Emerging rechargeable sodium‐ion storage systems—sodium‐ion and room‐temperature sodium–sulfur (RT‐NaS) batteries—are gaining extensive research interest as low‐cost options for large‐scale ...energy‐storage applications. Owing to their abundance, easy accessibility, and unique physical and chemical properties, sulfur‐based materials, in particular metal sulfides (MSx) and elemental sulfur (S), are currently regarded as promising electrode candidates for Na‐storage technologies with high capacity and excellent redox reversibility based on multielectron conversion reactions. Here, we present current understanding of Na‐storage mechanisms of the S‐based electrode materials. Recent progress and strategies for improving electronic conductivity and tolerating volume variations of the MSx anodes in Na‐ion batteries are reviewed. In addition, current advances on S cathodes in RT‐NaS batteries are presented. We outline a novel emerging concept of integrating MSx electrocatalysts into conventional carbonaceous matrices as effective polarized S hosts in RT‐NaS batteries as well. This comprehensive progress report could provide guidance for research toward the development of S‐based materials for the future Na‐storage techniques.
Sulfur‐based electrode materials are currently regarded as promising candidates for sodium‐storage technologies, especially for sodium‐ion (Na‐ion) and room‐temperature sodium–sulfur (RT‐NaS) batteries. In this Minireview on the progress of electrodes based on metal sulfides and elemental sulfur, material design and performance enhancement are highlighted and sodium‐storage mechanisms for both battery systems are discussed.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Abstract
Objectives
To identify a novel plasmid-mediated colistin resistance gene in Klebsiella pneumoniae isolated from chickens in China.
Methods
WGS was used to identify a novel colistin ...resistance gene. The transferability of plasmids carrying mcr-7.1 was investigated by conjugation experiments. The expression of the mcr-7.1 gene was examined using an expression vector.
Results
A novel plasmid-mediated colistin resistance gene mcr-7.1, sharing 70% amino acid identity with the mcr-3 gene, was identified in three K. pneumoniae strains isolated from chickens in China. The mcr-7.1 gene was found in an IncI2-type plasmid (pSC20141012) that co-harboured the blaCTX-M-55 gene in one isolate. pSC20141012 can be transferred from K. pneumoniae SC20141012 to Escherichia coli J53Azr, exhibiting a ≥8-fold increase in colistin MIC compared with the recipient E. coli J53Azr.
Conclusions
We identified a novel plasmid-mediated colistin resistance gene named mcr-7.1 in K. pneumoniae in China. The prevalence of mcr-7.1 in various species of human and animal origin needs to be investigated immediately.
Traditional phototherapies face the issue that the insufficient penetration of light means it is difficult to reach deep lesions, which greatly reduces the feasibility of cancer therapy. Here, an ...implantable nitric oxide (NO)‐release device is developed to achieve long‐term, long‐distance, remote‐controllable gas therapy for cancer. The device consists of a wirelessly powered light‐emitting diode (wLED) and S‐nitrosoglutathione encapsulated with poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS), obtaining the NO‐release wLED (NO‐wLED). It is found that NO release from the NO‐wLED can be triggered by wireless charging and the concentration of produced NO reaches 0.43 × 10−6 m min−1, which can achieve a killing effect on cancer cells. In vivo anticancer experiments exhibit obvious inhibitory effect on the growth of orthotopic cancer when the implanted NO‐wLED is irradiated by wireless charging. In addition, recurrence of cancer can be prevented by NO produced from the NO‐wLED after surgery. By illumination in the body, this strategy overcomes the poor penetration and long‐wavelength dependence of traditional phototherapies, which also provides a promising approach for in vivo gas therapy remote‐controlled by wireless charging.
An implantable and wirelessly charged nitric oxide (NO)‐release device (NO‐wLED) capable of being remote‐controlled is constructed to overcome the issue in that it is difficult to treat deep cancer by phototherapy due to the insufficient penetration capability of light. With irradiation in the body and the good tissue penetration of NO, suppression of orthotopic and postsurgery cancers is achieved.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Excellent electroconductivity, fire resistance, and mechanical properties are several important indexes for electromagnetic shielding sealing materials. In this work, a novel functionalized graphene ...decorated with a nickel-Schiff base (rGO-Salen-Ni) was first synthesized
via
a chemical modification process, and applied in enhancing the mechanical properties, electroconductivity, and fire resistance of a thermoplastic polyurethane elastomer (TPU). The experimental result illustrated that the rGO-Salen-Ni significantly improved the above vital properties of TPU. First, the tensile strength, elongation at break, and storage modulus of the TPU containing only 1.5 wt% rGO-Salen-Ni (TPU/rGO-Salen-Ni1.5) were respectively increased by 1.50 times, 1.58 times, and 2.17 times; second, the electrical conductivity of the TPU/rGO-Salen-Ni1.5 was increased by 5 orders of magnitude in comparison with that of a pure TPU, up to 7.3 × 10
−5
S m
−1
; finally, the TPU/rGO-Salen-Ni1.5 displayed excellent flame retardancy; for instance, the peak of heat release rate, total heat release, and total smoke production were respectively decreased by 43%, 22%, and 28% compared with the corresponding values of pure TPU. The analysis of the enhancement in mechanical properties and electroconductivity of TPU/rGO-Salen-Ni revealed that the uniform dispersion of rGO-Salen-Ni, resulting from the incorporation of the nickel-Schiff base into the GO, was the leading reason for their improvements. The study on the flame-retardant mechanism demonstrated that a more continuous and compact protective layer related to the nickel-Schiff base played the key role in the excellent fire resistance of TPU/rGO-Salen-Ni. The rGO-Salen-Ni shows great potential for application in electromagnetic shielding sealing materials.
Excellent electroconductivity, fire resistance, and mechanical properties are several important indexes for electromagnetic shielding sealing materials.
Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been demonstrated to play significant roles in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) progression. Recently, a newly identified lncRNA, LncRNA LINC00668 (LINC00668), ...was reported to be involved in the regulation of progression of several tumors. However, the expression pattern and biological function of LINC00668 in NSCLC remains largely unclear. In this study, we found that LINC00668 expression was significantly up-regulated in both NSCLC tissues and cell lines. we also showed that LINC00668 upregulation was induced by transcription factor STAT3. Clinical investigation demonstrated that high expression level of LINC00668 was associated with advanced TNM stage, histological grade and lymph node metastasis. Moreover, multivariate analysis confirmed LINC00668 expression level to be an independent prognostic indicator for overall survival of NSCLC patients. Functional assays indicated that knockdown of LINC00668 suppressed NSCLC cells proliferation, migration and invasion, and promoted apoptosis. Mechanistic studies indicated that LINC00668 is a direct target of miR-193a, leading to down-regulation in the expression of its target gene KLF7. Our findings suggested that STAT3-induced LINC00668 contributed to NSCLC progression through upregulating KLF7 expression by sponging miR-193a, and may serve as a prognostic biomarker and a potential target for NSCLC.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Insect prophenoloxidase (PPO) is an important innate immunity protein due to its involvement in cellular and humoral defense. It belongs to a group of type-3 copper-containing proteins that occurs in ...almost all organisms. Insect PPO has been studied for over a century, and the PPO activation cascade is becoming clearer. The insect PPO activation pathway incorporates several important proteins, including pattern-recognition receptors (PGRP, β GRP, and C-type lectins), serine proteases, and serine protease inhibitors (serpins). Due to their complexity, PPO activation mechanisms vary among insect species. Activated phenoloxidase (PO) oxidizes phenolic molecules to produce melanin around invading pathogens and wounds. The crystal structure of Manduca sexta PPO shows that a conserved amino acid, phenylalanine (F), can block the active site pocket. During activation, this blocker must be dislodged or even cleaved at the N-terminal sequence to expose the active site pockets and allow substrates to enter. Thanks to the crystal structure of M. sexta PPO, some domains and specific amino acids that affect PPO activities have been identified. Further studies of the relationship between PPO structure and enzyme activities will provide an opportunity to examine other type-3 copper proteins, and trace when and why their various physiological functions evolved. Recent researches show that insect PPO has a relationship with neuron activity, longevity, feces melanization (phytophagous insects) and development, which suggests that it is time for us to look back on insect PPO beyond the view of immunity in this review.
The minimal time a system needs to evolve from an initial state to its one orthogonal state is defined as the quantum speed limit time, which can be used to characterize the maximal speed of ...evolution of a quantum system. This is a fundamental question of quantum physics. We investigate the generic bound on the minimal evolution time of the open dynamical quantum system. This quantum speed limit time is applicable to both mixed and pure initial states. We then apply this result to the damped Jaynes-Cummings model and the Ohimc-like dephasing model starting from a general time-evolution state. The bound of this time-dependent state at any point in time can be found. For the damped Jaynes-Cummings model, when the system starts from the excited state, the corresponding bound first decreases and then increases in the Markovian dynamics. While in the non-Markovian regime, the speed limit time shows an interesting periodic oscillatory behavior. For the case of Ohimc-like dephasing model, this bound would be gradually trapped to a fixed value. In addition, the roles of the relativistic effects on the speed limit time for the observer in non-inertial frames are discussed.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
Background: Periodontal disease is linked to a number of systemic diseases such as cardiovascular diseases and diabetes mellitus. Recent evidence has suggested periodontal disease might be associated ...with lung cancer. However, their precise relationship is yet to be explored. Hence, this study aims to investigate the association of periodontal disease and risk of incident lung cancer using a meta‐analytic approach.
Methods: PubMed, Scopus, and ScienceDirect were searched up to June 10, 2015. Cohort and nested case‐control studies investigating risk of lung cancer in patients with periodontal disease were included. Hazard ratios (HRs) were calculated, as were their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) using a fixed‐effect inverse‐variance model. Statistical heterogeneity was explored using the Q test as well as the I2 statistic. Publication bias was assessed by visual inspection of funnel plots symmetry and Egger’s test.
Results: Five cohort studies were included, involving 321,420 participants in this meta‐analysis. Summary estimates based on adjusted data showed that periodontal disease was associated with a significant risk of lung cancer (HR = 1.24, 95% CI = 1.13 to 1.36; I2 = 30%). No publication bias was detected. Subgroup analysis indicated that the association of periodontal disease and lung cancer remained significant in the female population.
Conclusion: Evidence from cohort studies suggests that patients with periodontal disease are at increased risk of developing lung cancer.
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BFBNIB, CMK, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Vitamin D deficiency is associated with acute myocardial infarction (AMI); thus we aimed to explore improvement effects of 1,25‐dihydroxyvitamin D3 (VD3) on the AMI and its potential mechanism. AMI ...models were constructed using male C57/BL6J mice and randomly treated with normal saline or VD3, using sham rats as control. Heart functions, myocardial damage, apoptosis, and inflammation were evaluated. Cardiomyocytes isolated from 3‐day‐old suckling mice were used for in vitro verification. After VD3 treatment, AMI‐induced cardiac dysfunction was reversed with better cardiac function parameters. VD3 treatment reduced inflammatory cell infiltration and myocardial infarction area accompanied by the reduction of inflammatory factors and myocardial infarction markers compared with the AMI group. VD3 treatment obviously alleviated AMI‐induced myocardial apoptosis, along with Bcl‐2 upregulation and downregulation of caspase‐3, caspase‐9, and Bax. Both in vivo and in vitro experiments revealed that VD3 enhanced the expression of LC3II and Beclin‐1 and decreased soluble p62. Furthermore, VD3 enhanced the AMI‐caused inhibition of PI3K, p‐AKT, and p‐mTOR expression, which was conversely reversed by the addition of 3‐methyladenine in vitro. The study highlights the improvement effects of VD3 on cardiac functions. We proposed a potential mechanism that VD3 protects against myocardial damage, inflammation, and apoptosis by promoting autophagy through PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway.
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FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
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