Marx for his times. Book Review of: 'Karl Marx : greatness and illusion' by Gareth Stedman Jones

Potential downstream targets for CD274. RNA-sequencing was performed with WT and CD274-null LICs, and the candidate genes related to proliferation and cell cycle was analyzed. (PDF 116 kb

A Two-Step Hydrothermal Synthesis Approach to Monodispersed Colloidal Carbon Spheres

This work reports a newly developed two-step hydrothermal method for the synthesis of monodispersed colloidal carbon spheres (CCS) under mild conditions. Using this approach, monodispersed CCS with diameters ranging from 160 to 400 nm were synthesized with a standard deviation around 8%. The monomer concentration ranging from 0.1 to 0.4 M is in favor of generation of narrower size distribution of CCS. The particle characteristics (e.g., shape, size, and distribution) and chemical stability were then characterized by using various techniques, including scanning electron microscopy (SEM), FT-IR spectrum analysis, and thermalgravity analysis (TGA). The possible nucleation and growth mechanism of colloidal carbon spheres were also discussed. The findings would be useful for the synthesis of more monodispersed nanoparticles and for the functional assembly

ZEB2 Mediates Multiple Pathways Regulating Cell Proliferation, Migration, Invasion, and Apoptosis in Glioma

BACKGROUND: The aim of the present study was to analyze the expression of Zinc finger E-box Binding homeobox 2 (ZEB2) in glioma and to explore the molecular mechanisms of ZEB2 that regulate cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and apoptosis. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Expression of ZEB2 in 90 clinicopathologically characterized glioma patients was analyzed by immunohistochemistry. Furthermore, siRNA targeting ZEB2 was transfected into U251 and U87 glioma cell lines in vitro and proliferation, migration, invasion, and apoptosis were examined separately by MTT assay, Transwell chamber assay, flow cytometry, and western blot. RESULTS: The expression level of ZEB2 protein was significantly increased in glioma tissues compared to normal brain tissues (P<0.001). In addition, high levels of ZEB2 protein were positively correlated with pathology grade classification (P = 0.024) of glioma patients. Knockdown of ZEB2 by siRNA suppressed cell proliferation, migration and invasion, as well as induced cell apoptosis in glioma cells. Furthermore, ZEB2 downregulation was accompanied by decreased expression of CDK4/6, Cyclin D1, Cyclin E, E2F1, and c-myc, while p15 and p21 were upregulated. Lowered expression of ZEB2 enhanced E-cadherin levels but also inhibited β-Catenin, Vimentin, N-cadherin, and Snail expression. Several apoptosis-related regulators such as Caspase-3, Caspase-6, Caspase-9, and Cleaved-PARP were activated while PARP was inhibited after ZEB2 siRNA treatment. CONCLUSION: Overexpression of ZEB2 is an unfavorable factor that may facilitate glioma progression. Knockdown ZEB2 expression by siRNA suppressed cell proliferation, migration, invasion and promoted cell apoptosis in glioma cells

Selective hydrogenation of phenol and derivatives over an ionic liquid-like copolymer stabilized palladium catalyst in aqueous media

A combination of "water soluble'' palladium nanoparticles stabilized by an ionic liquid-like copolymer and phosphotungstic acid synergistically promotes selective hydrogenation of phenol to cyclohexanone. The nanocatalyst preparation and selective phenol hydrogenation are successfully combined into a one-pot process in this research. Conversion exceeding 99% was achieved with >99% selectivity under an atmospheric pressure of hydrogen in aqueous media. Moreover, even at room temperature, >99% conversion and >99% selectivity could still be obtained. The generality of the catalyst system for this reaction was demonstrated by selective hydrogenation of other hydroxylated aromatic compounds with similar performance

N-Formylation of Amines with CO2 and H-2 Using Pd-Au Bimetallic Catalysts Supported on Polyaniline-Functionalized Carbon Nanotubes

Bimetallic Pd-Au catalyst was prepared by depositing the Pd-Au alloy nanoparticles on polyaniline-functionalized carbon nanotubes (PANI-CNT) and the resulting Pd-Au/PANI-CNT catalyst exhibited excellent catalytic activity for the N-formylation of pyrrolidine using CO2/H-2. The structural and electronic properties of the Pd- Au/PANI-CNT was characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), nitrogen adsorption desorption, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high angle annular dark-field scanning LU transmission electron microscopy (HAADF-STEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Under optimized conditions, an N-formylpyrrolidine yield of 98.3% was obtained from pyrrolidine and CO2/H-2 at 125 degrees C by using Pd Au/PANICNT with a Pd/Au molar ratio of 1:1. Our research further reveals that Pd atoms should be the true active sites for the hydrogenation reaction and the N-formylation reaction might occur mainly over Pd atoms or over the interface between Pd atoms and Au atoms for the bimetallic Pd Au/PANI-CNT catalyst. The enhanced catalytic performance of bimetallic Pd Au/PANI-CNT is mainly related to beneficial interactions between Pd atoms and Au atoms, leading to changes of the electronic properties of the formed bimetallic Pd Au nanoparticles

Cr3+ pre-intercalated hydrated vanadium oxide as an excellent performance cathode for aqueous zinc-ion batteries

Rechargeable aqueous zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs) are regarded as the next promising large scale energy storage systems owing to their low cost, high safety and environmental friendliness. Vanadium-based materials are one of the most important cathodes of ZIBs due to their high abundance and multielectron transfer of various oxidations of vanadium. Nevertheless, the strong electrostatic interaction between Zn2+ and cathodes, intrinsic poor electronic conductivity and solubility of vanadium-based cathodes in electrolytes bring about inferior electrochemical performance. In this work, we introduce aliovalent Cr3+ into the interlayer of hydrated vanadium oxide (Cr-VOH) as pillar to significantly increase the structural stability and electrochemical reversibility. The pre-intercalation of Cr3+ also provides an enhanced electronic conductivity and fast Zn2+ diffusion dynamics, enabling superior Zn2+ storage performance of the Cr-VOH cathode. As a result, the Cr-VOH cathode exhibits a high reversible discharge capacity of ~380 mAh g−1 at 50 mA g−1, excellent rate capacity of 166 mAh g−1 at 8 A g−1 and prolonged cycling stability over 500 cycles. Furthermore, it displays a high energy density of 273.6 W h kg−1 at 0.05 A g−1 and the power density of 4960 W kg−1 at 8 A g−1, contributing to the practical application potential of aqueous ZIBs

Titanate nanotube-promoted chemical fixation of carbon dioxide to cyclic carbonate: a combined experimental and computational study

Titanate nanotubes (TNT) were found to be air-and water-tolerant, efficient, and recyclable Lewis acid catalysts towards the cycloaddition of carbon dioxide (CO2) to propylene oxide (PO) for the synthesis of cyclic propylene carbonate (PC). Using TNT as the catalyst and potassium iodide, tetrabutylammonium bromide or tetraphenylphosphonium bromide as the co-catalyst, PO was readily converted to PC with a yield of up to >99.9% and a PC selectivity of 100% under relatively mild conditions. Experimental research revealed that the TNT catalyst with the highest exposure of active sites, including surface hydroxyl groups and Lewis acid sites, proved to be the most active for the cycloaddition reaction. Our theoretical evaluation based on density functional theory calculations further indicated that the high Lewis acidity of TNT strongly reduces the energy barrier for the ring-opening step through the polarization of the C-O bond of PO, which allows a subsequent nucleophilic attack easily. Both experimental and computational studies demonstrated that the synergetic effect between TNT and the co-catalyst plays an important role in PC formation. The TNT catalyst is richer in surface Lewis acid sites, shows a large surface area and mesoporous structure, and has a heterogeneous and recyclable nature, which makes TNT an excellent, interesting and ideal catalyst for chemical fixation of CO2

Self-assembly of particles : some thoughts and comments

Self-assembly can happen to particles at all length scales, including atomic, nano-, meso- and macro-particles. Although widely used in nanoresearch, many nano-structures reported in the literature are not self-assembled, posing some fundamental questions. This paper will briefly review this topic, answering the following questions: what is the current status in self-assembling nanoparticles? Why is it so difficult to produce self-assembled structures of nanoparticles? How can we effectively overcome the difficulty? The important role of controlling forces of various types in relation to different self-assembly techniques is discussed. Self-assembly is demonstrated as a complex problem that still needs intensive multi-scaled studies

Selective Hydrogenation of Phenol and Derivatives over Polymer-Functionalized Carbon-Nanofiber-Supported Palladium Using Sodium Formate as the Hydrogen Source

Selective hydrogenation of phenol to cyclohexanone over a catalyst of polyaniline-functionalized carbon-nanofiber-supported palladium (Pd-PANI/CNF) with sodium formate as the hydrogen source has been studied. Phenol conversion exceeding 99% was achieved with a cyclohexanone selectivity of >99% in aqueous media. In an extension to Pd-PANI/CNF, polymers such as polypyrrole (PPY), poly(4-vinylpyridine) (PVP), and poly(1-vinylimidazole) (PVI) were further applied to a catalyst of Pd-polymer/CNF for selective phenol hydrogenation. All of the Pd-polymer/CNF catalysts showed excellent to good performance toward selective phenol hydrogenation. However, Pd-PANI/CNF was considerably more active and selective to afford the desired cyclohexanone than Pd-PPY/CNF, Pd-PVP/CNF, and Pd-PVI/CNF. Moreover, a series of phenol-derived compounds were selectively hydrogenated in high yields under the investigated aqueous conditions. The research highlights an environmentally benign and effective process for the selective reduction of phenol derivatives with sodium formate as an alternative hydrogen source