High Freshwater Flux Solar Desalination via a 3D Plasmonic Evaporator with an Efficient Heat-Mass Evaporation Interface.

Passive solar desalination with interfacial heating is a promising technique to utilize solar energy to convert seawater into fresh water through evaporation and condensation. However, the current freshwater flux of solar desalination is much below industrial requirements (> 20 L m-2  h-1 ). Herein, it is demonstrated that a 3D plasmonic evaporator with an efficient heat-mass evaporation interface (HM-EI) achieves a freshwater flux of 29.1 L m-2  h-1 for 3.5 wt.% NaCl, which surpasses the previous solar evaporators and approaches the level of reverse osmosis (the highest installed capacity in industrial seawater desalination technology). The realization of high freshwater flux solar desalination comes from the efficient HM-EI comprising a grid-like plasmonic macrostructure for enhanced energy utilization in heat properties and a large-pore microstructure for accelerated ion transport in mass properties. This work provides a new direction for designing next-generation solar evaporators with high freshwater flux for industrial requirements.

Possible Role of GnIH as a Novel Link between Hyperphagia-Induced Obesity-Related Metabolic Derangements and Hypogonadism in Male Mice.

Gonadotropin-inhibitory hormone (GnIH) is a reproductive inhibitor and an endogenous orexigenic neuropeptide that may be involved in energy homeostasis and reproduction. However, whether GnIH is a molecular signal link of metabolism and the reproductive system, and thus, regulates reproductive activity as a function of the energy state, is still unknown. In the present study, we investigated the involvement of GnIH in glycolipid metabolism and reproduction in vivo, and in the coupling between these two processes in the testis level. Our results showed that chronic intraperitoneal injection of GnIH into male mice not only increased food intake and altered meal microstructure but also significantly elevated body mass due to the increased mass of liver and epididymal white adipose tissue (eWAT), despite the loss of testicular weight. Furthermore, chronic intraperitoneal administration of GnIH to male mice resulted in obesity-related glycolipid metabolic derangements, showing hyperlipidemia, hyperglycemia, glucose intolerance, and insulin resistance through changes in the expression of glucose and lipid metabolism-related genes in the pancreas and eWAT, respectively. Interestingly, the expression of GnIH and GPR147 was markedly increased in the testis of mice under conditions of energy imbalance, such as fasting, acute hypoglycemia, and hyperglycemia. In addition, chronic GnIH injection markedly inhibited glucose and lipid metabolism of mice testis while significantly decreasing testosterone synthesis and sperm quality, inducing hypogonadism. These observations indicated that orexigenic GnIH triggers hyperphagia-induced obesity-related metabolic derangements and hypogonadism in male mice, suggesting that GnIH is an emerging candidate for coupling metabolism and fertility by involvement in obesity and metabolic disorder-induced reproductive dysfunction of the testes.

RFRP-3, the Mammalian Ortholog of GnIH, Is a Novel Modulator Involved in Food Intake and Glucose Homeostasis.

RF amide-related peptide 3 (RFRP-3) is a reproductive inhibitor and an endogenous orexigenic neuropeptide that may be involved in energy homeostasis. In this study, we evaluated the effect of acute or chronic RFRP-3 treatment (administered via intraperitoneal injection) on the food intake, meal microstructure and weight of rats, as well as the mechanism through which RFRP-3 is involved in glucose metabolism in the pancreas and glucose disposal tissues of rat in vivo. Our results showed that the intraperitoneal administration of RFRP-3 to rats resulted in marked body mass increased, hyperphagia, hyperlipidemia, hyperglycemia, glucose intolerance, hypoinsulinism, hyperglucagon, and insulin resistance, as well as significant increases in the size of pancreatic islets and the inflammatory reaction. Thus, we strongly assert that RFRP-3 as a novel neuroendocrine regulator involved in blood glucose homeostasis.