Sichuan University

About: Sichuan University is a education organization based out in Chengdu, China. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Catalysis. The organization has 107623 authors who have published 102844 publications receiving 1612131 citations. The organization is also known as: Sìchuān Dàxué.

Stimuli-responsive nanocarriers for drug delivery, tumor imaging, therapy and theranostics.

Abstract: In recent years, much progress has been motivated in stimuli-responsive nanocarriers, which could response to the intrinsic physicochemical and pathological factors in diseased regions to increase the specificity of drug delivery. Currently, numerous nanocarriers have been engineered with physicochemical changes in responding to external stimuli, such as ultrasound, thermal, light and magnetic field, as well as internal stimuli, including pH, redox potential, hypoxia and enzyme, etc. Nanocarriers could respond to stimuli in tumor microenvironments or inside cancer cells for on-demanded drug delivery and accumulation, controlled drug release, activation of bioactive compounds, probes and targeting ligands, as well as size, charge and conformation conversion, etc., leading to sensing and signaling, overcoming multidrug resistance, accurate diagnosis and precision therapy. This review has summarized the general strategies of developing stimuli-responsive nanocarriers and recent advances, presented their applications in drug delivery, tumor imaging, therapy and theranostics, illustrated the progress of clinical translation and made prospects.

Genome-wide association study identifies a susceptibility locus for schizophrenia in Han Chinese at 11p11.2

Abstract: To identify susceptibility loci for schizophrenia, we performed a two-stage genome-wide association study (GWAS) of schizophrenia in the Han Chinese population (GWAS: 746 individuals with schizophrenia and 1,599 healthy controls; validation: 4,027 individuals with schizophrenia and 5,603 healthy controls). We identified two susceptibility loci for schizophrenia at 6p21-p22.1 (rs1233710 in an intron of ZKSCAN4, P(combined) = 4.76 × 10(-11), odds ratio (OR) = 0.79; rs1635 in an exon of NKAPL, P(combined) = 6.91 × 10(-12), OR = 0.78; rs2142731 in an intron of PGBD1, P(combined) = 5.14 × 10(-10), OR = 0.79) and 11p11.2 (rs11038167 near the 5' UTR of TSPAN18, P(combined) = 1.09 × 10(-11), OR = 1.29; rs11038172, P(combined) = 7.21 × 10(-10), OR = 1.25; rs835784, P(combined) = 2.73 × 10(-11), OR = 1.27). These results add to previous evidence of susceptibility loci for schizophrenia at 6p21-p22.1 in the Han Chinese population. We found that NKAPL and ZKSCAN4 were expressed in postnatal day 0 (P0) mouse brain. These findings may lead to new insights into the pathogenesis of schizophrenia.

Opportunities for biodiversity gains under the world/'s largest reforestation programme

Abstract: Reforestation is a critical means of addressing the environmental and social problems of deforestation. China’s Grain-for-Green Program (GFGP) is the world’s largest reforestation scheme. Here we provide the first nationwide assessment of the tree composition of GFGP forests and the first combined ecological and economic study aimed at understanding GFGP’s biodiversity implications. Across China, GFGP forests are overwhelmingly monocultures or compositionally simple mixed forests. Focusing on birds and bees in Sichuan Province, we find that GFGP reforestation results in modest gains (via mixed forest) and losses (via monocultures) of bird diversity, along with major losses of bee diversity. Moreover, all current modes of GFGP reforestation fall short of restoring biodiversity to levels approximating native forests. However, even within existing modes of reforestation, GFGP can achieve greater biodiversity gains by promoting mixed forests over monocultures; doing so is unlikely to entail major opportunity costs or pose unforeseen economic risks to households. China’s Grain for Green Program is the world’s largest reforestation program, encompassing tens of millions of hectares since 1999. Here, Hua et al. show that the majority of areas have been reforested with tree monocultures, but that planting mixed forests could increase animal biodiversity without imposing additional economic costs.

Nitrogen-rich porous carbon derived from biomass as a high performance anode material for lithium ion batteries

Abstract: Nitrogen-rich porous carbon derived from ox horns has been successfully synthesized through an economically viable and an environmentally benign approach Such an ox horn derived carbon (OHC) possesses a large surface area (BET surface area is 1300 m2 g−1), a unique 3D porous nanostructure and a high inherent nitrogen content (55%) The OHC, as an anode material for lithium ion batteries (LIBs), exhibits superior electrochemical performances, such as a high reversible capacity (1181 mA h g−1 at a current density of 100 mA g−1) and a superior rate capability (304 mA h g−1 at 5 A g−1) Furthermore, this study demonstrates the exploitation of a universal material in nature, viz, ox horn, as a potential anode for the most sought after energy storage application