Dominant Effect Research Articles

CD155 blockade enhances allogeneic natural killer cell-mediated antitumor response against osteosarcoma.

Allogeneic bone marrow transplant (alloBMT) is curative for hematologic malignancies through the graft-versus-tumor (GVT) effect but has been ineffective for solid tumors like osteosarcoma (OS). OS expresses CD155 which interacts strongly with inhibitory receptors TIGIT and CD96 but also binds to activating receptor DNAM-1 on natural killer (NK) cells. CD155 has never been targeted after alloBMT. Combining adoptively transferred allogeneic NK (alloNK) cells with CD155 blockade after alloBMT may enhance a GVT effect against OS. Murine NK cells were activated and expanded ex vivo with soluble IL-15/IL-15Rα. AlloNK and syngeneic NK (synNK) cell phenotype, cytotoxicity, cytokine production, and degranulation against CD155-expressing murine OS cell line K7M2 were assessed in vitro. Mice bearing pulmonary OS metastases underwent alloBMT and alloNK cell infusion with anti-CD155 either before or after tumor induction, with select groups receiving anti-DNAM-1 pretreated alloNK cells. Tumor growth, GVHD and survival were monitored, and differential gene expression of lung tissue was assessed by RNA microarray. AlloNK cells exhibited superior cytotoxicity against CD155-expressing OS compared to synNK cells, and this activity was enhanced by CD155 blockade. CD155 blockade increased alloNK cell degranulation and interferon gamma production through DNAM-1. In vivo, CD155 blockade with alloNK infusion increased survival when treating OS that relapsed after alloBMT. No benefit was seen for treating established OS before alloBMT. Treatment with combination CD155 and anti-DNAM-1 pretreated alloNK ameliorated survival and tumor control benefits seen with CD155 blockade alone. RNA microarray showed mice treated with alloNK and CD155 blockade had increased expression of cytotoxicity genes and the NKG2D ligand H60a, whereas mice treated with anti-DNAM-1 pretreated alloNK cells resulted in upregulation of NK cell inhibitory receptor genes. Whereas blocking DNAM-1 on alloNK abrogated cytotoxicity, blocking NKG2D had no effect, implying DNAM-1:CD155 engagement drives alloNK activation against OS. These results demonstrate the safety and efficacy of infusing alloNK cells with CD155 blockade to mount a GVT effect against OS and show benefits are in part through DNAM-1. Defining the hierarchy of receptors that govern alloNK responses is critical to translating alloNK cell infusions and immune checkpoint inhibition for solid tumors treated with alloBMT. Allogeneic bone marrow transplant (alloBMT) has yet to show efficacy in treating solid tumors, such as osteosarcoma (OS). CD155 is expressed on OS and interacts with natural killer (NK) cell receptors, such as activating receptor DNAM-1 and inhibitory receptors TIGIT and CD96 and has a dominant inhibitory effect on NK cell activity. Targeting CD155 interactions on allogeneic NK cells could enhance anti-OS responses, but this has not been tested after alloBMT. CD155 blockade enhances allogeneic natural killer cell-mediated cytotoxicity against OS and improved event-free survival after alloBMT in an in vivo mouse model of metastatic pulmonary OS. Addition of DNAM-1 blockade abrogated CD155 blockade-enhanced allogeneic NK cell antitumor responses. These results demonstrate efficacy of allogeneic NK cells combined with CD155 blockade to mount an antitumor response against CD155-expressing OS. Translation of combination adoptive NK cell and CD155 axis modulation offers a platform for alloBMT treatment approaches for pediatric patients with relapsed and refractory solid tumors.

Impacts of native and alien plant dominants at different spatial scales

Plant invasion science has made a substantial progress in documenting the impacts of aliens, but comparisons with the impacts of native dominants are still rare. Further, the impacts on larger spatial scales remain poorly understood. We recorded the impacts of 10 native and nine invasive dominant plants in the Czech Republic on species richness and Shannon diversity by comparing communities with high vs. low cover of the dominant species. To estimate the impacts at the (i) population level and (ii) between-population level, we compared the Jaccard dissimilarity, nestedness and turnover of high- and low-dominance plots. Further, we calculated the Jaccard dissimilarity, nestedness and turnover between the high- and low-dominance plots within each population to express the impacts on species composition. We tested whether (i) native and invasive dominants affect the population- and between population levels of diversity by making the vegetation more homogenous; (ii) whether these effects differ between the native and alien dominants; and (iii) whether the impacts at different spatial levels are related. At the population level, high-dominance plots (with both native and alien dominants) showed higher nestedness and lower turnover compared to the low-dominance plots. Further, all plots with native dominants, both with high- and low dominance, showed higher similarity but lower nestedness than plots with alien dominants. Most importantly, high-dominance plots with native dominants were more similar to each other but showed marginally significantly lower nestedness compared to high-dominance plots with alien dominants. At the between-population level, high-dominance plots with native dominants showed a marginally significantly lower turnover compared to high-dominance plots with alien dominants. The differences in Jaccard dissimilarity, nestedness and turnover between the low- and high-dominance plots at the population level showed strong positive relations to low- and high-dominance differences at the between-populations level. Further, compositional impacts, expressed as the dissimilarity between high- vs. low-dominance plots, positively related to the plot-level impacts on Shannon diversity. Our results show that (i) both native and invasive dominants tend to reduce the diversity over larger areas and that the effect of native dominants may be even stronger, and (ii) the effects on plot-level richness and diversity cannot be easily extrapolated to larger scales but the impacts at the population- and between-populations levels are positively related.

Effects of shoe collar height and limb dominance on landing knee biomechanics in female collegiate volleyball players

ABSTRACT Volleyball-specific footwear with higher collar heights (a mid-cut shoe) are worn to restrict ankle motion. Reduced ankle dorsiflexion has been associated with increased frontal plane motion and injury risk at the knee. With the high frequency of unilateral landings in volleyball, the purpose of this study was to determine the effect of volleyball-specific shoes and limb dominance on knee landing mechanics in collegiate volleyball players. It was hypothesized that participants would exhibit smaller sagittal plane and greater frontal plane knee joint mechanics in mid-cut and dominant limb and that vertical and posterior directed ground reaction forces would be greater wearing mid-cut, yet similar between limbs. Seventeen female volleyball players performed unilateral landings on each limb in mid-cut and low-top volleyball shoes. For shoe main effects, smaller peak dorsiflexion angle and internal peak plantarflexion moment and greater peak medial ground reaction force were found in the mid-cut but with no impact on knee mechanics. For limb main effects, the internal peak knee abduction moment was greater in the dominant limb. Greater peak lateral ground reaction force was found in the interaction between the non-dominant limb and low-top. Further research is warranted to better understand shoe and limb impact in volleyball players.

Bilingual proficiency effects in paired-associate learning of vocabulary in an unfamiliar language

Abstract We investigated three aspects of paired associate learning of vocabulary in an unfamiliar language: monolingual-bilingual differences, effects of dominance and language proficiency, and the possible role of associative strategies. Spanish–English bilinguals (48 English-dominant and 48 Spanish-dominant) and English-speaking monolinguals (n = 48) learned Swahili–English and Swahili-Spanish word pairs. Learning was assessed using cued recall (Swahili cue or Swahili response) and associative recognition tests. English-dominant bilinguals did not outperform English monolinguals on any learning measure. Cued recall accuracy was higher when learning through the dominant language than through the non-dominant language, whether the Swahili words were cues or responses. Proficiency scores in the known language were positively correlated with cued recall accuracy, whether the cue or the response was in Swahili, indicating that proficiency effects occurred not in retrievability of known words but in learning of associations. Bilingual and monolingual participants did not differ in their reported use of associative strategies.

Effect of target gene sequence evenness and dominance on real-time PCR quantification of artificial sulfate-reducing microbial communities.

Quantitative real-time PCR of phylogenetic and functional marker genes is among the most commonly used techniques to quantify the abundance of microbial taxa in environmental samples. However, in most environmental applications, the approach is a rough assessment of population abundance rather than an exact absolute quantification method because of PCR-based estimation biases caused by multiple factors. Previous studies on these technical issues have focused on primer or template sequence features or PCR reaction conditions. However, how target gene sequence characteristics (e.g., evenness and dominance) in environmental samples affect qPCR quantifications has not been well studied. Here, we compared three primer sets targeting the beta subunit of the dissimilatory sulfite reductase (dsrB) to investigate qPCR quantification performance under different target gene sequence evenness and dominance conditions using artificial gBlock template mixtures designed accordingly. Our results suggested that the qPCR quantification performance of all tested primer sets was determined by the comprehensive effect of the target gene sequence evenness and dominance in environmental samples. Generally, highly degenerate primer sets have equivalent or better qPCR quantification results than a more target-specific primer set. Low template concentration in this study (~105 copies/L) will exaggerate the qPCR quantification results difference among tested primer sets. Improvements to the accuracy and reproducibility of qPCR assays for gene copy number quantification in environmental microbiology and microbial ecology studies should be based on prior knowledge of target gene sequence information acquired by metagenomic analysis or other approaches, careful selection of primer sets, and proper reaction conditions optimization.

A dominant negative mutation of GhMYB25-like alters cotton fiber initiation, reducing lint and fuzz.

Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) fibers, vital natural textile materials, are single-cell trichomes that differentiate from the ovule epidermis. These fibers are categorized as lint (longer fibers useful for spinning) or fuzz (shorter, less useful fibers). Currently, developing cotton varieties with high lint yield but without fuzz remains challenging due to our limited knowledge of the molecular mechanisms underlying fiber initiation. This study presents the identification and characterization of a naturally occurring dominant negative mutation GhMYB25-like_AthapT, which results in a reduced lint and fuzzless phenotype. The GhMYB25-like_AthapT protein exerts its dominant negative effect by suppressing the activity of GhMYB25-like during lint and fuzz initiation. Intriguingly, the negative effect of GhMYB25-like_AthapT could be alleviated by high expression levels of GhMYB25-like. We also uncovered the role of GhMYB25-like in regulating the expression of key genes such as GhPDF2 (PROTODERMAL FACTOR 2), CYCD3; 1 (CYCLIN D3; 1), and PLD (Phospholipase D), establishing its significance as a pivotal transcription factor in fiber initiation. We identified other genes within this regulatory network, expanding our understanding of the determinants of fiber cell fate. These findings offer valuable insights for cotton breeding and contribute to our fundamental understanding of fiber development.

Components of Genetic Variation for Yield and its Attributing Traits in Bottle Gourd (Lagenaria siceraria (Mol.) Standl.)

An investigation was carried out to assess the gene action in bottle gourd for twenty- three characters at Main Experiment Station, Department of Vegetable Science, A.N.D.U.A.&T., Kumarganj, Ayodhya (U.P). during Zaid 2022 using 12 genotypes, nine lines i.e., Narendra Rashmi, NDBG-17, Pusa Naveen, NDBG-21, Punjab Komal, NDBG-28, NDBG-65-2, NDBG-105, NDBG-Sel-2 and three testers i.e., Narendra Prabha, Narendra Kamna, Narendra Pooja and their 27 hybrids obtained through line × tester mating pattern. The variances due to sca (σ2 s) were higher than variance due to gca (σ2g) for all the characters. The value of dominance genetic variances (σ2 D) were larger than additive genetic variance (σ2 A), indicating the presence of dominance and over dominance effects and preponderance of non-additive gene action .The heritability in narrow sense was low for most of the traits except fruit length, days to first staminate flower anthesis and primary branches per plant where high estimate of heritability in narrow sense with low genetic advance were recorded, indicating the presence of non-additive gene action accompanied by environmental influence.

Water quality and geochemical facie of high-altitude lakes in Tawang, Eastern Himalaya, India.

High-altitude lakes (HALs) can be used as a supplement or alternative source of water in areas where there is a water shortage. When these lakes are efficiently managed, they can supply more water resources to fulfil the increasing demand. Water quality assessment aids in the identification of adequate and safe drinking water sources. It minimizes threats to the public's health by making sure that lake water extraction fulfills safety and health regulations. Water quality and hydrogeochemical study was conducted on six HALs of the Tawang district of Arunachal Pradesh during the year 2022. The water quality index (WQI) values varied from excellent to poor (33.87 to 101.95). Lake 6 stands out with its exceptional water quality as it had the minimum average WQI value of 52.98. In contrast, Lake 5 had the lowest water quality among the studied lakes with the maximum average WQI value of 95.31. However, the water might not be safe to drink due to the elevated levels of fluoride in these lakes. It is crucial to address and minimize the high fluoride levels to ensure the safety and acceptability of the water for consumption. The Piper diagram showed that Ca2+ > Mg2+ > Na+ > K+ and HCO3- > Cl- > SO42-, respectively, were the primary cations and anions present in these lakes. The Gibbs diagram also demonstrated the effect of rock weathering and precipitation dominance on the water chemistry in the research area. These results provide insightful information about the water quality of HALs, which is essential information for concerned government departments and agencies to manage water issues more efficiently. Based on current research, the HALs in this region have a lot of potential to meet the growing demand for drinking water.

Single cell phototransfection of mRNAs encoding SARS-CoV2 spike and nucleocapsid into human astrocytes results in RNA dependent translation interference

Multi-RNA co-transfection is starting to be employed to stimulate immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 viral infection. While there are good reasons to utilize such an approach, there is little background on whether there are synergistic RNA-dependent cellular effects. To address this issue, we use transcriptome-induced phenotype remodeling (TIPeR) via phototransfection to assess whether mRNAs encoding the Spike and Nucleocapsid proteins of SARS-CoV-2 virus into single human astrocytes (an endogenous human cell host for the virus) and mouse 3T3 cells (often used in high-throughput therapeutic screens) synergistically impact host cell biologies. An RNA concentration-dependent expression was observed where an increase of RNA by less than 2-fold results in reduced expression of each individual RNAs. Further, a dominant inhibitory effect of Nucleocapsid RNA upon Spike RNA translation was detected that is distinct from codon-mediated epistasis. Knowledge of the cellular consequences of multi-RNA transfection will aid in selecting RNA concentrations that will maximize antigen presentation on host cell surface with the goal of eliciting a robust immune response. Further, application of this single cell stoichiometrically tunable RNA functional genomics approach to the study of SARS-CoV-2 biology promises to provide details of the cellular sequalae that arise upon infection in anticipation of providing novel targets for inhibition of viral replication and propagation for therapeutic intervention.

Development of AVR controller performance using exponential distribution and transit search optimization techniques

This paper attempts to obtain the optimal solution to enhance the performance of the Automatic Voltage Regulator (AVR) Controller, as it is an essential tool to control the synchronous generator output voltage. The controller improves AVR system stability and response time; moreover, it is demonstrated that the Proportional Integral Derivative (PID) controller achieves the goal by applying two artificial intelligence techniques to design the optimal values of the Automatic Voltage Regulator (AVR) PID controller for a single area model. The first is the Exponential Distribution Optimization Algorithm (EDO), and the second is the Transit Search Optimization Algorithm (TS). EDO and TS are used to determine the best PID controller parameters and have also recently been developed in the breadth of optimization problems and associated computational complexities field. The objective function, Integrated Square Error (ISE), minimizes the error voltage for improved stability and response. The outcomes are compared to various optimization techniques to prove the validation of the two proposed methods. The results show that the EDO and TS proved their superiority through their stability level to the AVR system and their steady-state error improvement. Moreover, the dominant effect of damping frequency decreases the oscillation and the reduced maximum overshoot that protects the loads from being subjected to non-permissible over-voltage levels. Finally, a robustness test is applied to the two proposed optimization methods to prove their reliability and effectiveness.

A semi-blind deconvolution method to estimate and remove optical aberrations

Optical aberrations (ABRs) always hinder high-quality imaging, and designers make a vast effort to correct them. We propose a computational method to estimate and remove an ABR that could blur an image. It works upon the combination of an elementary blind deconvolution process and finding the best correlation between the estimated point spread function (PSF) and a pre-defined basis set of ABR-related PSFs. The process is helpful to approximately extract a non-uniform PSF of an ABR and a sharp image from a single blurry one. We successfully tested the method for a dominant effect of defocusing, spherical, coma, astigmatism, or field curvature in different pictures. All the MATLAB codes are available in the Supplementary Material.

Heat Transfer in a Channel Installed With Semi-Oval Wing Perforated V-Type Baffles

An experimental analysis of the heat transfer mechanism, pressure losses, and thermal performance of channels with semi-oval wing perforated V-type baffles (SOW-PVBs) is presented in this paper. The effects of semi-oval wings with various attack angles (22.5°, 45°, 67.5°, and 90°) and Reynolds numbers (Re = 6,000–24,000) were investigated. The experimental findings revealed that SOW-PVBs with various attack angles (22.5°, 45°, 67.5°, and 90°) yielded lower heat transfer than V-type baffles (VBs, 0°). However, the SOW-PVBs showed an advantage over the VBs with their lower friction losses owing to the presence of perforation. SOW-PVBs with attack angles of 22.5°, 45°, and 67.5° offered higher thermal performance factors (TPF) due to the dominant effect of their lower friction losses. For SOW-PVBs, the Nusselt number (Nu) and friction factor (f) rose as the semi-oval wing attack angle was decreased. With varied semi-oval wing attack angles (22.5°, 45°, and 67.5°) and Re, the SOW-PVBs delivered reduced Nu/Nu s (Nu of SOW-PVBs to Nu of smooth channel), lower f/f s (f of SOW-PVBs to f of smooth channel), and higher TPF than VBs by roughly 0.96–9.98%, 6.75–25.2%, and 0.45–2.62%, respectively. Where subscript “s” is in reference to smooth channel. For the studied range, SOW-PVBs with an attack angle of 45° offered the greatest thermal performance factors, 1.15–1.92, primarily attributed to an optimal tradeoff between improved heat transfer and increased friction losses.

Life cycle analysis in hazardous waste logistics in Türkiye: a case study

ABSTRACT The collection and transportation activities engaged in waste management (WM) are known to have significant environmental impacts. This study assessed the current environmental situation regarding the use of diesel fuel in hazardous waste (HW) collection and transportation using a LCA methodology. The study utilized the actual transportation data of the HW collection and transportation activities of a WM company, IZAYDAS, for the year 2021. The functional unit (FU) chosen for analysis was the “environmental impact per annual total fuel consumption.” In addition, the study aimed to understand potential changes in environmental impact if electricity were used as a fuel alternative. The findings revealed that in the current scenario with diesel fuel, the Abiotic Depletion Potential (Fossil Fuel) (ADP Fossil) effect category had a dominant effect (3.92E + 06 MJ). The total Global Warming Potential (GWP100a) effect for HW transportation was determined to be 5.28E + 05 kg CO2 eq in 2021. When electricity was considered a fuel alternative, a decrease was observed in the GWP100a and ADP impact categories. At the same time, Human Toxicity (HTP), Acidification (AP), and Eutrophication (EP) showed an increase due to fossil fuel-based energy production. Sensitivity analysis indicated that all effects are lower in countries that depend on clean energy sources for electricity production.

Multimodel comparison and assessment of short to medium range precipitation and temperature forecasts over India: Implications towards forecasting of meteorological indices in India

AbstractA comprehensive assessment of the forecast skill of various meteorological indices over the Indian region from different numerical weather prediction (NWP) models is lacking in the literature. In this study the performance of four NWP models, namely Global Ensemble Forecast System (GEFSv12), European Center for Medium Range Forecasting (ECMWF), Climate Forecast System (CFSv2) and Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) towards forecasting of precipitation, temperature and associated meteorological indices, is evaluated at short to medium timescales across the Indian region. Further, the effect of ocean atmospheric (OA) oscillations on the precipitation/temperature forecast skill from the different NWP models is also assessed. Results show that the NWP models are better in predicting the meteorological indices than the quantitative forecasts. The ECMWF model was found to be the best for PCP forecasting with CFSv2 performing poorly. For temperature the GEFSv12 model performance was the lowest, compared to rest of the models. The models show poor skill in forecasting monsoon season precipitation compared to non‐monsoon and the temperature forecasts from the NWP models are particularly poor for the northern basins. Skilful temperature forecasts are observed in the Northwestern, Indo‐Gangetic and Central basins for the CFSv2 and ECMWF models. The forecast skill of precipitation indices are higher in the northwestern, central and Indo‐Gangetic basins compared to the rest. The skill of precipitation indices, namely rainy days, extreme rainy days and consecutive wet days, is higher during the monsoon seasons while the prediction skill of consecutive dry days is higher during the non‐monsoon season. OA analysis revealed that the ENSO phases have dominant effect on the forecast skill of the precipitation only. The temperature and meteorological indices forecasts are not affected significantly by the OA phases. The outcomes of this study have implications towards irrigation scheduling and water resources management decision making in India.

Role of interfaces on the mechanical response of accumulative roll bonded nanometallic laminates investigated via dislocation dynamics simulations

Unraveling the effects of continuous dislocation interactions with interfaces, particularly at the nanometer length scales, is key to a broader understanding of plasticity, to material design and to material certification. To this end, this work proposes a novel discrete dislocation dynamics-based model for dislocation interface interactions tracking the fate of residual dislocation on interfaces. This new approach is used to predict the impact of dislocation/interface reactions on the overall mechanical behavior of accumulative roll bonded nanometallic laminates. The framework considers the dynamic evolution of the interface concurrent with a large network of dislocations, thus, accounting for the local short and long range effects of the dislocations under the external boundary conditions. Specifically, this study focuses on two-phase Fe/Cu nanometallic laminates, and investigates the role of the underlying elastic and plastic contrast of the Fe and the Cu layers on the composite response of the material. Moreover, the role of initial microstructures, resulting from processing is also investigated. Subsequently, the model is used to examine the effect of layer thickness and interface orientation relationship on the residual stresses of the relaxed microstructure. The associated mechanical response of these laminates are compared when loaded under normal direction compression, as well as shear compression. Finally, this work predicts a dominant effect of the layer thickness, as compared to the interface orientation relationship, on the macroscopic response and on the residual stresses of these nanolaminates, while the local dislocation transmission propensity through the interface is significantly influenced by the corresponding orientation relationship.

Phosphofructokinase mainly affects glycolysis and influences meat quality in postmortem meat

The aim of this study was to evaluate the comparative effects of hexokinase (HK), phosphofructokinase (PFK) and pyruvate kinase (PK) on glycolysis in postmortem meat. Three specific inhibitors were respectively added to postmortem lamb to produce a HK inhibition (HKI) group, a PFK inhibition (PFKI) group and a PK inhibition (PKI) group. Meat samples that assigned to these three groups and a control (CON) group were stored at 4 °C for 5 d. The results indicated that the activity of HK, PFK and PK were effectively restrained during storage. PFK activity was significantly correlated with lactate content (P < 0.05), but HK and PK activity showed a weak relationship with lactate content (P > 0.05). The myofibrillar fragmentation index of the PFKI and PKI groups were significantly lower than that of the CON and HKI groups (P < 0.05). The degradation levels of troponin T and desmin were the smallest in the PFKI group. The result of the myoglobin spectrum at 540 nm and 580 nm showed a decreasing level of oxymyoglobin after HK, PFK and PK inhibition. In conclusion, PFK showed a more dominant effect on glycolysis than HK and PK in postmortem muscle, which may provide a targeted strategy for meat quality regulation through glycolysis.

Genetic architecture of trait variance in craniofacial morphology.

The genetic architecture of trait variance has long been of interest in genetics and evolution. One of the earliest attempts to understand this architecture was presented in Lerner's Genetic Homeostasis (1954). Lerner proposed that heterozygotes should be better able to tolerate environmental perturbations because of functional differences between the alleles at a given locus, with each allele optimal for slightly different environments. This greater robustness to environmental variance, he argued, would result in smaller trait variance for heterozygotes. The evidence for Lerner's hypothesis has been inconclusive. To address this question using modern genomic methods, we mapped loci associated with differences in trait variance (vQTL) on 1,101 individuals from the F34 of an advanced intercross between LG/J and SM/J mice. We also mapped epistatic interactions for these vQTL in order to understand the influence of epistasis for the architecture of trait variance. We did not find evidence supporting Lerner's hypothesis, that heterozygotes tend to have smaller trait variances than homozygotes. We further show that the effects of most mapped loci on trait variance are produced by epistasis affecting trait means and that those epistatic effects account for about a half of the differences in genotypic-specific trait variances. Finally, we propose a model where the different interactions between the additive and dominance effects of the vQTL and their epistatic partners can explain Lerner's original observations but can also be extended to include other conditions where heterozygotes are not the least variable genotype.

Uncovering Photoelectronic and Photothermal Effects in Plasmon-Mediated Electrocatalytic CO2 Reduction.

Plasmon-mediated electrocatalysis that rests on the ability of coupling localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) and electrochemical activation, emerges as an intriguing and booming area. However, its development seriously suffers from the entanglement between the photoelectronic and photothermal effects induced by the decay of plasmons, especially under the influence of applied potential. Herein, using LSPR-mediated CO2 reduction on Ag electrocatalyst as a model system, we quantitatively uncover the dominant photoelectronic effect on CO2 reduction reaction over a wide potential window, in contrast to the leading photothermal effect on H2 evolution reaction at relatively negative potentials. The excitation of LSPR selectively enhances the CO faradaic efficiency (17-fold at -0.6 VRHE ) and partial current density (100-fold at -0.6 VRHE ), suppressing the undesired H2 faradaic efficiency. Furthermore, in situ attenuated total reflection-surface enhanced infrared absorption spectroscopy (ATR-SEIRAS) reveals a plasmon-promoted formation of the bridge-bonded CO on Ag surface via a carbonyl-containing C1 intermediate. The present work demonstrates a deep mechanistic understanding of selective regulation of interfacial reactions by coupling plasmons and electrochemistry.

Uncovering Photoelectronic and Photothermal Effects in Plasmon‐Mediated Electrocatalytic CO2 Reduction

AbstractPlasmon‐mediated electrocatalysis that rests on the ability of coupling localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) and electrochemical activation, emerges as an intriguing and booming area. However, its development seriously suffers from the entanglement between the photoelectronic and photothermal effects induced by the decay of plasmons, especially under the influence of applied potential. Herein, using LSPR‐mediated CO2 reduction on Ag electrocatalyst as a model system, we quantitatively uncover the dominant photoelectronic effect on CO2 reduction reaction over a wide potential window, in contrast to the leading photothermal effect on H2 evolution reaction at relatively negative potentials. The excitation of LSPR selectively enhances the CO faradaic efficiency (17‐fold at −0.6 VRHE) and partial current density (100‐fold at −0.6 VRHE), suppressing the undesired H2 faradaic efficiency. Furthermore, in situ attenuated total reflection‐surface enhanced infrared absorption spectroscopy (ATR‐SEIRAS) reveals a plasmon‐promoted formation of the bridge‐bonded CO on Ag surface via a carbonyl‐containing C1 intermediate. The present work demonstrates a deep mechanistic understanding of selective regulation of interfacial reactions by coupling plasmons and electrochemistry.

Investigation on interlayer debonding behavior of unidirectional composite laminates under cyclical hygrothermal aging duration effects

AbstractThe composite interlamination is the key part of load transfer and plays a decisive role in the overall mechanical performance of composite structures. The interlaminar property is predominantly influenced by the matrix resin which is easily affected by the hygrothermal environment. This paper delved into the effect of hygrothermal aging duration on the interlayer debonding behavior of unidirectional (UD) laminates. The pre‐cracked specimens were treated by hygrothermal aging with a period of 0, 15, 30, 60, 90, and 120 days. The double cantilever beam (DCB) tests were employed to evaluate the interlaminar property. The effect of hygrothermal aging on load–displacement responses, R‐curves, crack growth speed, and fracture surface topography was analyzed. The results revealed that the load‐bearing capacity of aged specimens presented a reduction of 18.6%–29.0% compared with unaged ones. The interlaminar fracture toughness of specimens subjected to 15 days of treatment decreased significantly compared with that of unaged specimens due to the increase of water absorption caused by hygrothermal aging. With the increase in hygrothermal aging time, the interlaminar fracture toughness peaked at 60 days because of the post‐curing effect, followed by a declining trend influenced by the dominant hygrothermal aging effect. The fiber bridging of aged samples was increasingly obvious, became the most prominent at 60 days, and then gradually reduced. The fiber bridging diminished the crack propagation speed, hindered interlaminar debonding, and contributed to the interlaminar toughening.Highlights The samples underwent hygrothermal aging for 0, 15, 30, 60, 90, and 120 days. Load ability of aged samples was at least 18.6% lower than that of unaged ones. R‐curves rose before the crack length of 79 mm and then tended to stabilize. Fracture toughness first decreased, then increased and reduced with aging time. Fiber bridging could hinder crack growth and improve the interlayer property.