Ningxia University

Great progress has been made in the preparation and application of multi-shelled hollow micro-/nanostructures during the past decade. However, the synthetic methodologies and potential applications of these novel and interesting materials have not been reviewed comprehensively in the literature. In the current review we first describe different synthetic methodologies for multi-shelled hollow micro-/nanostructures as well as their compositional and geometric manipulation and then review their applications in energy conversion and storage, sensors, photocatalysis, and drug delivery. The correlation between the geometric properties of multi-shelled hollow micro-/nanostructures and their specific performance in relevant applications are highlighted. These results demonstrate that the geometry has a direct impact on the properties and potential applications of such materials. Finally, the emerging challenges and future development of multi-shelled hollow micro-/nanostructures are further discussed.

The idea that noncrop habitat enhances pest control and represents a win-win opportunity to conserve biodiversity and bolster yields has emerged as an agroecological paradigm. However, while noncrop habitat in landscapes surrounding farms sometimes benefits pest predators, natural enemy responses remain heterogeneous across studies and effects on pests are inconclusive. The observed heterogeneity in species responses to noncrop habitat may be biological in origin or could result from variation in how habitat and biocontrol are measured. Here, we use a pest-control database encompassing 132 studies and 6,759 sites worldwide to model natural enemy and pest abundances, predation rates, and crop damage as a function of landscape composition. Our results showed that although landscape composition explained significant variation within studies, pest and enemy abundances, predation rates, crop damage, and yields each exhibited different responses across studies, sometimes increasing and sometimes decreasing in landscapes with more noncrop habitat but overall showing no consistent trend. Thus, models that used landscape-composition variables to predict pest-control dynamics demonstrated little potential to explain variation across studies, though prediction did improve when comparing studies with similar crop and landscape features. Overall, our work shows that surrounding noncrop habitat does not consistently improve pest management, meaning habitat conservation may bolster production in some systems and depress yields in others. Future efforts to develop tools that inform farmers when habitat conservation truly represents a win-win would benefit from increased understanding of how landscape effects are modulated by local farm management and the biology of pests and their enemies.

Cattle domestication and the complex histories of East Asian cattle breeds warrant further investigation. Through analysing the genomes of 49 modern breeds and eight East Asian ancient samples, worldwide cattle are consistently classified into five continental groups based on Y-chromosome haplotypes and autosomal variants. We find that East Asian cattle populations are mainly composed of three distinct ancestries, including an earlier East Asian taurine ancestry that reached China at least ~3.9 kya, a later introduced Eurasian taurine ancestry, and a novel Chinese indicine ancestry that diverged from Indian indicine approximately 36.6-49.6 kya. We also report historic introgression events that helped domestic cattle from southern China and the Tibetan Plateau achieve rapid adaptation by acquiring ~2.93% and ~1.22% of their genomes from banteng and yak, respectively. Our findings provide new insights into the evolutionary history of cattle and the importance of introgression in adaptation of cattle to new environmental challenges in East Asia.

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), the largest family of human membrane proteins and an important class of drug targets, play a role in maintaining numerous physiological processes. Agonist or antagonist, orthosteric effects or allosteric effects, and biased signaling or balanced signaling, characterize the complexity of GPCR dynamic features. In this study, we first review the structural advancements, activation mechanisms, and functional diversity of GPCRs. We then focus on GPCR drug discovery by revealing the detailed drug-target interactions and the underlying mechanisms of orthosteric drugs approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in the past five years. Particularly, an up-to-date analysis is performed on available GPCR structures complexed with synthetic small-molecule allosteric modulators to elucidate key receptor-ligand interactions and allosteric mechanisms. Finally, we highlight how the widespread GPCR-druggable allosteric sites can guide structure- or mechanism-based drug design and propose prospects of designing bitopic ligands for the future therapeutic potential of targeting this receptor family.

The extensive use of chemical fertilizers poses serious collateral problems such as environmental pollution, pest resistance development and food safety decline. Researches focused on applying plant-beneficial microorganisms to partially replace chemical fertilizer use is increasing due to the requirement of sustainable agriculture development. Thus to investigate the possibility of a plant-beneficial Trichoderma strain and its bio-organic fertilizer product in saving chemical fertilizer application and in improving crop quality, a field trial and continuous pot experiments were carried out with tomato. Four treatments were set up: a reduced application of chemical fertilizer (75% of the conventional application) plus Trichoderma-enriched bio-organic fertilizer (BF), organic fertilizer (OF) or Trichoderma spore suspension (SS), with using the 100% rate of the conventional chemical fertilizer as the control (CF). The results showed that the total soluble sugar, Vitamin C and nitrate accumulations were, respectively, +up to 24%, +up to 57% and -up to 62% in the tomatoes of the BF treatment compared to those of the control (CF). And both of the pot and field trials revealed that reduced rates of chemical fertilizer plus bio-organic fertilizer produced tomato yields equivalent to those obtained using the 100% of the chemical fertilizer. However, application with the inoculant alone (SS) or combined with the organic fertilizer alone (OF) would lead to a yield decreases of 6-38% and 9-35% over the control. Since the increased abundance of soil microflora and the enhanced soil fertility frequently showed positive linear correlations especially in the BF-treated soils, we conclude that the efficacy of this bio-organic fertilizer for maintaining a stable tomato yield and improving tomato quality may be due to the improved soil microbial activity. Thus, the results suggest that the Trichoderma bio-organic fertilizer could be employed in combination with the appropriate rates of chemical fertilizers to get maximum benefits regarding yield, quality and fertilizer savings.

The use of alkaline salt lands for crop production is hindered by a scarcity of knowledge and breeding efforts for plant alkaline tolerance. Through genome association analysis of sorghum, a naturally high-alkaline–tolerant crop, we detected a major locus, Alkaline Tolerance 1 ( AT1 ), specifically related to alkaline-salinity sensitivity. An at1 allele with a carboxyl-terminal truncation increased sensitivity, whereas knockout of AT1 increased tolerance to alkalinity in sorghum, millet, rice, and maize. AT1 encodes an atypical G protein γ subunit that affects the phosphorylation of aquaporins to modulate the distribution of hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) . These processes appear to protect plants against oxidative stress by alkali. Designing knockouts of AT1 homologs or selecting its natural nonfunctional alleles could improve crop productivity in sodic lands.

Silver, known and utilized since ancient times, is a coinage metal, which has been widely used for various organic transformations in the past few decades. Currently, the silver-catalyzed reaction is one of the frontier areas in organic chemistry, and the progress of research in this field is very rapid. Compared with other transition metals, silver has long been believed to have low catalytic efficiency, and most commonly, it is used as either a cocatalyst or a Lewis acid. Interestingly, the discovery of Ag-catalysis has been significantly improved in recent years. Especially, Ag(i) has been demonstrated as an important and versatile catalyst for a variety of organic transformations. However, so far, there has been no systematic review on Ag-catalyzed C-H/C-C bond functionalization. In this review, we will focus on the development of Ag-catalyzed C-H/C-C bond functionalization and the corresponding mechanism.

High Resolution Image Download MS PowerPoint Slide Syngas from biomass gasification can be used in downstream process industries such as city gas, hydrogen production, etc. In this review, the effects of biomass feedstock properties, and gasification reaction conditions (temperature, gasifier type, etc.) on syngas properties are systematically reviewed. In summary, the cracking and reforming of volatile fractions in the gasification process and the catalytic effect of alkali and alkaline earth metals in the ash on the gasification have a direct impact on the syngas yield. And biomass pretreatment (i.e., terrifying/hydrothermal carbonization) can reduce the moisture content, which can effectively reduce the energy required for gasification and enhance the calorific value and syngas yield further. The fixed-bed gasifiers produce lower amounts of syngas. The concentration of H 2 is significantly increased by adding steam as a gasification agent. Additionally higher gasification temperatures produce more syngas, and an equivalence ratio of about 0.2–0.3 is considered suitable for gasification. For the influence of feedstock on syngas, this paper not only reviews the feedstock properties (volatile, ash, moisture) but also compares the influence of two pretreatments on syngas yield and proposes that the combination of torrefaction/hydrothermal carbonization and a multistage air bed gasifier is an important research direction to improve the combustible components of syngas. In addition to the summary of commonly used single gasification agents, two or more gasification agents on the concentration of syngas components are also discussed in the gasification parameters, and it is suggested that further research into the use of more than one gasification agent is also important for future syngas production.

Aluminosilicate zeolites with controllable morphology have attracted considerable attention due to their potential applications in catalysis, adsorption, and separation technologies, as well as the biomedical field. However, the rational design and preparation of zeolites with the required morphology have not been achieved because the zeolite crystallization mechanism has not been fully understood, and therefore, the nucleation and crystal growth processes cannot be oriented. This paper reviews the progresses achieved in zeolite morphology control. The chemical compositions of the synthesis gel, including template (or the structure-directing agent) and framework heteroatoms, silica and alumina sources, alkali metal cations and mineralization ions, crystallization conditions, and synthesis methods have a considerable impact on the crystal morphology. The oriented assembly of zeolite crystals into special morphologies, such as hierarchical porous structures, zeolite membranes, hollow zeolite spheres, and core@shell-structured zeolites, can be realized by using soft and/or hard template methods and adjusting the synthesis and crystallization conditions. In addition, zeolite crystallization and crystal assembly mechanisms are investigated for providing an overall insight into the regulation of zeolite crystal morphology.

Abstract The 3D NiO hollow sphere/reduced graphene oxide (rGO) composite was synthesized according to the coordinating etching and precipitating process by using Cu 2 O nanosphere/graphene oxide (GO) composite as template. The morphology, structure, and composition of the materials were characterized by SEM, TEM, HRTEM, XPS, and Raman spectra, and the electrochemical properties were studied by cyclic voltammetry (CV), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and amperometry. Moreover, the electrochemical activity of the composite materials with different morphologies were also investigated, which indicating a better combination of the NiO hollow sphere and the rGO. Used as glucose sensing material, the 3D NiO hollow sphere/rGO composite modified electrode exhibits high sensitivity of ~2.04 mA mM −1 cm −2 , quick response time of less than 5 s, good stability, selectivity, and reproducibility. Its application for the detection of glucose in human blood serum sample shows acceptable recovery and R.S.D. values. The outstanding glucose sensing performance should be attributed to the unique 3D hierarchical porous superstructure of the composite, especially for its enhanced electron-transfer kinetic properties.

Abstract A series of stable heterometallic Fe 2 M cluster‐based MOFs ( NNU‐31‐M , M=Co, Ni, Zn) photocatalysts are presented. They can achieve the overall conversion of CO 2 and H 2 O into HCOOH and O 2 without the assistance of additional sacrificial agent and photosensitizer. The heterometallic cluster units and photosensitive ligands excited by visible light generate separated electrons and holes. Then, low‐valent metal M accepts electrons to reduce CO 2 , and high‐valent Fe uses holes to oxidize H 2 O. This is the first MOF photocatalyst system to finish artificial photosynthetic full reaction. It is noted that NNU‐31‐Zn exhibits the highest HCOOH yield of 26.3 μmol g −1 h −1 (selectivity of ca. 100 %). Furthermore, the DFT calculations based on crystal structures demonstrate the photocatalytic reaction mechanism. This work proposes a new strategy for how to design crystalline photocatalyst to realize artificial photosynthetic overall reaction.

It is a challenging task to advance the excellent strength and structural performance of sandwich structures, while continuing to reduce the weight and cost parameters. Thousands of researchers have studied and developed the core structural innovation with periodical achievements. This review paper concentrates on the core structural trends and impact response of sandwich panels, which highlights the novel design concepts and impact failure modes. Three kinds of core structures have been classified, which are foam-core, two- and three-dimensional periodic cores. It is shown that the core structure of sandwich panels plays a vital role in structural performance and applications. Three common types of loading conditions have been considered, i.e. compression, projectile impact and three-point bending. Examples of novel core structures are further studied and summarised under corresponding impact loadings. Recent applications of sandwich structures are briefly concentrated on aerospace, automotive, marine and civil engineering areas. Furthermore, future research and development prospect of sandwich structures are suggested and predicted.

The purpose of this review was to analyse empirical studies on inclusion in physical education (PE) over the past 20 years and then propose recommendations for future research. A systematic process was used to search the literature for this review. First, a total of 75 research-based articles from computerised education databases were included in this review. Second, the publication descriptor data were summarised and analysed according to the geographic distribution, study period, research theme, and research method. Results showed that the number of studies on inclusive PE increased in the past 20 years, and most of these studies were contributed by authors in developed countries. Quantitative methods were the major research method employed in the reviewed studies. Third, we performed a content analysis on the descriptive data and identified three recurring themes from the empirical research. These included: stakeholder (e.g., teachers and parents) perspectives of inclusive PE, effective inclusive practices, and the impacts of inclusion on students with and without disabilities. Of the 75 studies reviewed, 49 (65%) focused on stakeholder perspectives on inclusive PE. The data indicated that stakeholders philosophically support inclusive PE, but numerous concerns and different opinions exist. Only 12 (16%) studies examined the effects of different inclusive strategies. The studies suggested that strategies such as peer tutoring and cooperative learning can provide useful support within inclusive PE. A total of 14 (19%) studies focused on the effect of inclusion on students with and without disabilities. The data indicated that inclusion in PE does not affect the learning outcome of students without disabilities when given support (e.g., using paraprofessionals and adapted PE specialists) or when a solid curriculum is used. However, students with disabilities experienced less motor engagement than their peers without disabilities. The findings of these studies also indicated that although students with disabilities can gain benefits from social interactions in inclusive PE, social isolation of students with disabilities also exists. In conclusion, this review has enhanced our knowledge of the type of studies undertaken in the field of inclusive PE for students with disabilities and some of the outcomes for these students.

Copper nanoparticle-based catalysts have been extensively applied in industry, but the nanoparticles tend to sinter into larger ones in the chemical atmospheres, which is detrimental to catalyst performance. In this work, we used dealuminated Beta zeolite to support copper nanoparticles (Cu/Beta-deAl) and showed that these particles become smaller in methanol vapor at 200°C, decreasing from ~5.6 to ~2.4 nanometers in diameter, which is opposite to the general sintering phenomenon. A reverse ripening process was discovered, whereby migratable copper sites activated by methanol were trapped by silanol nests and the copper species in the nests acted as new nucleation sites for the formation of small nanoparticles. This feature reversed the general sintering channel, resulting in robust catalysts for dimethyl oxalate hydrogenation performed with supported copper nanoparticles for use in industry.

Large scale characterization of phosphoproteins requires highly specific methods for purification of phosphopeptides because of the low abundance of phosphoproteins and substoichiometry of phosphorylation. Enrichment of phosphopeptides from complex peptide mixtures by IMAC is a popular way to perform phosphoproteome analysis. However, conventional IMAC adsorbents with iminodiacetic acid as the chelating group to immobilize Fe(3+) lack enough specificity for efficient phosphoproteome analysis. Here we report a novel IMAC adsorbent through Zr(4+) chelation to the phosphonate-modified poly(glycidyl methacrylate-co-ethylene dimethacrylate) polymer beads. The high specificity of Zr(4+)-IMAC adsorbent was demonstrated by effectively enriching phosphopeptides from the digest mixture of phosphoprotein (alpha- or beta-casein) and bovine serum albumin with molar ratio at 1:100. Zr(4+)-IMAC adsorbent was also successfully applied for the analysis of mouse liver phosphoproteome, resulting in the identification of 153 phosphopeptides (163 phosphorylation sites) from 133 proteins in mouse liver lysate. Significantly more phosphopeptides were identified than by the conventional Fe(3+)-IMAC approach, indicating the excellent performance of the Zr(4+)-IMAC approach. The high specificity of Zr(4+)-IMAC adsorbent was found to mainly result from the strong interaction between chelating Zr(4+) and phosphate group on phosphopeptides. Enrichment of phosphopeptides by Zr(4+)-IMAC provides a powerful approach for large scale phosphoproteome analysis.

. This facile synthetic strategy can also be extended to fabricate other hierarchical integrated electrodes for high-efficiency electrochemical energy conversion and storage devices.

Abstract Porous ternary metal sulfide integrated electrode materials with abundant electroactive sites and redox reactions are very promising for supercapacitors. Herein, a porous zinc cobalt sulfide nanosheet array on Ni foam (Zn‐Co‐S/NF) was constructed by facile growth of 2D bimetallic zinc/cobalt‐based metal–organic framework (Zn/Co‐MOF) nanosheets with leaf‐like morphology on NF, followed by additional sulfurization. The Zn‐Co‐S/NF nanosheet array acted directly as a supercapacitor electrode showing much better electrochemical performance (2354.3 F g −1 and 88.6 % retention over 1000 cycles) when compared with zinc cobalt sulfide powder (355.3 F g −1 and 75.8 % retention over 1000 cycles), which originates from good electrical conductivity and mechanical stability, abundant electroactive sites, and facilitated transportation of electrons and electrolyte ions due to the unique nanosheet array structure. An asymmetric supercapacitor (ASC) device assembled from Zn‐Co‐S/NF and activated carbon electrodes can deliver a highest energy density of 31.9 Wh kg −1 and a maximum power density of 8.5 kW kg −1 . Most importantly, this ASC also shows good cycling stability (71.0 % retention over 10000 cycles). Furthermore, a red LED can be powered by two connected ASCs, and thus as‐synthesized Zn‐Co‐S/NF has great potential for practical applications.

Is a manager's likability important from an employee's perspective? Research results in this field are scant and inconsistent. The current study explored employees' response to managers' likability and the moderating effect of power distance at both the cultural and individual levels. In study 1, following the countercultural priming experimental paradigm proposed by Van den Bos et al. (2013), 121 college students from China (a high power distance culture) and 99 college students from Denmark (a low power distance culture) were randomly assigned to either a countercultural (experimental) condition or a control condition. All participants were required to complete a manager selection task using the zero-acquaintance paradigm to measure their preference for likable managers. The results confirmed the moderating role of power distance at the cultural level. Study 2 further explored the moderating effect of power distance orientation at the individual level, as well as the boundary condition of the degree of resource dependence from the employee's perspective. One hundred and three Chinese participants with work experience were randomly assigned to either the subordinate perspective (high resource dependence) or the HR department perspective (low resource dependence) condition and completed the same task as in study 1. The results suggested that high power distance-oriented participants demonstrate stronger preference for likable manager candidates than do low power distance-oriented participants. In addition, these findings hold only when employees expect a high resource dependence relation with the manager. Theoretical and practical implications of the research findings and future research directions were discussed.

To further investigate how controlled ultrasound treatments affect the morphology, physical property and fine structure of rice starch granules, the starch suspended in water was treated with different ultrasonic power levels (150, 300, 450 and 600 W) at 25 °C for 20 min. XRD, FT-IR and Raman spectroscopy were performed to characterise the long-range and short-range ordered structure of starch granules. Results indicated that ultrasound slightly destroyed the amorphous region of starch granules, while the A-type crystalline pattern remained unchanged. The result of chain length distributions showed that the fine structure of rice starch was not significantly changed by ultrasound treatment. SEM and particle size distribution demonstrated that ultrasound induced fissures and pores on the granule surface and elevated the homogeneity of granules, with minimum effect on the granule size. In addition, the thermal and pasting properties of rice starch were also measured by DSC and RVA. Results showed that after ultrasound treatments, the peak and breakdown viscosity increased, while the peak time, pasting temperature and gelatinisation enthalpy decreased. Overall, controlled ultrasound treatments dominantly modified the morphology and physical property of rice starch rather than the fine structure, providing additional information for the application of ultrasound on starch modification.

Minimum mortality temperature (MMT) is an important indicator to assess the temperature-mortality relationship. It reflects human adaptability to local climate. The existing MMT estimates were usually based on case studies in data rich regions, and limited evidence about MMT was available at a global scale. It is still unclear what the most significant driver of MMT is and how MMT will change under global climate change. Here, by analysing MMTs in 420 locations covering six continents (Antarctica was excluded) in the world, we found that although the MMT changes geographically, it is very close to the local most frequent temperature (MFT) in the same period. The association between MFT and MMT is not changed when we adjust for latitude and study year. Based on the MFT~MMT association, we estimate and map the global distribution of MMTs in the present (2010s) and the future (2050s) for the first time.