Moranpower0747

© 2020 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.There is a long-standing consciousness that the rhombohedral NASICON-type compounds as promising cathodes for Li+ /Na+ batteries should have inactive M1(6b) sites with ion (de)intercalation occurring only in the M2 (18e) sites. Of particular significance is that M1 sites active for charge/discharge are commonly considered undesirable because the ion diffusion tends to be disrupted by the irregular occupation of channels, which accelerates the deterioration of battery. However, it is found that the structural stability can be substantially improved by the mixed occupation of Na+ /Zn2+ at both M1 and M2 when using NaV2 (PO4 )3 (NVP) as a cathode for Zn-ion batteries. The results of atomic-scale scanning transmission electron microscopy, analysis of ab initio molecular dynamics simulations, and an accurate bond-valence-based structural model reveal that the improvement is due to the facile migration of Zn2+ in NVP, which is enabled by a concerted Na+ /Zn2+ transfer mechanism. In addition, significant improvement of the electronic conductivity and mechanical properties is achieved in Zn2+ -intercalated ZnNaV2 (PO4 )3 in comparison with those of Na3 V2 (PO4 )3 . This work not only provides in-depth insight into Zn2+ intercalation and dynamics in NVP unlocked by activating the M1 sites, but also opens a new route toward design of improved NASICON cathodes. © 2020 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.Viscoelastic polymer adhesives (VPAs) are common materials broadly used in adhesive tapes for bonding objects tightly in daily life. This work presents a conceptually new strategy of using contact electrification (rather than strong adhesion) of VPAs to directly convert mechanical energy to electric energy, generally showing 202-419% of the electric energy generated by conventional mechanical energy harvesters under the same triggering conditions. More notably, the VPA-based generators (VPAGs) possess unique frequency-insensitive and pressure-enhanced output characteristics. The output power of a VPAG not only does not show regular degradation of performance with the decrease of triggering frequency, but also can be further enhanced by simple introduction of a second VPA layer with a smaller area to increase the applied pressure without the requirement of rising applied force. The average output power density of a VPAG with a second layer of 0.5 cm × 0.5 cm can reach 216.7 µW cm-2 , which is ≈150% larger than that of a VPAG without a second VPA layer. This research is of significance to harvesting the random, irregular, and low-frequency (bio-)mechanical energy that widely exists but is wasted in the environment for both stable electric energy generation and electronic device operation. © 2020 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.Acid dissociation and thus liberation of excess protons in small water droplets impacts on diverse fields such as interstellar, atmospheric or environmental chemistry. At cryogenic temperatures below 1 K, it is now well established that as few as four water molecules suffice to dissociate the generic strong acid HCl, yet temperature-driven recombination sets in simply upon heating that cluster. Here, we pose the fundamental question of how many more water molecules are required to stabilize a hydrated excess proton at room temperature. Our ab initio path integral simulations disclose that not five, but six water molecules are needed at 300 K to allow for HCl dissociation independently from nuclear quantum effects. In order to provide the molecular underpinnings of these observations, we decompose the classical and quantum free energy profiles along the dissociation coordinate in terms of the corresponding internal energy and entropy profiles. What decides in the end about acid dissociation and thus ion pair formation in a specific microsolvated water cluster at room temperature is found to be a fierce competition between classical configurational entropy and internal energy, where the former stabilizes the undissociated state whereas the latter favors dissociation. It is expected that these are generic findings with broad implications on acid-base chemistry depending on temperature in small water assemblies. © 2020 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.Model-based accuracy, defined as the theoretical correlation between true and estimated breeding value, can be obtained for each individual as a function of its prediction error variance (PEV) and inbreeding coefficient F, in BLUP, GBLUP and SSGBLUP genetic evaluations. However, for computational convenience, inbreeding is often ignored in two places. First, in the computation of reliability = 1-PEV/(1 + F). Second, in the set-up, using Henderson's rules, of the inverse of the pedigree-based relationship matrix A. Both approximations have an effect in the computation of model-based accuracy and result in wrong values. In this work, first we present a reminder of the theory and extend it to SSGBLUP. Second, we quantify the error of ignoring inbreeding with real data in three scenarios BLUP evaluation and SSGBLUP in Uruguayan dairy cattle, and BLUP evaluations in a line of rabbit closed for >40 generations with steady increase of inbreeding up to an average of 0.30. We show that ignoring inbreeding in the set-up of the A-inverse is equivalent to assume that non-inbred animals are actually inbred. This results in an increase of apparent PEV that is negligible for dairy cattle but considerable for rabbit. Ignoring inbreeding in reliability = 1-PEV/(1 + F) leads to underestimation of reliability for BLUP evaluations, and this underestimation is very large for rabbit. For SSGBLUP in dairy cattle, it leads to both underestimation and overestimation of reliability, both for genotyped and non-genotyped animals. We strongly recommend to include inbreeding both in the set-up of A-inverse and in the computation of reliability from PEVs. © 2020 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.Activated oncogenes and loss of tumor suppressors contribute to reprogrammed energy metabolism and induce aerobic glycolysis, also known as Warburg effect. MicroRNAs are profoundly implicated in human malignancies by inhibiting translation of multiple mRNA targets. Using hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) molecular profiles from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), we identified a handful of dysregulated microRNA in HCC glycolysis, especially miR-34c-3p. Antagonization of miR-34c-3p inhibited the lactate production, glucose consumption, extracellular acidification rate (ECAR), and aggressive proliferation in HCC cells. Hijacking glycolysis by 2-deoxy-d-glucose or galactose largely abrogated the suppressive effects of miR-34c-3p inhibition in HCC. PKC inhibitor Membrane associated guanylate kinase, WW, and PDZ domain containing 3 (MAGI3) is then identified as a direct functional target of miR-34c-3p in regulating HCC glycolysis and oncogenic activities. Mechanistically, MAGI3 physically interacted with β-catenin to regulate its transcriptional activity and c-Myc expression, which further facilitates the Warburg effect by increasing expression of glycolytic genes including HK2, PFKL, and LDHA.