The exploitation of a high-activity and low-cost bifunctional catalyst for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) as the cathode catalyst is a research priority in ...metal-air batteries. Herein, a novel bifunctional hybrid catalyst of hortensia-like MnO
synergized with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) (MnO
/CNTs) is controllably synthesized by reasonably designing the crystal structure and morphology as well as electronic arrangement. On the basis of these strategies, the hybrid accelerates the reaction kinetics and avoids the change of structures. As expected, MnO
/CNTs exhibit a remarkable ORR and OER activity low ORR Tafel slope: 71 mV dec
, low OER Tafel slope: 67 mV dec
, and small potential difference (Δ E): 0.85 V and a long-term stability, which should be attributed to its unique morphology, K
ions in the 2 × 2 tunnels, and synergistic effect between MnO
and CNTs. Notably, in zinc-air batteries (ZABs), aluminum-air batteries (AABs), and magnesium-air batteries (MABs), the composite shows high power density (ZABs: 243 mW cm
, AABs: 530 mW cm
, and MABs: 614 mW cm
) and large specific capacities (793 mA h g
, 918 mA h g
, and 878 mA h g
). Importantly, the rechargeable ZABs reveal small charge-discharge voltage drop (0.81 V) and strong cycle durability (500 h), which are better than the noble-metal Pt/C + IrO
mixture catalyst (the voltage drop: 1.15 V at first and 2 V after 100 h). These superior performances together with the simple synthetic method of the hybrid reveal great promise in large-power energy storage and conversion equipment.
Ramie, Boehmeria nivea (L.) Gaudich, family Urticaceae, is a plant native to eastern Asia, and one of the world's oldest fibre crops. It is also used as animal feed and for the phytoremediation of ...heavy metal‐contaminated farmlands. Thus, the genome sequence of ramie was determined to explore the molecular basis of its fibre quality, protein content and phytoremediation. For further understanding ramie genome, different paired‐end and mate‐pair libraries were combined to generate 134.31 Gb of raw DNA sequences using the Illumina whole‐genome shotgun sequencing approach. The highly heterozygous B. nivea genome was assembled using the Platanus Genome Assembler, which is an effective tool for the assembly of highly heterozygous genome sequences. The final length of the draft genome of this species was approximately 341.9 Mb (contig N50 = 22.62 kb, scaffold N50 = 1,126.36 kb). Based on ramie genome annotations, 30,237 protein‐coding genes were predicted, and the repetitive element content was 46.3%. The completeness of the final assembly was evaluated by benchmarking universal single‐copy orthologous genes (BUSCO); 90.5% of the 1,440 expected embryophytic genes were identified as complete, and 4.9% were identified as fragmented. Phylogenetic analysis based on single‐copy gene families and one‐to‐one orthologous genes placed ramie with mulberry and cannabis, within the clade of urticalean rosids. Genome information of ramie will be a valuable resource for the conservation of endangered Boehmeria species and for future studies on the biogeography and characteristic evolution of members of Urticaceae.
The synthesis of new functionally diverse alkenyl‐derived Cr‐MIL‐101s (MIL=material of Institute Lavoisier) was realized by a novel and convenient postsynthetic modification (PSM) protocol by means ...of the carboncarbon bond‐forming Mizoroki–Heck reaction. The new PSM protocol demonstrates a broad scope of substrates with excellent tolerance of functionality under mild reaction conditions. Moreover, a new metal–organic framework (MOF) that bears both alkenyl and thiol side chains prepared by means of the tandem PSM method has shown excellent adsorbent ability in removing mercury ions from water.
Mercurial temperament: The synthesis of new functionally diverse alkenyl‐derived Cr‐MIL‐101s (MIL=material of Institute Lavoisier) was realized by a convenient postsynthetic modification protocol through the CC bond‐forming reaction (see figure). A MOF that bears both alkenyl and thiol side chains was prepared. It shows excellent adsorbent ability in removing Hg ions from water.
In this paper, as a proof-of-concept study, a newly designed multifunctional composite electrode materials consisting of an interweaving structure of MnO2 nanowires (NWs)/nanorods (NRs) and carbon ...nanotubes (CNTs) (MnO2-NWRs/CNTs) are directly synthesized by a facile and scalable strategy, which show high catalytic activity for both oxygen reduction reaction (ORR)/oxygen evolution reaction (OER) processes and large specific capacitance for supercapacitors (SCs). Such a MnO2-NWRs/CNTs350 material is induced by the strong coupling and synergistic effect between MnO2-NWRs and CNTs, as well as the coexistence of NRs/NWs and the existence of favorable crystal planes, which enable the multifunctional high-performance in zinc-air batteries (ZABs), magnesium-air batteries (MABs), SCs and also their flexible devices. The MnO2-NWRs/CNTs350 catalyst exhibits high electrochemical activity (ΔE: 0.98 V), decent capacitance (1183 F g−1) and excellent battery performance (specifically, 640 mW cm−2 for MABs). In MnO2-NWRs/CNTs350, the (110) and (101) crystal planes of MnO2-NWRs are advantageous for both ORR and OER processes. Additionally, the structural changes of MnO2-NWRs/CNTs350 (the coexistent NRs and NWs) improve the capacitance of the material. Even more encouraging, the interweaving structure endows the flexible rechargeable MABs, ZABs, and SCs with excellent electrochemical performance in terms of both activity and stability.
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•The hybrid with interweaving structure between MnO2 NWs/NRs and CNTs are designed.•The MnO2-NWRs/CNTs is evaluated for liquid/flexible ZABs, MABs, supercapacitors.•The hybrid shows high electrochemical performances (ΔE: 0.98 V and 1183 F g−1).•The high performances of the hybrid are induced by its unique characteristics.
Skin cutaneous melanoma (SKCM) is one of the most destructive skin malignancies and has attracted worldwide attention. However, there is a lack of prognostic biomarkers, especially tumour ...microenvironment (TME)‐based prognostic biomarkers. Therefore, there is an urgent need to investigate the TME in SKCM, as well as to identify efficient biomarkers for the diagnosis and treatment of SKCM patients. A comprehensive analysis was performed using SKCM samples from The Cancer Genome Atlas and normal samples from Genotype‐Tissue Expression. TME scores were calculated using the ESTIMATE algorithm, and differential TME scores and differentially expressed prognostic genes were successively identified. We further identified more reliable prognostic genes via least absolute shrinkage and selection operator regression analysis and constructed a prognostic prediction model to predict overall survival. Receiver operating characteristic analysis was used to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy, and Cox regression analysis was applied to explore the relationship with clinicopathological characteristics. Finally, we identified a novel prognostic biomarker and conducted a functional enrichment analysis. After considering ESTIMATEScore and tumour purity as differential TME scores, we identified 34 differentially expressed prognostic genes. Using least absolute shrinkage and selection operator regression, we identified seven potential prognostic biomarkers (SLC13A5, RBM24, IGHV3OR16‐15, PRSS35, SLC7A10, IGHV1‐69D and IGHV2‐26). Combined with receiver operating characteristic and regression analyses, we determined PRSS35 as a novel TME‐based prognostic biomarker in SKCM, and functional analysis enriched immune‐related cells, functions and signalling pathways. Our study indicated that PRSS35 could act as a potential prognostic biomarker in SKCM by investigating the TME, so as to provide new ideas and insights for the clinical diagnosis and treatment of SKCM.
The members of
utilize several endocytic pathways to enter a variety of host cells. Our previous work showed that classical swine fever virus (CSFV) enters porcine kidney (PK-15) cells through a ...clathrin-dependent pathway that requires Rab5 and Rab7. The entry mechanism for CSFV into other cell lines remains unclear, for instance, porcine alveolar macrophages (3D4/21 cells). More importantly, the trafficking of CSFV within endosomes controlled by Rab GTPases is unknown in 3D4/21 cells. In this study, entry and postinternalization of CSFV were analyzed using chemical inhibitors, RNA interference, and dominant-negative (DN) mutants. Our data demonstrated that CSFV entry into 3D4/21 cells depends on caveolae, dynamin, and cholesterol but not clathrin or macropinocytosis. The effects of DN mutants and knockdown of four Rab proteins that regulate endosomal trafficking were examined on CSFV infection, respectively. The results showed that Rab5, Rab7, and Rab11, but not Rab9, regulate CSFV endocytosis. Confocal microscopy showed that virus particles colocalize with Rab5, Rab7, or Rab11 within 30 min after virus entry and further with lysosomes, suggesting that after internalization CSFV moves to early, late, and recycling endosomes and then into lysosomes before the release of the viral genome. Our findings provide insights into the life cycle of pestiviruses in macrophages.
Classical swine fever, is caused by classical swine fever virus (CSFV). The disease is notifiable to World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) in most countries and causes significant financial losses to the pig industry globally. Understanding the processes of CSFV endocytosis and postinternalization will advance our knowledge of the disease and provide potential novel drug targets against CSFV. With this objective, we used systematic approaches to dissect these processes in CSFV-infected 3D4/21 cells. The data presented here demonstrate for the first time to our knowledge that CSFV is able to enter cells via caveola-mediated endocytosis that requires Rab5, Rab7 and Rab11, in addition to the previously described classical clathrin-dependent pathway that requires Rab5 and Rab7. The characterization of CSFV entry will further promote our current understanding of
cellular entry pathways and provide novel targets for antiviral drug development.
Summary
Background
Recently, Papatheodoridi et al proposed to refine the Baveno VI elastography dual‐cutoffs and introduce an algorithm for the detection of compensated advanced chronic liver disease ...(cACLD) in asymptomatic European patients with chronic liver diseases.
Aims
To validate the performance of the dual‐cutoffs (8/12 kPa) and the proposed algorithm to identify patients with cACLD in three well‐characterised Asian nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) cohorts.
Methods
We included 830 patients with biopsy‐proven NAFLD. Liver stiffness was measured using transient elastography (FibroScan).
Results
cACLD was found in 21.8% of patients. Compared with the original Baveno VI elastography criteria (10/15 kPa), the new cutoffs showed a comparable specificity and a higher sensitivity for identifying cACLD. We developed a simplified risk model incorporating age, liver stiffness value, and platelet count, which outperformed liver stiffness measurement alone in two Chinese cohorts (P = 0.001), and was further validated in a Malaysian cohort (P = 0.04). Overall, the “two‐step” screening of cACLD improved classification rates from 73.5% by the original dual‐cutoffs to 86.7%. Notably, usage of our simplified risk model resulted in significantly lower false‐negative rate than the refined screening approach by Papatheodoridi et al (27.1% vs 41.4%; P = 0.01).
Conclusions
The dual elastography cutoffs of 8 and 12 kPa are more appropriate to identify cACLD in Asian patients with NAFLD. In combination with a simplified risk model in unclassified patients, the two‐step approach showed a classification rate of about 85%.
Recently, a refined Baveno VIelastography dual‐cutoffs (8/12 kPa) combined with a risk formula forunclassified patients was proposed in a European study, which showed improvedclassification rates than original cutoffs of 10/15 kPa. In this study, we successfullyvalidated the superiority of the newly‐proposed LS dual‐cutoffs (8/12 kPa) forcompensated advanced chronic liver disease (cACLD) detection in three well‐characterized Asian nonalcoholicfatty liver disease (NAFLD) cohorts, andproposed a simplified risk model for Asian NAFLD patients with LS between 8 and12 kPa. The ‘two‐step’ screening of cACLD can accuratelyclassify about 85% NAFLD patients in Asian population.
Yunnan Province was considered the most difficult place in China for malaria elimination because of its complex malaria epidemiology, heterogeneous ecological features, relatively modest economic ...development, and long, porous border with three malaria endemic countries: Lao People's Democratic Republic, Myanmar, and Viet Nam.
Academic publications and grey literature relevant to malaria elimination in Yunnan covering the period from 1950 until 2020 inclusive were considered. The following academic indexes were searched: China Science Periodical Database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure Database, and MEDLINE. Grey literature sources were mainly available from the National Institute of Parasitic Diseases (NIPD), the Chinese Center for Diseases Control and Prevention, and the Yunnan Institute of Parasitic Diseases (YIPD).
A malaria elimination campaign in the 1950-1960s, based mainly on mass administration of antimalarial drugs and large-scale vector control, reduced morbidity and mortality from malaria and interrupted transmission in some areas, although elimination was not achieved. Similar strategies were used to contain outbreaks and a resurgence of disease during the 1970s, when malaria services were discontinued. From the 1980s, malaria incidence declined, despite the challenges of large numbers of mobile and migrant populations and an unstable primary health care system in rural areas following economic transformation. Launch of the national malaria elimination programme in 2010 led to adoption of the '1-3-7' surveillance and response strategy specifying timely detection of and response for every case, supported by the establishment of a real-time web-based disease surveillance system and a new primary health care system in rural areas. Border malaria was addressed in Yunnan by strengthening the surveillance system down to the lowest level, cross-border collaboration with neighbouring countries and non-governmental organizations, and the involvement of other sectors.
Seven decades of work to eliminate malaria in Yunnan have shown the importance of political commitment, technically sound strategies with high quality implementation, a robust surveillance and response system at all levels, community participation and effective management of border malaria. The experiences and lessons learned from elimination remain important for prevention re-establishment of malaria transmission in the Province.
In this study, a fault diagnosis model based on magnetic density is proposed to analyse the current characteristics of synchronous generator rotor inter‐turn short circuit and air gap eccentric ...single fault and composite fault. The model considers the influence of rotor inter‐turn short circuit and air gap eccentricity on air gap magnetic density. According to two main factors, the short circuit turns and eccentric distance, are used to reflect the short circuit and eccentricity of the generator. The detailed parameter input model of the generator can easily and quickly predict the development trend of these current parameters based on the air gap magnetic density. And the phase current is selected as the current parameter. The validity of the proposed model is verified by two‐dimensional finite element analysis and experimental research.
In this paper, a fault diagnosis model based on magnetic density is proposed to analyze the electromechanical characteristics of synchronous generator rotor turn‐to‐turn short circuit and air gap eccentric single fault and composite fault.
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