A catalytic alkane metathesis provides a mild and selective degradation of polyethylene wastes into valuable fuels and waxes.

A unique Ir complex ( NC P)Ir with the pyridine-phosphine pincer as the sole ligand, featuring a dual agostic interaction between the Ir and two σ C-H bonds from a tBu substituent, has been prepared. This complex exhibits exceptionally high activity and excellent regio- and stereoselectivity for monoisomerization of 1-alkenes to trans-2-alkenes with wide functional-group tolerance. Reactions can be performed in neat reactant on a more than 100 gram scale using 0.005 mol % catalyst loadings with turnover numbers up to 19000.

Cervical cancer, the second most common type of cancer in women worldwide, is responsible for >275,100 mortalities each year and is associated with high-risk human papilloma virus (HR-HPV). HPVs have two important oncogenes, E6 and E7, which have crucial roles in malignant transformation in cervical cancer. Metastasis-associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript 1 (MALAT1) is a long non-coding RNA originally identified in non-small cell lung cancer. Previous studies have revealed that MALAT1 is expressed in numerous tissue types, and is significant in maintaining the normal function of the body. However, it also appeared to be notably upregulated in numerous carcinoma types compared with adjacent non-cancerous tissues. In the present study, it was identified that MALAT1 expression was upregulated in cervical cancer cell lines compared with normal cervical squamous cell samples. Further study into the effect of MALAT1 on cellular phenotype revealed that MALAT1 was able to promote cell migration and proliferation. Of note, it was revealed that the expression of MALAT1 was decreased with the knockdown of HPV16 E6/E7 in CaSki cells. Furthermore, the investigations in clinical samples also revealed that MALAT1 was expressed in HPV-positive cervical squamous cells, but not in HPV-negative normal cervical squamous cells. These results indicate that HPV correlates with MALAT1 deregulation in cervical cancer.

The metastasis-associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript 1(MALAT1), a member of the long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) family, has been reported to be highly enriched in many kinds of cancers and to be a metastasis marker and a prognostic factor. In this study, we found that MALAT1 expression levels were significantly increased in cervical cancer (CC) cells and tissues. The down-regulation of MALAT1 by shRNA in CC cells inhibited the invasion and metastasis in vitro and in vivo. Microarray analysis showed that the knockdown of MALAT1 up-regulated the epithelial markers E-cadherin and ZO-1, and down-regulated the mesenchymal markers β-catenin and Vimentin. This regulation was further confirmed by subsequent observation from RT-PCR, western blot, and immunofluorescence results. Meanwhile, the transcription factor snail, which functions to modulate epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), was also down-regulated at both transcript and protein levels by MALAT1 down-regulation. In addition, we found that MALAT1 expression levels were positively related to HPV infection in cervical epithelial tissues by microarray analysis. Taken together, these results suggest that MALAT1 functions to promote cervical cancer invasion and metastasis via induction of EMT, and it may be a target for the prevention and therapy of cervical cancers.

Iridium complexes of novel NCP pincer ligands containing pyridine and phosphinite arms have been synthesized. One Ir complex shows good catalytic activity for alkane dehydrogenation, and all complexes are highly active for olefin isomerization. A combination of the Ir complex and a (PNN)Fe pincer complex catalyzes the formation of linear alkylboronates selectively from internal olefins via sequential olefin isomerization-hydroboration.

Identification of the crystal plane effect of the Co derived from Co3O4 nanocrystals (NCs) on Fischer–Tropsch synthesis (FTS) is important for developing high-performance FTS solid catalysts. However, the achievement of this goal is hindered by the complexity of the FTS and the absence of sufficient crystallographic structure data. In this study, we report that the experimental FT performance of the Co catalysts depends on the exposed crystal facets of the Co3O4 NCs. The exposed Co3O4 NC {112} facets have the highest catalytic activity and the lowest methane selectivity (6.2%) in comparison to those of the {111} and {001} planes. The evolution of the crystal planes during the reduction was investigated further, and the preferred orientation relationship induced by the Co3O4 → Co transformation was {112} → {10–11}, {111} → {0001}, and {001} → {11–20}. CO temperature-programmed surface reaction experiments and density functional theory calculations further verified that the high FT performance of Co3O4{112} can be attributed to the specific surface topology of its active phase (i.e., Co{10–11}). Our findings clarify that the activity and selectivity of the FTS reaction can be enhanced by the selective exposure of a specific crystal plane from Co3O4 and could open an avenue for the rational design of high-performance FTS catalysts.

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Carbon nanofibers (CNFs), bamboo-like carbon nanotubes (CNTs), and chains of carbon nanospheres (CNSs) were produced selectively in large quantities in the pyrolysis of acetylene at 500, 600, and 700 °C, respectively, over Fe/SnO2 nanoparticles generated by means of a combined sol−gel and hydrogen-reduction method. One advantage of this approach is that there is no need of using a dilute gas such as argon or nitrogen. It is found that the pyrolysis temperature has considerable effect on the yield, morphology, and microwave-absorption properties of the obtained materials. The corresponding yields of CNFs, bamboo-like CNTs, and chains of CNSs are high, up to 25595, 36791, and 37039%, respectively. Thus, a simple and environment-friendly approach has been proposed for mass production of CNFs, bamboo-like CNTs, and chain of CNSs in a controllable manner. In addition, the as-prepared carbon materials are demonstrated to show good microwave-absorption properties. On the basis of the results, we propose a possible formation mechanism.