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Bismuth-based materials that adhere to the alloy/dealloy reaction mechanism are regarded as highly promising anode materials for potassium-ion batteries due to their high volume-specific capacity and moderate reaction potentials. However, their commercial viability has been limited by the effects of structural collapse due to volume distortion and impeded electron conduction, resulting in rapid capacity decline. In this work, a carbon-coated nanosized BiPO4 rod (BiPO4@C) was designed and fabricated to overcome the aforementioned challenges through the architecture engineering and anionic-tuning strategy. In particular, the nanosized nanorods significantly reduce the volume expansion; the incorporation of the bulk and open-skeleton anion PO43− serves to mitigate the considerable volume distortion and generates the high ionic conductivity product (K3PO4) to ameliorate the poor ionic transport due to the structural deformation. The elaborated BiPO4 rods exhibit high specific capacity (310.3 mAh g−1, at 500 mA g−1), excellent cycling stability (over 700 cycles at 500 mA g−1) and superior rate performance (137.8 mAh g−1, at 1000 mA g−1). Systematic ex-situ XRD and TEM, as well as kinetic tests, have revealed the "conversion-multistep alloying" reaction process and the "battery-capacitance dual-mode" potassium storage mechanism. Moreover, the thick electrodes showed excellent specific capacity and rate performance, demonstrating their significant application potential in the next generation of SIBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transition metal oxides are considered promising anode materials for high performance flexible electrodes due to their abundant reserves and excellent specific capacity. However, their inherent low conductivity, large volume effect, and poor cycling performance limit their applications. Herein, we report a novel "spontaneous complexation and exfoliation" strategy for the fabrication of flexible MnO NCs@rGO thin-film electrodes, which overcomes the aforementioned drawbacks and pushes the mechanical flexibility and lithium-ion (Li+) storage performance to a higher level. The combination of large-area few-layer reduced graphene oxide (rGO) films and ultrafine MnO nanocrystals (MnO NCs) provides a high density of electrochemical active sites. Notably, the layer-by-layer embedded structure not only enables the MnO NCs@rGO electrodes to withstand various mechanical deformations but also produces a strong synergistic effect of enhanced reaction kinetics by providing an enlarged electrode/electrolyte contact area and reduced electron/ion transport resistance. The elaborately designed flexible MnO NCs@rGO anode provides a specific capacity of about 1220 mAh g−1 over 1000 cycles, remarkable high-rate capacity (50.0 A g−1), and exceptional cycling stability. Finally, the assembled flexible lithium-ion full cells achieve zero capacity loss during repeated large-angle bending, demonstrating immense potential as a high-performance flexible energy storage device. This work provides valuable insights into unique structural designs for durable and ultra-fast lithium ion batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reinforcement and cross-linking are two critical issues in the rubber industry. However, carbon black (CB) as the most dominant reinforcing filler is derived from fossil resource-derived chemicals. And currently adopted cross-linking strategies would result in difficulties in the recycling of end-of-life rubbers. Herein, lignin, the most abundant renewable aromatic polymer, was developed as an effective reinforcing filler of rubber. The butadiene–styrene–vinylpyridine rubber (VPR) was selected as the rubber matrix, and a facile and cost-effective strategy was provided to improve the compatibility and interfacial interaction between lignin and the non-polar rubber matrix. Based on the Zn2+–pyridine coordination between the pyridine groups in the VPR chains and phenoxy groups in the lignin molecules, the lignin particles could obtain fine dispersion in the rubber matrix, exhibiting an excellent reinforcing effect. Moreover, the pyridine groups in the VPR chains were developed as cross-linking points, and the VPR could be effectively cross-linked based on the chemical reaction between the pyridine group and alkyl halide, producing quaternized pyridine groups. Due to the existence of the exchange reaction via the C–N transalkylation of the quaternized pyridine groups, the lignin/VPR composites could show vitrimer-like properties and are endowed with good reprocessability at high temperatures. Additionally, due to the photothermal conversion capability of lignin, the lignin/VPR composites could exhibit good photothermal performance triggered by 808 nm near-infrared light, and further possess light-driven shape memory properties. Hence, we envisage that this work can provide an avenue to design and fabricate green, sustainable, and recyclable elastomer materials with lignin as a renewable bio-filler. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

miR‐363‐3p is downregulated in lung adenocarcinoma and can inhibit tumor growth. Here, we aimed to investigate the effect of miR‐363‐3p on non‐small‐cell lung cancer (NSCLC) metastasis. In our study, miR‐363‐3p overexpression inhibited cell migration and invasion via epithelial–mesenchymal transition inhibition, while miR‐363‐3p knockdown exhibited the opposite effects. Further studies demonstrated that miR‐363‐3p bound to 3′‐untranslated regions of NEDD9 and SOX4, and negatively regulated their levels. Interestingly, NEDD9 or SOX4 knockdown rescued the metastasis‐promoting effects of antagomiR‐363‐3p. The inhibitory effects of agomiR‐363‐3p were also blocked by NEDD9 or SOX4 overexpression. Moreover, lentivirus particles carrying pre‐miR‐363 (LV‐pre‐miR‐363) significantly decreased, while LV‐miR‐363‐3p inhibitor increased metastatic nodule numbers and the levels of NEDD9 and SOX4 in lungs. In conclusion, tumor suppressor miR‐363‐3p may be a potential target in NSCLC therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is one of the most frequent cancers worldwide. The abnormal expression of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) has been reported to be closely associated with the progression of human cancers, including NSCLC. Here, we demonstrated that differentiation antagonizing noncoding RNA (DANCR) was overexpressed in NSCLC tissues. Upregulation of DANCR expression was significantly associated with larger tumor size, advanced TNM stage and lymph node metastasis, and also predicted poor prognoses of patients with NSCLC. Functional experiments showed that DANCR enhanced NSCLC growth and metastasis both in vitro and in vivo . Further investigation revealed that DANCR could compete with the Sox4 mRNA to bind with miR-138, thus affecting Sox4 expression. In addition, we found that Sox4 bound to the promoter regions of DANCR gene to activate DANCR expression, suggesting a positive feedback loop of DANCR/miR-138/Sox4 in NSCLC. Taken together, these results provide a comprehensive analysis of the roles of DANCR as a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) in NSCLC progression., Competing Interests: None.

Electroporation of synthetic vesicles is utilized for the preparation of molecular size uncapped Zn(1-x)Mn(x)S clusters. The absence of caps permits (i) continued growth of the Zn(1-x)Mn(x)S clusters formed, (ii) the assessment of their true absorption spectra unaltered by stabilizing ligands, and (iii) the previously inaccessible live observation of the growth of the clusters in the molecular size regime. Upon cluster growth, the UV spectra exhibit novel, time-dependent, oscillation of red and blue shifts of the characteristic absorption band. The structure and electronic properties of Zn(N-1)MnS(N) clusters with N = 1-9 are calculated using the first-principles DMol(3) package. On the basis of similarities between the oscillating trend of the experimentally observed absorption spectra and that of the calculated highest occupied molecular orbital-lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (HOMO-LUMO) gap of Zn(N-1)MnS(N) clusters with N = 1-9, the wavelengths of the sequential spectral peaks can be assigned to Zn(2)MnS(3), Zn(3)MnS(4), Zn(4)MnS(5), Zn(6)MnS(7), and Zn(8)MnS(9), respectively. Our results demonstrate that both the cluster size and the composition can be used to tune the optical properties.