Water-based conductive inks are vital for the sustainable manufacturing and widespread adoption of organic electronic devices. Traditional methods to produce waterborne conductive polymers involve modifying their backbone with hydrophilic side chains or using surfactants to form and stabilize aqueous nanoparticle dispersions. However, these chemical approaches are not always feasible and can lead to poor material/device performance. Here, we demonstrate that ground-state electron transfer (GSET) between donor and acceptor polymers allows the processing of water-insoluble polymers from water. This approach enables macromolecular charge-transfer salts with 10,000× higher electrical conductivities than pristine polymers, low work function, and excellent thermal/solvent stability. These waterborne conductive films have technological implications for realizing high-performance organic solar cells, with efficiency and stability superior to conventional metal oxide electron transport layers, and organic electrochemical neurons with biorealistic firing frequency. Our findings demonstrate that GSET offers a promising avenue to develop water-based conductive inks for various applications in organic electronics.
The RNA helicase DExD/H-box (DDX) family of proteins plays a central role in host cellular RNA metabolism, including mRNA regulation, microRNA biogenesis, and ribosomal processing. DDX5, also known as p68, promotes viral replication and tumorigenesis. However, there have been no studies on the regulation of the intestinal microbiota by DDX family proteins. We constructed DDX5 knockout mice (Ddx5+/-) using CRISPR/CAS9 technology. Subsequently, DDX5 knockout mice were analyzed for PCR products, mRNA levels, protein expression, immunohistochemistry, and histopathological lesions. Fecal (n = 12) and ileum (n = 12) samples were collected from the Ddx5+/- and wild-type (Ddx5+/+) mice. The diversity, richness, and structural separation of the intestinal microbiota of the Ddx5+/- and Ddx5+/+ mice were determined by 16S rRNA sequencing and analysis. Ddx5+/- mice were successfully established, and the ileum had normal morphology, a clear layer of tissue structures, and neatly arranged cupped cells. DDX5 knockout mice did not exhibit adverse effects on the ileal tissue. Microbial diversity and abundance were not significantly different, but the microbial structure of the intestinal microbiota was clustered separately between Ddx5+/+ and Ddx5+/- mice. Furthermore, we found that the relative abundance of Akkermansia and Clostridium_sensu_stricto_1 in the Ddx5+/- mice was significantly lower than in the Ddx5+/+ mice. These analyses indicated specific interactions between the intestinal microbiota and DDX5 protein. Our results indicate that DDX5 has a significant effect on the composition of the intestinal microbiota in mice, suggesting its potential as a promising novel target for the treatment of inflammation and tumorigenesis in the intestine.
Biointegrated neuromorphic hardware holds promise for new protocols to record/regulate signalling in biological systems. Making such artificial neural circuits successful requires minimal device/circuit complexity and ion-based operating mechanisms akin to those found in biology. Artificial spiking neurons, based on silicon-based complementary metal-oxide semiconductors or negative differential resistance device circuits, can emulate several neural features but are complicated to fabricate, not biocompatible and lack ion-/chemical-based modulation features. Here we report a biorealistic conductance-based organic electrochemical neuron (c-OECN) using a mixed ion-electron conducting ladder-type polymer with stable ion-tunable antiambipolarity. The latter is used to emulate the activation/inactivation of sodium channels and delayed activation of potassium channels of biological neurons. These c-OECNs can spike at bioplausible frequencies nearing 100 Hz, emulate most critical biological neural features, demonstrate stochastic spiking and enable neurotransmitter-/amino acid-/ion-based spiking modulation, which is then used to stimulate biological nerves in vivo. These combined features are impossible to achieve using previous technologies.
Electrons , Polymers , Neurons/physiology , Signal Transduction , Semiconductors
Recently, the development of safe, stable, and long-life supercapacitors has attracted considerable interest driven by the fast-growth of flexible wearable devices. Herein, we report an MnO2-based symmetric all-solid-state supercapacitor, using a neutral gum electrolyte that was prepared by embedding aqueous sodium sulfate solution in a biopolymer xanthan gum. Resulting from the high ion conductivity 1.12 S m-1, good water retention, and high structure adaption of such gum electrolyte, the presently described supercapacitor showed high electrochemical performance with a specific capacitance of 347 F g-1 at 1 A g-1 and an energy density of 24 µW h cm-2 The flexible supercapacitor possesses excellent reliability and achieves a retaining capacitance of 82% after 5000 cycles. In addition, the as-prepared supercapacitor demonstrated outstanding electrochemical stability at temperatures between -15 °C to 100 °C.
Artificial yarn/fiber muscles have recently attracted considerable interest for various applications. These muscles can provide large-stroke tensile and torsional actuations, resulting from inserted twists. However, tensional tethering of twisted muscles is generally needed to avoid muscle snarling and untwisting. In this paper a carbon nanotube (CNT) yarn muscle that is tethering-free and twist-stable is reported. The yarn muscle is prepared by allowing the self-plying of a coiled CNT yarn. When driven by acetone adsorption, this muscle shows decoupled actuations, which provide fast and reversible â¼13.3% contraction strain against a constant stress corresponding to â¼38 000 times the muscle weight but almost zero torsional strokes. The cycling test shows that the self-plied muscle has very good structural stability and actuation reversibility. Applied joule heating can help increase the desorption of acetone and increase the operation frequency of the self-plied muscle. Furthermore, by controlling the coupling between the joule heating and acetone adsorption/desorption, tensile actuations from negative to positive have been achieved. This twist-stable feature could considerably facilitate the practical applications of such muscle.
Artificial Organs , Muscles , Nanotubes, Carbon , Adsorption , Solvents
The overall objective of this research project is to investigate the feasibility of incorporating oil-based drilling cuttings pyrolysis residues (ODPR) and fly ash serve as replacements for fine aggregates and cementitious materials in concrete. Mechanical and physical properties, detailed environmental performances, and microstructure analysis were carried out. Meanwhile, the early hydration process and hydrated products of ODPR concrete were analyzed with X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). The results indicated that ODPR could not be categorize into hazardous wastes. ODPR had specific pozzolanic characteristic and the use of ODPR had certain influence on slump and compressive strength of concrete. The best workability and optimal compressive strength were achieved with the help of 35% ODPR. Environmental performance tests came to conclusion that ODPR as recycled aggregates and admixture for the preparation of concrete, from the technique perspective, were the substance of mere environmental contamination.
OBJECTIVE: We investigated the genetic diversity and phylogeny of 28 rhizobial isolates from root nodules of soybean growing in the Hilly Area of Central Sichuan in China. METHODS: We used 16S rDNA PCR-RFLP and phylogenetic analyses of the 16S rDNA, glnII and symbiotic genes (nodC). RESULTS: Five 16S rDNA genotypes among the isolates were distinguished with restriction endonucleases Hae III, Hinf I, Msp I and Taq I. In the 16S rDNA PCR-RFLP analysis, all the isolates are divided into Bradyrhizobium group and Sinonrhizobium group at the 83% level, and Sinonrhizobium strains accounted for 75% of the isolates. The phylogenetic analyses of 16S rDNA, glnII and nodC show that 4 representative strains SCAUs1, SCAUs2, SCAUs7 and SCAUs4 were closely related to S. fredii USDA205(T) while the other 2 representative strains SCAUs3 and SCAUs5 were closely related to B. yuanmingense CCBAU10071(T) and B. diazoefficiens USDA110(T). The 16S rDNA, glnII and nodC sequence similarity of 4 Sinonrhizobium representative strains were 98.3% - 99.9%, 98.2% - 100% and 100%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Soybean rhizobia isolated from the Hilly Area of Central Sichuan in China has rich genetic diversity, S. fredii was the predominant genus.
Bacteria/genetics , Bacteria/isolation & purification , Fabaceae/microbiology , Genetic Variation , Phylogeny , Bacteria/classification , China , Molecular Sequence Data , Rhizobium
Mignotte and Pethö used the Siegel-Baker method to find all the integral solutions (x, y, z) of the system of Diophantine equations x (2) - 6y (2) = -5 and x = 2z (2) - 1. In this paper, we extend this result and put forward a generalized method which can completely solve the family of systems of Diophantine equations x (2) - 6y (2) = -5 and x = az (2) - b for each pair of integral parameters a, b. The proof utilizes algebraic number theory and p-adic analysis which successfully avoid discussing the class number and factoring the ideals.
Models, Theoretical
Re-wetting was one of the most common forms of abiotic stresses experienced by soils. To investigate the effects of soil re-wetting rate on phosphorus (P) leaching and the relationship between soil microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and forms of P in leachate; five kinds of neutral purple soils of different fertilizer treatments were analyzed using simulating lab test at re-wetting rate of 0 h, 2 h, 4 h, 24 h and 48 h. The results showed that: (1) The lowest content of MBC appeared at the rate of 2 h during the soil re-wetting process, and the content of MBC increased with the reducing re-wetting rate. (2) Slower re-wetting helped to enhance soil microbial activity and the enhancement effect of organic fertilizer with NPK fertilizer (MNPK) was more significant. (3) The P leaching events of all fertilizer treatments occurred mainly at rapid re-wetting rates such as 0 h, 2 h, 4 h. Slower re-wetting was an important measure to prevent P leaching especially for the soils applied with chemical fertilizers, and it was of great significance in the field management of P. (4) Dissolved organic phosphorus (DOP) was the primary leaching part in leachate, and the variation range of ratio of total dissolved phosphorus (TDP) to total phosphorus (TP) and DOP to TP was 35.42%-85.99% and 29.74%-78.58% respectively. (5) With the reducing of re-wetting rate, significant negative correlation was observed between MBC and TP, TDP as well as DOP in the leachate (P < 0.05). To sum up, it was speculated that the P in soil leachate mainly came from soil microorganisms.
Fertilizers , Phosphorus/chemistry , Soil Pollutants/chemistry , Soil/chemistry , Environmental Monitoring , Soil Microbiology , Water
