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Rechargeable sodium-chlorine (Na-Cl 2 ) batteries show high theoretical specific energy density and excellent adaptability for extreme environmental applications. However, the reported cycle life is mostly less than 500 cycles, and the understanding of battery failure mechanisms is quite limited. In this work, we demonstrate that the substantially increased voltage polarization plays a critical role in the battery failure. Typically, the passivation on the porous cathode caused by the deposition of insulated sodium chloride (NaCl) is a crucial factor, significantly influencing the three-phase chlorine (NaCl/Na + , Cl - /Cl 2 ) conversion kinetics. Here, a self-depassivation strategy enabled by iodine anion (I - )-tuned NaCl deposition was implemented to enhance the chlorine reversibility. The nucleation and growth of NaCl crystals are well balanced through strong coordination of the NaI deposition-dissolution process, achieving depassivation on the cathode and improving the reoxidation efficiency of solid NaCl. Consequently, the resultant Na-Cl 2 battery delivers a super-long cycle life up to 2000 cycles., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Rechargeable sodium chloride (Na-Cl 2 ) batteries have emerged as promising alternatives for next-generation energy storage due to their superior energy density and sodium abundance. However, their practical applications are hindered by the sluggish chlorine cathode kinetics related to the aggregation of NaCl and its difficult transformation into Cl 2 . Herein, the study, for the first time from the perspective of electrode level in Na-Cl 2 batteries, proposes a free-standing carbon cathode host with customized vertical channels to facilitate the SOCl 2 transport and regulate the NaCl deposition. Accordingly, electrode kinetics are significantly enhanced, and the deposited NaCl is distributed evenly across the whole electrode, avoiding the blockage of pores in the carbon host, and facilitating its oxidation to Cl 2. With this low-polarization cathode, the Na-Cl 2 batteries can deliver a practically high areal capacity approaching 4 mAh cm -2 and a long cycle life of over 170 cycles. This work demonstrates the significance of pore engineering in electrodes for mediating chlorine conversion kinetics in rechargeable alkali-metal-Cl 2 batteries., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Introduction: The issue of tobacco control remains a significant concern for public health worldwide. In recent years, remarkable progress has been made toward adopting smoke-free measures in indoor public places. Although China has yet to introduce a national regulation, specifically for smoke-free public places, more than a dozen cities have successively approved and implemented comprehensive smoke-free regulations. Different cities in China have diverse attitudes and behaviors toward smoke-free policies; however, the reasons for these policy differences and the influencing factors have not received sufficient attention and research., Methods: On the basis of the multiple streams framework, this study selects 36 key Chinese cities as research samples and uses a directed dyad-year event history analysis method to analyze the factors influencing the implementation of comprehensive smoke-free policies in cities., Results: Results show that the adoption of such policies is positively influenced by scientific evidence, focal events, media coverage, institutional foundations, economic comparisons, and the influence of health departments and of tobacco control groups. By contrast, policy adoption is negatively affected by the differences in administrative levels, central policy signals, and the influence of the tobacco industry., Discussion: This study contributes to understanding the internal logic behind local governments' adoption of comprehensive smoke-free policies, offering insights for further advocacy at the city and national levels in China and providing experiences that can promote the global tobacco control movement., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Feng, Qin, Jin and Li.)

Prussian blue (PB) is one of the main cathode materials with industrial prospects for the sodium ion battery. The structural stability of PB materials is directly associated with the presence of crystal water within the open 3D framework. However, there remains a lack of consensus regarding whether all forms of crystal water have detrimental effects on the structural stability of the PB materials. Currently, it is widely accepted that interstitial water is the stability troublemaker, whereas the role of coordination water remains elusive. In this work, the dynamic evolution of PB structures is investigated during the crystal water (in all forms) removal process through a variety of online monitoring techniques. It can be inferred that the PB-130 °C retains trace coordination water (1.3%) and original structural integrity, whereas PB-180 °C eliminates almost all of crystal water (∼12.1%, including both interstitial and coordinated water), but inevitably suffers from structural collapse. This is mainly because the coordinated water within the PB material plays a crucial role in maintaining structural stability via forming the -N≡C-Fe LS -C≡N- conjugate bridge. Consequently, PB-130 °C with trace coordination water delivers superior reversible capacity (113.6 mAh g -1 ), high rate capability (charge to >80% capacity in 3 min), and long cycling stability (only 0.012% fading per cycle), demonstrating its promising prospect in practical applications.

Soil organic carbon (SOC), as a crucial measure of soil quality, is typically low in arid regions due to salinization, which is a global issue. How soil organic carbon changes with salinization is not a simple concept, as high salinity simultaneously affects plant inputs and microbial decomposition, which exert opposite effects on SOC accumulation. Meanwhile, salinization could affect SOC by altering soil Ca 2+ (a salt component), which stabilizes organic matter via cation bridging, but this process is often overlooked. Here, we aimed to explore i) how soil organic carbon changes with salinization induced by saline-water irrigation and ii) which process drives soil organic carbon content with salinization, plant inputs, microbial decomposition, or soil Ca 2+ level. To this end, we assessed SOC content, plant inputs represented by aboveground biomass, microbial decomposition revealed by extracellular enzyme activity, and soil Ca 2+ along a salinity gradient (0.60-31.09 g kg -1 ) in the Taklamakan Desert. We found that, in contrast to our prediction, SOC in the topsoil (0-20 cm) increased with soil salinity, but it did not change with the aboveground biomass of the dominant species (Haloxylon ammodendron) or the activity of three carbon-cycling relevant enzymes (β-glucosidase, cellulosidase, and N-acetyl-beta-glucosaminidase) along the salinity gradient. Instead, SOC changed positively with soil exchangeable Ca 2+ , which increased linearly with salinity. These results suggest that soil organic carbon accumulation could be driven by increases in soil exchangeable Ca 2+ under salinization in salt-adapted ecosystems. Our study provides empirical evidence for the beneficial impact of soil Ca 2+ on organic carbon accumulation in the field under salinization, which is apparent and should not be disregarded. In addition, the management of soil carbon sequestration in salt-affected areas should be taken into account by adjusting the soil exchangeable Ca 2+ level., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Designing Pt-based electrocatalysts with high catalytic activity and CO tolerance is challenging but extremely desirable for alkaline hydrogen oxidation reaction. Herein we report the design of a series of single-atom lanthanide (La, Ce, Pr, Nd, and Lu)-embedded ultrasmall Pt nanoclusters for efficient alkaline hydrogen electro-oxidation catalysis based on vapor filling and spatially confined reduction/growth of metal species. Mechanism studies reveal that oxophilic single-atom lanthanide species in Pt nanoclusters can serve as the Lewis acid site for selective OH - adsorption and regulate the binding strength of intermediates on Pt sites, which promotes the kinetics of hydrogen oxidation and CO oxidation by accelerating the combination of OH - and *H/*CO in kinetics and thermodynamics, endowing the electrocatalyst with up to 14.3-times higher mass activity than commercial Pt/C and enhanced CO tolerance. This work may shed light on the design of metal nanocluster-based electrocatalysts for energy conversion., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Soil inorganic carbon (SIC) accounts for 30-70% of the total soil C in global drylands. Despite the slow turnover rate, recent studies indicate that SIC could be altered by land-use change as soil organic C (SOC). Neglecting SIC change could contribute greatly to the uncertainty of soil C dynamics in drylands. However, due to the spatial-temporal variation in SIC, the direction and magnitude of SIC change (rate) induced by land-use change at a large spatial scale is understudied and poorly understood. Here, we used the space-for-time approach to test how the SIC change varied with the duration and type of land-use change and soil depth across China's drylands. We assessed the temporal and spatial variations in the SIC change rate and explored the influencing factors based on a regional dataset comprising 424 pairs of data across North China. We found that the SIC change rate of 0-200 cm after land-use change was 12.80 (5.47‒20.03) g C m -2 yr -1 (mean with 95% confidence interval), which was comparable to the SOC change rate (14.72, (5.27-24.15 g C m -2 yr -1 )). Increased SIC occurred only in deep soils (>30 cm) and in the conversion from deserts to croplands or woodlands. In addition, the SIC change rate decreased with the duration of land-use change, implying that quantifying the temporal pattern of SIC change is necessary to accurately estimate SIC dynamics. The SIC change was strongly related to changes in soil water content. The SIC change rate was weakly and negatively correlated with the SOC change rate, and this relationship varied with soil depth. Together, this study highlights that to improve the prediction of soil C dynamics following land-use change in drylands, we should quantify the temporal and vertical patterns of both soil inorganic and organic C changes in the region., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

On social media, luxury brand managers often use influencers' bragging language as a marketing tool. As modesty is considered a virtue in the Chinese context, Chinese influencers tend to adopt a humblebragging language style. Research has examined the impact of bragging language styles on luxury brands and has found that humblebragging, which appears to be modest, has a negative influence on brand attitudes. From the perspective of social comparison theory, we proposed a dual mediation model of malicious envy and trustworthiness to reveal the internal mechanisms and moderating factors of the negative effects of humblebragging. The results of three experiments indicated that compared with straightforward bragging, humblebragging was more likely to elicit malicious envy and lower levels of trust in an influencer, resulting in negative attitudes toward the luxury brand endorsed. Moreover, this negative effect was stronger when the influencer lacked expertise or had high similarity with consumers. Our findings enrich the antecedents of social media influencer marketing and provide managers with implications for maximizing the effectiveness of influencer marketing by matching influencers with word-of-mouth content., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Feng, Chang and Sun.)

Soil is the largest terrestrial reservoir of organic carbon and is central for climate change mitigation and carbon-climate feedbacks. Chemical and physical associations of soil carbon with minerals play a critical role in carbon storage, but the amount and global capacity for storage in this form remain unquantified. Here, we produce spatially-resolved global estimates of mineral-associated organic carbon stocks and carbon-storage capacity by analyzing 1144 globally-distributed soil profiles. We show that current stocks total 899 Pg C to a depth of 1 m in non-permafrost mineral soils. Although this constitutes 66% and 70% of soil carbon in surface and deeper layers, respectively, it is only 42% and 21% of the mineralogical capacity. Regions under agricultural management and deeper soil layers show the largest undersaturation of mineral-associated carbon. Critically, the degree of undersaturation indicates sequestration efficiency over years to decades. We show that, across 103 carbon-accrual measurements spanning management interventions globally, soils furthest from their mineralogical capacity are more effective at accruing carbon; sequestration rates average 3-times higher in soils at one tenth of their capacity compared to soils at one half of their capacity. Our findings provide insights into the world's soils, their capacity to store carbon, and priority regions and actions for soil carbon management., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Soils are important carbon (C) reservoirs and play a critical role in regulating the global C cycle. Soil water potential (SWP) measures the energy with which water is retained in the soil and is one of the most vital factors that constrain the decomposition of soil organic C (SOC). The measurements for soil water retention curve (SWRC), on which the estimation of SWP depends, are usually carried out above -1.5 MPa (i.e., the wilting point for many plants). However, the average moisture threshold at which soil microbial activity ceases is usually below -10 MPa in mineral soils. Beyond the measurement range, the SWP estimation has to be derived from extrapolating the SWRC, which violates the statistical principle, resulting in possibly inaccurate SWP estimations. To date, it is unclear to what extent the extrapolated SWP estimation deviates from the "true value" and how it impacts the modeling of SOC decomposition. This study combined SWRC measurements down to -43.7 MPa, a 72-day soil incubation experiment with four moisture levels, and an SOC decomposition model. In addition to the complete SWRC (SWRC all ), we fitted two more SWRCs by using measurements above -0.5 MPa (SWRC 0.5 ) and -1.7 MPa (SWRC 1.7 ), respectively, to quantify the deviations of extrapolated SWPs from the complete SWRC. Results showed that extrapolating the SWRC beyond its measurement range significantly underestimated the SWP. Incorporating the extrapolated SWP in the model significantly underestimated the SOC decomposition under relatively dry conditions. With the extrapolated SWP, the model predicted no SOC decomposition in the driest treatment, while the experiment observed a significant CO 2 emission. The results emphasize that accurate SWP estimations beyond the wilting point are critically needed to improve the modeling of SOC decomposition., (© 2022 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Salinization poses great threats to soil fungal communities that would cause the losses of ecosystems services. Soil fungal communities are composed of different functional guilds such as saprotrophic, symbiotrophic, and pathotrophic fungi, and each guild includes many rare taxa and a few abundant taxa. Despite of low abundance, rare taxa may be crucial in determining the responses of entire soil fungal communities to salinization. However, it remains poorly understood how rare taxa mediate the impacts of soil salinization on soil fungal community structure. Here, we took advantage of a salinity gradient in a desert ecosystem ranging from 0.60 to 31.09 g kg -1 that was created by a 12-year saline-water irrigation and assessed how the rare vs. abundant taxa of soil saprotrophic, symbiotrophic, and pathotrophic fungi respond to soil salinization through changes in the community biodiversity and composition. We found that the rare taxa of soil saprotrophic, symbiotrophic, and pathographic fungi were more sensitive to changes in soil salinity compared to the abundant taxa. In addition, the community composition of rare taxa of the saprotrophic and pathotrophic fungi not the symbiotrophic fungi was positively associated with soil salinity change. However, the symbiotrophic fungi showed greater variations in the species richness along the salinity gradient. These findings highlight the importance to differentiate rare taxa in predicting how the biodiversity and functional groups of soil fungal communities respond to soil salinization., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Lin, Jing, Lucas-Borja, Shen, Wang and Feng.)

Both happy and sad facial expressions of recipients are frequently used in charity advertisements. However, the relative effectiveness of these two types of facial expressions has been found paradoxical in the past. In this study, we examine when happy facial expression can more effectively increase donation intentions of consumers and when vice versa. Specially, we propose that eye contact between a donor and a potential recipient may moderate the relative effectiveness of happy and sad facial expressions, and further explain the interaction effect from the perspective of emotional intensity. Results from two experiments suggest that, when donor-recipient eye contact is present, consumers tend to have stronger emotional intensity, and, in turn, show higher donation intentions when the recipient is with a happy rather than sad facial expression. In contrast, when the eye contact is absent, consumers may show stronger emotional intensity and donation intentions toward the charity advertisement with a recipient showing sad rather than happy expression., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Tong, Yi, Feng, Yu, Liu and Zhang.)

Soil microbial biomass is key to improving the prediction of soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics by modeling. However, the driving mechanism of microbial biomass of different groups with soil depth is poorly understood across sites. Here, we compiled the biomass of different microbial groups (i.e., fungi, bacteria, gram-positive bacteria G + , and gram-negative bacteria G - ) from the surface to a soil depth of 1 m from 71 soil profiles across three continents. We found that the biomass of microbial groups all decreased with soil depth but at different magnitudes, while the relative abundance of microbial groups, except G - , was relatively stable along soil profiles. Soil fungal biomass had a shallower vertical distribution than bacteria, especially G + , with 89% fungi and 76% G + in the top 10 cm soils. In addition, a greater proportion of microbial biomass (71-89%) compared to SOC (64%) was in the top 10 cm soils, suggesting that microbes and SOC exhibited different vertical distributions. The vertical distributions of microbial biomass of different groups were significantly correlated with SOC and clay content but not with climate, and these distributions were different among land uses, highlighting the great influences of edaphic factors on vertical distributions of microbial biomass. The relationship between microbial biomass and soil depth provides a feasible way to estimate microbial biomass at different soil depths, which can serve as a benchmark to improve the prediction of SOC dynamics of entire soil profile at large scales., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Saline-sodic soils cover ∼10% of the global land surface and deliver various ecosystem services to human society in the arid/semiarid regions. Flue gas desulfurization gypsum (FGDG), a byproduct from coal-fired power plants, is widely used to ameliorate saline-sodic soils. Here, we aimed to quantify the impacts of FGDG application on multiple soil functions across climatic conditions, management practices, and soil types, and to explore how FGDG application affects plant productivity. We conducted a meta-analysis by compiling 2658 pairs of data points with and without FGDG application from 59 locations across China. We found that FGDG application significantly increased crop yield by 91.2% ± 22.5% (mean ± 95% CI) regardless of local climate and soil type, and improved soil quality by reducing soil exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP) by 37.4% ± 9.6% and pH by 8.1% ± 1.7%. Increases in soil productivity were strongly correlated with decreases in soil ESP and pH, suggesting that increases in soil productivity were due to alleviated stress for plant growth. Meanwhile, some heavy elements (e.g., Hg and Ni) increased after FGDG application, likely imposing threats to soil health. Overall, the FGDG application is effective in improving the quality and productivity of saline-sodic soils across China. Our findings suggest that simultaneous assessment of changes in soil water (e.g., water holding capacity and infiltration), nutrient transformation, soil organic matter dynamics, and microbial communities helps disentangle mechanisms that are responsible for optimizing ecosystem service provided by saline-sodic soils after FGDG amendment application., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The electrode materials of potassium ion storage system have attracted considerable attention given the promising prospect of a potassium ion system in large-scale electrochemical energy storage applications. Despite the excellent anode performance of metal oxides in Li + and Na + batteries, the study on their K + storage performance is still rarely reported. In this study, we report a safe and low-cost strategy to prepare FeO x /N-doped carbons by using NaHCO 3 and Fe nanopowder. Benefiting from the oxidation of Fe to Fe 3 O 4 , an interesting "one stone, two birds" role of the Fe powder can be identified in the heating process. As a reduction agent, the Fe powder can consume the excess oxygen in the bio-massed carbon framework, facilitating the formation of short-range-ordered domains in the biomass-derived carbon materials (FeO x @GBHCs). Moreover, the close combination of oxidization products (Fe 3 O 4 particles) and carbon matrix leads to numerous FeO x clusters grafted on the surface of the carbon framework via the strong C-O-Fe binding. Therefore, the resultant FeO x /porous carbon exhibits a high reversible capacity of 410 mA h g -1 and an excellent cycling capability. The assembled FeO x @GBHCs//AC potassium-ion hybrid supercapacitor delivers a high energy density of 133 W h kg -1 at a power density of 700 W kg -1 , demonstrating a potential prospect of metal oxides in boosting the potassium ion storage performance.

Introduction: Progressive distal symmetrical axonal neuropathy, a complication of diabetes mellitus (DM), has an unknown cause. Normal physiological metabolism and diabetic dysmetabolism are associated with the generation of γ-diketones. γ-Diketones form pyrroles with protein amines, notably with axonal proteins required for the maintenance of nerve fiber integrity, especially elongate, large-diameter peripheral nerve fibers innervating the extremities. We tested the hypothesis that neuropathy-associated γ-diketone pyrroles are elevated in DM., Research Design and Methods: We measured the urinary concentration of γ-diketone pyrroles in age-matched and gender-matched elderly (60-84 years) persons with (n=267) or without (n=267) indicators of DM based in a community population (9411 community older adults aged ≥60 years) in Shenzhen city, Guangdong, China. We used statistical methods, including a generalized linear model, multivariate logistic regression analysis and restricted cubic splines, to assess linear and nonlinear relationships between urinary γ-diketone pyrroles and indicators of DM., Results: Compared with healthy controls, those with DM had significantly higher levels of fasting blood glucose, glycated hemoglobin A1c, urinary ketone bodies and urinary γ-diketone pyrroles. The median concentration of urinary γ-diketone pyrrole adducts was significantly higher (p<0.0001) in individuals with DM (7.5 (5.4) μM) compared with healthy controls (5.9 (4.3) μM). Both linear and non-linear relations were found between urinary γ-diketone pyrroles and indicators of DM., Conclusions: Diabetic dysmetabolism includes increased generation and excretion of neuropathy-associated γ-diketone pyrroles. These findings form the foundation for studies to test whether γ-diketone pyrrole concentration correlates with quantitative sensory (vibration and temperature) and electrodiagnostic testing., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2020. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Soil microbial biomass carbon (SMBC) is important in regulating soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics along soil profiles by mediating the decomposition and formation of SOC. The dataset (VDMBC) is about the vertical distributions of SOC, SMBC, and soil microbial quotient (SMQ = SMBC/SOC) and their relations to environmental factors across five continents. Data were collected from literature, with a total of 289 soil profiles and 1040 observations in different soil layers compiled. The associated environment data collectd include climate, ecosystem types, and edaphic factors. We developed this dataset by searching the Web of Sciene and the China National Knowledge Infrastructure from the year of 1970 to 2019. All the data in this dataset met two creteria: 1) there were at least three mineral soil layers along a soil profile, and 2) SMBC was measured using the fumigation extraction method. The data in tables and texts were obtained from literature directly, and the data in figures were extracted by using the GetData Graph digitizer software version 2.25. When climate and soil properties were not available from publications, we obtainted the data from the World Weather Information Service (https://worldweather.wmo.int/en/home.html) and SoilGrids at a spatial resolution of 250 meters (version 0.5.3, https://soilgrids.org). The units of all the variables were converted to the standard international units or commonly used ones and the values were transformed correspondingly. For example, the value of soil organic matter (SOM) was converted to SOC by using the equation (SOC = SOM × 0.58). This dataset can be used in predicting global SOC changes along soil profiles by using the multi-layer soil carbon models. It can also be used to analyse how soil microbial biomass changes with plant roots as well as the composition, structure, and functions of soil microbial communities along soil profiles at large spatial scales. This dataset offers opportunities to improve our prediction of SOC dynamics under global changes and to advance our understanding of the environmental controls., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships which have, or could be perceived to have, influenced the work reported in this article., (© 2020 The Authors.)

The design of electrodes with simultaneously high compaction density, developed porosity, and structural stability has always been a challenge so as to meet the demand of high volumetric performance lithium ion storage devices. In this paper, we demonstrate a new compositing method for hollow carbon "room" loading of Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles (HCR@Fe 3 O 4 ) with the assistance of Na 2 CO 3 salt crystal templates. The as-obtained HCR@Fe 3 O 4 composites have a massive compaction density (1.79 g cm -3 ), abundant multimodal pores (1.26 cm 3 g -1 ), and a large content of Fe 3 O 4 (64.2 wt%), which leads to excellent volumetric capacitive performance. More importantly, the unique compositing model not only provides a fast transmission channel for Li + but also alleviates the mechanical strain efficiently through the cavity between the Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles and the carbon wall. When evaluated as an anode of lithium ion batteries, the resultant HCR@Fe 3 O 4 electrode exhibits a remarkable volumetric capacity of 2044 mA h cm -3 at 0.2 A g -1 and a stable cycle life of 828 mA h cm -3 after 1000 cycles at 5 A g -1 . The assembled HCR@Fe 3 O 4 //AC lithium ion hybrid capacitor device exhibits a high energy density of 173 W h L -1 at a power density of 190 W L -1 , demonstrating its high-level integrated volumetric density/power density.

Potassium-ion energy-storage devices are highly attractive in the large-scale energy storage field, but the intercalation of large K ions greatly worsens the stability of electrode structures and solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) films, causing slow reaction dynamics and poor durability. In this Article, inspired by bubble wraps in our life, a bubble-wrap-like carbon sheet (BPCS) with a rigid-flexible coupling porous architecture is fabricated on the microscale, exhibiting strong structural stability and good accommodation for volume expansion. In the meantime, a K 2 CO 3 ·1.5H 2 O-dominated SEI is created by an interfacial transfer behavior of carbonate groups. These K 2 CO 3 ·1.5H 2 O nanograins not only enhance the stability of the SEI by constructing a stable scaffold but also create more diffusion routes for K ions. On the basis of the above, using the BPCS as the anode of potassium-ion batteries delivers reversible capacities of 463 mAh g -1 at 50 mA g -1 and 195 mAh g -1 at 10 A g -1 with a long cycling life. The assembled BPCS//NPC potassium-ion hybrid capacitor exhibits a high energy density of 167 Wh kg -1 and a superior cycling capability with 80.8% capacity retention over 10 000 cycles with nearly 100% Coulombic efficiency. Even at the higher current density of 10 A g -1 , the device could deliver an energy density of 92.9 Wh kg -1 over 5000 cycles at a power density of 9200 W kg -1 with only 0.002% fading per cycle, which can rival lithium-ion hybrid supercapacitors.

The susceptibility of soil organic carbon (SOC) in tundra to microbial decomposition under warmer climate scenarios potentially threatens a massive positive feedback to climate change, but the underlying mechanisms of stable SOC decomposition remain elusive. Herein, Alaskan tundra soils from three depths (a fibric O horizon with litter and course roots, an O horizon with decomposing litter and roots, and a mineral-organic mix, laying just above the permafrost) were incubated. Resulting respiration data were assimilated into a 3-pool model to derive decomposition kinetic parameters for fast, slow, and passive SOC pools. Bacterial, archaeal, and fungal taxa and microbial functional genes were profiled throughout the 3-year incubation. Correlation analyses and a Random Forest approach revealed associations between model parameters and microbial community profiles, taxa, and traits. There were more associations between the microbial community data and the SOC decomposition parameters of slow and passive SOC pools than those of the fast SOC pool. Also, microbial community profiles were better predictors of model parameters in deeper soils, which had higher mineral contents and relatively greater quantities of old SOC than in surface soils. Overall, our analyses revealed the functional potential of microbial communities to decompose tundra SOC through a suite of specialized genes and taxa. These results portray divergent strategies by which microbial communities access SOC pools across varying depths, lending mechanistic insights into the vulnerability of what is considered stable SOC in tundra regions.

Bioinspired mineralization is a powerful method for designing and preparing nanomaterials. In this work, we developed a bioinspired mineralization approach under freezing conditions and fabricated methyl cellulose (MC)/NaHCO 3 flake precursors with a sophisticated hierarchical structure. Based on this, amazing wing-like porous carbon sheets (WPCSs) assembled by numerous interconnected hollow carbon bubbles were obtained after carbonization and removal of inorganic crystals, which are seldom obtained by other artificial methods. Benefiting from their open framework, large surface area, and enlarged interlayer spacing of graphitized nanocrystallites, the obtained WPCSs exhibited an obvious boost in potassium storage performance. As an anode of potassium-ion batteries, they showed high reversible capacities of 347 mAh g -1 at 50 mA g -1 and 122 mAh g -1 at 20 A g -1 and relatively stable cyclability for 3000 cycles. The assembled WPCS//WPCS potassium-ion hybrid supercapacitor delivered a high energy density of 108 Wh kg -1 at a power density of 280 W kg -1 . Given the cost effectiveness and green process, the modified bioinspired mineralization under freezing conditions would provide a facile and green way for exploring porous carbons with controlled structures and rich multifunction.

Objectives: Experimental studies suggested that bisphenol A (BPA) exposure increased the risk of metabolic syndrome (MetS) through the mechanism of insulin resistance. All previous epidemiological studies of BPA and MetS were cross-sectional studies, and their findings were mixed. This study aims to provide further evidence on the association between urinary BPA and risk of MetS using a prospective cohort study in China., Methods: The study population was from the Shenzhen Night shift workers' cohort. A total of 1227 male workers were recruited from the baseline survey in 2013 and then followed until 2017. Modified Adult Treatment Panel III criteria were used to identify the cases of MetS. Urinary BPA concentration was assessed using high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, and it was categorised into three subgroups by tertiles to obtain the adjusted HR (aHR) and 95% CI using Cox proportional hazard model., Results: During 4 years of follow-up, 200 subjects developed MetS. Compared with the lowest urinary BPA subgroup, a weakly increased risk of MetS was suggested among those with the middle (aHR=1.19, 95% CI 0.87 to 1.63) and high level of urinary BPA (aHR=1.16, 95% CI 0.84 to 1.59); however, the significant association with MetS was restricted primarily to the smokers, showing a positive gradient with urinary BPA (middle level: aHR=2.40, 95% CI 1.13 to 5.08; high level: aHR=2.87, 95% CI 1.38 to 5.98; p trend= 0.010 )., Conclusion: This prospective cohort study provided further evidence that exposure to BPA may increase the risk of MetS, and this association was further positively modified by cigarette smoking., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2019. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Mangrove and salt marsh ecosystems are one of the most productive ecosystems in terrestrial ecosystems, playing an important role in global carbon (C) cycling. The anaerobic condition in coastal wetland usually impedes the decomposition of soil organic carbon (SOC). However, the intrinsic stabilization mechanisms of SOC other than environmental factors are poorly understood in coastal wetland. In this paper, we investigated the relative contribution of mineral association and chemical compounds in maintaining the stabilization of SOC in the mangrove/salt marsh ecotone, and how the microbial community is involved in the stabilization. From NMR spectroscopy, we found that the SOC molecular structure of Spartina. alterniflora soils is simpler than that in mangrove forest, indicating an increased SOC decomposition with invasion of S. alterniflora. On the contrary, the molecular structure of SOC in mangrove forest was dominated by recalcitrant aromatic C. Meanwhile, the larger fractions of silt/clay content in S. alterniflora and the transitional community were corresponding to higher percentage of mineral organic carbon (MOC), which suggest that the SOC in S. alterniflora vegetated soil was mainly protected by the mineral association. The transitional community contained highest MOC content probably due to both physical protection of mineral association and recalcitrant C input from adjacent mangroves. We also found that the fraction of SOC and its chemical structure of functional groups were associated with microbial communities. This study revealed the occurrence of different SOC stabilization mechanisms between mangroves and salt marshes. The knowledge gained may help to make predictions about future SOC dynamics as the different stabilization processes may response to climate change or human activities differently., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: Accumulated evidence implies that night shift work may trigger liver dysfunction. Non-alcoholic fatty liver (NAFL) is suggested to be a necessary mediator in this process. This study aimed to examine the relationship between night shift work and elevated level of alanine transaminase (e-ALT) of workers and investigate the potential mediation effect of NAFL., Methods: This study included all male workers from the baseline survey of a cohort of night shift workers. Information on demographics, lifestyle and lifetime working schedule was collected by face-to-face interview. Liver sonography was used to identify NAFL cases. Serum ALT level was detected by an automatic biochemical analyser. e-ALT was defined as ALT >40 U/L. Logistic regression models were used to evaluate ORs, and mediation analysis was employed to examine the mediation effect., Results: Among 4740 male workers, 39.5% were night shift workers. Night shift workers had an increased risk of e-ALT (OR, 1.19, 95% CI 1.00 to 1.42). With the increase in night shift years, the OR of e-ALT increased from 1.03 (95% CI 0.77 to 1.36) to 1.60 (95% CI 1.08 to 2.39) among workers without NAFL. A similar trend was not found among workers with NAFL. In addition, no significant mediation effect of NAFL in the association between night shift work and e-ALT was found., Conclusions: Night shift work is positively associated with abnormal liver function, in particular among workers without NAFL. Shift work involving circadian disruption is likely to exert a direct effect on liver dysfunction rather than rely on the mediation effect of NAFL., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2019. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Aims: This study aimed to evaluate the associations between types of night shift work and different indices of obesity using the baseline information from a prospective cohort study of night shift workers in China., Methods: A total of 3,871 workers from five companies were recruited from the baseline survey. A structured self-administered questionnaire was employed to collect the participants' demographic information, lifetime working history, and lifestyle habits. Participants were grouped into rotating, permanent and irregular night shift work groups. Anthropometric parameters were assessed by healthcare professionals. Multiple logistic regression models were used to evaluate the associations between night shift work and different indices of obesity., Results: Night shift workers had increased risk of overweight and obesity, and odds ratios (ORs) were 1.17 (95% CI, 0.97-1.41) and 1.27 (95% CI, 0.74-2.18), respectively. Abdominal obesity had a significant but marginal association with night shift work (OR = 1.20, 95% CI, 1.01-1.43). A positive gradient between the number of years of night shift work and overweight or abdominal obesity was observed. Permanent night shift work showed the highest odds of being overweight (OR = 3.94, 95% CI, 1.40-11.03) and having increased abdominal obesity (OR = 3.34, 95% CI, 1.19-9.37). Irregular night shift work was also significantly associated with overweight (OR = 1.56, 95% CI, 1.13-2.14), but its association with abdominal obesity was borderline (OR = 1.26, 95% CI, 0.94-1.69). By contrast, the association between rotating night shift work and these parameters was not significant., Conclusion: Permanent and irregular night shift work were more likely to be associated with overweight or abdominal obesity than rotating night shift work. These associations need to be verified in prospective cohort studies.

Quantifying soil organic carbon (SOC) decomposition under warming is critical to predict carbon-climate feedbacks. According to the substrate regulating principle, SOC decomposition would decrease as labile SOC declines under field warming, but observations of SOC decomposition under warming do not always support this prediction. This discrepancy could result from varying changes in SOC components and soil microbial communities under warming. This study aimed to determine the decomposition of SOC components with different turnover times after subjected to long-term field warming and/or root exclusion to limit C input, and to test whether SOC decomposition is driven by substrate lability under warming. Taking advantage of a 12-year field warming experiment in a prairie, we assessed the decomposition of SOC components by incubating soils from control and warmed plots, with and without root exclusion for 3 years. We assayed SOC decomposition from these incubations by combining inverse modeling and microbial functional genes during decomposition with a metagenomic technique (GeoChip). The decomposition of SOC components with turnover times of years and decades, which contributed to 95% of total cumulative CO 2 respiration, was greater in soils from warmed plots. But the decomposition of labile SOC was similar in warmed plots compared to the control. The diversity of C-degradation microbial genes generally declined with time during the incubation in all treatments, suggesting shifts of microbial functional groups as substrate composition was changing. Compared to the control, soils from warmed plots showed significant increase in the signal intensities of microbial genes involved in degrading complex organic compounds, implying enhanced potential abilities of microbial catabolism. These are likely responsible for accelerated decomposition of SOC components with slow turnover rates. Overall, the shifted microbial community induced by long-term warming accelerates the decomposition of SOC components with slow turnover rates and thus amplify the positive feedback to climate change., (© 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics are regulated by the complex interplay of climatic, edaphic and biotic conditions. However, the interrelation of SOC and these drivers and their potential connection networks are rarely assessed quantitatively. Using observations of SOC dynamics with detailed soil properties from 90 field trials at 28 sites under different agroecosystems across the Australian cropping regions, we investigated the direct and indirect effects of climate, soil properties, carbon (C) inputs and soil C pools (a total of 17 variables) on SOC change rate (r C , Mg C ha -1  yr -1 ). Among these variables, we found that the most influential variables on r C were the average C input amount and annual precipitation, and the total SOC stock at the beginning of the trials. Overall, C inputs (including C input amount and pasture frequency in the crop rotation system) accounted for 27% of the relative influence on r C , followed by climate 25% (including precipitation and temperature), soil C pools 24% (including pool size and composition) and soil properties (such as cation exchange capacity, clay content, bulk density) 24%. Path analysis identified a network of intercorrelations of climate, soil properties, C inputs and soil C pools in determining r C . The direct correlation of r C with climate was significantly weakened if removing the effects of soil properties and C pools, and vice versa. These results reveal the relative importance of climate, soil properties, C inputs and C pools and their complex interconnections in regulating SOC dynamics. Ignorance of the impact of changes in soil properties, C pool composition and C input (quantity and quality) on SOC dynamics is likely one of the main sources of uncertainty in SOC predictions from the process-based SOC models., (© 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Unprecedented levels of nitrogen (N) have been deposited in ecosystems over the past century, which is expected to have cascading effects on microbially mediated soil respiration (SR). Extracellular enzymes play critical roles on the degradation of soil organic matter, and measurements of their activities are potentially useful indicators of SR. The links between soil extracellular enzymatic activities (EEAs) and SR under N addition, however, have not been established. We therefore conducted a meta-analysis from 62 publications to synthesize the responses of soil EEAs and SR to elevated N. Nitrogen addition significantly increased glycosidase activity (GA) by 13.0%, α-1,4-glucosidase (AG) by 19.6%, β-1,4-glucosidase (BG) by 11.1%, β-1,4-xylosidase (BX) by 21.9% and β-D-cellobiosidase (CBH) by 12.6%. Increases in GA were more evident for long duration, high rate, organic and mixed N addition (combination of organic and inorganic N addition), as well as for studies from farmland. The response ratios (RRs) of GA were positively correlated with the SR-RRs, even when evaluated individually for AG, BG, BX and CBH. This positive correlation between GA-RR and SR-RR was maintained for most types of vegetation and soil as well as for different methods of N addition. Our results provide the first evidence that GA is linked to SR under N addition over a range of ecosystems and highlight the need for further studies on the response of other soil EEAs to various global change factors and their implications for ecosystem functions., (© 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Mineral-associated organic carbon (MOC), that is stabilized by fine soil particles (i.e., silt plus clay, <53 μm), is important for soil organic carbon (SOC) persistence and sequestration, due to its large contribution to total SOC (TSOC) and long turnover time. Our objectives were to investigate how climate, soil type, soil texture, and agricultural managements affect MOC contributions to TSOC in China. We created a dataset from 103 published papers, including 1106 data points pairing MOC and TSOC across three major land use types: cropland, grassland, and forest. Overall, the MOC/TSOC ratio ranged from 0.27 to 0.80 and varied significantly among soil groups in cropland, grassland, and forest. Croplands and forest exhibited significantly higher median MOC/TSOC ratios than in grassland. Moreover, forest and grassland soils in temperate regions had higher MOC/TSOC ratios than in subtropical regions. Furthermore, the MOC/TSOC ratio was much higher in ultisol, compared with the other soil types. Both the MOC content and MOC/TSOC ratio were positively correlated with the amount of fine fraction (silt plus clay) in soil, highlighting the importance of soil texture in stabilizing organic carbon across various climate zones. In cropland, different fertilization practices and land uses (e.g., upland, paddy, and upland-paddy rotation) significantly altered MOC/TSOC ratios, but not in cropping systems (e.g., mono- and double-cropping) characterized by climatic differences. This study demonstrates that the MOC/TSOC ratio is mainly driven by soil texture, soil types, and related climate and land uses, and thus the variations in MOC/TSOC ratios should be taken into account when quantitatively estimating soil C sequestration potential of silt plus clay particles on a large scale., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Dissolved natural organic matter (NOM) sorption at mineral surfaces can significantly affect the persistence of organic carbon in soils and sediments. Consequently, determining the mechanisms that stabilize sorbed NOM is crucial for predicting the persistence of carbon in nature. This study determined the effects of loadings and pH on the thermal stability of NOM associated with synthetic goethite (α-FeOOH) particle surfaces, as a proxy for NOM-mineral interactions taking place in nature. NOM thermal stability was investigated using temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) in the 30-700 °C range to collect vibration spectra of thermally decomposing goethite-NOM assemblages, and to concomitantly analyze evolved gases using mass spectrometry. Results showed that NOM thermal stability, indicated by the range of temperatures in which CO2 evolved during thermal decomposition, was greatest in unbound NOM and lowest when NOM was bound to goethite. NOM thermal stability was also loading dependent. It decreased when loadings were in increased the 0.01 to 0.42 mg C m(-2) range, where the upper value corresponds to a Langmuirian adsorption maximum. Concomitant Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy measurement showed that these lowered stabilities could be ascribed to direct NOM-goethite interactions that dominated the NOM binding environment. Mineral surface interactions at larger loadings involved, on the contrary, a smaller fraction of the sorbed NOM, thus increasing thermal stability toward that of its unbound counterpart. This study thus identifies a sorption threshold below which NOM sorption to goethite decreases NOM thermal stability, and above which no strong effects are manifested. This should likely influence the fate of organic carbon exposed to thermal gradients in natural environments.

Maturation of fruits involves a series of physiological, biochemical, and organoleptic changes that eventually make fleshy fruits attractive, palatable, and nutritional. In order to understand the mature mechanism of the early-maturing bud sport of 'Zaosu' pear, we analyzed the differences of proteome expression between the both pears in different mature stages by the methods of a combination of two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) and matrix assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) analysis. Seventy-five differential expressed protein spots (p<0.05) were obtained between 'Zaosu' pear and its early-maturing bud sport, but only sixty-eight were demonstratively identified in the database of NCBI and uniprot. The majority of proteins were linked to metabolism, energy, stress response/defense and cell structure. Additionally, our data confirmed an increase of proteins related to cell-wall modification, oxidative stress and pentose phosphate metabolism and a decrease of proteins related to photosynthesis and glycolysis during the development process of both pears, but all these proteins increased or decreased faster in the early-maturing bud sport. This comparative analysis between both pears showed that these proteins were closely associated with maturation and could provide more detailed characteristics of the maturation process of both pears., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)