Zinc (Zn) plating/stripping is a promising anodic electrochemical reaction for aqueous batteries because of its high safety, low cost, two electron transfer, and rapid reaction kinetics. However, the ...notorious dendrite growth of Zn has become one of the biggest obstacles hindering its further commercialization. A multifunctional binder‐free tin (Sn)‐modified 3D carbon felt anodic host (SH) is constructed for aqueous zinc‐based flow batteries (ZFB) via a facile and scalable strategy. Compared with the pristine carbon felt host (PH), the as‐fabricated SH affords more robust Zn nucleation sites, lower hydrogen evolution reaction potential and lower nucleation overpotential of Zn and thus better induces uniform Zn plating/stripping with very high Coulombic efficiency (CE). Based on such an SH, a symmetrical flow battery exhibits superior CE (290 cycles with average CE of 99.4%) and a zinc–bromine flow battery demonstrates a longer cycle life (142 cycles with average CE of 97.2%), much better than pristine PH. This is a simple, novel, and effective way to suppress Zn dendrites and improve the performance of ZFBs.
A tin‐modified 3D carbon felt anodic host affords more robust Zn nucleation sites and lower nucleation overpotential of Zn. It is thus found to better induce uniform Zn plating/stripping.
Baicalin is a natural flavonoid glycoside that confers protection against myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury. However, its mechanism has not been fully understood. This study focused on ...elucidating the role of ferroptosis in baicalin-generated protective effects on myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury by using the myocardial I/R rat model and oxygen-glucose deprivation/reoxygenation (OGD/R) H9c2 cells. Our results show that baicalin improved myocardial I/R challenge-induced ST segment elevation, coronary flow (CF), left ventricular systolic pressure , infarct area, and pathological changes and prevented OGD/R-triggered cell viability loss. In addition, enhanced lipid peroxidation and significant iron accumulation along with activated transferrin receptor protein 1 (TfR1) signal and nuclear receptor coactivator 4 (NCOA4)-medicated ferritinophagy were observed in in vivo and
models, which were reversed by baicalin treatment. Furthermore, acyl-CoA synthetase long-chain family member 4 (ACSL4) overexpression compromised baicalin-generated protective effect in H9c2 cells. Taken together, our findings suggest that baicalin prevents against myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury via suppressing ACSL4-controlled ferroptosis. This study provides a novel target for the prevention of myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury.
In vitro and some animal models have shown that quercetin, a polyphenol derived from plants, has a wide range of biological actions including anti-carcinogenic, anti-inflammatory and antiviral ...activities; as well as attenuating lipid peroxidation, platelet aggregation and capillary permeability. This review focuses on the physicochemical properties, dietary sources, absorption, bioavailability and metabolism of quercetin, especially main effects of quercetin on inflammation and immune function. According to the results obtained both in vitro and in vivo, good perspectives have been opened for quercetin. Nevertheless, further studies are needed to better characterize the mechanisms of action underlying the beneficial effects of quercetin on inflammation and immunity.
•Soil salinity was the best predictors of soil bacterial and fungal community structure.•Fungi are more sensitive to grassland degradation than bacteria.•Grassland degradation increases interactions ...among microorganisms.
Grassland degradation is a retrogressive successionofgrasslandvegetation, which leads to the loss of biodiversity and the degradation of ecosystem functions. Soil microbiomes play critical roles in the functioning and services of grassland ecosystems, yet little is known about how their diversity, structure and co-occurrence network characteristics respond to grassland degradation. Here, we used lllumina Miseq technique to evaluate soil bacterial and fungal communities in a meadow steppe with different degrees of degradation in Northeastern China. Our results showed that Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria, and Chloroflexi and Acidobacteria were the dominant bacterial phyla, while Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, and Zygomycota were the predominant fungal phyla. The relative abundance of taxa assigned to Actinobacteria, Gemmatimonadetes, Firmicutes, and Deinococcus-Thermus increased with increasing degradation degrees, whereas those affiliated with Acidobacteria and Nitrospirae showed a decreasing pattern. Compared to bacteria, the relative abundance of most fungal phyla decreased gradually along the degradation gradient. Bacterial Shannon diversity index possessed a similar hump pattern, while fungal diversity decreased with increasing degree of grassland degradation. Bacterial and fungal communities have different responses to grassland degradation, indicating that fungi are more sensitive to grassland degradation than bacteria. Both bacterial and fungal community structures were significantly different among the three sites. Changes in soil bacterial and fungal community structures were best explained by soil salinity and pH. Plant diversity and nitrogen concentration in aboveground plant tissues were also important factors for regulating fungal communities. Co-occurrence network analysis revealed that microbial taxa increased positive interactions and average degree to strengthen the adaptability of microorganisms to grassland degradation. These findings could enhance our understanding of the formation and maintenance of microbial community diversity in degraded grasslands and the development of a new indicator for grassland ecosystem management.
This review aimed to illustrate the development in the teacher expectation literature and discuss the major avenues of research in the teacher expectation field from 1989 to 2018. Four analytical ...themes emerged from a narrative synthesis based on a systematic literature search: (1) influential factors on teacher expectations; (2) mediation mechanism of teacher expectations; (3) moderating factors of teacher expectation effects; (4) teacher expectation effects on student socio-psychological, behavioural, and achievement outcomes. On the whole, most studies confirmed earlier research findings regarding the 4 themes, although there were some studies that found results contradicting earlier work. In addition, new research topics and directions raised in the past 3 decades were identified in this review, especially regarding the mediation of teacher expectations and the socio-psychological and behavioural outcomes of the expectation effects. The review concludes with a set of recommendations for future research directions on teacher expectations.
In this study, we aim to reveal the properties of different fractions of soy hull soluble polysaccharide (SHSP) derived by alcohol precipitation and the related mechanism. Three fractions were ...obtained, designated as SHSP20, SHSP40 and SHSP60; every fraction has its advantage(s). The molecular weight, monosaccharide composition, functional groups, morphology, and other rheological properties of all SHSP fractions were investigated. The results showed that SHSP20 and SHSP40 accounted for 74.3% of soy hull soluble polysaccharide. FTIR spectrum confirmed the presence of uronic acid and protein in SHSP fractions. Also, the molecular weight of the polysaccharide fractions varied from 124.21 to 381.83 kDa. GC analysis indicated that mannose, galacturonic acid, and galactose were the main monosaccharide components of all the SHSP fractions. However, the monosaccharide types and ratios of the three SHSP fractions are significantly different. Furthermore, shear thinning behaviour of SHSPs solution was observed. SHSP40 exhibited the highest viscosity among samples tested. Atomic force microscopy further confirmed the various morphologies of SHSP fractions. The results suggest that SHSPs obtained by gradient alcohol precipitation have different molar masses and chain conformations.
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•Three new hetero-polysaccharides fractions were obtained from soy hull.•Molecular weight, monosaccharide units and functional groups of the SHSPs were investigated.•Shear thinning behavior was observed for SHSPs solution.•Various morphologies were characterized by AFM.
Seventy-four percent of Chinese employees have experienced working with illness, but limited number of researchers have paid attention on this phenomenon. Most of the previous research on ...presenteeism has almost exclusively focused on North America and Europe and have gone to the financial emphasis. The current researches have two shortages, which are laying in the consensus on the definition and measurement of presenteeism, as well as the mechanism of presenteeism and its outcomes have set barriers for scholars to generate deeper understanding of the behavior. The aim of the present study was to explore the current situation of presenteeism among Chinese nurses and the mediating effect of health and the moderating effect of general self-efficacy between presenteeism and productivity loss.
Data were collected from a sample of 340 female nurses from a 3A-graded general hospital in Henan Province, China by using the Sickness Presenteeism Questionnaire (SPQ), the Stanford Presenteeism Scale (SPS-6), the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), and the General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES).
The results indicated that the mean of SPQ was 3.2 ± 0.7 in this sample, and there were significant differences in age and marital status in SPQ scores. Presenteeism was significantly associated with health and productivity loss, and health was significantly associated with productivity loss, and general self-efficacy was negatively associated with productivity loss. A bootstrap test showed that health fully mediated the relationship between presenteeism and productivity loss in nurses. Hierarchical regression analysis confirmed the moderating role of general self-efficacy between presenteeism and productivity loss.
Presenteeism can significantly predict productivity loss in nurses, and hospital management can improve the physical and mental health of nurses and enhance their self-efficacy level to reduce the negative impact of presenteeism on productivity loss.
Natural polysaccharides and their modified derivatives are crucial supplements to the prevention of inflammation. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of sulfated modification on the ...anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative activities of Cyclocarya paliurus polysaccharides (CP). A sulfated CP, S-CP
was obtained using chlorosulfonic acid-pyridine method. The chemical components and FT-IR spectrum confirmed that sulfated group was synthesized to the polysaccharide chains successfully. S-CP
was found to inhibit nitric oxide production, phagocytic activity and the release of interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-1β in lipopolysaccharide-treated macrophage cells, RAW 264.7. S-CP
significantly decreased the secretion of IL-6 and TNF-α and the thymus and spleen indexes, and increased the production of IL-10 in lipopolysaccharide-treated mice. S-CP
could better protect the liver by inhibiting the activities of alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase, and malondialdehyde level while increasing the superoxide dismutase activity and total anti-oxidative capacity. These results suggested that S-CP
may be an effective anti-inflammatory agent, and sulfated modification may be a reliable method for the development of food supplements.
Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) play a critical role in the tumor inflammatory microenvironment and facilitate tumor growth and metastasis. Most types of tumors aberrantly express microRNAs ...(miRNAs), which can be transferred between cells by exosomes and can regulate gene expression in recipient cells, but it remains unclear whether tumor-derived miRNAs are transferred by exosomes and regulate the TAM phenotype. We report that mouse 4T1 breast cancer cell-derived exosomes enhanced TAM expression of IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α and that inhibition of 4T1-cell exosome secretion through short hairpin RNA-mediated Rab27a/b depletion repressed tumor growth and metastasis and markedly downregulated IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α in a 4T1 breast tumor model. Furthermore, miRNA expression profiling revealed that three miRNAs (miR-100-5p, miR-183-5p, and miR-125b-1-3p) were considerably more abundant in 4T1 cell exosomes than in mouse bone marrow-derived macrophages, indicating potential exosome-mediated transfer of the miRNAs, and, notably, miR-183-5p was found to be transferred from 4T1 cells to macrophages through exosomes. Moreover,
was verified as an miR-183-5p target gene, and PPP2CA downregulation enhanced NF-κB signaling and promoted macrophage expression of IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α. Lastly, when miR-183-5p was downregulated in exosomes through miR-183-5p sponge expression in 4T1 cells, these 4T1-derived exosomes triggered diminished p65 phosphorylation and IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α secretion, and the miRNA downregulation also led to repression of tumor growth and metastasis in the 4T1 breast tumor model in vivo. Thus, miR-183-5p expressed in tumor cells was transferred to macrophages by exosomes and promoted the secretion of proinflammatory cytokines by inhibiting PPP2CA expression, which contributed to tumor progression in a breast cancer model.
Neurological disorders can be caused by viral infections. The association between viral infections and neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) has been well-documented for a long time, and ...this connection has recently come to attention with the occurrence of SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, the precise nature of the causal connection between NMOSD and COVID-19 infection remains uncertain.
To investigate the causal relationship between COVID-19 and NMOSD, we utilized a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) approach. This analysis was based on the most extensive and recent genome-wide association study (GWAS) that included SARS-CoV-2 infection data (122616 cases and 2475240 controls), hospitalized COVID-19 data (32519 cases and 2062805 controls), and data on severe respiratory confirmed COVID-19 cases (13769 cases and 1072442 controls). Additionally, we incorporated a GWAS meta-analysis comprising 132 cases of AQP4-IgG-seropositive NMOSD (NMO-IgG+), 83 cases of AQP4-IgG-seronegative NMOSD (NMO-IgG-), and 1244 controls.
The findings of our study indicate that the risk of developing NMO-IgG+ is elevated when there is a genetic predisposition to SARS-CoV-2 infection (OR = 5.512, 95% CI = 1.403-21.657, P = 0.014). Furthermore, patients with genetically predicted NMOSD did not exhibit any heightened susceptibility to SARS-CoV2 infection, COVID-19 hospitalization, or severity.
our study using Mendelian randomization (MR) revealed, for the first time, that the presence of genetically predicted SARS-CoV2 infection was identified as a contributing factor for NMO-IgG+ relapses.
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