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Rational design of robust photocatalytic systems to direct capture and in-situ convert diluted CO 2 from flue gas is a promising but challenging way to achieve carbon neutrality. Here, we report a new type of host-guest photocatalysts by integrating CO 2 -enriching ionic liquids and photoactive metal-organic frameworks PCN-250-Fe 2 M (M = Fe, Co, Ni, Zn, Mn) for artificial photosynthetic diluted CO 2 reduction in gas-solid phase. As a result, [Emim]BF 4 (39.3 wt%)@PCN-250-Fe 2 Co exhibits a record high CO 2 -to-CO reduction rate of 313.34 μmol g −1 h −1 under pure CO 2 atmosphere and 153.42 μmol g −1 h −1 under diluted CO 2 (15%) with about 100% selectivity. In scaled-up experiments with 1.0 g catalyst and natural sunlight irradiation, the concentration of pure and diluted CO 2 (15%) could be significantly decreased to below 85% and 10%, respectively, indicating its industrial application potential. Further experiments and theoretical calculations reveal that ionic liquids not only benefit CO 2 enrichment, but also form synergistic effect with Co 2+ sites in PCN-250-Fe 2 Co, resulting in a significant reduction in Gibbs energy barrier during the rate-determining step of CO 2 -to-CO conversion. Artificial photosynthetic diluted CO 2 reduction from fuel gas is promising but challenging for carbon neutrality. Here, the authors report a host-guest system by integrating CO 2 -enriching ionic liquids and photoactive metal-organic frameworks, greatly enhancing CO 2 -to-CO conversion efficiency.

In-situ electrochemical nitrite reduction is an established method to quantify site density (SD) of platinum-group-metal-free catalysts for PEM fuel cells. However, its poisoning mechanism remains unclear, often yielding underestimated values. Crucially, we identify a unique configuration where single metal centers adsorb two NO molecules, which challenges conventional electrochemical quantification. To resolve this, we developed an in-situ acid-assisted nitrite poisoning method (AANPM) coupled with graphene-based attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (graphene-based in-situ ATR-FTIR). This approach quantifies SD and elucidates active site structures in transition metal-nitrogen-carbon (MNC) electrocatalysts. By incorporating the average electron transfer number for NO electroreduction (NOR), we achieve accurate SD calculations. Validated across iron/cobalt phthalocyanine molecular catalysts and pyrolyzed FeNC/CoNC materials, this method can be used to stablish structure-activity relations. This work uncovers why traditional methods underestimate active site density in fuel cell catalysts. The researchers developed a novel in-situ acid-assisted method coupled with infrared spectroscopy to accurately quantify sites and elucidate their structure, validated across multiple catalysts.

A combination of antidepressant drugs and psychotherapy exhibits more promising efficacy in treating fear disorders than either treatment alone, but underlying mechanisms of such treatments remain largely unknown. Here we investigated the role of DNA methylation of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (Bdnf) gene in the therapeutic effects of ketamine in combination with extinction training in a mouse model of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) induced by inescapable electric foot shocks (IFS). Male mice received ketamine for 22 consecutive days starting 1 h after the IFS (long-term ketamine treatment) or 2 h prior to the extinction training on days 15 and 16 after the IFS (short-term ketamine treatment). The Open Field (OF) and Elevated Plus Maze (EPM) tests were conducted on days 18 and 20. The spontaneous recovery and fear renewal tests were performed on day 23. Mice, subjected to IFS, exhibited anxiety-like behavior and fear relapse, accompanied by the increased levels of DNA methyltransferases, hyper-methylation of Bdnf gene, and decreased BDNF mRNA expression in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and hippocampus (HIP). Long-term treatment with ketamine combined with extinction training alleviated the IFS-induced abnormalities. These results suggest that long-term ketamine treatment in combination with extinction training may ameliorate fear relapse in the murine model of PTSD, at least in part, by normalizing DNA methylation of Bdnf gene.

•There is a debate about how to assess long-term adverse outcome of older patients after elective noncardiac surgeries.•Frailty is an independent risk of one-year mortality after elective noncardiac surgeries.•Routine assessment of older individuals with frailty before surgery should be considered.

AbstractBrain dysfunction is a common complication after sepsis and is an independent risk factor for a poor prognosis, which is partly attributed to the dysregulated inflammatory response and oxidative damage. Melatonin regulates the sleep–wake cycle and also has potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, yet the protective effects of melatonin on sepsis-induced neurobehavioral dysfunction remain to be elucidated. In the present study, melatonin was administered intraperitoneally daily at a dose of 10 mg/kg for three consecutive days immediately (early treatment) or 7 days (delayed treatment) after sham operation or cecal ligation and puncture (CLP), followed by an additional treatment in drinking water until the end of behavioral tests. The concentrations of pro-inflammatory cytokines (tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), IL-6, IL-10), malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), reactive oxygen species (ROS), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), and glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) were determined at the indicated time points. Compared with the CLP + vehicle group, we found that early melatonin treatment resulted in increased survival rate but not improvement in measures of neurobehavioral outcomes, which was accompanied by significantly lower plasma level of IL-1β. Intriguingly, delayed melatonin treatment improved neurobehavioral dysfunction by normalization of hippocampal BDNF and GDNF expressions. In conclusion, our study suggests the beneficial effects of both early and delayed melatonin treatment after sepsis development, which implicates melatonin has a potential therapeutic value in sepsis-associated organ damage including brain dysfunction.

To evaluate the effects of dezocine on the prevention of postoperative catheter-related bladder discomfort (CRBD). Ninety-six adult patients undergoing abdominal surgery with urinary catheterization under general anesthesia were randomized into dezocine and control (flurbiprofen) groups. The postoperative CRBD, pain score, sedation score and adverse effects were evaluated at 0, 1, 2 and 6 hrs after tracheal extubation. The primary outcome showed a lower incidence of CRBD at 1 hr post-extubation in the dezocine group (29.17%) than the control group (58.33%, <0.01). The incidences at 0 and 2 hrs post-extubation and the overall incidence were also lower in the dezocine group than the control group (all <0.05). The severity of CRBD at 0, 1, 2 and 6 hrs and the pain, sedation score and other adverse effects were comparable between the two groups ( >0.05); however, the overall severity of CRBD was decreased in the dezocine group compared with the control group ( <0.05). Intraoperative dezocine reduces the incidence and severity of postoperative CRBD without clinically relevant adverse effects.

•There is still a debate about which tool is suitable for frailty assessment.•Frailty was associated with an increased ICU admission rate after non-cardiac surgery.•Anesthetists should choose suitable tool depending on the prognosis they concerned.

The catalytic performance of Pt-based catalysts depends sensitively on their d-band centers. Nevertheless, there are still huge challenges to evaluate their d-band centers from experimental technologies, and modulate them to analyze their selectivity in ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR). Here, Pt 1 Au 1 alloy supported on the commercial carbon material (Pt 1 Au 1 /C) is employed as a typical example to investigate its d-band center shift of surface Pt, and as electrocatalysts to study its selectivity towards EOR. Significantly, a highly reliable in situ Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy CO-probe strategy is developed to characterize the d-band center shift of surface Pt. The modified electronic effect and site effect of Pt 1 Au 1 /C dictated the adsorption configuration of intermediate species and the OH species coverage, thereby influencing its selectivity. More importantly, we developed a universal cyclic voltammetry peak differentiation fitting method as an electrochemical analysis technique to investigate CO 2 selectivity, which is potentially extendable to other Pt-based electrocatalysts.

Repeated neonatal exposures to sevoflurane induce long-term cognitive impairment that has been reported to have sex-dependent differences. Exercise promotes learning and memory by releasing lactate from the muscle. The study tested the hypothesis that lactate may improve long-term cognitive impairment induced by repeated neonatal exposures to sevoflurane through SIRT1-mediated regulation of adult hippocampal neurogenesis and synaptic plasticity. C57BL/6 mice of both genders were exposed to 3% sevoflurane for 2 h daily from postnatal day 6 (P6) to P8. In the intervention experiments, mice received lactate at 1 g/kg intraperitoneally once daily from P21 to P41. Behavioral tests including open field (OF), object location (OL), novel object recognition (NOR), and fear conditioning (FC) tests were performed to assess cognitive function. The number of 5-Bromo-2′- deoxyuridine positive (BrdU + ) cells and BrdU + /DCX + (doublecortin) co-labeled cells, expressions of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), activity-regulated cytoskeletal-associated protein (Arc), early growth response 1 (Egr-1), SIRT1, PGC-1α and FNDC5, and long-term potentiation (LTP) were evaluated in the hippocampus. Repeated exposures to sevoflurane induced deficits in OL, NOR and contextual FC tests in male but not female mice. Similarly, adult hippocampal neurogenesis, synaptic plasticity-related proteins and hippocampal LTP were impaired after repeated exposures to sevoflurane in male but not female mice, which could rescue by lactate treatment. Our study suggests that repeated neonatal exposures to sevoflurane inhibit adult hippocampal neurogenesis and induce defects of synaptic plasticity in male but not female mice, which may contribute to long-term cognitive impairment. Lactate treatment rescues these abnormalities through activation of SIRT1.

Silver nanoparticles within the pore channels of selectively grafted mesoporous silica SBA-15 were synthesized. Silanols on the external surface of as-SBA-15 were first capped by –Si(CH3)3 groups. After removal of the template of capped SBA-15 by calcination, silanols on the internal surface of SBA-15 were modified by 3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APTMS), and then formaldehyde was grafted by amino groups of APTMS, and further Ag(NH3)2NO3SBA-15). High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transformation infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), nitrogen adsorption/desorption isotherms, and UV-vis spectra confirm that the silver nanoparticles have been confined inside the channels of SBA-15. In addition, the Ag-mSBA-15 modified electrode (Ag-mSBA-15/GC) exhibited an excellent electrocatalytic activity toward the reduction of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). The proposed H2O2 sensor exhibits a linear range of 48.5 μM–0.97 M with a detection limit of 12 μM (S/N=3 ) and analytical time of 10 seconds per sample.