Synthesis of poly(3,4-propylenedioxythiophene)/MnO2 composites and their applications in the adsorptive removal of methylene blue

AbstractThe poly(3,4-propylenedioxythiophene)/MnO2 composites (PProDOT/MnO2) were prepared successfully by soaking the PProDOT powders into potassium permanganate (KMnO4) solution, with the mass ratio of PProDOT and KMnO4 from 2:1 to 1:2. The structure and morphology of composites were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman spectroscopy, ultraviolet–visible absorption spectra (UV), X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM). Furthermore, PProDOT/MnO2 composites were tested as the adsorbents for removal of methylene blue (MB) from aqueous solution. The results revealed that the composites were successfully synthesized, and the thiophene sulfur was oxidized into sulfoxide by KMnO4. The highest percentage removal of MB after 30min was 91% for PProDOT/MnO2 (1:2) composite, and the percentage removal of MB was ~12mgg−1 after 60min at initial concentrations of MB dye of 5.6mgL−1 in the case of PProDOT/MnO2 (1:2) composite. Besides, the adsorption process of PProDOT/MnO2 (1:2) composite was described by pseudo-second-order and Langmuir models

Asset Poverty in Urban China: A Study Using the 2002 Chinese Household Income Project

Defining asset poverty as insufficiency of assets to satisfy household basic needs for a limited period of time, the study examines asset poverty rates in urban China using the 2002 survey data from the Chinese Household Income Project (CHIP). We find that asset poverty rates in urban China are lower than those of developed countries, in part due to Chinese households’ strong commitment to precautionary savings and the low poverty standards. However, the liquid asset poverty rate is five times that of the income poverty rate in urban China. Notably, the asset-poverty-gap ratio shows that most households in asset poverty have zero liquid assets or negative net worth. Given the increasingly common trend for lower-income individuals to experience transient poverty and income uncertainty, asset building ought to be an integral part of the anti-poverty agenda to protect the poor from economic hardship and provide them with opportunities for economic growth

Asset-Based Policy in China: Applied Projects and Policy Progress

Since the Center for Social Development (CSD) at Washington University in St. Louis introduced the idea of asset building in China in 2004, asset-based projects and policy discussion have drawn great attention from the central government and mainstream media. CSD research and consultation have played a central role in these developments

Study on tightly coupled LiDAR-Inertial SLAM for open pit coal mine environment

With the rapid development of artificial intelligence and unmanned and other related disciplines, the intelligence and unmanned of coal mining equipment has become a new trend. The application of intelligent equipment will greatly improve the productivity of coal mine operations as well as personnel safety. In this environment, the existing LIDAR-based Simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) solution is prone to positioning drift and large mapping errors. To address these problems, a tightly coupled SLAM algorithm based on LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) and IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit) is proposed, which uses both LiDAR and IMU sensors as data inputs.The front-end uses an iterative extended Kalman filter to fuse the pre-processed LiDAR feature points with the IMU data and uses backward propagation to correct the radar motion distortion, the back-end uses the LiDAR relative positional factor to use the LiDAR inter-frame alignment results as a constraint factor together with the loopback factor to complete the global factor map optimization. The robustness and accuracy of the algorithm are verified using open source dataset and open pit coal mine field dataset. The experimental results show that the accuracy of the proposed algorithm is consistent with the current LiDAR SLAM algorithm in the urban structured environment, while the proposed algorithm improves the localization accuracy by 46.00% and 23.15% with higher robustness than the FAST-LIO2 and LIO-SAM tightly coupled algorithms for the open pit coal mine field environment of more than 2000 meters long, respectively

Transient Receptor Potential Melastatin 8 (TRPM8)-Based Mechanisms Underlie Both the Cold Temperature-Induced Inflammatory Reactions and the Synergistic Effect of Cigarette Smoke in Human Bronchial Epithelial (16HBE) Cells

Transient receptor potential melastatin 8 (TRPM8) is a major receptor of cold environment. Recently, we found that cigarette smoke extract (CSE) upregulated TRPM8 mRNA and protein expression in bronchial tissues that made them more sensitive to cold stimuli. In our present study, we found that cold temperature (18°C)-induced activation of TRPM8 in 16HBE (human bronchial epithelial) cells facilitated Ca2+ influx and subsequently led to the increased expression of interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α via the upregulation of p-extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and the activation of NF-κB. In addition, 16HBE cells that co-stimulated with 18°C and CSE were used to explore the synergistic effect of CSE on cold temperature-induced inflammatory cytokine production as well as the possible involved signaling pathway. RT-PCR and western blot analysis revealed that CSE upregulated TRPM8 mRNA and protein level in 16HBE cells. Ca2+ imaging, western blot, and luciferase assay showed more robust increase in intracellular Ca2+ and promoted phosphorylated ERK, P38, and NF-κB activity, respectively, in 16HBE cells co-stimulated with CSE and cold temperature, and such alteration was attenuated by TRPM8 short hairpin RNA (shRNA) transfection and BCTC pretreatment. Furthermore, enhanced levels of IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-α showed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) were reduced by specific inhibitors of ERK and NF-κB. Collectively, our results suggest that mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)/NF-κB signaling is involved in TRPM8-mediated cold temperature-induced inflammatory cytokine expression. In addition, CSE synergistically amplifies cold temperature-induced inflammatory factors release via upregulating TRPM8 expression and enhancing MAPK/NF-κB signaling pathway

IGFBP2 Plays an Essential Role in Cognitive Development during Early Life

Identifying the mechanisms underlying cognitive development in early life is a critical objective. The expression of insulin-like growth factor binding protein 2 (IGFBP2) in the hippocampus increases during neonatal development and is associated with learning and memory, but a causal connection has not been established. Here, it is reported that neurons and astrocytes expressing IGFBP2 are distributed throughout the hippocampus. IGFBP2 enhances excitatory inputs onto CA1 pyramidal neurons, facilitating intrinsic excitability and spike transmission, and regulates plasticity at excitatory synapses in a cell-type specific manner. It facilitates long-term potentiation (LTP) by enhancing N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor-dependent excitatory postsynaptic current (EPSC), and enhances neurite proliferation and elongation. Knockout of igfbp2 reduces the numbers of pyramidal cells and interneurons, impairs LTP and cognitive performance, and reduces tonic excitation of pyramidal neurons that are all rescued by IGFBP2. The results provide insight into the requirement for IGFBP2 in cognition in early life

Unveiling the additive-assisted oriented growth of perovskite crystallite for high performance light-emitting diodes.

Solution-processed metal halide perovskites have been recognized as one of the most promising semiconductors, with applications in light-emitting diodes (LEDs), solar cells and lasers. Various additives have been widely used in perovskite precursor solutions, aiming to improve the formed perovskite film quality through passivating defects and controlling the crystallinity. The additive's role of defect passivation has been intensively investigated, while a deep understanding of how additives influence the crystallization process of perovskites is lacking. Here, we reveal a general additive-assisted crystal formation pathway for FAPbI3 perovskite with vertical orientation, by tracking the chemical interaction in the precursor solution and crystallographic evolution during the film formation process. The resulting understanding motivates us to use a new additive with multi-functional groups, 2-(2-(2-Aminoethoxy)ethoxy)acetic acid, which can facilitate the orientated growth of perovskite and passivate defects, leading to perovskite layer with high crystallinity and low defect density and thereby record-high performance NIR perovskite LEDs (~800 nm emission peak, a peak external quantum efficiency of 22.2% with enhanced stability)

Financial Inclusion in China: Use of Credit

Limited access to credit can cause financial vulnerability for a household and economic loss for a country. Previous studies have shown that only small portions of populations in developing countries use formal credit, but few studies have focused on Chinese populations. Analyzing data from the 2011 China Household Financial Survey, this study explored Chinese households’ credit use. Over half of the sample (53.21%) reported using credit, and only 19.77% of the sample used formal credit. Use of formal credit was associated with the socioeconomic characteristics of household heads (e.g., employment and education) and of households (e.g., income and net worth). The findings suggest that promoting financial inclusion in China involves expanding access to formal credit among socially and economically disadvantaged households