Despite gold‐based nanomaterials having a unique role in nanomedicine, among other fields, synthesis limitations relating to reaction scale‐up and control result in prohibitively high gold ...nanoparticle costs. In this work, a new preparation procedure for lipid bilayer‐coated gold nanoparticles in water is presented, using sodium oleate as reductant and capping agent. The seed‐free synthesis not only allows for size precision (8–30 nm) but also remarkable particle concentration (10 mm Au). These reaction efficiencies allow for multiplexing and reaction standardization in 96‐well plates using conventional thermocyclers, in addition to simple particle purification via microcentrifugation. Such a multiplexing approach also enables detailed spectroscopic investigation of the nonlinear growth process and dynamic sodium oleate/oleic acid self‐assembly. In addition to scalability (at gram‐level), resulting gold nanoparticles are stable at physiological pH, in common cell culture media, and are autoclavable. To demonstrate the versatility and applicability of the reported method, a robust ligand exchange with thiolated polyethylene glycol analogues is also presented.
Oleate bilayer‐coated gold nanoparticles are synthesized at high concentrations in water using sodium oleate as reductant and capping agent. Multiplexed size precision can be achieved by tuning the sodium oleate concentration and reaction temperature. Sub 10‐nm gold nanoparticle synthesis scale‐up is demonstrated at the 0.5 g level.
Transit-oriented development (TOD) aims to create pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods around transit hubs to improve urban mobility. However, it often overlooks the specific transportation needs of ...people with limited mobility. This study adopts Sen’s capabilities approach (CA) and the concept of conversion factors to analyze how ordinary pedestrians, the elderly, and wheelchair users transform planned catchment areas into functional capability spaces. Our focus is on understanding these conversion factors, which highlight both environmental and individual constraints when converting resources into capabilities. Our findings reveal significant disparities in walking environments between the initially planned and the realized catchment areas, as well as disparities between individuals with and without physical limitations. This study complements established quantitative methods, enhancing the application of the CA for evaluation. It provides a more precise assessment of pedestrian infrastructure and advocates for inclusive design improvements in the context of TOD cities and an aging population.
In this article, we address the public transportation system’s resilience in social movements, which has been under-explored in transportation scholarship. On the one hand, public transportation ...enables mass mobilization of people and materials and large-scale public engagement in political/social events in transit-reliant cities like Hong Kong. On the other hand, public transportation can be an instrument for both the government and event participants—the former interferes with the public transportation service provision to manage and mitigate the adverse impacts of social movements it perceives on society, whereas the latter disrupt public transportation services or vandalize and damage related facilities to express their discontent and to put pressure on the former. The dynamic resilience of the public transportation system against the above backdrop warrants more in-depth exploration. We incorporate both supply and demand shocks to theorize resilience as a public transportation system’s capability to return to a new equilibrium between the supply and demand after a disturbance. The theoretical approach is illustrated using empirical data and publicly available materials concerning the 2019 Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill movement in Hong Kong.
As a form of social movement aiming to effect social change, protests could bring about unintended impacts on all walks of life. In other words, the cost of protests can be incurred by those who ...might not be protesters. The protests triggered by an extradition bill in Hong Kong since 2019 are no exception. This paper focuses on the impacts on the ridership of the metro system on protest days. It synthesizes and hypothesizes factors influencing the distribution of the ridership changes and conducts an empirical study in the context of Hong Kong to study the possible influences and spatial dependence. It is found that, across metro stations, political orientation (percentage of votes to pro-democracy camp in the 2019 Election of District Councils), law enforcement (permission from the police to protest), land use type (especially for commercial and open space), population age and income, as well as transit/road network characteristics and intermodal connectivity, significantly influence the ridership of metro stations during protest days. In addition, the mixed regressive spatial autoregressive model has higher explanatory power than the ordinary least square model, suggesting the need for a spatial lag and error specification. The results could also have significant implications for policy and planning for operating metro services and managing metro stations before, during, and after social shocks.
Although RNA and RNA-binding proteins have been linked to double-strand breaks (DSBs), little is known regarding their roles in the cellular response to DSBs and, if any, in the repair process. Here, ...we provide direct evidence for the presence of RNA-DNA hybrids at DSBs and suggest that binding of RNA to DNA at DSBs may impact repair efficiency. Our data indicate that the RNA-unwinding protein DEAD box 1 (DDX1) is required for efficient DSB repair and cell survival after ionizing radiation (IR), with depletion of DDX1 resulting in reduced DSB repair by homologous recombination (HR). While DDX1 is not essential for end resection, a key step in homology-directed DSB repair, DDX1 is required for maintenance of the single-stranded DNA once generated by end resection. We show that transcription deregulation has a significant effect on DSB repair by HR in DDX1-depleted cells and that RNA-DNA duplexes are elevated at DSBs in DDX1-depleted cells. Based on our combined data, we propose a role for DDX1 in resolving RNA-DNA structures that accumulate at DSBs located at sites of active transcription. Our findings point to a previously uncharacterized requirement for clearing RNA at DSBs for efficient repair by HR.
{001} facet dominated BiOBr nanosheets are fabricated via a facile hydrothermal method in the presence of nitric acid without any organic additive and applied for CO2 photoreduction. The ...concentration of nitric acid easily regulates the thickness of the obtained BiOBr nanosheets. When employing concentrations of 0, 0.1, 0.5, 1 and 4 M nitric acid, the corresponding surface area and percentage of exposed {001} facets of BiOBr-0, BiOBr-0.1, BiOBr-0.5, BiOBr-1 and BiOBr-4 nanosheets significantly increase in sequence. BiOBr-0 nanosheets are incapable of converting CO2 into CO. However, BiOBr-0.1, BiOBr-0.5, BiOBr-1 and BiOBr-4 nanosheets show successively enhanced CO2 photoreduction performance. Surprisingly, they exhibit high selectivity for converting CO2 into CO with negligible generation of CH4. In particular, BiOBr-4 shows the highest CO production rate of 4.45 mu mol g-1 h-1 under simulated sunlight irradiation. The electronic structure analysis demonstrates that the conduction band minimum is significantly raised to endow BiOBr-4 with reduction power for CO2/CO conversion, in comparison with the incapability of BiOBr-0. The breakthrough in CO2 reduction of BiOBr-4 nanosheets is ascribed to the larger active surface area, higher electron transfer, more effective charge carrier separation and significantly raised reduction ability.
Vitamin D and Diabetic Kidney Disease Huang, Ho-Yin; Lin, Ting-Wei; Hong, Zi-Xuan ...
International journal of molecular sciences,
02/2023, Letnik:
24, Številka:
4
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Vitamin D is a hormone involved in many physiological processes. Its active form, 1,25(OH)
D
, modulates serum calcium-phosphate homeostasis and skeletal homeostasis. A growing body of evidence has ...demonstrated the renoprotective effects of vitamin D. Vitamin D modulates endothelial function, is associated with podocyte preservation, regulates the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, and has anti-inflammatory effects. Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is a leading cause of end-stage kidney disease worldwide. There are numerous studies supporting vitamin D as a renoprotector, potentially delaying the onset of DKD. This review summarizes the findings of current research on vitamin D and its role in DKD.
This article presents a proof‐of‐concept designer‐in‐the‐loop schematic map drawing tool, based on the marriage of two approaches—manual and automated, which provides the technical interactivity of ...drawing tools between the user and the computer. We focus on concentric circle maps as opposed to the commonly used orthogonal mode representation, which is suggested by previous studies that it could promote better network learning. In comparison with existing methods, the proposed method is more compatible with the framework of effective map design from psychological and aesthetic perspectives, and a range of options can be provided in conjunction with users' preferences. We evaluated our approach on a set of iterations with case studies of Hong Kong metro with a group of three co‐authors from the fields of geography, transport engineering, and education.
We review the operations research/management science literature on data‐driven methods in retail operations. This line of work has grown rapidly in recent years, thanks to the availability of ...high‐quality data, improvements in computing hardware, and parallel developments in machine learning methodologies. We survey state‐of‐the‐art studies in three core aspects of retail operations—assortment optimization, order fulfillment, and inventory management. We then conclude the paper by pointing out some interesting future research possibilities for our community.
Current catalytic hydrogenolysis of lignin C-O bonds, which is crucial for lignin valorization, often requires a noble metal catalyst or/and harsh conditions such as elevated temperatures and high ...pressures. Herein, we report a highly selective electrochemical protocol to reductively cleave the benzylic C-O bond of the α-O-4 lignin model compound benzyl phenyl ether (BPE) at room temperature and ambient pressure. Nearly complete conversion of BPE to toluene and phenol in methanol was achieved in an undivided cell using Ni foam at both the anode and cathode, with yields of 97% and 30%, respectively. Using a divided cell, yields of 90% (toluene) and 84% (phenol) could be achieved using inexpensive carbon paper as the cathode when Ni(
ii
) salts were added to the cathode chamber. Notably, other divalent metal salts did not lead to any product formation, suggesting a unique role of Ni ions in benzylic C-O bond cleavage. Further, a substrate scope study revealed the suitability of the method for a variety of substituted BPEs. This work provides an economical and environmentally friendly method for selective cleavage of C-O bonds in benzylic ethers as model compounds for lignin.
Ni-promoted, highly selective electrochemical protocol to reductively cleave the benzylic C-O bond of the α-O-4 lignin model compound benzyl phenyl ether (BPE) at room temperature and ambient pressure.
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