High-Performance Zinc-Ion Hybrid Supercapacitor from Guilin Sanhua Liquor Lees-Derived Carbon Materials.

Aqueous zinc-ion hybrid supercapacitors (ZHSCs) have attracted considerable attention because they are inexpensive and safe. However, the inadequate energy densities, power densities, and cycling performance of current ZHSC energy-storage devices are impediments that need to be overcome to enable the further development and commercialization of this technology. To address these issues, in this study, we prepared carbon-based ZHSCs using a series of porous carbon materials derived from Sanhua liquor lees (SLPCs). Among them, the best performance was observed for SLPC-A13, which exhibited excellent properties and a high-surface-area structure (2667 m2 g-1) with abundant micropores. The Zn//SLPC-A13 device was assembled by using 2 mol L-1 ZnSO4, SLPC-A13, and Zn foil as the electrolyte, cathode, and anode, respectively. The Zn//SLPC-A13 device delivered an ultrahigh energy density of 137 Wh kg-1 at a power density of 462 W kg-1. Remarkably, Zn//SLPC-A13 retained 100% of its specific capacitance after 120,000 cycles of long-term charge/discharge testing, with 62% retained after 250,000 cycles. This outstanding performance is primarily attributed to the SLPC-A13 carbon material, which promotes the rapid adsorption and desorption of ions, and the charge-discharge process, which roughens the Zn anode in a manner that improves reversible Zn-ion plating/stripping efficiency. This study provides ideas for the preparation of ZHSC cathode materials.

Performance evaluation of a zoom iris recognition system using Q-type aspherical design.

Based on a Q-type aspheric surface, a wide working distance zoom iris recognition lens is designed. The lens has an aperture of 2.0 and a working distance of 200-1200 mm. The design results show that the modulation transfer function values of each field at the cutoff frequency are greater than 0.3 and the optical distortion is less than 1.1%. With the same structure and parameters, the performance of two optical systems using Q-type aspherical and even power series aspherical are analyzed. The Q-type non-spherical aberration correction is better.

Fluorophore-Dapagliflozin Dyad for Detecting Diabetic Liver/Kidney Damages via Fluorescent Imaging and Treating Diabetes via Inhibiting SGLT2.

Type II diabetes is a prevalent disease; if left untreated, it could cause serious complications including liver and kidney damages. Hence, early diagnosis for these damages and effective treatment of diabetes are of high importance. Herein, a fluorophore-dapagliflozin dyad (DX-B-DA) has been developed as a theranostic system that can be triggered by intrahepatic/intrarenal reactive oxygen species (ROS) to concomitantly release a near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent dye (DX) and a SGLT2 inhibitor dapagliflozin (DA). In this dyad (DX-B-DA), the NIR fluorophore (DX) and the drug DA were covalently linked through a boronate ester bond which serves as the fluorescence quencher as well as the ROS-responsive moiety that can be cleaved by pathological levels of ROS in diabetics. The in vitro experiments indicate that, in the absence of hydrogen peroxide, the dyad is weakly emissive and keeps its drug moiety in an inactive state, while upon responding to hydrogen peroxide, the dyad simultaneously releases the NIR dye and the drug DA, suggesting that it can serve as an activatable probe for detecting and imaging diabetic liver/kidney damages as well as a prodrug for diabetes treatment upon being triggered by ROS. The dyad was then injected in mouse model of type II diabetes, and it is found that the dyad can not only offer visualized diagnosis for diabetes-induced liver/kidney damages but also exhibit high efficacy in treating type II diabetes and consequently ameliorating diabetic liver/kidney damages.

Chronic tribasic copper chloride exposure induces rat liver damage by disrupting the mitophagy and apoptosis pathways.

Despite the fact that copper (Cu) is a vital micronutrient to maintain body function, high doses of Cu through environmental exposure damage various organs, especially the liver, which is the main metabolic organ. To investigate the influence of long-term Cu-induced toxicity on mitophagy and apoptosis in rat liver, 96 seven-month-old male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed TBCC for 24 weeks. The results revealed that exposure to high Cu concentrations could promote oxidative stress liver injury by increasing the hepatic function index (ALT, AST and ALP) and MDA content, while reducing the activity of antioxidant enzymes (T-SOD, GSH-Px and CAT) related to oxidative stress. Consistent with histopathological observations, proper dietary Cu (15-60 mg/kg) could improve antioxidant stress levels and induce a dose-dependent increase in the mRNA expression of mitophagy-related genes, whereas a high Cu concentration (120 mg/kg) could cause severe liver impairment and ultrastructural changes and a reduction in mitophagosomes, accompanied by downregulation of Atg5, Beclin1, Pink1, Parkin, NIX, P62 and LC3B. The expression of apoptosis-related genes (Bax, Bax/Bcl-2, Caspase3, Cytc and p53) and proteins (Caspase3 and p53) was upregulated with the addition of dietary Cu. The results demonstrated that an appropriate dose of TBCC could improve liver function by promoting mitophagy and Cu enzymes that play antioxidative roles, while the accumulation of excess Cu could induce liver lesions by enhancing apoptosis and inhibiting mitophagy pathways.