1,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D protects against placental inflammation by suppressing NLRP3-mediated IL-1β production via Nrf2 signaling pathway in preeclampsia.

Background: Maternal vitamin D deficiency is associated with an increased risk of preeclampsia, a potentially life-threatening multi-system disorder specific to human pregnancy. Placental trophoblast dysfunction is a key factor in the development of preeclampsia, and the activation of NOD-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome may play a crucial role in this process. Previous studies have suggested that vitamin D can exert beneficial effects by suppressing inflammasome activation, but the underlying mechanism has not been fully elucidated.

Growth Modulation of High-Entropy Alloys for Electrocatalytic Methanol Oxidation Reaction.

High-entropy alloy (HEA) electrocatalysts have exhibited remarkable catalytic performance because of their synergistic interactions among multiple metals. However, the growth mechanism of HEAs remains elusive, primarily due to the constraints imposed by the current synthesis methodologies for HEAs. In this work, an innovative electrodeposition method was developed to fabricate Pt-based nanocomposites (PtBiCoCuNi/CC), comprising HEA nanosheets and carbon cloths (CCs).

Precise Construction of the Triple-Phase Boundary and Its Antiphosphate Poisoning Effect in the Confined Region.

As a critical component for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), platinum (Pt) catalysts exhibit promising catalytic performance in High-temperature-proton exchange membrane fuel cells (HT-PEMFCs). Despite their success, HT-PEMFCs primarily utilize phosphoric acid-doped polybenzimidazole (PA-PBI) as the proton exchange membrane, and the phosphoric acid within the PBI matrix tends to leach onto the Pt-based layers, easily causing toxicity. Herein, we first propose UiO-66@PtCo-T composites with precisely engineered interfacial structures.

Orderly Coating of Bilayer Polymer to Tailor Microenvironment for Efficient C-N Coupling Toward Highly Selective Urea Electrosynthesis.

Electrosynthesis of urea from co-reduction of carbon dioxide and nitrate is a promising alternative to the industrial process. However, the overwhelming existence of proton and nitrate as well as the insufficient supply of CO at the reaction interface usually result in complex product distributions from individual nitrate reduction or hydrogen evolution, instead of C-N coupling. In this work, we systematically optimize this microenvironment through orderly coating of bilayer polymer to specifically tackle the above challenges.

Electronegativity- induced cobalt-doped platinum hollow nanospheres with high CO tolerance for efficient methanol oxidation reaction.

Although Platinum (Pt)-based alloys have garnered significant interest within the realm of direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs), there still exists a notable dearth in the exploration of the catalytic behavior of the liquid fuels on well-defined active sites and unavoidable Pt poisoning because of the adsorbed CO species (CO). Here, we propose an electronegativity-induced electronic redistribution strategy to optimize the adsorption of crucial intermediates for the methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) by introducing the Co element to form the PtCo alloys. The optimal PtCo hollow nanospheres (HNSs) exhibit excellent high-quality activity of 3.

Rational Linker Design for Enhanced Performance of MOF-Derived Catalysts in Electrochemical Urea Synthesis.

2D metal-organic frameworks (2D MOFs) offer promising electrocatalytic potential for urea synthesis, yet the underlying reaction mechanisms and structure-activity relationships remain unclear. Using Cu-BDC as a model, density functional theory (DFT) calculations to elucidate these aspects are conducted. The results reveal a novel coupling mechanism involving *NO─CO and *NO─*ONCO, emphasizing the impact of linker modifications on Cu spin states and charge distribution.

Triggering Heteroatom Ensemble Effect over RuFe Alloy to Promote Nitrogen Chemisorption for Efficient Ammonia Electrosynthesis at Ambient Conditions.

Ammonia (NH) electrosynthesis from nitrogen (N) provides a promising strategy for carbon neutrality, circumventing the energy-intensive and carbon-emitting Haber-Bosch process. However, the current system still presents unsatisfactory performance, and the bottleneck lies in the rational synthesis of catalytic centers with efficient N chemisorption ability. Herein, a heteroatom ensemble effect is deliberately triggered over RuFe alloy with spatial proximity of metal sites to promote electrocatalytic nitrogen reduction.

Atomic-Dispersed Cu Catalysts for Electrochemical Nitrate Reduction: Coordination Engineering and Fundamental Insights.

The development of Cu-based atomic dispersed catalysts with tailored coordination environments represents a significant step forward in enhancing the electrocatalytic reduction of nitrate to ammonia. By precisely modulating the electronic structures of Cu active centers, the binding strength of the NO intermediates is successfully tuned, thereby substantially improving the catalytic activity toward electrochemical nitrate reduction reaction (eNORR). This study reveals that the N-coordinated Cu single-atom catalyst (Cu-SAC) exhibits superior performance due to its robust interaction with coordinating atoms.

Myricetin mitigates motor disturbance and decreases neuronal ferroptosis in a rat model of Parkinson's disease.

Ferroptosis is an iron-dependent cell death form characterized by reactive oxygen species (ROS) overgeneration and lipid peroxidation. Myricetin, a flavonoid that exists in numerous plants, exhibits potent antioxidant capacity. Given that iron accumulation and ROS-provoked dopaminergic neuron death are the two main pathological hallmarks of Parkinson's disease (PD), we aimed to investigate whether myricetin decreases neuronal death through suppressing ferroptosis.

Fast-charging aqueous batteries enabled by a three-dimensional ordered Zn anode at deliberate concentration polarization.

A finely controlled concentration polarization environment was deliberately created to fabricate a three-dimensional ordered Zn metal anode with (002)-dominated planes, which enabled a high-rate aqueous Ni-Zn pouch cell with a high discharge capacity of 187.3 mA h g at 50 C, and a capacity retention of 94.7% and an average Coulombic efficiency of 99.

Association of body mass index with rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder in Parkinson's disease.

Background: The association between body mass index (BMI) and rapid eye-movement (REM) sleep-related behavioral disorder (RBD) in Parkinson's disease (PD) remains unknown. Our study was to investigate the association of BMI with RBD in PD patients.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, a total of 1,115 PD participants were enrolled from Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI) database.

Rare-Earth Lanthanum-Evoked Amorphization and Optimization to Boost Ambient Nitrogen Fixation over Single-Atom Catalysts.

Single-atom catalysts (SACs) have been widely studied in a variety of electrocatalysis. However, its application in the electrocatalytic nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) field still suffers from unsatisfactory performance, due to the sluggish mass transfer and significant kinetic barriers. Herein, a novel rare-earth-lanthanum-evoked optimization strategy is proposed to boost ambient NRR over SACs.

Nanoporous Nickel Cathode with an Electrostatic Chlorine-Resistant Surface for Industrial Seawater Electrolysis Hydrogen Production.

Seawater electrolysis presents a promising avenue for green hydrogen production toward a carbon-free society. However, the electrode materials face significant challenges including severe chlorine-induced corrosion and high reaction overpotential, resulting in low energy conversion efficiency and low current density operation. Herein, we put forward a nanoporous nickel (npNi) cathode with high chlorine corrosion resistance for energy-efficient seawater electrolysis at industrial current densities (0.

Apelin/APJ system protects placental trophoblasts from hypoxia-induced oxidative stress through activating PI3K/Akt signaling pathway in preeclampsia.

Background: Preeclampsia is a placentally induced syndrome with diverse clinical presentation that currently has no cure. Oxidative stress is a potent inducer of placental dysfunction. The apelin receptor (APJ) system is a pleiotropic pathway with a potential for therapeutic targeting in preeclampsia.

Confinement Effects in Carbonized ZIF-Confined Hollow PtCo Nanospheres Enable the Methanol Oxidation Reaction.

Confinement effects in highly porous nanostructures can effectively adjust the selectivity and kinetics of electrochemical reactions, which can boost the methanol oxidation reaction (MOR). In this work, carbonized ZIF-8-confined hollow PtCo nanospheres (PtCo@carbonized ZIF-8) were fabricated using a facile strategy. A monodisperse confined region was successfully prepared, and the dispersion of the PtCo nanoparticles (NPs) could be precisely regulated, allowing for the effective tuning of the confined region.

Electrodeposition-Assisted Crystal Growth Regulation of PdBi Clusters on Carbon Cloths for Ethanol Oxidation.

Carbon-supported Pd-based clusters are one of the most promising anodic catalysts for ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR) due to their encouraging activity and practical applications. However, unclear growth mechanism of Pd-based clusters on the carbon-based materials has hindered their extensive applications. Herein, we first introduce multi-void spherical PdBi cluster/carbon cloth (PdBi/CC) composites by an electrodeposition routine.

Autonomic function and motor subtypes in Parkinson's disease: a multicentre cross-sectional study.

Autonomic symptoms (AS) are critical in Parkinson's disease (PD). We aimed to determine the relative significance of clinical factors allowing predictions about incidence of AS, and examine AS profiles among PD patients by motor subtype and its relation to AS. The cross-sectional data of a multicentre sample, including 714 PD patients and 194 healthy controls from Parkinson's Progression Marker Initiative study and Pingchan granule study were analyzed, stratified by PD subtypes [postural instability and gait disturbances (PIGD), tremor dominant (TD), and indeterminate] and domain autonomic dysfunction.

Rectangular multiple-relaxation-time lattice Boltzmann method for the Navier-Stokes and nonlinear convection-diffusion equations: General equilibrium and some important issues.

In this paper, we develop a general rectangular multiple-relaxation-time lattice Boltzmann (RMRT-LB) method for the Navier-Stokes equations (NSEs) and nonlinear convection-diffusion equation (NCDE) by extending our recent unified framework of the multiple-relaxation-time lattice Boltzmann (MRT-LB) method [Chai and Shi, Phys. Rev. E 102, 023306 (2020)10.

Revealing the origin of activity in phthalocyanine-based dual-metal sites towards electrochemical nitric oxide reduction.

Coordinated ligands play crucial roles in tuning the electrochemical nitrate reduction performance of phthalocyanine (Pc)-based dual atom catalysts. With the assistance of axial O ligands, fast NO to NH conversion can be realized on O-Ni-Pc and O-Cu-Pc. A 2-N product, NO, can be synthesized on Co-Pc, Cr-Pc, O-Co-Pc, and O-Fe-Pc through N-N coupling with high NO coverage.

Rationalizing Functionalized MXenes as Effective Anchor Materials for Lithium-Sulfur Batteries via First-Principles Calculations.

The practical application of Li-S batteries has been greatly hindered by severe shuttle effects and sluggish kinetics. Anchoring soluble lithium polysulfides (LiPSs) onto host materials by chemisorption is an effective strategy for extending battery life. In this work, we performed systematic density functional theory calculations to evaluate the anchoring performance of O/F-covered MXene (MTC) in lithium-sulfur batteries.

The Role of Bismuth in Suppressing the CO Poisoning in Alkaline Methanol Electrooxidation: Switching the Reaction from the CO to Formate Pathway.

While tuning the electronic structure of Pt can thermodynamically alleviate CO poisoning in direct methanol fuel cells, the impact of interactions between intermediates on the reaction pathway is seldom studied. Herein, we contrive a PtBi model catalyst and realize a complete inhibition of the CO pathway and concurrent enhancement of the formate pathway in the alkaline methanol electrooxidation. The key role of Bi is enriching OH adsorbates (OH) on the catalyst surface.

Traditional Chinese medicine Pingchan granule for motor symptoms and functions in Parkinson's disease: A multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study.

Background: Pingchan granule (PCG) is a traditional Chinese medicine for Parkinson's disease (PD).

Hypothesis/purpose: This was the first study aiming to evaluate the efficacy and safety of PCG for motor symptoms, gait impairments and quality of life in PD.

Study Design And Methods: In this multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, 292 participants were included and followed for 9 months, randomly assigned at a 1:1 ratio to receive PCG or placebo.