Synergizing Phase and Cavity in CoMoOxSy Yolk-Shell Anodes to Co-Enhance Capacity and Rate Capability in Sodium Storage

Sodium‐ion batteries (SIBs) have been recognized as the promising alternatives to lithium‐ion batteries for large‐scale applications owing to their abundant sodium resource. Currently, one significant challenge for SIBs is to explore feasible anodes with high specific capacity and reversible pulverization‐free Na+ insertion/extraction. Herein, a facile co‐engineering on polymorph phases and cavity structures is developed based on CoMo‐glycerate by scalable solvothermal sulfidation. The optimized strategy enables the construction of CoMoOxSy with synergized partially sulfidized amorphous phase and yolk-shell confined cavity. When developed as anodes for SIBs, such CoMoOxSy electrodes deliver a high reversible capacity of 479.4 mA h g-1 at 200 mA g-1 after 100 cycles and a high rate capacity of 435.2 mA h g-1 even at 2000 mA g-1, demonstrating superior capacity and rate capability. These are attributed to the unique dual merits of the anodes, that is, the elastic bountiful reaction pathways favored by the sulfidation‐induced amorphous phase and the sodiation/desodiation accommodatable space benefits from the yolk-shell cavity. Such yolk-shell nano‐battery materials are merited with co‐tunable phases and structures, facile scalable fabrication, and excellent capacity and rate capability in sodium storage. This provides an opportunity to develop advanced practical electrochemical sodium storage in the future.This work was supported by the National Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51402232), the Natural Science Basis Research Plan in Shaanxi Province of China (2018JM5085), the State Key Laboratory of Electrical Insulation and Power Equipment (No. EIPE19127), the Key Laboratory Construction Program of Xi’an Municipal Bureau of Science and Technology (201805056ZD7CG40), the ANU Futures Scheme (Q4601024) and the Australian Research Council (DP190100295, LE190100014), and China Scholarship Council (No. 201906280078) scholarship

Pharmaceutical Potential of High-Altitude Plants for Fatigue-Related Disorders: A Review

Natural plants from plateaus have been the richest source of secondary metabolites extensively used in traditional and modern health care systems. They were submitted to years of natural selection, co-evolved within that habitat, and show significant anti-fatigue-related pharmacological effects. However, currently, no review on high-altitude plants with anti-fatigue related properties has been published yet. This study summarized several Chinese traditional high-altitude plants, including Rhodiola rosea L., Crocus sativus L., Lepidium meyenii W., Hippophaerhamnoides L., which are widely used in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau and surrounding mountains, as well as herbal markets in the plains. Based on phytopharmacology studies, deeper questions can be further revealed regarding how these plants regulate fatigue and related mental or physical disease conditions. Many active derivatives in high-altitude medical plants show therapeutic potential for the management of fatigue and related disorders. Therefore, high-altitude plants significantly relieve central or peripheral fatigue by acting as neuroprotective agents, energy supplements, metabolism regulators, antioxidant, and inflammatory response inhibitors. Their applications on the highland or flatland and prospects in natural medicine are further forecast, which may open treatments to reduce or prevent fatigue-related disorders in populations with sub-optimal health

The neuroprotective functions of petroleum ether extract from Tibetan turnip (Brassica rapa L.) against cerebral ischemic stroke

Background: Brassica rapa L. (turnip) is an ancient plant grown on the Tibetan Plateau, which possesses functions of heat-clearing and toxin, enhancing oxygen. The primary objective of this study is to assess the potential protective effect of petroleum ether extract of turnip (PET) against ischemia and hypoxia. Basic procedures: Total extract of turnip (TET) was extracted 3 times with petroleum ether at a ratio of 1:1 and the PET was concentrated and identified by UHPLC-MS. Pharmacological and drug-like properties prediction of major compounds of PET were determined by the SwissADME tool. The protein–protein interaction test for PET-Cerebral Ischemic Stroke-Oxidative Damage (PET-CIS-OD) common targets were calculated by the SRTING giant database. The molecular function, biological process and cell composition of core targets were analyzed by ClueGo and CluePedia. KEGG pathway analysis were used for calculating the potential pathway affected by the PET-CIS-OD common targets. Molecular docking were measured by AutoDockTools 1.5.7 and PyMol. Oxygen-Glucose Deprivation/Reperfusion (OGD/R) model were established for evaluating the changes of the OD markers. Western blotting was used to verify the core proteins in signaling pathways obtained by network pharmacology. Main findings: PET intervention increased antioxidant ability in HT22 cells. Furthermore, PET could effectively recovered the COXIV expression, inhibit the Bax levels (p < 0.01), strengthen the Bcl-2 levels (p < 0.05) in HT22 cells after OGD/R injury. Our calculation results and experimental results indicated that PET may act as a key intervention in CIS by enhancing the level of phospho-PI3K (p < 0.001), phospho-Akt (p < 0.01) and phospho-mTOR (p < 0.01) and lessening the levle of phospho-P38 (p < 0.01) and HIF-1α (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Our study systematically explored the potential function and regulatory mechanism of PET in CIS for the first time. The results indicated that PET may play neuroprotective effect against CIS by regulating PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway and MAPK signaling pathway, and exerting antioxidant and anti-apoptotic effects on OGD/R injury

Aqueous Extract of <i>Brassica rapa</i> L.’s Impact on Modulating Exercise-Induced Fatigue via Gut–Muscle Axis

Exercise-induced fatigue is a common physiological response to prolonged physical activity, often associated with changes in gut microbiota and metabolic responses. This study investigates the potential role of Brassica rapa L. in modulating these responses. Using an animal model subjected to chronic exercise-induced stress, we explored the effects of Brassica rapa L. on fatigue-related biomarkers, energy metabolism genes, inflammatory responses, intestinal integrity, and gut microbiota composition. Our findings revealed that Brassica rapa L. exhibits significant antioxidant activity and effectively modulates physiological responses to fatigue. It influences gene expression related to the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle in muscle tissue through the AMPK/PGC-1α/TFAM signaling pathway. Furthermore, Brassica rapa L. has been found to alleviate inflammation by inhibiting lipopolysaccharide (LPS) infection and suppressing the activation of the NF-κB pathway. It also maintains intestinal integrity and controls Gram-negative bacterial growth. A correlation analysis identified several pathogenic bacteria linked with inflammation and energy metabolism, as well as beneficial probiotic bacteria associated with improved energy metabolism and reduced inflammation. These findings underscore Brassica rapa L.’s potential for managing prolonged exercise-induced fatigue, paving the way for future therapeutic applications. The results highlight its impact on gut microbiota modulation and its role in nutrition science and sports medicine

Isobaric Vapor–Liquid Equilibrium Experiment of N‑Propanol and N‑Propyl Acetate at 101.3 kPa

N-Propanol (NPA) and n-propyl acetate (NPAC) can form an azeotrope under normal pressure, so their separation cannot be carried out by conventional distillation. Therefore, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazole acetate ([BMIM][OAC]) and ethylene glycol (EG) were selected as entrainers for extractive distillation of the two substances. Isobaric vapor–liquid equilibrium data were obtained by experiments of NPA + NPAC, NPA + NPAC + [BMIM][OAC], and NPA + NPAC + EG at normal pressure; the experimental results showed that the separation effect of [BMIM][OAC] is significantly better than that of EG. Finally, the data were fitted and correlated with the NRTL model. The ARD (average relative deviation) of NPA + NPAC, NPA + NPAC + [BMIM][OAC], and NPA + NPAC + EG is less than 5%, indicating that the NRTL model has good applicability to the vapor–liquid system

Differential Expression of Circular RNAs in Glioblastoma Multiforme and Its Correlation with Prognosis

OBJECTIVE: The present study aimed to explore the expression profiles of circular RNAs (circRNAs) in glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) in an attempt to identify potential core genes in the pathogenesis of this tumor. METHODS: Differentially expressed circRNAs were screened between tumor tissues from five GBM patients and five normal brain samples using Illumina Hiseq. Bioinformatics analysis was used to analyze their potential function. CircBRAF was further detected in different WHO grades glioma tissues and normal brain tissues. Kaplan-Meier curves and multivariate Cox's analysis were used to analyze the association between circBRAF expression level and prognosis of glioma patients. RESULTS: A total of 1411 differentially expressed circRNAs were identified in GBM patients including 206 upregulated circRNAs and 1205 downregulated circRNAs. Differential expression of circRNAs was closely associated with the biological process and molecular function. The downregulated circRNAs were mainly associated with ErbB and Neurotrophin signaling pathways. Moreover, the expression level of circBRAF in normal brain tissues was significantly higher than that in glioma tissues (P < .001). CircBRAF was significantly lower in glioma patients with high pathological grade (WHO III & IV) than those with low grade (WHO I & II) (P < .001). Cox analysis revealed that high circBRAF expression was an independent biomarker for predicting good progression-free survival and overall survival in glioma patients (HR = 0.413, 95% CI 0.201-0.849; HR = 0.299, 95% CI 0.135-0.661; respectively). CONCLUSION: The present study identified a profile of dysregulated circRNAs in GBM. Bioinformatics analysis showed that dysregulated circRNAs might be associated with tumorigenesis and development of GBM. In addition, circBRAF could severe as a biomarker for predicting pathological grade and prognosis in glioma patients

Research and Application of In Situ Sample-Processing Methods for Rapid Simultaneous Detection of Pyrethroid Pesticides in Vegetables

A novel rapid and cost-effective pre-processing method for the simultaneous determination of pyrethroid pesticides in vegetables has been developed and validated. The process of pesticide extraction was carried out by the QuEChERS (quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged and safe) method combined with filtration by filter paper, and cleanup was carried out by the multi-plug-filtration-cleanup (m-PFC) method with no centrifuge program during the whole process. The pre-processing method is optimized for gas chromatography (GC). The process is convenient and time saving, requiring just a few seconds per sample. The recovery rate (70&ndash;120%), limit of detection (0.0001&ndash;0.007 mg/kg), precision (0.2&ndash;9.3%) and accuracy for each analyte were determined in 10 representative vegetables with good results. Finally, the feasibility of the developed method was further confirmed by the successful determination of pyrethroid-pesticide residues in pyrethroid-containing practical samples within the processing method coupled with thin-layer chromatography and a colloidal-gold test strip