Lotus Leaf Derived NiS/Carbon Nanofibers/Porous Carbon Heterogeneous Structures for Strong and Broadband Microwave Absorption.

Developing composite materials with the synergistic effects of heterogeneous structures and multiple components is considered as a promising strategy to achieve high-performance electromagnetic wave (EMW) absorbers. To further satisfy the demand of broadband and strong microwave absorption, a novel NiS/carbon nanofibers (CNFs)/porous carbon composite is successfully synthesized by hydrothermal and chemical vapor deposition using lotus leaves as a biomass carbon source. A few carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and uniformly dispersed Ni nanocrystals have also been found in the hybrid. Benefiting from the porous structure derived from lotus leaves, the combination of dielectric NiS, conductive carbon nanomaterials, and magnetic Ni nanoparticles, together with the three-dimensional conductive network of CNFs and CNTs, the remarkable EMW absorption properties with a minimum reflection loss up to -67.65 dB have been achieved at merely 2.32 mm. Besides, the widest effective absorption band can reach 5.9 GHz with a thin thickness of 2.07 mm, covering almost the entire Ku band. In addition, under the incident angle of 31°, the radar cross-section reduction value of LNSF-600 can reach 42.88 dBm2. Therefore, this work provides an efficient and facile method for manufacturing outstanding biomass-derived EMW absorbers.

Exploring the association of addiction-related genetic factors with non-suicidal self-injury in adolescents.

Background: Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is self-injurious behavior without suicidal intent commonly seen in the adolescent population and poses a serious threat to the life safety of adolescents. Related researches suggest a possible correlation between addiction and the occurrence of NSSI. This study aimed to explore the correlation between addiction and NSSI from a molecular biological perspective by analyzing the differential expression of addiction-related genes in NSSI patients. Methods: (1) The association between addiction and non-suicidal self-injury in a Chinese adolescent population was verified with the help of questionnaires on substance and non-substance addictions and non-suicidal self-injury among 1,329 adolescents in China, (2) Screening for key genes associated with addiction by bioinformatics analysis, and (3) RT-qPCR experiment was performed to validate key genes and Receiver Operating Characteristic curves were plotted for target genes. Results: (1) Substance and non-substance addictions were all significantly correlated with non-suicidal self-injury, (2) Four target genes: SERPINA3, SLC14A1, RPS6 and RPS3A were screened by bioinformatics technique, and (3) Relative quantitative analysis by RT-qPCR revealed that the expression levels of SLC14A1 (p < 0.01), RPS6 (p < 0.05) and RPS3A (p < 0.01) were significantly higher in NSSI patients than in healthy controls. Conclusion: (1) The significant association between addiction and NSSI exists in the Chinese adolescent population and (2) Addiction-related genes SLC14A1, RPS6, and RPS3A are differentially expressed in adolescents with NSSI. The genes have the potential to become biological markers for the diagnosis of NSSI.

A variant of RAG1 gene identified in severe combined immunodeficiency: a case report.

BACKGROUND: The recombination-activating gene 1 (RAG1) protein is essential for the V (variable)-D (diversity)-J (joining) recombination process. Mutations in RAG1 have been reported to be associated with several types of immune disorders. Typical clinical features driven by RAG1 variants include persistent infections, severe lymphopenia, and decreased immunoglobulin levels . CASE PRESENTATION: In this study, a 2-month-24-days-old infant with recurrent fever was admitted to our hospital with multiple infections and absence of T and B lymphocytes. The infant was diagnosed with severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID). A homozygous variation c.2147G>A (NM_000448.2: exonme2: c.2147G>A (p.Arg716Gln)) was identified in the RAG1 gene using whole-exome sequencing and Sanger sequencing. The predicted 3D structure of variant RAG1 indicated altered protein stability. Additionally, decreased expression of variant RAG1 gene was detected at both the mRNA and protein levels. CONCLUSIONS: Our study identified a novel homozygous variant in RAG1 gene that causes SCID. This finding expands the variant spectrum of RAG1 in SCID and provides further evidence for the clinical diagnosis of SCID.

Laminate Design of Carbon-Fiber-Reinforced Resin Matrix Composites for Optimized Mechanical Properties and Electrical Conductivity.

Carbon fiber composites as pantograph slide materials are in the development stage, in which copper is the conductive phase, and the addition form and size need to be designed. Herein, the effects of the copper morphology, the size of the copper mesh on the performance, and the influence of the contact mode between the sliding plate and bracket on the temperature rise were compared and analyzed. The resistivity is 11.2 µΩ·m with the addition of 20 wt% copper mesh, a relative reduction of 91.77%. Importantly, the impact strength is increased by 14.19%, and the wear is reduced by 13.21%; hence, the copper mesh laid in layers is the ideal structure. Further study of the distribution and quality of the copper mesh shows that the resistivity is related only to the quality of the copper mesh; in addition, the number of layers of the copper mesh cannot exceed 16, and it is determined that the best type of copper mesh is 5#. Notably, the performance can be improved by appropriately reducing the thickness of the copper mesh and increasing the aperture while the sliding plate and the bracket are connected by copper mesh with conductive adhesive, which has the slowest heating rate of 2.27 °C/min and the smallest resistance. Therefore, the influence of copper content and distribution on the electrical conductivity are systematically investigated, and the mechanical properties and electrical conductivity are optimized through the design of the laminate structure of the compound material.

Heterogeneous Ni3S2@FeNi2S4@NF nanosheet arrays directly used as high efficiency bifunctional electrocatalyst for water decomposition.

Developing and designing bifunctional electrocatalysts are very important for the production of hydrogen from water electrolysis. The reasonable interface modulation can effectively lead to the optimization of electronic configuration through the interface electron transfer in the heterostructures and thus resulting in the enhanced efficiency. In this work, self-supported and heterogeneous interface-rich Ni3S2@FeNi2S4@NF electrocatalyst for overall water splitting was designed and prepared through a controllable step-wise hydrothermal process. Density functional theory calculations suggest that heterogeneous interface formed between Ni3S2 and FeNi2S4 can optimize the Gibbs free energy for H* adsorption (ΔGH*). Benefiting from the open structure of the nanosheet arrays, the abundant heterogeneous interfaces in Ni3S2@FeNi2S4@NF composite, the positive synergistic effect between Ni3S2 and FeNi2S4, and the good conductivity of foamed nickel (NF) substrate, the optimized Ni3S2@FeNi2S4@NF nanoarray catalyst displayed excellent electrocatalytic activities, the overpotential is only 83 mV and 235 mV for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) at 10 mA cm-2, respectively. Importantly, an alkaline electrolyser directly using the Ni3S2@FeNi2S4@NF as both the anode and cathode achieved an ultralow cell voltage of 1.46 V, accompanied by outstanding stability. The performance is better than that of most other transition-metal sulfides electrocatalysts. This work may provide a useful strategy for reasonably regulating heterogeneous interfaces to effectively improve the performance of materials, thus accelerating the practical application of transition-metal sulfides electrocatalysts for overall water splitting.