Publications by authors named "Zepeng Liu"

The Mamyshev oscillator (MO) boasts unparalleled modulation depth advantages in establishing mode-locking. However, this also significantly inhibits the self-starting of mode-locking. This Letter addresses the issue by constructing a self-feedback mechanism for regenerative oscillation.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Researchers developed new n-type organic semiconductors using modified phenanthrene compounds to improve organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) under ambient conditions.
  • The study explored the photophysical, electrochemical properties, and packing patterns of these materials, which were fabricated into thin films via a simple spin-coating method.
  • Results showed that these materials achieved high charge carrier mobilities and highlighted that bromine modifications on phenanthrene enhance film qualities and overall device performance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Drought and salinity are two abiotic stresses that affect plant productivity. We exposed 2-year-old saplings to single and combined stress of drought and salinity. Subsequently, the responses of physiological traits and soil properties were investigated.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Studying the response of physiological and xylem anatomical traits under cadmium stress is helpful to understand plants' response to heavy metal stress. Here, seedlings of Pinus thunbergii Parl. were treated with 50, 100 and 150 mg kg-1 Cd2+ for 28 days.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Fast-charging lithium-ion batteries are essential for electric vehicles to alleviate mileage anxiety, but slow lithium intercalation in graphite anodes poses significant challenges.
  • The study investigates how lithium diffusion varies in different parts of the graphite structure and how factors like particle size and interphase properties affect the speed of these reactions.
  • Key findings indicate that insufficient lithium diffusion leads to high polarization and incomplete intercalation, with interfacial diffusion becoming critical in smaller particles; improvements can be made through specific electrolyte chemistry.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Adsorbents with excellent physicochemical properties and green synthetic routes are desired for efficient removal of Congo red (CR) wastewater. Hence, a novel approach was proposed within this work. Biochar NCBC obtained from Medulla Tetrapanacis was synthesized through co-modification with urea/calcium chloride.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Biochar (BC) prepared from Medulla Tetrapanacis was recognized as having potential in environmental remediation because of its porous texture, abundant chemical surface groups and mineral composition. In this study, a novel modified biochar (KBC) derived from Medulla Tetrapanacis achieved efficient adsorption of Congo red (CR) and methylene blue (MB). Characterization results suggested that the modification had little effect on the group distribution of KBC, but a dramatic expansion of specific surface area was observed on KBC (1180.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Textiles modified with antimicrobial nanomaterials have excellent comprehensive performance. However, the shedding of nanoparticles often occurs in actual use. This not only reduces the service life of antimicrobial textiles, but also causes potential harm.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Remaining useful life (RUL) of cutting tools is concerned with cutting tool operational status prediction and damage prognosis. Most RUL prediction methods utilized different features collected from different sensors to predict the life of the tool. To increase the prediction accuracy, it is often necessary to mount a great deal of sensors on the machine in order to collect more types of signals, which can heavily increase the cost in industrial applications.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The focus of this work was on developing a green, low-cost, and efficient biosorbent based on the biological structure and properties of MT and applying it to the remediation of cationic dyes in dye wastewater. The adsorption performance and mechanism of MT on methylene blue (MB) and crystal violet (CV) were investigated by batch adsorption experiments. The results demonstrated that the highest adsorption values of MT for MB (411 mg/g) and CV (553 mg/g) were greatly higher than the reported values of other biosorbents.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Vacancies have been proved effective in activating the oxygen redox and stabilizing the structure of the oxide cathode materials for the Na-ion batteries, but their effect on the cathode materials of the Li-ion batteries is unclear. We herein show that they have similar effect on spinel [LiMn□][LiMn][O].

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

An efficient method for stereoselective synthesis of trifluorinated enol esters catalyzed by base was introduced. The DFT calculations and experimental results both supported the nucleophilic addition process. The protocol featured mild reaction conditions and showed a wide functional group tolerance.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Li-rich layer-structured oxides are considered promising cathode materials for their specific capacities above 250 mAh·g. However, the drawbacks such as poor rate performance, fast capacity fading, and the continuous transition metal (TM) migration into the Li layer hinder their commercial applications. To address these issues, surface doping of Ti and Zr was conducted to the Li- and Mn-rich layered oxide (LMR), LiMnNiCoO.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Thin-film composite (TFC) membranes are attracting wide attention because their ultrathin selective layer usually corresponds to the higher membrane flux for pervaporation. However, the direct preparation of the TFC membranes on ceramic substrates confronted with the great difficulties because the larger pores on ceramic substrate surfaces are detrimental to the formation of an intact polyamide (PA) selective layer produced by interfacial polymerization (IP) reaction. Here, the integrated ZIF-L nanosheets were proposed to be used as an assistance interlayer for the first time to eliminate the existence of the pores of the ceramic support, and provides a better basis for the formation of an intact PA selective layer by IP reaction between TMC and ethylenediamine (EDA).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The development of lithium metal batteries is hindered by the low Coulombic efficiency and poor cycling stability of the metallic lithium. The introduction of consumptive LiNO as an additive can improve the cycling stability, but its low solubility in the carbonate electrolytes makes this strategy impractical for long-term cycling. Herein we propose LiNO as a cosalt in the LiPF-LiNO dual-salt electrolyte to enhance the cycling stability of lithium plating/stripping.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Chemokines are a superfamily of structurally related chemotactic cytokines exerting significant roles in acting as a bridge between the innate and adaptive immune responses. In this study, we identified three CXC motif chemokine 10 (CXCL10) homologues (QsCXCL10-1, QsCXCL10-2 and QsCXCL10-3) from giant spiny frog Quasipaa spinosa. All three deduced QsCXCL10 proteins contained four conserved cysteine residues as found in other known CXC chemokines.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Interleukin 18 (IL-18), a member of IL-1 cytokine superfamily, is an important proinflammatory cytokine with multiple functions in both innate immunity and acquired immunity. However, the characteristics and functional roles of IL-18 remain largely unknown in amphibians, which were classed as major group of vertebrates. In the present study, two IL-18 genes (AdIL-18A and AdIL-18B) and four transcripts (AdIL-18A1, AdIL-18A2, AdIL-18B1 and AdIL-18B2) were firstly identified and characterized from Chinese giant salamander (Andrias davidianus).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a class of endogenous, covalently closed, single-stranded RNA without 3'-poly(A) and 5'-cap structures. CircRNAs are characterized by universality, diversity, stability and conservation, and have been found to regulate mammalian transcription and be translated into proteins. In this review, we summarized the biogenesis, classification, expression, distribution, biological functions and regulation of circRNAs.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

NFIL3 is a transcriptional activator of the IL-3 promoter in T cells. In vertebrates, it has been characterized as an essential regulator of several cellular processes such as immunity response, apoptosis and NK cells maturation. However, the identification and functional characterization of NFIL3 still remains unclear in arthropods.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Activins, members of transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) superfamily, are pleiotropic cytokines with critical roles in mediating cell proliferation, differentiation, homeostasis, apoptosis and immune response. However, the structural characteristics and specific functions of Activins remain largely unknown in invertebrates. In the present study, an Activin-like ligand Dawdle (Daw) was firstly identified and characterized from mud crab Scylla paramamosain.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Transforming growth factor-β-activating kinase 1 (TAK1) is essential for diverse important biological functions, such as innate immunity, development and cell survival. In the present study, the homologs of TAK1 and TAK1-binding protein 1 (TAB1) were identified and characterized from mud crab Scylla paramamosain for the first time. The full-length cDNAs of SpTAK1 and SpTAB1 were 2, 226 bp and 2, 433 bp with 1, 782 bp and 1, 533 bp open reading frame (ORF), respectively.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Ambient temperature-associated stress can affect normal physiological functions in ectotherms. To assess the effects of cold or heat stress on amphibians, giant spiny frogs () were acclimated at 22°C followed by exposure to 5°C or 30°C for 0, 3, 6, 12, 24 and 48 h, respectively. Histological alterations, apoptotic index, generation of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS), antioxidant activity indices and stress-response gene expression in frog livers were subsequently determined.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) is a crucial transcription factor that regulates the basal and inducible expression of many antioxidant-relevant genes, and the Nrf2-mediated antioxidant pathway has been regarded as a critical switch in the initiation of cellular defence systems against oxidative damages. In this study, Nrf2 was first identified and characterized in the Chinese giant salamander (Andrias davidianus). A.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) receptor-mediated TGF-β signaling cascade plays important roles in diverse cellular processes, including cell proliferation, differentiation, growth, apoptosis and inflammation in vertebrates. In the present study, the type I TGF-β receptor (TβR1) was firstly identified and characterized in mud crab Scylla paramamosain. The full-length cDNA of SpTβR1 was 1, 986 bp with a 1, 608 bp open reading frame, which encoded a putative protein of 535 amino acids including a typical transmembrane region, a conserved glycine-serine (GS) motif and a S_TKc domain (Serine/Threonine protein kinases, catalytic domain).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Immune deficiency (IMD) pathway, one of the most essential pattern recognition receptor signaling pathways, plays vital roles in innate immune responses to eliminate pathogen infection in invertebrates. In the present study, an immune deficiency (IMD) gene and two NF-κB family members, Relish and Dorsal, were identified and characterized in mud crab Scylla paramamosain for the first time. The deduced SpIMD, SpRelish and SpDorsal protein contained conserved death domain and classical NF-κB domains, respectively.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF