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High energy density lithium-ion batteries with preferable cycling stability are critical for the development of all-electric vehicles. Silicon (Si) has demonstrated a remarkable potential for application as anode materials due to its superior capacity performance and worldwide abundance. However, Si intrinsically undergoes substantial volume fluctuation during repeated lithiation/delithiation processes, which pulverizes the Si particles and undermines the integrity of the electrode structures, thus resulting in frustrating cycling stability. We developed a polymer binder with a highly stretchable and elastic network structure that can accommodate volume variation of Si. This was realized by an in situ cross-linking of polyacrylic acid (PAA) with isocyanate-terminated polyurethane oligomers that consist of polyethylene glycol (PEG) chains and 2-ureido-4-pyrimidinone (UPy) moieties through the reaction between isocyanate and carboxyl during the electrode preparation process. In this binder network, PAA could strongly adhere to the Si particles by forming hydrogen bonding with the surface hydroxyl groups. The PEG chains induce the flexibility of the polymer network, while the UPy moieties endow the polymer network with desirable mechanical strength through the formation of reversible and strong quadruple H-bonding cross-linkers. This binder not only can sufficiently accommodate the volume change of Si but can also provide a strong mechanical support to effectively sustain the integrity for the Si anode, consequently enhancing cycle stability and rate performance.

In this study, Sn58Bi solder alloy and solid solution samples of Sn-rich phase and Bi-rich phase were prepared, and their mechanical and physical properties were tested. The elastic moduli of Sn58Bi, Sn-rich phase and Bi-rich phase are 42.30 GPa, 61.10 GPa, and 31.90 GPa, respectively, and their hardnesses are 0.33 GPa, 0.37 GPa, and 0.28 GPa, respectively. The resistivity of Bi-rich phase is much higher than that of Sn-rich phase. As the test temperature was increased from 300 K to 400 K, the resistivity of Bi-rich phase increases slightly, while that of Sn-rich phase is almost unchanged. Different with the resistivity, the specific heat capacity of Sn-rich phase increases slightly with the increase of temperature, while the specific heat capacity of Bi-rich phase is quite stable. The thermal conductivity of Sn-rich phase is much higher than that of Bi-rich phase, indicating that the Sn-rich phase in the eutectic structure has better heat dissipation performance. Meanwhile, the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of Sn-rich phase is larger than that of Bi-rich phase.

The present study determined the quantitative markers of total proanthocyanidins in the purification of the industrial waste Choerospondias axillaris pericarp based on the comparison results of high-performance liquid chromatography(HPLC) and mass spectrometry(MS) and optimized the purification process with two stable procyanidins as markers. The adsorption and desorption of five different macroporous adsorption resins, the static adsorption kinetics curve of NKA-Ⅱ resin, the maximum sample load, and the gradient elution were investigated. The UPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS was employed for qualitative analysis of the newly-prepared total proanthocyanidins of C. axillaris pericarp. As revealed by the results, NKA-Ⅱ resin displayed strong adsorption and desorption toward total proanthocyanidins. The sample solution(50 mg·mL~(-1)) was prepared from 70% ethanol crude extract of C. axillaris pericarp dissolved in water and 7-fold BV of the sample solution was loaded, followed by static adsorption for 12 h. After 8-fold BV of distilled water and 6-fold BV of 10% ethanol were employed to remove impurities, the solution was eluted with 8-fold BV of 50% ethanol, concentrated, and dried under reduced pressure, and purified total proanthocyanidin powder was therefore obtained. Measured by vanillin-hydrochloric acid method, the purity and transfer rate of total proanthocyanidins were 47.67% and 59.92%, respectively, indicating the feasibi-lity of the optimized process. UPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS qualitative analysis identified 16 procyanidins in C. axillaris total proanthocyanidins. The optimized purification process is simple in operation and accurate in component identification, and it can be applied to the process investigation of a class of components that are difficult to be separated and purified. It can also provide technical support and research ideas for the comprehensive utilization of industrial waste.

This study systematically identifies 112 U2A genes from 80 plant species by combinatory bioinformatics analysis, which is important for understanding their phylogenetic history, expression profiles and for predicting specific functions. In eukaryotes, a pre-mRNA can generate multiple transcripts by removing certain introns and joining corresponding exons, thus greatly expanding the transcriptome and proteome diversity. The spliceosome is a mega-Dalton ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complex that is essential for the process of splicing. In spliceosome components, the U2 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein (U2 snRNP) forms the pre-spliceosome by association with the branch site. An essential component that promotes U2 snRNP assembly, named U2A, has been extensively identified in humans, yeast and nematodes. However, studies examining U2A genes in plants are scarce. In this study, we performed a comprehensive analysis and identified a total of 112 U2A genes from 80 plant species representing dicots, monocots, mosses and algae. Comparisons of the gene structures, protein domains, and expression patterns of 112 U2A genes indicated that the conserved functions were likely retained by plant U2A genes and important for responses to internal and external stimuli. In addition, analysis of alternative transcripts and splice sites of U2A genes indicated that the fifth intron contained a conserved alternative splicing event that might be important for its molecular function. Our work provides a general understanding of this splicing factor family in terms of genes and proteins, and it will serve as a fundamental resource that will contribute to further mechanistic characterization in plants.

Cycling stability is a key challenge for application of silicon (Si)-based composite anodes as the severe volume fluctuation of Si readily leads to fast capacity fading. The binder is a crucial component of the composite electrodes. Although only occupying a small amount of the total composite mass, the binder has major impact on the long-term electrochemical performance of Si-based anodes. In recent years, water-based binders including styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) and carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) have attracted wide research interest as eco-friendly and low-cost alternatives for the conventional poly(vinylidene difluoride) (PVDF) binder in Si anodes. In this study, Si-based composite anodes are fabricated by simple solid mixing of the active materials with subsequent addition of SBR and CMC binders. This approach bypasses the use of toxic and expansive organic solvents. The factors of binder, silicon, and graphite materials have been systematically investigated. It is found that the retained capacities of the anodes are more than 440 mAh/g after 400 cycles. These results indicate that organic solvent free process is a facile strategy for producing high performance silicon/graphite composite anodes.

In order to evaluate network trust, different intrusion detection methods have been proposed. However, it is difficult for a single detection node to collect massive data and perform detection and evaluation in a large-scale network. In addition, disclosure of security-related data and detection pattern might weaken data provision incentives due to privacy concern, which could result in deliberately forging data to evade detection. Current literature still lacks a general framework to conduct decentralized intrusion detection towards network trust evaluation with privacy preservation. In this paper, we propose SeDID, a Software Guard Extension (SGX)-enabled decentralized intrusion detection framework for network trust evaluation based on blockchain. We design a novel consensus mechanism to avoid forking and guarantee high efficiency and real decentralization, where block creation is uniquely consented by miners and block creation difficulty is determined by the number of blocks previously created by a relative miner within a time window. The smaller the number, the easier the miner creates a new block. SeDID also offers incentives according to node contributions for motivating security-related data collection, intrusion detection and network trust evaluation. Additional employment of Intel SGX makes SeDID preserve both data and pattern privacy. We analyze SeDID’s efficacy in terms of incentive, privacy preservation and security. Its performance is further evaluated through simulations. In specific settings, its block creation time, task completion time and throughput are 19.61s, 44.55s and 224.47 transactions/s, respectively. Compared with state-of-the-art systems, SeDID offers better performance, which implies its potential to be applied in practice.

Background Addressing numerous calls for understanding the theoretical mechanisms that explain the relationship between perceived social support and psychological well-being to enhance nursing students’ mental health. Aims This study focused on how integrative self-knowledge and self-integrity mediate the relationship between perceived social support and psychological well-being. Methods The Structural Equation Model (SEM) was used to estimate the mediation effects on the relationship between perceived social support and psychological well-being among 487 undergraduate nursing students. To examine the directionality of effects, the present study also tested the reverse serial mediation model. Multi-group SEM (MGSEM) was used to test gender differences in the mediation model. Results Integrative self-knowledge and self-integrity, in sequence, mediated the association between perceived social support and psychological well-being among nursing students. In addition, there was no gender difference in these associations. Conclusions Improving nursing students’ perceived social support, integrative self-knowledge, and self-integrity is beneficial for promoting their mental health.

The phase transitions among the high-pressure polymorphic forms of CaCO3 (cc-I, cc-II, cc-III, and cc-IIIb) are investigated by dynamic diamond anvil cell (dDAC) and in situ Raman spectroscopy. Experiments are carried out at room temperature and high pressures up to 12.8 GPa with the pressurizing rate varying from 0.006 GPa/s to 0.056 GPa/s. In situ observation shows that with the increase of pressure, calcite transforms from cc-I to cc-II at ∼ 1.5 GPa and from cc-II to cc-III at ∼ 2.5 GPa, and transitions are independent of the pressurizing rate. Further, as the pressure continues to increase, the cc-IIIb begins to appear and coexists with cc-III within a pressure range that is inversely proportional to the pressurizing rate. At the pressurizing rates of 0.006, 0.012, 0.021, and 0.056 GPa/s, the coexistence pressure ranges of cc-III and cc-IIIb are 2.8 GPa–9.8 GPa, 3.1 GPa–6.9 GPa, 2.7 GPa–6.0 GPa, and 2.8 GPa–4.5 GPa, respectively. The dependence of the coexistence on the pressurizing rate may result from the influence of pressurizing rate on the activation process of transition by reducing the energy barrier. The higher the pressurizing rate, the lower the energy barrier is, and the easier it is to pull the system out of the coexistence state. The results of this in situ study provide new insights into the understanding of the phase transition of calcite.

Lithium sulfur batteries (LSB) can offer great opportunities for the next-generation energy storage systems required for electrical vehicles and grid energy storage applications due to its very high theoretical specific energy (2500 Wh kg−1). For the practical applications, the sulfur loading in the cathode should not be lower than 70wt% in order to achieve a high energy density. However, the electrical and/or ionic conductivity of the cathode can be reduced with a high S loading, respectively, leading to reduced sulfur utilization and slurry reaction kinetic. In order to overcome this issue, sulfur active species were first dissolved together with Li2S in the electrolyte to form lithium polysulfide (LiPolS) (e.g., Li2S8 and Li2S6) solution or catholyte. During cycling, the active sulfur (Li2S8) is deposited from the electrolyte into the S-free cathode conductive matrix, which could be made from carbon nanotube and carbon nanofiber. It has been demonstrated that the specific/areal capacity of Li – lithium polysulfide (Li-LiPS) cells show high specific capacity, indicating high S utilization as well as high reaction kinetic. However, the problem is the penetration of dissolved LiPSs through the separator to react with the Li metal anode and reduce to form short-chain LiPSs, resulting to the passivation of the anode with irreversible deposits on its surface. In order to mitigate this problem, a lithiated-polyamic acid functionalized glass microfibers (GF@PALi) was utilized as a functional separator to selectively transfer Li+ ions. The GF@PALi was prepared by simply dipping of commercial GF into aqueous solution of 5 wt% lithiated-polyamic acid and dried overnight at 60 oC in vacuum oven. Combined with CNTs on Ni foam electrode, catholyte of 0.4 M LiTFSI + 2.0 M Li2S8 + 1.0 M LiNO3 in DME/DOL and lithium anode, the fabricated LSB cell exhibits a high specific and areal capacities of 803 mAh g-1 and 2.43 mAh cm-2 at C/2 rate, respectively. In addition, the LSB cell with the GF@PALi separator presents a remarkable cycling durability until 200 cycles with 76% capacity retention, which is much more stable than the LSB cell with commercial Celgard PP separator working until 86 cycles. Such high durability could be attributed to the retarding polysulfide migration of the as-prepared GF@PALi separator. Figure 1

The Li-S battery is a promising next-generation technology due to its high theoretical energy density (2600 Wh/kg) and low active material cost. However, poor cycling stability and coulombic efficiency caused by polysulfide dissolution have proven to be major obstacles for a practical Li-S battery implementation. In this work, we develop a novel strategy to suppress polysulfide dissolution using hydrofluoroethers (HFEs) with bi-functional, amphiphlic surfactant-like design: a polar lithiophilic “head” attached to a fluorinated lithiophobic “tail.” A unique solvation mechanism is proposed for these solvents whereby dissociated lithium ions are readily coordinated with lithiophilic “head” to induce self-assembly into micelle-like complex structures. Complex formation is verified experimentally by changing the additive structure and concentration using small angle X-ray and neutron scattering. These HFE-based electrolytes are found to prevent polysulfide dissolution and to have excellent chemical compatibility with lithium metal: Li||Cu stripping/plating tests reveal high coulombic efficiency (>99.5%), modest polarization, and smooth surface morphology of the uniformly deposited lithium. Li-S cells are demonstrated with 1395 mAh/g initial capacity and 71.9% retention over 100 cycles at >99.5% efficiency—evidence that the micelle structure of the amphiphilic additives in HFEs can prohibit polysulfide dissolution while enabling facile Li+ transport and anode passivation. In addition, this type of electrolytes is also stable toward high voltage cathode to enable a lithium metal anode and high voltage cathode high-energy density rechargeable lithium battery.

Electrically conductive polymers are a class of polymers, which can conduct electricity. Conductive polymers have found niche applications such as anti-statics. The electrochemical energy storage devices, especially lithium-ion rechargeable batteries, has grown significantly in the past two decades. Multifunctional conductive polymers may play a significant role as electrode binders for Silicon (Si) and Tin (Sn) alloy based anode electrode. Si is an attractive candidate for lithium-ion batteries because it delivers 10 times greater theoretical (∼4200 mAh/g) specific capacity than that of a traditional graphite anode (∼370 mAh/g). However, the widespread application of silicon materials has remained a significant challenge because of the large volume change during lithium insertion and extraction processes, disrupting both the Si electrode surface and electrode mechanical integrity. This large volume change causes electrode failure, leading to loss of the electrical contact and drastic capacity fading. Nanosizing the Si and Sn based anode materials provides better performance, but poses significant challenges to manufacturing of the electrode, including particle aggregation, and difficulties in maintaining constant electrical contacts to the nanoparticles, and excessive surface area. Conductive polymer binders can play multiple functions for Si electrode, including improved adhesion and connectivity, lithium ion compensation, better ion and electric conductivity as well as surface and interface modification. Organic and polymer chemistry has provided almost infinity possibilities to modify the polymeric binders to include the desired functionalities. This presentation will discuss the specific molecular design principles and synthetic steps to realize the structures and functionalities of the binders, how these binders interact with different nano Si materials, and the electrochemical performances of the electrodes based on these binders.

The fibrinogen-to-albumin ratio index (FAR) is a valuable tool reflecting the systemic inflammation level and associated with the severity of coronary artery disease. However, the utility of the FAR in predicting the long-term prognosis of patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and multivessel disease has remained to be determined. A total of 424 patients diagnosed with STEMI and multivessel disease were recruited for the present study. They were given emergent percutaneous coronary intervention treatment and then completed a follow-up for primary (all-cause mortality) and secondary endpoints (major adverse cardiac events, including MI, stroke, emergent revascularization and rehospitalization due to heart failure). The association between FAR and the Synergy Between Percutaneous Coronary Intervention with Taxus and Cardiac Surgery (SYNTAX) score was investigated, while receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was adopted to assess the ability of the FAR to predict long-term outcomes. The long-term survival of high and low FAR groups was compared by drawing Kaplan-Meier survival curves. Multivariate Cox regression analysis was adopted to evaluate the risk factors of primary and secondary endpoints. The FAR was revealed to have a linear correlation with the SYNTAX score (y=0.022x+17.737; P=0.015). Furthermore, the FAR was a significant predictor of all-cause death with a cut-off value of 128.4 (area under the curve, 0.832; P

Summary The solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI) produced by the decomposition of electrolyte has critical impact on battery performance. However, the precise makeup of SEI, including the composition of organic and polymeric species, is one of the least understood aspects of lithium-ion batteries. Here, we probe SEIs using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) assisted by on-electrode chromatography. On-electrode chromatography utilizes the electrode itself as the stationary phase for fractionating the molecules on the electrode surfaces, thus realizing separation of different molecular species prior to MALDI analysis. This strategy has proven important for effective MALDI measurements of SEI components directly on the electrode surfaces. With on-electrode chromatography, large-molecule decomposition products of carbonate electrolytes containing vinylene carbonate and methacrylate additives are unambiguously illustrated in each case with clear structure assignment. This work provides a simple, powerful, and universal solution for the identification of the organic components in SEIs.

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS To explore the clinically feasible diagnosis criteria and treatment outcomes of allergy-related sialodochitis (ARS). STUDY DESIGN Prospective Cohort Study. METHODS Ninety-six consecutive patients were enrolled by the following criteria: 1) recurrent swelling of ≥2 large salivary glands that lasted for ≥3 months; 2) with mucus plug exudations; 3) with atopic diseases; 4) ductal stenosis and/or ectasia. Sixty-four patients with elevation of peripheral blood eosinophil (PBE) and/or serum IgE level comprised group A (highly-suspected ARS group), while the remaining 32 comprised group B (patients without confirmed evidence of ARS). These patients were treated with interventional endoscopy. A chronic obstructive sialadenitis symptom (COSS) questionnaire was used to quantify the treatment outcomes. RESULTS In group A, Serum IgE was elevated in 84.4% of patients and PBE was elevated in 34.4% of patients. Percentage of submandibular gland involvement was higher in group A than group B (48.4% vs. 18.8%). On sialograms, the snowflake changes of branch ducts were seen in higher percentage of group A compared with group B (59% vs. 35% for parotid glands, 27% vs. 8% for submandibular glands, respectively). Mucus plug smears showed abundant eosinophils in 14 group A patients. Biopsy of five group A patients revealed significant eosinophil infiltration around the main and interlobular ducts. During follow-up, the COSS scores were significantly decreased in both groups, and group B was improved better than group A. CONCLUSION PBE and serum IgE are important diagnostic indexes of ARS. Mucus plug smear or histopathology verifies the diagnosis. Interventional endoscopy is helpful for ARS cases. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE 3 Laryngoscope, 131:2030-2035, 2021.

Background: Recently, more and more treatment strategies for Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) have emerged, but the therapeutic effect is still not satisfactory. This study is aimed to explore the mechanism of Interleukin 35 (IL-35) in promoting the progression of liver cancer and to explore the application value of IL-35 in the treatment of HCC.Methods: We used clinical tissue microarray (TMA) immunohistochemistry (IHC) to explore the prognostic value of IL-35 expression in patients with HCC. The effect of IL-35 on the function of HCC was explored by functional experiments including wound-healing assay, transwell, cell counting kit-8, cell adhesion assay and endothelial tube formation assay in vitro and mouse xenografts in vivo. And flow cytometry was used to study the effect of IL-35 on infiltrating immune cells in tumor. The molecular mechanism of the function of IL-35 on the progression of HCC was explored by sequencing, ELISA, WB, PCR and other technical means. Finally, through in vivo tumor animal experiments to explore the value of anti-IL-35 antibody and combined with anti-PD-1 antibody in the treatment of liver cancer.Results: High expression of IL-35 in patients with HCC were identified to be associated with poor prognosis. And we have found that IL-35 facilitated tumor progression by affecting neutrophil infiltration, angiogenesis, and CD8+ T-cell infiltration in a mouse model. Additionally, on the one hand C-C motif chemokine ligand 3 (CCL3) has been found to be a key factor mediating the recruitment of neutrophils by IL-35, on the other hand fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2) secreting by neutrophil when stimulated by IL-35 was also found to be the core cytokine to promote intratumoral angiogenesis. And IL-35 was also discovered to facilitated the adhesion of tumor to endothelial cells, with neutrophils further enhancing this effect in vitro and vivo. More important, anti-IL-35 antibody was found to be a valid treatment for HCC in xenograft tumor model, and it could give full play to the curative effect of 1:1＞2 when combination therapy with PD-1 antibody.Conclusion: Our data show that the expression of IL-35 in patients with HCC is an important tumor promoting factor. The application of anti-IL-35 antibody and treatment combined anti-IL-35 antibody with anti-PD-1 antibody have potential therapeutic value in the treatment of liver cancer.

Objectives: Immune regulation mechanism of how Helicobacter pylori urease disrupting the homeostasis of host cells remains unknown.Methods: We thus detected the effect of Helicobacter pylori UreB on macrophage PD-L1 expression with recombinant protein and defective strains. The influence of UreB induced PD-L1 on CD8+ T cells’ proliferation and perforin and granzyme expression were assessed through co-culture model. Results: Urease subset B (UreB) significantly promoted PD-L1 expression in Bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs) and thus blocked the proliferation and activity of H. pylori-primed CD8+ T cells. Myosin heavy chain 9 (Myh9) works as the receptor for UreB. The interaction between UreB and Myh9 promoted amino acid anabolism, activated mTOR pathway and induced PD-L1 expression in BMDMs. mTOR inhibitor Temsirolimus reversed UreB-induced PD-L1 expression and the inhibitory effects on CD8+ T cells. Conclusion: Our study reveals a hitherto-unknown immunosuppressive mechanism of UreB during H. pylori infection, provides clues for the development of H. pylori vaccine.

The introduction of nitrogen-rich functional groups into a luminescent metal-organic framework (LMOF) can enhance its fluorescent sensing ability. In this work, we designed and synthesized a triazole-containing tetracarboxyl-substituted tetraphenylethene (TPE) ligand, tetrakis[4-(4-carboxyphenyl)(1H-1,2,3-triazol-4,1-diyl)phenyl]ethene (H4TCPTAPE), featuring a prominent aggregation-induced emission (AIE). A highly porous TPE-based LMOF [Zn3(TCPTAPE)(H2O)2(OH)2] (1) with large pores was successfully obtained via solvothermal assembly of the H4TCPTAPE ligand and Zn(II) ions, which showed a high fluorescence quantum yield of 54%. The activated 1 could selectively and sensitively detect aristolochic acid I with a high fluorescence quenching efficiency of 96% and a low detection limit of 1.02 μM, indicating that it has a potential application as a luminescence-based chemical sensor for carcinogens.

Colorectal cancer is one of the deadly malignancies and is one of the top three most common cancers and the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths. The main objective of the study was to investigate the anticancer effects of norwogonin - a naturally occurring plant flavone. We also examined its effects on programmed cell death, autophagy and cell cycle phase distribution.Cell viability of colon cancer cells was evaluated by MTT assay while apoptotic studies were carried out by fluorescence microscopy using acridine orange (AO)/ethidium bromide (EB) and Comet assays. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was used to study formation of autophagosomes reminiscent of autophagy. Furthermore, western blot assay was used to study the effects of norwogonin on apoptosis-related protein expressions including Bax, Bcl-2 and autophagy-related proteins. Effects on cell cycle were evaluated by flow cytometry.The results showed that norwogonin causes substantial reduction in the viability of the human colorectal carcinoma cells in a dose-dependent manner, exhibiting an IC50 of 15.5 µM in cancer cells and IC50 of 90 µM in normal cell lines. The AO/EB staining assay showed that norwogonin suppresses the viability of cancer cells via induction of apoptotic cell death which was associated with increase in Bax and decrease in Bcl-2 levels. Comet assay results also confirmed that norwogonin induces apoptosis. Norwogonin also led to induction of autophagy along with triggering G2/M phase cell cycle arrest.In conclusion, the current study shows that norwogonin has a potential to inhibit in vitro colorectal cancer cells growth by triggering apoptosis, autophagy and cell cycle arrest and as such could be developed as a possible anticancer agent.

In recent years, some natural products isolated from the fungi of the genus

The Hoberman sphere is a stable and stretchable spatial structure with a unique design concept, which can be taken as the ideal prototype of the internal mechanical/conductive skeleton for the anode with large volume change. Herein, Mn

In this study, nanoindentation load-displacement curves of an eutectic Sn58Bi alloy were obtained. The measured elastic modulus and hardness were 40.6180 and 0.2886 GPa, respectively. To determine the power-law elastoplastic constitutive relation of this alloy, reverse analysis of the loading stage of the nanoindentation was performed to identity the representative stress and strain by finite element simulation. Based on the dimensional analysis put forward by Dao et al., the calculated strain-hardening exponent was 0.2577. The yield strength of eutectic Sn58Bi alloy can be identified by substituting the obtained elastic modulus, strain-hardening exponent, representative stress and strain into the power-law constitutive model.

Lattice oxygen redox reactions (ORR) offers opportunities for developing highcapacity batteries, however, suffers the notoriously high voltage hysteresis and low initial coulombic efficiency, which hinder its practical applications. Particularly, ORR was widely considered inherent to these kinetic issues. In this paper, unambiguous evidence of strong and reversible ORR is found in Na2/3Ni1/3Mn2/3O2, which displays negligible voltage hysteresis (0.1 V) and high initial coulombic efficiency with a highly stable electrochemical profile. Our independent and quantitative analysis of all the Ni, Mn and O states consistently interpret the redox mechanism of Na2/3Ni1/3Mn2/3O2, which reveals, for the first time, a conventional 3d transition-metal ORR system with facile kinetics and highly stable electrochemical profile that previously found only in cationic redox systems.

Herpes virus entry mediator (HVEM) is overexpressed in several malignancies, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, to the best of our knowledge, the clinical significance of HVEM in hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related HCC remains unclear. Thus, the present study aimed to explore the clinical significance of HVEM in HBV-related HCC. In the present study, HVEM expression was evaluated in HCC cell lines and HCC frozen samples. The prognostic value of HVEM was assessed in a cohort of 221 patients with HBV-related HCC, following radical resection. B- and T-lymphocyte attenuator (BTLA) expression in subsets of CD8(+) T cells was determined via flow cytometry analysis. The results demonstrated high HVEM expression in HCC cell lines, and in HCC tissues compared with paired non-cancerous liver tissues. HVEM expression was demonstrated to be significantly associated with tumor encapsulation and vascular invasion. Furthermore, tumor HVEM status was significantly associated with infiltration of regulatory T cells, but not with CD8(+) T cells. Notably, high HVEM expression in HCC was determined to be an independent predictor of an unfavorable outcome of patients with HCC following radical resection. Higher BTLA expression (the receptor of HVEM) was observed in both HCC-infiltrating CD8(+) effector memory (CCR7(−) CD45RA(−)) and CD45RA(+) effector memory (CCR7(−) CD45RA(+)) T cells in HCC tissues and blood compared with those in paired peritumor tissues or peripheral blood. Taken together, the results of the present study suggest that HVEM may serve a critical role in HBV-related HCC, most likely by promoting tumor progression and tumor immune evasion, thus the HVEM/BLTA signaling pathway may be a potential target in tumor immunotherapy.

Luminescent metal-organic frameworks (LMOFs) that can effectively differentiate

Security-related data collection is an essential part for attack detection and security measurement in Mobile Ad Hoc Networks (MANETs). Due to no fixed infrastructure of MANETs, a detection node playing as a collector should discover available routes to a collection node for data collection. Notably, route discovery suffers from many attacks (e.g., wormhole attack), thus the detection node should also collect securityrelated data during route discovery and analyze these data for determining reliable routes. However, few literatures provide incentives for security-related data collection in MANETs, and thus the detection node might not collect sufficient data, which greatly impacts the accuracy of attack detection and security measurement. In this paper, we propose B4SDC, a blockchain system for security-related data collection in MANETs. Through controlling the scale of RREQ forwarding in route discovery, the collector can constrain its payment and simultaneously make each forwarder of control information (namely RREQs and RREPs) obtain rewards as much as possible to ensure fairness. At the same time, B4SDC avoids collusion attacks with cooperative receipt reporting, and spoofing attacks by adopting a secure digital signature. Based on a novel Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism by accumulating stakes through message forwarding, B4SDC not only provides incentives for all participating nodes, but also avoids forking and ensures high efficiency and real decentralization at the same time. We analyze B4SDC in terms of incentives and security, and evaluate its performance through simulations. The thorough analysis and experimental results show the efficacy and effectiveness of B4SDC.

Summary The reversibility and cyclability of anionic redox in battery electrodes hold the key to its practical employments. Here, through mapping of resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (mRIXS), we have independently quantified the evolving redox states of both cations and anions in Na2/3Mg1/3Mn2/3O2. The bulk Mn redox emerges from initial discharge and is quantified by inverse partial fluorescence yield (iPFY) from Mn-L mRIXS. Bulk and surface Mn activities likely lead to the voltage fade. O-K super-partial fluorescence yield (sPFY) analysis of mRIXS shows 79% lattice oxygen redox reversibility during the initial cycle, with 87% capacity sustained after 100 cycles. In Li1.17Ni0.21Co0.08Mn0.54O2, lattice oxygen redox is 76% initial-cycle reversible but with only 44% capacity retention after 500 cycles. These results unambiguously show the high reversibility of lattice oxygen redox in both Li-ion and Na-ion systems. The contrast between Na2/3Mg1/3Mn2/3O2 and Li1.17Ni0.21Co0.08Mn0.54O2 systems suggests the importance of distinguishing lattice oxygen redox from other oxygen activities for clarifying its intrinsic properties.

Accumulating evidence has indicated that long noncoding RNA NEAT1 exerts critical roles in cancers. So far, the detailed biological role and mechanisms of NEAT1, which are responsible for human gastric cancer (GC), are still largely unknown. Here, we observed that NEAT1 and STAT3 expressions were significantly upregulated in human GC cells including BGC823, SGC-7901, AGS, MGC803, and MKN28 cells compared with normal gastric epithelial cells GES-1, while miR-506 was downregulated. We inhibited NEAT1 and observed that NEAT1 inhibition was able to repress the growth, migration, and invasion of GC cells. Conversely, overexpression of NEAT1 exhibited an increased ability of GC progression in BGC823 and SGC-7901 cells. Bioinformatics analysis, dual luciferase reporter assays, RIP assays, and RNA pull-down tests validated the negative binding correlation between NEAT1 and miR-506. In addition, it was found that miR-506 can modulate the expression of NEAT1 in vitro. STAT3 was predicted as a messenger RNA (mRNA) target of miR-506, and miR-506 mimics can suppress STAT3 mRNA expression. Subsequently, it was observed that downregulation of NEAT1 can restrain GC development by decreasing STAT3, which can be reversed by miR-506 inhibitors. Therefore, it was hypothesized in our study that NEAT1 can be recognized as a competing endogenous RNA to modulate STAT3 by sponging miR-506 in GC. In conclusion, we implied that NEAT1 can serve as an important biomarker in GC diagnosis and treatment.

Author(s): Mao, J; Liu, X; Liu, J; Jiang, H; Zhang, T; Shao, G; Ai, G; Mao, W; Feng, Y; Yang, W; Liu, G; Dai, K | Abstract: P2-type Na2/3Ni1/3Mn2/3O2 is an air-stable cathode material for sodium-ion batteries. However, it suffers irreversible P2-O2 phase transition in 4.2-V plateau and shows poor cycling stability and rate capability within this plateau. To evaluate the practicability of this material in 2.3–4.1 V voltage range, single-crystal micro-sized P2-type Na2/3Ni1/3Mn2/3O2 with high rate capability and cycling stability is synthesized via polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)-combustion method. The electrochemical performance is evaluated by galvanostatic charge-discharge tests. The kinetics of Na+ intercalation/deintercalation is studied detailly with potential intermittent titration technique (PITT), galvanostatic intermittent titration technique (GITT) and cyclic voltammetry (CV). The discharge capacity at 0.1 C in 2.3–4.1 V is 87.6 mAh g−1. It can deliver 91.5% capacity at 40 C rate and keep 89% after 650 cycles at 5C. The calculated theoretical energy density of full cell with hard carbon anode is 210 Wh kg−1. The moderate energy density associated with high power density and long cycle life is acceptable for load adjustment of new-energy power, showing the prospect of practical application.

Prosperity of information technology triggers a tremendous amount of digital data that needs to be stored by storage memories with ultra-high capacity. Although probe-based memory has exhibited its superb storage merits, its developments to date, however, remain slow due to several physical limits. In order to overcome its drawbacks, and to further advance probe storage technologies, a comprehensive review regarding the current status and future prospect of probe-based memories become of importance. In this paper, we first presented the physical principles of various reported probe-based memories and their respective advantages/disadvantages, as well as their current status. Subsequently, up-to-date progress made on these probe memories and some novel probe memories concepts is proposed. The prospect of a probe-based memory device is finally predicted.

Antibiotics have become a pollutant in water due to their abuse, which poses a threat to the environment and human health. An urgent and meaningful task is to develop highly sensitive and selective sensors. Herein, a new and simple luminescent MOF [Zn8(C5H4N5)4(C14H8O4)6O(C50H44N4)0.5] (TMPyPE@bio-MOF-1) was synthesized by in situ encapsulation of cationic TPE-based guest TMPyPE into an anionic MOF. TMPyPE@bio-MOF-1 exhibits high stability and strong fluorescence in water, and can selectively and sensitively detect nitrofuran antibiotics in aqueous medium. At the same titration concentration, TMPyPE@bio-MOF-1 shows higher fluorescence quenching efficiencies of 96% for NFZ and 95.5% for NFT compared with other antibiotics, which can be detected by the naked eye. Due to the simplicity and sensitivity of analysis, the tetraphenylethene-based luminogen encapsulated LMOF material reported would have wide application potential in environmental pollution analysis.

With the use of in situ neutron reflectometry (NR) we show how the addition of an electronically conductive polymeric binder, PEFM, mediates the solid–electrolyte interphase (SEI) formation and composition on an amorphous Si (a-Si) electrode as a function of the state-of-charge. Upon initial contact with the electrolyte a Li rich, 41 A thick, layer forms on the surface of the anode below the polymer layer. At 0.8 V (vs. Li/Li+), a distinct SEI layer forms from the incorporation of electrolyte decomposition products in the reaction layer that is organic in nature. In addition, solvent uptake in the PEFM layer occurs resulting in the layer swelling to ∼200 A. Upon further polarization to 0.4 and 0.15 V (vs. Li/Li+) a thick layer (800 A) on the surface of the Si is evident where a diffuse interface between the PEFM and SEI occurs resulting in a matrix between the two layers, as the binder has taken up a large amount of electrolyte. The two layers appear to be interchanging solvent molecules from the PEFM to the SEI to the Si surface preventing the lithiation of the a-Si. By 0.05 V (vs. Li/Li+) a Li rich, 72 A thick, SEI layer condenses on the surface of the anode, and a 121 A intermixed layer on top of the SEI with LiF and Li–C–O species is present with the rest blended into the electrolyte.

Silicon materials are the most viable candidates to overcome the limitations of the capacity and energy density of conventional graphite. Nevertheless, this technology is still at an early stage and needs competitive strategies for the electrode fabrication. Herein, a functionalized 3-dimensional (3-D) polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) network is prepared via in situ cross-linking with a trimethylol melamine (TMM) bridge, which enables an electrode with much improved mechanics and ionic conductivity. Under optimized conditions, the nano-Si anode using the obtained 3-D PVA binder exhibits superior electrochemical properties with the first coulomb efficiency of 90.81% and a reversible capacity of more than 3000 mA h g−1. At 20 C (84 A g−1) current density, the Si anode is able to deliver a capacity of 2338 mA h g−1. After 500 electrochemical cycles, it can still retain more than 85% of the initial capacity. The underlying mechanisms for the electrochemical enhancement are discussed in terms of the electrode laminate mechanics and the improved ionic transportation due to the TMM incorporation. The simple and facile method by adopting a functional cross-linker shows great promise for use with Si anodes in lithium ion batteries.

OBJECTIVES To investigate the clinical, laboratory, radiological, histopathological, and immunohistochemical features, and the expression of allergy-related cytokines in eosinophilic sialodochitis (ES). METHODS Thirty-eight patients diagnosed with chronic obstructive sialadenitis (COS) who had undergone glandular excision or incisional biopsy were enrolled. Seventeen patients with comorbid atopic disease and increased ductal tissue eosinophils comprised the ES group, while 21 patients comprised the COS group. The clinicopathological features and allergy-related cytokine expression were compared between groups. RESULTS The ES group frequently involved multiple, bilateral major salivary glands, and the number of glands was significantly greater than the COS group (2.8 ± 1.1 vs. 1.2 ± 0.4, P

Based on the idea of plant metabolomics, ultra performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry(UPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS) was used to compare the chemical composition between 6 batches of fruit vinegar brewed from Choerospondias axillaris fruit peel and 6 batches of apple vinegar purchased from 3 companies. Antioxidant and α-glucosidase inhibition activities were also tested in vitro. A total of 43 compounds were identified by reference substance, liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry(LC-MS/MS) fragmentation information or literature data. A total of 40 compounds were identified in the C. axillaris fruit peel vinegar. A total of 16 compounds were identified in apple vinegar. There were 13 common ingredients including organic acids and esters such as citric acid, 2-isopropyl malic acid, and triethyl citrate. The results of partial leastsquares-discriminant analysis(PLS-DA) indicated that they had 33 significantly different compounds such as proanthocyanidin oligomer, quercetin-3-O-rhamnoside and heptadecanoic acid. The proanthocyanidins and flavonoid glycosides in C. axillaris peel vinegar were more abundant than apple vinegar, so it had better health function than ordinary fruit vinegar. The results showed that C. axillaris fruit peel vinegar had stronger antioxidant and α-glucosidase inhibition activities in vitro. The vinegar brewed from waste C. axillaris fruit peel had more chemical ingredients than the apple vinegar. C. axillaris fruit peel vinegar had better biological activity and health function, so it had good development prospect. This study provided the scientific evidence for exploiting the C. axillaris fruit peel into high value-added products. It also provided ideas for the comprehensive development and utilization of similar Chinese medicine waste.

Background: There is intense interest about the therapeutic potential of altering gut microbiota to improve metabolism, based primarily on intriguing animal studies. One prior trial of fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) in obese men found that improved metabolic response after FMT was predicted by low baseline microbiome diversity. In the current trial, we investigated the safety and efficacy of weekly oral FMT capsules to improve glycemic outcomes in obese adults, and also explored determinants of successful microbiome engraftment and metabolic improvement after FMT. Methods: FMT-TRIM was a double-blind randomized placebo-controlled pilot trial of weekly oral FMT vs placebo capsules for 6 weeks in 24 obese adults with mild-moderate insulin resistance. Each participant in the FMT arm received capsules derived from one of 4 metabolically healthy lean donors (BMI 18.5-23 kg/m2). The primary outcome was change in insulin sensitivity assessed by hyperinsulinemic euglycemic clamp at 0 and 6 weeks. Secondary outcomes included body weight, metabolic labs, and body composition assessed by DXA over 12 weeks. 16SV4 rRNA sequencing was performed to assess microbiome composition and engraftment. Post-hoc exploratory analyses investigated metabolic outcomes after stratification by baseline microbiome diversity. Results: FMT and placebo groups were well balanced in terms of age (mean±SD 40±9 yrs), BMI (40±6 kg/m2), sex (72% female), and baseline metabolic measures. During the study, there were no statistically significant differences in insulin sensitivity between the FMT and placebo groups (+5 ± 12% FMT vs -3 ± 32% placebo, mean percent difference 9%, 95% CI -5% to 28%; p=0.16). There was a minor improvement in HbA1c at 12 weeks after FMT as compared to placebo (mean difference -0.1, 95% CI -0.3-0.01), but no significant differences in other metabolic labs, body weight, or body composition. Microbial engraftment varied by donor but was present in most FMT recipients, with persistence of engrafting strains throughout the 12-week study. Subgroup analyses of subjects with low microbiome diversity at baseline (FMT n=4, placebo n=7) showed a relative benefit of FMT over placebo at 12 weeks for HbA1c (mean difference -0.2, 95% CI -0.4 to -0.01), total cholesterol (-22 mg/dL, 95% CI -40 to -4 mg/dL), and fasting glucose (-10 mg/dL, 95% CI -19 to -1 mg/dL). There were no significant differences in adverse events between FMT and placebo groups. Conclusion: Weekly administration of FMT capsules results in gut microbiota engraftment for at least 12 weeks but does not meaningfully alter human metabolism in an unselected population of obese adults. Future studies are needed to elucidate the role of baseline recipient microbial diversity and other factors on the impact of FMT.

Li-ion batteries will lose both capacity and power over time due to calendar aging caused by slow parasitic processes that consume Li+ ions. Studying and mitigating these processes is traditionally an equally slow venture, which is especially taxing for the validation of new active materials and electrolyte additives. Here, we evaluate whether potentiostatic holds can be used to accelerate the diagnosis of Li+ loss during calendar aging. The technique is based on the idea that, under the right conditions, the current measured as the cell voltage is held constant can be correlated with the instantaneous rate of side reactions. Thus, in principle, these measurements could capture the rate of capacity fade in real time. In practice, we show that this method is incapable of quantitatively forecasting calendar aging trends. Instead, our study demonstrates that potentiostatic holds can be applied for initial qualitative screening of systems that exhibit promising long-term stability, which can be useful to shrink the parameter space for calendar aging studies. By facilitating the identification of improved formulations, this approach can help accelerate innovation in the battery industry.