Popcorn Inspired Porous Macrocellular Carbon: Rapid Puffing Fabrication from Rice and Its Applications in Lithium–Sulfur Batteries

The advancement of electrochemical energy storage is closely bound up with the breakthrough of controllable fabrication of energy materials. Inspired by a popcorn fabrication from corn raw, herein a unique porous macrocellular carbon composed of cross‐linked nano/microsheets by a powerful puffing of rice precursor is described. The rice is directly puffed with a volume enlargement of ≈20 times when it is instantaneously released from a sealed environment with a high pressure of 1.0 MPa at 200 °C. Interestingly, when metal (e.g., Ni) nanoparticles are embedded in the puffed rice derived carbon (PRC), high‐quality PRC/metal composites are achieved with attractive properties of a high electrical conductivity of ≈7.2 × 10⁴ S m^?1, a large porosity of 85.1%, and a surface area of 1492.2 m² g^?1. The PRC/Ni are employed as a host in lithium–sulfur batteries. The designed PRC/Ni/S electrode exhibits a high reversible capacity of 1257.2 mA h g^?1 at 0.2 C, a prolonged cycle life (821 mA h g^?1 after 500 cycles), and enhanced rate capability, much better than other counterparts (PRC/S and rGO/S). The excellent properties are attributed to the advantages of PRC/Ni network with a high electrical conductivity, strong adsorption/blocking ability for polysulfides, and interconnected porous framework.     

急性低氧对鲫鱼视网膜视杆和视锥信号的不同影响

在保持完整血液循环的鲫鱼眼杯标本上,应用Ａｇ－ＡｇＣｌ电极记录视网膜电图（ＥＲＧ）,研究了急性低氧下不同适应状态ＥＲＧ反应变化的情况,以期分析视锥与视杆通路对急性低氧的敏感性是否不同。结果表明：１．急性低氧对明视ＥＲＧ－ｂ波的影响要远远快于对暗视ｂ波的影响,这说明视锥信号通路比视杆信号通路对缺氧敏感;２．在间视状态下,ＥＲＧ的ｂ波在低氧开始反几分钟内有一个明显的增大过程,而在明视或暗视中皆未观察到     

Identification and Characterization of Pseudocercospora Species Causing Grapevine Leaf Spot in China

Pseudocercospora is an important plant pathogenic genus causing leaf spots on grapevine leaves and other hosts worldwide. A survey of vineyards in four provinces of China was carried out to identify the causal agent of Pseudocercospora leaf spot. A phylogenetic analysis based on a combination of LSU, ITS and ACT loci, coupled with morphology, showed that Pseudocercospora vitis is the sole causal agent of this leaf spot disease. This study represents the first attempt to identify and characterize the cercosporoid species causing Pseudocercospora leaf spot in China using morphological and molecular approaches.     

ABodyBuilder: Automated antibody structure prediction with data–driven accuracy estimation

Computational modeling of antibody structures plays a critical role in therapeutic antibody design. Several antibody modeling pipelines exist, but no freely available methods currently model nanobodies, provide estimates of expected model accuracy, or highlight potential issues with the antibody's experimental development. Here, we describe our automated antibody modeling pipeline, ABodyBuilder, designed to overcome these issues. The algorithm itself follows the standard 4 steps of template selection, orientation prediction, complementarity-determining region (CDR) loop modeling, and side chain prediction. ABodyBuilder then annotates the ‘confidence’ of the model as a probability that a component of the antibody (e.g., CDRL3 loop) will be modeled within a root–mean square deviation threshold. It also flags structural motifs on the model that are known to cause issues during in vitro development. ABodyBuilder was tested on 4 separate datasets, including the 11 antibodies from the Antibody Modeling Assessment–II competition. ABodyBuilder builds models that are of similar quality to other methodologies, with sub–Angstrom predictions for the ‘canonical’ CDR loops. Its ability to model nanobodies, and rapidly generate models (～30 seconds per model) widens its potential usage. ABodyBuilder can also help users in decision–making for the development of novel antibodies because it provides model confidence and potential sequence liabilities. ABodyBuilder is freely available at http://opig.stats.ox.ac.uk/webapps/abodybuilder.     

Glutaminase in neurons and astrocytes cultured from mouse brain: Kinetic properties and effects of phosphate,glutamate, and ammonia

Phosphate activated glutaminase comprises two kinetically distinguishable enzyme forms in cultures of cerebellar granule cells, of cortical neurons and of astrocytes. Specific activity of glutaminase is higher in cultured neurons compared with astrocytes. Glutaminase is activated by phosphate in all cell types investigated, however, glutaminase in astrocytes reguires a much higher concentration of phosphate for half maximal activation. One of the products, glutamate, inhibits the enzyme strongly, whereas the other product ammonia has only a slight inhibitory action on the enzyme.     

Kinetics of a Novel Isoform of Phosphate Activated Glutaminase (PAG) in SH-SY5Y Neuroblastoma Cells

We have recently found that the neuroblastoma cell line SH-SY5Y expresses a novel form of phosphate activated glutaminase (PAG) which deamidates glutamine to glutamate and ammonia at high rates. Glutamate production is enhanced during the exponential phase of growth, and decreases when cell proliferation stops. Neuroblastoma PAG exists in a soluble and membrane associated form, and both the phosphate and the glutamine kinetics, as well as the effects of ammonia and glutamate are different from those of the known forms of PAG. Neuroblastoma PAG is mitochondrial, and our immunoblotting analyses of isolated mitochondria shows that our C-terminal antibody reacts with a protein of 65 kDa, while our N-terminal antibody primarily labels a protein of 58 kDa and to a minor degree one of 65 kDa. This strongly suggests that neuroblastoma cells mainly contain an active isoform of PAG lacking the C-terminal end, probably the GAC form.     

LC-MS/MS测定单抗药动学参数的样品前处理方法研究进展

随着生物技术药物研发的大力开展,单抗类药物的药动学评价越来越受到重视。对近年来应用LC-MS/MS检测单抗类药物药动 学特征的文献进行归纳,总结其样品前处理的不同方法及各自优缺点和适用范围,为单抗类药物LC-MS/MS检测方法的进一步研究提供 参考。     

Isoflavones inhibit the clonogenicity of human colon cancer cells

Isoflavones are a class of polyphenols that contain various substituents such as hydroxy, methoxy, and glycosyl groups. Methoxy groups are known to increase cell permeability and stability, but small structural changes can result in large differences in biological activity. In this study, the anticancer activities of several methoxy isoflavones were tested using a clonogenic survival assay. The relationship between structural properties of methoxy isoflavones and their anticancer activities on HCT116 colon cancer cell lines were studied quantitatively using comparative molecular field analysis and comparative molecular similarity indices analysis. The purpose of this study was to identify structural changes in isoflavones that increase the inhibitory effect on HCT116 colon cancer cell clonogenicity.     

Photothermal effects of folate-conjugated Au nanorods on HepG2 cells

Photothermal cancer therapy, as a prospective approach for local cancer treatment, is attracting increasing interests. In this paper, gold nanorods were conjugated with folate (folate/AuNRs), and their photothermal effects on hepatocellular carcinoma cell line (HepG2) using MTT assay, flow cytometry, as well as on the cellular morphology, cytoskeleton, cell surface adhesion, and stiffness detected at subcellular level by an atomic force microscope (AFM) were investigated. The results indicated that near-infrared laser-induced hyperthermia of folate/AuNRs could break the cell membrane integrity and homeostasis and then lead to the depolymerization of cytoskeleton and influx of intracellular Ca(2+). Thus, folate/AuNRs can be as effective and promising nanomaterials for photothermal therapy of folate receptor bearing tumor.