A High‐Performance Supercapacitor Based on KOH Activated 1D C70 Microstructures

Fullerenes are of tremendous interest from fundamental researches to applied perspectives in the past decades. However, their application in supercapacitors has been underdeveloped for a long time. Here, the KOH activation of C₇₀ microtubes is reported at high temperatures, which provides activated samples exhibiting excellent capacitive properties. The improved capacitive performance can be attributed to three aspects: the generation of macropores and micropores, the introduction of oxygen functionalities, and the formation of graphitic carbons from ellipsoidal fullerenes. The optimum activated state for supercapacitor application is achieved at 600 °C, at which the product exhibits the best electrochemical behavior with a gravimetric capacitance of 362.0 F g^?1 at 0.1 A g^?1 and excellent cycling stability with capacitance retention of 92.5% over 5000 cycles at 1 A g^?1.     

PK-15细胞微载体悬浮培养生产猪细小病毒的工艺研究

通过对猪细小病毒接毒时间TOI、MOI和收毒时间进行优化,开发了一种基于PK-15细胞静置培养的猪细小病毒生产工艺,最大病毒滴度达到107.5TCID50/ml。通过进一步优化接毒时间,成功建立了基于PK-15细胞反应器微载体悬浮培养的猪细小病毒培养工艺,在5L反应器上最大病毒滴度达到107.2TCID50/ml。首次发现乳酸对葡萄糖得率与病毒滴度的正相关性,当猪细小病毒滴度处于最大值时,乳酸对葡萄糖得率也达到最大值,可作为指针病毒滴度及收毒时间的重要参数。     

Structural Brain Changes after Traditional and Robot-Assisted Multi-Domain Cognitive Training in Community-Dwelling Healthy Elderly

The purpose of this study was to investigate if multi-domain cognitive training, especially robot-assisted training, alters cortical thickness in the brains of elderly participants. A controlled trial was conducted with 85 volunteers without cognitive impairment who were 60 years old or older. Participants were first randomized into two groups. One group consisted of 48 participants who would receive cognitive training and 37 who would not receive training. The cognitive training group was randomly divided into two groups, 24 who received traditional cognitive training and 24 who received robot-assisted cognitive training. The training for both groups consisted of daily 90-min-session, five days a week for a total of 12 weeks. The primary outcome was the changes in cortical thickness. When compared to the control group, both groups who underwent cognitive training demonstrated attenuation of age related cortical thinning in the frontotemporal association cortices. When the robot and the traditional interventions were directly compared, the robot group showed less cortical thinning in the anterior cingulate cortices. Our results suggest that cognitive training can mitigate age-associated structural brain changes in the elderly.

Trial Registration

ClnicalTrials.gov NCT01596205     

Microvesicles Derived from Human Umbilical Cord Mesenchymal Stem Cells Facilitate Tubular Epithelial Cell Dedifferentiation and Growth via Hepatocyte Growth Factor Induction

During acute kidney injury (AKI), tubular cell dedifferentiation initiates cell regeneration; hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) is involved in modulating cell dedifferentiation. Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)-derived microvesicles (MVs) deliver RNA into injured tubular cells and alter their gene expression, thus regenerating these cells. We boldly speculated that MVs might induce HGF synthesis via RNA transfer, thereby facilitating tubular cell dedifferentiation and regeneration. In a rat model of unilateral AKI, the administration of MVs promoted kidney recovery. One of the mechanisms of action is the acceleration of tubular cell dedifferentiation and growth. Both in vivo and in vitro, rat HGF expression in damaged rat tubular cells was greatly enhanced by MV treatment. In addition, human HGF mRNA present in MVs was delivered into rat tubular cells and translated into the HGF protein as another mechanism of HGF induction. RNase treatment abrogated all MV effects. In the in vitro experimental setting, the conditioned medium of MV-treated injured tubular cells, which contains a higher concentration of HGF, strongly stimulated cell dedifferentiation and growth, as well as Erk1/2 signaling activation. Intriguingly, these effects were completely abrogated by either c-Met inhibitor or MEK inhibitor, suggesting that HGF induction is a crucial contributor to the acceleration of cell dedifferentiation and growth. All these findings indicate that MV-induced HGF synthesis in damaged tubular cells via RNA transfer facilitates cell dedifferentiation and growth, which are important regenerative mechanisms.     

Current views on insect feed and its future

Population growth and the subsequent increased demand for food, along with the rise in cost of feed, have led insect feed to be considered as an alternative to conventional animal feed. Insect feed is a sustainable and nutritious option; however, it does carry the risk of lower microbiological safety than conventional feed. Although there is some hesitancy from farmers in adapting insect feed due to fear of market rejection of insect‐fed animals, surveys seem to show positive attitudes of people towards insect feed when they informed of the benefits. Traditional methods of harvesting insects is not a sustainable method of production, and therefore further research will be needed to access appropriate methods of mass‐producing insects without putting a strain on the natural ecosystem. This review discusses the benefits and risks of using insect feed, its acceptance, type of animals that can be fed by insects, and future directions of insect feed.     

Comparison of Unplanned Intensive Care Unit Readmission Scores: A Prospective Cohort Study

PurposeEarly discharge from the intensive care unit (ICU) may constitute a strategy of resource consumption optimization; however, unplanned readmission of hospitalized patients to an ICU is associated with a worse outcome. We aimed to compare the effectiveness of the Stability and Workload Index for Transfer score (SWIFT), Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score (SOFA) and simplified Therapeutic Intervention Scoring System (TISS-28) in predicting unplanned ICU readmission or unexpected death in the first 48 hours after discharge from the ICU.MethodsWe conducted a prospective cohort study in a single tertiary hospital in southern Brazil. All adult patients admitted to the ICU for more than 24 hours from January 2008 to December 2009 were evaluated. SWIFT, SOFA and TISS-28 scores were calculated on the day of discharge from the ICU. A stepwise logistic regression was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of these scores in predicting unplanned ICU readmission or unexpected death in the first 48 hours after discharge from the ICU. Moreover, we conducted a direct accuracy comparison among SWIFT, SOFA and TISS-28 scores.ResultsA total of 1,277 patients were discharged from the ICU during the study period. The rate of unplanned ICU readmission or unexpected death in the first 48 hours after discharge from the ICU was 15% (192 patients). In the multivariate analysis, age (P = 0.001), length of ICU stay (P = 0.01), cirrhosis (P = 0.03), SWIFT (P = 0.001), SOFA (P = 0.01) and TISS-28 (P<0.001) constituted predictors of unplanned ICU readmission or unexpected death. The SWIFT, SOFA and TISS-28 scores showed similar predictive accuracy (AUC values were 0.66, 0.65 and 0.74, respectively; P = 0.58).ConclusionsSWIFT, SOFA and TISS-28 on the day of discharge from the ICU have only moderate accuracy in predicting ICU readmission or death. The present study did not find any differences in accuracy among the three scores.