Capacitive Properties of Mesoporous Mn-Co Oxide Derived from a Mixed Oxalate

A mesoporous Mn-Co oxide for supercapacitors was derived from a mixed oxalate Mn0.8Co0.2C2O4·nH2O, which was synthesized by a solid-state coordination reaction at room temperature. The synthesized mixed Mn-Co oxalate was decomposed in air at 250°C, resulting in a tetragonal spinel Mn-Co oxide with a primary particle size less than 100 nm. The obtained Mn-Co oxide presents a mesoporous texture with a specific surface area of 120 m2·g﹣1. Electrochemical properties of the Mn-Co oxide electrode were investigated by cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge/discharge in 6 mol·L﹣1 KOH electrolyte. The Mn-Co oxide electrode delivered specific capacitances of 383 and 225 F·g﹣1 at scan rates of 2 and 50 mV·s﹣1, respectively. Subjected to 500 cycles at a current density of 1.34 A·g﹣1, the symmetrical Mn-Co oxide capacitor showed specific capacitance of 179 F·g﹣1, still retaining ~85% of its initial capacitance. The obtained Mn-Co oxide material showed good capacitive performance, which was promising for supercapacitor applications.

Gene silencing efficiency of shRNA expression vectors targeting Cx43 in vitro

Our previous studies showed that there were close relationships between connexin 43(Cx43)and acupoints and meridians.In order to further investigate the effect of Cx43 in acupuncture treatment,RNA interference technique was used to construct small hairpin RNA(shRNA)expression vectors targeting Cx43 and identify the efficiency of RNA interference in NIH/3T3 cell lines for further use in vivo.Aiming directly at the two targets of Cx43 mRNA sequence of the rat and mouse homology region,we synthesized two pairs of comple-mentary oligonucleotide strands in vitro.Double strands were formed after annealing,and then inserted into Pgenesil-1 plasmid expression vector.After identification by enzyme cutting and sequencing,the recombinant plasmids named P-Cx43-shRNA(1),P-Cx43-shRNA(2)and P-con-shRNAwere transfected into the NIH/3T3 cells.Immunofluorescence and Western blot assays were used to detect the protein level of Cx43 after being screened by G418.The results of enzyme cutting and sequencing showed that we successfully constructed two shRNA expression vectors targeting Cx43,and a control expres-sion vector for rat and mouse.Also,the Cx43 protein level was decreased by 73.5%(P<0.01)and 10.8%,accord-ingly.The Cx43 protein level was not influenced by the transfection of P-con-shRNA.The outcomes demonstrate that the plasmid P-Cx43-shRNA(1)can specifically silence better the expression of Cx43 in NIH/3T3 cells,which offers an experimental evidence for further in vivo investigation.