Alkaline Plasma-Activated Water (PAW) as an Innovative Therapeutic Avenue for Cancer Treatment

Plasma-activated water (PAW) is considered to be an effective anticancer agent due to the diverse aqueous reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS: ROS and RNS), but the drawback of low dose and short duration of RONS in acidified PAW limits their clinical application. Herein, this Letter presents an innovative therapeutic avenue for cancer treatment with highly-effective alkaline PAW prepared by air surface plasma. This anticancer alkaline formulation is comprised of a rich mixture of highly chemical RONS and exhibited a prolonged half-life compared to acidified PAW. The H2O2, NO2-, and ONOO-/O2- concentrations in the alkaline PAW can reach up to 18-, 16-, and 14-fold higher than that in acidic PAW, and the half-life of these species was extended over 8-, 10-, and 26-fold, respectively. The synergistic potent redox action between these RONS with alkaline pH was shown to be more potent than acidic PAW for cancer cell inhibition in vitro. Furthermore, the alkaline PAW injection treatment also significantly inhibited tumor growth in tumor-bearing mice. The possible reasons are that the alkaline PAW would disturb the acid extracellular milieu leading to the inhibition of tumor growth and progression; moreover, the efficient and durable RONS with alkaline pH could induce significant cell apoptosis by altering cell biomolecules and participating apoptosis-related signaling pathways. These findings offer promising applications for developing a strategy with real potential for tumor treatment in clinical applications

Studying the interface between croconic acid thin films and substrates using a slow positron beam

Croconic acid (CA) is the first organic ferroelectric with a spontaneous polarity in bulk samples comparable to its inorganic counterparts. As a natural extension of study, ultrathin CA films (∼nm scale) were investigated to reveal ferroelectric effects in films on different substrates for their fundamental and industrial significance. However, the void defect at the interface between the film and substrate is presumed to interfere with surface effects. In this work, a non-invasive technique, a slow positron beam, coupled with Doppler broadening energy spectroscopy (DBES), is applied to study the void defects within the interfacial layer between CA films and Si and SiO2 substrates. The effect of external electric field on defect formation is also investigated and an underlying mechanism is proposed

Ovarian juvenile granulosa cell tumors with Ollier’s disease in children with IDH1 gene somatic mutation

ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to explore the symptoms, treatment, and pathogenesis of ovarian juvenile granulosa cell tumors with Ollier’s disease in children.MethodsFrom October 2019 to October 2020, clinical data were retrospectively analyzed for one case of ovarian juvenile granulosa cell tumors with Ollier’s disease. Whole-exome sequencing and Sanger sequencing were used to detect gene mutation in ovarian tumor and chondroma tissue. NADP-dependent isocitrate dehydrogenase-1 (IDH1) and S6 ribosomal protein expression levels in cells transfected with wild-type or mutant plasmid were analyzed by Western blot.ResultsThe 4-year-old female showed multiple skeletal deformities, bilateral breast development with chromatosis, and vulvar discharge. Sex hormone assay suggested that estradiol and prolactin were elevated, and the x-ray of limbs suggested enchondroma. Pelvic ultrasound and abdominal CT revealed a right ovarian solid mass. Pathologic examination of the right ovarian solid mass showed a juvenile granulosa cell type. A c.394C>T (p. Arg132Cys) mutation of the IDH1 gene was detected in both the ovarian juvenile granulosa cell tumors and enchondroma. Transfection of HeLa cells with either WT or Mut plasmid caused 4.46- or 3.77-fold overexpression of IDH1 gene compared to non-transfected control cells, respectively. R132C mutation inhibited the phosphorylation of S6 ribosomal protein, which is central to the mTOR pathway. Postoperatively, estradiol and prolactin levels fell to values normal for her age and bilateral breast gradual retraction.ConclusionThe incidence of ovarian juvenile granulosa cell tumors with Ollier’s disease in children may be caused by generalized mesodermal dysplasia; IDH1 gene mutation may play a facilitated role in this process. Surgical operation is the main treatment. We suggest that patients with ovarian juvenile granulosa cell tumors and Ollier’s disease should undergo regular investigation

Facile synthesis of high-performance indium nanocrystals for selective CO2-to-formate electroreduction

Selective electrocatalytic reduction of CO2 to formate has received increasing interest for CO2 conversion and utilization. Yet, the CO2 reduction process still faces major challenges, partly due to the lack of cost-effective, highly active, selective and stable electrocatalysts. Here, we report a mesoporous indium (mp-In) electrocatalyst composed of nanobelts synthesized via a simple solution-based approach for selective CO2 reduction to formate. The mp-In nanocrystals provide enlarged surface areas, abundant surface active sites and edge/low-coordinated sites. Such advantages afford the mp-In with an outstanding electrocatalytic performance for the CO2-to-formate conversion. A high formate selectivity, with a Faradaic efficiency (FE) of >90% was achieved over a potential of −0.95 V to −1.1 V (vs VRHE). The mp-In catalyst showed excellent durability, reflected by the stable formate selectivity and current density over a 24 h reaction period. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal that the stabilization of the intermediate OCHO* on the In-plane surfaces is energetically feasible, further elucidating the origin of its enhanced CO2-to-formate activity and selectivity. This work may offer valuable insights for the facile fabrication of porous hierarchical nanostructures for electrocatalytic and selective reduction of CO2.</p

Plasma-Assisted Sustainable Nitrogen-to-Ammonia Fixation: Mixed-phase, Synergistic Processes and Mechanisms.

Ammonia plays a crucial role in industry and agriculture worldwide, but traditional industrial ammonia production methods are energy-intensive and negatively impact the environment. Ammonia synthesis using low-temperature plasma technology has gained traction in the pursuit of environment-benign and cost-effective methods for producing green ammonia. This Review discusses the recent advances in low-temperature plasma-assisted ammonia synthesis, focusing on three main routes: N2 +H2 plasma-only, N2 +H2 O plasma-only, and plasma coupled with other technologies. The reaction pathways involved in the plasma-assisted ammonia synthesis, as well as the process parameters, including the optimum catalyst types and discharge schemes, are examined. Building upon the current research status, the challenges and research opportunities in the plasma-assisted ammonia synthesis processes are outlined. The article concludes with the outlook for the future development of the plasma-assisted ammonia synthesis technology in real-life industrial applications

Microsecond pulse gas–liquid discharges in atmospheric nitrogen and oxygen: Discharge mode, stability, and plasma characteristics

A plasma's working gas is a significant factor affecting their discharge characteristics and the induced chemistries during plasma–water interactions. However, the effects on the discharge mode and discharge stability have not been fully investigated. This study focuses on the discharge mode transition and stability with nitrogen and oxygen gases. Compared with the oxygen discharge, the nitrogen discharge remained stable over a larger voltage range and long duration time. A diffuse mode discharge had better stability and lower plasma activity for both nitrogen and oxygen gases, whereas a transient spark mode in nitrogen and filament mode in oxygen had lower stability but a higher plasma activity. This study improves the understanding of the physicochemical processes of plasma–water interactions.</p

Linear-field plasma jet arrays excited by high-voltage alternating current and nanosecond pulses

Atmospheric pressure plasma jet arrays can expand the treatment dimension of a single jet to large scales effectively, and the arrays with a good downstream uniformity have a great potential for applications in the materials surface treatment and biomedicine. In this paper, a linear-field jet array with a ring-ring electrode structure in Ar is excited by alternating current (AC) and nanosecond (ns) pulse voltage, and the characteristics and downstream uniformity of the array and their dependence on the applied voltage and gas flow rate are investigated and compared through optical, electrical, and Schlieren diagnosis. The electrical and hydrodynamic interactions between the jets in the array are analyzed and discussed. The results show that the ns pulse excited jet arrays can generate relatively large-scale plasma with better uniformity, longer plumes, and higher intensity active species with a higher energy efficiency than the AC excited ones. No visible deviation of the plume and gas flow trajectories in the light emission and Schlieren images is observed for the ns pulse excited arrays. On the other hand, deviation of plume trajectories is shown to depend on the applied voltage and the gas flow rate for the AC excited arrays. The shorter duration of the interaction of the ns pulse excited jet arrays compared with that of the AC excited jet arrays results in the weaker effects of the Coulomb repellence force and the gas heating, which helps to maintain the uniformity of jet arrays. The reported results can help to design controllable and scalable plasma jet arrays in the economic Ar with good uniformity and higher energy efficiency for material surface and biomedical treatments

Pseudocapacitance contribution in boron-doped graphite sheets for anion storage enables high-performance sodium-ion capacitors

Research on metal-ion hybrid capacitors is emerging as one of the hottest topics in energy storage fields because of their combination of high power and energy densities. To improve the sluggish faradaic reaction in traditional electrode materials for metal-ion hybrid capacitors, intercalation pseudocapacitive materials have been developed as attractive candidates. However, all the previously reported pseudocapacitances in intercalation/deintercalation reactions are based on cations (Li+, Na+, Zn2+etc.). In this work, we demonstrated the high pseudocapacitance contribution in boron-doped graphite (BG) sheets by taking advantage of anion storage. The BG electrode can reversibly store anions (PF6−) through both a surface-controlled pseudocapacitive reaction and a diffusion-limited intercalation/deintercalation reaction. The fabricated Na-ion hybrid capacitor with a BG cathode exhibits superior electrochemical performance. Density functional theory (DFT) calculation reveals that B-doping can significantly reduce the PF6− diffusion energy barrier in the graphite layers