Stratosphere-troposphere coupling during stratospheric extremes in the 2022/23 winter

Using the ERA5 reanalysis, sea surface temperature, sea ice observations, and the real-time multivariate Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) index, the evolution of the stratospheric extreme circulation in the winter of 2022/2023 is explored. The stratospheric polar vortex was disturbed three times in the 2022/23 winter, contrasted with only one disturbance during the other three recent winters with an SSW. Possible favorable conditions for the strong stratospheric disturbances and their effects on stratospheric ozone, water vapor distribution, and near-surface temperature were examined. Around 7 December 2022 when a short but strong pulse of planetary wavenumber 2 appeared from the troposphere to stratosphere, a weakened and elongated stratospheric polar vortex formed at 10 hPa. This pulse is related to the intensifying Ural ridge and the deepening East Asian trough. After the first stratospheric disturbance, a large fraction of cold anomalies occurred in the Eurasian continent. A lagged impact after these stratospheric disturbances was observed as strong cold anomalies formed in North America from 13 to 23 December. On 28 January 2023, a minor SSW event occurred due to a displacement of the stratospheric polar vortex. A strong pulse of eddy heat flux contributed alternately by planetary wavenumber 1 and 2 showed a large accumulative effect on the stratospheric disturbance. However, the downward impact of this second disturbance was weak, and cold surges were not noticeable after this minor SSW. The third stratospheric disturbance this winter is a major displace-type SSW that occurred on 16 February 2023, and the total eddy heat flux primarily contributed by planetary wavenumber 1 increased rapidly. Following the major SSW, the North American continent was covered by large patches of strong cold anomalies until the end of March. During the three disturbances, the residual circulation correspondingly strengthened. The water vapor and ozone in the middle and lower layers of the polar stratosphere showed positive anomaly disturbances, especially after the major SSW onset. The unprecedented frequent stratospheric disturbances in winter 2022/23 were accompanied by severe loss of Barents-Laptev Sea ice and anomalously cold tropical Pacific sea surface temperatures (La Niña), which have been reported to be conducive to the enhancement of planetary waves 1 and 2 respectively. Further, two weeks before the major SSW, existing MJO developed into phases 4–6, also contributing to the occurrence of major SSW

Fibroblast growth factor (FGF21) protects mouse liver against D-galactose-induced oxidative stress and apoptosis via activating Nrf2 and PI3K/Akt pathways

FGF21 is recently discovered with pleiotropic effects on glucose and lipid metabolism. However, the potential protective effect of FGF21 against D-gal-induced injury in the liver has not been demonstrated. The aim of this study is to investigate the pathophysiological role of FGF21 on hepatic oxidative injury and apoptosis in mice induced by D-gal. The 3-month-old Kunming mice were subcutaneously injected with D-gal (180 mg kg(-1) d(1)) for 8 weeks and administered simultaneously with FGF21 (5 or 1 mg kg(-1) d(1)). Our results showed that the administration of FGF21 significantly alleviated histological lesion including structure damage, degeneration, and necrosis of hepatocytes induced by D-gal, and attenuated the elevation of liver injury markers, serum AST, and ALP in a dosedependent manner. FGF21 treatment also suppressed D-galinduced profound elevation of ROS production and oxidative stress, as evidenced by an increase of the MDA level and depletion of the intracellular GSH level in the liver, and restored the activities of antioxidant enzymes SOD, CAT, GSH-Px, and T-AOC. Moreover, FGF21 treatment increased the nuclear abundance of Nrf2 and subsequent up regulation of several antioxidant genes. Furthermore, a TUNEL assay showed that D-gal-induced apoptosis in the mouse liver was significantly inhibited by FGF21. The expression of caspase-3 was markedly inhibited by the treatment of FGF21 in the liver of D-gal-treated mice. The levels of PI3K and PBK/Akt were also largely enhanced, which in turn inactivated pro-apoptotic signaling events, restoring the balance between pro-and anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 and Bax proteins in the liver of D-gal-treated mice. In conclusion, these results suggest that FGF21 protects the mouse liver against D-gal-induced hepatocyte oxidative stress via enhancing Nrf2-mediated antioxidant capacity and apoptosis via activating PI3K/Akt pathway

Corrosion Behavior of Epoxy Coating Containing Poly-dopamine Modified Hexagonal Boron Nitride

In order to improve the dispersion of hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) in the solvents and organic matrix, and to investigate the effect of h-BN on the corrosion resistance of epoxy coating, polydopamine was modified on the h-BN to achieve the well dispersion stability of h-BN in the solvents and epoxy coating. The corresponding morphology, chemical composition and thermal stability were characterized by SEM, TEM, XPS, Raman spectrum and TG. In addition, the corrosion behavior of the epoxy coating and h-BN@PDA/epoxy coating was investigated in 3.5%NaCl solution by electrochemical measurements. The results indicate that h-BN@PDA/epoxy composite coating exhibites nobler open circuit potential (-0.1 V), higher impedance modulus and coating resistance (~10~(10)Omega·cm~2), lower breakpoint frequency (~0.1 Hz) than those of the epoxy coating during long time immersion in 3.5 % NaCl solution. Furthmore, very little corrosion is found at the substrate surface coated with h-BN@PDA/epoxy composite coating, indicating the outstanding corrosion resistance of the composite coating. Addition of h-BN nanosheets can reduce the coatings porosity and inhibit the penetration of corrosive medium, which helps to improve the corrosion resistance of the composite coating

Barrier mechanism of multilayers graphene coated copper against atomic oxygen irradiation

Graphene has been demonstrated as a protective coating for Cu under ambient condition because of its high impermeability and light-weight oxidation barrier. However, it lacks the research of graphene as a protective coating in space environment. Here, we experimentally and theoretically study the oxidation behavior of graphene-coated Cu in vacuum atomic oxygen (AO) condition. After AO irradiation, the experimental results show multilayer graphene has better anti-oxidation than monolayer graphene. Meanwhile, the calculation results show the oxidation appeared on the graphene's grain boundaries or the film's vacancy defects for the monolayer graphene coated Cu foil. Moreover, the calculation results show the oxidation process proceeds slowly in multilayers because of the matched defects overlaps each other to form a steric hindrance to suppress the O atom diffusion in the vertical direction, and the mismatched defects generates potential energy barriers for interlayer to suppress the O atom diffusion in the horizontal direction. Hence, multilayer graphene films could serve as protection coatings to prevent diffusion of O atom. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

A feasible multilayer structure design for solid lubricant coatings in a lunar environment

Solid lubricant coatings have received considerable research attention in space applications owing to their remarkably improved tribological characteristics. But their service life is seriously restricted by the harsh environment, such as high vacuum and abrasive wear. In this paper, a novel design of carbon-based multilayer (MoS2/DLC multilayer) coatings was reported to clarify the friction and wear behavior in high vacuum conditions with and without simulated lunar-dust (SLD). Compared with pure DLC or MoS2 coatings, the multilayer coating showed excellent tribological performance with a low friction coefficient of 0.02 and a wear rate of similar to 6.5 x 10(-6) mm(3) N-1 m(-1). What is particularly interesting is that the wear volume of MoS2/DLC multilayer coatings with the increase of time is in accordance with the Archard linear law, regardless of the condition with or without SLD. Moreover, the surface morphology and composition of wear tracks and scars reveal that the long life of carbon-based multilayer coatings cannot be explained solely by excellent mechanical performance, and is also attributed to the formation of ridge layers as third body reservoirs and a tribo-induced composite transfer layer containing SLD nanoparticles and coating materials

Barrier mechanism of multilayers graphene coated copper against atomic oxygen irradiation

Graphene has been demonstrated as a protective coating for Cu under ambient condition because of its high impermeability and light-weight oxidation barrier. However, it lacks the research of graphene as a protective coating in space environment. Here, we experimentally and theoretically study the oxidation behavior of graphene-coated Cu in vacuum atomic oxygen (AO) condition. After AO irradiation, the experimental results show multilayer graphene has better anti-oxidation than monolayer graphene. Meanwhile, the calculation results show the oxidation appeared on the graphene's grain boundaries or the film's vacancy defects for the monolayer graphene coated Cu foil. Moreover, the calculation results show the oxidation process proceeds slowly in multilayers because of the matched defects overlaps each other to form a steric hindrance to suppress the O atom diffusion in the vertical direction, and the mismatched defects generates potential energy barriers for interlayer to suppress the O atom diffusion in the horizontal direction. Hence, multilayer graphene films could serve as protection coatings to prevent diffusion of O atom. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Polydopamine coated graphene oxide for anticorrosive reinforcement of water-borne epoxy coating

This study reports an eco-friendly water-borne epoxy (EP) with enhanced corrosion protection performance by embedding graphene oxide (GO). For this purpose, the dispersion of the GO in ethanol is improved by modifying the GO nanosheets with hydrophilic dopamine (DA), owing to the p-p interactions between the GO and selfpolymerized polydopamine (PDA) as well as the covalent bonding between DA and GO. Results obtained from transmittance electron microscopy (TEM), scanning probe microscopy (SPM) Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, UV-vis absorbance spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) reveal the successful modification of PDA on the surface of GO nanosheets. Besides, the GO/ EP and GOPDA/ EP coatings are applied on the steel substrates and their corrosion protection performance is investigated via electrochemical measurements, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and scanning vibration electrochemical technology (SVET). Results demonstrate that inclusion of well-dispersed GO-PDA nanosheets leads to the remarkable improvement in the corrosion protection performance of water-borne EP coating

Novel nitrogen doped carbon dots for corrosion inhibition of carbon steel in 1 M HCl solution

Nitrogen doped carbon dots (NCDs) were synthesized and used for inhibiting the corrosion of Q235 carbon steel in hydrochloric acid (HCl) solution. Inhibition effectiveness in short-and long-term immersion was examined using electrochemical measurements, weight loss and surface analysis. Results revealed the inhibition efficiency was improved significantly after adding NCDs and strongly dependent on the concentration of NCDs. SVET results showed that the sample immersed in HCl solution with NCDs showed lower anodic current density mapping than that in blank HCl solution. According to the data extracted from the Langmuir adsorption, the absorption of NCDs involved both chemisorption and physisorption. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Multilayer Regulation of Atomic Boron Nitride Films to Improve Oxidation and Corrosion Resistance of Cu

The boron nitride (BN) monolayer (1L) with high impermeability and resistivity seems to hold promise as a long-term corrosion barrier for Cu under ambient condition, which is supported by recent researches. Here, we perform a complete study of the alternating temperature tests (the sample is exposed in air for 30 days and subsequently heated at 200 degrees C for 2 h) and electrochemical measurements on 1L and multilayer BN-coated Cu foils. Results imply that the BN-coated Cu foils are less oxidized than uncoated Cu foils after alternating temperature tests, regardless of the layers of BN. Particularly, the oxidation process proceeds slowly in multi layers because most of the underlying defects are covered with BN layers to suppress the oxygen diffusion in the vertical direction and the oxidation mainly occurs on the wrinkled region of BN films. Electrochemical analyses reveal that the BN layers provide an effective physical barrier against the corrosive medium and inhibit the electron diffusion because of their high electrical insulating behavior and the corrosion resistance of the samples increases with increasing BN layers. These findings indicate that BN films with adequate layers are good candidates for oxidation and corrosion protection at the atomic level, which is vital to many industrial and academic applications