Tohoku University

About: Tohoku University is a education organization based out in Sendai, Japan. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Magnetization & Alloy. The organization has 72116 authors who have published 170791 publications receiving 3941714 citations. The organization is also known as: Tōhoku daigaku.

Templated nanocarbons for energy storage.

Abstract: The template carbonization method is a powerful tool for producing carbon materials with precisely controlled structures at the nanometer level. The resulting templated nanocarbons exhibit extraordinarily unique (often ordered) structures that could never be produced by any of the conventional methods for carbon production. This review summarizes recent publications about templated nanocarbons and their composites used for energy storage applications, including hydrogen storage, electrochemical capacitors, and lithium-ion batteries. The main objective of this review is to clarify the true significance of the templated nanocarbons for each application. For this purpose, the performance characteristics of almost all templated nanocarbons reported thus far are listed and compared with those of conventional materials, so that the advantages/disadvantages of the templated nanocarbons are elucidated. From the practical point of view, the high production cost and poor mass-producibility of the templated nanocarbons make them rather difficult to utilize; however, the study of their unique, specific, and ordered structures enables a deeper insight into energy storage mechanisms and the guidelines for developing energy storage materials. Thus, another important purpose of this work is to establish such general guidelines and to propose future strategies for the production of carbon materials with improved performance for energy storage applications.

The Human Phenotype Ontology in 2017

Abstract: Deep phenotyping has been defined as the precise and comprehensive analysis of phenotypic abnormalities in which the individual components of the phenotype are observed and described. The three components of the Human Phenotype Ontology (HPO; www.human-phenotype-ontology.org) project are the phenotype vocabulary, disease-phenotype annotations and the algorithms that operate on these. These components are being used for computational deep phenotyping and precision medicine as well as integration of clinical data into translational research. The HPO is being increasingly adopted as a standard for phenotypic abnormalities by diverse groups such as international rare disease organizations, registries, clinical labs, biomedical resources, and clinical software tools and will thereby contribute toward nascent efforts at global data exchange for identifying disease etiologies. This update article reviews the progress of the HPO project since the debut Nucleic Acids Research database article in 2014, including specific areas of expansion such as common (complex) disease, new algorithms for phenotype driven genomic discovery and diagnostics, integration of cross-species mapping efforts with the Mammalian Phenotype Ontology, an improved quality control pipeline, and the addition of patient-friendly terminology.

Roles of Fc receptors in autoimmunity.

Abstract: The receptors for the Fc of immunoglobulins, Fc receptors (FcRs), link the humoral and cellular branches of the immune system, and they have important functions in the activation and down-modulation of immune responses. Balanced signalling through activating and inhibitory FcRs regulates the activity of various cells in the immune system. Recent work in animal models indicates that the development of many human autoimmune diseases might be caused by impairment of the FcR regulatory system. This review provides an overview of the mechanisms of FcR-based immune regulation and describes how autoimmune disease might result from its dysfunction.

Accelerated Hydrogen Evolution Kinetics on NiFe-Layered Double Hydroxide Electrocatalysts by Tailoring Water Dissociation Active Sites.

Abstract: Owing to its earth abundance, low kinetic overpotential, and superior stability, NiFe-layered double hydroxide (NiFe-LDH) has emerged as a promising electrocatalyst for catalyzing water splitting, especially oxygen evolution reaction (OER), in alkaline solutions. Unfortunately, as a result of extremely sluggish water dissociation kinetics (Volmer step), hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity of the NiFe-LDH is rather poor in alkaline environment. Here a novel strategy is demonstrated for substantially accelerating the hydrogen evolution kinetics of the NiFe-LDH by partially substituting Fe atoms with Ru. In a 1 m KOH solution, the as-synthesized Ru-doped NiFe-LDH nanosheets (NiFeRu-LDH) exhibit excellent HER performance with an overpotential of 29 mV at 10 mA cm-2 , which is much lower than those of noble metal Pt/C and reported electrocatalysts. Both experimental and theoretical results reveal that the introduction of Ru atoms into NiFe-LDH can efficiently reduce energy barrier of the Volmer step, eventually accelerating its HER kinetics. Benefitting from its outstanding HER activity and remained excellent OER activity, the NiFeRu-LDH steadily drives an alkaline electrolyzer with a current density of 10 mA cm-2 at a cell voltage of 1.52 V, which is much lower than the values for Pt/C-Ir/C couple and state-of-the-art overall water-splitting electrocatalysts.