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CO 2 conversion to CH 3 OH under mild conditions is of particular interest yet rather challenging. Both electro- and thermo-catalytic CO 2 reduction to CH 3 OH can only produce CH 3 OH in low concentration (typically mixed with water), requiring energy-intensive purification processes. Here we design a sun-simulated-driven tandem catalytic system comprising CO 2 electroreduction to syngas, and further photothermal conversion into high-purity CH 3 OH (volume fraction > 97%). We construct a self-supporting electrocatalyst featuring dual active sites of Ni single atoms and encapsulated Co nanoparticles, which could produce syngas with a constant H 2 :CO ratio of ~2 via solar-powered CO 2 electroreduction. The generated syngas is subsequently fed into the photothermal module, which could produce high-purity CH 3 OH under 1 sun-light irradiation, with a rate of 0.238 g CH3OH g cat –1 h –1 . This work demonstrates a feasible and sustainable route for directly converting CO 2 into high-purity CH 3 OH. CO 2 conversion to CH 3 OH under mild conditions is of particular interest yet rather challenging. Here, the authors report a sun-simulated-driven tandem catalytic system comprising CO 2 electroreduction to syngas, and further photothermal conversion into high-purity CH 3 OH (volume fraction <97%).

It is important to ensure the nutritional quality and safe production of rice. Here, plot experiments were used to analyze the effects of three soil amendments—10 t ha −1 of biochar (BC), 1.5 t ha −1 of lime (LM), and 2.25 t ha −1 of silicon–calcium fertilizer (SC)—on the soil characteristics, rice yield and quality of double-cropping rice grown in mildly cadmium-polluted paddy fields. Compared with the control treatment (CK), the BC and SC treatments significantly improved rice processing, appearance and nutritional quality, but reduced cooking quality. All three soil amendments significantly reduced cadmium (Cd) content in brown rice. Soil amendments could significantly increase soil pH and reduce soil available Cd content. The application of the BC and SC treatments increased the content of each nutrient index in the soil (SOM, NN, AP, AK). Correlation analysis showed that the improvement in rice processing, appearance, and nutritional quality was mainly affected by the comprehensive effects of soil SOM, NN, AP and AK; the hygiene quality was mainly affected by soil pH and available Cd. In terms of benefit analysis combined with cost, the SC treatment had the highest benefit effect. Taken together, in mildly cadmium-polluted paddy fields, the application of silicon–calcium fertilizer improved the soil quality, thereby increased the yield and quality of rice, and had the best effect on increasing income.

Since the invention of transistors, the flow of electrons has become controllable in solid-state electronics. The flow of energy, however, remains elusive, and energy is readily dissipated to lattice via electron-phonon interactions. Hence, minimizing the energy dissipation has long been sought by eliminating phonon-emission process. Here, we report a different scenario for facilitating energy transmission at room temperature that electrons exert diffusive but quasiadiabatic transport, free from substantial energy loss. Direct nanothermometric mapping of electrons and lattice in current-carrying GaAs/AlGaAs devices exhibit remarkable discrepancies, indicating unexpected thermal isolation between the two subsystems. This surprising effect arises from the overpopulated hot longitudinal-optical (LO) phonons generated through frequent emission by hot electrons, which induce equally frequent LO-phonon reabsorption (“hot-phonon bottleneck”) cancelling the net energy loss. Our work sheds light on energy manipulation in nanoelectronics and power-electronics and provides important hints to energy-harvesting in optoelectronics (such as hot-carrier solar-cells). Minimizing the energy dissipation is usually sought by eliminating phonon-emission process. Here, the authors find a different approach for facilitating energy transmission at room temperature that electrons exert diffusive but quasiadiabatic transport, free from substantial energy loss.

Polarimetric imaging has proved its value in medical diagnostics, bionics, remote sensing, astronomy and in many other wide fields. Pixel-level solid monolithically integrated polarimetric imaging photo-detectors are the trend for infrared polarimetric imaging devices. For better polarimetric imaging performance the high polarization discriminating detectors are very much critical. Here we demonstrate the high infrared light polarization resolving capabilities of a quantum well (QW) detector in hybrid structure of single QW and plasmonic micro-cavity that uses QW as an active structure in the near field regime of plasmonic effect enhanced cavity, in which the photoelectric conversion in such a plasmonic micro-cavity has been realized. The detector's extinction ratio reaches 65 at the wavelength of 14.7 μm, about 6 times enhanced in such a type of pixel-level polarization long wave infrared photodetectors. The enhancement mechanism is attributed to artificial plasmonic modulation on optical propagation and distribution in the plasmonic micro-cavities.

The large-scale integration of renewable energy has reduced power system flexibility and exacerbated supply–demand imbalances. In industrial parks, the combined variability of high energy-consuming industrial loads and photovoltaic (PV) generation further complicates the energy management challenge. Aiming to enhance the operational flexibility of industrial parks and mitigate supply–demand imbalances, this paper proposes a multi-time-scale stochastic energy management strategy that accounts for the uncertainty associated with PV generation. First, a conditional generative adversarial network (CGAN) is employed to generate the representative PV generation scenarios, thereby enabling the modeling of PV generation uncertainty within the optimal dispatch model. Considering the coupling mechanisms and control characteristics of various regulation resources within the industrial park, a multi-time-scale dispatch model is developed. In the day-ahead dispatch phase, the operational costs are minimized by optimizing the production plans of industrial loads. In contrast, in the intraday phase, the more flexible measures, such as adjusting the tap positions of arc furnaces and controlling the charge/discharge of energy storage systems, are employed to smooth power fluctuations within the park. A case study validated the effectiveness of the proposed approach, demonstrating a 7.56% reduction in power fluctuations and a 4.34% decrease in daily operating costs. These results highlight the significance of leveraging industrial loads in park-level systems to enhance cost efficiency and renewable energy integration.

In this paper, we propose a joint polar coding and physical network coding (PNC) for two−user downlink non−orthogonal multiple access (PN−DNOMA) channels, since the successive–interference–cancellation–aided polar decoding cannot be optimal for finite blocklength transmissions. In the proposed scheme, we first constructed the XORed message of two user messages. Then, the XORed message was superimposed with the message of the weak User 2 for broadcast. By doing so, we can utilize the PNC mapping rule and polar decoding to directly recover the message of User 1, while at User 2, we equivalently constructed a long−length polar decoder to obtain its user message. The channel polarization and decoding performance can be greatly improved for both users. Moreover, we optimized the power allocation of the two users with their channel conditions by considering the user fairness and the performance. The simulation results showed that the proposed PN−DNOMA can achieve performance gains of about 0.4−0.7 dB over the conventional schemes in two−user downlink NOMA systems.

This study investigated the influences of geographic isolation and climate fluctuation on the genetic diversity, speciation and biogeography of the genus Pseudovelia (Hemiptera: Veliidae) in subtropical China and tropic Indo-China Peninsula. Species nucleotide and haplotype diversities decreased with reduction in species distribution limits. The gene tree was congruent with the taxonomy of monophyly, except for four species, P. contorta , P. extensa , P. tibialis tibialis and P. vittiformis . The conflicts between the genes and species tree could be due to long-term isolation and incomplete lineage sorting. Diversification analysis showed that the diversification rate (0.08 sp/My shifted to 0.5 sp/My) changed at 2.1 Ma, which occurred in the early Pleistocene period. Ancestral area reconstruction suggested that subtropical species possibly evolved from the tropics region (i.e., Indo-China Peninsula). Results implied that narrow endemics harbored relatively low genetic diversity because of small effective population and genetic drift. Radiation of subtropical Pseudovelia species was rapidly promoted by Pleistocene climate fluctuations and geographic isolation. The acute rising of the Hengduan Mountain with the entire uplift of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau induced the initial differentiation of Pseudovelia species. These results highlighted the importance of geographical isolation and climate changes in promoting speciation in mountain habitat islands.

Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) and retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) are among the most common morbidities affecting extremely premature infants who receive oxygen therapy. Many clinical studies indicate that BPD is associated with advanced ROP. However, the mechanistic link between hyperoxia, BPD, and ROP remains to be explored. Gasdermin D (GSDMD) is a key executor of inflammasome-induced pyroptosis and inflammation. Inhibition of GSDMD has been shown to attenuate hyperoxia-induced BPD and brain injury in neonatal mice. The objective of this study was to further define the mechanistic roles of GSDMD in the pathogenesis of hyperoxia-induced BPD and ROP in mouse models. Here we show that global GSDMD knockout (GSDMD-KO) protects against hyperoxia-induced BPD by reducing macrophage infiltration, improving alveolarization and vascular development, and decreasing cell death. In addition, GSDMD deficiency prevented hyperoxia-induced ROP by reducing vasoobliteration and neovascularization, improving thinning of multiple retinal tissue layers, and decreasing microglial activation. RNA sequencing analyses of lungs and retinas showed that similar genes, including those from inflammatory, cell death, tissue remodeling, and tissue and vascular developmental signaling pathways, were induced by hyperoxia and impacted by GSDMD-KO in both models. These data highlight the importance of GSDMD in the pathogenesis of BPD and ROP and suggest that targeting GSDMD may be beneficial in preventing and treating BPD and ROP in premature infants.

Cold stress is a critical factor affecting rice production worldwide. The application of cold-resistant agents may improve the cold resistance and yield of crops. To screen for suitable cold-resistant agents for machine-transplanted early rice, the effects of uniconazole, abscisic acid, and zinc-amino acids chelate and their spraying times (seed soaking stage, one leaf and one heart stage, two leaves and one heart stage, 7 days before the transplanting stage, and regreening stage) on the yield and cold resistance of machine-transplanted early rice were investigated. Moreover, the application method (spraying amount: 750 and 1125 g ha −1 ; spraying time: 7 days before the transplanting stage, transplanting stage, regreening stage, and transplanting stage and regreening stage) for the most suitable cold-resistant agent was optimized. The zinc-amino acids chelate was better than the other two cold-resistant agents for promoting rice tillering and increasing the leaf area index, dry matter weight, antioxidant enzyme activities (CAT, SOD, POD) and yield (i.e., 9.22% and 7.14% higher than uniconazole and abscisic acid, respectively), especially when it was applied in the regreening stage. The examination of spraying amounts and times indicated that the zinc-amino acids chelate dosage had no significant effect on the yield and cold resistance of early rice. However, the rice yield and antioxidant enzyme activities were highest when samples were sprayed once in the transplanting stage and the regreening stage. On the basis of the study results, 750 g ha −1 zinc-amino acids chelate applications in the transplanting and regreening stages of machine-transplanted early rice plants may be ideal for increasing cold stress resistance and yield.