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OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the relationship between mannose-binding lectin (MBL) polymorphism and neonatal sepsis to provide ideas for early diagnosis and control of neonatal sepsis using meta-analysis. METHODS: The China National Knowledge Infrastructure, WanFang Data, China Biological Medicine Disc, PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science databases were electronically searched to collect studies on the association between the MBL gene variants and the risk of neonatal sepsis. Original articles from case-control and cohort studies on the relationship between MBL polymorphisms and neonatal sepsis were considered eligible. Meta-analysis was performed using Stata 15.0 software. The chi-square-based Q test and I(2) statistics were used to assess heterogeneity. Forest plots were used to display the results graphically. Potential publication bias was assessed using the Egger and Begg tests and funnel plots. RESULTS: Twenty-two studies, including 4565 cases and 12,746 controls, were included in this meta-analysis. Meta-analysis showed a significant relationship between MBL rs1800450 (codon 54, G > A) and neonatal sepsis in the variant vs. wild types. However, the analysis showed MBL exon 1 gene polymorphism (A/O), MBL rs5030737 (codon 52, C > T), and rs1800451 (codon 57, G > A), involved in existing research, were not associated with the risk of sepsis in neonates. CONCLUSIONS: Current evidence shows that MBL rs1800450 is associated with neonatal culture-proven sepsis. Owing to the limited quantity and quality of the included studies, more high-quality studies are required to verify the above conclusion.

Hard carbon is promising anode for potassium-ion batteries (PIBs), however, the poor rate capability hinders its development as potential anode. To address this question, we design a sulfur-doped porous hard carbon (S-HC) for PIBs through the combination of structural design and composition adjustment. The as-designed S-HC exhibits a long cycling life with ∼191 mA h/g after 300 cycles at 1 A/g, and an excellent rate capability with ∼100 mA h/g at 5 A/g, which was attributed to its structural characteristics and compositions. The S-HC demonstrates to be promising anode in the future.

Low open-circuit photovoltage and poor hole transfer character of semiconductors have limited the development of p-type dye-sensitized solar cells (p-DSSCs) owing to the minor energy-gap between the conduction band of NiO and the Nernstian potential of the I3−/I− electrolyte, as well as the low intrinsic hole-conductivity of NiO semiconductor. Hereby, a novel NiO/CuO nanocomposite was well-designed and successfully fabricated as photocathode material of p-DSSCs. Combined with Co2+/Co3+ electrolyte, the devices showed noticeable enhancement of both open-circuit photovoltage and short-circuit photocurrent. Compared to NiO, a deeper valence-band of NiO/CuO resulted in a 140 mV improvement of photovoltage of p-DSSCs. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy indiates an improved hole transport of NiO/CuO nanocomposite due to modified effect by CuO. Charge recombinations are also suppressed to achieve increased charge collection efficiencies and improved photoelectrochemical performance.

Aims This study investigated the mechanism through which fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) protects against angiotensin II (Ang II)-induced cardiac hypertrophy and dysfunction. Methods Male silent information regulator 1 (SIRT1) flox/flox and cardiomyocyte-specific inducible SIRT1 knockout mice (SIRT1-iKO) were generated and treated with Ang II (1.1 mg/kg/day for 4 weeks) at the age of 8–12-week-old. FGF21 treatment [2.5 mg/kg/day for 4 weeks by intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection] was initiated at the same time as the Ang II infusion. For in vitro studies, neonatal rat cardiomyocytes (NRCMs), H9c2 rat cardiomyocytes and isolated adult mouse cardiomyocytes were treated with Ang II (1 μM) and FGF21 (20 nM) for 24 h with or without SIRT1 silencing. Results FGF21 treatment significantly attenuated Ang II-induced cardiac hypertrophy and dysfunction. SIRT1 knockout abolished the ability of FGF21 to prevent Ang II-induced cardiac hypertrophy, fibrosis, and apoptosis, without affecting the beneficial effects of FGF21 in Ang II-induced hypertension, and did not influence the hypertension itself. FGF21 markedly increased the deacetylase activity of SIRT1 and promoted the interaction of SIRT1 with liver kinase B1 (LKB1) and forkhead box protein O1 (FoxO1), resulting in decreased acetylation of these SIRT1 target proteins. Consequently, FGF21 promoted the activation of the LKB1 target adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and altered the transcriptional activity of FoxO1 on its downstream target genes catalase (Cat), MnSOD (Sod2), and Bim, resulting in reduced reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation and cardiomyocyte apoptosis. Conclusions FGF21 improves cardiac function and alleviates Ang II-induced cardiac hypertrophy in a SIRT1-dependent manner.

One-dimensional nano-structured materials have attracted attention due to its unique properties afforded such as the across-linked structures and large aspect ratios. In this work, one-dimensional CoSe@N-doped carbon nanofibers (CoSe@NC NFs) are successfully by combining the techniques of electrospinning and annealing. Selenium powder are directly dispersed in the polyacrylonitrile /N,N-Dimethylformamide (DMF) solution containing cobalt salt to form the product. The performance of these materials was investigated in Li-ion batteries after the annealing at different temperatures. The CoSe@NC nanofibers annealed at 550 °C (CoSe@NC-550) and displayed excellent storage properties, affording a high capacity of 796 mAh·g−1 at a current density of 1 A·g−1 for 100 cycles. Moreover, it is confirmed that the pseudocapacitive contribution of CoSe@NC-550 is up to 72.8% at the scan rate of 1 mV/s through the cyclic voltammetry analysis.

As a promising material for sodium-ion batteries, molybdenum disulphide (MoS2) affords excellent electrochemical performance owing to its large surface area and the accelerated electron transport within individual layers. However, it suffers from slow reaction kinetics and agglomeration owing to low conductivity and high surface energy. In this work, nitrogen-doped carbon nanofiber@MoS2 nanosheets arrays with S-vacancies (NC@MoS2-VS) are developed via a process involving electrospining, hydrothermal and annealing. When served as an anode material for SIBs, this material displays a superior capacity of 495 mAh g−1 over 100 charge/discharge cycles at a current density of 100 mA g−1, and the pseudocapacitive contribution is up to 74.4% as revealed by the cyclic voltammogram (CV) at 1 mV s−1. The theoretical calculations show that the presence of sulfur vacancies facilitates the adsorption of Na+ and enhances the conductivity of MoS2. This work may pave a new avenue to develop other types of metal sulfides for high-performance SIBs.

The NASICON-type NaTi2(PO4)3 has drawn much attention as anode material for sodium-ion batteries owing to its stable structural characteristics and low cost. Nevertheless, the insulating property of NaTi2(PO4)3 and the high working potential of about 2.1 V vs. Na+/Na lead to its poor cycling stability, low rate performance as well as inferior capacity. In this work, we synthesize the porous NaTi2(PO4)3@C nanocubes by hydrothermal method and a subsequent coating process with using oleic acid as the carbon source. When utilized as the anode for sodium-ion battery in the voltage range between 0.01 V and 3.0 V, The as-synthesized porous NaTi2(PO4)3@C nanocubes deliver a discharge capacity of 201 mAh·g−1 at the current density of 100 mA g−1 after 100 cycles. Additionally, the reserved capacity of 140 mAh·g−1 could be achieved at the current density of 1 A g−1 after 1000 cycles.

MnO@C nanocomposites are synthesized by annealing MnO microspheres treated with oleic acid as carbon source. The obtained MnO@C nanocomposites exhibit a discharge capacity of 1075 mAh/g for the initial cycle, and show the excellent cycling performance with a discharge capacity of 421 mAh/g after 100 cycles at a current density of 100 mA/g. The total specific capacity of MnO@C nanocomposites is higher than those of pure MnO microspheres in our experiments. Owing to the superior electrochemical behavior, the as-obtained MnO@C nanocomposites are potentially applied as next-generation anode material for lithium-ion batteries.

A three-dimensional flower-shaped iron molybdate microsphere (3D-FIMMS) and a zero-dimensional iron molybdate nanoparticle (0D-IMNP) were successfully synthesized by a rapid and environment friendly microwave irradiation method. The 3D-FIMMS crystal growth was investigated by changing the microwave heating time. The gas sensing performances of various morphologies of iron molybdate were studied. The results showed that 3D-FIMMS sensors exhibited excellent gas sensing properties compared with the 0D-IMNP sensors, in which response value reached 13.5 for 50 ppm H 2 S gas. Meanwhile, the 3D-FIMMS sensors displayed high selectivity to H 2 S. The experimental results indicated an efficient and eco-friendly approach to realize promising sensing performance to H 2 S gas.

SnSb alloys with high theoretical capacities for lithium-ion batteries always suffer from the quick capacity fading owing to their huge volume change. In this study, SnSb nanoparticles are fixed in the nanochannels of flexible mats composed of graphene, and multichannel porous carbon nanofiber mats which are prepared by electrospinning and subsequent thermal treatment at 700 °C in Ar/H 2 . The flexible mats can be bent for 180 degree without any crack and can be unfolded as usual. As binder-free anodes, the mats with suitable ratio of GO in precursor solution show discharge capacity of 617 mA h/g at 300th cycle at a current density of 100 mA/g, much higher than those similar nanofibers added with more or less GO. The flexible mats can deliver a rate capacity of 369 mA h/g at a current density of 2 A/g, also higher than those similar nanofibers. The electronic tests show that the graphene asrising from GO can linearly improve the conductivity of the mats. The enhanced properties of Sn x Sb-graphene-carbon flexible mats can be attributed to the improved conductivity and mechanical property due to the presence of graphene, the multichannels to accommodate the volume change of Sn x Sb during lithiation/delithiation, and carbon nanofiber mats to provide high-way and diffusion channels for electrons and ions. It is believed that the electrospinning method combined with graphene could be a useful approach to prepare flexible mats for supercapacitors, lithium-ion batteries, and fuel cells.