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The rational design and exploration of efficient, low‐cost and durable bifunctional electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) are key to the development of rechargeable metal−air batteries. Here, we report a novel approach to in‐situ synthesize Fe0.64Ni0.36 nanoalloy encapsulated in nitrogen‐doped porous carbon nanotubes (FeNi@N−CNTs) as bifunctional electrocatalyst derived from Ni‐modified Prussian blue, on which the ORR/OER can be promoted by the N−CNTs surface due to the electron modulation caused by electron transfer from the inner FeNi nanoalloy to the N−CNTs surface. The abundant wide‐size range of mesopores in N−CNTs can offer rapid mass transport channels to facilitate the catalytic reactions. In addition, the encapsulation structure endows the outer N−CNTs acting as a "shield" to prevent the inner FeNi nanoalloy from corrosion in strong basic medium. Thanks to the synergistic effect between the N−CNTs and FeNi nanoalloy, the obtained FeNi@N−CNTs exhibits excellent bifunctional oxygen catalytic activity together with outstanding performance and cycling durability in rechargeable Zn−air battery. This work will open new avenues for the development of advanced bifunctional electrocatalysts for other metal−air batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An aerogel thermal insulation plate has been successfully prepared by using a polystyrene plastic plate with honeycomb structure as a supporting framework. The thermal conductivity of aerogel honeycomb panel was measured by steady state method and its thermal performance was tested by thermal insulation experiment. Based on the steady-state heat transfer process, a simplified model of series-parallel thermal resistance was established, and the thermal conductivity of the aerogel honeycomb plate varying with the filling rate was calculated, the comparison error with the measured value is within 5%. The results show that the thermal conductivity of the aerogel honeycomb plate can be reduced by 19.6% to 27.6% compared with the XPS plate, and its thermal performance is better than the traditional XPS plate. In the future, the aerogel honeycomb plate can be applied to the thermal insulation of light and fast barracks and other buildings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To help understand the disease burden of vaccine-preventable bacterial disease, we delineated the epidemiologic and clinical characteristics of radiographic-confirmed community-acquired pneumonia (CXR-CAP) among Chinese children., Methods: We retrospectively screened the electronic database of the hospital information system to identify all pediatric CAP cases admitted to the Children's Hospital of Soochow University between 2010 and 2014. Radiographic findings and clinical data were extracted from the medical charts through individual chart reviews. CXR-CAP cases were defined as the presence of consolidation or pleural effusion noted on chest radiograph reports. We employed a multivariate logistic regression model to identify the potential risk factors associated with CXR-CAP., Results: Among the 27,485 hospitalized CAP cases with radiologic data, 6322 (23.00%) were identified as CXR-CAP cases, while 21,163 (77.00%) were categorized as non-CXR-CAP cases. Children with CXR-CAP were notably older than those without CXR-CAP (non-CXR-CAP; χ2 = 1313.22; P < 0.01). CXR-CAP cases exhibited a higher rate of intensive care unit admission (3.55% vs. 1.94%; P < 0.01), extended hospital stays (73.87% vs. 63.79%; P < 0.01) and increased mortality rates (0.19% vs. 0.04%; P < 0.01). The factors associated with CXR-CAP included age (>12 months), season (summer and autumn), fever, abnormal breath sounds, C-reactive protein (>8 mg/L) and alanine transaminase (>40 U/L)., Conclusions: CXR-CAP cases consisted of a substantial proportion of hospitalized patients with CAP and had more severe clinical manifestations than in-patients without CXR-CAP among Chinese children., Competing Interests: T.Z. reports financial support provided by the Shanghai Institute of Infectious Disease and Biosecurity. J.T. reports financial support provided by the Suzhou Key Laboratory of Accurate Diagnosis and Treatment of Pediatric Infectious Disease. G.Z., N.H., Y.L., C.L., T.S., M.S., Q.C. and J.Z. have no conflicts of interest to disclose., (Copyright © 2024 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Fe 3 O 4 is barely taken into account as an electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), an important reaction for metal-air batteries and fuel cells, due to its sluggish catalytic kinetics and poor electron conductivity. Herein, how strain engineering can be employed to regulate the local electronic structure of Fe 3 O 4 for high ORR activity is reported. Compressively strained Fe 3 O 4 shells with 2.0% shortened Fe─O bond are gained on the Fe/Fe 4 N cores as a result of lattice mismatch at the interface. A downshift of the d-band center occurs for compressed Fe 3 O 4 , leading to weakened chemisorption energy of oxygenated intermediates, and lower reaction overpotential. The compressed Fe 3 O 4 exhibits greatly enhanced electrocatalytic ORR activity with a kinetic current density of 27 times higher than that of pristine one at 0.80 V (vs reversible hydrogen electrode), as well as potential application in zinc-air batteries. The findings provide a new strategy for tuning electronic structures and improving the catalytic activity of other metal catalysts., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Background: In 2016, China licensed 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) based on a study that demonstrated its immunogenicity is non-inferior to PCV7. However, the real-world effectiveness of PCV13 against vaccine-serotype pneumococcal diseases in China has limited evidence., Methods: A test-negative case-control study was conducted among children under 5 years old admitted to the Children's Hospital of Soochow University (SCH) with respiratory tract infections from January 2018 to December 2020. Cases were defined as children from whom the isolates were tested positive for Streptococcus pneumoniae (S. pneumoniae) with serotypes included in PCV13. Two control groups were included, one represented children with isolates positive for S. pneumoniae of non-PCV13 serotypes and the other comprised children who tested negative for S. pneumoniae. The S. pneumoniae-negative controls were selected by matching them to the cases based on gender, age and admission date in a 1:1 ratio. Vaccine effectiveness (VE) was calculated using a logistic regression model as (1- adjusted odds ratio) * 100 %., Results: A total of 2371 pneumococcal isolates were included in the analysis, of which 75.0 % (1779/2371) were covered by PCV13 serotypes. Consequently, these 1779 children were classified as cases, and 592 children were designated as non-PCV13 serotype controls. Another 1779 children were correspondingly recruited as S. pneumoniae-negative controls. Overall, 40 cases (2.3 %) and 148 controls (6.2 %) had received vaccination. The overall VE in the PCV13/non-PCV13 serotypes case-control study was 50.0 % (95 % CI: 15.0, 70.7), which was lower than the VE of 74.4 % (95 % CI: 60.7, 83.3) in the matched PCV13/S. pneumoniae-negative case-control study. VE was higher for ≥ 2 or ≥ 3 doses of vaccination compared to ≥ 1 dose. VE against specific PCV13 serotypes (6B, 6A and 19F) was higher than for other serotypes., Conclusions: PCV13 vaccination demonstrates effectiveness against vaccine-serotype pneumococcal diseases in children, particularly for serotypes 6B, 6A and 19F., 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 © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)