Construction of Heterojunction-Rich Metal Nitrides Porous Nanosheets Electrocatalyst for Alkaline Water/Seawater Splitting at Large Current Density.

The exploiting electrocatalysts for water/seawater electrolysis with remarkable activity and outstanding durability at industrial grade current density remains a huge challenge. Herein, CoMoNx and Fe-doped CoMoNx nanosheet arrays are in-situ grown on Ni foam, which possess plentiful holes, multilevel heterostructure, and lavish Co5.47N/MoN@NF and Fe-Co5.47N/MoN@NF interfaces. They require low overpotentials of 213 and 296 mV for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) under alkaline media to achieve current density of 800 mA cm-2, respectively, and both possess low Tafel slopes (51.1 and 49.1 mV dec-1) and undiminished stability over 80 h. Moreover, the coupled Co5.47N/MoN@NF and Fe-Co5.47N/MoN@NF electrolyzer requires low voltages of 1.735 V to yield 500 mA cm-2 in alkaline water. Notably, they also exhibit exceptional electrocatalytic properties in alkaline seawater (1.833 V@500 mA cm-2). The experimental studies and theoretical calculations verify that Fe doping does reduce the energy barrier from OH* to O* intermediates during OER process after catalyst reconstruction, and the non-metallic N site from MoN exhibits the lowest theoretical overpotential. The splendid catalytic performance is attributed to the optimized local electron configuration and porous structure. This discovery provides a new design method toward low-cost and excellent catalysts for water/seawater splitting to produce hydrogen.

Integrating Amorphous Molybdenum Sulfide Nanosheets with a Co9S8@Ni3S2 Array as an Efficient Electrocatalyst for Overall Water Splitting.

It is highly challenging to design low-cost, efficient electrocatalysts for both oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Herein, a hierarchical heterostructure was constructed on three-dimensional (3D) Ni foam, which contains Ni3S2 nanorods decorated with both Co9S8 and amorphous MoSx nanosheets and Ni3S2 nanowires decorated with amorphous MoSx nanosheets, namely, MoSx@Co9S8@Ni3S2/NF. The synergistic effects from the strong interactions of the heterointerface and unique hierarchical heterostructure endow the MoSx@Co9S8@Ni3S2/NF with abundant active sites and effective mass and electron transport pathways, resulting in excellent activity toward both HER and OER in 1 M KOH. It only gives a low overpotential of 76.5 mV to achieve 10 mA cm-2 for HER and a low overpotential of 310 mV to achieve 100 mA cm-2 for OER. Based on the superior catalytic activity of MoSx@Co9S8@Ni3S2/NF for OER and HER, we demonstrated the activity of overall water splitting using MoSx@Co9S8@Ni3S2/NF as both the anode and cathode. It shows a higher catalytic activity for overall water splitting with a low cell voltage of 1.52 V at 10 mA cm-2 than commercial Pt/C/NF||IrO2/NF (1.61 V) and superior stability. This work provides a platform for the design and preparation of efficient electrocatalysts with various hierarchical heterostructures.

Metal - organic frameworks derived Ni5P4/NC@CoFeP/NC composites for highly efficient oxygen evolution reaction.

As an efficient non-precious metal catalyst for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER), phosphides suffer from poor electrical conductivity, so it is still a challenge to reasonably design their structures to further improve their conductivity and OER performances. Here, we present a novel Ni5P4/N-doped carbon@CoFeP/N-doped carbon composite (Ni5P4/NC@CoFeP/NC) as electrocatalysts for OER. This elaborate structure consists of Ni5P4/NC derived from Ni-MOF and CoFeP/NC derived from CoFe-Prussian blue analog MOF (Co-Fe PBA). The cube-like CoFeP/NC are scattered and uniformly coated on the sheet of Ni5P4/NC flowers. Among them, NC can enhance the conductivity of phosphides, while CoFeP/NC can increase the electrochemical active area, which benefit the properties of Ni5P4/NC@CoFeP/NC. Notably, the Ni5P4/NC@CoFeP/NC catalyst possesses outstanding OER performances with a low overpotential of 260 and 303 mV at a current density of 10 and 100 mA·cm-2, an ultra-low Tafel slope of 31.1 mV·dec-1 and excellent stability in 1 M KOH. XPS analysis shows that proper chemical composition promotes the oxidation of transition metal species and the chemisorption of OH-, thus accelerating the OER kinetics. Therefore, this work provides a hopeful method for designing and preparing transition metal phosphide/carbon composite as OER electrocatalysts.

Cu/NC@Co/NC composites derived from core-shell Cu-MOF@Co-MOF and their electromagnetic wave absorption properties.

Metal-organic-frameworks (MOFs) derived carbon or nitrogen-doped carbon (NC) materials are usually used as electromagnetic wave (EMW) absorbers. However, the effective control of the composition and structure of composites is still a major challenge for the development of high-performance EMW absorbing materials. In this work, core-shell structure and bimetallic composition Cu/nitrogen doped carbon @Co/ nitrogen doped carbon (Cu/NC@Co/NC) composites were designed and synthesized through the thermal decomposition of Cu-MOF@Co-MOF precursor. Cu/NC@Co/NC composites with different compositions were obtained by changing the ratio of Co-MOF and Cu-MOF. The composite (Cu/NC@Co/NC-3.75) prepared using 3.75 mmol of Co(NO3)2·6H2O exhibits outstanding EMW absorption properties due to the optimized impedance matching and strong attenuation ability, which is caused by enhanced interfacial and dipolar polarization as well as multiple reflection and scattering. With the filler loading in paraffin of 35 wt%, the minimum reflection loss (RLmin) is up to -54.13 dB at 9.84 GHz with a thin thickness of 3 mm, and the effective absorption bandwidth (EAB, RL≤ - 10 dB) reaches 5.19 GHz (10.18-15.37 GHz) with the corresponding thickness of 2.5 mm. Compared with the Cu/NC and Co/NC, the Cu/NC@Co/NC-3.75 composite exhibits much better EMW absorbing performances caused by the bimetallic composition and the unique core-shell structure. This work provides a rational design for MOF-derived lightweight and broadband EMW absorbing materials.

Rational construction of yolk-shell structured Co3Fe7/FeO@carbon composite and optimization of its microwave absorption.

The construction of yolk-shell composites with dielectric/magnetic multiple loss mechanisms has become a promising strategy to obtain high-efficiency microwave absorbing materials. An ideal microwave absorber should possess dielectric and magnetic loss abilities, thereby leading to the attenuation and absorption of incident electromagnetic radiation. Herein, the yolk-shell structured CoFe2O4@carbon (YS-CoFe2O4@C) and Co3Fe7/FeO@carbon (YS-Co3Fe7/FeO@C) composites were designed and synthesized through a series of processes, which include in-situ coating, heat-treating, etching and subsequent carbonization reduction reaction. The composite materials with specific structure, composition, and electromagnetic parameters could be effectively obtained by controlling the reaction conditions. The combination of alloy with high magnetic loss and carbon with advanced dielectric loss as well as the unique yolk-shell structure endow YS-Co3Fe7/FeO@C improved impendence matching and large attenuation constant. The YS-Co3Fe7/FeO@C composites show optimized microwave absorption behaviors, the minimum reflection loss is up to -57.6 dB at 12.30 GHz with the of 2.5 mm and the corresponding effective absorption bandwidth is 5.27 GHz (10.10-15.37 GHz). Moreover, the widest effective bandwidth could reach 7.0 GHz (11-18 GHz) with the thickness of 2.3 m. This design provides a novel concept for tuning microwave absorption efficiency of magnetic/dielectric composites to prepare high-performance microwave absorbers.

Fluorinated Polyurethane-Based Enameled Wires with a Low Friction Coefficient.

Fluorinated polyurethane (FPU) with a different fluorine content was prepared using perfluoropolyether glycols, poly(propylene glycol), and isophorone diisocyanate as starting materials, and 1,4-butanediol as a chain extender. The structure and molecular weight of FPU were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and gel permeation chromatography. A solution of FPU in xylene and cresol was then coated on copper wires using an enameled machine to prepare enameled wires. The friction coefficient and adhesion performance of the enameled wires were tested. The friction coefficient of the as-prepared enameled wires reached 0.095, which was much lower than 0.149 of the polyurethane without fluorine. FPU-based enameled wires also showed good mechanical performances and increased breakdown voltages. In addition, FPU exhibited good hydrophobic and oleophobic characterization.

A Novel Application of Unsupervised Machine Learning and Supervised Machine Learning-Derived Radiomics in Anterior Cruciate Ligament Rupture.

PURPOSE: We aim to present an unsupervised machine learning application in anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture and evaluate whether supervised machine learning-derived radiomics features enable prediction of ACL rupture accurately. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Sixty-eight patients were reviewed. Their demographic features were recorded, radiomics features were extracted, and the input dataset was defined as a collection of demographic features and radiomics features. The input dataset was automatically classified by the unsupervised machine learning algorithm. Then, we used a supervised machine learning algorithm to construct a radiomics model. The t-test and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) method were used for feature selection, random forest and support vector machine (SVM) were used as machine learning classifiers. For each model, the sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and the area under the curve (AUC) of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were calculated to evaluate model performance. RESULTS: In total, 5 demographic features were recorded and 106 radiomics features were extracted. By applying the unsupervised machine learning algorithm, patients were divided into 5 groups. Group 5 had the highest incidence of ACL rupture and left knee involvement. There were significant differences in left knee involvement among the groups. Forty-three radiomics features were extracted using t-test and 7 radiomics features were extracted using LASSO method. We found that the combination of LASSO selection method and random forest classifier has the highest sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and AUC. The 7 radiomics features extracted by LASSO method were potential predictors for ACL rupture. CONCLUSION: We validated the clinical application of unsupervised machine learning involving ACL rupture. Moreover, we found 7 radiomics features which were potential predictors for ACL rupture. The study indicated that radiomics could be a valuable method in the prediction of ACL rupture.

Unsupervised Machine Learning-Based Analysis of Clinical Features, Bone Mineral Density Features and Medical Care Costs of Rotator Cuff Tears.

PURPOSE: We aim to present unsupervised machine learning-based analysis of clinical features, bone mineral density (BMD) features, and medical care costs of Rotator cuff tears (RCT). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Fifty-three patients with RCT were reviewed, the clinical features, BMD features, and medical care costs were collected and analyzed by descriptive statistics. Furtherly, unsupervised machine learning (UML) algorithm was used for dimensionality reduction and cluster analysis of the RCT data. RESULTS: There were 26 males and 27 females. The patients were divided into four subgroups using the UML algorithm. There were significant differences among four subgroups regarding trauma exposure, full-thickness supraspinatus tendon tears, infraspinatus tendon tear, subscapularis tendon tear, BMD distribution, medial row anchors, lateral row anchors, total medical care costs, and consumables costs. We observed the highest frequency of trauma exposure, infraspinatus tendon tear, subscapularis tendon tear, osteoporosis, the highest number of medial row anchors, lateral row anchors, total medical care costs, and consumables costs in subgroup II. CONCLUSION: The unsupervised machine learning-based analysis of RCT can provide clinically meaningful classification, which shows good interpretability and contribute to a better understanding of RCT. The significance of the results is limited due to the small number of samples, a larger follow-up study is needed to confirm the encouraging results.

Pomegranate-like Core-Shell Ni-NSs@MSNSs as a High Activity, Good Stability, Rapid Magnetic Separation, and Multiple Recyclability Nanocatalyst for DCPD Hydrogenation.

A novel pomegranate-like Ni-NSs@MSNSs nanocatalyst was successfully synthesized via a modified Stöber method, and its application in the hydrogenation of dicyclopentadiene (DCPD) was firstly reported. The Ni-NSs@MSNSs possessed a high specific area (658 m2/g) and mesoporous structure (1.7-3.3 nm). The reaction of hydrogenation of DCPD to endo-tetrahydrodicyclopentadiene (endo-THDCPD) was used to evaluate the catalytic performance of the prepared materials. The distinctive pomegranate-like Ni-NSs@MSNSs core-shell nanocomposite exhibited superior catalytic activity (TOF = 106.0 h-1 and STY = 112.7 g·L-1·h-1) and selectivity (98.9%) than conventional Ni-based catalysts (experimental conditions: Ni/DCPD/cyclohexane = 1/100/1000 (w/w), 150 °C, and 2.5 MPa). Moreover, the Ni-NSs@MSNSs nanocatalyst could be rapidly and conveniently recycled by magnetic separation without appreciable loss. The Ni-NSs@MSNSs also exhibited excellent thermal stability (≥750 °C) and good recycling performance (without an activity and selectivity decrease in four runs). The superior application performance of the Ni-NSs@MSNSs nanocatalyst was mainly owing to its unique pomegranate-like structure and core-shell synergistic confinement effect.

Tranexamic Acid Is Beneficial to Patients Undergoing Open-Wedge High Tibial Osteotomy.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy of tranexamic acid (TXA) in patients undergoing open-wedge high tibial osteotomy (OWHTO). Patients from August 2018 to May 2020 were retrospectively studied. Clinical data were obtained including gender, age, height, weight, body mass index (BMI), smoking, alcohol consumption, hypertension, diabetes, history of aspirin, prepostoperative hematocrit (Hct) and hemoglobin (Hb), thrombotic events, blood transfusion requirement, hospital length of stay, size of osteotomy gap, and wound complications such as wound hematoma and infection. 52 patients were enrolled in the tranexamic acid group (TA group), and 48 patients were enrolled in the nontranexamic acid group (NTA group); there were no significant differences between both groups in terms of gender, age, BMI, preoperative Hb, size of osteotomy gap, incidence of smoking, alcohol consumption, hypertension, diabetes, history of aspirin, thrombotic events, blood transfusion requirement, and wound hematoma and infection. The mean hospital length of stay was 9.4 ± 1.0 days in the TA group and 11.0 ± 1.2 days in the NTA group (P < 0.001), the blood loss was 296.0 ± 128.7 ml in the TA group and 383.3 ± 181.3 ml in the NTA group (P < 0.05), and the postoperative Hb level was 120.8 ± 15.0 g/l in the TA group and 109.5 ± 13.8 g/l in the NTA group (P < 0.001). In conclusion, the administration of TXA is beneficial to patients undergoing OWHTO via decreasing hospital length of stay, reducing blood loss, and maintaining higher postoperative Hb levels.

Rational Construction of Hierarchically Porous Fe-Co/N-Doped Carbon/rGO Composites for Broadband Microwave Absorption.

Developing lightweight and broadband microwave absorbers for dealing with serious electromagnetic radiation pollution is a great challenge. Here, a novel Fe-Co/N-doped carbon/reduced graphene oxide (Fe-Co/NC/rGO) composite with hierarchically porous structure was designed and synthetized by in situ growth of Fe-doped Co-based metal organic frameworks (Co-MOF) on the sheets of porous cocoon-like rGO followed by calcination. The Fe-Co/NC composites are homogeneously distributed on the sheets of porous rGO. The Fe-Co/NC/rGO composite with multiple components (Fe/Co/NC/rGO) causes magnetic loss, dielectric loss, resistance loss, interfacial polarization, and good impedance matching. The hierarchically porous structure of the Fe-Co/NC/rGO enhances the multiple reflections and scattering of microwaves. Compared with the Co/NC and Fe-Co/NC, the hierarchically porous Fe-Co/NC/rGO composite exhibits much better microwave absorption performances due to the rational composition and porous structural design. Its minimum reflection loss (RLmin) reaches - 43.26 dB at 11.28 GHz with a thickness of 2.5 mm, and the effective absorption frequency (RL ≤ - 10 dB) is up to 9.12 GHz (8.88-18 GHz) with the same thickness of 2.5 mm. Moreover, the widest effective bandwidth of 9.29 GHz occurs at a thickness of 2.63 mm. This work provides a lightweight and broadband microwave absorbing material while offering a new idea to design excellent microwave absorbers with multicomponent and hierarchically porous structures.

Preparation of Yolk-Shell-Structured Cox Fe1-x P with Enhanced OER Performance.

The design and development of low-cost, highly efficient, and stable electrocatalysts to take the place of noble-metal catalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) remain a significant challenge. Herein, the synthesis of yolk-shell-structured binary transition metal phosphide Cox Fe1-x P with different Co/Fe ratios by phosphidation of a cobalt ferrite precursor is reported. The as-synthesized Cox Fe1-x P catalysts were used for the OER. All yolk-shell Cox Fe1-x P catalysts with different Co/Fe ratios showed much better performance than the corresponding solid catalyst. The formation of Co oxides on the catalyst surface during OER and the optimal Co/Fe ratio were found to be critical to their activity. Among the as-prepared Cox Fe1-x P catalysts, that with a Co/Fe ratio of 0.47/0.53 (Co0.47 Fe0.53 P) exhibited the best performance. Co0.47 Fe0.53 P has an overpotential of 277 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm-2 , a Tafel slope of 37 mV dec-1 , and superior stability in alkaline medium. The outstanding performance is partly ascribed to the transfer of valence electrons from Co to P and Fe. The Co0.47 Fe0.53 P matrix with excellent conductivity and Fe phosphate that is stable on the surface of the catalyst are also helpful for the OER performance. In addition, the yolk-shell structure of Co0.47 Fe0.53 P increases the contact area between electrolyte and catalyst. These characteristics of Co0.47 Fe0.53 P greatly improve its OER performance. This optimized binary transition metal phosphide provides a new approach for the design of nonprecious-metal electrocatalysts.

Green Synthesis of Porous Cocoon-like rGO for Enhanced Microwave-Absorbing Performances.

A novel porous cocoon-like reduced graphene oxide (rGO) with high porosity and low density was fabricated by a simple and green reduction reaction using ascorbic acid as the reductant in combination with a freeze-drying process without annealing. The bulk density of porous cocoon-like rGO is only 28.49 mg/cm3, and the porosity reaches 94.57%. The reaction times have an important influence on the formation of porous cocoon-like rGO and the reduction degree of rGO. The porous cocoon-like rGO exhibits an excellent microwave-absorbing property with a low mass filling ratio of 7.0 wt %; its minimum reflection loss (RL) is -29.05 dB at 15.96 GHz with a sample thickness of 2.0 mm and the effective absorption bandwidth (RL < -10 dB) is 5.27 GHz. The microwave-absorbing property of porous cocoon-like rGO is much better than that of GO and other porous rGO. The in-depth analyses of the reduction degree, porosity, and microwave-absorbing performance illustrate that the microwave-absorbing performance of rGO is significantly related to the reduction degree and porosity. In addition, the synthetic route for porous cocoon-like rGO is simple, has low energy consumption, and is environmentally friendly. Our work demonstrates that the porous cocoon-like rGO is a promising lightweight microwave absorber with high performance.

One-Pot Synthesis of NiCo2S4 Hollow Spheres via Sequential Ion-Exchange as an Enhanced Oxygen Bifunctional Electrocatalyst in Alkaline Solution.

The oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) are considered to be cornerstones of many energy conversion and storage technologies. It is difficult studying high-performance nonprecious materials as cost-effective bifunctional electrocatalysts for both the OER and ORR in future practical applications. In this study, NiCo2S4 hollow spheres (NiCo2S4 HSs) were fabricated via an effective and facile one-pot "green" approach in an N, N-dimethylformamide-ethylene glycol binary solution. The obtained NiCo2S4 HSs had a high specific surface area as well as numerous active sites and showed a remarkable catalytic performance and durability toward both the OER and ORR in an alkaline electrolyte. For the ORR, NiCo2S4 HSs exhibited a positive half-wave potential of 0.80 V and demonstrated outstanding stability and enhanced methanol tolerance. For the OER, NiCo2S4 HSs presented a low overpotential (400 mV) at a current density of 10 mA cm-2, small Tafel slope, and excellent stability in 0.1 M KOH. Moreover, regarding the overall electrocatalytic activity, the potential difference of NiCo2S4 HSs was 0.83 V, surpassing that of NiCo2S4 nanoparticles, binary counterparts (CoS, NiS), and most highly active bifunctional catalysts described in the literature. The superior catalytic performance of NiCo2S4 HSs is mainly ascribed to its unique hollow structure, which increases molecular diffusion and adsorption, as well as the synergistic effect of Ni and Co, which offers richer redox reaction sites. Importantly, this strategy may facilitate the design and preparation of excellent bifunctional nonprecious metal electrocatalysts in various domains.

Difference between Leisure and Work Contexts: The Roles of Perceived Enjoyment and Perceived Usefulness in Predicting Mobile Video Calling Use Acceptance.

There is a rapidly growing body of literature on mobile video calling, which is a promising communication technology; however, little research has focused on user acceptance of mobile video calling, especially in different use contexts. This study explored factors (especially perceived enjoyment) influencing the intention of users to employ video calling in different contexts (a work and a leisure context) by applying the technology acceptance model (TAM) combined with the theory of planned behavior. The revised research model differentiated external factors (subjective norms and personal innovativeness) from internal factors (perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use (PEU), perceived enjoyment, and intention to use mobile video calling). In addition, the current study investigated predictors of perceived enjoyment across these two contexts. With the use of a structured questionnaire, participants were divided in two groups and completed self-report measures related to one context; a total of 386 student respondents' responses were analyzed. The results indicated that users' intentions were directly predicted by their perceived enjoyment of video calling (ß ≥ 0.35) and the call's perceived usefulness (ß ≥ 0.27) and PEU (ß = 0.13, only for the leisure context), which jointly explained at least 55.6% of the variance in use intention. In addition to the effects of these predictors on mobile video calling use acceptance, an assessment of the moderating effects of different contexts indicated that perceived enjoyment played a more important role in influencing intention for the leisure context, while perceived usefulness appeared to be more important for the work context. This study's findings are important in that they provide strong support for the necessity of distinguishing among different types of contexts when predicting users' intentions to use video calling. Furthermore, the results showed that perceived enjoyment was most significantly influenced by perceived usefulness (ß ≥ 0.61), followed by PEU (ß ≥ 0.13). In summary, the roles of core TAM variables (especially perceived enjoyment and perceived usefulness) and of external factors (subjective norms and personal innovativeness) differed between the leisure and work contexts. The implications of these findings are discussed.

"One-Pot" Fabrication of Highly Versatile and Biocompatible Poly(vinyl alcohol)-porphyrin-based Nanotheranostics.

Nanoparticle-based theranostic agents have emerged as a new paradigm in nanomedicine field for integration of multimodal imaging and therapeutic functions within a single platform. However, the clinical translation of these agents is severely limited by the complexity of fabrication, long-term toxicity of the materials, and unfavorable biodistributions. Here we report an extremely simple and robust approach to develop highly versatile and biocompatible theranostic poly(vinyl alcohol)-porphyrin nanoparticles (PPNs). Through a "one-pot" fabrication process, including the chelation of metal ions and encapsulation of hydrophobic drugs, monodispersenanoparticle could be formed by self-assembly of a very simple and biocompatible building block (poly(vinyl alcohol)-porphyrin conjugate). Using this approach, we could conveniently produce multifunctional PPNs that integrate optical imaging, positron emission tomography (PET), photodynamic therapy (PDT), photothermal therapy (PTT) and drug delivery functions in one formulation. PPNs exhibited unique architecture-dependent fluorescence self-quenching, as well as photodynamic- and photothermal- properties. Near-infrared fluorescence could be amplified upon PPN dissociation, providing feasibility of low-background fluorescence imaging. Doxorubicin (DOX)-loaded PPNs achieved 53 times longer half-life in blood circulation than free DOX. Upon irradiation by near infrared light at a single excitation wavelength, PPNs could be activated to release reactive oxygen species, heat and drugs simultaneously at the tumor sites in mice bearing tumor xenograft, resulting in complete eradication of tumors. Due to their organic compositions, PPNs showed no obvious cytotoxicity in mice via intravenous administration during therapeutic studies. This highly versatile and multifunctional PPN theranostic nanoplatform showed great potential for the integration of multimodal imaging and therapeutic functions towards personalized nanomedicine against cancers.

One-Pot Synthesis of Copper Sulfide Nanowires/Reduced Graphene Oxide Nanocomposites with Excellent Lithium-Storage Properties as Anode Materials for Lithium-Ion Batteries.

Copper sulfide nanowires/reduced graphene oxide (CuSNWs/rGO) nanocompsites are successfully synthesized via a facile one-pot and template-free solution method in a dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO)-ethyl glycol (EG) mixed solvent. It is noteworthy that the precursor plays a crucial role in the formation of the nanocomposites structure. SEM, TEM, XRD, IR and Raman spectroscopy are used to investigate the morphological and structural evolution of CuSNWs/rGO nanocomposites. The as-fabricated CuSNWs/rGO nanocompsites show remarkably improved Li-storage performance, excellent cycling stability as well as high-rate capability compared with pristine CuS nanowires. It obtains a reversible capacity of 620 mAh g(-1) at 0.5C (1C = 560 mA g(-1)) after 100 cycles and 320 mAh g(-1) at a high current rate of 4C even after 430 cycles. The excellent lithium storage performance is ascribed to the synergistic effect between CuS nanowires and rGO nanosheets. The as-formed CuSNWs/rGO nanocomposites can effectively accommodate large volume changes, supply a 2D conducting network and trap the polysulfides generated during the conversion reaction of CuS.

A smart and versatile theranostic nanomedicine platform based on nanoporphyrin.

Multifunctional nanoparticles with combined diagnostic and therapeutic functions show great promise towards personalized nanomedicine. However, attaining consistently high performance of these functions in vivo in one single nanoconstruct remains extremely challenging. Here we demonstrate the use of one single polymer to develop a smart 'all-in-one' nanoporphyrin platform that conveniently integrates a broad range of clinically relevant functions. Nanoporphyrins can be used as amplifiable multimodality nanoprobes for near-infrared fluorescence imaging (NIRFI), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), positron emission tomography (PET) and dual modal PET-MRI. Nanoporphyrins greatly increase the imaging sensitivity for tumour detection through background suppression in blood, as well as preferential accumulation and signal amplification in tumours. Nanoporphyrins also function as multiphase nanotransducers that can efficiently convert light to heat inside tumours for photothermal therapy (PTT), and light to singlet oxygen for photodynamic therapy (PDT). Furthermore, nanoporphyrins act as programmable releasing nanocarriers for targeted delivery of drugs or therapeutic radio-metals into tumours.

CTA095, a novel Etk and Src dual inhibitor, induces apoptosis in prostate cancer cells and overcomes resistance to Src inhibitors.

Etk is a non-receptor tyrosine kinase, which provides a strong survival signal in human prostate cancer cells. Src, another tyrosine kinase that cross-activates with Etk, has been shown to play an important role in prostate cancer metastasis. Herein, we discovered a new class of Etk inhibitors. Within those inhibitors, CTA095 was identified as a potent Etk and Src dual inhibitor. CTA095 was found to induce autophagy as well as apoptosis in human prostate cancer cells. In addition, CTA095 inhibited HUVEC cell tube formation and "wound healing" of human prostate cancer cells, implying its role in inhibition of angiogenesis and metastasis of human prostate cancer. More interestingly, CTA095 could overcome Src inhibitor resistance in prostate cancer cells. It induces apoptosis in Src inhibitor resistant prostate cancer cells, likely through a mechanism of down regulation of Myc and BCL2. This finding indicates that simultaneously targeting Etk and Src could be a promising approach to overcome drug resistance in prostate cancer.

[Investigation of SLC26A4 mutations associated with inner ear malformations].

OBJECTIVE: To study the molecular pathogenesis of SLC26A4 mutations associated with inner ear malformations including large vestibular aqueduct syndrome (LVAS), Mondini dysplasia and inner ear malformations but not accompanied with LVAS. METHOD: DNA sample and clinical material were obtained from 14 sporadic LVAS probands, six Mondini dysplasia probands and seven inner ear malformations excluding IVAS probands. SLC26A4 gene mutation was analyzed by direct sequencing for its 20 coding exons. GJB2 gene and also mt12SrRNA were analyzed by direct sequencing. RESULT: In 14 cases of LVAS, two mutations were detected in 12 patients (85.7%, either homozygous or compound heterozygous mutations), and one mutation was found in two patients (14.3%). In six cases of Mondini dysplasia, two mutations were detected in all of patients (100%). No mutation could be found in the seven cases of other inner ear abnormalities not accompanied with LVAS. No pathogenic mutation was detected in all of these 27 probands in GJB2 gene and mt12SrRNA 1555/1494T. CONCLUSION: We have shown that LVAS and Mondini dysplasia closely correlate with SLC26A4 gene. No mutation was detected in seven probands of inner ear malformations not accompanied with LVAS. We should study the molecular pathogenesis of this disease in depth.