Increased electrical conductivity in fine-grained (Zr,Hf)NiSn based thermoelectric materials with nanoscale precipitates

Grain refinement has been conducted to reduce the thermal conductivity and improve the thermoelectric performance of the (Zr,Hf)NiSn based half-Heusler alloys. Nanoscale in situ precipitates were found embedded in the matrix with submicron grains. The lattice thermal conductivity was decreased due to the enhanced boundary scattering of phonons. The increased carrier concentration and electrical conductivity were observed compared to the coarse-grained alloys, which is discussed in relation to the existence of nanoscale precipitates, the effect of antisite defects, and composition change. It is suggested that the nanoscale precipitates play a significant role in the observed electrical conductivity increase

An unprecedented binodal (4,6)-connected Co(II) MOF as dual-responsive luminescent sensor for detection of acetylacetone and Hg2+ ions

A new Co(II) organic framework, {[Co2(L)(hfpd)(H2O)]·1.75H2O}n (1) (H4hfpd = 4,4′-(hexafluoroisopropylidene)diphthalic acid, L = 4,4′-bis(imidazol-1-yl)-biphenyl) was hydrothermally synthesized and characterized. 1 possesses an unusual (4,6)-connected layered network architecture. Fluorescence titration results present that 1 is rarely dual-responsive probe to detect acetylacetone and Hg2+ ions by luminescence quenching.publishe

4,5,6,7-Tetra­chloro-N-(2,3,4-trifluoro­phen­yl)phthalimide

The asymmetric unit of the title compound, C14H2Cl4F3NO2, contains two independent mol­ecules. In each mol­ecule, the phthalimide ring system is nearly planar [maximum atomic deviation = 0.031 (2) or 0.038 (2) Å] and oriented with respect to the benzene ring at 65.04 (7) or 71.76 (10)°. Weak inter­molecular C—H⋯O and C—H⋯F hydrogen bonding is present in the crystal structure

INTERACTIONS AND INFLUENCES ON COAL MINERS' SAFETY ATTENTION: AN EVALUATION USING IMPROVED DEMATEL-ISM

In coal mining, the myriad of factors influencing miners' attention to safety necessitates deeper exploration. Particularly, discerning the significance and interplay of these factors offers crucial insights into the actual disparities in miners' safety attentiveness. Yet, a limited number of comprehensive studies address this dimension. Thus, an advanced Decision Making Trial Evaluation Laboratory-Interpretive Structural Model (DEMATEL-ISM) has been employed to probe the determinants impacting coal miners' safety focus and the mechanisms underpinning these interactions. The objective is to provide strategies that could diminish the occurrence of minor accidents. Results revealed that there are 9 causative factors and 6 resultant factors shaping the coal miners' attention to safety. Within the structural model of these factors, three layers and seven levels were identified. Notably, the intricacy of relationships among these factors was found to be profound. Emphasis is recommended on the management of these intricate deep-level causative factors boasting high driving power, and mid-level resultant factors characterized by both substantial driving force and dependence

Protective efficacy of a broadly cross-reactive swine influenza DNA vaccine encoding M2e, cytotoxic T lymphocyte epitope and consensus H3 hemagglutinin

BACKGROUND: Pigs have been implicated as mixing reservoir for the generation of new pandemic influenza strains, control of swine influenza has both veterinary and public health significance. Unlike human influenza vaccines, strains used for commercially available swine influenza vaccines are not regularly replaced, making the vaccines provide limited protection against antigenically diverse viruses. It is therefore necessary to develop broadly protective swine influenza vaccines that are efficacious to both homologous and heterologous virus infections. In this study, two forms of DNA vaccines were constructed, one was made by fusing M2e to consensus H3HA (MHa), which represents the majority of the HA sequences of H3N2 swine influenza viruses. Another was made by fusing M2e and a conserved CTL epitope (NP147-155) to consensus H3HA (MNHa). Their protective efficacies against homologous and heterologous challenges were tested. RESULTS: BALB/c mice were immunized twice by particle-mediated epidermal delivery (gene gun) with the two DNA vaccines. It was shown that the two vaccines elicited substantial antibody responses, and MNHa induced more significant T cell-mediated immune response than MHa did. Then two H3N2 strains representative of different evolutional and antigenic clusters were used to challenge the vaccine-immunized mice (homosubtypic challenge). Results indicated that both of the DNA vaccines prevented homosubtypic virus infections completely. The vaccines’ heterologous protective efficacies were further tested by challenging with a H1N1 swine influenza virus and a reassortant 2009 pandemic strain. It was found that MNHa reduced the lung viral titers significantly in both challenge groups, histopathological observation showed obvious reduction of lung pathogenesis as compared to MHa and control groups. CONCLUSIONS: The combined utility of the consensus HA and the conserved M2e and CTL epitope can confer complete and partial protection against homologous and heterologous challenges, respectively, in mouse model. This may provide a basis for the development of universal swine influenza vaccines

VCP/p97, Down-Regulated by microRNA-129-5p, Could Regulate the Progression of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Valosin containing protein (VCP)/p97 plays various important roles in cells. Moreover, elevated expression of VCP in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is correlated with increased incidence of recurrence. But the role of VCP in HCC progression in vitro and in vivo is unclear. And there are few reports about the regulation mechanism on the expression of VCP in HCC. In this study, it was identified that the level of VCP was frequently increased in human HCC tissues. In addition, down-regulation of VCP with siRNAs could dramatically suppress the genesis and progression of tumor in vivo. It was found that miR-129-5p directly inhibited the expression of VCP in several HCC cell lines. Meanwhile, the level of VCP in HCC tissues was negatively associated with the level of miR-129-5p. Our further investigation showed that the enhanced expression of miR-129-5p also suppressed tumor growth in vivo. Moreover, it was revealed that miR-129-5p could inhibit the degradation of IκBα and increase the apoptosis and reduce the migration of HCC cells by suppressing the expression of VCP. Our results revealed that the expression of VCP was directly regulated by miR-129-5p and this regulation played an important role in the progression of HCC