The associations of fatty acids related dietary patterns with overweight and obesity among Chinese children.

BACKGROUND: Childhood overweight and obesity is becoming an emerging face of malnutrition. The aims of this study were to develop fatty acid (FAs) related dietary patterns and explored the associations of FAs related dietary patterns with overweight and obesity among Chinese children. METHODS: An observational study was conducted on 435 children aged 4 to 7 years old in South Central China. Erythrocyte FAs composition was analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Diet was collected by food frequency questionnaires and dietary patterns were evaluated by reduced rank regression. The logistic regression analysis was used to exploring the association of dietary patterns with overweight and obesity. RESULTS: The prevalence of overweight, obesity, and overweight or obesity were 6.52, 4.59, and 11.11% in Chinese children, respectively. Twenty five types of FAs were detected in erythrocyte of children and four FAs related dietary patterns were identified. The dietary pattern positively correlated with n-3 PUFAs, but negatively with SFAs,was characterized by high intake of fish, shrimp, crab and shellfish, leaf-off vegetable, nuts, and tubers, which have a significantly decreased overweight risk (OR = 0.580, 95%CI: 0.375 ∼ 0.895, P = 0.014).The pattern positively strong associated with n-6 PUFAs, but negatively strong with n-3 PUFAs, had high intake of snacks, leaf-off vegetable, fresh beans, and coarse cereals, which have a significantly decreased obesity risk (OR = 0.518, 95%CI: 0.325 ∼ 0.827, P = 0.006). CONCLUSION: Four FAs related dietary patterns were identified. The dietary pattern with high intake of fish, shrimp, crab and shellfish decreased overweight risk by increasing n-3 PUFAs, and decreasing SFAs. The dietary pattern with high intake of plant food, decreased obesity risk by providing an balanced n-6/n-3 PUFAs ratio.

Noninvasive Assessment of hiPSC Differentiation toward Cardiomyocytes Using Pretrained Convolutional Neural Networks and the Channel Pruning Algorithm.

Human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) offer versatile applications in tissue engineering and drug screening. To facilitate the monitoring of hiPSC cardiac differentiation, a noninvasive approach using convolutional neural networks (CNNs) was explored. HiPSCs were differentiated into cardiomyocytes and analyzed using the quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The bright-field images of the cells at different time points were captured to create the dataset. Six pretrained models (AlexNet, GoogleNet, ResNet 18, ResNet 50, DenseNet 121, VGG 19-BN) were employed to identify different stages in differentiation. VGG 19-BN outperformed the other five CNNs and exhibited remarkable performance with 99.2% accuracy, recall, precision, and F1 score and 99.8% specificity. The pruning process was then applied to the optimal model, resulting in a significant reduction of model parameters while maintaining high accuracy. Finally, an automation application using the pruned VGG 19-BN model was developed, facilitating users in assessing the cell status during the myocardial differentiation of hiPSCs.

A cellulosic multi-bands fluorescence probe for rapid detection of pH and glutathione.

The detection of pH and glutathione (GSH) is positively significant for the cell microenvironment imaging. Here, to assess the pH value and the concentration of GSH efficiently and visually, a cellulose-based multi-bands ratiometric fluorescence probe was designed by assembling MnO2-modified cellulose gold nanoclusters, fluorescein isothiocyanate-grafted cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) and protoporphyrin IX-modified CNCs. The probe exhibits GSH-responsive, pH-sensitive and GSH/pH-independent fluorescent properties at 440 nm, 520 nm, and 633 nm, respectively. Furthermore, the probe identifies GSH within 4 s by degrading MnO2 into Mn2+ in response to GSH. Ingeniously, the green fluorescence of the probe at 520 nm was decreased with pH, and the red fluorescence at 633 nm remained stable. Therefore, the probe displayed distinguishing fluorescence colors from pink to blue and from green to blue for the synchronous detection of pH and GSH concentration within 4 s. The design strategy provides insights to construct multi-bands fluorescence probes for the rapid detection of multiple target analytes.

Stability and encapsulation properties of daidzein in zein/carrageenan/sodium alginate nanoparticles with ultrasound treatment.

This study aimed to prepare carrageenan/sodium alginate double-stabilized layers of zein nanoparticles loaded with daidzein using ultrasound technology to investigate the effect of ultrasound treatment on the stability of composite nanoparticles and encapsulation of daidzein. Compared with composite nanoparticles without ultrasound treatment, the encapsulation efficiency of nanoparticles was increased (90.36 %) after ultrasound treatment (320 W, 15 min). Ultrasound treatment reduced the particle size and PDI of nanoparticles and improved the stability and solubility of nanoparticles. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed that the nanoparticles treated with ultrasound were smooth spherical and uniformly distributed. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) results showed that the main forces that form nanoparticles are hydrogen bonding, electrostatic interactions and hydrophobic interactions. Fluorescence and CD chromatography showed that ultrasound treatment alters the secondary structure of zein and maintains nanoparticle stability. Encapsulation of daidzein in nanocarriers with ultrasound treatment can effectively scavenge DPPH and ABTS free radicals, improve antioxidant activity, and realize the slow release of daidzein in the gastrointestinal tract. The results showed that ultrasonication helps the construction of hydrophobic bioactives delivery carriers and provides better protection for unstable bioactives.

hROS-Responsive Behavior for Long-Term Stability of Cellulosic Gold Nanoclusters.

Understanding the gold core-ligand interaction in gold nanoclusters (GNCs) is essential for the on-demand tailoring of their photoluminescence properties and long-term stability. Here, inspired by the suckers arranged directionally on the tentacles of octopus, a series of GNCs with regulating ligand structures are grown and stabilized on the cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs). The carboxylated CNCs providing an electron-rich environment to promote the luminescence of GNCs and stabilize it within a long-term of 1 year through anchoring and diluting effects, and the highest quantum yields reaches 31.02% in ultrapure water. Interestingly, this bionic preparation strategy is generally applicable to various ligands for tailoring on-demand hROS-responsive and nonresponsive GNCs to construct tunable-emission wavelength dual GNCs ratiometric probes. The results show that designing a specific ligand structure to inhibit the transformation of Au-Au to Au (I)-ligand in GNCs is crucial to regulate the hROS-responsive characteristics. As expected, the interfacial compatible dual GNCs ratiometric probe with a hROS limit of detection of 0.74 µmol L-1 can diagnose certain diseases through intracellular hROS imaging. This work provides important insights for understanding the gold core-ligand interaction in GNCs during the oxidation process triggered by intracellular hROS.

A time-multiplexed self-erasing nanopaper for water induced information transmission.

The progressive presentation of multilevel information enhances the security level of information storage and transmission. Here, a time-multiplexed self-erasing nanopaper was developed by integrating cellulose nanofiber (CNF)-stabilized gold nanoclusters and CNF-modified long afterglow materials. The orange fluorescence of gold nanoclusters on nanopaper was regulated by the reversible swelling and shrinking of CNF induced by water solution, while the cyan fluorescence of micron-long afterglow remained stable and acted as the background signal. It was noteworthy that the fluorescence colour and intensity of the nanopaper could be freely adjusted between orange and cyan on the time scale. Therefore, the array information on the nanopaper could be encoded by a water solution, iterated variation as the step-by-step solvent volatilized on the time scale measured by the time of the afterglow duration. This work provides a new approach for constructing time-multiplexed self-erasing nanopaper for confidential information storage and transmission.

Focal ischemic stroke modifies microglia-derived exosomal miRNAs: potential role of mir-212-5p in neuronal protection and functional recovery.

BACKGROUND: Ischemic stroke is a severe type of stroke with high disability and mortality rates. In recent years, microglial exosome-derived miRNAs have been shown to be promising candidates for the treatment of ischemic brain injury and exert neuroprotective effects. Mechanisms underlying miRNA dysregulation in ischemic stroke are still being explored. Here, we aimed to verify whether miRNAs derived from exosomes exert effects on functional recovery. METHODS: MiR-212-5p agomir was employed to upregulate miR-212-5p expression in a rat model of middle cerebral artery occlusion/reperfusion (MCAO/R) as well as an oxygen-glucose deprivation/reoxygenation (OGD/R) in vitro. Western blot analysis, qRT-PCR and immunofluorescence staining and other methods were applied to explore the underlying mechanisms of action of miR-212-5p. RESULTS: The results of our study found that intervention with miR-212-5p agomir effectively decreased infarct volume and restored motor function in MCAO/R rats. Mechanistically, miR-212-5p agomir significantly reduced the expression of PlexinA2 (PLXNA2). Additionally, the results obtained in vitro were similar to those achieved in vivo. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, the present study indicated that PLXNA2 may be a target gene of miR-212-5p, and miR-212-5p has great potential as a target for the treatment and diagnosis of ischemic stroke.

Context-aware augmentation for liver lesion segmentation: shape uniformity, expansion limit and fusion strategy.

Background: Data augmentation with context has been an effective way to increase the robustness and generalizability of deep learning models. However, to our knowledge, shape uniformity, expansion limit, and fusion strategy of context have yet to be comprehensively studied, particularly in lesion segmentation of medical images. Methods: To examine the impact of these factors, we take liver lesion segmentation based on the well-known deep learning architecture U-Net as an example and thoroughly vary the context shape, the expansion bandwidth as well as three representative fusion methods. In particular, the context shape includes rectangular, circular and polygonal, the expansion bandwidth is scaled by a maximum value of 2 compared to the lesion size, and the context fusion weighting strategy is composed of average, Gaussian and inverse Gaussian. Results: Studies conducted on a newly constructed high-quality and large-volume dataset show that (I) uniform context improves lesion segmentation, (II) expanding the context with either 5 or 7 pixels yields the highest performance for liver lesion segmentation, depending on the lesion size, and (III) an unevenly distributed weighting strategy for context fusion is appreciated but in the opposite direction, depending on lesion size as well. Conclusions: Our findings and newly constructed dataset are expected to be useful for liver lesion segmentation, especially for small lesions.

The relationship between dietary patterns and blood mineral concentration among children in Hunan Province of China.

BACKGROUND: Minerals have crucial biological functions in metabolism and are primarily obtained through diet. As a result, various dietary patterns can impact blood mineral levels. The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation between dietary patterns and the concentration of calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc, and copper in the bloodstream. METHODS: Three hundred eighty healthy children (53.7% male) were recruited in a region of Hunan Province in September 2019. We gathered basic information and measured physical proportions, along with completing a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Using principal component analysis (PCA), we determined dietary patterns. To analyze mineral levels in the blood, we used flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS). We utilized linear regression models to investigate if certain dietary patterns are related to mineral concentration. RESULTS: Three dietary patterns were identified: 'Vegetables/Nuts,' 'Snacks/Beverages,' and 'Cereal/Beans.' Children from high-income families (annual average income > 50,000 yuan) prefer the 'Vegetables/Nuts' dietary pattern (P = 0.004). In comparison, those from low-income families (annual average income < 20,000 yuan) prefer the 'Snacks/Beverages' dietary pattern (P = 0.03). Following adjustment for age, gender, guardian's identity, education level, and annual household income. We found that an increase in the 'Vegetables/Nuts' pattern score (ß = 0.153, CI: 0.053 ~ 0.253; P = 0.003) and 'Snacks/Beverages' pattern score (ß = 0.103, CI: 0.002 ~ 0.204; P = 0.033) were significantly associated blood copper concentration. CONCLUSIONS: Household income was found to be associated with dietary behavior. Furthermore, higher blood copper concentration was significantly correlated with the 'Vegetables/Nuts' dietary pattern and 'Snacks/Beverages' dietary pattern, but the correlation is extremely low.

Preparation of Bio-Based Foams with a Uniform Pore Structure by Nanocellulose/Nisin/Waterborne-Polyurethane-Stabilized Pickering Emulsion.

Bio-based porous materials can reduce energy consumption and environmental impact, and they have a possible application as packaging materials. In this study, a bio-based porous foam was prepared by using a Pickering emulsion as a template. Nisin and waterborne polyurethane (WPU) were used for physical modification of 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl piperidine-1-oxyl-oxidized cellulose nanocrystals (TOCNC). The obtained composite particles were applied as stabilizers for acrylated epoxidized soybean oil (AESO) Pickering emulsion. The stability of the emulsion was characterized by determination of the rheological properties and microscopic morphology of the emulsion. The emulsion stabilized by composite particles showed better stability compared to case when TOCNC were used. The porous foam was obtained by heating a composite-particles-stabilized Pickering emulsion at 90 °C for 2 h. SEM (scanning electron microscopy) images showed that the prepared foam had uniformly distributed pores. In addition, the thermal conductivity of the foam was 0.33 W/m·k, which was a significant decrease compared to the 3.92 W/m·k of the TOCNC foam. The introduction of nisin and WPU can reduce the thermal conductivity of the foam, and the physically modified, TOCNC-stabilized Pickering emulsion provides an effective means to preparing bio-based porous materials.

Cerebral 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose metabolism alteration of reward- and motivation-related regions in groups of different BMI classifications.

OBJECTIVE: This study explored the relationship between BMI and regional cerebral glucose metabolism and explicitly detected regions with significant differences in cerebral metabolism using positron emission tomography (PET)/magnetic resonance imaging in the resting state. METHODS: Corresponding PET images acquired from 220 participants were sorted into four groups according to Asian BMI standards: underweight, normal weight, overweight, and obesity. Pearson correlation coefficient analysis was performed to assess the association between BMI and standard uptake value. The regional cerebral glucose metabolism was measured in the fasted state. The PET images were analyzed using statistical parameter maps. One-way ANOVA was used to explore differences in the standard uptake value as an indicator of regional cerebral glucose metabolism. RESULTS: This study found that lower cerebral glucose metabolism in reward- and motivation-related regions was accompanied by more severe obesity and that regional cerebral glucose metabolism activities were negatively correlated with BMI. In addition, more severe obesity was accompanied by a larger range of areas with significant differences independent of current dietary status. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that the reward and motivation circuits may be a factor regulating energy balance and influencing the degree of obesity.

Ultrathin and handleable nanofibrous net as a novel biomimetic basement membrane material for endothelial barrier formation.

Many strategies have been adopted to develop porous membranes to reconstitute basement membrane in vitro, which play a key role in the development of in vitro biomimetic models. However, the development of an artificial basement membrane combines cytocompatibility and nano-thickness is still challenging. Herein, a monolayer nanofibrous net patch was fabricated by combining microfabrication and electrospinning as a biomimetic basement membrane material, which was demonstrated for endothelial barrier formation. The nanofibrous net patches with different fiber densities were obtained by controlling electrospinning time. The net was with high porosity and ultrathin thickness approximate to the diameter of nanofibers, which is comparable to that of the native basement membrane. The morphology, proliferation and cell-cell/cell-substrate interactions of endothelial cells on the nanofibrous nets were studied and compared with track-etched polycarbonate membrane and traditional multilayer nanofibers membrane. In addition, the results of TEER measurement and permeability test demonstrated that the endothelial barrier formed on the nanofibrous net patch displayed stronger barrier integrity and function. Therefore, the proposed nanofibrous net patch shows great potential as a novel biomimetic basement membrane, which is promising to be applied for in vitro tissue mimetic applications.

Age-Related Changes in Topological Properties of Individual Brain Metabolic Networks in Rats.

Normal aging causes profound changes of structural degeneration and glucose hypometabolism in the human brain, even in the absence of disease. In recent years, with the extensive exploration of the topological characteristics of the human brain, related studies in rats have begun to investigate. However, age-related alterations of topological properties in individual brain metabolic network of rats remain unknown. In this study, a total of 48 healthy female Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were used, including 24 young rats and 24 aged rats. We used Jensen-Shannon Divergence Similarity Estimation (JSSE) method for constructing individual metabolic networks to explore age-related topological properties and rich-club organization changes. Compared with the young rats, the aged rats showed significantly decreased clustering coefficient (Cp) and local efficiency (E loc ) across the whole-brain metabolic network. In terms of changes in local network measures, degree (D) and nodal efficiency (E nod ) of left posterior dorsal hippocampus, and E nod of left olfactory tubercle were higher in the aged rats than in the young rats. About the rich-club analysis, the existence of rich-club organization in individual brain metabolic networks of rats was demonstrated. In addition, our findings further confirmed that rich-club connections were susceptible to aging. Relative to the young rats, the overall strength of rich-club connections was significantly reduced in the aged rats, while the overall strength of feeder and local connections was significantly increased. These findings demonstrated the age-related reorganization principle of the brain structure and improved our understanding of brain alternations during aging.

Dysfunction in the Interaction of Information Between and Within the Bilateral Primary Sensory Cortex.

Background: Interhemispheric and intrahemispheric long-range synchronization and information communication are crucial features of functional integration between the bilateral hemispheres. Previous studies have demonstrated that disrupted functional connectivity (FC) exists in the bilateral hemispheres of patients with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), but they did not clearly clarify the phenomenon of central dysfunctional connectivity. This study aimed to further investigate the potential mechanism of the weakened connectivity of primary somatosensory cortex (S1) based on a precise template. Methods: Patients with CTS (n = 53) and healthy control subjects (HCs) (n = 23) participated and underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) scanning. We used FC to investigate the statistical dependency of the whole brain, effective connectivity (EC) to analyze time-dependent effects, and voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity (VMHC) to examine the coordination of FC, all of which were adopted to explore the change in interhemispheric and intrahemispheric S1. Results: Compared to the healthy controls, we significantly found a decreased strength of the two connectivities in the interhemispheric S1 hand , and the results of EC and VMHC were basically consistent with FC in the CTS. The EC revealed that the information output from the dominant hemisphere to the contralateral hemisphere was weakened. Conclusion: This study found that maladjusted connections between and within the bilateral S1 revealed by these methods are present in patients with CTS. The dominant hemisphere with deafferentation weakens its effect on the contralateral hemisphere. The disturbance in the bilateral S1 provides reliable evidence to understand the neuropathophysiological mechanisms of decreased functional integration in the brains of patients with CTS.

In vitro 3D cocultured tumor-vascular barrier model based on alginate hydrogel and Transwell system for anti-cancer drug evaluation.

The development of three-dimensional (3D) in vitro model to recapitulate the in vivo tumor tissue is essential for studying tumor biology, discovering anti-cancer drugs, and evaluating anti-cancer drug efficacy. However, most of the previous models lack the involvement of vascular barrier. Here, we proposed an in vitro 3D cocultured tumor-vascular barrier model by the combination of alginate hydrogels beads and Transwell system. PC-3 cells and NIH/3T3 cells were encapsulated in alginate hydrogel beads, which were cultured in the bottom chamber of Transwell, while human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were cultured on the porous membrane in the upper chamber to form vascular barrier. The effect of the concentration of alginate sodium on the morphology, diameter and swelling ratio of the beads was studied. The alginate sodium content and cell seeding density were further optimized according to cell proliferation ability. The formation of endothelial barrier was verified by immunostaining with tight junction protein VE-cadherin and transendothelial electrical resistance (TEER) monitoring. Finally, the drug response of 3D cocultured tumor-vascular barrier model to curcumin was evaluated. Compared with two-dimensional (2D) coculture model and 3D coculture spheroid model, 3D tumor-vascular barrier model showed the highest activity of cancer cells and the strongest drug resistance. The developed 3D cocultured tumor-vascular barrier model possesses great potential to be applied for in vitro evaluation of anti-tumor drugs.

Corticocortical paired associative stimulation for treating motor dysfunction after stroke: study protocol for a randomised sham-controlled double-blind clinical trial.

INTRODUCTION: Stroke survivors can have a high disability rate with low quality of daily life, resulting in a heavy burden on family and society. Transcranial magnetic stimulation has been widely applied to brain injury repair, neurological disease treatment, cognition and emotion regulation and so on. However, there is still much to be desired in the theories of using these neuromodulation techniques to treat stroke-caused hemiplegia. It is generally recognised that synaptic plasticity is an important basis for functional repair after brain injury. This study protocol aims to examine the corticocortical paired associative stimulation (ccPAS) for inducing synaptic plasticity to rescue the paralysed after stroke. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The current study is designed as a 14-week double-blind randomised sham-controlled clinical trial, composed of 2-week intervention and 12-week follow-up. For the study, 42 patients who had a stroke aged 40-70 will be recruited, who are randomly assigned either to the ccPAS intervention group, or to the control group at a 1:1 ratio, hence an equal number each. In the intervention group, ccPAS is practised in conjunction with the conventional rehabilitation treatment, and in the control group, the conventional rehabilitation treatment is administered with sham stimulation. A total of 10 interventions will be made, 5 times a week for 2 weeks. The same assessors are supposed to evaluate the participants' motor function at four time points of the baseline (before 10 interventions), treatment ending (after 10 interventions), and two intervals of follow-up (1 and 3 months later, respectively). The Fugl-Meyer Assessment Upper Extremity is used for the primary outcomes. The secondary outcomes include changes in the assessment of Action Research Arm Test (ARAT), Modified Barthel Index (MBI), electroencephalogram (EEG) and functional MRI data. The adverse events are to be recorded throughout the study. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This study was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of Yueyang Hospital. All ethical work was performed in accordance with the Helsinki declaration. Written informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study. Study findings will be disseminated in the printed media. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry: ChiCTR2000036685.

Comparative Transcriptomic Analysis of Riptortus pedestris (Hemiptera: Alydidae) to Characterize Wing Formation across All Developmental Stages.

Riptortus pedestris (Hemiptera: Alydidae) is a major agricultural pest in East Asia that causes considerable economic losses to the soybean crop each year. However, the molecular mechanisms governing the growth and development of R. pedestris have not been fully elucidated. In this study, the Illumina HiSeq6000 platform was employed to perform de novo transcriptome assembly and determine the gene expression profiles of this species across all developmental stages, including eggs, first-, second-, third-, fourth-, and fifth-instar nymphs, and adults. In this study, a total of 60,058 unigenes were assembled from numerous raw reads, exhibiting an N50 length of 2126 bp and an average length of 1199 bp, and the unigenes were annotated and classified with various databases, such as the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG), Clusters of Orthologous Groups (COG), and Gene Ontology (GO). Furthermore, various numbers of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were calculated through pairwise comparisons of all life stages, and some of these DEGs were associated with immunity, metabolism, and development by GO and KEGG enrichment. In addition, 35,158 simple sequence repeats (SSRs) and 715,604 potential single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were identified from the seven transcriptome libraries of R. pedestris. Finally, we identified and summarized ten wing formation-related signaling pathways, and the molecular properties and expression levels of five wing development-related genes were analyzed using quantitative real-time PCR for all developmental stages of R. pedestris. Taken together, the results of this study may establish a foundation for future research investigating developmental processes and wing formation in hemimetabolous insects and may provide valuable data for pest control efforts attempting to reduce the economic damage caused by this pest.

Raspberry-like Pd3Pb alloy nanoparticles: superior electrocatalytic activity for ethylene glycol and glycerol oxidation.

Pd3Pb catalysts are one of the state-of-the-art catalysts for the electrooxidation of alcohols. Herein, raspberry-like Pd3Pb catalysts are synthesized via a simple method. The materials are characterized using various physical techniques. The electrocatalytic behaviors of the products towards the oxidation of ethylene glycol and glycerol are investigated. Electrochemical results show that the raspberry-like Pd3Pb nanostructure produces excellent electrocatalytic activity and stability towards the electrooxidation of ethylene glycol and glycerol in alkaline media, which endows the prepared nanostructure with promising potential in applications like fuel cells.

Incorporating Ni-MOF structure with polypyrrole: enhanced capacitive behavior as electrode material for supercapacitor.

Herein, Ni-MOF sheet incorporated with polypyrrole is fabricated via a simple wet-chemical approach, and the obtained PPy-MOF composite is investigated as an electrode material for supercapacitors. The composite is systematically investigated by a series of characterization studies including X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Besides that, the electrochemical capacitive behaviors of the products are examined by electrochemical measurements. Electrochemical results show varying the ingredient ratio can lead to different electrocapacitive behavior, and PPy-MOF-0.2 is proved to possess the best performance in the investigated recipes. Furthermore, an asymmetric supercapacitor employing PPy-MOF and activated carbon as positive and negative electrodes is also assembled, which exhibits high energy density.

A Ca2+ chelator ameliorates chromium (VI)-induced hepatocyte L-02 injury via down-regulation of voltage-Dependent anion channel 1 (VDAC1) expression.

Hexavalent chromium could result in cell malfunctions. Intracellular Ca2+ ([Ca2+]i) content and VDAC1 expression are both important features related to cell survial. This study aimed to explore the mechanism of cell injury induced by Cr(VI) and tentatively offer clues to repairing this cell damage using [Ca2+]i and VDAC1. L-02 hepatocytes were treated with Cr(VI)/BAPTA, and the levels of [Ca2+]i and cell injury associated with Cr(VI) were determined in addition to the effect of BAPTA. The expression of VDAC1 in Cr(VI)-induced cells was evaluated. The results showed a dose-dependent elevation of the level of VDAC1 and the mRNA level of the VDAC1 biogenesis-related gene Sam50. BAPTA could ameliorate less severe damage induced by 4µM Cr(VI) via reducing VDAC1 and Sam50. Additionally, cell injury caused by less than 4µM Cr(VI) could be ameliorated by VDAC1 knockdown. Taken together, the findings of this study suggest that inhibition of intracellular Ca2± overload could protect cells from damage and that VDAC1 plays a considerable role in Cr(VI)-induced liver injury.