Feasibility of an electrostatic energy harvesting device for CFCs aircraft

A novel energy harvesting concept is proposed for treating local electrostatic energy produced on flying composite aircrafts. This work focuses on the feasibility research on collecting static charges with capacitive collectors. The existing energy harvesting system and the electrification of the typical carbon fibre composites (CFCs) aircraft has been reviewed. The detailed model experiments were then designed to characterize different configurations for electrostatic energy harvesting on aeroplane. In the lab, the static charge was produced by a corona discharging device, and a capacitor or a metal sheet was put in the electric field to collect the charges under four different configurations. After that, the rest results for these configurations were analysed, which is followed by the discussion about the results application on the aircraft. This work has proved that it is feasible to collect the local static electricity on flying aircraft, and it could provide a new direction of energy harvesting system in aviation field

Physcomitrella patens DCL3 Is Required for 22–24 nt siRNA Accumulation, Suppression of Retrotransposon-Derived Transcripts, and Normal Development

Endogenous 24 nt short interfering RNAs (siRNAs), derived mostly from intergenic and repetitive genomic regions, constitute a major class of endogenous small RNAs in flowering plants. Accumulation of Arabidopsis thaliana 24 nt siRNAs requires the Dicer family member DCL3, and clear homologs of DCL3 exist in both flowering and non-flowering plants. However, the absence of a conspicuous 24 nt peak in the total RNA populations of several non-flowering plants has raised the question of whether this class of siRNAs might, in contrast to the ancient 21 nt microRNAs (miRNAs) and 21–22 nt trans-acting siRNAs (tasiRNAs), be an angiosperm-specific innovation. Analysis of non-miRNA, non-tasiRNA hotspots of small RNA production within the genome of the moss Physcomitrella patens revealed multiple loci that consistently produced a mixture of 21–24 nt siRNAs with a peak at 23 nt. These Pp23SR loci were significantly enriched in transposon content, depleted in overlap with annotated genes, and typified by dense concentrations of the 5-methyl cytosine (5 mC) DNA modification. Deep sequencing of small RNAs from two independent Ppdcl3 mutants showed that the P. patens DCL3 homolog is required for the accumulation of 22–24 nt siRNAs, but not 21 nt siRNAs, at Pp23SR loci. The 21 nt component of Pp23SR-derived siRNAs was also unaffected by a mutation in the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase mutant Pprdr6. Transcriptome-wide, Ppdcl3 mutants failed to accumulate 22–24 nt small RNAs from repetitive regions while transcripts from two abundant families of long terminal repeat (LTR) retrotransposon-associated reverse transcriptases were up-regulated. Ppdcl3 mutants also displayed an acceleration of leafy gametophore production, suggesting that repetitive siRNAs may play a role in the development of P. patens. We conclude that intergenic/repeat-derived siRNAs are indeed a broadly conserved, distinct class of small regulatory RNAs within land plants

Glucose-assisted synthesis of highly dispersed LiMnPO4 nanoparticles at a low temperature for lithium ion batteries

The cathode material of the LiMnPO4/C composite for lithium-ion batteries is successfully synthesized via a one-step glucose-assisted liquid-phase method in ethylene glycol (EG). The crystalline structure, morphology, micro-structure and particle size are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM). XRD results show that the pure phase of LiMnPO4 with high crystallinity can directly be prepared in the liquid-phase assisted by glucose. SEM measurements confirm the uniform-sized nanorods of the LiMnPO4 morphology with a width of 20-50 nm and a length of 50-80 nm. TEM characterization reveals that the surface of the obtained LiMnPO4 nanorods is coated with a homogeneous carbon layer after a short heat treatment at a high temperature in the presence of glucose. This can be explained by the fact that the glycol glucoside generated during the refluxing of EG with glucose can effectively inhibit the growth and agglomeration of particles. Results of electrochemical tests show that the prepared LiMnPO4/C nanorods exhibit not only a high initial discharge capacity of 155.3 mAh g-1 but also a good cycling stability, which retains 94% of the initial capacity over 100 cycles at 0.05 C.Peer reviewed: YesNRC publication: Ye

Glucose-assisted synthesis of highly dispersed LiMnPO4 nanoparticles at a low temperature for lithium ion batteries

The cathode material of the LiMnPO4/C composite for lithium-ion batteries is successfully synthesized via a one-step glucose-assisted liquid-phase method in ethylene glycol (EG). The crystalline structure, morphology, micro-structure and particle size are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM). XRD results show that the pure phase of LiMnPO4 with high crystallinity can directly be prepared in the liquid-phase assisted by glucose. SEM measurements confirm the uniform-sized nanorods of the LiMnPO4 morphology with a width of 20-50 nm and a length of 50-80 nm. TEM characterization reveals that the surface of the obtained LiMnPO4 nanorods is coated with a homogeneous carbon layer after a short heat treatment at a high temperature in the presence of glucose. This can be explained by the fact that the glycol glucoside generated during the refluxing of EG with glucose can effectively inhibit the growth and agglomeration of particles. Results of electrochemical tests show that the prepared LiMnPO4/C nanorods exhibit not only a high initial discharge capacity of 155.3 mAh g-1 but also a good cycling stability, which retains 94% of the initial capacity over 100 cycles at 0.05 C.Peer reviewed: YesNRC publication: Ye

Identification and characterization of wheat long non-protein coding RNAs responsive to powdery mildew infection and heat stress by using microarray analysis and SBS sequencing

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Biotic and abiotic stresses, such as powdery mildew infection and high temperature, are important limiting factors for yield and grain quality in wheat production. Emerging evidences suggest that long non-protein coding RNAs (npcRNAs) are developmentally regulated and play roles in development and stress responses of plants. However, identification of long npcRNAs is limited to a few plant species, such as Arabidopsis, rice and maize, no systematic identification of long npcRNAs and their responses to abiotic and biotic stresses is reported in wheat.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In this study, by using computational analysis and experimental approach we identified 125 putative wheat stress responsive long npcRNAs, which are not conserved among plant species. Among them, some were precursors of small RNAs such as microRNAs and siRNAs, two long npcRNAs were identified as signal recognition particle (SRP) 7S RNA variants, and three were characterized as U3 snoRNAs. We found that wheat long npcRNAs showed tissue dependent expression patterns and were responsive to powdery mildew infection and heat stress.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our results indicated that diverse sets of wheat long npcRNAs were responsive to powdery mildew infection and heat stress, and could function in wheat responses to both biotic and abiotic stresses, which provided a starting point to understand their functions and regulatory mechanisms in the future.</p

Biomimetic tumor-induced angiogenesis and anti-angiogenic therapy in a microfluidic model

We developed a biomimetic microfluidic model to reproduce hallmark events of tumor-induced angiogenesis. The angiogenic capabilities of salivary gland adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) cells and oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) cells were assessed in this model. The traditional nude mouse xenograft model was used to investigate the physiological similarity of the microfluidic model to animal models, and the results showed that the angiogenic potential of ACC and SCC cells assessed by the microfluidic model was in agreement with the results obtained from the nude mouse model. The microfluidic model was subsequently used to evaluate the effect of antiangiogenic drugs on ACC- and SCC-induced angiogenesis. The antiangiogenic effect of anti-VEGF was further compared between the microfluidic and nude mouse models, and showed that it effectively inhibited tumor-induced angiogenesis in both the microfluidic model and the nude mouse model. Thus, tumor-induced angiogenesis reproduced in the microfluidic model may expand the capabilities of cell culture models, providing a low-cost, timesaving, and rapid alternative to animal models