Multieffect Preoxidation Strategy to Convert Bituminous Coal into Hard Carbon for Enhancing Sodium Storage Performance.

Preoxidation is an effective strategy to inhibit the graphitization of coals during carbonization. However, the single effect of the traditional preoxidation strategy could barely increase surface-active sites, hindering further enhancement of sodium storage. Herein, a multieffect preoxidation strategy was proposed to suppress structural rearrangement and create abundant surface-active sites.

A Feasible Dual Modification Strategy of Internal Anion Redox Chemistry and Surface Engineering on P2 Layer-Structured Cathodes in Sodium-Ion Batteries.

Boosting the anion redox reaction opens up a possibility of further capacity enhancement on transition-metal-ion redox-only layer-structured cathodes for sodium-ion batteries. To mitigate the deteriorating impact on the internal and surface structure of the cathode caused by the inevitable increase in the operation voltage, probing a solution to promote the bulk-phase crystal structure stability and surface chemistry environment to further facilitate the electrochemical performance enhancement is a key issue. A dual modification strategy of establishing an anion redox hybrid activation trigger agent inside the crystal structure in combination with surface oxide coating is successfully developed.

Enantiospecific Analysis of Carboxylic Acids Using Alkaloid Dimers as Chiral Solvating Agents.

alkaloid derivatives as Brønsted base catalysts have attracted considerable attention in the field of asymmetric catalysis. However, their potential application as chiral solvating agents has not been described. In this research, we investigated the use of the alkaloid dimer, namely, (DHQ)PHAL, as a chiral solvating agent for discerning various mandelic acid derivatives through H NMR spectroscopy.

Regeneration of Spent Lithium Manganate Batteries into Al-Doped MnO Cathodes toward Aqueous Zn Batteries.

Large quantities of spent lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) will inevitably be generated in the near future because of their wide application in many fields. It will cause not only resource waste but also environmental pollution if these spent batteries are not properly handled. Until now, the recycling of spent lithium manganate batteries has centered on high-valuable elements such as lithium; however, manganese element and current collector Al foil have not yet attracted wide attention.

Improving Low-temperature Performance and Stability of Na Ti O Anodes by the Ti-O Spring Effect through Nb-doping.

Na Ti O (NTO) with high safety has been regarded as a promising anode candidate for sodium-ion batteries. In the present study, integrated modification of migration channels broadening, charge density re-distribution, and oxygen vacancies regulation are realized in case of Nb-doping and have obtained significantly enhanced cycling performance with 92 % reversible capacity retained after 3000 cycles at 3000 mA g . Moreover, unexpected low-temperature performance with a high discharge capacity of 143 mAh g at 100 mA g under -15 °C is also achieved in the full cell.

Study of the method of spinal cord neuron culture in Sprague-Dawley rats.

This study aimed to explore the method of culture of spinal cord neurons (SPNs) in vitro and to provide prerequisites for studying the molecular mechanism and pharmacological mechanism of spinal cord injury and repair. The spinal cord tissues of neonatal Sprague-Dawley rats were taken and digested by trypsin, followed by cytarabine (Ara-C) to inhibit the proliferation of heterogeneous cells, differential velocity adhesion, and natural growth in neuron-specific medium. Then, the morphology of SPNs was observed.

The cytotoxicity study of praziquantel enantiomers.

Praziquantel (PZQ) is prescribed as a racemic mixture (racemic-PZQ, rac-PZQ), which is composed of (R)-PZQ and (S)-PZQ. In this work, the cytotoxicity of rac-PZQ and its two enantiomers (R)-PZQ and (S)-PZQ on eight cell lines (L-02, HepG2, prf-plc-5, SH-SY5Y, HUVEC, A549, HCT-15, Raw264.7) was evaluated by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphe-nyltetrazolium bromide and lactate dehydrogenase assays.

Synthesis, larvicidal activities and antifungal activities of novel chlorantraniliprole derivatives and their target in the ryanodine receptor.

In order to identify novel chlorantraniliprole derivatives as potential insecticides or fungicides, 25 analogues of chlorantraniliprole were synthesized. The insecticidal activities against oriental armyworm and the antifungal activities against five typical fungi of these derivatives were tested. Compounds 2u, 2x and 2y exhibited good activities against oriental armyworm, especially compounds 2u and 2x which showed higher larvicidal activities than indoxacarb.

Development of chiral praziquantel analogues as potential drug candidates with activity to juvenile Schistosoma japonicum.

A series of chiral praziquantel analogues were synthesized and evaluated against Schistosoma japonicum both in vitro and in vivo. All compounds exhibited low to considerable good activity in vivo. Remarkably, worm reduction rate of R-3 was 60.

Metabolic profiling of praziquantel enantiomers.

Praziquantel (PZQ), prescribed as a racemic mixture, is the most readily available drug to treat schistosomiasis. In the present study, ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-ESI-QTOFMS) based metabolomics was employed to decipher the metabolic pathways and enantioselective metabolic differences of PZQ. Many phase I and four new phase II metabolites were found in urine and feces samples of mice 24h after dosing, indicating that the major metabolic reactions encompassed oxidation, dehydrogenation, and glucuronidation.

Novel chlorantraniliprole derivatives as potential insecticides and probe to chlorantraniliprole binding site on ryanodine receptor.

The lepidopteran pests such as diamondback moth are the regularly harmful pests of crops in the world, which brings enormous losses in crop production. Chlorantraniliprole is an anthranilic diamide insecticide registered for the control of lepidopteran pests with high insecticidal activity, however with uncertain binding site action target of chlorantraniliprole on ryanodine receptor, a series of new chlorantraniliprole derivatives were synthesized and the insecticidal activities of these compounds against diamondback moth were evaluated with chlorantraniliprole and indoxacarb as control. All compounds except 8h, 8p and 8t exhibited varying degree of activities against diamondback moth.

BRCA1 regulates acetylation and ubiquitination of estrogen receptor-alpha.

Inherited mutations of the breast cancer susceptibility gene BRCA1 confer a high risk for breast cancer development. The (300)RXKK and (266)KXK motifs have been identified previously as sites for acetylation of the estrogen receptor-alpha (ER-alpha), and (302)K was also found to be a site for BRCA1-mediated mono-ubiquitination of ER-alpha in vitro. Here we show that ER-alpha proteins with single or double lysine mutations of these motifs (including K303R, a cancer-associated mutant) are resistant to inhibition by BRCA1, even though the mutant ER-alpha proteins retain the ability to bind to BRCA1.

Growth factor signaling pathways modulate BRCA1 repression of estrogen receptor-alpha activity.

The breast cancer susceptibility gene BRCA1 is mutated in about one half of all hereditary breast cancer cases, and its expression is frequently decreased in sporadic cancers. Previously, we demonstrated a functional interaction between the BRCA1 and estrogen receptor-alpha (ER-alpha) proteins that causes inhibition of ER-alpha signaling. Here, we examined the role of growth factor signaling pathways in modulating this interaction.

Identification of genes that modulate sensitivity of U373MG glioblastoma cells to cis-platinum.

Scatter factor (hepatocyte growth factor) and its receptor c-Met are increasingly expressed during progression from low-grade to high-grade gliomas. Scatter factor/c-Met signaling induces glioma cell motility, invasion, angiogenesis and resistance to DNA-damaging agents. The latter is relevant to the understanding of the resistance of human gliomas to chemotherapy and radiotherapy.