Glucose Precursors Research Articles

Enhanced microwave absorption in graphene-based composites: A study on the synergistic effect of ferrite integration and electromagnetic coupling

Graphene integration with magnetic particles demonstrates a synergistic enhancement in dielectric and magnetic loss properties, facilitating the realization of absorbing materials that are strong, broadband, lightweight, and thin. This study achieved uniform dispersion of ferrite on the surface of in-situ synthesized high-conductivity graphene, utilizing an economical liquid glucose precursor and cobalt ferrite sintering process. An interface consisting of iron carbide and cobalt-iron alloy forms between the graphene and cobalt ferrite, significantly enhancing the samples’ microwave absorption performance. Furthermore, the magnetic loss is notably enhanced through the coupling of soft and hard magnetic materials. Consequently, a composite material consisting of Graphene/Fe3C/CoFe2/CoFe2O4, with a minimal thickness of 1.85 mm, demonstrated an impressive minimum reflection loss of −48.8 dB and a notable absorption bandwidth extending over 4.04 GHz. This research will offer an effective approach for developing high-performance microwave absorption materials using graphene-based composite magnetic materials.

Glucokathexis.

Glucokathexis is a clinical state characterized by low plasma glucose levels, in the presence of adequate glucose precursor stores. We conceive and construct this rubric to initiate interest and inspire insight into this field of metabolic medicine. We list various conditions that can cause true as well as pseudo-glucokathexis.

The impact of carbon nanoparticles derived from sucrose, glucose, and fructose precursors on the performance of fully printed perovskite solar cells

Carbon nanoparticles (CNPs) have emerged as promising biomaterials with applications in energy harvesting devices such as nanogenerators, photovoltaic devices, and electrochemical energy storage. Fully printed perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are gaining attention in solar cell technology. However, the use of CNPs, specifically those synthesized from different carbohydrate precursors (monosaccharide and disaccharide), in fully printed PSCs is not well-explored. This study investigates the impact of CNPs derived from sucrose, glucose, and fructose precursors on the photovoltaic performance of fully printed PSCs with FTO/TiO2/ZrO2/CNPs/Carbon structure. Incorporating CNPs into fully printed PSCs resulted in a notable increase in power conversion efficiency (PCE) compared to cells without CNPs. PSCs with CNPs derived from fructose achieved an impressive PCE of 9.67%, surpassing the 7.91% PCE observed in PSCs without the inclusion of CNPs. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) was employed to assess charge transfer at contact interfaces. The synthesized CNPs underwent comprehensive characterization through various techniques such as transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL), and cyclic voltammetry (CV).

Highly Stable Carbon‐Shell Encapsulated Ni−Cu Bimetallic Catalysts for Efficient Conversion of Levulinic Acid to γ‐Valerolactone

AbstractNon‐noble Ni−Cu alloys serve as an alternative catalytic material for noble metal‐based catalysts that could be applied in the efficient conversion of levulinic acid (LA) into the high value γ‐valerolactone (GVL). However, maintaining the catalytic stability for Ni−Cu nanoparticles in the LA hydrogenation process remains a substantial challenge, Herein, this problem is solved by constructing carbon‐protected catalytic sites within carbon layer‐coated Ni−Cu nanoalloy composite via pyrolysis of NiCux(OH)/glucose precursor. The optimized NiCu0.68@C catalyst exhibits excellent stability and selectivity to GVL (>99 %) in the hydrogenation of LA reaction. Various characterization indicates that the enhancement in stability originates from the protective effect of the carbon layer, which prevents the metal leaching, oxidation and aggregation of Ni−Cu nanoparticles during the reaction process. This work greatly advances non‐noble metal‐catalyzed conversion of LA to GVL and helps the rational design of bimetallic catalysts.

Bio‐Inspired Microreactors Continuously Synthesize Glucose Precursor from CO2 with an Energy Conversion Efficiency 3.3 Times of Rice (Adv. Sci. 6/2024)

Bio‐Inspired Microreactors Continuously Synthesize Glucose Precursor from CO₂ with an Energy Conversion Efficiency 3.3 Times of Rice (Adv. Sci. 6/2024)

Bio-Inspired Microreactors Continuously Synthesize Glucose Precursor from CO2 with an Energy Conversion Efficiency 3.3 Times of Rice.

Excessive CO2 and food shortage are two grand challenges of human society. Directly converting CO2 into food materials can simultaneously alleviate both, like what green crops do in nature. Nevertheless, natural photosynthesis has a limited energy efficiency due to low activity and specificity of key enzyme D-ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RuBisCO). To enhance the efficiency, many prior studies focused on engineering the enzymes, but this study chooses to learn from the nature to design more efficient reactors. This work is original in mimicking the stacked structure of thylakoids in chloroplasts to immobilize RuBisCO in a microreactor using the layer-by-layer strategy, obtaining the continuous conversion of CO2 into glucose precursor at 1.9nmol min-1 with enhanced activity (1.5 times), stability (≈8 times), and reusability (96% after 10 reuses) relative to the free RuBisCO. The microreactors are further scaled out from one to six in parallel and achieve the production at 15.8nmol min-1 with an energy conversion efficiency of 3.3 times of rice, showing better performance of this artificial synthesis than NPS in terms of energy conversion efficiency. The exploration of the potential of mass production would benefit both food supply and carbon neutralization.

Construction of glucose precursor carbon/TiO2 heterojunction with high ligand-to-metal charge transfer (LMCT) for visible light driven CO2 reduction

Well-designed fabrication of glucose precursor carbon-doped TiO2 heterojunction with high Ligand-to-Metal Charge Transfer (LMCT) for enhancing photocatalytic CO2 conversion has been examined. Photocatalysts were fabricated using a single-step thermal method and tested in a fixed-bed reactor under visible light. The 6 % glucose precursor carbon-doped over TiO2 (6 %C/TiO2) photocatalyst has demonstrated excellent activity in converting CO2 to CO and CH4 under visible light. The main product yield, CO of 739.9 μmol g-cat−1 was produced over 6 %C/TiO2, which is 4.4 folds the amount of CO obtained over TiO2 (168.7 μmol g-cat−1). The XPS findings reveal the presence of different surface components containing C-OH, CC, and CO functional groups, which contribute to the formation of a ligand-metal-charge-transfer (LMCT) complex between carbon and TiO2 photocatalyst. Carbon-doped TiO2 possesses a narrow energy band and the ability to effectively absorb solar light, which enables efficient transportation of electrons generated by photon excitation. The mechanism of the carbon-doped TiO2 in CO2 conversion to CO and CH4 is postulated to be consistent with the LMCT complex phenomena. Therefore, carbon-doped TiO2 provides heterojunction for localization of electrons, impedes the rate at which charges recombine, and reduces the band gap energy, leading to improved photocatalytic performance when exposed to visible light.

Well-designed glucose precursor carbon/g-C3N4 nanocomposite for enhanced visible light photocatalytic CO2 reduction activity

Fabrication of glucose precursor carbon-doped g-C3N4 nanocomposite (C/g-C3N4) for enhancing photocatalytic CO2 reduction into syngas (CO, CH4) has been investigated. The samples were successfully synthesized via a two-step thermal treatment and tested in a fixed bed reactor under visible light. The 0.2 % glucose precursor carbon-doped over g-C3N4 photocatalyst has demonstrated excellent activity in converting CO2 to CO and CH4 under visible light. The main product yield, CO of 898.9 μmol g-cat−1 was produced over 0.2 % C/g-C3N4, which is 4.6 folds the amount of CO obtained over the g-C3N4 (196.8 μmol g-cat−1). The XPS results confirmed the formation of a C-O-C bond between carbon and g-C3N4, resulting in a strong interaction between carbon and g-C3N4. Carbon-doped g-C3N4 possesses a narrow energy band and the ability to effectively absorb solar light, which enables efficient transportation of electrons generated by photon excitation. Possible reaction mechanisms for photoreduction of CO2 over carbon-doped g-C3N4 photocatalyst were proposed in order to understand the movement of electrons and holes. This work provides a simple method for designing highly efficient carbon-based photocatalysts for potential application in photocatalytic CO2 reduction using solar energy.

Scaling-up of carbon dots hydrothermal synthesis from sugars in a continuous flow microreactor system for biomedical application as in vitro antimicrobial drug nanocarrier

ABSTRACT Carbon dots (CDs) are a new class of nanomaterials exhibiting high biocompatibility, water solubility, functionality, and tunable fluorescence (FL) property. Due to the limitations of batch hydrothermal synthesis in terms of low CDs yield and long synthesis duration, this work aimed to increase its production capacity through a continuous flow reactor system. The influence of temperature and time was first studied in a batch reactor for glucose, xylose, sucrose and table sugar precursors. CDs synthesized from sucrose precursor exhibited the highest quantum yield (QY) (175.48%) and the average diameter less than 10 nm (~6.8 ± 1.1 nm) when synthesized at 220°C for 9 h. For a flow reactor system, the best condition for CDs production from sucrose was 1 mL min−1 flow rate at 280°C, and 0.2 MPa pressure yielding 53.03% QY and ~ 6.5 ± 0.6 nm average diameter (6.6 mg min−1 of CDs productivity). CDs were successfully used as ciprofloxacin (CP) nanocarrier for antimicrobial activity study. The cytotoxicity study showed that no effect of CDs on viability of L-929 fibroblast cells was detected until 1000 µg mL−1 CDs concentration. This finding demonstrates that CDs synthesized via a flow reactor system have a high zeta potential and suitable surface properties for nano-theranostic applications.

Sodium chloride assisted synthesis of porous magnetic carbon nanocomposites containing cobalt nanoparticles for high-performance electromagnetic wave-absorption

High-performance electromagnetic wave-absorbing materials have attracted much attention owing to their wide application in military stealth, camouflage, and electromagnetic protection. Carbon materials have more advantages in achieving the performance goals of thin, light, wide, and strong absorption. The combination of ferromagnetic components is commonly used to further improve the absorption ability of carbon materials. Herein, porous Co/C nanocomposites attached with different Co content were prepared through the sodium chloride assisted carbonization process of glucose precursor containing cobalt salts. Dipole polarizations and dielectric relaxation in the carbon matrix, as well as interfacial polarizations at the heterogeneous interfaces collectively contributed to the total dielectric loss. Meanwhile, the existence of Co nanoparticles effectively improved the magnetic properties and increased magnetic loss. In addition, the impedance matching performance was also improved. As a result, the prepared Co/C nanocomposites achieved an absorption bandwidth of nearly 6 GHz, covering almost the whole Ku band from 12.1 to 18.0 GHz. And the minimum reflection loss exceeded −60 dB. This work provided a simpler and more effective approach to prepare high-performance absorbing materials.

Effects of dietary starch and ruminally undegraded protein on glucogenic precursors in lactating dairy cows

Gluconeogenesis is a large contributor to the blood supply of glucose carbons. The impact of varying dietary starch and ruminally degraded protein (RDP) on glucose entry, and the contributions of propionate and lactate to total plasma glucose entry were evaluated. Six cannulated, lactating, Holstein cows were fed one of four treatment diets arranged as a 2 × 2 factorial within a 4 × 4 partially replicated Latin Square design: (1) 8% RDP (LRDP) and 16% starch (LSt), (2) LRDP and 30% starch (HSt), (3) 11% RDP (HRDP) and LSt, or (4) HRDP and HSt. On d 12 of each period, 2-[13C]-sodium propionate (0.15 g/h) was ruminally infused for 4 h; on d 13, 1,2-[13C2]-glucose (0.2 g/h) was infused into the jugular vein for 1 h followed by 1-[13C]-lactate (0.1 g/h) for 1 h. Blood samples were serially collected starting prior to the infusions, and analyzed for plasma glucose, propionate, and lactate isotopic ratios. A one-compartment, glucose carbon model with inputs from lactate, propionate, and other glucogenic precursors (Oth, primarily absorbed glucose plus amino acids) was fitted to the isotope ratio data to derive glucose entry rates and conversion of the precursors to glucose. Milk protein production additively increased when HSt and HRDP were fed (P = 0.05 and P = 0.02, respectively). Plasma glucose and propionate concentrations increased with HSt (P = 0.04 and P = 0.01, respectively) and LRDP (P = 0.02 and P < 0.01, respectively). Total glucose and Oth entry increased (P = 0.03 and P = 0.03, respectively) with HSt, indicating greater glucose absorption from the small intestine or conversion of amino acids to glucose in the liver. However, neither entry rate was affected by RDP. The lack of an RDP effect suggests the increase in microbial outflow in response to RDP did not significantly alter glucose precursor supplies. Entry rates of propionate and lactate carbon to glucose carbon were not affected by treatment suggesting that neither starch nor RDP significantly affected fermentation or lactate production. Derivation of absolute entry rates and contributions to glucose using isotopic tracers is complicated by single carbon removals in the pentose phosphate (PPP), tri-carboxylic acid (TCA), and gluconeogenic pathways, and label randomization with the PPP and TCA pathways. Multiple tracers must be used to avoid assumptions regarding the proportional entries. These results provide insights on glucose supply and contributors, and draw attention to significant label cycling when utilizing isotope techniques.

Pregnancy Toxaemia in Goat: a Case Report

A four years old Khari goat was brought to Madi Veterinary Hospital with the history of parturition 3 days ago with triplet’s kid, in- appetence and weakness. Vitals signs were within normal physiological range. Laboratory diagnosis revealed low glucose level (27 mg/dl) and was diagnosed as pregnancy toxemia on the basis of clinical and laboratory findings. Calcium-borogluconate, corticosteroid, B-complex and jiggery were given as glucose replacement, glucose precursor, metabolic supporter and source of glucose respectively. Goat became responsive with after two days of treatment.

Interleukin 6 acutely increases gluconeogenesis and decreases the suppressive effect of insulin on cAMP-stimulated glycogenolysis in rat liver.

Interleukin 6 (IL6) is an multifunctional cytokine that modulates several biological responses, including glucose metabolism. However, its acute effects on hepatic glucose release are still uncertain. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of IL6 on gluconeogenesis from several glucose precursors (alanine, pyruvate and glutamine) and on the suppressive action of insulin on cAMP-stimulated glycogen catabolism in rat liver. IL6 effect on insulin peripheral sensitivity was also evaluated. IL6 was injected intravenously into rats and, 1 h later, gluconeogenesis and glycogenolysis were assessed in liver perfusion and peripheral insulin sensitivity by insulin tolerance test (ITT). IL6 intravenous injection increased hepatic glucose production from alanine, without changing pyruvate, lactate and urea production. IL6 injection also increased hepatic glucose production from pyruvate and glutamine. In addition, IL6 decreased the suppressive effect of insulin on cAMP-stimulated glucose and lactate production and glycogenolysis, without affecting pyruvate production. Furthermore, IL6 reduced the plasma glucose disappearance constant (kITT), an indicator of insulin resistance. In conclusion, IL6 acutely increased hepatic glucose release (gluconeogenesis and glycogenolysis) by a mechanism that likely involved the induction of insulin resistance in the liver, as evidenced by the reduced suppressive effect of insulin on cAMP-stimulated glycogen catabolism. In consistency, IL6 acutely induced peripheral insulin resistance.

Dairy Cows Are Limited in Their Ability to Increase Glucose Availability for Immune Function during Disease.

Shortages of energy and glucose have been hypothesized to play a key role in the development of and responses to production diseases in dairy cows during early lactation. Given the importance of glucose for immune functions, we used a recently established method for the estimation of glucose balance (GB) to evaluate glucose availability during disease phases. A dataset comprising ration analyses as well as individual daily milk yields (MY), dry matter intake (DMI), body weights, and health records of 417 lactations (298 cows) was used to calculate individual daily GB and energy balance (EB). The magnitude and dynamics of MY, DMI, GB, and EB were evaluated in the weeks before, at, and after diagnoses of inflammatory diseases in different stages of early lactation from week in milk 1 to 15. Diagnoses were categorized as mastitis, claw and leg diseases, and other inflammatory diseases. Mixed linear models with a random intercept and slope term for each lactation were used to evaluate the effect of diagnosis on MY, DMI, GB, and EB while accounting for the background effects of week in milk, parity, season, and year. When unaffected by disease, in general, the GB of cows was close to zero in the first weeks of lactation and increased as lactation progressed. Weekly means of EB were negative throughout all lactation stages investigated. Disease decreased both the input of glucose precursors due to a reduced DMI as well as the output of glucose via milk due to a reduced MY. On average, the decrease in DMI was -1.5 (-1.9 to -1.1) kg and was proportionally higher than the decrease in MY, which averaged -1.0 (-1.4 to -0.6) kg. Mastitis reduced yield less than claw and leg disease or other diseases. On average, GB and EB were reduced by -3.8 (-5.6 to -2.1) mol C and -7.5 (-10.2 to -4.9) MJ in the week of diagnosis. This indicates the need to investigate strategies to increase the availability of glucogenic carbon for immune function during disease in dairy cows.

Polyacrylonitrile-Derived Carbon Nanocoating for Long-Life High-Power Phosphate Electrodes

Carbon-coating proved an efficient and reliable strategy to increase the power capabilities and lifetime of phosphate-based positive electrode materials for Li-ion batteries. In this work, we provide a systematic study on the influence of polyacrylonitrile-(PAN)-derived carbon coating on electrochemical properties of the nanosized Li-rich Li1+δ(Fe0.5Mn0.5)1−δPO4 (Li-rich LFMP) cathode material, as well as the characterization of carbon-coated composites by means of Raman spectroscopy for the determination of carbon graphitization degree, DF-STEM and STEM-EELS for the estimation of carbon layer thickness, uniformity and compositional homogeneity of the conductive layer respectively, and impedance spectroscopy for the determination of charge transfer resistances of the resulted composite electrodes in Li-based cells. Using PAN as a carbon coating precursor enables significantly enhancing the cycling stability of Li-rich LFMP/C compared to those conventionally obtained with the glucose precursor: up to 40% at high current loads of 5–10C retaining about 78 ± 2% of capacity after 1000 cycles. Varying the PAN-derived carbon content in the composites allows controlling the electrochemical response of the material triggering either a high-capacity or a high-power performance.

Effects of peripartal glucose precursor supplementation on lactation performance and metabolic health of primiparous and multiparous dairy cows.

Hyperketonemia remains a major metabolic issue of serious milk production and a major health concern in early lactation cows. Oral supplementation of glucose precursors (GP) can be used to prevent hyperketonemia in dairy cows. The objective of this study was to compare the beneficial effects of orally supplementing a mixture of GP on metabolic health indicators and milk production status of primiparous (PP) and multiparous (MP) dairy cows. Twenty-eight Holstein cows were blocked by expected date of parturition, previous lactation yield, and parity. The cows were randomly allocated to one of the four treatment groups (n = 7 cows/group) based on their parity and GP supplementation: i) PP cows fed basal diet only (PP-CON), ii) PP cows with oral supplementation of GP (PP-GP), iii) MP cows fed basal diet only (MP-CON), and iv) MP cows with oral supplementation of GP (MP-GP). Glucose precursor (glycoline liquid) was orally drenched (300 mL/d) in GP cows from 7 days prepartum through 7 days postpartum. Other than GP supplementation, all cows were fed similar pre- and postpartum basal diets. In both pre- and postpartum periods, serum glucose concentration was increased, whereas β-hydroxybutyrate and free fatty acids were decreased in GP cows compared with the CON cows. Milk yield and milk components were statistically not different between GP and CON cows over the first 9 week of lactation. The yield of actual milk, energy-corrected milk, 63-days cumulative milk, colostrum yield, and calf birth weight remained higher in MP cows compared with PP cows. Oral drenching of GP around calving can be recommended to successfully improve the metabolic health and reduce the negative effects of hyperketonemia not only in MP but also in PP dairy cows.

Effects of glucose pretreatment and boric acid content on the synthesizability of B4C ceramics

Synthesis of boron carbide (B4C) as one of the hardest materials on planet Earth is of particular importance due to its wide range of industrial and engineering applications. For this purpose, boric acid and polymers can be used as the boron and carbon sources, respectively. From the family of saccharides in polymeric materials, glucose has shown the best performance for the synthesis of B4C. In this research, untreated and pretreated (caramelized by heating) glucose precursors were selected and mixed with boric acid for subsequent pyrolysis and synthesis processes. X-ray diffractometry and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy confirmed that heat-treated glucose is a better carbon precursor for B4C synthesis. In order to evaluate the effect of the amount of boric acid, more than its stoichiometric ratio, additional amounts of boric acid (10-40%) were also examined and the excess amount of 30% was determined as the optimal value.

Effective production of Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-4-hydroxybutyrate) by engineered Halomonas bluephagenesis grown on glucose and 1,4-Butanediol

Halomonas bluephagenesis has been engineered to produce flexible copolymers P34HB or poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-4-hydroxybutyrate) from glucose and petrol-chemical precursor, γ-butyrolactone. Herein, gene cluster aldD-dhaT was constructed in recombinant H. bluephagenesis for catalyzing 1,4-butanediol (BDO) into 4-hydroxybutyrate, which could grow to 86 g L−1 dry cell mass (DCM) containing 77 wt% P(3HB-co-14 mol% 4HB) in 7-L bioreactor fed with glucose and bio-based BDO. Furthermore, 4HB monomer ratio could be increased to 16 mol% by engineered H. bluephagenesis TDH4-WZY254 with defected outer-membrane. Upon deletion of 4HB degradation pathway, followed by aldD-dhaT integration, the resulted H. bluephagenesis TDB141ΔAC was grown to 95 g L−1 DCM containing 79 wt% P(3HB-co-14 mol% 4HB) with a BDO conversion efficiency of 86% under fed-batch fermentation. Notably, 4HB molar ratio can be significantly improved to 21 mol% with negligible effects on cell growth and P34HB synthesis by adding 50% more BDO. This study successfully demonstrated a fully bio-based P34HB effectively produced by H. bluephagenesis.

Challenges in rabbit doe feeding, including the young doe

In this review is summarized the last knowledge on rabbit doe nutrition, to complement the current nutritional requirements and strategies for the young and adult rabbit does, considering the production, health, and welfare issues. The rabbit doe must reach an adequate maturity level (body condition) at first artificial insemination (AI) to face its productive life with minimal guarantees (around 7.0 mm of perirenal fat thickness, 2.8 ng/mL of plasma leptin concentration and around 18% and 15-20% of body protein and fat, respectively). This goal can be achieved by restricting feed intake from 12 weeks of age until first AI or feeding ad libitum with a fibrous diet (&lt;10.5 MJ digestible energy/kg) from 60 d of age to first parturition. Once the doe is reproducing, the increase of the n-3 fatty acids (or reduction of the n-6/n-3 ratio), soluble fibre (under epizootic enteropathy) and the Arg/Lys and Gln/Lys ratios may help to improve the reproductive traits of rabbit does, although their optimal level of inclusion remain to be identified. It is recommended to limit an excessive negative energy balance before parturition, and the supplementation of glucose precursors to reduce the ketosis incidence could be useful. The formulation of different diets for the doe and the litter to fit better their requirements and assuring their health would be an option to consider when it would be applicable in the farm. The influence of the mother on the litter microbiota and immune status and its potential modulation through the diet open a new research area that will deserve more studies in the next future.

Biomimetic reusable microfluidic reactors with physically immobilized RuBisCO for glucose precursor production

Reusable RuBisCO-immobilized microfluidic reactors are used to synthesize the glucose precursor from CO2 and restore &gt;95% of activity after refreshing.