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Several 2D nanosheets of porphyrin MOFs with various transition-metal clusters as metal nodes were prepared via a simple solvothermal method to apply in the photocatalytic hydrogen evolution, in which the hydrogen production rate of the optimal NS-Cu was as high as 15.39 mmol•g−1•h−1. A series of experimental technologies especially cyclic voltammetry (CV) and Mott-Schottky (M-S) had been adopted to investigate the charge-transfer property of photo-generated electron-hole pairs, it was found that the uniformly dispersed Cu-clusters nodes in the original 2D MOFs played a key role in the electron transfer process, that was, the photo-generated electron transferred from excited state eosin-Y to the Cu-clusters nodes for the efficient hydrogen evolution. The excellent photocatalytic performance could be attributed to the reversible oxidation-reduction process of CuII/CuI, which had excellent electron-receiving and electron-outputting capabilities. Our results provided a novel avenue to adapt the uniformly dispersed metal nodes in the original MOFs as cost-effective noble-metal-free cocatalysts with very high atom-utilization efficiency to improve the photocatalytic hydrogen evolution performance in dye-sensitized system.

Photoelectrochemically oxidizing aqueous chloride electrolytes (1 M NaCl, pH 3) to hypochlorous acid proceeds on HxWO3 semiconducting photoelectrodes using 405 nm illumination at 100 mW/cm2 with 1....

Industrial grade 2-pyrrolidone with a purity of 99.5% is produced by aminolysis of γ-butyrolactone and subsequent fractional distillation, but it still contains trace amounts of γ-butyrolactone and...

Acrylamide (AA) widely exists in the human diet, which makes the public inevitably exposed to AA in daily life. This study aimed to investigate the effects of quercetin on AA-induced hepatotoxicity utilizing metabolomics technology. Sixty male Wistar Rats were randomly divided into six groups: control, two dosages of quercetin intervention [10 and 50 mg/kg body weight (bw)], AA-treated [5 mg/kg bw], and two dosages of quercetin combined with AA intervention. AA and quercetin were given to rats via drinking water and gavage respectively. After 16 weeks of treatment, liver samples were collected for metabolomics analysis. 16 metabolites were finally identified, the intensities of glutathione and NADP were decreased (p

A simple one-step approach that only uses commercially available small-molecule reagents was developed for the construction of metal-organic framework (MOF)@polymer core-shell composite particles. Here, the MOF particles were incorporated into a typical reversible addition-fragmentation chain-transfer (RAFT) polymerization solution containing a solvent, a chain-transfer agent, an initiator, and a monomer mixture with at least one hydrogen-bond-donating monomer such as 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate or acrylic acid. The elongation of polymer chains during polymerization gradually increases MOF/polymer interfacial interaction and eventually results in the adsorption of a random copolymer onto the MOF surface through hydrogen-bond cross-linking and MOF/polymer interfacial interaction. The continuous growth of the polymer leads to a uniform polymer coating on the MOF. Benefiting from the tacky polymer surface, these well-defined MOF@polymer composite particles can be further assembled into highly ordered monolayer composite thin films either alone or with an additional polymer matrix through the Langmuir-Blodgett technique.

This article presents the state-of-the-art electric vehicle (EV) charging technologies that benefit from the wide bandgap (WBG) devices, which is regarded as the most significant revolution in the power electronics industry in the past few decades. First, the recent WBG device technology evolution, performance comparison, and reliability issues are introduced. Then, topology development, efficiency and power density boost, and cost reduction brought by the WBG devices for EV charging equipment, such as onboard chargers, fast-charging stations, and wireless chargers, are discussed. A figure of merit (FOM) for evaluating the performance of wireless chargers is also proposed. Finally, the EV charging technology roadmap forecast is presented based on the WBG devices’ evolutionary trends.

Depression is a common and serious psychiatric disorder, but current conventional antidepressants have limited efficacy and significant side effects. Thus, better antidepressants are urgently needed. This study aimed to investigate the antidepressant-like effects and potential mechanism of quercetin by evaluating the changes of serum elements in chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) rats. Based on the results of the sucrose preference test (SPT), 96 rats were randomly assigned to six groups: control, different dosages of quercetin (10 and 50 mg/kg·bw, respectively), depressed, and different dosages quercetin plus depressed groups. After 8 weeks of CUMS modeling, rat serum was collected. Fifteen elements in serum were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), and related enzyme indicators, antioxidant indicators, and inflammatory cytokines were detected to further explore the potential mechanism. Besides, the accuracy and precision of the method were evaluated. The results showed that the levels of iron (Fe), copper (Cu), and calcium (Ca) in serum significantly increased (p ≤ 0.001), while the levels of magnesium (Mg), zinc (Zn), selenium (Se), and cobalt (Co) significantly decreased (p ≤ 0.001) in depressed group compared with the control group. The levels of the remaining eight elements did not change significantly. When high-dose quercetin was administered to depressed rats, the levels of the above seven elements significantly restored (p ≤ 0.001). This study suggests that quercetin (50 mg/kg·bw) has a regulatory effect on serum elements in CUMS rats, which may be mediated by reducing oxidative stress, inhibiting inflammation, and regulating a variety of neurotransmitter systems.

Background and purpose Inactivation of Cys674 (C674) in the sarcoplasmic/endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ ATPase 2 (SERCA2) causes intracellular Ca2+ accumulation, which activates calcineurin-mediated nuclear factor of activated T-lymphocytes (NFAT)/NF-κB pathways, and results in the phenotypic modulation of smooth muscle cells (SMCs) to accelerate angiotensin II-induced aortic aneurysms. Our goal was to investigate the mechanism involved. Experimental approach We used heterozygous SERCA2 C674S knock-in (SKI) mice, where half of C674 was substituted by serine, to mimic partial irreversible oxidation of C674. The aortas of SKI mice and their littermate wild-type mice were collected for RNA sequencing, cell culture, protein expression, luciferase activity and aortic aneurysm analysis. Key results Inactivation of C674 inhibited the promoter activity and protein expression of PPARγ, which could be reversed by inhibitors of calcineurin or NF-κB. In SKI SMCs, inhibition of NF-κB by pyrrolidinedithiocarbamic acid (PDTC) or overexpression of PPARγ2 reversed the protein expression of SMC phenotypic modulation markers and inhibited cell proliferation, migration, and macrophage adhesion to SMCs. Pioglitazone, a PPARγ agonist, blocked the activation of NFAT/NF-κB, reversed the protein expression of SMC phenotypic modulation markers, and inhibited cell proliferation, migration, and macrophage adhesion to SMCs in SKI SMCs. Furthermore, pioglitazone also ameliorated angiotensin II-induced aortic aneurysms in SKI mice. Conclusions and implications The inactivation of SERCA2 C674 promotes the development of aortic aneurysms by disrupting the balance between PPARγ and NFAT/NF-κB. Our study highlights the importance of C674 redox status in regulating PPARγ to maintain aortic homeostasis.

Electrochemical N2 reduction to NH3 is an emerging energy technology, attracting much attention due to its features of mild reaction conditions and being non-polluting. In this work, we demonstrate that a well-defined cobalt tetraphenylporphyrin (CoTPP) molecule as a model catalyst exhibits good electrocatalytic nitrogen reduction activity in 0.1 M HCl electrolyte with an ammonia yield of 15.18 ± 0.78 μg h−1 mg−1cat. calculated by the indophenol blue method and a Faraday efficiency (FE) of 11.43 ± 0.74%. The catalyst also has satisfactory electrolytic stability and recycling test reusability. The activity displayed by the porphyrin molecular catalysts is attributed to the full exposure of the metal–N4 sites. To trace the source of ammonia, an isotope labeling experiment (15N2 as the feed gas) is used to calculate the ammonia yield via1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), which is close to that of the indophenol blue method. In addition, we replace the central metal to prepare CuTPP and MnTPP, and they also show electrocatalytic nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) ability. This work proves the feasibility and versatility of using metalloporphyrin molecules as model electrocatalysts for NRR and offers a new strategy for the further development of molecular NRR catalysts.

Exploring economic, scalable, and highly efficient carbon materials for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is of great significance to a variety of renewable energy conversion and storage technologies. Herein, we directly convert soya peptone as a carbon precursor to a series of mesoporous nanocarbon-based materials for the ORR via a one-step pyrolysis process combined with the help of ZnCl2 as an activator. Benefiting from the effective chemical activation effect during carbonization, the optimal electrocatalysts possess mesoporous structures and high surface area (>1000 m2 g−1) which favor fast mass transport, electron transfer, and exposure of abundant active sites. Remarkably, the electrocatalysts show a comparable ORR catalytic performance, excellent stability, and superior methanol tolerance, comparable to the commercial Pt/C catalyst. Thus, soya peptone biomass derived carbon materials are surely helpful for providing a new space to develop ORR electrocatalysts.

Nitrite oxidation is the primary pathway that generates nitrate in engineered systems. However, little is known about the role of a novel nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB) genus Candidatus Nitrotoga in activated sludge systems. To elucidate key factors that impact NOB community composition, laboratory-scale sequencing batch reactors (SBRs) were designed and operated under the same conditions as real wastewater treatment plants to achieve considerable nitrogen removal and similar community; then, different conditions including temperature (T), dissolved oxygen (DO), free nitrous acid (FNA), and free ammonia (FA) were applied. The 16S rRNA gene-based PCR and sequence analysis illustrated that Ca. Nitrotoga were abundant even at ambient temperature, thus further challenging the previous conception of them being solely cold-adapted. Ca. Nitrotoga are less competitive than Nitrospira during oxygen deficiency, indicating its lower affinity to dissolved oxygen. Ca. Nitrotoga are the dominant nitrite oxidizers under regular exposure to FNA and FA due to their relatively higher resistance than other NOB toward these two effective biocides. Therefore, this study demonstrates that Ca. Nitrotoga can play an important role in biological nitrogen removal and also highlights the need for multiple strategies for NOB suppression for the next-generation, shortcut nitrogen removal.

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary sodium butyrate (SB) supplementation on growth performance, liver function, antioxidant capacity, carcass characteristics, and meat quality in broilers under hot climatic conditions. A total of 288 one-day-old Arbor Acres broilers were randomly allocated to 4 dietary treatments as follow: CON, control diet without SB; T1, control diet with 300 mg/kg SB; T2, control diet with 600 mg/kg SB; and T3, control diet with 1,200 mg/kg SB. Each treatment had 6 replication pens and 12 broilers per pen. The results indicated that the BW on day 35; ADG from day 1 to 21, day 22 to 35, and day 1 to 35; and ADFI from day 22 to 35 linearly (P < 0.05) increased with SB supplementation. Interestingly, alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase content in serum were linearly (P < 0.05) decreased by SB supplementation. There was linear (P < 0.05) improvement in activity of superoxide dismutase and catalase in the liver, whereas the content of malondialdehyde was linearly (P < 0.05) decreased with the inclusion of SB. Increasing SB level linearly (P < 0.05) increased CP composition and decreased drip loss percentage on day 1 and 3 of breast muscle. Furthermore, there was linear (P < 0.05) improvement in activity of superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, and catalase, whereas the content of malondialdehyde showed decreasing trend (P < 0.10) with the inclusion of SB in breast muscle. In conclusion, SB can be used as an effective feed additive to improve growth performance, liver function, and meat quality of broilers under hot climatic conditions.

Oxidation of nitrite to nitrate is an essential process in wastewater treatment systems. Previous culturing studies have revealed that a new nitrite-oxidizing Candidatus Nitrotoga genus is particularly adaptive in cold habitats. This study provides the first observation of the influence of temperature on the competition and adaptation behavior of Nitrotoga-like bacteria in activated sludge nitrifying communities. With Nitrotoga-dominated sludge as the inoculum, two laboratory nitrifying reactors were fed with real domestic wastewater and operated at reduced temperatures from 14 to 4 degrees C and increased temperatures from 22 to 34 degrees C. Within 180 days of operation, activated sludge samples were regularly collected for 16S rRNA gene-based quantitative polymerase chain reaction, Illumina, and third-generation PacBio sequencing analyses. The results demonstrated that temperature is a deciding factor affecting niche occupation of Nitrotoga-like bacteria. However, the classification of the species-level community showed that Candidatus Nitrotoga fabula-like populations remain less competitive at low temperatures, whereas two Nitrospira species belonging to sublineage I are adaptive over a wide temperature range of 4-34 degrees C. In addition, a temperature coefficient (theta) for the Nitrotoga-containing activated sludge was estimated to be 1.042 between 4 and 22 degrees C.

In order to sustainably transform N2 to ammonia (NRR) using electrocatalysts under mild ambient condition, it is urgent to design and develop non-nobel metal nanocatalysts that are inexpensive and suitable for mass-production. Herein, a calcium metalate catalyst CaCoOx with oxygen vacancies was synthesized and used as an electrocatalyst for NRR for the first time, whose morphology can be controlled by the calcination temperature and the heating rate. Under the optimal conditions, the CaCoOx catalyst achieved the yield of nitrogen conversion to ammonia of 16.25 µg·h−1·mgcat−1 at the potential of −0.3 V relative to the reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) with a Faraday efficiency of 20.51%. The electrocatalyst showed good stability even after 12 times recyclability under environmental conditions and neutral electrolyte. Later, the electrocatalytic nitrogen reduction performance of CaFeOx, CaNiOx, CaCuOx was investigated. These earth-rich transition metals also exhibited certain NRR electrocatalytic capabilities, which provided a door for further development of inexpensive and easily available transition metal as nitrogen reduction electrocatalysts.

To meet increasing demands, tea plantations are rapidly expanding in China. Although the emissions of nitrous oxide ( N2O ) and nitric oxide (NO) from tea plantations may be substantially influenced by soil pH reduction and intensive nitrogen fertilization, process model-based studies on this issue are still rare. In this study, the process-oriented biogeochemical model, Catchment Nutrient Management Model – DeNitrification-DeComposition (CNMM-DNDC), was modified by adding tea-growth-related processes that may induce a soil pH reduction. Using a dataset for intensively managed tea plantations at a subtropical site, the performances of the original and modified models for simulating the emissions of both gases subject to different fertilization alternatives and stand ages were evaluated. Compared with the observations in the early stage of a tea plantation, the original and modified models showed comparable performances for simulating the daily gas fluxes (with a Nash–Sutcliffe index (NSI) of 0.10 versus 0.18 for N2O and 0.32 versus 0.33 for NO), annual emissions (with an NSI of 0.81 versus 0.94 for N2O and 0.92 versus 0.94 for NO) and annual direct emission factors (EF d s). For the modified model, the observations and simulations demonstrated that the short-term replacement of urea with oil cake stimulated N2O emissions by ∼62 % and ∼36 % and mitigated NO emissions by ∼25 % and ∼14 %, respectively. The model simulations resulted in a positive dependence of EF d s of either gas on nitrogen doses, implicating the importance of model-based quantification of this key parameter for inventory purposes. In addition, the modified model with pH-related scientific processes showed overall inhibitory effects on the gases' emissions in the middle to late stages during a full tea plant lifetime. In conclusion, the modified CNMM-DNDC exhibits the potential for quantifying N2O and NO emissions from tea plantations under various conditions. Nevertheless, wider validation is still required for simulation of long-term soil pH variations and emissions of both gases from tea plantations.

Thyroid cancer is the most important malignant tumor reported in human populations where, its treatment remains undeveloped. Fisetin, a plant flavonoid exhibits several pharmacological properties like antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer function. In the existing study, we assessed fisetin mediated cytotoxic effects and action potential of fisetin on cell proliferation in TPC-1 human cancer cells. Also, examined the apoptosis in TPC-1 cells by reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, the mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) and apoptotic morphological changes through AO/EtBr staining. Additionally, we analyzed the effects of fisetin through ELISA analysis to evaluate the caspases expression and studied JAK 1 and STAT3 signaling molecule in TPC1 cells. Our results demonstrated that fisetin stimulated apoptosis, which confirmed through reduced cell viability, improved ROS generation, altered MMP and cell cycle phases in TPC-1 cells. Further, the fisetin up-regulated the expression of caspase (3, 8, and 9) expressions in TPC-1 cells. Also, we observed the fisetin down-regulated the JAK 1 and STAT3 expression in TPC1 cells. Thus, the fisetin induced apoptosis in TPC-1 cells by the induction of oxidative damage and enhanced caspases expression by down-regulating JAK 1 and STAT3 signaling molecules. Hence, the fisetin would be considered as a beneficial therapeutic agent for the thyroid cancer treatment.

Ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) plays an important role in various biological processes; however, its role in plant secondary metabolism, especially in the biosynthesis of tropane alkaloids (TAs) suc...

Gene promoter hypermethylation is a vital step in tumorigenesis. This paper set out to explore the use of polymerase chain reaction - surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (PCR-SERS) for the detection of gene methylation levels, with a focus on cancer diagnosis. Methods: PCR with methylation independent primers were used on DNA samples to amplify target genes regardless of their methylation states. SERS was used on the obtained PCR products to generate spectra that contained peak changes belonging to CG and AT base pairs. Multiple linear regression (MLR) was then used to deconvolute the SERS spectra so that the CG/AT ratios of the sample could be obtained. These MLR results were used to calculate methylation levels of the target genes. For protocol verification, three sets of seven reference DNA solutions with known methylation levels (0%, 1%, 5%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%) were analysed. Clinically, blood plasma samples were taken from 48 non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients and 51 healthy controls. The methylation levels of the genes p16, MGMT, and RASSF1 were determined for each patient using this method. Results: Verification experiment on the mixtures with known methylation levels resulted in an error of less than 6% from the actual levels. When applied to our clinical samples, the frequency of methylation in at least one of the three target genes among the NSCLC patients was 87.5%, but this percentage decreased to 11.8% for the control group. The methylation levels of p16 were found to be significantly higher in NSCLC patients with more pack-years smoked (p=0.04), later cancer stages (p=0.03), and cancer types of squamous cell and large cell versus adenocarcinoma (p=0.03). Prediction accuracy of 88% was achieved from classification and regression trees (CART) based on methylation levels and states, respectively. Conclusion: This research showed that the PCR-SERS protocol could quantitatively measure the methylation levels of genes in plasma. The methylation levels of the genes p16, MGMT, and RASSF1 were higher in NSCLC patients than in controls.

The therapeutic use of curcumin and chemically modified curcumin (CMC) for suppressing melanogenesis and tyrosinase activity have been recognized. J147 is a modified version of curcumin with superior bioavailability and stability. However, there is no report about the effects of J147 on pigmentation in vitro and in vivo. In our studies, we investigated the hypopigmentary effects of J147 treatment on melanocytes and explored the underlying mechanism. The present studies suggested that J147 suppressed both basal and α-MSH-induced melanogenesis, as well as decreased melanocyte dendricity extension and melanosome transport. J147 played these roles mainly by activating the extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase (ERK) pathway. Once activated, it resulted in MITF degradation and further down-regulated the expression of tyrosinase, TRP-1, TRP-2, Myosin Va, Rab27a and Cdc42, ultimately inhibited melanin synthesis and melanosome transport. Furthermore, the hypopigmentary effects of J147 were demonstrated in vivo in a zebrafish model and UVB-induced hyperpigmentation model in brown guinea pigs. Our findings also suggested that J147 exhibited no cytotoxicity in vitro and in vivo. Taken together, these data confirmed that J147 may prove quite useful as a safer natural skin-whitening agent.

Selective primary alcohol oxidation to form aldehydes products without overoxidation to carboxylic acids remains a key chemistry challenge. Using simple alkylammonium chloride as the electrolyte with a glassy carbon working electrode in neat ethanol solvent, 1,1-diethoxyethane (DEE) was prepared with >95% faradaic efficiency (FE). DEE serves as a storage platform protecting acetaldehyde from overoxidation and volatilization. UV-vis spectroscopy shows that the reaction proceeds through an ethyl hypochlorite intermediate as the sole chloride oxidation product, and that this intermediate decomposes unimolecularly (rate constant k = (6.896 ± 0.516) × 10-4 s-1) to form HCl catalyst and acetaldehyde, which undergoes rapid nucleophilic attack by ethanol solvent to form the DEE product. This indirect oxidation mechanism enables ethanol oxidation at much less positive potentials due to the fast kinetics for chloride anion oxidation.

Acylcarnitines (ACs) play important roles in the fatty acid β-oxidation and are considered as diagnostic markers for many diseases. Accurate determination of ACs remains challenging due to their low abundance, high structure diversity, and limited availability of standard compounds. In this study, microwave-assisted Tmt-PP (p-[3,5-(dimethylamino)-2,4,6-triazine] benzene-1-sulfonyl piperazine) derivatization was utilized to facilitate the liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) determination of ACs. The result indicated that Tmt-PP labeling enables the prediction of the retention time and MS response of ACs and enhances their MS response up to 4 times. The introduction of the microwave during the derivatization procedure greatly improved the reaction efficiency, demonstrated by the shortened reaction time from 90 to 1 min. Furthermore, we applied a strategy named quantitative analysis of multi-components by a single marker (QAMS) for the assay of 26 ACs with only 5 AC standards, solving the standard availability issue to a large extent. The established workflow was applied to discover dysregulated ACs in xenograft colon cancer mice, and the quantification results were highly comparable with traditional methods where there were the corresponding standards for each AC. Our study demonstrated that chemical derivatization-based LC-MS/MS integrated with the QAMS strategy is robust for the identification and quantification of ACs and has great potential in targeted metabolomics study.

Background Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has a long history of treating glaucoma with remarkable effects, but there is no clear conclusion on its mechanism. Methods Network pharmacology and molecular docking were used to analyze the mechanism and targets of TCM in the treatment of glaucoma, and baicalein was used to treat chronic ocular hypertension animal models rats for observation. Results The results of animal experiments showed that baicalein could significantly reduce intraocular pressure (IOP) in a rat model of chronic ocular hypertension and protect the structure of the retina and optic nerve, as shown by hematoxylin–eosin (H&E) staining and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Reducing the apoptosis of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) by upregulating the expression of the antiapoptotic protein BCL-2 is basically consistent with the results of molecular docking. In the network pharmacology analysis, many key proteins of biological pathways involved in the herbal therapeutic processes in glaucoma, such as threonine kinase 1 (AKT1, core protein of PI3K/AKT signaling), tumor protein p53 (TP53, a tumor suppressor gene coding tumor protein P53), signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3, core protein of JAK/STAT signaling), interleukin 6 (IL-6) and interleukin 17 (IL-17, proinflammatory factors), were identified. Their interactions built complicated chain reactions in the process of glaucoma. Conclusion By combining the analysis of network pharmacology and animal experimental results, baicalein could effectively improve the symptoms of glaucoma and reduce RGC apoptosis, suggesting that the potential mechanism of TCM in treating glaucoma is related to regulating inflammation and cellular immunity and reducing apoptosis.

Nanozymes are one of the ideal alternatives to natural enzymes for various applications. The rational design of nanozymes with improved catalytic activity stimulates increasing attention to address the low activity of current nanozymes. Here, we reported a general strategy to fabricate the Co-based homobimetallic hollow nanocages (HNCs) (C-CoM-HNC, M = Ni, Mn, Cu, and Zn) by ion-assistant solvothermal reaction and subsequent low-temperature calcination from metal-organic frameworks. The C-CoM-HNCs are featured with HNCs composed of interlaced nanosheets with homogeneous bimetallic oxide dispersion. The hierarchical structure and secondary metallic doping endow the C-CoM-HNC highly active sites. In particular, the Cu-doped C-CoCu-HNCs nanostructures exhibit superior performances over the other C-CoM-HNC as both the oxidase mimicking and peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activator. A sensitive bioassay for acetylcholinesterase (AChE) was established based on the excellent oxidase-like activity of C-CoCu-HNC, offering a linear detection range from 0.0001 to 1 mU/mL with an ultralow detection limit of 0.1 mU/L. As the PMS activator, the C-CoCu-HNC was applied for targeted organic pollutant (rhodamine B, RhB) degradation. A highly efficient RhB degradation was realized, along with good adaptability in a wide pH range and good reusability during the eight-cycle run. The results suggest that C-CoCu-HNC holds a practical potential for clinical diagnostics and pollution removal. Further density functional theory calculation reveals that Cu doping leads to a tighter connection and more negative adsorption energy for O2/PMS, as well as an upshifted d-band center in the C-CoCu-HNCs nanostructures. These changes facilitated the adsorption of O2/PMS on the C-CoCu-HNC surface for dissociation. This work not only offers a promising multifunctional nanozyme catalyst for clinical diagnostics and pollution removal but also gives some clues for the further development of novel nanozymes with high catalytic activities.

Aim To analyse the expression of lncRNA-ANRIL and other related factors in different human body fluids, explore the clinical significance of ANRIL and validate whether ANRIL is interrelated with the renin–angiotensin system and NF-κB signalling pathway. Methods Ninety-one patients were included in this cross-sectional study and were divided into the NDM group (20 patients), DM group (25 patients), NPDR group (21 patients) and PDR group (25 patients). Basic information and samples of serum, aqueous fluid and vitreous fluid were collected before vitrectomy or intravitreal injection. The transcription and levels of ANRIL and other related factors were detected by RT-PCR and ELISA. Statistical Package for Social Sciences software was used for statistical analysis. Results ANRIL expression varied among different groups and body fluids. There was no difference in ANRIL expression between the NDM and DM groups, but the level of ANRIL was significantly lower in the DM group than in the NPDR and PDR group. In vitreous fluid, ANRIL expression was positively correlated with Ang II, p65 and VEGF expression in the PDR group. The expression of ANRIL in serum was not significantly correlated with age or the random blood sugar but was positively correlated with diabetic duration and HbAc1 level. Conclusions Levels of lncRNA-ANRIL are higher in DR patient and correlated with the progression of DR that may be used as an indicator to predict the development of DR. The activation of the RAS and the NF-κB pathway may be closely related to the upregulation of ANRIL. Clinical trial number ChiCTR1800017500. Registry Chinese Clinical Trial Registry.

Hydrogels have promising application in tissue regeneration due to their excellent physicochemical and biocompatible properties, whereas anisotropic micropatterns are been proven to directionally induce cell alignment and accelerate cell migration. However, an effect of biofunctionalized anisotropic hydrogel micropatterns on nerve regeneration has rarely been reported. In this study, the anisotropic polyacrylamide (PAM) hydrogel micropatterns with aligned ridge/groove structures were first prepared via in situ free radical polymerization and micromolding, and then biofunctionalized using YIGSR peptide for better promoting cell growth. The morphology, swelling ratio, wettability, mechanical properties, and stability of the prepared hydrogel were characterized. The successful immobilization of YIGSR peptide on the PAM hydrogel was monitored using FTIR, immunofluorescence staining, and ELISA. The effects on adhesion, directional growth, and biological function of Schwann cells were evaluated. The results displayed that the anisotropic PAM hydrogel micropatterns with inner porous structure possessed good stability, swelling, and mechanical properties. The YIGSR peptide could be well immobilized on hydrogel micropatterns with a percentage of 62.6%. The biofunctionalized anisotropic hydrogel micropatterns could effectively regulate the orientation growth of Schwann cells, and obviously up-regulate BDNF (40%) and β-actin (50%) expression compared with single hydrogel micropatterns, without negatively affecting the normal secretion of neurotropic factors by Schwann cells. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time to study the construction and effect of biofunctionalized anisotropic hydrogel micropatterns on nerve regeneration, which may provide an experimental and theoretical basis for the design and development of artificial implants for nerve regeneration application.

The development of room temperature NH3 sensors with flexible substrate can fulfill the future demands of high NH3 sensing performance under the premise of lower energy consumption and safety circumstance in wearable electronics field. The polyaniline and a serious of WO3 hollow spheres@ polyaniline hybrid were successfully synthesized via a combined route of simple hydrothermal method and in-situ chemical oxidative polymerization. The room temperature NH3 sensors were fabricated by assembling WO3 hollow spheres@ polyaniline hybrid on flexible polyethylene terephthalate (PET) films. The NH3 sensing properties of the fabricated devices demonstrated that the device utilizing 10 mol% WO3 hollow spheres@ polyaniline (PAWHs 10) hybrid exhibited the best sensing performance to 100 ppm NH3 (response value at 25) at 20 °C. Moreover, the PAWHs10 hybrid sensor also achieved excellent NH3 selectivity, ppb-level detection limit (1.67–500 ppb NH3), and good response/recovery rates (136 s/130 s) at 20 °C. The enhanced sensing performance of incorporation of polyaniline and WO3 hollow spheres was mainly attributed to the hollow structure of WO3 and the formation of p-n heterojunction between PANI and WO3 hollow spheres.

Developing photocatalysts capable of organic oxidations enables the generation of value-added products from biomass feedstocks through visible light irradiation. Through a series of nonaqueous phot...

Ti3C2T x MXene with an organ-like structure was synthesized from Ti3AlC2 (MAX phase) through the typical hydrofluoric (HF) acid etching method. Ti3C2T x MXene was further alkaline-treated with a sodium hydroxide solution to obtain alkalized Ti3C2T x. Room-temperature planar-type gas- and humidity-sensing devices were also fabricated by utilizing Ti3C2T x MXene and alkalized Ti3C2T x sensing material based on the dip coating method, respectively. The intercalation of the alkali metal ion (Na+) and the increase of the surface terminal oxygen-fluorine ratio ([O]/[F]) in Ti3C2T x can effectively improve humidity- and gas-sensing properties at room temperature. The developed alkalized Ti3C2T x sensor exhibited excellent humidity-sensing characteristics (approximately 60 times response signal change) in the relative humidity (RH) with a range of 11-95% and considerable NH3 sensing performance (28.87% response value to 100 ppm of NH3) at room temperature. The improvement of NH3 and humidity-sensing properties indicated that alkalized Ti3C2T x has great potential in chemical sensors, especially in NH3 and humidity sensors.

Urea accounts for over half of the global ammonia volatilization from synthetic nitrogen fertilization. Process-oriented models, such as the widely applied DeNitrification DeComposition 9.5 version (DNDC95), are expected to predict ammonia volatilization from agricultural urea applications under various conditions. However, compared to the wind-tunnel ammonia observations of a nationwide, seven-site/ten-case network in the United Kingdom, the DNDC95 greatly underestimated the ammonia volatilization from winter cereal fields applied with urea at a constant dose. The model was revised in this study mainly through (i) newly parameterizing the effects of clay fraction, plant standings and canopy wetting on ammonia release from the soil solution, and (ii) re-calibrating the parameters of the urea hydrolysis function and the original parameterizations of wind, soil temperature and moisture effects on ammonia volatilization using the observations in one case of the network. Next, the performances of the revised model (DNDC95_NH3) in simulating grain yield, full crop nitrogen uptake, cumulative ammonia volatilization (CAV) and daily ammonia fluxes were evaluated using the observations of these variables in the other nine network cases. The DNDC95_NH3 performed considerably better than the DNDC95. Particularly, the slopes of the zero-intercept regression for the observations versus simulations decreased from 1.97 to 0.86 and 1.65 to 0.75 for the CAV and daily ammonia fluxes, respectively. In addition, the number of the cases with significant discrepancies between simulated and observed CAV was reduced from six of the nine network cases to only two. The simulations by the revised model for these two cases showed a significant underestimation and an extremely large overestimation, respectively. However, reasons especially for the significant overestimation still remain unclear. Future studies still need to diagnose and solve the other existing problems so as to further improve the model's performance.

The synthesis of ionic liquids (ILs), based on the trimethyl-isobuty-ammonium cation, (N111i4)+, and, respectively, the bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide (TFSI), (fluorosulfonyl) (trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide (FTFSI), and bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide (FSI) anions is herein reported. The NMR validation of the N111i4Br precursor as well as the ionic liquids is shown. The thermal properties were investigated via variable-temperature, coupled with mass spectroscopy, and isothermal thermo-gravimetrical analyses, and long-thermal tests. The TFSI-based IL exhibits a melting point of 29.93 °C, which is found to be shifted down to −0.12 and −14.32 °C for the FSI- and FTFSI-based samples, respectively. Additionally, the TFSI- and FTFSI-based samples are able to keep in super cooled state for more than one year. The investigated N111i4-based ionic liquids display an electrochemical stability window exceeding 5.5 V.

Thyroid cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors, and the mortality rate associated with thyroid cancer has been increasing annually. Curcumin has been reported to exert an antitumor effect on papillary thyroid cancer (PTC), and the identification of additional mechanisms underlying the anticancer effect of curcumin on PTC requires further investigation. The present study aimed to explore the effects of curcumin on the viability, migration and invasion of PTC cells. TPC-1 cells were incubated with different concentrations of curcumin, and then, cell viability, migration and invasion, and wound healing were examined by CCK-8, Transwell and wound healing assays, respectively. Subsequently, microRNA (miR)-301a-3p mimics, miR-301a-3p inhibitors and signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT)3 overexpression vector were transfected into TPC-1 cells, and cell viability, migration, and invasion were reassessed in these transfected cells. Matrix metallopeptidase (MMP)-2, MMP-9, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related markers, and Janus kinase (JAK)/STAT signaling pathway components were assessed by western blot analysis. Curcumin significantly inhibited cell viability, migration and invasion and downregulated MMP-2, MMP-9 and EMT marker expression. Additionally, curcumin decreased STAT3 expression by upregulating miR-301a-3p expression, and the inhibition of miR-301a-3p and the overexpression of STAT3 reversed the effects of curcumin on cell viability, migration and invasion, and MMP-2, MMP-9 and EMT marker expression in TPC-1 cells. Furthermore, curcumin suppressed the JAK/STAT signaling pathway through the miR-301a-3p/STAT3 axis. The data of the present study indicated that curcumin could inhibit the viability, migration and invasion of TPC-1 cells by regulating the miR-301a-3p/STAT3 axis. These findings may provide a possible strategy for the clinical treatment of PTC.

As biomaterials with excellent biocompatibility, biodegradation and low toxicity, poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) and poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) are widely applied as wound dressing and surgical suture in biomedical field. In this paper, an oblique section free surface eletrospinning (OSFSE) apparatus was utilized to prepare high-quality and high-output ZnO/PLGA/PCL nanofiber membranes (NFMs) for antibacterial materials. The effects of the weight ratio of PLGA and PCL on the viscosity and conductivity of electrospinning solutions as well as the yield, morphology and wettability of PLGA/PCL NFMs were researched, and the optimal weight ratio of 6:4 was determined. Then the effects of ZnO contents on the electrospinning solution properties as well as the yield, morphology, structure, wettability, mechanical property and antibacterial performance of ZnO/PLGA/PCL NFMs with the optimal ratio of PLGA and PCL were studied. The results indicated that the addition of ZnO could improve significantly the antibacterial effect of NFMs, and the NFMs with 3 wt% ZnO had excellent antibacterial activity against E. coli (95.3%) and S. aureus (95.7%).

Oxidative stress could be a possible mechanism and a therapeutic target of atrial fibrillation (AF). However, the effects of the xanthine oxidase (XO) inhibition for AF remain to be fully elucidated. We investigated the effects of a novel XO inhibitor febuxostat on AF compared with allopurinol in hypertension rat model. Five-week-old Dahl salt-sensitive rats were fed either low-salt (LS) (0.3% NaCl) or high-salt (HS) (8% NaCl) diet. After 4 weeks of diet, HS diet rats were divided into three groups: orally administered to vehicle (HS-C), febuxostat (5 mg/kg/day) (HS-F), or allopurinol (50 mg/kg/day) (HS-A). After 4 weeks of treatment, systolic blood pressure (SBP) was significantly higher in HS-C than LS, and it was slightly but significantly decreased by treatment with each XO inhibitor. AF duration was significantly prolonged in HS-C compared with LS, and significantly suppressed in both HS-F and HS-A (LS; 5.8 ± 3.5 s, HS-C; 33.9 ± 23.7 s, HS-F; 15.0 ± 14.1 s, HS-A; 20.1 ± 11.9 s: P

A kind of novel three-dimensionally ordered macroporous molecularly imprinted microspheres (3DMIMs) had been developed for selective recognition and separation of quinine based on the combination of colloidal crystal templating method and molecular imprinting technique. The 3DMIMs were derived from the spherical silica colloidal crystal involving a four-step templating process including infiltration of imprinted precursors, sealing of polyethylene glycol, initiation polymerization, as well as final removal of the colloidal crystal and imprinting template. The resulted 3DMIMs consisted of a three-dimensional, highly ordered and interconnected macroporous arrays with nanoscale thickness of polymer wall, in which numerous imprinted cavities were obtained. The kinetic and isothermal adsorption behavior of the 3DMIMs were investigated in detail. The results showed the 3DMIMs had a rapider mass transfer process, higher adsorption capacities and recognition specificity toward quinine compared with the traditional bulk imprinted polymers. In addition, the 3DMIMs exhibited obvious high permeability and low backpressure at high flow rate as column packing. Extraction experiments showed that the 3DMIMs could effectively separate quinine and its diastereoisomer, quinidine, directly from crude cinchona bark extract with a satisfactory selectivity and elution recovery.

Chemoresistance is a major obstacle to the treatment of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), which has a poor prognosis. Increasing evidence has demonstrated the essential role of cancer stem cells (CSCs) in the process of TNBC chemoresistance. However, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. In the present study, we report that block of proliferation 1 (BOP1) serves as a key regulator of chemoresistance in TNBC. BOP1 expression was significantly upregulated in chemoresistant TNBC tissues, and high expression of BOP1 correlated with shorter overall survival and relapse-free survival in patients with TNBC. BOP1 overexpression promoted, while BOP1 downregulation inhibited the drug resistance and CSC-like phenotype of TNBC cells in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, BOP1 activated Wnt/β-catenin signaling by increasing the recruitment of cyclic AMP response element-binding protein (CBP) to β-catenin, enhancing CBP-mediated acetylation of β-catenin, and increasing the transcription of downstream stemness-related genes CD133 and ALDH1A1. Notably, treating with the β-catenin/CBP inhibitor PRI-724 induced an enhancement of chemotherapeutic response of paclitaxel in BOP1-overexpressing TNBC cells. These findings indicate that BOP1 is involved in chemoresistance development and might serve as a prognostic marker and therapeutic target in TNBC. © 2021 The Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) play very important roles in cell differentiation. Our recent study has demonstrated that a novel lncRNA named lnc-OAD modulated 3T3-L1 adipocyte differentiation. In the present study, we examined the roles of lnc-OAD in bone morphogenetic protein 2- (BMP-2-) induced osteoblast differentiation. Lnc-OAD expression was increased during BMP-2-induced osteoblast differentiation in C3H10T1/2 mesenchymal stem cells and MC3T3-E1 preosteoblast cells. Knockdown of lnc-OAD expression by specific siRNA remarkably decreased early osteoblast differentiation. In addition, stable knockdown of lnc-OAD by lentivirus vector also significantly inhibited late osteoblast differentiation and matrix mineralization in vitro. Conversely, stably overexpressed lnc-OAD with lentiviral vector accelerated osteoblast differentiation. Mechanistically, knockdown of lnc-OAD reduced significantly the phosphorylation of AKT and the expression of Osterix induced by BMP-2, while overexpression of lnc-OAD enhanced the phosphorylation of AKT and the expression of Osterix. Taken together, our study suggests that lnc-OAD plays an important role in modulating BMP-2-induced osteoblast differentiation via, at least in part, regulating the AKT-Osterix signaling axis.

Reservoirs are regarded as hotspots of nitrogen transformation and potential sources of nitrous oxide (N2O). However, it remains unclear how the hydrological conditions due to dam construction control the processes of nitrogen transformation in reservoir waters. To address this issue, we examined the spatial-temporal characteristics of nitrate concentrations, δ15N-NO3-, δ18O-NO3-, δ18O-H2O, relative water column stability (RWCS), and related environmental factors in a subtropical eutrophic reservoir (Hongfeng Reservoir, HFR), Southwest China. We found that denitrification was the most important nitrogen transformation process in the HFR and that higher denitrification intensity was associated with increased RWCS in summer, which suggested hydrological control of the denitrification process. In contrast, low RWCS conditions favored the nitrification process in the HFR in winter. Additionally, dissolved oxygen (DO; p

Aging and obesity are the most prominent risk factors for onset of atrial fibrillation (AF). Nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (Nampt) is the rate-limiting enzyme that catalyzes nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) activity. Nampt and NAD are essential for maintenance of cellular redox homeostasis and modulation of cellular metabolism, and their expression levels decrease with aging and obesity. However, a role for Nampt in AF is unknown. The present study aims to test whether there is a role of Nampt/NAD axis in the pathogenesis of obesity-induced AF. Male C57BL/6J (WT) mice and heterozygous Nampt knockout (NKO) mice were fed with a normal chow diet (ND) or a high-fat diet (HFD). Electrophysiological study showed that AF inducibility was significantly increased in WT+HFD, NKO+ND, and NKO+HFD mice compared with WT+ND mice. AF duration was significantly longer in WT+HFD and NKO+ND mice and further prolonged in NKO+HFD mice compared with WT+ND mice and the calcium handling pathway was altered on molecular level. Also, treatment with nicotinamide riboside, a NAD precursor, partially restored the HFD-induced AF perpetuation. Overall, this work demonstrates that partially deletion of Nampt facilitated HFD-induced AF through increased diastolic calcium leaks. The Nampt/NAD axis may be a potent therapeutic target for AF.

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) have spurred tremendous research interest in the fields of nanoscience and nanotechnology. However, exploring their biomedical applications is still a daunting challenge. In this work, we employed an acid-degradable MOF, zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8), both as a self-sacrificial template to synthesize uniform size/morphology-controllable hollow mesoporous silica materials (HMSNs) and as a mesopore blocker for fabricating a pH-responsive HMSN-based drug delivery system. Starting from the ZIF-8 template, a layer of mesoporous silica is coated on ZIF-8 and subsequently the template was self-degraded under acidic conditions to obtain HMSNs. A series of monodisperse HMSNs ranging from ca. 80 nm to ca. 3000 nm with morphologies that give rare examples of cubic and dodecahedral morphologies has been prepared. It is demonstrated that the as-made HMSNs possess well-defined mesopores, huge cavities and good biocompatibility, which make them favourable for drug delivery. So, ZIF-8 was then grafted onto the HMSN to block the pore orifice for pH-responsive intracellular anticancer drug release. The results indicated that the ZIF-8-coated HMSN with encapsulated doxorubicin hydrochloride (DOX) was an efficient drug delivery vehicle in cancer therapy using pH-responsive release. This strategy sheds new light on the application of MOF materials and provides great potential for biomedical applications.

Regorafenib, a multiple kinase inhibitor, is recently approved for treatment of patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Previous studies demonstrated that regorafenib was a mitochondrial toxicant, which associated with the impairment of mitochondria. Sirt3 is involved in the regulation of mitochondrial function in cancers. This study aimed to investigate the mechanism of Sirt3 involved in the mitochondrial dysfunction which associated with regorafenib treatment in liver cancer cells. We found regorafenib inhibited Sirt3 and p-ERK expression in HCC cells in a dose-dependent manner. Bioinformatics analysis showed that Sirt3 expression was down-regulated in liver cancer tissues and its low expression was correlated with worse overall survival (OS) in liver cancer patients. After transfected with Sirt3 overexpression plasmid, we found that Sirt3 sensitized liver cancer cells to regorafenib and resulted in much more apoptosis with a significant increase of ROS level. However, exogenous antioxidant could not weaken the apoptosis. Mitochondrial membrane potential assay indicated that Sirt3 overexpression accelerated the mitochondrial depolarization process induced by regorafenib and aggravated mitochondrial injury. Cellular oxygen consumption assay showed that mitochondrial dysfunction was caused by the damage of the electron transport chain. The results demonstrated that Sirt3 overexpression promoted the increase of ROS and apoptosis induced by regorafenib through the acceleration of mitochondrial dysfunction by impairing function of the electron transport chain in liver cancer cells. Our studies verified the functional role of Sirt3 in regorafenib treatment and suggested that regorafenib accompanied with Sirt3 activator as a novel treatment strategy for HCC.

A robust and efficient titanium metal–organic framework (TMF-Pt) with a single-atom Pt embedded PtII tetrakis(4-carboxyphenyl)porphyrins (PtTCPP) as linking groups and Ti-oxo molecular clusters as metal nodes was successfully fabricated for the first time, which have been confirmed by aberration-correction scanning transmission electron microscopy (HAADF-STEM) and synchrotron-radiation-based X-ray absorption fine-structure spectroscopy (XAFS), and was applied to photocatalytic hydrogen production and NO removal. It was worth noting that the TMF-Pt exhibited an extremely high hydrogen evolution activity (15456 µmol·g−1·h−1) and NO removal rate (70.3%) in comparison with most of the reported MOFs-based photocatalysts, which could be ascribed to the very high atom-utilization efficiency of single-atom Pt along with a high charge carriers separation efficiency and the Ti-oxo clusters as an alternative to the very famous TiO2 photocatalyst. The results provided us with a novel strategy that introducing single-atom Pt into the center of the porphyrin skeleton could integrate the broad light-harvesting porphyrin unite with the very high atom-utilization efficiency single-atom Pt to further improve the photocatalytic performance ultimately.

Lycopene is claimed to have numerous physiological benefits, but its poor water solubility, chemical instability, and low bioavailability limit its application in functional foods and health care products. In this study, lycopene-loaded emulsions containing oil droplets with different interfacial structures were prepared and then cross-linked using transglutaminase (TG) and/or calcium ions (Ca2+) to form emulsion gels. The oil droplets were first coated by interfacial layers comprised of whey protein isolate (WPI) and sodium alginate (SA). During emulsion preparation, the SA was added either before or after homogenization to create complex or layer-by-layer coatings, respectively. Subsequently, TG and Ca2+ were used to cross-link WPI and SA to form emulsion gels. The results show that double-crosslinking increased the gel strength and viscosity of the emulsion gels. The layer-by-layer emulsion gels were stronger and more viscous than the complex ones. The photochemical and gastrointestinal stability of lycopene encapsulated within the emulsion gels was higher than that of free lycopene. An MTT toxicity test showed that the emulsion gels exhibited no cytotoxicity to Caco-2 cells. The lycopene-loaded emulsion gels exhibited stronger anti-inflammatory activity on the Caco-2 cells than the control. In addition, the absorption of lycopene by the Caco-2 cells increased after encapsulation. This study provides a new approach of preparing edible soft materials to enhance the application of hydrophobic bioactives (like lycopene) in functional foods.

The polyaniline (PANI) and Au-loaded mesoporous In2O3 nanospheres@PANI core-shell nanohybrid (PAInxAy) sensing materials with different amounts of mesoporous In2O3 and Au-loaded mesoporous In2O3 (2–50 mol%) nanospheres were synthesized through combination methods of facile hydrothermal and in-situ chemical oxidative polymerization. The loading amount of Au was varied from 0.5 at% to 2.0 at%. The sensing materials were performed on flexible polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate to fabricate the sensing device and investigate the gas sensing performances at room temperature. Various characterization techniques including FESEM, TEM, FTIR, XRD and XPS were performed to identify the morphology, structure and element information of the synthesized materials. The sensing performances demonstrated that the sensor utilizing 1 at% Au-loaded 20 mol% mesoporous In2O3 nanospheres@PANI core-shell nanohybrid (PAIn20A1) showed the highest response value (∼46) to 100 ppm NH3 at room temperature, which were about 14 times and 4 times higher than those of pure PANI and PAIn10. The sensor also exhibited excellent selectivity, good reproducibility and perfect response-concentration linearity to NH3 at room temperature. Besides, the effect of relative humidity on the sensing performance and the sensing mechanism for the sensitivity enhancement were discussed.

The rambutan-like polyaniline hollow nanosphere (PANIHs) and graphene oxide (GO)-PANIHs hybrid are prepared by in-situ chemical oxidative polymerization method and are assembled to the high performance gas sensor based on flexible polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate with no extra electrode required for NH3 detection at room temperature. The PANIHs and GO-rambutan-like polyaniline hollow nanosphere (GPA) hybrids with different weight percentages of GO (0.2 wt.%-2 wt.%) are characterized by FESEM, TEM, FTIR, XRD, XPS and Raman. The gas sensing performance of the assembled sensors indicates that the sensor based on GPA0.5 exhibits the best sensitivity towards 10 ppm NH3 at room temperature. The present sensor also exhibits response value of approximately 31.8–100 ppm NH3, acceptable response/recovery time (102 s/186 s), wonderful selectivity and ultra-low detection limit of 50 ppb. This enhanced sensing performance is related to the rambutan-like polyaniline hollow nanosphere nanostructure and synergetic effects of GO and PANIHs. The excellent sensing performance device based on GPA0.5 and flexible PET substrate is expected to hold great promise for developing wearable flexible electronics.

An ultrafast-response yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ)-based mixed potential type gas sensor utilizing molybdate CoMoO4 sensing electrode was developed to realize the effective detection of triethylamine (TEA) at 600 °C. The gas sensing characteristic of the fabricated sensor was optimized by changing the calcination temperature of CoMoO4 sensing material and results indicated that the device attached with CoMoO4-SE sintered at 1000 °C exhibited the highest response value (−102 mV) to 100 ppm TEA and low detection limit of 100 ppb at 600 °C. Interestingly, the response and recovery times of the present sensor to 100 ppm TEA were 1 s and 10 s, which signified the ultra-fast response rate. The response value of fabricated sensor displayed the piecewise linear function to logarithm of TEA concentrations and the sensitivities were −14 mV/decade (0.1–5 ppm) and −53 mV/decade (5–200 ppm), respectively. More importantly, the present sensor also exhibited good repeatability, selectivity, slight effect of humidity and long-term stability of 20 days, indicating a great candidate for use in detection of TEA. Furthermore, the device based on mixed potential mechanism was proposed and further verified using polarization curve.

This study aimed to investigate the nephrotoxicity in rats administered with chronic low-dose cadmium (Cd) by ultra-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. A total of 40 male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to four groups, namely: control; low-dose (0.13 mg/kg·body weight [bw]); middle-dose (0.80 mg/kg·bw); and high-dose (4.89 mg/kg·bw). The rats received CdCl2 daily via drinking water for 24 weeks. Rat kidneys were collected for metabonomics analysis. Principal components analysis and partial least-squares discriminant analysis were used to investigate the metabonomics profile changes in the kidney samples and to screen the potential biomarkers. Ten metabolites were identified in the positive and negative ion modes. Compared with the control group, the intensities of tetranor 12-HETE, uric acid, hypoxanthine, phenylacetylglycine, guanidinosuccinic acid and xanthosine significantly increased (P < 0.01), and those of imidazolelactic acid, lactose 6-phosphate, l-urobilinogen and arachidonic acid significantly decreased (P < 0.01) in the high-dose group. Results showed that exposure to Cd in rats induced oxidative stress to the kidneys and disrupted amino acid metabolism, fatty acid metabolism and energy metabolism.