Sigmoid function model of parallel-connected DC-DC converters and analysis of their dynamic characteristics.

Because of the manufacturing variations of circuit elements and the effects of parasitic parameters, the switching elements of parallel-connected modules cannot be synchronously switched. Consequently, the characteristics of these converters, which are multi-mode, high-order systems, cannot be comprehensively described using reduced-order models based on the symmetry of circuit topology and parameters. It is also difficult to fully describe the characteristics of these systems using discrete mapping models and averaged models.

Skin proteomic screening and functional analysis of differential proteins associated with coat color in sheep (Ovis aries).

Objective: Coat color is an important characteristic and economic trait in domestic sheep. In this study, we explored the potential mechanisms and the signaling pathways involved in coat color regulation for sheep.

Methods: Isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantification (iTRAQ) technology was used to catalog global protein expression profiles in skin of sheep with black versus white coat color.

Proteomic Analysis of the Mitochondrial Responses in P19 Embryonic Stem Cells Exposed to Florfenicol.

Florfenicol (FLO) has been shown to elicit diverse toxic effects in plants, insects, and mammals. Previously, our investigations revealed that FLO induced abnormal cardiac development and early embryonic mortality in chicken embryos. However, the effect of FLO on mitochondrial responses in stem cells remains unclear.

Inhibition of RhoA/ROCK signalling pathway activity improves neural damage and cognitive deficits in the fluorosis model.

Excessive fluoride intake poses health risks to humans and animals. Many studies have indicated that fluoride exposure can damage the cytoskeleton and synapses, which has negative effects on the intellectual development of humans and animals. Our previous study suggested that the RhoA/ROCK signalling pathway is activated by NaF exposure in HT-22 cells and plays a vital role in cytoskeletal assembly and synaptogenesis.

Expression and tissue distribution analysis of vimentin and transthyretin proteins associated with coat colors in sheep (Ovis aries).

Objective: Pigment production and distribution are controlled through multiple proteins, resulting in different coat color phenotypes of sheep.

Methods: The expression distribution of vimentin (VIM) and transthyretin (TTR) in white and black sheep skins was detected by liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization tandem MS (LC-ESI-MS/MS), gene ontology (GO) statistics, immunohistochemistry, Western blot, and quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) to evaluate their role in the coat color formation of sheep.

Results: LC-ESI-MS/MS results showed VIM and TTR proteins in white and black skin tissues of sheep.

Exposure to bisphenol A induces neurotoxicity associated with synaptic and cytoskeletal dysfunction in neuro-2a cells.

Bisphenol A (BPA) has been reported to injure the developing and adult brain. However, the underlying mechanism still remains elusive. This study used neuro-2a cells as a cellular model to investigate the neurotoxic effects of BPA.

Fluoride exposure disrupts the cytoskeletal arrangement and ATP synthesis of HT-22 cell by activating the RhoA/ROCK signaling pathway.

Background: Fluoride, an environmental contaminant, is ubiquitously present in air, water, and soil. It usually enters the body through drinking water and may cause structural and functional disorders in the central nervous system in humans and animals. Fluoride exposure affects cytoskeleton and neural function, but the mechanism is not clear.

Exposure to fluoride induces apoptosis in the liver, kidney, and heart of Xenopus laevis by regulating the Caspase-8/3 signaling pathway.

Fluoride compounds are abundant and widely distributed in the environment at various concentrations, which can seriously injure the human body. In this study, we aim to evaluate the effects of excessive fluoride exposure on the liver, kidney, and heart tissues of healthy female Xenopus laevis by administering NaF (0, 100, and 200 mg/L) in drinking water for 90 days. The expression level of procaspase-8, cleaved-caspase-8, and procaspase-3 proteins were determined by Western blot.

Fine-Tuned Morphology Based on Two Well-Miscible Polymer Donors Enables Higher Open-Circuit Voltage and Enhanced Stability for Highly Efficient Ternary All-Polymer Solar Cells.

Developing organic solar cells based on a ternary active layer is one of the most effective approaches to improve their photovoltaic performance. However, limited success has been achieved in all-polymer solar cells (all-PSCs). In this study, a ternary all-PSC with improved efficiency and stability is realized by using J71 as the third component to adjust the host system of PBDB-T:PG1.

Performance evaluation of rhamnolipids addition for the biodegradation and bioutilization of petroleum pollutants during the composting of organic wastes with waste heavy oil.

Environmental pollution caused by petroleum hydrocarbons is being paid more and more attention worldwide. Surfactants are able to improve the solubility of petroleum hydrocarbons, but their effects on petroleum hydrocarbon degradation in composting systems are still unclear. In this study, the effects on microbial community succession were investigated by adding petroleum hydrocarbons and rhamnolipids during composting of organic wastes.

Response of fungi-microalgae pellets to copper regulation in the removal of sulfonamides and release of dissolved organic matters.

Both sulfonamides (SAs) and copper (Cu(II)) were frequently detected together in swine wastewater. In this study, the regulation of Cu(II) on SAs adsorption and release of dissolved organic matters (DOMs) by fungi-microalgae pellets (FM-pellets) were investigated. Aspergillus oryzae pellets were prepared for combination with Chlorella vulgaris and the optimal conditions were at agitation speed of 130 rpm, fungi to microalgae ratio of 10:1 and the combined time of 3 h with the highest combination efficiency of 98.

Molecular Mechanisms Underlying the Inhibition of Proliferation and Differentiation by Florfenicol in P19 Stem Cells: Transcriptome Analysis.

Florfenicol (FLO), which is widely used in veterinary clinics and aquaculture, can disrupt the protein synthesis of bacteria and mitochondria and, thus, lead to antibacterial and toxic effects in plants, insects, and mammals. FLO was found to repress chicken embryonic development and induce early embryonic death previously, but the underlying mechanism is not fully understood. Clarifying the mechanism of FLO-induced embryonic toxicity is important to the research and development of new drugs and the rational use of FLO to ensure human and animal health and ecological safety.

Acute lead acetate induces neurotoxicity through decreased synaptic plasticity-related protein expression and disordered dendritic formation in nerve cells.

Lead (Pb) is a widespread environmental heavy metal that can damage the cerebral cortex and hippocampus, and reduce the learning and memory ability in humans and animals. In vivo and in vitro models of acute lead acetate exposure were established to further study the mechanism of neurons injury. In this study, 4-week-old female Kunming mice were randomly divided into four groups.

Evaluation of BPA effects on autophagy in Neuro-2a cells.

Bisphenol A (BPA), which is used for the industrial production of polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins, is found in many commercially available products. Plasticizer BPA produces chemical substances worldwide, and knowledge of its effects on humans and animals is increasing. In the present work, the morphology of cells was observed by optical microscopy and phalloidin staining to evaluate the toxic effect of BPA on Neuro-2a cells.

Bisphenol A induces apoptosis in response to DNA damage through c-Abl/YAP/ p73 pathway in P19 embryonal carcinoma stem cells.

Bisphenol A (2,2-bis(4'-hydroxyphenyl) propane, BPA) is a well-known endocrine-disrupting compound that is widely used in various daily products and exhibits embryonic development toxicity and genotoxicity. However, the affected signaling pathways involved in embryonic development especially the interactions of involved proteins remain unclear. In our previous study (Ge et al.

The complete mitogenome and phylogeny analysis of (Yue, 981) (Siluriformes: Sisoridae).

, a Sisorid fish that is distributed in the upper Pearl River. In this study, the complete mitogenome of was sequenced using traditional Sanger sequencing approach. The 16,588 bp genome was consisted of 2 rRNAs, 22tRNAs, 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs) and 1 control region.

Recycling spent water from microalgae harvesting by fungal pellets to re-cultivate Chlorella vulgaris under different nutrient loads for biodiesel production.

Fungal pellet is an emerging material to collect oleaginous microalgae, but rare studies have noticed that harvested water is available resource for the next round of cultivation. To systematically optimize regrowth performances of microalgae Chlorella vulgaris, separated water after harvesting by fungi Aspergillus oryzae was prepared under different N/P ratios. The results showed that chlorophylls and enzymes were significantly affected by the proportion of N and P.

Microalgae Chlorella vulgaris and Scenedesmus dimorphus co-cultivation with landfill leachate for pollutant removal and lipid production.

In this study, landfill leachate was pre-treated with NaClO, and then diluted to 5%, 10% and 15% for microalgae growth of Chlorella vulgaris and Scenedesmus dimorphus in the mono- and co-culture modes to investigate the nutrient removal and growth characteristics of microalgae. The results revealed that landfill leachate with the 10% dilution rate was conducive for microalgae growth and exhibited robust biomass growth and the highest nutrient removal efficiency. The co-culture biomass in 10% landfill leachate achieved 0.

Radical-Driven Decomposition of Graphitic Carbon Nitride Nanosheets: Light Exposure Matters.

Understanding the transformation of graphitic carbon nitride (g-CN) is essential to assess nanomaterial robustness and environmental risks. Using an integrated experimental and simulation approach, our work has demonstrated that the photoinduced hole (h) on g-CN nanosheets significantly enhances nanomaterial decomposition under OH attack. Two g-CN nanosheet samples D and M2 were synthesized, among which M2 had more pores, defects, and edges, and they were subjected to treatments with OH alone and both OH and h.

A fungal immobilization technique for efficient harvesting of oleaginous microalgae: Key parameter optimization, mechanism exploration and spent medium recycling.

To confront with energy crisis, microalgae as the promising feedstock have a great potential in exploring renewable energy field, whereas the high costs related to medium preparation and biomass harvesting are the main bottleneck to hinder the development on a large scale. Though cultivation of filamentous fungi for microalgae harvesting is an efficient, sustainable and emerging method, and the studies on specific mechanisms and spent medium recycling for efficiency improvement as well as resource saving through a co-pelletization mode are urgently needed. Hence, in this study, the harvesting process of autotrophic microalgae Chlorella vulgaris by pre-cultured Aspergillus oryzae pellets was investigated systematically.

13.4 % Efficiency from All-Small-Molecule Organic Solar Cells Based on a Crystalline Donor with Chlorine and Trialkylsilyl Substitutions.

How to simultaneously achieve both high open-circuit voltage (V ) and high short-circuit current density (J ) is a big challenge for realising high power conversion efficiency (PCE) in all-small-molecule organic solar cells (all-SM OSCs). Herein, a novel small molecule (SM)-donor, namely FYSM-SiCl, with trialkylsilyl and chlorine substitutions was designed and synthesized. Compared to the original SM-donor FYSM-H, FYSM-Si with trialkylsilyl substitution showed a decreased crystallinity and lower highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) level, while FYSM-SiCl had an improved crystallinity, more ordered packing arrangement, significantly lower HOMO level, and predominant "face-on" orientation.

In vivo monitoring of volatile metabolic trajectories enables rapid diagnosis of influenza A infection.

We report that influenza A virus infection induces changes in odor traits that could be captured by real-time high-resolution mass spectrometry in a living mouse model. The most striking changes in the volatile metabolites may be associated mostly to glyoxylate/dicarboxylate metabolism.

Fluoride exposure decreased neurite formation on cerebral cortical neurons of SD rats in vitro.

Fluoride, a geochemical element, can damage the brain and result in dysfunction of the central nervous system. In recent years, fluoride-induced neurotoxicity has become one of research focuses of environmental toxicology. Our previous study showed that fluoride could induce the structural damages of the cerebral cortex and reduce the learning and memory abilities of mice offspring.

Bisphenol A exposure induces apoptosis and impairs early embryonic development in Xenopus laevis.

Bisphenol A (BPA), an endocrine-disrupting chemical that is largely produced and used in the plastics industry, causes environmental pollution and is absorbed by humans through consumption of food and liquids in polycarbonate containers. BPA exerts developmental and genetic toxicities to embryos and offsprings, but the embryotoxicity mechanism of this chemical is unclear. This study aimed to explore the toxic effect of BPA on embryonic development and elucidate its toxicity mechanism.