RESUMO
Subsoiling practice is an essential tillage practice in modern agriculture. Tillage forces and energy consumption during subsoiling are extremely high, which reduces the economic benefits of subsoiling technology. In this paper, a cicada-inspired biomimetic subsoiling tool (CIST) was designed to reduce the draught force during subsoiling. A soil-tool interaction model was developed using EDEM and validated using lab soil bin tests with sandy loam soil. The validated model was used to optimize the CIST and evaluate its performance by comparing it with a conventional chisel subsoiling tool (CCST) at various working depths (250-350 mm) and speeds (0.5-2.5 ms-1). Results showed that both simulated draught force and soil disturbance behaviors agreed well with those from lab soil bin tests, as indicated by relative errors of <6.1%. Compared with the CCST, the draught forces of the CIST can be reduced by 17.7% at various working depths and speeds; the design of the CIST obviously outperforms some previous biomimetic designs with largest draught force reduction of 7.29-12.8%. Soil surface flatness after subsoiling using the CIST was smoother at various depths than using the CCST. Soil loosening efficiencies of the CIST can be raised by 17.37% at various working speeds. Results from this study implied that the developed cicada-inspired subsoiling tool outperforms the conventional chisel subsoiling tool on aspects of soil disturbance behaviors, draught forces, and soil loosening efficiencies. This study can have implications for designing high-performance subsoiling tools with reduced draught forces and energy requirements, especially for the subsoiling tools working under sandy loam soil.
RESUMO
III-V quantum dots (QDs), in particular InP QDs, have emerged as high-performance and environmentally friendly candidates to replace cadmium based QDs. InP QDs exhibit properties of direct band gap structure, low toxicity, and high mobility, which make them suitable for high-performance optoelectronic applications. However, it is still challenging to precisely regulate the components and crystal structure of InP QDs, especially in the engineered stable aliovalent doping. In this work, we developed our original reverse cation exchange strategy to achieve Cu+ doped InP (InP:Cu) QDs at lower temperature. A ZnSexS1-x shell was then homogeneously grown on the InP:Cu QDs as the passivation shell. The as-prepared InP:Cu@ZnSexS1-x core-shell QDs exhibited better fluorescence properties with a photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) of 56.47%. Due to the existence of multiple luminous centers in the QDs, variable temperature-dependent fluorescence characteristics have been studied. The high photoluminescence characteristics in the near-infrared region indicate their potential applications in optoelectronic devices and biological fields.
RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease mediated by immune cells. Th22 cells are CD4(+) T cells that secret IL-22 but not IL-17 or IFN-γ and are implicated in the pathogenesis of inflammatory disease. The roles of Th22 cells in the pathophysiologic procedures of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) remain unclear. The purpose of this study is to investigate the profile of Th22, Th17 and Th17/Th1 cells in ACS patients, including unstable angina (UA) and acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients. DESIGN AND METHODS: In this study, 26 AMI patients, 16 UA patients, 16 stable angina (SA) patients and 16 healthy controls were included. The frequencies of Th22, Th17 and Th17/Th1 cells in AMI, UA, SA patients and healthy controls were examined by flow cytometry. Plasma levels of IL-22, IL-17 and IFN-γ were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). RESULTS: Th22, Th17 and Th17/Th1 cells were significantly increased in AMI and UA patients compared with SA patients and healthy controls. Moreover, plasma IL-22 level was significantly elevated in AMI and UA patients. In addition, Th22 cells correlated positively with IL-22 as well as Th17 cells in AMI and UA patients. CONCLUSION: Our findings showed increased frequencies of both Th22 and Th17 cells in ACS patients, which suggest that Th22 and Th17 cells may play a potential role in plaque destabilization and the development of ACS.
