Super-Capacitive Performance of Manganese Dioxide/Graphene Nano-Walls Electrodes Deposited on Stainless Steel Current Collectors.

Graphene nano-walls (GNWs) are promising materials that can be used as an electrode in electrochemical devices. We have grown GNWs by inductively-coupled plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition on stainless steel (AISI304) substrate. In order to enhance the super-capacitive properties of the electrodes, we have deposited a thin layer of MnO2 by electrodeposition method. We studied the effect of annealing temperature on the electrochemical properties of the samples between 70 °C and 600 °C. Best performance for supercapacitor applications was obtained after annealing at 70 °C with a specific capacitance of 104 F g-1 at 150 mV s-1 and a cycling stability of more than 14k cycles with excellent coulombic efficiency and 73% capacitance retention. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, and galvanostatic charge/discharge measurements reveal fast proton diffusion (1.3 × 10-13 cm²·s-1) and surface redox reaction after annealing at 70 °C.

The Fanconi anemia DNA damage repair pathway in the spotlight for germline predisposition to colorectal cancer.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common neoplasms in the world. Fanconi anemia (FA) is a very rare genetic disease causing bone marrow failure, congenital growth abnormalities and cancer predisposition. The comprehensive FA DNA damage repair pathway requires the collaboration of 53 proteins and it is necessary to restore genome integrity by efficiently repairing damaged DNA. A link between FA genes in breast and ovarian cancer germline predisposition has been previously suggested. We selected 74 CRC patients from 40 unrelated Spanish families with strong CRC aggregation compatible with an autosomal dominant pattern of inheritance and without mutations in known hereditary CRC genes and performed germline DNA whole-exome sequencing with the aim of finding new candidate germline predisposition variants. After sequencing and data analysis, variant prioritization selected only those very rare alterations, producing a putative loss of function and located in genes with a role compatible with cancer. We detected an enrichment for variants in FA DNA damage repair pathway genes in our familial CRC cohort as 6 families carried heterozygous, rare, potentially pathogenic variants located in BRCA2/FANCD1, BRIP1/FANCJ, FANCC, FANCE and REV3L/POLZ. In conclusion, the FA DNA damage repair pathway may play an important role in the inherited predisposition to CRC.

Pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A is related to gender and to adipocytokine levels: results of the Health Survey of Catalonia.

OBJECTIVE: Pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A (PAPP-A) is a protease promoting IGF1 tissue availability and considered as a new biomarker of cardiovascular disease. AIM: To evaluate the relationship between PAPP-A concentrations and anthropometric variables, physical activity, smoking status, glucose homoeostasis and adipocytokines in healthy adults. DESIGN AND METHODS: One hundred and forty-nine subjects (77 women; mean age 39·7 ± 14 years; mean BMI 23·7 ± 1·9 kg/m(2) ) were randomly selected from 8000 adults of The Health Survey of Catalonia. Possible effects of gender, age, body composition, smoking status, physical activity, glucose homoeostasis and adipocytokines on PAPP-A concentrations were assessed. RESULTS: Pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A was significantly higher in men than in women [1·04 (0·61-0·44) vs 0·61 (0·41-0·90) µIU/ml; P < 0·0001]; there were no differences in relation to physical activity or smoking status. PAPP-A showed a negative correlation with leptin in men (P = 0·01) and women (P = 0·05), and a positive correlation with adiponectin (P = 0·006) in women and a trend (P = 0·073) in men. Homoeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) showed a negative correlation with PAPP-A only in women (P = 0·019). No association was found with blood pressure, IGF1, lipids or glucose in either gender. When a multiple regression analysis was performed including gender, age, BMI, waist-hip ratio, HOMA-IR, adiponectin and leptin as confounders, PAPP-A was independently correlated with adiponectin (ß = 0·23; P = 0·02) and leptin (ß = -0·33; P = 0·04). CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows a sexual dimorphism of PAPP-A, and a possible influence of leptin and adiponectin on its concentrations in healthy subjects. The mechanisms responsible for this relationship remain to be determined.

Long-term (72 hours) preservation of rat lungs.

OBJECTIVE: We sought to investigate whether the addition of ethanol to a preservation solution (as an antifreeze agent) might allow a reduction of the storage temperature to 0 degrees C without causing freezing damage and improve lung function after prolonged (72 hours) ischemia. METHODS: Lungs from Sprague-Dawley rats were ventilated and perfused ex vivo at 37 degrees C for 60 minutes in the following experimental groups: (1) the no ischemia and reperfusion (no I-R) group (n = 7), in which lungs were studied immediately after harvesting; (2) the LPD24 (n = 7) and (3) LPD72 (n = 8) groups, in which, after harvesting, lungs were flushed and immersed in low-potassium dextran solution and stored deflated at 10 degrees C for 24 and 72 hours, respectively, until reperfusion; and (4) the TEST72 group (n = 9), in which lungs were flushed and immersed in Krebs-Henseleit buffer with added ethanol (10 mL/L) after harvesting and stored deflated at 0 degrees C for 72 hours until reperfusion. RESULTS: Compared with the no I-R group, the other 3 groups had worse lung function, higher lung water content, and evidence of cell injury at reperfusion (P <.01). However, lung function at reperfusion (assessed on the basis of either effluent Po(2), peak airway pressure, or mean arterial pulmonary pressure) was better (P <.01) in the TEST72 group than in the LPD24 or LPD72 groups. Paradoxically, lung cell structure was better preserved in the LPD24 group than in the TEST72 group (or the LPD72 group). CONCLUSIONS: In this experimental model of rat lung ischemia-reperfusion injury, a low preservation temperature (0 degrees C) combined with the addition of ethanol to the preservation solution improves lung function at reperfusion after 72 hours of ischemia but fails to maintain lung cell structure.