Search

Segmented thermoelectric (TE) legs are promising for improving heat‐electricity conversion efficiency, but their practical applications are still limited by the lack of cost‐effective interface‐connection technology. Here, an interface‐connection method for one‐step sintering of GeTe‐Bi2Te3 segmented TE legs is developed using mixtures of Al0.88Si0.12 and Ni (ASN) as diffusion barrier materials. Although the interface‐connection performance using Ni or Al0.88Si0.12 alone is poor, their mixtures can realize a compromise optimization of interface‐connection properties, simultaneously achieving a matched coefficient of thermal expansion, low contact resistivity, high shear strength, and high reliability. These robust interface‐connection properties can be attributed to the activation of the eutectic‐alloy Al0.88Si0.12 and the formation of appropriate reaction‐diffusion layers between ASN and GeTe/Bi2Te3 and between Al0.88Si0.12 and Ni in ASN. Finally, a remarkable energy conversion efficiency of ≈15.5% at a temperature difference of 449 K can be obtained in this segmented TE leg. Moreover, ASN can also be applied in fabricating n‐type PbTe‐Bi2Te3 segmented legs and multi‐pair TE devices, demonstrating the universality of this methodology. This work accelerates the development of robust, low‐cost, one‐step‐sintered segmented TE legs and promotes the use of eutectic alloys as "alloy glues" for advancing TE‐device connection technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resonant levels (RLs) are expected to increase the density of states (DOS) abruptly, thereby increasing the Seebeck coefficient for a high thermoelectric figure of merit (ZT). However, the negative effects of RLs on reducing the carrier mobility and band gap have rarely been explored. In this work, the pros and cons of resonant‐state doping of group IIIA elements (In, Ga) in GeTe‐based alloys are studied by experimental transport properties and density‐functional‐theory calculations. RLs effects of Fermi level pinning and increased effective mass are strong in Ge0.9‐xInxSb0.1Te but weak in Ge0.9‐y(In0.5Ga0.5)ySb0.1Te, which shows dependence on the hump DOS relative to the background, location of RLs, and energy width of RLs. Using the In‐Ga co‐doping strategy to make a compromise between the DOS, carrier mobility, and bipolar transport, combined with beneficial alloying effects of Pb and Sb, a peak ZT≈ 2.1 at 773 K and a high average ZT≈ 1.43 within 300–773 K can be obtained in Ge0.78In0.005Ga0.005Pb0.1Sb0.07Te. The corresponding single‐leg device shows a remarkable energy conversion efficiency of 13.7% at a temperature difference of 451 K. This work suggests that RLs are not always beneficial for improving ZT, and the compromise design of RLs should be carefully considered to advance ZT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Q345 steel butt-welded joint was manufactured using laser–arc hybrid welding (LAHW) technology, and its microstructure, microhardness, and residual stress (RS) distribution were measured. Using ABAQUS software, a sequentially coupled thermo-metallurgical-mechanical finite element method was employed to model the welding RS distribution in the LAHW joint made of Q345 steel. The effects of solid-state phase transformation (SSPT) and transverse restraint on the welding RS distribution were explored. The results show that a large number of martensite phase transformations occurred in the fusion zone and heat-affected zone of the LAHW joint. Furthermore, the SSPT had a significant effect on the magnitude and distribution of RS in the LAHW joint made of Q345 steel, which must be taken into account in numerical simulations. Transverse restraints markedly increased the transverse RS on the upper surface, with a comparatively minor impact on the longitudinal RS distribution. After the transverse restraint was released, both the longitudinal and transverse RS distributions in the LAHW joint reverted to a level akin to that of the welded joint under free conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to purify and characterize immunoregulatory peptides from Sipunculus nudus L. and to explore the underlying mechanisms. Ultrafiltration, gel filtration chromatography, and reverse phase high‐performance liquid chromatography (RP‐HPLC) were used to purify the peptide following enzymatic hydrolysis. Rates of lymphocyte proliferation and phagocytosis as well as nitric oxide (NO) production levels were used as indicators of immunoregulatory activity to screen the fractions. The amino acid sequence of the peptide, designated as SNLP, was identified as Arg–Val–Lys–Gly–Lys–Ile–Leu–Ala–Lys–Arg–Leu–Asn (RVKGKILAKRLN) by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS). Treatment with the synthetic SNLP increased the proliferation and phagocytosis of RAW 264.7 macrophages and promoted the secretion of tumor necrosis factor‐ɑ (TNF‐α), interleukin‐6 (IL‐6), interleukin‐1β (IL‐1β), and NO levels. The mRNA levels of these cytokines and iNOS were also increased by SNLP. Our results provide preliminary evidence suggesting that SNLP acts as a dual immunomodulatory peptide with immunostimulatory and anti‐inflammatory activities. In summary, SNLP derived from Sipunculus nudus L. is a potent immunoregulatory peptide and represents a potential functional food or immunoregulatory drug. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to analyze the wettability of the self-developed Sn–Bi–Zn solder and to conduct a series of analysis on the wetting kinetics, diffusion phenomenon and interfacial reaction of Sn–Bi–Zn solder on Cu substrate. Design/methodology/approach: The wetting kinetics, diffusion phenomenon and interfacial reaction of Sn–Bi–Zn solder on Cu substrate were analyzed by experiments. The interface was observed by scanning electron microscope to study the effect of Zn content on its interface. Findings: With the increase in brazing temperature, the final spreading equivalent radius of the solder increases significantly, and the final contact angle of the solder decreases significantly. In addition, when the Zn content is 1%, the spreading effect of solder is the best, the equivalent radius is the largest and the contact angle is the smallest. According to the microstructural analysis, the thick intermetallic compounds layer of the Sn–15Bi–xZn solders on the Cu substrate can be effectively decreased by adding appropriate Zn content. Originality/value: The wetting kinetics, diffusion phenomenon and interfacial reaction of Sn–15Bi–xZn solder on Cu substrate at different temperatures have not been studied yet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Leucine‐rich repeat‐containing protein 59 (LRRC59) is an endoplasmic reticulum membrane protein involved in various cancers, but its role in bladder cancer (BC) has not been reported. The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of LRRC59 protein in BC progression and prognosis. Methods: The expression profile and clinical significance were retrieved from BC patients in the Cancer Genome Atlas database. The methylation status of LRRC59 was analyzed by UALCAN and MethSurv databases. Potential signaling pathways and biological functions were explored by functional enrichment analysis. Immunocyte infiltration was evaluated by CIBERSORT analysis. The prognostic value of LRRC59 was evaluated by Kaplan–Meier and Cox regression analyses. Overall survival (OS) was predicted by the nomogram plot established in this study. LRRC59 expression in 10 pairs BC and adjacent noncancerous tissues were analyzed by immunohistochemistry (IHC). Cell proliferation, migration, and invasion were detected by CCK8, colony formation assay, transwell assay, and cell scratch assay, respectively. Proteins related to epithelial–mesenchymal transition and apoptosis were detected by western blot. Results: LRRC59 overexpression significantly decreased OS, disease‐specific survival, and progress‐free interval of BC patients. LRRC59 was a prognostic marker for OS and its hypomethylation status signified a poor prognosis. LRRC59 overexpression was correlated with infiltration of resting memory CD4 T cells, memory activated CD4 T cells, resting NK cells, macrophages M0, M1, M2, and neutrophils. IHC showed that the LRRC59 expression in BC tissue was significantly higher than that in adjacent noncancerous tissue. Knockdown of LRRC59 expression inhibited the proliferation of BC cells and reduced their migratory ability. Western blot showed that Snail and vimentin protein expressions decreased, while E‐cadherin expressions increased. Conclusions: LRRC59 expression can predict the outcome of BC independently and serve as a new biomarker for diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bi2Te3‐based alloys have great market demand in miniaturized thermoelectric (TE) devices for solid‐state refrigeration and power generation. However, their poor mechanical properties increase the fabrication cost and decrease the service durability. Here, this work reports on strengthened mechanical robustness in Bi2Te3‐based alloys due to thermodynamic Gibbs adsorption and kinetic Zener pinning at grain boundaries enabled by MgB2 decomposition. These effects result in much‐refined grain size and twofold enhancement of the compressive strength and Vickers hardness in (Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3)0.97(MgB2)0.03 compared with that of traditional powder‐metallurgy‐derived Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3. High mechanical properties enable excellent cutting machinability in the MgB2‐added samples, showing no missing corners or cracks. Moreover, adding MgB2 facilitates the simultaneous optimization of electron and phonon transport for enhancing the TE figure of merit (ZT). By further optimizing the Bi/Sb ratio, the sample (Bi0.4Sb1.6Te3)0.97(MgB2)0.03 shows a maximum ZT of ≈1.3 at 350 K and an average ZT of 1.1 within 300–473 K. As a consequence, robust TE devices with an energy conversion efficiency of 4.2% at a temperature difference of 215 K are fabricated. This work paves a new way for enhancing the machinability and durability of TE materials, which is especially promising for miniature devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glutathione peroxidase is an important enzyme in the endogenous antioxidant defense system. In the current study, we cloned the full-length cDNA sequence that encodes a glutathione peroxidase from Magallana hongkongensis (designated as MhGPx), investigated the tissue expression profile of MhGPx mRNA, and studied the time-dependent effects of cadmium exposure and air exposure at two temperatures (4 °C and 15 °C) on the mRNA level of MhGPx in different tissues (including gill, adductor, mantle, and digestive gland). The full length of MhGPx was 1306 bp. This gene was found to contain a selenocysteine insertion sequence within the 3′ untranslated region, which indicates that the protein it encodes was a selenoprotein. In addition, MhGPx was constitutively expressed in all four selected tissues, and the level of expression in the digestive gland was highest, indicating that MhGPx mRNA expression has tissue-specificity. Under cadmium exposure, mRNA expression was significantly increased on day 1. When exposed to air, the highest MhGPx mRNA expression in the 4 °C group was lower and appeared later than that of the 15 °C group. The results of this study contribute to a better understanding of oyster GPx in response to oxidative stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At present, research on pressure hull safety is mainly focused on the constitutive model of material properties and the evaluation model of structural parameters aiming at fatigue life prediction. The damage identification and quantitative evaluation methods of pressure hulls have not been studied. In this study, an eddy current thermal imaging method is introduced to detect micro-cracks in a deep-sea spherical pressure hull. In the detection method, temperature is used as a parameter to identify and quantify cracks. The temperature distribution around the cracks is studied using theoretical analysis and finite element simulation. A theoretical model is established using electromagnetic theory and heat transfer theory. Moreover, the temperature difference between the cracked area and the non-cracked area can be obtained by solving the heat conduction equation. A pulsed eddy current thermal imaging testing system is established, and a defective titanium alloy specimen is tested. At the same time, the temperature around the cracks in the specimens is simulated. The specimens have the same material and welding as a deep-sea spherical pressure hull. This paper discusses the possibility of its use in a pressure hull, which will provide a reference for micro-crack damage identification and quantitative evaluation of a deep-sea spherical pressure hull. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to tap the potential of high-value utilization of Chlamys nobilis, using compound protease to hydrolyze Chlamys nobilis adductor muscle, the effect of EHCA(enzymatic hydrolysate of Chlamys nobilis adductor muscle) on the activity of α-glucosidase and the scavenging ability of DPPH free radicals was explored. The fasting blood glucose concentration, serum insulin content, liver malondialdehyde and superoxide dismutase content were used as indicators to evaluate the auxiliary hypoglycemic function and antioxidant activity of EHCA in normal mice. The results showed that EHCA had good a-glucosidase inhibitory activity, and its DPPH free radical scavenging ability increased with the concentration of the enzymatic hydrolysate. The results of animal experiments showed that a certain concentration of EHCA could enhance the glucose tolerance of mice, significantly reduced the liver malondialdehyde and increase the activity of superoxide dismutase. In conclusion, the compound protease can effectively enzymolyze the adductor muscle of Chlamys nobilis, and its enzymatic hydrolysate has good α-glucosidase inhibitory activity and antioxidant activity with a certain auxiliary hypoglycemic effect. The results may provide a theoretical basis for the development of auxiliary hypoglycemic marine functional foods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At present, a large number of reinforcements are being used to improve the hardness and wear resistance properties of titanium and its alloys, but limited attention has been given to the reinforcement mechanism. For this issue, first-principles calculations are a potential solution. In this study, a method of combining first-principles calculations with electron beam surface remelting experiments was used to prepare a composite coating to enhance the hardness and wear resistance of titanium grade 2 (TA2). Through the calculation and comparison of commonly used reinforcement particles based on first principles, TiC was confirmed as the ideal reinforcement for the Ti-Ni composite coating. Subsequently, surface electroplating was used to place TiC ceramic particles in a nickel-based precoating layer, and a Ni-TiC composite coating was synthesized on a TA2 surface by electron beam remelting. According to the corresponding analysis and test results, the wear resistance and surface hardness of modified TA2 were greatly improved. The maximum hardness of the coating is approximately 7.95 GPa, which is approximately three times higher than that of the TA2 substrate (1.90 GPa). The friction coefficient of the coating is 0.33, which is much smaller than that of TA2 (0.61). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Composite engineering favors high thermoelectric performance by tuning the carrier and phonon transport. Herein, orthorhombic and rhombohedral dual‐phase GeSe are designed in situ by tailoring chemical bonds. Atom probe tomography verifies the coexistence of a covalently bonded orthorhombic phase and a metavalently bonded rhombohedral phase in GeSe‐InTe alloys. The production of the rhombohedral phase simultaneously increases the carrier concentration, the carrier mobility, the band degeneracy, and the density‐of‐states effective mass due to the reduced formation energy of cation vacancies and the improved crystal symmetry. These attributes are beneficial to a high‐power factor. In addition, the thermal conductivity can be significantly reduced due to the intrinsically strong lattice anharmonicity of the metavalently bonded phase, the interfacial acoustic phonon mismatch across different bonding mechanisms, and the phonon scattering at vacancy‐solute clusters. Moreover, the metavalently bonded phase embraces higher solubility of dopants that enables the further optimization of properties by Cd‐Ag doping, resulting in a zT of 0.95 at 773 K as well as enhanced strength and ductility in dual‐phase Ge0.94Cd0.03Ag0.03Se(InTe)0.15. This work indicates that in situ design of dual‐phase composites by tailoring chemical bonds is an effective method for enhancing the thermoelectric and mechanical properties of GeSe and other p‐bonded chalcogenides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

III–V/silicon tandem solar cells simultaneously have the potential advantages of high efficiency and low cost. Bonding is an effective way to realize tandem at both ends. However, it is difficult to realize vacuum bonding in industrialized micrometer‐sized pyramid silicon cells. Up to know, all bonding in III–V/silicon tandem solar cells is based on planar silicon cells. Here, a transparent conductive adhesive (TCA) based on micron particle size is designed and implemented, which realizes the bonding of III–V cell and textured silicon cell for the first time. The TCA consists of epoxy adhesive 301 (Epoxy‐301) as transparent adhesive and silver‐coated flexible polymethylmethacrylate microspheres as conductive particles. The average contact resistance of TCA is 0.17 Ω cm2, and the transmittance exceeds 91% in the range of 800—1200 nm. In addition, TCA shows good stability in the etching process of GaAs substrates. Monolithic III–V/silicon device exhibits 25.1% power conversion efficiency (PCE) on thin and textured silicon heterojunction solar cells, which enables flexible properties of tandem cells. Compared with silicon subcell and III–V subcell, the performance of tandem device is improved by 28.3% and 8.6%, respectively. This strategy provides a broad research window for improving the performance of tandem solar cells based on industrialized textured‐silicon bottom cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Previous studies have found that UV‐C irradiation activated endogenous acid protease (EAP) in shrimp heads. Aiming at understanding the effect of UV‐C irradiation on the activation of EAP and improving the utilisation of EAP, the effect of UV‐C irradiation on the enzymatic properties and conformation of EAP was investigated. The enzymatic properties of EAP were unaltered after UV‐C irradiation, and the optimum pH, temperature, and NaCl concentration were 3, 60°C, and 0.5 mol/L, respectively. Ca2+ and Mg2+ activated the enzyme. The molecular weight of the purified endogenous acid protease (P‐EAP) was 32 kDa. UV–Vis, FTIR, circular dichroism, and fluorescence spectroscopy indicated that the increase in enzyme activity by UV‐C irradiation was related to an increase in tryptophan and hydrogen bonding, implying that it may be the change in the spatial structure of the protein that caused the activation of the enzyme. Results revealed that UV‐C irradiation can be used to activate proteases and provide a reference for enhancing the enzymatic activity of other enzymes from shrimp heads. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kasparov KK-theory for a pair of C ∗ -algebras (A , B) can be formulated equivalently in terms of the K-theory of Yu's localization algebra by Dadarlat-Willett-Wu. We investigate the pairings between K-theory K j (A) and the two notions of KK-theory which are Kasparov KK-theory K K i (A , B) and the localization algebra description of K K i (A , B) and show that the two pairings are compatible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Liver hepatocellular carcinoma (LIHC) is one of the main cancers worldwide and has high morbidity and mortality rates. Although previous studies have shown that ANXA10 is expressed at low levels in LIHC tumor tissues, the biological function of ANXA10 in LIHC is still unclear. Therefore, we utilized TCGA, TIMER, GEPIA2, TISIDB, LinkedOmics, ssGSEA algorithms and CIBERSORT methodology to preliminarily evaluate the potential mechanism of ANXA10 in LIHC. In vitro experiments were used to further verify some functions of ANXA10. Consequently, we found that ANXA10 mRNA/protein expression was downregulated in LIHC tissue compared to normal tissue. ANXA10 was significantly linked with clinicopathological features, immunocytes, multiple cancer-related pathways, m6A modification and a ceRNA network. A three-gene prognostic signature rooted in ANXA10-related immunomodulators was determined and found to be an independent prognostic predictor. A nomogram was constructed to predict survival with good accuracy. Additionally, in vitro trials revealed that ANXA10 upregulation inhibited LIHC cell proliferation and migration. This study reveals that ANXA10 may serve as a prognostic marker and promising therapeutic target in LIHC clinical practice through various biologic functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grain boundaries (GBs) form ubiquitous microstructures in polycrystalline materials which play a significant role in tuning the thermoelectric figure of merit (ZT). However, it is still unknown which types of GB features are beneficial for thermoelectrics due to the challenge of correlating complex GB microstructures with transport properties. Here, it is demonstrated that GB complexions formed by Ga segregation in GeTe‐based alloys can optimize electron and phonon transport simultaneously. The Ga‐rich complexions increase the power factor by reducing the GB resistivity with slightly improved Seebeck coefficients. Simultaneously, they lower the lattice thermal conductivity by strengthening the phonon scattering. In contrast, Ga2Te3 precipitates at GBs act as barriers to scatter both phonons and electrons and are thus unable to improve ZT. Tailoring GBs combined with the beneficial alloying effects of Sb and Pb enables a peak ZT of ≈2.1 at 773 K and an average ZT of 1.3 within 300–723 K for Ge0.78Ga0.01Pb0.1Sb0.07Te. The corresponding thermoelectric device fabricated using 18‐pair p‐n legs shows a power density of 1.29 W cm−2 at a temperature difference of 476 K. This work indicates that GB complexions can be a facile way to optimize electron and phonon transport, further advancing thermoelectric materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monolithic perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells on commercially textured silicon with conformal perovskite top cells allow compatibility with standard industrial processes of silicon photovoltaic, as well as maximization of light trapping at the least cost. However, the efficiency is still limited by unsatisfactory open‐circuit voltage (VOC) and fill factor (FF), owing to the challenge of growing high‐quality perovskite film on textured substrates and the lack of particularly effective passivation at the inferior interface between perovskite and C60. Different from traditionally electricity‐insulating passivator, herein, a conductive organic amine salt is introduced into this interface to suppress nonradiative recombination loss and promote carriers transfer synchronously, significantly increasing the VOC while preserving high FF, thus improving the efficiency substantially. Finally, a champion efficiency of up to 28.51% is obtained. Furthermore, due to the favorable electrical properties of this molecule, there is a wide processing window for the passivation, which helps to achieve an efficiency of 25.13% when the active area is enlarged to 11.879 cm2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: A novel natural zinc‐enriched polysaccharide: OZPs‐1 was isolated from oyster (Crassostrea hongkongensis), with 922.18 μg g−1 of zinc. The physicochemical properties and structural features of OZPs‐1 were systematically studied. The results showed OZPs‐1 was predominantly composed of glucose, with a molecular weight ranging from 4 to 2044 kDa. OZPs‐1 showed favourable thermal stability. NMR analysis showed that there was no sulphate substitution and C‐6 substitution in OZPs‐1, while C‐4 might be the binding site of zinc and polysaccharide. UV, FTIR and XRD spectra suggested ‐OH and ‐COOH group might be involved in the binding of zinc to polysaccharides in OZPs‐1 and there were no ZnO and sulphate substitutions in OZPs‐1. These conclusions indicated that zinc might bind with ‐OH and ‐COOH in C‐4 of polysaccharides and impart the stable structure and favourable physicochemical properties of OZPs‐1, which could facilitate the application of OZPs‐1 as natural organic zinc supplements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to purify and identify antiphotoaging peptides from oyster (Crassostrea hongkongensis) protein enzymatic hydrolysates (OPEH) and to investigate the possible mechanism underlying its antiphotoaging effect. Multiple methods (Ultrafiltration, G25 Chromatography, RP-HPLC, and LC/MS/MS) had been used for this purpose, and eventually, two peptides, including WNLNP and RKNEVLGK, were identified. Particularly, WNLNP exerted remarkable antiphotoaging effect on the UVB-irradiated HaCaT photoaged cell model in a dose-dependent manner. WNLNP exerted its protective effect mainly through inhibiting ROS production, decreasing MMP-1 expression, but increasing extracellular pro-collagen I content. Furthermore, WNLNP downregulated p38, JNK, ERK, and p65 phosphorylation in the MAPK/NF-κB signaling pathway and attenuated bax over-expressions but reversed bcl-2 reduction in UVB- irradiated HaCaT cells. The molecular docking analysis showed that WNLNP forms five and seven hydrogen bonds with NF-κB (p65) and MMP-1, respectively. This study suggested that a pentapeptide WNLNP isolated from OPEH had great potential to prevent and regulate skin photoaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, the processing method of introducing plant protein into meat products has attracted great attention. However, the direct addition of plant protein often leads to a decline in meat product quality. This paper aims to provide an efficient method for incorporating plant protein into fish sausage. Pea protein isolate (PPI), grass carp protein isolate (CPI) and pea-grass carp coprecipitated dual protein (Co) were derived from pea and grass carp by an isoelectric solubilisation/precipitation method. At the same time, the blended dual protein (BL) was obtained by blending PPI with CPI, and the plant and animal protein content of Co and BL was both controlled to be the same. The four proteins were combined with soybean oil and water to form a three-phase pre-emulsification system of protein-oil-water, which was added to grass carp meat as a replacement for animal fat to prepare fish sausage. The gelation properties of the four fish sausages and those without protein were analysed. The results showed that the gel quality of PPI fish sausage is poor, while the overall quality of Co fish sausage as a whole was significantly superior to that of PPI and BL, which was equivalent to CPI fish sausage. The sensory score of the Co fish sausage was slightly lower than that of CPI, but it had significantly higher water-holding capacity and hardness (p < 0.05). The Co fish sausage showed the synergistic effect of heterologous proteins, while BL had some antagonistic effects. This study shows that Co pre-emulsion is an effective strategy to introduce plant protein, so it has a good application prospect in the meat industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Isoelectric solubilisation/co-precipitation (ISP) has been proven to be a better method than blending for preparing plant–animal dual-proteins, which can achieve synergies in the functional properties of heterologous proteins. This paper aims to investigate the effect of extraction pH on the functional properties of co-precipitated dual-protein. The basic composition, subunit composition, solubility, surface hydrophobicity, emulsification and gel properties of co-precipitated dual-protein (Co) prepared from pea and grass carp with pH (2.0, 3.0, 9.0, 10.0 and 11.0) were analysed in this study using ISP. The results showed that the functional properties of Co (Co9, Co10, Co11) prepared by alkali extraction were generally better than those prepared by acid extraction (Co2, Co3). Among them, Co10 has the highest vicilin/legumin α + β value and solubility, while having the lowest surface hydrophobicity, making its emulsification and gel properties superior to other extraction pH values. This study provides an important method reference for preparing plant-animal Co with exceptional functional properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In thermoelectrics, entropy engineering as an emerging paradigm-shifting strategy can simultaneously enhance the crystal symmetry, increase the solubility limit of specific elements, and reduce the lattice thermal conductivity. However, the severe lattice distortion in high-entropy materials blocks the carrier transport and hence results in an extremely low carrier mobility. Herein, the design principle for selecting alloying species is introduced as an effective strategy to compensate for the deterioration of carrier mobility in GeTe-based alloys. It demonstrates that high configurational entropy via progressive MnZnCdTe3 and Sb co-alloying can promote the rhombohedral-cubic phase transition temperature toward room temperature, which thus contributes to the enhanced density-of-states effective mass. Combined with the reduced carrier concentration via the suppressed Ge vacancies by high-entropy effect and Sb donor doping, a large Seebeck coefficient is attained. Meanwhile, the severe lattice distortions and micron-sized Zn0.6Cd0.4Te precipitations restrain the lattice thermal conductivity approaching to the theoretical minimum value. Finally, the maximum zT of Ge0.82Sb0.08Te0.90(MnZnCdTe3)0.10 reaches 1.24 at 723 K via the trade-off between the degraded carrier mobility and the improved Seebeck coefficient, as well as the depressed lattice thermal conductivity. These results provide a reference for the implementation of entropy engineering in GeTe and other thermoelectric materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Minimizing the optical parasitic absorption loss in hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a‐Si:H) and transparent conductive oxide (TCO) layers is considered an effective approach to further improve the power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of crystalline silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cells. In this work, carrier‐selective passivating contacts for both polarities, e.g., alkali fluoride/aluminum electron‐selective contact and transition metal oxide/silver hole‐selective contact, are used to completely replace the doped a‐Si:H layers in SHJ solar cell, forming a totally TCO‐ and dopant‐free asymmetric structure. By minimizing the charge carrier transporting and recombination losses on the front‐side electron‐selective contact through interface engineering, an improved photovoltaic performance with a short‐circuit current density of 40.5 mA cm−2, an open‐circuit voltage of 0.709 V, and a fill factor of 79.6% is realized, resulting in a final PCE exceeding 22.9%. The successful demonstration of this work provides an effective way to further boost the efficiency, as well as reduce the cost of SHJ solar cells with a TCO‐free and doped a‐Si:H‐free configuration, using a moderate and simplified fabrication process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Protein content, a vital component determining the nutritional quality of oysters, is unevenly distributed in different parts of oyster. In this study, the spatial distribution (visceral mass, mantle, gill, and adductor) patterns and structural characteristics of proteins, including water–soluble proteins (WSP), salt–soluble proteins (SSP), acid–soluble proteins (ASP) and alkali–soluble proteins (ALSP) of oysters (Crassostrea hongkongensis) were investigated with the amino acid analyzer, circular dichroism spectroscopy (CD), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and fluorescence spectroscopy. The results showed that oyster proteins were mainly distributed in the visceral mass and mantle. The protein composition was WSP, SSP, ALSP, and ASP in descending order, which conformed to the ideal amino acid pattern. Variations in secondary structure, molecular weight distribution, and thermal denaturation temperatures of the oyster proteins were observed. SSP had wider bands (16–270 kDa) than those of ASP (30–37 kDa) and ALSP (66–270 kDa). Among the four proteins, the SSP of the mantle showed the highest thermal stability (87.4 °C), while ALSP of the adductor muscle had the lowest the lowest the peak denaturation temperature (Tm) (53.8 °C). The proportions of secondary structures in oyster proteins were different, with a higher proportion of solid protein β–folds, and the exposure of aromatic amino acid residues and disulfide bonds and the microenvironment in which they were located were also different. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Named entity recognition (NER) is a fundamental but crucial task in the field of natural language processing and has been widely studied. Nevertheless, little attention has been given to the segment representation (SR) schemes used to map multi-token entities into categories in Chinese NER. To address this issue, in this paper, we explore and compare the impact of using different SR schemes on Chinese NER. Our experiments are conducted on four benchmark Chinese NER datasets extended with labels to include seven well-known SR schemes: IO, IOB2, IOE2, IOBES, BI, IE, and BIES. Moreover, all seven SR schemes are investigated via two sets of classifiers: machine learning-based and neural network-based classifiers. The experimental results demonstrate that the proper selection of the best SR scheme is a complicated problem that depends on various factors, such as corpus size, corpus distribution, and the chosen classifier. We also provide a comparative analysis of the time consumption of each classifier in different SR schemes and discuss the impacts of using different SR schemes on NER in Chinese and other languages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carotenoid cleavage dioxygenase (CCD) is the key enzyme for carotenoid cleavage, and the products of carotenoid cleavage regulate the ability of plants to stress. In this paper, six CCD genes were obtained from Morus notabilis (Mn) by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and we classified them into three subgroups based on gene structures and phylogenetic analysis. The CDS (coding sequence) regions of the six MnCCD genes were 1617, 1620, 1635, 1713, 1746, and 1791 bp in full length, encoding 538, 539, 544, 570, 581, and 596 amino acids, respectively. Then, Pcold–TF-MnCCD plasmids were constructed and independently transferred into E. coli BL21 (DE3), and the MnCCD proteins were successfully expressed by prokaryotic expression with an expected molecular weight of recombinant proteins (∼120 kDa) and high solubility. These results will lay a foundation for the identification of mulberry carotenoid products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies found that both oral and topical administration of enzymatic digestion products < 3 K Da ultrafiltration fractions of Pinctada martensii mantle (PMPs) had pro-healing effects. Thus, we further purified them by Sephadex-G25 and screened them by cellular assays to obtain Pinctada martensii purified peptides (PMPPs). In this study, we explored the mechanism of PMPPs on wound healing by in vivo, in vitro, and in silico experiments. LC-MS/MS results showed that PMPPs consisted of 33 peptides with molecular weights ranging from 758.43 to 2014.04 Da, and the characteristic peptide was Leu-Asp. The results of cellular assays showed that PMPPs promoted the proliferation of human skin fibroblasts (HSF) (135%) and human immortalized keratinocyte (HaCaT) cells (125%) very significantly at 12.5 μg/mL. The in vivo results showed that PMPPs could achieve scarless healing by inhibiting the inflammatory response, accelerating the epithelialization process, and regulating collagen I/III ratio. The optimal peptide sequence FAFQAEIAQLMS of PMPPs was screened for key protein receptors in wound healing (EGFR1, FGFR1, and MMP-1) with the help of molecular docking technique, which also showed to be the key pro-healing active peptide sequence. Therefore, it may provide a therapeutic strategy with great potential for wound healing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oyster meat has a tender texture and delicate flavor, and the oyster is an aquatic shellfish with high nutritional and economic values. As they are rich in protein, oysters serve as a good source for the preparation of bioactive peptides. However, research on the lactation effect and mechanism of the synthesis of polypeptides from oyster hydrolysates is yet to be observed. This study aimed to analyze the lactation activity of the fraction UEC4-1 and explore its mechanism. The results show that, in an in vivo experiment, UEC4-1 could significantly increase the concentration of PRL in the serum and mammary tissue and the concentration of PRLR in the mammary tissue in rats with postpartum hypogalactia. UEC4-1 promoted the development of mammary tissue structure, resulting in active lactation. UEC4-1 promoted the proliferation of MCF-10A in a dose-dependent manner and could significantly upregulate the gene expression levels of PRL, PRLR, CSN1S1, CSN2, CSN3 and CCND1. UEC4-1 could also significantly increase the expression of mTOR, AKT1, RPS6KB1 and STAT5A in MCF-10A and improve its phosphorylation level. These results show that UEC4-1 had the ability to upregulate the proliferation and PRL synthesis of MCF-10A and promote lactation. The ability of UEC4-1 to regulate the milk-protein synthesis signaling pathway is the mechanism behind this. Oysters had a remarkable effect on lactating mothers' sweating irritability after childbirth and may serve as an everyday diet to promote lactation. Postpartum dysgalactia is a common problem for lactating women. The study of the oyster's lactation-active peptide can provide dietary nutrition guidance for postpartum lactating mothers, and it has the potential to be used for the development of drugs for the treatment of postpartum hypogalactia or oligogalactia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High‐performance thermoelectric (TE) devices require not only a high figure of merit (ZT) but also mechanical strength and thermal stability. Here, a simultaneous enhancement of ZT as well as mechanical properties is obtained in GeTe‐based alloys by adding boron. This material is then assembled with n‐type CoSb3 skutterudite into TE modules. The improved ZT values result from the increase in charge carrier mobility due to the reduced interfacial barrier height. A peak ZT of 2.2 at 773 K can be achieved in Ge0.84Pb0.1Sb0.06TeB0.07, which shows a negligible change in the coefficient of thermal expansion upon the phase transition from the rhombohedral to the cubic phase, ensuring good thermal stability of the device. Resulting from the boron‐induced grain refinement and dispersion strengthening, the average compressive strength and Vickers hardness of Ge0.9Sb0.1TeB0.07 can be enhanced to ≈227 MPa and ≈202 Hv, respectively. The improved mechanical properties facilitate the assembly of devices and lower the interfacial contact resistance. As a synergy of increased ZT and mechanical strength, a high output power density of ≈1.76 W cm−2 at ΔT = 425 K and an energy conversion efficiency of 7.4% at ΔT = 477 K can be achieved in the TE modules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using only low-cost materials to achieve a solar-to-hydrogen (STH) efficiency of over 20% for solar water splitting systems is still a major challenge for realizing the practical feasibility of photoelectrochemical (PEC) hydrogen production technology. Utilizing the electrochemical instability of some metal organic framework ligands is a promising strategy to solve the problem of difficulty in controlling the degree of electrochemical self-reconstruction and obtaining high-performance water oxidation catalysts. Here, a monolithic perovskite/silicon tandem solar cell was used for highly efficient standalone solar water splitting. A self-reconstructed NiCoFe-based hydroxide nanosheet electrocatalyst was shown to exhibit remarkable oxygen evolution reaction performance with an overpotential of 191 mV at 10 mA cm−2. Upon pairing with the reported state-of-the-art hydrogen evolution reaction catalyst NiMo4/MnO3−X and a monolithic perovskite/silicon tandem solar cell, an unprecedented STH efficiency of 21.32% was achieved for the unbiased solar water splitting system. This low-cost high-efficiency solar water-splitting system will contribute to realizing the practical applications of PEC hydrogen production technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The configurational entropy is an emerging descriptor in the functional materials genome. In thermoelectric materials, the configurational entropy helps tune the delicate trade‐off between carrier mobility and lattice thermal conductivity, as well as the structural phase transition, if any. Taking GeTe as an example, low‐entropy GeTe generally have high carrier mobility and distinguished zT > 2, but the rhombohedral‐cubic phase transition restricts the applications. In contrast, despite cubic structure and ultralow lattice thermal conductivity, the degraded carrier mobility leads to a low zT in high‐entropy GeTe. Herein, medium‐entropy alloying is implemented to suppress the phase transition and achieve the cubic GeTe with ultralow lattice thermal conductivity yet decent carrier mobility. In addition, co‐alloying of (Mn, Pb, Sb, Cd) facilitates multivalence bands convergence and band flattening, thereby yielding good Seebeck coefficients and compensating for decreased carrier mobility. For the first time, a state‐of‐the‐art zT of 2.1 at 873 K and average zTave of 1.3 between 300 and 873 K are attained in cubic phased Ge0.63Mn0.15Pb0.1Sb0.06Cd0.06Te. Moreover, a record‐high Vickers hardness of 270 is attained. These results not only promote GeTe materials for practical applications, but also present a breakthrough in the burgeoning field of entropy engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deep levels in a narrow bandgap semiconductors are considered detrimental to their electrical performance. Here the constructive role of Indium‐induced deep levels in regulating the majority and minority carriers for state‐of‐the‐art average thermoelectric figure‐of‐merit zTave between 300 and 500 K in narrow bandgap p‐type (Bi,Sb)2Te3 is reported. Two compositional series in the pseudo‐ternary Bi2Te3‐Sb2Te3‐In2Te3 phase diagram: Bi0.475−x Sb1.525InxTe3 (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.15) and Bi0.475Sb1.525−yInyTe3 (0 ≤ y ≤ 0.10), namely, the x‐series and y‐series are explored. In the x‐series, the combined experimental and theoretical study shows that Indium doping induced donor‐like and acceptor‐like deep levels, enlarges the band gap, and flattens the conduction band edge, thereby weakening the temperature dependence of Seebeck coefficient and the bipolar heat conduction. Further doping the x‐series with copper (aka shallow acceptors) to optimize the majority carrier concentration leads to a state‐of‐the‐art zT ≈ 1.61 at 390 K and record‐high average zTave ≈ 1.47 between 300 and 500 K in p‐type Bi0.396Sb1.525In0.075Cu0.004Te3. These results attest to the efficacy of deep levels in narrow bandgap thermoelectrics for both power generation and solid‐state refrigeration near room temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Band convergence and optimization of carrier density play significant roles in enhancing thermoelectric figure of merit (ZT). In this study, using combined experimental and computational studies, we have systemically revealed the electronic origin of high-average ZT in Pb-doped GeTe-based alloys. The intrinsic high hole-carrier density of GeTe is firstly reduced to a rough optimal range by Bi doping, and then the carrier density is finely tuned by Pb doping. The band convergence by Pb doping can maintain the relatively high power factor of GeTe-based alloys when the carrier density is reduced by Pb doping. Moreover, further reduction of lattice thermal conductivity and fine tuning of carrier density by Pb doping can maximize the ZT at corresponding carrier density, therefore realizing high-average ZT. A peak ZT of ∼2.0 at 573 K and an average ZT of ∼1.50 within 300–773 K can be obtained in Ge0.96(1−x)Pb0.96xBi0.08Te1.08 with x = 0.15. This work demonstrates the great positive effects of Pb for high-average ZT in GeTe-based alloys, and also provides a guide for the rational use of Pb. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because the intrinsic Ge vacancies in GeTe usually lead to high hole concentration beyond the optimal range, many previous studies tend to consider Ge vacancies as negative effects on increasing the figure of merit ZT of GeTe‐based alloys, and consequently have proposed various approaches to suppress Ge vacancies. However, in this work, it is demonstrated that the Ge vacancies can have great positive effects on enhancing the ZT of GeTe‐based alloys when the hole concentration falls into the optimal range. First, hole concentration of GeTe is reduced close to the optimal range by co‐alloying of Pb and Bi, and then the Ge vacancies are increased by adding excess Te into the Ge0.8Pb0.1Bi0.1Te1+x. The Ge vacancies can cause lattice shrinkage and promote rhombohedral‐to‐cubic phase transition. As revealed by first‐principle calculations, theoretical simulations, and experimental tests, Ge vacancies can facilitate the band convergence, suppress the bipolar transport at higher temperature range, and reduce the lattice thermal conductivity. Combining these effects, a peak ZT of 1.92 at 637 K and an average ZT of 1.34 within 300–773 K in Ge0.8Pb0.1Bi0.1Te1.06 can be obtained, demonstrating the great significance of utilizing vacancy‐type defects for enhancing ZT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much effort has recently been put into developing high-performance low-temperature thermoelectric materials for waste-heat recovery and thermoelectric cooling. Here, we report an unusual enhancement of low-temperature figure of merit (ZT) in quenched p-type GeTe-based alloys. The average ZT within the low-temperature range (300–473 K) for the as-synthesized quenched GeTe-based alloys can reach 1.1, which is even better than that of the state-of-the-art commercial Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3 ingots. Moreover, the as-synthesized samples also show superior thermoelectric performance in the mid-temperature range, demonstrating great promise for thermoelectric applications in a broad temperature range. The Ge-vacancy arrays can serve as high-speed channels with low effective mass for carrier transport but obstacles for phonon transport, resulting in increased carrier mobility and reduced lattice thermal conductivity simultaneously for high ZT in the as-synthesized quenched GeTe-based alloys. These findings provide an intriguing way to enhance ZT and to develop low-temperature thermoelectric materials beyond Bi2Te3-based alloys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

UV‐C irradiation can activate endogenous enzymes in the body of many aquatic animals. Autolysis kinetics of shrimp head after UV‐C irradiation stress was investigated. During the first 5 hr of autolysis, the release of the autolysis products was in line with the first‐order equations of the reaction rate: Y = 37.681e−0.173t, Pe = −1.769Y + 74.156, and TP = −1.5117Y + 60.866. A good linear correlation was founded between the release of total protein and that of products with molecular weight of 3,000 Da after these products associated with residual total protein were autolyzed. In contrast to the inconsistent effect of substrate concentration on autolysis rate constants, the effects of pH and temperature on the autolysis rate constants of shrimp head showed a consistent pattern. An Arrhenius equation (lnKa = 8,090.2/T − 26.497) was established to validate the proposed autolysis kinetic equations. The autolysis rate of products with molecular weight < 3,000 Da increased rapidly from 0 hr to 3 hr. The aliphatic amino acids showed a higher amount release than that of other amino acids during the autolysis. The amounts of released heterocyclic amino acids (Trp and His) were also much more than that of other amino acids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a type of moderate- and high-temperature thermoelectric materials, half-Heusler thermoelectric materials have a unique advantage in terms of their power factors and mechanical properties, and the figure of merit (ZT) of FeNb0.88Hf0.12Sb reaches 1.0 at 600°C. In this paper, after taking into account factors such as electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, melting point, and metal activity, silver (Ag) was selected as the barrier layer material. The barrier layer and thermoelectric materials were welded together by atomic diffusion using spark plasma sintering. There was no obvious elemental diffusion on the connection surface after sintering, indicating that Ag did not impact the performance of FeNb0.88Hf0.12Sb. However, many cracks appeared on the joint surface during the aging process. In further experiments, we added a small amount of nickel (Ni) into the Ag to achieve a close connection between the barrier layer and FeNb0.88Hf0.12Sb. Moreover, we analyzed the interface of the intermetallic compounds after aging for 192 h, which showed that Ni3Nb and Ni6Nb7 compounds formed at the interface. The contact resistance was tested by a scanning probe method, and the resistivity of the barrier layer was determined to be 0.4 μΩ cm2, which is far less than that of other barrier layers. Moreover, the connection strength was greater than 40 MPa. When Ag0.9Ni0.1 was used as the barrier layer to compose the half-Heusler thermoelectric module, the thermoelectric conversion efficiency reached 7.33%, and there was no significant decrease in efficiency during the cyclic test. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the effects of three different types of doping elements on the thermoelectric properties, mechanical properties and thermal stability of Zr0.95A0.05NiSn (A = p-type dopant: Sc; isoelectronic dopants: Zr, Ti and Hf; n-type dopants: V, Nb and Ta) were systematically investigated. The sample was prepared by smelting multiple magnetic suspensions in combination with the spark plasma sintering method. X-ray diffraction analysis and scanning electron microscopy observations showed that nearly single-phase half-Heusler compounds were obtained for the levitation-melted ingots. The results demonstrate that p-type doping causes the semiconductor behavior of this material to change from n type to p type, resulting in poor thermoelectric properties. The mass fluctuations and stress fluctuations introduced by the isoelectronic doping cause the thermal conductivity to decrease, and n-type dopants increase the carrier concentration of the material, resulting in an increase in its power factor. On this basis, the ZTmax value of the Zr0.95M0.05NiSn (M = Ti0.25Hf0.25Nb0.25V0.25) sample reached 0.76, which is 58% higher than that of ZrNiSn within the measurement temperature range. In addition, all of the samples maintained excellent mechanical properties, and their microhardness (HV) was greater than 900; no significant endothermic or exothermic phenomenon of all these samples was observed from room temperature to 700 °C, confirming their good thermal stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nonlinear optical (NLO) nanocrystals like bismuth tellurite (Bi2TeO5) have attracted increasing interest in the applications of nonlinear micro-photonic devices, bioimaging and holographic devices. These NLO applications require the development of facile synthesis methods to prepare NLO nanocrystals on a large scale. Here, a novel solution-based method using a mixed solvent is proposed to synthesize layered Bi2TeO5 nanocrystals with controllable sizes and shapes, such as nanobelts, cross-shaped and rectangular nanoplates. These solution-processed Bi2TeO5 nanocrystals can be easily formed in a mixed solvent of ethylene glycol and water when heated at the boiling temperature of 128–141 °C for only 3 hours. The successful formation of Bi2TeO5 nanocrystals is certified by transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy. The Bi2TeO5 nanocrystals are confirmed to be nonlinear optically active for second-harmonic generation (SHG), and their non-centrosymmetric and rotational symmetric structures are also identified by the SHG test. This facile solution-processed method paves an intriguing way for developing other NLO nanocrystals and nanophotonic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]