Pd@N-doped carbon (Pd@CN) exhibited four and two times higher peak current density toward ethanol electrooxidation than Pd@active carbon and Pd@non-nitrogen carbon. Controlled experimental results indicated that the incorporation of nitrogen into the carbon matrix improved the percentage of Pd(0) and increased the binding energy of Pd in Pd@CN, and accordingly enhanced the catalytic activity.

—In desert environments seeds are often heterogeneously distributed in small patches that vary in number of seed species and in seed density. Because seed harvest by rodents is often density dependent (a larger proportion of seeds is removed from high-density seed patches than from low-density patches), the proportion of residual or post-harvest seeds should be greater in low-density patches. I...

Urban green space is an important refuge of biodiversity in urban areas. Therefore, it is crucial to understand the relationship between the landscape pattern of green spaces and biodiversity to mitigate the negative effects of urbanization. In this study, we collected insects from 45 green patches in Beijing during July 2012 using suction sampling. The green patches were dominated by managed l...

Breast density descriptors were estimated from ultrasound tomography (UST) and digital mammogram (DM) images of 46 anthropomorphic software breast phantoms. Each phantom simulated a 450 ml or 700 ml breast with volumetric percent density (PD) values between 10% and 50%. The UST based volumetric breast density (VBD) estimates were calculated by thresholding the reconstructed UST images. Percent ...

The programmed cell death-1 (PD-1)/programmed cell death-1 ligand (PD-L1) pathway has been shown to play a pivotal role in tumor evasion. Inhibition of PD-1 and its ligand PD-L1 using an immune checkpoint inhibitor has emerged as a promising immunotherapy for the treatment of various types of cancer. The expression of PD-L1 in tumor cells and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) has been shown...

We have performed density functional theory (DFT) quantum periodic calculations to investigate the interaction between atomic Pd and oxide surfaces of ZrO2(110), MgO(100), and CeO2(110). In this calculation, Pd adsorption energy on the surface oxygen atom sites of those oxide surfaces correlated with the position of the d electron density center of Pd atom except for on the surface metal atom s...

Crohn's disease is a chronic inflammatory condition most commonly affecting the ileum and colon. The aetiology of Crohn's disease is complex and may include defects in peptidoglycan recognition, and/or failures in the establishment of intestinal tolerance. We have recently described a novel constitutive endogenous delivery system for the translocation of nanomineral-antigen-peptidoglycan (NAP) ...

Limited information is available regarding the immune-related prognostic factors of patients with advanced hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (HPSCC). The expression of programmed cell death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) in tumor cells contributes to a mechanism that allows cancer cells to escape immune surveillance. We investigated whether PD-L1 or human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I expression in tu...

Bimetallic Pt-Pd core-shell nanocrystals (NCs) are synthesized through a two-step process with controlled Pd thickness from sub-monolayer to multiple atomic layers. The oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalytic activity and methanol oxidation reactivity of the core-shell NCs for fuel cell applications in alkaline solution are systematically studied and compared based on different Pd thickness. ...

seed bank is a central topic for plant community restoration. we determined the potential and regeneration capacity of soil seed banks of woody plant patches in conservation of the vegetation in an alpine habitat, since vegetation has completely disappeared in some sites by intensive grazing in the habitat. the study was done in mountainous area of alborz in iran. a total of 20 individual shrub...