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Background So far, little research has been conducted regarding the underlying mechanism of renal carcinogenesis at molecular level. Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) exerts an important part during tumor genesis as well as the development through mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways. Therefore, we hypothesized that EMT could promote renal cell carcinoma (RCC) progression via the ERK5/AP-1pathway. Materials and Methods The RCC cell lines were utilized to be the models with in vitro exposure to cigarette smoke extract (CSE). We used the curcumin for the EMT intervention study. In the present study, immunohistochemistry (IHC), Western blotting, and real-time quantitative reverse transcription PCR had been used to determine the experimental results. EMT phenotypic alterations were assessed by changes in cell morphology, invasion and transfer ability, as well as expression of epithelial and mesenchymal markers. Results In human renal cell carcinoma tissue, E-cadherin expression within the smoking renal cancer patients was down-regulated compared with that among the non-smokers. However, Vimentin, N-cadherin, and TWIST levels increased (P

To analyze the influence of hydrous ethanol on the performance of the direct-injection engine, the three-dimensional simulation is carried out by using converge software coupled with the combustion mechanism of hydrous ethanol gasoline and the soot model. The combustion and soot generation characteristics of a direct-injection gasoline engine burning hydrous ethanol gasoline using exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) technology are investigated. It is found that the increase of the blending ratio of the hydrous ethanol can accelerate the flame propagation speed, shorten the combustion duration, and improve the combustion isovolumetric. The nucleation and growth of soot are jointly controlled by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and the small molecular components such as C2H2. The oxygen content properties and high reactive OH of the hydrous ethanol-containing gasoline inhibit soot formation. Compared with pure gasoline, the carbon soot precursor mass is reduced by 60%, 54.5%, 73.3%, and 52.4% for 20% anhydrous ethanol blended with gasoline, A1, A2, A3, and A4, respectively, and the carbon soot mass is reduced by 63.6% and the carbon soot volume density is reduced by 40%. The introduction of EGR exhaust reduces the burning rate and leads to an increase in the production of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbon, and soot. However, the combination of EGR with hydrous ethanol gasoline can significantly improve the engine combustion environment and significantly reduce soot and PAHs concentrations. The impact of EGR also includes the ability to reduce combustion chamber temperatures and reduce NOx emissions from hydrous ethanol gasoline by 75%.

The combination dimethyl carbonate (DMC)/diesel-blended fuels and the exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) can decrease nitrogen oxide (NOX) and soot emissions simultaneously emitted from the compressio...

A novel kind of C-coated and Sb-doped SnO2 (ATO/C) nanocomposite is prepared by a facile hydrothermal method following with high-temperature pyrolysis. The ATO/C particles are uniform, irregular, crystalline and small sizes (∼5–8 nm). High specific BET surface area of 192.1 m2 g−1 and low charge transfer resistance of 98.9 Ω are obtained for the ATO/C. When used as the anode of lithium ion battery, the ATO/C shows an ultrahigh lithium storage capacity. It may deliver an initial discharge specific capacity of 2634.9 mAh g−1 with the Coulombic efficiency of 88.4% at 0.1 C, and the capacity increases to the highest 2847.4 mAh g−1 after 50 cycles. Even after 1000 cycles at the increased current density of 1 C, the discharge capacity of 1008.5 mAh g−1 can be preserved indicating its high cyclic stability. Besides, it has a capacity of 370.8 mAh g−1 at the higher current density of 10 C, exhibiting the robust rate property.

Protein purification is of vital importance in the food industry, drug discovery, and other related fields. Among many separation methods, polyelectrolyte (PE)-based phase separation was developed and recognized as a low-cost purification technique. In this work, spherical polyelectrolyte brushes (SPBs) with a high specific surface area were utilized to study the protein accessibility and selective protein binding on highly charged nanoparticles (NPs) as well as the selective phase separation of proteins. The correlation between charge anisotropy, protein binding, and phase separation was investigated on various protein systems including those proteins with similar isoelectric points (pI) such as bovine serum albumin (BSA) and β-lactoglobulin (BLG), proteins with similar molecular weights such as BSA and hemoglobin (HB), and even protein variants (BLG-A and -B) with a tiny difference of amino acids. The nonspecific electrostatic interaction studied by turbidimetric titrations and isothermal calorimetry titration (ITC) indicates a specific binding between proteins and SPBs arising from the charge anisotropy of proteins. An optimized output based on selective protein binding on SPBs could be correlated for efficient protein separation through tuning external conditions including pH and ionic strength. These findings, therefore, proved that phase separation based on selective protein adsorption by SPBs was an efficient alternative for protein separation compared with the traditional practice.

Substantial evidence suggests that cancer stem cells (CSCs) are the main cause of the initiation, progression and recurrence of tumors. Benzidine has been identified as a risk factor for bladder cancer. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of benzidine on bladder CSCs (BCSCs) and the possible mechanism underlying its action. The bladder cancer cell lines UM-UC-3 and EJ were maintained in serum-free medium and cells forming three-dimensional spheres were characterized as BCSCs. The sphere-forming cells were exposed to different concentrations of benzidine and vismodegib, and western blotting was performed to evaluate the expression of markers associated with CSCs and the Sonic hedgehog (SHH) signaling pathway. Flow cytometry was used to detect the distribution of cells in different phases of the cell cycle, and immunofluorescence staining was used to detect the protein expression of CD44. The results revealed that the levels of BCSC markers, namely CD133, CD44, aldehyde dehydrogenase 1-A1, Nanog and octamer-binding transcription factor-4, in the cell spheres were markedly elevated compared with those in cells cultured in serum-supplemented medium. Furthermore, benzidine increased the expression of BCSC markers and promoted the sphere-forming ability of the cells. In addition, it was observed that benzidine activated the SHH pathway, while inhibition of the Shh pathway using vismodegib diminished the promoting effects of benzidine on BCSCs. The findings of the present study indicate that benzidine promoted the stemness of BCSCs via activation of the SHH pathway, which may support further exploration of the molecular basis of the association between benzidine exposure and bladder oncogenesis.

Renal cell cancers typically exhibit high metastasis and recurrence, and this is thought to be due to renal cancer stem cells (CSCs). Meanwhile, aberrant activation of Sonic hedgehog (Shh) signaling is linked with CSCs. Resveratrol has direct or indirect impacts on the pathological activities of CSCs. However, the effects of resveratrol on renal CSCs remain to be elucidated.We cultured renal CSCs in serum-free medium. Western blotting was used to analyze the expression levels of related proteins. The mRNA changes were detected by qRT-PCR after resveratrol treatment. The CD133Renal CSCs were enriched by tumorsphere formation assays of ACHN and 786-O cells. Resveratrol treatments markedly decreased the size and number of cell spheres and downregulated the expression of the Shh pathway-related proteins and CSCs markers. Moreover, we observed that resveratrol inhibited cell proliferation and induced cell apoptosis, while purmorphamine upregulated the Shh pathway and weakened the effects of resveratrol on renal CSCs.These results suggested that resveratrol is a potential novel therapeutic agent that targets inactivation of renal CSCs by affecting the function of the Shh pathway.

Physicochemical properties of soot, such as graphitization degree and surface functional groups of dimethoxymethane (DMM)–diesel blends, have been conducted with Raman spectrum, FT-IR (Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy), and XPS (X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy), respectively. The experimental samples are collected in a four-cylinder, turbocharged engine at two different speeds (2200 and 1400 rpm), different loads (1.2 and 0.6 MPa), and different fuels (D100, DMM6.4, and DMM13). The results show that with the increase in loads, the difference of graphitization degree is gradually disappeared with different fuels, and a higher graphitization degree can be obtained. Moreover, the use of DMM reduces the proportion of unsaturated fuels, thereby leading to lower amounts of C H groups. In terms of oxygenated surface functional groups’ content of particulate matter (PM), the C O functional group accounts for 4%-12%, the COO functional group accounts for 1%-4%, and the C O functional group accounts for 3%-8%. Sensitivity analysis of the microscopic properties of soot found that the O/C ratio and sp3/sp2 ratio have the lowest effect on the apparent activation energy (Ea) of soot. And AD1/AG, AD2/AG, and AD4/AG significantly affect Ea.

Oxidative stress and inflammation are critically implicated in ambient fine particulate matter (mean diameter < 2.5 μm; PM2.5 )-induced lung injury. Autophagy, playing a crucial role in various physiopathological conditions, modulates cellular homeostasis and stress adaptation. Resveratrol is a phytoalexin that exerts potent antioxidant effects on cardiopulmonary diseases. To date, the mechanisms by which resveratrol protects against PM2.5 remain to be elucidated. In the present study, we investigated the effect of resveratrol on PM2.5 -induced oxidative injury. The potential role of nuclear factor erythroid-2-related factor 2 and autophagy in this progress was explored. Human bronchial epithelial cells were treated with PM2.5 and the cytotoxicity and oxidative stress markers were determined. The results showed that PM2.5 decreased cell viability and elevated the level of lactate dehydrogenase. The levels of malondialdehyde and reactive oxygen species were increased by PM2.5 exposure. PM2.5 also induced a significant increase of the inflammatory cytokines including interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, IL-1β and tumor necrosis factor α. Meanwhile, PM2.5 triggered autophagy formation and alteration of the nuclear factor erythroid-2-related factor 2 pathway. Furthermore, human bronchial epithelial cells were co-treated with PM2.5 and resveratrol in the presence or absence of 3-methylamphetamine, an inhibitor of autophagic formation. It was revealed that resveratrol intervention abolished PM2.5 -induced oxidative injury partially through the suppression of autophagy deregulation. Findings from this study could provide new insights into the molecular mechanisms of pulmonary intervention during PM2.5 exposure.

Biochemical sludge (BS), generated in the waste water treatment of paper mills, was pretreated by enzyme hydrolysis. The effect and action mechanism of the enzymatic treatment on the properties of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) matrix composites with BS were discussed. Results showed that when the filler content was 30 wt%, the tensile strength of the PVC composites filled with BS and its modified products which were pretreated by laccase, cellulase and hemicellulase can be increased by 38.64, 67.4, 63.5 and 66.3% than the PVC composite filled with calcium carbonate. When the dosage of filler was 40 wt%, the elastic modulus of PVC composites filled with BS and its above three modified products decreased by 53.3, 52.3, 50.0 and 46.3%, respectively. Meanwhile, the thermal stability of PVC composites can also be improved at the temperature of over 340 °C. It can be concluded that the enzyme pretreatment can improve the application performance of BS usage in PVC matrix composites.

As a renewable energy, ethanol has attacked increasingly attention for spark-ignition engines due to its characteristics of high octane number and valuable oxygen content (34.74% v/v). However, little research expounds the fundamental of ethanol-gasoline blends in SI engines because of its complicated and changeable chemical kinetics mechanism. In this investigation, a reduced chemical kinetic model is proposed for the oxidation mechanism of ethanol-toluene reference fuels (TRF) blending fuels using the method of semi-decoupling methodology. The small molecule (H2 / CO / C1) mechanism is taken as the kernel in this model, and integrated the skeleton mechanism of ethanol into the TRF mechanism of gasoline surrogate as well, called E-TRF model, which contains 64 species and 194 elementary reactions. The simulated results of ignition delay times, laminar burning velocity, and in-cylinder pressure and heat release rate have been verified with the experimental data available in other literature under different operation conditions, respectively. The result shows that the E-TRF model could accurately predict the combustion characteristics of the ethanol-gasoline fuel. In addition, the water content effects on the combustion of ethanol has been also analyzed. It is found that an increase of water content leads to a decline of the critical radical production and burning temperature, which suppresses the combustion progress and eventually results in a decrease of laminar burning velocity. Moreover, the physical effect of water is more than 90% on laminar burning velocity and the physical effect of water at different temperatures is more than 80% on ignition delay times.

Biomass materials have attracted extensive attention in functional composites because of the unique microstructure, renewability and electrochemical performance. Herein, porous NiO/C composites were synthesized through a hydrothermal reaction and calcination using cellulose-rich natural cotton as carbon source. The BET specific surface area of NiO/C composites was calculated to be 314.4 m2 g−1 basing on the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller model. As the LIB anode, NiO/C composites presented a high specific capacity of 727 mA h g−1 over 150 cycles at 100 mA g−1. Increasing the current density to 2 A g−1, enabled the specific capacity of NiO/C the electrode to reach 476 mA h g−1. Obviously, the unique nanostructure and synergistic effect of NiO and carbonaceous matrix made NiO/C composites exhibit the excellent lithium storage performance. The NiO/C composites are interconnected with each other and form nanopores leading to the large specific surface area, enabling the enhancement of electrolyte diffusion and providing additional routes for ion diffusion. In addition, the hybridized carbon substrate can mitigate the volume expansion and external bending stress of NiO/C composites during the lithiation/delithiation process.

Unusual three-dimensional mesoporous carbon/reduced graphene oxide (MP-C/rGO) matrix possessing graphene nanolayer pore walls built up by three to five graphene monosheets and some carbon particles with the sizes of about 5 nm located between the graphene nanolayers was prepared by facile freeze-drying and then carbonization of the poly(vinyl alcohol) and graphene oxide mixture. The mesoporous carbonaceous MP-C/rGO sample has a high specific surface area of 661.6 m2 g-1, large specific pore volume of 1.54 m3 g-1, and focused pore size distribution of 2-10 nm. About 64 wt % sulfur could be held in the pores of the MP-C/rGO matrix. As the cathode of a Li-S battery, the MP-C/rGO/S composite showed excellent electrochemical property including a high initial specific capacity of 919 mA h g-1 at 1 C with the capacity retention ratio of 63.3% and the Coulombic efficiency above 90% after 500 cycles. Meanwhile, the initial specific capacity of 602 mA h g-1 at 5 C and remaining capacity of 391 mA h g-1 after 500 cycles with an outstanding Coulombic efficiency of 97% indicate its exceptionally stable rate performance.

A novel ternary rGO/PPy/S nanocomposite possessing of a hierarchical nanostructure via incorporating the matrix of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) coated by polypyrrole (PPy) with sulphur was prepared by a facile one-pot in situ method. The chemical bonds exist between PPy and rGO through the formation of graphitic N and pyridine oxide N, and the C S, S C = S and S O chemical bonds form between rGO/PPy and S in the structure of the rGO/PPy/S material. The loading content of sulphur is 69.43 wt.% for the rGO/PPy/S sample. The rGO/PPy/S material exhibits a high performance when used as the cathode of Li-S battery. The initial and last discharge capacity arrived at 991.5 and 626.7 mAh g −1 at 1C with 400 cycles which is corresponding to the capacity retention ratio of 63.2%, indicating its very high cyclic stability. The discharge capacity of 537.4 mAh g −1 could be obtained at 5C and it maintained at 442.1 mAh g −1 after 400 cycles with the Coulombic efficiency of more than 90%, showing its excellent rate stability.

In this study, we synthesized an excellent ternary graphene-based carbon coated SnO2 (rGO/PC/SnO2) nanocomposite anode for lithium ion batteries (LIBs), in which carbon-coated SnO2 nanoparticles homogeneously grow on the surface of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) using glucose as the soft templating agent. Using glucose can limit the growth of the SnO2 particles; as a result, the size of the SnO2 particles would be relatively uniform. Moreover, the carbon coated on the surface of SnO2 particles can effectively prevent their agglomeration on the surface of rGO and limit their volume expansion during charge–discharge cycles. The porous structure of the rGO/PC/SnO2 nanocomposite can effectively accommodate the severe volume variation upon cycling and provide additional contact areas between the active material and the electrolyte. Significantly, the rGO/PC/SnO2 anode delivers an initial specific discharge capacity of 2238.2 mA h g−1 and retains 1467.8 mA h g−1 after 150 cycles at a current density of 0.1C (1C = 782 mA g−1). Even at the high specific current of 1C after 200 cycles, the reversible specific capacity is still as high as 618.3 mA h g−1. The rGO/PC/SnO2 anode exhibits excellent rate performances and possesses a reversible specific capacity of 445.9 mA h g−1 at 5C implying its good structural stability.

Since the technology of n-butanol/diesel blending fuel coupled with post-injection (PI) strategy increases the complexity of engine combustion process, the disputes that the interpretation of the formation mechanism of pollutants are still existed. Moreover, studies on the effects of this coupling-strategy on fine-particles (DP

Co3O4 is considered a promising anode candidate for lithium ion batteries (LIBs) owing to its high theoretical capacitance. However, the electrochemical properties of bare Co3O4 for LIBs remain seriously limited by poor electronic conductivity and large volume expansion. Herein, carbon-coated porous Co3O4 polyhedrons with (220) facets are fabricated through a hydrothermal method and subsequent calcination process. The size of Co3O4 polyhedrons ranges from 70 nm to 170 nm. The continuous amorphous carbon layer is approximately 3 nm thick, and uniformly covers the surface of Co3O4. Moreover, the discharge capacity of carbon-coated porous Co3O4 anode reaches 1463 and 596 mA h g−1 at 100 and 5000 mA g−1, respectively. After 150 charge discharge cycles, the carbon-coated Co3O4 anode still exhibits a reversible capacity of 840 mA h g−1 at 1000 mA g−1. Carbon nano-coating, mixed conductive matrix, and crystalline texture design can enhance the electrochemical performance of Co3O4.

Dimethoxymethane (DMM) is considered a potential oxygenated fuel due to its high oxygen content (42.1%) and considerable heat value. However, little research emphasizes the impact of oxygenated fuels on small-particles (DP

Biomass-derived porous carbon BPC-700, incorporating micropores and small mesopores, was prepared through pyrolysis of banana peel followed by activation with KOH. A high specific BET surface area (2741 m2 g-1 ), large specific pore volume (1.23 cm3 g-1 ), and well-controlled pore size distribution (0.6-5.0 nm) were obtained and up to 65 wt % sulfur content could be loaded into the pores of the BPC-700 sample. When the resultant C/S composite, BPC-700-S65, was used as the cathode of a Li-S battery, a large initial discharge capacity (ca. 1200 mAh g-1 ) was obtained, indicating a good sulfur utilization rate. An excellent discharge capacity (590 mAh g-1 ) was also achieved for BPC-700-S65 at the high current rate of 4 C (12.72 mA cm-2 ), showing its extremely high rate capability. A reversible capacity of about 570 mAh g-1 was achieved for BPC-700-S65 after 500 cycles at 1 C (3.18 mA cm-2 ), indicating an outstanding cycling stability.

A simple strategy for the reduction of graphene oxide by annealing was used to produce 3D hierarchically interconnected porous graphene (HIPG) samples. The optimized HIPG-900 sample possessing a specific surface area of 367.4 m2 g−1 and pore volume of 1.3 cm3 g−1 contains a large amount of sulfur (65.8 wt %) and improves the utilization of sulfur when used as the cathode of Li–S batteries. A high initial specific discharge capacity of 914.1 mAh g−1 and a specific capacity of 486.0 mAh g−1 after 500 cycles was obtained for HIPG-900/S composites at 1C. A high specific capacity of 467.2 and 162.4 mAh g−1 was obtained at a high rate of 10C with a Coulombic efficiency of over 90.0 % at the 1st and 500th cycle, respectively.

Li–S batteries with a high theoretical specific capacity and energy density are poised to be one of the most promising next generation systems; however, the complex preparation process of the cathode material and low cyclic stability, particularly at high current density, have limited their practical applications. Herein, we report a facile and eco-friendly one-pot strategy for the chemical reduction of graphene oxide and recombination of sulphur as the cathode material for a Li–S battery. The optimized rGO/S-3 composite material possesses a porous morphology with pore walls made of the rGO and sulphur composite. The sulphur content is about 73.5 wt%, the particle size is about 8–15 nm, and the particles are distributed evenly on the layer of rGO, wherein the thickness of rGO is about 3–4 nm, corresponding to 8–10 monolayer graphenes. The rGO/S-3 composite electrode presents a high initial discharge capacity of 1012 and 474 mA h g−1 at 1C and 10C, respectively. The discharge capacity of 451 mA h g−1 was preserved after 1200 cycles at 1C. Even though the current density increased to 10C, a discharge capacity of 237 mA h g−1 may be obtained after 400 cycles.

Highlights • Morphology, nanostructure, and oxidation reaction of soot particles with different fuels are analyzed. • DMM13 has less structural compactness of aggregates compared with diesel. • Soot of DMM13 has more regular and higher degree of graphitization than that of D100. • The nanostructure influences the oxidation reaction of graphene segments with a line relation., Dimethoxymethane (DMM)–diesel blended fuels can simultaneously reduce exhaust emissions of soot and nitrogen oxide (NOX); several studies have been conducted in this regard. However, the influence of additive DMM on the production of inception and precursors of particulates, especially the relation between oxidation, morphology, and the nanostructure of soot particles has not been extensively investigated. In this study, a transmission electron microscope (TEM) and a thermogravimetric analyzer are introduced to acquire TEM images and conduct temperature-programmed-oxidation experiments. Aiming to study the influence of DMM addition on soot oxidation, morphology, and nanostructure, tests are conducted at different rotational speeds (1400 rpm and 2200 rpm), two engine loads (0.6 MPa and 1.2 MPa), and three fuels (D100, DMM6.4, and DMM13). The results show that the diameter distributions of all samples display a similar distribution, with the range of sample diameters being from 10 to 45 nm, and the addition of DMM reduces the dp (primary particle diameters) and the Df (fractal dimension), indicating a decreased structural compactness of aggregates, compared with diesel. Moreover, with increasing load and speed, La (the length of the fringe) increases and d (the distance between adjacent layer planes) decreases. Furthermore, with the addition of DMM, a more regular and higher degree of graphitization within soot particles can be observed in comparison to D100. The nanostructure influences the oxidation reaction of graphene segments with a line relation, leading to a difference in soot oxidation property.

A N,O-codoped hierarchical porous nanocomposite consisting of binary reduced graphene oxide and pyrolytic carbon (rGO/PC) from chitosan is fabricated. The optimized rGO/PC possesses micropores with size distribution concentrated around 1.1 nm and plenty of meso/macropores. The Brunauer-Emmett-Teller specific surface area is 480.8 m

Hierarchical nanoporous N-doped carbon ZNC-1000 was prepared by facile pyrolysis of well-designed nanosized ZIF-8 precursor with optimized reaction temperature and time. It possesses large surface areas leading to sufficient exposed electrochemical active sites. Meanwhile, its moderate graphitization degree and suitable nanosized hierarchical porosity distributions would lead to the sufficient interaction between O2 and the electrocatalyst surface which would benefit the transports of electrons and the electrolyte ions for ORR. As an electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction, the ZNC-1000 presents a better catalytic property than the commercial Pt/C with 6/1 mV positive shifts for onset/half-wave potentials and 1.567 mA cm−2 larger for limiting current density respectively. The stability of ZNC-1000 is also much better than that of Pt/C with negative shifts of 0/−2 mV (vs 5/31 mV) for onset/half-wave potentials and 6.0% vs 29.2% loss of limiting current density after 5000 cycles of accelerated durability test, as well as the relative current of 87.5% vs 40.2% retention after 30,000 s continuous chronoamperometric operation.

Background CCL2 was up-regulated in neurons and involved in microglia activation and neurological decline in mice suffering from hepatic encephalopathy (HE). However, no data exist concerning the effect of neuron-derived CCL2 on microglia activation in vitro. Methods The rats were pretreated with CCL2 receptor inhibitors (INCB or C021, 1 mg/kg/day i.p.) for 3 days prior to thioacetamide (TAA) administration (300 mg/kg/day i.p.) for inducing HE model. At 8 h following the last injection (and every 4 h after), the grade of encephalopathy was assessed. Blood and whole brains were collected at coma for measuring CCL2 and Iba1 expression. In vitro, primary neurons were stimulated with TNF-α, and then the medium were collected for addition to microglia cultures with or without INCB or C021 pretreatment. The effect of the medium on microglia proliferation and activation was evaluated after 24 h. Results CCL2 expression and microglia activation were elevated in the cerebral cortex of rats received TAA alone. CCL2 receptors inhibition improved neurological score and reduced cortical microglia activation. In vitro, TNF-α treatment induced CCL2 release by neurons. Medium from TNF-α stimulated neurons caused microglia proliferation and M1 markers expression, including iNOS, COX2, IL-6 and IL-1β, which could be suppressed by INCB or C021 pretreatment. The medium could also facilitate p65 nuclear translocation and IκBα phosphorylation, and NF-κB inhibition reduced the increased IL-6 and IL-1β expression induced by the medium. Conclusion Neuron-derived CCL2 contributed to microglia activation and neurological decline in HE. Blocking CCL2 or inhibiting microglia excessive activation may be potential strategies for HE.

A novel kind of Pt/N-rGO hybrid possessing of low content 5.31 wt.% Pt anchored on the surface of nitrogen doped reduced graphene oxide (N-rGO) evenly was prepared. The Pt has uniformed 2.8 nm diameter and exposed (111) crystal planes; meanwhile, the N works as the bridge between Pt and rGO with the Pt-N and N-C chemical bonds in Pt/N-rGO. The Pt/N-rGO material has a very high electrocatalytic activity in oxygen reduction reaction with the mass catalytic activity more than 1.5 times of the commercial Pt/C due to the synergistic catalytic effect of both N-doped carbon matrix and Pt nanoparticles. Moreover, the Pt/N-rGO exhibits an excellent stability with hardly loss (only 0.4%) after accelerated durability tests of 5000 cycles based on the stable Pt-N-C chemical bonds in Pt/N-rGO, which can prevent the detachment, dissolution, migration and aggregation of Pt nanoparticles on the matrix during the long-term cycling.

A novel one-step hydrothermal and calcination strategy was developed to synthesize the unique 1D oriented Co3O4 crystal nanofibers with (220) facets on the carbon matrix derived from the natural, abundant and low cost wool fibers acting as both carbon precursor and template reagent. The resultant W2@Co3O4 nanocomposite exhibited very high specific capacity and favorable high-rate capability when used as anode material of lithium ion battery. The high reversible Li+ ion storage capacity of 986 mAh g−1 was obtained at 100 mA g−1 after 150 cycles, higher than the theoretical capacity of Co3O4 (890 mAh g−1). Even at the higher current density of 1 A g−1, the electrode could still deliver a remarkable discharge capacity of 720 mAh g−1 over 150 cycles.