Raman spectroscopy characterization of structural evolution in middle-rank coals

The second coalification jump which occurred during the middle-rank led to abrupt changes of many physical and chemical properties of coal, and the change of the aggregate structure may be the fundamental reason. In order to investigate the structural evolution characteristics of middle-rank coal and its relation with the second coalification jump in detail, the structure characteristics of six middle-rank coals (Ro,max=1.10%−1.63%) that across the second coalification jump were studied by Raman spectroscopy, and the structural parameters were calculated by fitting the first-order and second-order Raman spectrum using the fitting software. The results indicated that the evolution of Raman structural parameters with Ro,max is not linear, reflecting the complexity of the structural evolution of coal. According to the evolution characteristics of Raman structural parameters, the coalification during the stage of Ro,max=1.10%−1.63% can be divided into three stages. The turning points are located near Ro,max=1.30% and Ro,max=1.50%, respectively, which are exactly equivalent to the positions of the second and the third coalification jump discovered in previous research. It indicated that the Raman structural parameters can reflect the occurrence of the coalification jump, moreover, Raman spectroscopy is an effective method to study the coal structure. The first stage is Ro,max=1.10%−1.30%, the long-chain aliphatic structures cracked and the remained shorter-chain aliphatic hydrocarbons and aliphatic substituted structures on the aromatic rings will form new alicyclic structures, which caused the branched degree increases and hindered the alignment of aromatic systems in coal. The order degree of aromatic system is thus reached the least near Ro,max=1.30%, with the smallest WG, the largest FG/D, the smallest AD/AG, the increase of AS/A1, and the significant decrease of A(2G)R/A2. In the second stage of Ro,max=1.30%−1.50%, the aromatization of the alicyclic structures formed in the previous stage resulted in an increase in the content of aromatic C—H structure and the least of amorphous carbon structure. Besides, the degree of aromatization and aromatic structural both increased, which showed that A(GR+VL+VR)/AD, A(GR+VL+VR)/AG and FG/D decreased significantly, AD/AG increased, WG and d(G-D) increased quickly. The last stage is Ro,max=1.50%−1.63%, the condensation reaction occurred between the aromatic rings formed in the second stage, leading to the reduction of A(2G)R/A2. Meanwhile, the various bridging bonds between aromatic ring systems continued to break, resulting in the formation of some small-scale aromatic structures, as evidenced by a decrease in A(2G)R/A2, a small decrease in WG, and an increase in A(GR+VL+VR)/AD and A(GR+VL+VR)/AG. These results are the basis for deeply understanding the mechanism of coalification jump and coalification

Three Capsular Polysaccharide Synthesis-Related Glucosyltransferases, GT-1, GT-2 and WcaJ, Are Associated With Virulence and Phage Sensitivity of Klebsiella pneumoniae

Klebsiella pneumoniae (K. pneumoniae) spp. are important nosocomial and community-acquired opportunistic pathogens, which cause various infections. We observed that K. pneumoniae strain K7 abruptly mutates to rough-type phage-resistant phenotype upon treatment with phage GH-K3. In the present study, the rough-type phage-resistant mutant named K7RR showed much lower virulence than K7. Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS-MS) analysis indicated that WcaJ and two undefined glycosyltransferases (GTs)- named GT-1, GT-2- were found to be down-regulated drastically in K7RR as compared to K7 strain. GT-1, GT-2, and wcaJ are all located in the gene cluster of capsular polysaccharide (CPS). Upon deletion, even of single component, of GT-1, GT-2, and wcaJ resulted clearly in significant decline of CPS synthesis with concomitant development of GH-K3 resistance and decline of virulence of K. pneumoniae, indicating that all these three GTs are more likely involved in maintenance of phage sensitivity and bacterial virulence. Additionally, K7RR and GT-deficient strains were found sensitive to endocytosis of macrophages. Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway of macrophages was significantly activated by K7RR and GT-deficient strains comparing with that of K7. Interestingly, in the presence of macromolecular CPS residues (>250 KD), K7(ΔGT-1) and K7(ΔwcaJ) could still be bounded by GH-K3, though with a modest adsorption efficiency, and showed minor virulence, suggesting that the CPS residues accumulated upon deletion of GT-1 or wcaJ did retain phage binding sites as well maintain mild virulence. In brief, our study defines, for the first time, the potential roles of GT-1, GT-2, and WcaJ in K. pneumoniae in bacterial virulence and generation of rough-type mutation under the pressure of bacteriophage

Chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting among cancer patients in Shanghai: a cross-sectional study

Background and purpose: Chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) can cause severe damage to body functions and even lead to death. The prevention of CINV is critically important in patients receiving emetogenic chemotherapy regimen. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and treatment of CINV in Grade-A tertiary hospitals in Shanghai and explore risk factors of CINV to improve its management. Methods: The clinical data of 376 cancer patients in Grade-A tertiary hospitals in Shanghai from October 2022 to December 2022 were collected retrospectively. The questionnaire was used to conduct a cross-sectional study. The univariate and multivariable logistic regression models were used to evaluate the influencing factors of CINV. Results: The management and coincidence of the guideline in 2022 significantly improved compared to five years ago. For patients receiving high-emetic-risk chemotherapy regimen, the coincidence of the guideline increased from 21.6% to 67.0%. For patients receiving moderate-emetic-risk chemotherapy regimen, the neurokinin-1 (NK-1) receptor antagonist was not significantly associated with CINV. Multivariable analysis showed that the chemotherapy regimen was the only risk factor for CINV during the whole period (P<0.05). Conclusion: The chemotherapy regimen is the main risk factor for CINV. To control CINV better, clinical practitioners should focus on the intrinsic risk of chemotherapy regimens preferentially, estimate the risk and adhere better to guidelines

Notepad-like Triboelectric Generator for Efficiently Harvesting Low-Velocity Motion Energy by Interconversion between Kinetic Energy and Elastic Potential Energy

Great attention has been paid to nanogenerators that harvest energy from ambient environments lately. In order to give considerable output current, most nanogenerators require high-velocity motion that in most cases can hardly be provided in our daily life. Here we report a notepad-like triboelectric generator (NTEG), which uses simple notepad-like structure to generate elastic deformation so as to turn a low-velocity kinetic energy into high-velocity kinetic energy through the conversion of elastic potential energy. Therefore, the NTEG can achieve high current output under low-velocity motion, which completely distinguishes it from tribogenerators previously reported. The factors that may affect the output performance are explored, including the number of slices, active length of slice, press speed, and vertical displacement. In addition, the working mechanism is systematically studied, indicating that the efficiency of the generator can be greatly enhanced by interconversion between kinetic energy and elastic potential energy. The short-circuit current, the open-circuit voltage, and power density are 205 μA and 470 V and 9.86 W/m², respectively, which is powerful enough to light up hundreds of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and charge a commercial capacitor. Besides, NTEGs have been successfully applied to a self-powered door monitor

Ultrahigh Performance Triboelectric Nanogenerator Enabled by Charge Transmission in Interfacial Lubrication and Potential Decentralization Design

Triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) is a promising strategy for harvesting low frequency mechanical energy. However, the bottlenecks of limited electric output by air/dielectric breakdown and poor durability by material abrasion seriously restrict its further improvement. Herein, we propose a liquid lubrication promoted sliding mode TENG to address both issues. Liquid lubrication greatly reduces interface material abrasion, and its high breakdown strength and charge transmission effect further enhance device charge density. Besides, the potential decentralization design by the voltage balance bar effectively suppresses the dielectric breakdown. In this way, the average power density up to 87.26 W·m-2·Hz-1, energy conversion efficiency of 48%, and retention output of 90% after 500,000 operation cycles are achieved, which is the highest average power density and durability currently. Finally, a cell phone is charged to turn on by a palm-sized TENG device at 2 Hz within 25 s. This work has a significance for the commercialization of TENG-based self-powered systems

Enhancing Performance of Triboelectric Nanogenerator by Filling High Dielectric Nanoparticles into Sponge PDMS Film

Understanding of the triboelectric charge accumulation from the view of materials plays a critical role in enhancing the output performance of triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG). In this paper, we have designed a feasible approach to modify the tribo-material of TENG by filling it with high permittivity nanoparticles and forming pores. The influence of dielectricity and porosity on the output performance is discussed experimentally and theoretically, which indicates that both the surface charge density and the charge transfer quantity have a close relationship with the relative permittivity and porosity of the tribo-material. A high output performance TENG based on a composite sponge PDMS film (CS-TENG) is fabricated by optimizing both the dielectric properties and the porosity of the tribo-material. With the combination of the enhancement of permittivity and production of pores in the PDMS film, the charge density of ∼19 nC cm^–2, open-circuit voltage of 338 V, and power density of 6.47 W m^–2 are obtained at working frequency of 2.5 Hz with the optimized film consisting of 10% SrTiO₃ nanoparticles (∼100 nm in size) and 15% pores in volume, which gives over 5-fold power enhancement compared with the nanogenerator based on the pure PDMS film. This work gives a better understanding of the triboelectricity produced by the TENG from the view of materials and provides a new and effective way to enhance the performance of TENG from the material itself, not just its surface modification