Abstract
Photocatalytic formation of hydrocarbons using solar energy via artificial photosynthesis is a highly desirable renewable-energy source for replacing conventional fossil fuels. Using an
l
...-cysteine-based hydrothermal process, here we synthesize a carbon-doped SnS
2
(SnS
2
-C) metal dichalcogenide nanostructure, which exhibits a highly active and selective photocatalytic conversion of CO
2
to hydrocarbons under visible-light. The interstitial carbon doping induced microstrain in the SnS
2
lattice, resulting in different photophysical properties as compared with undoped SnS
2
. This SnS
2
-C photocatalyst significantly enhances the CO
2
reduction activity under visible light, attaining a photochemical quantum efficiency of above 0.7%. The SnS
2
-C photocatalyst represents an important contribution towards high quantum efficiency artificial photosynthesis based on gas phase photocatalytic CO
2
reduction under visible light, where the in situ carbon-doped SnS
2
nanostructure improves the stability and the light harvesting and charge separation efficiency, and significantly enhances the photocatalytic activity.
This study investigates the effects of five decontamination methods on the filter quality (qf) of three commercially available electret masks-N95, Gauze and Spunlace nonwoven masks. Newly developed ...evaluation methods, the overall filter quality (qf,o) and the qf ratio were applied to evaluate the effectiveness of decontamination methods for respirators. A scanning mobility particle sizer is utilized to measure the concentration of polydispersed particles with diameter 14.6-594 nm. The penetration of particles and pressure drop (Δp) through the mask are used to determine qf and qf,o. Experimental results reveal that the most penetrating particle size (MPS) for the pre-decontaminated N95, Gauze and Spunlace masks were 118 nm, 461 nm and 279 nm, respectively, and the respective penetration rates were 2.6%, 23.2% and 70.0%. The Δp through the pretreated N95 masks was 9.2 mm H2O at the breathing flow rate of heavy-duty workers, exceeding the Δp values obtained through Gauze and Spunlace masks. Decontamination increased the sizes of the most penetrating particles, changing the qf values of all of the masks: qf fell as particle size increased because the penetration increased. Bleach increased the Δp of N95, but destroyed the Gauze mask. However, the use of an autoclave reduces the Δp values of both the N95 and the Gauze mask. Neither the rice cooker nor ethanol altered the Δp of the Gauze mask. Chemical decontamination methods reduced the qf,o values for the three electret masks. The value of qf,o for PM0.1 exceeded that for PM0.1-0.6, because particles smaller than 100 nm had lower penetration, resulting in a better qf for a given pressure drop. The values of qf,o, particularly for PM0.1, reveal that for the tested treatments and masks, physical decontamination methods are less destructive to the filter than chemical methods. Nevertheless, when purchasing new or reusing FFRs, penetration should be regarded as the priority.
Nutritional status has been related to clinical outcomes in patients with heart failure. We assessed the association between nutritional status, indexed by prognostic nutritional index (PNI), and ...survival in patients hospitalized for acute heart failure.
A total of 1673 patients (age 76±13 years, 68% men) hospitalized for acute heart failure in a tertiary medical center were analyzed. PNI was calculated as 10×serum albumin (g/dL)+0.005×total lymphocyte count (per mm
). National Death Registry was linked to identify the clinical outcomes of all-cause and cardiovascular death. With increasing tertiles of PNI, age and N-terminal probrain natriuretic peptide decreased, and body mass index, estimated glomerular filtration rate, and hemoglobin increased. During a mean follow-up duration of 31.5 months, a higher PNI tertile was related to better survival free from all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in the total study population and in participants with either reduced or preserved left ventricular ejection fraction. After accounting for age, sex, estimated glomerular filtration rate, left ventricular ejection fraction, serum sodium level, and on-admission systolic blood pressure, PNI was independently associated with cardiovascular death and total mortality (hazard ratio per 1 SD of the natural logarithm of the PNI: 0.76 95% CI, 0.66-0.87 and 0.79 95% CI, 0.73-0.87, respectively). In subgroup analyses stratified by age, sex, left ventricular ejection fraction, body mass index, or estimated glomerular filtration rate, PNI was consistently related to mortality.
PNI is independently associated with long-term survival in patients hospitalized for acute heart failure with either reduced or preserved left ventricular ejection fraction.
Hydrogels are crosslinked polymer chains with three-dimensional (3D) network structures, which can absorb relatively large amounts of fluid. Because of the high water content, soft structure, and ...porosity of hydrogels, they closely resemble living tissues. Research in recent years shows that hydrogels have been applied in various fields, such as agriculture, biomaterials, the food industry, drug delivery, tissue engineering, and regenerative medicine. Along with the underlying technology improvements of hydrogel development, hydrogels can be expected to be applied in more fields. Although not all hydrogels have good biodegradability and biocompatibility, such as synthetic hydrogels (polyvinyl alcohol, polyacrylamide, polyethylene glycol hydrogels, etc.), their biodegradability and biocompatibility can be adjusted by modification of their functional group or incorporation of natural polymers. Hence, scientists are still interested in the biomedical applications of hydrogels due to their creative adjustability for different uses. In this review, we first introduce the basic information of hydrogels, such as structure, classification, and synthesis. Then, we further describe the recent applications of hydrogels in 3D cell cultures, drug delivery, wound dressing, and tissue engineering.
Background
Childhood asthma is a multifactorial inflammatory condition of the airways, associated with specific changes in respiratory microbiome and circulating metabolome.
Methods
To explore the ...functional capacity of asthmatic microbiome and its intricate connection with the host, we performed shotgun sequencing of airway microbiome and untargeted metabolomics profiling of serum samples in a cohort of children with mite‐sensitized asthma and non‐asthmatic controls.
Results
We observed higher gene counts and sample‐to‐sample dissimilarities in asthmatic microbiomes, indicating a more heterogeneous community structure and functionality among the cases than in controls. Moreover, we identified airway microbial species linked to changes in circulating metabolites and IgE responses of the host, including a positive correlation between Prevotella sp oral taxon 306 and dimethylglycine that were both decreased in patients. Several control‐enriched species (Eubacterium sulci, Prevotella pallens, and Prevotella sp oral taxon 306) were inversely correlated with total and allergen‐specific IgE levels. Genes related to microbial carbohydrate, amino acid, and lipid metabolism were differentially enriched, suggesting that changes in microbial metabolism may contribute to respiratory health in asthmatics. Pathway modules relevant to allergic responses were differentially abundant in asthmatic microbiome, such as enrichments for biofilm formation by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, membrane trafficking, histidine metabolism, and glycosaminoglycan degradation, and depletions for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon degradation. Further, we identified metagenomic and metabolomic markers (eg, Eubacterium sulci) to discriminate cases from the non‐asthmatic controls.
Conclusions
Our dual‐omics data reveal the connections between respiratory microbes and circulating metabolites perturbed in mite‐sensitized pediatric asthma, which may be of etiological and diagnostic implications.
This study demonstrates shotgun sequencing of airway microbiome and untargeted metabolomics profiling of serum samples in children with mite‐sensitized asthma and non‐asthmatic controls. Integrative analysis identifies specific airway dysbiosis at the species level and its associated functional shift in strong associations with circulating metabolites and IgE responses to mites. Overall, dual‐omics integration reveals microbe‐metabolite connections perturbed in mite‐sensitized pediatric asthma.
Abbreviations: KEGG, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes; AUC, area under the receiver operating characteristic curve
Objectives This study sought to derive and validate outcome-driven thresholds of central blood pressure (CBP) for diagnosing hypertension. Background Current guidelines for managing patients with ...hypertension mainly rely on blood pressure (BP) measured at brachial arteries (cuff BP). However, BP measured at the central aorta (central BP CBP) may be a better prognostic factor for predicting future cardiovascular events than cuff BP. Methods In a derivation cohort (1,272 individuals and a median follow-up of 15 years), we determined diagnostic thresholds for CBP by using current guideline-endorsed cutoffs for cuff BP with a bootstrapping (resampling by drawing randomly with replacement) and an approximation method. To evaluate the discriminatory power in predicting cardiovascular outcomes, the derived thresholds were tested in a validation cohort (2,501 individuals with median follow-up of 10 years). Results The 2 analyses yielded similar diagnostic thresholds for CBP. After rounding, systolic/diastolic threshold was 110/80 mm Hg for optimal BP and 130/90 mm Hg for hypertension. Compared with optimal BP, the risk of cardiovascular mortality increased significantly in subjects with hypertension (hazard ratio: 3.08, 95% confidence interval: 1.05 to 9.05). Of the multivariate Cox proportional hazards model, incorporation of a dichotomous variable by defining hypertension as CBP ≥130/90 mm Hg was associated with the largest contribution to the predictive power. Conclusions CBP of 130/90 mm Hg was determined to be the cutoff limit for normality and was characterized by a greater discriminatory power for long-term events in our validation cohort. This report represents an important step toward the application of the CBP concept in clinical practice.
Biologically plausible computing systems require fine‐grain tuning of analog synaptic characteristics. In this study, lithium‐doped silicate resistive random access memory with a titanium nitride ...(TiN) electrode mimicking biological synapses is demonstrated. Biological plausibility of this RRAM device is thought to occur due to the low ionization energy of lithium ions, which enables controllable forming and filamentary retraction spontaneously or under an applied voltage. The TiN electrode can effectively store lithium ions, a principle widely adopted from battery construction, and allows state‐dependent decay to be reliably achieved. As a result, this device offers multi‐bit functionality and synaptic plasticity for simulating various strengths in neuronal connections. Both short‐term memory and long‐term memory are emulated across dynamical timescales. Spike‐timing‐dependent plasticity and paired‐pulse facilitation are also demonstrated. These mechanisms are capable of self‐pruning to generate efficient neural networks. Time‐dependent resistance decay is observed for different conductance values, which mimics both biological and artificial memory pruning and conforms to the trend of the biological brain that prunes weak synaptic connections. By faithfully emulating learning rules that exist in human's higher cortical areas from STDP to synaptic pruning, the device has the capacity to drive forward the development of highly efficient neuromorphic computing systems.
In this study, lithium‐doped silicate resistive random access memory with a titanium nitride (TiN) electrode is shown to mimic biological synapses. The TiN electrode effectively stores lithium ions, a principle widely adopted from battery construction, and enables reliable state‐dependent decay. This device offers multi‐bit functionality and synaptic plasticity, short‐term memory and long‐term memory, spike‐timing‐dependent plasticity and paired‐pulse facilitation.
•This is the first report on a series of BiOxCly/BiOmIn heterojunctions.•The BiOxCly/BiOmIn composition was controlled by adjusting the growth parameters.•The BiOxCly/BiOmIn were indirect ...semiconductors with a 1.78–2.95-eV bandgap.•The new photocatalysts removed CV at a much faster rate than TiO2.•Mechanisms were determined by separating the intermediates using HPLC-MS.
A series of BiOxCly/BiOmIn composites were prepared using autoclave hydrothermal methods. The composition and morphologies of the BiOxCly/BiOmIn composites were controlled by adjusting the experimental conditions: the reaction pH value, temperature, and KCl/KI molar ratio. The products were characterized using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy-electron dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller specific surface areas, cathodoluminescence, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, and high-resolution X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The photocatalytic efficiencies of composite powder suspensions were evaluated by monitoring the crystal violet (CV) concentrations. In addition, the quenching effects of various scavengers indicated that the reactive O2− played a major role, and OH or h+ played a minor role in CV degradation. The intermediates formed during the decomposition process were isolated, identified, and characterized using high performance liquid chromatography-photodiode array-electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry to elucidate the CV decomposition mechanism.
Compromised autophagy and mitochondrial dysfunction downregulate chondrocytic activity, accelerating the development of osteoarthritis (OA). Irisin, a cleaved form of fibronectin type III domain ...containing 5 (FNDC5), regulates bone turnover and muscle homeostasis. Little is known about the effect of Irisin on chondrocytes and the development of osteoarthritis. This study revealed that human osteoarthritic articular chondrocytes express decreased level of FNDC5 and autophagosome marker LC3-II but upregulated levels of oxidative DNA damage marker 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) and apoptosis. Intra-articular administration of Irisin further alleviated symptoms of medial meniscus destabilization, like cartilage erosion and synovitis, while improved the gait profiles of the injured legs. Irisin treatment upregulated autophagy, 8-OHdG and apoptosis in chondrocytes of the injured cartilage. In vitro, Irisin improved IL-1β-mediated growth inhibition, loss of specific cartilage markers and glycosaminoglycan production by chondrocytes. Irisin also reversed Sirt3 and UCP-1 pathways, thereby improving mitochondrial membrane potential, ATP production, and catalase to attenuated IL-1β-mediated reactive oxygen radical production, mitochondrial fusion, mitophagy, and autophagosome formation. Taken together, FNDC5 loss in chondrocytes is correlated with human knee OA. Irisin repressed inflammation-mediated oxidative stress and extracellular matrix underproduction through retaining mitochondrial biogenesis, dynamics and autophagic program. Our analyses shed new light on the chondroprotective actions of this myokine, and highlight the remedial effects of Irisin on OA development.
GaN HEMT has attracted a lot of attention in recent years owing to its wide applications from the high-frequency power amplifier to the high voltage devices used in power electronic systems. ...Development of GaN HEMT on Si-based substrate is currently the main focus of the industry to reduce the cost as well as to integrate GaN with Si-based components. However, the direct growth of GaN on Si has the challenge of high defect density that compromises the performance, reliability, and yield. Defects are typically nucleated at the GaN/Si heterointerface due to both lattice and thermal mismatches between GaN and Si. In this article, we will review the current status of GaN on Si in terms of epitaxy and device performances in high frequency and high-power applications. Recently, different substrate structures including silicon-on-insulator (SOI) and engineered poly-AlN (QST®) are introduced to enhance the epitaxy quality by reducing the mismatches. We will discuss the development and potential benefit of these novel substrates. Moreover, SOI may provide a path to enable the integration of GaN with Si CMOS. Finally, the recent development of 3D hetero-integration technology to combine GaN technology and CMOS is also illustrated.
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