Unsteady Flows of a Generalized Fractional Burgers’ Fluid between Two Side Walls Perpendicular to a Plate

The unsteady flows of a generalized fractional Burgers’ fluid between two side walls perpendicular to a plate are studied for the case of Rayleigh-Stokes’ first and second problems. Exact solutions of the velocity fields are derived in terms of the generalized Mittag-Leffler function by using the double Fourier transform and discrete Laplace transform of sequential fractional derivatives. The solution for Rayleigh-Stokes’ first problem is represented as the sum of the Newtonian solutions and the non-Newtonian contributions, based on which the solution for Rayleigh-Stokes’ second problem is constructed by the Duhamel’s principle. The solutions for generalized second-grade fluid, generalized Maxwell fluid, and generalized Oldroyd-B fluid performing the same motions appear as limiting cases of the present solutions. Furthermore, the influences of fractional parameters and material parameters on the unsteady flows are discussed by graphical illustrations

Roles and Mechanisms of Herbal Medicine for Diabetic Cardiomyopathy: Current Status and Perspective

Diabetic cardiomyopathy is one of the major complications among patients with diabetes mellitus. Diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) is featured by left ventricular hypertrophy, myocardial fibrosis, and damaged left ventricular systolic and diastolic functions. The pathophysiological mechanisms include metabolic-altered substrate metabolism, dysfunction of microvascular, renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) activation, oxidative stress, cardiomyocyte apoptosis, mitochondrial dysfunction, and impaired Ca2+ handling. An array of molecules and signaling pathways such as p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38 MAPK), c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), and extracellular-regulated protein kinases (ERK) take roles in the pathogenesis of DCM. Currently, there was no remarkable effect in the treatment of DCM with application of single Western medicine. The myocardial protection actions of herbs have been gearing much attention. We present a review of the progress research of herbal medicine as a potential therapy for diabetic cardiomyopathy and the underlying mechanisms

Virtual k -Space Modulation Optical Microscopy

We report a novel superresolution microscopy approach for imaging fluorescence samples. The reported approach, termed virtual k-space modulation optical microscopy (VIKMOM), is able to improve the lateral resolution by a factor of 2, reduce the background level, improve the optical sectioning effect and correct for unknown optical aberrations. In the acquisition process of VIKMOM, we used a scanning confocal microscope setup with a 2D detector array to capture sample information at each scanned x-y position. In the recovery process of VIKMOM, we first modulated the captured data by virtual k-space coding and then employed a ptychography-inspired procedure to recover the sample information and correct for unknown optical aberrations. We demonstrated the performance of the reported approach by imaging fluorescent beads, fixed bovine pulmonary artery endothelial (BPAE) cells, and living human astrocytes (HA). As the VIKMOM approach is fully compatible with conventional confocal microscope setups, it may provide a turn-key solution for imaging biological samples with ∼100  nm lateral resolution, in two or three dimensions, with improved optical sectioning capabilities and aberration correcting.National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (9P41EB015871-26A1)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (1R01HL121386-01A1

Carbon benefits of wolfberry plantation on secondary saline land in Jingtai oasis, Gansu:A case study on application of the CBP model

The largest global source of anthropogenic CO2 emissions comes from the burning of fossil fuel and approximately 30% of total net emissions come from land use and land use change. Forestation and reforestation are regarded worldwide as effective options of sequestering carbon to mitigate climate change with relatively low costs compared with industrial greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction efforts. Cash trees with a steady augmentation in size are recognized as a multiple-beneficial solution to climate change in China. The reporting of C changes and GHG emissions for sustainable land management (SLM) practices such as afforestation is required for a variety of reasons, such as devising land management options and making policy. The Carbon Benefit Project (CBP) Simple Assessment Tool was employed to estimate changes in soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks and GHG emissions for wolfberry (Lycium barbarum L.) planting on secondary salinized land over a 10 year period (2004–2014) in the Jingtai oasis in Gansu with salinized barren land as baseline scenario. Results show that wolfberry plantation, an intensively managed ecosystem, served as a carbon sink with a large potential for climate change mitigation, a restorative practice for saline land and income stream generator for farmers in soil salinized regions in Gansu province. However, an increase in wolfberry production, driven by economic demands, would bring environmental pressures associated with the use of N fertilizer and irrigation. With an understanding of all of the components of an ecosystem and their interconnections using the Drivers-Pressures-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) framework there comes a need for strategies to respond to them such as capacity building, judicious irrigation and institutional strengthening. Cost benefit analysis (CBA) suggests that wolfberry cultivation was economically profitable and socially beneficial and thus well-accepted locally in the context of carbon sequestration. This study has important implications for Gansu as it helps to understand the role cash trees can play in carbon emission reductions. Such information is necessary in devising management options for sustainable land management (SLM)

A novel “holey-LFP / graphene / holey-LFP” sandwich nanostructure with significantly improved rate capability for lithium storage

The development of high-performance and new-structure electrode materials is vital for the wide application of rechargeable lithium batteries in electric vehicles. In this work, we design a special composite electrode structure with the macroporous three-dimensional graphene areogel framework supporting mesoporous LiFePO4 nanoplate. It is realized using a simple sol-gel deposition method. The highly conductivity graphene nanosheets assemble into an interconnected three-dimensional macroporous areogel framework, while LiFePO4 grows along the graphene nanosheets and generates a mesoporous nanoplate structure. In comparison with LiFePO4, this unique sandwich nanostructure offers a greatly increased electronic conductivity thanks to the framework of graphene nanosheets. Also, the bimodal porous structure of the composite remarkably increases the interface between the electrode/electrolyte and facilitates the transport of Li+ throughout the electrode, enabling the superior specific capacity, rate characteristic and cyclic retention

Highly-dispersed nickel nanoparticles decorated titanium dioxide nanotube array for enhanced solar light absorption

Honeycomb titanium dioxide nanotube array (TiO2-NTA) decorated by highly-dispersed nickel nanoparticles (Ni-NPs) has been grown under control on Ti foil by anodization and subsequent electrodeposition. The pore diameter and length of TiO2-NTA, and the size and quantity of Ni-NPs can be controlled via modulating the variables of the electrochemical processes. It has been found that the pretreatment of TiO2-NTA in the Cu(NO3)2 solution and further annealing at 450 °C in air could greatly improve the dispersion of the electrodeposited Ni-NPs. Absorption of the light in the solar spectrum from 300 to 2500 nm by the Ni-NPs@TiO2-NTA is as high as 96.83%, thanks to the co-effect of the light-trapping of TiO2-NTA and the plasmonic resonance of Ni-NPs. In the water heating experiment performed under an illuminating solar power density of ∼1 kW m−2 (AM 1.5), the ultimate temperature over 66 °C and an overall efficiency of 78.9% within 30 min were obtained, promising for applications in photothermal conversion and solar energy harvest

Energy Consumption, Carbon Emissions and Global Warming Potential of Wolfberry Production in Jingtai Oasis, Gansu Province, China

During the last decade, China's agro-food production has increased rapidly and been accompanied by the challenge of increasing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and other environmental pollutants from fertilizers, pesticides, and intensive energy use. Understanding the energy use and environmental impacts of crop production will help identify environmentally damaging hotspots of agro-production, allowing environmental impacts to be assessed and crop management strategies optimized. Conventional farming has been widely employed in wolfberry (Lycium barbarum) cultivation in China, which is an important cash tree crop not only for the rural economy but also from an ecological standpoint. Energy use and global warming potential (GWP) were investigated in a wolfberry production system in the Yellow River irrigated Jingtai region of Gansu. In total, 52 household farms were randomly selected to conduct the investigation using questionnaires. Total energy input and output were 321,800.73 and 166,888.80 MJ ha−1, respectively, in the production system. The highest share of energy inputs was found to be electricity consumption for lifting irrigation water, accounting for 68.52%, followed by chemical fertilizer application (11.37%). Energy use efficiency was 0.52 when considering both fruit and pruned wood. Nonrenewable energy use (88.52%) was far larger than the renewable energy input. The share of GWP of different inputs were 64.52% electricity, 27.72% nitrogen (N) fertilizer, 5.07% phosphate, 2.32% diesel, and 0.37% potassium, respectively. The highest share was related to electricity consumption for irrigation, followed by N fertilizer use. Total GWP in the wolfberry planting system was 26,018.64 kg CO2 eq ha−1 and the share of CO2, N2O, and CH4 were 99.47%, 0.48%, and negligible respectively with CO2 being dominant. Pathways for reducing energy use and GHG emission mitigation include: conversion to low carbon farming to establish a sustainable and cleaner production system with options of raising water use efficiency by adopting a seasonal gradient water pricing system and advanced irrigation techniques; reducing synthetic fertilizer use; and policy support: smallholder farmland transfer (concentration) for scale production, credit (small- and low-interest credit) and tax breaks