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A necklace-like structure of CuCoN 0.6 nanoparticles anchored on N -doped carbon nanofibers (CuCoN 0.6 /NC) has been prepared by electrospinning and subsequent nitridation processes as freestanding sulfur host for Li-S batteries, which boosts chemical adsorption and catalytic activity throughout detailed theoretical calculation and experimental electrochemical characterization. [Display omitted] Freestanding electrodes with high energy density and cycle stability have attracted attention on the development of lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries. However, both severe shuttle effect and sluggish conversion kinetics hinder their practical applications. Herein, we employed the electrospinning and subsequent nitridation processes to prepare a necklace-like structure of CuCoN 0.6 nanoparticles anchored on N -doped carbon nanofibers (CuCoN 0.6 /NC) as freestanding sulfur host for Li-S batteries. Such bimetallic nitride boosts chemical adsorption and catalytic activity throughout detailed theoretical calculation and experimental electrochemical characterization. The three-dimensional conductive necklace-like framework could provide abundant cavities for realizing high sulfur utilization and alleviating the volume variation, as well as fast lithium-ions diffusion and electron transfer. The Li-S cell with the S@CuCoN 0.6 /NC cathode delivers a stable cycling performance with a capacity attenuation rate of 0.076% per cycle after 150cycles at 2.0C and an exceptional capacity retention of 657 mAh g−1 even at a high sulfur loading of 6.8 mg cm−2 over 100cycles. The facile and scalable method can help promote the widespread application of fabrics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oudemansiella raphanipes (O. raphanipes) has recently been gaining popularity due to its active and flavor compounds. In this study, the profiles of phenolics, flavonoids, non-volatile and volatile compounds of fresh O. raphanipes were subjected to cutting root (CR) and pulling root (PR) harvesting methods during different storage temperatures (5 °C and 20 °C) were investigated. The results showed that CR treatment effectively increased phenolic and flavonoid contents, maintained the sensory scores and the umami value based on e-tongue, increased more C8 volatile contents, and inhibited off-flavor acids production during 5 °C storage. The EUC values of the fresh O. raphanipes ranged from 4.72 to 23.66 g monosodium glutamate (MSG) 100 g−1, which TAVs were at a relatively high level in CR treatment than in PR treatment. A two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and principal component analysis (PCA) revealed statistically significant differences in different harvesting methods that affected the mushroom flavor. Eleven components were screened as taste characteristics contributors by partial least squares regression model (PLS-R) analysis, including Glu, umami nucleotides, and 1-octene-3-ol and 3-octanone. Thus, the cutting root treatment is a promising method for obtaining the high flavor quality of fresh O. raphanipes during cooling storage. • The taste components of O. raphanipes were examined for the first time. • 11 components were mainly responsible for the O. raphanipes flavor. • Cutting root treatment increased umami compounds contents during 5 °C storage. • Cutting root treatment maintained more C8 volatile contents during 5 °C storage. • Cutting root treatment enhanced more active contents during 5 °C storage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Hollow sphere structure of poly(ionic liquid)s (HPILs) was fabricated as nanoreactor. • HPILs nanoreactor efficiently enhanced the activity of metal catalysts and showed high selectivity of AA. • HPILs could storage and stabilize catalysts during reaction with high activity for 7 times. • HPILs could promote the generation of free radicals to enhance the reaction. • The reaction process of HPILs was theoretically calculated to verify high activity and selectivity. Hollow structure nanoreactors take advantage of catalyst loading and enhanced activity by shell construction. In this work, functionalized poly(ionic liquid)s (PILs) with hollow spherical structures were synthesized by polymerization- and quaternization-based approaches. These hollow structure PILs (HPILs) could be controllable designed from IL monomer easily, giving HPILs various properties. In the subsequent selective oxidation of cyclohexane, the HPILs acting as nanoreactors could efficiently improve the activity of metal salt catalysts (CoCl 2) and displayed adjustable selectivity for cyclohexanone, cyclohexanol (KA) or adipic acid (AA) by different types of HPILs. In kinetic study, it follows first-order reaction kinetics which CoCl 2 /HPIL-C12 had a lower the activation energy of 29.1 kJ/mol. Importantly, these nanoreactors storing the catalysts could be recovered and reused more than 7 times without significant loss of activity. A theoretical model for the hollow spherical reactor was further established to support the advance of the HPILs reactor, which could also help to predict reaction process in other core-shell catalytic system. Due to controlled substrate transfer and enhanced radical generation in HPILs, the reaction process could be adjusted to enhance the conversion of cyclohexane and selective oxidation to AA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Myocardial dysfunction is a prevalent complication of sepsis (septic cardiomyopathy) with a high mortality rate and limited therapeutic options. Naringenin, a natural flavonoid compound with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, holds promise as a potential treatment for sepsis-induced myocardial dysfunction. This study investigated the pharmacological effects of naringenin on septic cardiomyopathy. In vivo and in vitro experiments demonstrated that naringenin improved cardiomyocyte damage. Network pharmacology and database analysis revealed that HIF-1α is a key target protein of naringenin. Elevated expression of HIF-1α was observed in damaged cardiomyocytes, and the HIF-1α inhibitor effectively protected against LPS-induced cardiomyocyte damage. Molecular docking studies confirmed the direct binding between naringenin and HIF-1α protein. Importantly, our findings demonstrated that naringenin did not provide additional attenuation of cardiomyocyte injury on the biases of HIF-1α inhibitor treatment. In conclusion, this study proves that naringenin protects against septic cardiomyopathy through HIF-1α signaling. Naringenin is a promising therapeutic candidate for treating septic cardiomyopathy. • Naringenin protects against septic cardiomyopathy and improve cardiac health. • Molecular docking reveals naringenin's direct interaction with HIF-1α. • Naringenin is a promising therapeutic candidate for septic cardiomyopathy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The high-throughput metagenomic sequencing offers a powerful technique to compare the microbial communities. Without requiring extra reference sequences, alignment-free models with short k- tuple ( k = 2–10 bp) yielded promising results. Short k- tuples describe the overall statistical distribution, but is hard to capture the specific characteristics inside one microbial community. Longer k- tuple contains more abundant information. However, because the frequency vector of long k- tuple( k ≥ 30 bp) is sparse, the statistical measures designed for short k- tuples are not applicable. In our study, we considered each tuple as a meaningful word and then each sequencing data as a document composed of the words. Therefore, the comparison between two sequencing data is processed as “topic analysis of documents” in text mining. We designed a pipeline with long k- tuple features to compare metagenomic samples combined using algorithms from text mining and pattern recognition. The pipeline is available at http://culotuple.codeplex.com/ . Experiments show that our pipeline with long k -tuple features: ①separates genomes with high similarity; ②outperforms short k -tuple models in all experiments. When k ≥ 12, the short k -tuple measures are not applicable anymore. When k is between 20 and 40, long k -tuple pipeline obtains much better grouping results; ③is free from the effect of sequencing platforms/protocols. ③We obtained meaningful and supported biological results on the 40-tuples selected for comparison. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To further enhance the antitumor efficacy of DNA vaccine, we proposed a synergistic strategy that targeted tumor cells and angiogenesis simultaneously. In this study, a Semliki Forest Virus (SFV) replicon DNA vaccine expressing 1–4 domains of murine VEGFR2 and IL12 was constructed, and was named pSVK-VEGFR2-GFc-IL12 (CAVE). The expression of VEGFR2 antigen and IL12 adjuvant molecule in 293T cells in vitro were verified by western blot and enzyme-linked immune sorbent assay (ELISA). Then CAVE was co-immunized with CAVA, a SFV replicon DNA vaccine targeting survivin and β-hCG antigens constructed previously. The antitumor efficacy of our combined replicon vaccines was evaluated in mice model and the possible mechanism was further investigated. The combined vaccines could elicit efficient humoral and cellular immune responses against survivin, β-hCG and VEGFR2 simultaneously. Compared with CAVE or CAVA vaccine alone, the combined vaccines inhibited the tumor growth and improved the survival rate in B16 melanoma mice model more effectively. Furthermore, the intratumoral microvessel density was lowest in combined vaccines group than CAVE or CAVA alone group. Therefore, this synergistic strategy of DNA vaccines for tumor treatment results in an increased antitumor efficacy, and may be more suitable for translation to future research and clinic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

GABAergic neurons in the rostromedial tegmental nucleus (RMTg) receive major input from the lateral habenula (LHb), which conveys negative reward and motivation related information, and project intensively to midbrain dopamine neurons, including those in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc). The RMTg-VTA circuit has been shown to be linked to the affective behavior, but the role of the RMTg-SNc circuit in aversion and depression has not been well understood. This study demonstrated that exciting or inhibiting VgatRMTg-SNc neurons was sufficient to increase or decrease immobility time in the forced swim test (FST), respectively. Furthermore, exciting the VgatRMTg-SNc pathway caused aversive behavior. Ninety percent of the SNc putative dopamine neurons were inhibited in extracellular recordings. Furthermore, inhibiting the VgatRMTg-SNc pathway reversed behavioral despair in chronic restraint stress (CRS) depression model mice. Manipulations of the pathway did not affect the hedonic value of the reward in the sucrose-preference test (SPT) or general motor function. In conclusion, these results indicate that the VgatRMTg-SNc pathway regulates aversive and despair behavior, which suggests that the RMTg may mediate the role of LHb in negative behaviors through regulating the activity of SNc neurons. • The activation of the RMTg-SNc pathway caused aversive and despair behavior. • Activating the pathway inhibited firing rates of SNc putative dopamine neurons. • Inhibiting the circuit reversed behavior despair in CRS depression model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]