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The feedforward schemes of the voltage at point of common coupling (PCC) have been widely used in grid-connected inverters to reject the current harmonics caused by the grid voltage distortion. However, in weak grid, the PCC-voltage feedforward tends to destabilize the grid-connected inverters due to the effect of time delay. In this article, this stability issue is explicitly elaborated by the impedance-based stability criterion and then addressed with an improved feedforward scheme, which uses the grid voltage instead of the PCC voltage as the feedforward variable. Considering that it is hard to sense the real grid voltage directly, a method to extract the grid voltage from the sensed PCC voltage is put forward to implement the proposed feedforward scheme. By carefully arranging the sampling instants according to the duty cycle, a dual sampling mode is adopted to ensure an accurate extraction of the grid voltage. Finally, simulations and experiments are performed on a 6-kW single-phase grid-connected inverter, which confirm that the proposed grid-voltage feedforward achieves superior harmonic rejection ability and strong stability under weak grid condition.

Both the capacitor-current-feedback (CCF) active damping and the point of common coupling (PCC) voltage feedforward can provide damping for the LCL -type grid-connected inverter. They are usually individually adopted, and negative damping will occur in a certain frequency range due to the digital control delay, leading to a nonminimum phase behavior. In this article, a hybrid active damping that combines the CCF and unit PCC voltage feedforward is studied. With properly designing the CCF gain, the positive damping range could sweep the entire frequency range with the variation of grid impedance. As a reward, the maximum profit of damping cooperation can be harvested, ensuring high robustness against both grid impedance variation and filter parameter fluctuation. The simulation and experimental results are provided to verify the effectiveness of the hybrid active damping.

Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) continues to impact populations around the globe. Information regarding the incidences and implications of arrhythmias in COVID-19 is limited. Methods A total of 463 patients with COVID-19 and who had at least one electrocardiogram recording from February 1 to March 19, 2020, in Wuhan Union Hospital were enrolled in the study. Results Arrhythmias occurred in 85 of 463 (18.4%) patients: atrial arrhythmias in 10.2%, junctional arrhythmias in 0.2%, ventricular arrhythmias in 3.5%, and conduction block in 7.3%. Compared with patients without arrhythmias, those with arrhythmias had higher mortality, both during the time from symptom onset (p

SUMMARYWithdrawal from chronic opioid use often causes hypodopaminergic states and negative affect, which drives relapse. Direct-pathway medium spiny neurons (dMSNs) in the striatal patch compartment contain high levels of µ-opioid receptors (MORs). It remains unclear how chronic opioid exposure affects these MOR-expressing dMSNs and their striatopallidal and striatonigral outputs to induce negative emotions and relapse. Here, we report that MOR activation acutely suppressed GABAergic striatopallidal transmission in habenula-projecting globus pallidus neurons. Notably, repeated administrations of a MOR agonist (morphine or fentanyl) potentiated this GABAergic transmission. We also discovered that intravenous self-administration of fentanyl enhanced GABAergic striatonigral transmission and reduced the firing activity of midbrain dopaminergic neurons. Importantly, fentanyl withdrawal caused depression-like behaviors and promoted the reinstatement of fentanyl-seeking behaviors. These data suggest that chronic opioid use triggers GABAergic striatopallidal and striatonigral plasticity to induce a hypodopaminergic state, promoting negative emotions and leading to relapse.HighlightsRepeated administration of morphine potentiates IPSCdMSN◊GPh neurotransmission.Repeated administration of fentanyl potentiates IPSCdMSN◊SNc neurotransmission.Fentanyl withdrawal induces negative emotional states, which drive relapse.

Background Triple Negative Breast Cancer(TNBC) may be a profoundly pernicious subtype about breast tumor. Because of the negative statement of estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR) and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2(HER2), it will be presently without specificity targeted treatment. Traditional Chinese Medicine(TCM) Huaier Aqueous have anti-cancer effects, yet its component of activity will be even now vague. The latest research confirms that Huaier Aqueous can cause changes in various biological functions and gradually become a systemic adjuvant chemotherapy drug for cancer, so it is used in clinical anti-tumor treatment. Methods The Wound healing and Transwell test detects the relocation and invasion of MDA-MB-231 cells. Flow cytometry detects cell cycle and apoptosis. qPCR and Western blot were used to identify the statement for MDA-MB-231 cell cycle and apoptosis proteins and genes. In vivo tumor creation and HE chemical staining were used to examine the impact about Huaier Aqueous on the burgeoning from claiming TNBC. Immunohistochemical might have been used to identify the statement of Caspase9 and CyalinD1. Tunel staining strategy detects the statement of apoptosis over TNBC tissues. The information utilization one-way ANAOV and two-way ANAOV measurable examination. Results Huaier Aqueous inhibits the burgeoning of MDA-MB-231 cells. What's more disrupts the cell cycle on S phase, thereby encouraging cell apoptosis. In addition, Huaier Aqueous inhibits the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway, confining the downstream molecular of the pathway. Conclusions Huaier Aqueous inhibits the proliferation and cell cycle of MDA-MB-231 cells through PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway, and pushes apoptosis.

Currently, acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is one of the leading causes of human health issues worldwide. The sudden and continuous occlusion of the coronary artery results in myocardial hypoxic-ischemic necrosis, which is accompanied by inflammatory infiltration and fibrosis, leading to pathological cardiac remodeling. Exosome-based therapy is a promising cell-free approach for repairing the ischemic myocardium. This study aimed to explore the effects and mechanism of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs)-derived exosomes on AMI. The results indicated that the localized injection of HUVECs-derived exosomes in the infarcted area could significantly improve cardiac function in AMI mouse models. It could also ameliorate myocardial fibrosis and decrease infarct size after AMI. Additionally, HUVECs-derived exosomes had cardioprotective effects on the H9C2 cells in hypoxic culture conditions, including increased cell viability and decreased lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release. In both the

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been increasingly recognized as important immune checkpoints involved in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases. However, the exact role of lncRNAs in Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) has been rarely studied. The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of lncRNAs and the potential biomarkers in HT, a total of 33 patients with HT and 32 healthy volunteers were enrolled in the present study, and five patients and five healthy controls were investigated using next generation sequencing. A total of 218 dysregulated lncRNAs, including 94 upregulated and 124 downregulated lncRNAs, were identified and examined in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from patients with HT. The majority of the lncRNAs were intergenic and exonic (66.06%). Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway analysis demonstrated that abnormally expressed lncRNAs were enriched in the 'NF-kB expression', in the 'TGF-β signaling pathway' and in the 'JAK-STAT signaling pathway', which are associated with the immunopathogenic mechanisms of HT. In total, three lncRNAs (LOC729737, XLOC_I2_006631 and {"type":"entrez-nucleotide","attrs":{"text":"BC041964","term_id":"27693953","term_text":"BC041964"}}BC041964) were validated and had a trend identical to that detected by the sequencing results. The expression of lncRNA-XLOC_I2_006631 was upregulated and was positively correlated with the serum concentrations of anti-thyroperoxidase antibody in patients with HT. Methyl-CpG-binding protein 2 (MECP2) was identified as the potential regulatory gene of lncRNA-XLOC_I2_006631 using a prediction program. The expression of MECP2 was increased and was positively correlated with the elevated expression levels of lncRNA-XLOC_I2_006631 and anti-thyroperoxidase antibody in patients with HT. Furthermore, lncRNA-XLOC_I2_006631 was able to regulate MECP2 expression in vitro. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis suggested that lncRNA-XLOC_I2_006631 has a potential diagnostic value. Collectively, the present results indicated the important role of dysregulated lncRNAs in HT and demonstrated that lncRNA-XLOC_I2_006631 functioned as a positive regulator of MECP2 expression, suggesting a potential mechanism. Thus, lncRNA-XLOC_I2_006631 may be used as a biomarker of HT.

Resveratrol (RSV) is a natural polyphenol with anti-obesity effects. However, the mechanisms of anti-obesity remain unclear due to its low bioavailability. Recent evidence demonstrates that gut microbiota plays a key role in obesity. This spurred us to investigate whether the anti-obesity effects of RSV are related to modulations in the gut microbiota and metabolic functions. Here, RSV significantly improved metabolic phenotype and intestinal oxidative stress in the high-fat diet (HFD)-fed mice. A multi-omics approach was used to systematically profile the microbial signatures at both the phylogenetic and functional levels using 16S rRNA gene sequencing and metagenome. At the phylogenetic level, RSV treatment significantly modulated the gut microbiota composition in HFD-fed mice, characterized with increased Blautia abundance and decreased Desulfovibrio and Lachnospiraceae_NK4A136_group abundance. At the functional level, RSV significantly decreased the enrichment of pathways linked to host metabolic disease and increased the enrichment of pathways involved in the generation of small metabolites. Besides, the fecal microbiota transplantation experiment showed anti-obesity and microbiota-modulating effects similar to those observed in the oral RSV-feeding experiment. Furthermore, metabolomic analysis and antibiotic treatment verified that 4-hydroxyphenylacetic acid (4-HPA) and 3-hydroxyphenylpropionic acid (3-HPP) were the two gut metabolites of RSV, which contribute to improving lipid metabolism in vitro. Moreover, the content of 4-HPA and 3-HPP exhibited strong correlation with the intestinal oxidative state. We concluded that the RSV-mediated alteration of gut microbiota, related gut metabolites and redox state of the intestinal environment contributed to prevention of metabolic syndrome in HFD-fed mice.

Currently, numerous pieces of evidence have demonstrated that the health gut microbiota contributed to physiological homeostasis for the host. Accumulating methods appear to detect microbial population, including denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE), high‐throughput sequencing, and quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). With characteristics of flexibility and high‐sensitivity, qPCR technique plays a critical role in determining the dynamic alteration of bacterial abundances, which entirely exhibits the microbial activity in various external situations. In these guidelines, taking Akkermansia muciniphila for example, we provide experimental details in specific primer design and validation, standard plasmid construction, qPCR assay, and data analysis for microbial detection, which also can be used for bacterial determination in other environmental systems. In addition, we offer the solution preparation and operation procedures of in vitro gastrointestinal digestion system. Furthermore, these guidelines can contribute to verify the high‐throughput sequencing results and reveal the underlying mechanism of the microbial shift in response to the dietary intervention or the development of diseases.

The development of high-efficiency non-noble metal catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is of paramount significance to sustainable energy-conversion technologies. Herein, a three-dime...

Cardiac fibrosis is a common pathophysiological change associated with myocardial infarction (MI), and while there is evidence that miR-130a plays an important role in a variety of fibrotic diseases, its role in the cardiac fibrosis during MI is unclear. Our study aimed to assess miR-130a's ability to modulate cardiac fibrosis post-MI and uncover its potential molecular mechanisms. miR-130a was significantly downregulated in infarcted myocardium and hypoxic cardiac fibroblasts (CFs), whereas TGF-β, α-SMA, collagen 1 (Col-1), and TGF-β receptor 1 (TGFBR1) were upregulated. We transfected mice with AAV-9 carrying miR-130a and found that miR-130a overexpression statistically improved cardiac function and reduced the area of cardiac fibrosis in mice post-MI. Eukaryotic transcriptome sequencing and dual-luciferase reporter assay results verified that

Cadmium (Cd) contamination in rice is a potential health hazard when ingested through the food chain worldwide. Reducing the Cd content in rice through agronomic measures is an effective way to reduce the risk of Cd contamination to human health. In order to clarify the correlation between temperature and light conditions and Cd accumulation (Cd-A) and Cd content of brown rice (CdBR) during the field growth period (FGP) of rice, consequently provide a theoretical basis for the selection of sowing date (SD) for “Low-Cd-Rice” production, field experiment with different SDs was carried out by using two rice varieties with different Cd accumulation characteristics (Luliangyou 996, V1, a high Cd accumulation variety; Zhuliangyou 819, V2, a low Cd accumulation variety). The results showed that the temperature and light factors such as mean soil temperature (ST), mean air temperature (AT), soil accumulation temperature (SAT), air accumulation temperature (AAT), ultraviolet radiation accumulation (UR), photosynthetic radiation accumulation (PR), light intensity accumulation (I) and sunshine hours accumulation (SH) varied to different degrees under different SDs; The difference in CdBR in two varieties could be up to 2.82 and 8.48 times respectively among SDs, with the CdBR of S4 and S5 of V2 being lower than the national standard of 0.2 mg/kg. The relative expression of OsIRT1 in the root system was significantly positively correlated with ST, SAT, AT, AAT, and SH, while OsNramp5, OsNramp1, and OsHMA3 showed significant negative correlations with ST, SAT, AT, AAT, and SH in relative expression in the root system; OsIRT1 expressed in the roots of V1 was significantly negatively correlated with CdBR, while OsHMA3 expression was significantly positively correlated with CdBR; OsLCD, OsNramp1, and OsHMA3 expression in the roots of V2 were significantly positively correlated with Cd-A and CdBR, while OsIRT1 in the roots of V2 and OsLCT1 in the leaves were significantly negatively correlated with Cd-A; The expression of OsNramp5 in roots was significantly negatively correlated with Cd-A and CdBR in both V1 and V2. Bias correlation analysis showed that ST, SAT, AT, and AAT were significantly negatively correlated with both Cd-A and CdBR; SH was significantly negatively correlated with CdBR in V1. Summarily, the temperature and light conditions during the FGP of rice and their regulation of the expression levels of related genes could be changed by sowing selection, so as to achieve safe production of rice under Cd-contaminated fields.

The current research advances understanding of how consumers respond to embarrassing service encounters. Across a combination of field and online studies, the authors provide evidence that (1) consumers prefer self-service to human services when purchasing embarrassing products or services; (2) when self-service is not available, consumers respond more positively to a mechanistic service provider than to a personable service provider; and (3) if consumers must engage in embarrassing social interactions, they dehumanize service providers, perceiving them as more mechanistic and less capable of emotional reactions than when engaging in nonembarrassing service interactions. The authors also examine consumers’ familiarity with the service provider as a boundary condition for the effect. Collectively, the results provide converging evidence for the proposed framework and have substantive implications for service management.

We propose an absorption intensity heartbeat modulation-averaged shifted histogram (AIHM-ASH) method for estimating human heart rate (HR) using color videos of lip image sequences. When heartbeat occurs, AIHM is generated. Based on the AIHM, HR signals can be demodulated by computing the instantaneous HR modulation depth that presents the relative red blood cell (RBC) concentration from the green channel image of the RGB color video. In addition, the ASH algorithm further suppresses the background tissue and vein signals, and increases the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). The experimental results for flow phantoms, chicken embryos, and human lips validated the proposed method’s optimal estimation conditions and effectiveness, where the accuracy and root mean square error (RMSE) were 99.23% and 0.8 bpm, respectively. The proposed HR estimation method has significant potential to advance health monitoring and disease prevention via conventional color video cameras installed in public places.

Capacitor-current-feedback active damping has been widely used in LCL -type grid-connected inverters. However, the damping performance is deteriorated due to the negative equivalent resistance resulted by the digital control delays, and thus the grid-connected inverter is apt to be unstable under the grid impedance variation. To address this issue, this paper proposes the capacitor-current proportional-integral (PI) positive feedback active damping method that can ensure a positive equivalent resistance almost within the Nyquist frequency, i.e., the full controllable frequency range. In theory, the proposed damping method can be implemented by feeding back the capacitor current through a PI function. However, the integral term will continuously accumulate the noise and dc bias arising from the feedback signal. To overcome this drawback, a more practical implementation solution is drawn in this paper. Furthermore, a straightforward design procedure is presented for the convenience of selecting the proper controller parameters. With the proposed damping method and its practical implementation, high inverter robustness against the grid impedance variation can be achieved. Experiments are performed on a 6-kW prototype and the experimental results are in well agreement with the theoretical expectations.

The strong coupling between plasmons and excitons has aroused tremendous interest in recent years, due to its implications for diverse important quantum technologies. Understanding the spectral response properties of these strongly coupled systems is crucial for both the fundamental physics science and the practical applications. Here, we numerically and theoretically demonstrate the spectrum responses of plasmon-exciton strong coupling beyond the J-C model based upon the Au nanorod/dye molecules hybrid system. With increasing the number or oscillator strength of dye molecules, a third/fourth mode in the normal Rabi splitting emerges. These anomalous spectrum Rabi splitting beyond the J-C model are revealed by a unified quantum theory model, which gives the quantified contributions from the plasmon and exciton channels to the total photon absorption spectrum of the hybrid system. Our work not only enriches the understanding of the plasmon-exciton strong coupling, but also may stimulate further researches in this field.

Soil contamination with multiple heavy metals poses threats to human health and ecosystem functioning. Using the Nemerow pollution index, which considers the effects of multiple heavy metals, we compared the diversity and composition of bacteria, fungi and protists and their potential interactions in response to a multi-metal contamination gradient. Multi-metal contamination significantly altered the community composition of bacteria, fungi and protists, and the degree of alteration increased with increasing severity of contamination. The alpha-diversity of bacteria, fungi and protists significantly decreased with increasing contamination level. The dominant generalists, found in all soil samples, were Gammaproteobacteria, Chloroflexi and Bacillus sp, whereas the dominant specialists were Anaerolineaceae, Entoloma sp. and Sandonidae_X sp. The relative abundances of generalists were positively correlated, whereas those of specialists were negatively correlated, with the Nemerow pollution index. In addition, the complexity of the microbial co-occurrence network increased with increasing contamination level. Generalists, rather than specialists, were the keystones in the microbial co-occurrence network and played a crucial role in adaptation to multi-metal contamination through enhanced potential interactions within the entire microbiome. Our results provide insights into the ecological effects of multi-metal contamination on the soil microbiome and will help to develop bio-remediation technologies for contaminated soils.

Exposure to addictive substances impairs flexible decision-making. Cognitive flexibility is mediated by striatal cholinergic interneurons (CINs). However, how chronic alcohol drinking alters cognitive flexibility through CINs remains unclear. Here, we report that chronic alcohol consumption and withdrawal impaired reversal of instrumental learning. Chronic alcohol consumption and withdrawal also caused a long-lasting (21 d) reduction of excitatory thalamic inputs onto CINs and reduced pause response of CINs in the dorsomedial striatum (DMS). CINs are known to inhibit glutamatergic transmission in dopamine D1 receptor-expressing medium spiny neurons (D1-MSNs) but facilitate this transmission in D2-MSNs, which may contribute to flexible behavior. We discovered that chronic alcohol drinking impaired CIN-mediated inhibition in D1-MSNs and facilitation in D2-MSNs. Importantly, in vivo optogenetic induction of long-term potentiation of thalamostriatal transmission in DMS CINs rescued alcohol-induced reversal learning deficits. These results demonstrate that chronic alcohol drinking reduces thalamic excitation of DMS CINs, compromising their regulation of glutamatergic transmission in MSNs, which may contribute to alcohol-induced impairment of cognitive flexibility. These findings provide a neural mechanism underlying inflexible drinking in alcohol use disorder.

Globally increasing trace metal contamination of soils requires a better mechanistic understanding of metal-stress impacts on microbially mediated nutrient cycling. Herein, a 5-month laboratory experiment was employed to assess the effects of cadmium (Cd) on soil microbial N-cycling processes and associated functional gene abundance, with and without urea amendment. In non-N-amended soils, Cd progressively stimulated microbial populations for N acquisition from initial dissolved organic N (DON) to later recalcitrant organic N. The acceleration of N catabolism was synchronously coupled with C catabolism resulting in increased CO2/N2O fluxes and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) contents. The abundance of microbes deemed inefficient in N catabolism was gradually repressed after an initial stimulation period. We posit that enhanced exergonic N processes diminished the need for endergonic activities as a survival strategy for N communities experiencing metal stress. With urea amendment, Cd exhibited an initial stimulation effect on soil nitrification and a later a promotion effect on mineralization, along with an increase in the associated microbial populations. In N-amended soils, Cd accelerated N/C transformation processes, but decreased N2O and CO2 fluxes by 19 and 14%, respectively. This implies that under eutrophic conditions, Cd synchronously altered microbial C/N metabolism from a dominance of catabolic to anabolic processes. These results infer a nutrient-based adjustment of microbial N-cycling strategies to enhance their metal resistance.

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs), a type of crystalline polymers, have attracted increasing interest because of their controllability of geometry and functionality. Featuring infinitely extended networks and tremendous interaction sites, COFs emerge as a potential platform for separation science. Here, a novel chiral COF (β-CD COFBPDA) constructed by the imine condensation of 4,4′-biphenyldicarboxaldehyde and heptakis(6-amino-6-deoxy)-β-cyclodextrin was introduced into an electrochromatographic system via a photopolymerization method and applied to the separation of enantiomers. The structure and properties of as-synthesized β-CD COFBPDA were investigated by powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) patterns, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and N2adsorption-desorption isotherms. It was proved that β-CD COFBPDA was provided with larger pore size and BET surface area. The β-CD COFBPDA coating endowed the chiral stationary phase with superior three-dimensional orientation, and realized satisfactory separation with improved selectivity and column efficiency for a dozen racemic drugs. Under the optimized conditions, homatropine, ondansetron, metoprolol, terbutaline, tulobuterol, and promethazine were all baseline separated with resolution values of 2.24, 2.03, 1.65, 1.62, 1.60, and 1.58, respectively. The results indicate the high perspective of COF modified stationary in enantioseparation.

Investigating noble-metal-free and earth-abundant cocatalysts has emerged as a promising and challenging issue for improving the photocatalytic hydrogen production efficiency. In this work, a novel...

Non-noble metal catalysts for photo/electrocatalytic water splitting are quite feasible for solving the problems of growing energy demand and environmental pollution. In this paper, noble-metal free Mn-Cd-S@amorphous-Ni3S2 hybrid catalyst (MCS@a-Ni3S2) with bifunctionality of photocatalytic hydrogen evolution and electrocatalytic OER is designed and prepared by simple hydrothermal method. The characterization results show that Mn-Cd-S was composed of cubic manganese sulfide and manganese doped cadmium sulfide, and amorphous Ni3S2 coating on the surface of Mn-Cd-S. The resultant Mn-Cd-S@amorphpus-Ni3S2 catalyst presents good stability and a high photocatalytic H2 evolution rate of 12,069.27 μmolh−1 g−1. Besides, both Mn-Cd-S and Mn-Cd-S@amorphpus-Ni3S2 show good OER property with overpotential of 333 mV. Mn-Cd-S@amorphpus-Ni3S2 shows more favorable kinetics than that of Mn-Cd-S for OER. Moreover，the mechanism of the enhanced photo/electrocatalytic performance is investigated in detail. This work provides references for developing the catalysts with both photocatalytic and electrocatalytic properties.

Circular RNA (circRNA) is a novel subclass of noncoding-RNA molecules that participate in development and progression of a variety of human diseases via sponging microRNAs (miRNAs), but the role of circRNAs in Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT) has not been defined. In this study, peripheral blood samples from five patients with HT and five healthy volunteers were investigated by Illumina HiSeq Sequencer. A total of 627 differentially expressed circRNAs including 370 upregulated and 257 downregulated ones were identified in HT patients. Four upregulated circRNAs indicated the same rising tendency toward sequencing results. The expression of hsa_circ_0089172 was upregulated and correlated positively with the serum level of the thyroid peroxidase antibody. Two perfectly matched binding sites of miR-125a-3p were found in hsa_circ_0089172 sequences with bioinformatics tools. The expression of miR-125a-3p was decreased in the HT patients and correlated inversely with an elevated level of hsa_circ_0089172. Moreover, knockdown of hsa_circ_0089172 resulted in an increase of the expression of miR-125a-3p in vitro. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis suggested that hsa_circ_0089172 had significant value in HT diagnosis. Taken together, these results demonstrate that hsa_circ_0089172 as a potential diagnostic biomarker of HT and may play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of HT via sponging miR-125a-3p. Keywords: circRNA, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, sponge, next-generation sequencing

This study investigated effects of loadings of rice straw (Oryza sativa L.) cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs) defibrillated using the high-pressure homogenization technique on tensile property, glass transition temperature, and thermal stability of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) matrix. CNF loadings had five percentage levels by weight of final composite, i.e. 0, 0.03, 0.08, 0.12, and 0.17%, respectively. A freezing-and-thawing cycle method cast PVA/CNF-mixed and PVA-only films. Experimental results showed that PVA films with 0.03% CNFs had average tensile strength of 50.8 MPa and modulus of 707 MPa, which were 32 and 21% higher than neat PVA ones, respectively. In addition, the glass transition temperature values of PVA/CNF-mixed film increased from 51.6% to 82.6% with increasing the amount of CNFs. The thermogravimetric analysis showed that PVA/CNF-mixed films had significantly higher thermal stability than PVA-only films. The shift of the O–H stretching vibration peak in PVA/CNF-mixed films indicated a good compatibility between CNFs and PVA matrix.

Dopaminergic modulation of corticostriatal transmission is critically involved in reward-driven behaviors. This modulation is mainly mediated by dopamine D1 receptors (D1Rs) and D2Rs, which are highly expressed in medium spiny neurons (MSNs) of the dorsomedial striatum (DMS), a brain region essential for goal-directed behaviors and addiction. D1Rs and D2Rs are also present at presynaptic cortical terminals within the DMS. However, it is not known how addictive substances alter the glutamatergic strength of striatal synapses expressing presynaptic dopamine receptors. Using cell type-specific Cre mice in combination with optogenetic techniques, we measured glutamatergic transmission at D1R- or D2R-expressing afferents to DMS MSNs. We found larger excitatory postsynaptic currents at the synapses between the extra-striatal D2R-expressing afferents and D1R-expressing MSNs (D2→D1), as compared with those observed at the other tested synapses (D1→D1, D1→D2, and D2→D2). Additionally, excessive alcohol consumption induced a long-lasting potentiation of glutamatergic transmission at the corticostriatal D2→D1 synapse. Furthermore, we demonstrated that activation of postsynaptic, but not presynaptic, D2Rs inhibited corticostriatal transmission in an endocannabinoid-dependent manner. Taken together, these data provide detailed information on the mechanisms underlying dopamine receptor-mediated modulation of brain reward circuitry.

To damp the resonance, inductor-current proportional feedback has been generally adopted in voltage-controlled voltage-source converters. When the voltage controller is implemented with the basic proportional-resonant (PR) regulator, it is observed that the system bandwidth is restricted, resulting in a poor dynamic performance, especially in the case of low sampling frequency. However, the essence of low bandwidth remains unknown. This paper thus attempts to clarify this essence and devotes to tackle the low bandwidth issue. The root cause is revealed that the time delay jeopardizes the damping performance of inductor-current proportional feedback. To ensure the sufficient gain margin, the proportional gain of PR regulator thus has to be limited, leading to low bandwidth. Then, an inductor-current proportional-derivative (PD) feedback active damping method is proposed, which can strengthen damping effect as well as the dynamic performance of the system. Finally, simulation results validate the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy.

High hydrostatic pressure (HHP) processing has become a commercial success in fruit and vegetable processing. Herein, the effects of HHP and high-temperature short-time (HTST) processing on metabolic profiling in tomato juice was evaluated by UPLC-MS/MS, HPLC, and GC-MS; a total of 425 metabolites, 14 carotenoids, and 56 volatile compounds were identified in tomato juice. HHP processing affects the composition of the juice less than HTST processing, considering 4 and 33 differential metabolites discriminated after HHP and HTST processing, respectively. The total lycopene and carotenoid contents in tomato juice increased after HHP processing, while the β-carotene and lycopene contents decreased after HTST processing. Further, more volatile compounds and higher contents of aldehydes that contribute to green aroma and lower contents of alcohols were observed after HHP and HTST processing, respectively. These findings provide a comprehensive understanding of the advantages of HHP processing on metabolite profiles in tomato juice.

Uncontrolled drug-seeking and -taking behaviors are generally driven by maladaptive corticostriatal synaptic plasticity. The orbital frontal cortex (OFC) and its projections to the dorsomedial striatum (DMS) have been extensively implicated in drug-seeking and relapse behaviors. The influence of the synaptic plasticity of OFC projections to the DMS (OFC→DMS) on drug-seeking and -taking behaviors has not been fully characterized. To investigate this, we trained rats to self-administer 20% alcohol and then delivered an in vivo optogenetic protocol designed to induce long-term potentiation (LTP) selectively at OFC→DMS synapses. We selected LTP induction because we found that voluntary alcohol self-administration suppressed OFC→DMS transmission and LTP may normalize this transmission, consequently reducing alcohol-seeking behavior. Importantly, ex vivo slice electrophysiology studies confirmed that this in vivo optical stimulation protocol resulted in a significant increase in excitatory OFC→DMS transmission strength on day two after stimulation, suggesting that LTP was induced in vivo. Rat alcohol-seeking and -taking behaviors were significantly reduced on days 1-3, but not on days 7-11, after LTP induction. Striatal synaptic plasticity is modulated by several critical neurotransmitter receptors, including dopamine D1 receptors (D1Rs) and adenosine A2A receptors (A2ARs). We found that delivery of in vivo optical stimulation in the presence of a D1R antagonist abolished the LTP-associated decrease in alcohol-seeking behavior, whereas delivery in the presence of an A2AR antagonist may facilitate this LTP-induced behavioral change. These results demonstrate that alcohol-seeking behavior was negatively regulated by the potentiation of excitatory OFC→DMS neurotransmission. Our findings provide direct evidence that the OFC exerts "top-down" control of alcohol-seeking behavior via the DMS.

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs), a type of crystalline polymers, have attracted increasing interest because of their controllability of geometry and functionality. Featuring infinitely extended networks and tremendous interaction sites, COFs emerge as a potential platform for separation science. Here, a novel chiral COF (β-CD COF

Diversity and community composition of soil microorganisms along the elevation climosequences have been widely studied, while the microbial metabolic potential, particularly in regard to carbon (C) cycling, remains unclear. Here, a metagenomic analysis of C related genes along five elevations ranging from 767 to 4190 m at Mount Kilimanjaro was analysed to evaluate the microbial organic C transformation capacities in various ecosystems. The highest gene abundances for decomposition of moderate mineralizable compounds, i.e. carbohydrate esters, chitin and pectin were found at the mid-elevations with hump-shaped pattern, where the genes for decompositions of recalcitrant C (i.e. lignin) and easily mineralizable C (i.e. starch) showed the opposite trend (i.e. U-shaped pattern), due to high soil pH and seasonality in both low and high elevations. Notably, the gene abundances for the decompositions of starch, carbohydrate esters, chitin and lignin had positive relationships with corresponding C compounds, indicating the consistent responses of microbial functional profiles and metabolites to elevation climosequences. Understanding of adaptation of microbial communities, potential function and metabolites to elevation climosequences and their influencing factors provided a new insight for the regulation of terrestrial C storage.

Construction of Z-scheme heterostructure is of momentous significance for realizing efficient photocatalytic water splitting. However, the consciously modulate of Z-scheme charge transfer is still a great challenge. Herein, interfacial Mo-S bond and internal electric field modulated Z-Scheme heterostructure composed by sulfur vacancies-rich ZnIn2S4 (Vs-ZIS) and MoSe2 was rationally fabricated for efficient photocatalytic hydrogen evolution. Systematic investigations reveal that Mo-S bond and internal electric field induce the Z-scheme charge transfer mechanism as confirmed by the SPS and DMPO spin-trapping EPR spectra. Under the intense synergy among the Mo-S bond, internal electric field and S-vacancies, the optimized photocatalyst exhibits ultrahigh hydrogen evolution rate of 63.21 mmol∙g-1·h-1 with an apparent quantum yield of 76.48% at 420 nm monochromatic light, which is about 18.8-fold of the pristine ZIS. This work affords a new inspiration on consciously modulating Z-scheme charge transfer by atomic-level interface control and internal electric field to signally promote the photocatalytic performance.

The coherent interaction of electromagnetic fields with solid-state two-level systems can yield deterministic quantum light sources for photonic quantum technologies. To date, the performance of semiconductor single-photon sources based on three-level systems is limited mainly due to a lack of high photon indistinguishability. Here, we tailor the cavity-enhanced spontaneous emission from a ladder-type three-level system in a single epitaxial quantum dot (QD) through stimulated emission. After populating the biexciton (XX) of the QD through two-photon resonant excitation (TPE), we use another laser pulse to selectively depopulate the XX state into an exciton (X) state with a predefined polarization. The stimulated XX-X emission modifies the X decay dynamics and yields improved polarized single-photon source characteristics such as a source brightness of 0.030(2), a single-photon purity of 0.998(1), and an indistinguishability of 0.926(4). Our method can be readily applied to existing QD single-photon sources and expands the capabilities of three-level systems for advanced quantum photonic functionalities., Comment: NN to appear, comments are welcome

Tungsten was extracted from LiCl-KCl-Li2WO4 molten salt with tungsten carbide as soluble anode, and its electrochemical dissolution was studied. Although the fused salt electrochemical method has the advantages of short process and easy equipment operation, the current electrolysis process faces problems such as higher electrolysis temperature, high energy consumption, and complex composition of the products. Therefore, in this study, in order to reduce the electrolysis temperature and energy consumption, tungsten was extracted by LiCl-KCl-Li2WO4 molten salt system in the temperature range 400 °C–600 °C. In addition, compared to the blank salt electrolysis, the addition of Li2WO4 as the active material facilitated the reaction and improved the dissolution efficiency, and the current efficiency. Through a series of electrochemical tests, it is proved that the adding of Li2WO4 decreases the charge transfer resistance and speeds up the reaction. Moreover, the oxidation–reduction process of tungsten ion in tungstate was investigated, indicating that the redox process is a reversible process controlled by diffusion. Clusters of spherical tungsten powders were prepared at 500 °C by optimizing the experimental parameters.

The critical prerequisite for realizing the industrial application of photocatalytic technology lies on developing efficient photocatalyst through reasonable and large-scale modification strategy. Herein, the rapid and solvent-free high-energy ball-milling procedure was adopted to modify graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) on a large-scale by phosphorus (P) atom doping and molybdenum phosphide (MoP) decorating. It is confirmed that P doping can introduce a mid-gap state in the band gap of g-C3N4, broadening the light responsive region and enhancing the electrical conductivity of g-C3N4. The Mo N bond at the interface of P-doped g-C3N4 and MoP acting as electrons “delivery channels” facilitates the charge transfer from P-doped g-C3N4 to MoP, while the Schottky barrier promotes the separation of photocarriers. As a result, the optimized P-doped g-C3N4/MoP photocatalyst performs an improved H2 evolution rate of 4917.83 μmol·g−1·h−1 and a favorable H2 production stability. This work offers a replicable prototype on adopting high-energy ball-milling to modify photocatalyst.