Enhancing the Carbon Monoxide Oxidation Performance through Surface Defect Enrichment of Ceria-Based Supports for Platinum Catalyst.

Effective synthesis and application of single-atom catalysts on supports lacking enough defects remain a significant challenge in environmental catalysis. Herein, we present a universal defect-enrichment strategy to increase the surface defects of CeO2-based supports through H2 reduction pretreatment. The Pt catalysts supported by defective CeO2-based supports, including CeO2, CeZrOx, and CeO2/Al2O3 (CA), exhibit much higher Pt dispersion and CO oxidation activity upon reduction activation compared to their counterpart catalysts without defect enrichment. Specifically, Pt is present as embedded single atoms on the CA support with enriched surface defects (CA-HD) based on which the highly active catalyst showing embedded Pt clusters (PtC) with the bottom layer of Pt atoms substituting the Ce cations in the CeO2 surface lattice can be obtained through reduction activation. Embedded PtC can better facilitate CO adsorption and promote O2 activation at PtC-CeO2 interfaces, thereby contributing to the superior low-temperature CO oxidation activity of the Pt/CA-HD catalyst after activation.

Can a Nomogram Predict Survival After Treatment for an Ankylosing Spondylitis Cervical Fracture in a Patient With Neurologic Impairment? A National, Multicenter Study.

BACKGROUND: Ankylosing spondylitis-related cervical spine fracture with neurologic impairment (ASCF-NI) is a rare but often lethal injury. Factors independently associated with survival after treatment remain poorly defined, and identifying patients who are likely to survive the injury remains challenging. QUESTIONS/PURPOSES: (1) What factors are independently associated with survival after treatment among patients with ASCF-NI? (2) Can a nomogram be developed that is sufficiently simple for clinicians to use that can identify patients who are the most likely to survive after injury? METHODS: This retrospective study was conducted based on a multi-institutional group of patients admitted and treated at one of 29 tertiary hospitals in China between March 1, 2003, and July 31, 2019. A total of 363 patients with a mean age of 53 ± 12 years were eventually included, 343 of whom were male. According to the National Household Registration Management System, 17% (61 of 363) died within 5 years of injury. Patients were treated using nonsurgical treatment or surgery, including procedures using the anterior approach, posterior approach, or combined anterior and posterior approaches. Indications for surgery included three-column injury, unstable fracture displacement, neurologic impairment or continuous progress, and intervertebral disc incarceration. By contrast, patients generally received nonsurgical treatment when they had a relatively stable fracture or medical conditions that did not tolerate surgery. Demographic, clinical, and treatment data were collected. The primary study goal was to identify which factors are independently associated with death within 5 years of injury, and the secondary goal was the development of a clinically applicable nomogram. We developed a multivariable Cox hazards regression model, and independent risk factors were defined by backward stepwise selection with the Akaike information criterion. We used these factors to create a nomogram using a multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression analysis. RESULTS: After controlling for potentially confounding variables, we found the following factors were independently associated with a lower likelihood of survival after injury: lower fracture site, more-severe peri-injury complications, poorer American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) Impairment Scale, and treatment methods. We found that a C5 to C7 or T1 fracture (ref: C1 to C4 and 5; hazard ratio 1.7 [95% confidence interval 0.9 to 3.5]; p = 0.12), moderate peri-injury complications (ref: absence of or mild complications; HR 6.0 [95% CI 2.3 to 16.0]; p < 0.001), severe peri-injury complications (ref: absence of or mild complications; HR 30.0 [95% CI 11.5 to 78.3]; p < 0.001), ASIA Grade A (ref: ASIA Grade D; HR 2.8 [95% CI 1.1 to 7.0]; p = 0.03), anterior approach (ref: nonsurgical treatment; HR 0.5 [95% CI 0.2 to 1.0]; p = 0.04), posterior approach (ref: nonsurgical treatment; HR 0.4 [95% CI 0.2 to 0.8]; p = 0.006), and combined anterior and posterior approach (ref: nonsurgical treatment; HR 0.4 [95% CI 0.2 to 0.9]; p = 0.02) were associated with survival. Based on these factors, a nomogram was developed to predict the survival of patients with ASCF-NI after treatment. Tests revealed that the developed nomogram had good performance (C statistic of 0.91). CONCLUSION: The nomogram developed in this study will allow us to classify patients with different mortality risk levels into groups. This, coupled with the factors we identified, was independently associated with survival, and can be used to guide more appropriate treatment and care strategies for patients with ASCF-NI. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level III, therapeutic study.

Effects of the nitrogen form ratios on photosynthetic productivity of poplar under condition of phenolic acids.

Phenolic acids can reduce nitrogen utilization rate of poplar, which seriously restrict the productivity of poplar plantation. In this study, three phenolic acid concentrations (T0, T1, and T2) and three ratios of nitrogen forms (NH4+-N to NO3--were 1:3, 1:7, and 1:14) were chosen for orthogonal experiment on poplar (Populus × euramericana "Neva") seedlings to study the effects of the nitrogen form ratios on photosynthetic productivity of poplar under environment of phenolic acids. Results showed that photosynthetic physiology parameters were influenced by both phenolic acid concentration and nitrogen form ratio. The order of net photosynthetic rate (PN) values obtained from 9 treatments were T1-1:3, T0-1:3, T2-1:3, T0-1:7, T1-1:7, T0-1:14, T2-1:7, T1-1:14, and T2-1:14 (from high to low). Under environment of phenolic acids, when poplar were treated with NH4+-N to NO3--N ratio of 1:14, the major limitation factor of photosynthesis was non stomatal factor. When poplar were treated with NH4+-N to NO3-N ratio of 1:3, the major limitation factor of photosynthesis changed to stomatal factor. The leaf nitrogen content and total biomass were obviously positively related with PN (p < 0.05). Phenolic acid inhibited photosynthetic productivity of poplar in a major way and this effect decreased with increase of the content of NH4+-N.

Increasing the ratio of ammonia nitrogen fertilizer in soil can effectively reduce the toxic effect of phenolic acids on poplar and improve the photosynthetic productivity of poplar.

Formaldehyde oxidation on Pd/USY catalysts at room temperature: The effect of acid pretreatment on supports.

The complete catalytic oxidation of formaldehyde (HCHO) to CO2 and H2O at room temperature is a green route for indoor HCHO removal. Zeolite is an excellent carrier material for HCHO oxidation due to its large surface area, intricate pores and high adsorption capacity. However, the zeolite-supported noble metal catalysts have currently shown relatively low activity especially at room temperature. In this work, we present a facile acid treatment strategy for zeolite catalysts to improve the hydroxyl concentration and further enhance their catalytic activity for HCHO oxidation. Activity tests illustrated that HCHO could be completely oxidized to CO2 and H2O at a nearly 100% conversion rate with a weight hourly space velocity (WHSV) of 150,000 mL/(g∙hr) at 25°C, when the support of Pd/USY catalysts was pretreated by hydrochloric acid with a concentration of 0.20 mol/L. The characterization results revealed that the active hydroxyl groups originated from the dealumination in the acid treatment play a key role in the HCHO oxidation reaction. The deduced reaction mechanism suggests that bridging hydroxyl groups may oxidize HCHO to dioxymethylene (DOM) species and terminal hydroxyl groups are responsible for the transformation of DOM groups to formate (HCOO) species.

Pt Atomic Single-Layer Catalyst Embedded in Defect-Enriched Ceria for Efficient CO Oxidation.

The local coordination structure of metal sites essentially determines the performance of supported metal catalysts. Using a surface defect enrichment strategy, we successfully fabricated Pt atomic single-layer (PtASL) structures with 100% metal dispersion and precisely controlled local coordination environment (embedded vs adsorbed) derived from Pt single-atoms (Pt1) on ceria-alumina supports. The local coordination environment of Pt1 not only governs its catalytic activity but also determines the Pt1 structure evolution upon reduction activation. For CO oxidation, the highest turnover frequency can be achieved on the embedded PtASL in the CeO2 lattice, which is 3.5 times of that on the adsorbed PtASL on the CeO2 surface and 10-70 times of that on Pt1. The favorable CO adsorption on embedded PtASL and improved activation/reactivity of lattice oxygen within CeO2 effectively facilitate the CO oxidation. This work provides new insights for the precise control of the local coordination structure of active metal sites for achieving 100% atomic utilization efficiency and optimal intrinsic catalytic activity for targeted reactions simultaneously.

Effect of Hydroxyl Groups on Metal Anchoring and Formaldehyde Oxidation Performance of Pt/Al2O3.

Pt/Al2O3 catalysts showing excellent activity and stability have been used in various reactions, including HCHO oxidation. Herein, we prepared Pt-Na/Al2O3 catalysts with a Pt content of 0.05 wt % to reveal the key factors determining the anchoring of Pt as well as the catalytic activity and mechanism of HCHO oxidation. Pt-Na/nano-Al2O3 (denoted as Pt-Na/nAl2O3) catalysts with 0.05 wt % Pt content could completely oxidize HCHO to CO2 at room temperature, which is the lowest Pt content used in HCHO catalytic oxidation to our knowledge. After Na addition, terminal hydroxyl groups (denoted as HO-µter) on nano-Al2O3 were transformed to doubly bridging hydroxyl groups between Na and Al (denoted as HO-µbri(Na-Al)), which atomically dispersed Pt species. Pt anchoring further promoted the regeneration of HO-µbri(Na-Al) by activating O2 and H2O, oxidizing HCHO to CO2 directly by the fast reaction step ([HCOO-] + [OH]a → CO2 + H2O). Our study revealed that the HO-µbri(Na-Al) synergistically generated by HO-µter and Na species provided anchoring sites for Pt species.

Optimal Compensation of MEMS Gyroscope Noise Kalman Filter Based on Conv-DAE and MultiTCN-Attention Model in Static Base Environment.

Errors in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) inertial measurement units (IMUs) are large, complex, nonlinear, and time varying. The traditional noise reduction and compensation methods based on traditional models are not applicable. This paper proposes a noise reduction method based on multi-layer combined deep learning for the MEMS gyroscope in the static base state. In this method, the combined model of MEMS gyroscope is constructed by Convolutional Denoising Auto-Encoder (Conv-DAE) and Multi-layer Temporal Convolutional Neural with the Attention Mechanism (MultiTCN-Attention) model. Based on the robust data processing capability of deep learning, the noise features are obtained from the past gyroscope data, and the parameter optimization of the Kalman filter (KF) by the Particle Swarm Optimization algorithm (PSO) significantly improves the filtering and noise reduction accuracy. The experimental results show that, compared with the original data, the noise standard deviation of the filtering effect of the combined model proposed in this paper decreases by 77.81% and 76.44% on the x and y axes, respectively; compared with the existing MEMS gyroscope noise compensation method based on the Autoregressive Moving Average with Kalman filter (ARMA-KF) model, the noise standard deviation of the filtering effect of the combined model proposed in this paper decreases by 44.00% and 46.66% on the x and y axes, respectively, reducing the noise impact by nearly three times.

Design and Integrated Analysis of a Flexible Support Microstructure with a Honeycomb Sandwich for the Optical Window of a Hypersonic Remote Sensor.

In order to reduce the influence of the optical window on the image quality of a hypersonic visible light optical remote sensor, we propose a method of adding a double-layer semicircular honeycomb core microstructure with flexible support of a high temperature elastic alloy between a window glass and a frame to reduce the influence of complex thermal stress on the surface accuracy of the optical window. An equivalent model of a semicircular honeycomb structure was established, the elastic parameters of the semicircular honeycomb sandwich microstructure were derived by an analytical method, and a numerical verification and finite element simulation were carried out. The results show that the equivalent model is in good agreement with the detailed model. The optical-mechanical-thermal integrated simulation analysis of the optical window assembly with flexible supporting microstructure proves that the semicircular honeycomb sandwich flexible supporting structure has a positive effect on stress attenuation of the window glass and ensures the wave aberration accuracy of the transmitted optical path difference of the optical window (PV < 0.665 λ, RMS < 0.156 λ, λ = 632.8 nm). Combined with the actual optical system, the optical performance of the window assembly under the flexible support structure is verified. The simulation results show that the spatial frequency of the modulation transfer function (MTF) of the optical system after focusing is not less than 0.58 in the range of 0-63 cycle/mm and the relative decline of MTF is not more than 0.01, which meet the imaging requirements of a remote sensor. The study results show that the proposed metal-based double-layer semicircular honeycomb sandwich flexible support microstructure ensures the imaging quality of the optical window under ultra-high temperature conditions.

Highly-Anisotropic Dion-Jacobson Hybrid Perovskite by Tailoring Diamine into CsPbBr3 for Polarization-Sensitive Photodetection.

2D materials with inherent attributes of structural anisotropy have been well applied in the field of polarization-sensitive photodetection. However, to explore new 2D members with strong polarized-light responses still remains a challenge. Herein, by alloying diamine molecule into the 3D prototype of CsPbBr3 , a new Dion-Jacobson (DJ) type 2D perovskite of (HDA)CsPb2 Br7 (1, where HDA2+ is 1,6-hexamethylenediammonium), containing both inorganic Cs metal and organic cations is designed. The natural anisotropy characteristics of 1 are solidly elucidated by analyzing crystal structure, electric conductivity, and optical properties. Strikingly, distinct polarization-sensitive responses are observed in 1, owing to its strong anisotropy of optical absorption (the ratio of αc /αb ≈ 2.2). Consequently, crystal-based detectors of 1 exhibit fascinating photo-activities to polarized-light, including high detectivity (1.5 × 109 Jones), large dichroism ratio (Iph c /Iph b ≈ 1.6) and fast responding rate (200 µs). All these polarization-sensitive performances along with intriguing phase stability make 1 a potential candidate for polarized-light detection. This work paves a pathway toward new functionalities of DJ-type 2D hybrid perovskites for their future optoelectronic device applications.

3D-to-2D Dimensional Reduction for Exploiting a Multilayered Perovskite Ferroelectric toward Polarized-Light Detection in the Solar-Blind Ultraviolet Region.

Polarized-light detection in solar-blind ultraviolet region is indispensable for optoelectronic applications, whereas new 2D candidates targeted at solar-blind UV range remain extremely scarce. 2D hybrid perovskite ferroelectrics that combine polarization and semiconducting properties are of increasing interest. Here, using the 3D-to-2D dimensional reduction of CH3 NH3 PbCl3 , we designed a multilayered hybrid perovskite ferroelectric, (CH3 CH2 NH3 )2 (CH3 NH3 )2 Pb3 Cl10 , which shows spontaneous polarization and a high Curie temperature (390 K) comparable with that of BaTiO3 (393 K). The wide band gap (ca. 3.35 eV) and anisotropic absorbance stemming from its intrinsic 2D motif, greatly favor its polarization-sensitive activity in UV region. The device displays excellent polarization-sensitive behavior under 266 nm, along with a large dichroic ratio (ca. 1.38) and high on/off current ratio (ca. 2.3×103 ).

Dimensional Reduction of Cs2 AgBiBr6 : A 2D Hybrid Double Perovskite with Strong Polarization Sensitivity.

By dimensional reduction of the 3D motif of Cs2 AgBiBr6 , a lead-free 2D hybrid double perovskite, (i-PA)2 CsAgBiBr7 (1, i-PA=isopentylammonium), was successfully designed. It adopts a quantum-confined bilayered structure with alternating organic and inorganic sheets. Strikingly, the unique 2D architecture endows it highly anisotropic nature of physical properties, including electric conductivity and optical absorption (the ratio αb /αc =1.9 at 405 nm). Such anisotropy attributes result in the strong polarization-sensitive responses with large dichroic ratios up to 1.35, being comparable to some 2D inorganic materials. This is the first study on the hybrid double perovskites with strong polarization sensitivity. A crystal device of 1 also exhibits rapid response speed (ca. 200 µs) and excellent stabilities. The family of 2D hybrid double perovskites are promising optoelectronic candidates, and this work paves a new pathway for exploring new green polarization-sensitive materials.

High-Temperature Antiferroelectric of Lead Iodide Hybrid Perovskites.

Antiferroelectrics, characterized by the natural polarization-electric field (P-E) double hysteresis loops, has been developed as a promising branch for energy storage. Here, we present the first antiferroelectric in the booming family of lead iodide hybrid perovskites, (BA)2(EA)2Pb3I10 (1, where BA = n-butylammonium and EA = ethylammonium), which exhibits one of the highest Curie temperatures (∼363 K) for the majority of known molecular systems. Strikingly, its high-temperature antiferroelectricity, triggered by an antipolar alignment of adjacent dipoles, is confirmed by the characteristic double P-E hysteresis loops, thus enabling remarkable energy storage efficiencies in the range of 65%-83%. This merit is almost comparable to those of many inorganic counterparts, suggesting the great potential of 1 for energy storage. Another fascinating attribute is that 1 also acts as a room-temperature biaxial ferroelectric with spontaneous polarization of 5.6 µC·cm-2. As far as we know, this study on the high-temperature antiferroelectric, along with room-temperature biaxial ferroelectricity, is unprecedented for the versatile lead iodide hybrid perovskites, which sheds light on the design of new electric-ordered materials and facilitates their application of high-performance devices.

Two-Dimensional Hybrid Perovskite-Type Ferroelectric for Highly Polarization-Sensitive Shortwave Photodetection.

Two-dimensional (2D) materials have been well developed for polarization-sensitive photodetection, while new 2D members used in shortwave region (>2.5 eV) still remain scarce. The family of 2D hybrid perovskite ferroelectrics, in which the coupling of spontaneous polarization ( Ps) and light benefits dissociation of photoinduced carriers, has shown great potential in this portfolio. Here, we report a new 2D hybrid perovskite ferroelectric, [CH3(CH2)3NH3]2(CH3NH3)Pb2Br7 (1), which exhibits a superior Ps of 3.6 µC/cm2 and a relatively wide bandgap (∼2.55 eV). The unique 2D perovskite motif results in an intrinsic anisotropy of optical absorption (the ratio αc/αa ≈ 1.9 at 405 nm), involving its polarization-sensitive activity. As expected, the strongest photoresponses were observed along the c-axis (i.e., parallel to Ps), along with a large dichroism ratio ( Iphc/ Ipha ≈ 2.0) and highly sensitive detectivity up to ∼109 Jones. Further, crystal-device of 1 shows a fast responding rate (∼20 µs) and excellent antifatigued merits. As pioneering work, 1 is the first polarization-sensitive ferroelectric in the new branch of 2D hybrid perovskites. Such intriguing behaviors make 1 a potential candidate for the shortwave polarized-light detection, which also sheds light on new functionalities for future optoelectronic application of hybrid perovskites.

Efficient Hydrogen Production from Methanol Using a Single-Site Pt1/CeO2 Catalyst.

Hydrogen is regarded as an attractive alternative energy carrier due to its high gravimetric energy density and only water production upon combustion. However, due to its low volumetric energy density, there are still some challenges in practical hydrogen storage and transportation. In the past decade, using chemical bonds of liquid organic molecules as hydrogen carriers to generate hydrogen in situ provided a feasible method to potentially solve this problem. Research efforts on liquid organic hydrogen carriers (LOHCs) seek practical carrier systems and advanced catalytic materials that have the potential to reduce costs, increase reaction rate, and provide a more efficient catalytic hydrogen generation/storage process. In this work, we used methanol as a hydrogen carrier to release hydrogen in situ with the single-site Pt1/CeO2 catalyst. Moreover, in this reaction, compared with traditional nanoparticle catalysts, the single site catalyst displays excellent hydrogen generation efficiency, 40 times higher than 2.5 nm Pt/CeO2 sample, and 800 times higher compared to 7.0 nm Pt/CeO2 sample. This in-depth study highlights the benefits of single-site catalysts and paves the way for further rational design of highly efficient catalysts for sustainable energy storage applications.

Two Heteromorphic Crystals of Antimony-Based Hybrids Showing Tunable Optical Band Gaps and Distinct Photoelectric Responses.

Organic-inorganic hybrid perovskites, most markedly CH3NH3PbI3, have attracted extensive interest because of their potential use in optoelectronic and photovoltaic applications. Nevertheless, the toxicity of lead restricts their further application. Here, we successfully synthesized two lead-free heteromorphic hybrids, (C7H18N2O)3Sb4I18·H2O (1) and (C7H18N2O)Sb2I8·H2O (2, C7H18N2O2+ is N-aminopropylmorpholinium), both of which belong to the zero-dimensional tetranuclear perovskite-like structure. However, the inorganic [Sb4I18] cluster of 1 adopts a tetragonal topology, while 2 features the distorted [Sb4I16] motif; this disparity leads to a significant distinction between their electronic structures as well as an optical band gap ( Eg). Their absorption cutoffs are measured to be 708 nm (for 1, Eg = 1.71 eV) and 578 nm (for 2, Eg = 2.11 eV), respectively. In particular, 1 exhibits a stronger photoelectric response in a wider optical region compared to that of 2, and the "on/off" ratio of conductivity of 1 is estimated to ∼300 under sunlight illumination. Density functional theory calculation discloses that different inorganic motifs make greater contributions to their electronic structure and photoelectric response. It is believed that the heteromorphic method allows a potential pathway for construction of new lead-free hybrid materials as light absorbers for photoelectric application.

Exploring Lead-Free Hybrid Double Perovskite Crystals of (BA)2 CsAgBiBr7 with Large Mobility-Lifetime Product toward X-Ray Detection.

Halide double perovskites have recently bloomed as the green candidates for optoelectronic applications, such as X-ray detection. Despite great efforts, the exploration of promising organic-inorganic hybrid double perovskites toward X-ray detection remains unsuccessful. Now, single crystals of the lead-free hybrid double perovskite, (BA)2 CsAgBiBr7 (BA+ is n-butylammonium), featuring the unique 2D multilayered quantum-confined motif, enable quite large µτ (mobility-lifetime) product up to 1.21×10-3  cm2 V-1 . This figure-of-merit realized in 2D hybrid double perovskites is unprecedented and comparable with that of CH3 NH3 PbI3 wafers. (BA)2 CsAgBiBr7 crystals also exhibit other intriguing attributes for X-ray detection, including high bulk resistivity, low density of defects and traps, and large X-ray attenuation coefficient. Consequently, a vertical-structure crystal device under X-ray source yields a superior sensitivity of 4.2 µC Gyair -1 cm-2 .

Sodium-promoted Pd/TiO2 for catalytic oxidation of formaldehyde at ambient temperature.

Catalytic oxidation of formaldehyde (HCHO) to CO2 at ambient conditions is of great interest for indoor HCHO purification. Here, we report that sodium-doped Pd/TiO2 is a highly effective catalyst for the catalytic oxidation of HCHO at room temperature. It was observed that Na doping has a dramatic promotion effect on the Pd/TiO2 catalyst and that nearly 100% HCHO conversion could be achieved over the 2Na-Pd/TiO2 catalyst at a GHSV of 95000 h(-1) and HCHO inlet concentration of 140 ppm at 25 °C. The mechanism of the Na-promotion effect was investigated by using Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), X-ray diffraction (XRD), CO chemisorption, Temperature-programmed reduction by H2 (H2-TPR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and temperature-programmed desorption of O2 (O2-TPD) methods. The results showed that Na species addition can induce and further stabilize a negatively charged and well-dispersed Pd species, which then facilitates the activation of H2O and chemisorbed oxygen, therefore resulting in the high performance of the 2Na-Pd/TiO2 catalyst for the ambient HCHO destruction.

Stereoselectivity in bioaccumulation and excretion of epoxiconazole by mealworm beetle (Tenebrio molitor) larvae.

Stereoselectivity in bioaccumulation and excretion of stereoisomers of epoxiconazole by mealworm beetle (Tenebrio molitor) larvae through dietary exposure was investigated. Liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) method that use a ChiralcelOD-3R[cellulosetris-Tris-(3, 5-dichlorophenyl-carbamate)] chromatography column was applied to carry out chiral separation of the stereoisomers. Wheat bran was spiked with racemic epoxiconazole at two dose levels of 20mg/kg and 2mg/kg (dry weight) to feed T. molitor larvae. The results showed that both the doses of epoxiconazole were taken up by Tenebrio molitor larvae rapidly at the initial stages. There was a significant trend of stereoselective bioaccumulation in the larvae with a preferential accumulation of (-)-epoxiconazole in the 20mg/kg dose. The stereoselectivity in bioaccumulation in the 2mg/kg dosage was not obvious compared to the 20mg/kg group. Results of excretion indicated an active excretion is an important pathway for the larvae to eliminate epoxiconazole which was a passive transport process with non stereoselectivity. The faster elimination might be the reason for the low accumulation of epoxiconazole, as measured by bioaccumulation factor (BAF).

Time-/dose- series transcriptome data analysis and traditional Chinese medicine treatment of pneumoconiosis.

Pneumoconiosis' pathogenesis is still unclear and specific drugs for its treatment are lacking. Analysis of series transcriptome data often uses a single comparison method, and there are few reports on using such data to predict the treatment of pneumoconiosis with traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Here, we proposed a new method for analyzing series transcriptomic data, series difference analysis (SDA), and applied it to pneumoconiosis. By comparison with 5 gene sets including existing pneumoconiosis-related genes and gene set functional enrichment analysis, we demonstrated that the new method was not inferior to two existing traditional analysis methods. Furthermore, based on the TCM-drug target interaction network, we predicted the TCM corresponding to the common pneumoconiosis-related genes obtained by multiple methods, and combined them with the high-frequency TCM for its treatment obtained through literature mining to form a new TCM formula for it. After feeding it to pneumoconiosis modeling mice for two months, compared with the untreated group, the coat color, mental state and tissue sections of the mice in the treated group were markedly improved, indicating that the new TCM formula has a certain efficacy. Our study provides new insights into method development for series transcriptomic data analysis and treatment of pneumoconiosis.

Designing dynamic coordination bonds in polar hybrid crystals for a high-temperature ferroelastic transition.

Ferroelastic materials have gained widespread attention as promising candidates for mechanical switches, shape memory, and information processing. Their phase-transition mechanisms usually originate from conventional order-disorder and/or displacive types, while those involving dynamic coordination bonds are still scarce. Herein, based on a strategic molecular design of organic cations, we report three new polar hybrid crystals with a generic formula of AA'RbBiCl6 (A = A' = Me3SO+ for 1; A = Me3SO+ and A' = Me4N+ for 2; A = A' = Me3NNH2+ for 3). Their A-site cations link to the [RbBiCl6]n2n- inorganic framework with lon topology through Rb-O/N coordination bonds, while their significantly different interactions between A'-site cations and inorganic frameworks provide distinct phase-transition behaviour. In detail, the strongly coordinative A'-site Me3SO+ cations prevent 1 from a structural phase transition, while coordinatively free A'-site Me4N+ cations trigger a conventional order-disorder ferroelastic transition at 247 K in 2, accompanied by a latent heat of 0.63 J g-1 and a usual "high → low" second-harmonic-generation (SHG) switch. Interestingly, the A'-site Me3NNH2+ cations in 3 reveal unusual dynamic coordination bonds, driving a high-temperature ferroelastic transition at 369 K with a large latent heat of 18.34 J g-1 and an unusual "low → high" SHG-switching behaviour. This work provides an effective molecular assembly strategy to establish dynamic coordination bonds in a new type of host-guest model and opens an avenue for designing advanced ferroelastic multifunctional materials.