High-Performance Semicrystalline Poly(ether ketone)-Based Proton Exchange Membrane

A novel semicrystalline poly­(ether ketone) (PEK)-based proton exchange membrane (semi-SPEK-<i>x</i>) has been developed. Through a one-step sulfonation and hydrolysis, a poly­(ether ketimine) precursor transforms into PEK and ion-conducting groups are introduced. With an ion-exchange capacity ranging from 1.49 to 2.00 mequiv g^–1, the semi-SPEK-<i>x</i> polymers exhibit a semicrystalline feature in both dry and hydrated states. Owing to the semicrystalline domains inside the polymer, the obtained membrane exhibits low water uptake and low volume swelling ratio. More importantly, the semicrystalline structure lowers methanol permeability and, consequently, improves the overall performances of direct methanol fuel cells

DataSheet1_Roles and mechanisms of garlic and its extracts on atherosclerosis: A review.doc

The prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) have achieved initial results, but the number of CVDs patients will increase rapidly in the next 10 years. Atherosclerosis (AS) is a significant risk factor for CVDs. The impact of lifestyle and daily diet varies considerably between different countries and continents and has been shown to affect the development of various diseases such as diabetes and CVDs. Primary and secondary prevention using alternative supplements and methods to avoid or reduce the use of traditional pharmacological drugs have also become popular. One of the reasons for this is that pharmacological drugs with lipid-lowering, and blood pressure-lowering effects cause many side effects that may negatively impact the quality of life. Patients are now emphasizing reliance on lifestyle changes to reduce cardiovascular risks. Garlic is a medicinal and edible plant that has been used for a long time. In order to reveal garlic application in the prevention and treatment of AS, reviewing the latest domestic and international studies through searching databases. The result shows that the antiatherogenic role of garlic is eximious. And the mechanisms are mainly related to hypolipidemic, antioxidant, antithrombotic, inhibiting angiogenesis, protecting endothelial cells, anti-inflammatory, anti-apoptotic, inhibiting vascular smooth muscle proliferation, and regulating gut microbiota. The main signaling pathways involve AMPK/TLRs, Keap1/Nrf2, PI3K/AKT, PPARγ/LXRα, GEF-H1/RhoA/Rac, etc. The antiatherogenic actions and molecular mechanism of garlic were reviewed in this study to obtain a robust evidence basis for the clinical application and mechanistic study and provide a theoretical basis for further utilization of garlic.</p

Designing Poly(arylene ether sulfone)s with Platinum(II) Acetylide to Regulate Photophysical Properties toward Solid-State Nonlinear Limiters

The exploration of solid-state optical power limiting (OPL) materials based on nonlinear absorption (NLA) with heat resistance is essential and leading-edge. We present two types of poly(arylene ether sulfone)s (PAESs) derived from platinum acetylide, featuring varying conjugation lengths and platinum contents. The platinum-incorporated PAESs exhibit outstanding thermal properties (Tg > 180 °C, Td5% ≥ 400 °C) with easy processing into solid films from solvents. Photophysics, ultrafast transient absorption, Z-scan characterizations, and theoretical calculations reveal an abnormal intersystem crossing and the principle of triplet nonlinear limiting (S0 → S1 → Tx → T1 → Tn). The extended τP caused by the longer conjugated ligand is more critical for NLA compared with the lower ΦP caused by higher Pt contents. PAESs with a longer conjugated ligand exhibit superior intrinsic NLA under limited platinum content, while those with shorter conjugated ligands strike a balance between transparency and NLA. The optical limiting threshold (Fth) of the solid-state film is as low as 1.86 J/cm2. This study involves the preparation of solid-state OPL films using platinum-modified PAESs, revealing an intrinsic link between structure and optical properties

Demographic characteristics of METH-dependent subjects.

<p>Demographic characteristics of METH-dependent subjects.</p

Anxiety, depression, and attention in the subjects.

<p>*<i>p</i><0.05, significant difference between METH abusers and healthy controls.</p

Effects of length of abstinence on baseline (nonprovoked) METH craving.

<p>*<i>p</i><0.05, **<i>p</i><0.01, compared with 6 d group; ^#<i>p</i><0.05, ^##<i>p</i><0.01, compared with 14 d group. The data are expressed as group means (± SEM).</p

Demographic characteristics of subjects.

<p>Demographic characteristics of subjects.</p

Self-reported impulsivity on the BIS-11 in the subjects.

<p>*<i>p</i><0.05, significant difference between METH abusers and healthy controls.</p

Spleen-based proteogenomics reveals that <i>Escherichia coli</i> infection induces activation of phagosome maturation pathway in chicken

Avian pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC) leads to economic losses in poultry industry and is also a threat to human health. Various strategies were used for searching virulence factors, while little is known about the mechanism by which APEC survives in host or is eliminated by host. Thus, chicken colibacillosis model was constructed by intraperitoneally injecting E. coli O78 in this study, then the protein dynamic expression of spleen was characterised at different post infection times by quantitative proteome. Comparative analysis showed that E. coli induced significant dysregulation at 72 h post infection in spleen tissue. Transcriptomic method was further used to assess the changes of dysregulated proteins at 72 h post infection at the mRNA level. Total 278 protein groups (5.7%) and 2,443 genes (24.4%) were dysregulated, respectively. The upregulated proteins and genes were consistently enriched in phagosome and lysosome pathways, indicating E. coli infection activates phagosome maturation pathway. The matured phagolysosome might kill the invasive E. coli. This study illuminated the genetic dysregulation in chicken spleen at the protein and mRNA levels after E. coli infecting and identified candidate genes for host response to APEC infection.</p

List of selected proteins verified in another cohort of patients with LC (n = 9), HCC (n = 11), and HC (n = 10) using an RPM strategy.

SMIM1 and ANXA7 are the top two confirmed proteins. (XLSX)</p