Copper-based Perovskite Design and Its Performance in CO2 Hydrogenation to Methanol

Three series of perovskite-type catalysts, i.e., La–M–Mn–Cu–O (M = Mg, Y, Zn, Ce), La–M–Cu–Zn–O (M = Ce, Mg, Zr, Y), and La–Mn–Zn–Cu–O, were designed and applied in CO2 hydrogenation to methanol. The materials were characterized by XRD, N2-adsorption, N2O-adsorption, ICP-OES, XPS, and TPD techniques. Perovskite structures were observed and the ‘‘metal on oxide’’ could be realized via reduction. Upon the introduction of the fourth elements, more structure defects, smaller particles, higher Cu dispersion, larger amount of hydrogen desorption at low temperature, and more amount of basic sites were obtained. The selectivity for methanol and the TOF values were higher for the catalysts derived from perovskite-type precursors. The catalytic performance was related to Cuα+ and/or Cu0 species, low-temperature H2 adsorption on the unit, and the weak basic sites

Cardioprotective Effect of Sodium Ferulate in Diabetic Rats

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) play important roles in the occurrence and development in diabetic cardiomyopathy (DC). Ferulic acid is one of the ubiquitous compounds in diet. Sodium ferulate (SF) is its sodium salt. SF has potent free radical scavenging activity and can effectively scavenge ROS. The study investigated the effect of SF on cardioprotection in diabetic rats. The diabetic rats induced by streptozotocin (STZ) were treated with SF (110mg/kg) by gavage per day for 12 weeks. Results showed that the levels of nitric oxide (NO) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity in plasma and myocardium in SF-treated group were significantly higher than those in diabetic control group. The levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) in plasma and myocardium in SF-treated group were significantly lower than those in diabetic control group. Expression of connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) in myocardium in SF-treated group was apparently lower than that in diabetic control group. Compared with normal control group, electron micrographs of myocardium in diabetic control group showed apparently abnormality, while that was significantly ameliorated in SF-treated group. The study demonstrated that SF has a cardioprotective effect via increasing SOD activity and NO levels in plasma and myocardium, inhibiting oxidative stress in plasma and myocardium, and inhibiting the expression of CTGF in myocardium in diabetes rats

Influence of pulse frequency on microstructure and mechanical properties of Al-Ti-V-Cu-N coatings deposited by HIPIMS

As an important parameter of HIPIMS, pulse frequency has significant influence on the microstructure and mechanical properties of the deposited coatings, especially for the multi-component coatings deposited by using a spliced target with different metal sputtering yields. In this study, a single Al67Ti33-V-Cu spliced target was designed to prepare Al-Ti-V-Cu-N coatings by using high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HIPIMS). The results showed that the peak target current density decreased from 0.75 to 0.24 A∙cm−2 as the pulse frequency increased, along with the microstructure transferred from dense structure to coarse column structure. The pulse frequency has significant influence on chemical compositions of Al-Ti-V-Cu-N coatings, especially for Cu content increasing from 6.2 to 11.7 at.%. All the coatings exhibited a single solid-solution phase of Ti-Al-V-N, and the preferred orientation changed from (111) to (220) when the pulse frequency increased above 200 Hz. The decrease in peak target current density at high pulse frequencies resulted in a sharp decrease in the coating hardness from 35.2 to 16.4 GPa, whereas the relaxation of compressive residual stress contributed to an improvement in adhesion strength from 43.3 to 79.6 N

RETRACTED: Quercetin Inhibits Tumorigenesis of Colorectal Cancer Through Downregulation of hsa_circ_0006990

Quercetin can significantly inhibit the progression of colorectal cancer (CRC). However, its specific mechanism remains largely unclear. In this study, we aimed to explore the correlation among quercetin, tumour-associated macrophages (TAMs) and circular RNAs (circRNAs) in the progression of CRC and to present a novel strategy for the treatment of CRC. In this study, we revealed that quercetin could suppress the autophagy of M2-TAMs and induced their differentiation into M1-TAMs, by which quercetin significantly reversed the inhibition of M2-TAMS on CRC cell apoptosis and the promotion of M2-TAMS on CRC cell proliferation. Moreover, quercetin could promote the expression of downregulated hsa_circ_0006990 in CRC cells co-cultured with M2-TAMs, and the overexpression of hsa_circ_0006990 significantly reversed the anti-tumour effect of quercetin on CRC. Furthermore, we found quercetin can notably suppress the progression of CRC via mediation of the hsa_circ_0006990/miR-132-3p/MUC13 axis. In conclusion, our results suggested that quercetin inhibits the tumorigenesis of CRC via inhibiting the polarisation of M2 macrophages and downregulating hsa_circ_0006990. Our study provides useful insights for those exploring new methods of treating CRC

Design and Analysis of Thinned Array Pattern Reconfigurable Antenna to Enlarge the Scanning Range

A novel thinned array with symmetric distribution along the array center is proposed in this paper. The proposed symmetric thinned array is based on the theory of unequally spaced array and the amplitude of each element in the array can be changed by introducing the weighted function. The pattern of the proposed array can be properly adjusted by changing the weighted function and the amplitude of the weighted factor, which obviously releases new degrees of freedom in array design. It has advantages such as low side lobe level (SLL) in the visible region, no grating lobes, and low nearby side lobe level (NSL), which has good potential for wide-angle scanning. Both simulation and experiment have been done; the experiment results show that, by applying this novel symmetric thinned array with pattern reconfigurable quasi-Yagi antenna, the scanning range of the array is −70°~70° in H-plane with SLL almost −10 dB below the maximum of the main beam. The 3 dB beam-width coverage is −86°~86°, which means that the proposed array can realize the entire upper-space beam coverage and restrain the SLL at the same time

Chloroplast genome of Corydalis impatiens (Pall.) Fisch. ex DC. (Papaveraceae), a Tibetan medical herb

Corydalis impatiens (Pall.) Fisch. 1821. (Papaveraceae) is a Tibetan medical herb used to reduce pain, treat skin injuries, cure hepatitis, and benefit the circulatory system. In the current study, the chloroplast genome of C. impatiens was sequenced. This complete genome is a circular 197,317 bp sequence consisting of a small single-copy (SSC, 3105 bp) region, a large single-copy (LSC, 89,790 bp) region, and a pair of inverted repeats (IRs, 52,211 bp). This chloroplast genome encodes a total of 127 functional genes, including 81 protein-coding, 38 transfer RNA, and eight ribosomal RNA genes. Furthermore, this chloroplast genome contains six pseudogenes, including a pair of ndhB a pair of ndhD, one ndhC, and one ndhK. The phylogenetic relationship within the genus Corydalis was inferred with the maximum-likelihood method, and the result showed that C. impatiens was most closely related to C. conspersa

Wide-Range Continuously-Tunable Slow-Light Delay Line Based on Stimulated Brillouin Scattering

Through selectively controlling the stimulated Brillouin scattering in optical fibers with different lengths, a continuously tunable time-delay scheme enabling to work in a large range is proposed in this letter. This is realized by connecting a fixed long single-mode fiber (SMF) to one of the several selectable short SMFs that successively have an equal increment in length. These short-length fibers are, respectively, fixed to the different channels between two identical optical switches. Therefore, a wide-range and continuously tunable slow-light delay line can be constructed by changing the power of the pump beam, assisted by switching to different channels. In the experiment, a time delay from 0 to 201.29 ns is demonstrated for a five-channel configuration. A further large-range time delay can be expected if one adds the number of channels accordingly

Comprehensive evaluation on effective leaching of critical metals from spent lithium-ion batteries

Recovery of metals from spent lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) has attracted worldwide attention because of issues from both environmental impacts and resource supply. Leaching, for instance using an acidic solution, is a critical step for effective recovery of metals from spent LIBs. To achieve both high leaching efficiency and selectivity of the targeted metals, improved understanding on the interactive features of the materials and leaching solutions is highly required. However, such understanding is still limited at least caused by the variation on physiochemical properties of different leaching solutions. In this research, a comprehensive investigation and evaluation on the leaching process using acidic solutions to recycle spent LIBs is carried out. Through analyzing two important parameters, i.e. leaching speed and recovery rate of the corresponding metals, the effects of hydrogen ion concentration, acid species and concentration on these two parameters were evaluated. It was found that a leachant with organic acids may leach Co and Li from the cathode scrap and leave Al foil as metallic form with high leaching selectivity, while that with inorganic acids typically leach all metals into the solution. Inconsistency between the leaching selectivity and efficiency during spent LIBs recycling is frequently noticed. In order to achieve an optimal status with both high leaching selectivity and efficiency (especially at high solid-to-liquid ratios), it is important to manipulate the average leaching speed and recovery rate of metals to optimize the leaching conditions. Subsequently, it is found that the leaching speed is significantly dependent on the hydrogen ion concentration and the capability of releasing hydrogen ions of the acidic leachant during leaching. With this research, it is expected to improve understanding on controlling the physiochemical properties of a leaching solution and to potentially design processes for spent LIBs recycling with high industrial viability. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved