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The photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting efficiency of a photoanode is restricted by charge recombination and sluggish reaction kinetics. Here, we demonstrated the spatial engineering of an ultrathin Co(OH)x encapsulated p-Cu2S/n-BiVO4 photoanode for simultaneously enhancing charge separation and surface reaction kinetics in solar water splitting. Specifically, the separation efficiency of photoexcited charge carriers in the bulk was effectively improved due to the formation of a p-Cu2S/n-BiVO4 heterojunction, and the light-driven water oxidation reaction on the surface was further promoted because of the introduction of Co(OH)x as an oxygen evolution catalyst (OEC) layer. As a result, the p-Cu2S/n-BiVO4 heterostructure yielded a largely enhanced charge separation efficiency of up to 79%, and a significant surface charge separation of 70% was achieved, attributed to the deposition of the Co(OH)x cocatalyst. Furthermore, this synergistic effect in the photoanode gave rise to a remarkably enhanced photocurrent density of 3.51 mA cm−2 at 1.23 V vs. the reversible hydrogen electrode. This spatial engineering provides an efficient strategy for the simultaneous improvement of internal and surface charge separation via dual modification, i.e., p–n heterojunction formation and OEC coating.

Fabrication of exchange-coupled nanocomposite magnets has been considered to be the most effective method to achieve the high energy product for advanced permanent magnet applications. In this work, we report a facile auto-combustion synthesis to prepare porous exchange-coupled hard–soft ferrite-based magnetic BaFe8Al4O19−x wt% Co0.6Zn0.4Fe2O4 nanocomposites (where x = 10, 20, 30 and 40), which realize an effective exchange-coupled interaction when the x value is less than 30. Compared with BaFe8Al4O19, the optimized nanocomposite with 20% Co0.6Zn0.4Fe2O4 shows a 70.3% increase in Ms and a 60.4% enhancement in Mr and maintains a high Hc value of 8.8 kOe. The work demonstrates that the auto-combustion synthesis is a promising approach for the fabrication of high-performance ferrite-based permanent magnets.

Herein, we report the production of a superior Mott–Schottky heterojunction that is based on PdAg nanowires (NWs) that grow in situ on graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4). Due to the strong Mott–Schottky effect between PdAg NWs and g-C3N4, the heterojunction enhances the photocatalytic dehydrogenation of formic acid (FA) (TOF = 420 h−1) without additives and under visible light (λ > 400 nm) at 25 °C, which is the best value among all heterogeneous catalysts reported for the photocatalytic dehydrogenation of FA. The H2 production rate is almost constant under the current reaction conditions. Detailed studies reveal that a favorable charge transfer from g-C3N4 and Ag to Pd makes Pd electron-rich, which enhances the catalytic activity and stability of the heterojunction for the photocatalytic dehydrogenation of FA under visible light. Our studies open up a new route to the design of a metal–semiconductor heterojunction for visible light-driven photocatalytic dehydrogenation of FA.

Medium-entropy alloy aerogels (MEAAs) with the advantages of both multimetallic alloys and aerogels are promising new materials in catalytic applications. However, limited by the immiscible behavior of different metals, achieving single-phase MEAAs is still a grand challenge. Herein, a general strategy for preparing ultralight 3D porous MEAAs with the lowest density of 39.3 mg cm

We report a general chemical approach to synthesize strongly ferromagnetic rare-earth metal (REM) based SmCo and SmFeN nanoparticles (NPs) with ultra-large coercivity. The synthesis started with the preparation of hexagonal CoO+Sm2 O3 (denoted as SmCo-O) multipods via decomposition of Sm(acac)3 and Co(acac)3 in oleylamine. These multipods were further reduced with Ca at 850 °C to form SmCo5 NPs with sizes tunable from 50 to 200 nm. The 200 nm SmCo5 NPs were dispersed in ethanol, and magnetically aligned in polyethylene glycol (PEG) matrix, yielding a PEG-SmCo5 NP composite with the room temperature coercivity (Hc ) of 49.2 kOe, the largest Hc among all ferromagnetic NPs ever reported, and saturated magnetic moment (Ms ) of 88.7 emu g-1 , the highest value reported for SmCo5 NPs. The method was extended to synthesize other ferromagnetic NPs of Sm2 Co17 , and, for the first time, of Sm2 Fe17 N3 NPs with Hc over 15 kOe and Ms reaching 127.9 emu g-1 . These REM based NPs are important magnetic building blocks for fabrication of high-performance permanent magnets, flexible magnets, and printable magnetic inks for energy and sensing applications.

Developing an efficient single component photocatalyst for overall water splitting under visible-light irradiation is extremely challenging. Herein, we report a metal-free graphitic carbon nitride (g-CxN4)-based nanosheet photocatalyst (x = 3.2, 3.6, or 3.8) with melem rings conjugated by Schiff-base bonds (N[double bond, length as m-dash]C-C[double bond, length as m-dash]N). The presence of the conjugated Schiff-base bond tunes the band gap of g-CxN4 and, more importantly, serves as an electron sink to suppress electron-hole pair recombination. The projected density of states (PDOS) calculations suggest that the melem ring and Schiff-base bond act as oxidizing and reducing centers, respectively, for photocatalytic water splitting. As a result, g-CxN4, in particular g-C3.6N4, can catalyze overall water splitting without the need for any co-catalyst or sacrificial donor. Under visible light (>420 nm wavelength) irradiation, g-C3.6N4 catalyzes the overall water splitting with H2 and O2 generation rates of 75.0 and 36.3 μmol h-1 g-1, respectively. g-C3.6N4 is the most efficient single-component photocatalyst ever reported for overall water splitting. Our studies demonstrate a new approach for tuning the bandgap and the electronic structure of graphitic carbon nitride for maximizing its photocatalytic performance for water splitting, which will be important for hydrogen generation and for energy applications.

Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths in women. Chemotherapy remains one of the main clinical treatments for breast cancer. However, this therapy has appreciable side effects. Nanoscale carriers, such as metal nanoparticles and liposomes, are being widely utilized as drug delivery vehicles to achieve precise targeting of tumor cells. In this study, we designed a novel upconversion nanocarriers (UCNCs) host-guest complexation system based on a photolabile capping-like molecule. UCNCs containing epirubicin (EPI) were grafted with a dimer-targeting peptide via cyclodextrin-adamantine host-guest complexation. After entering breast tumor cells with the guidance of the dimer-targeting peptide, the core of the UCNCs upconverted near-infrared light to ultraviolet light which subsequently triggered the intracellular on-demand release of epirubicin. The precise and efficient delivery and release of epirubicin inside breast cancer cells significantly inhibited cancer cells proliferation, migration, and invasion in vitro and decreased the tumor size in vivo. We believe that this UCNCs system is a promising platform for the precise and controllable delivery of various chemotherapy drugs for clinical cancer treatments.

In order to ensure the reliability of power consumption, the loop closing operation is usually used for load transfer without power cut. It is necessary to accurately predict the loop closing current. However, there exists uncertainties as the load date of distribution network cannot be obtained instantaneously. Stochastic power flow method can make a risk assessment of the power grid with uncertainties, but systematic analysis of the current's cumulative probability distribution in stochastic power flow is rarely reported. In this paper, a new method of stochastic power flow calculation based on correlation sampling is proposed. The load data samples are built by sampling on relevant days method. At the same time, the calculation process of stochastic power flow with branch currents as random variables is derived in detail. Finally, the application of the algorithm is introduced and the validity of the algorithm is verified by a real closing loop operation.

The sufficient interface contact in the composite absorbing material is beneficial to increase the dielectric loss and promote the microwave absorption performance. In this paper, the composite nanoparticles (NPs), Fe

Bacterial Vaginosis (BV) is the most common vaginal infection. A large amount of evidence shows that the anatomical scope of BV's pathogenic effect is far beyond the lower reproductive tract. BV is closely related to adverse reproductive outcomes, which may be due to the infection of the vaginal flora ascending to the upper genital tract. In addition, the incidence of BV is relatively high in infertile women. The vaginal microbiome also plays an important role in women's health and diseases. For most women, the normal vaginal microbiota is dominated by Lactobacillus, which can maintain a healthy vaginal environment by producing lactic acid, H2O2 and bacteriocin, etc. BV is characterized by the imbalanced vaginal flora. It changes the acidic environment that is normally dominated by Lactobacillus, and causes an overgrowth of anaerobic and facultative anaerobic bacteria such as Gardnerella vaginalis and Atopobium vaginae. Studies have shown that bacterial infections in the vagina can spread to upper genital tract and cause adverse fertility outcome. Therefore, early diagnosis and therapeutics of symptomatic BV is helpful to improve the outcome of poor fertility.

Hyperglycaemic memory refers to the damages occurred under early hyperglycaemic environment in organs of diabetic patients persisting after intensive glycaemic control. Mammalian sterile 20-like kinase 1 (Mst1) contributes to the development of diabetic cardiomyopathy. Here, we investigated the role of Mst1 in hyperglycaemic memory and test the effect of XMU-MP-1, a Mst1 inhibitor, on hyperglycaemic memory in hearts. Eight weeks after induction of type 1 diabetes by injection with streptozotocin (STZ) in mice, glycaemic control was obtained by means of insulin treatment and maintained for 4 additional weeks. In the diabetic mice, insulin treatment alone did not reduce phosphorylation of Mst1 or improve cardiac function. Treatment with XMU-MP-1 alone immediately after induction of diabetes for 12 weeks did not improve myocardial function in mice. But treatment with XMU-MP-1 for the later 4 weeks relieved myocardial dysfunction when glycaemic control was obtained by insulin treatment simultaneously. Mst1 deficiency and glycaemic control synergistically improved myocardial function and reduced apoptosis in myocardium of diabetic mice. Mechanistically, when Mst1 was deficient or inhibited by XMU-MP-1, AMPK was activated and mitochondrial dysfunction was attenuated. In vitro, treatment with AMPK activator reversed the detrimental effects of Mst1 overexpression in cultured cardiomyocytes. XMU-MP-1 might thus be envisaged as a complement for insulin treatment against diabetic cardiomyopathy.

The acute phase response, as a component of the innate immune system, is part of the first line of defense against invading pathogens. The Stimulator of Interferon Genes (STING) pathway initiates innate immune responses upon recognition of exogenous bacterial and viral DNA. However, whether STING signaling pathway plays any roles in regulating acute phase response during bacterial infection remains unknown. In this study, we used STING-deficient (Tmem173gt) and wildtype mice to investigate acute phase responses to bacterial infection (Escherichia coli, E. coli) and test the effect of exogenous cyclic GMP-AMP (cGAMP, a STING agonist) treatment. Bacterial infection of STING-deficient mice resulted in an increase in mortality and bacterial dissemination. Also, inflammation-induced acute phase response was drastically reduced in STING-deficient mice, showing significant reduction in expression of cytokine TNF-α and acute phase proteins. In contrast, exogenous cGAMP treatment enhanced inflammation-induced acute phase response by increasing the expression of TNF-α and acute phase proteins. Also, cGAMP accelerated bacterial clearance and improved survival rate of wildtype mice, but not STING-deficient mice. Interestingly, cGAMP treatment mitigated bacterial infection induced liver injury in both wildtype and STING-deficient mice. Further in vitro evidence showed that cGAMP treatment retarded TNF-α-mediated hepatocyte apoptosis, potentially accelerating autophagy. Taken together, our results indicated that cGAMP/STING signaling pathway is critical for organism to initiate blood-borne innate immune-responses to defend bacterial infection, and cGAMP is envisaged as a drug candidate for further clinical trial.

The adsorbents with high adsorption capacity for simultaneously removing Cr(VI) and Hg(II) from aqueous solutions under broad working pH range are highly desirable but still extremely scarce. Here, a novel adsorbent with multidentate ligands was facilely fabricated by covalently bonding 4-amino-3-hydrazino-5-mercapto- 1,2,4-triazole on graphene oxide via the Schiff’s base reaction. The maximum adsorption capacities of Cr(VI) and Hg(II) on the current adsorbent were 734.2 and 1091.1 mg/g, which were 14.36 and 5.61 times higher than that of the pure graphene oxide, respectively, exceeding those of most adsorbents previously reported. More interestingly, Cr(VI) and Hg(II) concentrations were decreased from 2 mg/L to 0.0001 mg/L for Hg(II) and 0.004 mg/L for Cr(VI), far below the WHO recommended threshold for drinking water. Moreover, the adsorbent shows an excellent performance for simultaneous removal of Cr(VI) and Hg(II) with more than 99.9% and 98.6% removal efficiencies in aqueous solutions. Finally, the adsorbent was successfully applied in dealing with the real industrial effluent, implying huge potential in industrial application. This work offers a new possibility for the removal of the metallic contaminants by rational designing target groups and ligands.

Core/shell nanocatalysts are a class of promising materials, which achieve the enhanced catalytic activities through the synergy between ligand effect and strain effect. However, it has been challenging to disentangle the contributions from the two effects, which hinders the rational design of superior core/shell nanocatalysts. Herein, we report precise synthesis of PdCu/Ir core/shell nanocrystals, which can significantly boost oxygen evolution reaction (OER) via the exclusive strain effect. The heteroepitaxial coating of four Ir atomic layers onto PdCu nanoparticle gives a relatively thick Ir shell eliminating the ligand effect, but creates a compressive strain of ca. 3.60%. The strained PdCu/Ir catalysts can deliver a low OER overpotential and a high mass activity. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal that the compressive strain in Ir shell downshifts the d-band center and weakens the binding of the intermediates, causing the enhanced OER activity. The compressive strain also boosts hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity and the strained nanocrystals can be served as excellent catalysts for both anode and cathode in overall water-splitting electrocatalysis.

With the increase of diabetics, the incidence of diabetic wound, a common complication of diabetes, rapidly grows in clinical. Meanwhile, the high recurrence rate and mortality of diabetic wound make its treatment still a great challenge. Here, we design a M2 macrophage exosome loaded multifunctional hydrogel as the diabetic wound dressing. The combined injectable, self-healing, and tissue-adhesive properties of this hydrogel make it form a protective barrier covering the wound timely to stop bleeding quickly and provide a good healing condition for the wound. Then, the continuous releasing of M2 macrophage exosome is able to promote the angiogenesis in wound, therefore accelerating the diabetic wound healing.

Background: The ubiquitin-editing enzyme TNF inducible protein 3 (TNFAIP3) is a crucial regulator of inflammation and immunity. It is also involved in tumorigenesis of various cancers such as lymphomas, colorectal tumors and breast cancer. In this study, we aimed to explore the role and regulatory mechanism of TNFAIP3 in lung cancer. Methods: The expression of TNFAIP3 was determined in the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. The levels of TNFAIP3 in lung cancer tissues was determined by immunohistochemistry (IHC) assay. TNFAIP3 knockdown and overexpression were performed, followed by further evaluation of cell viability, cell cycle and apoptosis. Cell cycle and apoptosis were observed by using flow cytometry and the key regulatory proteins were detected by western blotting. Colony formation assessment and EdU assay were adopted to check cell proliferation. Results: TNFAIP3 expression was downregulated in lung cancer tissues at both mRNA and protein levels, comparing with that in adjacent non-tumor tissues. Consequently, the colony formation ability of lung cancer cells was enhanced, and the number of EdU positive lung cancer cells was increased. By contrast, elevated TNFAIP3 expression resulted in decreased colony formation ability of lung cancer cells. Mechanistically, TNFAIP3 overexpression rendered cell cycle of lung cancer cells halted at G0/G1 phase and caused apoptosis of lung cancer cells.Conclusion: Our data suggested that TNFAIP3 exhibits tumor suppressive roles in lung cancer.

We herein report a facile strategy to prepare poly(allylamine hydrochloride) cross-linked amino-modified graphene oxide (PAH−ASGO) by Schiff-base reactions. The resulting PAH-ASGO exhibited a maximum adsorption capacity of 373.1 mg/g for Cr(VI), which was nearly 9 times higher than that of pure graphene oxide, exceeding that of most GO-based materials previously reported. More significantly, PAH-ASGO can effectively diminish the Cr(VI) concentration from 9.9 mg/L to the extremely low level of 0.004 mg/L within 10 s, far below the maximum allowable level of Cr(VI) (0.05 mg/L) in drinking water. In addition, the adsorbents still displayed excellent removal efficiency of 91.8% after 10 cycles. Considering the broad diversity, we developed also a magnetic PAH−ASGO/Fe3O4 adsorbent by a simple cross-linking reaction to achieve rapid separation of PAH−ASGO from their aqueous solution. Finally, the PAH−ASGO was successfully utilized to treat the actual industrial effluent.

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease characterized by an active dynamic interplay between immune cells and keratinocytes (KCs). STING is a universal receptor that recognizes cytosolic DNA and triggers innate immune activation. This study aims to elucidate the role of STING in the inflammation in psoriasis. STING deficiency alleviated psoriatic symptoms and inflammation in mouse models of psoriasis. Stimulation of macrophages with double-stranded DNA induced STING-dependent release of TNF-α and hydrogen peroxide in vitro. Furthermore, incubation of KCs with TNF-α or hydrogen peroxide increased oxidative DNA damage, induced nuclear DNA release into the cytosol, and inhibited double-stranded DNA‒induced degradation of STING protein. More importantly, transfection of KCs with double-stranded DNA synergized with TNF-α or hydrogen peroxide to induce STING-dependent activation of NF-κB and subsequent expression of Il1b, Ccl20, and Cxcl10. Finally, exposure to 5,6-dimethylxanthenone-4-acetic acid (a STING agonist) aggravated psoriatic symptoms and inflammation in wild-type mice but not in STING-deficient mice. Collectively, STING functioned as a self-DNA sensor in macrophages and KCs of psoriatic skin. Cytosolic DNA–induced activation of STING in immune cells and KCs acted synergistically and contributed to the inflammation in psoriasis.

Our study was to test the effects of aerobic exercise on myocardial function in mice with type 1 diabetes and investigate the underlying mechanism associated with mammalian sterile 20-like kinase 1 (Mst1). Wild-type mice and Mst1(−/−) mice were injected with streptozotocin to induce diabetes and given moderate-intensity exercise for 12 weeks. Phosphorylation of Mst1 was significantly enhanced in the left ventricles of diabetic mice, which was reversed by exercise training. Exercise training or Mst1 deficiency improved myocardial function and reduced myocardial fibrosis in diabetic mice. Exercise training or Mst1 deficiency reduced TUNEL-positive cells and caspase-3 activity in the myocardium of diabetic mice. Exercise training or Mst1 deficiency abated oxidative stress and reduced mitochondrial reactive oxygen species formation, attenuated mitochondrial swelling, and enhanced mitochondrial adenosine triphosphate formation and mitochondrial membrane potential in the myocardium of diabetic mice. Exercise training or Mst1 deficiency suppressed inflammation in the myocardium of diabetic mice. Furthermore, exercise training did not provide further protection in Mst1 knockout mice in diabetes. In conclusion, chronic exercise training attenuated myocardial dysfunction in mice with type 1 diabetes, at least in part, through suppressing Mst1 activation.

Electrically addressable covalent immobilization of probes on a multiplexed electrode for the simultaneous detection of multiple targets within the same sample is often regarded as a difficult milestone to be achieved. Herein, we demonstrated a reagentless disposable multiplexed electrochemical DNA and aptamer-based sensing platform for the simultaneous determination of various targets. The electrochemically triggered "click" chemistry was developed, and three biomarkers, including p53, thrombin, and VEGF165 were used as model analytes. The proposed sensor consisted of three independent screen-printed carbon electrodes (SPCE), with an alkyne-azide cycloaddition reaction that was activated selectively by means of electrical triggering, so that different DNA probes can be modified on the desired electrode units in sequence. In terms of simultaneous detection, the sensor was able to quantify the DNA target of p53 with a detection limit of 0.35 nM, whereas the limits of detection for protein quantification of thrombin and VEGF165 were 0.22 nM and 0.014 nM, respectively. The proposed sensor not only showed encouraging reproducibility and stability, but also performed well even in 50% serum samples. Therefore, the work described here offers a general strategy for developing a multiplexed sensor with promising potential to achieve rapid, simple and cost-effective analysis of biological samples.

Yujia Huang,1,2,* Qian Feng,3,* Huabo Jiang,1,* Wanding Zhou,1,2 Jinhong Chen,2 Jie Gao,4 Kai Wang,1 Xiaoping Wan,2 Yongsheng Yu1 1Clinical and Translational Research Center, Shanghai First Maternity and Infant Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Gynecology, Shanghai First Maternity and Infant Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China; 3Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Advanced Materials Oriented Chemical Engineering, College of Chemistry and Materials Science, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou, People’s Republic of China; 4Institute of Translational Medicine, Shanghai University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Xiaoping Wan; Yongsheng Yu Email wanxiaoping61@126.com; yongshengyu@tongji.edu.cnPurpose: Besides the tumor cells themselves, solid tumors are comprised of numerous cell types including infiltrating immune cells such as tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs). TAMs are vital stromal components of host immune system and play a critical role in the development of cancer. TAMs can be divided into two subtypes: M1 tumor-suppressive macrophage and M2 tumor-supportive macrophage. To better address the observations of TAMs functional performance, we describe an in vitro system that mimics the populations of TAMs infiltrated into the tumor mass by using our disintegrable supramolecular gelatin (DSG) hydrogels, which are physically crosslinked by host-guest complexations.Materials and Methods: The host–guest interaction was adopted between the aromatic groups of gelatin and the photocrosslinkable acrylated β-cyclodextrins (Ac-β-CDs) to form the DSG hydrogels. The convenient macrophage/endometrial cancer cells heterospheroid 3D model was set up by DSG hydrogels. RT-PCR and Western blot assays were developed to evaluate the efficiencies of inducers on the macrophages. The ELISA and oxygen saturation assays were performed to measure the secretion of VEGF and consumption of oxygen of tumor and/or macrophages, respectively. To determine the antitumor effects of M2 reprogrammed macrophages in vitro and in vivo, migration assay and tumor xenograft model were used, respectively.Results: The host-guest complexations of DSG hydrogels were controllably broken efficiently by soaking into the solution of competitive guest monomers 1-adamantanamine hydrochloride. The DSG hydrogels help IFN-γ reprogram the M2 to M1 and then decrease the tumor/M2 reprogrammed macrophage cells heterospheroid secretion of VEGF and increase the relative oxygen saturation. Significantly, the co-cultural tumor/M2 reprogrammed group from the disintegrated DSG hydrogels reduced the migration of cancer cells in vitro and the tumor growth in vivo.Conclusion: We obtain a TAMs/tumor microenvironment-responsive 3D model based on the novel DSG hydrogels, and will be of utility in cancer therapy and drug discovery.Keywords: supramolecular hydrogel, disintegration, host-guest complexations, tumor mimic model, tumor-associated macrophages, TAMs

Software version changes will result in the submission of a large number of change codes, and multiple change patterns are embedded in the change code. Identifying these change patterns helps to understand the details of the software changes. This paper examines the identification of candidate hunks for this change pattern in a common statement or sequence of statements moving to one or more different grammatical entities. For the existing code cloning tool Simian, the recognition rate of candidate hunk is not high for this statement encapsulation pattern. This paper proposes a candidate hunk recognition algorithm based on the longest common subsequence algorithm. The algorithm uses a text-based differential analysis tool to get the code change block hunk of the version before and after the code change. The candidate hunk is identified by combining the features of the statement encapsulation pattern candidate hunk. The algorithm was experimentally verified on four open source projects. Experimental results show that the algorithm has higher accuracy than Simian tools.

Developing an effective photocatalytic denitrification technology for NO

Cr(VI) pollution in wastewater has increasingly become a global environmental problem owing to its acute toxicity. Herein, we present the one-pot procedure for preparing the amino-functionalized (-NH2) graphene oxide (GO-) supported networked Pd–Ag nanowires by co-reduction growth in polyol solution, which show the highly efficient catalytic performance with the excellent cycling stability for the catalytic Cr(VI) reduction by formic acid as an in-situ source of hydrogen at room temperature. The electron transfer from Ag and amino to Pd increases the electron density of Pd, which enhances the catalytic formic acid decomposition and subsequent the catalytic Cr(VI) reduction. The catalytic reduction rate constant of Pd3Ag1/GO-NH2 is determined to be 0.0768 min−1, which is much superior to the monometallic Pd/GO-NH2 and Pd3Ag1/GO. This study provides a novel strategy to develop catalysts for the catalytic reduction of Cr(VI) to Cr(III) in the industrial effluent using formic acid as an in-situ source of hydrogen.

The construction of internal electric field (IEF) is usually considered an effective strategy to enhance photocatalytic efficiency because of its significant role in photo-induced carrier separation. Herein, we report a novel method to synthesize phosphorus-doped (P-doped) MoS2/g-C3N4 layer-by-layer composite, which could expose more active sites and generate a strong interaction by forming Mo-N bonds for photocatalytic sterilization. It is experimentally and theoretically confirmed that P-doped MoS2/g-C3N4 heterojunctions not only generate a dual-IEF to drive charge migration, but also facilitate spatially separated redox sites to further promote the separation of photo-induced carrier. The optimized P-doped MoS2/g-C3N4 layered heterojunction exhibits high photocatalytic sterilization efficiency (99.99%) towards E. coli under visible-light irradiation, which is remarkably higher compared with those of P-doped g-C3N4 (44.73%) and P-doped MoS2 (61.69%), respectively. This research will offer a novel method of designing and synthesizing layered composite photocatalyst with a dual-IEF for effective photocatalytic sterilization.

ZnxCd1-xS is a prospective photocatalyst with wide visible-light absorption up to 500 nm, but its stability and activity are still facing huge challenges. Herein, L-Cysteine capped Mo2C (L-Mo2C) nanoplates were used to anchor Zn2+/Cd2+ to in-situ grow Zn0.67Cd0.33S nanomaterial for constructing a highly efficient and robust L-Mo2C/Zn0.67Cd0.33S heterojunction through intimate Mo-S covalent bonds for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). This work not only suppresses the photo-corrosion of Zn0.67Cd0.33S nanomaterial by the construction of strong L-Mo2C/Zn0.67Cd0.33S Schottky heterojunction but also greatly improves the charge transfer efficiency by generating a strong internal electric field. As a result, the optimized L-Mo2C/Zn0.67Cd0.33S-5 heterojunction exhibits an enhanced HER rate of 34.66 mmol h−1 g−1 without an obvious decrease for continuous 24 h under visible irradiation, which is 4.8 times and 1.23 times than that of pristine Zn0.67Cd0.33S and uncapped Mo2C/Zn0.67Cd0.33S-5. This research highlights the role of Mo2C in photocatalytic HER, which provides a novel method to suppress the photo-corrosion of Zn0.67Cd0.33S-based composite.

We report a new strategy of controlling catalytic activity and selectivity of Cu nanoparticles (NPs) for the ammonia borane initiated hydrogenation reaction. Cu NPs are active and selective for chemoselective reduction of nitrostyrene to vinylaniline under ambient conditions. Their activity, selectivity, and more importantly, stability are greatly enhanced by their anchoring on WO2.72 nanorods, providing a room-temperature full conversion of nitrostyrene selectively to vinylaniline (>99% yield). Compared with all other catalysts developed thus far, our new Cu/WO2.72 catalyst shows much enhanced hydrogenation selectivity and stability without the use of pressured hydrogen. The synthetic approach demonstrated here can be extended to prepare various M/WO2.72 catalysts (M = Fe, Co, Ni), with M being stabilized for many chemical reactions.

L10-FePt nanoparticles (NPs) have great potential in areas of advanced magnetic and catalytic applications. Here, we present a facile control route for synthesis of hard magnetic L10-FePt NPs in which halide ions (Cl-, Br-, or I-) were added to the synthetic process to promote the phase transformation. It is confirmed that the strong ionic binding force between halide ions and Fe3+ or Pt2+ ions could facilitate the formation of L10-FePt phase due to favoring growth of FePt NPs in a more thermodynamically stable way, which enables the formation of an ordered structure. L10-FePt NPs with the highest coercivity of 8.64 kOe and saturation magnetization of 64.21 emu/g at room temperature can be directly obtained by controlling the amount of the halide ions. In comparison with conventional solution phase reduction methods, the halide ion-assisted method shows enhanced capability to tune the growth of hard magnetic bimetallic NPs, particularly Pt-based bimetallic NPs.

The present study was designed to examine the protection of D-β-hydroxybutyrate (BHB) against ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury in heart and investigate its underlying mechanism. Male adult mice were exposed to 30 min of ischemia and 24 h of reperfusion. Osmotic pumps were implanted subcutaneously 5 min before reperfusion for continuous delivery of the exogenous BHB (1.6 mmol/kg/24 h). Treatment with BHB reduced infarct size and levels of cardiac troponin I, creatine kinase and lactate dehydrogenase in serum, attenuated apoptosis in myocardium, and preserved cardiac function of I/R mice. Importantly, treatment of I/R mice with BHB promoted autophagic flux, evidenced by reduced the ratio of LC3-II/LC3-I and protein expression of p62 and enhanced protein expression of lysosome associated membrane protein-2 (Lamp2) in myocardium. Treatment of I/R mice with BHB reduced mitochondrial formation of reactive oxygen species, enhanced adenosine triphosphate production, attenuated mitochondrial swelling, and partly restored mitochondrial membrane potential in myocardium. Furthermore, treatment of I/R mice with BHB abated oxidative stress and attenuated endoplasmic reticulum stress in myocardium. Our results indicated that treatment with exogenous BHB protected heart from I/R injury in mice.

In this paper, hierarchical mesoporous Co3O4@ZnCo2O4 hybrid nanowire arrays (NWAs) on Ni foam were prepared through a two-step hydrothermal process associated with successive annealing treatment. The Co3O4@ZnCo2O4 hybrid NWAs exhibited excellent electrochemical performances with a high specific capacity of 1,240.5 C g−1 at a current density of 2 mA cm−2, with rate capability of 59.0% shifting from 2 to 30 mA cm−2, and only a 9.1% loss of its capacity even after 3,000 cycles at a consistent current density of 10 mA cm−2. An asymmetric supercapacitor (Co3O4@ZnCo2O4 NWAs||activated carbon) was fabricated and exhibited a high specific capacity of 168 C g−1 at a current density of 1 A g−1. And a preferable energy density of 37.3 W h kg−1 at a power density of 800 W kg−1 was obtained. The excellent electrochemical performances indicate the promising potential application of the hierarchical mesoporous Co3O4@ZnCo2O4 hybrid NWAs in energy storage field.

This paper considers multiple resolvable group target estimation under clutter environment. The proposed algorithm involves two aspects: target estimation and group state (group size, shape, etc.) estimation. First, we propose dynamic models and observation function for the group targets. Second, we derive the connection relation of individual targets through the predicted target states. In the following step, we combine the graph theory with the group targets and build the adjacency matrix of the estimated state set. The connection information is used to correct the collaboration noise and estimate the target states. For group estimation, we focus on the number of subgroups, the group states and the group sizes. Finally, several examples are given to verify the proposed algorithm, respectively.

L10-FePt/[Fe/Pt]27 multilayer films were prepared on (100)-oriented single-crystal MgO substrates. Structural analysis indicates epitaxial growth of the L10-FePt films during high-temperature deposition. The room-temperature-deposited [Fe/Pt]27 multilayer exhibits the fcc-FePt structure grown epitaxially on the L10-FePt base layer. The degree of chemical order and thereby the anisotropy of the top layer has been controlled by varying the temperature of a post-deposition annealing process. Compared with the as-deposited films, coercivities of the films annealed below 400 ∘C are substantially decreased by introducing the formation of a graded anisotropy in the partially ordered top layer. Coercivities decrease for annealing temperatures that are greater than 400 ∘C due to improved ordering of the top layer.

In this work, we describe a new protocol to synthesize SmCo5 single crystal particles with remarkable shape anisotropy (hexagonal and rodlike), which exhibit a giant coercivity of 36.6 kOe and a high Mr/Ms value of 0.95 after an alignment. On this basis, the morphological evolution mechanism is illustrated by employing the template effect.

The demand for nylon-66 has sharply increased in industry because of its high mechanical strength, high rigidity, and excellent stability. The deep hydrogenation of adiponitrile (ADN) to 1,6-hexanediamine (HDA) is considered as a crucial step to produce nylon-66 in industry. Herein, we report a diffusion strategy to prepare surface Pd-rich PdAg nanowires (NWs) via a seed-mediated growth in polyol solution for efficient dehydrogenation catalysis of formic acid (FA) and subsequent hydrogenation of ADN by using FA as an in situ hydrogen source. The composition of surface Pd-rich PdAg NWs could be easily tuned by controlling the amounts of the precursors. And the surface Pd-rich Pd5Ag5 NWs exhibit the highest activity for dehydrogenation catalysis of FA with an initial TOF of 1600 h−1 and a highly efficient hydrogenation of ADN to HDA with 99% selectivity and 99% conversion at 50 °C. Their enhanced catalytic performance could be attributed to the Pd-rich surface of the NWs and more efficient electron transfer from Ag to Pd. This work demonstrates a new way to prepare surface Pd-rich Pd5Ag5 NWs for deeply hydrogenating ADN to HDA with FA as an in situ hydrogen source.

Lead-free (1−x)Ba0.90Ca0.10Ti0.95Zr0.05O3–(x)RuO2 (x = 0–2.0 mol%) ceramics were prepared by conventional solid state reaction with the as-synthesized nanoparticles by a modified Pechini method, showing high densification (96.4–97.1%) with the grain size of ∼2.2 μm. Effects of RuO2 contents on the ceramics crystal structure and electrical properties were investigated. The phase evolution was identified by X-ray powder diffraction analysis, and the coexisted Tetragonal and Rhombohedral phases were detected at x around 1.0 mol%. The formation mechanism of defect electron complexes was sated in detail. Diversified dielectric properties and ferroelectric relaxation stemmed from defect electron complexes, charge accumulation at grain boundary, long-range ferroelectric dipole order, etc. Ferroelectric properties could be optimized apparently by polarized–aged process. The optimum electrical properties, i.e. d33 = 195 pC/N, kp = ∼0.22, and Qm = 78.9, were obtained at x = 1.0 mol%.

The electronic structure tuning of heterogeneous nanocatalysts is considered as one of the most effective ways of enhancing the catalytic activity of different chemical reactions. Herein, we demonstrate an effective way of tuning the electronic structure of networked PdAg nanowires (NWs) using polyvinylpyrrolidine imine (PVPI) as a new ligand to achieve more efficient hydrogen generation from formic acid (FA) decomposition. The PVPI-capped Pd5Ag5 NWs show the highest activity for the dehydrogenation catalysis of FA with an initial turnover frequency (TOF) of 242 h−1 among all the reported catalysts, and an increased TOF of 312 h−1 under 365 nm light irradiation at room temperature. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy studies reveal that there is an interfacial electron transfer from PVPI to the PdAg NW surface, which is the key factor in boosting the dehydrogenation catalysis of FA herein. Density functional theory calculations suggest that the high catalytic activity primarily stems from both electronegative Pd active centers and the imino group (CN) in PVPI for efficiently deprotonating FA to Pd-formate intermediates and subsequently for promoting the cleavage of C–H. The PVPI-capped Pd5Ag5 NWs are very stable and reusable for FA dehydrogenation catalysis.

The development of new electrode materials with various components, structures, morphologies and porosities is critical for improving the performance of supercapacitors. Here, we report a facile strategy for synthesizing porous layered stacked MnCo2O4 cubes through a hydrothermal method, followed by annealing treatment. Compared with other morphologies of MnCo2O4, the specific capacitance of porous layered stacked MnCo2O4 cubes reaches 480.5 F g-1 at a current density of 1 A g-1. Furthermore, porous layered stacked MnCo2O4 cubes show an ultrahigh capacity retention of 75.7% even at a current density of 25 A g-1 and good cycling stability with 96.6% specific capacitance retained after 3000 cycles, which makes porous layered stacked MnCo2O4 cubes a great potential electrode material for supercapacitor applications.

On the purpose of accurate data acquisition for the aeroacoustic testing mostly in open jet test section of aeroacoustic wind tunnel, the large scale anechoic chamber is specifically designed to build the low background noise environment. A newly acoustic test section is presented in this paper, of which the contour is similar as the closed test section, and the wall is fabricated by the fiber fabric, both the characteristics of closed and open jet test section of conventional wind tunnel are combined in it. By thoroughly researching on the acoustics and aerodynamics of this acoustically transparent test section, significant progress in reducing the background noises in test section and improving the ratio of energy of the wind tunnel and some other aspects have been achieved. Acoustically transparent test section behaves better in acoustics and aerodynamics than conventional acoustic test section because of their high definition in detecting the sound sources and great performance in transmitting sounds.

Nitrate (NO3−) and nitrite (NO2−) pollution in water has increasingly become a serious environmental concern. The catalytic reduction of NO3− and NO2− to harmless N2 by a reducing agent is considered to be one of the most promising methods to remove NO3− and NO2− from water. Herein, we report the one-pot synthesis of networked Ag/AgPd core/shell nanowires (CS-NWs) via seed-mediated growth in polyol solution. The shell thickness of the networked Ag/AgPd CS-NWs can be readily controlled by tuning the amount of precursors. The networked Ag/AgPd CS-NWs with a 0.9 nm shell thickness exhibited the highest activity towards the dehydrogenation catalysis of FA with an initial TOF of 1400 h−1 at 50 °C, and the highest selectivity for the catalysis of NO3− and NO2− to N2 in water and at room temperature. Their enhanced bifunctional catalytic performance could be attributed to more efficient electron transfer from PVPI and Ag to Pd. This work demonstrates a new way to prepare bifunctional nanocatalysts for the removal of NO3− and NO2− from water using FA as the in situ hydrogen source.