Hierarchically Porous Nitrogen-Doped Graphene–NiCo₂O₄ Hybrid Paper as an Advanced Electrocatalytic Water-Splitting Material

In this work, we report a three-dimensional (3D) oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalyst with hierarchical pores for water splitting. The remarkable features of well-developed in- and out-of-plane pores, 3D conductive networks, and N-doping have greatly promoted the transport in electrodes and assured high catalytic efficiency. The 3D hybrid paper of N-doped graphene–NiCo₂O₄ has shown a remarkable OER catalytic activity that was comparable to that of previously reported noble metal catalysts (IrO₂). The catalytic process occurred with favorable kinetics and strong durability. The dual-active-site mechanism is responsible for the excellent performance of the hybrid catalyst; that is, the edges of NiCo₂O₄ and the N (O)–metal (Ni or Co) bonds are both active sites. This study affords a new strategy to achieve optimal performance in 3D catalysts, which may be extended to the preparation of other 3D hybrid materials for a broad range of technological applications

Highly Transparent and Hazy Cellulose Nanopaper Simultaneously with a Self-Cleaning Superhydrophobic Surface

Wood-derived sustainable materials like cellulose fibers have received increased attention for replacing nonrenewable substrates in emerging high-tech applications. Herein, for the first time, we fabricated a superhydrophobic (static contact angle = 159.6°, sliding angle = 5.8°), highly transparent (90.2%) and hazy (46.5%) nanopaper made of TEMPO-oxidized cellulose nanofibrils (TOCNF) and polysiloxanes. The original TOCNF nanopaper endowed excellent optical and mechanical properties; the constructed pearl-necklace-like polysiloxanes fibers on the nanopaper surface by further silanization significantly improved water-repellency (70.7% for static contact angle) and toughness (118.7%) of the TOCNF nanopaper. Our proposed novel nanopaper that simultaneously achieved light-management and self-cleaning capabilities not only led to an enhancement (10.43%) in the overall energy conversion efficiency of the solar cell by simply coating but also recovered most of the photovoltaic performance losses due to dust accumulation by a self-cleaning process, indicating its potential application in solar cells. This study on cellulose-based multifunctional substrates provided new insights into the future development of sustainable functional devices

Highly Transparent and Hazy Cellulose Nanopaper Simultaneously with a Self-Cleaning Superhydrophobic Surface

Wood-derived sustainable materials like cellulose fibers have received increased attention for replacing nonrenewable substrates in emerging high-tech applications. Herein, for the first time, we fabricated a superhydrophobic (static contact angle = 159.6°, sliding angle = 5.8°), highly transparent (90.2%) and hazy (46.5%) nanopaper made of TEMPO-oxidized cellulose nanofibrils (TOCNF) and polysiloxanes. The original TOCNF nanopaper endowed excellent optical and mechanical properties; the constructed pearl-necklace-like polysiloxanes fibers on the nanopaper surface by further silanization significantly improved water-repellency (70.7% for static contact angle) and toughness (118.7%) of the TOCNF nanopaper. Our proposed novel nanopaper that simultaneously achieved light-management and self-cleaning capabilities not only led to an enhancement (10.43%) in the overall energy conversion efficiency of the solar cell by simply coating but also recovered most of the photovoltaic performance losses due to dust accumulation by a self-cleaning process, indicating its potential application in solar cells. This study on cellulose-based multifunctional substrates provided new insights into the future development of sustainable functional devices

Supplemental_tables - Thirty-Day and 5-Year Readmissions following First Psychiatric Hospitalization: A System-Level Study of Ontario’s Psychiatric Care

<p>Supplemental_tables for Thirty-Day and 5-Year Readmissions following First Psychiatric Hospitalization: A System-Level Study of Ontario’s Psychiatric Care by Sheng Chen, April Collins and Sean A. Kidd in The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry</p

Thermal denaturation of BLA and its mutants in the presence of 10 mM Ca²⁺ at pH 5.5 at 95°C.

<p>The data represent the average of three independent measurements. The error bars represent the standard deviation.</p

Effects of pH and temperature on the activities of BLA and its mutants.

<p><b>(A) Optimal temperatures of BLA and its mutants.</b> Activities were measured in 50 mM phosphate buffer (pH 6.0) at 70 to 90°C for 5 min. The activity of BLA at 85°C was defined as 100%. <b>(B) Optimal pH values of BLA and its mutants.</b> Assays were carried at 70°C for 5 min in buffers of various pH. The highest activity of enzyme at each pH was defined as 100%. The activities are expressed as percentages. The data represent the average of three independent measurements. The error bars represent the standard deviation.</p

Oligonucleotide primers used for site-directed mutagenesis.

<p>Oligonucleotide primers used for site-directed mutagenesis.</p

Preparation of Trifluorostyrenes via Palladium-Catalyzed Coupling of Arylboronic Acids with Chloro- and Bromotrifluoroethylene

A highly efficient and cost-effective method for the preparation of α,β,β-trifluorostyrene (TFS) and its derivatives is described. The method required only 0.2 mol % of Pd­(dba)₂ and 0.4 mol % of P^<i>t</i>Bu₃ and occurred to full conversion within 2.0 h. With this method, a wide range of arylboronic acids were efficiently incorporated to generate α,β,β-trifluorostyrene derivatives

Insights into the Different Catalytic Activities of <i>Clostridium</i> Neurotoxins

The clostridial neurotoxins are among the most potent protein toxins for humans and are responsible for botulism, a flaccid paralysis elicited by the botulinum toxins (BoNT), and spastic paralysis elicited by tetanus toxin (TeNT). Seven serotypes of botulinum neurotoxins (A–G) and tetanus toxin showed different toxicities and cleave their substrates with different efficiencies. However, the molecular basis of their different catalytic activities with respect to their substrates is not clear. BoNT/B light chain (LC/B) and TeNT light chain (LC/T) cleave vesicle-associated membrane protein 2 (VAMP2) at the same scissile bond but possess different catalytic activities and substrate requirements, which make them the best candidates for studying the mechanisms of their different catalytic activities. The recognition of five major P sites of VAMP2 (P7, P6, P1, P1′, and P2′) and fine alignment of sites P2 and P3 and sites P2 and P4 by LC/B and LC/T, respectively, contributed to their substrate recognition and catalysis. Significantly, we found that the S1 pocket mutation LC/T­(K¹⁶⁸E) increased the rate of native VAMP2 cleavage so that it approached the rate of LC/B, which explains the molecular basis for the lower <i>k</i>_cat that LC/T possesses for VAMP2 cleavage relative to that of LC/B. This analysis explains the molecular basis underlying the VAMP2 recognition and cleavage by LC/B and LC/T and provides insight that may extend the pharmacologic utility of these neurological reagents

Kinetic parameters of wild-type and mutant BLA at pH 5.5 and 70°C.

<p>Kinetic parameters of wild-type and mutant BLA at pH 5.5 and 70°C.</p