Co/P co-doped bamboo-based woodceramics with a sandwich structure modified by carbon nanotube electrodeposition as supercapacitor electrodes.

Exploring new electrode structures and co-doped composite biomass material electrodes is considered to be an effective way of developing cheap, efficient carbon-based supercapacitors. A bamboo-based sandwich-structured matrix was prepared from thin bamboo veneer and bamboo fiber by pretreatment with H3PO4 and Co2+-catalyzed graphitization. The pore structure was modulated by hydrothermal activation with NaOH and electrodeposition of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) to obtain CNTs modified, Co/P co-doped sandwich-structured woodceramics electrode (CNT@Co/P). It not only has an obvious sandwich structure, but also retains the natural structural characteristics of bamboo. The specific capacitance of the resulting electrode (CNT@Co/P-20) is as high as 453.72F/g using 1 wt% of carboxylated multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CMWCNT) solution as the deposition electrolyte at a current density of 0.2 A/g for 20 min at room temperature. When the power density is 500 W/kg, the energy density reaches 21.3Wh /kg, showing a good electrochemical performance.

Regulating Benzene Ring Number as Connector in Covalent Organic Framework for Boosting Photosynthesis of H2O2 from Seawater.

Photosynthesis of H2O2 from seawater represents a promising pathway to acquire H2O2, but it is still restricted by the lack of a highly active photocatalyst. In this work, we propose a convenient strategy of regulating the number of benzene rings to boost the catalytic activity of materials. This is demonstrated by ECUT-COF-31 with adding two benzene rings as the connector, which can result in 1.7-fold enhancement in the H2O2 production rate relative to ECUT-COF-30 with just one benzene ring as the connector. The reason for enhancement is mainly due to the release of *OOH from the surface of catalyst and the final formation of H2O2 being easier in ECUT-COF-31 than in ECUT-COF-30. Moreover, ECUT-COF-31 provides a stable photogeneration of H2O2 for 70 h, and a theoretically remarkable H2O2 production of 58.7 mmol per day from seawater using one gram of photocatalyst, while the cost of the used raw material is as low as 0.24 $/g.

Ultra-selective uranium separation by in-situ formation of π-f conjugated 2D uranium-organic framework.

With the rapid development of nuclear energy, problems with uranium supply chain and nuclear waste accumulation have motivated researchers to improve uranium separation methods. Here we show a paradigm for such goal based on the in-situ formation of π-f conjugated two-dimensional uranium-organic framework. After screening five π-conjugated organic ligands, we find that 1,3,5-triformylphloroglucinol would be the best one to construct uranium-organic framework, thus resulting in 100% uranium removal from both high and low concentration with the residual concentration far below the WHO drinking water standard (15 ppb), and 97% uranium capture from natural seawater (3.3 ppb) with a record uptake efficiency of 0.64 mg·g-1·d-1. We also find that 1,3,5-triformylphloroglucinol can overcome the ion-interference issue such as the presence of massive interference ions or a 21-ions mixed solution. Our finds confirm the superiority of our separation approach over established ones, and will provide a fundamental molecule design for separation upon metal-organic framework chemistry.

Research progress of natural active compounds on improving podocyte function to reduce proteinuria in diabetic kidney disease.

Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is a primary cause of end-stage renal disease. Proteinuria is a clinical indicator of the different stages of DKD, and podocyte injury is a major cause of proteinuria. Podocyte-specific proteins (PSPs) play important roles in the normal filtration of podocytes. Studies have shown that natural active compounds (NACs) can ameliorate proteinuria; however, the mechanism related to PSPs needs to be explored. In this study, the five stages of DKD related to proteinuria and the functions of PSPs are displayed separately. Mechanisms for ameliorating proteinuria and improving the PSPs of the 15 NACs are summarized. The in vitro and in vivo mechanistic research showed that five compounds, astragaloside IV, ligustrazine, berberine, emodin and resveratrol, exerted renal protective effects via AMPK signaling, icariin and berberine via TLR4 signaling, hirudin and baicalin via MAPK signaling, curcumin and baicalin via NF-κB signaling, and emodin via protein kinase RNA-like endoplasmic reticulum kinase signaling. The 13 PSPs were divided into five categories: actin cytoskeleton, basal domain, apical domain, slit diaphragm, and others. In conclusion, anti-inflammatory effects, anti-oxidative stress, and enhanced autophagy are the main mechanisms underlying the ameliorative effects of NACs. Podocyte apoptosis is mainly related to nephrin and podocin, which are the most studied slit diaphragm PSPs.

RNF114 facilitates the proliferation, stemness, and metastasis of colorectal cancer.

BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer (CRC), the fourth of the world's major common malignancy, poses a serious threat to the physical and mental health of the population. Nevertheless, the prognosis of CRC patients remains unsatisfactory. Consequently, it is still imperative to continuously discover the CRC mechanisms. METHODS: The expression profiles of mRNAs were recognized by whole transcriptome sequencing to identity differentially expressed mRNA (DE-mRNA). TCGA COAD cohort, PPOGgene and Kaplan-Meier Plotter databases were utilized to validate RNF114 relevance to CRC prognosis. The effect of RNF114 on the malignant biological behavior of CRC was explored in CRC cells and subcutaneous tumor models and lung metastasis model after exogenous regulation of RNF114. RESULTS: A total of 1358 DE-mRNAs were identified, including 617 up-regulated and 741 down-regulated DE-mRNAs, and they were mainly involved in the term of receptor ligand activity, Wnt signaling pathway and pathway in cancer. Notably, RNF114 was hyper-expressed in tissues and cell of CRC, and significantly correlated with tumor invasion depth and TNM stage of CRC patients. RNF114 expression were significantly associated with overall survival, and had superior diagnostic value in CRC. In vitro, knockdown of RNF114 statistically diminished the proliferation, stemness, invasion and wound healing of CRC cells and facilitated their apoptosis, and the opposite result was observed for overexpression of RNF114. In vivo, knockdown of RNF114 effectively diminished the mass and volume of tumors, and lung metastasis in animal model. CONCLUSIONS: In summary, we identified DE-mRNAs in CRC, and elucidated that RNF114 facilitates CRC process. The discovery will contribute to theoretical foundation for RNF114 as a potential therapeutic target and biomarker, and offer new perspectives for CRC research.

Reduced malignant glioblastoma recurrence post-resection through the anti-CD47 antibody and Temozolomide co-embedded in-situ hydrogel system.

Infiltrative glioma growth makes surgical excision incomplete, and the residual tumor cells proliferate rapidly. Residual glioma cells evade phagocytosis by macrophages through upregulating anti-phagocytosis molecule CD47, which binds to the signal regulatory protein alpha (SIRPα) of macrophages. Specifically, blocking the CD47-SIRPα pathway is a potential strategy for post-resection glioma treatment. In addition, the anti-CD47 antibody (α-CD47) in combination with temozolomide (TMZ) caused an enhanced pro-phagocytic effect due to the TMZ not only destroying DNA but also inducing endoplasmic reticulum stress response of glioma cells. However, the obstruction of the blood-brain barrier makes systemic combination therapy not ideal for post-resection glioma treatment. Herein, we designed a temperature-sensitive hydrogel system based on a moldable thermosensitive hydroxypropyl chitin (HPCH) copolymer to encapsulate both α-CD47 and TMZ as α-CD47&TMZ@Gel for in situ postoperative cavity administration. Through the in vitro and in vivo evaluations, α-CD47&TMZ@Gel significantly inhibited glioma recurrence post-resection through enhancement of pro-phagocytosis of macrophages, recruitment, and activation of CD8+ T cells and NK cells.

TNF-α and IL-1ß Promote Renal Podocyte Injury in T2DM Rats by Decreasing Glomerular VEGF/eNOS Expression Levels and Altering Hemodynamic Parameters.

Purpose: Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is a serious microvascular complication in those with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Evidence confirms that serum tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-1ß (IL-1ß) in the T2DM stage are proposed as prognostic markers for DN development, but it is unclear how they affect renal podocyte-associated nephrin and WT-1 expression. In the presence of podocyte injury, glomerular vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) and hemodynamic parameters are dysregulated. The current research aimed to clarify the relationship of TNF-α and IL-1ß with podocyte injury by altering VEGF/eNOS expression and hemodynamic parameters. Methods: A high-fat diet/streptozotocin-induced DN rat model was established. Serum TNF-α and IL-1ß levels were tracked in the pre-T2DM, T2DM and DN stages. In the DN stage, the mRNA and protein expression levels of renal TNF-α, IL-1ß, VEGF, eNOS, nephrin and WT-1 were studied. Renal hemodynamic parameters, including peak systolic velocity, end-diastolic flow velocity and mean velocity were measured with a color Doppler ultrasound technique. Results: Compared to those in the normal control (CTL) group, serum TNF-α and IL-1ß levels increased significantly in the pre-T2DM stage (obesity, insulin resistance and hyperlipidemia), T2DM stage (hyperglycemia) and DN stage (abnormal renal functions) (all: P < 0.05) in the DN group. Serum TNF-α and IL-1ß levels in the T2DM stage were significantly higher than those in the pre-T2DM stage (two: P < 0.05). Compared to the CTL group, renal nephrin, WT-1, TNF-α, IL-1ß, eNOS and VEGF expression and hemodynamic parameters in the DN stage all showed significant differences separately (all: P < 0.05). Conclusion: Increased serum and renal TNF-α and IL-1ß levels played important roles in reducing renal nephrin and WT-1 expression levels, which may be related to the fact that the former affected renal VEGF/eNOS expression and blood flow parameters in the DN rats.

In Vitro Immunomodulatory Effects of Inonotus obliquus Extracts on Resting M0 Macrophages and LPS-Induced M1 Macrophages.

Background: Inonotus obliquus (Chaga) is a parasitic fungus that is distributed mainly in northeast China. Our literature research showed chaga polysaccharides have bilateral effects on tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and interleukin (IL)-1ß levels when they exert antitumor and antidiabetic activities. The current research tried to explore the influence of chaga extracts on inflammatory factors via macrophage polarization which has bilateral immune-regulation not only on healthy tissue homeostasis but also on pathologies. Methods: Chaga was extracted with 100°C water and precipitated with 80% ethanol. The extracts were studied on RAW264.7 macrophage at resting condition (M0) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated subtype (classic activated macrophage, M1). The IL-1ß, TNF-α, nitric oxide (NO) level, and the protein expressions of M1 and alternative activated macrophage (M2) markers including IL-1ß, inducible NO synthase (iNOS), mannose receptor (CD206), and arginase (Arg)-1 were compared. Results: The 100 g extracts contained 13.7 g polysaccharides and 1.9 g polyphenols. Compared with M0, the 50 µg/mL extracts increased NO level (P < 0.05) and decreased CD206 and Arg-1 expression significantly (P < 0.05). The extracts at 100-200 µg/mL increased NO and TNF-α level (P < 0.05), but increased iNOS and IL-1ß expression significantly (P < 0.05). Compared with M1, the extracts decreased NO level at 25, 50, 100, and 200 µg/mL and decreased IL-1ß and TNF-α level at 100-200 µg/mL significantly (P < 0.05). At 25-200 µg/mL, the extracts significantly increased CD206 and Arg-1 expression and decreased IL-1ß and iNOS expression separately (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Our research suggested that the bilateral effects of the chaga extracts on iNOS, IL-1ß, and NO level on M0/M1 macrophages might be related with chaga polysaccharides and chaga polyphenols. Some in vivo anticancer and antidiabetic research of purified chaga polysaccharides related to macrophage differentiation should be conducted further.

Antiosteoporosis Studies of 20 Medicine Food Homology Plants Containing Quercetin, Rutin, and Kaempferol: TCM Characteristics, In Vivo and In Vitro Activities, Potential Mechanisms, and Food Functions.

Dietary nutraceutical compounds have been evidenced as backbone for bone health in recent years. It is reported that medicine food homology (MFH) plants have multiple nutraceutical compounds. Based on our literature research, 20 MFH plants caught our attention because they contain three popular antiosteoporosis compounds simultaneously: quercetin, rutin, and kaempferol. According to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), their characteristics including natures, flavors, attributive to meridian tropism, and efficacies were listed. The relationships between TCM efficacies, such as "heat clearing," "tonic," and "the interior warming," and antiosteoporosis pharmacological actions such as antioxidant and immune regulation were discussed. The in vivo antiosteoporosis effects of the 20 MFH plants were summarized. The in vitro antiosteoporosis activities and related mechanisms of the 20 plants and quercetin, rutin, kaempferol were detailed. The TGF-ß-Smad signaling, fibroblast growth factor, and Wnt/ß-catenin signaling on bone formation and the RANKL signaling, NF-κB signaling, and macrophage-colony-stimulating factor on bone resorption were identified. From food point, these 20 MFH plants could be classified as condiment, vegetable, fruit, tea and related products, beverage, etc. Based on the above discussion, these 20 MFH plants could be used as daily food supplements for the prevention and treatment against osteoporosis.

Classified Encapsulation of an Organic Dye and Metal-Organic Complex in Different Molecular Compartments for White-Light Emission and Selective Adsorption of C2H2 over CO2.

Encapsulating a certain guest molecule in an assigned molecular compartment and then endowing the corresponding potential remains a huge challenge for metal-organic frameworks. To this end, we demonstrate a good example, for the first time, based on an actinide-based MOF. The used MOF (namely, ECUT-300) shows a unique uranyl-TPE anionic skeleton with three distinct cages, viz., mesopore A (2.8 nm), mesopore B (2.0 nm), and micropore C (0.9 nm). Through solid-liquid reaction, a RhB+ molecule can be encapsulated into ECUT-300 with the exact location in mesopore B, whereas the encapsulation of a metal-organic cation of [Fe(tpy)2]3+ was observed with the location in micropore C, suggesting unprecedented classified encapsulation. Impressively, the potential of the resulting guest@MOF composites is also highly dependent on the type of encapsulated guest molecules, for example, white-light emission for RhB+ and selective adsorption of C2H2 over CO2 for [Fe(tpy)2]3+.

Efficient approaches to solutions of partition function for condensed matters.

The key problem of statistical physics standing over one hundred years is how to exactly calculate the partition function (or free energy), which severely hinders the theory to be applied to predict the thermodynamic properties of condensed matters. Very recently, we developed a direct integral approach (DIA) to the solutions and achieved ultrahigh computational efficiency and precision. In the present work, the background and the limitations of DIA were examined in details, and another method with the same efficiency was established to overcome the shortage of DIA for condensed system with lower density. The two methods were demonstrated with empirical potentials for solid and liquid cooper, solid argon and C60 molecules by comparing the derived internal energy or pressure with the results of vast molecular dynamics simulations, showing that the precision is about ten times higher than previous methods in a temperature range up to melting point. The ultrahigh efficiency enables the two methods to be performed with ab initio calculations and the experimental equation of state of solid copper up to ∼600 GPa was well reproduced, for the first time, from the partition function via density functional theory implemented.

How accurate for phonon models to predict the thermodynamics properties of crystals.

Previous work has shown that thermodynamics properties calculated by phonon model with quasi-harmonic approximation (QHA) may differ badly from experiment in some cases. The inaccuracy was examined in the present work by comparing the results of QHA for argon and copper crystal with the ones of molecular dynamics simulations, partition functions obtained by a new method or experiment. It is shown that QHA works well for the systems of atomic volume smaller than 22 Å3/atom and the accuracy gets lower and lower gradually with increasing of the atomic volume. Based on this fact, the disagreement (or agreement) between the thermodynamics properties of MgO, Si, CaO, ZrO2 calculated in previous work by QHA and the experiments can be well understood.

General Strategy to Fabricate Metal-Incorporated Pyrolysis-Free Covalent Organic Framework for Efficient Oxygen Evolution Reaction.

Because of the permission of the manipulations of modular construction on the atomic level, covalent organic frameworks (COFs) have attracted extensive attention in the electrocatalytic field. Owing to the lack of metal sites in pristine COFs constructed only by metal-free organic building units, it generally exhibits extremely low electrocatalytic activity. Thereby, linking metal sites on the backbone of pyrolysis-free COFs but not loading them on the surface to enhance the electrocatalytic activity is highly desirable but still remains a huge challenge. To this end, herein, we report an efficient and general cation-exchange strategy to synthesize Ni/Fe metal-ion-incorporated COFs (NixFe1-x@COF-SO3) for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) based on the fundamental structure design of COFs. Impressively, the turnover frequency (TOF) value in Ni0.5Fe0.5@COF-SO3 reaches 0.14 s-1 at the overpotential of 300 mV, which outperforms most recently reported OER electrocatalysts, indicative of ultrahigh metal-atom utilization efficiency.

Ammoniating Covalent Organic Framework (COF) for High-Performance and Selective Extraction of Toxic and Radioactive Uranium Ions.

An ideal porous adsorbent toward uranium with not only large adsorption capacity and high selectivity but also broad applicability even under rigorous conditions is highly desirable but still extremely scarce. In this work, a porous adsorbent, namely [NH4]+[COF-SO3 -], prepared by ammoniating a SO3H-decorated covalent organic framework (COF) enables remarkable performance for uranium extraction. Relative to the pristine SO3H-decorated COF (COF-SO3H) with uranium adsorption capacity of 360 mg g-1, the ammoniated counterpart of [NH4]+[COF-SO3 -] affords ultrahigh uranium uptake up to 851 mg g-1, creating a 2.4-fold enhancement. Such a value is the highest among all reported porous adsorbents for uranium. Most importantly, a large distribution coefficient, K d U, up to 9.8 × 106 mL g-1 is observed, implying extremely strong affinity toward uranium. Consequently, [NH4]+[COF-SO3 -] affords highly selective adsorption of uranium over a broad range of metal ions such as SU/Cs = 821, SU/Na = 277, and SU/Sr = 124, making it as effective uranium adsorbent from seawater, resulting in amazing uranium adsorption capacity of 17.8 mg g-1. Moreover, its excellent chemostability also make it an effective uranium adsorbent even under rigorous conditions (pH = 1, 8, and 3 m acidity).

A New Model to Predict Optimum Conditions for Growth of 2D Materials on a Substrate.

Deposition of atoms or molecules on a solid surface is a flexible way to prepare various novel two-dimensional materials if the growth conditions, such as suitable surface and optimum temperature, could be predicted theoretically. However, prediction challenges modern theory of material design because the free energy criteria can hardly be applied to this issue due to the long-standing problem in statistical physics of the calculations of the free energy. Herein, we present an approach to the problem by the demonstrations of graphene and γ-graphyne on the surface of copper crystal, as well as silicene on a silver substrate. Compared with previous state-of-the-art algorithms for calculations of the free energy, our approach is capable of achieving computational precisions at least 10-times higher, which was confirmed by molecular dynamics simulations, and working at least four orders of magnitude faster, which enables us to obtain free energy based on ab initio calculations of the interaction potential instead of the empirical one. The approach was applied to predict the optimum conditions for silicene growth on different surfaces of solid silver based on density functional theory, and the results are in good agreement with previous experimental observations.

Significant Enhancement of C2 H2 /C2 H4 Separation by a Photochromic Diarylethene Unit: A Temperature- and Light-Responsive Separation Switch.

A dual temperature- and light-responsive C2 H2 /C2 H4 separation switch in a diarylethene metal-organic framework (MOF) is presented. At 195 K and 100 kPa this MOF shows ultrahigh C2 H2 /C2 H4 selectivity of 47.1, which is almost 21.4 times larger than the corresponding value of 2.2 at 293 K and 100 kPa, or 15.7 times larger than the value of 3.0 for the material under UV at 195 K and 100 kPa. The origin of this unique control in C2 H2 /C2 H4 selectivity, as unveiled by density functional calculations, is due to a guest discriminatory gate-opening effect from the diarylethene unit.

Reversible photo/thermoswitchable dual-color fluorescence through single-crystal-to-single-crystal transformation.

Reversible photo/thermoswitchable dual-color green-to-blue fluorescence is reported here, which is mainly due to a single-crystal-to-single-crystal (SCSC) transformation of the chromophore from a supramolecular aggregation to a covalently bonded polymer.

Photoswitching adsorption selectivity in a diarylethene-azobenzene MOF.

The first MOF (metal-organic framework) built on both diarylethene and azobenzene photochromic units is reported here and displays distinct photoresponses for different guest molecules, thus creating an easy-to-use pathway to modulate the adsorption selectivity of MOF materials.

MOF catalysis of Fe(II)-to-Fe(III) reaction for an ultrafast and one-step generation of the Fe2O3@MOF composite and uranium(vi) reduction by iron(ii) under ambient conditions.

Herein, we demonstrate that Zn-MOF-74 enables the ultrafast and one-step generation of the Fe2O3@MOF composite once Zn-MOF-74 contacts with FeSO4 solution. This unique reaction can be further applied in catalysis of U(vi) reduction by Fe(ii) under ambient conditions. The results provide a highly renovated strategy for U(vi) reduction by Fe(ii) just under ambient conditions, which completely subvert all established methods about U(vi) reduction by Fe(ii) in which O2- and CO2-free conditions are absolutely required.

Coumarin-modified microporous-mesoporous Zn-MOF-74 showing ultra-high uptake capacity and photo-switched storage/release of U(VI) ions.

Driven by an energy crisis but consequently puzzled by various environmental problems, uranium, as the basic material of nuclear energy, is now receiving extensive attentions. In contrast to numerous sorbents applied in this field, metal-organic framework (MOFs), as a renovated material platform, has only recently been developed. How to improve the adsorption capacity of MOF materials towards U(VI) ions, as well as taking advantage of the nature of these MOFs to design photo-switched behaviour for photo-triggered storage/release of U(VI) ions are at present urgent problems and great challenges to be solved. Herein, we show a simple and facile method to target the goal. Through coordination-based post-synthetic strategy, microporous- mesoporous Zn-MOF-74 was easily functionalized by grafting coumarin on coordinatively unsaturated Zn(II) centers, yielding a series of coumarin-modified Zn-MOF-74 materials. The obtained samples displayed ultra-high adsorption capacity for U(VI) ions from water at pH value of 4 with maximum adsorption capacities as high as 360 mg/g (the record value in MOFs) and a remarkable photo-switched capability of 50 mg/g at pH value of 4. To the best of knowledge, and in contrast to the well-known photo-switched behaviour towards CO2, dye (propidium iodide), as well as fluorescence observed in MOFs, this is the first study that shows a photo-switched behaviour towards radioactive U(VI) ions in aqueous solution.