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Sodium alanate (NaAlH 4 ) with 5.6 wt% of hydrogen capacity suffers seriously from the sluggish kinetics for reversible hydrogen storage. Ti-based dopants such as TiCl 4 , TiCl 3 , TiF 3 , and TiO 2 are prominent in enhancing the dehydrogenation kinetics and hence reducing the operation temperature. The tradeoff, however, is a considerable decrease of the reversible hydrogen capacity, which largely lowers the practical value of NaAlH 4 . Here, we successfully synthesized a new Ti-dopant, i.e., TiH 2 as nanoplates with ~50 nm in lateral size and ~15 nm in thickness by an ultrasound-driven metathesis reaction between TiCl 4 and LiH in THF with graphene as supports (denoted as NP-TiH 2 @G). Doping of 7 wt% NP-TiH 2 @G enables a full dehydrogenation of NaAlH 4 at 80°C and rehydrogenation at 30°C under 100 atm H 2 with a reversible hydrogen capacity of 5 wt%, superior to all literature results reported so far. This indicates that nanostructured TiH 2 is much more effective than Ti-dopants in improving the hydrogen storage performance of NaAlH 4 . Our finding not only pushes the practical application of NaAlH 4 forward greatly but also opens up new opportunities to tailor the kinetics with the minimal capacity loss., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (Copyright © 2021 Zhuanghe Ren et al.)

A member of the interleukin (IL)-1 superfamily was IL-36, which contained IL-36α, IL-36β, IL-36γ, and IL-36Ra. Heterotrimer complexes, consisting of heterodimeric receptor complexes and IL-36 agonist, gave signals through intracellular functional domains, so as to bind to downstream proteins and induce inflammatory response. IL-36 agonists upregulated mature-associated CD80, CD86, MHCII, and inductively produced several pro-inflammatory cytokines through the IL-36R-dependent manner in dendritic cells (DCs). Besides, DCs had the ability to initiate the differentiation of helper T (Th) cells. Up to date, the role of IL-36 in immunity, inflammation and other diseases is of great importance. Additionally, autoimmune diseases were characterized by excessive immune response, resulting in damage and dysfunction of specific or multiple organs and tissues. Most autoimmune diseases were related to inflammatory response. In this review, we will conclude the recent research advances of IL-36 in the occurrence and development of autoimmune diseases, which may provide new insight for the future research and the treatment of these diseases., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Chen, Yu, Yuan, Chen, Cai, Zeng, Sun and Li.)

It is known that liver diseases have several characteristics of massive lipid accumulation and lipid metabolic disorder, and are divided into liver inflammation, liver fibrosis, liver cirrhosis (LC), and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in patients. Interleukin (IL)-35, a new-discovered cytokine, can protect the liver from the environmental attack by increasing the ratio of Tregs (T regulatory cells) which can increase the anti-inflammatory cytokines and inhibit the proliferation of immune cellular. Interestingly, two opposite mechanisms (pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory) have connection with the ultimate formation of liver diseases, which suggest that IL-35 may play crucial function in the process of liver diseases through immunosuppressive regulation. Besides, some obvious advantages also imply that IL-35 can be considered as a new therapeutic target to control the progression of liver diseases, while its mechanism of function still needs further research., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Hu, Lian, Hu, Zhu, Jiang, Ma, Li, Yang, Yang, Guo, Zhou, Yang, Meng, Li, Li, Xu and Zhou.)

Interactions between the active components with the support are one of the fundamentally factors in determining the catalytic performance of a catalyst. In contrast to the comprehensive understanding on the strong metal-support interactions (SMSI) in metal-based catalysts, it remains unclear for the interactions among different oxides in mixed oxide catalysts due to its complexity. In this study, we investigated the interaction between CeO 2 and LaFeO 3 , the two important oxygen storage materials in catalysis area, by tuning the sizes of CeO 2 particles and highlight a two-fold effect of the strong oxide-oxide interaction in determining the catalytic activity and selectivity for preferential CO oxidation in hydrogen feeds. It is found that the anchoring of ultra-fine CeO 2 particles (<2 nm) at the framework of three-dimensional-ordered macroporous LaFeO 3 surface results in a strong interaction between the two oxides that induces the formation of abundant uncoordinated cations and oxygen vacancy at the interface, contributing to the improved oxygen mobility and catalytic activity for CO oxidation. Hydrogen spillover, which is an important evidence of the strong metal-support interactions in precious metal catalysts supported by reducible oxides, is also observed in the H 2 reduction process of CeO 2 /LaFeO 3 catalyst due to the presence of ultra-fine CeO 2 particles (<2 nm). However, the strong interaction also results in the formation of surface hydroxyl groups, which when combined with the hydrogen spillover reduces the selectivity for preferential CO oxidation. This discovery demonstrates that in hybrid oxide-based catalysts, tuning the interaction among different components is essential for balancing the catalytic activity and selectivity.

In order to satisfy the demand for the cyclic stability of commercial Ni-MH anodes, a PuNi3-type La0.6Gd0.2Mg0.2Ni2.6Co0.3Al0.1 alloy with excellent overall electrochemical properties was prepared by annealing the as-cast alloy sample at different temperatures for a week. The alloy had the highest PuNi3-type content of 86.9 wt% (1073 K), which offered a capacity retention of 69.6% after 100 cycles. However, 23.7 wt% PuNi3 type phase of the alloy constantly converted into the Ce2Ni7 type phase within a temperature increase of 50 °C, which improved the capacity retention by 12.1% under the same discharge capacity. We found that the addition of Gd did not change the stacked [LaMgNi4]/[LaNi5] superlattice and it maintained the structural stability of the crystal as well as its anti-corrosion, which is also a key factor to improve cyclic stability. These findings imply that alloys with both PuNi3-type and Ce2Ni7-type multiphase structures can be considered as a new choice for hydrogen storage.

The practical application of the lithium-sulfur (Li-S) battery is seriously restricted by its shuttle effect, low conductivity, and low sulfur loading. Herein, first-principles calculations are conducted to verify that the introduction of oxygen vacancies in TiO 2 not only enhances polysulfide adsorption but also greatly improves the catalytic ability and both the ion and electron conductivities. A commercial polypropylene (PP) separator decorated with TiO 2 nanosheets with oxygen vacancies (OVs-TiO 2 @PP) is fabricated as a strong polysulfide barrier for the Li-S battery. The thickness of the OVs-TiO 2 modification layer is only 500 nm with a low areal mass of around 0.12 mg cm -2 , which enhances the fast lithium-ion penetration and the high energy density of the whole cell. As a result, the cell with the OVs-TiO 2 @PP separator exhibits a stable electrochemical behavior at 2.0 C over 500 cycles, even under a high sulfur loading of 7.1 mg cm -2 , and an areal capacity of 5.83 mAh cm -2 remains after 100 cycles. The proposed strategy of engineering oxygen vacancies is expected to have wide applications in Li-S batteries., (© 2020 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

The influences of Gd and Co co-substitution for La and Ni on phase structures, and electrochemical properties of La 0.83-x Gd x Mg 0.17 Ni 3.35-2x Co 2x Al 0.15 (x = 0-0.83) alloys were investigated. All the alloys contained A 2 B 7 -type (Ce 2 Ni 7 - and Gd 2 Co 7 -type) phase, Pr 5 Co 19 -type phase, PuNi 3 -type phase and CaCu 5 -type phase. The partial replacement of Gd and Co for La and Ni increased the phase abundance of the Ce 2 Ni 7 -type superstructure and decreased cell volumes, which contributed to a better hydrogen absorption capacity, cyclic stability and HRD. Compared to those of single Gd- or Co-substitutions, the synergistic effects of Gd and Co on the overall electrochemical properties of alloys were significant. Such a superior overall electrochemical performance may result from appropriate cell volumes and anti-pulverization abilities.

Objective: Nasopharyngeal carcinoma is highly endemic in Southeast China. Circulating tumor cell is an important biomarker in the prognosis of variety kinds of cancers. Overexpression of fibronectin 1 was observed in variety kinds of malignancies and may contribute to progress and metastasis of the cancers. The current study was aimed to investigate phenotypes of circulating tumor cell in nasopharyngeal carcinoma blood and fibronectin 1 expression in the circulating tumor cell, and their clinical application in predicting nasopharyngeal carcinoma prognosis., Methods: Blood samples were obtained from nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients before and after treatment. CanPatrol circulating tumor cell enrichment and RNA in situ hybridization were applied to identify circulating tumor cell and its phenotypes. Fibronectin 1 messenger RNA expression in the cells of circulating tumors was examined by messenger RNA-in situ hybridization., Results: Circulating tumor cell was not associated with tumor characteristics or lymph node metastasis. Patients with >9 circulating tumor cells or >5 mesenchymal phenotype circulating tumor cell per 5-mL blood had poorer progression-free survival ( P < .05). Multivariable analysis demonstrated that 2 or more mesenchymal phenotype circulating tumor cells with high fibronectin 1 messenger RNA expression predicted shorter progression-free survival ( P < .05)., Conclusions: Circulating tumor cells with high-level fibronectin 1 expression was associated with poor survival in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma and could be an independent prognostic factor for nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

In the present work, a high electronegativity element substitution strategy was employed to obtain a better corrosion resistance and cycling performance of Ce2Ni7-type La0.83-xYxMg0.17Ni3.1Co0.3Al0.1 (x = 0.0-0.6) alloys. The abundance of the Ce2Ni7-type phase increased as x increased from 0 to 0.2 but it decreased with a further increase in x up to 0.6. The alloy with x = 0.2 further showed a superior discharge capacity (400.6 mA h g-1) and high cycling stability (S320 = 75%). We found that the Y (electronegativity value χY = 1.22 > χLa = 1.10) element could play an essential role in enhancing the anti-corrosion of alloys based on a theoretical framework of the electronegativity of rare earth elements, thus leading to an excellent cycle lifetime of the alloys. The new alloying designs are expected to provide viable La-Mg-Ni-based intermetallic compounds as anode materials for commercial Ni-MH batteries.

Achieving rapid hydrogen desorption at low temperatures is one of the main challenges for Mg-based alloys in hydrogen storage. Here, we report that the dehydrogenation process of Mg2NiH4 can be intrinsically improved with the solid dissolution of titanium into its lattices. The hydrogen desorption is suggested to be promoted by shifting the rate-limiting step from proven nucleation and/or diffusion to two-dimensional phase boundary migration based on kinetic modeling studies, for which few additions have been obtained, probably due to the understanding being confounded by other impurity phases. This alteration intrinsically results in enhanced desorption properties of Mg2NiH4 when Ti is dissolved, i.e., not only does it exhibit a decreased peak desorption temperature with a reduction in the activation energy, but it also positively changes the enthalpy value in comparison with that of the pure compound. These obtained results allow for a deep understanding of how the intrinsic desorption features are enhanced by solid dissolution, and also provide insight into improving hydrogen storage in Mg-based alloys.

Neuregulin3 (NRG3) is a growth factor of the neuregulin (NRG) family and a risk gene of various severe mental illnesses including schizophrenia, bipolar disorders, and major depression. However, the physiological function of NRG3 remains poorly understood. Here we show that loss of Nrg3 in GFAP-Nrg3 f/f mice increased glutamatergic transmission, but had no effect on GABAergic transmission. These phenotypes were observed in Nex-Nrg3 f/f mice, where Nrg3 was specifically knocked out in pyramidal neurons, indicating that Nrg3 regulates glutamatergic transmission by a cell-autonomous mechanism. Consequently, in the absence of Nrg3 in pyramidal neurons, mutant mice displayed various behavioral deficits related to mental illnesses. We show that the Nrg3 mutation decreased paired-pulse facilitation, increased decay of NMDAR currents when treated with MK801, and increased minimal stimulation-elicited response, providing evidence that the Nrg3 mutation increases glutamate release probability. Notably, Nrg3 is a presynaptic protein that regulates the SNARE-complex assembly. Finally, increased Nrg3 levels, as observed in patients with severe mental illnesses, suppressed glutamatergic transmission. Together, these observations indicate that, unlike the prototype Nrg1, the effect of which is mediated by activating ErbB4 in interneurons, Nrg3 is critical in controlling glutamatergic transmission by regulating the SNARE complex at the presynaptic terminals, identifying a function of Nrg3 and revealing a pathophysiological mechanism for hypofunction of the glutamatergic pathway in Nrg3-related severe mental illnesses., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

The three-component Mg(NH 2 ) 2 -LiNH 2 -4LiH composite reversibly stores hydrogen exceeding 5 wt% at a temperature as low as 150 °C. In this work, a number of additives such as CeF 4 , CeO 2 , TiCl 3 , TiH 2 , NaH, KBH 4 and KH are added to the Mg(NH 2 ) 2 -LiNH 2 -4LiH composite in order to improve its kinetics, thermodynamics and cycling properties. Addition of 3 wt% of KH reduces the dehydrogenation onset temperature of the Mg(NH 2 ) 2 -LiNH 2 -4LiH composite to below 90 °C without emission of NH 3 during the whole dehydrogenation process up to 450 °C. Moreover, the dehydrogenation kinetics and cycling ability are remarkably enhanced upon KH-addition. The reaction model of the Mg(NH 2 ) 2 -LiNH 2 -4LiH composite is altered upon KH-addition with the active molecule density improved by about 200 times. In addition, by optimization of the ratio of Mg 2+ to Li + in the Mg(NH 2 ) 2 -LiNH 2 -LiH system, several novel composites, e.g., Mg(NH 2 ) 2 -2LiNH 2 -5.9LiH-0.1KH and Mg(NH 2 ) 2 -LiNH 2 -5.9LiH-0.1KH, with the hydrogen storage capacity exceeding 6 wt% without emission of NH 3 below 250 °C are developed. Our study demonstrates that there are various undiscovered candidates with promising hydrogen storage properties in the three-component Li-Mg-N-H system.

Objective: To study the effects of Weipixiao (胃痞消, WPX) on Wnt pathway-associated proteins in gastric mucosal epithelial cells from rats with gastric precancerous lesions (GPL)., Methods: Sprague Dawley rats were randomly divided into control, model, vitacoenzyme (0.2 g·kg(-1)·day(-1)), WPX high-dose (H-WPX, 15 g·kg(-1)·day(-1)), WPX medium-dose (M-WPX, 7.5 g·kg(-1)·day(-1)) and WPX low-dose (L-WPX, 3.75 g·kg(-1)·day(-1)) groups. After successfully establishing the GPL model, the rats were consecutively administered WPX or vitacoenzyme by gastrogavage for 10 weeks. Differential expression of Leucine-rich repeat-containing G-proteincoupled receptor 5 (Lgr5), matrix metalloproteinase-7 (MMP-7), Wnt1, Wnt3a, and β-catenin in gastric mucosal epithelial cells in all groups were immunohistochemically detected, and the images were taken and analyzed semiquantitatively by image pro plus 6.0 software., Results: Gastric epithelium in the model group showed significantly higher expression levels of Lgr5, MMP-7, Wnt1, Wnt3a and β-catenin than those of the control group(P<0.01). Interestingly, we also observed Lgr5+ cells, which generally located at the base of the gastric glandular unit, migrated to the luminal side of gastric epithelium with GPL. The expression levels of Lgr5, MMP-7, Wnt1, and β-catenin were all down-regulated in the L-WPX group as compared with those of both model and vitacoenzyme groups (P<0.05). A similar, but nonsignificant down-regulation in expression level of Wnt3a was noted in all WPX groups (P>0.05)., Conclusion: Our findings suggested that the therapeutic mechanisms of WPX in treating GPL might be related with its inhibitory effects on the expressions of Lgr5, MMP-7, Wnt1, β-catenin and the aberrant activation of Wnt/β-catenin pathway.

A new mini-spectrophotometer was developed by adopting micro-silicon slit and pixel segmentation technology, and this spectrophotometer used photoelectron diode array as the detector by the back-dividing-light way. At first, the effect of the spectral bandwidth on the tested absorbance linear correlation was analyzed. A theory for the design of spectrophotometer's slit was brought forward after discussing the relationships between spectrophotometer spectrum band width and pre-and post-slits width. Then, the integrative micro-silicon-slit, which features small volume, high precision, and thin thickness, was manufactured based on the MEMS technology. Finally, a test was carried on linear absorbance solution by this spectrophotometer. The final result showed that the correlation coefficients were larger than 0.999, which means that the new mini-spectrophotometer with micro-silicon slit pixel segmentation has an obvious linear correlation.

The contents of heavy metals in soils and dust of urban parks in Shanghai were studied, and the spatial distribution of heavy metals was also analyzed. The results showed that the average contents of Pb (55.06 mg x kg(-1)), Zn(198.54 mg x kg(-1)), Cu(44.57 mg x kg(-1)), Cr (77.01 mg x kg(-1)), Cd (0.40 mg x kg(-1)) and Ni (31.17 mg x kg(-1)) in soils were lower than them in the dust, which were 416.63 mg x kg(-1), 906.29 mg x kg(-1), 235.89 mg x kg(-1), 162.59 mg x kg(-1), 1.58 mg x kg(-1) and 92.19 mg x kg(-1) respectively. The heavy metals in soils except Ni and all the six heavy metals in dust were higher than the background values in Shanghai more or less. The heavy metals average contents in dust in the parks of city central area were lower than them in the parks of city surrounding area, and the heavy metals in soils have similar spatial distribution patterns except for Zn. However, in different districts, the distribution of heavy metals in the soils and dust were not regular. Pearson correlative analysis and principal component analysis indicated that the heavy meals accumulation of the soils and dust were induced by anthropogenic input, furthermore traffic and industry were the main pollution sources.