The human body is inhabited by a diverse microbial community that is collectively coined as commensal microbiota. Recent research has greatly advanced our understanding of how the commensal ...microbiota affects host health. Among the various kinds of pathogenic infections of the host, viral infections constitute one of the most serious public health problems worldwide. During the infection process, viruses may have substantial and intimate interactions with the commensal microbiota. A plethora of evidence suggests that the commensal microbiota regulates and is in turn regulated by invading viruses through diverse mechanisms, thereby having stimulatory or suppressive roles in viral infections. Furthermore, the integrity of the commensal microbiota can be disturbed by invading viruses, causing dysbiosis in the host and further influencing virus infectivity. In the present article, we discuss current insights into the regulation of viral infection by the commensal microbiota. We also draw attention to the disruption of microbiota homeostasis by several viruses.
Osteocytes, the most abundant and long-lived cells in bone, are the master regulators of bone remodeling. In addition to their functions in endocrine regulation and calcium and phosphate metabolism, ...osteocytes are the major responsive cells in force adaptation due to mechanical stimulation. Mechanically induced bone formation and adaptation, disuse-induced bone loss and skeletal fragility are mediated by osteocytes, which sense local mechanical cues and respond to these cues in both direct and indirect ways. The mechanotransduction process in osteocytes is a complex but exquisite regulatory process between cells and their environment, between neighboring cells, and between different functional mechanosensors in individual cells. Over the past two decades, great efforts have focused on finding various mechanosensors in osteocytes that transmit extracellular mechanical signals into osteocytes and regulate responsive gene expression. The osteocyte cytoskeleton, dendritic processes, Integrin-based focal adhesions, connexin-based intercellular junctions, primary cilium, ion channels, and extracellular matrix are the major mechanosensors in osteocytes reported so far with evidence from both in vitro and in vitro studies. This review aims to give a systematic introduction to osteocyte mechanobiology, provide details of osteocyte mechanosensors, and discuss the roles of osteocyte mechanosensitive signaling pathways in the regulation of bone homeostasis.
In this article, a high-efficiency high-power-density wide-bandgap-based CLLC resonant converter with a low-stray-capacitance and well-heat-dissipated planar transformer is presented, which is used ...as the isolated dc-dc stage for an electric vehicle on-board charger. A generalized planar transformer design methodology is proposed and validated by practical designs and experimental tests. A novel and simple transformer configuration is proposed to reduce the winding stray capacitance and enhance the winding thermal dissipation. The proposed transformer configuration is compared with different planar transformer designs, and the tradeoffs of employing the proposed design are well analyzed. Moreover, the system design and optimization of the high-efficiency high-power-density CLLC resonant converter is studied. The proposed transformer design and the system optimization approach are employed in a 6.6-kW/500-kHz CLLC resonant converter prototype. The prototype achieves a peak efficiency of 97.85% and a power density of 114 W/in<inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">^\text {3}</tex-math></inline-formula>.
Lithium metal is used to achieve high‐energy‐density batteries due to its large theoretical capacity and low negative electrochemical potential. The introduction of quasi‐solid electrolytes ...simultaneously overcomes the safety problems induced by the liquid electrolytes and the high interfacial resistance issues confronted by all solid‐state electrolytes. In‐depth investigations involving interfacial behaviors in quasi‐solid lithium metal batteries are inadequate. Herein an ultrathin Li3OCl quasi‐solid‐state electrolyte layer (500 nm thickness) is used to cover a lithium anode. The polarization of the anode is remarkably reduced by introducing the Li3OCl quasi‐solid‐state electrolyte. In contrast to the decomposition of solvents in a standard electrolyte (EC‐DEC,1.0 m LiPF6), the established quasi‐solid‐state electrolyte interfaces can significantly inhibit the decomposition of solvents when the cut‐off voltage is 4.5 V.
The interfacial behavior of the quasi‐solid‐state electrolyte layer Li3OCl was investigated with a three‐electrode setup. An ultrathin Li3OCl layer can remarkably reduce the over‐potential of the lithium anode and inhibit solvent decomposition, significantly prolonging the service life of a high‐voltage (4.5 V) lithium metal battery.
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•Porous carbon nanospheres gel is adopted as carrier for SMIP preparation.•3D monolithic imprinted adsorbent material is obtained.•The boron–carbon grid provides excellent stability ...and durability.•The 3D monolithic structure ensures outstanding operability.
By adopting porous carbon nanospheres gel (PCNS-gel) carrier, the corresponding 3D monolithic surface molecularly imprinted polymer adsorbent (SMIP@PCNS-gel) possesses unique advantages of excellent stability and efficient renewability besides its outstanding selectivity towards target phenol molecules. Carrier PCNS-gel is fabricated through the hydrothermal reaction of glucose, borax, and polyvinyl alcohol mixture. Based on the PCNS-gel, the functional adsorbent SMIP@PCNS-gel is obtained via surface molecular imprinting technology, with phenol as template molecule and methacrylic acid as functional monomer. Owing to the surface imprinted layer, SMIP@PCNS-gel performances a good adsorption capacity of 64.02 mg g−1 towards phenol. In addition, SMIP@PCNS-gel has good selectivity towards phenol in the quaternary mixture solution of phenol, hydroquinone, p-nitrophenol, and p-tert-butylphenol with relative selectivity factors of 3.04, 16.50, and 3.93, respectively. More importantly, thanks to the 3D monolithic PCNS-gel carrier, the SMIP@PCNS-gel adsorbent exhibits exceptional separation and recovery efficiency as well as outstanding stability and durability. The adsorption capacity only decreases by 10% after 10 repeated adsorption–desorption cycles. The adsorption capacity of SMIP@PCNS-gel towards phenol in alkaline wastewater with complex composition is 58.4 mg g−1. The prepared novel 3D monolithic SMIP@PCNS-gel adsorbent shows a promising application prospect for the deep and selective adsorption removal of phenol from wastewater.
Solar-driven water splitting using powdered catalysts is considered as the most economical means for hydrogen generation. However, four-electron-driven oxidation half-reaction showing slow kinetics, ...accompanying with insufficient light absorption and rapid carrier combination in photocatalysts leads to low solar-to-hydrogen energy conversion efficiency. Here, we report amorphous cobalt phosphide (Co-P)-supported black phosphorus nanosheets employed as photocatalysts can simultaneously address these issues. The nanosheets exhibit robust hydrogen evolution from pure water (pH = 6.8) without bias and hole scavengers, achieving an apparent quantum efficiency of 42.55% at 430 nm and energy conversion efficiency of over 5.4% at 353 K. This photocatalytic activity is attributed to extremely efficient utilization of solar energy (~75% of solar energy) by black phosphorus nanosheets and high-carrier separation efficiency by amorphous Co-P. The hybrid material design realizes efficient solar-to-chemical energy conversion in suspension, demonstrating the potential of black phosphorus-based materials as catalysts for solar hydrogen production.
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•Review on metal-organic frameworks based heterogeneous Fenton-like catalysis.•Special attention has been paid to the catalytic mechanism.•The effects of pH on MOF-based Fenton-like ...catalysis are discussed.•The stability and reusability of MOF-based Fenton-like catalysts are also discussed.
The heterogeneous Fenton-like reaction is an advanced oxidation process which has gained wide spread acceptance for high removal efficiency of recalcitrant organic contaminants. Recently, the use of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) or MOF composites as catalysts for Fenton-like catalysis has received increasing attention due to their permanent porosity and tunable open metal centers. In this article, we present an overview of the development and progress in the synthesis of different types of MOF-based catalysts and their applications for Fenton-like oxidation of organic pollutants. Special attention has been paid to the catalytic mechanism, namely the production of reactive species on the surface of the catalysts. Representative studies in this area were comprehensively reviewed. Overall, it is concluded that several classes of MOF materials with fixed metal centers are able to catalytically degrade organic pollutants over a wide pH range. Meanwhile, research in this field is still at an early stage, many improvements are required before the technology can be efficiently scaled-up and put into practice.
Fracturing technology through liquid nitrogen (LN2) injection alters the physical properties of coal and rock masses because of the thermal and pressure effects. In order to investigate heat transfer ...and fracture propagation behaviors under in situ geological condition with LN2 injections, experimental work was conducted to study the LN2 induced rock/coal failures under true triaxial stress conditions. During the experiments, the temperature, ultrasonic waves, and acoustic emission location detection were monitored to determine the intensity and complexity of specimen failure under singular or cyclic LN2 injections. The results show that a single LN2 injection mainly transfers heat through the solid skeleton and only damages areas adjacent to the injection tube. However, cyclic injections formed a propagated fracture network and the heat can sequentially transfer further along the induced fractures. Moreover, plastic deformation occurred in the entire volume of the sample and the main fractures coalesced until the sample failed. Based on the spatial locations of the acoustic emission sources, the dynamic fracturing within the sample progressed after LN2 injection was clarified. The experimental results can provide evidences for the proposed crack propagation model for the coal masses. The research revealed that high-pressure nitrogen gas transferring liquid water to the tips of new fractures is essential for cyclic LN2 injection to form effective frost-heaving forces and fracturing. Therefore, the fracturing efficiency of the cyclic LN2 injection is far higher than that of singular LN2 injections.
•Fracture propagation and heat transfer during LN2 injection were obtained.•High-pressure N2 transferring water to the crack-tips is essential for fracturing.•Crack propagation model and mesoscopic stress states were revealed.•Cyclic LN2 injection is more favorable for CBM production.
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a malignant cancer worldwide; lacking biomarkers for early prognostication contributes to its high lethality. Herein, we report a novel biomarker, exosome delivered ...miR-93, is up-regulated in HCC cell line media and serum samples of HCC patients. We measured the proliferation and invasion ability of HCC cell lines following exosomal miR-93 treatment. After prediction with online algorithms, we further confirmed that TP53INP1, TIMP2 and CDKN1A are direct targets of miR-93 by dual-luciferase reporter assay. In addition, the diagnostic value of exosomal miR-93 was evaluated by qPCR and ROC analysis. The significant correlation between serum exosomal miR-93 and clinical information including stage, tumor size were observed. Furthermore, the survival differences of HCC patients with high or low miR-93 were statistically significant using Kaplan-Meier analysis. In summary, our work identified exosomal miR-93 as a novel biomarker for both diagnosis and prognosis in HCC.
•Exosomal miR-93 is up-regulated both in HCC cell lines' media and HCC patients' serum.•Exosomal miR-93 promotes HCC proliferation and invasion by regulating TIMP2/TP53INP1/CDKN1A.•Exosomal miR-93 is correlated with clinical information including stage, tumor size and predict patients' survival rate.
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