Facile and controllable synthesis of nitrogen self-doped chitosan-derived carbon for high-performance Li-ion batteries

Xia Wentao,Cheng Miao,Hu Jing,Liu Qianqian,Wei Tao,Wang Ruirui,Li Wanfei,Liu Bo 한국탄소학회 2024 Carbon Letters Vol.34 No.1

N-doping content and configurations have a significant effect on the electrochemical performance of carbon anodes. Herein, we proposed a simple method to synthesize highly N self-doped chitosan-derived carbon with controllable N-doping types by introducing 2ZnCO3·3Zn(OH)2 into the precursor. The as-synthesized NC-CS/2ZnCO3·3Zn(OH)2 electrode exhibited more than twice the reversible capacity (518 mAh g−1 after 100 cycles at 200 mA g−1) compared to the NC-CS electrode, superior rate performance and outstanding cycling stability. The remarkable improvement should be mainly attributed to the increase of N-doping content (particularly the pyrrolic-N content), which provided more active sites and favored Li+ diffusion kinetics. This study develops a cost-effective and facile synthesis route to fabricate high-performance N self-doped carbon with tunable doping sites for rechargeable battery applications.

Systemic Family Therapy of Comorbidity of Anxiety and Depression with Epilepsy in Adolescents

Jing Li1,Xuefeng Wang,Huaqing Meng,Kebin Zeng,Fengying Quan,Fang Liu 대한신경정신의학회 2016 PSYCHIATRY INVESTIGATION Vol.13 No.3

ObjectiveaaThe aim of this study was to find if systemic family therapy (SFT) does work in anxiety and depression with epilepsy in adolescents (ADAE). Methodsaa104 adolescents with epilepsy, aged 13–20 years old, were included from December 2009 to December 2010, the enrolled patients were with anxiety [Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA) score ≥14 points] or depression [Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD) score ≥20 points]. The patients were randomly divided into the control group (n=52) treated with antiepileptic drugs (AED) and the intervention group (n=52) undergone Systemic Family Therapy (SFT) as well as AED. The AED improvements, anxiety and depression scores, Social Support Rating Scale (SSRS), Family Assessment Device (FAD) and scale of systemic family dynamics (SSFD) were observed after 3-month treatment. ResultsaaThe frequencies of epileptic seizures in intervention group was decreased much more significantly than the control group (4.22±3.54 times/month vs. 6.20±5.86 times/month, p=0.04); and the scores of anxiety (9.52±6.28 points vs. 13.48±8.47 points, p=0.01) and depression (13.86±9.17 points vs. 18.89±8.73 points, p=0.02) were significantly decreased than the control group; meanwhile, the family dynamics and family functions were significantly improved, and the social support was also increased (p<0.05). ConclusionaaSFT combined with AEDs had better efficacies than AEDs alone, not only the frequency of epileptic seizures was decreased, but also the patients’ anxiety and depression were improved, and the family dynamics, family functions and social support were improved.

Catalytic effects of calcium and potassium on a curved char surface in fuel reburning: A first-principles study on the adsorption of nitric oxide on single-wall carbon nanotubes with metal decoration

Liu, Lei,Jin, Jing,Hou, Fengxiao,Li, Shengjuan,Lee, Chang-Ha Pergamon Press 2017 Energy Vol.125 No.-

<P><B>Abstract</B></P> <P>To investigate the role of a curved char surface in the nitric oxide (NO)-char reaction, single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) were proposed as a model for simulating the curved char surface in first-principles calculations. The effect of calcium and potassium decoration on the adsorption of NO was compared for SWCNTs and graphene, the latter of which represented a flat char surface. The contribution of a curved surface to the NO-char reaction was insignificant in the absence of metals, as the binding energy of NO on pure SWCNTs was only 13% of that on pure graphene. In contrast, when calcium or potassium was present, NO adsorption on the curved surface became significant as the binding energies of NO on calcium- or potassium-decorated SWCNTs increased to 72% and 18% of those on the corresponding decorated graphene surfaces, respectively. The catalytic effect of calcium and potassium was attributed to electron transfer and backdonation between the 4s- and 3d-orbitals of the metal atoms and the NO molecule. Thus, the studies into NO adsorption on flat and curved char surfaces render it possible to determine the degree of catalytic effect of these two metals on the char surface during fuel reburning.</P> <P><B>Highlights</B></P> <P> <UL> <LI> SWCNTs were proposed to simulate the curved char surface in the fuel reburning. </LI> <LI> The catalytic effects of Ca and K were studied by Ca- or K-decorated SWCNTs. </LI> <LI> Without Ca or K, the binding energy of NO on curved char surface was trivial. </LI> <LI> When Ca or K was present, NO adsorption on the curved surface became significant. </LI> <LI> Electrons of Ca and K in 4s- and 3d-orbitals transferred to the NO molecule. </LI> </UL> </P> <P><B>Graphical abstract</B></P> <P>[DISPLAY OMISSION]</P>

Pharmacological blockade of cholesterol trafficking by cepharanthine in endothelial cells suppresses angiogenesis and tumor growth

Lyu, Junfang,Yang, Eun Ju,Head, Sarah A.,Ai, Nana,Zhang, Baoyuan,Wu, Changjie,Li, Ruo-Jing,Liu, Yifan,Yang, Chen,Dang, Yongjun,Kwon, Ho Jeong,Ge, Wei,Liu, Jun O.,Shim, Joong Sup Elsevier 2017 Cancer letters Vol.409 No.-

<P><B>Abstract</B></P> <P>Cholesterol is an important modulator of membrane protein function and signaling in endothelial cells, thus making it an emerging target for anti-angiogenic agents. In this study, we employed a phenotypic screen that detects intracellular cholesterol distribution in endothelial cells (HUVEC) and identified 13 existing drugs as cholesterol trafficking inhibitors. Cepharanthine, an approved drug for anti-inflammatory and cancer management use, was amongst the candidates, which was selected for in-depth mechanistic studies to link cholesterol trafficking and angiogenesis. Cepharanthine inhibited the endolysosomal trafficking of free-cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein in HUVEC by binding to Niemann-Pick disease, type C1 (NPC1) protein and increasing the lysosomal pH. The blockade of cholesterol trafficking led to a cholesterol-dependent dissociation of mTOR from the lysosomes and inhibition of its downstream signaling. Cepharanthine inhibited angiogenesis in HUVEC and in zebrafish in a cholesterol-dependent manner. Furthermore, cepharanthine suppressed tumor growth in vivo by inhibiting angiogenesis and it enhanced the antitumor activity of the standard chemotherapy cisplatin in lung and breast cancer xenografts in mice. Altogether, these results strongly support the idea that cholesterol trafficking is a viable drug target for anti-angiogenesis and that the inhibitors identified among existing drugs, such as cepharanthine, could be potential anti-angiogenic and antitumor agents.</P> <P><B>Highlights</B></P> <P> <UL> <LI> A phenotypic screen identified 13 existing drugs, including cepharanthine, as cholesterol trafficking inhibitors. </LI> <LI> Cepharanthine inhibited lysosomal cholesterol trafficking by binding to NPC1 protein and increasing the lysosomal pH. </LI> <LI> The blockade of cholesterol trafficking led to a cholesterol-dependent dissociation of mTOR from the lysosomes. </LI> <LI> Cepharanthine inhibited angiogenesis in HUVEC and in zebrafish in a cholesterol-dependent manner. </LI> <LI> Cepharanthine treatment enhanced the antitumor activity of cisplatin in lung and breast cancer xenografts in mice. </LI> </UL> </P>

Insulin Resistance Reduces Sensitivity to Cis-Platinum and Promotes Adhesion, Migration and Invasion in HepG2 Cells

Li, Lin-Jing,Li, Guang-Di,Wei, Hu-Lai,Chen, Jing,Liu, Yu-Mei,Li, Fei,Xie, Bei,Wang, Bei,Li, Cai-Li Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.7

The liver is normally the major site of glucose metabolism in intact organisms and the most important target organ for the action of insulin. It has been widely accepted that insulin resistance (IR) is closely associated with postoperative recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the relationship between IR and drug resistance in liver cancer cells is unclear. In the present study, IR was induced in HepG2 cells via incubation with a high concentration of insulin. Once the insulin-resistant cell line was established, the stability of HepG2/IR cells was further tested via incubation in insulin-free medium for another 72h. Afterwards, the biological effects of insulin resistance on adhesion, migration, invasion and sensitivity to cis-platinum (DDP) of cells were determined. The results indicated that glucose consumption was reduced in insulin-resistant cells. In addition, the expression of the insulin receptor and glucose transportor-2 was downregulated. Furthermore, HepG2/IR cells displayed markedly enhanced adhesion, migration, and invasion. Most importantly, these cells exhibited a lower sensitivity to DDP. By contrast, HepG2/IR cells exhibited decreased adhesion and invasion after treatment with the insulin sensitizer pioglitazone hydrochloride. The results suggest that IR is closely related to drug resistance as well as adhesion, migration, and invasion in HepG2 cells. These findings may help explain the clinical observation of limited efficacy for chemotherapy on a background of IR, which promotes the invasion and migration of cancer cells.

Ontogenetic Expression of Lpin2 and Lpin3 Genes and Their Associations with Traits in Two Breeds of Chinese Fat-tailed Sheep

Jiao, Xiao-Li,Jing, Jiong-Jie,Qiao, Li-Ying,Liu, Jian-Hua,Li, Liu-An,Zhang, Jing,Jia, Xia-Li,Liu, Wen-Zhong Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2016 Animal Bioscience Vol.29 No.3

Lipins play dual function in lipid metabolism by serving as phosphatidate phosphatase and transcriptional co-regulators of gene expression. Mammalian lipin proteins consist of lipin1, lipin2, and lipin3 and are encoded by their respective genes Lpin1, Lpin2, and Lpin3. To date, most studies are concerned with Lpin1, only a few have addressed Lpin2 and Lpin3. Ontogenetic expression of Lpin2 and Lpin3 and their associations with traits would help to explore their molecular and physiological functions in sheep. In this study, 48 animals with an equal number of males and females each for both breeds of fat-tailed sheep such as Guangling Large Tailed (GLT) and Small Tailed Han (STH) were chosen to evaluate the ontogenetic expression of Lpin2 and Lpin3 from eight different tissues and months of age by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Associations between gene expression and slaughter and tail traits were also analyzed. The results showed that Lpin2 mRNA was highly expressed in perirenal and tail fats, and was also substantially expressed in liver, kidney, reproductive organs (testis and ovary), with the lowest levels in small intestine and femoral biceps. Lpin3 mRNA was prominently expressed in liver and small intestine, and was also expressed at high levels in kidney, perirenal and tail fats as well as reproductive organs (testis and ovary), with the lowest level in femoral biceps. Global expression of Lpin2 and Lpin3 in GLT both were significantly higher than those in STH. Spatiotemporal expression showed that the highest levels of Lpin2 expression occurred at 10 months of age in two breeds of sheep, with the lowest expression at 2 months of age in STH and at 8 months of age in GLT. The greatest levels of Lpin3 expression occurred at 4 months of age in STH and at 10 months of age in GLT, with the lowest expression at 12 months of age in STH and at 8 months of age in GLT. Breed and age significantly influenced the tissue expression patterns of Lpin2 and Lpin3, respectively, and sex significantly influenced the spatiotemporal expression patterns of Lpin3. Meanwhile, Lpin2 and Lpin3 mRNA expression both showed significant correlations with slaughter and tail traits, and the associations appear to be related with the ontogenetic expression as well as the potential functions of lipin2 and lipin3 in sheep.

Geochemical and S isotopic studies of pollutant evolution in groundwater after acid in situ leaching in a uranium mine area in Xinjiang

Liu Zhenzhong,Tan Kaixuan,Li Chunguang,Li Yongmei,Zhang Chong,Song Jing,Liu Longcheng 한국원자력학회 2023 Nuclear Engineering and Technology Vol.55 No.4

Laboratory experiments and point monitoring of reservoir sediments have proven that stable sulfate reduction (SSR) can lower the concentrations of toxic metals and sulfate in acidic groundwater for a long time. Here, we hypothesize that SSR occurred during in situ leaching after uranium mining, which can impact the fate of acid groundwater in an entire region. To test this, we applied a sulfur isotope fractionation method to analyze the mechanism for natural attenuation of contaminated groundwater produced by acid in situ leaching of uranium (Xinjiang, China). The results showed that δ34S increased over time after the cessation of uranium mining, and natural attenuation caused considerable, area-scale immobilization of sulfur corresponding to retention levels of 5.3%–48.3% while simultaneously decreasing the concentration of uranium. Isotopic evidence for SSR in the area, together with evidence for changes of pollutant concentrations, suggest that area-scale SSR is most likely also important at other acid mining sites for uranium, where retention of acid groundwater may be strengthened through natural attenuation. To recapitulate, the sulfur isotope fractionation method constitutes a relatively accurate tool for quantification of spatiotemporal trends for groundwater during migration and transformation resulting from acid in situ leaching of uranium in northern China.

An Unified Identity Providing Model of Heterogeneous Resource

Jing Liu,Xuanyu Liu,Lianzhong Liu,Chunfang Li 보안공학연구지원센터 2014 International Journal of Database Theory and Appli Vol.7 No.4

β-elemene Induces Caspase-dependent Apoptosis in Human Glioma Cells in vitro through the Upregulation of Bax and Fas/FasL and Downregulation of Bcl-2

Li, Chen-Long,Chang, Liang,Guo, Lin,Zhao, Dan,Liu, Hui-Bin,Wang, Qiu-Shi,Zhang, Ping,Du, Wen-Zhong,Liu, Xing,Zhang, Hai-Tao,Liu, Yang,Zhang, Yao,Xie, Jing-Hong,Ming, Jian-Guang,Cui, Yu-Qiong,Sun, Ying Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.23

Background: ${\beta}$-elemene, extracted from herb medicine Curcuma wenyujin has potent anti-tumor effects in various cancer cell lines. However, the activity of ${\beta}$-elemene against glioma cells remains unclear. In the present study, we assessed effects of ${\beta}$-elemene on human glioma cells and explored the underlying mechanism. Materials and Methods: Human glioma U87 cells were used. Cell proliferation was determined with MTT assay and colony formation assay to detect the effect of ${\beta}$-elemene at different doses and times. Fluorescence microscopy was used to observe cell apoptosis with Hoechst 33258 staining and change of glioma apoptosis and cell cycling were analyzed by flow cytometry. Real-time quantitative PCR and Western-blotting assay were performed to investigated the influence of ${\beta}$-elemene on expression levels of Fas/FasL, caspase-3, Bcl-2 and Bax. The experiment was divided into two groups: the blank control group and ${\beta}$-elemne treatment group. Results: With increase in the concentration of ${\beta}$-elemene, cytotoxic effects were enhanced in the glioma cell line and the concentration of inhibited cell viability ($IC_{50}$) was $48.5{\mu}g/mL$ for 24h. ${\beta}$-elemene could induce cell cycle arrest in the G0/G1 phase. With Hoechst 33258 staining, apoptotic nuclear morphological changes were observed. Activation of caspase-3,-8 and -9 was increased and the pro-apoptotic factors Fas/FasL and Bax were upregulated, while the anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 was downregulated after treatment with ${\beta}$-elemene at both mRNA and protein levels. Furthermore, proliferation and colony formation by U87 cells were inhibited by ${\beta}$-elemene in a time and does-dependent manner. Conclusions: Our results indicate that ${\beta}$-elemene inhibits growth and induces apoptosis of human glioma cells in vitro. The induction of apoptosis appears to be related with the upregulation of Fas/FasL and Bax, activation of caspase-3,-8 and -9 and downregulation of Bcl-2, which then trigger major apoptotic cascades.

Event-triggering Formation Control for Second-order Multi-agent Systems With Sampled Position Data

Jing Liu,Zhen Li,Jia-Bao Liu,Jian-an Fang 제어·로봇·시스템학회 2024 International Journal of Control, Automation, and Vol.22 No.4

This paper addresses the problem of event-triggering formation control (ETFC) for second-order multiagent systems (MASs) with sampled position data. Firstly, two types of distributed control strategies based on the sampled position data are proposed to solve the observer-based formation control problems. These novel formation control strategies allow the event-triggering conditions to be intermittently examined at random sampling instants, where the data transmission is driven by an event-triggering control protocol. Under this framework, both timeinvariant and time-varying formation controls are considered. Then, based on the algebraic graph theory and matrix theory, some sufficient conditions are given to ensure that the second- order MASs achieve the specified formation shape. Finally, simulation results are provided to show the effectiveness of the theoretical analysis.