Reduction

Reversible protonic ceramic cells (RePCCs) hold promise for efficient energy storage, but their practicality is hindered by a lack of high-performance air electrode materials. Ruddlesden-Popper perovskite Sr3 Fe2 O7-δ (SF) exhibits superior proton uptake and rapid ionic conduction, boosting activity. However, excessive proton uptake during RePCC operation degrades SF's crystal structure, impacting durability. This study introduces a novel A/B-sites co-substitution strategy for modifying air electrodes, incorporating Sr-deficiency and Nb-substitution to create Sr2...

This study examined the effects of using mushroom mycelium to ferment tigernut and cassava pulp on the growth performance, haematology and immunology of rabbits. Seventy-five New Zealand Bulk grower rabbits were randomly distributed to four treatment groups and a control group in a completely randomized approach. The treatment groups were fed with formulated experimental diets containing one of fermented tigernut drink by-product (FT), fermented cassava sievate (FC), unfermented tigernut drink by-product (UT), or unfermented cassava sievate (UC)...

A novel bacterial symbiont, strain A19T , was previously isolated from a root-nodule of Aeschynomene indica and assigned to a new lineage in the photosynthetic clade of the genus Bradyrhizobium. Here data are presented for the detailed genomic and taxonomic analyses of novel strain A19T . Emphasis is placed on the analysis of genes of practical or ecological significance (photosynthesis, nitrous oxide reductase and nitrogen fixation genes). Phylogenomic analysis of whole genome sequences as well as 50 single-copy core gene sequences placed A19T in a highly supported lineage distinct from described Bradyrhizobium species with B...

BACKGROUND: Autoimmune inner ear disease (AIED) manifests with recurrent fluctuating sensorineural hearing loss and vestibular symptoms. Treatment includes steroids and a variety of immunosuppressants. Despite adequate treatment, sensorineural hearing loss can be progressive to the point of deafness. In these patients, a cochlear implant (CI) is indicated. We present the case of a 25-year-old male who underwent cochlear implantation in the left ear. After implantation we noticed brisk variations in impedances which were related to application of the previously prescribed tumor necrosis alpha (TNFα) inhibitor adalimumab...

Mass shootings are a public health crisis and have become more frequent on U.S. university campuses over the past decade, with the number doubling since 2000. Due to this alarming trend, many institutions have developed response strategies for active shooting events. Yet, the extent to which these response strategies address the needs and minimize harm for students, faculty, and staff has not been evaluated critically after a campus mass shooting. Michigan State University (MSU) experienced a mass shooting on February 13, 2023...

5-Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) is a versatile platform chemical derived from the dehydration of renewable carbohydrates (typically glucose/fructose-based monosaccharides, oligosaccharides, and polysaccharides). Some useful compounds, such as 2,5-furandimethanol (FDM), 2,5-dimethylfuran (DMF) and 2,5-dimethyltetrahydrofuran (DMTHF), have been synthesized by reduction of HMF. Among these, FDM is a promising diol and can be further converted towards fine chemicals, liquid fuels and polymer materials. In this review, some typical catalytic systems for the synthesis of FDM from both HMF and carbohydrates were summarized...

Fermentation is the key process required for developing the characteristic properties of cigar tobacco leaves, complex microorganisms are involved in this process. However, the microbial fermentation mechanisms during the fermentation process have not been well-characterized. This study investigated the dynamic changes in conventional chemical composition, flavor compounds, and bacterial community during the fermentation of cigar tobacco leaves from Hainan and Sichuan provinces in China, as well as the potential roles of bacteria...

Graphene/polydopamine aerogels (GPDX AG, where X represents the weight ratio of DA·HCl to GO) were prepared by the chemical reduction of graphene oxide (GO) using dopamine (DA) and l-ascorbic acid as reducing agents. During the gelation process, DA was polymerized to form polydopamine (PDA). The introduction of PDA in the gelation of aerogels led to a deeper reduction of GO and stronger interactions between graphene nanosheets forced by covalent cross-linking and noncovalent bonding including π-π stacking and hydrogen bonding...

Short-term exposure to air pollution is associated with a decline in cognitive function. Standardized test scores have been employed to evaluate the effects of air pollution exposure on cognitive performance. Few studies aimed to prove whether air pollution is responsible for reduced test scores; none have implemented a "gold-standard" method for assessing the association such as a randomized, double-blind intervention. This study used a "gold-standard" method─randomized, double-blind crossover─to assess whether reducing short-term indoor particle concentrations results in improved test scores in college students in Tianjin, China...

Warming and precipitation anomalies affect terrestrial carbon balance partly through altering microbial eco-physiological processes (e.g., growth and death) in soil. However, little is known about how such processes responds to simultaneous regime shifts in temperature and precipitation. We used the 18 O-water quantitative stable isotope probing approach to estimate bacterial growth in alpine meadow soils of the Tibetan Plateau after a decade of warming and altered precipitation manipulation. Our results showed that the growth of major taxa was suppressed by the single and combined effects of temperature and precipitation, eliciting 40-90% of growth reduction of whole community...

BACKGROUND: Primary care physicians played an important role in the global response during the COVID-19 pandemic, but with the absence of laboratory and diagnostics services, the move to telehealth and the focus on respiratory assessment, they faced increased uncertainty when making clinical decisions. OBJECTIVES: This paper aims to examine the impact of the pandemic on decisions made by primary care physicians, as measured by referrals to chest X-ray and laboratory tests and by prescriptions of antibiotics...

The controlled synthesis of metal nanomaterials with unconventional phases is of significant importance to develop high-performance catalysts for various applications. However, it remains challenging to modulate the atomic arrangements of metal nanomaterials, especially the alloy nanostructures that involve different metals with distinct redox potentials. Here we report the general one-pot synthesis of IrNi, IrRhNi and IrFeNi alloy nanobranches with unconventional hexagonal close-packed (hcp) phase. Notably, the as-synthesized hcp IrNi nanobranches demonstrate excellent catalytic performance towards electrochemical nitrite reduction (NO2RR), with superior NH3 Faradaic efficiency and yield rate of 98...

PURPOSE: To examine the distortion of the linear quadratic (LQ) model of in vitro cytogenetic dose response over an extended range of γ-ray doses by analyzing the available literature data, and to establish the dose ranges, in which the LQ dose response curve (DRC) can be most accurately fitted for biological dosimetry. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data on yields of dicentrics (Dic) or dicentrics plus centric rings (Dic + CR) induced in vitro in human lymphocytes by acute γ-rays were extracted from 108 open sources...

OBJECTIVE: To discuss current evidence on tapering antipsychotic drugs in view of changing vistas of psychosis, suggesting a provisional framework for safely tapering antipsychotic drugs to an optimal low dose, in collaboration with patients and their relatives, to promote functional recovery while preventing relapse. METHODS: Paradigm shifts during recent years regarding the nature of psychotic disorders and the role of the dopamine system are discussed, including the positive effects of dopamine blockade in acute psychosis and the limitations and drawbacks of dopamine blockade regarding negative and cognitive symptoms after remission of positive symptoms...

The congruency effect in Stroop-like tasks-a popular measure of distraction-is smaller after incongruent relative to congruent trials. However, it is unclear whether this congruency sequence effect (CSE)-a popular index of coping with distraction-reflects adjustments of control after congruent trials, incongruent trials, or both. The episodic retrieval account of the CSE posits adjustments of control after both congruent and incongruent trials. In this account, retrieving a memory of the previous trial's congruency (i...

PURPOSE: To propose the optimal value of baseline corneal astigmatism and pterygial morphological profiles for primary pterygium surgery to restore the corneal optical properties. METHODS: We analysed 93 eyes from 84 subjects with nasal-only primary pterygium who underwent pterygium excision with conjunctival-limbal autograft and were assessed perioperatively using anterior segment swept-source optical coherence tomography (AS SS-OCT). We collected data on anterior corneal astigmatism (ACA) and root mean square (RMS) values for anterior corneal lower- (LoA) and higher-order aberrations (HoA) as corneal optical properties using AS SS-OCT...

The blood brain barrier (BBB) limits the application of most therapeutic drugs for neurological diseases (NDs). Hybrid cell membrane-coated nanoparticles derived from different cell types can mimic the surface properties and functionalities of the source cells, further enhancing their targeting precision and therapeutic efficacy. Neuroinflammation has been increasingly recognized as a critical factor in the pathogenesis of various NDs, especially Alzheimer's disease (AD). In this study, a novel cell membrane coating is designed by hybridizing the membrane from platelets and chemokine (C-C motif) receptor 2 (CCR2) cells are overexpressed to cross the BBB and target neuroinflammatory lesions...

Silver/polymeric vesicle composite nanoparticles with good antibacterial properties were fabricated in this study. Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were prepared in situ on cross-linked vesicle membranes through the reduction of silver nitrate (AgNO3 ) using polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) via coordination bonding between the Ag+ ions and the nitrogen atoms on the vesicles. X-ray diffraction (XRD), ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-vis), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analyses confirmed the formation of AgNPs on the vesicles...

The construction of carbonyl compounds via carbonylation reactions using safe CO sources remains a long-standing challenge to synthetic chemists. Herein, we propose a catalyst cascade Scheme in which CO2 is used as a CO surrogate in the carbonylation of benzyl chlorides. Our approach is based on the cooperation between two coexisting catalytic cycles: the CO2 -to-CO electroreduction cycle promoted by [Fe(TPP)Cl] (TPP=meso-tetraphenylporphyrin) and an electrochemical carbonylation cycle catalyzed by [Ni(bpy)Br2 ] (2,2'-bipyridine)...

UNLABELLED: In the nitrogen biogeochemical cycle, the reduction of nitrous oxide (N2 O) to N2 by N2 O reductase, which is encoded by nosZ gene, is the only biological pathway for N2 O consumption. In this study, we successfully isolated a strain of denitrifying Paracoccus denitrificans R-1 from sewage treatment plant sludge. This strain has strong N2 O reduction capability, and the average N2 O reduction rate was 5.10 ± 0.11 × 10-9 µmol·h-1 ·cell-1 under anaerobic condition in a defined medium...