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[Display omitted] • Na 3.4 Mn 0.7 Ti 0.3 Cr(PO 4) 3 /C cathode material is prepared by a simple sol–gel method. • Ti substitution shortens the average bond length of TM-O. • Ti substitution can suppress the Jahn-Teller effect of Na 4 MnCrPO 4 cathode material. • Ti substitution reduces the R ct of cathode and suppress interface side reactions. The sodium superionic conductor Na 4 MnCr(PO 4) 3 gains increasing attention owing to its three-dimensional structure and the three-electron reaction. However, rapid structure degradation during cycling is the major challenge for its practical application. Herein, Ti4+ is utilized to replace a portion of Mn2+ in Na 4 MnCr(PO 4) 3. The low redox voltage and d 0 electronic configuration of the Ti4+ ions are helpful to suppress the structure alteration and improve electronic conduction. Consequently, the as-prepared Na 3.4 Mn 0.7 Ti 0.3 Cr(PO 4) 3 /C cathode exhibits a remarkable good 91.0% capacity retention after 500 cycles at 10C rate, with exceptional rate capacities of 99.5 mAh g−1 and 81.0 mAh g−1 at 5C and 10C rate, respectively. Furthermore, based on ≈2.86-electron reactions involving Mn2+/Mn3+ (3.5 V), Mn3+/Mn4+ (4.1 V), Cr3+/Cr4+ (4.3 V), and Ti3+/Ti4+ (2.1 V), the material can provide an energy density of approximately 541.6 Wh kg−1, slightly surpassing that of Na 4 MnCr(PO 4) 3. Ex-situ XRD investigation further elucidates that throughout the entire charge–discharge process, the Ti-substituted material experiences highly reversible solid-solution and two-phase reactions. Additionally, Ti substitution can greatly promote the interfacial charge transfer of the material and suppress the decomposition of the electrolyte during cycling. This work might open a new insight for designing sodium-ion battery cathode materials with good cycling stability and high energy density. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The precise control of complex quantum mechanical systems can unlock applications ranging from quantum simulation to quantum computation. Controlling strongly interacting many-body systems often relies on Floquet Hamiltonian engineering that is achieved by fast switching between Hamiltonian primitives via external control. For example, in our solid-state NMR system, we perform quantum simulation by modulating the natural Hamiltonian with control pulses. As the Floquet heating errors scale with the interpulse delay, δ t , it is favorable to keep δ t as short as possible, forcing our control pulses to be short duration and high power. Additionally, high-power pulses help to minimize undesirable evolution from occurring during the duration of the pulse. However, such pulses introduce an appreciable phase-transient control error, a form of unitary error. In this work, we detail our ability to diagnose the error, calibrate its magnitude, and correct it for π / 2 -pulses of arbitrary phase. We demonstrate the improvements gained by correcting for the phase transient error, using a method which we call the "frame-change technique", in a variety of experimental settings of interest. Given that the correction mechanism adds no real control overhead, we recommend that any resonance probe be checked for these phase transient control errors, and correct them using the frame-change technique. [Display omitted] • High-power pulses are vital components of high-fidelity quantum simulation. • Phase-transient errors can be quickly calibrated with experiments on nuclear spins. • We introduce a technique to analytically correct the phase-transient error. • The frame-change technique introduces no additional control overhead. • We demonstrate the frame-change corrected improvements experimentally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we propose DDFusion, a novel multi-exposure image fusion network. DDFusion addresses the limitations of existing methods by effectively recovering details near extremely bright regions and learning associations between non-contiguous regions. To achieve this, our network incorporates a dense pyramidal (DensePy) convolution block in the encoder for multi-scale feature extraction, and a de-correlation fusion (DF) block for enabling structurally coherent and edge-preserving multi-scale feature fusion. It facilitates a smoother transition from highlighted areas to adjacent regions in the fused image. Experimental results demonstrate the superiority of DDFusion over state-of-the-art deep methods in terms of both visual quality and quantitative evaluation. Moreover, DDFusion achieves stronger multi-scale feature extraction capability with smaller computational complexity. • The proposed dense pyramidal convolution block combines PyConv and dense connections, which forms a multi-scale feature expression with more continuous in scale and complementary in content. • The designed DF block contains FastDeconv and an attention module, which enhances high-frequency edge details and fuses multi-scale structural features smoothly, enabling structurally coherent and edge-preserving multi-scale feature fusion. • The proposed DDFusion integrates dense pyramidal convolution and DF blocks, facilitating a smoother transition between highlighted areas and adjacent regions and reducing the influence of uneven illumination in recovering details. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) in axotomized eyes and the pathways related to its action. Wistar rats received intracranial optic nerve (ON) axotomy 2 mm behind the globe in left eyes, whereas right eyes received sham operations. EGCG was administrated via intraperitoneal injection 30 min before and 4 days after axotomy. The density of retinal ganglion cell (RGC) was examined by a retrograde labeling technique. Western blot analysis was used to assess the expression of neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS), Bax, Bcl-2, ERK and Akt. Optic nerve axotomy caused 54% RGC loss 7 days following surgery, and EGCG treatment reduced RGC loss by 12% (P = 0.017). The expression of the nNOS and pro-apoptotic Bax proteins were increased 5 days after axotomy, while EGCG treatment significantly blunted the up-regulation of the above two proteins (P = 0.04 and 0.02, respectively). Axotomy-induced p-ERK 1/2 and p-Akt proteins expression 5 days and 3 days following injury, respectively. Treatment with EGCG further enhanced p-ERK 1/2 and p-Akt expressions after axotomy. Inhibition of ERK and Akt pathways attenuated the protection of EGCG on RGC against axotomy damage. Thus, we demonstrated that administration of EGCG prior to axotomy promotes RGC survival. The neuroprotective capacity of EGCG appears to act through mediating nitric oxide, anti-apoptotic, and cell survival signaling pathways. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The arrhythmogenic effect of intracardiac skeletal myoblast (SKM) transplantation may be related to the differentiation state of SKMs. We tested the hypothesis that lentivirus mediated siRNA against the loop region of miRNA-181a could upregulate the SKMs differentiation repressor homeobox protein A11 (Hox-A11) and reduce the arrhythmias post SKM transplantation into ischemic myocardium of rats. Primary cultured SKMs were transfected with Lenti-siR-miR-181 (recombined lentivirus expressing the unique siRNA against miR-181a, LV group). Real-time PCR showed that miRNA-181a level was significantly decreased and Hox-A11 protein level significantly increased in LV group than in control group at days 5 and days 7 post Lentivirus transfection. Knockdown of miRNA-181a significantly promoted SKMs'' growth and attenuated the connexin43 downregulation in SKMs in vitro. Seven days after left coronary artery ligation, rats were randomized to receive intramyocardial injection of either 5×106 SKMs transfected with Lenti-siR-miR-181 (MI-SKMLV), 5×106 Lenti-siLUC SKMs (MI-SKM) or PBS (MI-PBS). Systolic function was significantly improved in both MI-SKM and MI-SKMLV groups fourteen days after injection. Incidence of inducible self-terminating ventricular tachycardia was significantly lower in MI-SKMLV than that in MI-SKM group. Engraftments of SKMs with knockdowned miRNA-181a similarly improved cardiac function as SKM transplantation but significantly decreased the arrhythmogenic effect of SKM transplantation in rats with experimental myocardial infarction. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Retinal ischemia/reperfusion (IR) injury causes profound tissue damage, especially retinal ganglion cell death. The aims of the study were twofold: (1) to investigate the benefits of epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), the major catechin found in tea, after IR challenge, and (2) to elucidate the mechanism of EGCG inhibition of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) expression. Wistar female rats were divided into four groups: normal control, EGCG with sham operation, retinal IR, and EGCG with IR groups. EGCG (50mg/kg) was administered by intraperitoneal injection 30min before the experiment. IR injury to a rat''s retina was induced by raising intraocular pressure to 150mmHg for 60min. With EGCG pretreatment, retinal ganglion cell death from IR was reduced by approximately 10% 3days afterward. EGCG significantly downregulated IR-induced glial fibrillary acidic protein expression. EGCG treatment also reduced TUNEL-positive cells after IR in the inner retina as well as IR-induced lipid peroxidation. Histological analyses showed fewer neuronal NOS and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate diaphorase-positive cells in the retina after IR with EGCG administration. Therefore, EGCG is effective in protecting retinal ganglion cells from IR challenge by ameliorating retinal nitrosactive stress and by regulating cell death through apoptotic pathways. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

[Display omitted] • PO 4 3−-doping and Li 3 PO 4 -coating of dual modification of LiNiO 2 are achieved. • PO 4 3− doping improves the reversibility of crystal structure. • PO 4 3− doping induces surface structural transformation of the material. • Li 3 PO 4 coating could ameliorate the interface stability. Lithium nickel oxide (LiNiO 2) cathode materials are featured with high capacity and low cost for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries but suffer from severe structure and interface instability. Bulk doping together with surface coating has been proven to be an efficient approach to improve the inner structure and interfacial stability of the LiNiO 2 cathode material. Nevertheless, the role of anion doping seems to be quite different from that of cation doping, and a deep insight will be desirable for the structure design of the LiNiO 2 cathode material. In this paper, PO 4 3−-doped and Li 3 PO 4 -coating of dual modification of LiNiO 2 are achieved via a facile approach. It is demonstrated that the PO 4 3− anions are doped into the tetrahedron vacant sites of the crystal structure, alleviating the phase transition and improving the reversibility of crystal structure. Besides, the Li 3 PO 4 coating layer ameliorates the interface stability to restrain the side reactions. Therefore, the dual modification enhances overall structural stability of the material to provide excellent performance. Moreover, the consumption of the Li residues by the formation of Li 3 PO 4 coating layer, and the enlarged interlayer spacing of the crystal structure by PO 4 3− doping can facilitate the Li+ ions diffusion, resulting in a superior rate capability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Layered double hydroxides (LDH) are prepared by controlling urea assisted homogeneous precipitation conditions. Morphology and crystallinity of LDHs are confirmed by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscope. After LDHs are incorporated into quaternized polysulfone membranes, transmission electron microscope is used to observe the exfoliated morphology of LDH sheets in the membranes. The properties of the nanocomposite membranes, including water uptake, swelling ratio, mechanical property and ionic conductivity are investigated. The nanocomposite membrane containing 5% LDH sheets shows more balanced performances, exhibiting an ionic conductivity of 2.36×10 −2 S cm −1 at 60 °C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Simvastatin has been shown to enhance the survival of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) following ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injury by mediating the expression of stress proteins. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of simvastatin on retinal neurons and the expression of apoptotic proteins in a rat IR model. Wistar rats received intravitreal injection of simvastatin immediately after retinal reperfusion. Retinal ischemia was induced by increasing intraocular pressure to 150mmHg for 60min. The number of viable RGCs was measured after retrograde labeling with Fluoro-Gold. Ischemia-induced apoptotic cell death was studied using terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL). We found that simvastatin treatment enhanced RGC survival after retinal ischemia by approximately 40% and decreased retinal neuronal apoptosis. Using western blot analysis, we found that simvastatin upregulated the expression of Bcl-2 in the retina. In contrast, the level of the protein Bax was unaffected by simvastatin treatment. Our results suggest that RGC loss induced by retinal IR may be prevented by simvastatin and that the mechanism underlying this process possibly involves an alteration in the apoptotic pathway. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Realizing the harmless resource utilization of oily sludge is urgent for petroleum industry and of great significance for environmental management. The treatment of oily sludge was investigated using supercritical water gasification (SCWG) with a continuous fluidized bed reactor. The effect of operating parameters on gasification efficiency and gas yield without catalyst was tested, and then the influences of catalyst type (K 2 CO 3 and Na 2 CO 3) and concentrations (1–8 wt%) were systematically studied. The results indicated that a medium mass flow ratio and low feedstock concentration were beneficial for gas production. Alkali catalyst improved carbon gasification efficiency (CE) prominently, and Na 2 CO 3 showed better performance due to its better stability. A maximum CE of 95.87% was achieved when 5 wt% Na 2 CO 3 was added at 650 °C, 23 MPa with 5 wt% oily sludge concentration. Besides, according to XRD patterns of solid residues, Na 2 CO 3 was more stable than K 2 CO 3 during SCWG. SEM-EDX results also revealed that more K was migrated into solid residues than Na. The analysis of pore structure demonstrated that alkali catalyst promoted the evolution of pore structure, resulting in higher specific surface areas and total pore volumes. Na 2 CO 3 has a more substantial destructive effect on solid matrix, causing the matrix structure to collapse and inhibiting pore structure development. The FTIR spectra of solid products exhibited a lower content of carbohydrates and aromatic structures than the initial oily sludge. NH 4 –N results demonstrated that SCWG was a potential green treatment process for oily sludge. This work can not only give an insight into the reaction mechanism of alkali catalytic gasification of oily sludge, but also help to guide the optimal design of reactor and the regulation of operating parameters. [Display omitted] • Oily sludge was gasified in supercritical water with a fluidized bed reactor. • Maximum carbon gasification efficiency was 95.87% at 650 °C with 5 wt% Na2CO3. • Na2CO3 exhibited a better gasification effect due to better stability than K2CO3. • NH4–N values of liquid residues increased with increasing alkali catalyst. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]