The Synergistic Effect of MoS2 and NiS on the Electrical Properties of Iron Anodes for Ni-Fe Batteries.

In this paper, a series of Fe3O4/MoS2/NiS composite electrodes were synthesized by a simple coprecipitation method. The influence of different ratio additives (MoS2 and NiS) on the performance of iron anodes for Ni-Fe batteries was systematically investigated. In this paper, the mixed alkaline solution of 6 mol/L NaOH and 0.6 mol/L LiOH was used as electrolyte, and sintered Ni(OH)2 was used as counterelectrode. The experimental results show that the MoS2 and NiS additives can effectively eliminate the passivation phenomena in iron electrodes, reduce the electrode polarization, and increase the reversibility capacity. As a result, the Fe3O4/MoS2/NiS composite electrodes exhibit a high specific capacity, good rate performance, and long cycling stability. Especially, the Fe3O4/MoS2 (5%)/NiS (5%) electrode with a suitable ratio of additives can provide excellent electrochemical performance, with high discharge capacities of 657.9 mAh g-1, 639.8 mAh g-1, and 442.1 mAh g-1 at 600 mA g-1, 1200 mA g-1, and 2400 mA g-1, respectively. This electrode also exhibits good cycling stability.

Regulatory Effect of Bacillus subtilis on Cytokines of Dendritic Cells in Grass Carp (Ctenopharyngodon Idella).

Bacillus subtilis is a common group of probiotics that have been widely used in the feed industry as they can increase host resistance to pathogens and balance the immune response. However, the regulatory mechanism of Bacillus subtilis on the host immune system remains unclear in teleosts. In this study, we isolated and enriched dendritic cells from white blood cells (WBCs), and then stimulated them with Bacillus subtilis. Morphological features, specific biological functions, and authorized functional molecular markers were used in the identification of dendritic cells. Subsequently, we collected stimulated cells at 0, 4, and 18 h, and then constructed and sequenced the transcriptomic libraries. A transcriptome analysis showed that 2557 genes were up-regulated and 1708 were down-regulated at 4 h compared with the control group (|Fold Change| ≥ 4), and 1131 genes were up-regulated and 1769 were down-regulated between the cells collected at 18 h and 4 h (|Fold Change| ≥ 4). Gene Ontology (GO) annotations suggested many differentially expressed genes (DEGs) (p < 0.05 and |Fold Change| ≥ 4) were involved in immune-related biological functions including immune system progress, cytokine receptor binding, and cytokine binding. The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis showed that the cytokine⁻cytokine receptor interaction pathways were significantly enriched at both time points (p < 0.05), which may play a key role in the response to stimulation. Furthermore, mRNA expression level examination of several pro-inflammatory cytokines and anti-inflammatory cytokines genes by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) indicated that their expressions can be significantly increased in Bacillus subtili, which suggest that Bacillus subtilis can balance immune response and tolerance. This study provides dendritic cell (DC)-specific transcriptome data in grass carp by Bacillus subtilis stimulation, allowing us to illustrate the molecular mechanism of the DC-mediated immune response triggered by probiotics in grass carp.