Increasing Self-Efficacy for the Management of Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Through an Advanced Practice Education Program for Primary Care Professionals.

Background/objectives: Previous studies have shown that primary care (PC) professionals have a low knowledge about the management of patients with type 2 diabetes, despite being one of the most common chronic diseases. The objective of this study is to analyze the impact of an educational program for health professionals on the metabolic control of their patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.

Methods: This work follows a quasi-experimental longitudinal design following a double perspective.

Mesopore-Augmented Electrochemical CO Reduction on Nitrogen-Doped Carbon.

The electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction reaction (eCORR) using nitrogen-doped carbon (N-C) materials offers a promising and cost-effective approach to global carbon neutrality. Regulating the porosity of N-C materials can potentially increase the catalytic performance by suppressing the concurrence of the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). However, the augmentation of porosity usually alters the active sites or the chemical composition of catalysts, resulting in intertwined influences of various structural factors and catalytic performance.

Sparkling Synergy: Enhancing Hydrogen Evolution with a Mesoporous CoP/FeP Interface.

The reaction kinetics is predominantly determined by the surface and interface engineering of electrocatalysts. Herein, we demonstrate the growth of cobalt monophosphide and iron monophosphide (CoP/FeP) with an effective solid interface. The surface of CoP/FeP is mesoporous, which is obtained by phosphidizing mesoporous CoFeO.

Cirrhosis-downregulated LSECtin can be retrieved by cytokines, shifts the TLR-induced LSECs secretome and correlates with the hepatic Th response.

Background And Aims: We evaluated tolerogenic C-type lectin LSECtin loss in cirrhosis and its potential regulation by cytokines.

Methods: Liver tissue from patients with cirrhosis and healthy controls, immortalised and generated LSECtin-CRISPR immortalised LSECs, and murine primary LSECs from the CCl model were handled.

Results: LSECtin expression was reduced in liver tissue from cirrhotic patients, and it decreased from compensated to decompensated disease.

Direct Operando Visualization of Metal Support Interactions Induced by Hydrogen Spillover During CO Hydrogenation.

The understanding of catalyst active sites is a fundamental challenge for the future rational design of optimized and bespoke catalysts. For instance, the partial reduction of Ce surface sites to Ce and the formation of oxygen vacancies are critical for CO hydrogenation, CO oxidation, and the water gas shift reaction. Furthermore, metal nanoparticles, the reducible support, and metal support interactions are prone to evolve under reaction conditions; therefore a catalyst structure must be characterized under operando conditions to identify active states and deduce structure-activity relationships.

Cobalt-Iron Oxyhydroxide Obtained from the Metal Phosphide: A Highly Effective Electrocatalyst for the Oxygen Evolution Reaction at High Current Densities.

The development of high current density anodes for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is fundamental to manufacturing practical and reliable electrochemical cells. In this work, we have developed a bimetallic electrocatalyst based on cobalt-iron oxyhydroxide that shows outstanding performance for water oxidation. Such a catalyst is obtained from cobalt-iron phosphide nanorods that serve as sacrificial structures for the formation of a bimetallic oxyhydroxide through phosphorous loss concomitantly to oxygen/hydroxide incorporation.

Hydrothermal Fabrication of Carbon-Supported Oxide-Derived Copper Heterostructures: A Robust Catalyst System for Enhanced Electro-Reduction of CO to C H.

Anthropogenic CO can be converted to alternative fuels and value-added products by electrocatalytic routes. Copper-based catalysts are found to be the star materials for obtaining longer-chain carbon compounds beyond 2e products. Herein, we report a facile hydrothermal fabrication of a highly robust electrocatalyst: in-situ grown heterostructures of plate-like CuO-Cu O on carbon black.

Improvement of carbon dioxide electroreduction by crystal surface modification of ZIF-8.

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) possess high CO adsorption properties and are considered to be a promising candidate for the electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction reaction (eCORR). However, their insufficient selectivity and current density constrain their further exploration in the eCORR. In this work, by introducing a very small proportion of 2,5-dihydroxyterephthalic acid (DOBDC) into ZIF-8, a surface modified ZIF-8-5% catalyst was synthesized by a post-modification method, exhibiting enhanced selectivity (from 56% to 79%) and current density (from -4 mA cm to -10 mA m) compared to ZIF-8.

CuO-Cu@Titanium Surface with Synergistic Performance for Nitrate-to-Ammonia Electrochemical Reduction.

Transition metals, such as titanium (Ti) and copper (Cu) along with their respective metal oxides (TiO, CuO, and CuO), have been widely studied as electrocatalysts for nitrate electrochemical reduction with important outcomes in the fields of denitrification and ammonia generation. Based on this, this work conducted an evaluation of a composite electrode that integrates materials with different intrinsic activities (i.e.

Psychosocial changes during COVID-19 lockdown on nursing home residents, their relatives and clinical staff: a prospective observational study.

Background: Previous works have observed an increase of depression and other psychological disorders on nursing home residents as a consequence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) lockdown; however, there are few studies that have performed a comprehensive evaluation of all people involved in nursing homes environment. The objective of the work was to analyse the impact of lockdown on psychosocial factors of nursing home residents, relatives and clinical staff and how these variables have influenced residents' survival.

Methods: A prospective study was designed.

A method for multiple sampling mouse sperm in vivo†.

Mice are the most widely used animal model to study human diseases. However, the difficulty of in vivo recovery of mouse sperm has posed a limitation with its use in reproductive biology research. Several published techniques for obtaining sperm samples in vivo have been described, but most of them have several caveats.

Spin Effect to Promote Reaction Kinetics and Overall Performance of Lithium-Sulfur Batteries under External Magnetic Field.

Lithium-sulfur batteries (LSBs) are still limited by the shuttle of lithium polysulfides (LiPS) and the slow Li-S reaction. Herein, we demonstrate that when using cobalt sulfide as a catalytic additive, an external magnetic field generated by a permanent magnet can significantly improve the LiPS adsorption ability and the Li-S reaction kinetics. More specifically, the results show both experimentally and theoretically how an electron spin polarization of Co ions reduces electron repulsion and enhances the degree of orbital hybridization, thus resulting in LSBs with unprecedented performance and stability.

Engineering the Interfacial Microenvironment via Surface Hydroxylation to Realize the Global Optimization of Electrochemical CO Reduction.

The adsorption and activation of CO on the electrode interface is a prerequisite and key step for electrocatalytic CO reduction reaction (eCO RR). Regulating the interfacial microenvironment to promote the adsorption and activation of CO is thus of great significance to optimize overall conversion efficiency. Herein, a CO-philic hydroxyl coordinated ZnO (ZnO-OH) catalyst is fabricated, for the first time, via a facile MOF-assisted method.

Phase Engineering of Defective Copper Selenide toward Robust Lithium-Sulfur Batteries.

The shuttling of soluble lithium polysulfides (LiPS) and the sluggish Li-S conversion kinetics are two main barriers toward the practical application of lithium-sulfur batteries (LSBs). Herein, we propose the addition of copper selenide nanoparticles at the cathode to trap LiPS and accelerate the Li-S reaction kinetics. Using both computational and experimental results, we demonstrate the crystal phase and concentration of copper vacancies to control the electronic structure of the copper selenide, its affinity toward LiPS chemisorption, and its electrical conductivity.

Mammalian puberty: a fly perspective.

Mammalian puberty and Drosophila metamorphosis, despite their evolutionary distance, exhibit similar design principles and conservation of molecular components. In this Viewpoint, we review recent advances in this area and the similarities between both processes in terms of the signaling pathways and neuroendocrine circuits involved. We argue that the detection and uptake of peripheral fat by Drosophila prothoracic endocrine cells induces endomembrane remodeling and ribosomal maturation, leading to the acquisition of high biosynthetic and secretory capacity.

A toolbox to study metabolic status of larvae.

Somatic energy reserves are essential for reproductive success and can govern the onset of sexual maturation. Here, we present a toolkit to analyze the metabolic status of larvae using an optimized NMR profiling assay in dissected tissues or whole animals, as well as a complementary protocol for the dissection and staining of key organs in nutrient sensing. This toolkit will aid investigations into critical body weight signaling and how it is sensed for maturation commitment in .

A High Conductivity 1D π-d Conjugated Metal-Organic Framework with Efficient Polysulfide Trapping-Diffusion-Catalysis in Lithium-Sulfur Batteries.

The shuttling behavior and sluggish conversion kinetics of the intermediate lithium polysulfides (LiPS) represent the main obstructions to the practical application of lithium-sulfur batteries (LSBs). Herein, a 1D π-d conjugated metal-organic framework (MOF), Ni-MOF-1D, is presented as an efficient sulfur host to overcome these limitations. Experimental results and density functional theory calculations demonstrate that Ni-MOF-1D is characterized by a remarkable binding strength for trapping soluble LiPS species.

High performance silicon electrode enabled by titanicone coating.

This paper presents the electrochemical performance and characterization of nano Si electrodes coated with titanicone (TiGL) as an anode for Li ion batteries (LIBs). Atomic layer deposition (ALD) of the metal combined with the molecular layer deposition (MLD) of the organic precursor is used to prepare coated electrodes at different temperatures with improved performance compared to the uncoated Si electrode. Coated electrodes prepared at 150 °C deliver the highest capacity and best current response of 1800 mAh g at 0.

High rate of de novo esophagitis 5 years after sleeve gastrectomy: a prospective multicenter study in Spain.

Background: Major concerns years after the sleeve gastrectomy (SG) include weight regain, development of hiatal hernia (HH) and gastroesophageal reflux disease, with esophagitis and Barrett's esophagus (BE). Both problems could be related, and the incidence of asymptomatic patients is troubling.

Objective: To study the incidence of reflux symptoms, esophagitis, BE, HH, and asymptomatic pathology and their relationship with weight regain in patients 5 years after undergoing SG at different bariatric centers in Spain.

Body-fat sensor triggers ribosome maturation in the steroidogenic gland to initiate sexual maturation in Drosophila.

Fat stores are critical for reproductive success and may govern maturation initiation. Here, we report that signaling and sensing fat sufficiency for sexual maturation commitment requires the lipid carrier apolipophorin in fat cells and Sema1a in the neuroendocrine prothoracic gland (PG). Larvae lacking apolpp or Sema1a fail to initiate maturation despite accruing sufficient fat stores, and they continue gaining weight until death.

And yet, migration, population growth or mortality are not balanced among Cantabrian brown bear subpopulations. Reply to Blanco et al (2020).

In a recent paper, we presented new evidence and provided new insights on the status of Cantabrian brown bear subpopulations, relevant for this species conservation. Namely, we revealed the likely phylogeographic relation between eastern Cantabrian subpopulation and the historical Pyrenean population. We have also detected an asymmetric flow of alleles and individuals from the eastern to the western subpopulation, including seven first-generation male migrants.

Sepsis-induced cardiomyopathy is associated with higher mortality rates in patients with sepsis.

Background: Patients with sepsis are at risk for developing sepsis-induced cardiomyopathy (SIC). Previous studies offer inconsistent results regarding the association of SIC and mortality. This study sought to assess whether SIC is linked to mortality in patients with sepsis and to evaluate predictors of the development of SIC.

Contact resistance stability and cation mixing in a Vulcan-based LiNiCoMnO slurry for semi-solid flow batteries.

The Semi-Solid Flow Battery (SSFB) is an interesting energy storage system (ESS) for stationary applications but, in spite of the significant work presented on this technology so far, understanding the chemical and physical factors limiting its electrochemical performance is still blurred by measurements under static conditions rather than under real operando conditions. In this study, we have used Vulcan carbon as a conductive additive to formulate LiNi1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2 (NCM) based slurries as the catholyte to characterize electrical and electrochemical performances using a 3-electrode flow cell by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and galvanostatic charge/discharge (GCD), respectively. The results are correlated with post-mortem analyses of recovered slurries using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Raman spectroscopy and Rietveld refinement of the NCM crystal structure.

Facing Seawater Splitting Challenges by Regeneration with Ni-Mo-Fe Bifunctional Electrocatalyst for Hydrogen and Oxygen Evolution.

Hydrogen, produced by water splitting, has been proposed as one of the main green energy vectors of the future if produced from renewable energy sources. However, to substitute fossil fuels, large amounts of pure water are necessary, scarce in many world regions. In this work, we fabricate efficient and earth-abundant electrodes, study the challenges of using real seawater, and propose an electrode regeneration method to face undesired salt deposition.