Low Level of Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator Is Associated with Human Sperm Autophagy and Vitality

Low sperm motility is one of the main causes of male infertility. Cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR, an anion channel protein) is related to the progressive motility of sperm. CFTR disruptor CFTRinh-172 or forskolin (FSK) in this study were used to treat human sperm separately, and the rates of sperm autophagy and progressive motility, mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) and ATP concentration, and the expression levels of related factors were detected to explore their relationship. It was showed that sperms treated with CFTRinh-172 or FSK reduced the levels of cAMP, CFTR and PKA, but increased sperm autophagy rate, expression levels of AMPK and LC3B. However, reactive oxygen species content had no significant difference. It was indicated that low level of CFTR performed with cAMP and its downstream effectors such as PKA and AMPK to regulate mitochondrial structure and function, leading to increased autophagy rate and reduced vitality of sperm.

Effect of Introducing Conductive Organic Carrier on Properties of Low-Temperature Conductive Silver Paste

The poly(epoxy-N-methylaniline)conductive organic carrier was used as the bonding phase of the low-temperature conductive silver paste.Then,this was mixed with different proportions of silver powder to prepare the low-temperature conductive silver paste.Afterwards,the effect of the conductive organic carrier on the properties of the low-temperature conductive silver paste was determined by IR,DMA and SEM.The results revealed that the prepared conductive paste has good conductivity,film-forming performance,printing performance,low-temperature curing performance,and anti-aging performance.When the mass percentage of the bonding phase/conductive phase was 40/60,the lowest volume resistivity of the conductive silver paste was 4.9×10^(−6)Ω⋅cm,and the conductivity was the best.

Machine Learning Approach Accelerates Search for Solid State Electrolytes

In the current aera of rapid development in the field of electric vehicles and electrochemical energy storage,solid-state battery technology is attracting much research and attention.Solid-state electrolytes,as the key component of next-generation battery technology,are favored for their high safety,high energy density,and long life.However,finding high-performance solid-state electrolytes is the primary challenge for solid-state battery applications.Focusing on inorganic solid-state electrolytes,this work highlights the need for ideal solid-state electrolytes to have low electronic conductivity,good thermal stability,and structural and phase stability.Traditional experimental and theoretical computational methods suffer from inefficiency,thus machine learning methods become a novel path to intelligently predict material properties by analyzing a large number of inorganic structural properties and characteristics.Through the gradient descent-based XGBoost algorithm,we successfully predicted the energy band structure and stability of the materials,and screened out only 194 ideal solid-state electrolyte structures from more than 6000 structures that satisfy the requirements of low electronic conductivity and stability simultaneously,which greatly accelerated the development of solid-state batteries.

A Double-Phase High-Frequency Traveling Magnetic Field Developed for Contactless Stirring of Low-Conducting Liquid Materials

The use of low electrically conducting liquids is more and more widespread.This is the case for molten glass,salt or slag processing,ionic liquids used in biotechnology,batteries in energy storage and metallurgy.The present paper deals with the design of a new electromagnetic induction device that can heat and stir low electricallyconducting liquids.It consists of a resistance-capacity-inductance circuit coupled with a low-conducting liquid load.The device is supplied by a unique electric power source delivering a single-phase high frequency electric current.The main working principle of the circuit is based on a double oscillating circuit inductor connected to the solid-state transistor generator.This technique,which yields a set of coupled oscillating circuits,consists of coupling a forced phase and an induced phase,neglecting the influence of the electric parameters of the loading part(i.e.,the low-conductivity liquid).It is shown that such an inductor is capable to provide a two-phase AC traveling magnetic field at high frequency.To better understand the working principle,the present work improves a previous existing simplified theory by taking into account a complex electrical equivalent diagram due to the different mutual couplings between the two inductors and the two corresponding induced current sets.A more detailed theoretical model is provided,and the key and sensitive elements are elaborated.Based on this theory,equipment is designed to provide a stirring effect on sodium chloride-salted water at 40 S/m.It is shown that such a device fed by several hundred kiloHertz electric currents is able to mimic a linear motor.A set of optimized operating parameters are proposed to guide the experiment.A pure electromagnetic numerical model is presented.Numerical modelling of the load is performed in order to assess the efficiency of the stirrer with a salt water load.Such a device can generate a significant liquid motion with both controlled flow patterns and adjustable amplitude.Based on the magnetohydrodynamic theory,numerical modeling of the salt water flow generated by the stirrer confirms its feasibility.

Low Thermal Conductivity of Paperclip-Shaped Graphene Superlattice Nanoribbons

We design some graphene superlattice structures with ultra-low thermal conductivity 121 W//mK, which is only 6~ of the straight graphene nanoribbons. The thermal conductivity of graphene superlattice nanoribbons （GSNRs） is investigated by using molecular dynamics simulations. It is reported that the thermal conductivity of graphene superlattiee nanoribbons is significantly lower than that of the straight graphene nanoribbons （GNRs）. Compared with the phonon spectra of straight GNRs, GSNRs have more forbidden bands. The overlap of phonon spectra between two supercells is shrinking.

Preparation,Performance and Slag Resistant Mechanism of Low Thermal Conductivity Microporous Corundum

The microporous corundum material was prepared using alumina micro-powder as the main raw material, alumina sol and starch as binders by a wet process, achieving the bulk density of 3.05 g · cm^-3, the apparent porosity of 9. 1%, the closed porosity of 12.3%, the median pore diameter of 0. 43 μm, and the thermal conductivity of 6. 5 W· m^-1· K^-1 at 800 ℃ which is 41.6% lower than that of common corundum. The slag resistance of the microporous corundum material was studied by immersion and compared with that of the common corundum aggregate, and the slag resistant mechanism of microporous corundum material was revealed. The results show that the slag resistance of the microporous corundum material is superior to that of the common corundum aggregate, the SEM and EDX show that on the reaction interface between microporous corundum and molten, slag, a continuous isolation layer with a large quantity of CA2 and CA6 columnar crystals is formed; while the common corundum aggregate reacts with the molten slag interface to form a discontinuous isolation layer of columnar crystals, through which a lot of molten slag corrodes or permeates into the aggregate. The mechanism is mainly that the microporous structure is more advantageous to nucleation and growth of CA2 and CA6 columnar crystals; in the reaction with the aggregate, the molten slag gets saturated and the critical solution thickness of the microporous corundum and the common corundum is 0. 16 μm and 0. 34 μm, respectively, this is caused by the smaller microporous corundum aggregate pores; and the smaller pores also increase the second phase ripening rate of microporous corundum, which is 9. 7 times of that of the common corundum.

Preparation of Cellulose Acetate Butyrate Porous Micro/Nanofibrous Membranes and Their Properties

Cellulose acetate butyrate(CAB)is a cellulose ester that is commonly used in applications such as coatings and leather brighteners.However,its appearance in a fibrous form is rarely reported.CAB porous micro/nanofibrous membranes with a large number of nanopores on the fiber surface were successfully prepared by electrospinning with dichloromethane(DCM)/acetone(AC)as the mixed solvent.Apparent morphology,porosity,moisture permeability,air permeability,static water contact angles,and thermal conductivity of the fibrous membranes were investigated at different spinning voltages.The results showed that with the increase of the spinning voltage,the average fiber diameter of the CAB porous micro/nanofibrous membranes gradually decreased and the fiber diameter distribution was more uniform.When the spinning voltage reached 40 kV,the porosity reached 91.38%,the moisture permeability was up to 7430 g/(m^(2)·d),the air permeability was up to 36.289 mm/s,the static water contact angle was up to 145.0°,while the thermal conductivity of the fibrous membranes reached 0.030 W/(m·K).The material can be applied as thermal-insulation,waterproof and moisture-permeable membranes.

Analysis of the Performances of a New Type of Alumina Nanocomposite Structural Material Designed for the Thermal Insulation of High-Rise Buildings

The sol-gel method is used to prepare a new nano-alumina aerogel structure and the thermal properties of this nanomaterial are investigated comprehensively using electron microscope scanning,thermal analysis,X-ray and infrared spectrometer analysis methods.It is found that the composite aerogel alumina material has a multi-level porous nano-network structure.When employed for the thermal insulation of high-rise buildings,the alumina nanocomposite aerogel material can lead to effective energy savings in winter.However,it has almost no energy-saving effect on buildings where energy is consumed for cooling in summer.

Prediction of lattice thermal conductivity with two-stage interpretable machine learning

Thermoelectric and thermal materials are essential in achieving carbon neutrality. However, the high cost of lattice thermal conductivity calculations and the limited applicability of classical physical models have led to the inefficient development of thermoelectric materials. In this study, we proposed a two-stage machine learning framework with physical interpretability incorporating domain knowledge to calculate high/low thermal conductivity rapidly. Specifically, crystal graph convolutional neural network(CGCNN) is constructed to predict the fundamental physical parameters related to lattice thermal conductivity. Based on the above physical parameters, an interpretable machine learning model–sure independence screening and sparsifying operator(SISSO), is trained to predict the lattice thermal conductivity. We have predicted the lattice thermal conductivity of all available materials in the open quantum materials database(OQMD)(https://www.oqmd.org/). The proposed approach guides the next step of searching for materials with ultra-high or ultralow lattice thermal conductivity and promotes the development of new thermal insulation materials and thermoelectric materials.

Crust-mantle structure feature and the seismic activity of the main tectonic units in the North Tanlu fault zone

Using recent data of geoscience transaction in Northeast China, the author analyses and studies the crust-upper mantle structure feature of the North Tanlu fault zone. The result shows the crust-mantle structure are obvious difference at both sides of the North Tanlu fault zone. The fault activity and segmentation are closely related with abruptly change zone of the crust-upper mantle structure. There is a clear mirror image relationship between the big geomorphic shape and asthenosphere undulate, the former restricts tectonic stability and tectonic style of dif- ferent crustal units. The significantly strengthening seismicity of north set and south set in the North Tanlu fault zone just correspond to the low-velocity and high conductivity layer of crust-upper mantle. In the North Tanlu fault zone, the main controlling structure of the mid-strong seismic generally consists of the active fault sectors, whose crust-mantle structure is more complicated in rigidity massif.

Effects of Al particles and thin layer on thermal expansion and conductivity of Al-Y_2Mo_3O_(12) cermets

Low thermal expansion composites are difficult to obtain by using Al with larger positive thermal expansion coefficient（TEC） and the materials with smaller negative TECs. In this investigation, Y2Mo3O12 with larger negative TEC is used to combine with Al to obtain a low thermal expansion composite with high conductivity. The TEC of Al is reduced by 19%for a ratio Al：Y2Mo3O12 of 0.3118. When the mass ratio of Al：Y2Mo3O12 increases to 2.0000, the conductivity of the composite increases so much that a transformation from capacitance to pure resistance appears. The results suggest that Y2Mo3O12 plays a dominant role in the composite for low content of Al（presenting isolate particles）, while the content of Al increases enough to contact each other, the composite presents mainly the property of Al. For the effect of high content Al, it is considered that Al is squeezed out of the cermets during the uniaxial pressure process to form a thin layer on the surface.

An Effective Green Porous Structural Adhesive for Thermal Insulating,Flame-Retardant,and Smoke-Suppressant Expandable Polystyrene Foam

To develop an efficient way to overcome the contradiction among flame retardancy,smoke suppression,and thermal insulation in expanded polystyrene(EPS)foams,which are widely used insulation materials in buildings,a novel"green"porous bio-based flame-retard ant starch(FRS)coating was designed from starch modified with phytic acid(PA)that simultaneously acts as both a flame retardant and an adhesive.This porous FRS coating has open pores,which,in combination with the closed cells formed by EPS beads,create a hierarchically porous structure in FRS-EPS that results in superior thermal insulation with a lower thermal conductivity of 27.0 mW·(m·K)^(-1).The resultant FRS-EPS foam showed extremely low heat-release rates and smoke-production release,indicating excellent fire retardancy and smoke suppression.The specific optical density was as low as 121,which was 80.6%lower than that of neat EPS,at 624.The FRS-EPS also exhibited self-extinguishing behavior in vertical burning tests and had a high limiting oxygen index(LOI)value of 35.5%.More interestingly,after being burnt with an alcohol lamp for 30 min,the top side temperature of the FRS-EPS remained at only 140℃with ignition,thereby exhibiting excellent fire resistance.Mechanism analysis confirmed the intumescent action of FRS,which forms a compact phosphorus-rich hybrid barrier,and the phosphorus-containing compounds that formed in the gas phase contributed to the excellent flame retardancy and smoke suppression of FRS-EPS.This novel porous biomass-based FRS system provides a promising strategy for fabricating polymer foams with excellent flame retardancy,smoke suppression,and thermal insulation.

Electrolyte design for Li-conductive solid-electrolyte interphase enabling benchmark performance for all-solid-state lithium-metal batteries

Sulfide-based solid-state electrolytes (SSEs) with high Li+ conductivity (δLi^(+)) and trifling grain boundaries have great potential for all-solid-state lithium-metal batteries (ASSLMBs). Nonetheless, the in-situ development of mixed ionic-electronic conducting solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI) at sulfide electrolyte/Li-metal anode interface induces uneven Li electrodeposition, which causes Li-dendrites and void formation, significantly severely deteriorating ASSLMBs. Herein, we propose a dual anionic, e.g., F and N, doping strategy to Li7P3S11, tuning its composition in conjunction with the chemistry of SEI. Therefore, novel Li_(6.58)P_(2.76)N_(0.03)S_(10.12)F_(0.05) glass-ceramic electrolyte (Li_(7)P_(3)S_(11-5)LiF-3Li_(3)N-gce) achieved superior ionic (4.33 mS·cm^(−1)) and lowest electronic conductivity of 4.33 × 10^(−10) S·cm^(−1) and thus, offered superior critical current density of 0.90 mA·cm^(−2) (2.5 times 】Li7P3S11) at room temperature (RT). Notably, Li//Li cell with Li6.58P2.76N0.03S10.12F0.05-gce cycled stably over 1000 and 600 h at 0.2 and 0.3 mA·cm^(−2) credited to robust and highly conductive SEI (in-situ) enriched with LiF and Li3N species. Li3N’s wettability renders SEI to be highly Li+ conductive, ensures an intimate interfacial contact, blocks reductive reactions, prevents Li-dendrites and facilitates fast Li+ kinetics. Consequently, LiNi0.8Co0.15Al0.05O_(2) (NCA)/Li_(6.58)P_(2.76)N_(0.03)S_(10.12)F_(0.05)-gce/Li cell exhibited an outstanding first reversible capacity of 200.8/240.1 mAh·g^(−1) with 83.67% Coulombic efficiency, retained 85.11% of its original reversible capacity at 0.3 mA·cm^(−2) over 165 cycles at RT.

Extremely low thermal conductivity from bismuth selenohalides with 1D soft crystal structure

Materials with intrinsically low thermal conductivity are of fundamental interests.Here we report a new sort of simple one-dimensional(1 D)crystal structured bismuth selenohalides(Bi Se X,X=Br,I)with extremely low thermal conductivity of^0.27 W m^-1K^-1 at 573 K.The mechanism of the extremely low thermal conductivity in 1 D Bi Se X is elucidated systematically using the first-principles calculations,neutron powder-diffraction measurements and temperature tunable aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy(STEM).Results reveal that the1 D structure of Bi Se X possesses unique soft bonding character,low phonon velocity,strong anharmonicity of both acoustic and optical phonon modes,and large off-center displacement of Bi and halogen atoms.Cooperatively,all these features contribute to the minimal phonon transport.These findings provide a novel selection rule to search low thermal conductivity materials with potential applications in thermoelectrics and thermal barrier coatings.

Low-thermal-conductivity thermal barrier coatings with a multi-scale pore design and sintering resistance following thermal exposure

High-insulation,long-life thermal barrier coatings(TBCs)decrease the service temperature of superalloys and improve the service life of gas turbines.Improvement in the thermal insulation properties of the coating mainly depends on the optimization of the TBC structure.An important challenge for TBCs is maintaining a high performance during thermal exposure without degradation,as the pore-rich structure of the topcoat would inevitably be transformed by sintering.A low-thermalconductivity anti-sintering coating can overcome the tradeoff between thermal insulation and sinter degradation.In this review,the design,preparation,and serviceability evaluation of a low-thermal-conductivity anti-sintering coating will be discussed.Furthermore,directions for potential development are introduced.This paper provides a comprehensive understanding of the structured tailoring of TBCs for better thermal insulation and anti-sintering performance.

Discovery of ABO_(4)scheelites with the extra low thermal conductivity through high-throughput calculations

Searching for new materials with extra low thermal conductivities is significant in numerous fields like thermal barrier coatings and thermoelectric devices.Traditional multiple-component design has successfully reduced the thermal conductivity,but it also dramatically increases the complexity of manufactural technologies and the risk of material failures.In this work,a specific category known as ABO_(4) scheelites that with both simple crystal structure and the structural signature of the low lattice thermal conductivity is explored.High-throughput calculations are employed to screen for the materials with the targeted performance by multi-dimensional mechanical/thermal property criteria and a database of 46 stable scheelites is constructed.Seven scheelites with both ultra-low thermal conductivities(<1.2 W/(m∙K))and quasi-ductility are predicted to be novel thermal insulation materials.Low thermal conductivities prefer the scheelites with large valence disparity between“A”and“B”cations and/or small ionic radius ratio.The adopted strategy starting from the structural fingerprint and the data-driven material selection is expected to be a reference of future structural and functional ceramics design.

CuPbBi_(5)S_(9) thermoelectric material with an intrinsic low thermal conductivity:Synthesis and properties

CuPbBi_(5)S_(9) compounds have been investigated as gladite for years.However,there have been no significant studies on their physical and chemical properties.This work demonstrates that upon alloying with moderate Cu,Pb,Bi,and S using an appropriate preparation method,quaternary CuPbBi_(5)S_(9) compounds can exhibit excellent figure of merit ZT within the temperature range 298-723 K.A low average velocity,low Young’s modulus and Debye temperature,and large Grüneisen parameter,determined experimentally,indicate strong lattice anharmonicity in CuPbBi_(5)S_(9) crystals.Furthermore,density functional theory calculations(local vibration of low-frequency acoustic phonons)justify the low lattice thermal conductivity of CuPbBi_(5)S_(9) compounds.Because of the low thermal conductivity(0.514 W m^(-1)K^(-1))and a relatively high power factor(293 μW m^(-1)K^(-2)),a maximum ZT of 0.42 was achieved at 723 K for CuPbBi_(5)S_(9) prepared by mechanical alloying combined with solid-state melting.Thus,CuPbBi_(5)S_(9) materials are promising candidates for use as high-performance thermoelectric materials in the intermediate-temperature range.

Highly conductive,stretchable,durable,skin-conformal dry electrodes based on thermoplastic elastomer-embedded 3D porous graphene for multifunctional wearable bioelectronics

Long-term bioelectric potential recording requires highly reliable wearable dry electrodes.Laser-induced graphene(LIG)dry electrodes on polyimide(PI)films are difficult to conform to the skin due to the non-stretchability and low flexibility of PI films.As a result,high interface impedance and motion artifacts can occur during body movements.Transferring LIG to flexible substrates such as polydimethylsiloxane(PDMS)and Ecoflex allows for stretchability and flexibility.However,the transfer process produces a significant loss of conductivity destroying the structural function and electron conduction properties of the LIG.We found robust physical and chemical bonding effects between LIG and styrene-ethylene-butylene-styrene(SEBS)thermoplastic elastomer substrates and proposed a simple and robust low-conductivity loss transfer technique.Successfully embedded LIG onto SEBS to obtain high stretchability,high flexibility,low conductivity losses.Electrophoretic deposition(EPD)of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):polystyrenesulfonic acid(PEDOT:PSS)on LIG forms an ultrathin polymer conductive coating.The deposition thickness of the conductive polymer is adjusted by controlling the EPD deposition time to achieve optimal conductivity and chemical stability.SEBS/LIG/PEDOT:PSS(SLPP)dry electrodes have high conductivity(114Ω/Sq),stretchability(300%)and reliability(30%stretch,15,000 cycles),low electrode-skin impedance(14.39 kΩ,10 Hz).The detected biopotential signal has a high signal-to-noise ratio(SNR)of 35.78 dB.Finally,the feasibility of SLPP dry electrodes for long-term biopotential monitoring and biopotential-based human-machine interface control of household appliances was verified.

A simple Pb-doping to achieve bonding evolution, VSn and resonant level shifting for regulating thermoelectric transport behavior of SnTe

The intensification of energy crises and environmental pollution inspire researchers’attention to environment-friendly SnTe thermoelectric materials.In this work,we achieved a lower lattice thermal conductivity and optimized the power factor via the synergistic optimization of bonding characteristic,VSn,and resonant level for the SnTe system,respectively.Pb-introduction produces weak bonding strength,mass fluctuation,and stress distortion,which result in lower thermal conductivity.The lowest lattice thermal conductivity achieves 0.66 W m^(–1) K^(–1) at 773 K.Further introduced VSn relieves loss of electrical conductivity caused by Pb-introduction,and it also makes the bigger g(E)and up-shift of resonance level.The VSn,enhanced g(E),and resonant level make electrical conductivity and Seebeck coefficient enhance simultaneously.Finally,the further optimization of thermal and electronic transport performance contributes to a higher ZT value of∼0.86 at 773 K in the Sn_(0.685)Pb_(0.285)In_(0.015)Te_(0.7)Se_(0.3) sample.The strategy of bonding characteristic,VSn,and resonant level synergistic engineering will be widely applicable to various TE systems for achieving better thermoelectric performance.

Revealing the promising near-room-temperature thermoelectric performance in Ag_(2)Se single crystals

With high carrier mobility and intrinsic low lattice thermal conductivity,Ag_(2)Se compounds have attracted increasing attention for thermoelectric application near room temperature.Due to its phase transition at~406 K and resulting thermal volume expansion,the growth and thermoelectric properties of large-sized Ag_(2)Se single crystals have seldom been reported so far.In this work,the vertical Bridgeman method was used for growing bulk Ag_(2)Se single crystal,with an orientation preference along lowsymmetric(201)plane.The Hall mobility as high as 2000 cm^(2)/(V·s)and weak electron-phonon coupling contributes to a high electronic quality BE of~7.0 in near-room-temperature b-Ag_(2)Se single crystals,which is superior to the high-temperature phase a-Ag_(2)Se.The observed low lattice thermal conductivity of 0.8 W/(m·K)at 300 K is due to the low group speeds and strong anharmonicity.A promising peak zT of 0.66 at 375 K and an average zT of 0.65 at 300-375 K were realized in b-Ag_(2)Se crystals.The low Vickers hardness and good ductile properties were confirmed by experiment and theoretical analysis.This work not only synthesized large-sized and highly-orientated Ag_(2)Se crystals,but also revealed its great potential of thermoelectric performance and mechanical properties for various applications near room temperature.