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•A cellulose nanofibril based adsorbent with abundant carboxyl/amino was prepared.•After modification by PEI, the Cu adsorption capacity of nanofibril increased.•TOCN-PEI has good ...Cu(II) removal ability and its maximum capacity was 52.32mgg−1.•Results show Cu adsorption on TOCN-PEI is an exothermic and enthalpy-driven process.•Sorption-desorption tests reveal that TOCN-PEI has good stability for Cu removal.
This study describes the preparation of a novel adsorbent based on cellulose nanofibrils by first TEMPO mediated oxidation and then PEI grafting (TOCN-PEI) for heavy metal removal. FTIR results demonstrated the successful introduction of the adsorption functional groups (carboxyl and amino groups), and the elemental analysis and acid base titration were used to quantify the contents of these introduced groups. The kinetics curve suited the pseudo-second-order model better and the equilibrium data well fitted the Langmuir model, with the maximum Cu(II) uptake of 52.32mgg−1. Kinetic study showed that the PEI grafting increased the initial adsorption rate of the TOCN-PEI compared with the adsorbents without PEI. Thermodynamic study was carried out through isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) measurement and the binding reaction was found to be exothermic and driven by enthalpy change. The adsorption process by TOCN-PEI was pH dependent, and decreasing pH would lead to desorption of Cu(II) ions, thus make the reuse of the absorbent more convenient through adsorption-desorption cycles.
Excess accumulation of amyloid‐β (Aβ) protein in the brain is the primary pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Inhibition of Aβ fibrillation and disaggregation of Aβ fibrils is an attractive ...therapeutic and preventive strategy for Aβ‐induced AD. Here, near infrared (NIR) light‐responsive nanoparticles (NPs) composed of amphiphilic guanidinocalix5arene (GC5A), 4‐(dodecyloxy)benzamido‐terminated methoxy poly(ethylene glycol), and photothermal conjugated polymer PDPP are fabricated. The NIR light‐responsive NPs can efficiently penetrate the blood‐brain barrier (BBB), inhibit amyloid‐β 42 (Aβ42) fibrillation, and disaggregate fibrils after NIR light irradiation. Through the advantage of containing GC5A, the NPs exhibit extremely strong binding affinity for the Aβ42 protein. Interestingly, upon NIR light irradiation, benefiting from the high photothermal conversion efficiency of PDPP, NPs generate local heat and effectively promote the BBB permeability. Moreover, NPs are multifunctional platforms for the inhibition of Aβ42 fibrillation and disaggregation of fibrils after irradiation with NIR light, distinctly reducing cytotoxicity and eliminating Aβ42 plaques in the hippocampus of AD mice. Hence, NPs provide an interesting strategy for the inhibition and disaggregation of Aβ42 fibrillation and present an excellent therapeutic strategy for amyloidosis.
The near infrared (NIR) light‐responsive nanoparticles (NPs) composed of calixarene (GC5A), and a conjugated polymer (PDPP) exhibit efficient permeability through the blood‐brain barrier and inhibit and disaggregate Aβ42 fibrillation. Upon NIR light irradiation, the NPs generate local heat and efficiently disaggregate Aβ42 fibrils, leading to the cytotoxicity of Aβ42 fibrils reduce, and eliminate Aβ42 plaques in Alzheimer's disease mouse brain.
3D‐printing represents an emerging technology that can revolutionize the way object and functional devices are fabricated. Here the use of metal 3D printing is demonstrated to fabricate bespoke ...electrochemical stainless steel electrodes that can be used as platform for different electrochemical applications ranging from electrochemical capacitors, oxygen evolution catalyst, and pH sensor by means of an effective and controlled deposition of IrO2 films. The electrodes have been characterized by scanning electrode microscopy and energy dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy before the electrochemical testing. Excellent pseudocapacitive as well as catalytic properties have been achieved with these 3D printed steel‐IrO2 electrodes in alkaline solutions. These electrodes also demonstrate Nernstian behavior as pH sensor. This work represents a breakthrough in on‐site prototyping and fabrication of highly tailored electrochemical devices with complex 3D shapes which facilitate specific functions and properties.
On‐site design and fabrication of metal electrodes for different electrochemical applications is possible, thanks to metal 3D printing. Helical‐shaped steel electrodes—fabricated through a selective laser melting technology—are electrochemically modified with IrO2 films and used as capacitors, pH sensors, and catalysts for oxygen evolution reaction, demonstrating excellent performance.
Both anti-PD1/PD-L1 therapy and oncolytic virotherapy have demonstrated promise, yet have exhibited efficacy in only a small fraction of cancer patients. Here we hypothesized that an oncolytic ...poxvirus would attract T cells into the tumour, and induce PD-L1 expression in cancer and immune cells, leading to more susceptible targets for anti-PD-L1 immunotherapy. Our results demonstrate in colon and ovarian cancer models that an oncolytic vaccinia virus attracts effector T cells and induces PD-L1 expression on both cancer and immune cells in the tumour. The dual therapy reduces PD-L1
cells and facilitates non-redundant tumour infiltration of effector CD8
, CD4
T cells, with increased IFN-γ, ICOS, granzyme B and perforin expression. Furthermore, the treatment reduces the virus-induced PD-L1
DC, MDSC, TAM and Treg, as well as co-inhibitory molecules-double-positive, severely exhausted PD-1
CD8
T cells, leading to reduced tumour burden and improved survival. This combinatorial therapy may be applicable to a much wider population of cancer patients.
A systematic and comprehensive review about Ag-based chalcogenides and derivations with IR NLO properties are summarized and discussed in detail. They possess rich structures, wide IR transparencies, ...large SHG responses, and suitable birefringences for phase-matchability, suggesting their potentials for high-performance IR NLO materials.
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•The first comprehensive review about Ag-based IR NLO chalcogenides and derivations.•Ag-based chalcogenides and derivations possess rich structures, wide IR transparencies, large SHG responses, and suitable birefringences.•The chemical composition-structure-NLO performance are summarized and discussed in detail.•The research directions and development prospects for this topic are proposed.
Infrared (IR) nonlinear optical (NLO) crystals with outstanding properties are crucial for extending the laser wavelengths through frequency conversion technology and have been employed in many fields such as civil industry, medicine, and military affairs. Among the studied IR NLO crystals, Ag-based chalcogenides are one of the most favorable candidates, not only owing to their compositional or structural relationship with the benchmark IR NLO materials AgGaS2 and AgGaSe2, but also due to their diverse structures, large NLO intensities, wide IR transparent regions, and suitable birefringences for phase matching. So far, many Ag-based chalcogenides and derivatives (AChDs) with prominent NLO properties have been reported; however, a systematic summary of them is absent, which is significantly needed to facilitate the ever-increasing research on IR NLO materials. Herein, we summarized AChDs by classifying the investigated materials into three groups, based on their chemical composition and expounding the chemical composition-NCS structure-NLO performance relationship. In this review, the following features of AChDs with IR NLO properties were summarized. (1) Quaternary Ag-based chalcogenides were much more abundant compared to the ternary ones. (2) Although Ag possessed various coordination modes (linear or V-shaped, triangular, and tetrahedral), AgQ4 tetrahedra were much more common than the AgQ2 and AgQ3 (Q = S, Se) units. (3) The cations of AChDs tended to construct one type of conventional IR NLO structural unit, namely, MQ4 tetrahedra (M = Zn, Cd, Hg, Ga, In, Si, Ge, Sn, P; Q = S, Se), making great contributions to the microscopic NLO responses. Finally, the exploration directions and development prospects of AChDs as promising IR NLO candidates were discussed from the deduced structure–property relationship.
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•Borates possess high theoretical capacities as electrodes for rechargeable batteries.•No specific summary on borate-type electrode materials is available.•The structures and ...electrochemical activities are elucidated in detail.•Several expectations for the future work on this topic are given.
Lithium ion batteries (LIBs) have been extensively applied in our daily life, and they are playing more and more important role in our societies. To further improve their electrochemical performances or find out some alternative rechargeable batteries to better satisfy the requirements of our lives, exploration of novel electrode materials or modifications of known ones is the one of the main choices. There are a large number of electrode materials belonging to the polyanion-type, which have more stable structures than the other ones during electrochemical cycling, therefore attracting widespread interest all over the world. Among them, phosphates, silicates, and sulphates have been summarized systematically for their potentials on energy storage, however, as far as we know, there is no a specialized review to address borates. Given that a number of borates have been studied as cathode or anode materials for LIBs, and several ones also have been investigated their potentials for other types of rechargeable batteries beyond LIBs, including sodium ion batteries (SIBs), magnesium-ion batteries (MIBs), and Zn-air batteries, it is necessary to summarize them and give some meaningful discussions to promote their further development. This work addresses almost all the known borate-type electrodes for LIBs and beyond. The involved borates in this work are classified into several subgroups according to their chemical compositions, and their syntheses, crystal structures, electrochemical performances, advantages/disadvantages, and potentials are introduced one by one. Finally, several future prospects on borate-based electrode material for rechargeable batteries are proposed.
Gut microbiota is known to influence the host's health; an imbalance of the gut microbial community leads to various intestinal and non-intestinal diseases. Research on gut microbes of endangered ...birds is vital for their conservation. However, a thorough understanding of the gut microbiome composition present in crested ibises at different ages and its correlation with crested ibis reproductive capacity has remained elusive. Here, we used 16S rRNA gene sequencing to explore the fecal microbial structure of nestlings and adult birds, and the difference in gut microbiota between healthy and sterile crested ibises. We observed that (1) bacterial microbiota, alpha and beta diversity of one-day-old nestlings significantly distinguished from other nestlings; abundance of Proteobacteria decreased, while that of Fusobacteria increased with an increase in the age of the nestlings; (2) there was no significant difference in community composition among adult crested ibises aged one, two, three, and five years; (3) the abundance of Proteobacteria and alpha diversity indices were higher in sterile crested ibises than in healthy crested ibises; thus, Proteobacteria can act as a diagnostic biomarker of reproductive dysfunction in crested ibises. This study significantly contributes to the field of ecology and conservation, as it provides a platform for assessing the reproductive capacity of endangered crested ibises, based on the gut microbiota composition. Further studies may unravel additional factors influencing crested ibises' reproductive health, which will further help the management and control of the crested ibis population.
In the past several years, many efforts have been made to develop polyanion-type cathode materials for sodium ion batteries by chemists and material scientists. These materials are one of the main ...types of promising cathodes though the studies are still in their infancy. This paper reviews almost all the important advances of polyanion-type cathodes on their syntheses, crystal structures, morphologies, electrochemical performance and Na redox mechanisms. It specifically focuses on their crystal chemistry and electrochemical behaviors. The contents are divided into several categories according to their chemical compositions. After introduction of the synthetic methods, phosphates (ortho-, pyro- and fluoro-), silicates, sulfates, and mixed anions type cathodes are summarized and discussed successively.
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•Recent progress on polyanion-type cathode materials for sodium-ion batteries is overviewed.•Ortho-, pyro- and fluoro-phosphates are the main candidates.•Mixed anions-type cathode materials are receiving increasing attention.
Iron sulfides/oxides/fluorides have been profoundly investigated as electrodes for rechargeable batteries recently in view of their high-theory capacities, low cost, and environmentally benign ...nature. Here, Fe3S4 nanoparticles (NPs) wrapped in reduced graphene oxide (Fe3S4 NPs@rGO) have been obtained using a simple one-pot hydrothermal approach, which is characterized using various techniques. As the anode for Li-ion batteries, Fe3S4 NPs@rGO displays a reversible discharge capacity of 950 mA h/g after 100 cycles at 0.1 A/g, and 720 mA h/g capacity can be achieved after 800 cycles even at 1 A/g. Even at 10 A/g, 462 mA h/g capacity can be maintained. The excellent electrochemical properties for Fe3S4 NPs@rGO can be ascribed to a collaborative effect between Fe3S4 NPs and an rGO matrix, which possess high Li-ion storage ability and excellent conductivity, respectively.
Numerous substrates have been identified for Type I and II arginine methyltransferases (PRMTs). However, the full substrate spectrum of the only type III PRMT, PRMT7, and its connection to type I and ...II PRMT substrates remains unknown. Here, we use mass spectrometry to reveal features of PRMT7-regulated methylation. We find that PRMT7 predominantly methylates a glycine and arginine motif; multiple PRMT7-regulated arginine methylation sites are close to phosphorylations sites; methylation sites and proximal sequences are vulnerable to cancer mutations; and methylation is enriched in proteins associated with spliceosome and RNA-related pathways. We show that PRMT4/5/7-mediated arginine methylation regulates hnRNPA1 binding to RNA and several alternative splicing events. In breast, colorectal and prostate cancer cells, PRMT4/5/7 are upregulated and associated with high levels of hnRNPA1 arginine methylation and aberrant alternative splicing. Pharmacological inhibition of PRMT4/5/7 suppresses cancer cell growth and their co-inhibition shows synergistic effects, suggesting them as targets for cancer therapy.
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