Money grows on green energy: Financing a sustainable power future.

This research aims to estimate the relationship between green bond financing and the OECD nations' performance on the renewable energy indices. The study attempted to quantify the relationship between concepts by analyzing data from OECD countries for 2011-2019. Padroni unit root test, FMOLS, and DOLS method provide evidence for the study's results and convey broad policy implications on this important topic. The robustness is consequently examined through a long-term sensitivity analysis employing the FMOLS, and green bond financing nexus concerning the renewable energy indices is shown for comparison. The study showed that financing of green bonds had a predictable impact on renewable energy indices variables. Green bonds' unequal implications for renewable energy measures across the study period bear out this interpretation. The study's findings call for full suppot from government institutions, energy agencies, and departments to optimize energy efficiency, as green bond financing played a 32% role in OECD nation's renewable energy index constructions and increased per unit improvement in renewable energy sources by 9.6%. The research offers many policy recommendations for improving energy efficiency through renewable energy generation. Recent studies extend and contribute to the existing body of literature, although the scientific discussion on this subject matter still needs to be more detailed and understudied. Financial unpredictability may be transformed into a tremendous opportunity if the renewable energy business is appropriately regulated.

Intravenous Administration of Anti-CD47 Antibody Augments Hematoma Clearance, Mitigates Acute Neuropathology, and Improves Cognitive Function in a Rat Model of Penetrating Traumatic Brain Injury.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI)-induced intracerebral hematoma is a major driver of secondary injury pathology such as neuroinflammation, cerebral edema, neurotoxicity, and blood-brain barrier dysfunction, which contribute to neuronal loss, motor deficits, and cognitive impairment. Cluster of differentiation 47 (CD47) is an antiphagocytic cell surface protein inhibiting hematoma clearance. This study was designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of blockade of CD47 via intravenous (i.v.) administration of anti-CD47 antibodies following penetrating ballistic-like brain injury (PBBI) with significant traumatic intracerebral hemorrhage (tICH). The pharmacokinetic (PK) profile of the anti-CD47 antibody elicited that antibody concentration decayed over 7 days post-administration. Blood tests and necropsy analysis indicated no severe adverse events following treatment. Cerebral hemoglobin levels were significantly increased after injury, however, anti-CD47 antibody administration at 0.1 mg/kg resulted in a significant reduction in cerebral hemoglobin levels at 72 h post-administration, indicating augmentation of hematoma clearance. Immunohistochemistry assessment of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and ionized calcium-binding adaptor molecule 1 (IBA1) demonstrated a significant reduction of GFAP levels in the lesion core and peri-lesional area. Based on these analyses, the optimal dose was identified as 0.1 mg/kg. Lesion volume showed a reduction following treatment. Rotarod testing revealed significant motor deficits in all injured groups but no significant therapeutic benefits. Spatial learning performance revealed significant deficits in all injured groups, which were significantly improved by the last testing day. Anti-CD47 antibody treated rats showed significantly improved attention deficits, but not retention scores. These results provide preliminary evidence that blockade of CD47 using i.v. administration of anti-CD47 antibodies may serve as a potential therapeutic for TBI with ICH.

Serendipity discovery of fire early warning function of chitosan film.

Transparent chitosan (CS) film is prepared and its application in high temperature/fire warning is discussed. NaCl-doped chitosan (CS-NaCl) film shows excellent performance in real-time temperature monitoring and fire warning. The temperature warning of CS-NaCl film can be triggered under approximately 50 °C, and it has a good repeatable warning performance under high-temperature conditions. The CS composite film exhibits an ultra-sensitive (0.4 s) warning under fire attacking. A possible electrical conduction and fire-alarm mechanisms are proposed. The addition of NaCl increases the number of charge carriers, which improves the ionic conductivity of the composite film. This study provides a possibility for the application of CS in the field of fire warning.

Microstructure Evolution and Strengthening Mechanism of Galvanized Steel/Mg Alloy Joint Obtained by Ultrasonic Vibration-Assisted Welding Process.

A novel ultrasonic vibration-assisted welding (UVAW) process was used to achieve reliable joining of galvanized steel and Mg alloy. The effects of the UVAW technique on the microstructure and mechanical properties of galvanized steel/Mg alloy weldment were studied in detail. The introduction of ultrasonic vibration can ameliorate the wetting of welds and eliminate porosity defects. A refined microstructure of the fusion welding zone with an average grain size of 39 ± 1.7 µm was obtained and attributed to cavitation and acoustic streaming caused by the UVAW process. The grain refinement led to an increase in the microhardness and joining strength of the galvanized steel/Mg alloy weldment. Under the ultrasonic power of 0.9 kW and a current of 65 A, the maximum joining strength of the ultrasound-treated galvanized steel/Mg alloy joint was 251 ± 4.1 MPa, which was a 14.6% increase over the joint without ultrasonic treatment.

Nacre-like graphene oxide paper bonded with boric acid for fire early-warning sensor.

Boric acid-modified graphene oxide (GO-BA) paper is prepared by a green and facile water evaporation-induced self-assembly method, and its application as an early fire-alarm sensor is investigated. The nacre structure is constructed by assembling graphene oxide (GO) and boric acid (BA) as brick and mortar, respectively. Compared with pure GO paper, improved thermal-oxidative stability is obtained for GO-BA. GO nanosheets are bonded with BA molecules by forming hydrogen bonds between hydroxyl in BA and the rich oxygen-containing functional groups on GO. Notably, the insulating GO-BA paper can be rapidly thermally reduced to conductive reduced graphene oxide under flame exposure, thus providing an ideal fire-alarm response with a quick flame-detection time of ∼0.8 s. In addition, boron oxide formed under flame attack covers the surface of GO, inhibiting further oxidation of GO paper, and effectively extending the duration time of GO-BA under combustion. These results indicate that the GO-BA paper prepared has a broad prospect in the field of fire early-alarm.

Ruthenium(II)-Catalyzed Ortho-C-H Alkylation of Naphthylamines with Diazo Compounds for Synthesis of 2,2-Disubstituted π-Extended 3-Oxindoles in Water.

Ruthenium(II)-catalyzed ortho-C-H alkylation of naphthylamines with diazo compounds for the synthesis of 2,2-disubstituted π-extended 3-oxindoles has been developed. The method represents the first example of C-H alkylation via carbenoid insertion in water as a sustainable solvent. The procedure includes an inexpensive ruthenium catalyst as well as aqueous media and results in the release of benign N2. The π-extended 3-oxindole products exhibit favorable antitumor properties and remarkable fluorescent properties in aqueous solution for fluorescent imaging.

Chronic Cognitive Deficits and Associated Histopathology Following Closed-Head Concussive Injury in Rats.

Close-head concussive injury, as one of the most common forms of traumatic brain injury (TBI), has been shown to induce cognitive deficits that are long lasting. A concussive impact model was previously established in our lab that produces clinically relevant signs of concussion and induced acute pathological changes in rats. To evaluate the long-term effects of repeated concussions in this model, we utilized a comprehensive Morris water maze (MWM) paradigm for cognitive assessments at 1 and 6 months following repeated concussive impacts in rats. As such, adult Sprague-Dawley rats received either anesthesia (sham) or repeated concussive impacts (4 consecutive impacts at 1 h interval). At 1 month post-injury, results of the spatial learning task showed that the average latencies to locate the hidden "escape" platform were significantly longer in the injured rats over the last 2 days of the MWM testing compared to sham controls (p < 0.05). In the memory retention task, rats subjected to repeated concussive impacts also spent significantly less time in the platform zone searching for the missing platform during the probe trial (p < 0.05). On the working memory task, the injured rats showed a trend toward worse performance, but this failed to reach statistical significance compared to sham controls (p = 0.07). At 6 months post-injury, no differences were detected between the injured group and sham controls in either the spatial learning or probe trials. However, rats with repeated concussive impacts exhibited significantly worsened working memory performance compared to sham controls (p < 0.05). In addition, histopathological assessments for axonal neurodegeneration using silver stain showed that repeated concussive impacts induced significantly more axonal degeneration in the corpus callosum compared to sham controls (p < 0.05) at 1 month post-injury, whereas such difference was not observed at 6 months post-injury. Overall, the results show that repeated concussive impacts in our model produced significant cognitive deficits in both spatial learning abilities and in working memory abilities in a time-dependent fashion that may be indicative of progressive pathology and warrant further investigation.