FBXO32-mediated degradation of PTEN promotes lung adenocarcinoma progression.

FBXO32, a member of the F-box protein family, is known to play both oncogenic and tumor-suppressive roles in different cancers. However, the functions and the molecular mechanisms regulated by FBXO32 in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) remain unclear. Here, we report that FBXO32 is overexpressed in LUAD compared with normal lung tissues, and high expression of FBXO32 correlates with poor prognosis in LUAD patients. Firstly, we observed with a series of functional experiments that FBXO32 alters the cell cycle and promotes the invasion and metastasis of LUAD cells. We further corroborate our findings using in vivo mouse models of metastasis and confirmed that FBXO32 positively regulates LUAD tumor metastasis. Using a proteomic-based approach combined with computational analyses, we found a positive correlation between FBXO32 and the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway, and identified PTEN as a FBXO32 interactor. More important, FBXO32 binds PTEN via its C-terminal substrate binding domain and we also validated PTEN as a bona fide FBXO32 substrate. Finally, we demonstrated that FBXO32 promotes EMT and regulates the cell cycle by targeting PTEN for proteasomal-dependent degradation. In summary, our study highlights the role of FBXO32 in promoting the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway via PTEN degradation, thereby fostering lung adenocarcinoma progression.

Reversal Effect of Phosphorus on Catalytic Performances of Supported Nickel Catalysts in Reductive Amination of 1,6-Hexanediol.

The reductive amination of 1,6-hexanediol with ammonia is one of the most promising green routes for synthesis of 1,6-hexanediamine. Herein, we developed a phosphorous modified Ni catalyst of Ni-P/Al2O3. It presented satisfactory improved selectivity to 1,6-hexanediamine in the reductive amination of 1,6-hexanediol compared to the Ni/Al2O3 catalyst. The phosphorous tended to interact with Al2O3 to form AlPOx species, induced Ni nanoparticle to be flatter, and the decrease of strong acid sites, the new-formed Ni-AlPOx-Al2O3 interface and the flatter Ni nanoparticle were the key to switch the dominating product from hexamethyleneimine to 1,6-hexanediamine. This work develops an efficient catalyst for production of 1,6-hexanediamine from the reductive amination of 1,6-hexanediol, and provides a point of view about designing selective non-noble metal catalysts for producing primary diamines via reductive amination of diols.

VEGFA/NRP-1/GAPVD1 axis promotes progression and cancer stemness of triple-negative breast cancer by enhancing tumor cell-macrophage crosstalk.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) has long been considered a major clinical challenge due to its aggressive behavior and poor prognosis. Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are known as the main cells responsible for tumor origination, progression, recurrence and metastasis. Here, we report that M2-type tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) contribute to cancer stemness in TNBC cells via the secretion of VEGFA. Reciprocally, elevated VEGFA expression by TAM-educated TNBC cells acts as a regulator of macrophage polarization, therefore constitute a feed-back loop between TNBC cells and TAMs. Mechanistically, VEGFA facilitates the CSC phenotype via the NRP-1 receptor and downstream GAPVD1/Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway in TNBC cells. Our study underscores the crosstalk between TNBC cells and TAMs mediated by VEGFA and further clarifies the role and underlying mechanisms of the VEGFA/NRP-1/GAPVD1 axis in regulating cancer stemness. We also document an immunosuppressive function of VEGFA in the tumor microenvironment (TME). Therefore, the present study indicates crosstalk between TNBC cells and TAMs induced by VEGFA and provides a potential implication for the combination of immunotherapy and VEGFA-targeted agents in TNBC therapy.

COL, a pipeline for identifying putatively functional back-splicing.

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a class of generally non-coding RNAs produced by back-splicing. Although the vast majority of circRNAs are likely to be products of splicing error and thereby confer no benefits to organisms, a small number of circRNAs have been found to be functional. Identifying other functional circRNAs from the sea of mostly non-functional circRNAs is an important but difficult task. Because available experimental methods for this purpose are of low throughput or versality and existing computational methods have limited reliability or applicability, new methods are needed. We hypothesize that functional back-splicing events that generate functional circRNAs (i) exhibit substantially higher back-splicing rates than expected from the total splicing amounts, (ii) have conserved splicing motifs, and (iii) show unusually high back-splicing levels. We confirm these features in back-splicing shared among human, macaque, and mouse, which should enrich functional back-splicing. Integrating the three features, we design a computational pipeline named COL for identifying putatively functional back-splicing. Using experimentally verified functional back-splicing as a benchmark, we find COL to outperform a commonly used computational method with a similar data requirement. We conclude that COL is an efficient and versatile method for rapid identification of putatively functional back-splicing and circRNAs that can be experimentally validated.

Comprehensive analysis of the prognostic value and immune infiltration of FGFR family members in gastric cancer.

Background: Fibroblast growth factor receptors (FGFRs) modulate numerous cellular processes in tumor cells and tumor microenvironment. However, the effect of FGFRs on tumor prognosis and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in gastric cancer (GC) remains controversial. Methods: The expression of four different types of FGFRs was analyzed via GEPIA, TCGA-STAD, and GTEX databases and our 27 pairs of GC tumor samples and the adjacent normal tissue. Furthermore, the Kaplan-Meier plot and the TCGA database were utilized to assess the association of FGFRs with clinical prognosis. The R software was used to evaluate FGFRs co-expression genes with GO/KEGG Pathway Enrichment Analysis. In vitro and in vivo functional analyses and immunoblotting were performed to verify FGFR4 overexpression consequence. Moreover, the correlation between FGFRs and cancer immune infiltrates was analyzed by TIMER and TCGA databases. And the efficacy of anti-PD-1 mAb treatment was examined in NOG mouse models with overexpressed FGFR1 or FGFR4. Results: The expression of FGFRs was considerably elevated in STAD than in the normal gastric tissues and was significantly correlated with poor OS and PFS. ROC curve showed the accuracy of the FGFRs in tumor diagnosis, among which FGFR4 had the highest ROC value. Besides, univariate and multivariate analysis revealed that FGFR4 was an independent prognostic factor for GC patients. According to a GO/KEGG analysis, the FGFRs were implicated in the ERK/MAPK, PI3K-AKT and extracellular matrix (ECM) receptor signaling pathways. In vivo and in vitro studies revealed that overexpression of FGFR4 stimulated GC cell proliferation, invasion, and migration. In addition, FGFR1 expression was positively correlated with infiltrating levels of CD8+ T-cells, CD4+ T-cells, macrophages, and dendritic cells in STAD. In contrast, FGFR4 expression was negatively correlated with tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes. Interestingly, overexpression of FGFR1 in the NOG mouse model improved the immunotherapeutic impact of GC, while overexpression of FGFR4 impaired the effect. When combined with an FGFR4 inhibitor, the anti-tumor effect of anti-PD-1 treatment increased significantly in a GC xenograft mouse model with overexpressed FGFR4. Conclusions: FGFRs has critical function in GC and associated with immune cell infiltration, which might be a potential prognosis biomarker and predictor of response to immunotherapy in GC.

Enhancing the scalability of distance-based link prediction algorithms in recommender systems through similarity selection.

Slope One algorithm and its descendants measure user-score distance and use the statistical score distance between users to predict unknown ratings, as opposed to the typical collaborative filtering algorithm that uses similarity for neighbor selection and prediction. Compared to collaborative filtering systems that select only similar neighbors, algorithms based on user-score distance typically include all possible related users in the process, which needs more computation time and requires more memory. To improve the scalability and accuracy of distance-based recommendation algorithm, we provide a user-item link prediction approach that combines user distance measurement with similarity-based user selection. The algorithm predicts unknown ratings based on the filtered users by calculating user similarity and removing related users with similarity below a threshold, which reduces 26 to 29 percent of neighbors and improves prediction error, ranking, and prediction accuracy overall.

A Practical Multi-Stage Grasp Detection Method for Kinova Robot in Stacked Environments.

Grasp detection takes on a critical significance for the robot. However, detecting object positions and corresponding grasp positions in a stacked environment can be quite difficult for a robot. Based on this practical problem, in order to achieve more accurate object position detection and grasp position detection, a new method called MMD (Multi-stage network for multi-object grasp detection algorithm) is proposed in this paper. MMD covers two parts, including the feature extractor and the multi-stage object predictor. The feature extractor refers to a deep convolutional neural network that can generate shared feature layers as well as the initial ROIs (region of interest). A multi-stage refiner serves as the multi-stage object predictor, which continuously regresses the initial ROI to obtain more accurate object detection and grasping detection results. Ablation experiments show that the proposed MMD has better grasp detection performance. The specific performance is that the recognition precision achieves a state-of-the-art 76.71% mAPg on the VMRD dataset. Moreover, test experiments demonstrate the feasibility of our method on the Kinova robot.

LHPP suppresses colorectal cancer cell migration and invasion in vitro and in vivo by inhibiting Smad3 phosphorylation in the TGF-ß pathway.

The roles of phospholysine phosphohistidine inorganic pyrophosphate phosphatase (LHPP) in tumorigenesis have been recently proven in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), cervical, pancreatic, bladder, and thyroid cancers. Previous research demonstrated that LHPP repressed cell proliferation and growth by inactivating the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/AKT signaling pathway in vitro and in vivo. However, the functions and potential mechanisms of LHPP as a tumor suppressor in colorectal cancer (CRC) metastasis are still unknown. Consequently, the Transwell assay and xenograft nude model showed that LHPP inhibited migration and invasion of CRC cells in vitro and in vivo, respectively. The expression of total and nuclear epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related proteins were significantly reduced after LHPP upregulation. Human Gene Expression Array and IPA (Ingenuity Pathway Analysis) commercial software were applied to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and potential cell signaling pathways. A total of 330 different genes were observed, including 177 upregulated genes and 153 downregulated genes. Bioinformatics analysis suggested that the transforming growth factor-ß (TGF-ß) signaling pathway was highly inactivated in this study. Then, Smad3 phosphorylation was apparently decreased, whereas Smad7 expression was markedly enhanced after upregulating LHPP expression. These results were proven once again after TGF-ß1 stimulation. Furthermore, a specific inhibitor of Smad3 phosphorylation (SIS3) was applied to verify that LHPP repressed EMT of cancer cells by attenuating TGF-ß/Smad signaling. The results suggested that suppression of the TGF-ß/Smad signaling pathway by LHPP overexpression could be abolished by SIS3.

Identification of core genes and clinical outcomes in tumors originated from endoderm (gastric cancer and lung carcinoma) via bioinformatics analysis.

ABSTRACT: During last decade, bioinformatics analysis has provided an effective way to study the relationship between various genes and biological processes. In this study, we aimed to identify potential core candidate genes and underlying mechanisms of progression of lung and gastric carcinomas which both originated from endoderm. The expression profiles, GSE54129 (gastric carcinoma) and GSE27262 (lung carcinoma), were collected from GEO database. One hundred eleven patients with gastric carcinoma and 21 health people were included in this research. Meanwhile, there were 25 lung carcinoma patients. Then, 75 differentially expressed genes were selected via GEO2R online tool and Venn software, including 31 up-regulated genes and 44 down-regulated genes. Next, we used Database for Annotation, Visualization, and Integrated Discovery and Metascpe software to analyze Kyoto Encyclopedia of Gene and Genome pathway and gene ontology. Furthermore, Cytoscape software and MCODE App were performed to construct complex of these differentially expressed genes . Twenty core genes were identified, which mainly enriched in extracellular matrix-receptor interaction, focal adhesion, and PI3K-Akt pathway (P < .01). Finally, the significant difference of gene expression between cancer tissues and normal tissues in both lung and gastric carcinomas was examined by Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis database. Twelve candidate genes with positive statistical significance (P < .01), COMP CTHRC1 COL1A1 SPP1 COL11A1 COL10A1 CXCL13 CLDN3 CLDN1 matrix metalloproteinases 7 ADAM12 PLAU, were picked out to further analysis. The Kaplan-Meier plotter website was applied to examine relationship among these genes and clinical outcomes. We found 4 genes (ADAM12, SPP1, COL1A1, COL11A1) were significantly associated with poor prognosis in both lung and gastric carcinoma patients (P  < .05). In conclusion, these candidate genes may be potential therapeutic targets for cancer treatment.

Laparoscopic Duodenal Switch Versus Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass at a High-Volume Community Hospital: a Retrospective Cohort Study from a Rural Setting.

BACKGROUND: The classic duodenal switch (DS) represents a minority of bariatric procedures due to its high complexity and potential for complications. METHODS: A retrospective chart review was conducted on 100 laparoscopic DS cases from 2014 to 2018 at an accredited program in a rural community hospital and compared to 100 laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypasses (RYGB). Primary outcomes were 30-day morbidity and mortality. Secondary outcomes included anastomotic leak and remission of type 2 diabetes. RESULTS: There were more demographic risk factors for DS. The 30-day morbidity was higher for DS compared to RYGB (31% vs 13%, respectively; p = 0.0037). There was one mortality for DS and none for RYGB. There were statistically significant longer intraoperative times, greater EBL, and greater decrease in BMI for DS. The DS had a lower incidence of anastomotic ulcers (4% vs 13%, respectively; p = 0.0289), with a higher incidence of subsequent surgery beyond 30 days (21% vs 8%, respectively; p = 0.0160). There were 3 anastomotic leaks for DS and none for RYGB, although not statistically significant (p = 0.2463). The DS was more likely to eradicate hypertension, but the RYGB was more likely to eradicate GERD. There were no statistically significant differences for type 2 diabetes remission (92.1% vs 89.5%, respectively; p = 0.7239). CONCLUSION: Laparoscopic DS offers greater weight loss and hypertension remission, with lower incidence of anastomotic ulcers, but at the expense of greater morbidity and need for subsequent surgery, with no significant differences in type 2 diabetes remission when compared to RYGB in a rural community hospital program.

Direct Synthesis of Polyurea Thermoplastics from CO2 and Diamines.

The transformation of CO2 into polymeric materials is an important and hot research topic from the viewpoint of renewable resources and environmental effects. Herein, a series of polyureas have been synthesized by polycondensation from CO2 with diamines of 1,12-diaminododecane (DAD) and/or 4,7,10-trioxa-1,13-tridecanediamine (TTD). The properties of polyureas synthesized were characterized by FTIR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, XRD, DSC, TGA, and DMA. The polyureas synthesized from CO2 with a mixture of diamines presented high performances compared to those of polyureas synthesized from CO2 with a single diamine. The thermal and mechanical properties were improved largely by the variation in the crystallization and the chain flexibility depending on the changes in the density and/or intensity of hydrogen bonds. With increasing amounts of TTD from 0 to 100% in weight, the melting (Tm), crystallization (Tc), and glass transition (Tg) temperatures decreased from 207 to 116 °C, from 181 to 54 °C, and from 66 to -34 °C, respectively. When the TTD content was increased from 0 to 50 wt %, the Young's modulus decreased from 1170 to 406 MPa, and the tensile strength decreased from 53.3 to 42.9 MPa. However, the elongation at break increased from 13 to 330%. Furthermore, the chain length of aliphatic diamines and polyetheramines had a significant effect on the mechanical properties. The initial decomposition temperature (Td,5%) is >295 °C, about 110 °C higher than the Tm (116-207 °C), which is advantageous for the postprocessing. The mechanical properties of the polyureas synthesized herein are superior to those of polycarbonate and polyamide 6. Thus, polyureas synthesized from the renewable and cheap resources, CO2 and diamines, will find wide potential applications in the field of polymeric materials.

Numerical Investigation of the Effect of Additional Pulmonary Blood Flow on Patient-Specific Bilateral Bidirectional Glenn Hemodynamics.

The effect of additional pulmonary blood flow (APBF) on the hemodynamics of bilateral bidirectional Glenn (BBDG) connection was marginally discussed in previous studies. This study assessed this effect using patient-specific numerical simulation. A 15-year-old female patient who underwent BBDG was enrolled in this study. Patient-specific anatomy, flow waveforms, and pressure tracings were obtained using computed tomography, Doppler ultrasound technology, and catheterization, respectively. Computational fluid dynamic simulations were performed to assess flow field and derived hemodynamic metrics of the BBDG connection with various APBF. APBF showed noticeable effects on the hemodynamics of the BBDG connection. It suppressed flow mixing in the connection, which resulted in a more antegrade flow structure. Also, as the APBF rate increases, both power loss and reflux in superior venae cavae (SVCs) monotonically increases while the flow ratio of the right to the left pulmonary artery (RPA/LPA) monotonically decreases. However, a non-monotonic relationship was observed between the APBF rate and indexed power loss. A high APBF rate may result in a good flow ratio of RPA/LPA but with the side effect of bad power loss and remarkable reflux in SVCs, and vice versa. A moderate APBF rate could be favourable because it leads to an optimal indexed power loss and achieves the acceptable flow ratio of RPA/LPA without causing severe power loss and reflux in SVCs. These findings suggest that patient-specific numerical simulation should be used to assist clinicians in determining an appropriate APBF rate based on desired outcomes on a patient-specific basis.

Highly selective Pt/ordered mesoporous TiO2-SiO2 catalysts for hydrogenation of cinnamaldehyde: The promoting role of Ti(2.).

A highly selective and stable catalyst based on Pt nanoparticles confined in Mesoporous TiO2-SiO2 frameworks were prepared and employed for selective hydrogenation of cinnamaldehyde to cinnamyl alcohol. The as-prepared Pt/MesoTiO2-SiO2-M catalyst displayed excellent selectivity to cinnamyl alcohol (around 91%) at nearly complete conversion. Ti(2+) and stronger metal-support interaction (SMSI) played key roles on the adsorption behavior of cinnamaldehyde and activation of CO bonds. The existence of amorphous SiO2 and mixed TiO2 phases (anatase and rutile) was helpful for the formation of Ti(2+) sites and SMSI. The electron-enriched Pt surfaces and the formed Pt-TiOx system benefited the enhanced activity and selectivity.

Selective hydrogenation of o-chloronitrobenzene over anatase-ferric oxides supported Ir nanocomposite catalyst.

The catalytic performance of Ir/TiO2-FeOx, an Ir/TiO2 catalyst modified with FeOx, was investigated for the hydrogenation of o-chloronitrobenzene, FeOx was found to promote both the activity and selectivity significantly. The initial reaction rate of Ir/TiO2-FeOx(10) nanocomposite catalyst was four times as high as that of Ir/TiO2 catalyst. Especially, the accumulation of intermediates was prohibited and finally 100% selectivity to o-chloroaniline was obtained at 100% conversion. Herein, we mainly discussed the promoting effect of FeOx with using the results of powder X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, element analysis mapping, hydrogen-temperature programmed reduction, hydrogen-temperature programmed desorption, diffuse reflectance infrared fourier transform spectra and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis. The FeOx was highly dispersed and a portion of FeO species existed in the Ir/TiO2-FeOx nanocomposite catalyst. Moreover, the FeOx was certified to have a strong interaction with Ir species, which should contribute to the excellent performance of the Ir/TiO2-FeOx nanocomposite catalyst.

Photocatalytic reduction of o-chloronitrobenzene under visible light irradiation over CdS quantum dot sensitized TiO2.

The photocatalytic activity of CdS/P25 hybrid catalysts was studied under visible-light irradiation. The CdS quantum dots sensitized P25 (CdS QDs-P25) showed extremely enhanced activity in the reduction of o-chloronitrobenzene (o-CNB) by comparing to CdS-P25 prepared by the direct deposition-precipitation method in the presence of HCOOH. The synergistic effects between CdS QDs and P25 were beneficial for the separation of photogenerated carriers in space and thus the combination of photoelectrons and holes was prevented, and the CdS QDs could provide more photocharges than CdS due to the particle size effect. Furthermore, the process of photocatalytic reduction in the present system was investigated, under visible-light irradiation, the photogenerated electrons transferred from the valence band (VB) to the conduction band (CB) of CdS QDs, and injected into the CB of inactivated P25. Meanwhile, the holes generated in the VB of CdS QDs could oxidize HCOO(-) to give ˙CO2(-) and H(+). Then, o-CNB was reduced to o-chloroaniline (o-CAN) by the couple of e(-) and ˙CO2(-) with H(+). It is a significant method and a green process for hydrogenation of nitro compounds, which may have great potential applications in the reduction of various organic chemicals.

Embedding NiCo2O4 nanoparticles into a 3DHPC assisted by CO2-expanded ethanol: a potential lithium-ion battery anode with high performance.

A high-performance anode material, NiCo2O4/3DHPC composite, for lithium-ion batteries was developed through direct nanoparticles nucleation on a three-dimensional hierarchical porous carbon (3DHPC) matrix and cation substitution of spinel Co3O4 nanoparticles. It was synthesized via a supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) expanded ethanol solution-assisted deposition method combined with a subsequent heat-treatment process. The NiCo2O4 nanoparticles were uniformly embedded into the porous carbon matrix and efficiently avoided free-growth in solution or aggregation in the pores even at a high content of 55.0 wt %. In particular, the 3DHPC was directly used without pretreatment or surfactant assistance. As an anode material for lithium-ion batteries, the NiCo2O4/3DHPC composite showed high reversible capacity and improved rate capability that outperformed those composites formed with single metal oxides (NiO/3DHPC, Co3O4/3DHPC), their physical mixture, and the composite prepared in pure ethanol (NiCo2O4/3DHPC-E). The superior performance is mainly contributed to the unique advantages of the scCO2-expanded ethanol medium, and the combination of high utilization efficiency and improved electrical conductivity of NiCo2O4 as well as the electronic and ionic transport advantages of 3DHPC.

The Pt-enriched PtNi alloy surface and its excellent catalytic performance in hydrolytic hydrogenation of cellulose.

Ni-based catalysts are currently a subject of intense research in the hydrolytic hydrogenation of cellulose. We previously reported that Ni/ZSM-5 catalyst gave high yield of hexitols. However, Ni-based catalysts suffered fast deactivation in hot-compressed water. In this follow-up study we designed highly active Ni-based bimetallic catalysts with excellent hydrothermal stability for the hydrolytic hydrogenation of microcrystalline cellulose. PtNi/ZSM-5 shows a 76.9 % yield of hexitols, which is the best obtained so far in the hydrolytic hydrogenation of microcrystalline cellulose over Ni-based catalysts. Furthermore, the yield of hexitols remained greater than 55 % after the catalyst was reused for 4 times. The results showed that PtNi nanoparticles were formed with a Pt-enriched alloy surface as confirmed by XRD, H2-TPR (temperature-programmed H2 reduction), XPS (X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy), and H2-TPD (temperature-programmed H2 desorption). The surface features of these nano-particles were characterized by CO-TPD (temperature-programmed CO desorption), CO-FTIR (CO adsorption FTIR spectroscopy), HRTEM (high resolution TEM), and O2-TPO (temperature programmed oxidation) and this special surface structure may be responsible for the high activity, selectivity, and stability in the hydrolytic hydrogenation of cellulose in hot-compressed water.

Supercritical carbon dioxide assisted deposition of Fe(3)O(4) nanoparticles on hierarchical porous carbon and their lithium-storage performance.

A composite of highly dispersed Fe3 O4 nanoparticles (NPs) anchored in three-dimensional hierarchical porous carbon networks (Fe3 O4 /3DHPC) as an anode material for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) was prepared by means of a deposition technique assisted by a supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2 )-expanded ethanol solution. The as-synthesized Fe3 O4 /3DHPC composite exhibits a bimodal porous 3D architecture with mutually connected 3.7 nm mesopores defined in the macroporous wall on which a layer of small and uniform Fe3 O4 NPs was closely coated. As an anode material for LIBs, the Fe3 O4 /3DHPC composite with 79 wt % Fe3 O4 (Fe3 O4 /3DHPC-79) delivered a high reversible capacity of 1462 mA h g(-1) after 100 cycles at a current density of 100 mA g(-1) , and maintained good high-rate performance (728, 507, and 239 mA h g(-1) at 1, 2, and 5 C, respectively). Moreover, it showed excellent long-term cycling performance at high current densities, 1 and 2 A g(-1) . The enhanced lithium-storage behavior can be attributed to the synergistic effect of the porous support and the homogeneous Fe3 O4 NPs. More importantly, this straightforward, highly efficient, and green synthetic route will definitely enrich the methodologies for the fabrication of carbon-based transition-metal oxide composites, and provide great potential materials for additional applications in supercapacitors, sensors, and catalyses.

Supported polyethylene glycol stabilized platinum nanoparticles for chemoselective hydrogenation of halonitrobenzenes in scCO2.

Polyethylene glycol stabilized platinum nanoparticles were immobilized on solid supports such as γ-Al2O3, SBA-15, TiO2 and active carbon, forming supported polyethylene glycol stabilized platinum nanoparticles (SPPNs). In the hydrogenation of p-chloronitrobenzene (p-CNB) in supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2), the SPPN showed high selectivity to p-chloroaniline (>99.3%) in the whole range of conversion. Such high selectivity to corresponding haloanilines (HANs) (>99.1%) was also obtained in the hydrogenation of o-CNB, m-CNB, 2-chloro-6-nitrotoluene, p-bromonitrobenzene and m-iodonitrobenzene. The dehalogenation and the accumulation of intermediates were fully inhibited simultaneously in scCO2. The SPPN catalysts could be reused several times without loss of high selectivity in present reaction system.

Assembling metal oxide nanocrystals into dense, hollow, porous nanoparticles for lithium-ion and lithium-oxygen battery application.

New dense hollow porous (DHP) metal oxide nanoparticles that are smaller than 100 nm and composed of Co3O4, FeOx, NiO and MnOx were prepared by densely assembling metal oxide nanocrystals based on the hard-template method using a carbon colloid as a sacrificial core. These nanoparticles are quite different from the traditional particles as their hollow interior originates from the stacking of nanocrystals rather than a spherical shell. The DHP nanoparticles preserve the intriguing properties of nanocrystals and possess desirable surface area and pore volume that enhance the active surface, which ultimately benefits applications such as lithium-ion batteries. The DHP Co3O4 nanoparticles demonstrated an enhanced capacity of 1168 mA h g(-1) at 100 mA g(-1)vs. 590 mA h g(-1) of powders and stable cycling performance greater than 250 cycles when used as an anode material. Most importantly, the electrochemical performance of DHP Co3O4 nanoparticles in a lithium-O2 battery was also investigated for the first time. A low charge potential of ∼4.0 V, a high discharge voltage near 2.74 V and a long cycle ability greater than 100 cycles at a delivered capacity of 2000 mA h g(-1) (current density, 200 mA g(-1)) were observed. The performances were considerably improved compared to recent results of mesoporous Co3O4, Co3O4 nanoparticles and a composite of Co3O4/RGO and Co3O4/Pd. Therefore, it would be promising to investigate such properties of DHP nanoparticles or other hollow metal (oxide) particles for the popular lithium-air battery.