Quasi-Three-Dimensional Cyclotriphosphazene-Based Covalent Organic Framework Nanosheet for Efficient Oxygen Reduction

Metal-free carbon-based materials are considered as promising oxygen reduction reaction(ORR)electrocatalysts for clean energy conversion,and their highly dense and exposed carbon active sites are crucial for efficient ORR.In this work,two unique quasi-three-dimensional cyclotriphosphazene-based covalent organic frameworks(Q3CTP-COFs)and their nanosheets were successfully synthesized and applied as ORR electrocatalysts.The abundant electrophilic structure in Q3CTP-COFs induces a high density of carbon active sites,and the unique bilayer stacking of[6+3]imine-linked backbone facilitates the exposure of active carbon sites and accelerates mass diffusion during ORR.In particular,bulk Q3CTP-COFs can be easily exfoliated into thin COF nanosheets(NSs)due to the weak interlayerπ-πinteractions.Q3CTP-COF NSs exhibit highly efficient ORR catalytic activity(half-wave potential of 0.72 V vs.RHE in alkaline electrolyte),which is one of the best COF-based ORR electrocatalysts reported so far.Furthermore,Q3CTP-COF NSs can serve as a promising cathode for Zn-air batteries(delivered power density of 156 mW cm-2 at 300 mA cm^(-2)).This judicious design and accurate synthesis of such COFs with highly dense and exposed active sites and their nanosheets will promote the development of metal-free carbon-based electrocatalysts.

Busting the efficiency of SAPO-34 catalysts for the methanol-to-olefin conversion by post-synthesis methods

As an effective non-petroleum based process for producing light olefins, the methanol-to-olefin(MTO) route has become an indispensable alternative to the industrial production of light olefins. The silicoaluminophosphate SAPO-34 zeolite(CHA-type structure) has proven to be an efficient industrial catalyst for the production of ethylene and propylene by the MTO reaction. However, the inherent structure and related diffusion limitations of SAPO-34 limit the mass transport and thus cause rapid deactivation of the catalyst. Fabrication of hierarchical SAPO-34 zeolite is one of the most effective strategies to address the intrinsic diffusion limitation. As simple, inexpensive, and efficient approach, the post-synthetic route has attracted considerable attention and widely used to introduce secondary meso-/macropores into the microporous SAPO-34 material. Significant effort has been dedicated to the development of post-synthesis strategies to prepare hierarchical SAPO-34 zeolite, thereby enhancing its catalytic performance in the MTO process. This mini-review addresses the post-synthesis preparation of hierarchical SAPO-34 catalysts and their MTO performance. Furthermore, some current problems and prospects of the post-synthesis route to hierarchical SAPO-34 catalysts are also revised. We expect this minireview to inspire the more efficient preparation of hierarchical SAPO-34 catalysts for the MTO process.

Spinal cord injury:can we repair spinal cord non-invasively by using magnetic stimulation?

Spinal cord injury(SCI)is current l y an incurable condition which induces sensorimotor impairments below the injury level.Mainly,SCI are the consequence of physical damages which occur on spinal cord due to traffic accidents or sports and recreation injuries.To date,nor treatment of therapy could be proposed to patients with SCI(Wilson et al.,2012).

Polysaccharide-based chromatographic adsorbents for virus purification and viral clearance

Viruses still pose a significant threat to human and animal health worldwide.In the fight against viral infections,high-purity viral stocks are needed for manufacture of safer vaccines.It is also a priority to ensure the viral safety of biopharmaceuticals such as blood products.Chromatography techniques are widely implemented at both academic and industrial levels in the purification of viral particles,whole viruses and virus-like particles to remove viral contaminants from biopharmaceutical products.This paper focuses on polysaccharide adsorbents,particulate resins and membrane adsorbers,used in virus purification/removal chromatography processes.Different chromatographic modes are surveyed,with particular attention to ion exchange and affinity/pseudo-affinity adsorbents among which commercially available agarose-based resins(Sepharose®)and cellulose-based membrane adsorbers(Sartobind®)occupy a dominant position.Mainly built on the development of new ligands coupled to conventional agarose/cellulose matrices,the development perspectives of polysaccharide-based chromatography media in this antiviral area are stressed in the conclusive part.

Validating the CorrectWearing of Protection Mask by Taking a Selfie:Design of a Mobile Application“CheckYourMask”to Limit the Spread of COVID-19

In a context of a virus that is transmissive by sputtering,wearing masks appear necessary to protect the wearer and to limit the propagation of the disease.Currently,we are facing the 2019-2020 coronavirus pandemic.Coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)is an infectious disease with first symptoms similar to the flu.The symptom of COVID-19 was reported first in China and very quickly spreads to the rest of the world.The COVID-19 contagiousness is known to be high by comparison with the flu.In this paper,we propose a design of a mobile application for permitting everyone having a smartphone and being able to take a picture to verify that his/her protection mask is correctly positioned on his/her face.Such application can be particularly useful for people using face protection mask for the first time and notably for children and old people.The designed method exploits Haar-like feature descriptors to detect key features of the face and a decision-making algorithm is applied.Experimental results show the potential of this method in the validation of the correct mask wearing.To the best of our knowledge,our work is the only one that currently proposes a mobile application design“CheckYourMask”for validating the correct wearing of protection mask.

Operando FT-IR study on basicity improvement of Ni(Mg,AI)O hydrotalcitederived catalysts promoted by glow plasma discharge

CO2 adsorption on the surface of hydrotalcite-derived mixed oxide catalysts was investigated under low pressure glow discharge plasma in opercindo conditions via FT-IR spectroscopy.Nickel catalysts were promoted with various transition metal species(Ce,Fe,La,Zr)to influence their physico-chemical properties.Fe and Zr species were successfully incorporated into hydrotalcite brucite layers.After calcination formed a single phase with Ni(Mg,A1)O mixed oxide,while La and Ce species formed separate phases.This had a consequence in the distribution of surface basic sites as well as in the affinity to CO produced upon CO2 dissociation in plasma.Plasma treatment activated the surface of prepared materials and changed their properties via the generation of strong basic sites associated with low coordinated surface oxygen anions.Moreover,the CO2 adsorption capacity of prepared materials increased after plasma treatment.

Environmentally benign synthesis of crystalline nanosized molecular sieves

Zeolites and zeo-type materials with nanosized dimensions are of great practical interest owing to their favorable transport properties,faster adsorption kinetics,and large external surface area.This mini-review presents recent developments in the organic template-free synthesis of nanosized zeolites and related materials.The advantages and challenges of these methods are addressed with particular attention to the green synthesis of nanozeolites.

Production of liquid bio-fuel from catalytic de-oxygenation:Pyrolysis of beech wood and flax shives

This study presents a detailed analysis of the catalytic de-oxygenation of the liquid and gaseous pyrolytic products of two biomasses (beech wood and flax shives) using different catalysts (commercial HZSM-5 and H-Y,and lab-synthesised Fe-HZSM-5,Fe-H-Y,Pt/Al2O3 and CoMo/Al2O3). The experiments were all conducted in a semi-batch reactor under the same operating conditions for all feed materials. BET specific surface area,BJH pore size distribution and FT-IR technologies have been used to characterise the catalysts,while gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS),flame ionisation detection (GC-FID) and thermal conductivity detection (GC-TCD) were used to examine the liquid and gaseous pyrolytic products. It was firstly seen that at higher catalyst-to-biomass ratios of 4∶1,de-oxygenation efficiency did not experience any further significant improvement. FeHZSM-5 was deemed to be the most efficient of the catalysts utilised as it helped reach the lowest oxygen contents in the bio-oils samples and the second best was HZSM-5. It was also found that HZSM-5 and H-Y tended to privilege the decarbonylation route(production of CO),whilst their iron-modified counterparts favoured the decarboxylation one (production of CO2) for both biomasses studied. It was then seen that the major bio-oil components (carboxylic acids) underwent almost complete conversion under catalytic treatment to produce mostly unoxygenated aromatic compounds,phenols and gases like CO and CO2. Finally,phenols were seen to be the family most significantly formed from the actions of all catalysts.

Anisotropic Visco-Elastoplastic Modeling of Quasi-Unidirectional Flax Fiber Reinforced Epoxy Behavior:An Investigation on Low-Velocity Impact Response

Based on experimental test results,flax fiber reinforced polymer composites are characterized by nonlinear visco-elastoplastic behavior.The aim of this work is to model the quasi-unidirectional flax fiber reinforced composite behavior through a three dimensional formulation with orthotropic elasticity and orthotropic plasticity using Hill criterion.The isotropic hardening and Johnson Cook parameters are identified from unidirectional tensile tests at different strain rates.The adjustment of Hill’s yield criterion is developed based on yield stresses obtained in tensile tests at different directions.The numerical integration of the constitutive equations is implemented in a user-defined material,UMAT subroutines for the commercial finite element code ABAQUS.Once model parameters are identified using tensile tests,the model needs to be validated by confronting it with other experimental results.That is why experimental and numerical three-point bending tests are carried out in order to validate the proposed model with tests that have not served for the identification.Finally,a numerical parametric study on low velocity impact of a flax/epoxy composite circular plate is investigated.

Embryonic zeolite-directed synthesis of zSM-34 and SSz-13 zeolites

The use of an organic structure-directing agent(OSDA)makes zeolite synthesis expensive and environmentally non-friendly.Seeded zeolite synthesis offers an environmentally benign alternative that avoids using an OSDA while providing a high purity,crystallinity,and yield in the product.In this study,we report using embryonic zeolites(EZs)as efficient seeds to obtain industrially important zeolites such as ZSM-34 and SSZ-13 in an OSDA-free synthesis system.Our results showed that zeolites zSM-34,SS-13 and LTL could be obtained depending on the Al/Si ratio in the synthesis system.The synthesis time was considerably shorter than other zSM-34 and SSZ 13 syntheses methods reported in the literature,achieving more than 90%crystallinity.The physicochemical analysis showed that highly crystalline zeolites with characteristics similar to the OSDA synthesized counterparts were obtained.Furthermore,the EZs seeding approach is facile,low cost,and environmentally friendly,pro-vided the synthesis is OSDA-free.In addition,the EZs seeds can be obtained under hydrothermal synthesis conditions.The method can be potentially applied to the synthesis of other zeolite types.

Sleep and Subjective Recovery in Amateur Trail Runners After the Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc^(®)(UTMB^(®))

Purpose The interaction between sleep and recovery is a fundamental issue for ultra-marathoners,especially after an ultra-trail,but literatures on this matter remains are scarce.The main objectives were(1)to describe sleep parameters during the nights following an ultra-endurance event in amateur trail runners,(2)to evaluate the recovery kinetics,and(3)to assess the relationship between sleep parameters and recovery.Methods Nineteen race finishers were tested daily,from 10 days before to 10 days after the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc^(®)(UTMB^(®)).Hooper Index(HI)was used to assess recovery and sleep parameters(total sleep time,TST and wake after sleep onset,WASO)were monitored using a wrist-worn actigraph.Results HI was higher than baseline until day 5 after the race(P<0.05)and younger athletes had a lower HI than older ones during the recovery period(P<0.001).TST was not modified by the race,but there was a WASO peak on the second night after.Positive correlations were found between WASO and muscle soreness(P<0.001)and between TST and HI(P<0.05).Conclusions In conclusion,participants needed 6 days for recovery after UTMB^(®)and younger runners seemed to recover faster than older ones.Post-race sleep quantity did not increase,but the second night was more fragmented,most likely due to muscle soreness.Correlations between sleep and recovery parameters highlighted the key role of sleep for recovery.

Salicylic Acid Regulates Pollen Tip Growth ：hrough an NPR3/NPR4-1ndependent Pathway

Tip growth is a common strategy for the rapid elongation of cells to forage the environment and/or to target to long-distance destinations. In the model tip growth system of Arabidopsis pollen tubes, several small- molecule hormones regulate their elongation, but how these rapidly diffusing molecules control extremely localized growth remains mysterious. Here we show that the interconvertible salicylic acid （SA） and meth- ylated SA （MESA）, well characterized for their roles in plant defense, oppositely regulate Arabidopsis pollen tip growth with SA being inhibitory and MeSA stimulatory. The effect of SA and MeSA was independent of known NPR3/NPR4 SA receptor-mediated signaling pathways. SA inhibited clathrin-mediated endocytosis in pollen tubes associated with an increased accumulation of less stretchable demethylated pectin in the apical wall, whereas MeSA did the opposite. Furthermore, SA and MeSA alter the apical activation of ROP1 GTPase, a key regulator of tip growth in pollen tubes, in an opposite manner. Interestingly, both MeSA methylesterase and SA methyltransferase, which catalyze the interconversion between SA and MESA, are localized at the apical region of pollen tubes, indicating of the tip-localized production of SA and MeSA and consistent with their effects on the apical cellular activities. These findings suggest that local generation of a highly diffusible signal can regulate polarized cell growth, providing a novel mechanism of cell polarity control apart from the one involving protein and mRNA polarization.

Three-Dimensional sp^(2) Carbon-Linked Covalent Organic Frameworks as a Drug Carrier Combined with Fluorescence Imaging

Three-dimensional(3D)covalent organic frameworks(COFs)are crystalline porous polymers with potential in numerous high-tech applications,but the linkages involved in their synthesis are still rather limited.Herein,we report novel 3D sp^(2) carbon-linked COFs fabricated by the formation reaction of C=C bonds and their application in fluorescence imaging.These new COFs,namely JUC-580 and JUC-581,show high stability and excellent light-emitting properties in solid state and dispersed in various solvents.Furthermore,we investigate the potential application of JUC-581 as a drug carrier combined with fluorescence imaging.These results indicate that 3D sp^(2) carbon-linked COFs are not only potential drug-loaded and sustained release materials but also promising cell fluorescent stains.This study thus expands the structural categories of 3D COFs based on different linkages,and promotes their prospective applications for biomedicine and fluorescent materials.

Polyester-supported Chitosan-Poly(vinylidene fluoride)-Inorganic-Oxide-Nanoparticles Composites with Improved Flame Retardancy and Thermal Stability

Polyester(PET) was pre-activated by atmospheric air plasma and coated by various inorganic oxide nanoparticles(MOx) such as titanium dioxide(TiO2), zinc oxide(ZnO), and silicon oxide(SiO2), using poly(vinylidene fluoride)(PVDF) and chitosan(CT) as binders. The resulting PET-PVDF-MOx-CT composites were thermally compressed and then characterized by scanning electron microscopy, Fourier infrared spectroscopy, thermal gravimetric analysis, and flame retardancy(FR) ability tests. PET modifications resulted in more thermally stable and less harmful composites with weaker hazardous gas release. This was explained in terms of structure compaction that blocks pyrolysis gas emissions.CT incorporation was found to reduce the material susceptibility to oxidation. This judicious procedure also allowed improving flame retardancy ability, by lengthening the combustion delay and slowing the flame propagation. Chitosan also turned out to contribute to a possible synergy with the other polymers present in the synthesized materials. These results provide valuable data that allow understanding the FR phenomena and envisaging low-cost high FR materials from biodegradable raw materials.

Development of a standardized in vitro approach to evaluate microphysical,chemical,and toxicological properties of combustion-derived fine and ultrafine particles

Ultrafine particles represent a growing concern in the public health community but their precise role in many illnesses is still unknown. This lack of knowledge is related to the experimental difficulty in linking their biological effects to their multiple properties, which are important determinants of toxicity. Our aim is to propose an interdisciplinary approach to study fine(FP) and ultrafine(UFP) particles, generated in a controlled manner using a mini CAST(Combustion Aerosol Standard) soot generator used with two different operating conditions(CAST1 and CAST3). The chemical characterization was performed by an untargeted analysis using ultra-high resolution mass spectrometry. In conjunction with this approach, subsequent analysis by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry(GC–MS) was performed to identify polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons(PAH). CAST1 enabled the generation of FP with a predominance of small PAH molecules, and CAST3 enabled the generation of UFP, which presented higher numbers of carbon atoms corresponding to larger PAH molecules. Healthy normal human bronchial epithelial(NHBE) cells differentiated at the air-liquid interface(ALI) were directly exposed to these freshly emitted FP and UFP. Expression of MUC5AC, FOXJ1, OCLN and ZOI as well as microscopic observation confirmed the ciliated pseudostratified epithelial phenotype. Study of the mass deposition efficiency revealed a difference between the two operating conditions, probably due to the morphological differences between the two categories of particles. We demonstrated that only NHBE cells exposed to CAST3 particles induced upregulation in the gene expression of IL-8 and NQO1. This approach offers new perspectives to study FP and UFP with stable and controlled properties.

Size fractions of organic matter pools influence their stability: Application of the Rock-Eval® analysis to beech forest soils

Soil organic matter (SOM) is a complex heterogeneous mixture formed through decomposition and organo-mineral interactions, and characterization of its composition and biogeochemical stability is challenging. From this perspective, Rock-Eval® is a rapid and efficient thermal analytical method that combines the quantitative and qualitative information of SOM, including several parameters related to thermal stability. This approach has already been used to monitor changes in organic matter (OM) properties at the landscape, cropland, and soil profile scales. This study was aimed to assess the stability of SOM pools by characterizing the grain size fractions from forest litters and topsoils using Rock-Eval® thermal analysis. Litter (organic) and topsoil samples were collected from a beech forest in Normandy (France), whose management in the last 200 years has been documented. Fractionation by wet sieving was used to separate large debris (> 2 000 μm) and coarse (200–2 000 μm) and fine particulate OM (POM) (50–200 μm) in the organic samples as well as coarse (200–2 000 μm), medium (50–200 μm), and fine (< 50 μm) fractions of the topsoil samples. Rock-Eval® was able to provide thermal parameters sensitive enough to study fine-scale soil processes. In the organic layers, quantitative and qualitative changes were explained by the progressive decomposition of labile organic compounds from plant debris to the finest organic particles. Meanwhile, the grain size fractions of topsoils presented different characteristics. The coarse organo-mineral fractions showed higher C contents, albeit with a different composition, higher thermal stability, and greater decomposition degree than the plant debris forming the organic layer. These results are consistent with those of previous studies that microbial activity is more effective in this fraction. The finest fractions of topsoils showed low C contents, the highest thermal stability, and low decomposition degree, which can be explained by the stronger interactions with the mineral matrix. Therefore, it is suggested that the dynamics of OM in the different size fractions be interpreted in the light of a plant-microbe-soil continuum. Finally, three distinct thermostable C pools were highlighted through the grain size heterogeneity of SOM: free coarse OM (large debris and coarse and fine particles), weakly protected OM in (bio)aggregates (coarse fraction of topsoil), and stabilized OM in the fine fractions of topsoil, which resulted from the interactions within organo-mineral complexes. Therefore, Rock-Eval® thermal parameters can be used to empirically illustrate the conceptual models emphasizing the roles of drivers played by the gradual decomposition and protection of the most thermally labile organic constituents.

Free Cyclic Actions on Surfaces and the Borsuk-Ulam Theorem

Let M and N be topological spaces,let G be a group,and letτ:G×M→M be a proper free action of G.In this paper,we define a Borsuk-Ulam-type property for homotopy classes of maps from M to N with respect to the pair(G,τ)that generalises the classical antipodal Borsuk-Ulam theorem of maps from the n-sphere S^(n) to R^(n).In the cases where M is a finite pathwise-connected CWcomplex,G is a finite,non-trivial Abelian group,τis a proper free cellular action,and N is either R^(2) or a compact surface without boundary different from S^(2) and RP^(2),we give an algebraic criterion involving braid groups to decide whether a free homotopy class β∈[M,N]has the Borsuk-Ulam property.As an application of this criterion,we consider the case where M is a compact surface without boundary equipped with a free actionτof the finite cyclic group Zn.In terms of the orient ability of the orbit space Mof M by the actionτ,the value of n modulo 4 and a certain algebraic condition involving the first homology group of M,we are able to determine if the single homotopy class of maps from M to R^(2) possesses the Borsuk-Ulam property with respect to(Z_(n),τ).Finally,we give some examples of surfaces on which the symmetric group acts,and for these cases,we obtain some partial results regarding the Borsuk-Ulam property for maps whose target is R^(2).