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The polymer-dielectric composite film is reported to obtain a hierarchical micro–nano structure. Composites exhibit excellent optical properties and their actual radiative cooling effect was tested in an outdoor environment.

A tailored synthesis method is used to yield AlTiZrHfNbN based coatings with excellent spectral selectivity, showing an ultrabroad absorption wavelength range at or beyond the level of solar selective absorber coatings.

Developing advanced materials with a high-entropy concept is one of the hot trends in materials science. The configurational entropy of high-entropy materials can be tuned by introducing different atomic species, which can also impart a result in excellent physical and chemical properties. In this work, we synthesized a solid-solution oxide (Cu, Mn, Fe, Cr)

Solar and radiative warming are smart approaches to maintaining the human body at a metabolically comfortable temperature in both indoor and outdoor scenarios. Nevertheless, existing warming textiles are ineffective in frigid climates because the solar absorption of selective absorbing coating is significantly reduced when coated on rough textile surface. Herein, for the first time, high-entropy nitrides based spectrally selective film (SSF) is introduced on common cotton through a one-step magnetron sputtering method. The well-designed refractive index gradient enables destructive interference effects, offering a roughness-insensitive high solar absorptance (92.8%) and low thermal emittance (39.2%). Impressively, the solar absorptance is 9.1% higher than the reported best-performing selective nanofilm-based textile. As a result, such a textile achieves a record-high photothermal conversion efficiency (82.2% under 0.6 suns, at 0 °C). This textile yields a 3.5 °C drop in the set-point of indoor air-conditioner temperature. Besides, in a winter morning with an air temperature of 7.5 °C, it warms up the human skin by as large as 12 °C under weak sunlight (350 W m

This study aimed to investigate the effects of hypoxia on RhoA/Rho-kinase (ROCK) signaling pathway and autophagy in pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PASMCs), and to explore the underlying mechanism of Umbelliferone (Umb) in ameliorating chronic hypoxic pulmonary hypertension. PASMCs were cultured from Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats and randomly divided into control group, hypoxia group, hypoxia + Umb intervention group and normoxia + Umb intervention group. Alpha smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) and LC3 were assessed by immunofluorescence staining. Protein expression of RhoA, ROCK2, p-MYPT1, LC3-II, Beclin-1, p62, C-Caspase 3, Bax and Bcl-2 was analyzed by Western blotting. In in vivo study, SD rats were divided into control group, hypoxia group and hypoxia + Umb intervention group. Weight ratio of the right ventricle (RV)/left ventricle plus septum (LV+S) was detected, and pulmonary arterial morphological features were examined by HE staining. The results indicated that compared with the control group, the LC3-II/LC3-I ratio and expression of Beclin-1 were significantly increased, while p62 expression was significantly decreased, and the expressions of RhoA, ROCK2 and p-MYPT1 were significantly increased in PASMCs of hypoxia group (P0.05). The changes of LC3-II/LC3-I ratio, the expressions of Beclin-1, p62, RhoA, ROCK2 and p-MYPT1 in PASMCs were reversed by Umb treatment (P0.05). Consistently, the pulmonary arterial wall was thickened and the RV/(LV+S) ratio was increased in hypoxic rats, which were significantly improved by Umb treatment (P0.05). These results suggest that Umb can improve hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension by inhibiting the RhoA/ROCK signaling pathway and autophagy in PASMCs.

BACKGROUND Shift work is associated with reduced performance and efficiency, the current study aimed at investigating whether blue-enriched white light could improve workers' performance. METHODS The study, which adopted a randomized controlled trial, was conducted among 48 simulated shift workers. The participants performed sustained attention task, working memory task, and sleepiness task during night shift work. The data was analyzed using two-way repeated measure ANOVA. RESULTS The results indicated that, compared to conventional light, participants' correct responses of the sustained attention significantly increased when they were exposed to blue-enriched white light, correspondingly, the commission errors and omission errors declined. Furthermore, the blue-enriched white light had a significant effect on the decrease of sleepiness. However, the working memory was not significantly affected. CONCLUSION Exposing to blue-enriched white light can improve sustained attention and reduce sleepiness.

The hadal zone (ocean depths of 6–11 km) is one of the least-understood habitats on Earth because of its extreme conditions such as high pressure, darkness, and low temperature. With the development of deep-sea vehicles such as China’s 7000 m manned submersible Jiaolong, abyssal science has received greater attention. For decades, gravity-piston corers have been widely used to collect loose subsea-sediment long-core samples. However, the weight and length of the gravity sampler cables and the operating environment limit sampling capacity at full ocean depths. Therefore, a new self-floating sediment sampler with a spring-loaded auto-trigger release and that incorporates characteristics from traditional gravity-driven samplers is designed. This study analyzes the process by which a gravity-piston corer penetrates the sediment and the factors that affect it. A formula for obtaining the penetration depth is deduced. A method of optimizing the sampling depth is then developed based on structure design and parametric factor modeling. The parameters considered in the modeling include the sampling depth, balance weight, ultimate stress friction coefficient, dimensions of the sampler, and material properties. Thus, a new deep-sea floating parametric sampler designed based on virtual prototyping is proposed. Accurate values for all the design factors are derived from calculations based on the conservation of energy with penetration depth, analyses of the factors affecting the penetration depth, and analyses of the pressure bar stability. Finally, experimental data are used to verify the penetration-depth function and to provide theoretical guidance for the design of sediment samplers.

Summary: Histone variants are crucial regulators of chromatin structure and gene transcription, yet their functions within the brain remain largely unexplored. Here, we show that the H2A histone variant H2A.Z is essential for neuronal survival. Mice lacking H2A.Z in GABAergic neurons or Purkinje cells (PCs) present with a progressive cerebellar ataxia accompanied by widespread degeneration of PCs. Ablation of H2A.Z in other neuronal subtypes also triggers cell death. H2A.Z binds to the promoters of key nuclear-encoded mitochondrial genes to regulate their expression and promote organelle function. Bolstering mitochondrial activity genetically or by organelle transplant enhances the survival of H2A.Z-ablated neurons. Changes in bioenergetic status alter H2A.Z occupancy at the promoters of nuclear-encoded mitochondrial genes, an adaptive response essential for cell survival. Our results highlight that H2A.Z fulfills a key, conserved role in neuronal survival by acting as a transcriptional rheostat to regulate the expression of genes critical to mitochondrial function.

Due to the need for accurate exploration of deep-sea scientific research, drilling techniques by combining the operational advantages of the Jiaolong manned submersible is considered one of the most feasible methods for deep-sea bedrock drilling. Based on deep sea bedrock cutting model and discrete element simulation, as well as efficient drilling as the design criterion, the development of a deep sea 7000 m electromechanical coring apparatus was carried out. The outstanding feature of this technology is that the bit load produced by the drill pressure is usually within the range 100–400 N while the recommended load for diamond drilling is 1–3 KN or even more. Therefore, searching for the drilling bits that can drill in extremely hard formations with minimal load and acceptable rates of penetration and rotary speed is the necessary step to prove the feasibility of electromechanical deep-sea drilling technology. A test has been designed and constructed to examine three types of drill bits. The results of experiments show that the new low-load polycrystalline diamond compact (PDC) bit has the highest penetration length of 138 mm/15 min under a 300 N load and 250 rpm rotary speed. Finally, field tests with the Jiaolong submersible were used to conduct deep sea experiments and verify the load model, which provides theoretical and technical data on the use of a low-load core sampling drill developed specifically for a deep sea submersible.

To solve problems in small-scale and complex structural traps, the inverse Gaussian-beam stack-imaging method is commonly used to process crosswell seismic wave reflection data. Owing to limited coverage, the imaging quality of conventional ray-based crosswell seismic stack imaging is poor in complex areas; moreover, the imaging range is small and with sever interference because of the arc phenomenon in seismic migration. Thus, we propose the inverse Gaussian-beam stack imaging, in which Gaussian weight functions of rays contributing to the geophones energy are calculated and used to decompose the seismic wavefield. This effectively enlarges the coverage of the reflection points and improves the transverse resolution. Compared with the traditional VSP-CDP stack imaging, the proposed methods extends the imaging range, yields higher horizontal resolution, and is more adaptable to complex geological structures. The method is applied to model a complex structure in the K-area. The results suggest that the wave group of the target layer is clearer, the resolution is higher, and the main frequency of the crosswell seismic section is higher than that in surface seismic exploration The effectiveness and robustness of the method are verified by theoretical model and practical data.

In the primary auditory cortex (A1) of rats, refinement of excitatory input to layer (L)4 neurons contributes to the sharpening of their frequency selectivity during postnatal development. L4 neurons receive both feedforward thalamocortical and recurrent intracortical inputs, but how potential developmental changes of each component can account for the sharpening of excitatory input tuning remains unclear. By combiningin vivowhole-cell recording and pharmacological silencing of cortical spiking in young rats of both sexes, we examined developmental changes at three hierarchical stages: output of auditory thalamic neurons, thalamocortical input and recurrent excitatory input to an A1 L4 neuron. In the thalamus, the tonotopic map matured with an expanded range of frequency representations, while the frequency tuning of output responses was unchanged. On the other hand, the tuning shape of both thalamocortical and intracortical excitatory inputs to a L4 neuron became sharpened. In particular, the intracortical input became better tuned than thalamocortical excitation. Moreover, the weight of intracortical excitation around the optimal frequency was selectively strengthened, resulting in a dominant role of intracortical excitation in defining the total excitatory input tuning. Our modeling work further demonstrates that the frequency-selective strengthening of local recurrent excitatory connections plays a major role in the refinement of excitatory input tuning of L4 neurons.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTDuring postnatal development, sensory cortex undergoes functional refinement, through which the size of sensory receptive field is reduced. In the rat primary auditory cortex, such refinement in layer (L)4 is mainly attributed to improved selectivity of excitatory input a L4 neuron receives. In this study, we further examined three stages along the hierarchical neural pathway where excitatory input refinement might occur. We found that developmental refinement takes place at both thalamocortical and intracortical circuit levels, but not at the thalamic output level. Together with modeling results, we revealed that the optimal-frequency-selective strengthening of intracortical excitation plays a dominant role in the refinement of excitatory input tuning.

Ubiquitin ligases control the degradation of core clock proteins to govern the speed and resetting properties of the circadian pacemaker. However, few studies have addressed their potential to regulate other cellular events within clock neurons beyond clock protein turnover. Here, we report that the ubiquitin ligase, UBR4/POE, strengthens the central pacemaker by facilitating neuropeptide trafficking in clock neurons and promoting network synchrony. Ubr4-deficient mice are resistant to jetlag, whereas poe knockdown flies are prone to arrhythmicity, behaviors reflective of the reduced axonal trafficking of circadian neuropeptides. At the cellular level, Ubr4 ablation impairs the export of secreted proteins from the Golgi apparatus by reducing the expression of Coronin 7, which is required for budding of Golgi-derived transport vesicles. In summary, UBR4/POE fulfills a conserved and unexpected role in the vesicular trafficking of neuropeptides, a function that has important implications for circadian clock synchrony and circuit-level signal processing.

The exquisite intricacies of neural circuits are fundamental to an animal’s diverse and complex repertoire of sensory and motor functions. The ability to precisely map neural circuits and to selectively manipulate neural activity is critical to understanding brain function and has, therefore been a long-standing goal for neuroscientists. The recent development of optogenetic tools, combined with transgenic mouse lines, has endowed us with unprecedented spatiotemporal precision in circuit analysis. These advances greatly expand the scope of tractable experimental investigations. Here, in the first half of the review, we will present applications of optogenetics in identifying connectivity between different local neuronal cell types and of long-range projections with both in vitro and in vivo methods. We will then discuss how these tools can be used to reveal the functional roles of these cell-type specific connections in governing sensory information processing, and learning and memory in the visual cortex, somatosensory cortex, and motor cortex. Finally, we will discuss the prospect of new optogenetic tools and how their application can further advance modern neuroscience. In summary, this review serves as a primer to exemplify how optogenetics can be used in sophisticated modern circuit analyses at the levels of synapses, cells, network connectivity and behaviors.

China’s 7000 m manned submersible JIAOLONG carried out an exploration cruise at the Mariana Trench from June to July 2016. The submersible completed nine manned dives on the north and south area of the Mariana Trench from the depth of 5500 to 6700 m, to investigate the geological, biological and chemical characteristics in the hadal area. During the cruise, JIAOLONG deployed a gas-tight serial sampler to collect the water near the sea bottom regularly. Five days later, the sub located the sampler in another dive and retrieved it successfully from the same location, which is the first time that scientists and engineers finished the high accuracy in-situ deployment and retrieval using a manned submersible with Ultra-Short Base Line (USBL) positioning system at the depth more than 6600 m. In this task, we used not only the USBL system of the manned submersible but also a compound strategy, including five position marks, the sea floor terrain, the depth contour, and the heading of the sub. This paper introduces the compound strategy of the target deployment and retrieval with the practical diving experience of JIAOLONG, and provides a promising technique for other underwater vehicles such as manned submersible or Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) under similar conditions.

Although there has been some research on the pressure transient behavior of fractured wells in radial composite reservoirs, the analysis and modeling of such systems remain limited. Most existing solutions only consider the case of a fractured well located at the center of an infinite bi-zonal radial composite reservoir. In addition, corresponding research on a partially penetration fractured well in a radial composite reservoir is also rare. In this paper, we present an analytical three-dimensional solution for a point source located at an arbitrary position in the first circular region of a multi-region radial composite reservoir with three side boundary conditions. Then, using the principles of discretization and superposition, a general pressure transient solution of a fully penetrating fractured well or a partially penetrating fractured well in reservoirs is obtained. The standard log–log type curves of the transient pressure are plotted. Sequentially, the main flow regimes are identified and the effects of relevant parameters are analyzed. There is a special flow regime (the first transition flow regime) in the type curves due to the well not being at the center of the circular region. The well location has a significant effect on the mid-term response of the transient pressure. The presented solution can also be used in well testing to obtain reservoir parameters.

The WRKY transcription factor superfamily is known to participate in plant growth and stress response. However, the role of this family in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is largely unknown. Here, a salt-induced gene TaWRKY13 was identified in an RNA-Seq data set from salt-treated wheat. The results of RT-qPCR analysis showed that TaWRKY13 was significantly induced in NaCl-treated wheat and reached an expression level of about 22-fold of the untreated wheat. Then, a further functional identification was performed in both Arabidopsis thaliana and Oryza sativa L. Subcellular localization analysis indicated that TaWRKY13 is a nuclear-localized protein. Moreover, various stress-related regulatory elements were predicted in the promoter. Expression pattern analysis revealed that TaWRKY13 can also be induced by polyethylene glycol (PEG), exogenous abscisic acid (ABA), and cold stress. After NaCl treatment, overexpressed Arabidopsis lines of TaWRKY13 have a longer root and a larger root surface area than the control (Columbia-0). Furthermore, TaWRKY13 overexpression rice lines exhibited salt tolerance compared with the control, as evidenced by increased proline (Pro) and decreased malondialdehyde (MDA) contents under salt treatment. The roots of overexpression lines were also more developed. These results demonstrate that TaWRKY13 plays a positive role in salt stress.

Canine adenovirus-2 (CAV) is a canine pathogen that has been used in a variety of applications, from vaccines against more infectious strains of CAV to treatments for neurological disorders. With recent engineering, CAV has become a natural choice for neuroscientists dissecting the connectivity and function of brain circuits. Specifically, as a reliable genetic vector with minimal immunogenic and cytotoxic reactivity, CAV has been used for the retrograde transduction of various types of projection neurons. Consequently, CAV is particularly useful when studying the anatomy and functions of long-range projections. Moreover, combining CAV with conditional expression and transsynaptic tracing results in the ability to study circuits with cell- and/or projection-type specificity. Lastly, with the well-documented knowledge of viral transduction, new innovations have been developed to increase the transduction efficiency of CAV and circumvent its tropism, expanding the potential of CAV for circuit analysis.

The WRKY transcription factor superfamily is known to participate in plant growth and stress response. However, the role of this family in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is largely unknown. Here, a salt-induced gene TaWRKY13 was identified in an RNA-Seq data set from salt-treated wheat. The results of RT-qPCR analysis showed that TaWRKY13 was significantly induced in NaCl-treated wheat and reached an expression level of about 22-fold of the untreated wheat. Then, a further functional identification was performed in both Arabidopsis thaliana and Oryza sativa L. Subcellular localization analysis indicated that TaWRKY13 is a nuclear-localized protein. Moreover, various stress-related regulatory elements were predicted in the promoter. Expression pattern analysis revealed that TaWRKY13 can also be induced by polyethylene glycol (PEG), exogenous abscisic acid (ABA), and cold stress. After NaCl treatment, overexpressed Arabidopsis lines of TaWRKY13 have a longer root and a larger root surface area than the control (Columbia-0). Furthermore, TaWRKY13 overexpression rice lines exhibited salt tolerance compared with the control, as evidenced by increased proline (Pro) and decreased malondialdehyde (MDA) contents under salt treatment. The roots of overexpression lines were also more developed. These results demonstrate that TaWRKY13 plays a positive role in salt stress.