Thermodynamic study on the solubility of NaBH4 and NaBO 2 in NaOH solutions

Extensive research has been performed for on-board hydrogen generation, such as pyrolysis of metal hydrides (e.g. LiH, MgH2), hydrogen storages in adsorption materials (e.g. carbon nanotubes and graphites), compressed hydrogen tanks and the hydrolysis of chemical hydrides. Among these methods, the hydrolysis of NaBH4 has attracted great attention due to the high stability of its alkaline solution and the relatively high energy density, with further advantages such as moderate temperature range (from -5°C to 100°C) requirement, non-flammable, no side reactions or other volatile products, high purity H2 output. The H2 energy density contained by the system is fully depend on the solubility of the complicated solution contains reactant, product and the solution stabiliser. In this work, an approach based on thermodynamic equilibrium was proposed to model the relationship between the solubility of an electrolyte and temperature, and the effect of another component on its solubility. The relationship was then applied to NaBH4 and NaBO2 aqueous solutions, and the effect of introduction of NaOH on their solubility after deriving their solubility from phase diagrams. The data has been shown in good agreement with the proposed model. © Copyright 2011 Society of Automotive Engineers of Japan, Inc. and SAE International

Kinetic study of NaBH4 hydrolysis over carbon supported ruthenium

The effects of temperature and the concentrations of NaBH4, NaBO2 and NaOH on the rate of NaBH4 hydrolysis over carbon supported ruthenium catalyst were investigated using isothermal rate data extracted from non-isothermal reactions. It was shown that the hydrolysis was a zero-order reaction with respect to the concentration of NaBH4 and the reaction rate decreased with the increase of OH- concentration. A rate expression was then derived to correlate the hydrolysis rate with the temperature and NaOH concentration

Lowering emissivity of concrete roof tile\u27s underside cuts down heat entry to the building

Buildings in Southern China widely use a double-skin roof to reduce heat entry through the roof to the building interior during summertime. Concrete roof tiles are preferably installed as the outmost layer of the double-skin roof due to their resistance to hail and wind damages and their attractive price. However, after construction, the tile’s top tends to be darkened by dust deposit and algae growth, increasing the heat entry through the roof to the building. Here, we show that this heat entry can be curtailed by lowering the emissivity at the tile’s underside. Temperatures and heat fluxes at different elevations of a double-skin roof with concrete tiles as the outmost layer of the roof are monitored. The underside of each concrete tile is coated with a specific paint to get a unique emissivity. Observations reveal that lowering the emissivity of concrete roof tiles could cut down the summer heat gain of buildings in tropical regions

Disruption of Persistent Nociceptive Behavior in Rats with Learning Impairment

Despite the subjective nature of pain experience with cognitive and affective dimensions, preclinical pain research has largely focused on its sensory dimension. Here, we examined the relationship between learning/memory and nociceptive behavior in rats with combined learning impairment and persistent nociception. Learning impairment was induced by bilateral hippocampal injection of a mixed Aβ solution, whereas persistent nociception produced in these rats by complete Freund’s adjuvant-induced ankle inflammation. Those rats with learning impairment showed a diminished development of thermal hyperalgesia and mechanical allodynia and a shorter time course of nociceptive behavior without alteration of their baseline nociceptive threshold. In rats with pre-established hyperalgesia and allodynia due to ankle inflammation, bilateral intra-hippocampal injection of cycloheximide (a protein synthesis inhibitor) promoted the earlier recovery of nociceptive behavior. Moreover, expression of Aβ, NR1 subunit of the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor, and protein kinase Cγ was upregulated, whereas the choline acetyl transferase expression was downregulated, in the hippocampus, thalamus, amygdala, and/or spinal cord of rats with combined learning impairment and persistent nociception. The data indicate that learning impairment could disrupt the response to a state of persistent nociception, suggesting an important role for cognitive maladaptation in the mechanisms of chronic pain. These results also suggest that a preclinical model of combined learning impairment and persistent nociception may be useful to explore the brain mechanisms underlying the transition from acute to chronic pain

Facile fabrication of lightweight porous FDM-printed polyethylene/graphene nanocomposites with enhanced interfacial strength for electromagnetic interference shielding

In order to shield the massive electromagnetic perturbations and meet the more and more stringent requirement for advanced electronic equipment, development of diverse, lightweight and high-performance electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding materials is urgent but still challenging. Herein, the facile and green method which combines fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printing, ball milling and microwave (MW) irradiation technology was proposed to fabricate exfoliated graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) incorporated liner low density polyethylene (LLDPE) nanocomposite lightweight parts with porous and complex geometry structure. FDM 3D printing possesses high flexibility for structure design, which can significantly broaden the application of materials in various fields. Benefiting from design of a unique porous lamellar structure, the printed LLDPE/GNPs nanocomposite parts can achieve a prominent EMI shielding effectiveness (SE) of ~32.4 dB (with thickness-normalized specific EMI SE (SSE/t) of 318 dB cm2/g) in the range of 8.2–12.4 GHz. This remarkable characteristic is due to internal multiple reflections and absorption of electromagnetic (EM) waves. In addition, the specific FDM 3D-printed porous parts prepared by our strategy exhibit a relatively higher EMI SE at a lower density than those lightweight EMI shields in literatures. The use of MW irradiation technology improves mechanical properties, especially for the interfacial bonding strength between filaments. More importantly, this strategy is highly favorable for the fabrication of lightweight porous EMI shields with tailorable and optimized shape/structure, which could be expected to be applied in aerospace fields, portable electronic devices, smart devices and so on

12-h clock regulation of genetic information flow by XBP1s

© The Author(s), 2020. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Pan, Y., Ballance, H., Meng, H., Gonzalez, N., Kim, S., Abdurehman, L., York, B., Chen, X., Schnytzer, Y., Levy, O., Dacso, C. C., McClung, C. A., O'Malley, B. W., Liu, S., & Zhu, B. 12-h clock regulation of genetic information flow by XBP1s. Plos Biology, 18(1), (2020): e3000580, doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.3000580.Our group recently characterized a cell-autonomous mammalian 12-h clock independent from the circadian clock, but its function and mechanism of regulation remain poorly understood. Here, we show that in mouse liver, transcriptional regulation significantly contributes to the establishment of 12-h rhythms of mRNA expression in a manner dependent on Spliced Form of X-box Binding Protein 1 (XBP1s). Mechanistically, the motif stringency of XBP1s promoter binding sites dictates XBP1s’s ability to drive 12-h rhythms of nascent mRNA transcription at dawn and dusk, which are enriched for basal transcription regulation, mRNA processing and export, ribosome biogenesis, translation initiation, and protein processing/sorting in the Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER)-Golgi in a temporal order consistent with the progressive molecular processing sequence described by the central dogma information flow (CEDIF). We further identified GA-binding proteins (GABPs) as putative novel transcriptional regulators driving 12-h rhythms of gene expression with more diverse phases. These 12-h rhythms of gene expression are cell autonomous and evolutionarily conserved in marine animals possessing a circatidal clock. Our results demonstrate an evolutionarily conserved, intricate network of transcriptional control of the mammalian 12-h clock that mediates diverse biological pathways. We speculate that the 12-h clock is coopted to accommodate elevated gene expression and processing in mammals at the two rush hours, with the particular genes processed at each rush hour regulated by the circadian and/or tissue-specific pathways.This study was supported by the American Diabetes Association junior faculty development award 1-18-JDF-025 to B.Z., by funding from National Institute of Health HD07879 and 1P01DK113954 to B.W.O, by funding from National Science Foundation award 1703170 to C.C.D. and B.Z., and by funding from Brockman Foundation to C.C.D and B.W.O. This work was further supported by the UPMC Genome Center with funding from UPMC’s Immunotherapy and Transplant Center. This research was supported in part by the University of Pittsburgh Center for Research Computing through the resources provided. Research reported in this publication was further supported by the National Institute of Diabetes And Digestive And Kidney Diseases of the National Institutes of Health under award number P30DK120531 to Pittsburgh Liver Research Center, in which both S.L. and B.Z. are members. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

Can compulsory ecological compensation for land damaged by mining activities mitigate CO2 emissions in China?

Chinese government has proposed a national contribution plan that involves achieving the peak CO2 emissions by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060. To explore the pathway of achieving carbon neutrality, we tried to use resources taxes and land reclamation deposits as compulsory ecological compensation (CEC). In order to test if CEC can affect CO2 emissions, energy intensity was selected as the intermediate variable. We found that the CO2 emissions trend in China is consistent with environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis and proved that CEC displayed a spillover effect on energy intensity. Likely, energy intensity presented a spillover effect on CO2 emissions. Therefore, CEC will spatially affect CO2 emissions. The generalized spatial two-stage least-squares estimate model was used to identify the impact mechanism of coal production on energy intensity with CEC as the instrumental variable. The results indicated that reducing coal production in neighboring regions may cause the mitigation of local CO2 emissions. Finally, regression analyses carried out by region suggested regional cooperation should be carried out in the process of carbon mitigation

Proteomic analysis of rat serum revealed the effects of chronic sleep deprivation on metabolic, cardiovascular and nervous system

Sleep is an essential and fundamental physiological process that plays crucial roles in the balance of psychological and physical health. Sleep disorder may lead to adverse health outcomes. The effects of sleep deprivation were extensively studied, but its mechanism is still not fully understood. The present study aimed to identify the alterations of serum proteins associated with chronic sleep deprivation, and to seek for potential biomarkers of sleep disorder mediated diseases. A label-free quantitative proteomics technology was used to survey the global changes of serum proteins between normal rats and chronic sleep deprivation rats. A total of 309 proteins were detected in the serum samples and among them, 117 proteins showed more than 1.8-folds abundance alterations between the two groups. Functional enrichment and network analyses of the differential proteins revealed a close relationship between chronic sleep deprivation and several biological processes including energy metabolism, cardiovascular function and nervous function. And four proteins including pyruvate kinase M1, clusterin, kininogen1 and profilin-1were identified as potential biomarkers for chronic sleep deprivation. The four candidates were validated via parallel reaction monitoring (PRM) based targeted proteomics. In addition, protein expression alteration of the four proteins was confirmed in myocardium and brain of rat model. In summary, the comprehensive proteomic study revealed the biological impacts of chronic sleep deprivation and discovered several potential biomarkers. This study provides further insight into the pathological and molecular mechanisms underlying sleep disorders at protein level