Au@h-Al2O3 Analogic Yolk–Shell Nanocatalyst for Highly Selective Synthesis of Biomass-Derived D-xylonic Acid via Regulation of Structure Effects

Selective oxidation of biomass-based monosaccharides into value-added sugar acids is highly desired, but limited success of producing D-xylonic acid has been achieved. Herein, we report an efficient catalyst system, viz., Au nanoparticles anchored on the inner walls of hollow Al2O3 nanospheres (Au@h- Al2O3), which could catalyze the selective oxidation of D-xylose into D-xylonic acid under base-free conditions. The mesoporous Al2O3 shell as the adsorbent first adsorbed D-xylose. Then, the interface of Au nanoparticles and Al2O3 as active sites spontaneously dissociated O2, and the exposed Au nanoparticle surface as the catalytic site drove the transformation. With this catalyst system, the valuable D-xylonic acid was produced with excellent yields in the aerobic oxidation of D-xylose. Extensive investigation showed that Au@h- Al2O3 is an efficient catalyst with high stability and recyclability

Independent and joint association of N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide and left ventricular mass index with heart failure risk in elderly diabetic patients with right ventricular pacing

BackgroundElevated levels of N-terminal pro-B natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) are independent risk factors for heart failure (HF). In addition, right ventricular pacing (RVP) is an effective treatment strategy for bradyarrhythmia, but long-term RVP is associated with HF. However, there is limited evidence on the independent and combined association of NT-proBNP and left ventricular mass index (LVMI) with HF risk in elderly diabetic patients with long-term RVP.MethodsBetween January 2017 and January 2018, a total of 224 elderly diabetic patients with RVP at Fuwai Hospital were consecutively included in the study, with a 5-year follow-up period. The study endpoint was the first HF readmission during follow-up. This study aimed to explore the independent and joint relationship of NT-proBNP and LVMI with HF readmission in elderly diabetic patients with long-term RVP, using a multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression model.ResultsA total of 224 (11.56%) elderly diabetic patients with RVP were included in the study. During the 5-year follow-up period, a total of 46 (20.54%) patients suffered HF readmission events. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression analysis showed that higher levels of NT-proBNP and LVMI were independent risk factors for HF readmission [NT-proBNP: hazard risk (HR) = 1.05, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.01–1.10; LVMI: HR = 1.14, 95% CI: 1.02–1.27]. The optimal cut-off point of NT-proBNP was determined to be 330 pg/ml by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Patients with NT-proBNP > 330 pg/ml and LVH had a higher risk of HF readmission compared to those with NT-proBNP ≤ 330 pg/ml and non-LVH (39.02% vs. 6.17%; HR = 7.72, 95% CI: 1.34–9.31, P < 0.001).ConclusionIn elderly diabetic patients with long-term RVP, NT-proBNP and LVMI were associated with the risk of HF readmission. Elevated NT-proBNP combined with LVH resulted in a significantly higher risk of HF readmission

Intestinal segment and vitamin D3 concentration affect gene expression levels of calcium and phosphorus transporters in broiler chickens

Two experiments were conducted in this research. Experiment 1 investigated the spatial expression characteristics of calcium (Ca) and phosphorus (P) transporters in the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum of 21-day-old broilers provided with adequate nutrient feed. Experiment 2 evaluated the effects of dietary vitamin D3 (VD3) concentration (0, 125, 250, 500, 1,000, and 2,000 IU/kg) on growth performance, bone development, and gene expression levels of intestinal Ca and P transporters in 1–21-day-old broilers provided with the negative control diet without supplemental VD3. Results in experiment 1 showed that the mRNA levels of calcium-binding protein 28-kDa (CaBP-D28k), sodium-calcium exchanger 1 (NCX1), plasma membrane calcium ATPase 1b (PMCA1b), and IIb sodium-phosphate cotransporter (NaPi-IIb) were the highest in the broiler duodenum. By contrast, the mRNA levels of inorganic phosphate transporter 1 (PiT-1) and 2 (PiT-2) were the highest in the ileum. Results in experiment 2 showed that adding 125 IU/kg VD3 increased body weight gain (BWG), feed intake (FI), bone weight, and percentage and weight of Ca and P in the tibia and femur of 1–21-day-old broilers compared with the negative control diet (p < 0.05). The rise in dietary VD3 levels from 125 to 1,000 IU/kg further increased the BWG, FI, and weights of the bone, ash, Ca, and P (p < 0.05). No difference in growth rate and leg bone quality was noted in the broilers provided with 1,000 and 2,000 IU/kg VD3 (p > 0.05). Supplementation with 125–2,000 IU/kg VD3 increased the mRNA abundances of intestinal Ca and P transporters to varying degrees. The mRNA level of CaBP-D28k increased by 536, 1,161, and 28 folds in the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum, respectively, after adding 1,000 IU/kg VD3. The mRNA levels of other Ca and P transporters (PMCA1b, NCX1, NaPi-IIb, PiT-1, and PiT-2) increased by 0.57–1.74 folds by adding 1,000–2,000 IU/kg VD3. These data suggest that intestinal Ca and P transporters are mainly expressed in the duodenum of broilers. Moreover, the addition of VD3 stimulates the two mineral transporter transcription in broiler intestines

Activation of NF-κB and p300/CBP potentiates cancer chemoimmunotherapy through induction of MHC-I antigen presentation

Many cancers evade immune rejection by suppressing major histocompatibility class I (MHC-I) antigen processing and presentation (AgPP). Such cancers do not respond to immune checkpoint inhibitor therapies (ICIT) such as PD-1/PD-L1 [PD-(L)1] blockade. Certain chemotherapeutic drugs augment tumor control by PD-(L)1 inhibitors through potentiation of T-cell priming but whether and how chemotherapy enhances MHC-I-dependent cancer cell recognition by cytotoxic T cells (CTLs) is not entirely clear. We now show that the lysine acetyl transferases p300/CREB binding protein (CBP) control MHC-I AgPPM expression and neoantigen amounts in human cancers. Moreover, we found that two distinct DNA damaging drugs, the platinoid oxaliplatin and the topoisomerase inhibitor mitoxantrone, strongly up-regulate MHC-I AgPP in a manner dependent on activation of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB), p300/CBP, and other transcription factors, but independently of autocrine IFNγ signaling. Accordingly, NF-κB and p300 ablations prevent chemotherapy-induced MHC-I AgPP and abrogate rejection of low MHC-I-expressing tumors by reinvigorated CD8+ CTLs. Drugs like oxaliplatin and mitoxantrone may be used to overcome resistance to PD-(L)1 inhibitors in tumors that had "epigenetically down-regulated," but had not permanently lost MHC-I AgPP activity

Development and applications of solar-based thermoelectric technologies

International audienceIn this paper a survey of solar-based driven thermoelectric technologies and their applications is presented. Initially, a brief analysis of the environmental problems related to the use of conventional technologies and energy sources is presented and the benefits offered by thermoelectric technologies and renewable energy systems are outlined. The development history of solar-based thermoelectric technologies is introduced together with the discussion of the existing drawbacks of current systems. Typical applications of the solar-driven thermoelectric refrigeration and the solar-driven thermoelectric power generation are presented in order to show to the reader the extent of their applicability. The application areas described in this paper show that solar-driven thermoelectric technologies could be used in a wide variety of fields. They are attractive technologies that not only can serve the needs for refrigeration, air-conditioning applications and power generation, but also can meet demand for energy conservation and environment protection

Development and applications of solar-based thermoelectric technologies

In this paper a survey of solar-based driven thermoelectric technologies and their applications is presented. Initially, a brief analysis of the environmental problems related to the use of conventional technologies and energy sources is presented and the benefits offered by thermoelectric technologies and renewable energy systems are outlined. The development history of solar-based thermoelectric technologies is introduced together with the discussion of the existing drawbacks of current systems. Typical applications of the solar-driven thermoelectric refrigeration and the solar-driven thermoelectric power generation are presented in order to show to the reader the extent of their applicability. The application areas described in this paper show that solar-driven thermoelectric technologies could be used in a wide variety of fields. They are attractive technologies that not only can serve the needs for refrigeration, air-conditioning applications and power generation, but also can meet demand for energy conservation and environment protection.Solar-driven thermoelectric refrigeration Solar-driven thermoelectric generator Solar-based driven thermoelectric technologies Pv

Formation of enhanced opposite one-handed chiral fields in heterodimer-film nanostructures

Plasmonic chirality has attracted a lot of interests because it could result in dramatically increased chiroptical interactions and offer many potential applications in chiral molecules analysis, catalysis, and other nanotechnology. In particular, one-handed chiral field is required in many applications for the reason that molecules are generally distributed randomly in some region of structures. In this work, benefiting from the coupling effect and energy focusing effect, we propose a heterodimer-film nanostructure to achieve one-handed chiral fields under linearly polarized light illumination. The results indicate that there are just opposite one-handed chiral fields in different gaps of the heterodimer-film nanostructure. The volume averaged optical chirality in the gaps can reach 102 and the optical chirality of hot spots can reach 103, which has potential applications in chiral sensing and Raman optical activity

Activation Energy for Dibenzofuran Desorption from Fe/TiO and Ce/TiO Photocatalysts Coated onto Glass Fibres

In this work, TiO 2 , Fe 3+ /TiO 2 and Ce 3+ /TiO 2 photocatalytic films were respectively immobilized on glass fibres via the sol—gel technique to prepare supported photocatalysts. Temperature programmed desorption (TPD) experiments were conducted to measure the TPD curves for the removal of dibenzofuran from these photocatalysts, from which the activation energy for dibenzofuran desorption from the photocatalyst surfaces was estimated. The results showed that the activation energies for dibenzofuran desorption from the photocatalysts TiO 2 , Ce 3+ /TiO 2 and Fe 3+ /TiO 2 coated separately onto the glass fibres were 16.41 kJ/mol, 22.55 kJ/mol and 33.59 kJ/mol, respectively, while the hardness values of the ions Fe 3+ , Ce 3+ and Ti 4+ were respectively 13.1 eV, 11.9 eV and 10.6 eV. The data indicated that the use of Fe 3+ or Ce 3+ ions for doping a TiO 2 photo-catalyst increased the local hardness of the doped TiO 2 photocatalyst surface. This, in turn, increased the activation energy for the desorption of dibenzofuran from such a TiO 2 photocatalyst surface