One important goal of the current electrocatalysis is to develop integrated electrodes from the atomic level design to multilevel structural engineering in simple ways and low prices. Here, a series ...of oxygen micro‐alloyed high‐entropy alloys (O‐HEAs) is developed via a metallurgy approach. A (CrFeCoNi)97O3 bulk O‐HEA shows exceptional electrocatalytic performance for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER), reaching an overpotential as low as 196 mV and a Tafel slope of 29 mV dec−1, and with stability longer than 120 h in 1 m KOH solution at a current density of 10 mA cm−2. It is shown that the enhanced OER performance can be attributed to the formation of island‐like Cr2O3 microdomains, the leaching of Cr3+ ions, and structural amorphization at the interfaces of the domains. These findings offer a technological‐orientated strategy to integrated electrodes.
A new class of bulk electrodes is designed by incorporating oxide microdomains into the so‐called high‐entropy alloys (HEAs). From these, unprecedented oxygen evolution reaction (OER) activity is achieved, with an ultralow overpotential of 196 mV and a Tafel slope of 29 mV dec−1, and with stability longer than 120 h in 1 m KOH solution at current density of 10 mA cm−2.
Critical patients with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), even those whose nucleic acid test results had turned negative and those receiving maximal medical support, have been noted to progress ...to irreversible fatal respiratory failure. Lung transplantation (LT) as the sole therapy for end-stage pulmonary fibrosis related to acute respiratory distress syndrome has been considered as the ultimate rescue therapy for these patients.
From February 10 to March 10, 2020, three male patients were urgently assessed and listed for transplantation. After conducting a full ethical review and after obtaining assent from the family of the patients, we performed three LT procedures for COVID-19 patients with illness durations of more than one month and extremely high sequential organ failure assessment scores.
Two of the three recipients survived post-LT and started participating in a rehabilitation program. Pearls of the LT team collaboration and perioperative logistics were summarized and continually improved. The pathological results of the explanted lungs were concordant with the critical clinical manifestation, and provided insight towards better understanding of the disease. Government health affair systems, virology detection tools, and modern communication technology all play key roles towards the survival of the patients and their rehabilitation.
LT can be performed in end-stage patients with respiratory failure due to COVID-19-related pulmonary fibrosis. If confirmed positive-turned-negative virology status without organ dysfunction that could contraindicate LT, LT provided the final option for these patients to avoid certain death, with proper protection of transplant surgeons and medical staffs. By ensuring instant seamless care for both patients and medical teams, the goal of reducing the mortality rate and salvaging the lives of patients with COVID-19 can be attained.
Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most prevalent reproductive disorders in women worldwide. Despite rigorous research, the exact molecular mechanism that governs PCOS pathogenesis ...remains unclear. To investigate the potential roles of circular RNAs (circRNAs), this study sequenced ribosomal RNA‐depleted total RNA from exosomes of follicle fluids obtained from PCOS patients using non‐PCOS samples as controls. Bioinformatic analysis identified 167 upregulated and 245 downregulated circRNAs from a total of 16,771 detected candidates. Functional analysis suggests that pathways related to bacterial infection, associated chronic inflammation, and oxidative stress could be targeted by the differential circRNAs in PCOS patients. The obtained sequencing results were further validated by quantitative reverse‐transcription polymerase chain reaction and a circRNA–microRNA interaction network was constructed. The obtained results provide a valuable addition to the published studies on the mechanism of PCOS pathogenesis by revealing a wide variety of new circRNAs, miRNA, and gene targets that merit further investigation.
We have provided the first study on the dysregulation of circRNAs in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome using RNA sequencing and bioinformatic analysis. We identified over 16,771 differentially expressed circRNA candidates, many of which showed implication in pathological processes such as bacterial infection, oxidative stress, and autophagy.
Abstract
The zeolite Cu(I)Y is promising for adsorptive removal of thiophenic sulfur compounds from transportation fuels. However, its application is seriously hindered by the instability of Cu(I), ...which is easily oxidized to Cu(II) even under atmospheric environment due to the coexistence of moisture and oxygen. Here, we report the adjustment of zeolite microenvironment from hydrophilic to superhydrophobic status by coating polydimethylsiloxane (yielding Cu(I)Y@P), which isolates moisture entering the pores and subsequently stabilizes Cu(I) despite the presence of oxygen. Cu(I) in Cu(I)Y@P is stable upon exposure to humid atmosphere for 6 months, while almost all Cu(I) is oxidized to Cu(II) in Cu(I)Y for only 2 weeks. The optimized Cu(I)Y@P material after moisture exposure can remove 532 μmol g
−1
of thiophene and is much superior to Cu(I)Y (116 μmol g
−1
), regardless of similar uptakes for unexposed adsorbents. Remarkably, Cu(I)Y@P shows excellent adsorption capacity of desulfurization for water-containing model fuel.
Since bacterial infections seriously threaten human's health, considerable attention is devoted to the design of nanoscale antibacterial materials. Among them, metal nanoparticles cannot meet the ...requirements of durable antibacterial effects and are harmful to biological environments. In this study, environmentally friendly nanogels with durable antibacterial and antiadhesion properties are prepared by copolymerization of styrene, polycaprolactone‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate, and polyhexamethylene guanidine hydrochloride methacrylate. The resultant nanogels possess regular spherical morphologies with the size of about 200 nm. The nanogels exhibit a strong ability to kill bacteria and the mechanism is different from that of conventional antibacterial agent loaded nanoparticles. In addition, anti‐infection experiments explored by a wound model confirm the nanogels have the capability to prevent infection. Furthermore, the nanogels grafted on the surface of cotton fibers display good thermal stability, which is essential for finishing of fabrics. The cotton fabrics finished with nanogels can prevent the adhesion of bacteria by enhancing the hydrophobicity and the bacteriostatic rate. The antibacterial fabrics against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli are still more than 86% active after 50 times of mechanical washing. The biocompatible nanogels are unleachable from the antibacterial fabrics which demonstrate that they are ideal candidates for durable and environmental‐friendly nanoscaled antimicrobial materials.
In this study, environmentally friendly nanogels with durable antibacterial and antiadhesion properties are prepared by copolymerization of guanidine groups based monomers. The resultant inherent guanidine spherical nanogels can kill bacteria effectively and have the capability to prevent infection. Furthermore, the nanogels grafted on cotton fibers display good thermal stability. The cotton fabrics finished with nanogels can prevent the adhesion of bacteria permanently.
Hypoxia is a parameter related to many diseases. Ratiometric hypoxia probes often rely on a combination of an O2‐insensitive fluorophore and an O2‐sensitive phosphor in a polymer matrix, which ...require high cost and multi‐step synthesis of transition metal complexes. The two‐chromophore hypoxia probes encounter unfavorable energy transfer processes and different stabilities of the chromophores. Reported herein is a pure organic ratiometric hypoxia nanoprobe, assembled by a monochromophore, naphthalimide ureidopyrimidinone (BrNpA‐UPy), bridged by a bis‐UPy‐functionalized benzyl skeleton. The joint factors of quadruple hydrogen bonding, the rigid backbone of UPy, and bromine substitution of the naphthalimide derivative facilitate bright phosphorescence (ΦP=7.7 %, τP=3.2 ms) and fluorescence of the resultant nanoparticles (SNPs) at room temperature, which enable accurate, ratiometric, sensitive oxygen detection (Ksv=189.6 kPa−1) in aqueous solution as well as in living HeLa cells.
An organic hypoxia nanoprobe assembled by quadruple hydrogen bonds, shows efficient long‐lived phosphorescence (ΦP=7.7 %, τP=3.2 ms) and fluorescence from a monochromophore at room temperature and can be used for oxygen detection in water and living cells. This is the first example of ratiometric hypoxia sensing by supramolecular assemblies of an organic monochromophore.
Gluconic metabolic reprogramming, immune response, and inflammation are intimately linked. Glycolysis involves in the pathologic progress in acute and chronic inflammatory diseases. However, the ...involvement of glycolysis in the acute lung injury (ALI) is still unclear. This study investigated the role of glycolysis in an animal model of ALI. First, we found that lactate content in serum was remarkably increased in ALI patients and a murine model induced by intratracheal administration of lipopolysaccharide (LPS). The key proteins involving in glycolysis were robustly elevated, including HK2,
PKM2, and
HIF‐1α. Intriguingly, inhibition of glycolysis by 2‐deoxyglucose (2‐DG) pronouncedly attenuated the lung tissue pathological injury, accumulation of neutrophil, oxidative stress, expression of proinflammatory factors in the lung of ALI mice induced by LPS. The 2‐DG treatment also strongly suppressed the activation of the NOD‐like receptor (NLR) family and pyrin domain‐containing protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome. Furthermore, we investigated the role of glycolysis in the inflammatory response of primary murine macrophages activated by LPS in vitro. We found that the 2‐DG treatment remarkably reduced the expression of proinflammatory factors induced by LPS, including tumor necrosis factor‐α messenger RNA (mRNA), pro‐interleukin (IL)‐1β mRNA, pro‐IL‐18 mRNA, NLRP3 mRNA, caspase‐1 mRNA, and IL‐1β protein. Altogether, these data provide a novel link between gluconic metabolism reprogramming and uncontrolled inflammatory response in ALI. This study suggests glycolytic inhibition as an effective anti‐inflammatory strategy in treating ALI.
This article provides a novel link between gluconic metabolism reprogramming and uncontrolled inflammatory response in acute lung injury (ALI). This study suggests glycolytic inhibition as an effective anti‐inflammatory strategy in treating ALI.
Background and Purpose
Icariin, a major active ingredient in traditional Chinese medicines, is attracting increasing attention because of its unique pharmacological effects against ischaemic heart ...disease. The histone deacetylase, sirtuin‐1, plays a protective role in ischaemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury, and this study was designed to investigate the protective role of icariin in models of cardiac I/R injury and to elucidate the potential involvement of sirtuin‐1.
Experimental Approach
I/R injury was simulated in vivo (mouse hearts), ex vivo (isolated rat hearts) and in vitro (neonatal rat cardiomyocytes and H9c2 cells). Prior to I/R injury, animals or cells were exposed to icariin, with or without inhibitors of sirtuin‐1 (sirtinol and SIRT1 siRNA).
Key Results
In vivo and in vitro, icariin given before I/R significantly improved post‐I/R heart contraction and limited the infarct size and leakage of creatine kinase‐MB and LDH from the damaged myocardium. Icariin also attenuated I/R‐induced mitochondrial oxidative damage, decreasing malondialdehyde content and increasing superoxide dismutase activity and expression of Mn‐superoxide dismutase. Icariin significantly improved mitochondrial membrane homeostasis by increasing mitochondrial membrane potential and cytochrome C stabilization, which further inhibited cell apoptosis. Sirtuin‐1 was significantly up‐regulated in hearts treated with icariin, whereas Ac‐FOXO1 was simultaneously down‐regulated. Importantly, sirtinol and SIRT1 siRNA either blocked icariin‐induced cardioprotection or disrupted icariin‐mediated mitochondrial homeostasis.
Conclusions and Implications
Pretreatment with icariin protected cardiomyocytes from I/R‐induced oxidative stress through activation of sirtuin‐1 /FOXO1 signalling.
Traditionally chemical modifications altering molecular skeletons (MSs) were the only solution to modulate material active sites at ground states. According to Runge–Gross theorem, the MS and the ...adjoint electron‐configuration (MS‐AEC) can be tuned at excited states (ESs), even without chemical modifications. A porphyrinic metal–organic framework PCN‐222 and its metalloporphyrin homologs are used for adsorptive carbon capture both at ground states and with photoexcitation (350–780 nm). Instead of passive photothermal effects, the carbon capture performances of all the adsorbents get promotions. The dominant first ESs with long lifetimes meet the time‐scale of molecular adsorption equilibrium, meanwhile tune the MS‐AEC of the porphyrin ligands to generate new active sites with much more negative electrostatic‐potentials, of which the distribution gradient is crucial for inducing CO2 and can be further modulated by the central‐coordinated metal cations at ground and excited states. This work demonstrates the availability of static ESs and possibility of nonchemical modifications.
The present meta-analytic review aimed to synthesize the global prevalence characteristics of digital addiction in the general population. We searched PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and PsycINFO ...for studies reporting prevalence of various subtypes of digital addiction published before October 31, 2021. Studies were eligible if they were published in peer-reviewed journals, used a validated tool to assess digital addiction, and passed the qualify assessment. In total, 498 articles with 507 studies were included in systematic review, and the meta-analysis included 495 articles with 504 studies covering 2,123,762 individuals from 64 countries. Global pooled prevalence estimates were 26.99% (95% CI, 22.73–31.73) for smartphone addiction, 17.42% (95% CI, 12.42–23.89) for social media addiction, 14.22% (95% CI, 12.90–15.65) for Internet addiction, 8.23% (95% CI, 5.75–11.66) for cybersex addiction, and 6.04% (95% CI, 4.80–7.57) for game addiction. Higher prevalence of digital addiction was found in Eastern Mediterranean region and low/lower-middle income countries. Males had higher risk for Internet and game addiction. An increasing trend of digital addiction during the past two decades was found, which dramatically worsened during COVID-19 pandemic. This study provides the first and comprehensive estimation for the global prevalence of multiple subtypes of digital addiction, which varied between regions, economic levels, time periods of publication, genders, and assessment scales.
PROSPERO ID: CRD42020171117.
•1/4 general population could be affected by at least one subtype of digital addiction.•Prevalence differed among subtypes of digital addiction, with big geographical variation.•Low/lower-middle income countries had higher burden of digital addiction.•Males had higher prevalence of Internet addiction and game addiction than females.•Increasing trend of digital addiction was worsened by COVID-19 pandemic.
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