Anomalous in situ Activation of Carbon-Supported NiP Nanoparticles for Oxygen Evolving Electrocatalysis in Alkaline Media.

Electrochemical water splitting is one of the most promising systems by which to store energy produced from sustainable sources, such as solar and wind energy. Designing robust and stable electrocatalysts is urgently needed because of the relatively sluggish kinetics of the anodic reaction, i.e.

A graphitic edge plane rich meso-porous carbon anode for alkaline water electrolysis.

There is growing interest in alkaline water electrolysis as a sustainable approach for producing hydrogen, but developing efficient and inexpensive catalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction, which can limit the operational efficiency of water electrolysis due to its considerable overpotential, is regarded as the most overriding challenge. Therefore, significant progress has been made in developing catalysts with transition metal and carbon materials as alternative catalysts. Here, we prepared cobalt containing carbon nanofibers via a facile route of electrospinning and pyrolysis, and metal leached carbon nanofibers were also prepared by subsequently leaching the metal.

Transition metal alloying effect on the phosphoric acid adsorption strength of Pt nanoparticles: an experimental and density functional theory study.

The effect of alloying with transition metals (Ni, Co, Fe) on the adsorption strength of phosphoric acid on Pt alloy surfaces was investigated using electrochemical analysis and first-principles calculations. Cyclic voltammograms of carbon-supported PtM/C (M = Ni, Co, and Fe) electrocatalysts in 0.1 M HClO with and without 0.

PPARδ Reprograms Glutamine Metabolism in Sorafenib-Resistant HCC.

The tyrosine kinase inhibitor sorafenib is the only therapeutic agent approved for the treatment of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but acquired resistance to sorafenib is high. Here, we report metabolic reprogramming in sorafenib-resistant HCC and identify a regulatory molecule, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-δ (PPARδ), as a potential therapeutic target. Sorafenib-resistant HCC cells showed markedly higher glutamine metabolism and reductive glutamine carboxylation, which was accompanied by increased glucose-derived pentose phosphate pathway and glutamine-derived lipid biosynthetic pathways and resistance to oxidative stress.

Impact of Fatty Liver on Acute Pancreatitis Severity.

. Acute pancreatitis is typically a mild disease, but some patients develop severe courses. Fatty liver changes are seen in patients with acute pancreatitis, but its clinical significance has not been well-studied.

Cytokines and Chemokines Involved in Acute Retinal Necrosis.

Purpose: To investigate which cytokines and chemokines are involved in the immunopathogenesis of acute retinal necrosis (ARN), and whether cytokine profiles are associated with clinical manifestations, such as visual outcome.

Methods: Serum and aqueous humor (AH) samples of 19 patients with ARN were analyzed by multiplex immunoassay. Infectious controls consisted of 18 patients with rubella virus-associated Fuchs' uveitis and 20 patients with ocular toxoplasmosis all confirmed by intraocular fluid analyses.

Flexoelectric in-plane switching (IPS) mode with ultra-high-transmittance, low-voltage, low-frequency, and a flicker-free image.

The demands for a power-saving mode for displaying static images are ubiquitous not only in portable devices but also in price tags and advertising panels. At a low-frequency driving in liquid crystal displays (LCDs) for low-power consumption, the flexoelectric effect arises even in calamitic liquid crystals and the optical appearance of this physical phenomenon is found to be unusually large, being noticed as an image-flickering. Although the inherent integrated optical transmittance of in-plane switching (IPS) mode is relatively lower than that of fringe-field switching (FFS) mode, the IPS mode shows no static image-flickering but an optical spike (the so-called optical bounce), at the transient moment between signal positive and negative frames.

Identification of differentially expressed peptides in high-throughput proteomics data.

With the advent of high-throughput proteomics, the type and amount of data pose a significant challenge to statistical approaches used to validate current quantitative analysis. Whereas many studies focus on the analysis at the protein level, the analysis of peptide-level data provides insight into changes at the sub-protein level, including splice variants, isoforms and a range of post-translational modifications. Statistical evaluation of liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry peptide-based label-free differential data is most commonly performed using a t-test or analysis of variance, often after the application of data imputation to reduce the number of missing values.

Lethal Consequences of Overcoming Metabolic Restrictions Imposed on a Cooperative Bacterial Population.

Quorum sensing (QS) controls cooperative activities in many In some species, QS-dependent specific metabolism contributes to the stability of the cooperation. However, the mechanism by which QS and metabolic networks have coevolved to support stable public good cooperation and maintenance of the cooperative group remains unknown. Here we explored the underlying mechanisms of QS-controlled central metabolism in the evolutionary aspects of cooperation.

Inhibitory effect of esculetin on free-fatty-acid-induced lipid accumulation in human HepG2 cells through activation of AMP-activated protein kinase.

This study aimed to determine the lipid-lowering effect of esculetin (6,7-dihydroxycoumarin), a coumarin derivative, using a cell model of steatosis induced by a mixture of free fatty acids (FFAs). Esculetin dose-dependently inhibited intracellular lipid accumulation by down-regulating the protein expression of lipogenic genes such as sterol regulatory element-binding protein-1c (SREBP1c) and fatty acid synthase (FAS) in FFAs-induced HepG2 cells. Moreover, esculetin significantly elevated the activation of the adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) signaling pathways in HepG2 hepatocytes.

Risk of major bleeding and stroke associated with the use of vitamin K antagonists, nonvitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants and aspirin in patients with atrial fibrillation: a cohort study.

Aims: Nonvitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs) are now available for the prevention of stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) as an alternative to vitamin K antagonists (VKA) and aspirin. The comparative effectiveness and safety in daily practice of these different drug classes is still unclear. The objective of this study was to evaluate the risk of major bleeding and stroke in AF patients using NOACs, VKAs or aspirin.

Label-free measurement of the yeast short chain TAG lipase activity by ESI-MS after one-step esterification.

Triacylglycerol (TAG) lipases hydrolyze ester bonds in TAG and release diacylglycerol (DAG), monoacylglycerol (MAG), and FA. We present a one-step chemical derivatization method for label-free quantification of a mixture of TAG, DAG, and MAG following lipase assay by ESI-MS. Because the ionization efficiencies of TAG, DAG, and MAG are not identical, lipase reaction products, DAG and MAG, are derivatized to TAG species by esterifying their hydroxyl groups using acyl chloride, whose acyl chain contains one less (or one more) -CH group than that of substrate TAG.

Esophagogastric junction contractile integral and morphology: Two high-resolution manometry metrics of the anti-reflux barrier.

Background And Aim: We evaluated associations of esophagogastric junction (EGJ) metrics as an anti-reflux barrier with impedance-pH, endoscopic esophagitis, and lower esophageal sphincter (LES) metrics.

Methods: We reviewed high-resolution manometry data from consecutive patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) symptoms who underwent impedance-pH and endoscopy, and asymptomatic volunteers. The EGJ contractile integral (CI) was calculated as the mean contractile integral/second during three respiratory cycles.

Field-symmetrization to solve luminance deviation between frames in a low-frequency-driven fringe-field switching liquid crystal cell.

The development of low-frequency-driven liquid crystal displays (LCDs) has recently received intense attention to open up low-power consumption display devices, such as portable displays, advertising panels and price tags. In fringe-field switching (FFS) LCD mode, a unidirectional electric field gives rise to head-tail symmetry breaking in liquid crystals, so that the flexoelectric effect, a coupling between the elastic distortion and the electric polarization, becomes enormously significant. The effect is thus linked to an unusual optical effect, which badly damages the quality of images by image-flickering, and this image-flickering is mainly caused by transmittance difference between the applied signal frames.

Mycobiota of ground red pepper and their aflatoxigenic potential.

To investigate contamination of ground red pepper with fungi and mycotoxin, we obtained 30 ground red pepper samples from 15 manufacturers in the main chili-pepper-producing areas in Korea. Fungal contamination was evaluated by spreading diluted samples on potato dextrose agar plates. The total fungi counts ranged from 0 to 7.

Effect of ( L.) Powder on Quality and Shelf Stability of Emulsion Sausages during Refrigerated Storage.

The objective of this study was to evaluate effects of powder (GP) on quality characteristics and shelf stability of emulsion sausages during storage. Proximate composition properties showed no significant differences in all treatment (>0.05).

Transcriptome assists prognosis of disease severity in respiratory syncytial virus infected infants.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) causes infections that range from common cold to severe lower respiratory tract infection requiring high-level medical care. Prediction of the course of disease in individual patients remains challenging at the first visit to the pediatric wards and RSV infections may rapidly progress to severe disease. In this study we investigate whether there exists a genomic signature that can accurately predict the course of RSV.

Occurrence of Toxigenic among Small Grain Cereals in Korea.

species complex (FGSC) causes Fusarium head blight in small grain cereals. To date, four species (, , , and ) belonging to FGSC frequently occur in Korean cereals. In addition, we first reported the occurrence of additional species ( ) within FGSC, which was isolated from barley, corn, and rice in Korea.

Effect of Ultra-sonication Treatment on the Quality Characteristics of Baked Eggs.

The effect of ultra-sonication on quality characteristics and flavor of baked eggs was studied. One hundred and twenty eggs were cooked and assigned to six treatments groups (n=20 each) that were then soaked in saline solution at various concentrations (5, 10 and 18%) with/or without further ultra-sonication treatment at 35 kHz for 1 h. The pH values were lower in the ultra-sonicated samples in comparison with the non-ultra-sonicated samples (p<0.

Pressure ulcer development in trauma patients with suspected spinal injury; the influence of risk factors present in the Emergency Department.

Objectives: To explore the influence of risk factors present at Emergency Department admission on pressure ulcer development in trauma patients with suspected spinal injury, admitted to the hospital for evaluation and treatment of acute traumatic injuries.

Design: Prospective cohort study setting level one trauma center in the Netherlands participants adult trauma patients transported to the Emergency Department on a backboard, with extrication collar and headblocks and admitted to the hospital for treatment or evaluation of their injuries.

Methods: Between January and December 2013, 254 trauma patients were included.

Strain Sensing Characteristics of Rubbery Carbon Nanotube Composite for Flexible Sensors.

In this study, the piezoresistive properties of CNT (Carbon Nanotube)/EPDM composite are characterized for the applications of a flexible sensor. The CNT/EPDM composites were prepared by using a Brabender mixer with MWCNT (Multi-walled Carbon Nanotube) and organoclay. The static and quasi-dynamic voltage output responses of the composite sensor were also experimentally studied and were compared with those of a conventional foil strain gage.

Gr-1intCD11b+ myeloid-derived suppressor cells accumulate in corneal allograft and improve corneal allograft survival.

We identified the characteristics of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) and investigated their mechanism of induction and their functional role in allograft rejection using a murine corneal allograft model. In mice, MDSCs coexpress CD11b and myeloid differentiation antigen Gr-1. Gr-1CD11b cells infiltrated allografted corneas between 4 d and 4 wk after surgery; however, the frequencies of Gr-1CD11b cells were not different between accepted and rejected allografts or in peripheral blood or BM.

[Pressure ulcers in trauma patients with suspected spine injury: a prospective cohort study with emphasis on device-related pressure ulcers].

Of all patients in a hospital environment, trauma patients may be particularly at risk for developing (device-related) pressure ulcers (PUs), because of their traumatic injuries, immobility, and exposure to immobilizing and medical devices. Studies on device-related PUs are scarce. With this study, the incidence and characteristics of PUs and the proportion of PUs that are related to devices in adult trauma patients with suspected spinal injury were described.