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Abstract The electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is one of the most studied and promising processes for hydrogen fuel generation. Single-atom catalysts have been shown to exhibit ultra-high HER catalytic activity, but the harsh preparation conditions and the low single-atom loading hinder their practical applications. Furthermore, promoting hydrogen evolution reaction kinetics, especially in alkaline electrolytes, remains as an important challenge. Herein, Pt/C60catalysts with high-loading, high-dispersion single-atomic platinum anchored on C60are achieved through a room-temperature synthetic strategy. Pt/C60-2 exhibits high HER catalytic performance with a low overpotential (η10) of 25 mV at 10 mA cm−2. Density functional theory calculations reveal that the Pt-C60polymeric structures in Pt/C60-2 favors water adsorption, and the shell-like charge redistribution around the Pt-bonding region induced by the curved surfaces of two adjacent C60facilitates the desorption of hydrogen, thus favoring fast reaction kinetics for hydrogen evolution.more » « less
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Abstract Plant organ size is an important agronomic trait tightly related to crop yield. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying organ size regulation remain largely unexplored in legumes. We previously characterized a key regulator F‐box protein MINI ORGAN1 (MIO1)/SMALL LEAF AND BUSHY1 (SLB1), which controls plant organ size in the model legumeMedicago truncatula. In order to further dissect the molecular mechanism, MIO1 was used as the bait to screen its interacting proteins from a yeast library. Subsequently, a KIX protein, designated MtKIX8, was identified from the candidate list. The interaction between MIO1 and MtKIX8 was confirmed further by Y2H, BiFC, split‐luciferase complementation and pull‐down assays. Phylogenetic analyses indicated that MtKIX8 is highly homologous toArabidopsisKIX8, which negatively regulates organ size. Moreover, loss‐of‐function ofMtKIX8led to enlarged leaves and seeds, while ectopic expression ofMtKIX8inArabidopsisresulted in decreased cotyledon area and seed weight. Quantitative reverse‐transcription PCR and in situ hybridization showed thatMtKIX8is expressed in most developing organs. We also found that MtKIX8 serves as a crucial molecular adaptor, facilitating interactions with BIG SEEDS1 (BS1) and MtTOPLESS (MtTPL) proteins inM. truncatula. Overall, our results suggest that the MIO1‐MtKIX8 module plays a significant and conserved role in the regulation of plant organ size. This module could be a good target for molecular breeding in legume crops and forages.more » « less
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Single flux quantum (SFQ) logic is a promising technology to replace complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor logic for future exa-scale supercomputing but requires the development of reliable EDA tools that are tailored to the unique characteristics of SFQ circuits, including the need for active splitters to support fanout and clocked logic gates. This article is the first work to present a physical design methodology for inserting hold buffers in SFQ circuits. Our approach is variation-aware, uses common path pessimism removal and incremental placement to minimize the overhead of timing fixes, and can trade off layout area and timing yield. Compared to a previously proposed approach using fixed hold time margins, Monte Carlo simulations show that, averaging across 10 ISCAS’85 benchmark circuits, our proposed method can reduce the number of inserted hold buffers by 8.4% with a 6.2% improvement in timing yield and by 21.9% with a 1.7% improvement in timing yield.more » « less
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This paper proposes a solar energy harvesting based modular battery balance system for electric vehicles. The proposed system is designed to charge the battery module with minimum SOC/voltage by solar power during charging and discharging. With the solar power input, the useful energy of the battery can be improved while vehicle driving. For vehicle charging, the charging energy from grid and total charging time can be reduced as well. Simulation analysis shows that for a 50Ah rated battery pack, the overall pure electric drive mileage can be improved by 22.9%, while consumed grid energy and total charging time can be reduced by 9.6% and 9.3% respectively. In addition, the battery life can be improved around 10%~11%. The prototype design and test of a 48V battery pack vehicle consisting of four 12V battery modules are carried out. The experimental results validate that the system has good modular balance performance for the 100Ah battery modules with 5~7A charging current from solar power, and the overall usable battery energy has been increased.more » « less
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There has been considerable progress in engineering cardiac scaffolds for the treatment of myocardial infarction (MI). However, it is still challenging to replicate the structural specificity and variability of cardiac tissues using traditional bioengineering approaches. In this study, a four-dimensional (4D) cardiac patch with physiological adaptability has been printed by beam-scanning stereolithography. By combining a unique 4D self-morphing capacity with expandable microstructure, the specific design has been shown to improve both the biomechanical properties of the patches themselves and the dynamic integration of the patch with the beating heart. Our results demonstrate improved vascularization and cardiomyocyte maturation in vitro under physiologically relevant mechanical stimulation, as well as increased cell engraftment and vascular supply in a murine chronic MI model. This work not only potentially provides an effective treatment method for MI but also contributes a cutting-edge methodology to enhance the structural design of complex tissues for organ regeneration.more » « less
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Like the morphology of native tissue fiber arrangement (such as skeletal muscle), unidirectional anisotropic scaffolds are highly desired as a means to guide cell behavior in anisotropic tissue engineering. In contrast, contour-like staircases exhibit directional topographical cues and are judged as an inevitable defect of fused deposition modeling (FDM). In this study, we will translate this staircase defect into an effective bioengineering strategy by integrating FDM with surface coating technique (FCT) to investigate the effect of topographical cues on regulating behaviors of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) toward skeletal muscle tissues. This integrated approach serves to fabricate shape-specific, multiple dimensional, anisotropic scaffolds using different biomaterials. 2D anisotropic scaffolds, first demonstrated with different polycaprolactone concentrations herein, efficiently direct hMSC alignment, especially when the scaffold is immobilized on a support ring. By surface coating the polymer solution inside FDM-printed sacrificial structures, 3D anisotropic scaffolds with thin wall features are developed and used to regulate seeded hMSCs through a self-established rotating bioreactor. Using layer-by-layer coating, along with a shape memory polymer, smart constructs exhibiting shape fix and recovery processes are prepared, bringing this study into the realm of 4D printing. Immunofluorescence staining and real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis confirm that the topographical cues created via FCT significantly enhance the expression of myogenic genes, including myoblast differentiation protein-1, desmin, and myosin heavy chain-2. We conclude that there are broad application potentials for this FCT strategy in tissue engineering as many tissues and organs, including skeletal muscle, possess highly organized and anisotropic extracellular matrix components.more » « less
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