Phosphorene as Cathode Material for High‐Voltage,Anti‐Self‐Discharge Zinc Ion Hybrid Capacitors

Output voltage and self‐discharge rate are two important performance indices for supercapacitors, which have long been overlooked, though these play a very significant role in their practical application. Here, a zinc anode is used to construct a zinc ion hybrid capacitor. Expanded operating voltage of the hybrid capacitor is obtained with novel electrolytes. In addition, significantly improved anti‐self‐discharge ability is achieved. The phosphorene‐based zinc ion capacitor exploiting a “water in salt” electrolyte with a working potential can reach 2.2 V, delivering 214.3 F g^?1 after 5000 cycles. The operating voltage is further extended to 2.5 V through the use of an organic solvent as the electrolyte; the solvent is prepared by adding 0.2 m ZnCl₂ into the tetraethylammonium tetrafluoroborate in propylene carbonate (Et₄NBF₄/PC) solvent, and it exhibits 105.9 F g^?1 even after 9500 cycles. More importantly, the phosphorene‐based capacitors possess excellent anti‐self‐discharge performance. The capacitors retain 76.16% of capacitance after resting for 300 h. The practical application of the zinc ion capacitor is demonstrated through a flexible paper‐based printed microcapacitor. It is believed that the developed zinc ion capacitor can effectively resolve the severe self‐discharge problem of supercapacitors. Moreover, high‐voltage zinc ion capacitors provide more opportunities for the application of supercapacitors.     

In Situ Electrochemical Synthesis of MXenes without Acid/Alkali Usage in/for an Aqueous Zinc Ion Battery

The traditional method to fabricate a MXene based energy storage device starts from etching MAX phase particles with dangerous acid/alkali etchants to MXenes, followed by device assembly. This is a multistep protocol and is not environmentally friendly. Herein, an all‐in‐one protocol is proposed to integrate synthesis and battery fabrication of MXene. By choosing a special F‐rich electrolyte, MAX V₂AlC is directly exfoliated inside a battery and the obtained V₂CT_X MXene is in situ used to achieve an excellent battery performance. This is a one‐step process with all reactions inside the cell, avoiding any contamination to external environments. Through the lifetime, the device experiences three stages of exfoliation, electrode oxidation, and redox of V₂O₅. While the electrode is changing, the device can always be used as a battery and the performance is continuously enhanced. The resulting aqueous zinc ion battery achieves outstanding cycling stability (4000 cycles) and rate performance (97.5 mAh g^?1 at 64 A g^?1), distinct from all reported aqueous MXene‐based counterparts with pseudo‐capacitive properties, and outperforming most vanadium‐based zinc ion batteries with high capacity. This work sheds light on the green synthesis of MXenes, provides an all‐in‐one protocol for MXene devices, and extends MXenes’ application in the aqueous energy storage field.     

不同病理分期肺腺癌患者血清代谢组学研究

肺癌是当今世界最常见的恶性肿瘤之一,其新发率和死亡率多年来都居于各类癌症之首,其中85%的肺癌都是非小细胞癌,而腺癌又是最常见的非小细胞癌。肺癌的高隐匿性是造成其高死亡率的最主要原因,因此为肺癌的早期诊断和病理分期寻求高效可靠的方法是十分必要的。代谢组学揭示了小分子代谢物的一系列变化,反映了生命活动的最终状态,因此也能直接反映疾病不同发展阶段的病理生理变化。本研究利用核磁共振氢谱(1H-NMR),对在我院就诊的27例不同病理分期的肺腺癌患者和13例健康志愿者进行了血清代谢物分析,运用正交偏最小二乘判别分析(OPLS-DA)对1H-NMR数据进行建模,单变量统计分析对模型进行评价。结果表明肺腺癌患者组的血清中有14种代谢物出现明显差异,其中丙酮酸、丙氨酸、NAC1、乳酸、GPC和甘氨酸比起对照组来有显著上升,而葡萄糖、谷氨酰胺、亮氨酸、异亮氨酸、缬氨酸、丙酮、乙酰乙酸和苏氨酸则显著下降。而在不同分期肺腺癌患者间进行比较后发现,异亮氨酸、乙酰乙酸、NAC1和乳酸的变化与肺腺癌的发展有相关性,可能是肺腺癌早期诊断和分期的潜在生物标志物。     

Platelet‐rich plasma inhibits osteoblast apoptosis and actin cytoskeleton disruption induced by gingipains through upregulating integrin β1

The aim of this study was to explore the effects of platelet‐rich plasma on gingipain‐caused changes in cell morphology and apoptosis of osteoblasts. Mouse osteoblasts MC3T3‐E1 cells were treated with gingipain extracts from Porphyromonas gingivalis in the presence or absence of platelet‐rich plasma. Apoptosis was detected with terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase‐mediated dUTP nick‐end labeling staining. F‐actin was determined by phalloidin‐fluorescent staining and observed under confocal microscopy. Western blot analysis was used to detect integrin β1, F‐actin, and G‐actin protein expressions. A knocking down approach was used to determine the role of integrin β1. The platelet‐rich plasma protected osteoblasts from gingipain‐induced apoptosis in a dose‐dependent manner, accompanied by upregulation of integrin β1. Platelet‐rich plasma reversed the loss of F‐actin integrity and decrease of F‐actin/G‐actin ratio in osteoblasts in the presence of gingipains. By contrast, the effects of platelet‐rich plasma were abrogated by knockdown of integrin β1. The platelet‐rich plasma failed to reduce cell apoptosis and reorganize the cytoskeleton after knockdown of integrin β1. In conclusion, platelet‐rich plasma inhibits gingipain‐induced osteoblast apoptosis and actin cytoskeleton disruption by upregulating integrin β1 expression.     

Substrate binding to Src: A new perspective on tyrosine kinase substrate recognition from NMR and molecular dynamics

Most signal transduction pathways in humans are regulated by protein kinases through phosphorylation of their protein substrates. Typical eukaryotic protein kinases are of two major types: those that phosphorylate‐specific sequences containing tyrosine (~90 kinases) and those that phosphorylate either serine or threonine (~395 kinases). The highly conserved catalytic domain of protein kinases comprises a smaller N lobe and a larger C lobe separated by a cleft region lined by the activation loop. Prior studies find that protein tyrosine kinases recognize peptide substrates by binding the polypeptide chain along the C‐lobe on one side of the activation loop, while serine/threonine kinases bind their substrates in the cleft and on the side of the activation loop opposite to that of the tyrosine kinases. Substrate binding structural studies have been limited to four families of the tyrosine kinase group, and did not include Src tyrosine kinases. We examined peptide‐substrate binding to Src using paramagnetic‐relaxation‐enhancement NMR combined with molecular dynamics simulations. The results suggest Src tyrosine kinase can bind substrate positioning residues C‐terminal to the phosphoacceptor residue in an orientation similar to serine/threonine kinases, and unlike other tyrosine kinases. Mutagenesis corroborates this new perspective on tyrosine kinase substrate recognition. Rather than an evolutionary split between tyrosine and serine/threonine kinases, a change in substrate recognition may have occurred within the TK group of the human kinome. Protein tyrosine kinases have long been therapeutic targets, but many marketed drugs have deleterious off‐target effects. More accurate knowledge of substrate interactions of tyrosine kinases has the potential for improving drug selectivity.     

Physiological and molecular advances in magnesium nutrition of plants

Plant and Soil - Phytoremediation of soil contaminated by trace elements is a technology using plants and microorganisms to sequester, inactivate, or extract contaminants from the soil. The...