Search

In this work, a novel metal-organic framework (MOF) based on 2,6-di(1H-imidazol-1-yl)naphthalene (L) and biphenyl-3,4′,5-tricarboxylic acid (H3bptc), namely [Co(L)(Hbptc)(H2O)] (1), has been prepared. 1 has a distinct infinite chain structure, further linked together by winding interactions to give the three-dimensional (3D) network structure. 1 was characterized by X-ray crystallography, infrared spectra (IR) spectroscopy, elemental and thermal analysis. Photoluminescence studies revealed that 1 shows a strong emission at 361 nm upon excitation at 290 nm at room temperature. Moreover, 1 can efficiently detect Fe3+ ions by luminescence quenching.

Redox mediators (RMs) have become a significant point in the now-established Li-O2 battery system to reduce the charging overpotential in the oxygen evolution process. Nevertheless, a major inherent barrier of the RM is the redox shuttling between the Li metal anode and mobile RM, resulting in the corrosion of Li and depletion of RM. In this study, taking iodide/triiodide as a model RM, we propose an effective strategy by immersing the Li metal anode in I2 steam to create a 1.5 μm thick surface protective layer. The resultant ionic conductive LiI layer on the Li metal anode can not only suppress Li dendrite growth but also act as a buffer layer between the RM and bare Li. By combining the iodide/triiodide RM with the LiI protective layer, the Li-O2 battery shows low and steady charge voltage plateaus of ∼3.6 V over 70 cycles. Importantly, the symmetrical cell using the LiI-protected Li electrode exhibited small Li plating/stripping overpotentials (∼20 mV, 480 h), far superior to that of the bare Li electrode (∼70 mV, 300 h). The in situ interfacial observation shows that dendrite growth on the Li metal can be effectively suppressed by optimizing the LiI protective layer.

The existence of defects in perovskite films is a major obstacle that prevents perovskite solar cells (PSCs) from high efficiency and long-term stability. A variety of additives have been introduced into perovskite films for reducing the number of defects. Lewis base-based additive engineering has been considered as an effective way to eliminate defects, especially the defects caused by the uncoordinated Pb2+. In this work, for the first time, a bilateral cyano molecule (succinonitrile, SN) which is a commonly used plasticizer in solid electrolyte of solid-state lithium batteries was selected as an additive to modify organic–inorganic hybrid perovskite films in PSCs. SN is featured with two cyano groups (–C≡N) distributing at both terminals of the carbon chain, providing two cross-linking points to interact with perovskites crystals via coordinating with uncoordinated Pb2+ and forming hydrogen bonds with –NH2 groups in perovskite. It was found that the addition of SN into perovskite precursor solution could effectively reduce defects, particularly inhibit the appearance of Pb0 and thus suppress trap-assisted nonradiative charge carrier recombination. As a result, the efficiency of CH3NH3PbI3(Cl) (MAPbI3(Cl))-based PSCs was improved from 18.4% to 20.3% with enhanced long-term stability at N2 and humid air atmosphere. This work provides a facile and effective strategy to enhance the PCE and stability of PSCs simultaneously, facilitating the commercialization of PSCs.

Electrochemical water splitting is an attractive technique to produce renewable hydrogen gas. However, considerable challenges remain before the catalytic anodic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) can...

A few mode fiber temperature sensor filled with PDMS based on vernier effect is proposed. It uses single mode fiber (SMF), few mode fiber (FMF), and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) to form the SMF-air microcavity-FMF-PDMS-FMF structure. It is to slot the glass capillary tube, place the two FMFs in the slot at a suitable distance, and fill the slot with PDMS multiple times and seal it. The PDMS is used as a sensing microcavity. We insert the SMF from the other end of the glass capillary tube, adjust the distance, fix the SMF and seal the connection. Two end faces of the SMF and the first FMF form an air reference microcavity. Since the refractive index of each medium is different, multiple reflective surfaces are formed to reflect. Because the second FMF is infinitely long, whose right end is beveled, it is considered that the sensor has four reflected beams. When the temperature changes, the length and refractive index of the PDMS microcavity will change, which will cause a change in the interference spectrum of the sensor. And because the vernier effect is formed by the superposition of the two microcavities, the temperature sensitivity can be amplified and the temperature can be measured with high sensitivity. The experimental results show that in the range of 40–56°C, the transmission spectrum of the sensor appears red shift with the increase of temperature, and the temperature sensitivity can reach 3.89nm/°C. The sensor is simple to manufacture, has high sensitivity, and has good application prospects.

Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) directly convert chemical energy that is stored in a wide range of fuels into direct current electricity, with high efficiency and low emissions, via a series of electrochemical reactions at elevated operating temperatures (generally 400–1000 °C). During such an energy conversion process, the properties of electrolyte materials determine the working principle and operating temperature of the SOFC. When considering the cost and stability, lowering the operating temperature is critical, and this has become one of the developing trends in SOFC research. The key point for realizing a reduction in operating temperature is to maintain low ohmic resistance of the electrolyte and low polarization resistance of the electrodes. In practice, the mechanical and chemical stability of the electrolyte is also a big concern. According to their differences in ion conduction mechanisms, there are three main types of electrolyte material available, namely, oxygen ion-conducting, proton-conducting, and dual ion-conducting electrolytes. In this review, we give a comprehensive summary of the recent advances in the development of these three types of electrolyte material for intermediate-temperature SOFCs. Both conductivity and stability are emphasized. In conclusion, the current challenges and future development prospects are discussed.

In this study, the oxygen reduction activity of PrBaCo2O5+δ (PBC) double perovskite is remarkably enhanced by rationally tuning the calcination temperatures of the cathode precursor for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). Effects of the calcination temperatures on the phase structure, microstructure, surface area and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity of PBC cathode is systematically investigated. The cathode with optimized calcination temperature (900 °C, PBC-900) shows excellent activity and stability for ORR at 600 °C in terms of area specific resistances (ASRs). A distinctive low ASR of 0.068 Ω cm2 is obtained at 600 °C for PBC-900, which is 92.6%, 34.6% and 15.0% lower than PBC-800, PBC-1000 and PBC-1100, respectively. After operating for 250 h in air at 600 °C, the ASR value of PBC-900 is not significantly reduced. Furthermore, a single cell with PBC-900 cathode delivers attractive peak power density of 1.60 W cm−2 at 600 °C. The present study suggests that the ORR activity of PBC cathode can be greatly boosted by rationally tailoring the calcination temperatures, which may bring new avenue for the design of highly active cathodes for SOFCs.

The solid-state Li-ion battery (SSB) is regarded as one of the most promising next-generation batteries due to its intrinsic safety and high energy density. Unfortunately, its development is plagued by the poor interface compatibility between the electrode and solid-state electrolyte. Herein, flame-retardant trimethyl phosphate (TMP) solvent along with lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (LiTFSI) salt and fuoroethylene carbonate (FEC) additive is utilized as a smart wetting agent to improve the interface compatibility between the Li-metal anode and the Li1.5Al0.5Ge1.5(PO4)(3) (LAGP) solid electrolyte. By taking advantage of such wetting agent, highly stable anodic and cathodic interfaces with improved physical contact and chemical stability are realized. As a result, the solid-state Li/LAGP/Li symmetrical cell with such wetting agent exhibits superior cycling performance over 1000 h with small polarization voltages. When adding such wetting agent to the solid-state Li/LAGP/LiFePO4 battery, we achieved a favorable initial capacity of about 140 mAh g(-1) at 0.5 C and can retain 80% of its initial capacity even after 700 cycles. Additionally, the solid-state Li-air battery with such wetting agent also shows stable cycling performance over 100 h. The strategy demonstrated here will encourage more research works on developing functional and safe wetting agents for solid-state batteries.

Due to the low material cost, simple preparation process, and no pollution to the environment, dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have become one of the important power conversion devices. The counter electrode (CE, also called cathode), an important part of DSSCs, plays a critical role in the photovoltaic performance of DSSCs. Platinum (Pt) with high electrocatalytic activity is the most commonly used CE material in DSSCs, which suffers from the problems of high price and poor stability, highlighting the importance of developing novel low-cost, active, and stable Pt-free CEs. In this work, a series of A-site deficient (La0.8Sr0.2)1–xFeO3-δ (x = 0, 0.02, 0.05, 0.1) perovskite oxides are designed to serve as CEs in DSSCs. Through investigating the influence of the A-site deficiency on the power conversion efficiency (PCE), it is found that the introduction of an appropriate deficiency in perovskite oxides is beneficial for catalytic activity of triiodide (I3–) reduction reaction (IRR) of the CE, thus improving the photovoltaic performance of DSSCs. Consequently, the (La0.8Sr0.2)0.98FeO3−δ/multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) CE-based device exhibits the highest PCE of 8.22%, while the Pt-based device only yields a PCE of 7.21%. The significantly enhanced efficiency of DSSCs is mainly attributed to the synergistic effect between the high oxygen vacancy concentration and the appropriate amount of Fe4+ as well as reduced particle size, which enhances the charge transfer capability and the I3– diffusion capability simultaneously. Furthermore, the decent IRR durability of (La0.8Sr0.2)0.98FeO3−δ/MWCNTs composites confers the corresponding DSSCs an excellent long-term stability. This work provides a facile way to design active and durable Pt-free perovskite oxide-based CEs in DSSCs, which may lay the foundation for the commercialization of DSSC technology.

Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) based on Ni-based cermet anodes suffer from severe sulfur poisoning when operated on H2S-containing fuels (

Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) as one of the clean electrochemical energy conversion devices have acquired increasing attention recently due to the high efficiency, low emission, and excellent fuel...

The cycling performance of lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries, which is a major parameter determining the practical application of such an advanced high-energy-density battery system (1675 mA h g(-1)), is strongly affected by the properties of the cathodic sulfur hosts. As a desirable sulfur host, it should possess high surface area, good electronic conductivity, and superior physisorption and chemisorption to polysulfides. Here, by taking advantage of the magnesiothermic denitriding technology, the graphitic carbon nitride (GCN) with a tunable nitrogen content, surface area, and pore volume has been designed as a sulfur host for high-performance Li-S batteries. With a nitrogen content of similar to 6%, a surface area of 594 m(2) g(-1), and a pore volume of about 2 cm(3) g(-1), the GCN-based host can retain sulfur and allow its reversible convention within cathodic region, thereby delivering a high capacity of 852.2 mA h g(-1) at 0.5 C with a low capacity decay of 0.12% per cycle within 300 cycles. This work provides a feasible way to design nitrogen-doped carbon materials with tunable nitrogen content and enlightens the host material design for practical Li-S batteries.

Perovskite-based oxides have emerged as promising oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalysts. The performance is closely related to the lattice, electronic, and defect structure of the oxides, which determine surface and bulk properties and consequent catalytic activity and durability. Further, interfacial interactions between phases in a nanocomposite may affect bulk transportation and surface adsorption properties in a similar manner to phase doping except without solubility limits. Herein, we report the development of a single/double perovskite nanohybrid with limited surface self-reconstruction capability as an OER electrocatalyst. Such superior performance arises from a structure that maintains high crystallinity post OER catalysis, in addition to forming an amorphous layer following the self-reconstruction of a single perovskite structure during the OER process. In situ X-ray absorption near edge structure spectroscopy and high-resolution synchrotron-based X-ray diffraction reveal an amorphization process in the hybrid single/double perovskite oxide system that is limited in comparison to single perovskite amorphization, ensuring high catalytic activity.

Although aprotic Li-air batteries offer an attractive option for achieving ultrahigh energy density of electrochemical energy storage devices, the now-established system has so far fallen short of its potential due to a daunting challenge related to its open configuration, which results in not only the rapid corrosion of Li metal anodes but also the gradual evaporation of organic liquid electrolytes. Here, we show that these issues can be well addressed by protecting the Li-air battery with a new O2-permeable silica-aerogel-reinforced polydimethylsiloxane external membrane (OPSP). The highly flexible OPSP basically benefiting from hydrogen-bond cross-linking can be constructed in situ on any substrate with particularly desirable properties such as being water-/electrolyte-proof, O2-permeable, high thermotolerance, and transparent, which allows stable cycling of coin-type and flexible Li-air batteries under harsh conditions, such as a highly volatile DMSO electrolyte (over 660 ​h), a humid air (O2) atmosphere (over 700 ​h) or circumstances in air (O2)-saturated liquid water (over 25 ​h). This work could potentially open a new research direction in developing O2-permeable membranes through hydrogen-bond cross-linking for the unfettered design of metal-air batteries.

A minor amount of CO2 in air usually causes a detrimental effect on oxygen activation over a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) cathode because insulating surface carbonate is easily formed, which inhibi...

Background: Angiogenesis is a key mechanism of tumour growth. Apatinib is an oral tyrosine kinase inhibitor that selectively inhibits vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR-2) and blocks downstream signalling and inhibiting tumour angiogenesis. It was approved in China to treat gastric cancer in October 2014. However, as breast cancer with a chest wall metastasis (CWM) has rich vascular distribution, whether Apatinib is also effective for breast cancer with a chest wall metastasis remains unknown. Therefore, we designed this clinical study to address this question. Method: The trial involved four centres in China from September 2016 to July 2019. It enrolled patients (pts) who were diagnosed of HER2 negative breast cancer with CWM and experienced first line or could not afford standard treatment. The patients were given Apatinib 500mg/day (single or combined with endocrine therapy if hormone receptor positive (HR+)) until progression or side effect not tolerated. Each patient had at least one measurable lesion according to Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumours (RECIST), version 1.1.This study was approved by ethics committee at the Ethics Committee of Beijing Cancer Hospital, and all participants provided written informed consent. The trial was also Register to clinicaltrial.gov ( NCT02878057). Results: 30 pts were enrolled in the study with a median age of 50 (range 35-69) years old. Among the 30 pts, there were 23 ER positive pts (76.7%). 17 pts (56.7%) had more than 2 sites of metastasis, and 5 pts had invasive metastasis (16.6%). 15 pts (50%) were multi pre-treated. The response of 19 pts (63.3%) could be evaluated, and the overall response rate was 57.9% (no CR, 11 cases reached PR, 2 in HR-, 9 in HR+). and the median PFS was 8.6 months (range 0.5-29.5; 95% CI 0.0-18.7). The tumour in chest wall shrunk obviously. Side effects also existed. 15 pts (50%) had hypertension (grade 3: 6.7%); 10 pts (33.3%) had proteinuria (grade 3: 20%); 4 pts (13.3%) had fatigue (grade 3: 3.3%); 3 pts (10%) had bilirubin increase (grade 3: 6.7%). 8 pts discontinued the treatment due to side effects and 3 due to personal reasons. The Apatinib dose was reduced from 500mg to 250mg for most pts 18/30 (60%), and some pts took 500 mg and 250 mg every other day 10/30 (33.3). Conclusion: Apatinib was effective for pts with chest wall metastasis and pts could benefit from longer PFS. However, the side effects should be pay more attention from start on apatinib treatment. Citation Format: Huiping Li, Cuizhi Geng, Guohong Song, Hanfang Jiang, Zhongshen Tong, Junlan Yang, Ran Ran, Ruyan Zhang, Yaxin Liu, Xinyu Gui, Maorong Wei, Lu Xue. Apatinib in the treatment of HER-2 negative advanced breast cancer with chest wall metastasis multicenter phase II clinical study [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2019 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2019 Dec 10-14; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P1-19-40.

Cost-effective electrocatalysts with high activity and long durability for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) are key to water splitting and rechargeable metal–air batteries. Here, we report the development of a superior OER electrocatalyst with outstanding activity, favorable durability, and stable particulate morphology based on an ex situ ultra-fast cation exchange strategy that can result in fine tuning of the atom arrangement inside the oxide lattice, thus optimizing the electrocatalytic performance. O3-phase NaCo0.8Fe0.2O2 (O-NCF) is selected as the starting material, and the sodium in the oxide lattice is rapidly exchanged (several minutes) with hydronium ions (H3O+) in an acidic solution. The as-derived structure fine-tuned sample displays excellent OER performances in alkaline media with an ultra-low overpotential of only 234 mV at 10 mA cm−2 in oxide-based electrocatalysts and an ultra-small Tafel slope of 34 mV dec−1. The exchange of H3O+ with Na+ does not affect the oxidation state of cobalt and iron cations inside the oxide lattice, while protons in the inserted H3O+ promote the formation of the hydroxyl group to improve activity. As a general strategy, such cation exchange strategy can also be applied to many other layered sodium transition metal oxides.

A novel Gram-stain-negative, strictly aerobic, rod-shaped, gray-pigmented bacterial strain, designated L-25–5 w-1T, was isolated from the water at Baiyang Lake, PR China. Cells of strain L-25–5 w-1T were motile, with a single polar flagellum. L-25–5 w-1T was able to grow at 15–37 °C (optimum 37 °C) and pH 5–8 (optimum pH 6) in R2A medium. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis and phylogenetic analysis of L-25–5 w-1T showed the highest relationship to Azospirillum doebereinerae GSF71T (97.9 %), Azospirillum . thiophilum DSM 21654T (97.9 %) and Azospirillum . agricola CC-HIH038T (97.0 %), with other species of the genus Azospirillum showing less than 97 % sequence similarity. The predominant polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylglycerol, diphosphatidylglycerol and two unidentified aminolipids; the major cellular fatty acids were C16 : 0, C16 : 0 3-OH, C18 : 1 2-OH, iso-C18 : 0, summed feature 2 (C12 : 0 aldehyde and/or unknown 10.9525 and/or iso-C16 : 1I and/or C14 : 0 3-OH), summed feature 3 (C16 : 1ω7c and/or C16 : 1ω6c) and summed feature 8 (C18 : 1ω7c and/or C18 : 1ω6c); and the major respiratory quinone was ubiquinone 10. The draft genome size of L-25–5 w-1T was 5.8 Mbp, and the DNA G+C content was 66.6 %. The average nucleotide identity value and digital DNA–DNA hybridization relatedness value between L-25–5 w-1T and related type strains were 80.2 and 24.7 % with A. doebereinerae GSF71T and 78.8 and 23.6 % with A. thiophilum DSM 21654T, respectively. According to the phylogenetic, chemotaxonomic and genotypic properties, strain L-25–5 w-1T represents a novel species in the genus Azospirillum , for which the name Azospirillum griseum sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is L-25–5 w-1T (=CGMCC 1.13672T=KCTC 62777T).

BACKGROUND The incidence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) is increasing, and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) in salmon (Oncorhynchus) phospholipids can effectively reduce the risk of MetS. RESULTS Under the intervention of 4% salmon phospholipid, the levels of fasting blood glucose (FBG), insulin, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) were significantly reduced in the plasma of MetS mice, whereas adiponectin was significantly increased. By screening, we found that the 18 differential metabolites, consisting of seven triglycerides (TGs), six diglycerides (DGs), one phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), three sphingomyelins (SMs) and one eicosanoid, could be the key differential metabolites, and two metabolic pathways were significantly affected: glycerolipid metabolism and glycerophospholipid metabolism. CONCLUSION 4% salmon phospholipids could affect MetS by inhibiting insulin resistance, reducing inflammatory factors and promoting the synthesis of PE, yet the mechanism required further study. Our results could help in the treatment of MetS. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.

Purpose: To assess neural changes in perceptual effects induced by myopic defocus and hyperopic defocus stimuli in ametropic and emmetropic subjects using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).Methods: This study included 41 subjects with a mean age of 26.0 ± 2.9 years. The mean spherical equivalence refraction was −0.54 ± 0.51D in the emmetropic group and −3.57 ± 2.27D in the ametropic group. The subjects were instructed to view through full refractive correction, with values of +2.00D to induce myopic defocus state and −2.00D to induce hyperopic defocus state. This was carried over in three random sessions. Arterial spin labeling (ASL) perfusion was measured using fMRI to obtain quantified regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF). Behavioral tests including distant visual acuity (VA) and contrast sensitivity (CS), were measured every 5 min for 30 min.Results: Myopic defocus induced significantly greater rCBF increase in four cerebral regions compared with full correction: right precentral gyrus, right superior temporal gyrus, left inferior parietal lobule, and left middle temporal gyrus (P < 0.001). The differences were less significant in low myopes than emmetropes. In the hyperopic defocus session, the increased responses of rCBF were only observed in the right and left precentral gyrus. Myopic defocused VA and CS improved significantly within 5 min and reached a plateau shortly after.Conclusion: This study revealed that myopic defocus stimuli can significantly increase blood perfusion in visual attention-related cerebral regions, which suggests a potential direction for future investigation on the relationship between retinal defocus and its neural consequences.

Here a new strategy is unveiled to develop superior cathodes for protonic ceramic fuel cells (PCFCs) by the formation of Ruddlesden-Popper (RP)-single perovskite (SP) nanocomposites. Materials with the nominal compositions of LaSrx Co1.5 Fe1.5 O10-δ (LSCFx, x = 2.0, 2.5, 2.6, 2.7, 2.8, and 3.0) are designed specifically. RP-SP nanocomposites (x = 2.5, 2.6, 2.7, and 2.8), SP oxide (x = 2.0), and RP oxide (x = 3.0) are obtained through a facile one-pot synthesis. A synergy is created between RP and SP in the nanocomposites, resulting in more favorable oxygen reduction activity compared to pure RP and SP oxides. More importantly, such synergy effectively enhances the proton conductivity of nanocomposites, consequently significantly improving the cathodic performance of PCFCs. Specifically, the area-specific resistance of LSCF2.7 is only 40% of LSCF2.0 on BaZr0.1 Ce0.7 Y0.2 O3-δ (BZCY172) electrolyte at 600 °C. Additionally, such synergy brings about a reduced thermal expansion coefficient of the nanocomposite, making it better compatible with BZCY172 electrolyte. Therefore, an anode-supported PCFC with LSCF2.7 cathode and BZCY172 electrolyte brings an attractive peak power output of 391 mW cm-2 and excellent durability at 600 °C.

Single-phase perovskite oxides that contain nonprecious metals have long been pursued as candidates for catalyzing the oxygen evolution reaction, but their catalytic activity cannot meet the requirements for practical electrochemical energy conversion technologies. Here a cation deficiency-promoted phase separation strategy to design perovskite-based composites with significantly enhanced water oxidation kinetics compared to single-phase counterparts is reported. These composites, self-assembled from perovskite precursors, comprise strongly interacting perovskite and related phases, whose structure, composition, and concentration can be accurately controlled by tailoring the stoichiometry of the precursors. The composite catalyst with optimized phase composition and concentration outperforms known perovskite oxide systems and state-of-the-art catalysts by 1-3 orders of magnitude. It is further demonstrated that the strong interfacial interaction of the composite catalysts plays a key role in promoting oxygen ionic transport to boost the lattice-oxygen participated water oxidation. These results suggest a simple and viable approach to developing high-performance, perovskite-based composite catalysts for electrochemical energy conversion.

Ginsenoside (GS Rg1), which has neuroprotection and anti-inflammation activities, is the main active ingredient of Radix Ginseng. However, its antidepressant-like effect in rats remains unclear. Our study was conducted to investigate whether GS Rg1 confers an antidepressant effect in rats exposed to a chronic unpredictable mild stress model of depression and to explore its possible mechanisms. Our results revealed that GS Rg1 treatments for 3 weeks alleviated the depression-related behaviors of chronic unpredictable mild stress-exposed rats, as indicated by increasing sucrose preference, improving locomotor activity and shortening immobile time in both the forced swimming tests and tail suspension tests. And these ameliorative effects of GS Rg1 treatment were involved with regulating chronic unpredictable mild stress-induced pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin beta (IL-1β) related neuro-inflammation. In addition, we further found that GS Rg1 reversed chronic unpredictable mild stress-induced IL-1β elevation, possibly by inhibiting nuclear factor kappa B pathway activation and regulating nucleotide binding and oligomerization domain-like receptor family pyrin domain-containing 3 inflammasome expression. In short, our results suggested that GS Rg1 exerted a potential antidepressant-like effect in chronic unpredictable mild stress rat model of depression, which may provide an insight into the potential of GS Rg1 in therapeutic implications for depression.

The photocatalytic reactivity of one monolayer of methanol on TiO2(110) was measured with the surface sum frequency generation vibrational spectroscopy in the C-H stretching range, which shows high photon energy dependence. The photocatalytic reactivity was systematically investigated for different active species on TiO2(110), dissociative adsorbed methanol at five-coordinated Ti sites (Ti-5c), methoxy without adsorbed methanol at Ti-5c sites, and methoxy O-b sites. The results show that the methoxy at Ti-5c sites has much higher photocatalytic reactivity than that of dissociative adsorbed methanol at Ti-5c sites, and the methoxy at O-b sites might be inactive. This work demonstrates that methoxy at Ti-5c sites is the most active species on TiO2(110) and suggests that effectively removing surface OH could enhance the photodegradation of surface organics.

We studied the photocatalytic reaction of methanol on the TiO2(110) surface in situ by surface sum frequency generation vibrational spectroscopy. The in situ vibrational spectra of the photo-oxidat...

The esterification of methacrylic acid with methanol catalyzed by NKC-9 resin (a cation-exchange resin with sulfonate groups) was conducted in a stainless stirred batch reactor. The effects of cata...

Peroxiredoxin 3 (PRX3) is predominantly located in mitochondria and plays a major role in scavenging hydrogen peroxide of mitochondria. In the present study, we detected plasma PRX3 in pregnant women receiving oral glucose tolerance test at 24–28 gestational weeks. Plasma PRX3 was significantly increased about 1 h later than insulin secretion. In vitro detection of PRX3 in mouse islet cells showed up-regulation by more than 2-fold at 1 h and reached its top at 2 h of glucose stimulation, and the PRX3 level in cultured mediums was concomitantly elevated in a glucose concentration-dependent manner. In addition, both fasting plasma insulin and PRX3 were significantly higher in the subjects of term pregnancy as compared to that at 24–28 gestational weeks, and there was a positive correlation between plasma PRX3 and insulin. Our results indicate that PRX3 plays an active role in the response to insulin release. The positive association of plasma PRX3 and insulin suggest PRX3 to be a potential indicator of high insulin resistance.

Lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries are of great interest due to their high theoretical energy density and potentially low cost. However, two of the key issues hindering their commercialization are the polysulfide shuttling and Li-dendrite growth, which result in severe capacity decay and serious safety hazards. Herein, liquid-phase delaminated birnessite (HxMnO2+x) nanosheets along with graphene and carbon nanotubes are utilized for the first time to create an “electronegative” coating layer for Li–S batteries to suppress the polysulfide shuttling and Li-dendrite growth. The as-prepared coating layer enables stable cycling of the Li–S battery with a low capacity decay rate of 0.04% per cycle over 1000 cycles at 1C. In addition, a Li-symmetrical cell with the coating layer shows suppressed dendrite growth even after being cycled over 1000 hours at 1 mA cm−2. This excellent performance is ascribed, in part, to the synergistic effect of the chemical and electrostatic interactions among polysulfides, Li ions, and [MnO2+x]x− ions, resulting in a homogeneous Li-ion flux distribution and a mitigated polysulfide shuttling. The proposed concept of an “electronegative” bifunctional coating layer illustrates a simple and effective way to develop highly stable and safe Li–S batteries.

Nine new pyrrole alkaloids, including two undescribed dimeric pyrrole 2‑carbaldehyde alkaloids, lepipyrrolins A-B (1–2), seven pyrrole-alkaloid derivatives, macapyrrolins D–J (3–9), along with three known ones (10–12) were isolated from the rhizomes of Lepidium meyenii. Their structures and absolute configurations were demonstrated by extensive spectroscopic data (1D, 2D NMR, HRESIMS), and calculated electronic circular dichroism (ECD) experiment. Compounds 1, 3–12 were tested for their nitric oxide inhibitory effects. Furthermore, compound 1 was evaluated for its cytotoxic activity against five human tumor cell lines (HL-60, SMMC-7221, A549, MCF-7, and SW480) in vitro, and displayed selective cytotoxicity against SMMC-7721 with IC50 value of 16.78 ± 0.49 μM.

Objective: The objective of this study is to determine the role of SPA (surfactant protein A) in vascular smooth muscle cell (SMC) phenotypic modulation and vascular remodeling. Approach and Results: PDGF-BB (Platelet-derived growth factor-BB) and serum induced SPA expression while downregulating SMC marker gene expression in SMCs. SPA deficiency increased the contractile protein expression. Mechanistically, SPA deficiency enhanced the expression of myocardin and TGF (transforming growth factor)-β, the key regulators for contractile SMC phenotype. In vivo, SPA was induced in medial and neointimal SMCs following mechanical injury in both rat and mouse carotid arteries. SPA knockout in mice dramatically attenuated the wire injury-induced intimal hyperplasia while restoring SMC contractile protein expression in medial SMCs. These data indicate that SPA plays an important role in SMC phenotype modulation and vascular remodeling in vivo. Conclusions: SPA is a novel protein factor modulating SMC phenotype. Blocking the abnormal elevation of SPA may be a potential strategy to inhibit the development of proliferative vascular diseases.

Objective: We aimed to determine the significance of MSC-derived exosomes (MSC-Exos) in chondrocyte autophagy under normal and inflammatory conditions.Design: Human umbilical cord-derived MSCs (hMSCs) were cultured in vitro. hMSC-Exos( EX） were isolated by an ultracentrifugation method. Transmission electron microscopy and western analysis were used to identify exosomes. Human chondrocytes were extracted from five adult males with OA undergoing total knee arthroplasty. Primary cultures of chondrocytes from OA patients were stimulated with 50 ng/ml tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in the presence or absence of hMSC-Exos. Autophagy levels were determined based on expression of autophagic marker LC3, StubRFP-SensGFP-LC3 analysis, and electron microscopy. Catabolic gene and chemokine expression were evaluated using quantitative PCR. The NF-κB inhibitor NS398 was used to analyze the role of the NF-κB pathway in autophagic activation.Results: hMSC-Exos increased LC3-II levels as well as autophagosome number in chondrocytes. hMSC-Exos inhibited TNF-α–induced expression of MMP-3, -9, and -13; ADAMTS5; CCL-2 and -5; and CXCL1. NF-κB inhibition activated autophagy in TNF-α–treated chondrocytes. These results indicate that hMSC-Exos might suppress the levels of catabolic and inflammatory factors in chondrocytes by promoting autophagy via NF-κB pathway inhibition.Conclusions: Our data support the interest in hMSC-Exos to develop new therapeutic approaches for joint conditions.

Perovskite oxides have been extensively investigated as catalysts for solar water splitting to generate hydrogen (H2) due to the easily tuned band gap, distinct optical/chemical properties and superior structural/compositional flexibility. Cation doping is widely used to boost the photocatalytic activity of perovskite oxides while the anion doping into the oxygen (O)-site of perovskite oxides is less investigated. Herein, we present a non-metal fluorine (F-) doping strategy to improve the photocatalytic activity of Ruddlesden-Popper Sr2TiO4 perovskites for H2 evolution reaction (HER). By optimizing the F- doping amount in Sr2TiO4-xFx, the highest H2 generation rate of 282 μmol h-1 g-1 is achieved by Sr2TiO3.97F0.03 under full-range sunlight illumination (λ ≥ 250 nm), which is 44% larger than that of Sr2TiO4 (195 μmol h-1 g-1). Such enhancement in the photocatalytic HER activity of Sr2TiO3.97F0.03 can be assigned to the increased surface oxygen vacancy amount, suppressed charge carrier recombination, more negative conduction band position as well as well-balanced band gap energy, particle size and specific surface area induced by the F- doping. Our current study presents a facile and effective strategy for the future design of highly efficient catalysts for solar water splitting.

One challenge for the commercial development of solid oxide fuel cells as efficient energy-conversion devices is thermo-mechanical instability. Large internal-strain gradients caused by the mismatch in thermal expansion behaviour between different fuel cell components are the main cause of this instability, which can lead to cell degradation, delamination or fracture1-4. Here we demonstrate an approach to realizing full thermo-mechanical compatibility between the cathode and other cell components by introducing a thermal-expansion offset. We use reactive sintering to combine a cobalt-based perovskite with high electrochemical activity and large thermal-expansion coefficient with a negative-thermal-expansion material, thus forming a composite electrode with a thermal-expansion behaviour that is well matched to that of the electrolyte. A new interphase is formed because of the limited reaction between the two materials in the composite during the calcination process, which also creates A-site deficiencies in the perovskite. As a result, the composite shows both high activity and excellent stability. The introduction of reactive negative-thermal-expansion components may provide a general strategy for the development of fully compatible and highly active electrodes for solid oxide fuel cells.

Direct ammonia solid oxide fuel cell (DA-SOFC) is superior to low-temperature direct ammonia fuel cell using anion exchange membrane because of much improved anode reaction kinetics at elevated temperature. However, significant performance degradation due to severe sintering of conventional nickel cermet anode under operating conditions is a big challenge for realizing its practical use. Herein, a high-performance anode based on LaSrTiO (LST) perovskite substrate with its surface decorated with in situ exsolved and strongly coupled NiCo alloy nanoparticles (NPs) is designed and fabricated for DA-SOFCs, exhibiting superior catalytic activity for NH decomposition reaction due to balanced NH adsorption and N desorption processes. An electrolyte-supported single cell with infiltrated NiCo/LST on SmCeO scaffold anode delivers a maximum power density of 361 mW cm at 800 °C in NH fuel, superior to similar SOFCs with Ni or Co NP-decorated LST based anodes (161 and 98 mW cm). Furthermore, the SOFC with this newly developed anode displays favorable operational stability without obvious performance degradation at 700 °C for a test period of ≈120 h, attributed to its high antisintering capability. This study provides some strategies to develop highly active, stable, and antisintering perovskite-based nanocomposite for DA-SOFCs, facilitating the practical use of this technology.

Background To establish the independent association between blood pressure (BP) and retinal vascular caliber, especially the retinal venular caliber, in a population of 12-year-old Chinese children. Methods We have examined 1501 students in the 7th grade with mean age of 12.7 years. A non-mydriatic fundus camera (Canon CR-2, Tokyo, Japan) was used to capture 450 fundus images of the right eyes. Retinal vascular caliber was measured using a computer-based program (IVAN). BP was measured using an automated sphygmomanometer (HEM-907, Omron, Kyoto, Japan). Results The mean retinal arteriolar caliber was 145.3 μm (95% confidence interval [CI], 110.6–189.6 μm) and the mean venular caliber was 212.7 μm (95% CI, 170.6–271.3 μm). After controlling for age, sex, axial length, BMI, waist, spherical equivalent, birth weight, gestational age and fellow retinal vessel caliber, children in the highest quartile of BP had significantly narrower retinal arteriolar caliber than those with lower quartiles (P for trend

Lithium-sulfur batteries have attracted a lot of attention in the recent years. However, the electrochemical performance of lithium-sulfur batteries is greatly affected owing to several issues. In this paper, we designed a polyaniline@spherical ordered mesoporous carbon/sulfur nanocomposite (PANI@S-OMC/S), and S-OMC/S was wrapped by PANI via in-situ polymerization. The inherently conducting nature of PANI increased conductivity of PANI@S-OMC/S electrode to improve the free transfer of electrons, and PANI shell also provided a barrier between the lithium polysulfides and electrolyte to further prevent the occurrence of the “shuttle effect”. Moreover, mesoporous pores are wonderful hosts to contain sulfur to trap the long-chain lithium polysulfides and prevent them from dissolving in electrolyte. A high initial discharge capacity of 1626 mAh/g was achieved for the PANI@S-OMC/S electrode in first cycle at 0.1 C, and the composite maintains 1338 mAh/g after 100 cycles while the coulombic efficiency still remains ∼98%.

Atherosclerosis is an age-associated disease; however, diabetic atherosclerosis has higher severity beyond age range for accumulative premature senescent cells in diabetes. Recent findings suggest that rutin, a flavonoid, has potential benefits for diabetic individuals. This study was designed to evaluate the effects of rutin on premature senescence and atherosclerosis. Apolipoprotein E knockout mice exhibiting insulin resistance after 6 weeks of high-fat diet were administered with a low dose of streptozotocin (STZ) to induce diabetes. After 8 weeks of STZ administration, rutin (40 mg/kg/d) was supplemented by gavage for the last 6 weeks. We evaluated the prosperity of the plaque and diabetes using serial echocardiography, histopathologic and metabolite analysis. Premature senescence induced by hydrogen peroxide in primary vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) was used to analyze the underlying mechanism. Mice with diabetes showed more severe plaque burden on aortic arteries and less smooth muscle cells but larger senescent cell ratio in plaque compared with mice with control diets. Rutin significantly improves glucose and lipid metabolic disturbance in diabetes. Moreover, rutin decreased the atherosclerotic burden and senescent cell number and increased the VSMC ratio in aortic root plaque. In vitro, we demonstrated that rutin ameliorated premature senescence induced by oxidative stress, and the protective function may be mediated by inhibiting oxidative stress and protecting telomere. Rutin administration attenuates atherosclerosis burden and stabilizes plaque by improving metabolic disturbance and alleviating premature senescence of VSMCs. Inhibition of VSMCs premature senescence with rutin may be an effective therapy for diabetic atherosclerosis.

In this work, microwave (MW) irradiation was used to activate Co/Al2O3, Mo/Al2O3, and Co–Mo/Al2O3 catalysts for dry reforming of methane (DRM) reactions. Experimental results indicate that single metallic catalysts of either Co or Mo are inactive for DRM under all the tested conditions due to their limited MW-absorbing ability. In contrast, Co–Mo bimetallic catalysts supported by Al2O3 exhibit high catalytic activity due to the formation of a magnetodielectric Co0.82Mo0.18 alloy, which plays the dual role of a good MW acceptor and the provider of active centers for the DRM reaction. The MW power level required to activate such bimetallic catalysts for DRM is significantly dependent on the molar ratio between Co and Mo. The CoMo2 catalyst (with a molar ratio of 2.0 Co to 1.0 Mo) supported on Al2O3 exhibits the best catalytic performance, converting 80% CH4 and 93% CO2 to syngas at a ratio of H2/CO of 0.80 at the total volumetric hourly space velocity (VHSV) of 10 L g−1 h−1 and MW power of 200 W. As compared to the reported C-based catalysts, the Co–Mo/Al2O3 catalyst delivers more favorable stability over 16 time-on-stream (TOS) by virtue of its intrinsic ability to absorb MW without the inclusion of auxiliary MW acceptors.

Inorganic lead (Pb)-free Cs2AgBiBr6 double perovskite is one of the most promising light absorbers in perovskite solar cells (PSCs) to solve the instability and Pb toxicity problems of organic–inorganic perovskites. However, the intrinsic and extrinsic defects of Cs2AgBiBr6 films strongly limit the power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of Cs2AgBiBr6-based PSCs. Herein, the first investigation of additive engineering in Cs2AgBiBr6-based PSCs is reported to achieve an outstanding efficiency. The introduction of guanidinium thiocyanate (GuaSCN) additive effectively controls the nucleation of Cs2AgBiBr6 crystals during the film formation process, improves the perovskite film quality, suppresses the charge carrier recombination, and accelerates the charge extraction simultaneously. Consequently, after optimizing the GuaSCN amount, the device shows a stable PCE of 3.02% under maximum power point tracking (MPPT) condition. Furthermore, the introduction of GuaSCN additive remarkably improves the ambient stability of the devices. This work provides insights on additive engineering for enhancing the efficiency and stability of inorganic Pb-free Cs2AgBiBr6-based PSCs toward future industrialization of this technology.

Sea cucumbers are widely consumed in Asia. This study developed a novel DNA mini-barcode mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase (COI) of 257 bp to discriminate sea cucumbers species in both raw and processed forms. We designed and compared four mini-barcoding primer sets based on PCR amplification rates against 40 authenticated sea cucumber species. The top-performing primer set was successful for most tested sea cucumber varieties. We also tested the DNA mini-barcode COI in 12 highly processed sea cucumber products using both Sanger sequencing and next-generation DNA sequencing (NGS). This is the first report of highly processed sea cucumber products that detected fraudulent replacement of sea cucumber by one or a blend of species using the NGS approach. The established DNA mini-barcoding system revealed that 83.33% (10/12) of highly processed sea cucumber products were mislabeled. This study identified a need for more regulation of the sea cucumber trade and suggested that DNA mini-barcoding combined with NGS could complement existing sea cucumber identification strategies.

In this paper, a few mode fiber temperature sensor based on vernier effect is proposed. The sensor consists of two cascaded microcavities and realizes temperature sensing based on vernier effect. The single mode fiber(SMF) and few mode fiber(FMF) are fixed by a capillary glass tube to form an air reference microcavity. The end of the FMF is dipped with an appropriate amount of polydimethylsiloxane(PDMS) to form a sensing microcavity with a certain thickness, which is an air microcavity-FMF–PDMS structure. Due to the different refractive index of each medium, the light is reflected on the four critical surfaces, and the four reflected light beams interfere, the vernier effect is formed by adjusting the microcavity length to a suitable length. When the external temperature changes, the microcavity length and refractive index of PDMS change, which leads to the change of interference spectrum. Therefore, the high sensitivity measurement of temperature can be realized by the change of reflection spectrum. The temperature characteristics of the sensor are studied experimentally. The results show that the temperature sensitivity is significantly improved compared with the traditional single microcavity sensor. In the temperature range of 35°C ∼ 45°C, the temperature sensitivity can reach 4.7nm/°C, and the linearity is very good. The sensor has the advantages of compact structure, simple fabrication and high sensitivity, so it has wide application prospects in the field of temperature sensing.

The aquatic ecosystem maybe significantly affected by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) released from fresh water sediments. In order to protect biodiversity, the spatial distribution and sources of PAHs in the sediment of Wolong Lake in Northeast China were studied. A total of 17 surface sediment samples were collected and 12 PAHs were analyzed. The results were as follows. The concentration of total PAHs (TPAHs) ranged between 1412.9 μg/kg and 3948.3 μg/kg (dry weight). Indeno [1, 2, 3-c, d] pyrene was the dominant contaminant which accounted for 87%–98% of TPAHs. Diagnostic ratios of PAHs and principal component analysis showed that biomass combustion and vehicle emissions were likely to be the dominant sources of PAHs in the sediment. PAHs can be considered safe in the context of environmental and human health protection, based on the overall toxicity. Individual PAHs were positively correlated with total organic carbons. These results will be helpful to control PAHs and protect the aquatic ecosystem in the lake.

To develop a cathode with excellent oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity and durability at intermediate-to-low temperatures is significant to boost the advancement of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), a fascinating energy conversion technology with low emissions and high efficiency. Perovskite oxides have been extensively developed as cathodes, and doping is an important strategy to alter the lattice diffusion and surface exchange properties of perovskites, to tailor catalytic performances for various redox reactions, including ORR for SOFCs. The reported BaCo0.4Fe0.4Zr0.1Y0.1O3-δ (BCFZY) is a promising cathode for SOFCs. Herein, to further improve the performance of BCFZY at reduced temperatures, we systematically investigate the partial doping of B-sites with different metal elements, including Mn, Ni, Cu and Zn at a fixed content of 5%. Among them, it is found that Ba(Co0.4Fe0.4Zr0.1Y0.1)0.95Ni0.05O3-δ (BCFZYN) exhibits the lowest polarization impedance in both oxygen ion and proton conducting fuel cells. Based on conductivity relaxation experiments and oxygen and hydrogen permeation tests, it is found that nickel doping improves oxygen mobility, surface exchange kinetics, and bulk oxygen ion and proton conductivity. Thereby, a high ORR activity on oxygen ion and proton conducting electrolytes is achieved, reaching 0.038 and 0.607 Ω cm2 at 550 °C, respectively. The cells with the BCFZYN electrode show outstanding operational stability (200 h of operation in a symmetrical cell and 1000 h of operation in a single cell). This suggests that the BCFZYN is a promising cathode of next-generation SOFCs.

Reducing the operating temperatures of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) to the intermediate-temperature range (IT, 400–650 °C) can bring about several benefits including cost effectiveness, prolonged lifetime and flexible sealing. Nevertheless, the accompanying deterioration of cathodic activity for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) introduces a large obstacle for commercial applications of IT-SOFCs. Herein, a new perovskite SrCo0.8Ti0.1Ta0.1O3-δ (SCTT) is developed by co-doping titanium and tantalum into the B-site of parent SrCoO3 oxide, which may tackle this problem. At 400–650 °C, SCTT shows high electrical conductivities (65–142 S cm−1), appropriate oxygen vacancy concentrations (0.23–0.27) and high bulk diffusion capability due to a synergy between the two dopants in SCTT. Consequently, SCTT exhibits a favorable ORR activity with an area-specific resistance of only 0.17 Ω cm2 at 500 °C on samaria-doped ceria electrolyte, and the corresponding cell generates a high peak power density (PPD) of 0.90 W cm−2 at 500 °C with negligible performance decay for 180 h. Additionally, SCTT performs well in protonic ceramic fuel cells, achieving a PPD of 0.78 W cm−2 at 650 °C and a high durability for ~176 h at 550 °C. This work provides a new promising cathode material that may accelerate the commercialization of IT-SOFC technology.

The aim of this study was to investigate whether overexpression of STAMP2 improves insulin resistance by regulating angiogenesis in adipose tissues. The characteristics of diabetic mice were measured by serial metabolite and pathology tests. Samples were obtained from epididymal, subcutaneous and brown adipose tissues. Histological and morphological analysis demonstrated that STAMP2 gene overexpression reduced adipocyte size, angiogenesis in epididymal and brown adipose tissues. On aortic ring assay, microvessels sprouting from aortas were significantly inhibited after STAMP2 gene overexpression. The cellular effect of STAMP2 on angiogenesis was explored in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) model. Correlation of STAMP2 and angiogenesis was validated by Ad-STAMP2 transfection and STAMP2 siRNA inhibition. In vitro, overexpression of STAMP2 significantly inhibited endothelial cell migration, tube formation. The effects of Ad-STAMP2 transfection on HUVECs were abolished by treatment with PPARγ antagonist GW9662 (2.5 μM), and the roles of STAMP2 siRNA on HUVECs were also reversed by treatment with PPARγ agonist rosiglitazone (RSG) (0.1 mM). RT-PCR indicated that STAMP2 could regulate levels of adhesion molecules, vascular endothelial growth factor A and CD36. The expression of PPARγ and CD36 was decreased when STAMP2 was inhibited by siRNA, while PPARγ and CD36 were highly expressed after overexpression of STAMP2. Our results suggested that STAMP2 gene overexpression may improve insulin resistance via attenuating angiogenesis in epididymal and brown adipose tissues through the PPARγ/CD36 signalling pathway.