Nanoindentation measurement of core–skin interphase viscoelastic properties in a sandwich glass composite

Mechanics of Time-Dependent Materials - Debonding at the core–skin interphase region is one of the primary failure modes in core sandwich composites under shear loads. As a result, the...     

Enhanced π–π Interactions of Nonfullerene Acceptors by Volatilizable Solid Additives in Efficient Polymer Solar Cells

Fine‐tuning of the nanoscale morphologies of the active layers in polymer solar cells (PSCs) through various techniques plays a vital role in improving the photovoltaic performance. However, for emerging nonfullerene (NF) PSCs, the morphology optimization of the active‐layer films empirically follows the methods originally developed in fullerene‐based blends and lacks systematic studies. In this work, two solid additives with different volatilities, SA‐4 and SA‐7, are applied to investigate their influence on the morphologies and photovoltaic performances of NF‐PSCs. Although both solid additives effectively promote the molecular packing of the NF acceptors, due to the higher volatility of SA‐4, the devices processed with SA‐4 exhibit a power conversion efficiency of 13.5%, higher than that of the control devices, and the devices processed with SA‐7 exhibit poor performances. Through a series of detailed morphological analyses, it is found that the volatilization of SA‐4 after thermal annealing is beneficial for the self‐assembly packing of acceptors, while the residuals due to the incomplete volatilization of SA‐7 have a negative effect on the film morphology. The results delineate the feasibility of applying volatilizable solid additives and provide deeper insights into the working mechanism, establishing guidelines for further material design of solid additives.     

Effect of Si/Fe ratio on the boron and phosphorus doping efficiency of β-FeSi2 by magnetron sputtering

Boron-doped or phosphorus-doped β-FeSi₂ thin films have been prepared on silicon substrate by magnetron sputtering. Effects of Si/Fe ratio on the boron and phosphorus doping efficiencies have been studied from the resistivities of doped β-FeSi₂ thin films and current-voltage characteristics of doped β-FeSi₂/Si heterojunctions. The experimental results reveal that the carrier concentration and doping efficiency of boron or phosphorus dopants at the Fe-rich side are higher than that at the Si-rich side. The effect of Si/Fe ratio can be deduced from the comparison of the formation energies under two extreme conditions. At the Fe-rich limit condition, the formation energy of boron or phosphorous doping is lower than that at the Si-rich condition. Therefore, the activation of impurities is more effective at the Fe-rich side. These results demonstrate that the boron-doped and phosphorous-doped β-FeSi₂ thin films should be kept at the Fe-rich side to avoid the unexpected doping sites and low doping efficiency.     

Biomimetic Robust Starch Composite Films with Super-Hydrophobicity and Vivid Structural Colors

The starch composite films (SCFs) will be one of the best alternative packaging materials to petroleum based plastic films, which mitigates white pollution and energy consumption. However, weak mechanical stability, water resistance, and dyeability has hindered the application of SCFs. Herein, a bioinspired robust SCFs with super-hydrophobicity and excellent structural colors were prepared by fiber-reinforcement and assembling SiO₂/Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) amorphous arrays on the surface of SCFs. The properties of the designed SCFs were investigated by various methods including scanning electron microscope (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA), a tensile test, contact angle (CA) test, and an optical test. The results showed that the obtained SCFs possessed a higher tensile strength (55.17 MPa) attributed to the formed abundant hydrogen bonds between the molecular chains of the starch, cellulose fiber, and polyvinyl alcohol. Benefiting from the nanostructure with rough surface which were modified by materials with low surface free energy, the contact angle and sliding angle of the film reached up to 154° and 2°, respectively. The colors which were produced by the constructive interference of the coherent scattered light could cover all of the visible regions by tuning the diameters of the SiO₂ nanoparticles. The strategy in the present study not only reinforces the mechanical strength and water resistance of SCFs but also provides an environmentally friendly way to color the them, which shows unprecedented application potential in packaging materials of the starch composite films.     

Pan-Lysyl Oxidase Inhibitor PXS-5505 Ameliorates Multiple-Organ Fibrosis by Inhibiting Collagen Crosslinks in Rodent Models of Systemic Sclerosis

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is characterised by progressive multiple organ fibrosis leading to morbidity and mortality. Lysyl oxidases play a vital role in the cross-linking of collagens and subsequent build-up of fibrosis in the extracellular matrix. As such, their inhibition provides a novel treatment paradigm for SSc. A novel small molecule pan-lysyl oxidase inhibitor, PXS-5505, currently in clinical development for myelofibrosis treatment was evaluated using in vivo rodent models resembling the fibrotic conditions in SSc. Both lysyl oxidase and lysyl oxidase-like 2 (LOXL2) expression were elevated in the skin and lung of SSc patients. The oral application of PXS-5505 inhibited lysyl oxidase activity in the skin and LOXL2 activity in the lung. PXS-5505 exhibited anti-fibrotic effects in the SSc skin mouse model, reducing dermal thickness and α-smooth muscle actin. Similarly, in the bleomycin-induced mouse lung model, PXS-5505 reduced pulmonary fibrosis toward normal levels, mediated by its ability to normalise collagen/elastin crosslink formation. PXS-5505 also reduced fibrotic extent in models of the ischaemia-reperfusion heart, the unilateral ureteral obstruction kidney, and the CCl4-induced fibrotic liver. PXS-5505 consistently demonstrates potent anti-fibrotic efficacy in multiple models of organ fibrosis relevant to the pathogenesis of SSc, suggesting that it may be efficacious as a novel approach for treating SSc.     

Hydrodynamic Instability Analysis of the Axial Flow Pump in an Ethylene Polymerization Loop Reactor

The hydrodynamic instability of the axial flow pump in a loop reactor has long been a troubling issue to be solved in the polyethylene industry due to the lack of a better mechanismic understanding.Generally,the instability of an axial flow pump can be reflected by the fluctuation of the pump head.In this study,the transient computational fluid dynamics(CFD)simulation is adopted to study the hydrodynamic instability of the axial flow pump used in an ethylene polymerization loop reactor.The resul...     

Genome-Wide Association Study Identifies a Rice Panicle Blast Resistance Gene,Pb2, Encoding NLR Protein

Rice blast is one of the main diseases in rice and can occur in different rice growth stages. Due to the complicated procedure of panicle blast identification and instability of panicle blast infection influenced by the environment, most cloned rice resistance genes are associated with leaf blast. In this study, a rice panicle blast resistance gene, Pb2, was identified by genome-wide association mapping based on the panicle blast resistance phenotypes of 230 Rice Diversity Panel 1 (RDP1) accessions with 700,000 single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers. A genome-wide association study identified 18 panicle blast resistance loci (PBRL) within two years, including 9 reported loci and 2 repeated loci (PBRL2 and PBRL13, PBRL10 and PBRL18). Among them, the repeated locus (PBRL10 and PBRL18) was located in chromosome 11. By haplotype and expression analysis, one of the Nucleotide-binding domain and Leucine-rich Repeat (NLR) Pb2 genes was highly conserved in multiple resistant rice cultivars, and its expression was significantly upregulated after rice blast infection. Pb2 encodes a typical NBS-LRR protein with NB-ARC domain and LRR domain. Compared with wild type plants, the transgenic rice of Pb2 showed enhanced resistance to panicle and leaf blast with reduced lesion number. Subcellular localization of Pb2 showed that it is located on plasma membrane, and GUS tissue-staining observation found that Pb2 is highly expressed in grains, leaf tips and stem nodes. The Pb2 transgenic plants showed no difference in agronomic traits with wild type plants. It indicated that Pb2 could be useful for breeding of rice blast resistance.     

Studied on a novel human keratinocyte membrane delivery system in vitro

The culture of keratinocytes on flexible membranes has been proposed as a means to simplify, accelerate and improve the efficiency with which proliferating cells are delivered to full thickness or non-healing skin defects. The purpose of this article was to study the ability of chitosan-gelatin manbranes to facilitate the growth of human keratinocytes. The membranes with different chitosan contents were studied. The surface properties of chitosan-gelatin membranes were investigate by SEM, and water contact angle test. The mechanical property of the membranes was tested. Data implied that gelatin could make the membranes more flexible and hydrophilic than chitosan membranes, which may regulate the seeded cells behavior. Loading human keratinocytes on chitosan-gelatin membranes, cells attachment, spread, and growth were investigated by light microscopy, SEM, and MTT test. The results suggested that the adhesion and proliferation of keratinocytes seeded on chitosan-gelatin membranes were same as on tissue culture plate, in which gelatin could modify the interaction between keratinocytes and chitosan membranes. Therefore, chitosan-gelatin membrane is a good candidate for keratinocytes delivery system.     

中厚板矫直过程中中性层偏移动态研究

研究中性层偏移对矫直力的影响,以提高矫直力精度。通过对矫直件三维弹塑性变形进行分析,提出中性层偏移理论,利用数值模拟和实验讨论中性层偏移的动态变化规律,说明中性层偏移是影响矫直力精度的重要因素之一,并验证了理论推导公式与数值计算结果之间的误差,为建立更为准确的矫直力模型提供理论基础和数据。