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Cardiolipin is a mitochondrial signature phospholipid that plays a pivotal role in maintaining cardiac health. A loss of tetralinoleoyl cardiolipin (TLCL), the predominant cardiolipin species in the healthy mammalian heart, is implicated in the pathogenesis of coronary heart disease (CHD) through poorly defined mechanisms. Here, we identified acyl-coenzyme A:lysocardiolipin acyltransferase-1 (ALCAT1) as the missing link between hypoxia and CHD in an animal model of myocardial infarction (MI). ALCAT1 is an acyltransferase that promotes mitochondrial dysfunction in aging-related diseases by catalyzing pathological remodeling of cardiolipin. In support of a causative role of ALCAT1 in CHD, we showed that ALCAT1 expression was potently upregulated by MI, linking myocardial hypoxia to oxidative stress, TLCL depletion, and mitochondrial dysfunction. Accordingly, ablation of the ALCAT1 gene or pharmacological inhibition of the ALCAT1 enzyme by Dafaglitapin (Dafa), a potent and highly specific ALCAT1 inhibitor, not only restored TLCL levels but also mitochondrial respiration by attenuating signal transduction pathways mediated by hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α). Consequently, ablation or pharmacological inhibition of ALCAT1 by Dafa effectively mitigated CHD and its underlying pathogenesis, including dilated cardiomyopathy, left ventricle dysfunction, myocardial inflammation, fibrosis, and apoptosis. Together, the findings have provided the first proof-of-concept studies for targeting ALCAT1 as an effective treatment for CHD.

N-doped carbon possesses the advantages of electronic modification and immobilization of metal nanoparticles. Hence, N-doped carbon-based metal catalysts have received extensive attention. This study prepared uniformly dispersed Ni nanoparticles (24.0 wt%) on porous N-doped carbon, which was fabricated via the high temperature pyrolysis of nitrogen-rich ZnNi MOFs with 1H-1,2,3-triazole as the ligand. The 1H-1,2,3-triazole as a high energy ligand could volatilize violently to form a N-doped macroporous carbon-based structure. Zn acted as a fence and prevented the accumulation of Ni during the pyrolysis of ZnNi MOFs. The synergistic effect from the abundant porous structure together with uniformly dispersed Ni nanoparticles proves the excellent catalytic activity toward the hydrogenation of dicyclopentadiene, showing 100% DCPD conversion and >99% THDCPD selectivity.

The relationship of the genes of PAL (phenylalanine ammonia-lyase) and scopoletin was explored to reveal the key gene involved in PAL activity, PAL expression and scopoletin accumulation in noni (Morinda citrifolia L.) leaves and fruit. Our results display how the enzyme activity of PAL in noni fruit and leaves increases gradually with the leaves maturity, and exogenous ethephon induces PAL activity in noni leaves, which is consistent with the scopoletin accumulation law. Based on our previous transcriptome data, three PAL fragments were retrieved, and their full lengths were cloned via RACE; named as McPAL1, McPAL2 and McPAL3. The analysis of qRT-PCR showed that McPAL3 is expressed in the leaves and mature fruit, McPAL2 in the leaves only and McPAL1 mainly in the young stage of fruit. Ethephon induced the expression of McPAL2 and McPAL3 in the leaves, and McPAL1 and McPAL3 in the fruit. In noni fruit treated with ethephon, the expression pattern of McPAL3 was consistent with the trend of the scopoletin content and total PAL activity. We conclude that McPAL3 is the key gene involved in the accumulation of scopoletin, which can be induced by ethylene (ETH).

The fast deactivation caused by serious formation of coke is a major challenge in catalytic isomerization of endo-tetrahydrodicyclopentadiene (endo-THDCPD) into exo-tetrahydrodicyclopentadiene (exo-THDCPD) over the HY zeolite. In order to suppress the coke formation for the isomerization process, the conventional HY zeolite was modified with Pt at 0.3 wt %. Then, the hydroisomerization of endo-THDCPD into exo-THDCPD was evaluated over a fixed-bed reactor. The catalytic stability of Pt/HY was greatly enhanced in comparison to that of the HY zeolite. The Pt/HY catalyst provided 97% endo-THDCPD conversion and 96% selectivity for exo-THDCPD without deactivation after 100 h. Moreover, the formation mechanism of coke on the HY zeolite during the isomerization process was proposed based on the results of the coke analysis. It was indicated that the coke was generated from the oligomerization and condensation of olefin species, which originated from the β-scission reaction or hydride transfer reaction of intermediates. The lower coke formation over Pt/HY was attributed to the lower amount of coke precursors, which could be hydrogenated by activated H2 over Pt sites. Therefore, Pt on Pt/HY and H2 were two crucial factors in efficiently enhancing the catalytic stability of the HY zeolite for this isomerization reaction.

Conventional single thermal nature of phase change materials (PCMs) seriously obstructs their frontier applications. Herein, we designed advanced carbon nanotube (CNT) bundles assembled flexible hierarchical framework based phase change material composites for high-performance thermotherapy of allergic rhinitis. Hierarchically interconnected 3D freestanding flexible CNT sponge was constructed via a facile organic solvent-free route using table salt as a sacrificial template. The resulting hierarchical CNT sponge serves as an ideal compatible supporting host and polyethylene glycol (PEG) serves as an excellent thermal energy guest. Subsequently, we designed advanced portable integrated functional mask consisting of outer air purification layer and inner thermal regulation layer for the thermotherapy of allergic rhinitis, in which pristine CNT sponge serves as an excellent particulate matter capturer and PEG-infiltrated CNT sponge serves as a superior thermal regulator. Strikingly, our uniquely constructed flexible CNT sponge-involved composite PCMs assisted by polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) harvest high-performance thermotherapy (~33 ​min of the plateau at ~43.5 ​°C). The corresponding medical results (HE staining and Wrights staining) further indicate that our designed thermotherapy mask can significantly reduce the inflammatory injury of nasal mucosa. Additionally, pristine hierarchical CNT sponge guarantees the inhaled air quality and enhances the thermotherapy effect. This synthetic strategy can be scaled up for large-scale production. This novel functional host-guest strategy creates an innovative platform for developing advanced multifunctional PCMs with multiple fascinating peculiarities and desired functional properties and teaches an old dog new tricks.

Owing to the high abundance, good conductivity and excellent tolerance to harsh environment, carbon host materials have recently attracted considerable research interest in the fields of electrochemical hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). However, the deficiency of intrinsic active sites within the carbon host materials substantially gives rise to an inferior HER performance. In this work, atomically dispersed ruthenium active sites are deliberately introduced into the carbon host structure by controlled pyrolysis of Ru-doped ZIF-8. With atomic Ru sites on a unique whisker-like secondary microstructure and a favorable porous texture, the optimal product exhibits a high intrinsic activity as well as robust durability, which especially outperforms the Pt/C benchmarking in alkaline media. A combination of control experiments and theoretical calculations demonstrates that atomically dispersed Ru sites within the carbon host matrix serve as the dominant catalytically active sites, and remarkably optimize the free energy of water molecule dissociation during the Volmer step, thus boosting the HER performance.

A novel controlled drug release system based on pH sensitive polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanoflowers in different kinds of solvents was successfully prepared with azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) as the initiator and without any emulsifier or stabilizer by a one step static polymerization method. The composition and structure of the PAN nanoflowers were analyzed by FTIR, XRD, SEM, TEM, and laser particle size analysis. The polymer particles consisted of a number of lamellae, with a sheet thickness of about 10 nm, and were similar to the shape of flowers with a particle diameter of about 350 nm. The mechanism of the polymerization reaction and the formation were studied. Moreover, the effects of monomer ratio, initiator concentration, reaction time, dispersion medium and co-monomer on the morphology and particle size of the nanoflowers were also discussed. A relatively large specific surface area was formed during the formation of the nanoflowers, which favored drug adsorption. The results of the in vitro experiments revealed that PAN(TBP) nanoflowers, containing BSA in buffer solution of pH 7.4, demonstrated good sustained-release and the cumulative release rate was about 83% after 260 h. The results also showed that the sustained-release from the PAN(TBP) nanoflowers best fitted the Riger-Peppas model. This study indicated that PAN(TBP) nanoflowers provided a theoretical base for the development of carriers for sustainable drug-release.

The mechanism of synthetic polymer fluid loss additive (FLA) was based on adsorption of FLA on the surface of hydrating cement particles and the formation of a complex network structure, resulting in decline of cement slurry filtrate. However, due to the complexity of early hydration environment of cement slurry, there was lack of effective and intuitive way to characterize the adsorption interaction between FLA and cement particles. In this study we described our quest in furthering understanding of the adsorption action of fluid loss additive on the cement minerals. By fluorescence staining technique (combined polymer additives with organic fluorescent dyes), we observed that the skin of the hydrated particles was coated with dyed polymer, which led to a successful fluid loss additive. More importantly, the analysis of the fluorescence intensity of luminous polymer in cement pore solution distinguished the respective adsorption capacity of various admixtures (dyed and undyed) on the surface of the cement particles, so as to solve the problem of the traditional method in characterizing the competitive adsorption between polymers, thus gave a convenient way to analyze the interaction mechanism between polymer admixture and cement particles from the theory and technology.

Novel 3D self-supported porous NiO@NiMoO4 core–shell nanosheets are grown on nickel foam through a facile stepwise hydrothermal method. Ultrathin NiO nanosheets on the nickel foam cross-linked to e...

In this work, a core-shell structured upconversion nanoparticles@zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIF-8) fluorescent nanoprobe (NaErF4:Tm@SiO2@ZIF-8) has been designed for the detection of gallic acid (GA). The mechanism is according to the 3, 3′, 5, 5′-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) can be oxidized to oxidized TMB (oxTMB) by Ag+. Under 980 nm laser excitation, NaErF4:Tm@SiO2@ZIF-8 can emit red light at 652 nm, which have a good overlap with the absorption spectra of oxTMB, resulting in the fluorescence quenching at 652 nm. Continually adding GA into the above solution, oxTMB will restore to TMB, and the fluorescence intensity at 652 nm gradually recovers, which can realize the detection towards GA. The linear detection range of GA is from 0 to 30 μM, and the limit of detection (LOD) of GA is 0.35 μM. The ZIF-8 can largely enhance the sensitivity of the nanoprobe, due to the physical absorption and the electrostatic attraction between ZIF-8 and the oxTMB. More importantly, this is the first time to realize the detection of GA with high sensitivity by using upconversion fluorescence. Besides, we have realized the analysis of GA in real samples, which certify the feasible of the nanoprobe in potential applications.

A Sisal-Like TiO2/Graphene-Like Carbon Sheets (SL-TiO2/GLCSs) composite was fabricated via a facile one-pot self-assembling route at a two-phase interface. The ingenious P123 was introduced to serve a dual function of carbon precursor and structure-directing agent, which first assembled at the water/oil interfaces and subsequently was in situ carbonized to GLCSs. Then the sisal-like TiO2 grew gradually on the GLCSs along the preferred direction. This process shows several advantages such as simple processes, mild condition, low cost and good combination of SL-TiO2 and GLCSs. The combination of SL-TiO2 with GLCSs significantly helps the adsorption of substrates as well as promotes electron-hole pair separation, exhibiting good photocatalytic activity towards degradation of methylene blue (MB) compared to the pristine SL-TiO2 and commercial P25. This strategy opens up new perspectives for fabricating novel composites of nanooxides/GLCSs.

Background & Aims Obesity promotes the development of nonalcoholic fatty liver diseases (NAFLDs), yet not all obese patients develop NAFLD. The underlying causes for this discrepancy remain elusive. LPGAT1 is an acyltransferase that catalyzes the remodeling of phosphatidylglycerol (PG), a mitochondrial phospholipid implicated in various metabolic diseases. Here, we investigated the role of LPGAT1 in regulating the onset of diet-induced obesity and its related hepatosteatosis because polymorphisms of the LPGAT1 gene promoter were strongly associated with susceptibility to obesity in Pima Indians. Methods Mice with whole-body knockout of LPGAT1 were generated to investigate the role of PG remodeling in NAFLD. Results LPGAT1 deficiency protected mice from diet-induced obesity, but led to hepatopathy, insulin resistance, and NAFLD as a consequence of oxidative stress, mitochondrial DNA depletion, and mitochondrial dysfunction. Conclusions This study identified an unexpected role of PG remodeling in obesity, linking mitochondrial dysfunction to NAFLD., Graphical abstract

Fine structure of intrinsic fluorescent emission from nonconjugated amine-containing compounds is firstly investigated, which is found to rely on concentration and kind of solvent. Manifest differe...

Incorporating elemental selenium into parts of the micropores of a high surface area carbonaceous framework can simultaneously buffer volume variation and improve electronic conductivity of the resulting selenium/carbon composite for high-performance lithium-selenium (Li-Se) battery cathodes. In this paper, chitosan-derived porous carbon (CPC) framework has been constructed through a one-step carbonization/activation route, possessing oxygen- and nitrogen-containing functional groups and acquiring a high specific surface area of 2098.6 m2 g−1, a total pore volume of 1.04 cm3 g−1 and a micropore volume of 0.62 cm3 g−1. As a Li-Se battery cathode, at 0.1 C (1 C = 675 mA g−1) the composite cathode of Se-50.2/CPC (Se ∼ 50.2 wt%) delivers the ultrahigh discharge capacities of 801.2, 673.1 and 633.9 mAh g−1 in the 1st, 2nd and 100th cycles, respectively. The change of Se-loading amount proves the volume-buffering positive effect of residual voids on the cycling stability of Se-50.2/CPC composite cathode, and the galvanostatic cycling-dependent decrease of charge-transfer resistance interprets its high-capacity feature and good rate capability. In a word, a facile, low-cost and value-added transformation of chitosan into porous carbon framework may satisfy its potential application in Li-Se batteries.

Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries exhibit a high specific capacity (1675 mAh g−1) but poor S conductivity and severe shuttle effects. Selenium (Se) can greatly mitigate these disadvantages, but its theoretical capacity is relatively low (675 mAh g−1). A series of Sx-Sey compounds supported by chitosan-derived carbon with intertwined carbon nanotube (CC + CNT) carriers exhibit the high capacity of S, the stability of Se, and the excellent conductivity of C, complementing their individual defects. S2Se1/CC + CNT shows the best electrochemical performance (833.2 mAh g−1 after 500 cycles). Characterization results reveal the structure–activity relationships and complex reaction mechanisms of the prepared electrode materials. The overall reactions are a combination of basic Li-S and Li-Se reactions. The discharge steps are clearly identifiable, while the reaction sequences are slightly adjusted and fully integrated when charging. This work provides a foundation for future research and for the practical application of chalcogenides in lithium-metal batteries.

As one of the most abundant natural aromatic polymers with plentiful oxygen-containing groups in molecular backbones, commercial lignin can be regarded as a sustainable precursor to develop porous carbonaceous frameworks for the encapsulation of elemental selenium. In this paper, an initial combined carbonization/activation of commercial alkaline lignin and subsequent selenium-loading are adopted to fabricate serial composites of lignin-derived porous carbon (LPC) and elemental selenium (i.e., serial Se/LPC composites) for high-performance lithium-selenium (Li-Se) batteries. The high specific surface area, large pore volume and good electron conductivity of each LPC scaffold facilitate the reversible electrochemical reaction of selenium towards metallic Li, and at 0.5 C a Se/LPC composite electrode exhibits a reversible capacity of 596.4 mAh g −1 in the 2nd cycle and a capacity retention of 453.1 mAh g −1 over 300 cycles with an average decay of 0.08% per cycle. The facilely obtained microporous features of LPC scaffold, as well as the high-rate performance of corresponding Se/LPC composites (e.g., 363.2 mAh g −1 , 4 C), indicate that large-scale treatment of the biomass feedstock may find its potential application in renewable green energy sources.

Hierarchical α-Ni(OH)2 assembled of ultrathin nanosheets with the intercalation of diatomic alcohol molecules were synthesized via a facile one-step solvothermal process. The assembly structure avoided the agglomeration of ultrathin nanosheets while retaining their atomic-scale thickness and high surface area. The intercalation of the diatomic alcohol molecules into the transition-metal layers provided larger interlayer spacing and more exposed active sites, which guaranteed the high activity of the α-Ni(OH)2. The as-obtained hierarchical α-Ni(OH)2 exhibited excellent catalytic performance in the reduction of p-nitrophenol, with a maximum reaction rate constant (k) of 6.23 × 10–3 s–1 and a super high activity factor K (K = k/m) of 216.69 s–1 g–1. The layer spacing played the most important role in the reaction, and the catalytic efficiency increased greatly with the increase of the layer spacing of the α-Ni(OH)2. This design concept and synthetic method can also be extended to the production of a wide var...

Fusarium graminearum is a notorious pathogen that causes Fusarium head blight (FHB) in cereal crops. It produces secondary metabolites, such as deoxynivalenol, diminishing grain quality and leading to lesser crop yield. Many strategies have been developed to combat this pathogenic fungus, however, considering the lack of resistant cultivars and likelihood of environmental hazards upon using chemical pesticides, efforts have shifted toward the biocontrol of plant diseases, which is a sustainable and eco-friendly approach. Fengycin, derived from Bacillus amyloliquefaciens FZB42, was purified from the crude extract by HPLC and further analyzed by MALDI-TOF-MS. Its application resulted in structural deformations in fungal hyphae, as observed via scanning electron microscopy. In planta experiment revealed the ability of fengycin to suppress F. graminearum growth and highlighted its capacity to combat disease incidence. Fengycin significantly suppressed F. graminearum, and also reduced the deoxynivalenol (DON), 3-acetyldeoxynivalenol (3-ADON), 15-acetyldeoxynivalenol (15-ADON), and zearalenone (ZEN) production in infected grains. To conclude, we report that fengycin produced by B. amyloliquefaciens FZB42 has potential as a biocontrol agent against F. graminearum and can also inhibit the mycotoxins produced by this fungus.

The increasing popularity of Morinda citrifolia has many medical and health benefits because of its rich polysaccharides (PSC) and polyphenols (PPN). It has become popular to brew the dry M. citrifolia fruit slice as tea in some regions of China. In this study, optimize the extraction parameters of M. citrifolia fruit tea polysaccharides and polyphenols using response surface methodology. The results indicated the highest PSC yield of 17% at 46 °C for 11 min and the ratio of water/M. citrifolia fruit powder was 78 mL/g. The optimum extraction of PPN was at 95 °C for 10 min and the ratio of water/M. citrifolia fruit powder 90 mL/g, with 8.93% yield. Using dry M. citrifolia fruit slices as a tea is reported for the first time. Based on the results, the maximum level of PSC can be obtained under condition by infusing about four dried M. citrifolia fruit slice with average thickness and size in warm boiled water for 11 min, taking a 300 mL cup (300 mL of water) for example. The maximum level of PPN can be obtained by adding three slices of dried M. citrifolia fruit slice to boiled water for 10 min. Considering the powder used in our study, the further pulverization of cutting into powder is more conducive to material precipitation. This study provides a scientific basis for obtaining PSC and PPN from dry M. citrifolia fruit slice tea by brewing.

Mesoporous CeO2-based oxides (CuO/CeO2, Fe2O3/CeO2 and La2O3/CeO2) were synthesized by a one-step hydrothermal method. CeO2-based oxides showed the undoped flower-like mesoporous microspheres of 2–6 μm in diameter with high BET surface areas. Copper, iron or lanthanum ions were each successfully doped into ceria and the dopants enhanced the amount of Ce3+ in cerium in all samples, which improved the oxygen mobility and the amount of surface active oxygen. The synthesized CeO2-based oxides showed significantly improved catalytic activity toward the oxidation of styrene, among which CuO/CeO2 exhibited the highest activity of 92.5% conversion. The catalytic activity of the composites was demonstrated to closely parallel their surface area and surface active oxygen atom sites.

Graphite anode (specific capacity is only 372 mA h g−1) for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) is not enough for high energy and high power density demands. In this work, MOF-5 was used as a precursor to prepare a porous carbon material embedded with BN (Boron Nitride), while B and N elements will enhance the electron transport speed thus improving the conductivity simultaneously. A large specific surface area of 1790.19 m2 g−1 was provided with this material because of embedding of lamellar BN, therefore it caused excellent cycling stability and high capacity characteristics in LIBs. The capacity retention is 1290 mA h g−1 at 200 mA g−1 and 683 mA h g−1 at 2000 mA g−1. This material provides a solution for improving the performance of LIBs, and it can also be a reference for the development in other fields.

Hybridization of Metal-Organic frameworks (MOFs) with conductive materials has proven to be an efficient way to enhance their oxygen evolution reaction (OER) performance. Here we present a novel primer-induced in situ hybridization method to covalently link the nickel-based two-dimensional (2D) ultrathin MOFs nanosheets and graphene. By considering the energetically favorable anchoring process, thermodynamically prohibited self-polymerization side reaction and high delocalization of lowest unoccupied molecular orbitals (LUMO), the optimal phenylenebisboronic acid (PBA) primer were rapidly identified by screening thousands of primers via a high-throughput periodic density functional theory (DFT) workflow. Aided by the computational results, the PBA molecules were used to be covalently bonded to graphene successfully and then induce the in-situ growth of ultrathin Ni-MOFs nanosheets with terephthalic acid (TPA) as the ligand (denoted as Ni-HMOF@GE-PBA). The as-prepared Ni-HMOF@GE-PBA was demonstrated as a high-performance electrocatalyst for OER, delivering a much lower onset potential than that of simple blending of graphene and Ni-MOFs nanosheets by 150 mV. This design and construction strategy would pave an efficient pathway to rapid exploration and synthesis of new 2D–2D hybrid catalytic materials with excellent performance for OER.

Hierarchical nanostructure with hollow feature can greatly promote electrocatalytic activity by facilitating the diffusion of active species and accelerating the contact between catalyst and electrolyte. In this paper, we report the preparation of hierarchical hollow NiFe hydroxide nanospheres assembled from ultrathin nanosheets as the OER electrocatalyst via a simple and gentle self-templating strategy, which includes two steps: the synthesis of Ni(OH)2 nanospheres precursor and its further transformation to the final hollow-spheres after the introduction of Fe3+ via a mild hydrothermal method. The hollow NiFe hydroxide nanospheres were proven to be composed of ultrathin nanosheets which formed porous walls. This unique structure achieved numerous mass transfer channels for electrolytes, ideal pathways for ions and electrons, and a high specific surface area, leading to the improved performance for the product during the electrocatalytic reaction. In addition, the charge transfer rate and structural stability of the architecture have been greatly improved after the addition of Fe3+, which guaranteed high electrochemical performance toward OER. The tafel plot for NiFe-190 without any conductive agents is 60 mV dec−1 and the overpotential needed to reach a current density of 10 mA cm−2 is a 270 mV.

The direct pyrolysis of metal organic frameworks (MOFs) has recently provided an effective method to prepare various metal-incorporated composite carbon materials. In this work, hierarchical Co-embedded N-doped porous carbon microspheres were synthesized by controlled pyrolysis of bimetallic Zn-Co Prussian blue analogues (PBAs), in which the metallic Zn component served as thermally removable template and ligand [Co(CN)6]3− served as both Co and N sources. When devoted to catalyzing the reduction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NPh) into 4-aminophenol (4-APh), the optimized catalyst exhibited a large apparent rate constant of 1.35 min−1 and high turnover frequency (TOF) of 0.0204 s−1, which was superior to the majority of noble-metal-based catalysts. Besides, a home-made continuous flow catalysis system was readily constructed. Control experiments confirmed that both partially uncovered and totally in-built active metallic Co species acted as catalytically active sites. This work might provide a further understanding of the identification of active sites within metal-incorporated carbon-based catalysts.

Magnetic chitosan microspheres were prepared by the emulsification cross-linking technique in the presence of glutaraldehyde as cross-linking agent, liquid paraffin as dispersant, and Span-80 as emulsifier. The optimal cross-linking time and Co0.5Ni0.5Fe2O4: chitosan ratio were determined. The morphology of particles was studied by different techniques. The adsorption characteristics were studied and the effect exerted by the initial concentration of methyl orange, the time of cross-linking, and the amount of the adsorbent was determined. It is found that the product obtained at the Co0.5Ni0.5Fe2O4: chitosan ratio 1: 4 and the crosslinking time 5 h has the uniform morphology. At room temperature, the Co0.5Ni0.5Fe2O4–chitosan magnetic composite has maximal adsorption for methyl orange at the dosage 20 mg.

Magnetic chitosan has excellent adsorption performance toward crude oil. It is suitable for large-scale adsorption and adsorbent can be separated from the medium by a simple magnetic process. In this paper, magnetic Ni0.5Mn0.5Fe2O4-chitosan nanoparticles were obtained using Ni0.5Mn0.5Fe2O4 as cores and chitosan as a polymeric shell. The size, structure, and magnetic properties of the resultant magnetic nanoparticles were characterized by TEM, SEM, XRDm and vibrating sample magnetometer. The performance of surface activity was measured by TX-500C full-scale automatic dynamic spinning drop interfacial tension instrument.

A hierarchical yolk/shell copper hydroxysulfates@MOF (CHS@MOF, where MOF = metal-organic frameworks) structure was fabricated from a homogeneous yolk/shell CHS template composed of an active shell and a stabilized core via a facile self-template strategy at room temperature. The active shell of the template served as the source of metal ion and was in situ transformed into a well-defined MOF crystal shell, and the relatively stabilized core retained its own nature during the formation of the MOF shell. The strategy of in situ transformation of CHS shell to MOF shell avoided the self-nucleation of MOF in the solution and complex multistep procedures. Furthermore, a flow reaction system using CHS@MOF as self-supported stationary-phase catalyst was developed, which demonstrated excellent catalytic performance for aldehyde acetalization with ethanol, and high yields and selectivities were achieved under mild conditions.

Distances between amine groups were varied through three different approaches, which were found to play a crucial role in influencing the intrinsic fluorescence properties. Experimental data confir...

Micron-sized, monodisperse PMMA microspheres were produced in TEOS, under static condition by one step. The mechanism of this novel self-formation method was studied based on experiment results; it was found that the growth of PMMA microspheres was in two ways. The properties of the intermediate particles were studied by several methods. The size of finally obtained polymer particles could be controlled by adjusting the content of monomer in initial polymerization solution. The influence of the polymerization temperature on the preparation of polymer microspheres was also investigated.

Amine-containing compounds including polymers, oligomers and small molecules, without conventional fluorophores, are found to emit strong visible fluorescence after a one-step heat treatment. Furthermore, our results demonstrate for the first time that not only tertiary amine groups but also primary and secondary amine groups can act as fluorescent moieties.

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 3 (SCA3) is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disorder caused by the expansion of a CAG trinucelotide repeat that encodes an abnormal polyglutamine (PolyQ) tract in the disease protein, ataxin-3. The formation of neuronal intranuclear inclusions in the specific brain regions is one of the pathological hallmarks of SCA3. Acceleration of the degradation of the mutant protein aggregates is proven to produce beneficial effects in SCA3 and other PolyQ diseases. Lithium is known to be neuroprotective in various models of neurodegenerative disease and can reduce the mutant protein aggregates by inducing autophagy. In this study, we explored the therapeutic potential of lithium in a SCA3 Drosophila model. We showed that chronic treatment with lithium chloride at specific doses notably prevented eye depigmentation, alleviated locomotor disability, and extended the median life spans of SCA3 transgenic Drosophila. By means of genetic approaches, we showed that co-expressing the mutant S9E, which mimicked the phosphorylated S9 state of Shaggy as done by lithium, also partly decreased toxicity of gmr-SCA3tr-Q78. Taken together, our findings suggest that lithium is a promising therapeutic agent for the treatment of SCA3 and other PolyQ diseases.

In the molecule of the title compound, C15H10N2O, the dihedral angle between the two benzene rings is 65.49 (9)°.

We present measurements of photoionization cross-sections of the excited states of cobalt using a two-color, two-step resonance ionization technique in conjunction with a molecular beam time of flight (TOF) mass spectrometer. The atoms were produced by the laser vaporization of a cobalt rod, coupled with a supersonic gas jet. The absolute photoionization cross-sections at threshold and near-threshold regions (0-1.2 eV) were measured, and the measured values ranged from 4.2±0.7 Mb to 10.5±1.8 Mb. The lifetimes of four odd parity energy levels are reported for the first time.

In the title compound, C14H7N3O3, the dihedral angle between the two arene units is 62.57 (12)°.