The MNS16A polymorphism in the TERT gene in peri-centenarians from the Han Chinese population

MNS16A, a variable number of tandem repeats polymorphism in the TERT gene, has been suggested to regulate telomerase activity. As telomerase activity has been reported to be related to life-span, we hypothesized that this polymorphism might affect human longevity by controlling the length of the telomere. To test this hypothesis, we collected 446 unrelated pericentenarian individuals （age）90, mean 94.45±3.45 years） and 332 normal controls （age 22-53, mean 35.0±12.0 years） from Dujiangyan, Sichuan, China. We typed the MNS16A polymorphism in both groups, and compared the allele and genotype frequencies between the peri-centenarian and control groups using the chi-squared test. There was no significant difference between the peri-centenarian and control groups. Thus, the MNS16A polymorphism in TERT might not influence human life-span, at least in the Hart Chinese population studied here.

Insight into the Reaction Mechanism of Graphene Oxide with Oxidative Free Radical

Graphene oxide（GO）, as an important derivative of graphene, could be considered as a super aromatic molecule decorated with a range of reactive oxygen-containing groups on its surface, which endows graphene high reactivity with other molecules. In our previous work, we demonstrated that GO sheets were cut into small pieces（graphene quantum dots, GQDs） by oxidative free radicals（hydroxyl radical HO＂ or oxygen radical [0]） under UV irradiation. It is notable that reactions involving free radicals are influenced by reaction conditions pronouncedly. However, researches on details about reactions of GO with free radicals have not been reported thus far. In this work, the effects of different factors on the photo-Fenton reaction of GO were studied. It is demonstrated that the reaction rate is closely related to the concentration of free radicals. It is speculated that through the optimization of reaction conditions, the reaction of graphene with free radicals could carry out efficiently for further applications.

Preparation of Monodispersed Carbon Spheres via Hydrothermal Carbonization of Ascorbic Acid and Their Application in Lithium Ion Batteries

Hydrothermal carbonization is one of the most appealing strategies to prepare carbon spheres（CSs）. Nevertheless, the precursors of hydrothermal carbonization are limited to several saccharides currently and the obtained CSs are easily interconnected among each other, giving rise to difficulties in further treatment and applications. In this work, ascorbic acid was used as precursor in the hydrothermal procedure and monodispersed CSs could be fa- bricated without any catalysts. In addition, the composites of CSs and chemical reduced graphene oxide（CRG） pos- sessing three dimensional network structures were fabricated, which exhibited excellent electrochemical performance used as anode in lithium ion battery（LIB）. Meanwhile, the effects of size distributions of CSs on the electrochemical performances were evaluated.