Ultra-fast charging in aluminum-ion batteries: electric double layers on active anode

With the rapid iteration of portable electronics and electric vehicles, developing high-capacity batteries with ultra-fast charging capability has become a holy grail. Here we report rechargeable aluminum-ion batteries capable of reaching a high specific capacity of 200 mAh g−1. When liquid metal is further used to lower the energy barrier from the anode, fastest charging rate of 104 C (duration of 0.35 s to reach a full capacity) and 500% more specific capacity under high-rate conditions are achieved. Phase boundaries from the active anode are believed to encourage a high-flux charge transfer through the electric double layers. As a result, cationic layers inside the electric double layers responded with a swift change in molecular conformation, but anionic layers adopted a polymer-like configuration to facilitate the change in composition

Prolonged drought regulates the silage quality of maize (Zea mays L.): Alterations in fermentation microecology

Prolonged drought stress caused by global warming poses a tremendous challenge to silage production of maize. Drought during maize growth and development resulted in altered micro-environment for silage fermentation. How fermentation of silage maize responds to moisture scales remains uncharted territory. In this research, Maize water control trials were conducted and the silage quality and microbial community of drought-affected maize were determined. The results showed that drought stress significantly reduced the dry matter but increased root-to-shoot ratio, soluble sugar and malonaldehyde content in maize. Before fermentation, the crude protein, crude ash and acid detergent fiber contents were significantly increased but the ether extract content was decreased under drought. The crude protein and acid detergent fiber were significantly decreased in the drought affected group after fermentation. Furthermore, water stress at maize maturity stage greatly reduced the number of total bacteria in silage fermentation but increased the proportion of the lactobacillus and lactic acid content of silage. Drought stress alters the microbial ecosystem of the fermentation process and reconstitutes the diversity of the bacterial community and its metabolites. This study provides a theoretical basis for the study of changes in silage fermentation as affected by abiotic stresses

RRS1 Promotes Retinoblastoma Cell Proliferation and Invasion via Activating the AKT/mTOR Signaling Pathway

Ribosome biogenesis regulatory protein homolog (RRS1) is a protein required for ribosome biogenesis. Recent studies have identified an oncogenic role of RRS1 in some cancers, whereas the involvement of RRS1 in retinoblastoma (RB) remains to be determined. In this study, we aimed to explore the role of RRS1 in RB. We found that the expression of RRS1 was increased in RB tissues and cells. Lentivirus-mediated RRS1 overexpression promoted the proliferation, growth, and invasion of RB cells. Opposite results were found in RRS1 knockdown cells. In addition, RRS1 silencing induced cell cycle arrest at the G1 phase and apoptosis in RB cells, while RRS1 ectopic expression exhibited the opposite effect. At the molecular level, RRS1 activated the AKT/mTOR signaling pathway, inhibition of which largely blunted the proliferation, growth, and invasion of RB cells. Our study suggests that RRS1 functions as an oncogene in RB through activating the AKT/mTOR signaling pathway

Operation optimization of the coaxial deep borehole heat exchanger coupled with ground source heat pump for building heating

Geothermal is considered to be one of the most promising renewable sources for district heating. Ground source heat pump systems coupled with the coaxial deep borehole heat exchanger have been widely applied because of their high efficiency. However, in order to reduce the total energy consumption of the system, there are few studies on the optimization of the water flow rates in the coaxial deep borehole heat exchanger by time to meet the load change during the heating season. In this paper, an optimization method for the two flow rates which are set at two time periods respectively every day in the coaxial deep borehole heat exchanger during the operation of the ground source heat pump system is proposed. The application of the method is to determine the applicable flow rates when the temperature of the next day is predicted. Space heating of a building (located in Tianjin, China) is taken as a scenario, comparisons were carried out on system operation before and after optimization, which shows that the method has a good effect on the energy-saving operation of the system. After optimization, the total power consumption of the system is reduced, the total performance coefficient of the equipment as well as the temperature difference between the inlet and outlet of the underground heat exchanger is increased, and the trend of flow rates changes with time is the same as the indoor and outdoor temperature difference

Role of adenosine A2a receptor in cancers and autoimmune diseases

Abstract Adenosine receptors are P1 class of purinergic receptors that belong to G protein‐coupled receptors. There are 4 subtypes of adenosine receptors, namely A1, A2A, A2B, and A3. A2AR has a high affinity for the ligand adenosine. Under pathological conditions or external stimuli, ATP is sequentially hydrolyzed to adenosine by CD39 and CD73. The combination of adenosine and A2AR can increase the concentration of cAMP and activate a series of downstream signaling pathways, and further playing the role of immunosuppression and promotion of tumor invasion. A2AR is expressed to some extent on various immune cells, where it is abnormally expressed on immune cells in cancers and autoimmune diseases. A2AR expression also correlates with disease progression. Inhibitors and agonists of A2AR may be potential new strategies for treatment of cancers and autoimmune diseases. We herein briefly reviewed the expression and distribution of A2AR, adenosine/A2AR signaling pathway, expression, and potential as a therapeutic target

Operation stability analysis of district heating substation from the control perspective

Since the heating substation plays a key role in transferring the thermal energy from the primary network to the secondary network and controlling the heat output of district heating system to meet the thermal load, high operation performance of heating substation is essential for energy conservation, cost saving and emission reduction. The dynamic operation stability of heating substation is a very important dynamic characteristic of heating substation and largely affects the operation efficiency of district heating system. The operation instability of heating substation mainly manifest as flow rate and pressure oscillations, which will deteriorate the network hydraulic condition, break the network thermal balance, reduce the consumer comfort and increase the energy cost of the pumping system. Since heating substations will easily operate unstably under some conditions, this paper presents a theoretical method to analyze the stability and retune the feedback controller for operation stability of heating substation. Mathematical model of the plate heat exchanger was established and the feedback control theory was adopted to study the operation stability of heating substation. Based on the mathematical model and feedback control theory, a stability criterion was proposed for analyzing the operation stability of district heating substation effectively. The dynamic model of plate heat exchanger was validated with measured data. Simulation results show that controller tuned at certain operating condition can’t ensure operation stability of heating substation, when operating condition varies in large range. The stability analysis method proposed in this paper can be applied to analyzing the operation stability and tuning the controller of heating substation to enhance the operation stability

Autophagy Protects Renal Tubular Cells Against Ischemia / Reperfusion Injury in a Time-Dependent Manner

Background/Aims: Autophagy is a dynamic catabolic process that maintains cellular homeostasis. Whether it plays a role in promoting cell survival or cell death in the process of renal ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) remains controversial, partly because renal autophagy is usually examined at a certain time point. Therefore, monitoring of the whole time course of autophagy and apoptosis may help better understand the role of autophagy in renal I/R. Methods: Autophagy and apoptosis were detected after mice were subjected to bilateral renal ischemia followed by 0-h to 7-day reperfusion, exposure of TCMK-1 cells to 24-h hypoxia, and 2 to 24-h reoxygenation. The effect of autophagy on apoptosis was assessed in the presence of autophagy inhibitor 3-methyladenine (3-MA) and autophagy activator rapamycin. Results: Earlier than apoptosis, autophagy increased from 2-h reperfusion, reached the maximum at day 2, and then began declining from day 3 when renal damage had nearly recovered to normal. Exposure to 24-h hypoxia induced autophagy markedly, but it decreased drastically after 4 and 8-h reoxygenation, which was accompanied with increased cell apoptosis. Inhibition of autophagy with 3-MA increased the apoptosis of renal tubular cells during I/R in vivo and hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R) in vitro. In contrast, activation of autophagy by rapamycin significantly alleviated renal tissue damage and tubular cell apoptosis in the two models. Conclusion: Autophagy was induced in a time-dependent manner and occurred earlier than the onset of cell apoptosis as an early response that played a renoprotective role during renal I/R and cell H/R. Up-regulation of autophagy may prove to be a potential strategy for the treatment of acute kidney injury

Performance analysis of ice storage tank with smooth-tube and corrugated-tube heat exchangers based on numerical simulation

The ice storage system is of great value to improve the flexibility of building cooling load. In this paper, the two-dimensional physical models of smooth-tube and corrugated-tube heat exchangers ice-storage tank is established with consideration of natural convection. The ice storage process of tubes is numerically simulated using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). The effects of structural parameters on the ice storage performance are comprehensively analyzed, including the pitch and height of corrugation. The results indicate that the ice storage duration of the corrugated-tube heat exchanger is shortened by 7.1% compared with that of the traditional smooth-tube heat exchanger, which is due to the fact that corrugations disrupt the development of the boundary layer and strengthen the fluid mixing. There is the thicker ice layer outside the corrugated tube in comparison with the smooth tube at the same time. In addition, the influence of the corrugated tube structure on its ice storage performance is studied by varying the corrugation pitch and height. If the corrugation pitch is decreased by 41.7% and the corrugation height is increased by 28%, the heat transfer performance of corrugated tubes is improved by 10.3% and 29.4%, respectively