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The development of active and stable platinum (Pt)-based oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) electrocatalysts with good resistance to poisoning is a prerequisite for widespread practical application of fuel cells. An effective strategy for enhancing the electrocatalytic performance is to tune or control the physicochemical state of the Pt surface. Herein, we show a general surface-engineering approach to prepare a range of nanostructured Pt alloys by coating with alloy PtBi shells. FePt@PtBi core-shell nanoparticles showed the best ORR performance with a mass activity of 0.96 A mgPt-1 and a specific activity of 2.06 mA cm-2 , respectively 7 times and 11 times those of the corresponding values for benchmark Pt/C. Moreover, FePt@PtBi shows much better tolerance to methanol and carbon monoxide than conventional Pt-based electrocatalysts. The observed comprehensive enhancement in ORR performance of FePt@PtBi can be attributed to the increased compressive strain of the Pt surface due to in-plane shearing resulting from the presence of the large Bi atoms in the surface-structured PtBi overlayers, as well as charge displacement via Pt-Bi bonding which mitigates crossover issues.

As the primary electrode active materials for supercapacitors, porous carbons are widely prepared by carbonization-activation methods. Nevertheless, a simple activation procedure by using a single ...

Exploring high-performance non-precious-metal electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is critical. Herein, a scalable and cost-effective strategy is reported for the construction of one-dimensional carbon nanofiber architectures with simultaneous decoration of single Fe-Nx sites and highly dispersed Fe/Fe3 C nanoparticles for efficient ORR, through the FeIII -complex-assisted electrospinning of gelatin nanofibers with subsequent pre-oxidation and carbonization. Results show that the presence of a FeIII complex enables the 1D gelatin nanofibers to be well retained during the pre-oxidation process. Owing to the distinct 1D nanofiber structure and the synergistic effect of Fe/Fe3 C and Fe-Nx sites, the resulting electrocatalyst is highly active for ORR with a half-wave potential of 0.885 V (outperforming commercial Pt/C) and a superior electrochemical stability in alkaline electrolytes. Similarly, it also shows a high power density (144.7 mW cm-2 ) and a superior stability in Zn-air batteries. This work opens a path for the design and synthesis of 1D carbon electrocatalyst for efficient ORR catalysis.

Gelatin, a natural macromolecular substance formed by the hydrolysis of collagen, offers the advantages of abundant resources and low cost. It is a good precursor for the synthesis of N, O-doped carbon materials. Although some gelatin-derived carbon materials have been used for electrochemical energy storage, there have been few studies for the mechanism of gelatin carbonization. In addition, the influence of heteroatoms and defects on the K-ion storage performance remains unclear. In this work, in situ and ex situ characterization methods have been used to study the mechanism of gelatin carbonization. The pathways leading to formation of the carbon framework, heteroatom doping and defect generation in gelatin-based carbons during the pyrolysis process have been clearly identified. Moreover, by means of DFT calculations and experimental measurements, it has been confirmed that heteroatoms and defects both play important roles in improving the storage performance of potassium ions. By virtue of its abundance of both heteroatoms and defects, our optimized anode shows better electrochemical performance than graphite anodes. This study not only clarifies our understanding of carbonization mechanism and mechanism of K-ion storage in carbon materials, but also provides pathways for the synthesis and applications of new carbon-based anode materials for alkali-ion batteries.

Metallic Li is one of the most promising anodes for high-energy secondary batteries. However, the enormous volume changes and severe dendrite formation during the Li plating/stripping process hinder the practical application of Li metal anodes (LMAs). We have developed a sulfate-assisted strategy to synthesize a self-standing host composed of N,S-doped porous carbon nanobelts embedded with MoS

S doping is an effective strategy to improve the potassium-ion storage performance of carbon-based materials. However, due to the large atomic radius of S and poor thermal stability, it is challenging to synthesize carbon materials with high sulfur content by solid-phase transformation. In this work, we designed a multi-cavity structure that can confine the molten S during heat treatment and make it fully react, then achieving high S doping (7.6 at. %). As we known, S doping can also effectively increase the active sites of carbon materials to obtain higher capacity. In addition, through different ex/in-situ characterizations and DFT calculations, we confirmed that the S atoms can effectively expand the interlayer spacing of carbon, which facilitates the intercalation/deintercalation reaction of K

The multi-drug combination regime, FOLFIRINOX, is a standard of care chemotherapeutic therapy for pancreatic cancer patients. However, systematic evaluation of potential pharmacodynamic interactions among multi-drug therapy has not been reported previously. Here, pharmacodynamic interactions of the FOLFIRINOX agents (5-fluorouracil (5-FU), oxaliplatin (Oxa) and SN-38, the active metabolite of irinotecan) were assessed across a panel of primary and established pancreatic cancer cells. Inhibition of cell proliferation was quantified for each drug, alone and in combination, to obtain quantitative, drug-specific interaction parameters and assess the nature of drug interactions. The experimental data were analysed assuming Bliss independent interactions, and nonlinear regression model fitting was conducted in SAS. Estimates of the drug interaction term, psi (ψ), revealed that the Oxa/SN-38 combination appeared synergistic in PANC-1 (ψ = 0.6, 95% CI = 0.4, 0.9) and modestly synergistic, close to additive, in MIAPaCa-2 (ψ = 0.8, 95% CI = 0.6, 1.0) in 2D assays. The triple combination was strongly synergistic in MIAPaCa-2 (ψ = 0.2, 95% CI = 0.1, 0.3) and modestly synergistic/borderline additive in PANC-1 2D (ψ = 0.8, 95% CI = 0.6, 1.0). The triple combination showed antagonistic interactions in the primary PIN-127 and 3D PANC-1 model (ψ 1). Quantitative pharmacodynamic interactions have not been described for the FOLFIRINOX regimen; this analysis suggests a complex interplay among the three chemotherapeutic agents. Extension of this pharmacodynamic analysis approach to clinical/translational studies of the FOLFIRINOX combination could reveal additional pharmacodynamic interactions and guide further refinement of this regimen to achieve optimal clinical responses.

In the present study, the effects and mechanism of action of U50,488H (a selective κ-opioid receptor agonist) on calcification of rat vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) induced by β-glycerophosphate (β-GP) were investigated. VSMCs were isolated and cultured in traditional FBS-based media. A calcification model was established in VSMCs under hyperphosphatemia and intracellular calcium contents. Alkaline phosphatase (ALP), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and lactate were detected in cell culture supernatants before and after treatment. Alizarin red staining was used to detect the degree of calcification of VSMCs. Expression levels of key molecules of osteogenic markers, fructose-2,6-biphosphatase 3 (PFKFB3), and proline hydroxylase 2 (PHD2), were determined using western blotting. Further, vascular calcification was induced by vitamin D3 plus nicotine in rats and isolated thoracic aortas, calcium concentration was assessed in rat aortic rings in vitro. We demonstrated that U50,488H inhibited VSMC calcification in a concentration-dependent manner. Moreover, U50,488H significantly inhibited osteogenic differentiation and ALP activity in VSMCs pretreated with β-GP. Further studies confirmed that PFKFB3 expression, LDH level, and lactate content significantly increased during calcification of VSMCs; U50,488H reversed these changes. PHD2 expression showed the opposite trend compared to PFKFB3 expression. nor-BNI or 3-PO abolished U50,488H protective effects. Besides, U50,488H inhibited VSMC calcification in rat aortic rings ex vivo. Collectively, our experiments show that κ-opioid receptor activation inhibits VSMC calcification by reducing PFKFB3 expression and lactate content, providing a potential drug target and strategy for the clinical treatment of vascular calcification.

The social robotics field has been growing in prominence. Many developed countries have begun to apply such robots in various fields, such as shopping reception, education, home companion, medical care, and security. However, expectations of social robots have also changed. In addition to performing their specific tasks, social robots are also expected to consider users’ emotional needs. Therefore, scholars have begun to explore robots’ social cues in an effort to enhance their role in society and enable them to provide higher-quality services. This study used the robot's voice type, head-light color, and application field as independent variables to discuss the optimal robot social cues for different applications and to provide a reference for future production and research. Education, shopping reception, and home companion applications were selected as the most common areas employing social robots. According to the vocal fundamental frequencies used in related studies, three voice types were included: male, female, and child. The three values for head-light color, namely warm, neutral, and cold colors, were set according to color temperature theory. The robot social attribute scale, with the addition of an acceptance component, was used to evaluate respondent perceptions. Results revealed that male voices provide users with the highest impression of competence, whereas children's voices have the lowest competence. However, results for the warmth component were completely different: in this aspect, children's voices had the highest evaluations and male voices the lowest. For head-light colors, neutral colors had the highest overall acceptance, the highest competence evaluation, and the lowest discomfort. The neutral color's warmth judgment was the same as that of the warm color, and its competence rating was the same as that of the cold color. For home companion robots, we recommend a child’s voice with neutral colors as the first choice, and a child’s voice with warm color as the second option. Because females rejected male voices, male voices are not recommended in home companion. For education and business, a male voice and neutral colors are the first choice. A female voice is also the second option. In cases with less focus on warmth impression but greater emphasis on competence impression, cold colors could be employed.

Non-enzymatic electrochemical sensors for the determination of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) have attracted more and more concerns. A series of nickel and cobalt double oxides (NixCoy-DO) with the different ratios of Ni/Co have been prepared by a polyol-mediated solvothermal method for H2O2 detection. The obtained products exhibit honeycomb-like open porous microtubes constituted with the low-dimensional nanostructured NixCoy-DO blocks after the calcination treatment. Compared with nickel oxides, the introduced Co ions in NixCoy-DO can induce the production of surficial oxygen vacancies, and further enhance the electrode surface activity. In particular, the NiCo-DO sample (with an atomic ratio of Ni/Co = 4:3) shows the richest surficial oxygen vacancies and presents the highest H2O2 detection activity among all the as-prepared samples, demonstrating an excellent sensitivity of 698.60 μA L mmol−1 cm-2 (0 ∼ 0.4 mmol/L), low detection limit (0.28 μmol/L, S/N = 3), as well as long stability, high selectivity and good reproducibility. This work lends a new impetus to the potential application of double metal oxides for the next generation of non-enzymatic sensors.

A rational porous structure can efficiently enhance the electrode reaction process. In this study, we fabricated a type of three-dimensional (3D)-ordered hierarchically porous carbon via a dual-template method to support ruthenium species as efficient cathodes towards the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The ordered hierarchical pores comprised of three levels of porous structure, including the inverse opal-structured macroporous carbon skeleton (ca. 150 nm), the internal-ordered mesoporous structure (ca. 5 nm), and abundant microporous structure (

Opportunistic salpingectomy (OS) is the removal of fallopian tubes during hysterectomy for benign indications or instead of tubal ligation, for the purpose of preventing ovarian cancer. We determined rates of OS at the time of hysterectomy and tubal sterilization and examined how they changed over the study period.Using data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information's Discharge Abstract Database and National Ambulatory Care Reporting System for all Canadian provinces and territories (except Quebec) between the fiscal years 2011 and 2016, we conducted a descriptive analysis of all patients aged 15 years or older who underwent hysterectomy or tubal sterilization. We excluded those with diagnostic codes for any gynecologic cancer and those who underwent unilateral salpingectomy. We examined the proportion who had OS during their hysterectomy and compared the proportion of tubal sterilizations that were OS with the proportion that were tubal ligations.A total of 318 528 participants were included in the study (mean age 42.5 yr). The proportion of hysterectomies that included OS increased from 15.4% in 2011 to 35.5% by 2016. With respect to tubal sterilization, the rate of OS increased from 6.5% of all tubal sterilizations in 2011 to 22.0% in 2016. There was considerable variation across jurisdictions in 2016, with British Columbia having the highest rates (53.2% of all hysterectomies and 74.0% of tubal sterilizations involved OS).The rates of OS increased between 2011 and 2016, but there was considerable variation across the included jurisdictions. Our study indicates room for rates of OS to increase across many of the included jurisdictions.

Knowledge about additive on alleviating the negative effects of fish exposed to cadmium (Cd) needs to be more identified in the aquaculture. Therefore, the present study aims to investigate whether diet supplemented with astaxanthin could mitigate adverse effects on hepatic Cd deposition, oxidative, inflammatory and non-specific immune responses, and intestinal morphology of Trachinotus ovatus exposed to dietary Cd treatment. Three isonitrogen-isolipid experimental diets supplemented with/without CdCl

In this manuscript, three iso‐nitrogenous and iso‐lipidic diets containing 50, 150 and 250 g/kg of fishmeal (FM) were fed white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei for 8 weeks. At the end of feeding, survival and percentage weight gain of shrimp were examined. Hepatopancreas and haemolymph were sampled, activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT), nitric oxide (NO), glutathione (GSH) and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels in hepatopancreas, activities of SOD, CAT, acid phosphatase (ACP) and alkaline phosphatase (AKP), and NO, GSH, MDA in haemolymph were examined. Haemolymph was further subjected to GC‐MS analysis. Results indicated that no significant differences in survival rate and percentage weight gain were observed among three treatments. SOD activity and GSH levels in hepatopancreas, and CAT activity, AKP activity, GSH and MDA levels in haemolymph were significantly lower in shrimp fed 50 g/kg FM diet. GC‐MS analysis of haemolymph indicated that 81 metabolites were significantly altered in the three groups. Furthermore, 8 metabolism pathways were significantly influenced by dietary FM levels. In conclusion, dietary administration of 50 g/kg FM resulted in inhibition of antioxidant ability, and disordered the energy metabolism, one‐carbon metabolism and unsaturated fatty acid metabolism in shrimp.

Although there have been many efforts to improve the performance of electrical energy storage devices by preparing electrode materials with nanostructures and specific chemical compositions, most o...

Fabricating a silicon–carbon (Si/C) hybrid material is a powerful strategy to enhance the Li-ion storage capacity of Si-based anodes. However, because additional binders and conductive agents need to be incorporated in the final anodes, the resulting Si/C materials generally have poor areal capacities, limiting their practical applications. In addition, the heteroatom effects of carbon modifiers on anode performance and the modification mechanism still need to be explored. In an attempt to overcome these limitations, we have prepared flexible Si/C anodes by an efficient method using commercial Si nanoparticles and three polymers as precursors. By simple slurry coating followed by low-temperature pyrolysis, the resulting polymer-derived carbons with different heteroatom dopants form continuous conductive networks and simultaneously anchor Si nanoparticles on copper foil, affording Si/C anodes with good performance. Material characterization, electrochemical tests and first-principles calculations show that N doping facilitates charge transfer and ion diffusion within Si/C anodes. More importantly, N, O co-doping improves the mechanical strength of Si/C anodes via double-interface bonding, thus efficiently accommodating the volume expansion of Si/C anodes. As a result, a Si/C anode prepared using a chitosan precursor (Si@CTSC) exhibits the best half-cell performance among all the anodes tested. Moreover, the Si@CTSC anode can be used to assemble a pouch cell with a LiCoO2 cathode, which shows an ultrahigh energy density of up to 540 W h kg−1 (based on the total weight of the electrode materials) and good bending flexibility, increasing the possibility of practical applications of Si/C anodes in advanced Li-ion batteries.

Alpine ecosystems are sensitive and vulnerable to climate change. In this study, we extracted three phonological parameters, viz. the start of the growing season (SOS), the end of the growing season (EOS), and the length of the growing season (LOS) from the moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) dataset during 2000–2019 for alpine grasslands across the three parallel rivers region (TPRR), and also examined the spatiotemporal heterogeneity of the three phenological parameters in seasonally frozen ground regions (hereafter referred to as SFGR) in response to climate change. The results showed that the multiyear mean SOS gradually delayed from 100 to 160 days along higher elevation, EOS advanced as a whole (from 320 to 280 days), and LOS shortened (from 210 to 130 days). The multiyear mean spatial distribution of all the three parameters showed significant north-to-south differences in the TPRR. In general, the variation trends in all the phenological parameters were not significant (p > 0.05) in the past 20 years, where SOS was advanced by 0.16 days year−l, EOS delayed by 0.08 days year−l, and consequently LOS extended at a rate of 0.07 days year−l, likely due to the warming and drying climate during the study period. In addition, annual mean temperature (AMT) was negatively correlated with SOS (50.26%) and positively correlated with EOS and LOS (72.25 and 60%, respectively). As for the annual mean total precipitation (AMP), it was positively correlated with SOS and EOS (50.77 and 52.97%, respectively) and negatively correlated with LOS (52.07%). Furthermore, a higher freezing index led to a delayed SOS and an advanced EOS and a shortened LOS at the regional scale. Similar to AMT, a higher thawing index advanced the SOS, delayed the EOS, and extended the LOS. Our results confirmed the importance of climate and permafrost status on vegetation phenological processes and also contributed toward understanding the response of cold region ecosystems to global climate change.

Filamentous microalga

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of dietary carbohydrate levels on growth performance, body composition, antioxidant capacity, immunity, and liver morphology in Oncorhynchus mykiss under cage culture with flowing freshwater. Fish (initial body weight 25.70 ± 0.24 g) were fed five isonitrogenous (420 g/kg protein) and isolipidic (150 g/kg lipid) diets containing 50.6, 102.1, 151.3, 200.9 and 251.8 g/kg carbohydrate levels, respectively. The results indicated that fish fed diets containing 50.6-200.9 g/kg carbohydrate showed significantly higher growth performance, feed utilization, and feed intake than those fed 251.8 g/kg dietary carbohydrate levels. Based on the analysis of the quadratic regression equation for weight gain rate, the appropriate dietary carbohydrate requirement of O. mykiss was estimated to be 126.2 g/kg. 251.8 g/kg carbohydrate level activated Nrf2-ARE signaling pathway, suppressed superoxide dismutase activity and total antioxidant capacity, and increased MDA content in the liver. Besides, fish fed a diet containing 251.8 g/kg carbohydrate showed a certain degree of hepatic sinus congestion and dilatation in the liver. Dietary 251.8 g/kg carbohydrate upregulated the mRNA transcription level of proinflammatory cytokines and downregulated the mRNA transcription level of lysozyme and complement 3. Whole-body compositions were not affected by dietary carbohydrate levels. In conclusion, 251.8 g/kg carbohydrate level suppressed the growth performance, antioxidant capacity and innate immunity, resulting in liver injury and inflammatory response of O. mykiss. A diet containing more than 200.9 g/kg carbohydrate is not efficiently utilized by O. mykiss under cage culture with flowing freshwater.

Defects have a significant impact on the electrocatalysts performance. Introducing defect structures in metal oxides such as pyrochlores and perovskites has proved to be an effective strategy to enhance electrocatalytic activity. However, it is hard to build numerous defect sites in such high-temperature oxides due to the strong metal-oxygen bonds and the so-called self-purification effect, which becomes increasingly important as the particle size reduced to the nanoscale. Here, a facile strategy is demonstrated to fabricate defect-rich yttrium ruthenate oxides Y

Ordinary differential equation (ODE) based models of signal transduction pathways often contain parameters that are unidentifiable or unmeasurable by experimental data, and calibrating such models to data remains challenging. Here, two efficient parameter estimation methods, Cluster Gauss-Newton (CGN) and CellNOpt (CNO), were applied to fit a signaling network model of U266 multiple myeloma cells to the activity dynamics of key proteins in response to vorinostat and/or bortezomib. A logic-based network model was constructed and transformed to 17 ODEs with 79 parameters estimated within broad ranges of biologically plausible values. The top 10% best-fit parameters by both methods had high uncertainties with CV > 50% for the majority of parameters. The root mean square and prediction errors were comparable without statistically significant differences between the two methods. Despite uncertain parameter estimation, prediction of protein dynamics after the sequential combination of bortezomib and vorinostat was predicted with reasonable accuracy and precision. Global sensitivity analyses of partial rank correlation coefficients and Sobol sensitivity demonstrated that apoptosis induction was most sensitive to parameters governing the activity of the proteasome-JNK-caspase-8 axis. Simulations revealed that the greatest magnitude of pharmacodynamic drug interactions between bortezomib and vorinostat occurred at caspase-9, AKT, and Bcl-2. Two sequential combinations were explored in silico, and the outcome matched qualitatively with an empirical evaluation of the pharmacodynamic interaction based on cell viability. Overall, the CGN and CNO algorithms performed similarly for this ODE-based network model calibration, and the calibrated model provided meaningful insights into cellular signaling mechanisms in response to pharmacological perturbations.

The dipeptide dl-methionyl-dl-methionine (Met-Met) has extremely low water solubility and better absorption than other methionine sources (such as dl-methionine and l-methionine) available in the market. Therefore, six diets (D1, D2, D3, D4, D5 and D6) containing 0, 0·07, 0·15, 0·21, 0·28 and 0·38 % Met-Met were formulated to investigate the effects of Met-Met in juvenile Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus (17 g initial body weight). The results indicated that percentage weight gain and specific growth rate of fish fed with D2 and D3 diets were higher than those fed with D1, D4–D6 diets. The levels of total essential amino acid in whole body of fish fed with D3 and D4 diets were significantly higher than those fed the D1 diet. Superoxide dismutase activity and malondialdehyde content have no significant difference in fish fed the diet with or without Met-Met supplementation. Majority of reads derived from the fish intestine belonged to members of Fusobacteria, followed by Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria. Diversity of intestinal microbiota and total antioxidant capacity in fish fed with D3 diet was significantly higher than that of other groups. Based on the growth results, the authors conclude that the optimal level of Met is 0·61 % Met with the addition of 0·15 % Met-Met for grower-phase O. niloticus.

A 12-week feeding trial was conducted to investigate the effect of citric acid on the involvement of TLRs in the soybean meal induced inflammatory response and tight junction disruption in the distal intestine of juvenile turbot (Scophthalmus maximus L.). Four isonitrogenous and isolipidic practical diets were formulated: fish meal-based diet (FM); 40% fish meal protein in FM replaced with soybean meal protein (SBM); SBM + 1.5% citric acid and SBM + 3% citric acid. Compared to the FM, diet SBM significantly increased the gene expression of TLRs (TLR2, TLR3, TLR5b, TLR9, TLR21, TLR22) and MyD88, as well as TLR related molecules (NF-κB, IRF-3, p38 and JNK), which were remarkably reduced by dietary citric acid. Similarly, citric acid supplementation in SBM markedly depressed gene expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α and IFN-γ) and pore-forming tight junction protein Claudin-7, and enhanced gene expression of the anti-inflammatory cytokine TGF-β1 and TJ proteins related to the decrease in paracellular permeability (Claudin-3, Claudin-4, Occludin, Tricellulin and ZO-1). Compared to the SBM, the concentration of IgM and C4 in serum was significantly reduced by dietary citric acid. In brief, dietary citric acid could synchronously inhibit TLRs-dependent inflammatory response regulated by NF-κB and IRF3, as well as cause TLRs-dependent tight junction disruption modulated by p38 and JNK. Therefore, citric acid could function on mitigating soybean meal induced enteropathy in the distal intestine of juvenile turbot.

The effect of acute ammonia challenge on survival, immune response and antioxidant status of Litopenaeus vannamei pretreated with diets containing different inositol levels was investigated. Shrimp (initial mean weight 0.40 ± 0.00 g) were randomly allocated in 18 tanks (30 shrimp per tank) and triplicate tanks were fed with a control diet without myo-inositol (MI) supplementation (242.6 mg inositol kg−1 diet) or diets containing diverse levels of inositol (368.8, 459.7, 673.1, 993.8 and 1674.4 mg kg−1 diet) as treatment groups for 8-week. Randomly selected 10 shrimp per tank (final mean weight approximately 11.1–13.8g) were exposed to ammonia stress (total ammonia-nitrogen, 60.21 mg L−1) for 24 h after feeding trial. The results showed that after exposed to ammonia stress, survival rates of MI-supplemented groups were enhanced by 31–77% when compared with the control group. MI supplementation increased activities of alkaline phosphatase (AKP) and acid phosphatase (ACP) in plasma, and reduced its activities in hepatopancreas. It also enhanced activities of total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC), glutathione S-transferase (GST) and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) and content of reduced glutathione (GSH), and lowered malondialdehyde (MDA) and protein carbonyl (PC) content in plasma or hepatopancreas. In addition, mRNA expression levels of ferritin (FT), arginine kinase (AK), thioredoxin (Trx), heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70), catalase (CAT) and peroxiredoxin (Prx) were significantly differentially regulated in hepatopancreas owing to MI supplementation. Therefore, it suggested that L. vannamei pretreated with higher dietary inositol content may have better ammonia stress tolerance and antioxidant status after ammonia stress, and the optimum levels ranged from 459.7 to 993.8 mg inositol kg−1 when total ammonia-nitrogen concentration was 60.21 mg L−1.

A 58-day feeding trial was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary myo-inositol (MI) supplementation on growth performance, haematological parameters, hepatopancreas histopathology and antioxidant status of Litopenaeus vannamei fed with oxidized fish oil (OFO). Control diet contained fresh fish oil (FFO) without MI supplementation. The other four diets contained two oxidation levels of OFO (peroxide value: 133.2 and 268.7 meq kg−1) with or without 200 mg MI kg−1 diets (MI0+L, MI0+H, MI200 + L and MI200 + H). Results showed that OFO-supplemented groups (without MI supplementation) showed better growth performance and lower whole-body inositol content when opposed to control group. MI supplementation significantly improved whole-body inositol content in high-oxidized fish oil (HOFO) groups, and also reduced whole-body lipid in low-oxidized fish oil (LOFO) groups. Moreover, Supplementation of OFO and MI markedly hit the fatty acid profile of muscle. HOFO caused severe histopathological changes in hepatopancreas of shrimp, which slightly alleviated by MI supplementation. MI supplementation also grew the total protein (TP) content and alkaline phosphatase (AKP) activity and decreased the activities of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) of serum in OFO-supplemented groups. Ingestion of OFO increased levels of lipid peroxidation and protein oxidation in serum or hepatopancreas, which partly ameliorated by MI supplementation. Activities of antioxidant enzymes exhibited different expression patterns because of OFO and MI. In addition, HOFO markedly increased mRNA expression levels of antioxidant genes including ferritin (FT), thioredoxin (Trx), GPX, glutathione S-transferase (GST) and catalase (CAT) and decreased peroxiredoxin (Prx) expression, in which expression of GPX and Prx were increased owing to MI supplementation. Therefore, it suggested that dietary OFO stimulated growth performance, but also induced oxidative stress and caused impairment to hepatopancreas in L. vannamei. The negative impact brought about by OFO was partially mitigated by dietary MI supplementation.

Four isonitrogenous and isolipidic diets containing fresh fish oil (peroxide value, POV: 7.2 meq kg−1, diet FR) and three degrees of oxidized fish oil (POV: 155, 275 and 564 meq kg−1, diet OX155, OX275 and OX564, respectively) were formulated to investigate the effects of dietary oxidized fish oil on growth performance, body composition, antioxidant defense system and mitochondrial function of juvenile largemouth bass, Micropterus salmoides. After a 12-week feeding trial, fish fed the OX155 obtained significantly higher (P

Electrode materials with amorphous and subnano structures commonly exhibit excellent Na-ion storage performance. However, the high surface specific energy of such materials spontaneously causes thermodynamic agglomeration and recrystallization, limiting their underlying capability in energy storage applications. For the first time, we realize the synthesis of amorphous SnO2 (A-SnO2) subnanoclusters (with an average size of ∼0.93 nm) by a facile and controllable strategy using N, O-doped porous carbon nanosheets as the support material. The A-SnO2 subnanoclusters with stretched Sn–O and Sn–Sn bonds can stably exist because of the microporous confinement and strong interfacial bonding afforded by the support. The A-SnO2 subnanocluster anode shows a higher reversible capacity and better rate capability than the large-sized crystalline SnO2 nanoparticle anode fabricated using graphene oxide as the alternative support. Electrochemical characterization and first-principles calculations show that the synergistic effect of unique SnO2 and the superior carbon support enhance the storage capacity and diffusion coefficient of Na-ions. Moreover, particle pulverization and exfoliation of the SnO2 anode is obviously suppressed during desodiation/sodiation, leading to a superior cycling performance (without capacity decay after 1400 cycles). Consequently, a Na-ion capacitor assembled using the A-SnO2 subnanocluster anode exhibits a high energy (196.4 W h kg−1), high power (28.1 kW kg−1), and long lifetime.