Interfacial Modification of a Zn Anode by Amorphous Se toward Long-Life and Hydrogen Evolution-Free Aqueous Rechargeable Batteries.

The Zn anode in rechargeable aqueous Zn-ion batteries suffers from hydrogen gas evolution and dendrite growth, which are critical issues that make the battery impractical. Here, the Zn anode performance is greatly improved by coating an amorphous selenium overlayer with a simple chemical bath reaction process. The reduction of SeO32- ions by the Zn metal leads to the formation of an amorphous Se layer, and the optimal reaction time that determines the thickness of the Se coating as well as the Zn anode performance is found to be 2 h. The symmetric cell using Zn@Se exhibits improved rate performance and an ultralong cycle life of 4500 h after being tested at 1 mA cm-2 and 1 mAh cm-2, respectively. Compared to the bare Zn anode, the Zn@Se anode leads to a larger Zn2+ transference number and reduced charge transfer resistance. The button-type MnO2∥Zn@Se full cell exhibits higher capacity and a much longer cycle life compared to the counterpart using a bare Zn anode. Also, pouch-type MnO2∥Zn@Se full cells with a high capacity of 9.7 mAh cm-2 are made to demonstrate the inhibition of hydrogen evolution and practical applications. It is found that the in situ formation of an amorphous ZnO nanosheet network induced by the amorphous Se overlayer plays a key role in enhancing the Zn anode performance.

Metal organic framework MIL-53(Fe) as an efficient artificial oxidase for colorimetric detection of cellular biothiols.

Biothiols play critical roles in many biological processes and their aberrant is related to a variety of syndromes. A simple and reliable colorimetric method is developed in this work for biothiols detection based on an oxidase mimic, a metal organic framework (MOF) MIL-53(Fe), and a peroxidase substrate 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB). In this design, MIL-53(Fe) is utilized to catalyze the conversion of TMB to a blue colored 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine diimine, which can be read on a spectrophotometer at 652 nm. The oxidation-induced blue color generation can be efficiently inhibited by biothiols, thus a colorimetric analytical method is proposed for biothiols detection based on the above system. Under optimal conditions, a linear relationship in a range from 1 to 100 µM and a limit of detection (LOD) at 120 nM are achieved with Cys as a model target. The developed platform is further applied to evaluate cellular biothiols in normal (RWPE-1) and cancer (LNCap) cell lines, revealing that the overall biothiols level in LNCap is much higher than that in RWPE-1. This work renders a powerful tool for identifying cancer cells in a simple manner for biomedical diagnosis associated with biothiols.

Nitrogen-Doped Carbon as a Host for Tellurium for High-Rate Li-Te and Na-Te Batteries.

A nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbon sponge, used as a matrix for tellurium accommodation, was designed and prepared in this work. The porosity of the matrix played an important role in enhancing the electrochemical performance of Li/Na-Te batteries. Specifically, the mesopores could accommodate active materials whereas the macropores provided sufficient space for partial Te accommodation and volume expansion in discharge. In addition, N heteroatoms in carbon species could enhance the electrical conductivity and widen its application in lithium/sodium storage. The monolithic and flaky architecture of the nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbon sponge/tellurium composite offered a highly conductive network for fast electron transportation. As a result, the nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbon sponge/tellurium composite achieved a superior rate performance for Li-Te and Na-Te batteries.

High-Rate and Long-Life Sodium-Ion Batteries Based on Sponge-like Three-Dimensional Porous Na-Rich Ferric Pyrophosphate Cathode Material.

Sponge-like three-dimensional porous carbon-encapsulated Na3.32Fe2.34(P2O7)2 nanoparticles (labeled to NFPO@SC) were manufactured by a sol-gel method followed by multistage calcinations and utilized as the cathode material for sodium-ion batteries. The excellent electrochemical performance of the NFPO@SC cathode can be attributed to its unique porous structure, which facilitates electrolyte penetration, reduces the diffusion path of sodium ions, and increases electronic conductivity. In addition, the full battery is assembled by NFPO@SC and hard carbon, which are employed as cathode and anode electrodes, respectively. The full battery delivers a high discharge capacity (112.2 mA h g-1 at 0.5 C) and maintains 93.9% stable capacity over 1000 cycles at 5 C.

Rechargeable K-Se batteries based on metal-organic-frameworks-derived porous carbon matrix confined selenium as cathode materials.

In this work, porous carbon matrix derived from metal-organic frameworks is synthesized by a facile carbonation process for confining element selenium. The Se/nitrogen-doped porous carbon composite is applied as the cathode for rechargeable K-Se batteries for the first time. The abundant and hierarchical porous structure is advantageous in overcoming the volume expansion problem caused by polyselenides during discharge-charge process. The in-situ nitrogen-doped porous carbon enhances electronic conductivity of the cathode composite material. The electrochemical result shows that the as-obtained Se/nitrogen-doped porous carbon composite with Se content of 53% delivers good rate capacity with coulombic efficiency of nearly ∼90% and a reversible cycling capacity of 327 mA h g-1 at 0.2 C, maintaining about 130 mA h g-1 even after 100 cycles.

Self-Supported FeCo2S4 Nanotube Arrays as Binder-Free Cathodes for Lithium-Sulfur Batteries.

Inhibiting the shuttle effect, buffering the volume expansion, and improving the utilization of sulfur have been the three strategic points for developing a high-performance lithium-sulfur (Li-S) battery. Driven by this background, a flexible sulfur host material composed of FeCo2S4 nanotube arrays grown on the surface of carbon cloth is designed for a binder-free cathode of the Li-S battery through two-step hydrothermal method. Among the rest, the interconnected carbon fiber skeleton of the composite electrode ensures the basic electrical conductivity, whereas the FeCo2S4 nanotube arrays not only boost the electron and electrolyte transfer but also inhibit the dissolution of polysulfides because of their strong chemical adsorption. Meanwhile, the hollow structures of these arrays can provide a large inner space to accommodate the volume expansion of sulfur. More significantly, the developed composite electrode also reveals a catalytic action for accelerating the reaction kinetic of the Li-S battery. As a result, the FeCo2S4/CC@S electrode delivers a high discharge capacity of 1384 mA h g-1 at the current density of 0.1 C and simultaneously exhibits a stable Coulombic efficiency of about 98%.

Selenium Encapsulated into Metal-Organic Frameworks Derived N-Doped Porous Carbon Polyhedrons as Cathode for Na-Se Batteries.

The substitution of Se for S as cathode for rechargeable batteries, which confine selenium in porous carbon, attracts much attention as a potential area of research for energy storage systems. To date, there are no reports about metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) to use for Na-Se batteries. Herein, MOFs-derived nitrogen-doped porous carbon polyhedrons (NPCPs) have been obtained via facile synthesis and annealing treatment. Se is encapsulated into the mesopores of carbon polyhedrons homogeneously by melt-diffusion process to form Se/NPCPs composite, using as cathode for advanced Na-Se batteries. Se/NPCPs cathode exhibits excellent rate capabilities of 351.6 and 307.8 at 0.5C and 2C, respectively, along with good cycling performance with high Coulombic efficiency of 99.7% and slow decay rate of 0.05% per cycle after 1000 cycles at 2C, which result from the NPCPs having a unique porous structure to accommodate volumetric expansion of Se during discharge-charge processes. Nitrogen doping could enhance the electrical conductivity of carbon matrix and facilitate rapid charge transfer.

A High-Quality Biobank Supports Breast Cancer Research in Harbin, China.

We established a standard breast cancer biobank at Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital (HMUCH) in 2009. More than 100,000 biospecimens, including high-quality human breast cancer samples, matched blood samples, and adjacent normal tissues, were collected from patients and healthy donors in HMUCH and were then deposited in the repository. We reported the establishment of a biobank in our hospital and its crucial role in translational medicine research. We stored, processed, and distributed qualified biological specimens in accordance with international standard operating procedures. We also summarized the utilization of this biobank and its influence on research projects over the years since its establishment. Therefore, we can verify specific biomarkers that may aid in the development of targeted breast cancer therapies by using high-quality, well-annotated tissue samples provided by the biobank.

[Molecular mechanism of ophiopogonin B induced cellular autophagy of human cervical cancer HeLa cells].

This study is to investigate the antitumor activity of ophiopogonin B (OP-B). MTT assay, flow cytometric analysis, acridine orange staining, Lyso-Tracker Red staining and HeLa-GFP-LC3 transfect cells assay were used to detect the proliferation activity, apoptosis and autophagy of HeLa cells. The results showed that OP-B exerted potent antiproliferative activity on HeLa cells, the cell growth inhibition effect of OP-B was not due to apoptosis and OP-B could induce autophagy of HeLa cells. OP-B also induced the protein expression up-regulation of Beclin-1 and promoted LC3 I transformation LC3 II, which were representative proteins of autophagy. Furthermore, 3-MA, an inhibitor of autophagy, not only inhibited OP-B-mediated autophagy but also almost completely reversed the antiproliferative effect of OP-B, suggesting that the growth inhibition effect of OP-B was autophagy dependent. Western blotting demonstrated that OP-B inhibited the phosphorylation of Akt and its' downstream vital protein, such as mTOR and p70S6K. In addition, OP-B also induced the protein expression up-regulation of PTEN, which is a negative regulation protein for Akt/mTOR signaling pathway. However, OP-B did not affect the protein expression of total Akt. Collectively, the antitumor effects of OP-B were autophagy-dependent via repression Akt/mTOR signaling pathway. Therefore, OP-B is a prospective inhibitor of Akt/mTOR and may be used as an alternative compound to treat cervical carcinoma.

[Synergistic antitumor effects of tanshinone II A in combination with cisplatin via apoptosis in the prostate cancer cells].

Treatment with the combination of Chinese herbs and cytotoxic chemotherapies showed a higher survival rate in clinical trials. In this report, the results demonstrated that the tanshinone II A, a key component of Salvia miltiorrhiza bunge, when it is combined with the cytotoxic drug cisplatin showed synergistic antitumor effects on human prostate cancer PC3 cells and LNCaP cells in vitro. Antiproliferative effects were detected with MTT assay. Cell cycle distribution and apoptosis were detected by flow cytometer. Protein expression was detected by Western blotting. The intracellular concentration of cisplatin was detected by high performance liquid chromatography. The results demonstrated that tanshinone II A significantly enhanced the antiproliferative effects of cisplatin on human prostate cancer PC3 cells and LNCaP cells with the increase of the intracellular concentration of cisplatin. These effects were correlated with cell cycle arrested at S phase and cell apoptosis. The apoptosis might be achieved through death receptor pathway and mitochondrial pathway. Furthermore, the Bcl-2 family members were also involved in this apoptotic process. Collectively, these results indicated that the combination of tanshinone II A and cisplatin had a better treatment effect in vitro not only on androgen-dependent LNCaP cells but also on androgen-independent PC3 cells.

[Synthesis and antibacterial activity of 3-(5-substituted phenyl-[1,3,4] oxadiazole-2-yl-methylenethio)-5-pyridin-3-yl-[1,2,4] triazole-4-yl-amines].

AIM: To study on synthesis and antibacterial activity evaluation of polyheterocycles. METHODS: The condensation of 4-amino-3-pyridin-3-yl-4H-[1,2,4] triazole-5-thiol with 2-chloromethyl-5-substituted phenyl-[1,3,4] oxadiazoles gave the corresponding title heterocycle amines, and the in vitro antibacterial activity was primarily evaluated by the method of cup-plate diffusion solution. RESULTS: Twelve novel compounds were synthesized, and their structures were confirmed by IR, 1H NMR, MS and element analysis. Biological screening results demonstrated that most of the compounds prepared showed good antibacterial activity. CONCLUSION: Oxadiazoles incorporting pyridyl triazole ring may be a pharmacophor structure in the molecule for developing antibacterial candidate drugs.

[Synthesis and antibacterial activity of 2-(3-pyridyl)-5-([(5-aryl-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-yl) methylene]thio)-1,3,4-oxadiazoles].

AIM: Studies on synthesis and antibacterial activity of new heterocycles. METHODS: The cyclocondensation of [(3-pyridyl)-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-yl] thio acetic acid with various aroyl hydrazines in the presence of POCl3 and xylene gave the corresponding titled compounds, and the in vitro antibacterial activity was primarily evaluated by the method of cupplate diffusion solution. RESULTS: Sixteen novel titled compounds were synthesized, their structures were confirmed by IR, 1HNMR, MS and elemental analysis. Biological screening results demonstrated that most of the compounds prepared displayed potential antibacterial activity. CONCLUSION: Oxadiazoles incorporting pyridyl oxadiazole ring may be usefully antibacterial candidate drugs.