We report a facile synthetic protocol to prepare mesoporous FeS without the aid of hard template as an electrocatalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The mesoporous FeS materials with high surface area were successfully prepared by a sol-gel method following a sulfurization treatment in an HS atmosphere. A remarkable HER catalytic performance was achieved with a low overpotential of 96 mV at a current density of 10 mA·cm and a Tafel slope of 78 mV per decade under alkaline conditions (pH 13). The theoretical calculations indicate that the excellent catalytic activity of mesoporous FeS is attributed to the exposed (210) facets. The mesoporous FeS material might be a promising alternative to the Pt-based electrocatalysts for water splitting.

The high photocatalytic activity of mixed phase (80% anatase and 20% rutile) titanium dioxide (Degussa P25) has attracted a great deal of interest in recent years. However, its low efficiency in visible light and nonporous nature limits the potential use and capabilities. Here, we report a novel preparation method for crystalline, thermally stable (up to 800 °C) TiO2 materials with tunable anatase/rutile phase compositions (0–100%) and monomodal mesoporosity. The control of the phase compositions was achieved by framework vanadium doping and various applied heat treatments. Vanadium (0% to 10% doping) decreased the anatase–rutile transformation temperature (from 1000 to 600 °C) and shifted the absorption band to the visible light region (narrowed the band gap). The mesopore structure was preserved in mixed phase TiO2. These materials are members of the recently discovered University of Connecticut (UCT) mesoporous materials family. The UCT materials are randomly packed nanoparticle aggregates and mesopores that are formed by connected intraparticle voids. The synthesis of UCT materials relies on controlling the sol–gel chemistry of inorganic sols in inverse surfactant micelles and NOx (nitric oxides) chemistry. The visible light (>400 nm) photocatalytic activity of mixed phase mesoporous titania samples was studied. The highest photocatalytic activity was obtained by mesoporous titania with 61% anatase and 39% rutile composition. The catalyst can totally remove (100% conversion) methylene blue dye (MB) under visible light irradiation in 2 h, whereas commercial P25 was only able to remove 28% under the same reaction conditions. The mixed phase mesoporous material also shows high photocatalytic activity for degrading phenol and 4-chlorophenol under visible light irradiation. Moreover, the good crystallinity, high surface area (94 m2/g), and monomodal mesoporosity (around 5 nm) can be preserved even after three cycles of photocatalytic reactions.

The paradoxical coexistence of spontaneous tumor antigen-specific immune response with progressive disease in cancer patients need to dissect the molecular pathways involved in tumor-induced T-cell dysfunction or exhaustion. Programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) has been identified as a marker of exhausted T cells in chronic disease states, and blockade of PD-1-PD-L1 interactions has been shown to partially restore T-cell function. We have found that T-cell immunoglobulin mucin (Tim) 3 is expressed on CD8+ tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) isolated from patients with colorectal cancer. All T-cell immunoglobulin mucin 3 (Tim-3+) TILs coexpress PD-1, and Tim-3+ PD-1+ CD8+ TILs represent the predominant fraction of Tcells infiltrating tumors. Tim-3+PD-1+ CD8+ TILs exhibit the most severe exhausted phenotype as defined by failure to produce cytokines, such as interferon-γ, tumor necrosis factor-α, and interleukin-2. We further find that combined targeting of the Tim-3 and PD-1 pathways increased the frequencies of not only interferon-γ and tumor necrosis factor-α but also frequencies of proliferating tumor antigen-specific CD8+ T cells than targeting either pathway alone. A concomitant decrease in regulatory T cells and enhanced killing in a cytotoxicity assay was observed. Collectively, our findings support the use of Tim-3-Tim-3L blockade together with PD-1-PD-L1 blockade to reverse tumor-induced T-cell exhaustion/dysfunction in patients with colorectal cancer.

BackgroundIn order to identify miRNAs expression profiling from genome-wide screen for diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and angina pectoris (AP), we investigated the altered profile of serum microRNAs in AMI and AP patients at a relative early stage.MethodsSerum samples were taken from 117 AMI patients, 182 AP patients and 100 age-and gender-matched controls. An initial screening of miRNAs expression was performed by Solexa sequencing. Differential expression was validated using RT-qPCR in individuals samples, the samples were arranged in a two-phase selection and validation.ResultsThe Solexa sequencing results demonstrated marked upregulation of serum miRNAs in AMI patients compared with controls. RT-qPCR analysis identified a profile of six serum miRNAs (miR-1, miR-134, miR-186, miR-208, miR-223 and miR-499) as AMI biomarkers. MiR-208 and miR-499 were elevated higher in AP cases than in AMI cases. The ROC curves indicated a panel of six miRNAs has a great potential to offer sensitive and specific diagnostic tests for AMI. More especially, the panel of six miRNAs presents significantly differences between the AMI and AP cases.ConclusionsThe six-miRNAs signature identified from genome-wide serum miRNA expression profiling may serves as a fingerprint for AMI and AP diagnosis.

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