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Aberrant lipid metabolism is an essential feature of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Fatty acid transport protein-5 (FATP5) is highly expressed in the liver and is involved in the fatty acid transport pathway. However, the potential role of FATP5 in the pathogenesis of HCC remains largely unknown. Herein, we showed that FATP5 was downregulated in HCC tissues and even much lower in vascular tumor thrombi. Low expression of FATP5 was correlated with multiple aggressive and invasive clinicopathological characteristics and contributed to tumor metastasis and a poor prognosis in HCC patients. FATP5 inhibited the epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) process and suppressed HCC cell migration and invasion, while silencing FATP5 had the opposite effects. Mechanistically, knockdown of FATP5 promoted cellular glycolytic flux and ATP production, thus suppressing AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and activating its downstream signaling mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) to support HCC progression and metastasis. Activation of AMPK using metformin reversed the EMT program and impaired the metastatic capacity of FATP5-depleted HCC cells. Collectively, FATP5 served as a novel suppressor of HCC progression and metastasis partly by regulating the AMPK/mTOR pathway in HCC, and targeting the FATP5-AMPK axis may be a promising therapeutic strategy for personalized HCC treatment.

We describe Cu-catalyzed intermolecular alkynylation and allylation of unactivated C(sp3)-H bonds with singly occupied molecular orbital-philes (SOMO-philes) via hydrogen atom transfer (HAT). Employing N-fluoro-sulfonamide as a HAT reagent, a set of substituted alkene and alkyne compounds were synthesized in high yields with good regioselectivity and functional-group compatibility. Late-stage functionalization of natural products and drug molecules is also demonstrated.

To reduce the cost of synthetic organic corrosion inhibitors in corrosion protection, dye wastewater exhibiting a synergistic effect is used with organic corrosion inhibitors to reduce the amount of high-cost molecules. The corrosion inhibition effects of the cationic dye methylene blue (MB) and the anionic dye methyl orange (MO) are tested. The test methods include electrochemical methods, weight-loss tests, and so on. MB exhibits better performance on the tested steel, with the anticorrosion efficiency reaching as high as 75.40%, which is chosen as an additive for organic corrosion inhibitors. After that, an organic inhibitor decamethylene bis-pyridinium dibromide (DBP) is selected for compounding with MB, and the corrosion inhibition effect under different ratios is tested. Similar effects of the compound inhibitor to the pristine sample are obtained at a ratio of MB/DBP = 6:4. In addition to experiments, theoretical calculations have also confirmed that the addition of dye molecules can inhibit corrosion. This research not only provides a way to reuse dye wastewater but also proposes measures to reduce the cost of organic corrosion inhibitors and, at the same time, provides new ideas for environmental protection and metal protection.

A surface-enhanced infrared absorption spectroscopic chalcogenide waveguide sensor based on the silver island film was proposed for the first time to enhance the sensing performance in both liquid and gas phases. The chalcogenide waveguide sensor was fabricated by the lift-off and oblique angle deposition methods. The surface morphology of the silver island film with different thicknesses was characterized. The absorption of ethanol (liquid) at a wavelength of 1654 nm and that of methane (gas) at 3291 nm were measured using the fabricated chalcogenide waveguide sensor. The chalcogenide waveguide sensor integrated with the 1.8 nm-thick silver island film revealed the best sensing performance. With an acceptable increased waveguide loss resulting from the fabrication of the film, the absorbance enhancement factors for ethanol and methane were experimentally obtained to be >1.5 and >2.3, respectively. The 1σ limit of detection of methane for the sensor integrated with the 1.8 nm-thick silver island film was ∼4.11% for an averaging time of 0.2 s. The mathematic relation between the absorbance enhancement factor and the waveguide loss was derived for sensing performance improvement. Also, the proposed rectangular waveguide sensor provides an idea for the design of a sensor-on-a-chip instead of other waveguide sensors with a high requirement of fabrication accuracy, for example, a slot waveguide or a photonic crystal waveguide.

We demonstrate a distributed feedback (DFB) semiconductor laser based on i-line lithography and surface periodic current injection technologies with a lasing wavelength of 795 nm, which corresponds to the D1 spectrum of Rb and has many applications with respect to alkali vapor lasers and atomic clocks. The maximum output power, side mode suppression ratio (SMSR), and single-longitudinal-mode tunable range of our device are 50.89 mW (at 20 °C), 34.56 dB, and 12.792 nm, respectively. The rate of change in wavelength with temperature of the laser is 0.401 nm/°C, which is equivalent to that of a Fabry-Perot (FP) laser and much better than that of a general DFB device. This device has a cavity the same as an FP laser without any etching gratings, meanwhile the lasing spectrum behaves a single longitudinal mode characteristic as a DFB laser.

Diphenyl carbonate is a versatile chemical intermediate and key building block for the synthesis of polycarbonates. A facile route to prepare PbZr nanocomposites were developed using different precipitants to investigate the effect on the catalytic activity of the solid acid catalysts. The structure–performance relationship of the nanocomposites, dispersion of active components and structure stability, and the catalytic performance were thoroughly analyzed. The results showed that there existed the interaction between Zr and Pb, which induced the homogenous dispersion of Pb and high surface acid sites that could enhance the catalytic activities. Among the catalysts, PbZr–NH4OH represented the best catalytic performance and superior stability, indicating that NH4OH was more favorable compared with sodium hydroxide, ammonium carbonate and urea. The research provides a valuable reference in a wide range application of nanocomposite preparation for the effective and clean production of various carbonates.

In vivo imaging of cerebral hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) may facilitate early diagnosis of cerebral ischemia reperfusion injury (CIRI) and a revelation of its pathological progression. In this study, we report our rational design of a brain-targeting fluorescent probe using the basis of a pyridazinone scaffold. A structure-activity relationship study reveals that PCAB is the best candidate (Ki = 15.8 nM) for a histamine H3 receptor (H3R), which is highly expressed in neurons of the central nervous system. As a two-photon fluorescent probe, PCAB exhibits a fast, selective reaction toward both extra- and intracellular H2O2 in SH-SY5Y cells under oxygen glucose deprivation and resupply. In vivo fluorescent imaging of a middle cerebral artery occlusion mouse confirms that PCAB is an ultrasensitive probe with potent blood-brain barrier penetration, precise brain targeting, and fast detection of CIRI.

During cancer therapy, phagocytic clearance of dead cells plays a vital role in immune homeostasis. The nonapoptotic form of cell death, ferroptosis, exhibits extraordinary potential in tumor treatment. However, the phagocytosis mechanism that regulates the engulfment of ferroptotic cells remains unclear. Here, we establish a novel pathway for phagocytic clearance of ferroptotic cells that is different from canonical mechanisms by using diverse ferroptosis models evoked by GPX4 dysfunction/deficiency. We identified the oxidized phospholipid, 1-steaoryl-2-15-HpETE-sn-glycero-3-phosphatidylethanolamine (SAPE-OOH), as a key eat-me signal on the ferroptotic cell surface. Enriching the plasma membrane with SAPE-OOH increased the efficiency of phagocytosis of ferroptotic cells by macrophage, a process that was suppressed by lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2. Ligand fishing, lipid blotting, and cellular thermal shift assay screened and identified TLR2 as a membrane receptor that directly recognized SAPE-OOH, which was further confirmed by TLR2 inhibitors and gene silencing studies. A mouse mammary tumor model of ferroptosis verified SAPE-OOH and TLR2 as critical players in the clearance of ferroptotic cells in vivo. Taken together, this work demonstrates that SAPE-OOH on ferroptotic cell surface acts as an eat-me signal and navigates phagocytosis by targeting TLR2 on macrophages.

The exploration of high-efficient, environment-stable, and cost-effective microwave absorption (MA) materials is of great significance for commercial application, and the main challenge lies in how to integrate these fascinating features using facile strategies. Herein, a one-step synergistic catalytic pyrolysis strategy was developed to construct bamboo-like N-doped carbon tube encapsulated cobalt-nickel alloy. As for a bamboo-like N-doped carbon tube, it not only provides abundant cavities for the generation of the induced current, but also induces uneven distribution of local charges from the N-doping, which results in the enhanced conduction loss and polarization relaxation. More importantly, the confinement of CoNi alloy into carbon tube effectively prevents the agglomeration of magnetic CoNi nanoparticles and simultaneously protects the CoNi alloy from corrosion, which is favorable for preserving its original magnetic properties and achieving stable MA performance in extreme chemical environment. On the basis of the combined effect, the optimized CoNi–N/C-700 achieves strong absorption of −55.62 dB and broad bandwidth of 4.25 GHz with an ultrathin thickness of 1.45 mm and low filler loading of 10 wt%, outperforming most bimetal-based microwave absorbers. This one-step synthetic strategy may pave a new way to design and construct high-efficient and anti-corrosion microwave absorbers for future large-scale applications.

Porphyrin and its derivatives play important roles in natural energy conversion applications. In this work, we designed and synthesized three novel acceptor–donor–acceptor (A–D–A) type small molecules (namely Por-Cu-IC, Por-Cu-ICF and Por-Cu-ICFF) with the Cu(II)-porphyrin as the central electron-donating core and fluorinated 2-(3-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-inden-1-ylidene)malononitrile as the electron-withdrawing end groups. These new molecules show broad absorption spectra from 300 to 900 nm with strong intramolecular charge transfer absorption spectra at around 800 nm, and an optical bandgap of about 1.4 eV. Organic solar cells (OSCs) based on these new molecules as non-fullerene electron acceptors achieved power conversion efficiencies from 0.5% to 2.44%. The OSCs were characterized by several techniques, including density functional theory (DFT), space-charge limited current (SCLC), photoluminescence spectra (PL) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). These results demonstrate a systematic study of Cu(II)-porphyrin molecules, which could be used to design molecules for use in organic electronics.

A mechanically stable and high-sensitivity optical glucose sensitive membrane (OGSM) is prepared by immobilizing glucose oxidases (GODs) onto a mixture of SiO2 mesocellular foams (SiMCFs) and nanoparticles (SiNPs) and embedding ImGODs in the composite gel of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and polyethylene glycol (PEG). The OGSM is coated onto a gold-glass sheet to create a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor. For the OGSM consisting of SiMCFs and SiNPs with a mass ratio of 7:3, PVA and PEG with a mass ratio of 4:1, resonance angle of the sensor decreases from about 77.19° to 71.45°, and the average sensitivity is 0.029°/(mg/dL) in a glucose concentration range of 0–200 mg/dL. It was found that the volume fraction of glucose in the OGSM is linear approximately with the concentration of glucose when the concentration of glucose is lower than about 80 mg/dL, as described by the Freundlich isotherm model. The Langmuir isotherm model is suitable for describing the adsorption process of the OGSM for the glucose molecules in a concentration range of 80–200 mg/dL. In addition, Young’s modulus of three strips of OGSMs, 0.573 MPa, 0.642 MPa, and 0.649 MPa were obtained, show that the OGSMs have good biomechanical stability.

Using olive leaves as the carbon source, carbon quantum dots (CQDs) with up-conversion luminescence were prepared via a reflux method. Through a hydrothermal treatment, CQDs were loaded on the surface of TiO2 to form a CQDs/TiO2 composite that exhibited photocatalytic properties. The morphology, size and composition of the as-prepared composite were characterized using XRD, SEM, TEM and XPS. Excited at the wavelength range from 560 nm to 740 nm, CQDs exhibited a significant multi-photon-based up-conversion luminescence property. This property of CQDs endowed CQDs/TiO2 composites with great photocatalytic efficiency. The performance of CQDs/TiO2 composites was tested in the degradation of tetracycline (TC) and rhodamine B (RhB). Irradiated under visible light for 10 min and 70 min, the degradation rates of 5% CQDs/TiO2 reached 81% and 92% for TC and RhB, respectively. Photocurrent and PL tests indicated that the loading of CQDs significantly improved the separation efficiency of TiO2-photogenerated charge carriers. Taking advantage of the up-conversion luminescence property of CQDs, the harvesting efficiency of visible light by CQDs/TiO2 composites was greatly enhanced.

Spacecraft materials are a key limiting factor for the rapid development of the aerospace exploration field. In an advanced spacecraft, superior multi-functional material with thermal management and electromagnetic shielding can ensure the normal operation of its equipment in space. Currently, graphene thin film can’t satisfy a high heat flux and excellent through-plane thermal conduction. In this contribution, a full-carbon dual-functional graphene/carbon nanotubes (CNTs) thick film with high heat flux was successfully prepared, and the structure and composition evolution was investigated after hot-pressing carbonization and graphitization of 2800 °C, which indicates the existence of a compact defects-free and high crystalline carbon structure. Molecular dynamics simulations further confirm the formation of C–C covalent bonds between graphene sheets and CNTs after 2800 °C graphitization, enhancing the phonons transfer in through-plane. Simultaneously, the axially adjacent graphene sheets are connected by the CNTs, which endow excellent thermal conductive properties. The in-plane and through-plane thermal diffusivity are as high as 1188.2 mm2/s and 8.0 mm2/s, respectively. Moreover, the electrical conductivity up to 1819.17 S/cm and EMI SE reach 75 dB in Ku-band. The results provide a bright prospect for spacecraft materials preparation and application.

Supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) fracturing technology has the characteristics of a large amount of fixed CO2 and anhydrous fracturing. It has great application potential for developing unconventional oil and gas resources and mitigating the greenhouse effect. However, the low viscosity of SC-CO2 limits the development of this technology. In this work, HS series thickeners were prepared via a ring-opening polymerization and hydrosilylation reaction by a molecular simulation-aided design method. The simulation results of cohesive energy density, interaction energy, and radial distribution function are consistent with the visualization experimental results, which proves that HS (hyperbranched siloxane) series thickeners have excellent solubility in SC-CO2. HS-3 is the best thickener in the HS series. At 305.15 K and 10 MPa, 5 wt% HS-3 (60 s−1) increases the viscosity of SC-CO2 by 151 times, and the apparent viscosity is 3.024 mPa s. The apparent viscosity of SC-CO2 was positively correlated with the pressure and concentration but negatively correlated with the temperature and shear rate. The results indicate that it is feasible to introduce an aliphatic group and polysiloxane into a SC-CO2 thickener by hydrosilylation.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most prevalent cancers and one of the leading causes of cancer death. Recent studies have provided evidence that N6-methyladenosine (m6A), the most abundant RNA modifications in eukaryote, performs many functions in RNA metabolism including translation, splicing, storage, trafficking and degradation. Aberrant regulation of m6A modification in mRNAs and noncoding RNAs found in CRC tissues is crucial for cancer formation, progression, invasion and metastasis. Further, m6A regulators and m6A-related RNAs may become promising biomarkers, prognosis predictors as well as therapeutic targets. Here, we review the biological and clinical roles of m6A modification in CRC, and discuss the potential of m6A in clinical translation.

Metal germanium (Ge) with a high theoretical capacity of 590 mA h g−1 is regarded as a promising anode material for sodium ion batteries, but it suffers from a fast capacity decay problem due to the serious agglomeration of Ge particles caused by the drastic volume change during the sodiation/desodiation process. Constructing highly dispersed ultrafine Ge nanoparticles is a possible way to address this problem. However, reported methods to obtain highly dispersed metal nanoparticles encountered problems of poor electrochemical activity or non-uniform particle size. In this work, we proposed a new in situ confined polymerization method for preparing highly dispersed Ge quantum dots (QDs). Due to the high dispersion of Ge QDs in carbon frameworks derived from poly(ionic liquid) networks, the obtained Ge@C nanocomposite could effectively avoid the agglomeration of Ge particles. When applied as the anode material for sodium ion batteries, the Ge@C nanocomposite shows ultra-long cycle life and high rate capability. At a current density of 1500 mA g−1, the Ge@C electrode could display a high capacity of 201 mA h g−1 after 5000 cycles. This method could be extended to prepare other highly dispersed metal nanoparticles and achieve fairly efficient electrode materials for new-type secondary batteries.

C54H58N6O16Pb2, triclinic, P 1 ‾ $P‾{1}$ (no. 2), a = 9.4690(6) Å, b = 12.9374(6) Å, c = 13.2303(7) Å, V = 1341.90(15) Å3, α = 63.395(5)°, β = 74.291(5)°, γ = 69.113(5)°, Z = 1, R gt (F) = 0.0284, wR ref(F 2) = 0.0484, T = 150 K.

Kounis syndrome is a rare type of acute coronary syndrome caused by coronary spasm with or without atherosclerotic plaque erosion or rupture due to inflammatory factors released by allergic reactions. Due to a lack of awareness, Kounis syndrome is often underdiagnosed. Here, we for the first time report a case of Kounis syndrome induced by anisodamine. A 48-year-old woman presented with upper abdominal pain and vomiting after eating. She was diagnosed with gastrointestinal spasm and intramuscularly injected with 10 mg anisodamine. The patient subsequently developed chest pain and hypotension with erythematous rash. A systemic allergic reaction was diagnosed. Saline solution, promethazine and dexamethasone were administered immediately. A 12-lead electrocardiogram indicated ST-segment elevation in II, III and aVF leads. Emergent coronary angiography was recommended. According to a preoperative electrocardiogram, the ST-segment elevation in the II, III and aVF leads had disappeared. Coronary angiograph revealed no significant coronary stenosis. The patient was diagnosed with Kounis syndrome induced by anisodamine, showing acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction due to allergic coronary vasospasm. During the 9-month follow-up, the patient did not receive further anisodamine injections and remained free of chest pain. In conclusion, it is essential for clinicians to be aware of Kounis syndrome because of the wide range of triggers and its potentially fatal evolution if not identified in time.

Uncontrollable growth of lithium (Li) dendrite has severely hindered the development of Li metal anodes, while separator modification is regarded as a simple and effective way to mitigate the growth of Li dendrite. However, the "drop-dregs" phenomenon of coating layer desquamated from polyolefin separator due to their different Young's modulus would induce a nonuniform Li ionic flux, finally resulting in deteriorative electrochemical performance and even thermal runaway of the battery. Herein, we introduce a novel nanopile mechanical interlocking strategy to create delamination-free separator modification, which could stably generate a homogeneous Li ionic flux to guide long-term uniform Li deposition. Both experimental and simulation results demonstrate a strong bonding strength between the coating layer and membrane matrix based on this physical interlocking mechanism. Consequently, with a nearly dendrite-free Li deposition and a largely reduced interface impedance, 1000 h stable cycling of Li/Li half cells enrolled this modified separator is successfully achieved. Also, a significant improvement in Li/LiFePO4 full cells in long-term cycling stability to 500 cycles further indicates its promising practical potential. Moreover, this presented approach without any binding agents or surface activation procedures could be facilely scaled up, providing an applicable and durable separator modification solution toward stable Li metal anodes.

Sugarcane bagasse has been utilized by Ganoderma lucidum in high value, but this also produces tons of spent substrate. For comprehensive exploitation of sugarcane bagasse, this study was to evaluate the potential of mycelia extract from spent Ganoderma substrate (MESGS). In vivo assays, MESGS could alleviate acute liver injury induced by carbon tetrachloride in male Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) mice without toxicity. Analysis revealed that MESGS could effectively relieve the histopathological lesions of liver tissue. There are significant tendencies to descend for the levels of aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase with the increasing doses of MESGS. Similarly, plasma creatinine levels of mice treating with MESGS were restored to 11.2~13.24 µmol/L which approached to 9.48 µmol/L of the normal control group. MESGS could mitigate symptoms of liver index raising and splenomegaly. It could be known that after acute liver injury, the mice with MESGS -treating had less side effects on liver, kidney and spleen. Meanwhile, the decreased activity of superoxide dismutase and increased malonaldehyde level were inhibited by MESGS treatment. In vitro assays, MESGS also exhibited strong antioxidant in a dose dependent manner by radicals scavenging activity with 1,1-Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl, hydroxyl and 3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulfonic acid diammonium salt. Furthermore, MESGS is rich in polysaccharide (22.13%) and polyphenolics (2.02%). These findings demonstrated that the MESGS displayed certain hepatoprotective effect on the acute liver injury by inhibiting oxidative stress. Therefore, the MESGS could be beneficial for drug development against chemical injury. It provides research basis for further improving high value conversion of sugarcane bagasse.

The classical Sonogashira reaction of aryl electrophiles in the presence of Pd catalysts has been well established as a potent method for arylalkyne synthesis. However, the site-selective C(sp2)–C(...

To observe the effects of moxibustion at Shenshu (BL 23), Zusanli (ST 36) and Shenque (CV 8) on the energy metabolism and endocrine metabolism indicators of rats undergoing one-time exhaustive swimming, and to explore the differences between moxibustion at different points in the effects on anti-exercise fatigue. Forty-eight male SPF rats were randomly divided into a blank group, a model group, a non-meridian and non-acupoint group, a Shenshu (BL 23) group, a Zusanli (ST 36) group, and a Shenque (CV 8) group using random number table method, with eight rats in each group. Except for the blank group, rats in the other groups were subjected to replicating the one-time exhaustive model using the weight-bearing swimming experiment. Except for the model group, the other model rats received mild moxibustion immediately after swimming. Rats in the non-meridian and non-acupoint group received mild moxibustion at bilateral subcostal non-meridian and non-acupoint points, those in the Shenshu (BL 23) group received mild moxibustion at bilateral Shenshu (BL 23), those in the Zusanli (ST 36) group received mild moxibustion at bilateral Zusanli (ST 36), and those in the Shenque (CV 8) group received mild moxibustion at Shenque (CV 8) for 15 min. Four hours after the exhaustive swimming, femoral artery blood was collected to detect blood lactate (BLA), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), creatine kinase (CK), creatinine (CRE), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), cortisol (C) and testosterone (T) levels, and calculate the T/C ratio. Compared with the blank group, rat’s serum levels of BLA, LDH, CK, BUN and C in the model group and the non-meridian and non-acupoint group were increased, and serum levels of CRE and T, and T/C ratios were decreased (P

Uncontrolled bleeding and infection can cause significant increases in mortalities. Hydrogel sealants have attracted extensive attention for their ability to control bleeding. However, because interfacial water is a formidable barrier to strong surface bonding, a challenge remains in finding a product that offers robust tissue adhesion combined with anti-infection properties. Inspired by the strong adhesive mechanism of biofilm and mussels, we report a novel dual bionic adhesive hydrogel (DBAH) based on chitosan grafted with methacrylate (CS-MA), dopamine (DA), and N-hydroxymethyl acrylamide (NMA) via a facile radical polymerization process. CS-MA and DA were simultaneously included in the adhesive polymer for imitating the two key adhesive components: polysaccharide intercellular adhesin (PIA) of staphylococci biofilm and 3,4-dihydroxy-l-phenylalanine (Dopa) of mussel foot protein, respectively. DBAH presented strong adhesion at 34 kPa even upon three cycles of full immersion in water and was able to withstand up to 168 mm Hg blood pressure, which is significantly higher than the 60–160 mm Hg measured in most clinical settings. Most importantly, these hydrogels presented outstanding hemostatic capability under wet and dynamic in vivo movements while displaying excellent antibacterial properties and biocompatibility. Therefore, DBAH represents a promising class of biomaterials for high-efficiency hemostasis and wound healing., Graphical abstract Image 1, Highlights • We put forward a novel method inspired form staphylococcal biofilm for fabricating hydrogel hemostasis material. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of designing staphylococcal biofilm inspired adhesive hydrogel for in vivo sealing hemostasis. • Unlike the traditional acrylamide (AM) based hydrogels, the as-prepared DBAH were purified before further measurements and application by repetitive cycles of deionized water and ethyl alcohol to prevent the potential cytotoxicity of unreacted NMA monomers. • The as-prepared DBAH can intimately integrate with biological tissue and exhibit superior capacity of in vivo hemostatic by sealing the bleeding wound even in wet and dynamic rabbit's heart.

In this study, nitrogen defect (cyano-group and N vacancy)-modified mesoporous g-C3N4 (CNMCN) was synthesized via a new in situ silica gel strategy. Resultant CNMCN was analyzed via numerous techniques such as TEM, BET, XRD, FTIR, XPS, PL and DRS. The results revealed that the introduced mesoporous structure, cyano-group and N vacancy, could increase surface area, improve the separation of photoinduced charge and heighten light response capacity. These positive factors promoted CNMCN exhibiting better photocatalytic ability for splitting water, its H2 evolution rate was around 14.7-fold more than that of bulk g-C3N4, and excellent continuous service capacity was also showed. Moreover, CNMCN had better performance than mesoporous g-C3N4, cyano-group modified g-C3N4 and N vacancy modified g-C3N4. Apparently, this present study provides a new thought for preparing mesoporous structure N defect-modified g-C3N4, which might be applied in clean energy production and environmental restoration.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most fatal malignancies with few effective treatment options all around the world. The efficacy of the arisen immune checkpoint therapy is still uncertain due to local immunosuppression. In order to further overcome T cell suppression in the tumor immune microenvironment while promoting the immune response of antigen-presenting cells, a biointerfacing antagonizing T-cell inhibitory nanoparticles (BAT NPs) has been developed by cloaking platelet membrane on the PLGA microsphere surface to load T-cell immunoglobulin domain and mucin domain-3 antibodies (anti-TIM-3) as well as PD-L1. Notably, in addition to activating the proliferation and migration of T cells, the contained anti-TIM-3 can cooperate with PD-L1 checkpoint blockade to exert therapeutic effects. Furthermore, the components of BAT NPs like anti-TIM-3 and platelet can act together for collagen deposition in tumor starvation treatment. Thus, a novel targeting therapeutic strategy that can effectively reverse the immune-inhibiting microenvironment is effectively applied to PD-L1 checkpoint combination therapy. Such therapeutic effect can subsequently activate the effector T lymphocytes and antigen presentation of dendritic cells as well as the polarization of M1-type macrophages. Last, the study presented the synergistic effect of immune therapeutic adjuvants and BAT NPs components in achieving tumor inhibition and prolonging tumor-burden survival.

Osthole, a natural product extracted mainly from fruits of Fructus Cnidii, possesses multiple pharmacological functions, including anti-inflammatory, anti-convulsant and anticancer effects. However, the effects of osthole in endometrial cancer (EC) is not fully understood. In the present study, EC cell lines, including JEC, KLE and Ishikawa cells and normal human cervical epithelial cells (HcerEpic) were applied to detect the anticancer effect of osthole. The present study demonstrated that osthole inhibited the proliferation of JEC, KLE and Ishikawa cells, but had no cytotoxic effect on HcerEpic. Furthermore, treatment of osthole induced JEC cell apoptosis, while osthole promoted the release of pro-apoptotic proteins, Bax and activated the cleaved caspase-3, caspase-9 and PARP. Additionally, osthole significantly increased the expression of PETN and decreased the phosphorylated form of PI3K and AKT in a concentration-dependent manner. Furthermore, osthole treatment suppressed the JEC tumor cell growth in a nude mouse xenograft model in vivo, and neither renal toxicity nor hepatotoxicity was induced by the indicated concentration. Taken together, the results of the present study suggested that osthole may be a novel and potential therapeutic agent of EC.

Anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) coupled with hydroxyapatite (HAP) crystallization not only achieves simultaneous nitrogen removal and phosphorus recovery, but also cultivates excellent anammox granules. However, a floatation and wash-out of anammox-HAP granules was occurred at low phosphate concentrations. In this study, a reactor inoculated with mature anammox-HAP granules and fed with low phosphate (5 mg P/L) was added with granular activated carbon (GAC) to maintain sludge granulation and nitrogen-removing stability. At influent total nitrogen >800 mg/L and nitrogen loading rate ~ 9.8 kg/m3/d, a satisfactory nitrogen removal of around 88% was maintained during 140 days of operation. Insufficient phosphate supplement resulted in a sludge bulking, with suspended solid and sludge density decreased whereas sludge water content and expansion ratio increased due to HAP loss. Nevertheless, the sludge re-granulation was found at the later stage as the proportion of granules in 2.8– 3.35 mm went up to 37.4% after large granules disintegrated into small pieces at the initial stage. The settling velocity was finally ranging from 129.8 to 182.2 m/h. In addition, Candidatus Brocadia was increased from 2.1% to 20.1% and dominated in the microbial community. These findings suggest GAC was able to promote re-granulation of anammox-HAP granules at low phosphate concentration, which avoids sludge flotation and widens their application as an inoculum.

The present work aims to combine carbon quantum dots (CQDs) with the good water solubility, biocompatibility, and low toxicity and nano-sized silver sulfide with excellent antibacterial effect in the synthesized composite. The composite was further treated with polyethyleneimine (PEI) and conjugated with graphene oxide (GO). The as-prepared composite Ag2S–CQDs–PEI–GO exhibits a core of Ag2S with the size of 20–50 nm and the shell of CQDs with the average particle size of 1.8 nm. The core shell structure is loaded on the template of PEI–GO. Strong antibacterial effect was observed on Ag2S–CQDs composite against four strands of bacteria Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), Escherichia coli (E. coli), Enterococcus faecalis (E. faecalis), and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa). We briefly discussed the bacteriostatic mechanism of the composite. The as-prepared composite has huge potential in the development of biomedicine.

In searching for the drainage route of the interstitial fluid (ISF) in the deep brain, we discovered a regionalized ISF drainage system as well as a new function of myelin in regulating the drainage. The traced ISF from the caudate nucleus drained to the ipsilateral cortex along myelin fiber tracts, while in the opposite direction, its movement to the adjacent thalamus was completely impeded by a barrier structure, which was identified as the converged, compact myelin fascicle. The regulating and the barrier effects of myelin were unchanged in AQP4-knockout rats but were impaired as the integrity of boundary structure of drainage system was destroyed in a demyelinated rat model. We thus proposed that the brain homeostasis was maintained within each ISF drainage division locally, rather than across the brain as a whole. A new brain division system and a new pathogenic mechanism of demyelination are therefore proposed.

More than two-thirds of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cannot receive curative therapy and have poor survival due to late diagnosis and few prognostic directions. In our study, nontargeted and targeted metabolomics analyses were conducted by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry to characterize metabolic features of HCC and identify diagnostic and prognostic biomarker candidate incorporating liver tissue and serum metabolites. A total of 552 subjects, including 432 with liver tissue and 120 with serum specimens, were recruited in China. In the discovery cohort, a series of 138 metabolites were identified to discriminate HCC tissues from matched nontumor tissues. Retinol presented with the highest area under the curve (AUC) of 0.991 and associated with Edmondson grade. In the validation cohort, all metabolites in retinol metabolism pathway were examined and the levels of retinol and retinal in tumor tissue and serum decreased in the order of normal to cirrhosis to HCC of Edmondson Grades I to IV. Retinol and retinal levels could also differentiate between HCC and cirrhosis, with AUCs of 0.996 and 0.994, respectively, in tissue and 0.812 and 0.744, respectively, in serum. The AUC of the combined retinol and retinal panel in serum was 0.852. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression identified this panel as an independent predictor for HCC and showed that low expression of retinol and retinal correlated with decreased survival time. In conclusion, the retinol metabolic signature had considerable diagnostic and prognostic value for identifying HCC patients who would benefit from prompt therapy and optimal prognostic direction.