Recently, interest in aluminium ion batteries with aluminium anodes, graphite cathodes and ionic liquid electrolytes has increased; however, much remains to be done to increase the cathode capacity ...and to understand details of the anion-graphite intercalation mechanism. Here, an aluminium ion battery cell made using pristine natural graphite flakes achieves a specific capacity of ∼110 mAh g
with Coulombic efficiency ∼98%, at a current density of 99 mA g
(0.9 C) with clear discharge voltage plateaus (2.25-2.0 V and 1.9-1.5 V). The cell has a capacity of 60 mAh g
at 6 C, over 6,000 cycles with Coulombic efficiency ∼ 99%. Raman spectroscopy shows two different intercalation processes involving chloroaluminate anions at the two discharging plateaus, while C-Cl bonding on the surface, or edges of natural graphite, is found using X-ray absorption spectroscopy. Finally, theoretical calculations are employed to investigate the intercalation behaviour of choloraluminate anions in the graphite electrode.
Hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) from water through electrocatalysis using cost-effective materials to replace precious Pt catalysts holds great promise for clean energy technologies. In this work ...we developed a highly active and stable catalyst containing Co doped earth abundant iron pyrite FeS2 nanosheets hybridized with carbon nanotubes (Fe1–x Co x S2/CNT hybrid catalysts) for HER in acidic solutions. The pyrite phase of Fe1–x Co x S2/CNT was characterized by powder X-ray diffraction and absorption spectroscopy. Electrochemical measurements showed a low overpotential of ∼0.12 V at 20 mA/cm2, small Tafel slope of ∼46 mV/decade, and long-term durability over 40 h of HER operation using bulk quantities of Fe0.9Co0.1S2/CNT hybrid catalysts at high loadings (∼7 mg/cm2). Density functional theory calculation revealed that the origin of high catalytic activity stemmed from a large reduction of the kinetic energy barrier of H atom adsorption on FeS2 surface upon Co doping in the iron pyrite structure. It is also found that the high HER catalytic activity of Fe0.9Co0.1S2 hinges on the hybridization with CNTs to impart strong heteroatomic interactions between CNT and Fe0.9Co0.1S2. This work produces the most active HER catalyst based on iron pyrite, suggesting a scalable, low cost, and highly efficient catalyst for hydrogen generation.
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IJS, KILJ, NUK, PNG, UL, UM
Background
Central neck dissection and total thyroidectomy are standard treatments for patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) with clinically involved central nodes. However, prophylactic ...central neck dissection (pCND) in patients with clinically uninvolved cN0 has been beneficial in some studies but ineffective in others. We conducted a meta-analysis to evaluate the efficacy and safety of pCND in patients with central neck lymph nodes cN0 PTC.
Methods
The PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and Scopus databases and the ClinicalTrials.gov registry were electronically searched for studies published until September 2017. The meta-analysis was conducted to calculate the pooled effect size by using random-effects model. Treatment efficacies were measured by determining locoregional recurrence (LRR). Secondary outcomes included transient recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) injury, permanent RLN injury, transient hypocalcemia, and permanent hypocalcemia.
Results
Twenty-three retrospective and prospective cohort studies involving 18,376 patients were reviewed. Patients who underwent pCND had significantly lower LRR (odds ratio OR 0.65; 95% confidence interval CI 0.48–0.88) but significantly higher incidence rates of transient RLN injury (OR 2.03; 95% CI 1.32–3.13), transient hypocalcemia (OR 2.23; 95% CI 1.84–2.70), and permanent hypocalcemia (OR 2.22; 95% CI 1.58–3.13) than that of no pCND group.
Conclusion
Compared with no pCND, pCND significantly reduces LRR but is accompanied by numerous adverse effects. The clinical decision should be made after the shared decision-making process of clinicians and patients.
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EMUNI, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OBVAL, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
4.
Tunable Photoluminescence from Graphene Oxide Chien, Chih-Tao; Li, Shao-Sian; Lai, Wei-Jung ...
Angewandte Chemie (International ed.),
July 2, 2012, Volume:
51, Issue:
27
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
Tuning to G(O) flat: Photoluminescence in graphene oxide (GO) suspensions can be tuned from red to blue emission (see scheme) by gradually changing the amounts of sp2‐ and sp3‐bonded carbon atoms ...through reduction of the surface oxide groups. Electron–hole recombination from two different types of excited states is proposed to explain the luminescence in GO at varying degrees of reduction.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
The nucleotide‐binding and oligomerization domain, leucine‐rich repeats, and pyrin domain‐containing protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome plays a crucial role in innate immunity and is involved in the ...pathogenesis of autoinflammatory diseases. Glycolysis regulates NLRP3 inflammasome activation in macrophages. However, how lactic acid fermentation and pyruvate oxidation controlled by the mitochondrial pyruvate carrier (MPC) affect NLRP3 inflammasome activation and autoinflammatory disease remains elusive. We found that the inactivation of MPC with genetic depletion or pharmacological inhibitors, MSDC‐0160 or pioglitazone, increased NLRP3 inflammasome activation and IL‐1β secretion in macrophages. Glycolytic reprogramming induced by MPC inhibition skewed mitochondrial ATP‐associated oxygen consumption into cytosolic lactate production, which enhanced NLRP3 inflammasome activation in response to monosodium urate (MSU) crystals. As pioglitazone is an insulin sens MSDC‐itizer used for diabetes, its MPC inhibitory effect in diabetic individuals was investigated. The results showed that MPC inhibition exacerbated MSU‐induced peritonitis in diabetic mice and increased the risk of gout in patients with diabetes. Altogether, we found that glycolysis controlled by MPC regulated NLRP3 inflammasome activation and gout development. Accordingly, prescriptions for medications targeting MPC should consider the increased risk of NLRP3‐related autoinflammatory diseases.
Inactivation of mitochondrial pyruvate carrier (MPC) with genetic depletion or pharmacological inhibitors pioglitazone or MSDC‐0160 blocks mitochondrial pyruvate import, thus reducing oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) in macrophages. To compensate for energy demand, an increase in lactic fermentation maintains glycolysis through the NAD+ cycle to make glycolytic ATP but is also accompanied by lactate production. When combined with insulin therapy, insulin enables cells to take up glucose to promote lactate fermentation, maximizing lactate production. Cellular lactate controlled by MPC contributes to upgrading NOD, LRR, and pyrin domain‐containing protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome hyperactivation and exacerbating gout development. Downregulation of lactate production by the lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) inhibitor GSK2837808A efficiently prevented NLRP3 inflammasome activation.
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BFBNIB, DOBA, FZAB, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Calligraphic counter electrodes: An important photovoltaic application using FeS2 nanocrystal (NC) pyrite ink to fabricate a counter electrode as an alternative to Pt in dye‐sensitized solar cells is ...demonstrated. FeS2 NC ink exhibits excellent electrochemical catalytic activity and remarkable electrochemical stability. ITO=indium‐doped tin oxide.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Metastasis in breast cancer usually lead to the majority of deaths on clinical patients. Accordingly, diagnosis of metastasis at the early stage in breast cancer is important to improve the ...prognosis. We observed that Dicer protein levels are significant decrease in highly invasive breast cancer cells and usually correlated with poor clinical outcomes. Following, we aim to clarify the molecular regulatory mechanism of this phenomenon in breast cancer to provide a new therapeutic target. In this study, we obtained that Dicer expression correlated with metastasis and invasion without affect cell stability in breast cancer cells. Importantly, we identified the regulatory mechanism of Dicer protein degradation, the chaperone‐mediated autophagy (CMA)‐mediated degradation that is major mechanism to decrease Dicer protein expression and lead to cancer metastasis. We discovered that heat shock cognate 71‐kDa protein (Hsc70) which as a CMA‐related factor interacts with the CMA‐targeting motif I333A/K334A on Dicer to promote degradation through CMA. Taken together, our findings hint that Dicer highly correlated with cancer metastasis, we reveal the tumor‐promoting effect of CMA‐mediated Dicer degradation in breast cancer.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Activation of the Nod-like receptor 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome is important for activation of innate immune responses, but improper and excessive activation can cause inflammatory disease. We previously ...showed that glycolysis, a metabolic pathway that converts glucose into pyruvate, is essential for NLRP3 inflammasome activation in macrophages. Here, we investigated the role of metabolic pathways downstream glycolysis - lactic acid fermentation and pyruvate oxidation-in activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome. Using pharmacological or genetic approaches, we show that decreasing lactic acid fermentation by inhibiting lactate dehydrogenase reduced caspase-1 activation and IL-1β maturation in response to various NLRP3 inflammasome agonists such as nigericin, ATP, monosodium urate (MSU) crystals, or alum, indicating that lactic acid fermentation is required for NLRP3 inflammasome activation. Inhibition of lactate dehydrogenase with GSK2837808A reduced lactate production and activity of the NLRP3 inflammasome regulator, phosphorylated protein kinase R (PKR), but did not reduce the common trigger of NLRP3 inflammasome, potassium efflux, or reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. By contrast, decreasing the activity of pyruvate oxidation by depletion of either mitochondrial pyruvate carrier 2 (MPC2) or pyruvate dehydrogenase E1 subunit alpha 1 (PDHA1) enhanced NLRP3 inflammasome activation, suggesting that inhibition of mitochondrial pyruvate transport enhanced lactic acid fermentation. Moreover, treatment with GSK2837808A reduced MSU-mediated peritonitis in mice, a disease model used for studying the consequences of NLRP3 inflammasome activation. Our results suggest that lactic acid fermentation is important for NLRP3 inflammasome activation, while pyruvate oxidation is not. Thus, reprograming pyruvate metabolism in mitochondria and in the cytoplasm should be considered as a novel strategy for the treatment of NLRP3 inflammasome-associated diseases.
Blue photoluminescene (PL) from chemically derived graphene oxide has been observed. The PL is attributed to radiative recombination of electron–hole pairs in isolated “molecular” sp2 domains, which ...are present within the carbon–oxygen sp3 matrix in chemically derived graphene oxide. The PL intensity is correlated to the evolution of sp2 domains during reduction.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
The pathology change of renal tubulointerstitial fibrosis is a critical feature of chronic kidney disease (CKD), regardless of the primary insults. The infiltration of inflammatory cells and the ...consecutive secretion of profibrotic factors are frequently and conspicuously observed during the development of renal fibrosis. Icariin, an active polyphenol of the Epimedium genus, has been found to alleviate the symptoms of chronic diseases like diabetes, neurodegeneration, and heart and renal diseases. The effect and mechanism of icariin on the prevention of CKD-associated renal fibrosis still needed clarification.
The aims of this study were to investigate whether icariin treatment improves the development of CKD-associated renal fibrosis and its possible mechanism.
An experimental unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO)-induced chronic renal fibrosis mouse model was used. Mice were orally administered with icariin (20 mg/kg/day) for 3 consecutive days before and 14 consecutive days after UUO surgery.
The pathological changes, collagen deposition, and protein expressions of profibrotic factors (transforming growth factor-β and connective tissue growth factor) and fibrotic markers (α-smooth muscle actin and fibronectin), which were significantly elevated in the kidneys of UUO mice, could be significantly reversed by icariin treatment. Icariin treatment also significantly inhibited the increased Smad2/3 and decreased E-cadherin protein expressions in the kidneys of UUO mice. Icariin treatment prominently mitigated the protein expression of proinflammatory factors like nuclear factor-κB, cyclooxygenase-2, interleukin 1-β and prooxidative enzyme (NADPH oxidase-4), and it increased the protein expression of antioxidative enzymes (superoxide dismutase and catalase).
Icariin treatment protects against CKD-associated renal fibrosis via its antifibrotic and anti-inflammatory properties. Icariin may serve as a therapeutic agent in the prevention of CKD-associated renal fibrosis.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
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