MiR-140-5p inhibits morphine tolerance in rats by targeting TLR4

Purpose: To determine the influence of miR-140-5p on morphine tolerance in rats.Methods: Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into morphine tolerance (MT) and saline control (NS) groups, respectively. Rats in MT group were injected with 10 μL (10 μg) morphine twice daily for seven consecutive days while those in NS group were administered the equivalent volume of normal saline. The maximum effect of morphine (MPE) was computed from tail-flick test results. MiR-140-5p mimics and toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) lentivirus were transfected separately or co-transfected into model rats. MiR-140-5p and TLR4 expression were determined by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) or western blotting. Dual-luciferase reporter assay was used to verify the target relationship between miR-140-5p and TLR4.Results: The expression of miR-140-5p was decreased, while the expression of TLR4 increased in morphine-tolerant rats (p < 0.05). TLR4 was a target of miR-140-5p. At 24 and 48 h after injection, MPE clearly increased and TLR4 expression was reduced under miR-140-5p overexpression or TLR4 knockdown (p < 0.05). Moreover, there were no significant changes in MPE or levels of TLR4 when miR-140-5p and TLR4 were co-transfected into morphine-tolerant rats.Conclusion: MiR-140-5p inhibits morphine resistance in rats via targeted regulation of TLR4 expression. These provide a theoretical basis for the clinical management of morphine tolerance

Differential and Statistical Approach to Partial Model Matching

Partial model matching approaches are important to target recognition. In this paper, aiming at a 3D model, a novel solution utilizing Gaussian curvature and mean curvature to represent the inherent structure of a spatial shape is proposed. Firstly, a Point-Pair Set is constructed by means of filtrating points with a similar inherent characteristic in the partial surface. Secondly, a Triangle-Pair Set is demonstrated after locating the spatial model by asymmetry triangle skeleton. Finally, after searching similar triangles in a Point-Pair Set, optimal transformation is obtained by computing the scoring function in a Triangle-Pair Set, and optimal matching is determined. Experiments show that this algorithm is suitable for partial model matching. Encouraging matching efficiency, speed, and running time complexity to irregular models are indicated in the study

Design of Efficient Cobalt-based Bi-functional Catalysts for Zinc-Air Batteries

Due to its high theoretical specific energy and low-cost, rechargeable zinc-air batteries have attracted tremendous attention as a promising next-generation energy conversion system. However, there are some challenges that need to overcome before its practical application. One of the key issues is the slow reaction kinetics in the air cathode of the batteries towards the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER). This would cause insufficient charge/discharge efficiency and poor cycle stability of the batteries. Therefore, the development of efficient ORR-OER bi-functional electrocatalysts with high catalytic activity and durability is essential for the development of rechargeable zinc-air batteries. In this work, a series of catalyst design strategies have been explored to improve the activity and durability of cobalt-based bi-functional catalysts especially under the oxidative condition of OER reaction. The latter would cause catalyst oxidation and aggregation, and therefore deteriorate the cycling performance of the bi-functional catalysts in zinc-air batteries. In the first study, a surface engineering approach was adopted to prepare efficient bi-functional catalyst consists of mildly oxidized, N-doped Co9S8 catalyst supported on N-doped reduce graphite oxide (O-N-Co9S8@N-RGO). The surface decorated electrocatalyst shows excellent activity for both ORR and OER, and maintains good stability over 900 charge-discharge cycles at 10 mA cm-2 in zinc-air battery. Interestedly, it was found that O-N-Co9S8 nanoparticles responsible for the OER reaction were completely converted into Co3O4 after OER reaction, indicating Co3O4 is the actual active phase for OER. On the basis of this observation, we propose and demonstrate that oxides in-situ generated cobalt oxides during OER reaction are more active than the directly calcined oxides. This work advances fundamental insight and the design of metal chalcogenides-based bi-functional “catalysts”. On the recognition of the high catalytic activity of surface-engineered Co9S8 material, a three-dimensionally ordered mesoporous (3DOM) structured surface-engineered Co9S8 catalyst was developed to explore the benefits of the 3DOM structural design for its catalytic performance. Different from the N-RGO supported O-N-Co9S8, the 3DOM-Co9S8 catalyst is self-supported, which contains only an inner carbon layer within its mesoporous structure. Due to the 3D interconnected architecture and large surface area, the air electrode delivers excellent cell performance and cycling durability. However, the partial structure crush of N-Co9S8 after long-time OER testing was observed, demonstrating that the highly oxidative operating condition of rechargeable zinc-air batteries could cause significant structural integrity issues of porous chalcogenide electrocatalysts. Thus, in the last study, a new strategy focusing on the oxidation-resistive catalyst support design using oxygen vacancy (OV)-rich, low-bandgap semiconductor was proposed. The OVs promote the electrical conductivity of the semiconductor support, and at the same time offer a strong metal-support interaction (SMSI). The SMSI enables the catalysts with small metal size, high catalytic activity, and high stability. This strategy is demonstrated by successfully synthesizing ultrafine Co metal decorated 3DOM titanium oxynitride (3DOM-Co@TiOxNy). The catalyst not only exhibits good ORR-OER activities, but also shows excellent cycling stability in alkaline conditions, e.g. less than 1% energy efficiency loss over 900 charge-discharge cycles at 20 mA cm-2. Theoretical calculation confirmed that the high stability of this catalyst is attributed to the strong SMSI between Co and 3DOM-TiOxNy. This study will provide an alternative strategy for the design of efficient and durable non-precious electrocatalysts using OV-rich semiconductors as support materials. In summary, a series of catalyst design strategies for efficient and durable bi-functional ORR-OER catalyst were developed in this work. It was found that NH3 treatment is an effective surface-engineering approach to develop highly active ORR-OER catalysts. The in-situ transformation or oxidation of Co9S8 into Co3O4 observed in post-OER analysis advanced our understanding of the chemical, structural transformation and real catalytic phase for OER “catalyst”. Moreover, the results show that the 3DOM design of self-supported Co9S8 catalyst could also benefits the catalytic performance by facilitating the mass and electronic transportation within the 3DOM framework. Finally, based on our up-to-date understanding of the OV in semiconductor physics and heterogeneous catalysis, a novel bi-functional catalyst support design strategy was proposed and demonstrated using OV-rich TiOxNy semiconductor. Excellent cycling stability and activity performance of such semiconductor supported cobalt catalyst in rechargeable zinc-air batteries is achieved

The roles of environmental variation and spatial distance in explaining diversity and biogeography of soil denitrifying communities in remote Tibetan wetlands

The relative importance of local environments and dispersal limitation in shaping denitrifier community structure remains elusive. Here, we collected soils from 36 riverine, lacustrine and palustrine wetland sites on the remote Tibetan Plateau and characterized the soil denitrifier communities using high-throughput amplicon sequencing of the nirS and nirK genes. Results showed that the richness of nirS-type denitrifiers in riverine wetlands was significantly higher than that in lacustrine wetlands but not significantly different from that in palustrine wetlands. There was no clear distinction in nir community composition among the three kinds of wetlands. Irrespective of wetland type, the soil denitrification rate was positively related to the abundance, but not the α-diversity, of denitrifying communities. Soil moisture, carbon availability and soil temperature were the main determinants of diversity [operational taxonomic unit (OTU) number] and abundance of thenirS-type denitrifier community, while water total organic carbon, soil NO3- and soil moisture were important in controlling nirK-type denitrifier diversity and abundance. The nirS community composition was influenced by water electrical conductivity, soil temperature and water depth, while the nirK community composition was affected by soil electrical conductivity. Spatial distance explained more variation in the nirS community composition than in the nirK community composition. Our findings highlight the importance of both environmental filtering and spatial distance in explaining diversity and biogeography of soil nir communities in remote and relatively undisturbed wetlands.</p

A new Schiff base nickel(II) complex: {5,5′-dihydr­oxy-2,2′-[o-phenyl­enebis(nitrilo­methyl­idyne)]diphenolato}nickel(II) methanol disolvate

The monomeric title nickel(II) complex of a salicylaldimine, [Ni(C20H14N2O4)]·2CH3OH, was obtained by the reaction of 2,4-dihydroxy­benzaldehyde and 1,2-phenyl­enediamine with nickel(II) acetate. The NiII atom is coordinated by two N atoms [Ni—N = 1.839 (2) Å] and two O atoms [Ni—O = 1.8253 (19) Å] in an approximately square-planar geometry. In the crystal structure, inter­molecular O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds link the mol­ecules into a chain along [001]

Bis{μ-1-[(2-oxidophen­yl)imino­meth­yl]-2-naphtholato}bis­[pyridine­copper(II)]

The dinuclear title complex, [Cu2(C17H11NO2)2(C5H5N)2], consists of centrosymmetric dimers in which the CuII atom displays an elongated square-pyramidal coordination geometry. The conformation of the dimer is stabilized by inter­molecular C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds and by π–π aromatic stacking inter­actions involving the pyridine and benzene rings with centroid–centroid separations of 3.624 (3) Å

Tadalafil-loaded PLGA microspheres for pulmonary administration: preparation and evaluation

Tadalafil, a long-acting PED-5 inhibitor, is commonly used for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). However, its efficacy and clinical application are severely limited by the poor water solubility, low bioavailability and a series adverse effects (e.g. headaches, indigestion). In this study, tadalafil was prepared and loaded into biodegradable PLGA (poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid)) microspheres (TDF-PLGA-MS) via emulsification-solvent evaporation. The resulting microspheres were processed into pulmonary inhalant by freeze drying. The TDF-PLGA-MS was spherical and uniform, with an average particle diameter ~10.29 μm. The encapsulation efficiency and drug loading yield of TDF‑PLGA‑MS were 81.68% and 8.52%, respectively. The investigation of micromeritics showed that the TDF‑PLGA‑MS had low moisture content. The fluidity of powders was relatively good. The aerodynamic diameter and emptying rate of microspheres powders were 3.92 μm and 95.41%, respectively. Therefore, the microspheres powders were easy to be atomized, and can meet the requirements of pulmonary administration. In vitro release results showed that the microspheres group released slowly. The cumulative release in 24 h and 10 d was 46.87% and 84.06%, respectively. The in vitro release profile of TDF‑PLGA‑MS was in accordance with the Weibull model. The results of Pharmacokinetics showed that tadalafil from microspheres slowly released into the blood after intratracheal instillation. The pulmonary drug residue in 0.5 h was 3.5 times compared with solution group. The residual concentration in lung after 10d was still higher than that of solution group in 48 h. The t1/2β and MRT0-∞ were 3.10 times and 3.96 times that of solution group, respectively. Moreover, the Cmax and AUC of drug residues in lung were 3.48 times and 16.36 times that of solution group, respectively. The results of tissue distribution showed that the Re in lung was 16.358, which indicated the lung targeting. In conclusion, the TDF-PLGA-MS for pulmonary administration in this study can significantly improve the pulmonary targeting, increase efficacy of tadalafil and reduce other non-target organs toxicity. This study will have an important clinical significance for PAH patients who need long-term drug therapy