Stable Li Metal Anode Enabled by Space Confinement and Uniform Curvature through Lithiophilic Nanotube Arrays

The application of lithium (Li) metal anodes in rechargeable batteries is primarily restricted by Li dendrite growth on the metal's surface, which leads to shortened cycle life and safety concerns. Herein, well‐spaced nanotubes with ultrauniform surface curvature are introduced as a Li metal anode structure. The ultrauniform nanotubular surface generates uniform local electric fields that evenly attract Li‐ions to the surface, thereby inducing even current density distribution. Moreover, the well‐defined nanotube spacing offers Li diffusion pathways to the electroactive areas as well as the confined spaces to host deposited Li. These structural attributes create a unique electrodeposition manner; i.e., Li metal homogenously deposits on the nanotubular wall, causing each Li nanotube to grow in circumference without obvious sign of dendritic formation. Thus, the full‐cell battery with the spaced Li nanotubes exhibits a high specific capacity of 132 mA h g^?1 at 1 C and an excellent coulombic efficiency of ≈99.85% over 400 cycles.     

Synthesis of 2H-benzo[b][1,4]oxazin-3(4H)-one derivatives as platelet aggregation inhibitors

Novel 2H-benzo[b][1,4]oxazin-3(4H)-ones have been synthesized by condensation, reduction, O-alkylation and Smiles rearrangement using 3-bromo-4-hydroxy benzaldehyde, anilines, and chloroacetyl chloride as starting materials. All the synthesized compounds have been characterized by (1)H NMR, (13)C NMR, and HRMS, and tested for the inhibitory ability on platelet aggregation. The results have shown that the ADP (adenosine 5'-diphosphate)-induced platelet aggregation was inhibited by 7a-g with the IC(50) value at 10.14-18.83 μmol/L. Compound 7a exhibited the most potent inhibitory effect (IC(50)=10.14 μmol/L) among all the compounds, but less potent than the control drug ticlopidine (3.18 μmol/L) and aspirin (6.07 μmol/L). The preliminary structure-activity relationship (SAR) was initially investigated in the study.     

A review on the hybrids of hydroxycinnamic acid as multi-target-directed ligands against Alzheimer’s disease

Alzheimer’s disease (AD), a complex chronic progressive central nervous system degenerative disease and a public health problem of the world, often characters cognitive dysfunction accompaning aggression and depression, and may lead to death. More attentions should be paid on it because there is no modified strategy against AD till now. AD is featured with the loss of cholinergic neurons, the amyloid-beta peptide (Aβ) plaques and the neurofibrillary tangles and several hypotheses were established to explain the pathogenesis of AD. Hydroxycinnamic acids, including caffeic acid (CA) and ferulic acid (FA) are widely distributed in natural plants and fruits. CA and FA exert various pharmacological activities, including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, neuroprotection, anti-amyloid aggregation and so on. All these pharmacological activities are associated with the treatment of AD. Here we summarized the pharmacological activities of CA and FA, and their hybrids as multi-target-directed ligands (MTDLs) against AD. The future application of CA and FA was also discussed, hoping to provide beneficial information for the development of CA- and FA-based MTDLs against AD.     

Insights into the fluoride-resistant regulation mechanism of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans</Emphasis> ATCC 23270 based on whole genome microarrays

Acidophilic microorganisms involved in uranium bioleaching are usually suppressed by dissolved fluoride ions, eventually leading to reduced leaching efficiency. However, little is known about the regulation mechanisms of microbial resistance to fluoride. In this study, the resistance of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans ATCC 23270 to fluoride was investigated by detecting bacterial growth fluctuations and ferrous or sulfur oxidation. To explore the regulation mechanism, a whole genome microarray was used to profile the genome-wide expression. The fluoride tolerance of A. ferrooxidans cultured in the presence of FeSO₄ was better than that cultured with the S⁰ substrate. The differentially expressed gene categories closely related to fluoride tolerance included those involved in energy metabolism, cellular processes, protein synthesis, transport, the cell envelope, and binding proteins. This study highlights that the cellular ferrous oxidation ability was enhanced at the lower fluoride concentrations. An overview of the cellular regulation mechanisms of extremophiles to fluoride resistance is discussed.     

Identification of Up-Regulated Genes After Complete Spinal Cord Transection in Adult Rats

Spinal cord injury (SCI) initiates a cascade of events and these responses to injury are likely to be mediated and reflected by changes in mRNA concentrations. As a step towards understanding the complex mechanisms underlying repair and regeneration after SCI, the gene expression pattern was examined 4.5 days after complete transection at T8-9 level of rat spinal cord. Improved subtractive hybridization was used to establish a subtracted cDNA library using cDNAs from normal rat spinal cord as driver and cDNAs from injured spinal cord as tester. By expressed sequence tag (EST) sequencing, we obtained 73 EST fragments from this library, representing 40 differentially expressed genes. Among them, 32 were known genes and 8 were novel genes. Functions of all annotated genes were scattered in almost every important field of cell life such as DNA repair, detoxification, mRNA quality control, cell cycle control, and signaling, which reflected the complexity of SCI and regeneration. Then we verified subtraction results with semiquantitative RT-PCR for eight genes. These analyses confirmed, to a large extent, that the subtraction results accurately reflected the molecular changes occurring at 4.5 days post-SCI. The current study identified a number of genes that may shed new light on SCI-related inflammation, neuroprotection, neurite-outgrowth, synaptogenesis, and astrogliosis. In conclusion, the identification of molecular changes using improved subtractive hybridization may lead to a better understanding of molecular mechanisms responsible for repair and regeneration after SCI.     

Identification of Novel Cryptosporidium Genotypes from the Czech Republic

Isolates of Cryptosporidium from the Czech Republic were characterized from a variety of different hosts using sequence and phylogenetic analysis of the 18S ribosomal DNA and the heat-shock (HSP-70) gene. Analysis expanded the host range of accepted species and identified several novel genotypes, including horse, Eurasian woodcock, rabbit, and cervid genotypes.     

陕南茶树栽培区域生态与地方品种分布

陕南秦巴山区是亚热带北缘地区。由于生态环境复杂,地区差异性大,茶树栽培与引种受到一定限制。大致以汉江谷地粮作区为界,南部大巴山北麓低山丘陵区为适栽区;北部秦岭南麓低山丘陵区则为次适栽区。地方茶树群体品种有7个,约由28个地方品种组成,呈斑、块状分布。     

Dilated cardiomyopathy caused by tissue-specific ablation of SC35 in the heart

Many genetic diseases are caused by mutations in cis-acting splicing signals, but few are triggered by defective trans-acting splicing factors. Here we report that tissue-specific ablation of the splicing factor SC35 in the heart causes dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). Although SC35 was deleted early in cardiogenesis by using the MLC-2v-Cre transgenic mouse, heart development appeared largely unaffected, with the DCM phenotype developing 3-5 weeks after birth and the mutant animals having a normal life span. This nonlethal phenotype allowed the identification of downregulated genes by microarray, one of which was the cardiac-specific ryanodine receptor 2. We showed that downregulation of this critical Ca2+ release channel preceded disease symptoms and that the mutant cardiomyocytes exhibited frequency-dependent excitation-contraction coupling defects. The implication of SC35 in heart disease agrees with a recently documented link of SC35 expression to heart failure and interference of splicing regulation during infection by myocarditis-causing viruses. These studies raise a new paradigm for the etiology of certain human heart diseases of genetic or environmental origin that may be triggered by dysfunction in RNA processing.