Improved Electrochemical Performance of Surface Coated LiNi0.80Co0.15Al0.05O2 With Polypyrrole

Nickel-rich ternary layered oxide (LiNi0.80Co0.15Al0.05O2, LNCA) cathodes are favored in many fields such as electric vehicles due to its high specific capacity, low cost, and stable structure. However, LNCA cathode material still has the disadvantages of low initial coulombic efficiency, rate capability and poor cycle performance, which greatly restricts its commercial application. To overcome this barrier, a polypyrrole (PPy) layer with high electrical conductivity is designed to coat on the surface of LNCA cathode material. PPy coating layer on the surface of LNCA successfully is realized by means of liquid-phase chemical oxidation polymerization method, and which has been verified by the scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM) and fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). PPy-coated LNCA (PL-2) exhibits satisfactory electrochemical performances including high reversible capacity and excellent rate capability. Furthermore, the capability is superior to pristine LNCA. So, it provides a new structure of conductive polymer modified cathode materials with good property through a mild modification method

Reduced Annexin A1 Secretion by ABCA1 Causes Retinal Inflammation and Ganglion Cell Apoptosis in a Murine Glaucoma Model

Variants near the ATP-binding cassette transporter A1 (ABCA1) gene are associated with elevated intraocular pressure and newly discovered risk factors for glaucoma. Previous studies have shown an association between ABCA1 deficiency and retinal inflammation. Using a mouse model of ischemia-reperfusion (IR) induced by acute intraocular pressure elevation, we found that the retinal expression of ABCA1 protein was decreased. An induction of ABCA1 expression by liver X receptor agonist TO901317 reduced retinal ganglion cell (RGC) apoptosis after IR and promoted membrane translocation and secretion of the anti-inflammatory factor annexin A1 (ANXA1). Moreover, ABCA1 and ANXA1 co-localized in cell membranes, and the interaction domain is amino acid 196 to 274 of ANXA1 fragment. TO901317 also reduced microglia migration and activation and decreased the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)-17A and IL-1β, which could be reversed by the ANXA1 receptor blocker Boc2. Overexpression of TANK-binding kinase 1 (TBK1) increased ABCA1 degradation, which was reversed by the proteasome inhibitor carbobenzoxy-L-leucyl-L-leucyl-L-leucinal (MG132). Silencing Tbk1 with siRNA increased ABCA1 expression and promoted ANXA1 membrane translocation. These results indicate a novel IR mechanism, that leads via TBK1 activation to ABCA1 ubiquitination. This degradation decreases ANXA1 secretion, thus facilitating retinal inflammation and RGC apoptosis. Our findings suggest a potential treatment strategy to prevent RGC apoptosis in retinal ischemia and glaucoma

Identification of Genome-Wide Variations among Three Elite Restorer Lines for Hybrid-Rice

Rice restorer lines play an important role in three-line hybrid rice production. Previous research based on molecular tagging has suggested that the restorer lines used widely today have narrow genetic backgrounds. However, patterns of genetic variation at a genome-wide scale in these restorer lines remain largely unknown. The present study performed re-sequencing and genome-wide variation analysis of three important representative restorer lines, namely, IR24, MH63, and SH527, using the Solexa sequencing technology. With the genomic sequence of the Indica cultivar 9311 as the reference, the following genetic features were identified: 267,383 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), 52,847 insertion/deletion polymorphisms (InDels), and 3,286 structural variations (SVs) in the genome of IR24; 288,764 SNPs, 59,658 InDels, and 3,226 SVs in MH63; and 259,862 SNPs, 55,500 InDels, and 3,127 SVs in SH527. Variations between samples were also determined by comparative analysis of authentic collections of SNPs, InDels, and SVs, and were functionally annotated. Furthermore, variations in several important genes were also surveyed by alignment analysis in these lines. Our results suggest that genetic variations among these lines, although far lower than those reported in the landrace population, are greater than expected, indicating a complicated genetic basis for the phenotypic diversity of the restorer lines. Identification of genome-wide variation and pattern analysis among the restorer lines will facilitate future genetic studies and the molecular improvement of hybrid rice

Probability-Based Diagnostic Imaging of Fatigue Damage in Carbon Fiber Composites Using Sparse Representation of Lamb Waves

Carbon fiber composites are commonly used in aerospace and other fields due to their excellent properties, and fatigue damage will occur in the process of service. Damage imaging can be performed using damage probability imaging methods to obtain the fatigue damage condition of carbon fiber composites. At present, the damage factor commonly used in the damage probability imaging algorithm has low contrast and poor anti-noise performance, which leads to artifacts in the imaging and misjudgment of the damaged area. Therefore, this paper proposes a fatigue damage probability imaging method for carbon fiber composite materials based on the sparse representation of Lamb wave signals. Based on constructing the Lamb wave dictionary, a fast block sparse Bayesian learning algorithm is used to represent the Lamb wave signals sparsely, and the definition of Lamb wave sparse representing the damage factor calculates the damage probability of the monitoring area and then images the fatigue damage of the carbon fiber composite materials. The imaging research was carried out using the fatigue monitoring experiment data of NASA’s carbon fiber composite materials. The results show that the proposed damage factor can clearly distinguish the damaged area from the undamaged area and has strong noise immunity. Compared with the energy damage factor and the cross-correlation damage factor, the error percentages are reduced by at least 58.63%, 28.11%, and 8.43% for signal-to-noise ratios of 6 dB, 3 dB, and 0.1 dB, respectively, after adding noise to the signal. The results can more accurately reflect the real location and area of fatigue damage in carbon fiber composites

Recycling Potential Comparison of Mass Timber Constructions and Concrete Buildings: A Case Study in China

The recycling potential (RP) indicates the ability of building materials to form a closed-loop material flow, that is, the material efficiency during its whole life cycle. Mass timber constructions and concrete buildings vary widely in RP, but the differences are difficult to calculate. This paper proposed a level-based scheme to compare the RP of mass timber and concrete buildings, and a BIM-Eco2soft-MS Excel workflow coupling Material Cycle Database and digital design tools were established to obtain information on building materials, resource consumption, and environmental impact for the RP calculation. Taking a residential building as an example, the difference in RP between mass timber and concrete at the material-level is firstly discussed. Then at the component-level, the RP of the wood structure component and concrete component is compared, and the optimization methods are proposed. Finally, the difference in RP between the mass timber building and reinforced concrete building at the building-level are illustrated. The results show that the RP of mass timber building is higher, and the disassembly ability is better. Within a 100-year service life, the RP of mass timber buildings is 73% and that of the reinforced concrete building is 34%. The total amount of material consumption and waste of the Variant CLT is 837,030 kg and 267,237 kg respectively, which is less than one-third of that of concrete buildings (3,458,488 kg; 958,145 kg). The Global Warming potential (GWP) of these two variants is −174.0 kgCO2/m2 and 221.0 kgCO2/m2 separately, indicating that the Variant CLT can realize negative carbon emissions and gain ecological benefits. A sensitivity analysis is conducted to explore the potential impacts of certain parameters on GWP and RP of buildings. The research can provide the reference for material selection, component design, and RP optimization of mass timber buildings. In addition, new ideas for assessing the potential of circularity as a design tool are proposed to support the transition towards a circular construction industry and to realize carbon neutrality