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A type of composite network constructed from zinc cobaltate (ZnCo 2 O 4 ) nanoparticles and nanorods on reduced graphene oxide (rGO) nanosheets has been prepared by a facile hydrothermal method. Transmission electron microscope results reveal that the rGO nanosheets are covered by ZnCo 2 O 4 nanoparticles evenly due to the abundant surface functional groups on surface of original GO, and supported by some cross-linked ZnCo 2 O 4 nanorods in the entire structures. With a rational combination, the composite networks present a meso-/macroporous architecture with a larger specific surface area than those of pristine ZnCo 2 O 4 nanorods. As expected, the prepared ZnCo 2 O 4 /rGO electrode exhibits improved electrochemical performances, which shows a high specific capacitance (626 F g −1 at 1 A g −1 ), excellent rate capability (81% retention of the initial capacitance at 30 A g −1 ), and long-term cycling stability (99.7% retention after 3000 cycles at 10 A g −1 ). Such remarkable electrochemical performances of ZnCo 2 O 4 /rGO electrode can be due to the effective pathways for both electronic and ionic transport in these porous networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of different oil on morphologies of emulsion electrospun products has been systematically studied. High photocatalytic degradation performed titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) nanomaterials with diverse morphologies, including nanoparticles, nanofibers, necklace-like nanofibers, porous nanofibers and surface rough nanotubes were prepared based on different water/oil phase separation processes due to distinctive properties of oils. The crystallinity and morphology of as-prepared nanomaterials were characterized by XRD and SEM, the optical absorption property was analyzed by UV–Visual spectrophotometer, N 2 adsorption–desorption was carried to measure the micro-structures and pores distribution of obtained nanomaterials. The photocatalytic activities of as fabricated nanostructures were evaluated by the degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) under illumination of a xenon lamp as light source. The results indicated that the different nanostructure can be obtained easily by changing the types of oil added into electrospun precursor solutions, and photocatalytic studies indicated that almost all of samples prepared by oil added precursors showed improved photocatalytic activities compared with their traditional counterpart. Our systematic study in this work implied that emulsion electrospinning is a simple and feasible method to prepare nanomaterials with diverse morphologies, which can be used in fabricating other semiconductor-based nanomaterials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Terbium-doped SiC (SiC:Tb) nanotubes were prepared by sputtering using electrospun PVP nanofiber templates, followed by annealing in air and carbothermal reduction. Results showed that the obtained SiC:Tb nanotubes are 100–200 nm in outer diameter and 20–50 nm in wall thickness. Photoluminescence (PL) tests indicated that the as-obtained amorphous SiC:Tb nanotubes exhibited a rather low PL from the doped Tb 3+ ions, but a strong self-active PL of Si–C–O defects. While the carbothermal treatments at 800 or 900 °C can greatly enhance the Tb-related PL, further increasing the calcination temperature to 1200 °C will force most of the Tb ions to separate out to the surface of the nanotubes, which is mainly responsible for the second increase in the Tb-related PL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tin dioxide hollow nanospheres (SnO 2 HNSs) are synthesized via a fast, template/surfactant-free and low-temperature (100 °C) solution route. These spheres consist of packed SnO 2 nanocrystals, implying good intercrystal-line connections and effective light absorption. In view of these advantageous features inherited from the prepared SnO 2 HNSs, TiO 2 coated SnO 2 HNSs (SnO 2 HNS–TiO 2 ) core–shell structures are used as photoanodes for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). A high power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 6.54% is achieved from SnO 2 HNS–TiO 2 DSSC, which increases by 53.8%, 21.5% and 330% as compared with those of the DSSCs based on commercial SnO 2 nanoparticle-TiO 2 , TiO 2 nanoparticle (P25) and SnO 2 HNS, respectively. The unsensitized SnO 2 HNS–TiO 2 structure also serves as photoanode of the photoelectrochemical type ultraviolet (UV) photodetectors. The PCE of the SnO 2 HNS–TiO 2 based photodetectors reaches 21.5% at 330 nm, which is more than 2.75 times as large as that of nanocrystalline TiO 2 film based UV photodetectors. Moreover, the self-powered UV photodetectors also exhibit a high responsivity of 0.837 A/W, a high on/off ratio of 4021, a rise time of 0.03 s and a decay time of 0.01 s for short-circuit current density signal under UV irradiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Highly porous SnO2/TiO2 composite nanofibers were prepared by electrospinning based on water/oil phase separation effect, and their photocatalytic degradation abilities of Rhodamine B (RhB) under UV–visible light irradiation was assessed. Results indicated that the porous SnO2/TiO2 nanofibers show a significantly improved reaction rate (about 99% RhB dye degraded in 30min), which is about 2.7 times higher than that of the pure TiO2 nanofibers (about 97% RhB dye in 80min). The specific surface area of porous SnO2/TiO2 nanofibers is 55.6m2/g, which is 2.85 times larger than that of pure TiO2 nanofibers (19.5m2/g). The SnO2 addition into TiO2 suppressed the recombination of photo-generated electron–hole pairs, and highly porous structures within the nanofibers improved the utilization efficiency of light due to multiple photon reflections. In addition, it is worth being mentioned that more than 60% RhB dye was degraded during the first 10min by the highly porous SnO2/TiO2 nanofibers. The high photocatalytic activity of porous nanofibers was rooted from changed energy level structure due to addition of Sn and to lots of bulk oxygen vacancies formed in SnO2/TiO2 nanofibers. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Highlights: [•] SnO2/α-Fe2O3 (SFO) nanotubes with different Sn/Fe molar ratios were synthesized. [•] Surface segregation and phase separation were proposed as the growth mechanism. [•] Grain size and phase structure of SFO nanotubes were affected by SnO2 contents. [•] SFO based sensors showed enhanced sensitivity and selectivity in ethanol detection. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Highlights: [•] ZnO nanowire arrays as long as 20μm has been obtained in a short duration of 8h. [•] The resultant ZnO nanaowire (NW) possess a novel porous structure. [•] The porous ZnO NW arrays serve as an efficient photoanode for dye-sensitized solar cells. [•] By TiO2 coating the porous ZnO nanowire photoanode, the PCE can reach 3.06%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We report ZnO nanostrawberry aggregates (ZnO NS) structure that serves as photoanode for efficient DSSCs as it offers a large specific surface area, excellent light scattering characteristics, and low degree of charge recombination simultaneously. The short-circuit current density (J sc) of the ZnO NS DSSC is more than two times higher than that of commercially-obtained ZnO nanocrystallines (ZnO NC) due to the excellent light scattering of the ZnO NS film, resulting in a 46% improvement in the power conversion efficiency (PCE). The introduction of TiO2 coating layer on to the ZnO NS (ZnO NS–TiO2) results in more than 82% enhancement in the PCE from 1.40% to 2.56%. Moreover, the photoelectrochemical cell (PECC) with unsensitized ZnO NS–TiO2 film as photoanode is applied to detect the UV light without a power source. This self-powered UV-photodetector exhibits a high on/off ratio of 37,900, a fast rise time of 0.022 s and a decay time of 0.009 s for J sc signal, together with the excellent self-powered, “visible blind” characteristics and photosensitivity linearity in a wide light intensity range. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The thickness effect on the field emission properties of ZnTe films deposited on silicon substrates by magnetron sputtering is investigated. All the films exhibit amorphous structure with nanocrystalline embedded. As the thickness increases, the surface becomes much smoother, while the Zn/Te ratio, the turn-on field and the work function decrease. Their field-emission characteristics show a low turn-on field of 7.5Vμm−1 and a high current density of 67μAcm−2 at an electric field of 8.9Vμm−1. The thickness-dependent electron field emission phenomenon is explained by a space-charge-induced bandbending interlayer model. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Highly transparent nanocrystalline TiO2 films have been fabricated by electrospinning (ES) technique based on a transmutation process from as-spun nanofibers with an appropriate amount of tri-ethanolamine (TEOA) added to the precursor. A possible evolution mechanism of the transparent nanocrystalline TiO2 films is proposed. It is found that the films prepared via transmutation from electrospun nanofibers possess rich bulk oxygen vacancies (BOVs, PL band at 621–640 nm) by using photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. Contrastively, the dominant peak in PL spectrum of the spin-coated film is the emission from surface oxygen vacancies (SOVs, PL band at 537–555 nm). The electrospun TiO2 films with rich BOVs induce large open-circuit voltage (V oc) and fill factor (FF) improvements in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs), and thus a large improvement of energy conversion efficiency (η). In addition, these performance advantages are maintained for a double-layer cell with a doctor-bladed ∼7 μm top layer (P25 nanometer TiO2, Degussa) and an electrospun ∼3 μm bottom layer. The double-layer cell yields a high η of 6.01%, which has increased by 14% as compared with that obtained from a 10 μm thick P25 film. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The preparation of fast, highly responsive and reliable gas sensing devices for the detection of acetone gas is considered to be a key challenge for the development of accurate disease diagnosis systems through exhaled respiratory gases. In the paper, yolk shell Sb 2 O 3 /WO 3 is synthesized and its gas sensing performance was studied by static test system. Special, the maximum response value of 1:1 Sb 2 O 3 /WO 3 yolk-shell (WO 3 -1 YSL) sensor to 100 ppm acetone can reach as high as 50.0 at 200 ℃. And it also exhibits excellent response/recover time (4 s/5 s), low detection limit (2 ppm) and superior selectivity towards acetone. More importantly, in mixed selective gas test, the sensor shows high selectivity towards acetone. And the mechanism is analyzed by ex-situ XPS. The excellent gas-sensing performance can be attributed to unique yolk-shell structure, which facilitates the rapid transport of charge carriers from the surface to the bulk and provides more active sites for gas adsorption and desorption; the heterojunction between of Sb 2 O 3 and WO 3 , which promotes oxygen pre-adsorption on the surface and increasing the interfacial potential; the increased oxygen vacancies which allowing more chemisorbed oxygen to form. [Display omitted] • The 1:1 Sb 2 O 3 /WO 3 sensor shows fast response/recovery time (4 s/5 s). • Ex-situ XPS technique was used to characterize sensor. • The 1:1 Sb 2 O 3 /WO 3 sensor shows excellent selectivity to acetone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The CNFs improve the conductivity of the electrode and facilitate electron and lithium ion transport. • The onion carbon layer can be used as a buffer layer to alleviate the volume expansion caused by the charging and discharging process. • The Co 1-x S particles embedded in the CNFs exhibited a high reversible capacity and excellent cycling stability. Metal sulfides are getting increasing attention as cathodic materials in lithium-ion batteries due to their high theoretical capacities. However, the volume expansion and rapid decay of capacity are two main factors during charge and discharge that restricts the applicability of these electrodes. Herein, we reported a strategy to obtain cobalt sulfide (Co 1-x S)-carbon nanofibers (CNFs) using an electrospinning technique combined with a solvothermal method to increase the capacity of cobalt sulfide and alleviate the volume expansion. Results showed that the as-obtained flexible self-supporting Co 1-x S-CNFs electrode promotes the electron transfer and mechanical stability. Moreover, it was shown that Co 1-x S was embedded in CNFs, which improved the electrical conductivity of the composite and alleviated the volume expansion caused by charging and discharging. The synergistic effect from the enhanced electrical conductivity of CNFs and high capacity of the Co 1-x S exhibited a high specific discharge capacity (620 mAh g−1 at 100 mA g−1) and good cycling stability (retaining capacity of 252 mAh g−1 after 500 cycles at 2000 mA g−1). This work demonstrated the efficiency of cobalt metal catalysis and the simple method of vulcanization design in the fabrication of high-performance lithium ions batteries. Image, graphical abstract [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A series of bimetallic Ni/Au-decorated In 2 O 3 nanotubes with different Au contents by a facile electrospinning technique. • INO-Au NTs not only greatly enhances the gas sensing response to ethanol, but also reduces the operating temperature. • Mechanism was explained by chemical sensitization of Ni and Au, and the electronic sensitization by formation of Schottky barrier. • This work suggests that bimetallic modified 1D metal oxide semiconductor has great potential applications in gas sensors. In this work, we report on a high-performance ethanol sensor using Au decorated Ni-doped In 2 O 3 nanotubes (NIO-Au NTs). The morphology, microstructure and surface chemistry of pristine In 2 O 3 , NIO and NIO-Au NTs have been discussed by the analysis of SEM, TEM, XRD and XPS spectra. Gas sensing test results reveal that NIO-Au NTs with optimal Au decorated concentration of 2 mol% (NIO-2 mol% Au) exhibits the highest response of 167 towards 50 ppm ethanol at lower working temperature (180 °C), which is about 18 times and 13 times higher than pristine In 2 O 3 NTs and Ni-doped In 2 O 3 NTs, respectively. Moreover, some other important gas sensing properties of NIO-2 mol% Au NTs, such as selectivity and stability, have been proved to be greatly improved. The approach and results proposed in this study are attributed to the catalysis of Ni, the spillover effect of Au and formation of Schottky barrier. The proposed functional hybrid nanomaterial-based sensing strategy offers an effective design for highly sensitive and efficient VOC detection devices, which can operate well at low temperatures also. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The introduction of W can reduce the crystallinity of NiO. • W dopants may contribute to the generation of oxygen vacancies and decrease the hole concentration. • The response of 4 % W-NiO NTs with rich oxygen vacancies toward 100 ppm ethanol is 40.56 at 200 °C. • The concentration of oxygen in the background gas has a significant effect on the performance of the sensor. • The background oxygen could increase the sensor's response to ethanol. W-doped NiO nanotubes (NTs) were successfully synthesized for efficient sensing of ethanol vapor using a low cost and economical electrospinning method. The response (resistance ratio) of sensor based on 4 % W-NiO NTs to100 ppm ethanol is as high as 40.56 at 200 °C, which is 10 times higher than that of pure NiO sensor. This significant enhancement in sensor response can be attributed to the change in morphology, increase in oxygen vacancies, and the decrease in hole concentration in NiO by W doping. Based on the adsorption and desorption theory of oxygen, we also demonstrated that the atmospheric oxygen content can improve the sensor response and shorten the response time by increasing the amount of adsorbed oxygen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lignocellulose oxidative degradation at low temperature is an important question in fire disaster and biomass utilization. Experimental and theoretical methods were used to investigate the initial stage of cellulose degradation under inert and oxidative atmosphere. TG-FTIR results show that the initial degradation and peak temperatures were lower in oxidative atmosphere. CO 2 became the dominant component under oxidative atmosphere, which was attributed to the oxidation of carbon element. Oxygen promoted the formation of acids and aldehydes (-C O) but decreased the yields of alcohols/ethers (-C-O-). Density functional theory calculation results show that thermal cleavage of glucosidic bond is endothermic reaction. The chemisorption of oxygen with reactive cellulose radical released a great amount of heat that drove cellulose pyrolysis to an exothermic process. The formation of lactone structure is a kind source of CO 2. Experimental and theoretical results agree with each other well and a possible cellulose oxidative pyrolysis pathway was put forward. Image 1 • Theorical method was first used to investigate the initial oxidative pyrolysis of cellulose. • The homolysis of O–O band will promote the formation of lactone structure. • The lactone structure is one source of CO 2. • Oxidative pyrolysis of cellulose is exothermic. • The possible reaction pathways of cellulose oxidative pyrolysis was put forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genetic susceptibility is an important pathogenic mechanism in diabetic kidney disease (DKD). Our previous studies have identified that PPARδ and GLP-1R are located in a pathway that is closely related to DKD. We aimed to explore the impacts of variants in PPARD - GLP1R on the susceptibility to DKD in Chinese Han patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). A total of 600 T2DM patients (300 with DKD and 300 without DKD) and 200 healthy control subjects were enrolled to identify PPARD (rs2016520, rs2267668 and rs3777744) and GLP1R (rs3765467, rs1042044 and rs9296291) genotype. The SNaPshot method was used to identify variants in PPARD - GLP1R . We performed correlation analysis between variants in PPARD - GLP1R and the susceptibility to DKD. We observed that GLP1R rs3765467 (G > A) was associated with DKD (OR = 3.145, 95 % CI = 2.128-6.021, P = 0.035). None of the other SNPs were associated with DKD. Regarding DKD related traits, rs3765467 was associated with UACR levels and TC, significant differences were observed among patients with different genotypes of rs2016520 in terms of BMI and TG, and patients with the rs3777744 risk G allele had noticeably higher PPG and HbA1c levels (P < 0.05). Moreover, the results showed the interactions between PPARD rs3777744 and GLP1R rs3765467 in the occurrence of DKD (OR = 4.572, P = 0.029). The results of this study indicate the potential relationship between variants in PPARD - GLP1R and the susceptibility to DKD in Chinese Han patients with T2DM., Competing Interests: The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests:Jinfang SONG reports financial support was provided by 10.13039/501100001809National Natural Science Foundation of China. Jinfang SONG reports financial support was provided by Jiangsu Research Hospital Association for Precision Medication. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2024 The Authors.)

Solution-based methods for fabricating all-inorganic perovskite film arrays often suffer from limited control over nucleation and crystallization, resulting in poor homogeneity and coverage. To improve film quality, advanced vapor deposition techniques are employed for continuous film. Here, the vapor deposition strategy to the all-inorganic perovskite films array, enabling area-selective deposition of perovskite through substrate modulation is expanded. It can yield a high-quality perovskite film array with different pixel shapes, various perovskite compositions, and a high resolution of 423 dpi. The resulting photodetector arrays exhibit remarkable optoelectronic performance with an on/off ratio of 13 887 and responsivity of 47.5 A W -1 . The device also displays long-term stability in a damp condition for up to 12 h. Moreover, a pulse monitoring sensor based on the perovskite films array demonstrates stable monitoring for pulse signals after being worn for 12 h and with a low illumination of 0.055 mW cm -2 , highlighting the potential application in wearable optoelectronic devices., (© 2024 The Authors. Advanced Science published by Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Doramectin, an essential animal anthelmintic, is synthesized through the fermentation process of Streptomyces avermitilis. This study delves into the transcriptomic profiles of two strains, namely the doramectin-producing wild-type S. avermitilis N72 and its highly doramectin-producing mutant counterpart, S. avermitilis XY-62. Comparative analysis revealed 860 up-regulated genes and 762 down-regulated genes in the mutant strain, notably impacting the expression of key genes pivotal in doramectin biosynthesis, including aveA1, aveA2, aveA3, aveA4, aveE, and aveBI. These findings shed light on the molecular mechanisms underpinning the heightened doramectin production in S. avermitilis XY-62, presenting promising avenues for optimizing doramectin production processes., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.)

Creating a large-scale contactless user-interactive sensing display (CUISD) with optimal features is challenging but crucial for efficient human-human or human-machine interactions. This study reports a CUISD based on dynamic alternating current electroluminescence (ACEL) that responds to humidity. Subsecond humidity-induced luminescence is achieved by integrating a highly responsive hydrogel into the ACEL layer. The patterned silver nanofiber electrode and luminescence layer, produced through electrospinning and microfabrication, result in a stretchable, large-scale, high-resolution, multicolor, and dynamic CUISD. The CUISD is implemented for the real-time control of a remote-controlled car, wherein the luminescence signals induced by touchless finger movements are distinguished and encoded to deliver specific commands. Moreover, the distinctive recognition of breathing facilitates the CUISD to serve as a visual signal transmitter for information interaction, which is particularly beneficial for individuals with disabilities. The paradigm shift depicts in this work is expected to reshape the way authors interact with each other and devices, discovering niche applications in virtual/augmented reality and the metaverse., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

There are several prospective applications for omnidirectional ultraviolet (UV) detectors and underwater detection detectors in optical systems and optical fields. In this work, ZnO nanorods arrays were grown on carbon fibers (CFs). An appropriate amount of Ag nanoparticles (NPs) was deposited on the surface of ZnO nanorods by photochemical deposition. This improved the performance of photoelectrochemical (PEC) based UV detectors. Under 365 nm and 10 mW cm -2 UV irradiation, the photocurrent density of the 30s-Ag/ZnO@CFs based PEC UV detector can reach 1.28 mA cm -2 , which is about 7 times that of the ZnO@CFs based PEC UV detector, and the rising time is shortened from 0.17 to 0.10 s. The reason is that increased absorption of ultraviolet light induced by the localized surface plasmon resonance. In addition, the detector exhibits a good flexibility and remains flexible after hundreds of bends and twists. Moreover, the detector is responsive in the range of rotation angle from 0° to 360°. It provides an insight to improve the photoelectric performance and underwater omnidirectional detection ability of the PEC UV detector., (© 2024 IOP Publishing Ltd.)

Background: In recent years, several studies have explored the effect of metformin on myocardial infarction (MI), but whether metformin has an improvement effect in patients with MI is controversial. This study was aimed to investigate the causal relationship between metformin and MI using Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis., Methods: The genome-wide significant ( P <5×10 -8 ) single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in patients with metformin and patients with MI were screened from the Open genome-wide association study (GWAS) project as instrumental variables (IVs). The study outcomes mainly included MI, old MI, acute MI, acute transmural MI of inferior wall, and acute transmural MI of anterior wall. The inverse variance weighted (IVW) method was applied to assess the main causal effect, and weighted median, simple mode, weighted mode methods, and MR-Egger regression were auxiliary applied for supplementary proof. The causal relationship between metformin and MI was assessed using odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). A leave-one-out method was used to explore the effect of individual SNPs on the results of IVW analyses, and a funnel plot was used to analyze the potential bias of the study results, thus ensuring the robustness of the results., Results: In total, 16, 84, 39, 26, and 34 SNPs were selected as IVs to assess the genetic association between metformin and outcomes of MI, old MI, acute MI, acute transmural MI of inferior wall, and acute transmural MI of anterior wall, respectively. Treatment with metformin does not affect the risk of acute transmural MI of anterior wall at the genetic level ( P >0.05; OR for inverse variance weighted was 1.010). In the cases of MI, old MI, acute MI, and acute transmural MI of inferior wall, metformin may even be a risk factor for patients ( P <0.05; ORs for inverse variance weighted were 1.078, 1.026, 1.022 and 1.018 respectively). There was no horizontal pleiotropy or heterogeneity among IVs. The results were stable when removing the SNPs one by one., Conclusion: Metformin is not protective against the risk of myocardial infarction in patients and may even be a risk factor for MI, old MI, acute MI, and acute transmural MI of inferior wall., 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 © 2024 Zhuang, Pan, Chen and Song.)

Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have been widely studied as catalysts for lithium-sulfur batteries due to their good catalytic properties. However, their poor electronic conductivity leads to slow sulfur reduction reactions. Herein, a simple Zn 2+ intercalation strategy was proposed to promote the phase transition from semiconducting 2H-phase to metallic 1T-phase of MoS 2 . Furthermore, the Zn 2+ between layers can expand the interlayer spacing of MoS 2 and serve as a charge transfer bridge to promote longitudinal transport along the c -axis of electrons. DFT calculations further prove that Zn-MoS 2 possesses better charge transfer ability and stronger adsorption capacity. At the same time, Zn-MoS 2 exhibits excellent redox electrocatalytic performance for the conversion and decomposition of polysulfides. As expected, the lithium-sulfur battery using Zn 0.12 MoS 2 -carbon nanofibers (CNFs) as the cathode has high specific capacity (1325 mAh g -1 at 0.1 C), excellent rate performance (698 mAh g -1 at 3 C), and outstanding cycle performance (it remains 604 mAh g -1 after 700 cycles with a decay rate of 0.045% per cycle). This study provides valuable insights for improving electrocatalytic performance of lithium-sulfur batteries.

Background: Observational studies have indicated a potential association between autoimmune diseases and the occurrence of sepsis, with an increased risk of mortality among affected patients. However, whether a causal relationship exists between the two remains unknown., Methods: In the Mendelian randomization (MR) study, we accessed exposure Genome-wide association study (GWAS) data from both the MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit (MRC-IEU) and the FinnGen consortium. GWAS data for sepsis and its 28-day mortality were obtained from MRC-IEU. We employed univariable, multivariable, and reverse MR analyses to explore potential associations between autoimmune disorders and sepsis and its 28-day mortality. Additionally, a two-step mediation MR analysis was performed to investigate indirect factors possibly influencing the relationship between autoimmune disorders and sepsis. Afterward, we conducted an observational analysis to further explore the relationship between autoimmune disease and occurrence as well as 28-day mortality of sepsis using a real-world database (the MIMIC-IV database). A cohort of 2537 patients diagnosed with autoimmune disease were extracted from the database for analysis. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to confirm the association between autoimmune diseases and the occurrence of sepsis, as well as the 28-day mortality associated with sepsis., Results: In univariable MR analysis, there appeared to be causal relationships between genetically predicted type 1 diabetes (OR = 1.036, 95% CI = 1.023-1.048, p = 9.130E-09), rheumatoid arthritis (OR = 1.077, 95% CI = 1.058-1.097, p = 1.00E-15) and sepsis, while a potential causal link was observed between celiac disease and sepsis (OR = 1.013, 95% CI = 1.002-1.024, p = 0.026). In a subsequent multivariable MR analysis, only rheumatoid arthritis was found to be independently associated with the risk of sepsis (OR = 1.138, 95% CI = 1.044-1.240, p = 3.36E-03). Furthermore, there was no causal link between autoimmune disorders and 28-day mortality from sepsis. In reverse MR analysis, sepsis was suggested to potentially trigger the onset of psoriasis (OR = 1.084, 95% CI = 1.040-1.131, p = 1.488E-04). In the real-world observational study, adjusting for multiple confounders, rheumatoid arthritis (OR = 1.34, 95% CI = 1.11-1.64, p = 0.003) and multiple sclerosis (OR = 1.31, 95% CI = 1.03-1.68, p = 0.02) were associated with a higher risk of sepsis. In addition, we did not find that autoimmune diseases were associated with 28-day mortality from sepsis., Conclusion: Both in observational and MR analysis, only rheumatoid arthritis is highly correlated with occurrence of sepsis. However, autoimmune disease was not associated with an increased 28-day mortality in patient with sepsis. Sepsis may increase the risk of developing psoriasis., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Background: Excellent blood glucose management is a key guarantee for successful progress of surgery. However, the impact of clinical pharmacists on blood glucose management of perioperative patients needs to be further investigated. To investigate the effectiveness regarding the participation of pharmacists in blood glucose management via the informatized glucose management system (iGMS) on perioperative patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM)., Methods: The working mode of clinical pharmacists participating in blood glucose management of perioperative patients with diabetes was constructed. A total of 300 patients with T2DM who underwent elective surgery were recruited and divided into a clinical pharmacist management group (intervention group) of 150 patients (94 men and 56 women; mean age: 44.38 ± 14.03 years) and a control group of 150 patients (101 men and 49 women; mean age: 47.85 ± 12.26 years) between September 2019 to April 2020. The outcomes of perioperative blood glucose management, and healthcare indicators such as preoperative waiting time, total hospitalization time, postoperative infection rate and other indicators were analyzed statistically between the two groups., Result: In the blood glucose management team of the whole hospital, the physicians, clinical pharmacists and nurses of blood glucose management in endocrinology department were the core members, and were responsible for perioperative blood glucose management of the participants in the intervention group. All subjects had lower blood glucose after 3 days of management compared to the time of admission, and blood glucose was significantly lower in the intervention group compared to the control group (P < 0.05). As compared with the control group, subjects in intervention group demonstrated significant differences in outcome measures. The relevant parameters included preoperative blood glucose compliance rate (60.67% vs. 35.33%, P<0.05), preoperative waiting time [(5.27 ± 3.34) vs. (7.45 ± 4.38), P<0.05], length of hospitalization [(11.11 ± 4.56) vs. (14.87 ± 5.39), P<0.05], incidence of hypoglycemia (8.67% vs. 18.00%, P<0.05), incidence of hyperglycemia (32.00% vs. 62.67%, P<0.05) and postoperative infection rate (18.00% vs. 24.67%, P > 0.05)., Conclusion: The involvement of clinical pharmacists in blood glucose management utilizing the iGMS can control the blood glucose level of patients with T2DM in the perioperative period more stably and effectively, thereby leading to an improvement in the quality of healthcare., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Laser reduction of graphene oxide (GO) with direct-write technology is promising to develop miniaturized energy storage devices because of highly flexible, mask-free, and chemical-free merits. However, laser reduction of GO is often accompanied with deflagration (spectacular and violent deoxygenating reaction), leading reduced graphene oxide (rGO) films into brittle and irregular internal structure which is harmful to the applications. Here, a pre-reduction strategy is demonstrated to avoid this deflagration and realize a uniform laser-reduced GO (LrGO) matrix for the application of flexible micro-supercapacitors (MSCs).The pre-reduction process with ascorbic acid decreases the content of oxygen-containing functional groups on GO in advance, and thus relieves gases emission and avoids unconstrained expansion during the laser reduction process. In addition, a self-assembled skeleton with pre-reduced GO (PGO) nanosheets could be constructed which is a more appropriate aforehand framework for laser reduction to establish controllable rGO films with the homogenous porosity. The quasi-solid-state MSCs assembled with laser-reduced PGO exhibit the maximum areal capacitance of 88.32 mF cm -2 , good cycling performance (capacitance retention of 82% after 2000 cycles), and outstanding flexibility (no capacitance degradation after bending for 5000 times). This finding provides opportunities to enhance quality of LrGO which is promising for micro-power devices and beyond., (© 2023 The Authors. Small published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Evidence supports the observational associations of gut microbiota with the risk of COVID-19; however, it is unclear whether these associations reflect a causal relationship. This study investigated the association of gut microbiota with COVID-19 susceptibility and severity. Data were obtained from a large-scale gut microbiota data set (n = 18 340) and the COVID-19 Host Genetics Initiative (n = 2 942 817). Causal effects were estimated with inverse variance weighted (IVW), MR-Egger, and weighted median, and sensitivity analyses were implemented with Cochran's Q test, MR-Egger intercept test, MR-PRESSO, leave-one-out analysis, and funnel plots. For COVID-19 susceptibility, IVW estimates suggested that Gammaproteobacteria (odds ratio [OR] = 0.94, 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.89-0.99, p = 0.0295] and Streptococcaceae (OR = 0.95, 95% CI, 0.92-1.00, p = 0.0287) had a reduced risk, while Negativicutes (OR = 1.05, 95% CI, 1.01-1.10, p = 0.0302), Selenomonadales (OR = 1.05, 95% CI, 1.01-1.10, p = 0.0302), Bacteroides (OR = 1.06, 95% CI, 1.01-1.12, p = 0.0283), and Bacteroidaceae (OR = 1.06, 95% CI, 1.01-1.12, p = 0.0283) were associated with an increased risk (all p < 0.05, nominally significant). For COVID-19 severity, Subdoligranulum (OR = 0.80, 95% CI, 0.69-0.92, p = 0.0018), Cyanobacteria (OR = 0.85, 95% CI, 0.76-0.96, p = 0.0062), Lactobacillales (OR = 0.87, 95% CI, 0.76-0.98, p = 0.0260), Christensenellaceae (OR = 0.87, 95% CI, 0.77-0.99, p = 0.0384), Tyzzerella3 (OR = 0.89, 95% CI, 0.81-0.97, p = 0.0070), and RuminococcaceaeUCG011 (OR = 0.91, 95% CI, 0.83-0.99, p = 0.0247) exhibited negative correlations, while RikenellaceaeRC9 (OR = 1.09, 95% CI, 1.01-1.17, p = 0.0277), LachnospiraceaeUCG008 (OR = 1.12, 95% CI, 1.00-1.26, p = 0.0432), and MollicutesRF9 (OR = 1.14, 95% CI, 1.01-1.29, p = 0.0354) exhibited positive correlations (all p < 0.05, nominally significant). Sensitivity analyses validated the robustness of the above associations. These findings suggest that gut microbiota might influence the susceptibility and severity of COVID-19 in a causal way, thus providing novel insights into the gut microbiota-mediated development mechanism of COVID-19., (© 2023 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Background: Nirmatrelvir plus ritonavir (Paxlovid) reduced the risk of hospitalization or death by 89% in high-risk, ambulatory adults with COVID-19. We aimed at studying the efficacy and safety of Paxlovid in hospitalized adult patients with SARS-Cov-2 (Omicron BA.2.2 variant) infection and severe comorbidities., Methods: We conducted an open-label, multicenter, randomized controlled trial in which hospitalized adult patients with severe comorbidities were eligible and assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive either 300 mg of nirmatrelvir plus 100 mg of ritonavir every 12 h for 5 days with standard treatment or only standard treatment. All-cause mortality on day 28, the duration of SARS-CoV-2 RNA clearance, and safety were evaluated., Findings: 264 patients (mean age, 70.35 years; 122 [46.21%] female) who met the criteria were enrolled at 5 sites in Shanghai from April 10 to May 19 in 2022. After randomization, a total of 132 patients were assigned to receive Paxlovid treatment plus standard treatment, and 132 patients were assigned to receive only standard treatment. The overall 28-day mortality was 4.92%, 8 patients died in the standard treatment group and 5 died in the Paxlovid plus standard treatment group. There was no significant difference in mortality from any cause at 28 days between the Paxlovid plus standard treatment group and the standard treatment group (absolute risk difference [ARD], 2.27; 95% CI -2.94 to 7.49, P = 0.39). There was no significant difference in the duration of SARS-CoV-2 RNA clearance among the two groups (mean days, 10 in Paxlovid plus standard treatment group and 10.50 in the standard treatment group; ARD, -0.62; 95% CI -2.29 to 1.05, P = 0.42). The incidence of adverse events that occurred during the treatment period was similar in the two groups (any adverse event, 10.61% with Paxlovid plus standard treatment vs. 7.58% with the standard, P = 0.39; serious adverse events, 4.55% vs. 3.788%, P = 0.76)., Interpretation: Paxlovid showed no significant reduction in the risk of all-cause mortality on day 28 and the duration of SARS-CoV-2 RNA clearance in hospitalized adult COVID-19 patients with severe comorbidities., Funding: National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number: 82172152, 81873944)., Competing Interests: All other authors declare no competing interests., (© 2023 The Authors.)

Background: Although neuromuscular blocker agents (NMBAs) are recommended by guidelines as a treatment for ARDS patients, the efficacy of NMBAs is still controversial. Our study aimed to investigate the association between cisatracurium infusion and the medium- and long-term outcomes of critically ill patients with moderate and severe ARDS., Methods: We performed a single-center, retrospective study of 485 critically ill adult patients with ARDS based on the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care III (MIMIC-III) database. Propensity score matching (PSM) was used to match patients receiving NMBA administration with those not receiving NMBAs. The Cox proportional hazards model, Kaplan-Meier method, and subgroup analysis were used to evaluate the relationship between NMBA therapy and 28-day mortality., Results: A total of 485 moderate and severe patients with ARDS were reviewed and 86 pairs of patients were matched after PSM. NMBAs were not associated with reduced 28-day mortality (hazard ratio (HR) 1.44; 95% CI: 0.85~2.46; p = 0.20), 90-day mortality (HR = 1.49; 95% CI: 0.92~2.41; p = 0.10), 1-year mortality (HR = 1.34; 95% CI: 0.86~2.09; p = 0.20), or hospital mortality (HR = 1.34; 95% CI: 0.81~2.24; p = 0.30). However, NMBAs were associated with a prolonged duration of ventilation and the length of ICU stay., Conclusions: NMBAs were not associated with improved medium- and long-term survival and may result in some adverse clinical outcomes.

Background: Advances in organoid culture technology have provided a greater understanding of disease pathogenesis, which has been rarely studied in sepsis before. We aim to establish a suitable organoids-based intestinal injury model for sepsis., Methods: Stable passaged organoids were constructed and pre-treated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to mimic sepsis-induced intestinal injury. The LPS-induced sepsis model was used as a reference. We used quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction to evaluate the RNA levels of inflammatory factors and antimicrobial peptides. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to evaluate the protein levels, hematoxylin and eosin staining was used to evaluate the pathology of the small intestine of mice, and immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence were used to evaluate the intestinal epithelial barrier function. Perkin Elmer Operetta™ was used to obtain high-resolution images of three-dimensional organoids., Results: An LPS concentration >150 μg/mL after 24 h was identified to cause organoid growth restriction. The fluorescence intensity of zonula occludens-1 and occludins at LPS concentrations >100 μg/mL decreased significantly after 24 h. After LPS stimulation for 8 h, the RNA expression levels of interleukin (IL)-1α, tumor necrosis factor alpha, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor, IL-6, and regenerating islet-derived protein 3 alpha, beta, and gamma increased. These results resembled those of intestinal epithelial layer alterations in a mouse sepsis model. For IL-10, the RNA expression level increased only when the LPS level >200 μg/mL for 24 h., Conclusions: This study provides the primary intestinal in vitro model to study the effects of LPS-induced intestinal injury resembling sepsis. This model provides a platform for immune associated mechanism exploration and effective drug screening., (Copyright © 2022 The Chinese Medical Association, produced by Wolters Kluwer, Inc. under the CC-BY-NC-ND license.)

In order to obtain a deep insight into the N 2 O formation mechanism in a fluidized bed, density functional theory was used to investigate the interaction between char(N) and NO at a molecular level. Three key influencing factors for the formation of N 2 O, namely, active sites, nitrogen status, and oxygen molecules, were taken into study. The geometric structures, electron distribution characteristics, and reaction paths were optimized and calculated. The outer orbital electron properties of char(N) and NO indicate that NO acts as an oxidizer, which tends to abstract electrons from char(N) during the char(N)-NO interaction. A stable N 2 O molecule has a singlet state and presents as a linear molecular structure. The chemisorption on the char surface will weaken the bond energy of NO from 620 to 94.1 kJ/mole, which promotes the catalytic reduction of NO. Active sites on the char surface benefit the reduction of NO to N 2 , rather than N 2 O, which indicates that excessive high temperatures will inhibit the production of N 2 O. The combination of pyridine nitrogen and NO to form N 2 O needs to overcome a much higher energy barrier of 357.4 kJ/mole. The initial chemisorption of oxygen molecules on the char surface will promote the formation of N 2 O by lowering the dissociation energy of N 2 O from the char surface as well as exposing nitrogen to the char surface.

In order to solve the 'ultraviolet (UV) filtering problem' caused by traditional sandwich-type structure in photoelectrochemical (PEC) UV detector, we design a special electrode based on stainless steel mesh, which integrates the light absorption layer and the electron collection electrode in a simple way. In combination with an UV-transparent quartz substrate, UV light can directly reach the active material. The improved detector shows good visible-blind, self-powered, and linear response characteristics. The serious recombination caused by metal electrode is suppressed by depositing a barrier layer. The optimized device exhibits a high photoresponse of 0.103 A W -1 at 296 nm, a short recovery time of 250 ms, and very sensitive switching ability. Furthermore, the response range of the detector is expanded from 300 to 400 nm to the full near-UV region. Our work provides an efficient strategy to solve the key problem of the PEC UV detector., (© 2021 IOP Publishing Ltd.)

This study attempts to construct an econometric model using China's natural disaster losses and macro-industry development data from 1980 to 2017 to explore the macroeconomic fluctuations caused by natural disasters. The structural vector autoregressive (SVAR) and the seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) models are employed in estimating the impact of natural disasters on China's macroeconomy and how the disasters specifically affect the three sectors of the economy: primary, secondary, and tertiary. This study concludes that even though natural disasters in China do not significantly affect the overall real GDP, they have adverse impacts on the production in the primary industry, causing a sudden reduction in the means of production in the market and directly affecting various industries, but the impact on the secondary and tertiary industries is weak. This study also shows that the effect of natural disasters on the primary sector reduced significantly following industry restructuring after China's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO). The impact of natural disasters on the primary industry could be reduced by adjusting the industrial structure to deal with macroeconomic shocks caused by natural disasters in order to promote macroeconomic stability of both regional and national economies. Finally, national aid policy should focus on the primary industry since that sector is significantly affected by natural disasters shocks.

Background: Acute lung injury (ALI), which is induced by numerous pathogenic factors, especially sepsis, can generate alveolar damage, pulmonary edema and vascular hyper-permeability ultimately leading to severe hypoxemia. Fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF2) is an important member of the FGF family associated with endothelial cell migration and proliferation, and injury repairment. Here, we conducted this study aiming to evaluate the therapeutic effect of FGF2 in sepsis-induced ALI., Methods: Recombinant FGF2 was abdominally injected into septic mice induced by cecal ligation and puncture (CLP), and then the inflammatory factors of lung tissue, vascular permeability and lung injury-related indicators based on protein levels and gene expression were detected. In vitro, human pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells (HPMEC) and mouse peritoneal macrophages (PMs) were challenged by lipopolysaccharides (LPS) with or without FGF2 administration in different groups, and then changes in inflammation indicators and cell permeability ability were tested., Results: The results revealed that FGF2 treatment reduced inflammation response, attenuated pulmonary capillary leakage, alleviated lung injury and improved survival in septic mice. The endothelial injury and macrophages inflammation induced by LPS were inhibited by FGF2 administration via AKT/P38/NF-κB signaling pathways., Conclusion: These findings indicated a therapeutic role of FGF2 in ALI through ameliorating capillary leakage and inflammation.

Background: Sepsis is an infection-induced aggressive and life-threatening organ dysfunction with high morbidity and mortality worldwide. Infection-associated inflammation and coagulation promote the progression of adverse outcomes in sepsis. Here, we report that phospho-Tyr705 of STAT3 (pY-STAT3), not total STAT3, contributes to systemic inflammation and coagulopathy in sepsis., Methods: Cecal ligation and puncture (CLP)-induced septic mice were treated with BP-1-102, Napabucasin, or vehicle control respectively and then assessed for systemic inflammation, coagulation response, lung function and survival. Human pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells (HPMECs) and Raw264.7 cells were exposed to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) with pharmacological or genetic inhibition of pY-STAT3. Cells were assessed for inflammatory and coagulant factor expression, cell function and signaling., Results: Pharmacological inhibition of pY-STAT3 expression by BP-1-102 reduced the proinflammatory factors, suppressed coagulation activation, attenuated lung injury, alleviated vascular leakage and improved the survival rate in septic mice. Pharmacological or genetic inhibition of pY-STAT3 diminished LPS-induced cytokine production in macrophages and protected pulmonary endothelial cells via the IL-6/JAK2/STAT3, NF-κB and MAPK signaling pathways. Moreover, the increase in procoagulant indicators induced by sepsis such as tissue factor (TF), the thrombin-antithrombin complex (TAT) and D-Dimer were down-regulated by pY-STAT3 inhibition., Conclusions: Our results revealed a therapeutic role of pY-STAT3 in modulating the inflammatory response and defective coagulation during sepsis. Video Abstract.

Increases in the extent and level of air pollution in Chinese cities have become a major concern of the public and burden on the government. While ample literature has focused on the status, changes and causes of air pollution (particularly on PM 2.5 and PM 10 ), significantly less is known on their effects on people. In this study we used Hangzhou, China, as our testbed to assess the direct impact of PM 2.5 on youth populations that are more vulnerable to pollution. We used the ground monitoring data of air quality and Aerosol optical thickness (AOT) product from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) for the spatiotemporal changes of PM 2.5 by season in 2015. We further explored these distributions with land cover, population density and schools (kindergarten, primary school and middle school) to explore the potential impacts in seeking potential mitigation solutions. We found that the seasonal variation of PM 2.5 concentration was winter > spring > autumn > summer. In Hangzhou, the percentage of land area exposed to PM 2.5 > 50 µg m -3 accounted for 59.86% in winter, 56.62% in spring, 40.44% in autumn and 0% in summer, whereas these figures for PM 2.5 of <35 µg m -3 were 70.01%, 5.28%, 5.17%, 4.16% in summer, winter, autumn and spring, respectively. As for land cover, forest experienced PM 2.5 of 35⁻50 µg m -3 (i.e., lower than those of other cover types), likely due to the potential filtering and absorption function of the forests. More importantly, a quantitative index based on population-weighted exposure level ( pwel ) indicated that only 9.06% of the population lived in areas that met the national air quality standards. Only 1.66% (14,055) of infants and juveniles lived in areas with PM 2.5 of <35 µg m -3 . Considering the legacy effects of PM 2.5 over the long-term, we highly recommend improving the monitoring systems for both air quality and people (i.e., their health conditions), with special attention paid to infants and juveniles.

Sepsis is an aggressive and life-threatening systemic inflammatory response with a high mortality. Inflammation and coagulation play crucial roles in the pathogenesis of sepsis in a mutually promoting manner. Unlike other single-target molecular therapies that have no obvious effects on clinical sepsis, bone marrow stromal cell (BMSC) therapy offers a broader spectrum of activities ranging from immune and inflammation suppression to tissue regeneration. In this report, we demonstrate that BMSC injection attenuates septic coagulopathy. It decreased the mortality, mitigated lung injury and reduced the surge of proinflammatory factors in mice with sepsis induced by cecal ligation and puncture (CLP). An in vitro cell model also revealed that co-culture with BMSCs reduced secretion of proinflammatory factors and injury of endothelial cells in response to lipopolysaccharide (LPS), an endotoxin of gram-negative bacteria. Together, our results demonstrate that BMSCs suppress sepsis-induced inflammation, endothelial dysfunction and defective coagulation., Competing Interests: Competing interestsThe authors declare no competing or financial interests., (© 2018. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.)

Rationally designed conductive hierarchical nanostructures are highly desirable for supporting pseudocapacitive materials to achieve high-performance electrodes for supercapacitors. Herein, manganese molybdate nanosheets were hydrothermally grown with graphene oxide (GO) on three-dimensional nickel foam-supported carbon nanotube structures. Under the optimal graphene oxide concentration, the obtained carbon nanotubes/reduced graphene oxide/MnMoO 4 composites (CNT/rGO/MnMoO 4 ) as binder-free supercapacitor cathodes perform with a high specific capacitance of 2374.9 F g -1 at the scan rate of 2 mV s -1 and good long-term stability (97.1% of the initial specific capacitance can be maintained after 3000 charge/discharge cycles). The asymmetric device with CNT/rGO/MnMoO 4 as the cathode electrode and the carbon nanotubes/activated carbon on nickel foam (CNT-AC) as the anode electrode can deliver an energy density of 59.4 Wh kg -1 at the power density of 1367.9 W kg -1 . These superior performances can be attributed to the synergistic effects from each component of the composite electrodes: highly pseudocapacitive MnMoO 4 nanosheets and three-dimensional conductive Ni foam/CNTs/rGO networks. These results suggest that the fabricated asymmetric supercapacitor can be a promising candidate for energy storage devices.

It is reported that Li ions can contribute a lot to the capacitance of aqueous Li-ion capacitors (LICs), which might be due to the intercalation/de-intercalation processes of Li + ions that also occur at the anodes. However the energy storage mechanism in the aqueous LIC system still requires further proof. In this work, a type of aqueous fiber-shaped LIC has been designed and developed using hydrogenated Li 4 Ti 5 O 12 (H-LTO) anodes, active carbon (AC) cathodes, and LiCl/PVA gel electrolytes with a double-helical structure. The obtained single LTO wire electrode exhibits a high specific capacitance in volume (34.1 F cm -3 ) and superior cycling stabilities (∼100% over 100 000 cycles), both of which are due to the formed amorphous layers at the surface of the electrodes. Moreover, it is found via sweep voltammetry analysis that most of the energy stored in an aqueous fiber-shaped capacitor electrode is attributed to the Li ions' intercalation, whose content exceeds 85% at a low scan rate and gradually decreases with increasing scan rate; while the energy stored by the double electric layers remains almost unchanged with different scan rates. Furthermore, the well-matched wearable fiber-shaped LICs show high capacitive behaviors (18.44 μW h cm -2 ) and superior static/dynamic cycling stabilities. This research would provide some insight into the charge storage mechanism in electrodes in the aqueous system, and give more suggestions to develop high-energy-density fiber-shaped energy storage devices.

Folates, termed from tetrahydrofolate (THF) and its derivatives, function as coenzymes in one-carbon transfer reactions and play a central role in synthesis of nucleotides and amino acids. Dysfunction of cellular folate metabolism leads to serious defects in plant development; however, the molecular mechanisms of folate-mediated cellular modifications and physiological responses in plants are still largely unclear. Here, we reported that THF controls flowering time by adjusting DNA methylation-regulated gene expression in Arabidopsis ( Arabidopsis thaliana ). Wild-type seedlings supplied with THF as well as the high endogenous THF content mutant dihydrofolate synthetase folypoly-Glu synthetase homolog B exhibited significant up-regulation of the flowering repressor of Flowering Wageningen and thereby delaying floral transition in a dose-dependent manner. Genome-wide transcripts and DNA methylation profiling revealed that THF reduces DNA methylation so as to manipulate gene expression activity. Moreover, in accompaniment with elevated cellular ratios between monoglutamylated and polyglutamylated folates under increased THF levels, the content of S -adenosylhomo-Cys, a competitive inhibitor of methyltransferases, was obviously higher, indicating that enhanced THF accumulation may disturb cellular homeostasis of the concerted reactions between folate polyglutamylation and folate-dependent DNA methylation. In addition, we found that the loss-of-function mutant of CG DNA methyltransferase MET1 displayed much less responsiveness to THF-associated flowering time alteration. Taken together, our studies revealed a novel regulatory role of THF on epigenetic silencing, which will shed lights on the understanding of interrelations in folate homeostasis, epigenetic variation, and flowering control in plants., (© 2017 American Society of Plant Biologists. All Rights Reserved.)

It was demonstrated that suitable interfaces between two materials can enhance the separation of photogenerated carriers. In this study, ZrO 2 /ZnO interfaces with type I structure were designed and prepared by the electrospinning technique. The obtained ZrO 2 /ZnO:Eu 3+ (ZZOE) composites are highly porous in the form of nanobelts with width of 600-700 nm, comprising ZnO and ZrO 2 nanocrystals, and the Eu doping can hinder the t-m phase transition of ZrO 2 . By tuning the annealing temperature, the inner stress and defects can be well controlled to improve the photoluminescence (PL) of the ZZOE porous nanobelts. Macro- and micro-PL spectra indicated that the body oxygen vacancies benefit the PL from Eu 3+ ions, whereas the surficial ones do not. The optimal parameters for the preparation of ZZOE porous nanobelts were also investigated. Finally, a charge transfer mechanism was proposed to illuminate the PLs from the ZZOE porous nanobelts.

This study reports the preparation of 3D hierarchical carbon nanotube (CNT) @MnO2 core-shell nanostructures under the assistance of polypyrrole (PPy). The as-prepared CNT@PPy@MnO2 core-shell structures show a perfect coating of MnO2 on each CNT and, more importantly, a robust bush-like pseudocapacitive shell to effectively increase the specific surface area and enhance the ion accessibility. As expected, a high specific capacity of 490-530 F g(-1) has been achieved from CNT@PPy@MnO2 single electrodes. And about 98.5% of the capacity is retained after 1000 charge/discharge cycles at a current density of 5 A g(-1). Furthermore, the assembled asymmetric CNT@PPy@MnO2//AC capacitors show the maximum energy density of 38.42 W h kg(-1) (2.24 mW h cm(-3)) at a power density of 100 W kg(-1) (5.83 mW cm(-3)), and they maintain 59.52% of the initial value at 10,000 W kg(-1) (0.583 W cm(-3)). In addition, the assembled devices show high cycling stabilities (89.7% after 2000 cycles for asymmetric and 87.2% for symmetric), and a high bending stability (64.74% after 200 bending tests). This ability to obtain high energy densities at high power rates while maintaining high cycling stability demonstrates that this well-designed structure could be a promising electrode material for high-performance supercapacitors.

Nitric oxide (NO), an active signaling molecule in plants, is involved in numerous physiological processes and adaptive responses to environmental stresses. Under high-salt conditions, plants accumulate NO quickly, and reorganize Na(+) and K(+) contents. However, the molecular connection between NO and ion homeostasis is largely unknown. Here, we report that NO lowers K(+) channel AKT1-mediated plant K(+) uptake by modulating vitamin B6 biosynthesis. In a screen for Arabidopsis NO-hypersensitive mutants, we isolated sno1 (sensitive to nitric oxide 1), which is allelic to the previously noted mutant sos4 (salt overly sensitive 4) that has impaired Na(+) and K(+) contents and overproduces pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP), an active form of vitamin B6. We showed that NO increased PLP and decreased K(+) levels in plant. NO induced SNO1 gene expression and enzyme activity, indicating that NO-triggered PLP accumulation mainly occurs through SNO1-mediated vitamin B6 salvage biosynthetic pathway. Furthermore, we demonstrated that PLP significantly repressed the activity of K(+) channel AKT1 in the Xenopus oocyte system and Arabidopsis root protoplasts. Together, our results suggest that NO decreases K(+) absorption by promoting the synthesis of vitamin B6 PLP, which further represses the activity of K(+) channel AKT1 in Arabidopsis. These findings reveal a previously unidentified pivotal role of NO in modulating the homeostasis of vitamin B6 and potassium nutrition in plants, and shed light on the mechanism of NO in plant acclimation to environmental changes.

TiO₂/SnO₂ branched heterojunction nanostructure with TiO₂ branches on electrospun SnO2 nanofiber (B-SnO₂ NF) networks serves as a model architecture for efficient self-powered UV photodetector based on a photoelectrochemical cell (PECC). The nanostructure simultaneously offers a low degree of charge recombination and a direct pathway for electron transport. Without correcting 64.5% loss of incident photons through light absorption and scattering by the F-doped tin oxide (FTO) glass, the incident power conversion efficiency reaches 14.7% at 330 nm, more than twice as large as the nanocrystalline TiO₂ (TiO₂ NC, 6.4%)-film based PECC. By connecting a PECC to an ammeter, the intensity of UV light is quantified using the output short-circuit photocurrent density (J(sc)) without a power source. Under UV irradiation, the self-powered UV photodetector exhibits a high responsivity of 0.6 A/W, a high on/off ratio of 4550, a rise time of 0.03 s and a decay time of 0.01 s for J(sc) signal. The excellent performance of the B-SnO₂ NF-based PECC type self-powered photodetector will enable significant advancements for next-generation photodetection and photosensing applications., (Copyright © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

A sensitive and selective liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) method for the determination of evodiamine and rutecarpine in rabbit plasma was developed and validated. The analytes and internal standard (IS) are extracted from plasma by one-step protein precipitation with acetonitrile, and separated on a Zorbax SB-C18 column (2.1 mm x 50 mm, 3.5 microm) using acetonitrile-0.1% formic acid as mobile phase with gradient elution. Electrospray ionization (ESI) source was applied and operated in positive ion mode, and selective ion monitoring (SIM) mode used to quantify evodiamine and rutecarpine. The assay is linear over the range of 2-1600 ng/mL for evodiamine and rutecarpine, with a lower limit of quantification (LLOQ) of 5 ng/mL both for evodiamine and rutecarpine. Intra-day and inter-day precision are less than 12% and the accuracy are in the range of 90.9-104.3%. Furthermore, the newly developed method is successfully used for the determination of evodiamine and rutecarpine in rabbit plasma for pharmacokinetic study.