Search

Abstract Reconfigurable phototransistors featuring bipolar photoresponses are favorable for manipulating high-performance neuromorphic vision sensory. Here, we present a momentum-conserved reconfigurable phototransistor based on the van der Waals heterojunction between methylammonium lead iodide perovskite and two-dimensional Bi2O2Se semiconductor, which exhibits a synergistic interplay of interband hot-carrier transitions and reconfigurable heterointerface band alignments, eventually achieving the ultrahigh bipolar optoelectronic performances with the photoresponsivity of 6×107 AW−1, accompanied by the specific detectivity of 5.2×1011 Jones, and the dynamic range of 110 dB. Moreover, A 3×3 heterotransistor array is fabricated to perform in-sensor analog multiply-accumulate operations even under the challenging dim illumination of 0.1 μWcm−2 that comparable to natural moonlight. The reconfigurable heterotransistor array can be further adopted to enhance the traffic-light detection under dim-light conditions. Our advancement in momentum-conserved reconfigurable heterotransistor signifies a leap forward in real-time, energy-efficient, and low-light image processing for neuromorphic vision sensors.

Abstract Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a major chronic disease worldwide and its risk factors have long been investigating in epidemiological studies. Our study aims to develop a body composition-based risk score and integrate it into the Framingham Risk Score (FRS) to improve CVD prediction among well-functioning older adults. We included 1882 older adults from the Health, Aging and Body Composition (Health ABC) study to screen body composition variables obtained from the Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Three models were developed and compared: the 4-DXA model, the refit FRS, and the refit FRS plus 4-DXA model. C-statistics were 0.62 (95% CI: 0.59, 0.65) for the refit FRS, 0.58 (95% CI: 0.55, 0.61) for the 4-DXA model, and 0.63 (95% CI: 0.60, 0.66) for the refit FRS plus 4-DXA model. Compared to the refit FRS, the refit FRS plus 4-DXA model slightly improved CVD outcome prediction as the discrimination slope, net reclassification index, and the integrated discrimination index were 0.053 (95% CI: 0.041, 0.066), 0.098 (95% CI = – 0.0033, 0.20) and 0.013 (95% CI: 0.0069–0.019). This study provides a model for more accurate risk stratification and draws more attention on DXA-based indices in the clinical setting. It also encourages further research in validating the developed risk score in more diverse population and in investigating a broader range of CVD risk factors.

Abstract Background Lipid management based on cardiovascular risk level is the cornerstone of primary prevention of coronary artery disease (CAD), while the accuracy and adherence of traditional cardiovascular risk stratification have been questioned. Prevention strategies based on imaging screening for atherosclerotic plaques are found to be more objective and adherent in recent studies. This trial aims to investigate the role of coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) in guiding the primary prevention of CAD in a randomized controlled design. Methods Approximately 3400 middle-aged asymptomatic community participants will be recruited and randomized in a 1:1 ratio to a traditional cardiovascular risk score-guided (usual care group) or CCTA-guided (CCTA group) strategy. Participants with cardiovascular disease, prior lipid-lowering therapy, CCTA contraindication, or serious diseases that affect life span will be excluded. The intervention strategy includes blood pressure, blood glucose, and lipid management and lifestyle modifications. Blood pressure and glucose targets and lifestyle modification recommendations keep the same in both strategies, while lipid management is personalized based on traditional risk level or CCTA results, respectively. The primary outcome is the proportion of participants taking lipid-lowering medication regularly at both 6 and 12 months. The secondary outcomes include the proportion of participants achieving low-density lipoprotein cholesterol lowering targets at 12 months, mean changes in lipid levels from baseline to 12 months, barriers to adherence, adverse reactions related to CCTA examination, and cardiovascular events. Discussion The study is the first randomized clinical trial to examine the effectiveness of a CCTA-guided versus a traditional risk score-guided primary prevention strategy in an asymptomatic community-based population. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05725096. Registered on 2 February 2023.

Abstract The concept of the gut-kidney axis is gaining significant attention due to the close relationship between gut microbiota and kidney disease. Peritoneal dialysis is recognized as a crucial renal replacement therapy for end-stage renal disease (ESRD). The alterations in gut microbiota and related mechanisms after receiving this dialysis method are not fully understood. This study conducted shotgun metagenomic sequencing on fecal samples from 11 end-stage renal disease patients who did not receive dialysis (ESRD_N) and 7 patients who received peritoneal dialysis (ESRD_P). After quality control and correlation analysis of the data, our study is aimed at exploring the impact of peritoneal dialysis on the gut microbiota and health of ESRD patients. Our research findings indicate that the complexity and aggregation characteristics of gut microbiota interactions increase in ESRD_P. In addition, the gut microbiota drives the biosynthesis pathways of sesquiterpenes and triterpenes in ESRD_P patients, which may contribute to blood purification and improve circulation. Therefore, our research will lay the foundation for the prevention and treatment of ESRD.

Abstract In this study, we dynamically monitored the glomerular filtration rate and other assessment of renal function and markers of injury in various mice models of acute kidney injury. Male C57BL/6 mice were utilized to establish acute kidney injury models of sepsis, ischemia reperfusion, cisplatin, folic acid, aristolochic acid and antibiotic. In addition to the real time glomerular filtration rate, renal LCN-2 and HAVCR-1 mRNA expression levels, and serum creatinine, urea nitrogen and cystatin c levels were also used to evaluate renal function. In addition, the protein levels of LCN-2 and HAVCR-1 in renal, serum and urine were measured. Our results demonstrated that the changes in biomarkers always lagged the real time glomerular filtration rate during the progression and recovery of renal injury. Cystatin-c can reflect renal injury earlier than other markers, but it remains higher in the recovery stage. Perhaps the glomerular filtration rate does not reflect the greater injury caused by vancomycin plus piperacillin.

Abstract Ferroelectrics are essential in memory devices for multi-bit storage and high-density integration. Ferroelectricity mainly exists in compounds but rare in single-element materials due to their lack of spontaneous polarization in the latter. However, we report a room-temperature ferroelectricity in quasi-one-dimensional Te nanowires. Piezoelectric characteristics, ferroelectric loops and domain reversals are clearly observed. We attribute the ferroelectricity to the ion displacement created by the interlayer interaction between lone-pair electrons. Ferroelectric polarization can induce a strong field effect on the transport along the Te chain, giving rise to a self-gated ferroelectric field-effect transistor. By utilizing ferroelectric Te nanowire as channel, the device exhibits high mobility (~220 cm2·V−1·s−1), continuous-variable resistive states can be observed with long-term retention (>105 s), fast speed (1.92 TB/cm2). Our work provides opportunities for single-element ferroelectrics and advances practical applications such as ultrahigh-density data storage and computing-in-memory devices.

Artificial intelligence (AI) holds significant promise in transforming medical imaging, enhancing diagnostics, and refining treatment strategies. However, the reliance on extensive multicenter datasets for training AI models poses challenges due to privacy concerns. Federated learning provides a solution by facilitating collaborative model training across multiple centers without sharing raw data. This study introduces a federated attention-consistent learning (FACL) framework to address challenges associated with large-scale pathological images and data heterogeneity. FACL enhances model generalization by maximizing attention consistency between local clients and the server model. To ensure privacy and validate robustness, we incorporated differential privacy by introducing noise during parameter transfer. We assessed the effectiveness of FACL in cancer diagnosis and Gleason grading tasks using 19,461 whole-slide images of prostate cancer from multiple centers. In the diagnosis task, FACL achieved an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.9718, outperforming seven centers with an average AUC of 0.9499 when categories are relatively balanced. For the Gleason grading task, FACL attained a Kappa score of 0.8463, surpassing the average Kappa score of 0.7379 from six centers. In conclusion, FACL offers a robust, accurate, and cost-effective AI training model for prostate cancer pathology while maintaining effective data safeguards.

This study offers a comprehensive evaluation of urban renewal efforts in Shandong Province, China, by employing the entropy method combined with the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution (TOPSIS). An evaluation index system was constructed to assess the weights of key factors influencing urban renewal, including the renovation of old residential areas, improvement in sewage treatment quality, development of sponge cities, adoption of clean heating, and enhancement of air quality. Analysis of 16 prefecture-level cities in 2019 reveals significant disparities in performance, with Jinan achieving the highest ranking due to notable improvements in infrastructure and environmental management. Meanwhile, other cities displayed varying levels of success, reflecting different developmental stages and capacities. The findings underscore the necessity for tailored strategies to optimize urban renewal outcomes, focusing on high-weight factors such as sewage treatment, clean heating, and residential renovation. This study provides actionable insights for policymakers, advocating adaptive renewal strategies that align with local contexts and encourage continuous innovation. The results highlight the importance of targeted policy interventions to enhance urban renewal quality across Shandong Province, promoting sustainable urban development and better living standards.

A great deal of attention has been paid to lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries due to their high energy density (>2600 Wh kg–1), elemental abundance, and environmental friendliness, which show great application prospects in a wide range of energy storage systems. However, the shuttle effect caused by traditional liquid electrolyte remains a problem handicapping the development of the Li–S battery. In-situ polymerized gel polymer electrolytes (GPEs) with high ionic conductivity, high-voltage stability, and interfacial compatibility are spotlighted to solve the shuttle effect for better electrochemical performance. Here, we use Al­(OTf)3 to initiate DOL ring-opening polymerization to form GPEs. A hierarchical carbon interlayer, comprised of superaligned carbon nanotubes and Super P, was rationally organized with size exclusion effect (0.76 nm) to strengthen the interface stability and conversion of soluble lithium polysulfides for higher sulfur utilization. GPEs with ionic conductivity up to 1.74 mS cm–1 and low interfacial impedance at room temperature are proposed, which infiltrate into the demonstrated hierarchical carbon interlayer to form HC@PP separators. The Li–S battery using the HC@PP separator exhibits higher sulfur utilization and discharge capacities (1332 mAh g–1), improved rate capability, and 80% capacity retention at 1 C after 150 cycles, greatly surpassing the interlayer-free solid-state Li–S battery. Our work provides a promising in-situ polymerization strategy of GPEs with compatible hierarchical carbon interlayers design and its intrinsic interface regulation for a high-performance solid-state Li–S battery.

Abstract Pilot-diesel-ignition ammonia combustion engines have attracted widespread attentions from the maritime sector, but there are still bottleneck problems such as high unburned NH3 and N2O emissions as well as low thermal efficiency that need to be solved before further applications. In this study, a concept termed as in-cylinder reforming gas recirculation is initiated to simultaneously improve the thermal efficiency and reduce the unburned NH3, NOx, N2O and greenhouse gas emissions of pilot-diesel-ignition ammonia combustion engine. For this concept, one cylinder of the multi-cylinder engine operates rich of stoichiometric and the excess ammonia in the cylinder is partially decomposed into hydrogen, then the exhaust of this dedicated reforming cylinder is recirculated into the other cylinders and therefore the advantages of hydrogen-enriched combustion and exhaust gas recirculation can be combined. The results show that at 3% diesel energetic ratio and 1000 rpm, the engine can increase the indicated thermal efficiency by 15.8% and reduce the unburned NH3 by 89.3%, N2O by 91.2% compared to the base/traditional ammonia engine without the proposed method. At the same time, it is able to reduce carbon footprint by 97.0% and greenhouse gases by 94.0% compared to the traditional pure diesel mode.

Breast cancer remains a leading cause of mortality in women worldwide. Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a particularly aggressive subtype characterized by rapid progression, poor prognosis, and lack of clear therapeutic targets. In the clinic, delineation of tumor heterogeneity and development of effective drugs continue to pose considerable challenges. Within the scope of our study, high heterogeneity inherent to breast cancer was uncovered based on the landscape constructed from both tumor and healthy breast tissue samples. Notably, TNBC exhibited significant specificity regarding cell proliferation, differentiation, and disease progression. Significant associations between tumor grade, prognosis, and TNBC oncogenes were established via pseudotime trajectory analysis. Consequently, we further performed comprehensive characterization of the TNBC microenvironment. A crucial epithelial subcluster, E8, was identified as highly malignant and strongly associated with tumor cell proliferation in TNBC. Additionally, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-associated fibroblast and M2 macrophage subclusters exerted an influence on E8 through cellular interactions, contributing to tumor growth. Characteristic genes in these three cluster cells could therefore serve as potential therapeutic targets for TNBC. The collective findings provided valuable insights that assisted in the screening of a series of therapeutic drugs, such as pelitinib. We further confirmed the anti-cancer effect of pelitinib in an orthotopic 4T1 tumor-bearing mouse model. Overall, our study sheds light on the unique characteristics of TNBC at single-cell resolution and the crucial cell types associated with tumor cell proliferation that may serve as potent tools in the development of effective anti-cancer drugs.

Abstract Background Penicillium chrysogenum is a filamentous fungal species with diverse habitats, yet little is known about its genetics in adapting to extreme subseafloor sedimental environments. Results Here, we report the discovery of P. chrysogenum strain 28R-6-F01, isolated from deep coal-bearing sediments 2306 m beneath the seafloor. This strain possesses exceptional characteristics, including the ability to thrive in extreme conditions such as high temperature (45 °C), high pressure (35 Mpa), and anaerobic environments, and exhibits broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity, producing the antibiotic penicillin at a concentration of 358 μg/mL. Genome sequencing and assembly revealed a genome size of 33.19 Mb with a GC content of 48.84%, containing 6959 coding genes. Comparative analysis with eight terrestrial strains identified 88 unique genes primarily associated with penicillin and aflatoxins biosynthesis, carbohydrate degradation, viral resistance, and three secondary metabolism gene clusters. Furthermore, significant expansions in gene families related to DNA repair were observed, likely linked to the strain’s adaptation to its environmental niche. Conclusions Our findings provide insights into the genomic and biological characteristics of P. chrysogenum adaptation to extreme anaerobic subseafloor sedimentary environments, such as high temperature and pressure.

Abstract Background China bears a high burden of both hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). T2DM accelerates the progression of liver disease among individuals infected with HBV. This study aims to assess the excess disease burden caused by comorbid T2DM among HBV-infected individuals in China. Methods We estimated the disease burden of HBV and its complications in China from 2006 to 2030 using individual-based Markov models. The baseline population consisted of 93 million HBV-infected individuals derived from the 2006 National Serological Epidemiological Survey. We developed two models: one incorporated the impact of T2DM on the disease progression of HBV infection, while the other did not consider the impact of T2DM. By comparing the outcomes between these two models, we estimated the excess disease burden attributable to comorbid T2DM among HBV-infected individuals. Results The incidence of severe HBV complications, including cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and liver-related deaths, exhibited an increasing trend from 2006 to 2030 among the Chinese HBV-infected population. Comorbid T2DM increased the annual incidence and cumulative cases of severe HBV complications. From 2006 to 2022, comorbid T2DM caused 791,000 (11.41%), 244,000 (9.27%), 377,000 (8.78%), and 796,000 (12.19%) excess cases of compensated cirrhosis, decompensated cirrhosis, HCC, and liver-related deaths, respectively. From 2023 to 2030, comorbid T2DM is projected to result in an 8.69% excess in severe HBV complications and an 8.95% increase in liver-related deaths. Among individuals aged 60 and older at baseline, comorbid T2DM led to a 21.68% excess in severe HBV complications and a 28.70% increase in liver-related deaths from 2006 to 2022, with projections indicating a further 20.76% increase in severe HBV complications and an 18.31% rise in liver-related deaths over the next seven years. Conclusions Comorbid T2DM imposes a substantial disease burden on individuals with HBV infection in China. Healthcare providers and health policymakers should develop and implement tailored strategies for the effective management and control of T2DM in individuals with HBV infection.

Abstract Background PD-L1 staining using long-stored paraffin sections may not be consistent with the true PD-L1 expression of patients. Therefore, it is necessary to explore the expression of PD-L1(SP142) in paraffin sections of invasive breast cancer with different storage times and the optimal storage temperature for unstained paraffin sections. Methods The study included 71 cases of PD-L1(SP142) positive breast cancer. The unstained paraffin sections were stored at room temperature conditions (20–25 °C), 4 °C, -20 °C and − 80 °C, respectively. PD-L1 staining was performed at 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 12 and 24 weeks of storage. PD-L1 expression was assessed with a continuity score. Results The PD-L1 antigen was gradually lost as the storage time of paraffin sections increased. The PD-L1 positivity rate was 97.18% at 1 week for the sections stored at room temperature, and decreased from 83.10 to 71.83% for the sections stored for 2 weeks to 4 weeks, and 61.97%, 54.93%, and 32.93% for 8, 12, and 24 weeks, respectively. When stored at low temperatures of 4 °C, -20 °C and − 80 °C, the positivity rate decreases with the same trend but more slowly compared to room temperature. The mean IC score of PD-L1 also showed a gradual decrease in all cases. In the consistency analysis, PD-L1 expression in slices stored at room temperature for 2 weeks was consistent with PD-L1 expression in fresh slices (ICC ≥ 0.9 for all slices), and PD-L1 expression in slices stored at 4 °C or -20 °C for 4 weeks was consistent with PD-L1 expression in fresh slices (ICC ≥ 0.9 for all slices). When stored under refrigeration at -80 °C, PD-L1 expression in slices stored for 3 weeks was consistent with that in fresh slices (ICC ≥ 0.9). Conclusions To our knowledge, this is the first article on the effect of preservation time and preservation temperature of paraffin sections on PD-L1 expression in breast cancer. Long-term storage of paraffin sections of unstained invasive breast cancer can lead to antigen loss of PD-L1 (SP142). Refrigerated storage of paraffin sections can delay antigen loss, with best results at 4 °C or -20 °C, and a storage time of no more than 4 weeks is recommended.

Silicon carbide particle-reinforced aluminum matrix (SiCp/Al) composites are significant lightweight metal matrix composites extensively utilized in precision instruments and aerospace sectors. Nevertheless, the inclusion of rigid SiC particles exacerbates tool wear in mechanical machining, resulting in a decline in the quality of surface finishes. This work undertakes a comprehensive investigation into the problem of tool wear in SiCp/Al composite materials throughout the machining process. Initially, a comprehensive investigation was conducted to analyze the effects of cutting velocity vc, feed per tooth fz, milling depth ap, and milling width ae on tool wear during high-speed milling under SCCO2-MQL (Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Minimum Quantity Lubrication) ultrasonic vibration conditions. The results show that under the condition of SCCO2-MQL ultrasonic vibration, proper control of milling parameters can significantly reduce tool wear, extend tool service life, improve machining quality, and effectively reduce blade breakage and spalling damage to the tool, reduce abrasive wear and adhesive wear, and thus significantly improve the durability of the tool. Furthermore, a prediction model for tool wear was developed by employing the orthogonal test method and multiple linear regression. The model’s relevance and accuracy were confirmed using F-tests and t-tests. The results show that the model can effectively predict tool wear, among which cutting velocity vc and feed rate fz are the key parameters affecting the prediction accuracy. Finally, a genetic algorithm was used to optimize the milling parameters, and the optimal parameter combination (vc = 60.00 m/min, fz = 0.08 mm/z, ap = 0.20 mm) was determined, and the optimized milling parameters were tested. Empirical findings suggest that the careful selection of milling parameters can significantly mitigate tool wear, extend the lifespan of the tool, and enhance the quality of the surface. This work serves as a significant point of reference for the processing of SiCp/Al composite materials.

Abstract The evolution of pathway enzymes enhances the biosynthesis of high‐value chemicals, crucial for pharmaceutical, and agrochemical applications. However, unpredictable evolutionary landscapes of pathway genes often hinder successful evolution. Here, the presence of complex epistasis is identifued within the representative naringenin biosynthetic pathway enzymes, hampering straightforward directed evolution. Subsequently, a biofoundry‐assisted strategy is developed for pathway bottlenecking and debottlenecking, enabling the parallel evolution of all pathway enzymes along a predictable evolutionary trajectory in six weeks. This study then utilizes a machine learning model, ProEnsemble, to further balance the pathway by optimizing the transcription of individual genes. The broad applicability of this strategy is demonstrated by constructing an Escherichia coli chassis with evolved and balanced pathway genes, resulting in 3.65 g L−1 naringenin. The optimized naringenin chassis also demonstrates enhanced production of other flavonoids. This approach can be readily adapted for any given number of enzymes in the specific metabolic pathway, paving the way for automated chassis construction in contemporary biofoundries.

To address the challenges posed by the randomness and volatility of multi-energy loads in integrated energy systems for ultra-short-term accurate load forecasting, this paper proposes an ultra-short-term multi-energy load forecasting method based on multi-dimensional coupling feature mining and multi-task learning. Firstly, a method for mining multi-dimensional coupling characteristics of multi-energy loads is proposed, integrating multiple correlation analysis methods. By constructing coupling features of multi-energy loads and using them as input features of the model, the complex coupling relationships between multi-energy loads are effectively quantified. Secondly, an ultra-short-term multi-energy load forecasting model based on multi-task learning and a temporal convolutional network is constructed. In the prediction model construction phase, the potential complex coupling characteristics between multiple loads can be fully explored, and the potential temporal associations and long-term dependencies within data can be extracted. Then, the multi-task learning loss function weight optimization method based on homoscedastic uncertainty is used to optimize the forecasting model, realizing automatic tuning of the loss function weight parameters and further improving the prediction performance of the model. Finally, an experimental analysis is conducted using the integrated energy system of Arizona State University in the United States as an example. The results show that the proposed forecasting method has higher prediction accuracy than other prediction methods.

Abstract Molecular diodes are of considerable interest for the increasing technical demands of device miniaturization. However, the molecular diode performance remains contact‐limited, which represents a major challenge for the advancement of rectification ratio and conductance. Here, it is demonstrated that high‐quality ultrathin organic semiconductors can be grown on several classes of metal substrates via solution‐shearing epitaxy, with a well‐controlled number of layers and monolayer single crystal over 1 mm. The crystals are atomically smooth and pinhole‐free, providing a native interface for high‐performance monolayer molecular diodes. As a result, the monolayer molecular diodes show record‐high rectification ratio up to 5 × 108, ideality factor close to unity, aggressive unit conductance over 103 S cm−2, ultrahigh breakdown electric field, excellent electrical stability, and well‐defined contact interface. Large‐area monolayer molecular diode arrays with 100% yield and excellent uniformity in the diode metrics are further fabricated. These results suggest that monolayer molecular crystals have great potential to build reliable, high‐performance molecular diodes and deeply understand their intrinsic electronic behavior.

Putatively, tooth agenesis was attributed to the initiation failure of tooth germs, though little is known about the histological and molecular alterations. To address if constitutively active FGF signaling is associated with tooth agenesis, we activated Fgf8 in dental mesenchyme with Osr-cre knock-in allele in mice (Osr2-creKI; Rosa26R-Fgf8) and found incisor agenesis and molar microdontia. The cell survival assay showed tremendous apoptosis in both the Osr2-creKI; Rosa26R-Fgf8 incisor epithelium and mesenchyme, which initiated incisor regression from cap stage. In situ hybridization displayed vanished Shh transcription, and immunostaining exhibited reduced Runx2 expression and enlarged mesenchymal Lef1 domain in Osr2-creKI; Rosa26R-Fgf8 incisors, both of which were suggested to enhance apoptosis. In contrast, Osr2-creKI; Rosa26R-Fgf8 molar germs displayed mildly suppressed Shh transcription, and the increased expression of Ectodin, Runx2 and Lef1. Although mildly smaller than WT controls prenatally, the Osr2-creKI; Rosa26R-Fgf8 molar germs produced a miniature tooth with impaired mineralization after a 6-week sub-renal culture. Intriguingly, the implanted Osr2-creKI; Rosa26R-Fgf8 molar germs exhibited delayed odontoblast differentiation and accelerated ameloblast maturation. Collectively, the ectopically activated Fgf8 in dental mesenchyme caused incisor agenesis by triggering incisor regression and postnatal molar microdontia. Our findings reported tooth agenesis resulting from the regression from the early bell stage and implicated a correlation between tooth agenesis and microdontia.

To improve the quality and enrich the flavour of fermented sardine, Tetragenococcus halophilus, Staphylococcus xylosus, and Staphylococcus saprophyticus were used as a mixed starter for sardine fermentation. And their proportions were optimised using response surface methodology (RSM). The highest sensory score was obtained when the proportions of T. halophilus, S. xylosus, and S. saprophyticus were 1 : 1 : 1. The optimised fermented sardine had the lowest levels of histamine content (0.0190 μg.g-1), total volatile basic nitrogen (TVBN, 208 μg.g-1), and was richer in volatile compounds (308). The results may provide important evidence that T. halophilus, S. xylosus, and S. saprophyticus may be satisfactorily used as a mixed starter to improve the quality and flavour of fermented sardines.

Abstract Background China has one of the highest hepatitis B virus (HBV) disease burdens worldwide and tracking progress toward the 2030 HBV elimination targets is essential. This study aimed to assess the impact of biomedical interventions (i.e., adult vaccination, screening and treatment) on the adult HBV epidemic, estimate the time for HBV elimination, and evaluate the cost-effectiveness of the interventions in China. Methods A deterministic compartmental model was developed to project the HBV epidemic from 2022 to 2050 and estimate the time to meet elimination targets under four intervention scenarios. Cost-effectiveness was calculated using incremental cost per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gained, i.e., average cost-effectiveness ratio (CER). Results Under the status quo, there will be 42.09–45.42 million adults living with HBV in 2050 and 11.04–14.36 million HBV-related deaths cumulatively from 2022 to 2050. Universal vaccination would cumulatively avert 3.44–3.95 million new cases at a cost of US$1027–1261/QALY gained. The comprehensive strategy would cumulatively avert 4.67–5.24 million new chronic cases and 1.39–1.85 million deaths, expediting the realization of the elimination targets forward to 2049. This strategy was also cost-effective with an average CER of US$20,796–26,685/QALY and a saved healthcare cost of US$16.10–26.84 per person. Conclusion China is not on track to meet the elimination targets but comprehensive biomedical interventions can accelerate the realization of the targets. A comprehensive strategy is cost-effective and cost-saving, which should be promoted in primary care infrastructures. Universal adult vaccination may be appropriate in the near future considering practical feasibility.

Summary: Adoptive cell therapies are emerging forms of immunotherapy that reprogram T cells for enhanced antitumor responses. Although surface programmed cell death-ligand 1 (PD-L1)/programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) engagement inhibits antitumor immunity, the role of cell-intrinsic PD-L1 in adoptive T cell therapy remains unknown. Here, we found that intracellular PD-L1 was enriched in tumor-infiltrating CD8+ T cells of cancer patients. PD-L1 ablation promoted antitumor immune responses and the maintenance of an effector-like state of therapeutic CD8+ T cells, while blockade of surface PD-L1 was unable to impact on their expansion and function. Moreover, cell-intrinsic PD-L1 impeded CD8+ T cell activity, which partially relied on mTORC1 signaling. Furthermore, endogenous tumor-reactive CD8+ T cells were motivated by BATF3-driven dendritic cells after adoptive transfer of PD-L1-deficient therapeutic CD8+ T cells. This role of cell-intrinsic PD-L1 in therapeutic CD8+ T cell dysfunction highlights that disrupting cell-intrinsic PD-L1 in CD8+ T cells represents a viable approach to improving T cell-based cancer immunotherapy.

Abstract Organic field‐effect transistors switched by insulated gates are the most essential building blocks, while usually plagued with degraded gate control arising from complicated dielectric engineering. Subsequently, the resulting large supply voltage and power consumption remain an essential issue for portable electronics driven by a single battery of only 1.5 V. Herein, wafer‐scale organic Schottky‐gate transistor arrays using inkjet‐printed few‐layer organic semiconducting crystals are reported. The transistors exhibit steep switching characteristics with an average subthreshold swing of 55 mV per dec and high signal amplification efficiency over 45 S A‐1, attributed to efficient Schottky gating and enhanced charge injection. Thereafter, high‐gain inverters are successfully demonstrated with an ultralow power consumption of only 800 pW; also, they are integrated as 1 V driven sequential logic circuits. A coplanar double‐gate geometry is also introduced for low‐voltage, single‐device AND logic. Therefore, the work opens new avenues toward the sustainable advancement in single‐battery‐driven, ultralow‐power organic electronics.

Soft grippers due to their highly compliant material and self-adaptive structures attract more attention to safe and versatile grasping tasks compared to traditional rigid grippers. However, those flexible characteristics limit the strength and the manipulation capacity of soft grippers. In this paper, we introduce a hybrid-driven gripper design utilizing origami finger structures, to offer adjustable finger stiffness and variable grasping range. This gripper is actuated via pneumatic and cables, which allows the origami structure to be controlled precisely for contraction and extension, thus achieving different finger lengths and stiffness by adjusting the cable lengths and the input pressure. A kinematic model of the origami finger is further developed, enabling precise control of its bending angle for effective grasping of diverse objects and facilitating in-hand manipulation. Our proposed design method enriches the field of soft grippers, offering a simple yet effective approach to achieve safe, powerful, and highly adaptive grasping and in-hand manipulation capabilities.

Phosphorus, particularly the red phosphorus (RP) allotrope, has been extensively studied as an anode material in both lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) and emerging sodium-ion batteries (SIBs). RP is featured with high theoretical capacity (2,596 mA h g−1), suitable low redox potential (~0.7/0.4 V for LIBs/SIBs), abundant resources, and environmental friendliness. Despite its promises, the inherent poor electrical conductivity of RP (~10−14 S cm−1) and significant volume changes during charge/discharge processes (>300%) compromise its cycling stability. In order to address these issues, various countermeasures have been proposed, focusing on the incorporation of materials that provide high conductivity and mechanical strength in composite-type anodes. In addition, the interfacial instability, oxidation, and safety concerns and the low mass ratio of active material in the electrode need to be addressed. Herein, this review summarizes the up-to-date development in RP materials, outlines the challenges, and presents corresponding countermeasures aimed to enhance the electrochemical performance. It covers aspects such as the structural design of RP, the choice of the additive materials and electrolytes, rational electrode construction, etc. The review also discusses the future prospects of RP for LIBs/SIBs and aims to provide a different perspective on the challenges that must be overcome to fully exploit the potential of RP and meet commercial application requirements.

BackgroundThe relationship between sarcopenia and cirrhosis is unclear. In this research, our aim is to evaluate the prevalence of sarcopenia among individuals with liver cirrhosis and its correlation with survival and mortality risks.MethodsWe conducted searches on PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE, and Cochrane for English articles published up to July 10, 2023, and additionally manually searched the bibliography of relevant articles. We incorporated research on sarcopenia in patients with cirrhosis to examine the connection between sarcopenia and the likelihood of survival and mortality. Statistical analyses were carried out utilizing the Stata version 15.1 software. Depending on the heterogeneity of the results, we employed either fixed-effects models or random-effects models for data synthesis. To assess publication bias, we employed funnel plots and conducted Egger’s test.ResultsWe included 40 studies involving 8,945 patients with cirrhosis. The overall prevalence of cirrhosis was 41% (95% CI 34%–48%). Male patients and those with liver cirrhosis and hepatic encephalopathy had a higher prevalence of sarcopenia (44% for male patients and 48% for hepatic encephalopathy patients). Sarcopenia emerged as a risk factor for both survival (HR = 2.57, 95% CI 2.02–3.27, p

The circadian clock regulates the behavior, physiology, and metabolism of mammals, and these characteristics, such as sleep-wake cycles, exercise capacity, and hormone levels, exhibit circadian rhythms. Light signaling is the main stimulator of the mammalian circadian system. The photoperiod regulates the reproductive cycle of seasonal breeding animals, and the circadian clock plays a pivotal role in this process. However, the role of the clock in coordinating animal behavior and physiology in response to photoperiodic changes needs further investigation. The present study investigated the changes and correlation of behavioral activities, physiological indicators, and gene expression in female striped hamsters (Cricetulus barabensis) within 24 h under a 12L:12D photoperiod. We found that the daily rhythms of sleep-wake and open field were significant in hamsters. The expression of clock genes, melatonin receptor genes, and genes involved in general metabolism oscillated significantly in central and peripheral tissues (brain, hypothalamus, liver, ovary, and thymus) and was significantly associated with behavior and physiology. Our results revealed that the neuroendocrine system regulated the rhythmicity of behavior and physiology, and central and peripheral clock genes (Bmal1, Clock, Per1, Per2, Cry1, and Cry2), melatonin receptor genes (MT1, MT2, and GPR50), and metabolizing genes (SIRT1, FGF21, and PPARα) played important roles. Our results suggest that central and peripheral circadian clocks, melatonin receptors, and genes involved in general metabolism may play key roles in maintaining circadian behavior and metabolic homeostasis in striped hamsters. Our results may have important implication for rodent pest control.

AbstractThe COVID-19 has caused adverse effects in various aspects, and its impact on population mobility cannot be ignored. In this study, we obtain mobility data for the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region during the Chunyun period of 2019–2021 and divide it into four stages. By developing directional weighted networks, the mobility patterns for pre- and post-epidemic are examined. Firstly, the migration scale declines significantly post-epidemic. The fourth stage migration scale exceeds 65% of 2019 in 2021 indicating the situation improves. Secondly, the structural characteristics are compared. The average degree values, clustering coefficients, and path lengths in the fourth stage of 2021 are higher than the values in 2020, showing the recovery of migration, but also efficiency degradation. Thirdly, community detection results show that three communities can be highlighted in the network, which followed Regional Development Pattern. Finally, the findings of Modified Alter-based Centrality and Alter-based Power models show that Beijing (27.78, 17.74) and Tianjin (14.92, 4.38) are typical cities, Tangshan (3.74, 0.03) and Langfang (3.40, 2.00) are gateway cities and others are general cities. A reasonable population distribution has not been formed. The study provides fresh perspectives for applying spatio-temporal data in health emergencies, and the results provide theoretical support for policy formulation of socio-economic recovery.

Summary: Natural killer (NK) cells are cytotoxic innate lymphocytes that eradicate tumor cells. Inducing durable antitumor immune responses by NK cells represents a major priority of cancer immunotherapy. While cytosolic DNA sensing plays an essential role in initiating antitumor immunity, the role of NK cell-intrinsic STING signaling remains unclear. Here, we find that NK cell-intrinsic STING promotes antitumor responses and maintains a reservoir of TCF-1+ NK cells. In contrast, tumor cell-intrinsic cGAS and mtDNA are required for NK cell antitumor activity, indicating that tumor mtDNA recognition by cGAS partially triggers NK cell-intrinsic STING activation. Moreover, addition of cGAMP enables STING activation and type I interferon production in NK cells, thereby supporting the activation of NK cells in vitro. In humans, STING agonism promotes the expansion of TCF-1+ NK cells. This study provides insight into understanding how STING signaling drives NK cell antitumor immunity and the development of NK cell-based cancer immunotherapy.

The limitation in metal-semiconductor contact has been a major challenge for high-performance organic field-effect transistors. Here, the authors fabricate the contact by transferring platinum electrode on solution-processed organic films, realizing ultralow total contact resistance down to 14 Ω ∙ cm.

Summary: Background: Drug overdose deaths in the USA have increased rapidly in the past 20 years, and understanding patterns and trends in mortality is essential to develop policy responses. This study aimed to determine whether cohort patterns in mortality due to drug overdose have changed in the past two decades and assess these patterns by race and sex. Methods: The national records of accidental drug overdose death were extracted from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics Mortality Data for 2000–2020. Age-period-cohort analysis was performed to examine independent effects of age, period and birth cohort on accidental drug overdose mortality. Findings: The number of accidental drug overdose deaths increased by 622% between 2000 and 2020, and age-standardized mortality rates increased nearly four-fold in both men and women. Age-period-cohort decomposition found rapid increases in mortality since 2012 in men and women, with higher mortality risk in cohorts born after 1990. The fastest increase occurred in Black Americans since 2012, and Americans of all races born after 1975 had significantly higher mortality risk, with mortality risk increasing rapidly in more recent cohorts. The peak of mortality has shifted from the 40–59 age group to the 30–40 year age group in the past decade. Interpretation: The burden of drug overdose mortality has shifted to younger Americans, and a new generation of Americans are at significantly higher and rapidly increasing risk of overdose death. Urgent action is needed to prevent an entire generation of young people being consigned to decades of preventable mortality. Funding: None.

Recent studies have demonstrated that stem cells have attracted much attention due to their special abilities of proliferation, differentiation and self-renewal, and are of great significance in regenerative medicine and anti-aging research. Hence, finding natural medicines that intervene the fate specification of stem cells has become a priority. Ginsenosides, the key components of natural botanical ginseng, have been extensively studied for versatile effects, such as regulating stem cells function and resisting aging. This review aims to summarize recent progression regarding the impact of ginsenosides on the behavior of adult stem cells, particularly from the perspective of proliferation, differentiation and self-renewal.

Abstract Evaluation of the oxygen‐mediated effects of clinical and daily activities demands an on‐skin device that can track multi‐vital regional tissue hemodynamics simultaneously. For example, peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is the third most prevalent cardiovascular disease, but the means of diagnosing and monitoring this disease are limited because the affected area is usually in the non‐pulsatile area away from the heart. Herein, we report on an ultrathin and ultralight multi‐vital near‐infrared optoelectronic biosensor for the diagnosis and rehabilitation monitoring of regional tissue hemodynamics, which is suitable for mounting on the skin for long‐term measurement. The device can simultaneously detect tissue oxygen saturation, heart rate, arterial blood oxygen, and tissue perfusion and shows potential for various hypoxia monitoring applications. Moreover, the tissue hemodynamics detected by this device showed a highly accordance with the ankle‐brachial index and CT angiography obtained by traditional clinical methods. Therefore, our design was able to accurately diagnose and effectively evaluate PAD patients before and after surgery. The on‐skin optoelectronic biosensor shows potential in biological oxygen‐mediated behavior evaluation, injury‐state monitoring, PAD clinical diagnosis optimization, and after surgery care.

In deep learning-based fault diagnosis of the wind turbine gearbox, a commonly faced challenge is the domain shift caused by differing operational conditions. Traditional domain adaptation methods aim to learn transferable features from the source domain and apply them to the target data. However, such methods still require access to target domain data during the training process, which limits their applicability in real-time fault diagnosis. To address this issue, we introduce an adversarial single-domain generalization network (ASDGN). It relies solely on data from a single length of data acquisition in wind turbine fault diagnosis. This novel approach introduces a more flexible and efficient solution to the field of real-time fault diagnosis for wind turbines.

Bisecting N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc), a GlcNAc linked to the core β-mannose residue via a β1,4 linkage, is a special type of N-glycosylation that has been reported to be involved in various biological processes, such as cell adhesion and fetal development. This N-glycan structure is abundant in human trophoblasts, which is postulated to be resistant to natural killer cell-mediated cytotoxicity, enabling a mother to nourish a fetus without rejection. In this study, we hypothesized that the human amniotic membrane, which serves as the last barrier for the fetus, may also express bisected-type glycans. To test this hypothesis, glycomic analysis of the human amniotic membrane was performed, and bisected N-glycans were detected. Furthermore, our proteomic data, which have been previously employed to explore human missing proteins, were analyzed and the presence of bisecting GlcNAc-modified peptides was confirmed. A total of 41 glycoproteins with 43 glycopeptides were found to possess a bisecting GlcNAc, and 25 of these glycoproteins were reported to exhibit this type of modification for the first time. These results provide insights into the potential roles of bisecting GlcNAc modification in the human amniotic membrane, and can be beneficial to functional studies on glycoproteins with bisecting GlcNAc modifications and functional studies on immune suppression in human placenta.

Abstract Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) or Biocontrol strains inevitably encounter heavy metal excess stress during the product’s processing and application. Bacillus amyloliquefaciens Bam1 was a potential biocontrol strain with strong heavy metal resistant ability. To understand its heavy metal resistance mechanism, the complete genome of Bam1 had been sequenced, and the comparative genomic analysis of Bam1 and FZB42, an industrialized PGPR and biocontrol strain with relatively lower heavy metal tolerance, was conducted. The comparative genomic analysis of Bam1 and the other nine B. amyloliquefaciens strains as well as one Bacillus velezensis (genetically and physiologically very close to B. amyloliquefaciens) was also performed. Our results showed that the complete genome size of Bam1 was 3.95 Mb, 4219 coding sequences were predicted, and it possessed the highest number of unique genes among the eleven analyzed strains. Nine genes related to heavy metal resistance were detected within the twelve DNA islands of Bam1, while only two of them were detected within the seventeen DNA islands of FZB42. When compared with B. amyloliquefaciens type strain DSM7, Bam1 lacked contig L, whereas FZB42 lacked contig D and I, as well as just possessed contig B with a very small size. Our results could also deduce that Bam1 promoted its essential heavy metal resistance mainly by decreasing the import and increasing the export of heavy metals with the corresponding homeostasis systems, which are regulated by different metalloregulators. While Bam1 promoted its non-essential heavy metal resistance mainly by the activation of some specific or non-specific exporters responding to different heavy metals. The variation of the genes related to heavy metal resistance and the other differences of the genomes, including the different number and arrangement of contigs, as well as the number of the heavy metal resistant genes in Prophages and Genomic islands, led to the significant different resistance of Bam1 and FZB42 to heavy metals. Graphical Abstract

Chemical vapor deposition enables the scalable production of 2D semiconductors, but the grown materials are usually affected by high defect densities. Here, the authors report a hydroxide vapour phase deposition method to synthesize wafer-scale monolayer WS2 with reduced defect density and electrical properties comparable to those of exfoliated flakes.

IntroductionForensic interviewing entails practitioners interviewing suspects to secure valid information and elicit confessions. Such interviews are often conducted in police stations but may also occur in field settings such as border crossings, security checkpoints, bus terminals, and sports venues. Because these real-world interviews often lack experimental control and ground truth, this investigation explored whether results of non-forensic interviews generalize to forensic ones.MethodsOrganizational espionage was simulated to determine (1) what verbal signals distinguish truth from deception, (2) whether deception in groups aligns with deception in dyads, and (3) whether non-forensic venues can be generalized to forensic ones. Engaging in a mock hiring deliberation, participants (4–5 strangers) reviewed and discussed resumes of potential candidates. Surreptitiously, two group members assigned the role of “organizational spies” attempted to persuade the group to hire an inferior candidate. Each group member presented notes from an interview of “their” candidate, followed by a discussion of all candidates. Spies were to use any means possible, including deception, to persuade others to select their candidate. A financial incentive was offered for having one’s candidate chosen. The interview reports and discussions were transcribed and analyzed with SPLICE, an automated text analysis program.ResultsDeceivers were perceived as less trustworthy than truth-tellers, especially when the naïve players won but overall, deceivers were difficult for non-spies to detect even though they were seen as less trustworthy than the naïve participants. Deceivers’ language was more complex and exhibited an “echoing” strategy of repeating others’ opinions. This collusion evolved naturally, without pre-planning. No other verbal differences were evident, which suggests that the difference between spies and non-spies was subtle and difficult for truth-tellers to spot.DiscussionWhether deception can be successfully detected hinges on a variety of factors including the deceiver’s skill to disguise and the detector’s ability to sense and process information. Furthermore, the group dynamics and communication context subtly moderate how deception manifests and influence the accuracy of detecting ulterior motives. Our future investigations could encompass non-verbal communication channels and verbal patterns rooted in content, thereby providing a more comprehensive understanding of deception detection.

Background: Obesity is a risk factor for sedation-related respiratory depression during colonoscopy. In a colonoscopy, propofol is frequently used because of its strong sedative and hypnotic properties. However, propofol is associated with marked respiratory depression. The objective of this trial was to investigate the effectiveness and safety of dexmedetomidine plus oxycodone for conscious sedation during colonoscopy in obese patients. Methods: A total of 120 patients had colonoscopies, and they were divided into two groups at random: Dexmedetomidine and oxycodone were used to sedate group Dex + oxy; while group Pro + oxy received anesthesia with propofol plus oxycodone. Parameters including blood pressure, heart rate, respiration, blood oxygen saturation, injection pain, and recovery time were recorded for both groups. Results: The incidence of hypoxemia was significantly reduced in group Dex + oxy compared with group Pro + oxy (4.9% vs 20.3%, P = 0.011). Blood pressure was lower, and heart rate was higher in group Pro + oxy compared with group Dex + oxy (P

BackgroundAlthough the association between short-term air pollution exposure and certain hospitalizations has been well documented, evidence on the effect of longer-term (e. g., monthly) air pollution on a comprehensive set of outcomes is still limited.MethodA total of 68,416 people in South China were enrolled and followed up during 2019–2020. Monthly air pollution level was estimated using a validated ordinary Kriging method and assigned to individuals. Time-dependent Cox models were developed to estimate the relationship between monthly PM10 and O3 exposures and the all-cause and cause-specific hospitalizations after adjusting for confounders. The interaction between air pollution and individual factors was also investigated.ResultsOverall, each 10 μg/m3 increase in PM10 concentration was associated with a 3.1% (95%CI: 1.3%−4.9%) increment in the risk of all-cause hospitalization. The estimate was even greater following O3 exposure (6.8%, 5.5%−8.2%). Furthermore, each 10 μg/m3 increase in PM10 was associated with a 2.3%-9.1% elevation in all the cause-specific hospitalizations except for those related to respiratory and digestive diseases. The same increment in O3 was relevant to a 4.7%−22.8% elevation in the risk except for respiratory diseases. Additionally, the older individuals tended to be more vulnerable to PM10 exposure (Pinteraction: 0.002), while the alcohol abused and those with an abnormal BMI were more vulnerable to the impact of O3 (Pinteraction: 0.052 and 0.011). However, the heavy smokers were less vulnerable to O3 exposure (Pinteraction: 0.032).ConclusionWe provide comprehensive evidence on the hospitalization hazard of monthly PM10 and O3 exposure and their interaction with individual factors.

Here, the authors exploit a non-invasive layer-bylayer etching technique to fabricate electronic devices based on 2D transition metal dichalcogenides with controlled thickness and transport properties comparable to those of exfoliated flakes.

While deep learning has found widespread utility in gearbox fault diagnosis, its direct application to wind turbine gearboxes encounters significant hurdles. Disparities in data distribution across a spectrum of operating conditions for wind turbines result in a marked decrease in diagnostic accuracy. In response, this study introduces a tailored dynamic conditional adversarial domain adaptation model for fault diagnosis in wind turbine gearboxes amidst cross-condition scenarios. The model adeptly adjusts the importance of aligning marginal and conditional distributions using distance metric factors. Information entropy parameters are also incorporated to assess individual sample transferability, prioritizing highly transferable samples during domain alignment. The amalgamation of these dynamic factors empowers the approach to maintain stability across varied data distributions. Comprehensive experiments on both gear and bearing data validate the method’s efficacy in cross-condition fault diagnosis. Comparative outcomes demonstrate that, when contrasted with four advanced transfer learning techniques, the dynamic conditional adversarial domain adaptation model attains superior accuracy and stability in multi-transfer tasks, making it notably suitable for diagnosing wind turbine gearbox faults.

Abstract Purpose The purpose of the present study was to investigate risk factors for esophageal fistula (EF) in patients with recurrent esophageal cancer receiving re-radiotherapy with or without chemotherapy. Methods We reviewed retrospectively the clinical characters and dosimetric parameters of 96 patients with recurrent esophageal cancer treated with re-radiotherapy in Cancer Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University between August 2014 and January 2021.Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were provided to determine the risk factors of EF induced by re-radiotherapy. Results The median time interval between two radiotherapy was 23.35 months (range, 4.30 to 238.10 months). EF occurred in 19 patients (19.79%). In univariate analysis, age, T stage, the biologically equivalent dose in the re-radiotherapy, total biologically equivalent dose, hyperfractionated radiotherapy, ulcerative esophageal cancer, the length of tumor and the maximum thickness of tumor had a correlation with the prevalence of EF. In addition, age (HR = 0.170, 95%CI 0.030–0.951, p = 0.044), T stage (HR = 8.369, 95%CI 1.729–40.522, p = 0.008), ulcerative esophageal cancer (HR = 5.810, 95%CI 1.316–25.650, p = 0.020) and the maximum thickness of tumor (HR = 1.314, 95%CI 1.098–1.572, p = 0.003) were risk factors of EF in multivariate logistic regression analysis. Conclusions The incidence of EF was significantly increased in patients with recurrent esophageal cancer who underwent re-radiotherapy. This study revealed that age, T stage, ulcerative esophageal cancer and the maximum thickness of the tumor were risk factors associated with EF. In clinical work, patients with risk factors for EF ought to be highly concerned and individualized treatment plans should be taken to reduce the occurrence of EF.

All-solid-state lithium batteries are considered as the priority candidates for next-generation energy storage devices due to their better safety and higher energy density. As the key part of solid-state batteries, solid-state electrolytes have made certain research progress in recent years. Among the various types of solid-state electrolytes, sulfide electrolytes have received extensive attention because of their high room-temperature ionic conductivity and good moldability. However, sulfide-based solid-state batteries are still in the research stage. This situation is mainly due to the fact that the application of sulfide electrolytes still faces challenges in particular of interfacial issues, mainly including chemical and electrochemical instability, unstable interfacial reaction, and solid–solid physical contact between electrolyte and electrode. Here, this review provides a comprehensive summary of the existing interfacial issues in the fabrication of sulfide-based solid-state batteries. The in-depth mechanism of the interfacial issues and the current research progress of the main coping strategies are discussed in detail. Finally, we also present an outlook on the future development of sulfide-based solid-state batteries to guide the rational design of next-generation high-energy solid-state batteries.

Waste management and valorization of waste is a major global issue. Low-cost and renewable adsorbent activated carbon (AC) from agriculture residues is a focus of worldwide concern. Microwave heating is an efficient technology for production of AC. CCAC was synthesized from corn cob via microwave vacuum pyrolysis under ambient vacuum, and the optimization process for maximized CCAC yield and its iodine number was developed using response surface methodology (RSM). These regression models have high Fisher test value and lower p-value, which ensure its reliability and applicability. The optimized parameters obtained are 550.62 W, 9.26 min, -0.05 Mpa, and 1.7 IR with responses of 37.57% yield and 933.38 mg/g iodine number. The predicted results were validated, and it was found that the experimental data varied only by 4.21% in yield and 4.02% in iodine number from the predicted values. The prepared adsorbent was characterized using instrumental techniques like FT-IR, BET, and SEM. The pyrolysis approach produced CCAC containing regular and homogeneous porous structure with a specific surface area of up to 995.05 m2/g and total volume of 0.708 cm3/g.

Abstract The cerium‐based redox flow battery (RFB) is regarded as a compelling grid‐scale energy storage technology to revolutionize the utilization of renewable energy by storing the energy in liquid electrolytes. However, its widespread implementation is impeded by the cerium redox reactions that exhibit slow kinetics on commercial graphite felt (GF) electrodes. Surface functionalization may be an available activation strategy to achieve a significant boost in the electrochemical performance of GFs. However, conventional chemical and/or electrochemical routes for the surface functionalization of GFs suffer from the issues of complication, and the deterioration of the resulting modified electrode surface over long‐term cycle processes leads to catalytic activity decline. Here, we develop a facile and general strategy for introducing the functional groups to the electrode through the addition of l‐cysteine into electrolytes. The –COOH, –NH2, and –SH groups in l‐cysteine can induce oxygen/nitrogen/sulfur trifunctional doping on GF surfaces with lower deterioration rates, which enables the activated GFs to demonstrate a promising electrocatalytic activity toward cerium redox reactions and excellent durability when used as a cerium‐based RFB electrode. This study proposes a rational strategy to overcome the intrinsic limitations of existing modification techniques for GFs and provides a potential pathway toward high‐performance RFBs.

The (1−[Formula: see text])(0.94Bi[Formula: see text]Na[Formula: see text]TiO3–0.06BaTiO 3)–[Formula: see text]KTaO3(BNBT–[Formula: see text]KT) lead-free ferroelectric ceramics were produced using the traditional solid-state sintering technique, and the phase structure, surface morphology, electrical properties were all thoroughly examined. Every ceramic has a single perovskite structure and there is no second phase, as shown by the XRD patterns and Raman spectra. Scanning electron microscopy revealed that all samples displayed dense microstructure and cubic grain. In addition, KT encourages grain growth due to the oxygen vacancies induced by doping or volatilization of ions at high temperatures. The [Formula: see text][Formula: see text]of the ceramics decreases with increasing doping levels due to oxygen vacancies acting as dipoles upon the addition of KT, and the dielectric loss of all samples is low at ambient temperature. In comparison to the pure BNBT ceramic’s bipolar strain value of 0.12%, the BNBT–2KT ceramic achieved a maximum bipolar strain of [Formula: see text]0.506% and unipolar strain of [Formula: see text] 0.430% with the corresponding [Formula: see text][Formula: see text]*up to 538 pm/V under 80 kV/cm field. Performance significantly improved as a result of this. A test of the correlation between temperature and ferroelectric properties shows that the largest strain value of the BNBT–2KT ceramic occurs at ambient temperature and that the phase change from ferroelectric to relaxor is complete. Additionally, it is discovered that the BNBT–3KT ceramic can sustain a stable strain across a broad temperature range, suggesting that it has good temperature stability. The aforementioned findings demonstrate that lead-based ceramics may be replaced with BNBT–[Formula: see text]KT ceramics.

This investigation sought to find the relationships among multiple dimensions of personality and multiple features of language style. Unlike previous investigations, after controlling for such other moderators as culture and socio-demographics, the current investigation explored those dimensions of naturalistic spoken language that most closely align with communication. In groups of five to eight players, participants (N = 340) from eight international locales completed hour-long competitive games consisting of a series of ostensible missions. Composite measures of quantity, lexical diversity, sentiment, immediacy and negations were measured with an automated tool called SPLICE and with Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count. We also investigated style dynamics over the course of an interaction. We found predictors of extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism, but overall fewer significant associations than prior studies, suggesting greater heterogeneity in language style in contexts entailing interactivity, conversation rather than solitary message production, oral rather than written discourse, and groups rather than dyads. Extraverts were found to maintain greater linguistic style consistency over the course of an interaction. The discussion addresses the potential for Type I error when studying the relationship between language and personality.

With the rapid increase in demand for high-energy-density lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles, smart homes, electric-powered tools, intelligent transportation, and other markets, high-nickel multi-element materials are considered to be one of the most promising cathode candidates for large-scale industrial applications due to their advantages of high capacity, low cost, and good cycle performance. In response to the competitive pressure of the low-cost lithium iron phosphate battery, high-nickel multi-element cathode materials need to continuously increase their nickel content and reduce their cobalt content or even be cobalt-free and also need to solve a series of problems, such as crystal structure stability, particle microcracks and breakage, cycle life, thermal stability, and safety. In this regard, the research progress of high-nickel multi-element cathode materials in recent years is reviewed and analyzed, and the progress of performance optimization is summarized from the aspects of precursor orientational growth, bulk phase doping, surface coating, interface modification, crystal morphology optimization, composite structure design, etc. Finally, according to the industrialization demand of high-energy-density lithium-ion batteries and the challenges faced by high-nickel multi-element cathode materials, the performance optimization direction of high-nickel multi-element cathode materials in the future is proposed.

Abstract Background In order to use the microwave to measure the dielectric constant of the human body and improve the measurement resolution, a small near-field probe working at 915 MHz is designed in this paper. Method Based on the electric small loop antenna model loaded by the spiral resonator (SR), a small near-field probe was designed. The probe model is designed and optimized by the HFSS (high frequency structure simulator) software. The human tissues were tested by the manufactured probe and the relationship between the S11 parameters of the probe and the human tissues was analyzed. Results and conclusions A probe with small size was designed and fabricated, with the overall size of 10.0 mm × 12.0 mm × 0.8 mm. The probe has a good performance with a 30.7 dB return loss, a 20 MHz bandwidth at the resonance point, and a distance resolution of 10 mm. Due to the small size and good resolution of the probe, it can be used in the measurement of human tissues.