Design and Fabrication of High Activity Retention Al-Based Composite Powders for Mild Hydrogen Generation.

Al-Bi-Sn-Cu composite powders for hydrogen generation were designed from the calculated phase diagram and prepared by the gas atomization process. The morphologies and structures of the composite powders were investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and a scanning electron microscope (SEM) equipped with energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy, and the results indicate that the Cu additive enhanced the phase separation between the Al-rich phase and the (Bi, Sn)-rich phase. The hydrogen generation performances were investigated by reacting the materials with distilled water. The Al-Bi-Sn-Cu powders reveal a stable hydrogen generation rate, and the Al-10Bi-7Sn-3Cu (wt%) powder exhibits the best hydrogen generation performance in 50 °C distilled water which reaches 856 mL/g in 800 min. In addition, the antioxidation properties of the powders were also studied. The Al-10Bi-7Sn-3Cu (wt%) powder has a good resistance to oxidation and moisture, which shows great potential for being the hydrogen source for fuel cell applications

Hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated cation channel 3 promotes HCC development in a female-biased manner

Sex differences in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development are regulated by sex and non-sex chromosomes, sex hormones, and environmental factors. We previously reported that Ncoa5(+/-) mice develop HCC in a male-biased manner. Here we show that NCOA5 expression is reduced in male patient HCCs while the expression of an NCOA5-interacting tumor suppressor, TIP30, is lower in female HCCs. Tip30 heterozygous deletion does not change HCC incidence in Ncoa5(+/-) male mice but dramatically increases HCC incidence in Ncoa5(+/-) female mice, accompanied by hepatic hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated cation channel 3 (HCN3) overexpression. HCN3 overexpression cooperates with MYC to promote mouse HCC development, whereas Hcn3 knockout preferentially hinders HCC development in female mice. Furthermore, HCN3 amplification and overexpression occur in human HCCs and correlate with a poorer prognosis of patients in a female-biased manner. Our results suggest that TIP30 and NCOA5 protect against female liver oncogenesis and that HCN3 is a female-biased HCC driver

Vitamin B12 Enhances Nerve Repair and Improves Functional Recovery After Traumatic Brain Injury by Inhibiting ER Stress-Induced Neuron Injury

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is one of the most common causes of neurological damage in young human populations. Vitamin B12 has been reported to promote axon growth of neuronal cells after peripheral nerve injury, which is currently used for the treatment of peripheral nerve damage in the clinical trial. Thus, we hypothesized that TBI can be attenuated by vitaminB12 treatment through its beneficial role on axon regeneration after nerve injury. To confirm it, the biological function of vitaminB12 was characterized using hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining, Luxol fast blue (LFB) staining, western blot analysis, and immunohistochemistry staining. The results showed that the neurological functional recovery was improved in the VitaminB12-treated group after TBI, which may be due to downregulation of the endoplasmic reticulum stress-related apoptosis signaling pathway. Moreover, the microtubule stabilization, remyelination and myelin reparation were rescued by vitamin B12, which was consistent with the treatment of 4-phenylbutyric acid (4-PBA), an endoplasmic reticulum stress inhibitor. The study suggests that vitamin B12 may be useful as a novel neuroprotective drug for TBI

The estimation of carbon imbalance and driving factors in China's urban residential building sector

Understanding the imbalance of carbon emissions in the urban residential building (URB) sector is beneficial for equitable and effective emission reduction policies. However, carbon imbalance in URB and its major driving factors remain unclear. Therefore, according to the Kaya identity and Zenga index, this study aims to analyze the imbalance in carbon emissions and carbon emission unit area of URB from 2005 to 2019. The results represent the following: 1) Although the overall carbon emission unit area reached its peak value (36.17 kgCO2/m2) in 2011, the overall carbon emission of URB did not reach the peak value, arriving at 0.86 BtCO2 in 2019; 2) the obvious imbalance of carbon emission and carbon emission unit area was led by the population and energy consumption unit area, respectively; 3) Compared to the difference in economy, the difference in climate had a larger impact on inter-group imbalance of carbon emission unit area without heating. In summary, these results and provided policies facilitate future formulation of fair and effective provincial decarbonization responsibility and emission mitigation implementation policies.</p

Output Consensus of Heterogeneous Multiagent Systems with Physical and Communication Graphs

This paper deals with the output consensus problem of heterogeneous networks in a leader-follower manner that are interconnected by a physical coupling graph. The network under consideration consists of linear agents with different dynamics/dimensions. Both the state-feedback and output-feedback control protocols based upon information flow prescribed by a separate communication graph are developed, using the internal model principle and relative outputs of neighboring agents. With the small-gain theorem, we convert the consensus problem into a H∞ control problem of decoupled linear systems having the same dimensions as a single agent, where the disturbance attenuation constraints depend on the largest singular value related to the global information of physical and communication graphs. Then, we provide local synthesis procedures for control gains in terms of feasible solutions of algebraic Riccati equations. Finally, simulation examples are presented to verify the performance of the theoretical results

Comparison of Four Electrical Interfacing Circuits in Frequency Up-Conversion Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting

Efficiently scavenging piezoelectric vibration energy is attracting a lot of interest. One important type is the frequency up-conversion (FUC) energy harvester, in which a low-frequency beam (LFB) impacts a high-frequency beam (HFB). In this paper, four interface circuits, standard energy harvesting (SEH), self-powered synchronous electric charge extraction (SP-SECE), self-powered synchronized switch harvesting on inductor (SP-SSHI) and self-powered optimized SECE (SP-OSECE), are compared while rectifying the generated piezoelectric voltage. The efficiencies of the four circuits are firstly tested at constant displacement and further analyzed. Furthermore, the harvested power under FUC is tested for different electromechanical couplings and different load values. The results show that SP-OSECE performs best in the case of a weak coupling or low-load resistance, for which the maximum power can be 43% higher than that of SEH. As the coupling level increases, SP-SSHI becomes the most efficient circuit with a 31% higher maximum power compared to that of SEH. The reasons for the variations in each circuit with different coupling coefficients are also analyzed

Stable Discrete Pt-1(0) in Crown Ether with Ultra-High Hydrosilylation Activity

Obtaining reduced discrete metal atoms that are stable in liquid solvents by in-situ reduction of an ionic metal precursor has been a challenge until recently. A liquid surfactant polydimethylsiloxane-polyethylene glycol (PDMS-PEG) enabled the synthesis of stable discrete platinum atoms (Pt-1) by reducing Pt(IV) and Pt(II) salts. Here we report the successful preparation of discrete mononuclear platinum atoms (Pt-1) in a crown ether, [15]crown-5, as a structurally much simpler solvent, and the prepared Pt-1@[15]crown-5 was demonstrated for ultra-high catalytic activity and selectivity in hydrosilylation reactions. A combination of spectroscopic characterizations proves the reduced Pt species is Pt-1(0) with partially positive charge. Pt-195 NMR and DFT calculation indicate the Pt-1(0) is stabilized by the pseudo octahedral structure of ([15]crown-5)PtCl2-H2+ involving two adjacent oxygens from the crown ether ring, although the oxygens in the crown ether ring have been known to host and stabilize certain metal cations. The Pt-1@[15]crown-5 shows ultrahigh activity (TOF of 8.3x10(8) h(-1)) with excellent terminal adducts selectivity in catalytic olefin hydrosilylation. This catalyst was found to be highly stable under hydrosilylation conditions. For examples, the turnover number (TON) exceeded 1.0x10(9) for hydrosilylation between 1-octene and (Me3SiO)(2)MeSiH without showing sign of deactivation; the TON exceeded 2.0x10(8) while the catalyst remained active for a catalytically more demanding reaction between styrene and (Me3SiO)(2)MeSiH

Study on the Cutting Performance of Micro Textured Tools on Cutting Ti-6Al-4V Titanium Alloy

Titanium alloys are widely used in various fields, but their machinability is poor because the chip would easily adhere to the tool surface during cutting, causing poor surface quality and tool wear. To improve the cutting performance of titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4V, experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of micro textured tool on the cutting performances. The cemented carbide tools whose rake faces were machined with line, rhombic, and sinusoidal groove textures with 10% area occupancy rates were adopted as the cutting tools. The effects of cutting depth and cutting speed on feed force and main cutting force were discussed based on experimental results. The results show that the cutting force produced by textured tools is less than that produced by non-textured tools. Under different cutting parameters, the best cutting performance can be obtained by using sinusoidal textured tools among the four types of tools. The wear of micro textured tools is significantly lower than that of non-textured tools, due to a continuous lubrication film between the chip and the rake face of the tool that can be produced because the micro texture can store and replenish lubricant. The surface roughness obtained using the textured tool is better than that using the non-textured tool. The surface roughness Ra can be reduced by 35.89% when using sinusoidal textured tools. This study is helpful for further improving the cutting performance of cemented carbide tools on titanium alloy and prolonging tool life

Status of Sustainability Development of Deep-Sea Mining Activities

With technological improvement such as ore exploration, robotics, and hydrodynamic lifting, deep-sea mining has attracted more attention from governments, companies, and scientific research institutions. Although its research and development has made great progress, there are still many obstacles in its industrial development, such as environmental pollution and sustainability development issues. This article analyses the research status of the sustainable development of deep-sea mining from an overall perspective. Through a literature review, this paper also discusses the application of the full life cycle assessment method to analyze environmental impact during the entire process of deep-sea mining ore application. Overall, this paper summarizes the research gaps that exist in the sustainable development of deep-sea mining, including the lack of sufficient quantitative research, environmental baseline data research, cumulative environmental impact assessment, resource recycling technology, and acceptable environmental impact range analysis. The significance of this article is to point out the most urgent problems to be solved in the research direction of the sustainable development of deep-sea mining in current academic circles. It has far-reaching potential to promote the industrialization process of the entire deep-sea mining industry