Elucidating the signalling mechanisms by which obesity leads to impaired insulin action is critical in the development of therapeutic strategies for the treatment of diabetes. Recently, mice deficient for S6 Kinase 1 (S6K1), an effector of the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) that acts to integrate nutrient and insulin signals, were shown to be hypoinsulinaemic, glucose intolerant and have reduced β-cell mass. However, S6K1-deficient mice maintain normal glucose levels during fasting, suggesting hypersensitivity to insulin, raising the question of their metabolic fate as a function of age and diet. Here, we report that S6K1-deficient mice are protected against obesity owing to enhanced β-oxidation. However on a high fat diet, levels of glucose and free fatty acids still rise in S6K1-deficient mice, resulting in insulin receptor desensitization. Nevertheless, S6K1-deficient mice remain sensitive to insulin owing to the apparent loss of a negative feedback loop from S6K1 to insulin receptor substrate 1 (IRS1), which blunts S307 and S636/S639 phosphorylation; sites involved in insulin resistance. Moreover, wild-type mice on a high fat diet as well as K/K Ay and ob/ob (also known as Lep/Lep) micetwo genetic models of obesityhave markedly elevated S6K1 activity and, unlike S6K1-deficient mice, increased phosphorylation of IRS1 S307 and S636/S639. Thus under conditions of nutrient satiation S6K1 negatively regulates insulin signalling.

Absence of S6K1 protects against age- and diet-induced obesity while enhancing insulin sensitivity. [Erratum: 2004 Sept. 23, v. 431, no. 7007, p. 485.]

Water oxidation is a key chemical transformation for the conversion of solar energy into chemical fuels Our review focuses on recent work on robust earth-abundant heterogeneous catalysts for the oxygen-evolving reaction (OER) We point out that improvements in the performance of OER catalysts will depend critically on the success of work aimed at understanding reaction barriers based on atomic-level mechanisms We highlight the challenge of obtaining acid-stable OER catalysts, with proposals for elements that could be employed to reach this goal We suggest that future advances in solar fuels science will be accelerated by the development of new methods for materials synthesis and characterization, along with in-depth investigations of redox mechanisms at catalytic surfaces

Earth-Abundant Heterogeneous Water Oxidation Catalysts

Electrocatalytic oxygen evolution reaction for energy conversion and storage: A comprehensive review

Haegyeom Kim,†,∥ Jihyun Hong,†,∥ Kyu-Young Park,†,∥ Hyungsub Kim,†,∥ Sung-Wook Kim, and Kisuk Kang*,†,‡ †Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Research Institute of Advanced Materials (RIAM), Seoul National University, Gwanak-ro 1, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 151-742, Republic of Korea ‡Center for Nanoparticle Research, Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Seoul National University, Gwanak-ro 1, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 151-742, Republic of Korea Nuclear Fuel Cycle Development Group, Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, 989-111 Daedeok-daero, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-353, Republic of Korea

Aqueous Rechargeable Li and Na Ion Batteries

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Studies in Surface Science and Catalysis

Recent Progress on Multimetal Oxide Catalysts for the Oxygen Evolution Reaction

The development of efficient and stable water oxidation catalysts is necessary for the realization of practically viable water-splitting systems. Although extensive studies have focused on the metal-oxide catalysts, the effect of metal coordination on the catalytic ability remains still elusive. Here we select four cobalt-based phosphate catalysts with various cobalt- and phosphate-group coordination as a platform to better understand the catalytic activity of cobalt-based materials. Although they exhibit various catalytic activities and stabilities during water oxidation, Na2CoP2O7 with distorted cobalt tetrahedral geometry shows high activity comparable to that of amorphous cobalt phosphate under neutral conditions, along with high structural stability. First-principles calculations suggest that the surface reorganization by the pyrophosphate ligand induces a highly distorted tetrahedral geometry, where water molecules can favourably bind, resulting in a low overpotential (∼0.42 eV). Our findings emphasize the importance of local cobalt coordination in the catalysis and suggest the possible effect of polyanions on the water oxidation chemistry.

/pdf/coordination-tuning-of-cobalt-phosphates-towards-efficient-165p0nyfco.pdf

Coordination tuning of cobalt phosphates towards efficient water oxidation catalyst

The development of a water oxidation catalyst has been a demanding challenge for the realization of overall water-splitting systems. Although intensive studies have explored the role of Mn element in water oxidation catalysis, it has been difficult to understand whether the catalytic capability originates mainly from either the Mn arrangement or the Mn valency. In this study, to decouple these two factors and to investigate the role of Mn valency on catalysis, we selected a new pyrophosphate-based Mn compound (Li2MnP2O7), which has not been utilized for water oxidation catalysis to date, as a model system. Due to the monophasic behavior of Li2MnP2O7 with delithiation, the Mn valency of Li2-xMnP2O7 (x = 0.3, 0.5, 1) can be controlled with negligible change in the crystal framework (e.g., volume change ∼1%). Moreover, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, ex-situ X-ray absorption near-edge structure, galvanostatic charging–discharging, and cyclic voltammetry analysi...

A New Water Oxidation Catalyst: Lithium Manganese Pyrophosphate with Tunable Mn Valency

The development of a high-performance oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalyst is pivotal for the practical realization of a water-splitting system. Although an extensive search for OER catalysts has been performed in the past decades, cost-effective catalysts remain elusive. Herein, an amorphous cobalt phyllosilicate (ACP) with layered crystalline motif prepared by a room-temperature precipitation is introduced as a new OER catalyst; this material exhibits a remarkably low overpotential (η ≈ 367 mV for a current density of 10 mA cm-2 ). A structural investigation using X-ray absorption spectroscopy reveals that the amorphous structure contains layered motifs similar to the structure of CoOOH, which is demonstrated to be responsible for the OER catalysis based on density functional theory calculations. However, the calculations also reveal that the local environment of the active site in the layered crystalline motif in the ACP is significantly modulated by the silicate, leading to a substantial reduction of η of the OER compared with that of CoOOH. This work proposes amorphous phyllosilicates as a new group of efficient OER catalysts and suggests that tuning of the catalytic activity by introducing redox-inert groups may be a new unexplored avenue for the design of novel high-performance catalysts.

Amorphous Cobalt Phyllosilicate with Layered Crystalline Motifs as Water Oxidation Catalyst.

This study aimed to investigate the predictive efficacy of positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for the pathological response of advanced breast cancer to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). The breast PET/MRI image deep learning model was introduced and compared with the conventional methods. PET/CT and MRI parameters were evaluated before and after the first NAC cycle in patients with advanced breast cancer [n = 56; all women; median age, 49 (range 26–66) years]. The maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax), metabolic tumor volume (MTV), and total lesion glycolysis (TLG) were obtained with the corresponding baseline values (SUV0, MTV0, and TLG0, respectively) and interim PET images (SUV1, MTV1, and TLG1, respectively). Mean apparent diffusion coefficients were obtained from baseline and interim diffusion MR images (ADC0 and ADC1, respectively). The differences between the baseline and interim parameters were measured (ΔSUV, ΔMTV, ΔTLG, and ΔADC). Subgroup analysis was performed for the HER2-negative and triple-negative groups. Datasets for convolutional neural network (CNN), assigned as training (80%) and test datasets (20%), were cropped from the baseline (PET0, MRI0) and interim (PET1, MRI1) images. Histopathologic responses were assessed using the Miller and Payne system, after three cycles of chemotherapy. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was used to assess the performance of the differentiating responders and non-responders. There were six responders (11%) and 50 non-responders (89%). The area under the curve (AUC) was the highest for ΔSUV at 0.805 (95% CI 0.677–0.899). The AUC was the highest for ΔSUV at 0.879 (95% CI 0.722–0.965) for the HER2-negative subtype. AUC improved following CNN application (SUV0:PET0 = 0.652:0.886, SUV1:PET1 = 0.687:0.980, and ADC1:MRI1 = 0.537:0.701), except for ADC0 (ADC0:MRI0 = 0.703:0.602). PET/MRI image deep learning model can predict pathological responses to NAC in patients with advanced breast cancer.

/pdf/early-prediction-of-neoadjuvant-chemotherapy-response-for-1pnqm6fiqd.pdf

Hyun-Ah Kim

Papers

Recent Progress on Multimetal Oxide Catalysts for the Oxygen Evolution Reaction

Coordination tuning of cobalt phosphates towards efficient water oxidation catalyst

A New Water Oxidation Catalyst: Lithium Manganese Pyrophosphate with Tunable Mn Valency

Amorphous Cobalt Phyllosilicate with Layered Crystalline Motifs as Water Oxidation Catalyst.

Early prediction of neoadjuvant chemotherapy response for advanced breast cancer using PET/MRI image deep learning.