Shearo-caloric effect enhances elastocaloric responses in polymer composites for solid-state cooling.

Room-temperature elastocaloric cooling is considered as a zero-global-warming-potential alternative to conventional vapor-compression refrigeration technology. However, the limited entropy and large-deformation features of elastocaloric polymers hinder the creation of the breakthrough in their caloric responses and device development. Herein, we report that the addition of a small amount of inorganic nanofillers into the polymer induces the aggregate of the effective elastic chains via shearing the interlaminar molecular chains, which provides an additional contribution to the entropy in elastocaloric polymers. Consequently, the adiabatic temperature change of -18.0 K and the isothermal entropy change of 187.4 J kg-1 K-1 achieved in the polymer nanocomposites outperform those of current elastocaloric polymers. Moreover, a large-deformation cooling system with a work recovery efficiency of 56.3% is demonstrated. This work opens a new avenue for the development of high-performance elastocaloric polymers and prototypes for solid-state cooling applications.

Biotransformation of Patchouli Alcohol by Cladosporium cladosporioides and the Anti-Influenza Virus Activities of Biotransformation Products.

The biotransformation of patchouli alcohol by Cladosporium cladosporioides afforded 31 products, including 21 new ones (1-3, 5, 6, 8-14, and 17-25). Their structures were determined by extensive spectroscopic data analysis (1H and 13C NMR, HSQC, HMBC, 1H-1H COSY, ROESY, and HRESIMS), and the absolute configuration of compounds 1, 2, 8, 9, and 17 was determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction using Cu Kα radiation. Structurally, compounds 21-24 were patchoulol-type norsesquiterpenoids without Me-12. Among them, a Δ3(4) double bond existed in compounds 21 and 22; a three-membered ring was formed between C-4, C-5, and C-6 in compound 23; an epoxy moiety appeared between C-3 and C-4 in compound 24. Furthermore, the biotransformation products 9, 10, 12, and 25 showed potent anti-influenza virus activity with EC50 values of 2.11, 7.94, 20.87, and 3.45 µM, respectively.

Self-Assembly Dual Active Site Nanocomposite Anode Ce0.6Mn0.3Fe0.1O2-δ/NiFe/MnOx for Electrooxidative Dehydrogenation of Ethane to Ethylene.

As the demand for ethylene grows continuously in industry, conversion of ethane to ethylene has become more and more important; however, it still faces fundamental challenges of low ethane conversion, low ethylene selectivity, overoxidation, and instability of catalysts. Electrooxidative dehydrogenation of ethane (EODHE) in a solid oxide electrolysis cell (SOEC) is an alternative process. Here, a multiphase oxide Ce0.6Mn0.3Fe0.1O2-δ-NiFe-MnOx has been fabricated by a self-assembly process and utilized as the SOEC anode material for EODHE. The highest ethane conversions reached 52.23% with 94.11% ethylene selectivity at the anode side and CO with 10.9 mL min-1 cm-2 at the cathode side, at 1.8 V at 700 °C. The remarkable electrooxidative performance of CMF-NiFe-MnOx is ascribed to the NiFe alloy and MnOx nanoparticles and improvement of the concentration of oxygen vacancies within the fluorite substrate, generating dual active sites for C2H6 adsorption, dehydrogenation, and selective transformation of hydrogen without overoxidizing the ethylene generated. Such a tailored strategy achieves no significant degradation observed after 120 h of operation and constitutes a promising basis for EODHE.

Ho-Ion-Polymer/Graphene Heterojunctions Toward Room-Temperature Ferromagnets.

Organic ferromagnetic materials offer great promise for spintronic devices, carbon-based chips, and quantum communications, but remain as a challenging issue due to their low saturation magnetization and/or unsustainable ferromagnetic properties. To date, magnetic ion polymers have displayed paramagnetism without exception at room-temperature. In this study, it is reported for the first time that, owing to the structural restriction and charge exchange of Ho ion by polymer/graphene π-π stacking heterojunctions, holmium ion polymer composites exhibited typical hysteresis lines of ferromagnetic materials at room temperature. The room-temperature ferromagnetic ion polymer composite presented the highest saturation magnetization value of 3.36 emu g-1 and unprecedented sustainable ferromagnetism, compared to reported room-temperature organic ferromagnetic materials. Accordingly, prepared ferromagnetic composites also achieved impressive wave absorption properties, with a maximum reflection loss of as much as -57.32 dB and a broad absorption bandwidth of 5.05 GHz. These findings may promote the development of room-temperature organic ferromagnetic materials.

Alicyclic polyimides with large band gaps exhibit superior high-temperature capacitive energy storage.

Flexible polymer dielectrics for capacitive energy storage that can function well at elevated temperatures are increasingly in demand for continuously advancing and miniaturizing electrical devices. However, traditional high-resistance polymer dielectrics composed of aromatic backbones have a compromised band gap (Eg) and hence suffer from low breakdown strength and a huge loss at high temperatures. Here, based on the density functional theory (DFT) calculations, rigid and non-coplanar alicyclic segments are introduced into the polyimide backbone to overcome the incompatibility of a high glass transition temperature (Tg) and large Eg. Thanks to the large optical Eg (∼4.6 eV) and high Tg (∼277 °C), the all-alicyclic polyimide at 200 °C delivers a maximum discharge energy density (Ue) of 5.01 J cm-3 with a charge-discharge efficiency (η) of 78.1% at 600 MV m-1, and a record Ue of 2.55 J cm-3 at η = 90%, which is 10-fold larger than that of the state-of-art commercial polyetherimides (PEIs). In addition, compared with aromatic polyimides, the all-alicyclic polyimide possesses a better self-clearing characteristic due to a smaller ratio of carbon to hydrogen and oxygen, which facilitates its long-term reliability in practical applications.

A new acylated iridoid and other chemical constituents from Valeriana jatamansi and their biological activities.

A new acylated iridoid, valejatadoid H (1), along with fourteen known compounds, were obtained from the n-BuOH extract of the roots and rhizomes of Valeriana jatamansi, and their structures were elucidated by various spectroscopic methods. Among them, compounds 8, 11 and 13 exhibited potent inhibition on NO production, with IC50 values of 4.21, 6.08 and 20.36 µM, respectively. In addition, compounds 14 and 15 showed anti-influenza virus activities, among which compound 14 exhibited significant effect with an IC50 value of 0.99 µM.

Corona-Poled Porous Electrospun Films of Gram-Scale Y-Doped ZnO and PVDF Composites for Piezoelectric Nanogenerators.

For digging out eco-friendly and well-performed energy harvesters, piezoelectric nanogenerators are preferred owing to their effortless assembly. Corona-poling promotes output performance of either aligned or porous PVDF electrospun films and higher piezoelectric output was achieved by corona-poled porous PVDF electrospun films due to more poled electret dipoles in pores. Increasing the duration of electrospinning rendered more electret dipoles in PVDF porous electrospun films, resulting in higher piezoelectric output. Moreover, corona-poled PVDF/Y-ZnO porous electrospun films performed better than corona-poled PVDF/ZnO porous electrospun films because of the larger polar crystal face of Y-ZnO. Flexible piezoelectric polymer PVDF and high-piezoelectric Y-ZnO complement each other in electrospun films. With 15 wt% of Y-ZnO, corona-poled PVDF/Y-ZnO porous electrospun films generated maximum power density of 3.6 µW/cm2, which is 18 times that of PVDF/BiCl3 electrospun films.

Solid-state cooling by elastocaloric polymer with uniform chain-lengths.

Although the elastocaloric effect was found in natural rubber as early as 160 years ago, commercial elastocaloric refrigeration based on polymer elastomers has stagnated owing to their deficient elastocaloric effects and large extension ratios. Herein, we demonstrate that polymer elastomers with uniform molecular chain-lengths exhibit enormous elastocaloric effects through reversible conformational changes. An adiabatic temperature change of -15.3 K and an isothermal entropy change of 145 J kg-1 K-1, obtained from poly(styrene-b-ethylene-co-butylene-b-styrene) near room temperature, exceed those of previously reported elastocaloric polymers. A rotary-motion cooling device is tailored to high-strains characteristics of rubbers, which effectively discharges the cooling energy of polymer elastomers. Our work provides a strategy for the enhancement of elastocaloric effects and could promote the commercialization of solid-state cooling devices based on polymer elastomers.

Defining a critical period in calvarial development for Hedgehog pathway antagonist-induced frontal bone dysplasia in mice.

The Hedgehog (Hh) signalling pathway is essential for cellular proliferation and differentiation during embryonic development. Gain and loss of function of Hh signalling are known to result in an array of craniofacial malformations. To determine the critical period for Hh pathway antagonist-induced frontal bone hypoplasia, we examined patterns of dysmorphology caused by Hh signalling inhibition. Pregnant mice received a single oral administration of Hh signalling inhibitor GDC-0449 at 100 mg•kg-1 or 150 mg•kg-1 body weight at preselected time points between embryonic days (E)8.5 and 12.5. The optimal teratogenic concentration of GDC-0449 was determined to be 150 mg•kg-1. Exposure between E9.5 and E10.5 induced frontal bone dysplasia, micrognathia and limb defects, with administration at E10.5 producing the most pronounced effects. This model showed decreased ossification of the frontal bone with downregulation of Hh signalling. The osteoid thickness of the frontal bone was significantly reduced. The amount of neural crest-derived frontal bone primordium was reduced after GDC-0449 exposure owing to a decreased rate of cell proliferation and increased cell death.

Disruption of Hedgehog Signaling by Vismodegib Leads to Cleft Palate and Delayed Osteogenesis in Experimental Design.

The function of hedgehog signaling has previously been shown to be crucial for craniofacial development. In this study, we treated C57/BL6J mice with the hedgehog pathway inhibitor vismodegib by oral gavage to establish a stable vismodegib-induced cleft palate model. At E10.5 and E12.5, mice in the experimental group were treated with 100 mg/kg of vismodegib, whereas mice in the control group were treated with solvent. The treated pregnant mice were sacrificed on E13.5, E14.5, E15.5, and E16.5. Palatal shelf growth was evaluated via histological and immunohistochemical analyses as well as palatal organ culture. Immunohistochemical staining was performed to examine the expression of osteogenic proteins in the palatal tissue. A high proportion of the mice administered 2 doses of 100 mg/kg of vismodegib displayed a cleft palate. Histologic examination revealed severely retarded palatal shelf growth and thickened epithelium in the experimental group. Vismodegib exposure induced complete cleft palate, which was attributed to a reduced cell proliferation rate in the palatal mesenchyme along the anterior-posterior axis. Moreover, this model also showed delayed ossification in the region of palatine bone with downregulation of Indian hedgehog (Ihh) protein. Our results suggest that vismodegib can be used to inhibit hedgehog signaling to affect palatal morphogenesis. Under treatment with this exogenous inhibitor, the cell proliferation rate of the palatal shelves and the osteogenic potential of the hard palate were decreased, which likely contributed to the complete cleft palate.

Bone morphogenetic protein type I receptor inhibition induces cleft palate associated with micrognathia and cleft lower lip in mice.

BACKGROUND: Gain-of- and loss-of-function studies have demonstrated that changes in bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling during embryo development cause craniofacial malformations, including cleft palate. It remains uncertain whether BMP signaling could be targeted pharmacologically to affect craniofacial morphogenesis. METHODS: Pregnant C57Bl/6J mice were treated with the BMP type I receptor inhibitor LDN-193189 at the dose of 3, 6, or 9 mg/kg twice a day by intraperitoneal injection from embryonic day 10.5 (E10.5) to E15.5. At E16.5, embryos were investigated by facial measurement analysis and histology to determine the optimal concentration for malformation. Subsequent embryonic phenotypes were analyzed in detail by histology, whole-mount skeletal staining, micro-computed tomography, and palatal organic culture. We further used immunohistochemistry to analyze protein expression of the BMP-mediated canonical and noncanonical signaling components. RESULTS: The optimal concentration of LDN-193189 was determined to be 6 mg/kg. In utero, LDN-193189 exposures induced partial clefting of the anterior palate or complete cleft palate, which was attributed to a reduced cell proliferation rate in the secondary palate, and delayed palatal elevation caused by micrognathia. Analysis of signal transduction in palatal shelves at E12.5 and E13.5 identified a significant reduction of BMP/Smad signaling (p-Smad1/5/8) and unchanged BMP noncanonical signaling (p-p38, p-Erk1/2) after treatment with LDN-193189. CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicate that LDN-193189 can be used to manipulate BMP signaling by selectively targeting the BMP/Smad signaling pathway to affect palatal morphogenesis and produce phenotypes mimicking those caused by genetic mutations. This work established a novel mouse model for teratogen-induced cleft palate. Birth Defects Research (Part A) 106:612-623, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

[Value of acute renal injury associated biomarkers for patients in intensive care unit].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the early predictive and diagnostic significance of the acute kidney injury (AKI) associated biomarkers for patients in the intensive care unit (ICU).
 METHODS: From January to June, 2014, relevant clinical data of participants were collected upon admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) in Affiliated Hospital of Zunyi Medical College. Levels of serum cystatin C (sCys C), neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (sNGAL), urinary neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (uNGAL), urinary kidney injury molecule-1 (uKIM-1), interleukin-18 (uIL-18), and N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase (uNAG) were detected by enzyme linked immune sorbent assay (ELISA), and compared between AKI and non-AKI patients. Diagnostic significance of these biomarkers was evaluated by a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and the area under the ROC curve.
 RESULTS: A total of 176 patients were enrolled in this study. Among them, 71 patients were diagnosed as AKI, in which 57 patients hospitalized with AKI and 14 developed AKI after 24 h hospitalization. The renal replacement therapy ratio was increased with the progress of clinical stage for AKI. AKI mortality rate was 18.8% (46.5% of the total number of deaths). The levels of sCys C, sNGAL, uNGAL, and uIL-18 in AKI patients were increased compared with those in the non-AKI patients (P<0.05). With the progress of AKI, sCys C, and uNGAL levels were also elevated. In 14 patients who suffered from AKI 24 h after hospitalization, the average levels of sCys C, uNGAL, uIL-18, and uKIM-1 were significantly increased (P<0.05). Sensitivity and specificity of the uNGAL, sCys C, and uIL-18 in AKI diagnosis were 97.2%, 76.1%, 54.9% and 93.3 %, 96.2%, 78.1%, respectively. The areas under the ROC curve of uNGAL, sCys C, and uIL-18 were 0.99, 0.90, and 0.69, respectively.
 CONCLUSION: uNGAL, sCys C and uIL-18 can be used to predict and diagnose AKI, and to evaluate the AKI clinical stage.

The effect of ginkgo biloba on the rat retinal ganglion cell survival in the optic nerve crush model.

PURPOSE: To investigate the effect of ginkgo biloba on the retinal ganglion cell survival in a rat optic nerve crush model. METHODS: Twenty-four Sprague-Dawley rats were divided randomly into a study group of 12 animals receiving intraperitoneal injections of ginkgo biloba and a control group of 12 animals receiving intraperitoneal saline injections. All injections were performed 1 hr before the optic nerve crush and daily afterwards. For each animal, the right optic nerve was crushed closely behind the globe for 60 seconds using a microclip with 40 g power. The left optic nerve was kept intact. At 23 days after the optic nerve crush, the retinal ganglion cells were labelled retrogradely by injecting 3% fluorogold into both sides of the superior colliculus of the brain. At 4 weeks after the optic nerve crush, the animals were killed. Photographs taken from retinal flat mounts were assessed for the number and density of the retinal ganglion cells. RESULTS: The survival rate, defined as the ratio of the retinal ganglion cell density in the right eye with the optic nerve crush divided by the retinal ganglion cell density in left eye without an optic nerve trauma, was significantly (p=0.035) higher in the study group with ginkgo biloba than in the control group (60.0+/-6.0% versus 53.5+/-8.0%). CONCLUSION: The results suggest that intraperitoneal injections of a ginkgo biloba extract given prior to and daily after an experimental and standardized optic nerve crush in rats were associated with a higher survival rate of retinal ganglion cells.

Effect of brimonidine on retinal ganglion cell survival in an optic nerve crush model.

PURPOSE: To investigate the effect of brimonidine on the retinal ganglion cell survival in an optic nerve crush model. DESIGN: Experimental animal study. METHODS: Twenty-four Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into a study group of eight animals receiving intraperitoneal injections of brimonidine (1 mg/kg) and into a control group of 12 animals receiving intraperitoneal saline injections. All injections were performed one hour before the optic nerve crash and daily afterwards. For each animal, the right optic nerve was crushed for 60 seconds by a microclip with 40-g power. At 23 days after the optic nerve crush, the retinal ganglion cells were retrogradely labeled by injecting 3% fluorogold into both sides of the superior colliculus of the brain. At four weeks after the optic nerve crush, the animals were sacrificed. Photographs taken from retinal flat mounts were assessed for number and density of the retinal ganglion cells. RESULTS: The retinal ganglion cell density of the right eyes with an optic nerve lesion was statistically significantly (P = .02) higher in the brimonidine study group (1281 +/- 189 cells/mm(2)) than in the control group (1060 +/- 148 cells/mm(2)). Correspondingly, the survival rate (ratio of retinal ganglion cell density in the right eye divided by cell density in the left eye) was statistically significantly (P = .027) higher in the study group than in the control group (61.0% +/- 6.0% vs 53.5+/-8.0%). CONCLUSION: Intraperitoneal injections of brimonidine given prophylactically prior to and posttreatment daily after an experimental and standardized optic nerve crush in rats were associated with a higher survival rate of retinal ganglion cells.

Transmission of Rice stripe virus acquired from frozen infected leaves by the small brown planthopper (Laodelphax striatellus Fallen).

Rice stripe disease, caused by Rice stripe virus (RSV), is one of the most serious rice diseases in temperate and subtropical regions of the world. Since RSV is not transmissible mechanically, an insect transmission test was the original basis for identification of the viral population and cultivar resistance. A simple, rapid and reliable method is described by which virus-free small brown planthoppers acquired RSV from frozen infected rice leaves and transmitted the virus to healthy rice plants. Of 30 planthoppers tested, 9 insects fed on the frozen infected leaves acquired the virus as shown by an indirect-ELISA. In the transmission tests with a single insect, fed previously on frozen leaves, 5 of 30 plants (16.67%) became infected, compared to 7 of 30 plants (23.33%) became infected when a single insect fed on fresh infected leaves. All rice plants expressing stripe symptoms were identified with the virus by RT-PCR.