed proteins and validate them with patient bronchopulmonary lavage fluid and serum samples to assess whether these differentially expressed proteins were appropriate biomarkers for the diagnosis of pneumoconiosis. Findings: Totally, 471 proteins were differentially expressed in the pneumoconiosis group compared to controls. Twenty proteins with increased expression levels and eight with decreased levels exhibited a ≥ 1.5 foldchange relative to controls. We next determined whether similar changes in protein expression were detectable in human bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and serum. The levels of PTPN2, VRK1 and factor B were significantly higher in pneumoconiosis patients. The highest area under the curve(AUC) and diagnostic accuracy was the combined diagnosis of all three proteins. Interpretation: We found PTPN2, factor B, and VRK1 could be predictive biomarkers for pneumoconiosis. The three-factor combined diagnosis was found to be the most efficient for early diagnosis. Funding Statement: This work was supported by the "precision medicine" projects under the national key research and development programme of China (No. 2016YFC0900605); the Hebei Medical Science Research Foundation (No. 20190108); The Science and Technology Foundation of Tangshan (No. 18130206a); Postgraduate Innovation Foundation of North China University of Technology (No. 2017B20). Declaration of Interests: The authors declare that they have no conflicts interest. Ethics Approval Statement: Animal studies were performed with a protocol approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of the North China University of Science and Technology, Tangshan, China (No. LX201868), all animals were carefully handled in compliance with the guidelines. All participants provided written informed consent, including consent to provide bronchopulmonary lavage fluid and serum to test for biomarkers predictive of pneumoconiosis, and studies carried out in accordance with The Code of Ethics of the World Medical Association (Declaration of Helsinki) for experiments involving humans. All studies were approved by the Ethics Committee of North China University of Science and Technology, Tangshan, China (No.2018021).

Silicosis is a fatal profession-related disease linked to long term inhalation of silica. The present study aimed to determine whether meprin α, a master regulator of anti-fibrotic peptide N-acetyl-serylaspartyl-lysyl-proline (Ac-SDKP), is diminished by miR-155-5p in silicosis and control lung macrophages and fibroblasts upon activation. RAW 264.7 macrophages, primary lung fibroblasts, and mouse embryonic fibroblasts were used to evaluate the expression and function of meprin α and miR-155-5p. In vitro meprin α manipulation was performed by recombinant mouse meprin α protein, actinonin (its inhibitor), and small interfering RNA knockdown. Macrophage and fibroblast activation was assessed by western blotting, real-time PCR, matrix deposition, immunohistochemistry, and immunofluorescence staining. The roles of meprin α and miR-155-5p were also investigated in mice exposed to silica. We found that the meprin α level was stably repressed in silicotic rats.In vitro, silica decreased meprin α, and exogenous meprin α reduced activation of macrophages and fibroblasts induced by profibrotic factors. MiR-155-5p negatively regulated Mep1a by binding to the 3′ untranslated region. Treatment with anti-miR-155-5p elevated meprin α, ameliorated macrophage and fibroblast activation, and attenuated lung fibrosis in mice induced by silica. The sustained repression of meprin α and beneficial effects of its rescue by inhibition of miR-155-5p during silicosis indicate that miR-155-5p/meprin α are major regulators of silicosis. Funding Statement: This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81472953), the Natural Science Foundation of Hebei Province (No. H20162091705), Science and Technology Research Project of Hebei Province universities (No. ZD2019077), and the Preeminence Youth Foundation of North China University of Science and Technology (JP201513). Declaration of Interests: The authors declare they have no competing interests. Ethics Approval Statement: All experimental and surgical procedures were approved (2013-038 and 2017-025) by the Ethics Committee for Animal Experimentation of North China University of Science and Technology, which complies with the US National Institutes of Health Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals.

While lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) have been widely used in commercial devices, finding suitable anode materials for alkali metal batteries is still challenging. Therefore, Ni3S2/Ni@N-doped carbon composite electrode was fabricated as the anode for alkali metal batteries. It was found that the Ni3S2/Ni@N-doped carbon electrode achieved a capacity of 742 mAh g−1 at the 1500th cycle at the current density of 1000 mA g−1 for LIBs, and obtained 275 mAh g−1 at the 250th cycle during 500 mA g−1 for Na+ storage. Moreover, it showed 52 mAh g−1 after 50 cycles at 100 mA g−1 for K+ storage. The excellent performances of this electrode is likely due to the combined effect of Ni and C layer. This work provides a simple approach approach for the design of high-performance materials that can be applied to commercial production as a potential substitute for the current alkali ion battery anodes.

A mutual template route was designed to prepare Ni-P/Fe(OH)3-Cu nanotube arrays with a high electrocatalytic activity for OER. In 1.0 M KOH solution, the as-obtained hybrid electrocatalyst required only a low overpotential of 271 mV to achieve a current density of 20 mA cm−2 with a small Tafel slope of 57.7 mV dec−1. After 1000 CV cycles at the scan rate of 100 mV s−1, the overpotential of the catalyst hardly increased; and after continuously catalyzing for 130 h at 20 mA cm−2, the potential only slightly increased, implying that the as-obtained hybrid electrocatalyst possessed excellent cycle stability and long-term stability. The above outstanding electrocatalytic activity should be ascribed to its special tubular structure and the synergicaction between Ni-P alloy and Fe(OH)3 nanotubes. Moreover, the presence of elemental copper, which was formed by the in-situ electrochemical reduction of Cu(OH)2, also enhanced the catalytic performance due to its excellent electrical conductivity.

Neovascular age-related macular degeneration (neoAMD) is the leading cause of blindness in AMD and manifests as choroidal neovascularization (CNV). Anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) therapies are the mainstay treatments but with limited efficacy and cause detrimental effects on the retina after long-term application. These disadvantages warrant alternative strategy. Herein, we examined the effect on CNV by intravitreal injection of bortezomib, a reversible proteasome inhibitor, and further dissected the mechanism. Krypton red Laser was used to create CNV model in mice. The angiogenesis volume was assessed in choroidal flat-mount with isolectin GS-IB4 labeling and the leakage was examined with fluorescein fundus angiography. Injection of Borsub inhibited angiogenesis in the CNV model which was dose-dependent; the injection significantly inhibited leakage as well. Furthermore, Borsub injection reduced the contents of VEGF-A, macrophage chemotactic factor 1 (MCP-1), and platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-D but not PDGF-B, examined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, in choroid/retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) tissue. These injections also reduced phospho-VEGFR-2 and phospho-PDGFRβ in choroid/RPE tissue examined by immunoblotting. Moreover, Borsub inhibited the recruitment of mural cells or macrophages to laser-injured spots. Injection of Borsub indicated negative effect on scotopic and photopic responses recorded by electroretinogram. Altogether, intravitreal injection of Borsub significantly reduced CNV by antagonizing VEGF-A/Flk-1 and PDGF-D/PDGFRβ pathways without impacting electroretinography parameters. Thus, Borsub may offer an invaluable therapy for the prevention and treatment of neoAMD.

Previous studies studies indicate that individuals tend to integrate positive information into their self-concept. However, whether such self-positivity bias would still be observed without an explicit self-related cue is unknown. In the present study, 29 participants were asked to evaluate a series of positive and negative trait adjectives, after the participants were presented with their own name or another name subliminally. During the task, their electroencephalograms were recorded. The results showed participants responded faster to positive traits than to negative traits in the self-name cue conditions. In addition, both the latencies and the amplitudes of the N400 showed significant interaction between name-cue and valence in N400 (240−440 ms) amplitudes. The earlier N400 latencies and smaller N400 amplitudes were associated with positive traits in the self-name cue. These results suggested that the self-positivity bias can also be observed in a subliminally presenting self-cue, indicating the robustness of self-positivity bias.

Integrating letters and sounds are essential for successful reading in alphabetic languages. It remains unclear if native speakers of non-alphabetic languages integrate letters and sounds in reading an alphabetic language in the same way as native alphabetic readers do. Chinese is a morpho-syllabic system (each character corresponds to one syllable) and contrasts sharply with alphabetic languages such as English. Several fMRI studies have shown that native Chinese speakers apply their native language system to read English words. By using the cross-modal mismatch negativity (MMN) paradigm, we directly investigated letter–sound integration for reading in English among native Chinese speakers. To investigate the effect of native language background on letter–sound integration in second language reading, a group of native Korean English learners served as a comparison group. We compared MMN responses between an auditory only condition (only vowels presented) and two audiovisual conditions (AV0, vowel presented synchronously with the corresponding letter; AV200, the letter presented 200 ms before the corresponding vowel) for both native Chinese and native Korean speakers. Native Chinese speakers demonstrated significantly attenuated MMN amplitudes in audiovisual conditions compared with the auditory only condition, regardless of their phonological decoding speed. In contrast, native Korean speakers showed amplified amplitude MMN in AV200 compared with that in the auditory only condition. The results suggest that native language may shape the brain responses of second language learners to reading a second language in the early stages. Native non-alphabetic language speakers may be unable to use visual information to facilitate their phonological processing in the early stage while native alphabetic language speakers are capable of integrating letter sounds automatically.

Grass-like Ni/Cu nanosheet arrays were successfully grown on copper foam by a simple galvanostatic electrodeposition route. Experiments showed that the as-deposited grass-like Ni/Cu nanosheet arrays possessed excellent electrocatalytic activity for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). In 1 M KOH solution, the nanosheet arrays only required a low overpotential of 38 mV to deliver a current density of -10 mA cm-2. Simultaneously, the present catalyst also presented a high durability. After continuously catalyzing for 50 h at a current density of -30 mA cm-2, the overpotential had no obvious increase. The above outstanding electrocatalytic activity should be attributed to the special grass-like structure of the catalyst, which exposed more effective active sites, promoted electrolyte penetration and facilitated gas diffusion. Compared with other catalysts with complex compositions, the present Ni/Cu binary catalyst is easily synthesized, cost-efficient and highly active for HER, which provides a new selection for electrochemical water splitting in practical applications.

Objective The role and molecular mechanism of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA)-related pathways in silicosis have not been elucidated clearly. The aims of this study were to evaluate the expression of lncRNAs during silica-induced pulmonary fibrosis and verify the function and molecular mechanism of LOC103691771 in myofibroblast differentiation induced by transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1). Methods RNA-sequencing was performed to assess differential expression of lncRNAs in control and silicotic rat lungs. Differential expression of lncRNAs was analyzed by Gene Ontology and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes to identify their biological roles. LOC103691771, LOC102549714, LOC102550137, LOC103693125, and LOC103692016 were selected to verify their expression by real-time PCR of silicotic rat lung tissue and lung fibroblasts stimulated by TGF-β1. Specific small interfering RNA and an LOC103691771 overexpression plasmid were used to analyze the molecular mechanism in myofibroblast differentiation induced by TGF-β1. Result A total of 306 lncRNAs were expressed differentially in silicotic rat lungs, including 224 upregulated and 82 downregulated lncRNAs. The expression of LOC103691771, LOC102549714 and LOC102550137 was upregulated, while the expression of LOC103693125 and LOC103692016 was downregulated in silicotic rat lungs and TGF-β1-induced fibroblast, which was consistent with the results of RNA-sequencing. Furthermore, LOC103691771 gene silencing attenuated myofibroblast differentiation, whereas LOC103691771 overexpression promoted myofibroblast differentiation via regulation of the TGF-β1-Smad2/3 signaling pathway. Conclusion Our findings revealed that differential expression of lncRNAs was related to the development of silicosis, and LOC103691771 played a major role in myofibroblast differentiation induced by TGF-β1, which may serve as a potential therapeutic target for silicosis.

A nanostructured Ag loaded Bi3NbO7 photocatalyst was synthesized by the co-precipitation combined with photodeposition method, and characterized by XRD, XPS, SEM, BET nitrogen adsorption–desorption, and UV–vis DRS. Photocatalytic activities of the Ag/Bi3NbO7 samples were evaluated by the degradation of methyl orange under visible light irradiation. It was shown that the best photocatalytic activity was obtained on sample with Ag loading level of 2 wt%. It was suggested that the increase in photocatalytic activity of Ag/Bi3NbO7 photocatalyst was explained on the basis of the electron trapping ability, the electron exciting ability and the surface plasmon resonance effect of metallic Ag particles.

A novel separation process was developed for orange juice concentration via CO 2 hydrate formation. The CO 2 hydrate equilibrium conditions were measured by an isochoric pressure search method. The effects of feed pressure, temperature, juice volume, and stirring speed on dehydration ratio were investigated. The dehydration ratio increased with increasing the feed pressure; the maximum dehydration ratio of 57.2% was reached at feed pressure of 4.10 MPa; dehydration ratio maintained around 45.8% in the temperature range of 274.8–279.8 K; the optimum orange juice volume is 80 mL. The CO 2 hydrate formation rate constants increased from 0.67 × 10 −8 to 1.91 × 10 −8 mol 2 /(s J) in relation to the feed pressure increasing from 1.96 to 4.10 MPa. The results demonstrated that removal of water by formation of CO 2 hydrate is an efficient technology for orange juice concentration.

Zn/Al-layered double hydroxides (LDHs) containing the organic anion of 2,4-dihydroxybenzophenone-5-sulfonate (DHBS) have been synthesized by co-precipitation method. Surface, structural, thermal and absorption properties of the ZnAl-DHBS-LDHs nanohybrids were characterized by BET analysis, scanning electron microscope, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetry and differential thermal analysis and UV–visible spectroscopy. The results revealed that organic UV absorbent-DHBS has been intercalated into the interlayer spaces of ZnAl-LDHs and the intercalation of DHBS in LDHs interlayer galleries resulted to higher thermal stability and better UV absorption ability; these show that the hybrid ZnAl-DHBS-LDHs phase has potential applications as a UV absorber.

The synthesis of ZnFe-CO3 and ZnFe-SO4 Hydrotalcites (HTLCs) has been previously described in numerous literature reports but these methods contain impurity phases that arise from a lack of understanding of the experimental conditions under which these impurities form during the precipitation of these types of HTLCs. Furthermore, the majority of these reports in which impurities are present in addition to the ZnFe-CO3 and ZnFe-SO4 HTLCs have then been used for environmental and catalytic applications leading to the misinterpretation of their materials properties as a result of the fact that they contain non-HTLC phases. In our study, we have developed a new and improved co-precipitation method for the synthesis of ZnFe-CO3 and ZnFe-SO4 HTLCs free from impurities that are experimentally and rationally based on the use of a proper: (1) Iron source (Fe2+), (2) oxidant (30% H2O2) and (3) target pH (pH of 7) to avoid the commonly found impurities in the literature. The synthesized ZnFe-CO3 and ZnFe-SO4 HTLCs are then characterized via the use of ICP-OES, XRD, ATR-IR, Raman, SEM, TEM, BET and TGA to explore their chemical and physical properties. Our work here offers the research community a new and improved synthesis method for the preparation of ZnFe-CO3 and ZnFe-SO4 HTLCs free from impurities designed for applications in a variety of multidisciplinary research areas.

Pertraction properties of phenol from aqueous solution through a plate composite membrane (poly (dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS)/polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)) in the membrane aromatic recovery system (MARS) were investigated systematically. The effects of liquid flow status, system temperature, feed concentration and pressure on the overall mass transfer coefficient ( K ov ), and the permeability for phenol through the membrane were also discussed. The feed-side liquid boundary layer mass transfer coefficient was proportional to Re 0.46 , membrane mass transfer coefficient was 15.0×10 −7 m s −1 , which exhibited five times higher than that of tubular silicone rubber membrane (3.5×10 −7 m s −1 ), and possessed higher mass flux (2.38×10 −2 kg m −2 h −1 ) and lower activation energy of permeation (9.7 kJ mol −1 ). Whereas, the permeability (5.9×10 –12 m 2 s −1 ) and diffusion coefficients (2.4×10 –11 m 2 s −1 ) of phenol were lower than those of nonporous silicone rubber. K ov increased with the rise of feed concentration and finally reaches a stable level (5.0–15.0 g l −1 ). The diffusivity of phenol in the membrane was decreased with pressure. The membrane mass transfer resistance was found to be the rate controlling step in the transport process of phenol.

In this paper, a novel method for segmenting arbitrary human body in static images is proposed. With the body probability map obtained by the pictorial structure model, we develop a superpixel based EM-like algorithm to refine the map, which can then serve as the seeds of graph cuts optimization. To better obtain the final segmentation, we propose a novel @?"1 based graph cuts algorithm, which uses the sparse coding to construct the initialized graph and calculates the terminal links (t-links) and neighborhood links (n-links) simultaneously from the constructed graph. By employing this @?"1 based graph cuts, we can effectively and efficiently segment the human body from static images. The experiments on the publicly available challenging datasets demonstrate that our method outperforms many state-of-the-art methods on human body segmentation.

Four organic donor–π–conjugated-acceptor (D–π–A) type II dyes with different thiophene linkers are reported for dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). For the first time, a donor (triphenylamine) was introduced in type II sensitizers, and 2-hydroxybenzonitrile as acceptor/anchoring moiety was covalently linked TiO 2 particles. The dye LS203 in this series gives the best solar energy conversion efficiency of 3.4%, with J sc = 7.4 mA cm −2 , V oc = 0.67 V, FF = 0.69, the maximum IPCE value reaches 66.9%.

Simultaneous incorporation of palladium and zirconium ions in Mg–Al layered double hydroxides (LDHs) was attempted by co-precipitation. Mixed oxides were obtained by calcination at 500 °C. XRD patterns of as-synthesized samples showed the formation of well-crystallized LDHs at lower Zr contents. The CO 3 2− content of the solids has been determined to have information on the possible incorporation of Zr 4+ into the brucite layer of the hydrotalcites. The values obtained showed that Zr 4+ can incorporate into brucite sheets at Zr content lower than 10 mol%. SEM and TEM images indicated that the resulted LDHs with lower Zr content exhibited plate-like structure. Thermal calcination at 500 °C results in the formation of mixed oxides containing MgO, PdO, ZrO 2 crystallites and a solid solution formed by some of the Zr 4+ cations dissolving along with Al 3+ to MgO lattice.

In this paper, a measurement model of particle filter based on multiple cues fusion is presented. Firstly, color histogram and motion information histogram are built respectively via extracting color information and movement information, and then a weighted linear model is built as the measurement model. In addition, the center-around method is used to decide the object outline definition which is adopted to compute the weight in the weighted linear model. The parameter sigma in Gaussian function is acquired by using adaptive inverse estimation. Lastly, a mass of experiments show the presented method is effective.

Two novel pyridine-2,6-dicarboxylic acid derivatives of mono-β-diketone named methyl 6-biphenylacetyl-2-pyridinecarboxylate (MBP) and 6-biphenylacetyl-2-pyridinecarboxylic acid (BAA) and their corresponding binary complexes Tb(MBP)3.6H2O and Tb(BAA)3·6H2O were synthesized. The ligands were characterized by elemental analysis, FT-IR and 1H-NMR, and the complexes were characterized with elemental analysis, FT-IR, 1H-NMR and thermogravimetric and differential thermal analysis(TG-DTA). The investigation of fluorescence properties of the complexes Tb(MBP)3·6H2O and Tb(BAA)3·6H2O showed that the introduction of the biphenyl enlarged the π-conjugated system of the ligands and enhanced the luminescent intensity of the complexes. The Tb(III) ion could be sensitized more efficiently by the ligands, in particular, the fluorescence intensity of the complex Tb(BAA)3·6H2O was about 20% higher than that of Tb(MBP)3·6H2O and 30% higher than that of Tb(III) complexes with bis-β-diketone-type ligands that we have previously reported.

Capture of CO 2 by hydrate is one of the attractive technologies for reducing greenhouse effect. The primary challenges are the large energy consumption, low hydrate formation rate and separation efficiency. This work presents a new method for capture of CO 2 from simulated flue gas [CO 2 (16.60%, by mole)/N 2 binary mixture] by formation of cyclopentane (CP) hydrates at initial temperature of 8.1 °C with the feed pressures from 2.49 to 3.95 MPa. The effect of cyclopentane and cyclopentane/water emulsion on the hydrate formation rate and CO 2 separation efficiency was studied in a 1000 ml stirred reactor. The results showed the hydrate formation rate could be increased remarkably with cyclopentane/water emulsion. CO 2 could be enriched to 43.97% (by mole) and 35.29% (by mole) from simulated flue gas with cyclopentane and cyclopentane/water (O/W) emulsion, respectively, by one stage hydrate separation under low feed pressure. CO 2 separation factor with cyclopentane was 6.18, higher than that with cyclopentane/water emulsion (4.01), in the range of the feed pressure. The results demonstrated that cyclopentane/water emulsion is a good additive for efficient hydrate capture of CO 2 .

Hydrate formation rate and separation effect on the capture of CO 2 from binary mixture via forming hydrate with 5 wt% tetra-n-butyl ammonium bromide (TBAB) solution were studied. The results showed that the induction time was 5 min, and the hydrate formation process finished in 1 h at 4.5 °C and 4.01 MPa. The hydrate formation rate constant reached the maximum of 1.84×10 −7 mol 2 /(s·J) with the feed pressure of 7.30 MPa. The CO 2 recovery was about 45% in the feed pressure range from 4.30 to 7.30 MPa. Under the feed pressure of 4.30 MPa, the maximum separation factor and CO 2 concentration in hydrate phase were 7.3 and 38.2 mol%, respectively. The results demonstrated that TBAB accelerated hydrate formation and enriched CO 2 in hydrate phase under the gentle condition.

The topography and biocompatibility of zein layers adsorbed on patterned templates containing hydrophilic and hydrophobic regions were investigated. Nanopatterned templates consisting of hydrophilic lines on a hydrophobic background were drawn by dip-pen nanolithography (DPN) on gold-coated surfaces. 16-Mercaptohexadecanoic acid (COOH(CH(2))(15)SH, MHA) was used as primary ink to generate hydrophilic lines. Unpatterned surfaces were backfilled with 18-octadecanethiol (CH(3)(CH(2))(17)SH, ODT), which generated hydrophobic regions. Zein was allowed to adsorb on patterned surfaces from alcohol-water solutions. The topography of zein deposits was observed by atomic force microscopy (AFM). Height profiles from AFM measurements revealed that zein deposits followed closely the nanopatterned templates. The biocompatibility of zein layers assembled over hydrophilic/hydrophobic micropatterned templates was investigated. Templates containing MHA lines and ODT regions were generated by micro-contact printing (microCP). Mouse fibroblasts seeded on patterned zein layers proliferated on zein deposited over MHA lines, but not on zein over ODT. The experiment indicated that fibroblast cells were able to respond to variations in the underlying surface chemistry, transmitted by the different orientation adopted by zein on the different substrates. This property may be useful in controlling the spatial distribution of cells on patterned protein layers.

It was found that gold nanoparticles with different sizes could enhance the chemiluminescence (CL) of the luminol-NaIO4 system in alkaline solution. The most intensive CL signals were obtained with gold nanoparticles in diameter of 4 nm and the CL intensity increased linearly with the concentration of gold nanoparticles. The studies of UV-vis spectra, CL spectra, effects of concentrations of luminol and periodate solution were carried out to explore the CL enhancement mechanism. Catechol, hydroquinone and resorcinol were found to inhibit the CL signals of the luminol-NaIO4 reaction catalyzed by gold nanoparticles, which made it applicable for the determination of these polyphenols. Under the selected experimental conditions, the detection limits (3sigma) were in the range of 2.1 x 10(-9) to 1.0 x 10(-10) g ml(-1), the relative standard deviation (R.S.D., n=11) were in the range of 1.7-2.9%. The method has been successfully applied to the determination of catechol in tap water and synthesized samples with satisfactory results.

Controlled release formulations have been proven to have potential in overcoming the drawbacks of conventional plant growth regulators. Novel controlled-release formulation of β-naphthoxyacetic acid (BNOA) intercalated MgAl-layered double hydroxides (LDHs) was prepared by co-precipitation method. The effects of temperature, pH value, and release medium on BNOA release were studied and the releasing mechanisms were discussed. The results of release show that the increase of temperature induces the increase of BNOA release extent. The release rate and accumulated release amount of BNOA are found to be dependent to the anion in the aqueous solution in the order of CO32− > SO42− > Cl−. Moreover, the pH is the key controlling factor for the BNOA release processes, and with strong acid medium, the release character of BNOA is different from those at pH 7 and 12, which accompanies with fast collapse of LDHs nanolayered structure. The nanohybrid of BNOA intercalated LDHs possessed good controlled release properties and the BNOA release character from the nanohybrid fitted pseudo-second-order model in neutral medium. Keywords: Controlled release, Layered double hydroxides, β-Naphthoxyacetic acid, Intercalation, Nanohybrids

A continuous-flow polymerase chain reaction (PCR) system with integrated heaters for DNA amplification has been designed and fabricated. A new concept of obtaining a temperature zone by natural heat conduction is presented. The finite element method is employed to analyze the temperature distribution in the DNA chip. The system is integrated through a microfluidic interconnect based on polydimethylsioxane (PDMS) material. Using oxygen RIE bonding, the PDMS interconnect can withstand a pressure up to 470 kPa. The fabrication process for the DNA chip is developed using micromachining techniques. The temperature distribution was measured. The uniformity of the denaturization temperature, annealing temperature, and extension temperature was 1.5°C/mm, 0.7°C/mm, and 3.1°C/mm, respectively. The microchannel has a width of 380 μm, a depth of 30 μm, and a total length of approximately 0.6 m. Depending on the flow rate (5 nL/s to 80 nL/ s), the 20-cycle DNA chip needs only 52 seconds to 14 minutes for thermal cycling.

Closed form analytical equations are important tools for predicting and optimizing the behavior of a piezoelectric microactuator for micropump applications. However, there is no reliable analytical solution to date to analyze the behavior of a circular piezoelectric microactuator for a valveless micropump. In this paper, a linear strain distribution is assumed across the thickness of the passive plate of the lead zirconate titanate (PZT) actuator given that the mechanical properties such as Young’s modulus and Poisson ratio of the actuator and the passive plate are close. An analytical equation for the passive plate deflection is derived upon this assumption. The analytical result shows excellent agreement with experimental data as well as the results from finite element simulation. Based on this analytical model, the effects of several important parameters and nondimensional variable groups on the actuator performance have been investigated. These parameters and variables include the dimensions and mechanical properties of the PZT disk, the passive plate, and the bonding layer material.