Spirocyclic Ag9 clusters, as a new form of intrinsically chiral metal clusters, were constructed through vertex‐sharing of two in‐situ‐generated heteroaryl diide‐centered metal rings. Such ...core‐peripheral type clusters exhibit versatile photoluminescent and chiroptical behavior under different aggregation conditions. In contrast to a ligand‐based fluorescence emission in a diluted solution of the clusters, a solvent polarity‐caused assembly gives rise to new cluster‐based phosphorous luminescence owing to radiative mode switching and aggregation‐induced emission. Assembly of cluster enantiomers leads to micrometer‐long helical nanofibers, whose handedness is determined by absolute configuration of individual spirocyclic clusters. Benefiting from exciton couplings of helical arrangements of chelating ligands at molecular and microscopic levels, the assembled film of cluster enantiomers exhibits circularly polarized luminescence with a high anisotropy factor (0.16).
Two spirocyclic Ag9 chiral clusters, as a new form of intrinsic chiral metal clusters, have been constructed. They show unique fluorescence‐to‐phosphorescence switching and aggregation‐induced emission under different aggregation conditions. The assembly of cluster enantiomers leads to micrometer‐long helical nanofibers and superior circularly polarized luminescence performance with a remarkably high anisotropy factor of 0.16.
Developing efficient, inexpensive, and durable electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is important for the large‐scale commercialization of fuel cells and metal–air batteries. ...Herein, a hierarchically porous bimetallic Fe/Co single‐atom‐coordinated N‐doped carbon (Fe/Co‐Nx‐C) electrocatalyst for ORR is synthesized from Fe/Co‐coordinated polyporphyrin using silica template‐assisted and silica‐protection synthetic strategies. In the synthesis, first silica nanoparticles‐embedded, silica‐protected Fe/Co‐polyporphyrin is prepared. It is then pyrolyzed and treated with acidic solution. The resulting Fe/Co‐Nx‐C material has a large specific surface area, large electrochemically active surface area, good conductivity, and catalytically active Fe/Co‐Nx sites. The material exhibits a very good electrocatalytic activity for the ORR in alkaline media, with a half‐wave potential of 0.86 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode, which is better than that of Pt/C (20 wt%). Furthermore, it shows an outstanding operational stability and durability during the reaction. A zinc–air battery (ZAB) assembled using Fe/Co‐Nx‐C as an air‐cathode electrocatalyst gives a high peak power density (152.0 mW cm−2) and shows a good recovery property. Furthermore, the performance of the battery is better than a corresponding ZAB containing Pt/C as an electrocatalyst. The work also demonstrates a synthetic route to a highly active, stable, and scalable single‐atom electrocatalyst for ORR in ZABs.
An efficient oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) electrocatalyst composed of bimetallic (Fe and Co) single atoms coordinated with N‐doped carbon (Fe/Co‐Nx‐C) is synthesized with silica template‐assisted and mesoporous silica‐protection synthetic methods. Compared with Pt/C, Fe/Co‐Nx‐C shows a better electrocatalytic activity, stability, and durability for ORR in zinc–air batteries.
Digital technologies for Industry 4.0, such as the Internet of Things, cloud computing, big data and analytics, have attracted much attention from both researchers and practitioners. Based on ...information processing theory, this study intends to explore how digital technologies influence economic and environmental performance in the new era of Industry 4.0. The mediating effect of digital supply chain platforms and the moderating effect of environmental dynamism are proposed and evaluated using a survey of Chinese manufacturing firms. The results indicate that digital supply chain platforms mediate the effects of digital technologies on both economic and environmental performance and that the mediating effects are enhanced under a high degree of environmental dynamism. This study offers an enhanced understanding of the performance implications of digital technologies and provides managerial insights into how to promote economic and environmental sustainability in the era of Industry 4.0.
Hard carbon attracts considerable attention as an anode material for sodium‐ion batteries; however, their poor rate capability and low realistic capacity have motivated intense research effort toward ...exploiting nanostructured carbons in order to boost their comprehensive performance. Ultramicropores are considered essential for attaining high‐rate capacity as well as initial Coulombic efficiency by allowing the rapid diffusion of Na+ and inhibiting the contact of the electrolyte with the inner carbon surfaces. Herein, hard carbon nanosheets with centralized ultramicropores (≈0.5 nm) and easily accessible carbonyl groups (CO)/hydroxy groups (OH) are synthesized via interfacial assembly and carbonization strategies, delivering a large capacity (318 mA h g−1 at 0.02 A g−1), superior rate capability (145 mA h g−1 at 5.00 A g−1), and approximately 95% of reversible capacity below 1.00 V. Notably, a new charge model favoring fast capacitive sodium storage with dual potential plateaus is proposed. That is, the deintercalation of Na+ from graphitic layers is manifested as the low‐potential plateau region (0.01−0.10 V), contributing to stable insertion capacity; meanwhile, the surface desodiation process of the CO and OH groups corresponds to the high‐potential plateau region (0.40−0.70 V), contributing to a fast capacitive storage.
Hard carbon nanosheets with centralized ultramicropores (≈0.5 nm), accessible functional CO/OH groups, and large graphitic layer spacings exhibit excellent sodium‐storage properties. The desodiation process from graphitic layers and CO/OH groups results in a new sodium‐storage characteristic with dual‐potential plateaus during the charge process, which favors a high output of 95%, realistic capacity, and rapidly capacitive sodium storage.
Current studies have revealed that the platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR) may lead to a poor prognosis in lung cancer patients receiving immunotherapy. We conducted a meta-analysis to explore the ...prognostic value of PLR in lung cancer patients receiving immunotherapy.
We retrieved potential studies from the PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and Scopus databases up to June 2021 and merged the hazard ratios (HRs) and the corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) to evaluate the association between PLR and overall survival (OS) or progression-free survival.
Fourteen studies involving 1761 patients were included in our meta-analysis. The results indicated that an elevated level of pretreatment PLR was associated with poorer OS and PFS in lung cancer patients receiving immunotherapy (OS: HR = 1.88, 95% CI: 1.37-2.58; PFS: HR = HR = 1.40, 95% CI: 1.11-1.76). The association remained consistent after subgroup analysis and was robust even after sensitivity analysis.
PLR may be a prognostic factor of lung cancer patients receiving immunotherapy, which can lead to worse survival outcomes. However, further studies are necessary for evidence in clinical application.
Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common aging-related neurodegenerative disease worldwide. Oxidative stress and neuroinflammation are critical events in the degeneration of dopaminergic ...neurons in PD. In this study, we found that DDO-7263, a novel Nrf2-ARE activator reported by us, has ideal therapeutic effects on 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)-induced Parkinson's disease in mice. DDO-7263 improved the behavioral abnormalities induced by MPTP in mice, significantly attenuated chemically induced dopaminergic neuron loss of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) in the substantia nigra (SN) and striatum of the mouse brain and inhibited the secretion of inflammatory factors. In addition, DDO-7263 protected PC12 neurons from H2O2-induced oxidative damage. The neuroprotective effects of DDO-7263 were confirmed both in vitro and in vivo models. Further studies showed that the neuroprotective effect of DDO-7263 was mediated by the activation of Nrf2-ARE signaling pathway and the inhibition of NLRP3 inflammasome activation. DDO-7263 induced NLRP3 inflammasome inhibition is dependent on Nrf2 activation. This conclusion was also verified in THP-1-derived macrophages (THP-Ms). DDO-7263 significantly inhibited NLRP3 activation, cleaved caspase-1 production and IL-1β protein expression in ATP-LPS-exposed THP-Ms cells. The pharmacokinetic parameters and tissue distribution results indicated that DDO-7263 has a brain tissue targeting function. All these lines of evidence show that DDO-7263 has ideal therapeutic effects on neurodegenerative diseases such as PD.
Display omitted
•Oxidative stress and neuroinflammation are critical events in Parkinson's disease.•DDO-7263, an Nrf2 activator, has ideal therapeutic effects on MPTP-induced PD in mice.•Neuroprotective effect of DDO-7263 was mediated by Nrf2 activation and NLRP3 inflammasome inhibition.•DDO-7263 induced NLRP3 inflammasome inhibition is dependent on Nrf2 activation.•Tissue distribution results of DDO-7263 explored its brain tissue targeting function.
Supplier selection is crucial decision for buying companies to develop sustainable supply chain strategy. Not only first-tier suppliers but also lower-tier suppliers would influence the buyer's ...sustainability performance. Thus, buying companies need to consider extending their sustainable supply chain plan to multitier suppliers, and develop multitier sustainable supply chain management (MT-SSCM). Sustainable supplier selection (SSS), as an important SSCM practice, can effectively enhance the sustainable competitiveness of supply chains. However, there are few theoretical studies on SSS under MT-SSCM, which affects the decision-making efficiency of organisations. In general, there are three multitier supply chain (MTSC) structures: open MTSC, closed MTSC and transitional MTSC structures. Because some traditional decision models cannot deal with a variety of structures at the same time, this study proposes a hybrid model that integrates fuzzy set theory, stepwise weight assessment ratio analysis and a Bayesian network to evaluate the critical SSS criteria in three MTSC structures. Finally, a case of a Chinese buying company is used to verify the flexibility and applicability of the proposed model, and some suggestions are provided for the practitioners to select sustainable suppliers in different MTSC structures.
The nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain (NOD)-like receptor containing pyrin domain 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome is a high-molecular-weight complex mediated by the activation of pattern-recognition ...receptors (PRRs) seed in innate immunity. Once NLRP3 is activated, the following recruitment of the adapter apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a caspase recruitment domain (CARD) (ASC) and procaspase-1 would be initiated. Cleavage of procaspase-1 into active caspase-1 then leads to the maturation of the precursor forms of interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-18 into biologically active IL-1β and IL-18. The activation of NLRP3 inflammasome is thought to be tightly associated with a regulator never in mitosis A (NIMA)-related kinase 7 (NEK7), apart from other signaling events such as K+ efflux and reactive oxygen species (ROS). Plus, the NLRP3 inflammasome has been linked to various metabolic disorders, chronic inflammation and other diseases. In this review, we firstly describe the cellular/molecular mechanisms of the NEK7-licensed NLRP3 inflammasome activation. Then we detail the potential inhibitors that can selectively and effectively modulate either the NEK7-NLRP3 complex itself or the related molecular/cellular events. Finally, we describe some inhibitors as promising therapeutic strategies for diverse diseases driven by NLRP3 inflammasome.
Display omitted
•NEK7 is a vital component involved in the NLRP3 inflammasome activation.•NEK7-licensed NLRP3 inflammasome activation includes multiple mechanisms.•Multiple inhibitors work by targeting distinct NEK7-licensed NLRP3 inflammasome activation mechanisms.•Therapeutic use of inhibitors provides potential treatment for NLRP3-driven diseases.
In recent years, asymmetric catalysis of ynamides has attracted much attention, but these reactions mostly constructed central chirality, except for a few examples on the synthesis of axially chiral ...compounds which exclusively relied on noble‐metal catalysis. Herein, a facile access to axially chiral N‐heterocycles enabled by chiral Brønsted acid‐catalyzed 5‐endo‐dig cyclization of ynamides is disclosed, which represents the first metal‐free protocol for the construction of axially chiral compounds from ynamides. This method allows the practical and atom‐economical synthesis of valuable N‐arylindoles in excellent yields with generally excellent enantioselectivities. Moreover, organocatalysts and ligands based on such axially chiral N‐arylindole skeletons are demonstrated to be applicable to asymmetric catalysis.
A chiral Brønsted acid‐catalyzed atroposelective cyclization of ynamides is disclosed, which represents the first metal‐free protocol for the construction of axially chiral compounds from ynamides. This method enables the practical and atom‐economical synthesis of valuable N‐arylindoles in excellent yields with generally excellent enantioselectivities.
PDF
