Efficient Solar Cells Based on Light-Harvesting Antimony Sulfoiodide

Nie, Riming,Yun, Hyun-sung,Paik, Min-Jae,Mehta, Aarti,Park, Byung-wook,Choi, Yong Chan,Seok, Sang Il Wiley-VCH 2018 ADVANCED ENERGY MATERIALS Vol.8 No.7

<P> Although antimony sulfoiodide (SbSI) exhibits very interesting properties including high photoconductivity, ferroelectricity, and piezoelectricity, it is not applied to solar cells. Meanwhile, SbSI is predominantly prepared as a powder using a high-temperature, high-pressure system. Herein, the fabrication of solar cells utilizing SbSI as light harvesters is reported for the first time to the best of knowledge. SbSI is prepared by solution processing, followed by annealing under mild temperature conditions by a reaction between antimony trisulfide, which is deposited by chemical bath deposition on a mesoporous TiO<SUB>2</SUB> electrode and antimony triiodide, under air at a low temperature (90 °C) without any external pressure. The solar cells fabricated using SbSI exhibit a power conversion efficiency of 3.05% under standard illumination conditions of 100 mW cm<SUP>-2</SUP>. </P>

Impact of sugarcane bagasse-derived biochar on heavy metal availability and microbial activity: A field study

Nie, Chengrong,Yang, Xing,Niazi, Nabeel Khan,Xu, Xiaoya,Wen, Yuhui,Rinklebe, Jö,rg,Ok, Yong Sik,Xu, Song,Wang, Hailong Elsevier 2018 CHEMOSPHERE - Vol.200 No.-

<P><B>Abstract</B></P> <P>In the current study, we conducted a field experiment using the test plant, <I>Brassica chinesis</I> L. (pak choi), to investigate the effect of sugarcane bagasse-derived biochar on the bioavailability of cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu) and lead (Pb), and the health of soil microbiota in a contaminated soil. Biochar application significantly (<I>P</I> < 0.05) increased pak choi yield. Bioavailability of heavy metals to plant shoots and roots decreased with increasing biochar application rates (at 0, 1.5, 2.25 and 3.0 t ha<SUP>−1</SUP>). Sequential extraction of the biochar-treated and -untreated soil revealed that exchangeable Cd reduced whereas organically-bound fraction increased with increasing biochar rate. The labile fractions of Cu and Pb decreased, but the residual fraction increased in biochar-treated soils compared to the control. Urease, catalase and invertase activities, and the populations of bacteria and actinomycetes were significantly enhanced, whereas fungi population declined in biochar-treated soils. This study highlights that sugarcane bagasse biochar has the potential to support the remediation of soils contaminated with heavy metals, and as such can improve the yield and quality of agricultural crops.</P> <P><B>Highlights</B></P> <P> <UL> <LI> Sugarcane bagasse biochar amendment reduced availability of Cd, Cu and Pb in soils. </LI> <LI> Heavy metals were less labile in the biochar-treated soils. </LI> <LI> Biochar amendment induced an increase in soil enzyme and microbial activity. </LI> <LI> Edible part of pak choi was safer for human consumption after biochar amendment. </LI> </UL> </P>

Expression and Immunogenicity of SARSCoV-2 Virus-Like Particles based on Recombinant Truncated HEV-3 ORF2 Capsid Protein

( Yong-fei Zhou ),( Jiao-jiao Nie ),( Chao Shi ),( Ke Ning ),( Yu-feng Cao ),( Yanbo Xie ),( Hongyu Xiang ),( Qiuhong Xie ) 한국미생물생명공학회 2022 Journal of microbiology and biotechnology Vol.32 No.10

COVID-19 is an emerging disease that poses a severe threat to global public health. As such, there is an urgent demand for vaccines against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Here, we describe a virus-like nanoparticle candidate vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 produced by an E. coli expression system. The fusion protein of a truncated ORF2-encoded protein of aa 439~608 (p170) from hepatitis E virus CCJD-517 and the receptor-binding domain of the spike protein from SARSCoV-2 were expressed, purified and characterized. The antigenicity and immunogenicity of p170-RBD were evaluated in vitro and in Kunming mice. Our investigation revealed that p170-RBD selfassembled into approximately 24 nm virus-like particles, which could bind to serum from vaccinated people (p < 0.001) and receptors on cells. Immunization with p170-RBD induced the titer of IgG antibody vaccine increased from 14 days post-immunization and was significantly enhanced after a booster immunization at 28 dpi, ultimately reaching a peak level on 42 dpi with a titer of 4.97 log10. Pseudovirus neutralization tests showed that the candidate vaccine induced a strong neutralizing antibody response in mice. In this research, we demonstrated that p170-RBD possesses strong antigenicity and immunogenicity and could be a potential candidate for use in future SARS-CoV-2 vaccine development.

FACTORS CONTROLLING THE STRONGEST SIZES IN THE INVERSE HALL-PETCH RELATIONSHIP

YONG PAN,ZHAO FENG ZHOU,SHAO-YUN FU,YANGUANG NIE,CHANG Q SUN 성균관대학교(자연과학캠퍼스) 성균나노과학기술원 2008 NANO Vol.3 No.3

Incorporating the bond-order-length-strength correlation mechanism [Sun CQ, Prog Solid State Chem 35, 1 (2007)] and Born’s criterion for melting [J. Chem. Phys. 7, 591 (1939)] into the conventional Hall-Petch relationship has turned out an analytical expression for the size and temperature dependence of the mechanical strength of nanograins, known as the inverse Hall-Petch relationship (IHPR). Reproduction of the measured IHPR of Ni, NiP and TiO2 nanocrystals revealed that: (i) the competition between the size-induced energy-density gain and atomic cohesive energy loss in the surface skins of nanograins originate the IHPR; (ii) the competition between the activation and inhibition of atomic dislocations motion activate the entire IHPR behavior; (iii) the bond nature involved and the T/Tm ratio between the temperature of operating and the temperature of melting dictate the measured strongest sizes of a given specimen; (iv) a quasimolten phase presenting before melting determines the size-induced softening and the superplasticity of nanostructures.

Compressive behavior of built-up open–section columns consisting of four cold-formed steel channels

Shaofeng Nie,Cunqing Zhao,Zhe Liu,Yong Han,Tianhua Zhou,Hanheng Wu 국제구조공학회 2022 Steel and Composite Structures, An International J Vol.45 No.6

Compression experiments were conducted to investigate the compressive behavior of built-up open-section columns consisting of four cold-formed steel channels (BOCCFSs) of different lengths, thicknesses, and cross-section sizes (OB90 and OB140). The load-displacement curves, failure modes, and maximum compression strength values were analyzed in detail. The tests showed that the failure modes of the OB90 specimens transformed from a large deformation concentration induced by local buckling to flexural buckling with the increase in the slenderness ratio. The failure modes of all OB140 specimens were deformation concentration, except for one long specimen, whose failure mode was flexural buckling. When the slenderness ratios of the specimens were less than 55, the failure modes were controlled by local buckling. Finite element models were built using ABAQUS software and validated to further analyze the mechanical behavior of the BOCCFSs. A parametric study was conducted and used to explore a wide design space. The numerical analysis results showed that when the screw spacing was between 150 mm and 450 mm, the difference in the maximum compression strength values of the specimens was less than 4%. The applicability and effectiveness of the design methods in Chinese GB50018-2002 and AISI-S100-2016 for calculating the compression strength values of the BOCCFSs were evaluated. The prediction methods based on the assumptions produced predictions of the strength that were between 33% to 10% conservative as compared to the tests and the finite element analysis.

Quantitative Assessment the Relationship between p21 rs1059234 Polymorphism and Cancer Risk

Huang, Yong-Sheng,Fan, Qian-Qian,Li, Chuang,Nie, Meng,Quan, Hong-Yang,Wang, Lin Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2015 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.16 No.10

p21 is a cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor, which can arrest cell proliferation and serve as a tumor suppressor. Though many studies were published to assess the relationship between p21 rs1059234 polymorphism and various cancer risks, there was no definite conclusion on this association. To derive a more precise quantitative assessment of the relationship, a large scale meta-analysis of 5,963 cases and 8,405 controls from 16 eligible published case-control studies was performed. Our analysis suggested that rs1059234 was not associated with the integral cancer risk for both dominant model [(T/T+C/T) vs C/C, OR=1.00, 95% CI: 0.84-1.18] and recessive model [T/T vs (C/C+C/T), OR=1.03, 95% CI: 0.93-1.15)]. However, further stratified analysis showed rs1059234 was greatly associated with the risk of squamous cell carcinoma of head and neck (SCCHN). Thus, larger scale primary studies are still required to further evaluate the interaction of p21 rs1059234 polymorphism and cancer risk in specific cancer subtypes.

Quantitative Analysis of Providers Experiences in the Disaster Behavioral Health Services of South Korea

Sung-Yong Park,Hyun-Nie Ahn,Joo Eon Park 대한신경정신의학회 2016 신경정신의학 Vol.55 No.2

Objectives This study was conducted to quantify the six dimensions of obstacles to disaster behavioral health (DBH), which was explored through the previous Qualitative Content Analysis of field workers experiences after the Sewol Ferry accident and to determine the preference and significance of the details of every dimension. Methods Based on the six dimensions and their details, structured questionnaires were devised. The field workers as DBH service providers were requested to choose not only the most urgent item but also the reason for their choice. For the statistical analysis, the field workers were grouped by age, employment period, place of employment, occupation, mental health professional certificate, and experience and education of DBH interventions. Differences of the groups were analyzed using chi-square test. Results The questionnaires were distributed to 284 field workers for DBH, and a total of 79 usable questionnaires were collected and analyzed. Out of six dimensions, 43% of the field workers primarily suffered from difficulties in vertical relations of the administration system. Vague policy on DBH was the most challenging in difficulties in vertical relations of administration system (32.9%). The details of the other 5 dimensions were also discovered. Several significant differences were identified among groups according to the structured questionnaires. Conclusion This study identifies the six dimensions and their significance as obstacles to DBH services. It may make a contribution to improving laws and systems when deciding on related policies and sorting out urgent problems.

Thiamethoxam Effects the Quality of Blastocyst via Activation of Ros-induced DNA Damage Checkpoint in Pigs

Zheng-Wen Nie,Ying-Jie Niu,Wenjun Zhou,Kyung-Tae Shin,Yong-Han Kim,Xiang-Shun Cui 한국동물생명공학회(구 한국동물번식학회) 2018 발생공학 국제심포지엄 및 학술대회 Vol.2018 No.06

New Paradigms of Sport & physical Education in the 21st Century PROCEEDINGS 1 / 2 . Sport Philosophy ( Maehwa Rm. ) : 체조경기 마루운동에서의 곡신미에 관한 연구

이에니(An Nie Lee),안용규(Yong Kyu Ahn) 한국체육학회 2000 The 2000 Seoul International Sport Science Congres Vol.- No.-

Thiamethoxam Induces Meiotic Arrest and Affects Embryo Developmental Potential of Bovine Oocytes

Zheng-Wen Nie,Ying-Jie Niu,Wenjun Zhou,Yong-Han Kim,Kyung-Tae Shin,Xiang-Shun Cui 한국수정란이식학회 2018 한국수정란이식학회 학술대회 Vol.2018 No.11

Thiamethoxam (TMX) is a neonicotinoid insecticide. Residues of TMX have been detected in various crops. Although it has specific high toxicity to insects and is designed to exterminate them, the toxicity has also found in mammals recently. Differ from acetylcholine toxicity, TMX has peroxide toxicity in mammals. Matured oocytes have the capacity of fertilization, but oocytes own abundant mitochondria and its maturation is vulnerable to reactive oxygen species (ROS). Excessive production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) can override antioxidant defenses, produce oxidative stress and DNA damage that triggers apoptosis and necrosis in organisms. However little is known about the harm of ROS induced by TMX during oocytes maturation. Here, bovine germ-vesicle (GV) oocytes were cultured to metaphase of the second meiosis (MII) stage in vitro with or without TMX. During this process, oocytes were evaluated by various methods. Microscopic examination showed that 1.6 mM TMX significantly inhibited the maturation process in which oocytes were arrested before MI stage or between MI and MII stage. Correspond to this two periods, immunofluorescence staining and enzyme activity analysis showed that active CDC25 and CDC2 reduced in TMX group compared to control; time lapse and immunofluorescence staining gave results that Cyclin B could not be degraded, actin cap could not form, and Bub3 could not be removed from kinetochores. In addition, MII oocytes exposed to TMX showed disordered chromosomes and spindle. To study further, oocytes cultured for 24 h were analyzed. On the one hand, these oocytes in TMX group accumulated more ROS and produced significantly decreased mitochondrial membrane potential and increased apoptotic signal compared to control by methods of quantities for dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate (DCHFDA), 5,5′,6,6′-Tetrachloro-1,1′,3,3′-tetraethyl-imidacarbocyanine iodide and Annexin-V, but the level of γH2AX protein in TMX group did not decline significantly compared with control. On the another hand, these oocytes were activated to be parthenogenetic embryos and cultured. Assessment for embryo development showed decreased rates of cleavage, morula and blastocyst in TMX group compared to control in vitro. In conclusion, these results suggest that ROS induced by TMX results in dysfunction of mitochondria and apoptosis, which block bovine oocytes to MI stage, trap them at AI/TI stage and trigger disordered chromosomes and spindle at MII stage. Additionally, MII oocytes with poor qualities result from TMX lose abilities to cleavage and develop to be morulae and blastocysts.