Identification of Crucial Photosensitizing Factors to Promote CO2 -to-CO Conversion.

The sensitizing ability of a catalytic system is closely related to the visible-light absorption ability, excited-state lifetime, redox potential, and electron-transfer rate of photosensitizers (PSs), however it remains a great challenge to concurrently mediate these factors to boost CO2 photoreduction. Herein, a series of Ir(III)-based PSs (Ir-1-Ir-6) were prepared as molecular platforms to understand the interplay of these factors and identify the primary factors for efficient CO2 photoreduction. Among them, less efficient visible-light absorption capacity results in lower CO yields of Ir-1, Ir-2 or Ir-4. Ir-3 shows the most efficient photocatalytic activity among these mononuclear PSs due to some comprehensive parameters. Although the Kobs of Ir-3 is ≈10 times higher than that of Ir-5, the CO yield of Ir-3 is slightly higher than that of Ir-5 due to the compensation of Ir-5's strong visible-light-absorbing ability. Ir-6 exhibits excellent photocatalytic performance due to the strong visible-light absorption ability, comparable thermodynamic driving force, and electron transfer rate among these PSs. Remarkably, the CO2 photoreduction to CO with Ir-6 can achieve 91.5 µmol, over 54 times higher than Ir-1, and the optimized TONC-1 can reach up to 28160. Various photophysical properties of the PSs were concurrently adjusted by fine ligand modification to promote CO2 photoreduction.

A Novel Symbiotic Formulation Reduces Obesity and Concomitant Metabolic Syndrome in Rats by Raising the Relative Abundance of Blautia.

Obesity is regarded as an abnormal or excessive buildup of fat that may be bad for health and is influenced by a combination of intestinal flora, genetic background, physical activity level and environment. Symbiotic supplementation may be a realistic and easy therapy for the reversal of obesity and associated metabolic problems. In this study, we chose two Bifidobacterium species, three Lactobacilli species and four prebiotics to make a new symbiotic formulation. High or low doses of the symbiotic were administered to rats, and biochemical indicators were recorded to assess the biological effects in a high-fat-diet-induced rat model. The underlying mechanisms were explored by integrating 16S rRNA sequencing with an extensively targeted metabolome. High-dose symbiotic supplementation was effective in reducing obesity and concomitant metabolic syndrome. The high-dose symbiotic also significantly increased the abundance of Blautia, which was negatively correlated with taurocholic acid and the main differential metabolites involved in amino acid and bile acid metabolism. While the low-dose symbiotic had some therapeutic effects, they were not as strong as those at the high dose, demonstrating that the effects were dose-dependent. Overall, our novel symbiotic combination improved plasma glucose and lipid levels, shrunk adipocyte size, restored liver function, increased the abundance of Blautia and adjusted bile acid and amino acid metabolism.

W Single-Atom Catalyst for CH4 Photooxidation in Water Vapor.

Solar-driven high-efficiency and direct conversion of methane into high-value-added liquid oxygenates against overoxidation remains a great challenge. Herein, facile and mass fabrication of low-cost tungsten single-atom photocatalysts is achieved by directly calcining urea and sodium tungstate under atmosphere (W-SA-PCN-m, urea amount m = 7.5, 15, 30, and 150 g). The single-atom photocatalysts can manage H2 O2 in situ generation and decomposition into ·OH, thus achieving highly efficient CH4 photooxidation in water vapor under mild conditions. Systematic investigations demonstrate that integration of multifunctions of methane activation, H2 O2 generation, and decomposition into one photocatalyst can dramatically promote methane conversion to C1 oxygenates with a yield as high as 4956 µmol gcat -1 , superior to that of the most reported non-precious photocatalysts. Liquid-solid phase transition can induce the products to facilely switch in from HCOOH to CH3 OH by pulling the catalyst above water with CH3 OH/HCOOH ratio from 10% (in H2 O) to 80% (above H2 O).

MicroRNA-133a improves the cardiac function and fibrosis through inhibiting Akt in heart failure rats.

OBJECTIVE: MicroRNAs (miRNAs), a group of small non-coding RNAs that fine tune translation of multiple target mRNAs, have been implicated in the development and progression of heart failure. METHODS: The present study was undertaken to determine the roles of miR-133a on the anatomical, hemodynamic and fibrosis of heart in the chronic heart failure rats, and the downstream signaling pathway. RESULTS: The expression of miR-133a in the heart of chronic heart failure from patients or rats was decreased. The miR-133a mimic and miR-133a overexpression caused a decrease in the heart weight/body weight (HW/BW) and LVEDP, and an increase in the LVSP and +LV dP/dt(max) in the chronic heart failure rats. However, the miR-133a inhibitor promoted the HW/BW and LVEDP, and caused a decrease in the LVSP and LV dP/dt(max) in the chronic heart failure rats. The miR-133a mimic and miR-133a overexpression significantly caused a decrease in the fibrosis of heart in chronic heart failure rats. The Akt inhibitor TCN abolished the effects of miR-133a on the HW/BW and LVEDP decrease, LVSP and LV dP/dt(max) increase in the chronic heart failure rats. The miR-133a increased the expression of phosphorylated Akt in the heart of chronic heart failure rats. CONCLUSION: These results demonstrated that miR-133a improves the cardiac function and fibrosis through inhibiting Akt in heart failure rats.