ZnS/CuS nanoparticles encapsulated in multichannel carbon fibers as high-performance anode materials for flexible Li-ion capacitors

Transition metal sulfides (TMSs) are widely recognized for their potential as anode materials in the development of flexible lithium-ion capacitors (FLICs) owing to their high theoretical capacity. However, their practical application has been significantly limited by rapid capacity decay and sluggish kinetics associated with TMS volume variation. In response to these challenges, we have prepared ZnS/CuS nanoparticles embedded in continuous and multichannel carbon fibers (CFs). This was achieved through a process involving blow-spinning and subsequent sulfidation. Notably, the electrochemical performance of these materials was largely improved, owing to the synergistic effect of bimetallic sulfides. The ZnS/CuS-CF anode material demonstrated a high specific capacity of over 900 mAh g−1 at a current density of 0.2 A g−1. Furthermore, it exhibited superior rate capacity (300 mAh g−1 at 20 A g−1) and excellent cyclic stability, maintaining its performance over 1000 cycles at 10 A g−1. We also prepared lithium-ion capacitors (LICs) using the same method. These LICs exhibited a maximum energy density of 136 Wh kg−1, a high power density of 43.5 kW kg−1, and an impressive cyclic stability over 4000 cycles. In addition, the FLICs, when configured in the form of a pouch cell, demonstrated significant potential for the development of smart, flexible electronic devices

Transcription Factor 21 Promotes Chicken Adipocyte Differentiation at Least in Part via Activating MAPK/JNK Signaling

The molecular mechanisms of transcription factor 21 (TCF21) in regulating chicken adipogenesis remain unclear. Thus, the current study was designed to investigate the signaling pathway mediating the effect of TCF21 on chicken adipogenesis. Immortalized chicken preadipocytes cell line (ICP), a preadipocyte cell line stably overexpressing TCF21 (LV-TCF21) and a control preadipocyte cell line (LV-control) were used in the current study. We found that the phosphorylation of c-Jun N-terminal kinases (JNK) was significantly elevated in LV-TCF21 compared to LV-control. After treating ICP cells with a JNK inhibitor SP600125, the differentiation of ICP was inhibited, as evidenced by decreased accumulation of lipid droplets and reduced expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ), CCAAT/enhancer binding protein α (C/EBPα), adipocyte fatty acid binding protein (A-FABP), and lipoprotein lipase (LPL). Moreover, we found that the inhibition of JNK by SP600125 remarkably impaired the ability of TCF21 to drive adipogenesis. Taken together, our results suggest that TCF21 promotes the differentiation of adipocytes at least in part via activating MAPK/JNK pathway

Expression Profiling of Preadipocyte MicroRNAs by Deep Sequencing on Chicken Lines Divergently Selected for Abdominal Fatness

<div><p>Through posttranscriptional gene regulation, microRNA (miRNA) is linked to a wide variety of biological processes, including adipogenesis and lipid metabolism. Although miRNAs in mammalian adipogenesis have been worked on extensively, their study in chicken adipogenesis is still very limited. To find miRNAs potentially important for chicken preadipocyte development, we compared the preadipocyte miRNA expression profiles in two broiler lines divergently selected for abdominal fat content, by sequencing two small RNA libraries constructed for primary preadipocytes isolated from abdominal adipose tissues. After bioinformatics analyses, from chicken miRNAs deposited in miRBase 20.0, we identified 225 miRNAs to be expressed in preadipocytes, 185 in the lean line and 200 in the fat line (derived from 208 and 203 miRNA precursors, respectively), which corresponds to 114 miRNA families. The let-7 family miRNAs were the most abundant. Furthermore, we validated the sequencing results of 15 known miRNAs by qRT-PCR, and confirmed that the expression levels of most miRNAs correlated well with those of Solexa sequencing. A total of 33 miRNAs was significantly differentially expressed between the two chicken lines (P<0.05). Gene ontology analysis revealed that they could target genes enriched in the regulation of gene transcription and chromatin function, response to insulin stimulation, and IGF-1 signaling pathways, which could have important roles in preadipocyte development. Therefore, a valuable information and resource of miRNAs on chicken adipogenesis were provided in this study. Future functional investigations on these miRNAs could help explore related genes and molecular networks fundamental to preadipocyte development.</p></div

Expression level of 17 novel miRNAs validated.

<p>Note: * indicates the fold changes of 2^-ΔCt values in the fat line against the lean line.</p><p>Expression level of 17 novel miRNAs validated.</p

Differentially expressed miRNAs.

<p>26 up-regulated miRNAs, and 7 down-regulated miRNAs in the fat chicken line. Fold-change (Y-axis) indicates in log2-scale the fold-changes between the number of reads of miRNAs in the fat chicken lines and the lean chicken line.</p

Circular view of miRNAs identified in the chicken genome.

<p>Data tracks viewed from outside inwards: 1) chicken chromosomes; 2) and 3) miRNAs abundantly expressed in the lean and fat chicken lines, respectively; 4) miRNA labels; 5) link lines for miRNA paralogs found to be expressed in chicken preadipocytes. Details on the sequence alignment between miRNA precursors for these miRNA paralogs (chromosome coordinates and sequence identity) can be found in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0117843#pone.0117843.s004" target="_blank">S2 Table</a>.</p

The top 10 most abundantly expressed miRNAs.

<p>The top 10 most abundantly expressed miRNAs.</p

Enriched biological pathways of genes targeted by 33 up-regulated and down-regulated miRNAs with significantly differential expression level.

<p>Y-axis shows the significance level of enrichment after Bonferroni adjustment.</p