Reduced graphene oxide (rGO)‐based materials have shown good performance as electrodes in flexible energy storage devices owing to their physical properties, high specific surface area, and excellent ...electrical conductivity. Here, a novel road is reported for fabricating high‐performance supercapacitors based on 3D rGO electrodes and solid electrolyte multilayers via pressure spray printing and machine coating. These supercapacitors demonstrate high and adjustable volumetric capacitance, excellent flexibility, and stretchability. The results show that this commercial strategy has its essential merits such as low‐cost, inexpensive, and simple fabrication for large area production. These properties are in the favor of fabricating high‐performance supercapacitor to meet the practical energy demands in devices, especially flexible electronic devices. Furthermore, this novel 3D interdigital electrode concept can be widely applied to other energy devices for enhancing performances and to other micro devices for reducing cost.
3D interdigital electrodes ensure the adjustable volumetric capacitance of stretchable supercapacitors. A 3D interdigital electrode supercapacitor is composed of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) electrodes (with sandwiched Ag nanowire layers as currents collector) via pressure spray printing and solid electrolyte multilayers via machine coating. It can retain high specific volumetric capacitance while keeping its stretchability, and the specific volumetric capacitance can be adjusted by tuning the thickness of rGO layers.
We introduce the antibody landscape, a method for the quantitative analysis of antibodymediated immunity to antigenically variable pathogens, achieved by accounting for antigenic variation among ...pathogen strains. We generated antibody landscapes to study immune profiles covering 43 years of influenza A/H3N2 virus evolution for 69 individuals monitored for infection over 6 years and for 225 individuals pre- and postvaccination. Upon infection and vaccination, titers increased broadly, including previously encountered viruses far beyond the extent of cross-reactivity observed after a primary infection. We explored implications for vaccination and found that the use of an antigenically advanced virus had the dual benefit of inducing antibodies against both advanced and previous antigenic clusters. These results indicate that preemptive vaccine updates may improve influenza vaccine efficacy in previously exposed individuals.
Ridges are observed on epitaxial graphene on 6H-SiC(0001) by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). Atomic resolution imaging reveals that they are in fact bulged regions of the graphene layer, ...occurring as a result of bending and buckling to relieve the compressive strain. Furthermore, their length, direction, and distribution can be manipulated, and new ones can even be created by the tip-surface interactions during STM imaging. The lower limit of terrace size for ridge formation is estimated to be approximately 80 nm, and nearly ridge-free graphene film can be obtained on vicinal 3.5 degrees miscut substrates.
Two experiments were conducted to reveal the effects of grain-induced subacute rumen acidosis (SARA) on thiamine status in blood and rumen fluid in dairy cows. In both experiments, 6 multiparous, ...rumen-fistulated Holstein dairy cows were used in a 2-treatment, 2-period crossover design. Each experimental period consisted of 21d (total of 42d). Experiment 1 was to investigate the effects of SARA on thiamine status in blood and rumen fluid. Treatments were either control (20% starch, dry matter basis) or SARA-inducing diet (SAID, 33.2% starch, dry matter basis). In experiment 2, the effects of dietary thiamine supplementation on attenuating SARA and ruminal fermentation characteristics in dairy cows were studied. All cows received the same SAID diet during the whole experimental period; treatments were with or without thiamine (180mg of thiamine/kg of dry matter intake). In both experiments, rumen fluid samples were collected at 0, 3, 6, 9, and 12h after morning feeding on d 21 and 42 of the experiments for measurement of pH, thiamine, volatile fatty acid, and lactate contents. Peripheral blood was also collected at 3h after morning feeding on d 21 and 42 to measure thiamine, carbohydrate metabolites, and enzyme activities. In experiment 1, cows fed the SAID diet had lower ruminal and plasma thiamine concentrations and higher lactate than cows fed the control diet. The ruminal thiamine contents were positively related to pH and the concentrations of acetate in the rumen, and negatively correlated with the lactate contents. Experiment 2 demonstrated that ruminal pH and the concentrations of thiamine, acetate, and total volatile fatty acids in the rumen were increased, whereas ruminal lactate contents were reduced by thiamine supplementation. The concentrations of lactate and the activity of lactate dehydrogenase in blood were reduced in the thiamine supplemented group, and the opposite was true for the nonesterified fatty acids and α-ketoneglutarate dehydrogenase contents. In conclusion, the thiamine status was affected by SARA in dairy cows and ruminal infusion of thiamine could help attenuate SARA by improving theproportions of ruminal volatile fatty acids and reducing lactate contents in rumen fluid and blood.
Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) derived from blastocysts can propagate indefinitely in culture while maintaining pluripotency, including the ability to differentiate into cardiomyocytes (CMs); ...therefore, hESCs may provide an unlimited source of human CMs for cell-based therapies. Although CMs can be derived from hESCs ex vivo, it remains uncertain whether a functional syncytium can be formed between donor and recipient cells after engraftment.
Using a combination of electrophysiological and imaging techniques, here we demonstrate that electrically active, donor CMs derived from hESCs that had been stably genetically engineered by a recombinant lentivirus can functionally integrate with otherwise-quiescent, recipient, ventricular CMs to induce rhythmic electrical and contractile activities in vitro. The integrated syncytium was responsive to the beta-adrenergic agonist isoproterenol as well as to other pharmacological agents such as lidocaine and ZD7288. Similarly, a functional hESC-derived pacemaker could be implanted in the left ventricle in vivo. Detailed optical mapping of the epicardial surface of guinea pig hearts transplanted with hESC-derived CMs confirmed the successful spread of membrane depolarization from the site of injection to the surrounding myocardium.
We conclude that electrically active, hESC-derived CMs are capable of actively pacing quiescent, recipient, ventricular CMs in vitro and ventricular myocardium in vivo. Our results may lead to an alternative or a supplemental method for correcting defects in cardiac impulse generation, such as cell-based pacemakers.
The recent discovery of superconductivity with a transition temperature (T(c)) at 18 K in K(x)picene has extended the possibility of high-T(c) superconductors in organic materials. Previous ...experience based on similar hydrocarbons, like alkali-metal doped phenanthrene, suggested that even higher transition temperatures might be achieved in alkali-metals or alkali-earth-metals doped such polycyclic-aromatic-hydrocarbons (PAHs), a large family of molecules composed of fused benzene rings. Here we report the discovery of high-T(c) superconductivity at 33 K in K-doped 1,2:8,9-dibenzopentacene (C(30)H(18)). To our best knowledge, it is higher than any T(c) reported previously for an organic superconductor under ambient pressure. This finding provides an indication that superconductivity at much higher temperature may be possible in such PAHs system and is worthy of further exploration.
Background The positive association between obesity and postmenopausal breast cancer has been attributed, in part, to the fact that estrogen, a risk factor for breast cancer, is synthesized in ...adipose tissue. Obesity is also associated with high levels of insulin, a known mitogen. However, no prospective studies have directly assessed associations between circulating levels of insulin and/or insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I, a related hormone, and the risk of breast cancer independent of estrogen level. Methods We conducted a case–cohort study of incident breast cancer among nondiabetic women who were enrolled in the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study (WHI-OS), a prospective cohort of 93 676 postmenopausal women. Fasting serum samples obtained at study entry from 835 incident breast cancer case subjects and from a subcohort of 816 randomly chosen WHI-OS subjects were tested for levels of insulin, glucose, total IGF-I, free IGF-I, insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3, and estradiol. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate associations between levels of the serologic factors and baseline characteristics (including body mass index BMI) and the risk of breast cancer. All statistical tests were two-sided. Results Insulin levels were positively associated with the risk of breast cancer (hazard ratio HR for highest vs lowest quartile of insulin level = 1.46, 95% confidence interval CI = 1.00 to 2.13, Ptrend = .02); however, the association with insulin level varied by hormone therapy (HT) use (Pinteraction = .01). In a model that controlled for multiple breast cancer risk factors including estradiol, insulin level was associated with breast cancer only among nonusers of HT (HR for highest vs lowest quartile of insulin level = 2.40, 95% CI = 1.30 to 4.41, Ptrend < .001). Obesity (BMI ≥30 kg/m2) was also associated with the risk of breast cancer among nonusers of HT (HR for BMI ≥30 kg/m2 vs 18.5 to <25 kg/m2 = 2.12, 95% CI = 1.26 to 3.58, Ptrend = .003); however, this association was attenuated by adjustment for insulin (Ptrend = .40). Conclusion These data suggest that hyperinsulinemia is an independent risk factor for breast cancer and may have a substantial role in explaining the obesity–breast cancer relationship.
Background
Premedication in upper gastrointestinal endoscopy for higher lesions detection rate has not been well studied so far. This study aimed to confirm whether premedication could improve the ...detection rate of early cancer or precancerous lesions and mucosal visibility.
Method
From July 2015 to December 2015, 7200 participants from 6 centers were screened by endoscopy with one of the 4 following premedications randomly: (1) water (group D); (2) pronase (group A); (3) simethicone (group B); (4) pronase and simethicone (group C). Early cancer and precancerous lesions detection rates were taken as the primary endpoints, and mucosal visibility was taken as the secondary endpoint. They were compared among four groups to determine different premedication effects in terms of different anatomical sites. Trial was registered at Chinese Clinical Trial Registry; the registration number is ChiCTR-IOR-17010985.
Results
The upper gastrointestinal overall precancerous lesion detection rates among four groups were 8.7, 8.4, 10.0, and 10.3%, the overall early cancer detection rates were 1.3, 1.4%, 1.5, and 1.6%, both without significant difference (
p
= 0.138 and 0.878). However, the visibility score distributions between control group (D) and premedication groups (A, B, and C) were all statistically significant, with all anatomical sites
p
values < 0.001. Subgroup analyses, from 2 centers without screening before, also showed significant difference in esophageal (3.9, 3.3, 4.5, and 8.4% with
p
= 0.004) and overall (7.0, 5.5, 7.3, and 12.0% with
p
= 0.004) precancerous lesion detection rate.
Conclusions
Premedication with pronase and simethicone may not increase lesion detection rates but could significantly increase the upper gastrointestinal mucosal visibility.
An experiment was conducted to uncover the effects of increasing dietary grain levels on expression of thiamine transporters in ruminal epithelium, and to assess the protective effects of thiamine ...against high-grain-induced inflammation in dairy cows. Six rumen-fistulated, lactating Holstein dairy cows (627 ± 16.9 kg of body weight, 180 ± 6 d in milk; mean ± standard deviation) were randomly assigned to a replicated 3 × 3 Latin square design trial. Three treatments were control (20% dietary starch, dry matter basis), high-grain diet (HG, 33.2% dietary starch, DM basis), and HG diet supplemented with 180 mg of thiamine/kg of dry matter intake. On d 19 and 20 of each period, milk performance was measured. On d 21, ruminal pH, endotoxic lipopolysaccharide (LPS), and thiamine contents in rumen and blood, and plasma inflammatory cytokines were detected; a rumen papillae biopsy was taken on d 21 to determine the gene and protein expression of toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) signaling pathways. The HG diet decreased ruminal pH (5.93 vs. 6.49), increased milk yield from 17.9 to 20.2 kg/d, and lowered milk fat and protein from 4.28 to 3.83%, and from 3.38 to 3.11%, respectively. The HG feeding reduced thiamine content in rumen (2.89 vs. 8.97 μg/L) and blood (11.66 vs. 17.63 μg/L), and the relative expression value of thiamine transporter-2 (0.37-fold) and mitochondrial thiamine pyrophosphate transporter (0.33-fold) was downregulated by HG feeding. The HG-fed cows exhibited higher endotoxin LPS in rumen fluid (134,380 vs. 11,815 endotoxin units/mL), and higher plasma concentrations of lipopolysaccharide binding protein and pro-inflammatory cytokines when compared with the control group. The gene and protein expression of tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα), IL1B, and IL6 in rumen epithelium increased when cows were fed the HG diet, indicating that local inflammation occurred. The depressions in ruminal pH, milk fat, and protein of HG-fed cows were reversed by thiamine supplementation. Thiamine supplementation increased thiamine contents in rumen and blood, and also upregulated the relative expression of thiamine transporters compared with the HG group. Thiamine supplementation decreased ruminal LPS (49,361 vs. 134,380 endotoxin units/mL) and attenuated the HG-induced inflammation response as indicated by a reduction in plasma IL6, and decreasing gene and protein expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines in rumen epithelium. Western bottling analysis showed that thiamine suppressed the protein expression of TLR4 and the phosphorylation of nuclear factor kappa B (NFκB) unit p65. In conclusion, HG feeding inhibits thiamine transporter expression in ruminal epithelium. Thiamine could attenuate the epithelial inflammation during high-grain feeding, and the protective effects may be due to its ability to suppress TLR4-mediated NFκB signaling pathways.
Graphene, as the fundamental two-dimensional carbon structure with exceptionally high crystal and electronic quality, had attracted increasing interest for its promising potential applications. In ...this article, the few-layer graphene sheets have been achieved by the direct current (DC) arc-discharge under hydrogen atmosphere, using pure graphite rods as the electrodes. The influence of hydrogen pressures (e.g. 0.03MPa, 0.05MPa, 0.07MPa) on the products and their electrochemical properties for hydrogen storage were investigated. It is indicated that the graphene sheets were less than 10 layers and with the sizes in range of 200–500nm. Among all graphene sheet samples, the highest capacity for electrochemical hydrogen storage was 147.8mAh/g. Mechanism for electrochemical hydrogen insertion/desertion of such graphene sheet was discussed with respect to the single-layer graphene and multi-layer graphite.
► We synthesize the graphene sheets in hydrogen atmosphere by arc discharge method. ► We examine the microstructure and electrochemical hydrogen storage of the graphene. ► The graphene electrode exhibits the good cyclic H2 storage capacity. ► The H2 storage is due to large interlayer spacing and defects in the graphene.
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