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Wang, Yu

Publications and source records attributed to Wang, Yu.

At least 73 records · Page 4
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2021

Towards a dynamic photosynthesis model to guide yield improvement in C4 crops

Summary The most productive C4 food and biofuel crops, such as Saccharum officinarum (sugarcane), Sorghum bicolor (sorghum) and Zea mays (maize), all use NADP‐ME‐type C4 photosynthesis. Despite high productivities, these crops fall well short of the theoretical maximum solar conversion efficiency of 6%. Understanding the basis of these inefficiencies is key for bioengineering and breeding strategies to increase the sustainable productivity of these major C4 crops. Photosynthesis is studied predominantly at steady state in saturating light. In field stands of these crops light is continually changing, and often with rapid fluctuations. Although light may change in a second, the adjustment of photosynthesis may take many minutes, leading to inefficiencies. We measured the rates of CO 2 uptake and stomatal conductance of maize, sorghum and sugarcane under fluctuating light regimes. The gas exchange results were combined with a new dynamic photosynthesis model to infer the limiting factors under non‐steady‐state conditions. The dynamic photosynthesis model was developed from an existing C4 metabolic model for maize and extended to include: (i) post‐translational regulation of key photosynthetic enzymes and their temperature responses; (ii) dynamic stomatal conductance; and (iii) leaf energy balance. Testing the model outputs against measured rates of leaf CO 2 uptake and stomatal conductance in the three C4 crops indicated that Rubisco activase, the pyruvate phosphate dikinase regulatory protein and stomatal conductance are the major limitations to the efficiency of NADP‐ME‐type C4 photosynthesis during dark‐to‐high light transitions. We propose that the level of influence of these limiting factors make them targets for bioengineering the improved photosynthetic efficiency of these key crops.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

A Geometry-Driven Longitudal Topic Model

A simple and scalable framework for longitudinal analysis of Twitter data is developed that combines latent topic models with computational geometric methods. Dimensionality reduction tools from computational geometry are applied to learn the intrinsic manifold on which the latent, temporal topics reside. Then shortest path distances on the manifold are used to link together these topics. The proposed framework permits visualization of the low-dimensional embedding which provides clear interpretation of the complex, high-dimensional trajectories that may exist among latent topics. Practical application of the proposed framework is demonstrated through its ability to capture and effectively visualize natural progression of latent COVID-19 related topics learned from Twitter data. Interpretability of the trajectories is achieved by comparing to real-world events. In addition, the framework permits study of spatial variation in Twitter behavior for learned topics. The analysis demonstrates that the proposed framework is able to capture granular-level impact of COVID-19 on public discussions. We end by arguing that Twitter data, when analyzed within the proposed framework, can serve as a valuable supplementary data stream for COVID-related studies.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2021

yuwangcn/C4_dynamic_model

A dynamic systems model of C4 photosynthesis was developed based on the previous NADP-ME metabolic model for maize (Wang et al., 2014 ab). The NADP-ME metabolic model is an ordinary differential equation model including all individual steps in C4 photosynthetic carbon metabolism. Here, the model is extended to include posttranslational regulation and temperature response of enzyme activities, dynamic stomata conductance, and leaf energy balance. This model is written in Matlab (R2019a) Steady-state and dynamic gas exchange data for maize (B73), sugarcane (CP88-1762) and sorghum (Tx430) were measured in a greenhouse in Urbana, IL from July 25, 2019 through August 8, 2019. Data include: CO2 response curves Light response curves Photosynthetic induction curves measured in the transition from darkness to high light (1800 μmol m-2 s-1), data logged every 1 min. Photosynthetic induction in the transition from darkness to high light (1800 μmol m-2 s-1) to determine the kinetics of rubisco activation in these C4 crops (τ_Rubisco), data logged every 10 s. Gas exchange under fluctuating light. After dark adaptation, the leaves undergo three light change steps, light intensity was set as 1800 µmol m-2 s-1, 200 µmol m-2 s-1 and 1800 µmol m-2 s-1 for each 1800 s step.

Wang, Yu↗
DOE OSTI2021

Selective Photodimerization in a Cyclodextrin Metal–Organic Framework

For the most part, enzymes contain one active site wherein they catalyze in a serial manner chemical reactions between substrates both efficiently and rapidly. Imagine if a situation could be created within a chiral porous crystal containing trillions of active sites where substrates can reside in vast numbers before being converted in parallel into products. Here, we report how it is possible to incorporate 1-anthracenecarboxylate (1-AC – ) as a substrate into a γ-cyclodextrin-containing metal–organic framework (CD-MOF-1), where the metals are K + cations, prior to carrying out [4+4] photodimerizations between pairs of substrate molecules, affording selectively one of four possible regioisomers. One of the high-yielding regioisomers exhibits optical activity as a result of the presence of an 8:1 ratio of the two enantiomers following separation by high-performance liquid chromatography. The solid-state superstructure of 1-anthracenecarboxylate potassium salt (1-ACK), which is co-crystallized with γ-cyclodextrin, reveals that pairs of substrate molecules are not only packed inside tunnels between spherical cavities present in CD-MOF-1, but also stabilized—in addition to hydrogen-bonding to the C-2 and C-3 hydroxyl groups on the d-glucopyranosyl residues present in the γ-cyclodextrin tori—by combinations of hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions between the carboxyl groups in 1-AC– and four K + cations on the waistline between the two γ-cyclodextrin tori in the tunnels. Here, these non-covalent bonding interactions result in preferred co-conformations that account for the highly regio- and enantioselective [4+4] cycloaddition during photoirradiation. Theoretical calculations, in conjunction with crystallography, support the regio- and stereochemical outcome of the photodimerization.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2021

Unlocking the self-supported thermal runaway of high-energy lithium-ion batteries

Layered Ni-rich LiNi x Mn y Co 1-x-y O 2 (NMC) materials are the most promising cathode materials for Li-ion batteries due to their favorable energy densities. However, the low thermal stability typically caused by detrimental oxygen release leads to significant safety concerns. Determining the pathways of oxygen evolution reaction is essential, as the ideal safety countermeasure is to break the reaction chain of thermal runaway. In this study, we demonstrate that two endogenous pathways of oxygen involved in strong exothermic reactions lead the NMC811|graphite pouch cell to an uncontrollable state, and we quantify the individual contribution of the pathways to thermal runaway. Approximately 41% of thermal-induced oxygen reacts aggressively with ethylene carbonate (EC) at the cathode/electrolyte interface with 16% heat generation, accelerating the self-heating rate and thereby further triggering thermal runaway. The residual oxygen that survives the reaction with carbonate spreads to the lithiated anode with major heat generation (65%), bringing the battery to the maximum destructive temperature during thermal runaway. By confirming the significant roles of EC and anode, a deeper understanding on battery fire was achieved. Finally, the revealed mechanism can help guide studies on stopping the two reaction pathways, allowing for the safer use of high-energy lithium-ion batteries in the future.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Silenced long non-coding RNA activated by DNA damage elevates microRNA-495-3p to suppress atherosclerotic plaque formation via reducing Krüppel-like factor 5

Objective: Atherosclerosis (AS) is an inflammatory disease and the formation of atherosclerotic plaque plays a critical role in AS progression. We aimed to investigate the effect of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) activated by DNA damage (NORAD)/microRNA-495-3p (miR-495-3p)/Krüppel-like factor 5 (KLF5) axis on atherosclerotic plaque formation. Methods: The ApoE{sup −/-} mice were fed a high-fat diet to construct AS mouse models and the modeled mice were treated with altered NORAD, miR-495-3p or KLF5. NORAD, miR-495-3p and KLF5 expression in mouse aorta tissues were evaluated, and the levels of inflammatory factors, oxidative stress factors, endothelial function indices and blood lipid in mice were all determined. The atherosclerotic plaque area, lipid deposition area, collagen fibers and CD68 expression in mouse aorta tissues were assessed. The regulatory relation between NORAD and miR-495-3p, and the target relation between miR-495-3p and KLF5 were confirmed. Results: NORAD and KLF5 were increased whereas miR-495-3p was decreased in atherosclerotic mouse aortas. Inhibited NORAD or elevated miR-495-3p suppressed inflammation, oxidative stress, endothelial dysfunction, blood lipid level, atherosclerotic plaque area, collagen fibers and CD68 expression in atherosclerotic mouse aortas. Effects of elevated miR-495-3p on atherosclerotic mice could be reversed by up-regulation of KLF5. NORAD served as a sponge of miR-495-3p and miR-495-3p directly targeted KLF5. Conclusion: Silenced NORAD elevated miR-495-3p to suppress atherosclerotic plaque formation via reducing KLF5. Findings in our research may be helpful for exploring molecular mechanisms of AS.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

Novel Hydrogen Clathrate Hydrate

We report a new hydrogen clathrate hydrate synthesized at 1.2 GPa and 298 K documented by single-crystal x-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, and first-principles calculations. The oxygen sublattice of the new clathrate hydrate matches that of ice II, while hydrogen molecules are in the ring cavities, which results in the trigonal R3c or R¯3c space group (proton ordered or disordered, respectively) and the composition of ( H 2 O) 6 H 2 . Raman spectroscopy and theoretical calculations reveal a hydrogen disordered nature of the new phase $C$$^{'}_{1}$, distinct from the well-known ordered C 1 clathrate, to which this new structure transforms upon compression and/or cooling. Furthermore, this new clathrate phase can be viewed as a realization of a disordered ice II, unobserved before, in contrast to all other ordered ice structures.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Measurement of crack length in width tapered beam experiments

The width tapered beam method for measuring fracture toughness has been contemplated for use in measuring the adhesion of photovoltaic materials, is promoted by it being a viable method for use directly on modules rather than to engineered test specimens. However, precise determination of crack length is often difficult as failure often involves tendril formation, cavitation voids, and other plastic deformation at the crack front in addition to obfuscation by opaque materials. Because fracture energy varies as the square of crack length, imprecise crack tip length results in large measurement uncertainties. In this work, we develop a method to estimate the crack tip length using the relationship between the applied force and the displacement of the load frame. The crack tip is determined for every data point and can be defined from a calibration curve related to the amount of energy put into the beam, or from a theoretically idealized estimation. Once a calibration curve is set up and the equations programmed, the fracture energy as a function of position on the newly formed crack interface can be accurately estimated. The test additionally provides much easier analysis and insight into the joint failure through more precise knowledge of fracture toughness at each de-bonded area.

42 ENGINEERING↗