Investigation of the Electrochemical Properties of CoAl-Layered Double Hydroxide/Ni(OH)2

Layered double hydroxides (LDH) as active electrode materials have become the focus of research in energy storage applications. The manufacturing of excellent electrochemical performance of the LDH electrode is still a challenge. In this paper, the production of CoAl-LDH@Ni(OH)2 is carried out in two steps, including hydrothermal and electrodeposition techniques. The prominent features of this electrode material are shown in the structural and morphological aspects, and the electrochemical properties are investigated by improving the conductivity and cycle stability. The core of this experimental study is to investigate the properties of the materials by depositing different amounts of nickel hydroxide and changing the loading of the active materials. The experimental results show that the specific capacity is 1810.5F·g−1 at 2 A/g current density and the cycle stability remained at 76% at 30 A g−1 for 3000 cycles. Moreover, a solid-state asymmetric supercapacitor with CoAl-LDH@Ni(OH)2 as the positive electrode and multi-walled carbon nanotube coated on the nickel foam as the negative electrode delivers high energy density (16.72 Wh kg−1 at the power density of 350.01 W kg−1). This study indicates the advantages of the design and synthesis of layered double hydroxides, a composite with excellent electrochemical properties that has potential applications in energy storage

Generalised risk-sensitive control with full and partial state observation

This paper generalises the risk-sensitive cost functional by introducing noise dependent penalties on the state and control variables. The optimal control problems for the full and partial state observation are considered. Using a change of probability measure approach, explicit closed-form solutions are found in both cases. This has resulted in a new risk-sensitive regulator and filter, which are generalisations of the well-known classical results

Vermicompost and gypsum amendments improve aggregate formation in bauxite residue

Improving aggregate formation and stability of bauxite residue is essential for the development of a soil on the residue. Effects of gypsum and vermicompost on related chemical and physical conditions of bauxite residue were studied in a laboratory incubation experiment. Addition of gypsum at 2% and 4% w/w reduced pH and exchangeable sodium percentage, whilst increasing exchangeable calcium content. Addition of vermicompost reduced bulk density, whilst significantly increasing porosity and total organic carbon. Vermicompost had a positive effect on the formation and stabilization of water-stable aggregates in the residue, whilst gypsum was more beneficial to silt-sized microaggregate flocculation. Amendments also enhanced the erosion resistance of bauxite residue. Furthermore, wet sieving using the modified Le Bissonnais’ (LB) method revealed that in comparison to differential clay swelling and mechanical breakdown, slaking was the major disaggregation mechanism of residue aggregates. The combination of gypsum and vermicompost converted the residue from a sheet-like structure to a granular macroaggregated structure, whilst converting microaggregates from a grain to a granular or prismatic structure. The findings of this work suggest that application of gypsum and vermicompost to bauxite residue may directly influence aggregate size distribution and its micromorphology, resulting in the improvement of both aggregate stability and structure

Variation In Olfactory Neuron Repertoires Is Genetically Controlled And Environmentally Modulated

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)The mouse olfactory sensory neuron (OSN) repertoire is composed of 10 million cells and each expresses one olfactory receptor (OR) gene from a pool of over 1000. Thus, the nose is sub-stratified into more than a thousand OSN subtypes. Here, we employ and validate an RNA-sequencing-based method to quantify the abundance of all OSN subtypes in parallel, and investigate the genetic and environmental factors that contribute to neuronal diversity. We find that the OSN subtype distribution is stereotyped in genetically identical mice, but varies extensively between different strains. Further, we identify cis-acting genetic variation as the greatest component influencing OSN composition and demonstrate independence from OR function. However, we show that olfactory stimulation with particular odorants results in modulation of dozens of OSN subtypes in a subtle but reproducible, specific and time-dependent manner. Together, these mechanisms generate a highly individualized olfactory sensory system by promoting neuronal diversity.6Wellcome [098051]Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Sao Paulo [09/00473-0, 2015/50371-0]European Molecular Biology Organization Young Investigator AwardFundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP

Elevated Blood Pressure Accelerates White Matter Brain Aging Among Late Middle-Aged Women: A Mendelian Randomization Study in the UK Biobank

BACKGROUND: Elevated blood pressure (BP) is a modifiable risk factor associated with cognitive impairment and cerebrovascular diseases. However, the causal effect of BP on white matter brain aging remains unclear. METHODS: In this study, we focused on N  = 228 473 individuals of European ancestry who had genotype data and clinical BP measurements available (103 929 men and 124 544 women, mean age = 56.49, including 16 901 participants with neuroimaging data available) collected from UK Biobank (UKB). We first established a machine learning model to compute the outcome variable brain age gap (BAG) based on white matter microstructure integrity measured by fractional anisotropy derived from diffusion tensor imaging data. We then performed a two-sample Mendelian randomization analysis to estimate the causal effect of BP on white matter BAG in the whole population and subgroups stratified by sex and age brackets using two nonoverlapping data sets. RESULTS: The hypertension group is on average 0.31 years (95% CI = 0.13-0.49; P  \u3c 0.0001) older in white matter brain age than the nonhypertension group. Women are on average 0.81 years (95% CI = 0.68-0.95; P  \u3c 0.0001) younger in white matter brain age than men. The Mendelian randomization analyses showed an overall significant positive causal effect of DBP on white matter BAG (0.37 years/10 mmHg, 95% CI 0.034-0.71, P  = 0.0311). In stratified analysis, the causal effect was found most prominent among women aged 50-59 and aged 60-69. CONCLUSION: High BP can accelerate white matter brain aging among late middle-aged women, providing insights on planning effective control of BP for women in this age group

Transcriptome Analysis of Female and Male Xiphophorus maculatus Jp 163 A

Background: Xiphophorus models are important for melanoma, sex determination and differentiation, ovoviviparity and evolution. To gain a global view of the molecular mechanism(s) whereby gene expression may influence sexual dimorphism in Xiphophorus and to develop a database for future studies, we performed a large-scale transcriptome study. Methodology/Principal Findings: The 454-FLX massively parallel DNA sequencing platform was employed to obtain 742,771 and 721,543 reads from 2 normalized cDNA libraries generated from whole adult female and male X. maculatus Jp 163 A, respectively. The reads assembled into 45,538 contigs (here, a "contig" is a set of contiguous sequences), of which, 11,918 shared homology to existing protein sequences. These numbers estimate that the contigs may cover 53% of the total number of Xiphophorus transcriptome. Putative translations were obtained for 11,918 cDNA contigs, of which, 3,049 amino acid sequences contain Pfam domains and 11,064 contigs encode secretory proteins. A total of 3,898 contigs were associated with 2,781 InterPro (IPR) entries and 5,411 contigs with 132 KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes) pathways. There were 10,446 contigs annotated with 69,778 gene ontology (GO) terms and the three corresponding organizing principles. Fifty-four potential sex differentially expressed genes have been identified from these contigs. Eight and nine of these contigs were confirmed by real-time PCR as female and male predominantly expressed genes respectively. Based on annotation results, 34 contigs were predicted to be differentially expressed in male and female and 17 of them were also confirmed by real-time PCR. Conclusions/Significance: This is the first report of an annotated overview of the transcriptome of X. maculatus and identification of sex differentially expressed genes. These data will be of interest to researchers using the Xiphophorus model. This work also provides an archive for future studies in molecular mechanisms of sexual dimorphism and evolution, and can be used in comparative studies of other fish

Identification and Characterization of Paramyosin from Cyst Wall of Metacercariae Implicated Protective Efficacy against Clonorchis sinensis Infection

Human clonorchiasis has been increasingly prevalent in recent years and results in a threat to the public health in epidemic regions, motivating current strategies of vaccines to combat Clonorchis sinensis (C. sinensis). In this study, we identified C. sinensis paramyosin (CsPmy) from the cyst wall proteins of metacercariae by proteomic approaches and characterized the expressed recombinant pET-26b-CsPmy protein (101 kDa). Bioinformatics analysis indicated that full-length sequences of paramyosin are conserved in helminthes and numerous B-cell/T-cell epitopes were predicted in amino acid sequence of CsPmy. Western blot analysis showed that CsPmy was expressed at four life stages of C. sinensis, both cyst wall proteins and soluble tegumental components could be probed by anti-CsPmy serum. Moreover, immunolocalization results revealed that CsPmy was specifically localized at cyst wall and excretory bladder of metacercaria, as well as the tegument, oral sucker and vitellarium of adult worm. Both immunoblot and immunolocalization results demonstrated that CsPmy was highly expressed at the stage of adult worm, metacercariae and cercaria, which could be supported by real-time PCR analysis. Both recombinant protein and nucleic acid of CsPmy showed strong immunogenicity in rats and induced combined Th1/Th2 immune responses, which were reflected by continuous high level of antibody titers and increased level of IgG1/IgG2a subtypes in serum. In vaccine trials, comparing with control groups, both CsPmy protein and DNA vaccine exhibited protective effect with significant worm reduction rate of 54.3% (p<0.05) and 36.1% (p<0.05), respectively. In consistence with immune responses in sera, elevated level of cytokines IFN-γ and IL-4 in splenocytes suggested that CsPmy could induce combined cellular immunity and humoral immunity in host. Taken together, CsPmy could be a promising vaccine candidate in the prevention of C. sinensis regarding its high immunogenicity and surface localization

State owned enterprises as bribe payers: the role of institutional environment

Our paper draws attention to a neglected channel of corruption—the bribe payments by state-owned enterprises (SOEs). This is an important phenomenon as bribe payments by SOEs fruitlessly waste national resources, compromising public welfare and national prosperity. Using a large dataset of 30,249 firms from 50 countries, we show that, in general, SOEs are less likely to pay bribes for achieving organizational objectives owing to their political connectivity. However, in deteriorated institutional environments, SOEs may be subjected to potential managerial rent-seeking behaviors, which disproportionately increase SOE bribe propensity relative to privately owned enterprises. Specifically, our findings highlight the importance of fostering democracy and rule of law, reducing prevalence of corruption and shortening power distance in reducing the incidence of SOE bribery