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•Carbon-nanotube nanofluid was utilized for high efficient solar steam generation.•The evaporation performance was enhanced by concentrating solar power.•Evaporation efficiency up to ...46.8% was achieved by carbon nanotube nanofluid.•Localized solar heating at fluid–air interface is responsible for high efficiency.
Traditional solar-energy collection systems experience high thermal losses because of the high surface temperature of the absorber. Nanofluid developments have led to extensive studies on their suitability for direct absorption as solar-energy collectors. A potential approach for solar steam generation via nanoparticle absorption of solar light and its conversion to thermal energy for water evaporation has been introduced recently. Direct solar vapor generation enabled by carbon-nanotube nanofluids was investigated experimentally in the present work. The effects of solar-power density and carbon-nanotube concentration on solar steam-generation performance are discussed. The evaporation rate increases with an increase in solar power and carbon-nanotube concentration. A high evaporation efficiency (46.8%) was obtained with a 19.04×10−4vol.% carbon-nanotube nanofluid under a solar illumination power of 10 Sun (1Sun=1kWm−2). A high evaporation rate was achieved by localized heating of the nanofluid rather than by a bulk temperature increase, which provides a mechanism for low-temperature solar vapor generation and exhibits broad solar-energy applications such as seawater desalination, waste sterilization and power generation.
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•Bio-inspired solar steam generation using floating plasmonic membranes (PMs) proposed.•High steam generation efficiency of 85% achieved at illumination power of 10kWm−2.•PMs enhanced ...the productivity of a solar still for seawater desalination by ∼80%.
Efficient solar-enabled evaporation plays a critical role in solar power-based concentration systems, photochemical plants, seawater desalination technologies, etc. However, traditional processes for solar steam generation usually depend on high-temperature heating of the bulk liquid, which requires highly concentrated solar power and suffers from high energy and optical losses. Therefore, the enhancement of solar steam generation by bio-inspired interface solar heating is proposed in this work. In this study, easy-to-prepare, flexible, and reusable plasmonic membranes (PMs) were fabricated for realizing the bio-inspired interface solar heating and continuous steam transportation through the micropores of the membranes. A solar steam generation efficiency of ∼85% was achieved at an illumination power of 10kWm−2. The effects of Au concentration in the membranes and optical power on the steam generation efficiency were systemically studied. The observed high evaporation rate and efficiency were attributed to three main factors: high (∼90%) and broadband solar absorption, efficient photo-thermal conversion due to high plasmon dissipation losses, and fast capillary flow in the membrane micropores. Finally, the application of PMs in a single basin solar still system for seawater desalination was investigated and the PMs exhibited great performance on enhancing the productivity of clean water.
Based on the improved Bass model, this paper studies online social platforms’ product information dissemination mode. This paper studies the Bass model based on the attenuation effect of user ...benefits. The dissemination mode of product information is established. It is the effect of product information quality on product information dissemination. Finally, an empirical analysis is made of the communication materials of the films released from 2013 to 2022. It is found that the user switching engine and the user’s consumption have obvious effects on the information transmission. This model has better prediction accuracy and fitting performance than the Bass model. This model can be applied to the calculation of other damped transport rates.
In this paper, a novel direct solar steam generation method is proposed that realizes highly efficient vapour generation. The strategy was inspired by the evaporation of sweat from the human skin and ...the transpiration of plants in biological systems. A micro-porous structured broadband absorption paper-based carbon nanotube (CNT) film was prepared by a facile vacuum filtration process, and was utilized as both the solar harvesting surface and steam generation skin. The excellent optical absorptivity and water conductivity of CNTs make great contributions to the solar steam generation. The heat and mass transfer properties on the direct solar steam generation performance of CNT films was investigated. The evaporation rate and temperature distribution of the steam generation system were experimentally studied to evaluate the evaporation performance. The results demonstrate that the bio-inspired solar heating of CNT films has significant advantages for enhancing direct solar steam generation compared to those of direct volumetric solar heating. Through this research, it was found that the localized photo-heating of floating CNT films at the water-air interface and the fast capillary flow through the porous structures of the films enhanced the solar steam generation process. This bio-inspired direct solar steam generation method using carbon nanotube films has great potential in a variety of industrial applications, including electrical power generation, freshwater distillation, and solar hygiene systems.
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•A novel bio-inspired direct solar steam generation method was proposed.•Porous and broadband absorption CNT films were prepared via a facile method.•Heat and steam flow through the micro-porous CNT films were studied.•Broadband absorption CNT films improved the efficiency of solar steam by up to 400%.
Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have attracted interest for their potential to alleviate liver injury. Here, the protective effect of MSCs on carbon tetrachloride (CCl
)-induced acute liver injury ...(ALI) was investigated. In this study, we illustrated a novel mechanism that ferroptosis, a newly recognized form of regulated cell death, contributed to CCl
-induced ALI. Subsequently, based on the in vitro and in vivo evidence that MSCs and MSC-derived exosomes (MSC-Exo) treatment achieved pathological remission and inhibited the production of lipid peroxidation, we proposed an MSC-based therapy for CCl
-induced ALI. More intriguingly, treatment with MSCs and MSC-Exo downregulated the mRNA level of prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 2 (Ptgs2) and lipoxygenases (LOXs) while it restored the protein level of SLC7A11 in primary hepatocytes and mouse liver, indicating that the inhibition of ferroptosis partly accounted for the protective effect of MSCs and MSC-Exo on ALI. We further revealed that MSC-Exo-induced expression of SLC7A11 protein was accompanied by increasing of CD44 and OTUB1. The aberrant expression of ubiquitinated SLC7A11 triggered by CCl
could be rescued with OTUB1-mediated deubiquitination, thus strengthening SLC7A11 stability and thereby leading to the activation of system X
to prevent CCl
-induced hepatocyte ferroptosis. In conclusion, we showed that MSC-Exo had a protective role against ferroptosis by maintaining SLC7A11 function, thus proposing a novel therapeutic strategy for ferroptosis-induced ALI.
Intrinsically disordered proteins, which do not adopt well-defined structures under physiological conditions, are implicated in many human diseases. Small molecules that target the disordered ...transactivation domain of the androgen receptor have entered human trials for the treatment of castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC), but no structural or mechanistic rationale exists to explain their inhibition mechanisms or relative potencies. Here, we utilize all-atom molecular dynamics computer simulations to elucidate atomically detailed binding mechanisms of the compounds EPI-002 and EPI-7170 to the androgen receptor. Our simulations reveal that both compounds bind at the interface of two transiently helical regions and induce the formation of partially folded collapsed helical states. We find that EPI-7170 binds androgen receptor more tightly than EPI-002 and we identify a network of intermolecular interactions that drives higher affinity binding. Our results suggest strategies for developing more potent androgen receptor inhibitors and general strategies for disordered protein drug design.
Quinone cathode materials show great promise for aqueous zinc batteries. However, the poor electrical conductivity of organic compounds calls for the addition of high percentages of conductive agents ...during electrode preparation, usually ≥30%. Herein, we synthesize a semi-conductive piperazine-linked quinone of 2,3,7,8-tetraamino-5,10-dihydrophenazine-1,4,6,9-tetraone (TDT) for zinc batteries. Theoretical calculations suggest the extended conjugation among the π-electrons on the quinone rings and p-electrons on nitrogen sites in the structure. This allows electron delocalization throughout the entire molecule, and a small band gap of 1.5 eV is revealed by theoretical calculations and solid-state UV-vis spectroscopy. Besides, electron paramagnetic resonance demonstrates the formation of cationic radicals on the nitrogen of the middle piperazine ring. The radical is also stabilized by the extended conjugated system and further enhances the electrical conductivity. Thanks to the above factors, TDT exhibits a good electrical conductivity on the order of 0.1-1 mS cm
−1
. In aqueous zinc batteries, the TDT cathode with 10% carbon delivers a high capacity of 369 mA h g
−1
at 0.2 A g
−1
and retains 182 mA h g
−1
at 10 A g
−1
.
In situ
UV-vis analysis further reveals the insolubility of TDT at all charged/discharged states, which ensures stable cycling for 3000 cycles.
A semi-conductive organic cathode is proposed for aqueous Zn batteries. It realizes excellent electrochemical performance with low carbon additives.
Background: The recent outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been rapidly spreading on a global scale and poses a great threat to human health. Acute respiratory distress syndrome, ...characterized by a rapid onset of generalized inflammation, is the leading cause of mortality in patients with COVID-19. We thus aimed to explore the effect of risk factors on the severity of the disease, focusing on immune-inflammatory parameters, which represent the immune status of patients. Methods: A comprehensive systematic search for relevant studies published up to April 2020 was performed by using the PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE, and China National Knowledge Internet (CNKI) databases. After extracting all available data of immune-inflammatory indicators, we statistically analyzed the risk factors of severe and non-severe COVID-19 patients with a meta-analysis. Results: A total of 4,911 patients from 29 studies were included in the final meta-analysis. The results demonstrated that severe patients tend to present with increased white blood cell (WBC) and neutrophil counts, neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), procalcitonin (PCT), C-reaction protein (CRP), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and Interleukin-6 (IL-6) and a decreased number of total lymphocyte and lymphocyte subtypes, such as CD4+ T lymphocyte and CD8+ T lymphocyte, compared to the non-severe patients. In addition, the WBC count>10 × 109/L, lymphocyte count<1 × 109/L, PCT>0.5 ng/mL, and CRP>10 mg/L were risk factors for disease progression in patients with COVID-19 (WBC count>10 × 109/L: OR = 2.92, 95% CI: 1.96-4.35; lymphocyte count<1 × 109/L: OR = 4.97, 95% CI: 3.53-6.99; PCT>0.5 ng/mL: OR = 6.33, 95% CI: 3.97-10.10; CRP>10 mg/L: OR = 3.51, 95% CI: 2.38-5.16). Furthermore, we found that NLR, as a novel marker of systemic inflammatory response, can also help predict clinical severity in patients with COVID-19 (OR = 2.50, 95% CI: 2.04-3.06). Conclusions: Immune-inflammatory parameters, such as WBC, lymphocyte, PCT, CRP, and NLR, could imply the progression of COVID-19. NLR has taken both the levels of neutrophil and lymphocyte into account, indicating a more complete, accurate, and reliable inspection efficiency; surveillance of NLR may help clinicians identify high-risk COVID-19 patients at an early stage.
Diamond is not only the hardest material in nature, but is also an extreme electronic material with an ultrawide bandgap, exceptional carrier mobilities, and thermal conductivity. Straining diamond ...can push such extreme figures of merit for device applications. We microfabricated single-crystalline diamond bridge structures with ~1 micrometer length by ~100 nanometer width and achieved sample-wide uniform elastic strains under uniaxial tensile loading along the 100, 101, and 111 directions at room temperature. We also demonstrated deep elastic straining of diamond microbridge arrays. The ultralarge, highly controllable elastic strains can fundamentally change the bulk band structures of diamond, including a substantial calculated bandgap reduction as much as ~2 electron volts. Our demonstration highlights the immense application potential of deep elastic strain engineering for photonics, electronics, and quantum information technologies.
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