Since their appearance on the scene, MXenes have been recognized as promising anode materials for rechargeable batteries, thanks to the combination of structural and electronic features. The layered structure with a suitable interlayer distance, good electronic conductivity, and moldability in composition makes MXenes exploitable both as active and support materials for the fabrication of nanocomposites providing both capacitive and Faradaic contributions to the final capacity. Although a variety of possibilities has been explored, the fundamental mechanism of the electrode reaction is still hazy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Neural tube defects (NTDs), well-known consequences of folate deficiency, are the second most common cause of serious birth defects, affecting approximately one in a thousand pregnancies in Europe. Maternal folate deficiency before conception and during early pregnancy has been suggested as the most important preventable risk factor for NTDs; thus women should be supplemented before conception with 0.4 mg of folic acid (FA) until the first trimester of gestation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNutritional metabolomics provides a comprehensive overview of the biochemical processes that are induced by dietary intake through the measurement of metabolite profiles in biological samples. However, there is a lack of deep phenotypic analysis that shows how dietary interventions influence the metabolic state across multiple physiologic sites. Dietary amino acids have emerged as important nutrients for physiology and pathophysiology given their ability to impact cell metabolism.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMale infertility is a risk factor for the development of testicular germ cell tumors. In this study, we investigated microRNA profiles in seminal plasma to identify potential noninvasive biomarkers able to discriminate the men at highest risk of developing cancer among the infertile population. We compared the microRNA profiles of individuals affected by testicular germ cell tumors and healthy individuals with normal or impaired spermiograms using high-throughput technology and confirmed the results by single-assay digital PCR.
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