Inter-Particle Electronic and Ionic Modifications of the Ternary Ni-Co-Mn Oxide for Efficient and Stable Lithium Storage

A combined electronic and ionic interparticular modification strategy is designed for the improvement of lithium storage in the layer structured ternary Ni-Co-Mn oxide (LiNi0.6Co0.2Mn0.2O2) in the form of spherical particles. In this design, a thin layer of the ion conducting polypropylene carbonate is applied to wrap the individual oxide particles for three purposes: (1) prevention of direct stacking and packing between oxide particles that will otherwise impede or block ions from accessing all the surface of the oxide particles, (2) provision of additional ionic pathways between the oxide particles, and (3) stabilization of the oxide particles during lithium storage and release. The design includes also the use of nitrogen doped carbon nanotubes for electronic connection between the polymer coated individual spheres of the layered nickel-rich LiNi0.6Co0.2Mn0.2O2. According to the physicochemical and electrochemical characterizations, and laboratory battery tests, it can be concluded that the LiNi0.6Co0.2Mn0.2O2 composite has a unique porous structure that is assembled by the polymer coated ternary oxide microspheres and the nitrogen-doped carbon nanotube networks. Significant improvements are achieved in both the ionic and electronic conductivities (double or more increase), and in discharge specific capacity (201.3 mAh·g−1 at 0.1 C, improved by 13.28% compared to the non-modified LiNi0.6Co0.2Mn0.2O2), rate performance and cycling stability (94.40% in capacity retention after 300 cycles at 1.0 C)

Growth of catalyst-free high-quality ZnO nanowires by thermal evaporation under air ambient

ZnO nanowires have been successfully fabricated on Si substrate by simple thermal evaporation of Zn powder under air ambient without any catalyst. Morphology and structure analyses indicated that ZnO nanowires had high purity and perfect crystallinity. The diameter of ZnO nanowires was 40 to 100 nm, and the length was about several tens of micrometers. The prepared ZnO nanowires exhibited a hexagonal wurtzite crystal structure. The growth of the ZnO nanostructure was explained by the vapor-solid mechanism. The simplicity, low cost and fewer necessary apparatuses of the process would suit the high-throughput fabrication of ZnO nanowires. The ZnO nanowires fabricated on Si substrate are compatible with state-of-the-art semiconductor industry. They are expected to have potential applications in functional nanodevices

Evolution of Plant Nucleotide-Sugar Interconversion Enzymes

Nucleotide-diphospho-sugars (NDP-sugars) are the building blocks of diverse polysaccharides and glycoconjugates in all organisms. In plants, 11 families of NDP-sugar interconversion enzymes (NSEs) have been identified, each of which interconverts one NDP-sugar to another. While the functions of these enzyme families have been characterized in various plants, very little is known about their evolution and origin. Our phylogenetic analyses indicate that all the 11 plant NSE families are distantly related and most of them originated from different progenitor genes, which have already diverged in ancient prokaryotes. For instance, all NSE families are found in the lower land plant mosses and most of them are also found in aquatic algae, implicating that they have already evolved to be capable of synthesizing all the 11 different NDP-sugars. Particularly interesting is that the evolution of RHM (UDP-L-rhamnose synthase) manifests the fusion of genes of three enzymatic activities in early eukaryotes in a rather intriguing manner. The plant NRS/ER (nucleotide-rhamnose synthase/epimerase-reductase), on the other hand, evolved much later from the ancient plant RHMs through losing the N-terminal domain. Based on these findings, an evolutionary model is proposed to explain the origin and evolution of different NSE families. For instance, the UGlcAE (UDP-D-glucuronic acid 4-epimerase) family is suggested to have evolved from some chlamydial bacteria. Our data also show considerably higher sequence diversity among NSE-like genes in modern prokaryotes, consistent with the higher sugar diversity found in prokaryotes. All the NSE families are widely found in plants and algae containing carbohydrate-rich cell walls, while sporadically found in animals, fungi and other eukaryotes, which do not have or have cell walls with distinct compositions. Results of this study were shown to be highly useful for identifying unknown genes for further experimental characterization to determine their functions in the synthesis of diverse glycosylated molecules

A novel “holey-LFP / graphene / holey-LFP” sandwich nanostructure with significantly improved rate capability for lithium storage

The development of high-performance and new-structure electrode materials is vital for the wide application of rechargeable lithium batteries in electric vehicles. In this work, we design a special composite electrode structure with the macroporous three-dimensional graphene areogel framework supporting mesoporous LiFePO4 nanoplate. It is realized using a simple sol-gel deposition method. The highly conductivity graphene nanosheets assemble into an interconnected three-dimensional macroporous areogel framework, while LiFePO4 grows along the graphene nanosheets and generates a mesoporous nanoplate structure. In comparison with LiFePO4, this unique sandwich nanostructure offers a greatly increased electronic conductivity thanks to the framework of graphene nanosheets. Also, the bimodal porous structure of the composite remarkably increases the interface between the electrode/electrolyte and facilitates the transport of Li+ throughout the electrode, enabling the superior specific capacity, rate characteristic and cyclic retention

Genetic variants in novel pathways influence blood pressure and cardiovascular disease risk.

Blood pressure is a heritable trait influenced by several biological pathways and responsive to environmental stimuli. Over one billion people worldwide have hypertension (≥140 mm Hg systolic blood pressure or  ≥90 mm Hg diastolic blood pressure). Even small increments in blood pressure are associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular events. This genome-wide association study of systolic and diastolic blood pressure, which used a multi-stage design in 200,000 individuals of European descent, identified sixteen novel loci: six of these loci contain genes previously known or suspected to regulate blood pressure (GUCY1A3-GUCY1B3, NPR3-C5orf23, ADM, FURIN-FES, GOSR2, GNAS-EDN3); the other ten provide new clues to blood pressure physiology. A genetic risk score based on 29 genome-wide significant variants was associated with hypertension, left ventricular wall thickness, stroke and coronary artery disease, but not kidney disease or kidney function. We also observed associations with blood pressure in East Asian, South Asian and African ancestry individuals. Our findings provide new insights into the genetics and biology of blood pressure, and suggest potential novel therapeutic pathways for cardiovascular disease prevention

New genetic loci link adipose and insulin biology to body fat distribution.

Body fat distribution is a heritable trait and a well-established predictor of adverse metabolic outcomes, independent of overall adiposity. To increase our understanding of the genetic basis of body fat distribution and its molecular links to cardiometabolic traits, here we conduct genome-wide association meta-analyses of traits related to waist and hip circumferences in up to 224,459 individuals. We identify 49 loci (33 new) associated with waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for body mass index (BMI), and an additional 19 loci newly associated with related waist and hip circumference measures (P < 5 × 10(-8)). In total, 20 of the 49 waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for BMI loci show significant sexual dimorphism, 19 of which display a stronger effect in women. The identified loci were enriched for genes expressed in adipose tissue and for putative regulatory elements in adipocytes. Pathway analyses implicated adipogenesis, angiogenesis, transcriptional regulation and insulin resistance as processes affecting fat distribution, providing insight into potential pathophysiological mechanisms

Effectiveness of novel imidazole-dioxolane heme oxygenase inhibitors in renal proximal tubule epithelial cells

To enhance our understanding of the physiological roles of heme oxygenase (HO) isozymes, HO-1 (inducible) and HO-2 (constitutive), we developed novel imidazole-based HO inhibitors. Unlike the metalloporphyrins, these imidazole-dioxolane compounds are selective for the in vitro inhibition of HO with minimal effects on other heme-dependent enzymes such as nitric oxide synthase and soluble guanylyl cyclase. In the current study, we tested the hypothesis that these novel HO inhibitors are effective in intact cells by extending their application to cultured, renal proximal tubule epithelial cells (LLC-PK1). HO-1 and HO-2 protein expression was enhanced by pretreatment of cells with hemin, transduction with adenovirus encoding human HO-1, and transfection with cDNA for HO-2, respectively. Total HO activity was measured by determining the formation of carbon monoxide (CO), whereas cell viability and apoptosis were measured by the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay and the expression of activated caspase-3. Gliotoxin/tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) produced cytotoxicity in wild-type LLC-PK1 cells (P < 0.05) but not in HO-1 and HO-2 overexpressing or wild type cells pretreated with hemin (10 μM). The presence of imidazole-dioxolane HO inhibitors (2–25 μM) decreased cell viability (P < 0.05). A CO-releasing molecule reversed, in a dose-dependent manner, the cytotoxic effects and caspase-3 activation induced by the combination of gliotoxin/TNF-α and the HO inhibitors, suggesting an important role for CO in protection against renal toxicity. These data demonstrate a protective role of both HO-1 and HO-2 against gliotoxin/TNF-α-induced cytotoxicity in LLC-PK1 cells. The novel imidazole-dioxolane compounds can be used as effective inhibitors of HO activity in cell culture