Optimizing gelation properties of mixed meat myofibrillar proteins: investigating the effects of different proportions of beef, pork and chicken on physicochemical, structural and gelation properties.

BACKGROUND: The gelation properties of myofibrillar protein (MP) directly affect the texture, taste and water-holding capacity (WHC) of meat products. To enhance the gelation properties of single-species meat MP, the present study investigated the influence of different proportions of beef, pork and chicken MP on the physicochemical properties, structure and gelation properties of the MP. RESULTS: The results revealed that, when the proportion reached 5:2:3, the particle size decreases, leading to the maximum decomposition and unfolding of MPs, which exposes a greater number of hydrophobic amino acid residues. These changes promote interactions between protein molecules, especially the unfolding of α-helices and the formation of ß-sheets during the heating process, which provides favorable conditions for the formation of protein gels and improves the gel strength and WHC of MP gels. Additionally, scanning electron microscopy revealed that the mixed MP gels are more compact and have more uniform gel networks and pores compared to single-species MP gels. CONCLUSION: Based on these results, the synergistic effect is induced by the interactions between proteins from different. This research provides a method for the subsequent development of new meat products and improvement of meat product quality, and also lays a theoretical foundation for composite research of proteins from different sources. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry.

Review of animal transmission experiments of respiratory viruses: Implications for transmission risk of SARS-COV-2 in humans via different routes.

Exploring transmission risk of different routes has major implications for epidemic control. However, disciplinary boundaries have impeded the dissemination of epidemic information, have caused public panic about "air transmission," "air-conditioning transmission," and "environment-to-human transmission," and have triggered "hygiene theater." Animal experiments provide experimental evidence for virus transmission, but more attention is paid to whether transmission is driven by droplets or aerosols and using the dichotomy to describe most transmission events. Here, according to characteristics of experiment setups, combined with patterns of human social interactions, we reviewed and grouped animal transmission experiments into four categories-close contact, short-range, fomite, and aerosol exposure experiments-and provided enlightenment, with experimental evidence, on the transmission risk of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-COV-2) in humans via different routes. When referring to "air transmission," context should be showed in elaboration results, rather than whether close contact, short or long range is uniformly described as "air transmission." Close contact and short range are the major routes. When face-to-face, unprotected, horizontally directional airflow does promote transmission, due to virus decay and dilution in air, the probability of "air conditioning transmission" is low; the risk of "environment-to-human transmission" highly relies on surface contamination and human behavior based on indirect path of "fomite-hand-mucosa or conjunctiva" and virus decay on surfaces. Thus, when discussing the transmission risk of SARS-CoV-2, we should comprehensively consider the biological basis of virus transmission, environmental conditions, and virus decay. Otherwise, risk of certain transmission routes, such as long-range and fomite transmission, will be overrated, causing public excessive panic, triggering ineffective actions, and wasting epidemic prevention resources.

The qualitative and quantitative relationships between pattern formation and average degree in networked reaction-diffusion systems.

The Turing pattern is an important dynamic behavior characteristic of activator-inhibitor systems. Differentiating from traditional assumption of activator-inhibitor interactions in a spatially continuous domain, a Turing pattern in networked reaction-diffusion systems has received much attention during the past few decades. In spite of its great progress, it still fails to evaluate the precise influences of network topology on pattern formation. To this end, we try to promote the research on this important and interesting issue from the point of view of average degree-a critical topological feature of networks. We first qualitatively analyze the influence of average degree on pattern formation. Then, a quantitative relationship between pattern formation and average degree, the exponential decay of pattern formation, is proposed via nonlinear regression. The finding holds true for several activator-inhibitor systems including biology model, ecology model, and chemistry model. The significance of this study lies that the exponential decay not only quantitatively depicts the influence of average degree on pattern formation, but also provides the possibility for predicting and controlling pattern formation.

Residual levels of five pesticides in peanut oil processing and chips frying.

BACKGROUND: Pesticide contamination in oil crops and processed products is an important food safety concern. The study was aimed to investigate the pesticide residue changes in press processing of peanut oil and frying of chips. RESULTS: Five pesticides - chlorpyrifos, deltamethrin, methoxyfenozide, azoxystrobin and propargite - which are often applied during growth period in peanut plants, were selected to investigate their residue changes in cold press processing of peanut oil and frying of potato chips. Results showed that the residues of the five pesticides were decreased by 3.1-42.6% during air-drying before oil pressing. The residues of chlorpyrifos, deltamethrin, methoxyfenozide and propargite in peanut oil were 2.05-3.63 times higher than that in peanut meal after cold pressing of the oil, except for azoxystrobin having a slightly lower residue in peanut oil, with 0.92 times that in peanut meal. The processing factors of the five pesticides in peanut oil ranged from 1.17 to 2.73 and were highly related to the log Kow of the pesticides. The higher the log Kow , the more easily was the pesticide partitioned in the peanut oil. Besides, as frying time increase during preparation of chips, the concentration of pesticides in peanut oil decreased gradually by 6.7-22.1% compared to the first frying. In addition, 0.47-11.06% of the pesticides were transferred to the chips through frying with contaminated oil. CONCLUSION: This is first report showing that pesticides can transfer from contaminated oil to chips. There exists a potential dietary health risk by using pesticide-contaminated oil for frying chips. This work could provide basic data for accurate dietary risk assessment of pesticide residues in peanut oil and its frying products. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.

Study on the decay characteristics and transmission risk of respiratory viruses on the surface of objects.

The complex and changeable environment is a brand-new living condition for the viruses and pathogens released by the infected people to the indoor air or deposited on the surface of objects, which is an important external condition affecting the decay and transmission risk of the viruses. Exposure to contaminated surfaces is one of the main routes of respiratory diseases transmission. Therefore, it is very important for epidemic prevention and control to study the law of virus decay and the environmental coupling effect on various surfaces. Based on the analysis of the influencing mechanism, a large amount of experimental evidence on the survival of viruses on the surface of objects were excavated in this paper, and the effects of various factors, such as surface peripheral temperature, relative humidity, virus-containing droplet volume, surface materials and virus types, on the decay rate constants of viruses were comprehensively analyzed. It was found that although the experimental methods, virus types and experimental conditions varied widely in different experiments, the virus concentrations on the surface of objects all followed the exponential decay law, and the coupling effect of various factors was reflected in the decay rate constant k. Under different experimental conditions, k values ranged from 0.001 to 100 h-1, with a difference of 5 orders of magnitude, corresponding to the characteristic time t99 between 500 and 0.1 h when the virus concentration decreased by 99%. This indicates a large variation in the risk of virus transmission in different scenarios. By revealing the common law and individuality of the virus decay on the surface of objects, the essential relationship between the experimental observation phenomenon and virus decay was analyzed. This paper points out the huge difference in virus transmission risk on the surface at different time nodes, and discusses the prevention and control strategies to grasp the main contradictions in the different situations.

Neurodynamic approaches for multi-agent distributed optimization.

This paper considers a class of multi-agent distributed convex optimization with a common set of constraints and provides several continuous-time neurodynamic approaches. In problem transformation, l1 and l2 penalty methods are used respectively to cast the linear consensus constraint into the objective function, which avoids introducing auxiliary variables and only involves information exchange among primal variables in the process of solving the problem. For nonsmooth cost functions, two differential inclusions with projection operator are proposed. Without convexity of the differential inclusions, the asymptotic behavior and convergence properties are explored. For smooth cost functions, by harnessing the smoothness of l2 penalty function, finite- and fixed-time convergent algorithms are provided via a specifically designed average consensus estimator. Finally, several numerical examples in the multi-agent simulation environment are conducted to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed neurodynamic approaches.

Zdhhc1- and Zdhhc2-mediated Gpm6a palmitoylation is essential for maintenance of mammary stem cell activity.

Adult mammary stem cells (aMaSCs) are vital to tissue expansion and remodeling during the process of postnatal mammary development. The protein C receptor (Procr) is one of the well-identified surface markers of multipotent aMaSCs. However, an understanding of the regulatory mechanisms governing Procr's protein stability remains incomplete. In this study, we identified Glycoprotein m6a (Gpm6a) as a critical protein for aMaSC activity modulation by using the Gpm6a knockout mouse model. Interestingly, we determined that Gpm6a depletion results in a reduction of Procr protein stability. Mechanistically, Gpm6a regulates Procr protein stability by mediating the formation of lipid rafts, a process requiring Zdhhc1 and Zdhhc2 to palmitate Gpm6a at Cys17,18 and Cys246 sites. Our findings highlight an important mechanism involving Zdhhc1- and Zdhhc2-mediated Gpm6a palmitoylation for the regulation of Procr stability, aMaSC activity, and postnatal mammary development.

Pulmonary rehabilitation protocols in urgent lung transplantation patients.

BACKGROUND: Prolonged invasive respiratory support and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in patients requiring urgent lung transplantation (ULTx) present significant challenges to clinical practice due to severe underlying diseases and complex conditions. The aim of the study was to report the clinical outcomes of patients who received ULTx and followed the perioperative rehabilitation protocol implemented in a lung transplant center. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was conducted in ULTx patients who required preoperative invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) and ECMO between January 2018 and January 2023. Data were retrieved from electronic medical records at our lung transplant center. RESULTS: Fourteen patients (mean age 57.43±10.97 years; 12 males, 2 females) underwent ULTx with bridging ECMO and IMV. The mean body mass index was 23.94±3.33 kg/m², and the mean Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II score was 21.50±3.96. The Nutritional Risk Screening 2002 (NRS 2002) scores were ≥3. ULTx was performed after an 8.5-day waiting period (interquartile interval [IQR] 5.0-26.5 d). Following the surgeries, the average lengths of ECMO and IMV were 1.0 (IQR 1.0-2.0) d and 5.0 (IQR 3.0-7.3) d, respectively. The total length of hospital stay was 60.1±30.8 d, with an average intensive care unit stay of 38.3±22.9 d and post-operative hospitalization stay of 45.8±26.1 d. Two patients died within 30 d after ULTx, with a 30-day survival rate of 85.71%. CONCLUSION: Patients receiving ULTx showed an acceptable short-term survival rate, validating the practicality and safety of the treatment protocols implemented in our center.

HVS-Unsup: Unsupervised cervical cell instance segmentation method based on human visual simulation.

Instance segmentation plays an important role in the automatic diagnosis of cervical cancer. Although deep learning-based instance segmentation methods can achieve outstanding performance, they need large amounts of labeled data. This results in a huge consumption of manpower and material resources. To solve this problem, we propose an unsupervised cervical cell instance segmentation method based on human visual simulation, named HVS-Unsup. Our method simulates the process of human cell recognition and incorporates prior knowledge of cervical cells. Specifically, firstly, we utilize prior knowledge to generate three types of pseudo labels for cervical cells. In this way, the unsupervised instance segmentation is transformed to a supervised task. Secondly, we design a Nucleus Enhanced Module (NEM) and a Mask-Assisted Segmentation module (MAS) to address problems of cell overlapping, adhesion, and even scenarios involving visually indistinguishable cases. NEM can accurately locate the nuclei by the nuclei attention feature maps generated by point-level pseudo labels, and MAS can reduce the interference from impurities by updating the weight of the shallow network through the dice loss. Next, we propose a Category-Wise droploss (CW-droploss) to reduce cell omissions in lower-contrast images. Finally, we employ an iterative self-training strategy to rectify mislabeled instances. Experimental results on our dataset MS-cellSeg, the public datasets Cx22 and ISBI2015 demonstrate that HVS-Unsup outperforms existing mainstream unsupervised cervical cell segmentation methods.

[Correlation of CD4+/CD8+Ratio in Peripheral Blood with Prognosis of Mantle Cell Lymphoma].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the correlation of peripheral blood T lymphocyte subsets with overall survival (OS) and clinical baseline characteristics in mantle cell lymphoma (MCL). METHODS: The clinical data of 55 MCL patients who were newly diagnosed in the Department of Hematology, Second Hospital of Shanxi Medical University from January 2012 to July 2022 were analyzed retrospectively. The percentages of T lymphocyte subsets and CD4+/CD8+ ratio in peripheral blood were detected by flow cytometry, and their correlation with clinical characteristics of patients were analyzed. Kaplan-Meier method was used for survival analysis and survival curves were drawn. Log-rank test was used for univariate analysis, while Cox proportional hazards model was used for multivariate analysis. RESULTS: The median follow-up was 40(1-68) months, and the median overall survival (OS) was 47 months. Among the 55 patients, 30(54.5%) patients had a decrease in peripheral blood CD4+T lymphocyte, while 17(30.9%) patients had a increase in peripheral blood CD8+T lymphocyte, and 20(36.4%) patients had a decrease in CD4+/CD8+ ratio. There were no significant correlations between CD4+/CD8+ ratio and sex, age, Ki-67, B symptoms, leukocytes, hemoglobin, lymphocytes, platelets, albumin, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), ß2-microglobulin, splenomegaly, bone marrow invasion, primary site and MIPI score. Survival analysis showed that patients with CD4+T cell >23.3%, CD8+T cell ≤33.4% and CD4+/CD8+ ratio >0.6 had longer OS (P =0.020, P <0.001, P <0.001). Univariate analysis showed that Ki-67>30%, LDH>250 U/L, splenomegaly, bone marrow involvement, CD4+T cells ≤23.3%, CD8+ T cells >33.4%, CD4+/CD8+ ratio ≤0.6 were adverse prognostic factors affecting OS of MCL patients. Multivariate analysis showed that CD4+/CD8+ ratio ≤0.6 (HR =4.382, P =0.005) was an independent adverse prognostic factor for OS of MCL patients. CONCLUSIONS: Low CD4+/CD8+ ratio is associated with poor prognosis in MCL, and the CD4+/CD8+ ratio can be used as an important indicator to evaluate the prognosis risk in MCL patients.

Survival and neurological function in patients treated with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and therapeutic hypothermia: a protocol for updating a systematic review.

INTRODUCTION: The widespread application of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) has enhanced clinical outcomes for patients experiencing cardiac arrest. However, its effectiveness is still limited and falls short of the desired level. Therapeutic hypothermia, which maintains body temperatures between 32°C and 36°C in cardiac arrest patients treated with ECMO, has been proposed as a potential means of neuroprotection and increased survival rates. Nevertheless, it remains controversial, and its impact on patient complications has yet to be fully understood. Thus, this paper aims to update the protocol for a systematic review of patients treated with ECMO and therapeutic hypothermia, in order to explore its effects on survival and neurological function. METHOD AND ANALYSIS: This protocol has been developed in compliance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-analysis Protocols 2015. The following databases will be systematically searched: PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Embase, Ovid, CNKI, Wanfang and China Biology Medicine Disc. The database search strategy will use a combination of subject terms and free-text keywords. The search will encompass articles from the inception of each database up to 15 June 2023. Inclusion criteria encompass randomised controlled trials, cohort studies, case-control studies and quasi-experimental studies. Two researchers will independently review articles and extract relevant data based on these criteria. Any disagreements will be resolved through discussion. Data analysis will be performed using Review Manager software. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Since no patient data were collected in this study, ethical approval was not required. Research findings will be released in a peer-reviewed journal. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42023435353.

Prognostic factors in lung transplantation after extracorporeal membrane oxygenation bridging therapy: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) has recently emerged as a critical support system for lung function in patients awaiting lung transplantation. This meta-analysis investigates the prognostic factors of lung transplantation following ECMO bridging therapy. Methods: A comprehensive search was conducted in PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, CINAHL, Web of Science, Scopus, and ProQuest databases from inception to August 11, 2023. Included were cohort or case-control studies focusing on prognostic factors of lung transplantation with ECMO bridging therapy. Data extraction was performed independently, and study quality was assessed. A meta-analysis was carried out using RevMan 5.4 and Stata17.0 software to aggregate mortality rates and pertinent prognostic factors of ECMO as a bridge to lung transplantation. Results: The search identified eight trials encompassing 1,086 participants. The prognosis of patients undergoing lung transplantation with ECMO bridging was significantly associated with several factors: prolonged ECMO support [odds ratio 1.07, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.02-1.12, I2=77%], deterioration in liver and kidney function (odds ratio 3.62, 95% CI: 2.37-5.54, I2=0%), and complications during ECMO (odds ratio 2.24, 95% CI: 1.45-3.44, I2=5%). Conclusions: Prolonged ECMO support, declining liver and kidney functions, and complications during ECMO are vital prognostic factors in lung transplantation following ECMO bridging therapy.

Assessing Venous Thrombotic Risks in Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation-Supported Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

This study investigates the prevalence and risk factors associated with venous thrombotic events in patients receiving (ECMO) support. Systematic review and meta-analysis of case-control and cohort studies. PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, CINAHL, Web of Science, Scopus, and ProQuest databases from inception through November 25, 2023.Case-control and cohort studies focusing on the prevalence and risk factors for venous thrombotic events in patients supported by ECMO. Identification of risk factors and calculation of incidence rates. Nineteen studies encompassing 10,767 participants were identified and included in the analysis. The pooled prevalence of venous thrombotic events among patients receiving ECMO support was 48% [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.37-0.60, I2 = 97.18%]. Factors associated with increased incidence rates included longer duration of ECMO support (odds ratio [OR] 1.08, 95% CI 1.07-1.09, I2 = 49%), abnormal anti-coagulation monitoring indicators (OR 1.02, 95% CI 1.00-1.04, I2 = 84%), and type of ECMO cannulation (OR 1.77, 95% CI 1.14-3.34, I2 = 64%). The pooled prevalence of venous thrombotic events in patients with ECMO support is high. Increased risk is associated with extended duration of ECMO support, abnormal anti-coagulation monitoring, and specific types of ECMO cannulation.

Clinical evaluation of droplet digital pcr for suspected ascites infection in patients with liver cirrhosis.

BACKGROUND: Droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) is increasingly used in diagnosing clinical pathogens, but its effectiveness in cirrhosis patients with suspected ascites infection remains uncertain. METHODS: The diagnostic performance of ddPCR was assessed in 305 ascites samples, utilizing culture and clinical composite standards. The quantitative value and potential clinical impact of ddPCR were further analyzed in patients with spontaneous bacterial peritonitis. RESULTS: With culture standards, ddPCR demonstrated a sensitivity of 86.5% and specificity of 83.2% for bacterial or fungal detection. After adjustment of clinical composite criteria, specificity increased to 96.4%. Better diagnostic performance for all types of targeted pathogens, particularly fungi, was observed with ddPCR compared to culture, and more polymicrobial infections were detected (30.4% versus 5.7%, p < 0.001). Pathogen loads detected by ddPCR correlated with white blood cell count in ascites and blood, as well as polymorphonuclear cell (PMN) count in ascites, reflecting infection status rapidly. A positive clinical impact of 55.8% (43/77) was observed for ddPCR, which was more significant among patients with PMN count ≤ 250/mm3 in terms of medication adjustment and new diagnosis. ddPCR results for fungal detection were confirmed by clinical symptoms and other microbiological tests, which could guide antifungal therapy and reduce the risk of short-term mortality. CONCLUSIONS: ddPCR, with appropriate panel design, has advantages in pathogen detection and clinical management of ascites infection, especially for patients with fungal and polymicrobial infections. Patients with atypical spontaneous bacterial peritonitis benefited more from ddPCR.

The interaction effects of pesticides with Saccharomyces cerevisiae and their fate during wine-making process.

Pesticide residues in grapes could be transferred to fermentation system during the wine-making process, which may interfere the normal proliferation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and subsequently affect the safety and quality of wine products. However, the interaction between pesticides and Saccharomyces cerevisiae is still poorly understood. Herein, the fate, distribution and interaction effect with Saccharomyces cerevisiae of five commonly-used pesticides during the wine-making process were evaluated. The five pesticides exerted varied inhibition on the proliferation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and the order of inhibition intensity was difenoconazole > tebuconazole > pyraclostrobin > azoxystrobin > thiamethoxam. Compared with the other three pesticides, triazole fungicides difenoconazole and tebuconazole showed stronger inhibition and played a major role in binary exposure. The mode of action, lipophilicity and exposure concentration were important factors in the inhibition of pesticides. Saccharomyces cerevisiae had no obvious impacts on the degradation of target pesticides in the simulated fermentation experiment. However, the levels of target pesticides and their metabolite were significantly reduced during the wine-making process, with the processing factors ranged from 0.030 to 0.236 (or 0.032 to 0.257) during spontaneous (or inoculated) wine-making process. As a result, these pesticides were significantly enriched in the pomace and lees, and showed a positive correlation (R2 ≥ 0.536, n = 12, P < 0.05) between the hydrophobicity of pesticides and distribution coefficients in the solid-liquid distribution system. The findings provide important information for rational selection of pesticides on wine grapes and facilitate more accurate risk assessments of pesticides for grape processing products.

Inheritance and Innovation of Pottery Sculpture Technique in Shiwan, China: A Grounded Study from Cultural Ecology.

Ceramics play an important role in human daily life and production practice. Pottery sculpture technique is the core of ceramic making. However, the production process of traditional ceramics is accompanied by high pollution, which has a great impact on human health and the ecological environment. Rapid development of industrialization has exacerbated this consequence. As the "Pottery Capital of Southern China", Foshan has been involved in environmental crises while relying on the ceramic industry to develop. Since the 21st century, Foshan has gradually successfully driven to upgrade the city from industrial to culture-led by carrying out positive innovations in Shiwan pottery sculpture technique. Therefore, based on the theoretical perspective of cultural ecology, this paper selects Shiwan pottery sculpture technique as the object, uses Python (Octopus Collector) to obtain data, and applies grounded theory to generate the ecological evolution model. This study discussed how the Shiwan pottery sculpture technique promotes the harmonious coexistence of human beings, industries, and cities in the new cultural ecological environment of the 21st century by exploring and clarifying the interaction and function of different elements in different stages of evolution. Finally, this study not only makes up for the current lack of research on Shiwan's cultural ecology, but also provides meaningful reference for environmental reform in other industrialized cities.

High expression of HOXC6 predicts a poor prognosis and induces proliferation and inflammation in multiple myeloma cells.

BACKGROUND: Multiple myeloma (MM) is a common blood system malignance accompanied by monoclonal plasma cell hyperplasia. Homeobox C6 (HOXC6) acts as an oncogene in various cancers, but its function on MM is elusive. OBJECTIVE: The role of HOXC6 on MM development was clarified in this study. METHODS: HOXC6 expression and its clinical significance were determined in the peripheral blood samples collected from forty MM patients and thirty healthy adult volunteers. The overall survival was evaluated by Kaplan-Meier analysis with the log-rank test. Cell viability, proliferation and apoptosis were measured by CCK-8, EdU assay and Flow cytometry in U266 and MM.1R cells. Tumor growth was estimated by a xenograft assay. The apoptosis of tumor tissues was evaluated using TUNEL staining. The protein level in tissues was tested by immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: The HOXC6 expression was elevated in MM and high HOXC6 level was associated with the poor overall survival of MM. Besides, the HOXC6 expression was associated with hemoglobin level and ISS stage. Furthermore, silencing HOXC6 suppressed cell proliferation, induced cell apoptosis, and restrained the secretion of inflammatory factors (TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-8) in MM cells through inactivating the NF-κB pathway. Moreover, silencing HOXC6 suppressed the tumor growth of MM, the inflammatory factors levels, and the activation of NF-κB pathway but enhanced apoptosis in vivo. CONCLUSION: HOXC6 was elevated in MM and associated with poor survival. Knockdown of HOXC6 suppressed proliferation, inflammation and tumorigenicity of MM cells via inactivating the NF-κB pathway. HOXC6 may be a meaningful target for MM therapy.

Biomass-Derived Carbon-Based Multicomponent Integration Catalysts for Electrochemical Water Splitting.

Electrocatalytic water splitting powered by sustainable electricity is a crucial approach for the development of new generation green hydrogen technology. Biomass materials are abundant and renewable, and the application of catalysis can increase the value of some biomass waste and turn waste into fortune. Converting economical and resource-rich biomass into carbon-based multicomponent integrated catalysts (MICs) has been considered as one of the most promising ways to obtain inexpensive, renewable and sustainable electrocatalysts in recent years. In this review, recent advances in biomass-derived carbon-based MICs towards electrocatalytic water splitting are summarized, and the existing issues and key aspects in the development of these electrocatalysts are also discussed and prospected. The application of biomass-derived carbon-based materials will bring some new opportunities in the fields of energy, environment, and catalysis, as well as promote the commercialization of new nanocatalysts in the near future.

Defect-driven nanostructuring of low-nuclearity Pt-Mo ensembles for continuous gas-phase formic acid dehydrogenation.

Supported metal clusters comprising of well-tailored low-nuclearity heteroatoms have great potentials in catalysis owing to the maximized exposure of active sites and metal synergy. However, atomically precise design of these architectures is still challenging for the lack of practical approaches. Here, we report a defect-driven nanostructuring strategy through combining defect engineering of nitrogen-doped carbons and sequential metal depositions to prepare a series of Pt and Mo ensembles ranging from single atoms to sub-nanoclusters. When applied in continuous gas-phase decomposition of formic acid, the low-nuclearity ensembles with unique Pt3Mo1N3 configuration deliver high-purity hydrogen at full conversion with unexpected high activity of 0.62 molHCOOH molPt-1 s-1 and remarkable stability, significantly outperforming the previously reported catalysts. The remarkable performance is rationalized by a joint operando dual-beam Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy and density functional theory modeling study, pointing to the Pt-Mo synergy in creating a new reaction path for consecutive HCOOH dissociations.

Adult progenitor rejuvenation with embryonic factors.

During ageing, adult stem cells' regenerative properties decline, as they undergo replicative senescence and lose both their proliferative and differentiation capacities. In contrast, embryonic and foetal progenitors typically possess heightened proliferative capacities and manifest a more robust regenerative response upon injury and transplantation, despite undergoing many rounds of mitosis. How embryonic and foetal progenitors delay senescence and maintain their proliferative and differentiation capacities after numerous rounds of mitosis, remains unknown. It is also unclear if defined embryonic factors can rejuvenate adult progenitors to confer extended proliferative and differentiation capacities, without reprogramming their lineage-specific fates or inducing oncogenic transformation. Here, we report that a minimal combination of LIN28A, TERT, and sh-p53 (LTS), all of which are tightly regulated and play important roles during embryonic development, can delay senescence in adult muscle progenitors. LTS muscle progenitors showed an extended proliferative capacity, maintained a normal karyotype, underwent myogenesis normally, and did not manifest tumorigenesis nor aberrations in lineage differentiation, even in late passages. LTS treatment promoted self-renewal and rescued the pro-senescence phenotype of aged cachexia patients' muscle progenitors, and promoted their engraftment for skeletal muscle regeneration in vivo. When we examined the mechanistic basis for LIN28A's role in the LTS minimum combo, let-7 microRNA suppression could not fully explain how LIN28A promoted muscle progenitor self-renewal. Instead, LIN28A was promoting the translation of oxidative phosphorylation mRNAs in adult muscle progenitors to optimize mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (mtROS) and mitohormetic signalling. Optimized mtROS induced a variety of mitohormetic stress responses, including the hypoxic response for metabolic damage, the unfolded protein response for protein damage, and the p53 response for DNA damage. Perturbation of mtROS levels specifically abrogated the LIN28A-driven hypoxic response in Hypoxia Inducible Factor-1α (HIF1α) and glycolysis, and thus LTS progenitor self-renewal, without affecting normal or TS progenitors. Our findings connect embryonically regulated factors to mitohormesis and progenitor rejuvenation, with implications for ageing-related muscle degeneration.