Heteroatoms-Doped Mesoporous Carbon Nanosheets with Dual Diffusion Pathways for Highly Efficient Potassium Ion Storage.

The high potassization/depotassization energy barriers and lack of efficient ion diffusion pathways are two serious obstacles for carbon-based materials to achieve satisfactory potassium ion storage performance. Herein, a facile and controllable one-step exfoliation-doping-etching strategy is proposed to construct heteroatoms (N, O, and S)-doped mesoporous few-layer carbon nanosheets (NOS-C). The mixed molten salts of KCl/K2SO4 are innovatively used as the exfoliators, dopants, and etching agents, which enable NOS-C with expanded interlayer spacing and uniformly distributed mesopores with the adjusted electronic structure of surrounding carbon atoms, contributing efficient dual (vertical and horizontal) K-ion diffusion pathways, low potassization/depotassization energy barriers and abundant active sites. Thus, the NOS anodes achieve a high reversible capacity of 516.8 mAh g-1 at 0.05 A g-1, superior rate capability of 202.8 mAh g-1 at 5 A g-1 and excellent long-term cyclic stability, and their practical application potential is demonstrated by the assembled potassium-ion full batteries. Moreover, a surface-interlayer synergetic K+ storage mechanism is revealed by a combined theoretical and experimental approach including in situ EIS, in situ Raman, ex situ XPS, and SEM analysis. The proposed K+ storage mechanism and unique structural engineering provide a new pathway for potassium-ion storage devices and even beyond.

Construction of Inorganic/Polymer Tandem Layer on Li Metal with Long-Term Stability by LiNO3 Concentration Gradient Electrolyte.

Metal electrode with long cycle life is decisive for the actual use of metal rechargeable batteries, while the dendrite growth and side reaction limit their cyclic stability. Herein, the construction of polymer and inorganic-rich SEI tandem layer structure on Li metal can be used for extraordinarily extending its cycle life is reported, which is generated by an in situ PVDF/LiF/LiNO3 (PLL) gel layer on the surface of Li metal with a chemically compatible ether solvent. The cycle life of Li//Li cells with the tandem layer structure is over 6000 h, six times longer than those with LiNO3 homogeneous electrolyte. It highlights the importance of LiNO3 concentration gradient electrolyte formed by the in situ PLL gel layer, in which highly concentrated LiNO3 is confined on the surface of Li metal to generate the uniform and inorganic-rich LiF/Li2 O/Li3 N layer on the bottom of PVDF/LiF with good mechanical strength, resulting in the dendrite free anode in cell cycling. The assembled Li//LiFePO4 and Li//NMC811 batteries show the capacity retention rate of 80.9% after 800 cycles and 82.3% after 500 cycles, respectively, much higher than those of references.

[Determination of perchlorate and chlorate in drinks by ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry].

OBJECTIVE: To establish a method for determination of perchlorate and chlorate in drinks by ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry(UPLC-MS/MS) based on isotopic internal standard method. METHODS: The perchlorate and chlorate residue in liquid drinks were extracted with methanol, in solid drinks with acetic acid solution, then centrifuged. The supernatant was cleaned-up with PSA/C18 cleanup tube. The separation of perchlorate and chlorate was carried out on a Acquity CSH fluorophenyl column(100 mm×2.1mm, 1.7 µm) and the detection was performed with tandem mass spectrometry with internal standard method for quantification. RESULTS: The peak area ratio of perchlorate and chlorate had a good linear relationship with their mass concentration within their respective linear ranges, with correlation coefficients(r) greater than 0.999. The limits of detection of perchlorate and chlorate were 0.2and 1 µg/L respectively and the limits of quantification were 0.5 and 3 µg/L respectively. The mean recoveries of two compounds were from 84.0% to 105.5% with relative standard deviations from 4.2% to 17.0% and 82.7% to 112.1% with relative standard deviations from 5.5% to 18.4%(n=6), respectively. The perchlorates in 11 kinds of beverage samples were 0.53-4.12 µg/L, chlorates were 3.27-61.86 µg/L. CONCLUSION: This method is simple, sensitive, accurate and reliable, which is suitable for the determination of perchlorate and chlorate in drinks.

Low-Background Signal-On Homogeneous Electrochemiluminescence Biosensor for Hepatitis B Virus Detection Based on the Regulation of the Length of DNA Modified on the Nanoparticles by CRISPR/Cas12a and Hybridization Chain Reaction.

In this work, combined with the high amplification efficiency of hybridization chain reaction (HCR), high specificity of the CRISPR/Cas12a system, and convenience of the homogeneous electrochemiluminescence (ECL) assay based on the regulation of negative charge on the reporting probes, a sensitive ECL biosensor for hepatitis B virus DNA (chosen as a model target) had been developed. The initiator chain trigger DNA that can induce HCR amplification is modified on the surface of ruthenium bipyridine-doped silica nanoparticles (Ru@SiO2 NPs) first, and large amounts of negative charges modified on the particles were achieved through the HCR amplification reaction. The efficiency of the nanoparticles reaching the negatively charged working electrode can be regulated and realize the change of the ECL signal. In addition, long DNA on the surface of the luminescent body may prevent the coreactant from entering the pore to react with ruthenium bipyridine. These factors combine to produce a low-background system. The presence of the target can activate the CRISPR/Cas12a system and make trigger DNA disappear from the nanoparticle surface, and strong ECL can be detected. The sensor does not require a complex electrode modification; therefore, it has better reproducibility. Additionally, due to dual signal amplification, the sensor has a high sensitivity. In the range of 10 fM to 10 nM, the ECL intensity exhibits a strong linear relationship with the logarithm of the target concentration, and the detection limit is 7.41 fM. This sensor has shown high accuracy in detecting clinical samples, which holds significant potential for application in clinical testing.

Dual-target nucleic acid sequences responsive electrochemiluminescence biosensor using single type carbon dots as probe for SARS-CoV-2 detection based on series catalytic hairpin assembly amplification.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is rampant all over the world, and rapid and effective virus detection is the best auxiliary to curb the spread of the epidemic. A diagnosis can only be made if two or more different nucleic acid sequences are confirmed at the same time, and in most of traditional detection technologies, these target sequences have been detected separately. In this work, an electrochemiluminescent (ECL) biosensor employing a single ECL probe as signal output and responding to dual-target simultaneously is proposed for the first time. Taking the two sequences located in ORF 1ab region and N region of SARS-CoV-2 gene sequence as the model target and nitrogen doped carbon quantum dots (CDs) as ECL beacon, supplemented with catalytic hairpin assembly (CHA) reaction for signal amplification, the presented strategy has been successfully applied to the rapid detection of SARS-CoV-2. The developed SARS-CoV-2 biosensor based on the series CHA systems can realize the quantitative determination of SARS-CoV-2 in the range of 50 fM to 200 pM within 40 min. Moreover, the clinical validity of this method has been verified by the high consistency between the detection results of using this method and those using RT-qPCR for seven clinical pharyngeal swab samples.

A Real-Time Semantic Segmentation Method Based on STDC-CT for Recognizing UAV Emergency Landing Zones.

With the accelerated growth of the UAV industry, researchers are paying close attention to the flight safety of UAVs. When a UAV loses its GPS signal or encounters unusual conditions, it must perform an emergency landing. Therefore, real-time recognition of emergency landing zones on the ground is an important research topic. This paper employs a semantic segmentation approach for recognizing emergency landing zones. First, we created a dataset of UAV aerial images, denoted as UAV-City. A total of 600 UAV aerial images were densely annotated with 12 semantic categories. Given the complex backgrounds, diverse categories, and small UAV aerial image targets, we propose the STDC-CT real-time semantic segmentation network for UAV recognition of emergency landing zones. The STDC-CT network is composed of three branches: detail guidance, small object attention extractor, and multi-scale contextual information. The fusion of detailed and contextual information branches is guided by small object attention. We conducted extensive experiments on the UAV-City, Cityscapes, and UAVid datasets to demonstrate that the STDC-CT method is superior for attaining a balance between segmentation accuracy and inference speed. Our method improves the segmentation accuracy of small objects and achieves 76.5% mIoU on the Cityscapes test set at 122.6 FPS, 68.4% mIoU on the UAVid test set, and 67.3% mIoU on the UAV-City dataset at 196.8 FPS on an NVIDIA RTX 2080Ti GPU. Finally, we deployed the STDC-CT model on Jetson TX2 for testing in a real-world environment, attaining real-time semantic segmentation with an average inference speed of 58.32 ms per image.

The gibberellin signaling negative regulator RGA-LIKE3 promotes seed storage protein accumulation.

Seed storage protein (SSP) acts as one of the main components of seed storage reserves, of which accumulation is tightly mediated by a sophisticated regulatory network. However, whether and how gibberellin (GA) signaling is involved in this important biological event is not fully understood. Here, we show that SSP content in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) is significantly reduced by GA and increased in the GA biosynthesis triple mutant ga3ox1/3/4. Further investigation shows that the DELLA protein RGA-LIKE3 (RGL3), a negative regulator of GA signaling, is important for SSP accumulation. In rgl3 and 35S:RGL3-HA, the expression of SSP genes is down- and upregulated, respectively, compared with that in the wild-type. RGL3 interacts with ABSCISIC ACID INSENSITIVE3 (ABI3), a critical transcription factor for seed developmental processes governing SSP accumulation, both in vivo and in vitro, thus greatly promoting the transcriptional activating ability of ABI3 on SSP genes. In addition, genetic evidence shows that RGL3 and ABI3 regulate SSP accumulation in an interdependent manner. Therefore, we reveal a function of RGL3, a little studied DELLA member, as a coactivator of ABI3 to promote SSP biosynthesis during seed maturation stage. This finding advances the understanding of mechanisms in GA-mediated seed storage reserve accumulation.

α-Cyperone Improves Rat Spinal Cord Tissue Damage via Akt/Nrf2 and NF-κB Pathways.

INTRODUCTION: α-Cyperone has anti-inflammatory activities, but its effects on spinal cord injury (SCI) remain obscure. Thus, this study attempts to investigate the effects and modulatory mechanisms of α-Cyperone on SCI. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An SCI model was established in rats which were further treated with α-Cyperone. Basso-Beattie-Bresnahan (BBB) scoring was used to assess motor rehabilitation of rats modeled with SCI. The spinal cord tissues were collected, and the effect of α-Cyperone on the histopathology of rats modeled with SCI was detected by hematoxylin-eosin staining. Rat primary cortical neuron was stimulated with H2O2 and further treated with α-Cyperone and nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) inhibitor ML385. The levels of Nrf2, interleukin-6 (IL-6), nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB), Akt, toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) were detected by immunofluorescence staining and western blotting. RESULTS: α-Cyperone elevated the BBB score and ameliorated the damage of spinal cord tissue in rats modeled with SCI. The levels of IL-6, Nrf2, NF-κB, TLR4, and TNF-α were upregulated, whereas that of Akt was downregulated in rats and cells modeled with SCI. Furthermore, α-Cyperone diminished the levels of IL-6, NF-κB, TLR4, and TNF-α, while augmenting those of Nrf2 and Akt in rats and cells modeled with SCI. ML385 inhibited the Nrf2 level that had been promoted by α-Cyperone in the nucleus and elevated the Nrf2 level that had been suppressed by α-Cyperone in the cytosol of cells modeled with SCI. ML385 increased the levels of IL-6, NF-κB, TLR4, and TNF-α that had been inhibited by α-Cyperone and decreased the Akt level that had been enhanced by α-Cyperone in cells modeled with SCI. CONCLUSIONS: α-Cyperone suppressed SCI-induced inflammation and spinal cord tissue damage via activating Akt/Nrf2 and suppressing NF-κB pathways.

Epidemiological study of HPV infection in 40,693 women in Putian: a population study based on screening for high-risk HPV infection.

BACKGROUND: The infection rate of human papillomavirus (HPV) is high in the coastal regions of China. However, the infection rate among high-risk genotypes of women in Putian City is unknown. Therefore, this study aimed to analyse the epidemiology of high-risk HPV infection among women in Putian and provide a reference for the diagnosis, treatment and vaccination of cervical cancer in this region. METHODS: The data used were obtained from the Chinese government's public health program ("Cervical and Breast Cancer Screening Project"). A total of 40,693 female cervical cell exfoliation samples screened for high-risk HPV at the Affiliated Hospital of Putian University from July 2020 to December 2021 were enrolled. DNA was extracted using a fully automatic extractor. Then, 14 high-risk genotypes of HPV were detected by polymerase chain reaction. The characteristics of HPV infection, distribution of high-risk genotypes, infection types and thinprep cytologic test (TCT) classification at different age groups were analysed. RESULTS: Among the 40,693 samples, 3899 were infected with HPV, with an infection rate of 9.6%. Accordingly, HPV infection rates gradually increased with age, and statistically significant differences were observed among age groups (χ2 = 74.03, P < 0.01). The infection rates of high-risk HPV52, HPV58 and HPV16 were in the top three and increased with age. Single infection was dominant (84.7%), followed by double infections (12.7%). The cervical cytology of 3899 HPV-positive people can be classified into negative for intraepithelial lesion and malignancy (NILM, 88.0%), atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASC-US, 6.6%), atypical squamous cells-cannot exclude high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (ASC-H, 1.4%), low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (LSIL, 3.2%) and high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL, 0.8%). HPV16 infection rate increased with increasing severity of cervical cytology (χ2trend = 43.64, P < 0.01), whereas the infection rates of HPV52 (χ2trend = 13.89, P < 0.01) and HPV58 (χ2trend = 13.50, P < 0.01) showed opposite trends. CONCLUSION: The infection rate of female HPV high-risk screening in this region was 9.6% and mainly involved single infections. In addition, HPV16, HPV52 and HPV58 were closely related to the severity of cervical cytology. Effective screening, vaccination and education are needed. The 9-valent vaccine will be effective in reducing cervical pre-invasive disease. It would also be reasonable to state that the rising trend in HPV infection and high grade cytology with age emphasises the need to target older women with screening. Vaccination of younger women (aged ≤ 25) will lay the foundation for better cancer outcomes in the future.

Quick preparation of water-soluble perovskite nanocomposite via cetyltrimethylammonium bromide and its application.

A good water-soluble and stable nanocomposite has been facilely prepared by the encapsulation of CsPbBr3 QDs via cetyltrimethylammonium bromide and mineral oil through sonication, namely CsPbBr3@CMO nanocomposite. Such method is very quick and simple without complicated instruments and strict conditions. The results reveal that the synthesized CsPbBr3@CMO nanocomposite is spherical with uniform size and shows remarkably good solubility and stability in water. Specifically, the fluorescent intensity of CsPbBr3@CMO nanocomposite in water is decreased by 0.76% after 3 h; this result is comparable with those in earlier studies, and the good stability in water might be owned to the hydrophobic core of the CsPbBr3@CMO nanocomposite. The prepared CsPbBr3@CMO nanocomposite has been applied as a sensitive fluorescent probe for monitoring hydrogen sulfide (H2S), and the fluorescence intensity (~ 524 nm) has a linear relationship with the concentration of H2S in the range 0.15-105 µM with a detection limit of 53 nM, demonstrating application for monitoring H2S in rat brain coupled with microdialysis apparatus with satisfied results. The present study not only provides a simple but sensitive approach for the detection of H2S in living body, but also paves the way for expanding the application of CsPbBr3 QDs to aqueous medium.

One-pot facile synthesis of PDMS/PDMAEMA hybrid sponges for surfactant stabilized O/W emulsion separation.

Hydrophobic/oleophilic sponges are excellent absorbent materials for oil contaminant removal. However, the application is limited in dealing with surfactant stabilized O/W emulsions. The water in the emulsion isolates the contact between the sponge and oil droplets. Consequently, the oil absorption efficiency is not ideal. Herein, to improve the oil absorption efficiency from anionic surfactant stabilized O/W emulsions, water responsive hybrid sponges were reported. To prepare such sponges, water soluble poly(N,N-dimethylaminoethylmethacrylate) (PDMAEMA) was introduced into polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) sponges using table salt as a template and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) as mechanical reinforcement in a one-pot method. Upon contact with an O/W emulsion, the water soluble PDMAEMA chain rose to the surface of the sponge, turning the hydrophobic surface into hydrophilic. Next, the tertiary amine groups in PDMAEMA ionized in water and carried positive charges which would cause the coagulation of oil droplets. Finally, the coagulated oil droplets were absorbed immediately by the oleophilic inner part of the sponge through the wicking effect. As a result, a Janus interface was generated in situ and sustained. Such material design synergistically contributed to a satisfactory hexadecane (HD) absorption efficiency of 178 ± 4% in 25 min. In contrast, the PDMS-MWCNT1.0% sponge could only absorb 9.8 ± 0.2% HD. Moreover, these sponges also presented robust mechanical performance and reusability, offering a new route for oil/water separation and oil pollution remediation in open water.

Chirality in peptide-based materials: From chirality effects to potential applications.

Chirality is ubiquitous in nature with primary cellular functions that include construction of right-/left-handed helix and selective communications among diverse biomolecules. Of particularly intriguing are the chiral peptide-based materials that can be deliberately designed to change physicochemistry properties via tuning peptide sequences. Critically, understanding their chiral effects are fundamental for the development of novel materials in chemistry and biomedicine fields. Here, we review recent researches on chirality in peptide-based materials, summarizing relevant typical chiral effects towards recognition, amplification, and induction. Driven forces for the chiral discrimination in affinity interaction as well as the handedness preferences in supramolecular structure formation at both the macroscale and microscale are illustrated. The implementation of such chirality effects of artificial copolymers, assembled aggregates and their composites in the fields of bioseparation and bioenrichment, cell incubation, protein aggregation inhibitors, chiral smart gels, and bionic electro devices are also presented. At last, the challenges in these areas and possible directions are pointed out. The diversity of chiral roles in the origin of life and chirality design in different organic or composite systems as well as their applications in drug development and chirality detection in environmental protection are discussed.

FT5a interferes with the Dt1-AP1 feedback loop to control flowering time and shoot determinacy in soybean.

Flowering time and stem growth habit determine inflorescence architecture in soybean, which in turn influences seed yield. Dt1, a homolog of Arabidopsis TERMINAL FLOWER 1 (TFL1), is a major controller of stem growth habit, but its underlying molecular mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we demonstrate that Dt1 affects node number and plant height, as well as flowering time, in soybean under long-day conditions. The bZIP transcription factor FDc1 physically interacts with Dt1, and the FDc1-Dt1 complex directly represses the expression of APETALA1 (AP1). We propose that FT5a inhibits Dt1 activity via a competitive interaction with FDc1 and directly upregulates AP1. Moreover, AP1 represses Dt1 expression by directly binding to the Dt1 promoter, suggesting that AP1 and Dt1 form a suppressive regulatory feedback loop to determine the fate of the shoot apical meristem. These findings provide novel insights into the roles of Dt1 and FT5a in controlling the stem growth habit and flowering time in soybean, which determine the adaptability and grain yield of this important crop.

In situ Construction of Robust Biphasic Surface Layers on Lithium Metal for Lithium-Sulfide Batteries with Long Cycle Life.

Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries have potential in high energy density battery systems. However, intermediates of lithium polysulfides (LiPSs) can easily shuttle to the Li anode and react with Li metal to deplete the active materials and cause rapid failure of the battery. A facile solution pretreatment method for Li anodes involving a solution of metal fluorides/dimethylsulfoxide was developed to construct robust biphasic surface layers (BSLs) in situ. The BSLs consist of lithiophilic alloy (Lix M) and LiF phases on Li metal, which inhibit the shuttle effect and increase the cycle life of Li-S batteries. The BSLs allow Li+ transport and they inhibit dendrite growth and shield the Li anodes from corrosive reaction with LiPSs. Li-S batteries containing BSLs-Li anodes demonstrate excellent cycling over 1000 cycles at 1 C and simultaneously maintain a high coulombic efficiency of 98.2 %. Based on our experimental and theoretical results, we propose a strategy for inhibition of the shuttle effect that produces high stability Li-S batteries.

Real-Time Visualization of the Single-Nanoparticle Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Generation Process and Activity under Dark Field Microscopy.

Visualizing a chemical reaction process is critical for understanding the mechanism of the reaction. For example, information on chemical reactions involving single nanocatalysts has significant implications for mechanism research and is vital for guiding the selection of the most active nanocatalysts. In this work, dark field microscopy (DFM) is utilized to observe the electrocatalytic reaction process of Au-Pt core-shell nanoparticles (AuNPs@Pt) as an example. Hydrogen ions were reduced to hydrogen (H2) on the surface of AuNPs@Pt under a certain potential, forming H2 nanobubbles covering the surface of AuNPs@Pt. As a result, the scattering intensity of the nanomaterial was observed to significantly increase under DFM. Therefore, the electrocatalytic reaction process could be monitored in real time by simply observing the scattering intensity change via DFM. Our investigation reveals a different nanobubble evolution process with an average nucleation time and lifetime of 0.69 and 32.34 s, respectively. Moreover, the catalytic activity between different nanomaterials was studied. The relationship between the Pt shell thickness and the average scattering intensity change reveals that the electrocatalytic activity is closely related to the Pt content. Finally, from the brightness of the scattering spot observed by DFM, the temporal and spatial distribution information on the catalytic activity could also be obtained, which is more abundant than the information obtained using the traditional electrochemical method.

Berberine-mediated up-regulation of surfactant protein D facilitates cartilage repair by modulating immune responses via the inhibition of TLR4/NF-ĸB signaling.

The innate immune system drives inflammatory joint damage in osteoarthritis (OA) and regulates cartilage repair. Berberine chloride (BBR) is an isoquinoline alkaloid that shows immunomodulatory activity in a variety of cell lines. However, the immunomodulatory mechanisms of BBR in chondrocytes during OA are largely unknown. Herein, we assessed the ability of BBR to mediate chondroprotection through its effects on innate immunity. We found that BBR up-regulated the expression of surfactant protein D (SP-D) in OA cartilage, a key regulator of inflammation and innate immunity both in the airways and extrapulmonary tissues, including joint cartilage. To further explore these findings, we used recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV)-mediated knockdown of SP-D. Silencing was assessed in rat model of surgically-induced OA in the presence or absence of BBR treatment, 10 weeks post-surgery. We observed a clear improvement in histological scores of BBR-treated animals compared to those treated with BBR and the rAAV-SP-D vector. In addition, animals co-treated with BBR + recombinant human SP-D (rhSP-D) exhibited significantly lower histological scores than those treated with BBR alone. BBR treatment led to significantly reduced immune cell infiltration mediated through TLR4, F4/80, CD68 and CD34, whilst SP-D silencing reversed this improvement. In contrast, rhSP-D treatment enhanced the protective phenotype. We further explored how BBR influences SP-D and other OA-associated genes in vitro. We observed an up-regulation of SP-D and a marked decline in TRAF6, TLR4, MD-2 and MyD88 expression, as well as NF-κB p65 and IκBα phosphorylation in chondrocytes treated with sodium nitroprusside. siRNAs specific for SP-D were able to partially reverse this phenotype, whilst both rhSP-D and the TLR4 inhibitor TAK-242 enhanced the effects. Together, these results are consistent with a model wherein SP-D has therapeutic potential for OA treatment. Concomitantly, BBR modulates immune responses and decreases cartilage degradation. These findings suggest that BBR achieves this function through releasing SP-D from MD2/SP-D complexes and through the inhibition of TLR4/NF-κB signaling.

A homogeneous photoelectrochemical hydrogen sulfide sensor based on the electronic transfer mediated by tetrasulfophthalocyanine.

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) can regulate a variety of physiological functions, and the development of sensitive H2S detection methods is a requirement. In this study, a homogeneous photoelectrochemical (PEC) sensor for H2S detection was constructed based on the energy level matching of iron(iii) phthalocyanine-4,4',4'',4'''-tetrasulfonic acid ([Fe(iii)PcS4]+) and n-GaN. The photocurrent of n-GaN could be suppressed by monomeric [Fe(iii)PcS4]+ since the photogenerated electrons in the conduction band (CB) of n-GaN could be injected into the LUMO of [Fe(iii)PcS4]+. Under weak alkaline conditions, monomeric [Fe(iii)PcS4]+ can be converted to [Fe(i)PcS4]- after reacting with H2S with high selectivity. The LUMO of [Fe(i)PcS4]- was higher than the CB of n-GaN, so the photogenerated electrons in the LUMO of [Fe(i)PcS4]- could be injected back into the CB of n-GaN. The electron-hole pair recombination could be hindered, which resulted in the recovery of the system photocurrent. In the H2S concentration range of 10.0 nM-50.0 µM, a linear relationship was obtained between the photocurrent and the logarithm of H2S concentration with a detection limit of 3.40 nM. The proposed method avoids tedious electrode modifying procedures required in conventional PEC sensors and it was applied to detect extracellular H2S in rat brains coupled with microdialysis.

Polypyrrole encapsulation-protected porous multishelled Co3O4 hollow microspheres for advanced all-solid-state asymmetric supercapacitors with boosted reaction kinetics and stability.

Transition metal oxides (TMOs) have shown great potential in high-performance supercapacitors (SCs) because of their high theoretical capacities, low cost and simple preparation process. However, considerable challenges still remain in simultaneously improving their electrical conductivity, reaction kinetics and stability. Herein, we deliberately designed a polypyrrole encapsulation-protected porous multishelled Co3O4 hollow microspheres (pMS-Co3O4/PPy) composite via a modified carbon self-templating method and in situ oxidative polymerization route. The unique porous multishelled structure of the pMS-Co3O4 hollow microspheres assembled by interconnected Co3O4 nanoparticles can provide sufficient active sites, shorted ion diffusion paths and efficiently alleviate the structural strain. Meanwhile, the PPy encapsulation-protected nanolayers significantly improve their electrical conductivity, contribute pseudocapacitance and protect Co3O4 nanoparticles from structural pulverization-chemical dissolution into electrolyte. The prepared pMS-Co3O4/PPy electrodes exhibited a high specific capacitance (1292.2 F g-1 at 1 A g-1), excellent rate capability (1205.8 F g-1 at 10 A g-1) and cycle stability (ultrahigh capacitance retention of 91.5% for 5000 cycles), which has rarely been achieved in previously reported Co3O4-based electrodes. Furthermore, the assembled all-solid-state asymmetric supercapacitors (pMS-Co3O4/PPy//AC) delivered a high energy density of 40.2 Wh kg-1 at a power density of 761.7 W kg-1 and superior stability with a capacitance retention of 90.6% for 5000 cycles. This study offers an effective nanostructure design strategy to solve the issues of TMOs and develop high-performance energy storage systems.

Curcumin protects BV2 cells against lipopolysaccharide-induced injury via adjusting the miR-362-3p/TLR4 axis.

Curcumin was demonstrated to be an active ingredient with anti-inflammatory effects. This research was to investigate the effects of curcumin. We found that curcumin promoted cell viability and suppressed cell apoptosis. Meanwhile, curcumin decreased the level of cleaved caspase-3 and the release of TNF-α, IL-1ß, IL-6, but increased IL-10 release in LPS-treated BV2 cells. miR-362-3p expression was upregulated by curcumin, while TLR4 expression was downregulated. Besides, we observed that the cytoprotective effects of curcumin were lost when miR-362-3p was silenced. TLR4 was a direct target gene of miR-362-3p. Moreover, miR-362-3p deletion attenuated the cytoprotective effects of curcumin by regulating TLR4 expression in LPS-induced BV2 cells. Furthermore, curcumin suppressed p-p65 expression via regulating miR-362-3p/TLR4 axis. We discovered that curcumin exhibited protective effects against LPS-triggered cell injury via modulating miR-362-3p/TLR4 axis through NF-κB pathway.

Down-regulation of insulin-like growth factor binding protein 5 is involved in intervertebral disc degeneration via the ERK signalling pathway.

It is obvious that epigenetic processes influence the evolution of intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD). However, its molecular mechanisms are poorly understood. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that IGFBP5, a potential regulator of IDD, modulates IDD via the ERK signalling pathway. We showed that IGFBP5 mRNA was significantly down-regulated in degenerative nucleus pulposus (NP) tissues. IGFBP5 was shown to significantly promote NP cell proliferation and inhibit apoptosis in vitro, which was confirmed by MTT, flow cytometry and colony formation assays. Furthermore, IGFBP5 was shown to exert its effects by inhibiting the ERK signalling pathway. The effects induced by IGFBP5 overexpression on NP cells were similar to those induced by treatment with an ERK pathway inhibitor (PD98059). Moreover, qRT-PCR and Western blot analyses were performed to examine the levels of apoptosis-related factors, including Bax, caspase-3 and Bcl2. The silencing of IGFBP5 up-regulated the levels of Bax and caspase-3 and down-regulated the level of Bcl2, thereby contributing to the development of human IDD. Furthermore, these results were confirmed in vivo using an IDD rat model, which showed that the induction of Igfbp5 mRNA expression abrogated the effects of IGFBP5 silencing on intervertebral discs. Overall, our findings elucidate the role of IGFBP5 in the pathogenesis of IDD and provide a potential novel therapeutic target for IDD.