Revealing the Intrinsic Electronic Structure of 3D Half-Heusler Thermoelectric Materials by Angle-Resolved Photoemission Spectroscopy.

Accurate determination of the intrinsic electronic structure of thermoelectric materials is a prerequisite for utilizing an electronic band engineering strategy to improve their thermoelectric performance. Herein, with high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES), the intrinsic electronic structure of the 3D half-Heusler thermoelectric material ZrNiSn is revealed. An unexpectedly large intrinsic bandgap is directly observed by ARPES and is further confirmed by electrical and optical measurements and first-principles calculations.

Decoupling Thermoelectric Performance and Stability in Liquid-Like Thermoelectric Materials.

Liquid-like materials are one family of promising thermoelectric materials discovered in the past years due to their advantanges of ultrahigh thermoelectric figure of merit (), low cost, and environmental friendliness. However, their practial applications are greatly limited by the low service stability from the Cu/Ag metal deposition under large current and/or temperature gradient. Both high for high efficiency and large critical voltage for good stability are required for liquid-like materials, but they are usually strongly correlated and hard to be tuned individually.

A direct -scheme BiWO/NH-UiO-66 nanocomposite as an efficient visible-light-driven photocatalyst for NO removal.

To explore an efficient photocatalyst for NO pollution, a direct -scheme photocatalytic system is successfully fabricated by coupling BiWO with NH-UiO-66 a simple hydrothermal synthesis technique. The -scheme system promotes the NO photocatalytic oxidation activity with an optimum NO removal rate of 79%, which is 2.7 and 1.

Suppressing H evolution by using a hydrogel for reversible Na storage in NaV(PO).

We report a low-cost hydrogel electrolyte by adding 3 wt% poly(acrylate sodium) (PAAS) into 1 M NaSO aqueous electrolyte, which achieves a widened electrochemical stability window (ESW) of 2.45 V on stainless steel current collector from 2.12 V in 1 M NaSO aqueous electrolytes (AE).

Ab initio-enabled phase transition prediction of solid carbon dioxide at ultra-high temperatures.

Carbon dioxide is one of the fundamental chemical species on Earth, but its solid-phase behavior at high pressures is still far from well understood and some phases remain uncertain or unknown, which increases the challenge to predict its structures. The difficulty of theoretical prediction arises from the high cost of structure screening and the low accuracy of applicable methods. In this study, we employed an computational study on solid carbon dioxide phases I and VII at high pressure and predicted their structures, energies and phase transition using the second-order Møller-Plesset perturbation (MP2) theory.

Protocells programmed through artificial reaction networks.

As the smallest unit of life, cells attract interest due to their structural complexity and functional reliability. Protocells assembled by inanimate components are created as an artificial entity to mimic the structure and some essential properties of a natural cell, and artificial reaction networks are used to program the functions of protocells. Although the bottom-up construction of a protocell that can be considered truly 'alive' is still an ambitious goal, these man-made constructs with a certain degree of 'liveness' can offer effective tools to understand fundamental processes of cellular life, and have paved the new way for bionic applications.

Rational synthesis of interpenetrated 3D covalent organic frameworks for asymmetric photocatalysis.

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) show great promise as heterogeneous photocatalysts, but they have not yet been explored for asymmetric photocatalysis, which is important for the sustainable production of pharmaceuticals and fine chemicals. We report here a pair of twofold interpenetrated 3D COFs adopting a rare (3,4)-connected topology for photocatalytic asymmetric reactions by imine condensation of rectangular and trigonal building blocks. Both COFs containing a photoredox triphenylamine moiety are efficient photocatalysts for the cross-dehydrogenative coupling reactions and asymmetric α-alkylation of aldehydes integrated with a chiral imidazolidinone catalyst.

Selective Killing of Cancer Cells by Nonplanar Aromatic Hydrocarbon-Induced DNA Damage.

A large number of current chemotherapeutic agents prevent the growth of tumors by inhibiting DNA synthesis of cancer cells. It has been found recently that many planar polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) derivatives, previously known as carcinogenic, display anticancer activity through DNA cross-linking. However, the practical use of these PAHs is substantially limited by their low therapeutic efficiency and selectivity toward most tumors.

Circulating DNA-Based Sequencing Guided Anlotinib Therapy in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.

Anlotinib is a multitargeted antiangiogenic drug, and its clinical predictor for responsive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients is still elusive. Here, tumor-specific target capture is used to profile the circulating DNA of ALTER0303 (evaluating NSCLC clinical antitumor efficacy through anlotinib therapy) study participants. The results indicate that patients receiving no benefit can be mainly excluded via analysis of and genetic profiling.

Fiber all-optical light control with low-dimensional materials (LDMs): thermo-optic effect and saturable absorption.

In this paper, we review the recent studies on all-optical light control based on two main nonlinear mechanisms in LDMs: the thermo-optic effect and saturable absorption. The compactness of LDMs makes them the ideal medium for all-optical control systems. Many all-optical devices are demonstrated based on the properties of thermo-optic effects and saturable absorption.

Highly efficient solar seawater desalination with environmentally friendly hierarchical porous carbons derived from halogen-containing polymers.

Desalination of seawater using solar energy is a promising solution to the global freshwater shortage. Ultrahigh surface area (up to 1740 m g) hierarchical porous carbons (HPC) have been prepared by the carbonization of precursors derived from the room temperature dehalogenation of low cost, widely available polyvinyl chloride (PVC) with simple, low cost, environmentally friendly processes. The broad hierarchical pores (from 2 nm to 20 μm) facilitate and ensure fast water and vapor transportation.

RNA-Binding Protein IGF2BP2/IMP2 is a Critical Maternal Activator in Early Zygotic Genome Activation.

A number of genes involved in zygotic genome activation (ZGA) have been identified, but the RNA-binding maternal factors that are directly related to ZGA in mice remain unclear. The present study shows that maternal deletion of (also commonly known as ) in mouse embryos causes early embryonic developmental arrest in vitro at the 2-cell-stage. Transcriptomics and proteomics analyses of 2-cell-stage embryos in mice reveal that deletion of IMP2 downregulates the expression of and , both of which are required for early embryonic developmental competence.

A univariate ternary logic and three-valued multiplier implemented in a nano-columnar crystalline zinc oxide memristor.

Memristors, which feature small sizes, fast speeds, low power, CMOS compatibility and nonvolatile modulation of device resistance, are promising candidates for next-generation data storage and in-memory computing paradigms. Compared to the binary logics enabled by memristor devices, ternary logics with larger information-carrying capacity can provide higher computation efficiency with simple operation schemes, reduced circuit complexity and smaller chip areas. In this study, we report the fabrication of memristor devices based on nano-columnar crystalline ZnO thin films; they show symmetric and reliable multi-level resistive switching characteristics over three hundred cycles, which benefits the implementation of univariate ternary logic operations.

Deactivation kinetics of individual C-C aromatics' generation from methanol over Zn and P co-modified HZSM-5.

A deactivation kinetic model has been determined for the methanol to aromatic process over a HZSM-5 zeolite catalyst (SiO/AlO = 30) modified by 1.0 wt% ZnO and 2.0 wt% P, in which the generation rates of C-C aromatics are treated individually while olefins and paraffins are lumped as intermediate and byproduct, respectively.

Evaluation of anti-EGFR-iRGD recombinant protein with GOLD nanoparticles: synergistic effect on antitumor efficiency using optimized deep neural networks.

The epidermal growth factor receptor, also known as EGFR, is a tyrosine kinase receptor commonly found in epithelial tumors. As part of the first target for cancer treatment, EGFR has been the subject of intense research for more than 20 years; as a result, there are a number of anti-EGFR agents currently available. More recently, with our basic understanding of mechanisms related to receptor activation and function, both the secondary and primary forms of EGFR somatic mutations have led to the discovery of new anti-EGFR agents aimed at providing new insights into the clinical targeting of this receptor and possibly acting as an ideal model for developing strategies to target other types of receptors.

Silk-Enabled Conformal Multifunctional Bioelectronics for Investigation of Spatiotemporal Epileptiform Activities and Multimodal Neural Encoding/Decoding.

Flexible electronics can serve as powerful tools for biomedical diagnosis and therapies of neurological disorders, particularly for application cases with brain-machine interfaces (BMIs). Existing conformal soft bioelectrodes are applicable for basic electrocorticogram (ECoG) collecting/monitoring. Nevertheless, as an emerging and promising approach, further multidisciplinary efforts are still demanded for in-depth exploitations with these conformal soft electronics toward their practical neurophysiological applications in both scientific research and real-world clinical operation.

Deep-learning-based target screening and similarity search for the predicted inhibitors of the pathways in Parkinson's disease.

Herein, a two-step approach was developed for the prediction of piperine targets and another prediction of similar (piperine) compounds from a small molecule library using a deep-learning method. Deep-learning and neural-network approaches were used for target prediction, similarity searches, and validation. The present approach was trained on records containing the data.

Formation of disk-like micelles of triblock copolymers in frustrating solvents.

Coil-coil block copolymers rarely self-assemble into flat low-curvature micelles due to the lack of proper interchain association. Here, we report a facile route to prepare disk-like micelles through the self-assembly of amphiphilic polystyrene--polybutadiene--poly(2-vinylpyridine) triblock copolymers in a mixture of acetone and cyclohexane, which shows distinct selectivity towards the PS, PB and P2VP blocks. Subtle solvation/aggregation of these blocks in this frustrating solvent system provides access to low-curvature micellar structures, and thus favors the formation of uniform disk-like micelles.

Xylopins A-F, six rare guaiane dimers with three different connecting modes from .

Six rare guaiane-type sesquiterpene dimers xylopins A-F, having three different connecting modes through two direct C-C bonds, were isolated from the roots of . Their absolute configurations were established by NOESY analysis, Cu Kα X-ray crystallography, and experimental and calculated electronic circular dichroism spectra. Flow cytometry demonstrated the fact that compound 6 arrested the cell cycle at G2 phase and concentration-dependently induced apoptosis of DU145 cells.

The rational design of hierarchical MoS nanosheet hollow spheres sandwiched between carbon and TiO@graphite as an improved anode for lithium-ion batteries.

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS) shows high capacity but suffers from poor rate capability and rapid capacity decay, which greatly limit its practical applications in lithium-ion batteries. Herein, we successfully prepared MoS nanosheet hollow spheres encapsulated into carbon and titanium dioxide@graphite, denoted as TiO@G@MoS@C, hydrothermal and polymerization approaches. In this hierarchical architecture, the MoS hollow sphere was sandwiched by graphite and an amorphous carbon shell; thus, TiO@G@MoS@C exhibited effectively enhanced electrical conductivity and withstood the volume changes; moreover, the aggregation and diffusion of the MoS nanosheets were restricted; this advanced TiO@G@MoS@C fully combined the advantages of a three-dimensional architecture, hollow structure, carbon coating, and a mechanically robust TiO@graphite support, achieving improved specific capacity and long-term cycling stability.

Hybrid multidimensional data acquisition and data processing strategy for comprehensive characterization of known, unknown and isomeric compounds from the compound Dan Zhi Tablet by UPLC-TWIMS-QTOFMS.

The compound Dan Zhi Tablet (DZT), a reputable traditional Chinese medicine prescription, is widely used for the treatment of ischemic stroke in clinic. However, its systematic chemical constituents have rarely been elucidated, which hampers its quality evaluation, the study of bioactive constituents and the mechanism of action interpretation. In this study, we developed a combination of multidimensional data acquisition and data processing strategy with the aim to globally and comprehensively identify the chemical constituents in DZT based on UPLC-TWIMS-QTOFMS.

A novel microstructure inspired from and lizard skin and its enhanced uni-directional liquid spreading property.

With the discovery of the liquid spreading mechanism on the peristome of , many studies focusing on uni-directional liquid spreading microstructures have been carried out with an emphasis on structural improvement and the spreading mechanism. Although there are various kinds of microstructures that can accomplish small-scale liquid uni-directional transportation, liquid spreading has not been optimized on a slope because of the unwanted backward flow generated by fabrication defects; inspired by the microstructure of the peristome surface of and the topography of the lizard skin, in this study, we present an innovative, easily processed microstructure that possesses the property of intensified uni-directional liquid spreading even on an oblique substrate. This property is derived from a new, hybrid mechanism that can significantly enhance the uni-directional liquid transportation.

Enhanced antibacterial properties of biocompatible titanium electrochemically deposited Ag/TiO nanotubes and chitosan-gelatin-Ag-ZnO complex coating.

A novel double-layered antibacterial coating was fabricated on pure titanium (Ti) a simple three-step electrodeposition process. Scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) images show that the coating was constructed with the inner layer of TiO nanotubes doped with silver nanoparticles (TNTs/Ag) and the outer layer of chitosan-gelatin mixture with zinc oxide and silver nanoparticles (CS-Gel-Ag-ZnO). In comparison, we also investigated the composition, structure and antibacterial properties of pure Ti coated with TNTs, TNTs/Ag or TNTs/Ag + CS-Gel-Ag-ZnO, respectively.

Insights into interaction of chlorophylls with sodium caseinate in aqueous nanometre-scale dispersion: color stability, spectroscopic, electrostatic, and morphological properties.

Chlorophylls are the major pigments present in photosynthetic plants but their application in foods is limited due to their lack of solubility in aqueous media and their susceptibility to degradation during processing and storage. These problems might be overcome by the addition of sodium caseinate (NaCas) whose hydrophobic and hydrophilic groups may result in electrostatic and steric stabilization. In the present work, 1% and 3% (w/w) chlorophylls in NaCas dispersion or in ethanol (control) were prepared and their color stability under light treatment for 5 h and light-shed storage for 10 days was studied along with their interaction mechanism, using electrostatic, spectroscopic and morphological methodologies.

Adsorption of cadmium by live and dead biomass of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria.

Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) have been extensively investigated in combination remediation with plants in heavy metal contaminated soil. However, being biosorbent, few studies of live and dead cells of PGPR have been undertaken. Meanwhile, the application of live or dead biomass for the removal of heavy metals continues to be debated.