Self-reductive synthesis of MXene/Na0.55Mn1.4Ti0.6O4 hybrids for high-performance symmetric lithium ion batteries.

Increasing environmental problems and energy challenges have created an urgent demand for the development of green and efficient energy-storage systems. The search for new materials that could improve the performance of Li-ion batteries (LIBs) is one of today's most challenging tasks. Herein, a stable symmetric LIB based on the bipolar material-MXene/Na0.55Mn1.4Ti0.6O4 was developed. This bipolar hybrid material showed a typical MXene-type layered structure with high conductivity, containing two electrochemically active redox couples, namely, Mn4+/Mn3+ (3.06 V) and Mn2+/Mn (0.25 V). This MXene/Na0.55Mn2O4-based symmetric full cell exhibited the highest energy density of 393.4 W h kg−1 among all symmetric full cells reported so far, wherein it is bestowed with a high average voltage of 2.81 V and a reversible capacity of 140 mA h g−1 at a current density of 100 mA g−1. In addition, it offers a capacity retention of 79.4% after 200 cycles at a current density of 500 mA g−1. This symmetric lithium ion full battery will stimulate further research on new LIBs using the same active materials with improved safety, lower costs and a long life-span

Picomolar detection of carcinoembryonic antigen in whole blood using microfluidics and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy

Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) is a wide-spectrum biomarker. Clinically, we generally use serum sample to detect CEA, which needs to be centrifuged to pretreat the raw blood sample. In this study, we realized direct CEA detection in raw blood samples exploiting microfluidics. The LOD was as low as 10(-12) M

Wave-layered dendrite-free lithium deposition with unprecedented long-term cyclability.

Lithium dendrite growth on the anode during cycling leads to poor stability and severe safety issue, hampering long-term cycle for high-energy batteries. Herein, we firstly found that dendrite-free Li can be deposited layer-by-layer on the surface of lithiophilic Li3N (001) or (111) facet, and then synthesized a composite electrode of Li3N involving a high fraction of (001) facet on porous carbon cloth (P-CC), wherein Li3N in-situ formed by immersing of P-CC in a solution of molten Li, offering outstanding electrochemical and battery performance. Unique waved-layered dendrite free Li deposition has been detected during the Li-plating/stripping process. This P-CC/Li3N/Li anode exhibits a cycle lifespan as long as 2000 h with low overpotential of ∼20 mV at 1 mA cm−2 in a symmetrical cell, which overwhelms all similar systems reported so far. Attractively, long-term operations of 35, 200, and 400 h at 10 mA cm−2 can be achieved at temperatures of −10, 25, and 50 °C, respectively. Both experimental and density functional theory calculations confirm that the P-CC/Li3N serves as an appropriate host for Li infusion through an efficient ion conductive network, inducing the nucleation and growth of metallic lithium

miR-29a/b enhances cell migration and invasion in nasopharyngeal carcinoma progression by regulating SPARC and COL3A1 gene expression.

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a malignant tumor associated with a genetic predisposition, Epstein-Barr virus infection and chromosomal abnormalities. Recently, several miRNAs have been shown to target specific mRNAs to regulate NPC development and progression. However, the involvement of miRNAs in processes leading to NPC migration and invasion remains to be elucidated. We predicted that miR-29a/b are associated with dysregulated genes controlling NPC through an integrated interaction network of miRNAs and genes. miR-29a/b over-expression in NPC cell lines had no significant effect on proliferation, whereas miR-29b mildly increased the percentage of cells in the G1 phase with a concomitant decrease in the percentage of cells in S phase. Furthermore, we demonstrated that miR-29a/b might be responsible for increasing S18 cell migration and invasion, and only COL3A1 was identified as a direct target of miR-29b despite the fact that both SPARC and COL3A1 were inhibited by miR-29a/b over-expression. Meanwhile, SPARC proteins were increased in metastatic NPC tissue and are involved in NPC progression. Unexpectedly, we identified that miRNA-29b expression was elevated in the serum of NPC patients with a high risk of metastasis. The 5-year actuarial overall survival rates in NPC patients with high serum miR-29b expression was significantly shorter than those with low serum miR-29b expression; therefore, serum miR-29b expression could be a promising prognostic marker

Quality‐of‐life, mental health, and perspective on TKI dose reduction as a prelude to discontinuation in chronic phase chronic myeloid leukemia

Abstract Background Treatment‐free remission (TFR) has become the main target for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) dose optimization is crucial in managing adverse events, and improving adherence in clinical practice. In persons achieving a deep molecular response (DMR), some data suggest TKI dose reduction before discontinuation does not change success rate of achieving TFR, but this is controversial. However, data on quality‐of‐life (QoL) and mental health in CML patients with full‐dose TKI, low‐dose TKI, and TKI discontinuation are limited. Moreover, recent evidence indicating the feasibility of TKI dose reduction and discontinuation after dose reduction, which may change CML patients' perspectives on TKI discontinuation. Methods We conducted a cross‐sectional study using online questionnaires to explore the QoL, mental health in patients with diverse TKI dose, and perspective on TKI dose reduction as a prelude to discontinuation. Results 1450 responses were included in the analysis. 44.3% of respondents reported a moderate‐to‐severe impact of TKI treatment on their QoL. 17% of respondents had moderate‐to‐severe anxiety. 24.4% of respondents had moderate‐to‐severe depression. In 1326 patients who had not discontinued their medication, 1055 (79.6%) patients reported they would try TKI discontinuation because of concerns over side effects of long‐term medication (67.9%), financial burden (68.7%), poor QoL (77.9%), pregnancy needs (11.6%), anxiety and depression while taking TKI (20.8%), inconvenience of TKI treatment (22.2%). 613 of 817 (75.0%) patients on full‐dose TKI therapy indicated they preferred trying a dose reduction before discontinuing TKI therapy after dose reduction compared with 31 (3.8%) preferring no dose reduction before stopping. Conclusions TKI dose reduction showed a significant improvement of patients' QoL and mental health, comparable to the effect of TKI discontinuation. Most patients indicated they preferred dose reduction before stopping TKI therapy. In clinical practice, TKI dose reduction can be considered as a bridge from full‐dose treatment to discontinuation. Our results showed that tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) dose reduction showed a significant improvement of patients' quality‐of‐life and mental health, comparable to the effect of TKI discontinuation. Most patients desire to discontinue TKI in the future. TKI discontinuation after dose reduction is more acceptable compared to discontinuing it directly. In clinical practice, TKI dose reduction can be considered as a bridge from full‐dose treatment to discontinuation. Please do not hesitate to contact me in case further clarification is needed with this submission

Integrated microRNA-gene network.

<p>(A) The miRNA-gene network shows the relationships between 9 miRNAs and 51 dysregulated genes. Only genes reported in BioGrid are shown in this network. Interaction among genes and regulation of miRNAs are indicated by arrows. Red nodes represent up-regulated genes in NPC, and blue nodes represent down-regulated genes. miRNAs with more than 2 targets are shown in the figure. (B) The particular network for miR-29a/b and their targets stems from <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0120969#pone.0120969.g001" target="_blank">Fig. 1A</a>.</p

miR-29a/b target the SPARC/COL3A1 pathways in NPC cells.

<p>(A, B) S18 cells were transfected with 50 nmol of mimics-NC (control miRNA), mimics-miR-29a/b, anti-scramble (control anti-miRNA) and anti-miR-29a/b. The levels of miR-29a and miR-29b were assessed by qRT-PCR. Cell lysates were prepared for Western blotting with antibodies against SPARC and COL3A1, and GAPDH expression served as a loading control. Western blot figures are representative of at least three independent experiments. The value under each sample indicates the fold change of SPARC and COL3A1 protein levels relative to that of the control. (C) Western blot analysis of the expression level of SPARC and COL3A1 in NPC cells following treatment with vehicle, siRNA-SPARC and siRNA-COL3A1 for 24 h. The value under each sample indicates the fold changes of SPARC and COL3A1 protein levels relative to that of the control. Three independent experiments performed in triplicate. (D) A schematic model shows the function of miR-29a and miR-29b in NPC cell proliferation, migration and cell invasion. In response to miR-29a/b stimuli, the G1/S transition arrest triggers both a classical proliferative inhibition and an adapted metabolic switch. SPARC and COL3A1 protein levels inversely correlate with miR-29a and miR-29b expression in NPC cells, respectively. (i) The indirect effect of miR-29a to increase SPARC expression may be mediated by its unknown targets that affect cell survival, and subsequently SPARC could down-regulate the expression of COL3A1. (ii) COL3A1 is a direct target of miR-29b and affects the expression of the various ECM proteins, resulting in derepression of NPC cell migration and invasion.</p

Effects of miR-29a/b on NPC cell growth and cell cycle.

<p>The results of MTT assays following transfection of pre-miR-29a/b and their inhibitors into S18 cells for the indicated 24 h, 48 h and 72 h post-transfection times. The values are the mean and SD optical density (OD) units. (B) miR-29b increased the proportion of S18 cells at the G1/S transition, whereas miR-29a did not have a similar effect. Cells were treated with pEGFP-miR-29a/b or anti-miR-29a/b transfection and control vector pEGPF-C. Cell cycle distributions were detected 20 h later. A representative result of 3 independent experiments is shown. In all experiments, the negative control was pre-miRNA negative control.</p

High SPARC expression correlates with shorter overall survival in NPC patients.

<p>(A) SPARC protein levels correlate with NPC aggressiveness. Representative tissue is stained with an antibody against NPC. Immunohistochemical stains show absent nuclear staining in normal samples (left, original magnification 100×), moderate and strong nuclear staining in NPC samples with low and high risk of metastasis (center right and right, respectively; original magnification 100×). Weak staining shown is a benign nasopharynx adjacent to NPC (center left, original magnification 100×). (B) Tissue analysis of SPARC expression for each tissue spot. The mean SPARC protein expression for the indicated NPC tissues is summarized using error bars with 95% confidence intervals, demonstrating a significantly lower score in NPC with a high risk of metastasis compared with non-malignant controls (Mann-Whitney test, two-tailed, <i>p</i> < 0.001). (C) The OS of patients with low SPARC expression levels was significantly higher than that of patients with high SPARC expression levels (log rank test, <i>p</i> = 0.04).</p

miR-29b is associated with specific risk groups and NPC patient survival.

<p>(A, B) Comparison of the miR-29a/b abundance in paired NPC tumors (42 NPC patients) and adjacent normal tissues (42 normal controls). The solid squares represent the relative expression level of miR-29a/b. The miR-29a/b abundance for each paired non-tumor and tumor tissues were separately shown in the left and right parts and connected by a dash line. (C, D) The expression levels of miR-29a/b in serum were quantified by real-time PCR in 83 patients with highly metastatic/invasive, 110 patients with low metastatic/non-invasive cancer and 65 healthy donors. (C) There was a small change in miR-29a expression in NPC patients and healthy donors, as well as patients with high risk for metastasis and the low-risk group. The formula used to calculate the relative Ct values was (ΔCt = assay Ct − control Ct). A higher ΔCt value indicates that the miRNA is less abundant in a sample. (D) miR-29b was significantly up-regulated in the NPC patients at high-risk for metastasis compared with the low-risk group. (E) Kaplan–Meier survival curves of NPC patients. No significant differences were observed in OS rates between patients with high and low miR-29a expression. (F) The 5-year overall survival rate of NPC patients with high serum miR-29b expression was significantly lower than that of those with low serum miR-29b expression (<i>p</i> < 0.001).</p