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Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a public health concern, with high morbidity and mortality rates in hospitalized patients and because survivors have an increased risk of progression to chronic kidney disease. Mitochondrial damage is the critical driver of AKI‐associated dysfunction and loss of tubular epithelial cells; however, the pathways that mediate these events are poorly defined. Here, in murine ischemia/reperfusion (I/R)‐induced AKI, we determined that mitochondrial damage is associated with the level of renal uncoupling protein 2 (UCP2). In hypoxia‐damaged proximal tubular cells, a disruption of mitochondrial dynamics demonstrated by mitochondrial fragmentation and disturbance between fusion and fission was clearly indicated. Ucp2‐deficient mice (knockout mice) with I/R injury experienced more severe AKI and mitochondrial fragmentation than wild‐type mice. Moreover, genetic or pharmacological treatment increased UCP2 expression, improved renal function, reduced tubular injury and limited mitochondrial fission. In cultured proximal tubular epithelial cells, hypoxia‐induced mitochondrial fission was exacerbated in cells with UCP2 deletion, whereas an increase in UCP2 ameliorated the hypoxia‐induced disturbance of the balance between mitochondrial fusion and fission. Furthermore, results following modulation of UCP2 suggested it has a role in preserving mitochondrial integrity by preventing loss of membrane potential and reducing subsequent mitophagy. Taken together, our results indicate that UCP2 is protective against AKI and suggest that enhancing UCP2 to improve mitochondrial dynamics has potential as a strategy for improving outcomes of renal injury. Copyright © 2018 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, silver nano-particles have been anchored in the surface of BiOBr photocatalysts by a citric acid-assisted photoreduction method. The citric acid was served as a chelating and reductive agent for the preparation of Ag-decorated BiOBr photocatalysts (named as Ag/BiOBr-2). The as-synthesized samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and UV-Vis diffuse reflection spectroscopy (DRS). The Ag/BiOBr-2 photocatalyst exhibited excellent and stable photocatalytic activities on MO and phenol degradation under simulated sunlight irradiation. The enhanced photocatalytic activity could be ascribed to the smaller size, rough surface, and the surface plasma resonance (SPR) effect of Ag. Also, the Schottky junction, between the surface of the BiOBr and silver nanoparticles, accelerated the efficient transfer and separation of photoinduced electron-hole pairs and promoted the photocatalytic performance. The active species tests indicated that the superoxide radical (·O ) was responsible for the enhanced photocatalytic performance of Ag/BiOBr-2. Finally, a possible photocatalytic mechanism was proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of Sn-doped BiOCl photocatalysts were successfully synthesized at room temperature via a facile oxidation-reduction method. The as-synthesized products were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS), UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS) and photoluminescence (PL) emission spectroscopy measurements. The results showed that the as-prepared samples exhibited tetragonal crystal structure, lamellar morphology and band gap energy of 3.12 eV and 2.91 eV for BiOCl and Sn(10%)-doped BiOCl, respectively. XPS results showed that Sn was in the form of tetra-valence. The photocatalytic activities of as-synthesized samples were evaluated by the degradation of benzoic acid (BA) and rhodamine B (RhB) in an aqueous solution. The results revealed that the Sn doping could enhance the photocatalytic performance of BiOCl and the highest photocatalytic activity was achieved by the Sn(10%)-doped BiOCl, in addition, the optimum dosage of Sn(10%)-doped BiOCl was 0.4 mg/L in degrading BA. The improved photocatalytic activity of Sn-doped BiOCl could be attributed to the narrower band gap energy (2.91 eV) than pure BiOCl. Furthermore, scavenger experimental results indicated that h + played the pivotal role in BA photocatalytic degradation. What is more, the as-synthesized Sn(10%)-doped BiOCl photocatalyst exhibited a good stability during the photodegradation of BA and RhB, revealing its promising prospect in the practical application of the treatment of organic wastewaters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A bismuth oxychloride (BiOCl) photocatalyst with visible light activity was successfully synthesized using NaBiO 3 and HCl as raw materials. The crystal structure, morphology, and UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectra of the as-synthesized BiOCl were characterized. Rhodamine B (RhB), as a photosensitizer, can remarkably enhance light utilization and improve the photocatalytic activity of BiOCl toward bisphenol-A (BPA). The effects of BiOCl dosage, RhB dosage, BPA initial concentration and initial solution pH on the photocatalytic performance of BiOCl were studied. The photocatalytic oxidation of BPA followed pseudo first-order kinetics, and the highest photodegradation efficiency of BPA was observed using a BiOCl dosage of 1.5 g L −1 and RhB dosage of 5 mg L −1 in BPA solution ( c 0 = 20 mg L −1 , pH = 6) under visible light irradiation for 30 min. Under these conditions, the reaction rate constant of the system was 11.3 times greater than that of BiOCl without RhB. The superior photocatalytic activity observed was attributed to the sensitization effect of RhB. Experimental scavenging results revealed that h + and O 2 − are the main active species involved in BPA degradation. The as-synthesized BiOCl exhibited good photocatalytic stability during photodegradation, which suggests promising prospects in the practical application of organic pollutant photodegradation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Properties-controllable BiOCl photocatalysts are synthesized at room temperature. [•] The structure and photocatalytic properties of BiOCl are affected by I− and H2O2. [•] BiOCl shows good visible-light-induced photocatalytic activity for phenol degradation. [•] The photodegradation mechanism of phenol over BiOCl is proposed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Summarize the general definitions for electrical distance based on different considerations. • Clarify the advantages, disadvantages and adaptability of three typical definitions. • Improve the method for transient voltage control areas identification. • Propose a framework to identify voltage control areas regarding different application scenarios. This paper conducts comparative study on the computing methods of electrical distance. Three typical methods, called the impedance-based method (IM), the sensitivity-based method (SM) and the transient-based method (TM), are described and analyzed at first. Then, their property is preliminarily evaluated using a simple 5-bus power system with variations in network topology, operating conditions and stability parameters. After that, applications in different power systems are tested where the electrical distance is calculated using different methods, based on which a spectrum clustering algorithm is adopted to partition the systems and the partitioning results with different methods are compared to distinguish their adaptability. The simulations show that the methods examined are all effective to reflect electrical coupling between nodes yet with varied performance. Their application orientations are finally identified, which can provide a reference for the utilization and improvement of the definition of electrical distance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]