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•N2O-ODEB was an effective method for greenhouse gas elimination and styrene production.•The K/Co2AlO4 exhibited 62.0% of EB conversion and 85.1% of styrene selectivity at 500 °C.•The ...K modification changed the electronic properties of active metal and weakened the bond energy of Co3+-O−.•The K modification reduced the coke deposition on the catalyst surface.
This study explored the feasibility of coupling N2O decomposition with ethylbenzene (EB) oxidative dehydrogenation, as an alternative approach for greenhouse gas elimination and styrene (ST) production, on the Co-Al mixed oxides and K-modified catalysts. It was found that N2O could decompose completely over the K/Co2AlO4 catalyst, accompanied with 62.0% of EB conversion and 85.1% of styrene selectivity, which were much better than the existing catalyst systems for EB oxidative dehydrogenation. Characterization results showed that despite the decreased specific surface area of the catalysts with increasing the Co/Al molar ratio, the improved reducibility, the reduced acid properties as well as the higher ratio of Co3+/Co2+ were responsible for the enhanced performance. The K modification not only changed the electronic properties of active metal, resulting from the charge transfer from K cation to the Co species, but also weakened the binding energy of Co3+-O−, leading to the complete decomposition of N2O. Furthermore, the optimized strong acid properties inhibited the dealkylation or ring-opening reactions and significantly reduced the coke deposition on the catalyst surface, thus improving the ST selectivity.
The aim of the study was to find structural brain changes in systemic lupus erythematosus patients without major neuropsychiatric manifestations non-neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus ...(non-NPSLE) using quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and possible associations with clinical characteristics. 89 non-NPSLE patients with normal conventional MRI and 84 healthy controls (HCs) were recruited. The whole brain gray matter volume (GMV) and white matter volume (WMV) were calculated for each individual. We found obvious GMV and WMV reduction in the systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) group compared with HCs. Female patients showed significant reduction of GMV and WMV compared with male patients. Patients treated with immunosuppressive agents (ISA) showed less WMV reduction than those without. Cognitive impairment was the most common subclinical neuropsychiatric manifestation and had a prevalence of 46.1%. Association between WMV reduction with cognitive impairment was found. Thus, we concluded that structural brain atrophy could happen even before occurrence of obvious neuropsychiatric signs and symptoms and was associated with subclinical symptoms such as cognitive impairment. ISA treatment might have a protective effect on the brain atrophy. Early treatment might prevent the progressive damage to the brain. More studies are needed to fully understand the complicated underlying mechanisms of brain atrophy in SLE.
Abstract Background It is difficult to improve negative symptoms and cognitive impairments in schizophrenia. A previous pilot study has shown that minocycline, a semi-synthetic second-generation ...tetracycline, is effective in treating for negative and/or cognitive symptoms in schizophrenia. Objectives The present study was designed to examine the efficacy and safety of minocycline for the treatment of negative symptoms and cognitive impairments in patients with schizophrenia. Methods Ninety-two patients with early stage schizophrenia treated with risperidone entered this 16-week, double blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Subjects were randomly assigned to receive minocycline (200 mg per day) or the placebo. The primary outcome was evaluated using the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS). Secondary outcomes included the response rate of SANS, the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), the Clinical Global Impression Scale (CGI), and cognitive tests. Results Subjects receiving minocycline had greater improvements on SANS total scores and PANSS negative subscale scores (P < 0.001) when compared with those receiving the placebo. Rates of treatment response (43.6%) in the minocycline group were significantly higher than those in the placebo group (10.0%) after 16 weeks of treatment. There was no significant difference between the seven cognitive domains (P > 0.05), except for the attention domain (P = 0.044). Conclusions The addition of minocycline to atypical antipsychotic drugs in early schizophrenia had significant efficacy on negative symptoms but had a slight effect on the attention domains of patients with schizophrenia. It may be considered as a new adjunct treatment for negative symptoms of schizophrenia. Clinical trials.gov identifier: NCT01493622.
Rho family proteins are prenylated by geranylgeranyltransferase type I (GGTase-I), which normally target proteins to membranes for GTP-loading. However, conditional deletion of GGTase-I in mouse ...macrophages increases GTP-loading of Rho proteins, leading to enhanced inflammatory responses and severe rheumatoid arthritis. Here we show that heterozygous deletion of the Rho family gene Rac1, but not Rhoa and Cdc42, reverses inflammation and arthritis in GGTase-I-deficient mice. Non-prenylated Rac1 has a high affinity for the adaptor protein Ras GTPase-activating-like protein 1 (Iqgap1), which facilitates both GTP exchange and ubiquitination-mediated degradation of Rac1. Consistently, inactivating Iqgap1 normalizes Rac1 GTP-loading, and reduces inflammation and arthritis in GGTase-I-deficient mice, as well as prevents statins from increasing Rac1 GTP-loading and cytokine production in macrophages. We conclude that blocking prenylation stimulates Rac1 effector interactions and unleashes proinflammatory signaling. Our results thus suggest that prenylation normally restrains innate immune responses by preventing Rac1 effector interactions.
Owing to the energy crisis and environmental pollution, it is essential to develop cheap, environmentally friendly and sustainable energy to replace noble metal electrocatalysts for use in the ...hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). We report herein that a Cu/Cu3P nanoarray catalyst was directly grown on the surfaces of Cu nanosheets from its Cu/CuO nanoarray precursor by a low-temperature phosphidation process. In particular, the effects of phosphating distance, mass ratio and temperature on the morphology of Cu/Cu3P nanoarrays were studied in detail. This nanoarray, as an electrocatalyst, displays excellent catalytic performance and long-term stability in an acid solution for electrochemical hydrogen generation. Specifically, the Cu/Cu3P nanoarray-270 exhibits a low onset overpotential (96 mV) and a small Tafel slope (131 mV dec−1).
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a mental illness characterized by the loss of control. Because the cingulate cortex is believed to be important in executive functions, such as inhibition, we ...used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) techniques to examine whether and how activity and functional connectivity (FC) of the cingulate cortex were altered in drug-naïve OCD patients.
Twenty-three medication-naïve OCD patients and 23 well-matched healthy controls received fMRI scans in a resting state. Functional connectivities of the anterior cingulate (ACC) and the posterior cingulate (PCC) to the whole brain were analyzed using correlation analyses based on regions of interest (ROI) identified by the fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (fALFF). Independent Component Analysis (ICA) was used to identify the resting-state sub-networks.
fALFF analysis found that regional activity was increased in the ACC and decreased in the PCC in OCD patients when compared to controls. FC of the ACC and the PCC also showed different patterns. The ACC and the PCC were found to belong to different resting-state sub-networks in ICA analysis and showed abnormal FC, as well as contrasting correlations with the severity of OCD symptoms.
Activity of the ACC and the PCC were increased and decreased, respectively, in the medication-naïve OCD patients compared to controls. Different patterns in FC were also found between the ACC and the PCC with respect to these two groups. These findings implied that the cardinal feature of OCD, the loss of control, may be attributed to abnormal activities and FC of the ACC and the PCC.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
A unique porous material, namely, MXene/SiO2 hybrid aerogel, with a high surface area, was prepared via sol-gel and freeze-drying methods. The hierarchical porous hybrid aerogel possesses a ...three-dimensional integrated network structure of SiO2 cross-link with two-dimensional MXene; it is used not only as a scaffold to prepare sulfur-based cathode material, but also as an efficient functional separator to block the polysulfides shuttle. MXene/SiO2 hybrid aerogel as sulfur carrier exhibits good electrochemical performance, such as high discharge capacities (1007 mAh g–1 at 0.1 C) and stable cycling performance (823 mA h g–1 over 200 cycles at 0.5 C). Furthermore, the battery assembled with hybrid aerogel-modified separator remains at 623 mA h g–1 over 200 cycles at 0.5 C based on the conductive porous framework and abundant functional groups in hybrid aerogel. This work might provide further impetus to explore other applications of MXene-based composite aerogel.
Aims/hypothesis
The NEFA-responsive G-protein coupled receptor 120 (GPR120) has been implicated in the regulation of inflammation, in the control of incretin secretion and as a predisposing factor ...influencing the development of type 2 diabetes by regulation of islet cell apoptosis. However, there is still considerable controversy about the tissue distribution of GPR120 and, in particular, it remains unclear which islet cell types express this molecule. In the present study, we have addressed this issue by constructing a
Gpr120
-knockout/β-galactosidase (
LacZ
) knock-in (KO/KI) mouse to examine the distribution and functional role of GPR120 in the endocrine pancreas.
Methods
A KO/KI mouse was generated in which exon 1 of the
Gpr120
gene (also known as
Ffar4
) was replaced in frame by
LacZ
, thereby allowing for regulated expression of β-galactosidase under the control of the endogenous GPR120 promoter. The distribution of GPR120 was inferred from expression studies detecting β-galactosidase activity and protein production. Islet hormone secretion was measured from isolated mouse islets treated with selective GPR120 agonists.
Results
β-galactosidase activity was detected as a surrogate for GPR120 expression exclusively in a small population of islet endocrine cells located peripherally within the islet mantle. Immunofluorescence analysis revealed co-localisation with somatostatin suggesting that GPR120 is preferentially produced in islet delta cells. In confirmation of this, glucose-induced somatostatin secretion was inhibited by a range of selective GPR120 agonists. This response was lost in GPR120-knockout mice.
Conclusions/interpretation
The results imply that GPR120 is selectively present within the delta cells of murine islets and that it regulates somatostatin secretion.
Melancholic depression (MD) is one of the most prevalent and severe subtypes of major depressive disorder (MDD). Previous studies have revealed inconsistent results regarding alterations in grey ...matter volume (GMV) of the hippocampus and amygdala of MD patients, possibly due to overlooking the complexity of their internal structure. The hippocampus and amygdala consist of multiple and functionally distinct subregions, and these subregions may play different roles in MD. This study aims to investigate the volumetric alterations of each subregion of the hippocampus and amygdala in patients with MD and non-melancholic depression (NMD).
A total of 146 drug-naïve, first-episode MDD patients (72 with MD and 74 with NMD) and 81 gender-, age-, and education-matched healthy controls (HCs) were included in the study. All participants underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. The subregional segmentation of hippocampus and amygdala was performed using the FreeSurfer 6.0 software. The multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) was used to detect GMV differences of the hippocampal and amygdala subregions between three groups. Partial correlation analysis was conducted to explore the relationship between hippocampus or amygdala subfields and clinical characteristics in the MD group. Age, gender, years of education and intracranial volume (ICV) were included as covariates in both MANCOVA and partial correlation analyses.
Patients with MD exhibited a significantly lower GMV of the right hippocampal tail compared to HCs, which was uncorrelated with clinical characteristics of MD. No significant differences were observed among the three groups in overall and subregional GMV of amygdala.
Our findings suggest that specific hippocampal subregions in MD patients are more susceptible to volumetric alterations than the entire hippocampus. The reduced right hippocampal tail may underlie the unique neuropathology of MD. Future longitudinal studies are required to better investigate the associations between reduced right hippocampal tail and the onset and progression of MD.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Adult patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) may not actively reveal their suicidal ideation (SI). Therefore, this study is committed to finding the alterations in the cingulo-opercular ...network (CON) that are closely related to SI with multi-imaging methods, thus providing neuroimaging basis for SI.
A total of 198 participants (129 MDD patients and 69 healthy controls) were recruited and evaluated with the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS). The healthy individuals formed the HC group, while the MDD patients were subdivided into no SI MDD (NSI,
= 32), mild SI MDD (MSI,
= 64), and severe SI MDD (SSI,
= 33) according to their MADRS item 10. We obtained MRI data of all participants and applied regional homogeneity (ReHo) analysis to verify a previous finding that links CON abnormality to SI. In addition, we employed the structural covariance network (SCN) analysis to investigate the correlation between abnormal structural connectivity of CON and SI severity.
Compared to those of the HC group, MDD ReHo values and gray matter volume (GMV) were consistently found abnormal in CON. ReHo values and GMV of the right orbital inferior frontal gyrus (ORBinf.R) in the MDD group decreased with the increase of SI. Compared to the HC group, the MDD patients showed enhanced structural connectivity of three pairs of brain regions in CON ACC.L-left superior frontal gyrus (SFG.L), SFG.L-left middle temporal gyrus (MTG.L), and the SFG.L-left post-central gyrus (PoCG.L). Compared with that of the NSI and MSI groups, the structural connectivity of three pairs of brain regions in CON is enhanced in the SSI groups ORBinf.L-right ventral posterior cingulate gyrus (VPCC.R), VPCC.R-SFG.R, and SFG.R-PoCG.R.
Our findings showed the distinctive ReHo, GMV, and SCN pattern of CON in MDD patients with SI; and with the severity of suicide, abnormal brain regions increased. Our finding suggested that MDD patients with different severity of SI have different neuroimaging changes.