CO2 dissociation activated through electron attachment on reduced rutile TiO2(110)-1x1 surface

Converting CO$_2$ to useful compounds through the solar photocatalytic reduction has been one of the most promising strategies for artificial carbon recycling. The highly relevant photocatalytic substrate for CO$_2$ conversion has been the popular TiO$_2$ surfaces. However, the lack of accurate fundamental parameters that determine the CO$_2$ reduction on TiO$_2$ has limited our ability to control these complicated photocatalysis processes. We have systematically studied the reduction of CO2 at specific sites of the rutile TiO$_2$(110)-1x1 surface using scanning tunneling microscopy at 80 K. The dissociation of CO2 molecules is found to be activated by one electron attachment process and its energy threshold, corresponding to the CO$_2^{\dot-}$/CO$_2$ redox potential, is unambiguously determined to be 2.3 eV higher than the onset of the TiO$_2$ conduction band. The dissociation rate as a function of electron injection energy is also provided. Such information can be used as practical guidelines for the design of effective catalysts for CO$_2$ photoreduction

Neuroendocrine pathways and breast cancer progression : a pooled analysis of somatic mutations and gene expression from two large breast cancer cohorts

Funding Information: Open access funding provided by Karolinska Institute. This work was supported by grants awarded to KH by the China Scholarship Council (No. 201806240005); to FF by the Swedish Cancer Society (20 0846 PjF); to DL by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 8187111500) and the Swedish Research Council (2018–00648). The funding bodies did not play any role in the design of the study and collection, analysis, or interpretation of data or in writing the manuscript. Funding Information: We thank the West China Biobank, Department of Clinical Research Management, West China Hospital, Sichuan University for the bio-sample storage. We thank Dr. Jianming Zeng (University of Macau) and his team biotrainee for generously sharing their experiences and codes. The results shown here are in part based upon data generated by the TCGA Research Network: https://www.cancer.gov/tcga. This work was presented as an e-Poster (215P) in ESMO Congress 2021, 16-21 September 2021. Publisher Copyright: © 2022, The Author(s).Background: Experimental studies indicate that neuroendocrine pathways might play a role in progression of breast cancer. We aim to test the hypothesis that somatic mutations in the genes of neuroendocrine pathways influence breast cancer prognosis, through dysregulated gene expression in tumor tissue. Methods: We conducted an extreme case–control study including 208 breast cancer patients with poor invasive disease-free survival (iDFS) and 208 patients with favorable iDFS who were individually matched on molecular subtype from the Breast Cancer Cohort at West China Hospital (WCH; N = 192) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA; N = 224). Whole exome sequencing and RNA sequencing of tumor and paired normal breast tissues were performed. Adrenergic, glucocorticoid, dopaminergic, serotonergic, and cholinergic pathways were assessed for differences in mutation burden and gene expression in relation to breast cancer iDFS using the logistic regression and global test, respectively. Results: In the pooled analysis, presence of any somatic mutation (odds ratio = 1.66, 95% CI: 1.07–2.58) of the glucocorticoid pathway was associated with poor iDFS and a two-fold increase of tumor mutation burden was associated with 17% elevated odds (95% CI: 2–35%), after adjustment for cohort membership, age, menopausal status, molecular subtype, and tumor stage. Differential expression of genes in the glucocorticoid pathway in tumor tissue (P = 0.028), but not normal tissue (P = 0.701), was associated with poor iDFS. Somatic mutation of the adrenergic and cholinergic pathways was significantly associated with iDFS in WCH, but not in TCGA. Conclusion: Glucocorticoid pathway may play a role in breast cancer prognosis through differential mutations and expression. Further characterization of its functional role may open new avenues for the development of novel therapeutic targets for breast cancer.Peer reviewe

The influence of methane blending ratio on the spontaneous combustion characteristics of high-pressure hydrogen leakage

Adding CH4 to high-pressure H2 is considered one of the effective and convenient measures to reduce high-pressure H2 leakage and spontaneous combustion, which is conducive to improving the safety of H2 energy storage. Based on the independently built high-pressure hydrogen leakage and self ignition experimental platform, the influence of CH4 on the critical self ignition pressure and flame of high-pressure H2 leakage and self ignition was tested. The results indicate that the addition of methane can effectively increase the critical spontaneous combustion pressure. When 20% CH4 is added, the critical self ignition pressure can be increased by 151.58%. Under similar discharge pressure conditions, the flame velocity in the pipeline decreases from 1224.64m/s for pure H2 to 1024.07m/s for 10% CH4. In addition, after mixing CH4, the dispersion time of the jet flame is advanced, the flame duration is shortened, and the flame brightness is reduced. There are two main reasons for the mixed inhibition of spontaneous combustion by CH4. On the one hand, it reduces the Mach number of shock wave propagation, thereby lowering the ignition temperature. On the other hand, the activity of the fuel system decreases, and the heat required for self ignition increases

Numerical study on mixing characteristics of hot water inside the storage tank of a solar system with different inlet velocities of the supply cold water

To investigate the effects of hot water withdrawal from the storage tank of a solar system on the utilization percentage of solar heat gain, the mixing characteristics of hot water inside the storage tank with different inlet velocities of the supply cold water is studied by numerical simulations in this work. A parameter, called the entrainment factor, is introduced as an indication to quantify the water mixing in the tank. The useful thermal energy removal from the tank for different inlet velocities of the supply cold water is calculated and analyzed. The numerical simulation results show that an increase in the inlet velocity of the supply cold water will result in a larger entrainment factor and stronger water mixing in the tank. Hence the extent of water mixing is a key factor to determine the useful energy removal from the tank and the inlet velocity of the supply cold water is the main factor to determine the entrainment factor. The water discharging curves are obtained under different operation conditions and it is found that the temperature of the discharged water undergoes three stages: stable high-temperature stage, rapid decrease stage and stable low temperature stage, and the time durations of these stages are related with the inlet velocity. The useful energy removal from the tank under various operation conditions is calculated, and a relation to estimate such energy is obtained. Finally, the water mixing characteristics in the tank under different operation conditions are summarized, aiming at providing some useful information for solar engineers to optimize the design of solar systems

The operational thermal performance of a simple passive solar house in winter: a case study in Kunming, China

In this article, the operational thermal performance of a simple passive solar house in Kunming in winter is studied analytically and experimentally. Such a solar house is ideal for low-income families in rural areas. The analysis shows that the solar house has an energy-saving rate of 70.2% in Kunming in winter. The comparative experiments reveal that on sunny days the average indoor air temperature in the solar house is 4.4°C higher than that of a comparative experimental house, with the largest temperature difference of 7.3°C and the smallest of 2.4°C; on cloudy days, the average indoor air temperature in the solar house is 4.1°C higher than that of the comparative house, with the largest temperature difference of 4.7°C and the smallest of 3.8°C. The analysis of the calculated Grashof number in the air channels of the heat-collecting components of the solar house with experimental data shows that there is strong natural convection in the air channels for most of the time on sunny days, whereas on cloudy days the natural convection is very weak

A parametric study on the thermal performance of a solar air collector with a v-groove absorber

In this paper, a parametric study on the thermal performance of a solar air collector with a v-groove absorber has been investigated. In this single-cover collector, the air flowing in the channel formed by the v-groove absorber and the bottom plate—which is flat and insulated—is along the groove, aiming at enhanced heat transfer rate between the air and the absorber by increasing the heat transfer surface area, which is crucial to the improvement of thermal performance of a solar air collector. To quantify the achievable improvements with the v-groove absorber, a flat-plate solar air collector where both the absorbing plate and the bottom plate are flat, is also considered. The thermal performance of these two types of solar air collectors is analyzed and compared under various configurations and operating conditions. The results show that the v-groove collector has considerably superior thermal performance to the flat-plate collector. It is also found that to achieve better thermal performance, it is essential to; use a small size of the v-groove absorber for the v-groove absorber collector and to maintain a small gap between the absorber and the bottom plate for the flat-plate collector; to use selected coatings that have a very high absorptivity of solar radiation but a very small emissivity of thermal radiation on the absorber and glass cover; to\ud maintain an air mass flow rate above 0.1kg/m2s; and to operate the collectors with the inlet fluid temperature close to that of the ambient fluid

Natural convection boundary-layer flow in a Trombe wall channel

A scaling analysis has been carried out to obtain the scaling laws which relates the parameters of characteristic flow behavior of the natural convection boundary-layer flow of air in a Trombe wall channel with the operation parameters and the structure parameters. These scaling laws have been validated and quantified by a series of direct numerical simulation

WP1130 reveals USP24 as a novel target in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Abstract Background T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) is a lymphoid malignancy caused by the oncogenic transformation of immature T-cell progenitors with poor outcomes. WP1130 has shown potent activity against a variety of cancer but whether WP1130 has anti-T-ALL activity is not clear. USP24, one target of WP1130, is one of the largest deubiquitinases and its detailed mechanism is poorly understood. The aim of this study was to explore whether WP1130 could suppress T-ALL and the role of USP24 in T-ALL. Methods Molecular docking and cellular thermal shift assay were performed to determine whether and how WP1130 directly interact with USP24. Mitochondrial transmembrane potential assay was measured via Rhodamine 123 staining. USP24 was reactivated using the deactivated CRISPR-associated protein 9 (dCas9)-synergistic activation mediator (SAM) system. The in vivo results were examined by tumor xenografts in NOD-SCID mice. All statistical analyses were performed with the SPSS software package. Results WP1130 treatment decreased the viability and induces apoptosis of T-ALL cells both in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, we demonstrated that knockdown of USP24 but not USP9X could significantly induce growth inhibition and apoptosis of T-ALL cells. Oncomine database showed that USP24 expression was upregulated in T-ALL samples and Kaplan–Meier results indicated that the USP24 was negatively but USP9X was positively associated with survival in T-ALL patients. Additionally, we proposed that WP1130 directly interacts with the activity site pocket of USP24 in T-ALL cells, which leads to the decrease of its substrates Mcl-1. Mechanistically, WP1130 induces apoptosis by accelerating the collapse of mitochondrial transmembrane potential via USP24-Mcl-1 axis. Conclusions Altogether, using WP1130 as a chemical probe, we demonstrate that USP24 but not USP9X is a novel target in T-ALL cells. Moreover, we uncovered that WP1130 induces apoptosis by accelerating the collapse of mitochondrial transmembrane potential via USP24-Mcl-1 axis. These results provide that USP24-Mcl-1 axis may represent a novel strategy in the treatment of T-ALL and WP1130 is a promising lead compound for developing anti-T-ALL drugs

Structural Modification of Noscapine via Photoredox/Nickel Dual Catalysis for the Discovery of S‑Phase Arresting Agents

Herein, we disclose a powerful strategy for the functionalization of the antitumor natural alkaloid noscapine by utilizing photoredox/nickel dual-catalytic coupling technology. A small collection of 37 new noscapinoids with diverse (hetero)alkyl and (hetero)cycloalkyl groups and enhanced sp3 character was thus synthesized. Further in vitro antiproliferative activity screening and SAR study enabled the identification of 6o as a novel, potent, and less-toxic anticancer agent. Furthermore, 6o exerts superior cellular activity via an unexpected S-phase arrest mechanism and could significantly induce cell apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner, thereby further highlighting its potential in drug discovery as a promising lead compound