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A non-hemorrhagic, chymotrypsin-like serine protease, UFEII, was purified from the marine echiuroid worm, Urechis unicinctus, after a combination of chromatography steps. UFEII was monomeric, with an apparent molecular weight of 26.7 kDa via SDS-PAGE. The isoelectric point of UFEII was 4.03, and the maximum activity of the enzyme was observed at 50 °C and pH 8.0. According to fibrin plate assays, UFEII could not only directly degrade fibrin and fibrinogen but also activate plasminogen. Further, UFEII preferentially hydrolyzed the fibrinogen γ-chain, followed by the Bβ-chains and Aα-chains. Moreover, ufeII, full length of the gene encoding UFEII, was obtained by RT-PCR, degenerated PCR, and nested PCR. The ufeII was determined to be a 906-bp cDNA containing an open reading frame of 795 bp encoding a putative protein of 264 amino acids with a predicted molecular weight of 27.03 kDa. Besides, UFEII exhibited no hemorrhagic effect. Overall, U. unicinctus may represent a potential source of new therapeutic agents in thrombolytic therapy.

A new serine protease with fibrinolytic activity from a marine invertebrate, Urechis unicinctus, was purified to electrophoretic homogeneity using column chromatography. SDS-PAGE of the purified enzyme showed a single polypeptide chain with MW ~20.8 kDa. Its N-terminal sequence was IIGGSQAAITSY. The purified enzyme, UFEIII, was stable at pH 6-10 below 60 °C with an optimum pH of 8.5 at approx. 55 °C. The enzyme activity was significantly inhibited by PMSF and SBTI suggesting that it was a serine protease. In fibrin plate assays, UFEIII was contained 1.46 × 10(3 )U (urokinase units) mg(-1) total fibrinolytic activity, which consisted of 692 U mg(-1) direct fibrinolytic activity and 769 U mg(-1) plasminogen-activator activity. Km and Vmax values for azocasein were 1 mg ml(-1) and 43 μg min(-1) ml(-1), respectively.

We investigated the brain oscillatory contribution to emotion-cognition interaction in young children. Five-year-old participants (n = 27) underwent EEG recording while engaged in a color identification task. Each trial began with an emotional prime. Response times indicated whether emotional primes facilitated or interfered with performance. Related effects were detected in theta-band power over parietal-occipital cortex, early in the response epoch (< 500 ms). Children in the emotion facilitation group showed greater theta synchronization for negative stimuli. The opposite trend was observed in the interference group. Results suggest a role for theta oscillations in children's adaptive response to emotional content in cognitive performance.

Nitrogen doped graphene hollow microspheres (NGHSs) have been used as the supports for the growth of the CoO nanoparticles. The nitrogen doped structure favors the nucleation and growth of the CoO nanoparticles and the CoO nanoparticles are mostly anchored on the quaternary nitrogen doped sites of the NGHSs with good monodispersity since the higher electron density of the quaternary nitrogen favors the nucleation and growth of the CoO nanoparticles through its coordination and electrostatic interactions with the Co2+ ions. The resulting NGHSs supported CoO nanoparticles (CoO/NGHSs) are highly active for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) with activity and stability higher than the Pt/C and for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) with activity and stability comparable to the most efficient catalysts reported to date. This indicates that the CoO/NGHSs could be used as efficient bi-functional catalysts for ORR and OER. Systematic analysis shows that the superior catalytic activities of the CoO/NGHSs for ORR and OER mainly originate from the nitrogen doped structure of the NGHSs, the small size of the CoO nanoparticles, the higher specific and electroactive surface area of the CoO/NGHSs, the good electric conductivity of the CoO/NGHSs, the strong interaction between the CoO nanoparticles and the NGHSs, etc.

Nanosized LiFePO 4 /C core/shell nanocomposites with different carbon shell thicknesses have been synthesized by a simple two-step procedure. The effects of carbon shell thickness on the electrochemical performance of these LiFePO 4 /C core/shell nanocomposites have been investigated. It shows that the LiFePO 4 /C core/shell nanocomposites with low carbon shell thicknesses exhibit poor electrochemical performance when used in lithium ion batteries, presumably due to presence of structural disorders and defects in the particle surface layers. An increase of carbon shell thickness can remove the structural disorders and defects. The LiFePO 4 /C core/shell nanocomposites with higher carbon shell thicknesses therefore exhibit significantly improved electrochemical performance. However, further increase of carbon shell thickness would lead to a decrease in the charge/discharge capacity of the LiFePO 4 /C core/shell nanocomposites, although these LiFePO 4 /C core/shell nanocomposites still exhibit high cycling stability. That is because excess carbon shell coating would hinder the penetration of the electrolyte solution into the carbon layers and the inward/outward diffusion of Li + ions through the carbon layers, which decreases the charge/discharge capacity of the LiFePO 4 /C core/shell nanocomposites.

Cereal based products intended for gluten sensitive individuals, particularly to celiac disease patients, tend to have poor organoleptic qualities and they contain low levels of healthy whole grain compounds. Adding whole grain ingredients, such as malt hydrolysates, could compensate these defects provided that the ingredients are adequately free from toxic prolamin epitopes. Here we demonstrate that the level of toxic prolamin epitopes in the malt autolysates (wheat, barley, rye) were substantially lower than in the native malts but too high to allow “very low in gluten” labelling. To further eliminate the residual levels of toxic prolamin epitopes, a proline-specific endoprotease from Aspergillus niger was added to the malt autolysates. In the resulting malt hydrolysates (of wheat and rye but not barley), the prolamins were indeed greatly reduced and were below the very low gluten limit of 100 mg/kg. Malt hydrolysates with adequately low gluten levels may potentially be used as novel ingredients within gluten-free foods.

Ordered microporous carbon materials with controlled chemical and physical properties were synthesized by one-step nanocasting process using different carbon precursors. Large amount of heteroatoms, particularly oxygen and nitrogen species were presented in the carbon matrix. The interactions between the electrolyte ions and the surface functionalities were investigated in detail under various electrolyte environments. The electrochemical studies have revealed that different pseudo-processes occurred in proton-rich and proton-free electrolyte solutions. In proton-rich electrolyte environment, the faradaic processes are mainly due to the proton exchange between the nitrogen and oxygen species on the carbon electrode with the electrolyte. On the other hand, in proton-free electrolytes, nitrogen species was shown to play very important role in terms of the adsorption/desorption of K+ ions when negatively polarized in K+ containing electrolytes. The faradaic interaction between K+ ions and the nitrogen functionalities are stronger at the more negative potential. Very high gravimetric capacitance of 452 F/g and large capacitance retention of 97% at high discharge rate was achieved by the nitrogen-enriched carbon with moderately developed surface area. The superior capacitive performances of the templated carbons are closely linked to the ordered hierarchical porous structure, the adequate microporosity as well as the presence of suitable surface functionalities.

A pulsed plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition technique, which involves alternative plasma “on” and plasma “off”, has been used to prepare sulfonated proton exchange membranes. Using such a plasma discharge technique, the degradation of monomer molecules can be well controlled, and the obtained membranes are found to be highly sulfonated. Compared with the commercial Nafion® 117, these plasma polymerized membranes contain higher contents of sulfonic acid groups and exhibit higher water uptake and IECs, comparable proton conductivity and activation energies for proton conduction, and low methanol permeability, which provide them with great potentials as PEMs for uses in direct alcohol fuel cells. In addition, the properties of the fabricated membranes are strongly dependent upon the conditions used for the membrane fabrication, such as the duty cycle and the partial pressure of monomers. For synthesis of membranes with desirable properties, the conditions used for the membrane fabrication should be well selected.

Linearlinking polystyrene nanospheres (LPSs) with uniform size dispersion were synthesized by the emulsifier-free emulsion polymerization method. And with the adding of divinylbenzene (DVB) crosslinking polystyrene nanospheres (CPSs) was also prepared. It was found out that the partical size of prepared nanospheres changed with the continuous increment of added DVB. The sulfonation of resultant polystyrene nanospheres yielded solids with sulfonic acid groups. The relationship between nanospheres material structure and attached acid groups was investigated in detail. It was observed that the amount of added DVB is the main factor which can affect the amount and thermal stability of attached sulfonic acid groups. The catalytic performance of resultant solid acid catalysts was evaluated through the esterification reaction of methanol with acetic acid. Moreover, the prepared sulfonated polystyrene nanospheres show higher acetic acid conversion than the commercial one, therefore the sulfonated nanospheres could be an excellent potential replacement for liquid acid catalyst.

Three tetrairon ethanedithiolate complexes [{(μ-EDT)Fe2(CO)5}2L] (EDT = SCH2CH2S; L = (η5-Ph2PC5H4)2Fe, 1; Ph2PCH2CH2PPh2, 2; trans-Ph2PCH = CHPPh2, 3) containing bridging bidentate phosphine ligands were prepared by carbonyl substitution reactions in the presence of the decarbonylating agent Me3NO·2H2O. The new complexes 1–3 were characterized by elemental analysis, IR and 1H (31P, 13C) NMR spectroscopies. Furthermore, their structures were determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. The molecular structure of 1 is centrosymmetric and the two cyclopentadienyl (Cp) rings reside in a staggered conformation. The molecular structures of 2 and 3 are composed of a zigzag chain, Fe2P1C20C20AP1AFe2A, with the midpoint of the C20–C20A bond as the center of symmetry.

Mesoporous carbons prepared using a templating method under different carbonization temperatures are sulfonated with concentrated H2SO4 . Without the moving of silica template carbon–silica composites were prepared, which can maintain the pore structure well during sulfonation reaction process. The resultant samples are characterized using nitrogen adsorption, transmission electron microscope, field-emission scanning electron microscope, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and elemental analysis techniques. The catalytic performances of the sulfonated carbons and composites are evaluated by esterification reaction of methanol with acetic acid. The results show that a low-temperature carbonization process is favorable for improving the reaction conversion of acetic acid. In addition, the sulfonated carbon–silica composites show a higher acetic acid conversion than the sulfonated mesoporous carbons.

A H 2 plasma has been used to treat the PtRu nanoparticles supported on the plasma functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (PtRu/PS-MWCNTs). The plasma treatment does not change the size and crystalline structure of PtRu nanoparticles, but reduces the fraction of the oxidized species at the outermost perimeter of particles. The electrochemical results show that these plasma treated PtRu/PS-MWCNTs exhibit increased electrochemically active surface area, improved electrocatalytic activity and long term stability toward methanol and formic acid oxidation, and enhanced tolerance to carbonaceous species relative to the sample untreated with the H 2 plasma. The electrocatalytic activities of the plasma treated PtRu/PS-MWCNTs are found to be dependent upon the Pt:Ru atomic ratios of PtRu nanoparticles. The catalysts with a Pt:Ru atomic ratio close to 1:1 show superior properties in the electrooxidation of methanol and formic acid at room temperature and better tolerance to carbonaceous species.

We aimed to investigate the application of adipose-derived stromal cells in the treatment of stress urinary incontinence (SUI). Animal models of stress urinary incontinence were established with Sprague–Dawley female rats by complete cutting of the pudendal nerve. Rat adipose-derived stromal cells were isolated, cultured and successfully transplanted into animal models. Effects of stem cell transplantation were evaluated through urodynamic testing and morphologic changes of the urethra and surrounding tissues before and after transplantation. Main urodynamic outcome measures were measured. Intra-bladder pressure and leak point pressure were measured during filling phase. Morphologic examinations were performed. Transplantation of adipose-derived stem cells significantly strengthened local urethral muscle layers and significantly improved the morphology and function of sphincters. Urodynamic testing showed significant improvements in maximum bladder capacity, abdominal leak point pressure, maximum urethral closure pressure, and functional urethral length. Morphologic changes and significant improvement in urination control were consistent over time. It was concluded that periurethral injection of adipose-derived stromal cells improves function of the striated urethral sphincter, resulting in therapeutic effects on SUI. Reconstruction of the pelvic floor through transplantation of adipose-derived cells is a minimally invasive and effective treatment for SUI.

A low-frequency after-glow capacitively coupled plasma discharge technology is employed to prepare sulfonated plasma polymerized membranes. In comparison with conventional Nafion® 117, these plasma polymerized membranes usually exhibit dense and uniform structures with a thickness adjustable by the deposition time, and show great promising in the applications of DMFCs. Due to the complexity of plasma polymerization, however, the qualities and properties of the fabricated membranes are strongly dependent upon the synthesis conditions. Therefore, to achieve the membranes with desirable properties for direct methanol fuel cell applications, such as high sulfonation contents, high chemical, mechanical, and dimensional stabilities, high proton conductivity and lower methanol permeability, the conditions used for the membrane synthesis must be optimized. It shows that these membranes synthesized under preferable conditions possess highly cross-linked structures, higher sulfonation contents and chemical and mechanical stabilities, and therefore exhibit superior properties, such as higher proton conductivity and lower methanol permeability, in their applications in direct methanol fuel cells.

Methyl methacrylate (MMA) is grafted on multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) by using N(2) plasma technique. The MMA grafted MWCNTs (MWCNT-g-pMMA) are characterized by using Raman spectroscopy, powder X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, thermo gravimetric analysis-differential thermal analysis (TGA-DTA), and potentiometric acid-base titration method. The application of MWCNT-g-pMMA in the removal of 4,4'-dichlorinated biphenyl (4,4'-DCB) from large volumes of aqueous solutions is investigated under ambient conditions. The results indicate that the adsorption of 4,4'-DCB on MWCNT-g-pMMA is much higher than that of 4,4'-DCB on MWCNTs, and the adsorbed 4,4'-DCB is difficult to be thermally decomposed from MWCNT-g-pMMA according to the TGA-DTA analysis. MWCNT-g-pMMA are suitable materials in the preconcentration and immobilization of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from large volumes of aqueous solutions in environmental pollution cleanup.

Mesoporous carbons prepared using a templating method under different carbonization temperatures are sulfonated with concentrated H2SO4. Without the moving of silica template carbon–silica composites were prepared, which can maintain the pore structure well during sulfonation reaction process. The resultant samples are characterized using nitrogen adsorption, transmission electron microscope, field-emission scanning electron microscope, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and elemental analysis techniques. The catalytic performances of the sulfonated carbons and composites are evaluated by esterification reaction of methanol with acetic acid. The results show that a low-temperature carbonization process is favorable for improving the reaction conversion of acetic acid. In addition, the sulfonated carbon–silica composites show a higher acetic acid conversion than the sulfonated mesoporous carbons.

Nanosized Pt particles deposited on plasma treated multi-walled carbon nanotubes have been used in electrocatalytic oxidation of ethanol in a basic solution. These Pt nanoparticles have very narrow size distribution and exhibit significant higher catalytic activities, higher Pt utilization efficiency (93.77%) and improved durability in comparison to the commercial available Johnson Matthey Pt/C catalyst.

Sulfonated ‘Nafion-like’ plasma polymerized membranes were synthesized by plasma polymerization of a mixture of styrene and trifluoromethane sulfonic acid monomers in a low-frequency after-glow capacitively coupled plasma (CCP) discharge reactor. The synthesized plasma polymerized membranes are flat and uniform with a few microns thickness. Their structure detected by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy is very rich with sulfonic acid groups (up to 3 at.%). The proton transport number and ion exchange capacity were investigated in details. The results are compared with that of a commercial available Nafion ® 117.

Multi-composition of the polymer nanoball carrying sulfonic acid groups, silicon oxide and pyridine groups with diameter of ∼ 25 nm was made from a plasma polymerization of 2-vinylpyridine and trifluoromethanesulfonic acid cooperating with direct current (DC) plasma sputtering of methyl etheneyl silicone rubber in a low-frequency after-glow capacitively coupled plasma (CCP) discharge apparatus. It is concluded that the size and composition of the core-polymerized polymer nanoball can be controlled by altering the partial pressure ratio of trifluoromethanesulfonic acid and 2-vinylpyridine. Pyridine groups tethered to the polymer backbone can act as a medium through the basic nitrogen for transfer of protons between the sulfonic acid groups of proton exchange membrane, and a polymeric form of silicon oxide in polymer nanoball can improve water retention. Thus, doping these polymer nanoballs into polymer membranes as a proton transport facilitator for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells seems promising.

Plasma polymerization has gained increasing interest for the deposition of functional plasma-polymerized membranes suitable for a wide range of applications on account of its advantageous features. In this work, acrylic acid/styrene composite plasma polymerized membranes were synthesized by plasma polymerization of a mixture of acrylic acid and styrene monomers in a low-frequency after-glow capacitively coupled plasma (CCP) discharge process. The structure and composition of the plasma polymerized membranes were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The results showed that the partial pressure ratio between acrylic acid (AA) and styrene (St), applied discharge power and the energy of the extracted particles have considerable effects on the structure and the content of functional groups of the deposited membranes.

Sulfonated ultra-thin proton-exchange polymer membrane carrying pyridine groups was made from a plasma polymerization of styrene, 2-vinylpyridine, and trifluoromethanesulfonic acid by after-glow capacitively coupled discharge technique. Pyridine groups tethered to the polymer backbone acts as a medium through the basic nitrogen for transfer of protons between the sulfonic acid groups of proton exchange membrane. It shows that the method using present technology could effectively depress the degradation of monomers during the plasma polymerization. Spectroscopic analyses reveal that the obtained membranes are highly functionalized with proton exchange groups and have higher proton conductivity. Thus, the membranes are expected to be used in direct methanol fuel cells.

An after-glow capacitively coupled discharge technique has been used to fabricate ultra-thin proton-exchange composite membranes in a plasma polymerization reactor, where styrene and acrylic acid are used as starting materials. During the preparation, the energy of the ionized particles extracted from the radio frequency glow discharge region to the plasma polymerization region can be easily controlled by adjusting the bias voltage applied to the screen grids and substrate. Therefore, the degradation of monomers can be effectively avoided, and the contents of the proton exchange groups on the obtained membranes could reach to a higher extent. The synthesized membranes are dense with uniform structure and are demonstrated as good proton conductors.

An after-glow capacitively coupled discharge technique has been used to fabricate ultra-thin proton exchange composite membranes in a plasma polymerization reactor, where styrene and acrylic acid are used as starting materials. By this technique, a good preservation of monomer structure can be achieved. The structure and composition of the plasma polymerized membranes were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The morphology information and thickness of the membranes were provided by Scanning electron micrographs (SEM). The synthesized membranes are dense with uniform structure and rich with carboxyl acid groups. This novel plasma polymerization technique is expected to be used for the preparation of alternative membranes to preserve their monomer structure to a maximum extent.

Researchers have been at odds on whether affective or semantic priming is faster or stronger. The present study selects a series of facial expression photos and words, which have definite emotional meaning or gender meaning, to set up experiment including both affective and semantic priming. The intensity of emotion and gender information in the prime as well as the strength of emotional or semantic (in gender) relationship between the prime and the target is matched. Three groups of participants are employed separately in our experiment varied with stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) as 50, 250 or 500 ms. The results show that the difference between two types of priming effect is revealed when the SOA is at 50 ms, in which the affective priming effect is presented when the prime has negative emotion. It indicates that SOA can affect the comparison between the affective and semantic priming, and the former takes the priority in the automatic processing level.

This paper explores the differences within the underlying brain mechanism for facial expression and gender information processing. The study recorded Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) of participants while they were performing a cross-change detection task, in which the cross was peripherally surrounded by four facial stimuli. For investigating facial expression processing, either four faces with positive expressions from two females and two males were presented infrequently among four faces with negative expressions, or four faces with negative expressions from two females and two males were presented infrequently among four faces with positive expressions. For gender information processing, four female faces were presented infrequently among four male faces, or vice versa. The findings showed that the latency of facial emotion-related visual mismatch negativity (vMMN) was shorter than that of facial gender-related vMMN, and that their related brain regions presented some differences. The results can be viewed as evidence of the difference by which the human brain processes facial emotion and gender information.

Brown japonica rice was treated with (60)Co γ irradiation at doses of 0, 0.2, 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 kGy immediately after harvesting. The effects of irradiation on physicochemical, structural, and sensory properties during long-term storage (18 months) were investigated. The study revealed that the pasting properties, including peak, through, breakdown, final, and setback viscosities, decrease considerably in a dose-dependent manner and vary differently during 18 months of storage. Irradiation reduced the free fatty acid (FFA) content in comparison with unirradiated brown rice with long-term storage (from 12 to 18 months). Scanning electron microscope (SEM) observation showed that the mean range and shape of starch granules did not vary significantly. However, dark spots developed among starch granules and the narrow cracks became wider with increasing irradiation dose and storage time. During sensory evaluation, extremely low scores for odor and overall acceptability were obtained for medium-dose irradiated rice (1.0 and 2.0 kGy); however, no significant difference was found in acceptability between low-dose irradiated rice (0.2 and 0.5 kGy) and the control rice (0 kGy). Overall, low-dose (0.5 kGy or below) irradiation seems to be a promising alternative treatment to increase brown rice shelf life, without affecting the physicochemical and structural characteristics and sensory acceptability.

OBJECTIVE The aim of the present study was to determine the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its receptor, kinase insert domain containing receptor (KDR), and their significance in regulating tumor angiogenesis in the early stages of cervical cancer. METHODS Using the immunohistochemical SP method, the expression of VEGF and KDR was determined in the cancer cells. In addition, the microvessel density (MVD), labeled by CD34 in the tumor stroma, was examined in 18 cases of cervical intraepithelial neoplasms (ClN), 75 cases of early invasive cervix carcinomas (ICC) and 15 specimens of normal cervical epithelium (NCE). RESULTS In ICC cases, VEGF and KDR were mainly expressed in the cellular membrane and/or cytoplasm of tumor cells, while expression of CD34 was found mainly in the vascular epithelial cells of the tumor stroma. The positive expression rate of VEGF and KDR, and the MVD increased remarkably from NCE through CIN to ICC (P

In most event-related potential (ERP) studies, the averaging technique is used twice for ERP extraction. First, the trials are averaged separately for each experimental condition and for each participant. We can call this procedure average within subject; through this step, we get the averaged file. This step extracts the ERPs from the electroencephalogram (EEG) signal, because the EEG signal is usually larger, and the ERPs are contained in it, which prevents the ERPs from being directly revealed in one or too few trials. The second time, all the individual participants’ ERP files are averaged into one file. We can call this step average between subjects; the result of this step is usually named as the grand average file.

The purpose of this study was to investigate 50 women from eight families with familial cervical cancer in Wufeng County, Hubei Province, China, a region with a high incidence of cervical cancer. Eighty-nine healthy women, of similar age, location and ethnicity, were selected as a control group.Blood samples were collected from both groups, and HLA-A, HLA-B, and HLA-DRB1 genotypes were profiled with the Multi-Analyte Profiling system (xMAP) (Luminex HLA-SSO) using a WAKFlow HLA typing kit. Results were analyzed with Luminex HLA typing software and showed good stability, reproducibility and specificity.We found several high risk alleles in women with familial cervical cancer, that associated with the highest risk being HLA-B*07 (OR = 8.7, 95% CI = 1.8-41.1).HLA-B*07 is a high risk allele for cervical cancer, and has strong potential for use as a molecular biomarker.

Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), as an important alternative energy source with great potentials for use in applications ranging from cellular phones, laptops, digital camera and other conventionally battery driven devices to long-term stationary monitoring electronics, have been extensively investigated (K. Matsumoto et al., 2009; P. Xing et al., 2004). In a PEMFC, the conversion of chemical energy to electrical energy occurs via a direct electrochemical reaction, and its efficiency is directly dependent upon the catalysts used (X. Wang et al., 2004). To be commercially viable, it is generally required that these catalysts have high durability, low cost and higher activities in oxygen reduction and/or fuel oxidation reaction (Kundu et al., 2009). Currently, the most widely used catalysts in the PEMFCs are metal nanoparticles (NPs), mainly Pt and/or Pt based alloys (W.Z. Li et al., 2002, 2003, 2004; Prabhuram et al., 2006; X. Wang et al., 2005). These metal NPs are usually characterized with high activities in oxygen reduction and/or fuel oxidation reaction due to their high surface to volume ratio and improved Fermi levels for redox reactions (W.Z. Li et al., 2006; S.Y. Wang et al., 2009; B.H. Wu et al., 2009; Y. Zhao et al., 2007). However, individual metal NPs are usually unstable and prone to loss of their catalytic activity due to their irreversible aggregation during the electrochemical processes. For practical uses, therefore, specific supports are mostly used to mobilize and prevent these metal NPs from aggregation. Among various types of supports, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are undoubtedly the most widely used. CNTs are allotropes of carbon with a cylindrical nanostructure, and are characterized as elongated fullerenes with diameters ranging from 1-100 nm (Wunderlich, 2007) and lengths of up to several microns. They can be single walled (called as single walled CNTs, SWCNTs) or multiple walled (called as multiple walled CNTs, MWCNTs) (Cassell et al., 1999; Iijima, 1991; Ijima & Ichihashi, 1993; Journet et al., 1997; Thess et al., 1996). These cylindrical carbon molecules have unique properties, such as high-surface area, good electronic conductivity, strong mechanical properties and high-chemical stability, which make them potentially useful in many applications in nanotechnology, electronics

This study aimed to induce the differentiation of isolated and purified adipose-derived stromal cells (ADSCs) into myoblasts, which may provide a new strategy for tissue engineering in patients with stress urinary incontinence (SUI). ADSCs, isolated and cultured ex vivo, were identified by flow cytometry and induced to differentiate into myoblasts in the presence of an induction solution consisting of DMEM supplemented with 5-azacytidine (5-aza), 5% FBS, and 5% horse serum. Cellular morphology was observed under an inverted microscope. Ultrastructural changes occurring during the differentiation were observed by transmission electron microscopy and confocal laser scanning microscopy. Cellular immunohistochemical staining was applied to determine the expression of desmin protein in cells with and without induced differentiation. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blotting were used to detect mRNA and protein expression, respectively, of sarcomeric and desmin smooth muscle proteins. The results showed that ADSCs were mainly of a spindle or polygon shape. Flow cytometry analysis revealed that ADSCs did not express CD34, CD45, and CD106 but high levels of CD44 and CD90, which confirmed that the cultured cells were indeed ADSCs. After induction with a 5-aza-containing solution, morphological changes in ADSCs, including irregular cell size, were observed. Cells gradually changed from long spindles to polygons and star-shaped cells with microvilli on the cell surface. Many organelles were observed and the cytoplasm was found to contain many mitochondria, rough endoplasmic reticulum (rER), and myofilament-like structures. Cell immunohistochemical staining revealed different levels of desmin expression in each phase of the induction process, with the highest expression level found on day 28 of induction. RT-PCR and Western blot results confirmed significantly higher desmin gene expression in induced cells compared with control cells, but no significant difference between the two groups of cells in sarcomeric protein expression. It was concluded that under specific induction setting, ADSCs can be induced to differentiate into myoblasts, providing a potential new option in stem cell transplantation therapy for SUI.

Nitrogen-doped hollow graphene microspheres (NHGSs), synthesized through a procedure involving the calcination of graphene–oxide-wrapped amine-functionalized mesoporous silica nanoparticles (AFMSNs) and the subsequent removal of the AFMSNs via HF etching, have been employed as an electrocatalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). It has been shown that these NHGSs are highly active toward ORR and exhibit higher electrocatalytic activity than graphene, nitrogen-doped graphene (NG), hollow graphene microspheres (HGSs), and JM Pt/C 40 wt%, and a comparable overpotential to JM Pt/C 40 wt%. Their high electrocatalytic activity could be attributed to the N-doped graphitic structure, which produces more active sites for the ORR, allowing the easier adsorption of oxygen and the subsequent reduction; and the specific microspherical hollow structure, which promotes the exposure of more surface area accessible to electrolytes, thereby allowing an easier diffusion of electrolytes into and out of the electrode catalyst layers. Their low overpotential for the ORR can be attributed to the specific microspherical hollow structure, which reduces the overpotential contribution from the mass transport limitation. The stability measurements show that NHGSs also exhibit a much higher stability than graphene, NG, HGSs, and JM Pt/C 40 wt%, and are immune to the methanol crossover and CO poisoning effects, which all together makes NHGSs highly attractive as an electrocatalyst for the ORR.

The membranes constructed from sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate adsorbed holey graphene oxides (SDBS-HGO)s have been used as proton exchange membranes for air-breathing direct methanol fuel cell applications. Due to the specific holey structure of graphene oxide which provides additional transport pathways for protons across the graphene oxide nanosheet and the presence of strong proton exchange groups which provide them with high proton conductivity, the SDBS-HGO membranes exhibit comparable proton conductivity and lower methanol permeability in comparison to the commercial Nafion® 112. The electrochemical results show that the air-breathing direct methanol fuel cell with the SDBS-HGO membranes as the PEMs exhibit much higher performance and better stability than that with Nafion® 112, which clearly demonstrates the possibility of using such SDBS-HGO based papers for air-breathing direct methanol fuel cell applications.

An easy and efficient approach inspired by the ‘Fried-Ice’ concept has been developed for the preparation of boron-doped graphene (B-G) with porous morphologies. The morphology, boron content, and specific surface area (SSA) of these porous graphenes could be well tuned by controlling the reaction temperature. Because of the steam etching effect, the as-prepared porous B-Gs have a high SSA of up to 622 m2 g−1. The porous B-doped graphene electrodes show promising performance in supercapacitors with a gravimetric capacitance of up to 281 F g−1. As metal-free electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction in alkaline medium, these electrodes facilitate the four-electron transfer process with high performances in limited current density and high onset potential (−0.12 V vs. SCE) that is close to that of the commercial Pt/C (40 wt%) and excellent tolerance to methanol and carbon monoxide.

Sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate (SDBS) adsorbed graphene oxide (GO) has been used as a filler to modify sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) (SPEEK). The incorporation of SDBS-GO greatly increases the ion-exchange capacity (IEC), water uptake, and proton conductivity, while it reduces the methanol permeability through the SPEEK membranes. With well controlled contents of SDBS-GO, the composite membranes exhibit higher IEC, water uptake, and proton conductivity and lower methanol permeability than Nafion® 112, making them attractive as proton exchange membranes (PEMs). These superior characteristics make the composite membranes with optimized SDBS-GO contents exhibit superior performance in direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) compared to the plain SPEEK or Nafion® 112 membranes.

A pulsed plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition technique has been employed to prepare sulfonated plasma polymerized membranes. The technique adopting such a pulse plasma discharge can avoid the further dissociation of active species and polymers formed by the plasma discharge during their polymerization and deposition and produces membranes with a higher content of proton exchange groups. The obtained membranes have higher water uptake capability and IECs, low methanol permeability and activation energy for proton conduction, and therefore show great promise for application in direct alcohol fuel cells.

A H2 plasma has been used to treat bimetallic PtRu nanoparticles on the plasma functionalized MWCNTs. These plasma treated PtRu nanoparticles are characterized with reduced oxidized species at their outermost perimeter and exhibit an improved catalytic activity in the ethanol electrooxidation and an enhanced tolerance to carbonaceous species.

Plasma-treated multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) have been used as a substrate for the deposition of Pt nanoparticles. These Pt nanoparticles deposited on MWCNTs showed a higher catalytic activity in a methanol electro-oxidation reaction even with a lower amount of precious metal catalyst used. The higher catalytic activity is attributed to less damage of the carbon nanotubes during plasma treatment. It also shows that direct contact between metal nanoparticles and carbon nanotubes can improve the performance of composites.