1. |
- Kristanl, Matej, et al.
(author)
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The Seventh Visual Object Tracking VOT2019 Challenge Results
- 2019
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In: 2019 IEEE/CVF INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON COMPUTER VISION WORKSHOPS (ICCVW). - : IEEE COMPUTER SOC. - 9781728150239 ; , s. 2206-2241
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The Visual Object Tracking challenge VOT2019 is the seventh annual tracker benchmarking activity organized by the VOT initiative. Results of 81 trackers are presented; many are state-of-the-art trackers published at major computer vision conferences or in journals in the recent years. The evaluation included the standard VOT and other popular methodologies for short-term tracking analysis as well as the standard VOT methodology for long-term tracking analysis. The VOT2019 challenge was composed of five challenges focusing on different tracking domains: (i) VOT-ST2019 challenge focused on short-term tracking in RGB, (ii) VOT-RT2019 challenge focused on "real-time" short-term tracking in RGB, (iii) VOT-LT2019 focused on long-term tracking namely coping with target disappearance and reappearance. Two new challenges have been introduced: (iv) VOT-RGBT2019 challenge focused on short-term tracking in RGB and thermal imagery and (v) VOT-RGBD2019 challenge focused on long-term tracking in RGB and depth imagery. The VOT-ST2019, VOT-RT2019 and VOT-LT2019 datasets were refreshed while new datasets were introduced for VOT-RGBT2019 and VOT-RGBD2019. The VOT toolkit has been updated to support both standard short-term, long-term tracking and tracking with multi-channel imagery. Performance of the tested trackers typically by far exceeds standard baselines. The source code for most of the trackers is publicly available from the VOT page. The dataset, the evaluation kit and the results are publicly available at the challenge website(1).
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2. |
- Kristan, Matej, et al.
(author)
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The Sixth Visual Object Tracking VOT2018 Challenge Results
- 2019
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In: Computer Vision – ECCV 2018 Workshops. - Cham : Springer Publishing Company. - 9783030110086 - 9783030110093 ; , s. 3-53
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The Visual Object Tracking challenge VOT2018 is the sixth annual tracker benchmarking activity organized by the VOT initiative. Results of over eighty trackers are presented; many are state-of-the-art trackers published at major computer vision conferences or in journals in the recent years. The evaluation included the standard VOT and other popular methodologies for short-term tracking analysis and a “real-time” experiment simulating a situation where a tracker processes images as if provided by a continuously running sensor. A long-term tracking subchallenge has been introduced to the set of standard VOT sub-challenges. The new subchallenge focuses on long-term tracking properties, namely coping with target disappearance and reappearance. A new dataset has been compiled and a performance evaluation methodology that focuses on long-term tracking capabilities has been adopted. The VOT toolkit has been updated to support both standard short-term and the new long-term tracking subchallenges. Performance of the tested trackers typically by far exceeds standard baselines. The source code for most of the trackers is publicly available from the VOT page. The dataset, the evaluation kit and the results are publicly available at the challenge website (http://votchallenge.net).
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3. |
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4. |
- Campbell, PJ, et al.
(author)
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Pan-cancer analysis of whole genomes
- 2020
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In: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1476-4687 .- 0028-0836. ; 578:7793, s. 82-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Cancer is driven by genetic change, and the advent of massively parallel sequencing has enabled systematic documentation of this variation at the whole-genome scale1–3. Here we report the integrative analysis of 2,658 whole-cancer genomes and their matching normal tissues across 38 tumour types from the Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium of the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). We describe the generation of the PCAWG resource, facilitated by international data sharing using compute clouds. On average, cancer genomes contained 4–5 driver mutations when combining coding and non-coding genomic elements; however, in around 5% of cases no drivers were identified, suggesting that cancer driver discovery is not yet complete. Chromothripsis, in which many clustered structural variants arise in a single catastrophic event, is frequently an early event in tumour evolution; in acral melanoma, for example, these events precede most somatic point mutations and affect several cancer-associated genes simultaneously. Cancers with abnormal telomere maintenance often originate from tissues with low replicative activity and show several mechanisms of preventing telomere attrition to critical levels. Common and rare germline variants affect patterns of somatic mutation, including point mutations, structural variants and somatic retrotransposition. A collection of papers from the PCAWG Consortium describes non-coding mutations that drive cancer beyond those in the TERT promoter4; identifies new signatures of mutational processes that cause base substitutions, small insertions and deletions and structural variation5,6; analyses timings and patterns of tumour evolution7; describes the diverse transcriptional consequences of somatic mutation on splicing, expression levels, fusion genes and promoter activity8,9; and evaluates a range of more-specialized features of cancer genomes8,10–18.
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5. |
- Marouli, Eirini, et al.
(author)
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Rare and low-frequency coding variants alter human adult height
- 2017
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In: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 542:7640, s. 186-190
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Height is a highly heritable, classic polygenic trait with approximately 700 common associated variants identified through genome-wide association studies so far. Here, we report 83 height-associated coding variants with lower minor-allele frequencies (in the range of 0.1-4.8%) and effects of up to 2 centimetres per allele (such as those in IHH, STC2, AR and CRISPLD2), greater than ten times the average effect of common variants. In functional follow-up studies, rare height increasing alleles of STC2 (giving an increase of 1-2 centimetres per allele) compromised proteolytic inhibition of PAPP-A and increased cleavage of IGFBP-4 in vitro, resulting in higher bioavailability of insulin-like growth factors. These 83 height-associated variants overlap genes that are mutated in monogenic growth disorders and highlight new biological candidates (such as ADAMTS3, IL11RA and NOX4) and pathways (such as proteoglycan and glycosaminoglycan synthesis) involved in growth. Our results demonstrate that sufficiently large sample sizes can uncover rare and low-frequency variants of moderate-to-large effect associated with polygenic human phenotypes, and that these variants implicate relevant genes and pathways.
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6. |
- Turcot, Valerie, et al.
(author)
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Protein-altering variants associated with body mass index implicate pathways that control energy intake and expenditure in obesity
- 2018
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In: Nature Genetics. - : Nature Publishing Group. - 1061-4036 .- 1546-1718. ; 50:1, s. 26-41
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified >250 loci for body mass index (BMI), implicating pathways related to neuronal biology. Most GWAS loci represent clusters of common, noncoding variants from which pinpointing causal genes remains challenging. Here we combined data from 718,734 individuals to discover rare and low-frequency (minor allele frequency (MAF) < 5%) coding variants associated with BMI. We identified 14 coding variants in 13 genes, of which 8 variants were in genes (ZBTB7B, ACHE, RAPGEF3, RAB21, ZFHX3, ENTPD6, ZFR2 and ZNF169) newly implicated in human obesity, 2 variants were in genes (MC4R and KSR2) previously observed to be mutated in extreme obesity and 2 variants were in GIPR. The effect sizes of rare variants are similar to 10 times larger than those of common variants, with the largest effect observed in carriers of an MC4R mutation introducing a stop codon (p.Tyr35Ter, MAF = 0.01%), who weighed similar to 7 kg more than non-carriers. Pathway analyses based on the variants associated with BMI confirm enrichment of neuronal genes and provide new evidence for adipocyte and energy expenditure biology, widening the potential of genetically supported therapeutic targets in obesity.
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7. |
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8. |
- He, Yuan, et al.
(author)
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Acoustic Localization System for Precise Drone Landing
- 2024
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In: IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing. ; 23:5, s. 4126-4144
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We present MicNest: an acoustic localization system enabling precise drone landing. In MicNest, multiple microphones are deployed on a landing platform in carefully devised configurations. The drone carries a speaker transmitting purposefully-designed acoustic pulses. The drone may be localized as long as the pulses are correctly detected. Doing so is challenging: i) because of limited transmission power, propagation attenuation, background noise, and propeller interference, the Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) of received pulses is intrinsically low; ii) the pulses experience non-linear Doppler distortion due to the physical drone dynamics; iii) as location information is used during landing, the processing latency must be reduced to effectively feed the flight control loop. To tackle these issues, we design a novel pulse detector, Matched Filter Tree (MFT), whose idea is to convert pulse detection to a tree search problem. We further present three practical methods to accelerate tree search jointly. Our experiments show that MicNest can localize a drone 120 m away with 0.53% relative localization error at 20 Hz location update frequency. For navigating drone landing, MicNest can achieve a success rate of 94 %. The average landing error (distance between landing point and target point) is only 4.3 cm.
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9. |
- Justice, Anne E., et al.
(author)
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Protein-coding variants implicate novel genes related to lipid homeostasis contributing to body-fat distribution
- 2019
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In: Nature Genetics. - : Nature Publishing Group. - 1061-4036 .- 1546-1718. ; 51:3, s. 452-469
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Body-fat distribution is a risk factor for adverse cardiovascular health consequences. We analyzed the association of body-fat distribution, assessed by waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for body mass index, with 228,985 predicted coding and splice site variants available on exome arrays in up to 344,369 individuals from five major ancestries (discovery) and 132,177 European-ancestry individuals (validation). We identified 15 common (minor allele frequency, MAF >= 5%) and nine low-frequency or rare (MAF < 5%) coding novel variants. Pathway/gene set enrichment analyses identified lipid particle, adiponectin, abnormal white adipose tissue physiology and bone development and morphology as important contributors to fat distribution, while cross-trait associations highlight cardiometabolic traits. In functional follow-up analyses, specifically in Drosophila RNAi-knockdowns, we observed a significant increase in the total body triglyceride levels for two genes (DNAH10 and PLXND1). We implicate novel genes in fat distribution, stressing the importance of interrogating low-frequency and protein-coding variants.
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10. |
- Middha, Pooja K., et al.
(author)
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A genome-wide gene-environment interaction study of breast cancer risk for women of European ancestry
- 2023
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In: Breast Cancer Research. - : BioMed Central (BMC). - 1465-5411 .- 1465-542X. ; 25:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background Genome-wide studies of gene-environment interactions (GxE) may identify variants associated with disease risk in conjunction with lifestyle/environmental exposures. We conducted a genome-wide GxE analysis of similar to 7.6 million common variants and seven lifestyle/environmental risk factors for breast cancer risk overall and for estrogen receptor positive (ER +) breast cancer. Methods Analyses were conducted using 72,285 breast cancer cases and 80,354 controls of European ancestry from the Breast Cancer Association Consortium. Gene-environment interactions were evaluated using standard unconditional logistic regression models and likelihood ratio tests for breast cancer risk overall and for ER + breast cancer. Bayesian False Discovery Probability was employed to assess the noteworthiness of each SNP-risk factor pairs. Results Assuming a 1 x 10(-5) prior probability of a true association for each SNP-risk factor pairs and a Bayesian False Discovery Probability < 15%, we identified two independent SNP-risk factor pairs: rs80018847(9p13)-LINGO2 and adult height in association with overall breast cancer risk (ORint = 0.94, 95% CI 0.92-0.96), and rs4770552(13q12)-SPATA13 and age at menarche for ER + breast cancer risk (ORint = 0.91, 95% CI 0.88-0.94). Conclusions Overall, the contribution of GxE interactions to the heritability of breast cancer is very small. At the population level, multiplicative GxE interactions do not make an important contribution to risk prediction in breast cancer.
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11. |
- Wang, Shuai, et al.
(author)
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In Situ Synthesis of Tungsten-Doped SnO2 and Graphene Nanocomposites for High-Performance Anode Materials of Lithium-Ion Batteries
- 2017
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In: ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces. - : AMER CHEMICAL SOC. - 1944-8244 .- 1944-8252. ; 9:20, s. 17163-17171
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The composite of tungsten-doped SnO2 and reduced graphene oxide was synthesized through a simple one pot hydrothermal method. According to the structural characterization of the composite, tungsten ions were doped in the unit cells of tin dioxide rather than simply attaching to the surface. Tungsten-doped SnO2 was in situ grown on the surface of graphene sheet to form a three-dimensional conductive network that enhanced the electron transportation and lithium-ion diffusion effectively. The issues of SnO2 agglomeration and volume expansion could be also avoided because the, tungsten-doped SnO2 nanoparticles were homogeneously distributed on a graphene sheet. As a result, the nanocomposite electrodes of tungsten-doped SnO2 and reduced graphene oxide exhibited an excellent long-term cycling performance. The residual capacity was still as high as 1100 mA h g(-1) at 0.1 A g(-1) after 100 cycles. It still remained at 776 mA h g(-1) after 2000 cycles at the current density of lA g(-1).
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12. |
- Wang, Shuai, et al.
(author)
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Size-control growth of thermally stable Au nanoparticles encapsulated within ordered mesoporous carbon framework
- 2016
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In: Cuihuà xuébào. - 0253-9837 .- 1872-2067. ; 37:1, s. 61-72
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Simultaneously controlling the size of Au nanoparticles and immobilizing their location to specific active sites while hindering migration and sintering at elevated temperatures is a current challenge within materials chemistry. Typical methods require the use of protecting agents to control the properties of Au nanoparticles and therefore it is difficult to decouple the influence of the protecting agent and the support material. By functionalizing the internal surface area of mesoporous carbon supports with thiol groups and implementing a simple acid extraction step, we are able to design the resulting materials with precise control over the Au nanoparticle size without the need for the presence of any protecting group, whilst simultaneously confining the nanoparticles to within the internal porous network. Monodispersed Au nanoparticles in the absence of protecting agents were encapsulated into ordered mesoporous carbon at various loading levels via a coordination-assisted self-assembly approach. The X-ray diffractograms and transmission electron microscopy micrographs show that the particles have controlled and well-defined diameters between 3 and 18 nm at concentrations between 1.1 and 9.0 wt%. The Au nanoparticles are intercalated into the pore matrix to different degrees depending on the synthesis conditions and are stable after high temperature treatment at 600 degrees C. N-2 adsorption-desorption isotherms show that the Au functionalized mesoporous carbon catalysts possess high surface areas (1269-1743 m(2)/g), large pore volumes (0.78-1.38 cm(3)/g) and interpenetrated, uniform bimodal mesopores with the primary larger mesopore lying in the range of 3.4-5.7 nm and the smaller secondary mesopore having a diameter close to 2 nm. X-ray absorption near extended spectroscopy analysis reveals changes to the electronic properties of the Au nanoparticles as a function of reduced particle size. The predominant factors that significantly determine the end Au nanoparticle size is both the thiol group concentration and subjecting the as-made materials to an additional concentrated sulfuric acid extraction step.
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13. |
- Wang, Weiguo, et al.
(author)
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Acoustic localization of drones in precise landing : The research and practice with micnest
- 2023
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In: GetMobile. - : Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). - 2375-0529 .- 2375-0537. ; 27:3, s. 27-32
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Journal article (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Delivery drones have the potential to revolutionize transportation and distribution of goods. With their autonomous navigation capabilities, they offer an efficient solution to bypass the challenges posed by complex urban traffic and enable instant package delivery. Many industrial firms are actively exploring the commercial feasibility of instant drone deliveries. Meituan, one of the largest companies in this area, devised a systematic approach to instant delivery using drones. The process begins with loading the package onto the drone, which then takes off, ascends to cruising altitude, and sets a direct course towards the designated destination. Typically, this destination is a Meituan-operated self-collection station located near the customer.
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14. |
- Xu, Chao-Qun, et al.
(author)
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Genome sequence of Malania oleifera, a tree with great value for nervonic acid production
- 2019
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In: GigaScience. - : Oxford University Press. - 2047-217X. ; 8:2
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background Malania oleifera, a member of the Olacaceae family, is an IUCN red listed tree, endemic and restricted to the Karst region of southwest China. This tree's seed is valued for its high content of precious fatty acids (especially nervonic acid). However, studies on its genetic makeup and fatty acid biogenesis are severely hampered by a lack of molecular and genetic tools. Findings We generated 51 Gb and 135Gb of raw DNA sequences, using Pacific Biosciences (PacBio) single-molecule real-time and 10x Genomics sequencing, respectively. A final genome assembly, with a scaffold N50 size of 4.65 Mb and a total length of 1.51Gb, was obtained by primary assembly based on PacBio long reads plus scaffolding with 10x Genomics reads. Identified repeats constituted approximate to 82% of the genome, and 24,064 protein-coding genes were predicted with high support. The genome has low heterozygosity and shows no evidence for recent whole genome duplication. Metabolic pathway genes relating to the accumulation of long-chain fatty acid were identified and studied in detail. Conclusions Here, we provide the first genome assembly and gene annotation for M. oleifera. The availability of these resources will be of great importance for conservation biology and for the functional genomics of nervonic acid biosynthesis.
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15. |
- Chen, Jie, et al.
(author)
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Bidirectional Mendelian Randomisation Analysis Provides Evidence for the Causal Involvement of Dysregulation of CXCL9, CCL11 and CASP8 in the Pathogenesis of Ulcerative Colitis
- 2023
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In: Journal of Crohn's & Colitis. - : Oxford University Press. - 1873-9946 .- 1876-4479. ; 17:5, s. 777-785
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background and Aims Systemic inflammation is well recognised to be associated with ulcerative colitis [UC], but whether these effects are causal or consequential remains unclear. We aimed to define potential causal relationship of cytokine dysregulation with different tiers of evidence. Methods We first synthesised serum proteomic profiling data from two multicentred observational studies, in which a panel of systemic inflammatory proteins was analysed to examine their associations with UC risk. To further dissect observed associations, we then performed a bidirectional two-sample Mendelian randomisation [TSMR] analysis from both forward and reverse directions using five genome-wide association study [GWAS] summary level data for serum proteomic profiles and the largest GWAS of 28 738 European-ancestry individuals for UC risk. Results Pooled analysis of serum proteomic data identified 14 proteins to be associated with the risk of UC. Forward MR analysis using only cis-acting protein quantitative trait loci [cis-pQTLs] or trans-pQTLs further validated causal associations of two chemokines and the increased risk of UC: C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 9 [CXCL9] [OR 1.45, 95% CI 1.08, 1.95, p = 0.012] and C-C motif chemokine ligand 11 [CCL11] [OR 1.14, 95% CI 1.09, 1.18, p = 3.89 x 10(-10)]. Using both cis- and trans-acting pQTLs, an association of caspase-8 [CASP8] [OR 1.04, 95% CI 1.03, 1.05, p = 7.63 x 10(-19)] was additionally identified. Reverse MR did not find any influence of genetic predisposition to UC on any of these three inflammation proteins. Conclusion Pre-existing elevated levels of CXCL9, CCL11 and CASP8 may play a role in the pathogenesis of UC.
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16. |
- Cheng, Shi-Ping, et al.
(author)
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Haplotype-resolved genome assembly and allele-specific gene expression in cultivated ginger
- 2021
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In: Horticulture Research. - : Springer Nature. - 2052-7276. ; 8:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Ginger (Zingiber officinale) is one of the most valued spice plants worldwide; it is prized for its culinary and folk medicinal applications and is therefore of high economic and cultural importance. Here, we present a haplotype-resolved, chromosome-scale assembly for diploid ginger anchored to 11 pseudochromosome pairs with a total length of 3.1 Gb. Remarkable structural variation was identified between haplotypes, and two inversions larger than 15 Mb on chromosome 4 may be associated with ginger infertility. We performed a comprehensive, spatiotemporal, genome-wide analysis of allelic expression patterns, revealing that most alleles are coordinately expressed. The alleles that exhibited the largest differences in expression showed closer proximity to transposable elements, greater coding sequence divergence, more relaxed selection pressure, and more transcription factor binding site differences. We also predicted the transcription factors potentially regulating 6-gingerol biosynthesis. Our allele-aware assembly provides a powerful platform for future functional genomics, molecular breeding, and genome editing in ginger.
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17. |
- Huang, Xing, et al.
(author)
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Semiconducting Conjugated Coordination Polymer with High Charge Mobility Enabled by "4+2" Phenyl Ligands
- 2023
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In: Journal of the American Chemical Society. - : AMER CHEMICAL SOC. - 0002-7863 .- 1520-5126. ; 145:4, s. 2430-2438
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Electrically conductive coordination polymers and metal-organic frameworks are attractive emerging electroactive materials for (opto-)electronics. However, developing semiconducting coordination polymers with high charge carrier mobility for devices remains a major challenge, urgently requiring the rational design of ligands and topological networks with desired electronic structures. Herein, we demonstrate a strategy for synthesizing high-mobility semiconducting conjugated coordination polymers (c-CPs) utilizing novel conjugated ligands with D2h symmetry, namely, "4 + 2" phenyl ligands. Compared with the conventional phenyl ligands with C6h symmetry, the reduced symmetry of the "4 + 2" ligands leads to anisotropic coordination in the formation of c-CPs. Consequently, we successfully achieve a single-crystalline three-dimensional (3D) c-CP Cu4DHTTB (DHTTB = 2,5-dihydroxy-1,3,4,6-tetrathiolbenzene), containing orthogonal ribbon-like pi-d conjugated chains rather than 2D conjugated layers. DFT calculation suggests that the resulting Cu4DHTTB exhibits a small band gap (similar to 0.2 eV), strongly dispersive energy bands near the Fermi level with a low electron-hole reduced effective mass (similar to 0.2m0*). Furthermore, the four-probe method reveals a semiconducting behavior with a decent conductivity of 0.2 S/cm. Thermopower measurement suggests that it is a p-type semiconductor. Ultrafast terahertz photoconductivity measurements confirm Cu4DHTTB's semiconducting nature and demonstrate the Drude-type transport with high charge carrier mobilities up to 88 +/- 15 cm2 V-1 s-1, outperforming the conductive 3D coordination polymers reported till date. This molecular design strategy for constructing high-mobility semiconducting c-CPs lays the foundation for achieving high-performance c-CP-based (opto-)electronics.
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18. |
- Jin, Feng, et al.
(author)
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Enhanced rate capability and high-voltage cycling stability of single-crystal nickel-rich cathode by surface anchoring dielectric BaTiO3
- 2022
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In: Journal of Colloid and Interface Science. - : Elsevier. - 0021-9797 .- 1095-7103. ; 619, s. 65-74
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The single-crystal Ni-rich Li(NixCoyMn1_x_y)O-2 cathode (NCM) demonstrates better cycle performance, enhanced tap density and improved mechanical structure stability, compared with polycrystalline NCM. However, limited Li+ transports, (003) plane slips and microcracks in large single particles hinder rate capability and cycle performance. To overcome these shortcomings, single-crystal NCM cathodes have been modified by nanosized tetragonal BaTiO3. Due to the dielectric properties, BaTiO(3 )particles induce electric field concentration at the BaTiO3-NCM-electrolyte interface. Thus, a large amount of lithium vacancies can be formed, providing sufficient sites for the hopping diffusion of lithium ions, thereby significantly enhancing the diffusion coefficient of Li+. Moreover, the redistribution of charges can inhibit the formation and accumulation of cathode-electrolyte-interface. Owing to the synergetic effect of BaTiO3, the BT-modified single-crystal NCM with the optimized loading shows a remarkable initial discharge capacity of 138.5 mAh g(_1) and maintains 53.8% of its initial discharge capacity after 100 cycles under 5C at 4.5 V cut-off voltage. Overall, the proposed dielectric cathode-electrolyte-interface strategy can enhance Li+ ion transport and stabilize the interface structure, leading to improved rate performance. Meanwhile, the diffusion-induced state of charge gradient can also be inhibited, resulting in high structure stability of single-crystal NCMs under high rate and cut-off voltage cycling. (C) 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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19. |
- Li, Jingjing, et al.
(author)
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Photothermal Aerogel Beads Based on Polysaccharides: Controlled Fabrication and Hybrid Applications in Solar-Powered Interfacial Evaporation, Water Remediation, and Soil Enrichment
- 2022
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In: ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1944-8252 .- 1944-8244. ; 14:44, s. 50266-50279
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Solar-powered interfacial evaporation has emerged as an innovative and sustainable technology for clean water production. However, the rapid, mass and shape-controlled fabrication of three-dimensional (3D) steam generators (SGs) for versatile hybrid applications remains challenging. Herein, composite aerogel beads with self-contained properties (i.e., hydrophilic, porous, photothermal, and durable) are developed and demonstrated for threefold hybrid applications including efficient solar-powered interfacial evaporation, water remediation, and controlled soil enrichment. The rational incorporation of selected polysaccharides enables us to fabricate bead-like aerogels with rapid gelation, continuous processing, and enhanced ion adsorption. The composite beads can attain a high water evaporation rate of 1.62 kg m-2 h-1 under 1 sun. Meanwhile, high phosphate adsorption capacity of over 120 mg g-1 is achieved in broad pH (2.5-12.4) and concentration (200-1000 mg L-1) ranges of phosphate solutions. Gratifyingly, we demonstrate the first example of recycling biomaterials from interfacial SGs for controlled nutrient release, soil enrichment, and sustainable agriculture. The phosphate-saturated beads can be gradually broken down in the soil. Macronutrients (N, P, and K) can be slowly released in 50 days, sustaining the plant germination and growth in a whole growth stage. This work shines light on the mass and controlled fabrication of aerogel beads based on double-network biopolymers, not merely scaling up solar-powered interfacial evaporation but also considering water remediation, waste material disposal, and value-added conversion.
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20. |
- Li, Shuangjun, et al.
(author)
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Cyclic performance evaluation of CO2 adsorption using polyethylene terephthalate plastic-waste-derived activated carbon
- 2023
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In: Fuel. - : ELSEVIER SCI LTD. - 0016-2361 .- 1873-7153. ; 331
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic-waste-derived activated carbons have recently been developed and exhibit excellent CO(2 )adsorption uptake. However, the CO2-adsorption performance of such recycled materials has only been considered on a basic characterization level and has not yet been evaluated in carbon capture cycles, thereby making biased analyses inevitable. Consequently, a whole chain including the material, process, and cycle is essential for comprehensively analyzing and evaluating novel CO2 adsorbents. Therefore, in this study, various CO2-capture cycles using PET plastic-waste-derived activated carbon adsorbents were numerically simulated, the cyclic CO2-adsorption performances were evaluated, and the application scenario was optimized. A methodology for evaluating the cyclic CO2-adsorption performance of PET plastic-waste-derived activated carbon was proposed for CO(2 )capture. The results suggested that the temperature/vacuum swing adsorption cycle was superior and that its maximum exergy efficiency reached 32.90%.
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21. |
- Li, Xuechao, et al.
(author)
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Direct transformation of n-alkane into all-trans conjugated polyene via cascade dehydrogenation
- 2021
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In: National Science Review. - : Oxford University Press. - 2095-5138 .- 2053-714X. ; 8:10
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Selective C(sp(3))-H activation is of fundamental importance in processing alkane feedstocks to produce high-value-added chemical products. By virtue of an on-surface synthesis strategy, we report selective cascade dehydrogenation of n-alkane molecules under surface constraints, which yields monodispersed all-trans conjugated polyenes with unprecedented length controllability. We are also able to demonstrate the generality of this concept for alkyl-substituted molecules with programmable lengths and diverse functionalities, and more importantly its promising potential in molecular wiring.
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22. |
- Liang, Wenbiao, et al.
(author)
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Synthesis of single-crystal LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2 materials for Li-ion batteries by microfluidic technology
- 2023
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In: Chemical Engineering Journal. - : Elsevier. - 1385-8947 .- 1873-3212. ; 464
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Single-crystal LiNixMnyCo1-x-yO2 (SC-NMC) cathode with electro-chemo-mechanically compliant microstructure is regarded as a promising candidate for high-energy-density lithium ion battery. However, the research of Ni-rich SC-NCM still lags behind its corresponding polycrystalline cathode materials, mainly due to the difficulties in synthesis. Herein, the single-crystal LiNi0.8Mn0.1Co0.1O2 cathode (SC-NCM811) was successfully synthesized by microfluidic technology combined with the solid-state lithiation process. The nano-sized Ni0.8C- o0.1Mn0.1(OH)2 precursor prepared via microfluidic technology enhances its accessibility to lithium salts, thus exhibiting high chemical activity for lithiation reaction. As a result, the optimized SC-NCM811 cathode shows relatively small-scale grain size (<3 mu m), low cation mixing and well layered structure, which is beneficial to electrochemical kinetics and redox reversibility. The electrochemical characterization results further reveal that the optimized SC-NCM811 cathode can well balance the cycle performance and rate capability, showing good electrochemical performance. Overall, microfluidic technology is expected to provide a new strategy for pre-paring single-crystal Ni-rich cathode materials, which may extend to the commercial application of other cathode materials.
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23. |
- Lo, Sheng-Han, et al.
(author)
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Rapid desolvation-triggered domino lattice rearrangement in a metal-organic framework
- 2020
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In: Nature Chemistry. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1755-4330 .- 1755-4349. ; 12:1, s. 90-97
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Topological transitions between considerably different phases typically require harsh conditions to collectively break chemical bonds and overcome the stress caused to the original structure by altering its correlated bond environment. In this work we present a case system that can achieve rapid rearrangement of the whole lattice of a metal-organic framework through a domino alteration of the bond connectivity under mild conditions. The system transforms from a disordered metal-organic framework with low porosity to a highly porous and crystalline isomer within 40s following activation (solvent exchange and desolvation), resulting in a substantial increase in surface area from 725 to 2,749m(2)g(-1). Spectroscopic measurements show that this counter-intuitive lattice rearrangement involves a metastable intermediate that results from solvent removal on coordinatively unsaturated metal sites. This disordered-crystalline switch between two topological distinct metal-organic frameworks is shown to be reversible over four cycles through activation and reimmersion in polar solvents. A disordered metal-organic framework converts into a more porous, crystalline phase within 40s following solvent exchange and desolvation. The rapid domino rearrangement of the whole lattice, which involves carboxylate migration on coordinatively unsaturated metal sites, is accompanied by a substantial increase in surface area.
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24. |
- Ma, Fei, et al.
(author)
-
Association of Leukocyte Telomere Length with Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer's Disease : Role of Folate and Homocysteine
- 2019
-
In: Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders. - : S. Karger AG. - 1420-8008 .- 1421-9824. ; 48:1-2, s. 56-67
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Leukocyte telomere length (LTL) is associated with the aging process and age-related degenerative diseases. The relation of peripheral blood LTL to mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) and the role of folate and homocysteine (Hcy) in this relation remain unclear.Objectives: We aimed to investigate the association between LTL and the risks of MCI/AD, and to explore whether folate and Hcy may play a role in this association.Methods: This case-control study included 129 MCI subjects, 131 AD patients and 134 healthy controls. LTL was assessed using real-time polymerase chain reaction assay. Serum folate levels were tested by chemiluminescence enzyme immunoassay, and serum Hcy levels were measured using the enzymatic cycling method. Data were analyzed using multivariate logistic regression and multivariable linear regression with adjustment for potential confounders.Results: The mean LTL was 1.56 +/- 0.25 in controls, 1.44 +/- 0.23 in MCI, and 1.28 +/- 0.28 in AD patients (p< 0.01). In multivariate logistic regression, subjects in the longest LTL tertile had lower OR for MCI (OR 0.246; 95% CI 0.101-0.597) and AD (OR 0.123; 95% CI 0.044-0.345) in comparison to subjects in the shortest tertile. Shorter LTL was dose-dependently related to the ORs of MCI and AD. Further, serum folate concentration was positively associated with LTL (p < 0.01), while serum Hcy level was negatively associated with LTL (p < 0.05). In stratified analyses, LTL-MCI/AD association varied by serum folate and Hcy level. Conclusions: Shorter LTL is associated with the risks of MCI/AD. Folate and Hcy might play an important role in this association.
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25. |
- Spracklen, Cassandra N., et al.
(author)
-
Exome-Derived Adiponectin-Associated Variants Implicate Obesity and Lipid Biology
- 2019
-
In: American Journal of Human Genetics. - : CELL PRESS. - 0002-9297 .- 1537-6605. ; 105:1, s. 15-28
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Circulating levels of adiponectin, an adipocyte-secreted protein associated with cardiovascular and metabolic risk, are highly heritable. To gain insights into the biology that regulates adiponectin levels, we performed an exome array meta-analysis of 265,780 genetic variants in 67,739 individuals of European, Hispanic, African American, and East Asian ancestry. We identified 20 loci associated with adiponectin, including 11 that had been reported previously (p < 2 x 10(-7)). Comparison of exome array variants to regional linkage disequilibrium (LD) patterns and prior genome-wide association study (GWAS) results detected candidate variants (r(2) > .60) spanning as much as 900 kb. To identify potential genes and mechanisms through which the previously unreported association signals act to affect adiponectin levels, we assessed cross-trait associations, expression quantitative trait loci in subcutaneous adipose, and biological pathways of nearby genes. Eight of the nine loci were also associated (p < 1 x 10(-4)) with at least one obesity or lipid trait. Candidate genes include PRKAR2A, PTH1R, and HDAC9, which have been suggested to play roles in adipocyte differentiation or bone marrow adipose tissue. Taken together, these findings provide further insights into the processes that influence circulating adiponectin levels.
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26. |
- Sun, Yuhao, et al.
(author)
-
The Contribution of Genetic Risk and Lifestyle Factors in the Development of Adult-Onset Inflammatory Bowel Disease : A Prospective Cohort Study
- 2023
-
In: American Journal of Gastroenterology. - : Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. - 0002-9270 .- 1572-0241. ; 118:3, s. 511-522
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- INTRODUCTION: The joint associations across genetic risk, modifiable lifestyle factors, and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) remains unclear.METHODS: Genetic susceptibility to Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) was estimated by polygenic risk scores and further categorized into high, intermediate, and low genetic risk categories. Weighted healthy lifestyle scores were constructed based on 5 common lifestyle factors and categorized into favorable (4 or 5 healthy lifestyle factors), intermediate (3 healthy lifestyle factors), and unfavorable (0-2 healthy lifestyle factors) groups. Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to estimate the hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for their associations.RESULTS: During the 12-year follow-up, 707 cases with CD and 1576 cases with UC were diagnosed in the UK Biobank cohort. Genetic risk and unhealthy lifestyle categories were monotonically associated with CD and UC risk with no multiplicative interaction between them. The HR of CD and UC were 2.24 (95% CI 1.75-2.86) and 2.15 (95% CI 1.82-2.53) for those with a high genetic risk, respectively. The HR of CD and UC for individuals with an unfavorable lifestyle were 1.94 (95% CI 1.61-2.33) and 1.98 (95% CI 1.73-2.27), respectively. The HR of individuals with a high genetic risk but a favorable lifestyle (2.33, 95% CI 1.58-3.44 for CD, and 2.05, 95% CI 1.58-2.66 for UC) were reduced nearly by half, compared with those with a high genetic risk but an unfavorable lifestyle (4.40, 95% CI 2.91-6.66 for CD and 4.44, 95% CI 3.34-5.91 for UC).DISCUSSION: Genetic and lifestyle factors were independently associated with susceptibility to incident CD and UC. Adherence to a favorable lifestyle was associated with a nearly 50% lower risk of CD and UC among participants at a high genetic risk.
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27. |
- Wang, Mengmeng, et al.
(author)
-
Statistical analysis of whistler precursors upstream of foreshock transient shocks : MMS observations
- 2024
-
In: Geophysical Research Letters. - : American Geophysical Union (AGU). - 0094-8276 .- 1944-8007. ; 51:8
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Using the high-time-resolution data from the Magnetospheric Multiscale mission, precursor waves upstream of foreshock transient (FT) shocks are statistically investigated using the four-spacecraft timing method. The wave frequencies and wave vectors determined in the plasma rest frame (PRF) are shown to follow the cold plasma dispersion relation for whistler waves. Combining with the feature of the right-hand polarization in the PRF, the precursors are identified as whistler-mode waves around the lower hybrid frequency. The occurrence of whistler precursors is independent of the Alfvén Mach number and the FT shock normal angle. More importantly, all the whistler precursors have group velocities pointing upstream in the shock frame, suggesting the dispersive radiation to be a possible generation mechanism. The study improves the understanding of not only the whistler precursors but also the overall FT shock dynamics.
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28. |
- Wang, Weiguo, et al.
(author)
-
MicNest : Long-Range Instant Acoustic Localization of Drones in Precise Landing
- 2022
-
In: SenSys '22. - New York, NY, USA : Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). - 9781450398862 ; , s. 504-517
-
Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We present MicNest: an acoustic localization system enabling precise landing of aerial drones. Drone landing is a crucial step in a drone's operation, especially as high-bandwidth wireless networks, such as 5G, enable beyond-line-of-sight operation in a shared airspace and applications such as instant asset delivery with drones gain traction. In MicNest, multiple microphones are deployed on a landing platform in carefully devised configurations. The drone carries a speaker transmitting purposefully-designed acoustic pulses. The drone may be localized as long as the pulses are correctly detected. Doing so is challenging: i) because of limited transmission power, propagation attenuation, background noise, and propeller interference, the Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) of received pulses is intrinsically low; ii) the pulses experience non-linear Doppler distortion due to the physical drone dynamics while airborne; iii) as location information is to be used during landing, the processing latency must be reduced to effectively feed the flight control loop. To tackle these issues, we design a novel pulse detector, Matched Filter Tree (MFT), whose idea is to convert pulse detection to a tree search problem. We further present three practical methods to accelerate tree search jointly. Our real-world experiments show that MicNest is able to localize a drone 120 m away with 0.53% relative localization error at 20 Hz location update frequency.
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29. |
- Wang, Yanan, et al.
(author)
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Gel Polymer Electrolyte with High Li+ Transference Number Enhancing the Cycling Stability of Lithium Anodes
- 2019
-
In: ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces. - : AMER CHEMICAL SOC. - 1944-8244 .- 1944-8252. ; 11:5, s. 5168-5175
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Lithium anodes suffer from severe safety problems in liquid electrolyte systems that result from an unstable Li plating/stripping process and Li dendrite growth, leading to rapid degradation of Li metal batteries. A polyethylene (PE)-supported gel polymer electrolyte (GPE) with excellent electrolyte uptake/retention capability was simply prepared in this paper by the construction of cross-linked polymer networks (PNs) on the surface of a poly(ethylenimine)-primed PE separator to stabilize the lithium anode. The highly delocalized negative charge of p-styrene sulfonate groups on PNs plays a role in regulating the Li+ and anion transport, giving rise to a high Li+ transference number. This GPE extended the electrochemical stability to 4.8 V and improved the stability of interface between the electrolyte and lithium metal anode (reduced overpotential and suppressed lithium dendrites) during storage and repeated lithium plating/stripping cycling. The Li metal anode-based battery employing this GPE exhibits excellent cycling stability and C-rate capability.
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30. |
- Wang, Yanan, et al.
(author)
-
Polyethylene separators modified by ultrathin hybrid films enhancing lithium ion transport performance and Li-metal anode stability
- 2018
-
In: Electrochimica Acta. - : Elsevier BV. - 0013-4686 .- 1873-3859. ; 259, s. 386-394
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Poor stability of lithium metal anodes in liquid electrolytes hinders its practical application in rechargeable batteries with very high energy density. Herein, we present an approach to tackle the intrinsic problems of Li metal anodes from the standpoint of separators. By a facile and versatile method based on mussel-inspired surface chemistry, a hybrid polydopamine/octaammonium POSS (PDA/POSS) coating was spontaneously formed on the surface of PE separators through the self-polymerization and strong adhesion feature of dopamine. This ultrathin PDA/POSS coating endows PE separators with different surface characteristics while keeping its microporous structure almost unchanged. The altered surface characteristics influence the separator/electrolyte interaction, and lead to remarkable enhanced ionic conductivity (from 0.36 mS cm−1 to 0.45 mS cm−1) and Li+ ion transference number (from 0.37 to 0.47) of PE separators as well as the improved stability of lithium/electrolyte interface, which effectively decreases the electrode polarization and suppresses the lithium dendrites formation, contributing to superior C-rates capability and cycling performance of cells.
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31. |
- Wu, Hanzhang, et al.
(author)
-
Life's Essential 8 and risks of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality among individuals with type 2 diabetes : A cohort study
- 2024
-
In: Diabetes & Metabolic syndrome. - : Elsevier. - 1871-4021 .- 1878-0334. ; 18:6
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background:The association of cardiovascular health levels, as measured by the Life's Essential 8 score, with cardiovascular disease (CVD) incidence and mortality among individuals with type 2 diabetes (T2D) has not been fully elucidated.Methods:This cohort study included 15,118 participants with T2D from the UK Biobank who were free of CVD and cancer at baseline. The cardiovascular health of participants was evaluated using the Life's Essential 8 score, categorizing their health levels into low, moderate, and high based on this assessment.Results:During a median follow-up period of 13.0 years, we observed a total of 4421 cases of CVD, comprising 3467 cases of coronary heart disease (CHD), 811 cases of stroke, 1465 cases of heart failure (HF), and 523 cases of CVD mortality. Compared to participants with low cardiovascular health, those with high cardiovascular health had a 52 %, 50 %, 47 %, 67 %, and 51 % lower risk of CVD, CHD, stroke, HF, and CVD mortality, respectively. Among the components of the Life's Essential 8 score, body mass index showed the highest population attributable risk of 12.1 %. Similar findings were observed in joint analyses of cardiovascular health and diabetes severity status.Conclusions:This study emphasizes the importance of maintaining good cardiovascular health among individuals with T2D to reduce their risk of CVD incidence and mortality.
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32. |
- Xie, Haibing, et al.
(author)
-
Decoupling the effects of defects on efficiency and stability through phosphonates in stable halide perovskite solar cells
- 2021
-
In: Joule. - : CELL PRESS. - 2542-4351. ; 5:5, s. 1246-1266
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Understanding defects is of paramount importance for the development of stable halide perovskite solar cells (PSCs). However, isolating their distinctive effects on device efficiency and stability is currently a challenge. We report that adding the organic molecule 3-phosphonopropionic acid (H3pp) to the halide perovskite results in unchanged overall optoelectronic performance while having a tremendous effect on device stability. We obtained PSCs with similar to 21% efficiency that retain similar to 100% of the initial efficiency after 1,000 h at the maximum power point under simulated AM1.5G illumination. The strong interaction between the perovskite and the H3pp molecule through two types of hydrogen bonds (H center dot center dot center dot I and O center dot center dot center dot H) leads to shallow point defect passivation that has a significant effect on device stability but not on the non-radiative recombination and device efficiency. We expect that our work will have important implications for the current understanding and advancement of operational PSCs.
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33. |
- Xu, Hai-Ming, et al.
(author)
-
A New Species of the Genus Synersaga Gozmány (Lepidoptera, Lecithoceridae) From China
- 2014
-
In: The Florida entomologist. - : Florida Entomological Society. - 0015-4040 .- 1938-5102. ; 97:1, s. 262-265
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A new species of the genus Synersaga Gozmany, Synersaga atriptera Xu & Wang sp. nov. (Lepidoptera: Lecithoceridae) is described from China. Adults, wing venation and male genitalia are illustrated. The new species is similar to S. nigriptera, but is distinguished by the wing venation and the male genitalia. The ground color of wings of S. atriptera sp. nov. is darker than that of the wings of S. nigriptera, especially the hind wings; the forewing of S. atriptera sp. nov. has a broad and blackish transverse outer line, which it is not present in S. nigriptera; and the fringe of S. nigriptera has a paler basal line, which it is not obvious in S. atriptera sp. nov. Juxta of S. atriptera sp. nov. has a pair of claviform lateral lobes, which are separated at the base. Juxta of S. nigriptera also has a pair of claviform lateral lobes, but they are connected at the base by a heavily sclerotized band. Type specimens were deposited in the Insect Collection of the Department of Entomology, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China.
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34. |
- Yaghootkar, Hanieh, et al.
(author)
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Genetic Studies of Leptin Concentrations Implicate Leptin in the Regulation of Early Adiposity
- 2020
-
In: Diabetes. - : American Diabetes Association. - 0012-1797 .- 1939-327X. ; 69:12, s. 2806-2818
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Leptin influences food intake by informing the brain about the status of body fat stores. Rare LEP mutations associated with congenital leptin deficiency cause severe early-onset obesity that can be mitigated by administering leptin. However, the role of genetic regulation of leptin in polygenic obesity remains poorly understood. We performed an exome-based analysis in up to 57,232 individuals of diverse ancestries to identify genetic variants that influence adiposity-adjusted leptin concentrations. We identify five novel variants, including four missense variants, in LEP, ZNF800, KLHL31, and ACTL9, and one intergenic variant near KLF14. The missense variant Val94Met (rs17151919) in LEP was common in individuals of African ancestry only, and its association with lower leptin concentrations was specific to this ancestry (P = 2 × 10-16, n = 3,901). Using in vitro analyses, we show that the Met94 allele decreases leptin secretion. We also show that the Met94 allele is associated with higher BMI in young African-ancestry children but not in adults, suggesting that leptin regulates early adiposity.
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35. |
- Yang, Fu-Sheng, et al.
(author)
-
Chromosome-level genome assembly of a parent species of widely cultivated azaleas
- 2020
-
In: Nature Communications. - : Nature Publishing Group. - 2041-1723. ; 11:1
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Azaleas (Ericaceae) comprise one of the most diverse ornamental plants, renowned for their cultural and economic importance. We present a chromosome-scale genome assembly for Rhododendron simsii, the primary ancestor of azalea cultivars. Genome analyses unveil the remnants of an ancient whole-genome duplication preceding the radiation of most Ericaceae, likely contributing to the genomic architecture of flowering time. Small-scale gene duplications contribute to the expansion of gene families involved in azalea pigment biosynthesis. We reconstruct entire metabolic pathways for anthocyanins and carotenoids and their potential regulatory networks by detailed analysis of time-ordered gene co-expression networks. MYB, bHLH, and WD40 transcription factors may collectively regulate anthocyanin accumulation in R. simsii, particularly at the initial stages of flower coloration, and with WRKY transcription factors controlling progressive flower coloring at later stages. This work provides a cornerstone for understanding the underlying genetics governing flower timing and coloration and could accelerate selective breeding in azalea. Azaleas are one of the most diverse ornamental plants and have cultural and economic importance. Here, the authors report a chromosome-scale genome assembly for the primary ancestor of the azalea cultivar Rhododendro simsi and identify transcription factors that may function in flower coloration at different stages.
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36. |
- Yuan, Shuai, et al.
(author)
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Sleep duration and daytime napping in relation to incident inflammatory bowel disease : a prospective cohort study
- 2023
-
In: Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0269-2813 .- 1365-2036. ; 57:5, s. 475-485
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Sleep dysregulation has been linked to gastrointestinal dysfunction and inflammation.AIMS: To explore the associations between sleep duration, daytime napping and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC).METHODS: Exposure information was obtained from the baseline questionnaire. Sleep duration was coded as continuous and categorical (≤5, 6, 7, 8, ≥9 h/day) variables. Daytime napping was defined as yes (sometimes/usually) and no (never/rarely). Incident IBD cases were defined from primary care and hospital inpatient records. Polygenic risk scores (PRS) for the outcomes were constructed and categorised into low, intermediate and high risk. Hazard ratio (HR) and confidence interval (CI) were estimated using Cox proportional hazard regression.RESULTS: The analysis included 2604 incident IBD cases (806 CD and 1798 UC) with a median follow-up of 12.0 years. Comparing sleep duration ≤5 with 7 h/day, the HR of IBD, CD and UC was 1.36 (95% CI, 1.17-1.59), 1.53 (95% CI, 1.17-2.00) and 1.29 (95% CI, 1.07-1.56), respectively. Comparing participants with and without daytime napping, the HR of IBD, CD and UC was 1.13 (95% CI, 1.05-1.23), 1.25 (95% CI, 1.08-1.44) and 1.09 (95% CI, 0.90-1.20), respectively. No interaction of sleep duration and daytime napping with PRS was detected. However, the associations appeared stronger in individuals with high rather than low PRS.CONCLUSIONS: This study reveals positive associations between short sleep duration and daytime napping and IBD risk.
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37. |
- Zhang, Lixiu, et al.
(author)
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Advances in the Application of Perovskite Materials
- 2023
-
In: NANO-MICRO LETTERS. - : SHANGHAI JIAO TONG UNIV PRESS. - 2311-6706. ; 15:1
-
Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Nowadays, the soar of photovoltaic performance of perovskite solar cells has set off a fever in the study of metal halide perovskite materials. The excellent optoelectronic properties and defect tolerance feature allow metal halide perovskite to be employed in a wide variety of applications. This article provides a holistic review over the current progress and future prospects of metal halide perovskite materials in representative promising applications, including traditional optoelectronic devices (solar cells, light-emitting diodes, photodetectors, lasers), and cutting-edge technologies in terms of neuromorphic devices (artificial synapses and memristors) and pressure-induced emission. This review highlights the fundamentals, the current progress and the remaining challenges for each application, aiming to provide a comprehensive overview of the development status and a navigation of future research for metal halide perovskite materials and devices.
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38. |
- Zhang, Meihong, et al.
(author)
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A simple and rapid route for synthesizing the nanosized g-C3N4 materials with narrow bandgap and their photocatalytic activity
- 2023
-
In: Surface and Interface Analysis. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0142-2421 .- 1096-9918. ; 55:1, s. 63-70
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) materials with many intriguing properties have attracted much attention in photocatalysis. The photocatalytic activity of g-C3N4 is hindered by serious aggregation and limited exposed active sites. Herein is shown that nanosized g-C3N4 can be simply obtained by a superfast high-pressure homogenization approach. The high-pressure homogenization treatment can provide strong force to cut and/or to exfoliate the bulk g-C3N4 into nanosized g-C3N4 with good dispersion. Moreover, choosing different solvents during treatment can cause a different surface structure of as-prepared nanosized g-C3N4. In addition, the narrow bandgap properties, the high photogenerated charge carrier separation, and the transport abilities are achieved in as-prepared nanosized g-C3N4 because of the retaining conjugated C3N4 system. Specifically, the photocatalytic activities of as-prepared nanosized g-C3N4 have been significantly enhanced in terms of degradation of organic dye Rhodamine B (RhB) under visible light irradiation (10 times higher than that of bulk g-C3N4). These findings can provide a promising and simple approach to the exfoliation, nanonization, and surface functionalization of 2D layered materials.
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39. |
- Zhang, Shuai, et al.
(author)
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High sensitive assay of formaldehyde using resonance light scattering technique based on carbon dots aggregation
- 2023
-
In: Arabian Journal of Chemistry. - : Elsevier. - 1878-5352 .- 1878-5379. ; 16:6
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Formaldehyde (FA) is widely used in industry and also common in daily life. Finding an efficient method to determine FA is quite an industrial challenge. Herein, a novel method based on a resonance light scattering (RLS) technique was developed for the detection of FA with high sensitivity. Carbon dots (CDs) were used as RLS probes. CDs were obtained via one-pot solvothermal treatment from o-phenylenediamine. CDs showed yellow fluorescence with a quantum yield of 0.41. Due to the multiple amino groups on the surface of CDs, FA can be captured easily by formation of a covalent C = N bond based on the Schiff-base reaction. Owing to the covalent crosslinking, CD nanoparticles aggregated, and even formed precipitate. The aggregation of CDs induced RLS enhancement, where the RLS increment was linearly related to the concentration of FA ranging from 4 nM to 1.6 mM, with a limit of detection (LOD) of 1.6 nM. In comparison with many previous reports, the present RLS method showed a wider linear range and lower LOD. Furthermore, the RLS system was successfully used to detect FA in real food samples. The proposed system has prospective applicability in the detection of FA in food fields.
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40. |
- An, Sining, 1991, et al.
(author)
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A 40 Gbps DQPSK Modem for Millimeter-wave Communications
- 2016
-
In: Asia-Pacific Microwave Conference Proceedings APMC 2015. ; 1
-
Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A high speed differential quadrature phase shift keying (DQPSK) modulator and demodulator (modem) is presented for data rates up to 40 Gbps, in which the modulator is based on an FPGA and the demodulator is based on analog components. The modem performance has been verified in a lab environment. The targeted application is wireless communications using millimeter-wave bands as a flexible alternative to optical fiber links in next generation mobile networks.
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41. |
- Andersson, Martin, et al.
(author)
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Modeling Validation and Simulation of an Anode Supported SOFC including Mass and Heat Transport, Fluid Flow and Chemical Reactions
- 2011
-
In: ASME 2011 9th International Conference on Fuel Cell Science, Engineering and Technology. Collocated with ASME 2011 5th International Conference on Energy Sustainability, FUELCELL 2011. - 9780791854693 ; , s. 317-327
-
Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Fuel cells are electrochemical devices that directly transform chemical energy into electricity, which are promising for future energy systems, since they are energy efficient and, when hydrogen is used as fuel, there are no direct emissions of greenhouse gases. The cell performance depends strongly on the material characteristics, the operating conditions and the chemical reactions that occur inside the cell. The chemical- And electrochemical reaction rates depend on temperature, material structure, catalytic activity, degradation and the partial pressures for the different species components. There is a lack of information, within the open literature, concerning the fundamentals behind these reactions. Experimental as well as modeling studies are needed to reduce this gap. In this study experimental data collected from an intermediate temperature standard SOFC with H2/H2O in the fuel stream are used to validate a previously developed computational fluid dynamics model based on the finite element method. The developed model is based on the governing equations of heat and mass transport and fluid flow, which are solved together with kinetic expressions for internal reforming reactions of hydrocarbon fuels and electrochemistry. This model is further updated to describe the experimental environment concerning cell design. Discussion on available active area for electrochemical reactions and average ionic transport distance from the anodic- to the cathodic three-phase boundary (TPB) are presented. The fuel inlet mole fractions are changed for the validated model to simulate a H2/H2O mixture and 30 % pre-reformed natural gas.
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42. |
- Bian, Zilong, et al.
(author)
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Healthy lifestyle and cancer survival : A multinational cohort study
- 2024
-
In: International Journal of Cancer. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0020-7136 .- 1097-0215. ; 154:10, s. 1709-1718
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Lifestyle factors after a cancer diagnosis could influence the survival of cancer 60 survivors. To examine the independent and joint associations of healthy lifestyle factors with mortality outcomes among cancer survivors, four prospective cohorts (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey [NHANES], National Health Interview Survey [NHIS], UK Biobank [UKB] and Kailuan study) across three countries. A healthy lifestyle score (HLS) was defined based on five common lifestyle factors (smoking, alcohol drinking, diet, physical activity and body mass index) that related to cancer survival. We used Cox proportional hazards regression to estimate the hazard ratios (HRs) for the associations of individual lifestyle factors and HLS with all-cause and cancer mortality among cancer survivors. During the follow-up period of 37,095 cancer survivors, 8927 all-cause mortality events were accrued in four cohorts and 4449 cancer death events were documented in the UK and US cohorts. Never smoking (adjusted HR = 0.77, 95% CI: 0.69-0.86), light alcohol consumption (adjusted HR = 0.86, 95% CI: 0.82-0.90), adequate physical activity (adjusted HR = 0.90, 95% CI: 0.85-0.94), a healthy diet (adjusted HR = 0.69, 95% CI: 0.61-0.78) and optimal BMI (adjusted HR = 0.89, 95% CI: 0.85-0.93) were significantly associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality. In the joint analyses of HLS, the HR of all-cause and cancer mortality for cancer survivors with a favorable HLS (4 and 5 healthy lifestyle factors) were 0.55 (95% CI 0.42-0.64) and 0.57 (95% CI 0.44-0.72), respectively. This multicohort study of cancer survivors from the United States, the United Kingdom and China found that greater adherence to a healthy lifestyle might be beneficial in improving cancer prognosis. This study investigated the independent and joint associations of healthy lifestyle factors with mortality outcomes among cancer survivors by analyzing data from four prospective cohorts across three countries-the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and National Health Interview Survey in the United States, the UK Biobank and the Kailuan study in China. Adhering to a healthy lifestyle could reduce the risk of all-cause and cancer mortality by half among cancer survivors. Specifically, avoiding smoking and excessive alcohol consumption, maintaining a healthy diet, engaging in physical activity and maintaining a healthy body mass index were associated with improved prognosis.image
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43. |
- Carlevaro-Fita, J, et al.
(author)
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Cancer LncRNA Census reveals evidence for deep functional conservation of long noncoding RNAs in tumorigenesis
- 2020
-
In: Communications biology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2399-3642. ; 3:1, s. 56-
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are a growing focus of cancer genomics studies, creating the need for a resource of lncRNAs with validated cancer roles. Furthermore, it remains debated whether mutated lncRNAs can drive tumorigenesis, and whether such functions could be conserved during evolution. Here, as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium, we introduce the Cancer LncRNA Census (CLC), a compilation of 122 GENCODE lncRNAs with causal roles in cancer phenotypes. In contrast to existing databases, CLC requires strong functional or genetic evidence. CLC genes are enriched amongst driver genes predicted from somatic mutations, and display characteristic genomic features. Strikingly, CLC genes are enriched for driver mutations from unbiased, genome-wide transposon-mutagenesis screens in mice. We identified 10 tumour-causing mutations in orthologues of 8 lncRNAs, including LINC-PINT and NEAT1, but not MALAT1. Thus CLC represents a dataset of high-confidence cancer lncRNAs. Mutagenesis maps are a novel means for identifying deeply-conserved roles of lncRNAs in tumorigenesis.
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44. |
- Chen, Jie, et al.
(author)
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Antioxidants, minerals and vitamins in relation to Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis : A Mendelian randomization study
- 2023
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In: Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0269-2813 .- 1365-2036. ; 57:4, s. 399-408
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BackgroundEvidence for antioxidants, minerals and vitamins in relation to the risk of Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) is limited and inconsistent. This mendelian randomization (MR) study aimed to examine the causal associations of circulating levels of antioxidants, minerals and vitamins with CD and UC.MethodsSingle-nucleotide polymorphisms associated with antioxidants (beta-carotene, lycopene and uric acid), minerals (copper, calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc and selenium), and vitamins (folate, vitamins A, B6, B12, C, D, E and K1) were employed as instrumental variables. Genetic associations with CD and UC were extracted from the UK Biobank, the FinnGen study and the International Inflammatory Bowel Disease Genetics Consortium. The inverse variance weighted method and sensitivity analyses were performed.ResultsGenetically predicted higher lycopene (OR = 0.94, 95% CI: 0.91–0.97), vitamins D (OR = 0.65, 95% CI: 0.54–0.79) and K1 (OR = 0.93, 95% CI: 0.90–0.97) levels were inversely associated with CD risk, whereas genetically predicted higher magnesium (OR = 1.53, 95% CI: 1.23–1.90) levels were positively associated with CD risk. Higher levels of genetically predicted lycopene (OR = 0.91, 95% CI: 0.88–0.95), phosphorus (OR = 0.69, 95% CI: 0.58–0.82), selenium (OR = 0.91, 95% CI: 0.85–0.97), zinc (OR = 0.91, 95% CI: 0.89–0.94), folate (OR = 0.71, 95% CI: 0.56–0.92) and vitamin E (OR = 0.78, 95% CI: 0.69–0.88) were associated with reduced UC risk, whereas genetically predicted high levels of calcium (OR = 1.46, 95% CI: 1.22–1.76) and magnesium (OR = 1.24, 95% CI: 1.03–1.49) were associated with increased risk of UC.ConclusionsOur study provided evidence that circulating levels of antioxidants, minerals and vitamins might be causally linked to the development of IBD.
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45. |
- Chen, Jie, et al.
(author)
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Gastrointestinal Consequences of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and Impaired Glycemic Homeostasis : A Mendelian Randomization Study
- 2023
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In: Diabetes Care. - : American Diabetes Association. - 0149-5992 .- 1935-5548. ; 46:4, s. 828-835
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- OBJECTIVE: We conducted a Mendelian randomization (MR) study to examine the associations of type 2 diabetes and glycemic traits with gastrointestinal diseases (GDs).RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Uncorrelated genetic variants associated with type 2 diabetes (n = 231), fasting insulin (n = 38), fasting glucose (n = 71), and hemoglobin A1c (n = 75) at the genome-wide significance were selected as instrument variables. Genetic associations with 23 common GDs were obtained from the FinnGen and UK Biobank studies and other large consortia.RESULTS: Genetic liability to type 2 diabetes was associated with the risk of 12 GDs. Per 1-unit increase in the log-transformed odds ratio (OR) of type 2 diabetes, the OR was 1.06 (95% CI, 1.03-1.09) for gastroesophageal reflux disease, 1.12 (95% CI, 1.07-1.17) for gastric ulcer, 1.11 (95% CI, 1.03-1.20) for acute gastritis, 1.07 (95% CI, 1.01-1.13) for chronic gastritis, 1.08 (95% CI, 1.03-1.12) for irritable bowel syndrome, 1.04 (95% CI, 1.01-1.07) for diverticular disease, 1.08 (95% CI, 1.02-1.14) for acute pancreatitis, 1.09 (95% CI, 1.05-1.12) for cholelithiasis, 1.09 (95% CI, 1.05-1.13) for cholelithiasis with cholecystitis, 1.29 (95% CI, 1.17-1.43) for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, 1.12 (95% CI, 1.03-1.21) for liver cirrhosis, and 0.93 (95% CI, 0.89-0.97) for ulcerative colitis. Genetically predicted higher levels of fasting insulin and glucose were associated with six and one GDs, respectively.CONCLUSIONS: Associations were found between genetic liability to type 2 diabetes and an increased risk of a broad range of GDs, highlighting the importance of GD prevention in patients with type 2 diabetes.
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46. |
- Chen, Jie, et al.
(author)
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Therapeutic targets for inflammatory bowel disease : proteome-wide Mendelian randomization and colocalization analyses
- 2023
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In: EBioMedicine. - : Elsevier BV. - 2352-3964. ; 89
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Identifying new drug targets for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is urgently needed. The proteome is a major source of therapeutic targets. We conducted a proteome-wide Mendelian randomization (MR) and colocalization analyses to identify possible targets for IBD.Methods: Summary-level data of 4907 circulating protein levels were extracted from a large-scale protein quantitative trait loci study including 35,559 individuals. Genetic associations with IBD and its subtypes were obtained from the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Genetics Consortium (25,024 cases and 34,915 controls), the FinnGen study (7206 cases and 253,199 controls), and the UK Biobank study (7045 cases and 449,282 controls). MR analysis was conducted to estimate the associations between protein and IBD risk. The colocalization analysis was used to examine whether the identified proteins and IBD shared casual variants.Findings: Genetically predicted levels of 3, and 5 circulating proteins were associated with IBD and ulcerative colitis (UC), respectively. With high supporting evidence of colocalization, genetically predicted MST1 (macrophage stim-ulating 1) and HGFAC (hepatocyte growth factor activator) levels were inversely associated with IBD risks. The as-sociations of STAT3 (signal transducer and activator of transcription 3), MST1, CXCL5 (C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 5), and ITPKA (inositol-trisphosphate 3-kinase A) with the risk of UC were supported by colocalization analysis.Interpretation: The proteome-wide MR investigation identified many proteins associated with the risk of IBD. MST1, HGFAC, STAT3, ITPKA, and CXCL5 deserve further investigation as potential therapeutic targets for IBD. 2023;89: Published https://doi.org/10. 1016/j.ebiom.2023. 104494
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47. |
- Chen, Shuaifei, et al.
(author)
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Wireless Caching: Cell-Free versus Small Cells
- 2021
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In: IEEE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON COMMUNICATIONS (ICC 2021). - : IEEE. - 9781728171227
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Caching popular contents at a large number of access points and edge-clouds is a promising solution to alleviate the increasing backhaul congestion in beyond fifth-generation (B5G) networks. By integrating with cell-free massive multiple-input multiple-output (CF mMIMO), wireless caching can harness their combined virtues, i.e., almost uniform service quality, strong macro-diversity, and reduction of the data traffic from the core network. In this paper, we consider an offline cache-aided scenario with two caching strategies to minimize the total energy consumption (TEC), which are evaluated from the cache hit probability (CHP). The TEC minimization is showed to be NP-complete and, hence, dealt with a proposed greedy algorithm. An adaptive power control policy is proposed to reduce the TEC. We compare CF mMIMO with small cells in terms of the successful content delivery probability (SCDP) and TEC, respectively. The numerical results show that CF mMIMO can offer a much more uniform service, significantly higher SCDP, and lower average TEC when compared to than SC.
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48. |
- Chen, Wenju, et al.
(author)
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Porous cellulose diacetate-SiO2 composite coating on polyethylene separator for high-performance lithium-ion battery
- 2016
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In: Carbohydrate Polymers. - : Elsevier BV. - 0144-8617 .- 1879-1344. ; 147, s. 517-524
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The developments of high-performance lithium ion battery are eager to the separators with high ionic conductivity and thermal stability. In this work, a new way to adjust the comprehensive properties of inorganic-organic composite separator was investigated. The cellulose diacetate (CDA)-SiO2 composite coating is beneficial for improving the electrolyte wettability and the thermal stability of separators. Interestingly, the pore structure of composite coating can be regulated by the weight ratio of SiO2 precursor tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) in the coating solution. The electronic performance of lithium ion batteries assembled with modified separators are improved compared with the pristine PE separator. When weight ratio of TEOS in the coating solution was 9.4%, the composite separator shows the best comprehensive performance. Compared with the pristine PE separator, its meltdown temperature and the break-elongation at elevated temperature increased. More importantly, the discharge capacity and the capacity retention improved significantly.
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49. |
- Chen, Wenju, et al.
(author)
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Water-Based Organic-Inorganic Hybrid Coating for a High-Performance Separator
- 2016
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In: ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 2168-0485. ; 4:7, s. 3794-3802
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- With the development of electric vehicles, the traditional polyolefin separators can not meet the increasing requirements of lithium ion batteries with high power density, high energy density, and high safety performance. Herein, a novel water-based binder is synthesized by grafting carboxyl groups onto cellulose diacetate. When the polyethylene (PE) separator is coated by this binder and SiO2 nanoparticles, the thermal shrinkage of the modified separator is observed to be almost 0% after exposure at 200 degrees C for 30 min. The puncture strength significantly increase from 5.10 MPa (PE separator) to 7.64 MPa. More importantly, the capacity retention of the cells assembled with modified separators after 100 cycles at 0.5 C increase from 73.3% (cells assembled with PE separator) to 81.6%, owing to the excellent electrolyte uptake and the good compatibility with lithium electrode. Besides, the modified separator shows excellent surface stability after 100 cycles. Considering the above excellent properties, this composite separator shows high potential to be used in lithium ion batteries with high power density and safety.
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50. |
- Cheng, Minglun, et al.
(author)
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Photocatalytic H-2 production using a hybrid assembly of an [FeFe]-hydrogenase model and CdSe quantum dot linked through a thiolato-functionalized cyclodextrin
- 2017
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In: Faraday discussions. - : Royal Society of Chemistry. - 1359-6640 .- 1364-5498. ; 198, s. 197-209
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- It is a great challenge to develop iron-based highly-efficient and durable catalytic systems for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) by understanding and learning from [FeFe]-hydrogenases. Here we report photocatalytic H-2 production by a hybrid assembly of a sulfonate-functionalized [FeFe]-hydrogenase mimic (1) and CdSe quantum dot (QD), which is denoted as 1/beta-CD-6-S-CdSe (beta-CD-6-SH = 6-mercapto-beta-cyclodextrin). In this assembly, thiolato-functionalized beta-CD acts not only as a stabilizing reagent of CdSe QDs but also as a host compound for the diiron catalyst, so as to confine CdSe QDs to the space near the site of diiron catalyst. In addition, another two reference systems comprising MAA-CdSe QDs (HMAA = mercaptoacetic acid) and 1 in the presence and absence of beta-CD, denoted as 1/beta-CD/MAA-CdSe and 1/MAA-CdSe, were studied for photocatalytic H-2 evolution. The influences of beta-CD and the stabilizing reagent beta-CD-6-S- on the stability of diiron catalyst, the fluorescence lifetime of CdSe QDs, the apparent electron transfer rate, and the photocatalytic H-2-evolving efficiency were explored by comparative studies of the three hybrid systems. The 1/beta-CD-6-SCdSe system displayed a faster apparent rate for electron transfer from CdSe QDs to the diiron catalyst compared to that observed for MAA-CdSe-based systems. The total TON for visible-light driven H-2 evolution by the 1/beta-CD-6-S-CdSe QDs in water at pH 4.5 is about 2370, corresponding to a TOF of 150 h(-1) in the initial 10 h of illumination, which is 2.7- and 6.6-fold more than the amount of H-2 produced from the reference systems 1/beta-CD/MAA-CdSe and 1/MAA-CdSe. Additionally, 1/beta-CD-6-S-CdSe gave 2.4-5.1 fold enhancement in the apparent quantum yield and significantly improved the stability of the system for photocatalytic H-2 evolution.
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