A multiscale attribution framework for separating the effects of cascade and individual reservoirs on runoff.

Climate change and human activities have great impacts on runoff. With the gradual development of cascade hydropower in the watershed, the reservoirs have increasingly impacted runoff. However, the current study mainly focuses on quantifying the impacts of human activities and climate change on runoff, lacking the exploration of the impacts of cascade reservoirs, and the attribution results are relatively rough. Therefore, this study utilized data-driven models to establish a runoff attribution framework with the basic steps of "interval runoff prediction and scheduling rule extraction", which achieved the spatial scale separation of the impacts of cascade and individual reservoirs on the runoff, and the analysis of the impacts of each factor at multiple time scales. Taking the upper reaches of the Yangtze River mainstem as an example, we verified the applicability and accuracy of the framework, explored the impacts of climate change, human activities (without reservoir scheduling), and reservoir scheduling on runoff during the period 1980-2018. The research found: (1) Compared to the base period 1980-2005, the average multi-year runoff changes at Pingshan Station (during 2013-2018), Yichang Station (during 2006-2012) and Yichang Station (during 2013-2018) were - 2.61 %, -4.33 % and - 0.89 %, respectively, with decreasing, increasing, and flattening trends over time. (2) Reservoir scheduling is the main factor leading to runoff change, showing negative impacts during flood season and positive impacts during non-flood season. (3) Under the control domain of single and cascade reservoirs, the annual scale impacts of climate change, human activities, and reservoir scheduling on runoff accounted for approximately 1:1:8 and 2:2:6, respectively, showing a complex nonlinear relationship between the impacts of single and cascade reservoirs on runoff. This study provides ideas for quantitatively assessing the impacts of cascade reservoirs on runoff and provide a basis for comprehensively assessing the ecosystem and socio-economic impacts of reservoirs on future runoff changes.

Three-dimensional high-aspect-ratio microarray thick electrodes for high-rate hybrid supercapacitors.

Hybrid supercapacitors (HSCs) with facile integration and high process compatibility are considered ideal power sources for portable consumer electronics. However, as a crucial component for storing energy, traditional thin-film electrodes exhibit low energy density. Although increasing the thickness of thin films can enhance the energy density of the electrodes, it gives rise to issues such as poor mechanical stability and long electron/ion transport pathways. Constructing a stable three-dimensional (3D) ordered thick electrode is considered the key to addressing the aforementioned contradictions. In this work, a manufacturing process combining lithography and chemical deposition techniques is developed to produce large-area and high-aspect-ratio 3D nickel ordered cylindrical array (NiOCA) current collectors. Positive electrodes loaded with nickel-cobalt bimetallic hydroxide (NiOCA/NiCo-LDH) are constructed by electrodeposition, and HSCs are assembled with NiOCA/nitrogen-doped porous carbon (NiOCA/NPC) as negative electrodes. The HSCs exhibits 55% capacity retention with the current density ranging from 2 to 50 mA cm-2. Moreover, it maintains 98.2% of the initial capacity after long-term cycling of 15,000 cycles at a current density of 10 mA cm-2. The manufacturing process demonstrates customizability and favorable repeatability. It is anticipated to provide innovative concepts for the large-scale production of 3D microarray thick electrodes for high-performance energy storage system.

Molecular insights into the human ABCB6 transporter.

ABCB6 plays a crucial role in energy-dependent porphyrin transport, drug resistance, toxic metal resistance, porphyrin biosynthesis, protection against stress, and encoding a blood group system Langereis antigen. However, the mechanism underlying porphyrin transport is still unclear. Here, we determined the cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) structures of nanodisc-reconstituted human ABCB6 trapped in an apo-state and an ATP-bound state at resolutions of 3.6 and 3.5 Å, respectively. Our structures reveal a unique loop in the transmembrane domain (TMD) of ABCB6, which divides the TMD into two cavities. It restrains the access of substrates in the inward-facing state and is removed by ATP-driven conformational change. No ligand cavities were observed in the nucleotide-bound state, indicating a state following substrate release but prior to ATP hydrolysis. Structural analyses and functional characterizations suggest an "ATP-switch" model and further reveal the conformational changes of the substrate-binding pockets triggered by the ATP-driven regulation.

Impact of water extractable arabinoxylan with different molecular weight on the gelatinization and retrogradation behavior of wheat starch.

Water-extractable arabinoxylan (WEAX) could effectively improve the cereal food quality, while its regulatory effect on wheat starch properties has yet to be well-understood. This study selected the WEAX with different molecular weight (Mw) but same branched degree, and comparatively investigated their effects on the gelatinization and retrogradation behavior of wheat starch. The decreased degree of swelling power, solubility and peak viscosity suggested that low Mw WEAX (L-WEAX) could hinder starch gelatinization more evidently compared with high Mw WEAX (H-WEAX), due to the pronounced inhibition effect on amylose leaching and amylose-lipid complex formation. L-WEAX suppressed the recrystallization of amylose and thus the short-term retrogradation. However, H-WEAX mainly retarded the recrystallization of amylopectin, exerting a more significant inhibition effect on the long-term retrogradation. This study could provide a theoretical basis for enhancing the quality and extending the shelf life of starchy foods by selecting the optimum structure of WEAX.

Microbial transglutaminase-modified protein network and its importance in enhancing the quality of high-fiber tofu with okara.

Introducing okara to develop high-fiber tofu (HFT) can effectively increase the utilization of soy residues as well as enhance the nutrition of tofu. However, okara degrades the glucono-δ-lactone (GDL)-induced tofu quality. Current results showed that microbial transglutaminase (TGase) remarkably enhanced the gel strength, water holding capacity and viscoelasticity of HFT. During heating of soymilk, AB and A1,2,4 subunits of 11S were more prone to aggregate via disulfide (SS) bonds to form larger soluble protein aggregates under neutral condition, while the SS-mediated insoluble aggregates were formed under acid condition by GDL and predominantly contributed to the structure of tofu without TGase. TGase-induced intermolecular ε-(γ-glutamyl) lysine strengthened protein network and contributed the most to HFT structure. TGase promoted formation of protein aggregates more orderly, and okara was well-wrapped by protein network. These results demonstrated that the macro-protein aggregates crosslinked by TGase conspicuously strengthened the gel network and significantly elevated the HFT quality.

Optimization of composite cryoprotectant for freeze-drying Bifidobacterium bifidum BB01 by response surface methodology.

Freeze drying has been well applied in the preparation of high-efficiency probiotic powders. However, the process is generally accompanied by probiotic viability deficiency, which is the bottleneck for further application. To improve the viability of Bifidobacterium bifidum BB01 during freeze-drying, we optimized the cryoprotectant of B. bifidum BB01 by response surface methodology (RSM) with a Central Composite Design (CCD). In this study, two values of B. bifidum BB01 with different protectant factors were investigated, including freeze-drying survival rate and the viable counts of per unit weight of freeze-dried powder. The optimized cryoprotectants were obtained as follows: glycine of 5.5%, sodium bicarbonate of 0.8%, xylo-oligosaccharides of 7%, arginine of 4.5% and skim milk of 25%. The survival rate and the viable counts of per unit weight of powder were 90.37 ± 1.9% and (2.78 ± 0.13) × 1011cfu·g-1, respectively, both close to the predicted value (88.58% and 2.71 × 1011 cfu·g-1). Our research demonstrated that RSM was successful in optimizing composite cryoprotectant for freeze-dried powder of B. bifidum which can as well protect the probiotic cells.