Environmental issues such as the wastewater have influenced each aspect of our lives. Coupling the existing remediation solutions with exploring new functional carbon nanomaterials (e.g., carbon ...nanotubes, graphene oxide, graphene) by various perspectives shall open up a new venue to understand the environmental issues, phenomenon and find out the ways to get along with the nature. This review makes an attempt to provide an overview of potential environmental remediation solutions to the diverse challenges happening by using low-dimensional carbon nanomaterials and their composites as adsorbents, catalysts or catalysts support towards for the social sustainability.
We report on a simple and practical method for creation of transparent and electrically conductive films by using ultra-long single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) as the functioning elements. The ...ultra-long SWCNTs were ultimately dispersed into tubular levels for dispersion (denoted as mono-dispersion) in aqueous solutions by using glycocholate mixed with cholate as the dispersant. The resulting colloids were cast uniformly over the surface of flexible polyethylene terephthalate film through a wire-bar coating process. After washing by diluted nitric acid, the dispersants have been largely eliminated while the carbon nanotubes have been firmly retained on the surface of the film. These carbon nanotubes were finally transferred and permanently immobilized onto the surface of another piece of film with cellulose as the binder. Serial film samples each having different densities of the carbon nanotubes on the surface were prepared for studying the conductive mechanism. Film samples having densities around 30-tubes per μm2 were found to be capable of creating continuously interconnected carbon nanotube networks with a 92% transparency and a 286Ω/sq resistivity through the formation of approximately 160 tube-to-tube junctions per μm2. These highly conductive and transparent films transfer electrons by the carbon nanotube networks with a slightly deformed tube-to-tube junction feature.
...different types of genome editing tools are desirable to improve the functional genomic research in cotton. A previous work has shown that tRNA‐sgRNA transcription unit is very effective to ...enhance the sgRNA transcription in CRISPR/Cas9 system for cotton genome editing (Wang et al., ). ...we designed the crRNA following our previous work and conducted a vector named pGhRBE3‐Cpf1‐GhCLA1 targeting GhCLA1 gene (Figure a). The editing window and profiling of CRISPR/Cpf1 system in the edited T0 plants were systematically analysed in this report. Since no target mutation occurs preceding the PAM sequence and within the PAM sequence, we investigated the editing downstream of the PAM sequence. Deletion size and proportion of each target mutation in T0 plants were also analysed and are shown in Figure e. The deletion sizes ranged from 3 to 28 bp in length, and the deletion size of majority is from 5 to 12 bp (Figure e), which are larger than the average deletion size (1–5 bp) induced by CRISPR/Cas9 in cotton genome (Wang et al., ). ...we speculate that the CRISPR/Cpf1 system prefers to generate large size deletions in cotton genome editing.
Inspired by pigeon feathers, the drag-reducing contribution of spanwise grooves was studied. Surface topography of the wing feather was scanned by an instrument of white light interference. Three ...types of grooves of triangle, rectangle, and trapezoid were adopted based on the unsymmetric microstructures found on the feather surface. Numerical simulations were conducted to analyze drag-reducing mechanisms. According to the simulation results, the rectangular groove reduced the wall shear stress more efficiently but with greater additional pressure drag, while the triangular groove was the opposite. For the trapezoidal groove similar to the feather structure, drag reduction was the best out of the three. Wind tunnel experiments for the trapezoidal groove were performed by using a cylindrical model and large-area plate. Drag reduction was confirmed from the cylindrical model at a series of velocities from 15 m/s to 90 m/s (about 16% at velocity of 30 m/s and about 8.5% at velocity of 60 m/s). Drag reduction was also obtained from the plate model at a velocity range of 30 m/s to 75 m/s (about 19% at the velocity of 60 m/s), which worked for a wide range of velocity and was more meaningful for the application.
In this paper, the ultra-thin and high-quality WO3 compact layers were successfully prepared by spin-coating-pyrolysis method using the tungsten isopropoxide solution in isopropanol. The influence of ...WO3 and TiO2 compact layer thickness on the photovoltaic performance of planar perovskite solar cells was systematically compared, and the interface charge transfer and recombination in planar perovskite solar cells with TiO2 compact layer was analyzed by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The results revealed that the optimum thickness of WO3 and TiO2 compact layer was 15nm and 60nm. The planar perovskite solar cell with 15nm WO3 compact layer gave a 9.69% average and 10.14% maximum photoelectric conversion efficiency, whereas the planar perovskite solar cell with 60nm TiO2 compact layer achieved a 11.79% average and 12.64% maximum photoelectric conversion efficiency.
The planar perovskite solar cell with 15nm WO3 compact layer gave a 9.69% average and 10.14% maximum photoelectric conversion efficiency, whereas the planar perovskite solar cell with 60nm TiO2 compact layer achieved a 11.79% average and 12.64% maximum photoelectric conversion efficiency.
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•Preparation of ultra-thin and high-quality WO3 compact layers.•Perovskite solar cell with 15nm-thick WO3 compact layer achieved PCE of 10.14%.•Perovskite solar cell with 60nm-thick TiO2 compact layer achieved PCE of 12.64%.
It is generally assumed that task switching involves working memory, yet some behavioral studies question the relationship between working memory and task switching ability. This debate can be ...resolved by directly comparing the brain activity pattern in task switching and working memory processes. If the task switching involves working memory, the neural activity patterns evoked by such two tasks would exhibit higher similarity. Here, we employed the task switching task and working memory to investigate the characteristic of the neural representation in such two cognitive processes. A conjunction analysis showed that the bilateral superior parietal lobule (SPL), bilateral insula, bilateral middle frontal gyrus (MFG), bilateral dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and pre-supplementary motor area (pre-SMA) were commonly and significantly activated in both task switching and working memory task. Critically, we found that task switching and working memory processing elicited similar activity patterns in bilateral SPL, right insula, left MFG, left DLPFC and pre-SMA, consistent with common neural processes for both tasks. These results not only suggest that the task switching process involves working memory from the perspective of neural representation, but also provide major new insights into the neurocognitive links between task switching and working memory.
Abstract
The BIG Data Center at Beijing Institute of Genomics (BIG) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences provides freely open access to a suite of database resources in support of worldwide research ...activities in both academia and industry. With the vast amounts of omics data generated at ever-greater scales and rates, the BIG Data Center is continually expanding, updating and enriching its core database resources through big-data integration and value-added curation, including BioCode (a repository archiving bioinformatics tool codes), BioProject (a biological project library), BioSample (a biological sample library), Genome Sequence Archive (GSA, a data repository for archiving raw sequence reads), Genome Warehouse (GWH, a centralized resource housing genome-scale data), Genome Variation Map (GVM, a public repository of genome variations), Gene Expression Nebulas (GEN, a database of gene expression profiles based on RNA-Seq data), Methylation Bank (MethBank, an integrated databank of DNA methylomes), and Science Wikis (a series of biological knowledge wikis for community annotations). In addition, three featured web services are provided, viz., BIG Search (search as a service; a scalable inter-domain text search engine), BIG SSO (single sign-on as a service; a user access control system to gain access to multiple independent systems with a single ID and password) and Gsub (submission as a service; a unified submission service for all relevant resources). All of these resources are publicly accessible through the home page of the BIG Data Center at http://bigd.big.ac.cn.
Taking the mixed pre-salt carbonate rocks in the upper member of Eocene Xiaganchaigou Formation (E32) of Yingxi area in the Qaidam Basin as an example, the lithofacies and controlling mechanisms of ...reservoir formation are analyzed based on a large dataset of cores, thin sections and geochemical analysis. The reservoirs in E32 pre-salt layers have five types of lithofacies, of them, mixed granular calcareous dolostone, massive calcareous dolostone, plaque calcareous dolostone, and laminated dolomtic limestone are of sedimentary origin, and breccia calcareous dolostone is of tectonic origin. The four types of sedimentary lithofacies are divided into two types of saline sedimentary sequence lithofacies combinations, low-energy type in the sag area and low to high-energy type in the slope and paleo-uplift zone in the depression. Affected by high-frequency supply of continental clastic material, the two types of salty sedimentary sequences are mostly incomplete subtypes of lithofacies. Lithofacies have strong impacts on pre-salt reservoirs in E32: (1) Lithofacies type and sedimentary sequence controlled the formation and distribution of dolomite intercrystalline pores and dissolved pores during the pene-sedimentary period. (2) The structure of laminated dolomitic limestone controlled the formation of large-scale laminated fractures and high permeability channels during the diagenetic period. (3) Granular, massive, plaque calcareous dolostones have low mud content and strong brittleness, in the late tectonic reactivation period, the distribution of the three types of lithofacies, together with their distance from the top large slip faults and secondary faults, controlled the formation and distribution of high-efficiency fracture-cave brecciaed calcareous dolostone reservoirs. The above research led to the composite lithofacies-tectonic formation model of pre-salt reservoir in E32 of Yingxi area. The tempo-spatial distribution of tectonic breccia calcareous dolostone reservoirs, laminated dolomitic limestone shale oil reservoirs and granular, massive calcareous dolostone dissolved-intercrystalline pore tight reservoirs in various structural belts of the studied area have been figured out. These findings gave new insights into tight-shale oil accumulation theory in mixed carbonate successions from saline lacustrine basins, aiding in high efficient exploration and development of petroleum in the studied area.
Zooplankton can affect and regulate the biological carbon pump in the biogeochemical cycles of marine ecosystems through diel vertical migration (DVM) behaviour. The diel vertical distribution and ...migration of a zooplankton community were studied at a continuous survey station in the Caroline Seamount area of the western tropical Pacific Ocean. Using a MultiNet sampling system, 346 zooplankton species/taxa were collected and identified. The vertical distribution patterns of abundance and composition of the zooplankton community differed between daytime and nighttime. The highest biodiversity index occurred in the 100-200-m ocean depth layer, but some zooplankton species remained in the deep-water layer below 300 m. The DVM patterns of the various dominant species differed, even when the species belonged to the same order or family. Dissolved oxygen and seawater temperature were the main environmental factors affecting the diel vertical distribution of the zooplankton community. The oxygen minimum zone was identified as performing the dual role of "ecological barrier" and "refuge" for zooplankton. The active carbon flux mediated by the zooplankton DVM in the Caroline Seamount area was 14.5 mg C/(m
·d). Our findings suggest that zooplankton DVM can affect and mediate the biological carbon pump in the Caroline Seamount area.
It is necessary to systematically evaluate the efficacy and adverse reactions of pirfenidone in the treatment of patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).
Pubmed et al. databases were ...searched up to March 15, 2021 for randomized controlled trials (RCT) of pirfenidone in the treatment of IPF. Two authors collected and compared the indicators including progression-free survival (PFS), vital capacity (VC), forced vital capacity (FVC), and adverse reactions. RevMan 5.3 software and Stata 15.0 software were used for meta-analysis.
A total of 8 reports with 9 RCTs involving 1824 IPF patients were included. Meta-analysis results showed that compared with the control group, pirfenidone could prolong the PFS phase of IPF patients (HR = 0.65, 95% CI 0.55 ~ 0.76, P < 0.001), slow down the VC of IPF patients (SMD = 0.43, 95% CI 0.21 ~ 0.66, P < 0.001), and decrease FVC (SMD = 0.31, 95% CI 0.14 ~ 0.48, P < 0.001). The main adverse reactions of pirfenidone were gastrointestinal reactions, photosensitivity and skin rashes.
Pirfenidone is beneficial to prolong the PFS of IPF patients, improve lung function, and it is safe for clinical use. However, more high-quality RCTs are still needed to provide reliable evidence for the treatment of IPF.
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