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ReS2 films are considered as a promising candidate for optoelectronic applications due to their direct band gap character and optical/electrical anisotropy. However, the direct band gap in a narrow spectrum and the low absorption of atomically thin flakes weaken the prospect for light-harvesting applications. Here, we developed an efficient approach to enhance the performance of a ReS2-based phototransistor by coupling CdSe–CdS–ZnS core–shell quantum dots. Under 589 nm laser irradiation, the responsivity of the ReS2 phototransistor decorated with quantum dots could be enhanced by more than 25 times (up to ∼654 A/W) and the rising and recovery time can be also reduced to 3.2 and 2.8 s, respectively. The excellent optoelectronic performance is originated from the coupling effect of quantum dots light absorber and cross-linker ligands 1,2-ethanedithiol. Photoexcited electron–hole pairs in quantum dots can separate and transfer efficiently due to the type-II band alignment and charge exchange process at the i...

The large-scale deployment of efficient artificial photosynthesis systems to convert carbon dioxide (CO2) into carbon-based fuels and chemical feedstocks holds great promise as a way to ensure a carbon neutral cycle. While catalysts have been developed for the pertinent half-reaction of CO2 reduction to C2 molecules, an integrated system for this purpose has never been designed and built. In this work, we demonstrate an energetically efficient formation of ethylene directly from CO2 and water (H2O) using solar energy at room temperature and pressure. A two-electrode cell (electrolyzer) was designed, and cell parameters such as electrolyte and voltage were optimized. Oxide-derived copper (Cu) and iridium oxide (IrOx) were used as electrocatalysts respectively in the cathode and anode. Coupling this electrolyzer with silicon solar panels under laboratory 1 sun illumination (100 mW/cm2), we show that CO2 could be facilely reduced to ethylene with a faradaic efficiency of 31.9%, partial current density of 6.5...

// Yan-Guo Xi 1, * , Xu Tian 2, * , Wei-Qing Chen 2, * , Sai Zhang 3, * , Shan Zhang 1 , Wei-Dan Ren 1 , Qi-Jun Pang 1 , Guo-Tao Yang 1 and Zhi-Ming Yang 1 1 Department of Neurosurgery, Cang Zhou Central Hospital, Hebei 061001, China 2 Department of Gastroenterology, Chongqing Cancer Institute and Hospital and Cancer Center, Chongqing 400030, China 3 Department of Neurosurgery, Logistic University Affiliated Hospital, Logistic University of Chinese People’s Armed Police Force, Tianjin 300162, China * These authors contributed equally to this work Correspondence to: Yan-Guo Xi, email: neuroxi@163.com Xu Tian, email: yxtx880919@hotmail.com Keywords: acute stroke, antibiotic prophylaxis, systematic review, meta-analysis Received: March 22, 2017 Accepted: June 17, 2017 Published: July 06, 2017 ABSTRACT Objective: Infections are frequent after stroke and lead to increased mortality and neurological disability. Antibiotic prophylaxis has potential of decreasing the risk of infections and mortality and improving poor functional outcome. Several studies evaluated antibiotic prophylaxis for infections in acute stroke patients have generated conflicting results. The systematic review of randomized clinical trials (RCTs) aimed at comprehensively assessing the evidence of antibiotic prophylaxis for the treatment of acute stroke patients. Materials and Methods: PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane library and the reference lists of eligible articles were searched to identify all potential studies. We included the studies that investigated the efficacy and safety of antibiotic prophylaxis for the treatment of acute stroke patients. The primary outcome included mortality and infection rate. The secondary outcomes included poor functional outcome and adverse events. Results: Seven trials randomizing 4,261 patients were included. Pooled analyses showed that antibiotic prophylaxis did not improve the mortality (risk ratio (RR) = 1.03, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.84 to 1.26, p = 0.78, I 2 = 25%) and poor functional outcome (RR = 0.93, 95% CI 0.80 to 1.08, p = 0.32, I 2 = 80%), but reduced the incidence of infection (RR = 0.67, 95% CI 0.53 to 0.84, p = 0.0007, I 2 = 49%). No major side effects were reported. Sensitivity analyses confirmed the results of infection rate and poor functional outcome. Conclusions: Antibiotic prophylaxis can be used to treat the infectious events of acute stroke patients although it has no potential of decreased mortality and improved functional outcome.

Substitutional doping of transition metal dichalcogenide two-dimensional materials has proven to be effective in tuning their intrinsic properties, such as band gap, transport characteristics, and magnetism. In this study, we realized substitutional doping of monolayer rhenium disulfide (ReS2) with Mo via chemical vapor deposition. Scanning transmission electron microscopy demonstrated that Mo atoms are successfully doped into ReS2 by substitutionally replacing Re atoms in the lattice. Electrical measurements revealed the degenerate p-type semiconductor behavior of Mo-doped ReS2 field effect transistors, in agreement with density functional theory calculations. The p–n diode device based on a doped ReS2 and ReS2 homojunction exhibited gate-tunable current rectification behaviors, and the maximum rectification ratio could reach up to 150 at Vd = −2/+2 V. The successful synthesis of p-type ReS2 in this study could largely promote its application in novel electronic and optoelectronic devices.

The combined effects of initial microfibril angle (MFA) and moisture content (MC) on the longitudinal tensile properties of Masson pine (Pinus massoniana Lamb.) wood foils has been investigated. Synchrotron X-ray diffraction (XRDsyn) combined with a custom-built microtensile device was applied for in situ monitoring of the MFA alterations in the foils under different initial MFAs and MCs conditions. The results demonstrate that the tensile properties are highly negatively correlated to both MFA and MC. Furthermore, the tensile modulus is more sensitive to MC change than tensile strength. At a higher MFA, the sensitivity of the two mechanical indicators to MC alteration is enhanced.

The complexities of the physical and analytical chemistry surrounding the CO2 reduction reaction introduce significant challenges to how appropriate catalysts can be designed. This perspective describes the important factors to consider when analyzing the performance of catalysts and reaction mechanisms for the CO2 reduction reaction in aqueous electrolytes. It focuses on the practical aspects of experimental design and instrumentation that are required for the accurate study of these complex reactions. We discuss the common figures-of-merit and suggest appropriate methods for analyzing and reporting experimental data, such that comparisons between research reports can be more easily drawn. In addition, we highlight notable instances of applications of our suggested practices that already exist in the literature in order to emphasize the excellent work that is being performed in the field.

A continuous-time and infinite-horizon optimal investment and consumption model with proportional transaction costs and regime-switching was considered in Liu [ 4 ]. A power utility function was specifically studied in [ 4 ]. This paper considers the case of log utility. Using a combination of viscosity solution to the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman (HJB) equation and convex analysis of the value function, we are able to derive the characterizations of the buy, sell and no-transaction regions that are regime-dependent. The results generalize Shreve and Soner [ 6 ] that deals with the same problem but without regime-switching.

Rhenium disulfide (ReS2) has attracted scientists' attention for its unique physical properties and potential applications in high-efficiency photodetector devices. Although lots of works have been done to obtain high-quality ReS2 nanoflakes, in-plane uniform growth is still challenging due to its unique decoupling property between layers. In this work, we successfully realized the epitaxial growth of continuous monolayer ReS2 films on mica substrate by chemical vapour deposition (CVD). By prolonging the growth time, continuous multilayer ReS2 films can also be obtained. The growth mechanism of ReS2 films is proposed based on Stranski–Krastanov theory. Filed effect transistors (FETs) based on multilayer ReS2 films exhibit typical n-type semiconducting behaviour with a carrier density of 0.27 cm2 V−1 s−1 and ON/OFF ratio of about 4 × 103. The photoresponsivity of the phototransistor could reach up to 0.98 A W−1 with a light intensity of 0.56 mW cm−2, suggesting that ReS2 is a promising material for electronic and optoelectronic applications.

Aberrant expression of microRNAs contributes to the initiation and progression of numerous human cancers. The underlying effects and molecular mechanisms of microRNA-187 (miR-187) in gastric cancer (GC) remain unclear. The present study reports that miR-187 was significantly overexpressed in GC tissues compared to that in non-tumor tissues and was associated with malignant clinical factors such as depth of invasion (P = 0.005), tumor size (P = 0.024), lymph node metastasis (P = 0.048), and TNM stage (P = 0.035). Additionally, miR-187 promoted tumor growth in vivo, and significantly increased migration, invasion, and proliferation, but inhibited apoptosis in GC cells. It was found that collapsin response mediator protein 1 (CRMP1), a tumor suppressor, was a direct downstream target of miR-187 in GC. Furthermore, CRMP1 silencing resulted in similar effects on cell proliferation, migration, and apoptosis as those of miR-187 overexpressing GC cells. Additionally, the effects of miR-187 inhibitor on cell migration and cell apoptosis were reversed by CRMP1 downregulation. In summary, miR-187 promotes tumor progression by regulating CRMP1 expression in GC and may thus be a potential prognostic marker and a therapeutic target in GC.

AIM: To investigate the expression of copeptin and midkine(MK)in patients with diabetic retinopathy and their clinical significance. METHODS: Totally 180 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus(T2DM)admitted to our hospital from June 2016 to October 2017 were divided into three groups according to the criteria of diabetic retinopathy staging. Among them, there were no retinopathy group(68 cases), non-proliferative retinopathy group(72 cases), proliferative retinopathy group(40 cases)and 90 healthy subjects in the same period as the control group. The copeptin level was detected by double antibody immunosorbent assay and the MK level by ELISA. The glycosylated hemoglobin(HbA1c)was detected by TOSOH automatic glycosylated hemoglobin analyzer and the whole blood hs-CRP was detected by using blood routine instrument. Fasting plasma glucose(FPG), triglyceride(TG), cholesterol(TC), low density lipoprotein(LDL-C)and high density lipoprotein(HDL-C)were detected by automatic biochemical analyzer and the systolic blood pressure(SBP)and diastolic blood pressure(DBP)of each group were recorded. The relationship between copeptin and MK levels and blood lipid, blood pressure, biochemical parameters and the course of diabetes mellitus were also analyzed. RESULTS: The levels of copeptin and MK in patients with diabetic retinopathy were significantly higher than those in controls, and the levels of copeptin and MK were gradually increased with the progress of disease(PPP>0.05). CONCLUSION: The copeptin and MK levels are closely related to the course of diabetic retinopathy and the severity of the disease, both of which may be involved in the development of diabetic retinopathy.

Developing efficient systems for the conversion of carbon dioxide to valuable chemicals using solar power is critical for mitigating climate change and ascertaining the world's future supply of clean fuels. Here, we introduce a mesoscopic cathode consisting of Cu nanowires decorated with Ag islands, by the reduction of Ag-covered Cu

Background In China, although the ALV eradication program and the MD vaccination strategy greatly reduce the disease burdens caused by the infection of ALV and MDV, the frequent emergence of novel ALV-K or vvMDV in the vaccinated chicken flock challenges the current control strategies for both diseases. Results In Guangdong Province, an indigenous chicken flock was infected with neoplastic disease. Hematoxylin–eosin staining of the tissues showed the typical characteristics of MDV and classical ALV infection. The PCR and sequencing data demonstrated that the identified MDV was clustered into a very virulent MDV strain endemic in domestic chickens in China. Moreover, subgroups ALV-A and ALV-K were efficiently recovered from two samples. The full genome sequence revealed that the ALV-K isolate was phylogenetically close to the ALV TW3593 isolate from Taiwan Province. Conclusions A co-infection of vvMDV with multiple ALV subgroups emerged in a chicken flock with neoplastic disease in Guangdong Province. The co-infection with different subgroups of ALV with vvMDV in one chicken flock poses the risk for the emergence of novel ALVs and heavily burdens the control strategy for MDV.

Some immune escape mutants of H9N2 virus and the corresponding mutations in hemagglutinin (HA) have been documented, but little is known about the impact of a single mutation on the antigenicity and pathogenesis of H9N2. In this study, seven critical sites in HA associated with the antigenicity were identified and the effects of a HA mutation (N166D) derived from a H9N2 escape mutant (m3F2) were investigated. Although N166D did not significantly affect viral replication in Madin&ndash, Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells and viral shedding in the larynx and cloaca of chicken, N166D attenuated the pathogenesis of the virus in mice. Compared to the rescued RgPR8-H9_166D, RgPR8-H9_166N caused greater body weight loss and higher viral titers in the lungs of the infected mice. Moreover, hemagglutination inhibition (HI) assay for the sera from the chickens infected with wild type H9N2 and mutant m3F2 showed that N166D mutation could result in weak antibody response in chickens. Considering the field strains of H9N2 with N166D mutation are frequently isolated in the countries with H9N2 vaccination, the findings that the single mutation in HA, N166D, affected both the antigenicity and pathogenesis of H9N2 highlight the significance of surveillance on such mutation that may contribute to the failure of H9N2 vaccination in the field.

Electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide, if powered by renewable electricity, could serve as a sustainable technology for carbon recycling and energy storage. Among all the products, ethanol is an attractive liquid fuel. However, the maximum faradaic efficiency of ethanol is only approximate to 10 % on polycrystalline Cu. Here, CuZn bimetallic catalysts were synthesized by in situ electrochemical reduction of ZnO-shell/CuO-core bi-metal-oxide. Dynamic evolution of catalyst was revealed by STEM-EDS mapping, showing the migration of Zn atom and blending between Cu and Zn. CuZn bimetallic catalysts showed preference towards ethanol formation, with the ratio of ethanol/ethylene increasing over five times regardless of applied potential. We achieved 41 % faradaic efficiency for C2+ liquids with this catalyst. Transitioning from H-cell to an electrochemical flow cell, we achieved 48.6 % faradaic efficiency and -97 mA cm(-2) partial current density for C2+ liquids at only -0.68 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode in 1 m KOH. Operando Raman spectroscopy showed that CO binding on Cu sites was modified by Zn. Free CO and adsorbed *CH3 are believed to combine and form *COCH3 intermediate, which is exclusively reduced to ethanol.

Central sensitization plays a pivotal role in the maintenance of chronic pain induced by chronic pancreatitis (CP), but cortical modulation of painful CP remains elusive. This study was designed to examine the role of anterior insular cortex (aIC) in the pathogenesis of hyperalgesia in a rat model of CP. CP was induced by intraductal administration of trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS). Abdomen hyperalgesia and anxiety were assessed by von Frey filament and open field tests, respectively. Two weeks after surgery, the activation of aIC was indicated by FOS immunohistochemical staining and electrophysiological recordings. Expressions of VGluT1, NMDAR subunit NR2B and AMPAR subunit GluR1 were analyzed by immunoblottings. The regulatory roles of aIC in hyperalgesia and pain-related anxiety were detected via pharmacological approach and chemogenetics in CP rats. Our results showed that TNBS treatment resulted in long-term hyperalgesia and anxiety-like behavior in rats. CP rats exhibited increased FOS expression and potentiated excitatory synaptic transmission within aIC. CP rats also showed up-regulated expression of VGluT1, and increased membrane trafficking and phosphorylation of NR2B and GluR1 within aIC. Blocking excitatory synaptic transmission significantly attenuated abdomen mechanical hyperalgesia. Specifically inhibiting the excitability of insular pyramidal cells reduced both abdomen hyperalgesia and pain-related anxiety. In conclusion, our findings emphasize a key role for aIC in hyperalgesia and anxiety of painful CP, providing a novel insight into cortical modulation of painful CP and shedding light on aIC as a potential target for neuromodulation interventions in the treatment of CP.

To investigate the organic cultivation mode for high-yield and high-quality melon, we measured the growth of melon that grown in pots with different conditions of organic nutrient solution and irrigation. There were three irrigation frequencies of organic nutrient solution (8-time application, each time 750 mL per plant, F为研究高产优质甜瓜的有机管理模式,以甜瓜为试材,采用基质盆栽方式,设3种有机营养液灌溉频次(施用8次,每次每株750 mL, F

This paper considers the continuous-time portfolio optimization problem with both stochastic interest rate and stochastic volatility in regime-switching models, where a regime-switching Vasicek model is assumed for the interest rate and a regime-switching Heston model is assumed for the stock price.We use the dynamic programming approach to solve this stochastic optimal control problem. Under suitable assumptions, we prove a verification theorem.We then derive a closed-form solution of the associated Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman (HJB) equation for a power utility function and a special choice of some model parameters. We prove the optimality of the closed-form solution by verifying the required conditions as stated in the verification theorem. We present a numerical example to show the optimal portfolio policies and value functions in different regimes.

This paper seeks to investigate the current state of Public English teachers in the higher vocational colleges in Hainan Province through the questionnaire inquiring information on the main information-based teaching means adopted, professional quality, job saturation and job satisfaction. Taken as a whole, the results suggest that the professional quality and job satisfaction of the tested group are high while job saturation is at an intermediate level, and those three elements are not necessarily related according to the descriptive statistics and regression analysis. The strategies derived from the analysis elaborate the advice from multiple perspectives including three aspects of society, school and teacher.

In order to build a high-quality team of teachers in vocational higher education institutions, deeply understand, and investigate the current situation of ideological and political teachers in vocational higher education institutions of Hainan Province, a questionnaire survey has been conducted from four aspects including the satisfaction of teaching and scientific research, professional quality, work saturation and teacher’s job satisfaction. On the basis of an empirical research upon the results through SPSS, it has come to the conclusion: the professional quality of ideological and political teachers cannot significantly influence the satisfaction of teaching and scientific research; Job saturation can positively influence teaching and research satisfaction; teaching and research satisfaction can positively influence teachers’ job satisfaction. Vocational higher education institutions should attach great importance to teachers’ development needs and respond to them, formulate policies to support teachers’ professional development, their promotion of professional title and further training, and improve the quality and level of teachers.

English learning strategy is one of the decisive factors for learners’ English achievements. In order to know Li nationality college students’ present condition of using English learning strategies, a questionnaire survey has been conducted from three perspectives including metacognitive strategy, cognitive strategy, affective/social strategy. On the basis of an empirical research upon the results through SPSS, it has come to the conclusion: the level of affective/social strategy of Li nationality college students is a little bit higher than that of their cognitive strategy and metacognitive strategy; cognitive strategy has a significant positive influence on both affective/social strategy and metacognitive strategy, and affective/social strategy has a significant positive influence on metacognitive strategy. Meanwhile, affective/social strategy plays as a partial intermediation between cognitive strategy and metacognitive strategy.

In order to build a high-quality team of teachers in vocational higher education institutions, and investigate the current situation of teachers of common required courses in vocational higher education institutions of Hainan Province, an empirical research is conducted. A questionnaire survey was carried out in aspects of satisfaction of teaching and scientific research, professional quality, work saturation and teacher’s job satisfaction. The research results shows that the professional quality of teachers of common required courses cannot significantly influence the satisfaction of teaching and scientific research; Job saturation can positively influence teaching and research satisfaction; teaching and research satisfaction can positively influence teachers’ job satisfaction.

Conventional analytical and numerical approaches are inefficient for the analysis of electromagnetic (EM) coupling effect on a printed circuit board (PCB) in complicated electric systems. This paper develops a hybrid method based on the combination of electromagnetic topology and analytical method or full-wave simulation. A coupling mechanism of PCB in a nested shielding enclosure is established, and the EM interactions from exterior fields to interior PCB are determined by the way of conductive and radiation coupling interference. The total load disturbance voltage of PCB trace is obtained by solving the BLT equation of the two interference paths. In this paper, the full-wave simulation method is adopted to calculate the electric field and numerical integration method is applied to solve the BLT equation. The results of the proposed method are in good agreement with the result of a commercial full-wave tool, which confirms its validity. Compared to numerical simulation, the proposed method simplifies the modeling process significantly and possesses better efficiency.

The electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) to ethanol (C2H5OH) and ethylene (C2H4) using renewable electricity is a viable method for the production of these commercially vital chemicals. Copper (Cu) and its oxides are by far the most effective electrocatalysts for this purpose. However, the formation of ethanol using these catalysts is generally less favored in comparison to that of ethylene. In this work, we demonstrate that the selectivity of CO2 reduction toward ethanol could be tuned by introducing a cocatalyst to generate an in situ source of mobile CO reactant. Cu-based oxides with different amounts of Zn dopants (Cu, Cu10Zn, Cu4Zn, and Cu2Zn) were prepared and used as catalysts under ambient pressure in aqueous 0.1 M KHCO3 electrolyte. By varying the amount of Zn in the bimetallic catalysts, we found that the selectivity of ethanol versus ethylene production, defined by the ratio of their Faradaic efficiencies (FEethanol/FEethylene), could be tuned by a factor of up to ∼12.5. Ethanol fo...

The shielding properties of a rectangular enclosure with a doubly periodic array of apertures, exited by an obliquely incident and arbitrarily polarized plane wave is dealt with an improved method of moments (MOM) approach and mode-matching technique efficiently and accurately. Floquet waves for periodic structure are employed to represent the fields of the half-space, and the fields within the cavity are considered as superposition of waveguide modes. After enforcing the boundary conditions, MOM is used to obtain the shielding effectiveness and transmission coefficient. The proposed method has been successfully verified by a full-wave simulation tool CST and measurements. In our method, an arbitrary observation point is taken into account as well as higher order modes of the cavity. It is also found that all the resonant frequencies can be predicted from the transmission coefficient versus frequency curve.

Single-fiber pull-out test was adopted to quantitatively assess the respective contribution of physical and chemical interactions to the interfacial bonding between bamboo fiber (BF) and polypropylene (PP), which was regulated with different concentrations of maleated polypropylene (MAPP) and silane (KH-550) coupling agents. Meanwhile, a new AFM-based nanomechanical imaging technique, namely the peakforce quantitative nanomechanics (PQNM), was used for mechanically imaging the interface of the resulting composites. The interfacial shear strength (IFSS) was found to be positively correlated to the concentration of MAPP and silane, but with less significance for the latter. Furthermore, the respective contribution of physical and chemical bondings to the total IFSS can be approximately quantified. PQNM was capable of mechanically visualizing the different cell wall layers of BFs and their interface with PP matrix, but failed to discriminate the so-called interphase layer that is normally characterized with dozens of nanometers in thickness.

In this paper, we present an efficient and accurate approach to predict the shielding effectiveness (SE) of an enclosure with numerous small apertures, which involves two methods: the equivalent model of aperture array and waveguide equivalent circuit model. First, the equivalent model of aperture array is derived from the numerical simulation that simplifies the aperture array into a single aperture, then the equivalent single aperture's impedance is calculated and the equivalent circuit model is applied to calculate the SE of the enclosure. The result shows a better agreement with the measurement than the original waveguide equivalent circuit model. In comparison with aperture's admittance model, our method can be applied to the square, circular, and rectangular apertures with nonuniform small aperture distribution. The proposed method can also significantly reduce the simulation time and improve the efficiency of simulation compared with the generalized modal method of moments and CST. Finally, we discuss the applicability of this method.

The miR-17~92 microRNA (miRNA) cluster host gene is upregulated in a broad spectrum of human cancers including colorectal cancer (CRC). Previous studies have shown that miR-17~92 promotes tumorigenesis and cancer angiogenesis in some tumor models. However, its role in the initiation and progression of CRC remains unknown. In this study, we found that transgenic mice overexpressing miR-17~92 specifically in epithelial cells of the small and large intestines exhibited decreased tumor size and tumor angiogenesis in azoxymethane and dextran sulfate sodium salt (AOM-DSS)-induced CRC model as compared to their littermates control. Further study showed that miR-17~92 inhibited the progression of CRC via suppressing tumor angiogenesis through targeting multiple tumor angiogenesis-inducing genes, TGFBR2, HIF1α, and VEGFA in vivo and in vitro. Collectively, we demonstrated that miR-17~92 suppressed tumor progression by inhibiting tumor angiogenesis in a genetically engineered mouse model, indicating the presence of cellular context-dependent pro- and anti-cancer effects of miR-17~92.

Metal oxides have been extensively explored as catalysts for the electrochemical oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Here, we present an excellent OER catalytic system consisting of pulse-electrodeposited Ir/Ni oxides in Fe(3+)-spiked 1 M KOH. In pure 1 M KOH electrolyte, the optimized catalyst, which had an Ir:Ni atom ratio of 1:1.49, could catalyze 10 mA/cm(2) of O2 production at a small overpotential (η) of 264 mV. Remarkably, we found that its OER performance could be significantly improved by adding 0.3 mM Fe(3+) into the electrolyte. At an η of just 343 ± 3 mV, a huge current of 500 mA/cm(2) was achieved. Furthermore, this catalytic system exhibited a small Tafel slope of 31 mV/dec and a large iridium mass-normalized current of 1260 mA/mgIr at η = 280 mV. We also discovered that the durability of the Ir/Ni oxide catalyst during OER (at 10 mA/cm(2) with η280 mV) could be maintained for more than 4.5 days by simply spiking Fe(3+), Ir(3+), and Ni(2+) into the KOH electrolyte. The figures-of-merit in this work, in terms of both activity and stability, compare favorably against values from several state-of-the-art catalysts. Hypotheses for the outstanding performance of the Ir/Ni catalyst are proposed and discussed.

International audience; The dual discrete geometry methods (DGMs) in terms of scalar potential using prism elements are employed in 3-D interconnect capacitance extraction of integral circuits. The energy complementarity property of the dual methods is explored to speed up the extraction. The dual DGMs work on the mutually orthogonal primal-dual mesh doublets, i.e., dual Delaunay-Voronoi mesh complex. As the orthogonal dual mesh is built based on the circumcenter of the primal mesh, the stability of the dual DGM heavily depends on the quality of the mesh. Elements with circumcenter dropping outside of the elements inevitably appear in the nonstructured prismatic meshes, due to the complicated structures in practical problems. The impact of these elements on the stability of the DGM is discussed. Comprehensive comparison between dual DGMs and dual finite-element methods (FEMs) and other golden references is performed. The dual DGM in terms of scalar potential has a reduced number of unknowns and simpler forms and works without extra links as required in the dual FEM in terms of vector potential. Capacitance extraction examples, such as a CMOS inverter and multilayer crossover parallel wires, are studied. The results demonstrate the energy bounds of dual DGMs and the improvement of accuracy with reduced cost.

In this experiment, the effects of soybean antigen proteins on intestinal permeability, 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) levels and secretory IgA (sIgA) distribution in the intestine of weaned piglets were evaluated. Thirty piglets (21 d of age) were randomly divided into three groups: control group, glycinin-sensitised group and β-conglycinin-sensitised group. Piglets in the control group were fed a basal diet, and in two sensitised groups were fed the diet with 4% glycinin or β-conglycinin. Piglets in glycinin and β-conglycinin groups were sensitised twice on 21–27 d and 32–34 d period, respectively. Blood samples were collected and analysed for D-lactic acid, diamine oxidase (DAO) and 5-HT levels on d 21, 28 and 35. At the end of the trial, five piglets per group were sacrificed and the small intestine was collected to evaluate intestinal sIgA distribution and the optical density (OD) of the relative staining positivity. The results revealed that the piglets in glycinin and β-conglycinin groups had higher D-lactic acid, DAO and 5-HT levels than those of the control group (p duodenum > proximal jejunum and distal ileum > distal jejunum. These results suggest that soybean antigen proteins induce allergic reactions, damage the intestinal mucosa, increase intestinal permeability and promote sIgA synthesis in weaned piglets.

Allergic rhinitis (AR) is a serious public health concern worldwide. Therefore, the present study was conducted to scrutinize the protective effect of corynoline (COR) against ovalbumin (OVA)-induced AR in BALB/c mice. The effect of COR was investigated on various parameters, such as nose-rub score, histamine intensity, level of cytokines, and NF-κB binding activity. It was found that COR causes a significant reduction in the nose-rub score with a reduction in histamine intensity. It also causes reductions in cytokines, such as TNF-α, IL-1β, and MIP-2, in comparison to OVA-challenged mice. COR reduces the gene expression of active caspase-1 in Western blot analysis, together with inhibition of NF-κB binding activity. The inhibitory effect on NF-κB binding was further substantiated by docking analysis, where COR excellently docked into the active site of NF-κB via the creation of H-bond and π-cation interactions with Lys145. Taken altogether, our results demonstrated that COR could be used as a potential therapeutic agent against AR.

The removal of small molecular weight impurities via organic solvent nanofiltration is urgently needed. 9,9-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)fluorene (BHPF) was modified to synthesize a novel nitrogen-containing heterocyclic monomer (mBHPF). Microporous polyarylate thin-film composite (TFC) membranes of trimesoyl chloride and mBHPF were prepared via interfacial polymerization. The enhanced microporosity and hydrophilicity were achieved by using nitrogen-containing heterocyclic building blocks. Rejections to dyes with a molecular weight greater than 700 remained remarkable (over 98%) in methanol while the permeances of methanol, ethyl alcohol and acetone improved to 14.49, 4.57 and 10.06 L m−2 h−1 bar−1, respectively, much higher than the typical-used commercial membranes, such as MPF-44 or MPF-50 from Koch. Moreover, based on physical properties of solvents and the structure of polyarylate membranes, a model that had great potential in the prediction of pure organic solvent flux was established. This method provides ways to form microporous TFC membranes and predict separation performance for organic solvent nanofiltration.

ZnO nanoparticles synthesized by Citrus sinensis peel extract (SNP) were characterized and compared with commercial ZnO nanoparticles (CNP), and were then applied as nanocoatings on fresh strawberries to evaluate the preservation effect. The results revealed that SNP had a similar crystal structure to CNP, but a higher crystallinity and a larger particle size. The cytotoxicity of SNP towards human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) was close to CNP when the concentration was below 25 mg/L. Furthermore, SNP and CNP had a similar minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) against E. coli and S. aureus, but SNP showed a significantly lower minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) against E. coli compared with CNP. Higher antifungal activities of CNP against Botrytis cinereal purified from mildewed strawberries compared with SNP were found when the concentration was lower than 400 mg/L. When SNP and CNP were incorporated into carboxymethylcellulose sodium (CMC) and coated on fresh strawberries, both coatings significantly decreased the weight loss and the rate of rotting, and also improved the storage quality. Therefore, SNP prepared by the green method has great potential in food packaging application.

Chlorine dioxide (ClO2) has received great attention as a nontoxic and efficient antimicrobial agent for the preservation of fresh fruits and vegetables. A novel two-layer coated corrugated box was developed to release gaseous ClO2 under the trigger of moisture in this study. The inner surface of the box was firstly coated with a mixture of polyvinyl alcohol-NaClO2-diatomite and then with chitosan acetic acid solution. Results showed that ClO2 was successfully released under high humidity due to the reaction of NaClO2, water vapor and acid. The concentration of released ClO2 increased with the increasing NaClO2 content in the coating, while the addition of diatomite stabilized and extended the release. To evaluate the preservation effect, strawberries were packed in the coated box and stored at room temperature. Compared with the control, the decay rate and weight loss of the strawberries packed in the coated box (9 g/L NaClO2) were reduced up to 21.88% and 6.84%, respectively. The surface color, firmness and nutrients content were also better maintained. Therefore, this coated corrugated box with the capability to release ClO2 under the trigger of moisture has great potential to be applied as an antimicrobial packaging for fresh fruits and vegetables.

Passivation of interfacial defects serves as an effective means to realize highly efficient and stable perovskite solar cells (PSCs). However, most molecular modulators currently used to mitigate such defects form poorly conductive aggregates at the perovskite interface with the charge collection layer, impeding the extraction of photogenerated charge carriers. Here, a judiciously engineered passivator, 4-tert-butyl-benzylammonium iodide (tBBAI), is introduced, whose bulky tert-butyl groups prevent the unwanted aggregation by steric repulsion. It is found that simple surface treatment with tBBAI significantly accelerates the charge extraction from the perovskite into the spiro-OMeTAD hole-transporter, while retarding the nonradiative charge carrier recombination. This boosts the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the PSC from ≈20% to 23.5% reducing the hysteresis to barely detectable levels. Importantly, the tBBAI treatment raises the fill factor from 0.75 to the very high value of 0.82, which concurs with a decrease in the ideality factor from 1.72 to 1.34, confirming the suppression of radiation-less carrier recombination. The tert-butyl group also provides a hydrophobic umbrella protecting the perovskite film from attack by ambient moisture. As a result, the PSCs show excellent operational stability retaining over 95% of their initial PCE after 500 h full-sun illumination under maximum-power-point tracking under continuous simulated solar irradiation.

To explore the influences of chitosan coating structure and structure changes during storage on egg preservation, eggs coated by chitosan solution for single time (CS1), two times (CS2), and three times (CS3) were prepared separately and stored with untreated eggs (CK1), eggs washed by water (CK2) and eggs treated by acetic acid solution (CK3) at 25 &deg, C, 80% RH. The weight loss, Haugh unit, yolk index, albumen pH, eggshell morphologies and infrared (FTIR&mdash, Fourier Transform Infrared) spectra of all the samples were monitored. CS2 and CS3 presented the lowest weight loss, highest Haugh unit and yolk index, stabilized pH, and the highest thickness of chitosan coating layers (&gt, 2 &mu, m) among all the groups, which extended egg shelf life for 20 days longer compared to CK1 and CK2. CS1 with very thin chitosan coating showed similar egg qualities with CK3, which are second only to CS2 and CS3. Furthermore, destructions were found on chitosan coatings during storage as revealed by the eggshell morphologies and FTIR spectra, which caused the quality deterioration of eggs. The results demonstrated that eggs with the thickest coating showed the best qualities during storage, while destructions on coating layers led to the quality drop of eggs.

Metal–organic framework (MOF)-based materials are promising candidates for a range of separation applications. However, the fabrication of self-standing MOF-based thin films remains challenging. Herein, a facile solution casting strategy is developed for fabricating UiO-66 nanocomposite thin films (UiO66TFs) with thicknesses down to ∼400 nm. Nanosizing UiO-66 and incorporating sulfonated polysulfone additives render high dispersity and interfacial bindings between MOFs and polymer matrices, so UiO66TFs are more mechanically robust and thermally stable than their pure-polymer counterparts. Enhanced microporosity with sub-nanometer pore sizes of the self-standing membranes enables the direct translation of UiO-66-based sorption and ion-sieving properties, thus increasing water flux and separation performance (Na2SO4 rejection of 94–96%) under hydraulic pressure-driven processes and eliminating internal concentration polarization in osmotic pressure-driven processes. Enhanced separation performances are achi...

The efficient electroreduction of CO

Chitosan (CS)/montmorillonite (CS/MMT) coatings have been applied on fresh tangerine fruits for two times to study the effect of coating structure changes on their preservation performance. After the first coating, the second coating was conducted before (at day 3) and after (at day 5) the perforation of coatings during storage, respectively. During storage, the quality of fruits and the changes of coating morphologies were monitored. Results showed that, micro-pores appeared on the coating layer of CS/MMT-0 at day 3, which was coated for only one time at day 0, while perforation was significantly retarded by the second coating. Moreover, the coating carried out at day 3 on CS/MMT-3 was much more stable in structure compared to that at day 5 on CS/MMT-5. Furthermore, the accumulated decay rates of the coated fruits were much lower than that of the control group (CK), particularly CS/MMT-3. CS/MMT-3 showed higher contents of ascorbic acid and total soluble solids at the later stage of storage. The activities of defense-related enzymes (peroxidase (POD) and polyphenoloxidase (PPO)) in fruit peels were also higher in CS/MMT-3 and CS/MMT-5. Therefore, it demonstrated that the preservation performance of CS/MMT coating is closely related to the stability of coating structure, which can be enhanced by the second time coating.

The viscoelastic properties of bamboo fiber (BF) cell wall layers and the interface between BFs and maleated polypropylene polymer (MAPP) has been investigated by means of modulus mapping based on nanodynamic mechanical analysis (NanoDMA). This technique is well suited for simultaneous imaging of several important material indicators, such as storage modulus (E), loss modulus (E) and tan . Quantitative local dynamic mechanical information of the secondary cell wall (SW), primary cell wall (PW) and cell corner (CC) could be extracted from the obtained images by means of profile analysis. Results found that the E of SW was 15.13 GPa higher than that of PW and CC by 22.3% and 48.6%, respectively, and the same trend was also found in dissipation. These indicated that nanoscale structural inhomogeneities may affect significantly the viscoelastic behavior of BF. Furthermore, modulus mapping was capable of mechanically visualizing the interface between BF and MAPP matrix, but to fail to distinguish the so called interphase layer that is normally characterized with dozens of nanometers in thickness.

The aim of the present study was to explore key genes that may have a role in the pathology of measles virus infection and to clarify the interaction networks between environmental factors and differentially expressed genes (DEGs). After screening the database of the Gene Expression Omnibus of the National Center for Biotechnology Information, the dataset GSE5808 was downloaded and analyzed. A global normalization method was performed to minimize data inconsistencies and heterogeneity. DEGs during different stages of measles virus infection were explored using R software (v3.4.0). Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis of the DEGs were performed using Cytoscape 3.4.0 software. A protein-protein interaction (PPI) network of the DEGs was obtained from the STRING database v9.05. A total of 43 DEGs were obtained from four analyzed sample groups, including 10 highly expressed genes and 33 genes with decreased expression. The most enriched pathways based on KEGG analysis were fatty acid elongation, cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction and RNA degradation. The genes mentioned in the PPI network were mainly associated with protein binding and chemokine activity. A total of 219 chemicals were identified that may, jointly or on their own, interact with the 6 DEGs between the control group and patients with measles (at hospital entry), including benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) and tetrachlorodibenzodioxin (TCDD). In conclusion, the present study revealed that chemokines and environmental chemicals, e.g. BaP and TCDD, may affect the development of measles.

© 2018 American Chemical Society. Copper oxides have been of considerable interest as electrocatalysts for CO2reduction (CO2R) in aqueous electrolytes. However, their role as an active catalyst in reducing the required overpotential and improving the selectivity of reaction compared with that of polycrystalline copper remains controversial. Here, we introduce the use of selected-ion flow tube mass spectrometry, in concert with chronopotentiometry, in situ Raman spectroscopy, and computational modeling, to investigate CO2R on Cu2O nanoneedles, Cu2O nanocrystals, and Cu2O nanoparticles. We show experimentally that the selective formation of gaseous C2products (i.e., ethylene) in CO2R is preceded by the reduction of the copper oxide (Cu2OR) surface to metallic copper. On the basis of density functional theory modeling, CO2R products are not formed as long as Cu2O is present at the surface because Cu2OR is kinetically and energetically more favorable than CO2R.

Copper oxides have been of considerable interest as electrocatalysts for CO

The reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) to n-propanol (CH3CH2CH2OH) using renewable electricity is a potentially sustainable route to the production of this valuable engine fuel. In this study, we report that agglomerates of ∼15 nm sized copper nanocrystals exhibited unprecedented catalytic activity for this electrochemical reaction in aqueous 0.1 M KHCO3. The onset potential for the formation of n-propanol was 200-300 mV more positive than for an electropolished Cu surface or Cu(0) nanoparticles. At -0.95 V (vs RHE), n-propanol was formed on the Cu nanocrystals with a high current density (jn-propanol) of -1.74 mA/cm(2), which is ∼25× larger than that found on Cu(0) nanoparticles at the same applied potential. The Cu nanocrystals were also catalytically stable for at least 6 h, and only 14% deactivation was observed after 12 h of CO2 reduction. Mechanistic studies suggest that n-propanol could be formed through the C-C coupling of carbon monoxide and ethylene precursors. The enhanced activity of the Cu nanocrystals toward n-propanol formation was correlated to their surface population of defect sites.