Endothelial activation and dysfunction is an important contributor to atherosclerosis, cardiovascular diseases and cardiorenal syndrome. Endothelial dysfunction is also linked with metabolic syndrome ...and type II diabetes. The search for specific and sensitive biomarkers of endothelial activation and dysfunction may have important clinical implications. This review pinpoints the differences in biomarkers between endothelial activation and endothelial dysfunction in cardiovascular diseases, and then briefly describes the most relevant biomarkers of endothelial activation. Biomarkers of endothelial activation include endothelial adhesion molecules, cytokines, C-reactive protein, CD62E+/E-selectin activated endothelial microparticles, oxidation of low density lipoproteins, asymmetric dimethylarginine and endocan. This review also presents an update on the novel biomarkers of endothelial dysfunction, such as matrix metalloproteinases (e.g., MMP-7, MMP-9), ANGPTL2, endogdlin, annexin V+ endothelial apoptotic microparticles, and serum homocysteine. Finally, this review emphasizes the limitations of biomarkers of endothelial activation and dysfunction in clinical setting.
Production of ammonia is currently realized by the Haber-Bosch process, while electrochemical N
fixation under ambient conditions is recognized as a promising green substitution in the near future. A ...lack of efficient electrocatalysts remains the primary hurdle for the initiation of potential electrocatalytic synthesis of ammonia. For cheaper metals, such as copper, limited progress has been made to date. In this work, we boost the N
reduction reaction catalytic activity of Cu nanoparticles, which originally exhibited negligible N
reduction reaction activity, via a local electron depletion effect. The electron-deficient Cu nanoparticles are brought in a Schottky rectifying contact with a polyimide support which retards the hydrogen evolution reaction process in basic electrolytes and facilitates the electrochemical N
reduction reaction process under ambient aqueous conditions. This strategy of inducing electron deficiency provides new insight into the rational design of inexpensive N
reduction reaction catalysts with high selectivity and activity.
We report FeOOH supported on Ni foam which enables highly efficient UOR electrocatalysis and can be readily produced through a hydrolysis reaction. Our developed UOR catalyst as the anode can provide ...a current density of 200 mA cm
−2
at 1.427 V
vs.
RHE, as well as remarkable operational stability, representing the best yet reported noble metal-free urea electrolyser.
The developed UOR electrocatalyst as the anode can provide a current density of 200 mA cm
−2
at 1.427 V
vs.
RHE, as well as remarkable operational stability.
Background Large area skin trauma has always been a great challenge for both patients and clinicians. Exosomes originating from human adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hADSCs) have been a novel ...promising cell-free treatment in cutaneous damage repair. Nevertheless, the low retention rate of exosomes post-transplantation in vivo remains a significant challenge in clinical applications. Herein, we purposed to explore the potential clinical application roles of hADSCs-Exos encapsulated in functional PF-127 hydrogel in wound healing. Methods hADSCs-Exos were isolated from human hADSCs by ultracentrifugation. An injectable, biocompatible, and thermo-sensitive hydrogel Pluronic F-127 hydrogel was employed to encapsulate allogeneic hADSCs-Exos, and this complex was topically applied to a full-thickness cutaneous wound in mice. On different days post-transplantation, the mice were sacrificed, and the skin tissue was excised for histological and immunohistochemical analysis. Results Compared with hADSCs-Exos or PF-127 only, PF-127/hADSCs-Exos complexes enhanced skin wound healing, promoted re-epithelialization, increased expression of Ki67, alpha-SMA, and CD31, facilitated collagen synthesis (Collagen I, Collagen III), up-regulated expression of skin barrier proteins (KRT1, AQP3), and reduced inflammation (IL-6, TNF-alpha, CD68, CD206). By using PF-127/hADSCs-Exos complexes, hADSCs-Exos can be administrated at lower doses frequency while maintaining the same therapeutic effects. Conclusion Administration of hADSCs-Exos in PF-127 improves the efficiency of exosome delivery, maintains the bioactivity of hADSCs-Exos, and optimizes the performance of hADSCs-Exos. Thus, this biomaterial-based exosome will be a promising treatment approach for the cutaneous rejuvenation of skin wounds. Keywords: Wound healing, Adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells, Exosomes, PF-127 hydrogel
Alloy anodes are promising anode materials for lithium-ion batteries due to their high-energy capacity and safety characteristics. However, the commercial use of alloy anodes has been hindered to ...date by their low cycle life and high initial capacity loss. This review highlights the recent progress in improving and understanding the electrochemical performance of various alloy anodes. The approaches used for performance improvement are summarized, and the causes of first-cycle irreversible capacity loss are discussed. The capacity retentions and irreversible capacity losses of various alloy anodes are compared. Several alloy anodes exhibited excellent cycle life (up to 300 cycles) with high initial coulombic efficiency (80–90%) and large reversible capacity (500–700
mAh
g
−1).
Electrical control of atom‐thick van der Waals (vdW) ferromagnets is a key toward future magnetoelectric nanodevices; however, state‐of‐the‐art control approaches are volatile. In this work, ...introducing ferroelectric switching as an aided layer is demonstrated to be an effective approach toward achieving nonvolatile electrical control of 2D ferromagnets. For example, when a ferromagnetic monolayer CrI3 and ferroelectric MXene Sc2CO2 come together into multiferroic heterostructures, CrI3 is controlled by polarized states P↑ and P↓ of Sc2CO2. P↑ Sc2CO2 does not change the semiconducting nature of CrI3, but surprisingly P↓ Sc2CO2 makes CrI3 half‐metallic. Nonvolatility of the electrical switching between two oppositely ferroelectric polarized states, therefore, indirectly enables nonvolatile electrical control of CrI3 between ferromagnetic semiconductor and half‐metal. The heterointerface‐induced half‐metallicity in CrI3 is intrinsic without resorting to any chemical functionalization or external physical modification, which is rather beneficial to the practical application. This work paves the way for nonvolatile electrical control of 2D vdW ferromagnets and applications of CrI3 in half‐metal‐based nanospintronics.
In CrI3/MXene Sc2CO2 multiferroic heterostructures, CrI3 is coupled with polarized states P↑ and P↓ of Sc2CO2. P↑ Sc2CO2 does not change the semiconducting nature of CrI3, but P↓ Sc2CO2 makes CrI3 half‐metallic. Thus, nonvolatile electrical control of 2D ferromagnets can be achieved by introducing ferroelectric switching, and heterointerface engineering is an effective method to modulate 2D ferromagnets into half‐metals.
China's carbon emissions trading (CET) policy aims to force relevant enterprises to implement low‐carbon technology innovation and address environmental challenges through marketization means. ...However, how China's CET policy may affect enterprise technology innovation and whether this effect may differ in industries remain to be further investigated. Therefore, based on the panel data of listed enterprises covered by the CET policy in China during 2009–2017, this paper employs the difference‐in‐difference (DID) and DID‐based propensity score matching models to evaluate the effect of CET on technology innovation. The empirical results indicate that the effect of China's CET on the technology innovation of related enterprises is generally not significant during the sample period, but this effect presents evident industrial heterogeneity. Specifically, among the eight CET‐covered industries, the CET policy helps to improve technology innovation for power and aviation enterprises but not in the other six industries (i.e., steel, chemical, building material, petrochemical, nonferrous metals, and paper), which implies that China's CET policy still has great potential for promoting the technology innovation of related enterprises. In addition, the central findings remain robust when the system generalized method of moment and DID‐based coarsened exact matching models are applied to consider the influence of omitted variables, unobservable confounders, and different matching methods.
Given the complexity between China's financial development and carbon emissions, this paper uses some econometric techniques, including cointegration theory, Granger causality test, variance ...decomposition, etc., to explore the influence of financial development on carbon emissions. Results indicate that, first, China's financial development acts as an important driver for carbon emissions increase, which should be taken into account when carbon emissions demand is projected. Second, the influence of financial intermediation scale on carbon emissions outweighs that of other financial development indicators but its efficiency's influence appears by far weaker although it may cause the change of carbon emissions statistically. Third, China's stock market scale has relatively larger influence on carbon emissions but the influence of its efficiency is very limited. This to some extent reflects the relatively lower liquidity in China's stock markets. Finally, among financial development indicators, China's FDI exerts the least influence on the change of carbon emissions, due to its relatively smaller volume compared with GDP; but it is mainly utilized in carbon intensive sectors now, therefore, with the increase of China's FDI in the future, many efforts should be made to adapt its utilizing directions and play its positive role in promoting low-carbon development.
► This paper explores the influence of financial development on carbon emissions. ► China's financial development appears to be an important driver for carbon emissions increase. ► The influence of financial intermediation scale on carbon emissions outweighs that of other indicators. ► China's stock market scale has relatively larger influence on carbon emissions but the influence of its efficiency is very limited. ► China's FDI exerts the least influence on carbon emissions change, due to its relatively smaller volume compared with China's GDP.
Water electrolysis is a promising source of hydrogen; however, technological challenges remain. Intensive efforts have focused on developing highly efficient and earth‐abundant electrocatalysts for ...water splitting. An effective strategy is proposed, using a bifunctional tubular cobalt perselenide nanosheet electrode, in which the sluggish oxygen evolution reaction is substituted with anodic hydrazine oxidation so as to assist energy‐efficient hydrogen production. Specifically, this electrode produces a current density of 10 mA cm−2 at −84 mV for hydrogen evolution and −17 mV for hydrazine oxidation in 1.0 m KOH and 0.5 m hydrazine electrolyte. An ultralow cell voltage of only 164 mV is required to generate a current density of 10 mA cm−2 for 14 hours of stable water electrolysis.
Sweet electrocatalytic synergy: An effective strategy for energy‐saving water electrolysis is presented. The sluggish oxygen evolution reaction is replaced by anodic hydrazine oxidation on a low‐cost and bifunctional cobalt perselenide electrode.
Transition metal (TM)‐based bimetallic spinel oxides can efficiently activate peroxymonosulfate (PMS) presumably attributed to enhanced electron transfer between TMs, but the existing model cannot ...fully explain the efficient TM redox cycling. Here, we discover a critical role of TM−O covalency in governing the intrinsic catalytic activity of Co3−xMnxO4 spinel oxides. Experimental and theoretical analysis reveals that the Co sites significantly raises the Mn valence and enlarges Mn−O covalency in octahedral configuration, thereby lowering the charge transfer energy to favor MnOh–PMS interaction. With appropriate MnIV/MnIII ratio to balance PMS adsorption and MnIV reduction, the Co1.1Mn1.9O4 exhibits remarkable catalytic activities for PMS activation and pollutant degradation, outperforming all the reported TM spinel oxides. The improved understandings on the origins of spinel oxides activity for PMS activation may inspire the development of more active and robust metal oxide catalysts.
The Mn−O covalency was enlarged by the Co sites mainly in the octahedral configuration, which results in a decreased charge transfer energy to favor Mn–PMS interaction and enhance MnIV reduction to boost PMS activation activity of Co‐Mn spinel oxides.
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