Search

Background: Over the past decade, immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have significantly transformed cancer treatment. However, ICIs inevitably may cause a spectrum of immune‐related adverse events, among which cardiovascular toxicity, particularly myocarditis, while infrequent, has garnered increasing attention due to its high fatality rate. Methods: We conducted a multicenter retrospective study to characterize ICI‐associated cardiovascular adverse events. Logistic regression was performed to explore the risk factors for the development of myocarditis and severe myocarditis. Receiver operating characteristic curves were conducted to assess the diagnostic abilities of cardiac biomarkers to distinguish different cardiovascular toxicities, and the performance and calibration were evaluated using Hosmer–Lemeshow test. Results: Forty‐four patients were identified, including thirty‐five myocarditis, five heart failure, three arrhythmias, and one myocardial infarction. Compared with other patients, myocarditis patients had higher cardiac troponin‐I (cTnI) levels (p < 0.001), higher creatine kinase levels (p = 0.003), higher creatine kinase isoenzyme‐MB (CK‐MB) levels (p = 0.013), and shorter time to the incidence of adverse cardiovascular events (p = 0.022) after ICI treatment. Twenty‐one patients (60%) were classified as severe myocarditis, and they presented higher cardiac troponin I (cTnI) levels (p = 0.013), higher N‐terminal pro‐B‐type natriuretic peptide levels (p = 0.031), higher creatine kinase levels (p = 0.018), higher CK‐MB levels (p = 0.026), and higher neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) levels (p = 0.016) compared to non‐severe myocarditis patients after ICI treatment. Multivariate logistic regression showed that CK‐MB (adjusted odds ratio [OR]: 1.775, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.055–2.984, p = 0.031) was the independent risk factor of the development of ICI‐associated myocarditis, and cTnI (adjusted OR: 1.021, 95% CI: 1.002–1.039, p = 0.03) and NLR (adjusted OR: 1.890, 95% CI: 1.026–3.483, p = 0.041) were the independent risk factors of ICI‐associated severe myocarditis. The receiver operating characteristic curve showed an area under curve of 0.785 (95% CI: 0.642 to 0.928, p = 0.013) for CK‐MB, 0.765 (95% CI: 0.601 to 0.929, p = 0.013) for cTnI, and 0.773 for NLR (95% CI: 0.597 to 0.948, p = 0.016). Conclusions: Elevated CK‐MB after ICI treatment is the independent risk factor for the incidence of ICI‐associated myocarditis, and elevated cTnI and NLR after ICI treatment are the independent risk factors for the development of ICI‐associated severe myocarditis. CK‐MB, cTnI, and NLR demonstrated a promising predictive utility for the identification of ICI‐associated myocarditis and severe myocarditis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transition‐metal nanoparticles hold great promise as electrocatalysts for alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), however, addressing the simultaneous challenges of ensuring sufficient active sites, promoting favorable water dissociation, and optimizing binding energy toward hydrogen intermediates remains a formidable task. To overcome these hurdles, a novel gaseous hydrogen engineering strategy is proposed by in situ embedding cobalt nanoparticles within a samarium hydride matrix (Co/SmH2) via hydrogen‐induced disproportionation of SmCo5 particles for efficient alkaline HER. The as‐designed Co/SmH2 delivered an overpotential as low as 252 mV at 100 mA cm−2, surpassing the performance of pristine Co by 100 mV. Notably, this catalyst lasts remarkably long maintaining a durability at ≈500 mA cm−2 for 120 h. A combination of in situ Raman spectroscopy, in situ X‐ray absorption spectroscopy, density functional theory calculation and post‐HER characterizations unambiguously unveiled that the surface SmH2 transforms into samarium (hydr)oxide during electrocatalysis. This transformation not only inhibits the aggregation of the ultrafine cobalt nanoparticles but also significantly enhances the water dissociation and optimizes the binding energy of active cobalt species toward hydrogen intermediate, resulting in concurrent improvement of kinetics, thermodynamics, and stability of the HER process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electrochemical oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) offers a most promising and efficient route to produce hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), yet the lack of cost‐effective and high‐performance electrocatalysts have restricted its practical application. Herein, an entropy‐enhancement strategy has been employed to enable the low‐cost perovskite oxide to effectively catalyze the electrosynthesis of H2O2. The optimized Pb(NiWMnNbZrTi)1/6O3 ceramic is available on a kilogram‐scale and displays commendable ORR activity in alkaline media with high selectivity over 91 % across the wide potential range for H2O2 including an outstanding degradation property for organic dyes through the Fenton process. The exceptional performance of this perovskite oxide is attributed to the entropy stabilization‐induced polymorphic transformation assuring the robust structural stability, decreased charge mobility as well as synergistic catalytic effects which we confirm using advanced in situ Raman, transient photovoltage, Rietveld refinement as well as finite elemental analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electrochemical oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) offers a most promising and efficient route to produce hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), yet the lack of cost‐effective and high‐performance electrocatalysts have restricted its practical application. Herein, an entropy‐enhancement strategy has been employed to enable the low‐cost perovskite oxide to effectively catalyze the electrosynthesis of H2O2. The optimized Pb(NiWMnNbZrTi)1/6O3 ceramic is available on a kilogram‐scale and displays commendable ORR activity in alkaline media with high selectivity over 91 % across the wide potential range for H2O2 including an outstanding degradation property for organic dyes through the Fenton process. The exceptional performance of this perovskite oxide is attributed to the entropy stabilization‐induced polymorphic transformation assuring the robust structural stability, decreased charge mobility as well as synergistic catalytic effects which we confirm using advanced in situ Raman, transient photovoltage, Rietveld refinement as well as finite elemental analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Members of the genus Bougainvillea are rich sources of natural dyes, pigments, and traditional medicines. They are also commonly used as ornamentals in roadside landscape construction. However, the horticultural development of Bougainvillea flowers with extended growth periods and coloration is not always feasible. One reason is limited molecular knowledge and no genomic information for Bougainvillea. Here, we compiled an integrative transcriptome of all expressed transcripts for Bougainvillea × buttiana Miss Manila by integrating 20 Illumina-sequencing RNA transcriptomes. The integrative transcriptome consisted of 97,623 distinct transcripts. Of these, 47,006 were protein-coding, 31,109 were non-coding, and 19,508 were unannotated. In addition, we affirmed that the integrative transcriptome could serve as a surrogate reference to the genome in aiding accurate transcriptome assembly. For convenience, we curated the integrative transcriptome database for Bougainvillea, namely InTransBo, which can be freely accessed at http://www.bio-add.org/InTransBo/index.jsp. To the best of our knowledge, the present study is the most comprehensive genomic resource for Bougainvillea up-to-date. The integrative transcriptome helps fill the genomic gap and elucidate the transcriptional nature of Bougainvillea. It may also advance progress in the precise regulation of flowering in horticulture. The same strategy can be readily applied toward the systematic exploration of other plant species lacking complete genomic information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transferable deep representations for visual domain adaptation (DA) provides a route to learn from labeled source images to recognize target images without the aid of target-domain supervision. Relevant researches increasingly arouse a great amount of interest due to its potential industrial prospect for non-laborious annotation and remarkable generalization. However, DA presumes source images are identically sampled from a single source while Multi-Source DA (MSDA) is ubiquitous in the real-world. In MSDA, the domain shifts exist not only between source and target domains but also among the sources; especially, the multi-source and target domains may disagree on their semantics (e.g., category shifts). This issue challenges the existing solutions for MSDAs. In this paper, we propose Deep CockTail Network (DCTN), a universal and flexibly-deployed framework to address the problems. DCTN uses a multi-way adversarial learning pipeline to minimize the domain discrepancy between the target and each of the multiple in order to learn domain-invariant features. The derived source-specific perplexity scores measure how similar each target feature appears as a feature from one of source domains. The multi-source category classifiers are integrated with the perplexity scores to categorize target images. We accordingly derive a theoretical analysis towards DCTN, including the interpretation why DCTN can be successful without precisely crafting the source-specific hyper-parameters, and target expected loss upper bounds in terms of domain and category shifts. In our experiments, DCTNs have been evaluated on four benchmarks, whose empirical studies involve vanilla and three challenging category-shift transfer problems in MSDA, i.e., source-shift, target-shift and source-target-shift scenarios. The results thoroughly reveal that DCTN significantly boosts classification accuracies in MSDA and performs extraordinarily to resist negative transfers across different MSDA scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Epimedium is a Chinese herbal medicine commonly used in clinical practice to reinforce yang. Previous studies have shown that Epimedium fried with suet oil based has the best effect on warming kidney and promoting yang. Evidence suggests a relationship between kidney yang deficiency syndrome (KYDS) and metabolic disorders of the intestinal microflora. However, the specific interaction between KYDS and the intestinal microbiome, as well as the internal regulatory mechanism of the KYDS intestinal microbiome regulated by Epimedium fried with suet oil, remain unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate the regulatory effects of different processed products of Epimedium on intestinal microflora and metabolites in rats with kidney yang deficiency, and to reveal the processing mechanism of Epimedium fried with suet oil warming kidney and helping yang. 16 S rRNA and LC-MS/MS technology were used to detect fecal samples. Combined with multivariate statistical analysis, differential intestinal flora and metabolites were screened. Then the content of differential bacteria was then quantified using quantitative real-time fluorescence PCR. Furthermore, the correlation between differential bacterial flora and metabolites was analyzed using Spearman's method. The study found that the composition of intestinal flora in rats with kidney yang deficiency changed compared to healthy rats. Epimedium fried with suet oil could increase the levels of beneficial bacteria, while significantly reducing the levels of harmful bacteria. Real-time quantitative PCR results were consistent with 16 S rRNA gene sequencing analysis. Fecal metabolomics revealed that KYDS was associated with 30 different metabolites, involving metabolic pathways steroid hormone biosynthesis etc. Moreover, differential bacteria were closely correlated with potential biomarkers. Epimedium could improve metabolic disorders associated with KYDS by acting on the intestinal flora, with Epimedium fried with suet oil demonstrating the most effective regulatory effect. Its potential mechanism may involve the regulation of abnormal metabolism and the impact on the diversity and structure of the intestinal flora. • Combine 16 S rRNA gene sequencing analysis, real-time PCR and fecal metabolomics to study the processing mechanism of Epimedium. • Kidney Yang-deficient rats showed disturbed gut flora and kidney tissue damage. • Epimedium fried with suet oil could better improve the gut microflora and metabolic disorder. • The quantitative real-time PCR results validated the results of the gut microbiota. • There was a strong correlation between the differential metabolites and microflora. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing nonprecious electrocatalysts via a cost‐effective methods to synergistically achieve high active sites exposure and optimized intrinsic activity remains a grand challenge. Here a low‐cost and scaled‐up chemical etching method is developed for transforming nickel foam (NF) into a highly active electrocatalyst for both the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). The synthetic method involves a Na2S‐induced chemical etching of NF in the presence of Fe, leading to a growth of ultrathin Fe‐doped Ni3S2 arrays on the NF substrate (FexNi3‐xS2 @ NF). The combined experimental and theoretical investigations reveal that the incorporated Fe cations significantly modulate the morphology and the surface electron density of Ni3S2, and thus significantly boost the electrochemically active surface area, electron transfer, and optimize the hydrogen/water absorption free energy. The developed Fe0.9Ni2.1S2 @ NF requires overpotentials of only 72 mV at 10 mA cm−2 for HER and 252 mV at 100 mA cm−2 for OER in 1.0 m KOH, respectively, enabling an alkaline electrolyzer at a low cell voltage of 1.51 V to drive 10 mA cm−2 for overall water splitting. More broadly, this synthetic approach is very versatile and can be used to synthesize other ultrathin metal sulfides (e.g., Fe–Cu–S, Fe–Al–S, and Fe–Ti–S). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The in-situ electrochemically reconstructed Cu 2 O/CeO 2 from CuO/CeO 2 has been demonstrated to be effective for electrocatalytic carbon dioxide reduction, delivering a high selectivity, activity, and stability for producing CH 4. [Display omitted] Developing an efficient electrocatalyst that enables the efficient electrochemical conversion from CO 2 to CH 4 across a wide potential range remains a formidable challenge. Herein, we introduce a precatalyst strategy that realizes the in situ electrochemical reconstruction of ultrafine Cu 2 O nanodomains, intricately coupled on the CeO 2 surface (Cu 2 O/CeO 2), originating from the heterointerface comprised of ultrafine CuO nanodomains on the CeO 2 surface (CuO/CeO 2). When served as the electrocatalyst for the electrochemical CO 2 reduction reaction, Cu 2 O/CeO 2 delivers a selectivity higher than 49 % towards CH 4 over a broad potential range from −1.2 V to −1.7 V vs. RHE, maintaining negligible activity decay for 20 h. Notably, the highest selectivity for CH 4 reaches an impressive 70 % at −1.5 V vs. RHE. Through the combination of comprehensive analysis including synchrotron X-ray absorption spectroscopy, spherical aberration-corrected high-angle annular dark field scanning transmission electron microscope as well as the density functional theoretical calculation, the efficient production of CH 4 is attributed to the coherent interface between Cu 2 O and CeO 2 , which could converted from the original CuO and CeO 2 interface, ensuring abundant active sites and enhanced intrinsic activity and selectivity towards CH 4. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cancer remains a major cause of mortality worldwide, and urological cancers are the most common cancers among men. Several therapeutic agents have been used to treat urological cancer, leading to improved survival for patients. However, this has been accompanied by an increase in the frequency of survivors with cardiovascular complications caused by anticancer medications. Here, we propose the novel discipline of uro‐cardio‐oncology, an evolving subspecialty focused on the complex interactions between cardiovascular disease and urological cancer. In this comprehensive review, we discuss the various cardiovascular toxicities induced by different classes of antineoplastic agents used to treat urological cancers, including androgen deprivation therapy, vascular endothelial growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors, immune checkpoint inhibitors, and chemotherapeutics. In addition, we discuss possible mechanisms underlying the cardiovascular toxicity associated with anticancer therapy and outline strategies for the surveillance, diagnosis, and effective management of cardiovascular complications. Finally, we provide an analysis of future perspectives in this emerging specialty, identifying areas in need of further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A hybrid structure constructed by Co-doped NiO and carbon on nickel foams could be employed as bifunctional electrocatalyst for both anode and cathode towards overall water splitting, enabling an alkaline electrolyzer with a current density of 10 mA cm−2 at an ultralow cell voltage of 1.42 V. • An efficient bifunctional electrocatalyst of Ni 0.82 Co 0.18 O@C/NF was developed. • The catalyst towards overall water splliting could achieve 10 mA cm–2 at an ultralow voltage of 1.42 V. • The peformace can be attributed to the synergism of geometric engineering and electronic modulation. The development of nonprecious, highly active and robust bifunctional electrocatalysts for both hydrogen and oxygen evolution reactions via water splitting is of primary significance, but still remains challenging. Herein, we develop a three-dimension (3D) heterostructured catalyst (Ni 0.82 Co 0.18 O@C/NF) by coupling of ultrathin Co-doped NiO (Ni 0.82 Co 0.18 O) nanosheets and carbon on nickel foam (NF) with synergism of geometric engineering and electronic modulation. Benefiting from the unique 3D configuration, highly exposed active sites and the synergistic effect of the active Ni 0.82 Co 0.18 O and the carbon, the catalyst exhibits exceptional hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) performance with low overpotentials and Tafel slopes and excellent stability in alkaline media. Specifically, the Ni 0.82 Co 0.18 O@C/NF employed as catalyst for both anode and cathode enables an alkaline electrolyzer to achieve a current density of 10 mA cm−2 by a cell voltage of only 1.42 V, which is not only much lower than that of the integrated performance of the commercial noble Pt/C and IrO 2 /C catalyst couple (∼1.61 V), but also superior to most reported results to date. Our finding may provide a new opportunity to design advanced bifunctional catalysts toward practical overall water splitting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract A bifunctional catalyst consisting of defective nickel quantum dots encapsulated in N-doped carbon anchored on the surface of reduced graphene oxide has been fabricated by a low-temperature pyrolysis of two-dimensional graphene-coupled sheet-like nickel zeolite imidazolate framework, which exhibits superior overall water-splitting performance to that of the IrO 2 @C||Pt@C couple. Highlights • A novel 2D nickel zeolite imidazolate framework (Ni-ZIF) was synthesized. • A low-temperature pyrolysis of 2D Ni-ZIF@rGO precursor has been proposed to synthesize electrocatalyst. • The developed electrocatalyst exhibits an exceptional overall water-splitting performance. Abstract Rational design of highly efficient and cost-effective bifunctional electrocatalyst for both oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is extremely desirable but still challenging for electrochemical water splitting. Herein, we report the synthesis of hybrid composites consisting of defective nickel quantum dots (Ni QD) encapsulated in N-doped carbon (NC) anchored on the surface of reduced graphene oxide (Ni QD@NC@rGO) through a low-temperature pyrolysis of rGO-wrapped two dimensional (2D) sheet-like nickel zeolite imidazolate framework. The as-fabricated Ni QD@NC@rGO catalysts only require overpotentials of 265 and 133 mV to deliver a current density of 10 mA cm–2 for OER and HER in 1.0 M KOH, respectively. Remarkably, an alkaline electrolyzer constructed with Ni QD@NC@rGO catalyst for both anode and cathode can drive a current density of 10 mA cm–2 at a low cell voltage of 1.563 V, superior to that of the Pt@C||IrO 2 @C couple (1.614 V). The enhanced electrocatalytic performance of Ni QD@NC@rGO can be mainly attributed to its 2D hierarchically porous structure and the synergistic effect of the highly dispersed Ni QD, in-situ coupled thin-layer NC and rGO, giving rise to a large surface active sites exposure, enhanced electron/ion transfer ability and optimal Gibbs free energy of adsorption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relevance of the dehydrogenation performance of AB 3 -type superlattice intermetallics to their subunit volumes has been comprehensively investigated from the view of geometric crystal structure. The theoretical and experimental results reveal a subunit volume control mechanism that hydrogen can completely desorb from hydrogenated [A 2 B 4 ] and [AB 5 ] subunits when their subunit volumes are simultaneously controlled to less than 89.2 Å3 and 88.3 Å3, respectively. Following such subunit volume control mechanism, we have innovatively designed and prepared a Nd 0.33 Er 0.67 Ni 3 intermetallic with appropriate [A 2 B 4 ] subunit volume of 87.9 Å3 and [AB 5 ] subunit volume of 85.5 Å3, achieving more than 90% of capacity retention after 25 cycles. The current work provides a simplified but significant guidance for exploiting new layered superlattice intermetallics with better hydrogen storage performance by theoretical prediction and then experimental investigation. Image 1 • Series of AB 3 -type intermetallics are designed theoretically and experimentally. • Subunit volume control mechanism for dehydrogenation of AB 3 is proposed. • A novel Nd 0.33 Er 0.67 Ni 3 intermetallic is theoretically designed and manufactured. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The microstructures and physical properties of SAC0307 lead-free solder formed by an ultrasound-assisted semi-solid casting process were analyzed. The damages to a thin aluminium foil placed in the alloy melt at 226 °C showed strong effects of acoustic streaming. Significant erosion due to cavitation was found for powers higher than 450 W. Numerical simulations of a collapsing cavitation bubble obtained the highest peak pressure and temperature when the ultrasonic power was around 550 W. When the ultrasonic power was between 500 W and 600 W, sub-grains were observed and the crystal grains became equiaxed with the smallest average grain size of about 140 μm. The highest tensile strength found in this range was about 36.6 MPa. The density was 7.35 g/cm3. The elongation at break was about 60%, which was 40% higher than the value obtained by traditional casting techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aiming at improving the performance of visual classification in a cost-effective manner, this paper proposes an incremental semi-supervised learning paradigm called deep co-space (DCS). Unlike many conventional semi-supervised learning methods usually performed within a fixed feature space, our DCS gradually propagates information from labeled samples to unlabeled ones along with deep feature learning. We regard deep feature learning as a series of steps pursuing feature transformation, i.e., projecting the samples from a previous space into a new one, which tends to select the reliable unlabeled samples with respect to this setting. Specifically, for each unlabeled image instance, we measure its reliability by calculating the category variations of feature transformation from two different neighborhood variation perspectives and merged them into a unified sample mining criterion deriving from Hellinger distance. Then, those samples keeping stable correlation to their neighboring samples (i.e., having small category variation in distribution) across the successive feature space transformation are automatically received labels and incorporated into the model for incrementally training in terms of classification. Our extensive experiments on standard image classification benchmarks (e.g., Caltech-256 and SUN-397) demonstrate that the proposed framework is capable of effectively mining from large-scale unlabeled images, which boosts image classification performance and achieves promising results compared with other semi-supervised learning methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The design of efficient and nonprecious electrocatalysts towards oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is extremely essential for a wide range of renewable energy technologies but remains a grand challenge. Herein, a novel hybrid composite constructed from Co 9 S 8 /Co-doped ZnS (Zn 0.8 Co 0.2 S) nanorods with the atomic-level coupled nanointerface rooted in porous carbon polyhedra (Co 9 S 8 /Zn 0.8 Co 0.2 S@C) have been fabricated and investigated as a highly efficient electrocatalyst for OER. The composite catalyst can afford a current density of 10 mA cm −2 at a low overpotential of only 292 mV and a small Tafel slope of ∼52 mV decade −1 , which are superior to the state-of-the-art IrO 2 /C and most reported Co-based catalysts. Experimental and computational studies reveal an electronic coupling between Co 9 S 8 and Zn 0.8 Co 0.2 S that can facilitate the electron injection from the electrode and transport to the active site, and thus generates a favorable local coordination environment and greatly enhances the OER process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

NaAlH 4 is a promising anode material for lithium-ion batteries due to its high theoretical capacity of 1985 mAh g −1 . However, the practical application of NaAlH 4 anode is hindered by its low charge reversibility and poor cycle performance. To improve the Li-storage performance of NaAlH 4 anode, the regeneration and degradation mechanism of NaAlH 4 have been revealed in this work. Firstly, the results show that decreasing the crystalline size would result in the direct regeneration of NaAlH 4 from Na and Al without any intermediate phases (such as LiNa 2 AlH 6 ), which dramatically enhances the reversibility of NaAlH 4 anode. Secondly, a new cycle degradation mechanism is demonstrated that NaAlH 4 would decompose above 1.42 V during the charge process, which leads to a rapid degradation of cycle capacity. Therefore, the reversible capacity of NaAlH 4 anode after 20 cycles could be significantly increased from 89 mAh g −1 to 456 mAh g −1 by decreasing the cut-off voltage from 3 V to 1 V, showing an improved cycle stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highly ordered three-dimensional carbon-coated TiO 2 nanotube arrays (TiO 2 @C NTAs) directly grown on Ti current collector have been fabricated using a combination of anodization and hydrothermal method. The grown TiO 2 @C NTAs were vertically aligned on the Ti foil with a diameter of around 100 nm and length of 10 μm. Benefiting from their structure features, the as-fabricated TiO 2 @C NTAs anode exhibits excellent sodium storage in terms of high reversible capacity (232 mA h g −1 over 500 cycles at current density of 200 mA g −1 ) and superior rate capability (68 mA h g −1 at current density of 6.4 A g −1 ). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Constructing hybrid hollow composites based on metal chalcogenides and nanocarbon materials is of great interests for electrochemical energy storage applications. In this work, a metal-organic framework (MOF)-engaged template strategy is developed to mediate the in-situ formation of ultrafine ZnS nanorods rooted in the hollow carbon polyhedra (denoted as ZnS NR@HCP). The synthesis is realized through a simultaneous carbonization and sulfidation of Zn-based zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF-8) template at elevated temperatures. The as-prepared hybrid hollow composites exhibit a highly porous and robust structure with intimate coupling between ZnS nanorods and carbon supports, which provides facile ion and electron transport pathways as well as high mechanical stability. When evaluated as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries, these unique ZnS NR@HCP architectures manifest excellent lithium-storage performance in terms of ultrahigh reversible specific capacity (840 mAh g −1 after 300 cycles at 600 mA g −1 ) and exceptional rate capability (1388, 1063, 962, 824 and 608 mAh g −1 at 100, 200, 400, 800 and 1600 mA g −1 ). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sponge-like composites assembled by cobalt sulfides quantum dots (Co9S8 QD), mesoporous hollow carbon polyhedral (HCP) matrix, and a reduced graphene oxide (rGO) wrapping sheets are synthesized by a simultaneous thermal reduction, carbonization, and sulfidation of zeolitic imidazolate frameworks@GO precursors. Specifically, Co9S8 QD with size less than 4 nm are homogenously embedded within HCP matrix, which is encapsulated in macroporous rGO, thereby leading to the double carbon-confined hierarchical composites with strong coupling effect. Experimental data combined with density functional theory calculations reveal that the presence of coupled rGO not only prevents the aggregation and excessive growth of particles, but also expands the lattice parameters of Co9S8 crystals, enhancing the reactivity for sodium storage. Benefiting from the hierarchical porosity, conductive network, structural integrity, and a synergistic effect of the components, the sponge-like composites used as binder-free anodes manifest outstanding sodium-storage performance in terms of excellent stable capacity (628 mAh g−1 after 500 cycles at 300 mA g−1) and exceptional rate capability (529, 448, and 330 mAh g−1 at 1600, 3200, and 6400 mA g−1). More importantly, the synthetic method is very versatile and can be easily extended to fabricate other transition-metal-sulfides-based sponge-like composites with excellent electrochemical performances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Iron‐based (pre)catalysts have attracted enormous attention for various electrooxidation reactions due to the low cost, high abundance, and multiple accessible redox states of iron. Herein, a well‐defined helical iron borophosphate (LiFeBPO) is developed as an electro(pre)catalyst for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and selective alcohol oxidation. When deposited on nickel foam (NF), LiFeBPO exhibits an exceptional OER performance at ambient conditions attaining a current density of 100 mA cm−2 at ≈276 mV overpotential in 1 m KOH. Notably, this anode sustains durable alkaline water electrolysis at 500 mA cm−2 for over 330 h under industrial conditions (6 m KOH and 85 °C). In –situ and ex situ investigations reveal a deep reconstruction of LiFeBPO during OER, which transforms into a 3D open porous skeleton assembled by ultrasmall, low‐crystalline α‐FeOOH nanoparticles (interfacing with NiOOH of NF). This structure contributes to exposing accessible surface active sites, as well as accelerating mass transport and bubble detachment. Moreover, this electrode also catalyzes the electrooxidation of alcohols (methanol, ethylene glycol, and glycerol) to formic acid (FA) with high selectivity and full conversion. This study provides promising solutions for designing suitable anodes for the simultaneous production of green hydrogen fuel and value–added FA from electrooxidation reactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nano-multilayer architecture based on physical vapor deposition is a promising way to tailor the structural and mechanical properties of nitride hard coatings for cutting tool applications. In this work, the mechanical and tribological properties of TiSiN/TiAlN coatings with different modulation geometry, namely modulation period, Λ, and modulation ratio, λ, were elaborated. The TiSiN/TiAlN nano-multilayer with reduced Λ of 8.5 nm and λ of 1:2.3 (thickness ratio of TiAlN to TiSiN sublayer) shows a noticeable increase in hardness to 36.8 GPa. The modulation geometry impacts the wear behavior of TiSiN/TiAlN nano-multilayers through two aspects. Firstly, the mechanical enhancement effectively promotes the wear resistance of coatings at room temperature. Secondly, the chemical variation changes the wear mechanism at high temperatures. For the situation at 600 °C, the combined action of adhesive, abrasive, and oxidative wear gives rise to dispersive and small oxide patches, adhered to sliding surfaces for TiSiN/TiAlN coatings with higher λ of, for instance, 2.3:1. This tribolayer contributes to the lower wear volume loss than the case at room temperature for the TiSiN/TiAlN with a Λ of 29 nm and a λ of 2.3:1. In contrast, the TiSiN/TiAlN coating with a lower λ of 1:2.3 exhibits mild abrasive and oxidative wear at 600 °C. • TiSiN/TiAlN with various modulation periods and ratios were deposited by cathodic arc evaporation. • Decreasing modulation period and ratio of TiAlN to TiSiN leads to higher hardness. • Higher hardness enhances coating wear resistance when testing at room temperature. • Oxide tribolayer formed in coatings with a higher modulation ratio decreases wear loss at 600 °C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exploiting a sulfur host with strong immobilization and catalysis effects on soluble polysulfide is central for developing advanced lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries. On this basis, a molybdenum nitride (MoN) microrod was fabricated using the one-pot ammoniation strategy of metal-oxide template. After the sulfur-melting permeation, rod-like architecture, which was assembled by confining the sulfur in a porous MoN microrod (MoN–S), was successfully achieved. When used as a cathode material for Li–S batteries, the as-prepared MoN–S could deliver an initial discharge capacity of as high as 1315 mAh g−1 and maintain a reversible capacity of 902 mAh g−1 after 350 cycles when a high areal loading of 3.1 mg cm−2 was applied. Such outstanding electrochemical performance was mainly attributed to the advantageous surface characteristic and unique chemical properties of the MoN microrod, which assured rapid electron transferability, effective sulfur-content utilization, and strong chemical-binding and catalytic effects on the soluble polysulfide. • A MoO 3 precursor was used as template to obtain MoN microrods using one-pot ammoniation method. • The composite cathode with a three-dimensional cross-connected network could ensure high sulfur loading and rapid transfer of electrons. • The MoN host material exerted strong immobilization and catalyzing effects on the soluble polysulfide. • The MoN–S electrode possessed high utilization of sulfur, stable cycling performance, and outstanding rate capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A free-standing sulfur host consisting of cobalt and nitrogen co-doped porous carbon nanocages supported by reduced graphene oxide (Co/N-PCN@rGO) has been developed, enabling an enhanced electron transfer kinetics, a high immobilization ability and catalytic effect towards polysulfide intermediates for lithium-sulfur batteries. • A free-standing sulfur cathode consisting Co/N-PCN@rGO was prepared. • The cathode shows an improved immobilization and catalytic ability to polysulfide intermediates. • The cathode exhibits an exceptional capability and an ultralow capacity decay rate. Construction of sulfur host with high immobilization ability and catalytic effect towards polysulfide intermediates is of great significance to boost the electrochemical performance of lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries. Herein, for the first time, a free-standing sulfur host consisting of cobalt and nitrogen co-doped porous carbon nanocages supported by reduced graphene oxide (Co/N-PCN@rGO) is synthesized via a calcination of graphene-supported cobalt-based zeolitic imidazolate framework precursor and, followed by etching treatment. After a melt infiltration process, the sulfur can be uniformly confined within the Co/N-PCN@rGO host (Co/N-PCN@rGO@S). When employed as the free-standing cathode material for Li-S batteries, the achieved Co/N-PCN@rGO@S not only shows an exceptional initial discharge capacity of 1290 mA h g−1 at 0.2 C, but also keeps a capacity of 640 mA h g−1 over 500 cycles at 1.0 C with a fading rate of only 0.066% per cycle. In addition, the high rate test also confirms its superior rate capability with a high capacity of 880 mA h g−1 at 2 C. Such outstanding performance can be attributed to the synergism of the integrated conductive network, the favorable surface structures of carbon framework as well as its strong charge coupling with Co and N species, ensuring an enhanced electron transfer kinetics, increased sulfur utilization, and improved immobilization and catalytic ability towards polysulfide intermediates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although doped BaCeO 3 electrolytes are proton conductors that undergo the fast conduction processes of inter-mediate temperature solid oxide fuel cells (IT-SOFCs), their wide application is impeded by their poor chemical stability under water vapour or CO 2 conditions. In this work, we selected the metallic cations with suitable electronegativity to improve the perovskite crystal structures of BaCeO 3 to enhance the chemical stability and electrochemical performance. We utilized Ni and Sm cations to improve the chemical stability of BaCeO 3 electrolytes in water vapour and CO 2 via a novel synthesis method, and the results revealed that the BaCe 0.8 Y 0.1 Ni 0.04 Sm 0.06 O 3- δ electrolyte, -with high electrochemical performance and chemical stability-, is a promising electrolyte material for conduction in IT-SOFCs. The optimum result offers new insights into synthesizing the membrane of IT-SOFCs for their application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• An anion-cation co-substitution activation of CoMoO 4 for OER is developed. • The co-substitution leads to the improvement of catalytic activity. • The co-substituted catalyst can afford 10 mA cm–2 at an overpotential of 263 mV. Developing an efficient earth-abundant catalyst able to accelerate oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is crucial for realizing the scalable application of electrochemical water splitting. Spinel transition metal oxides represent a promising catalyst for this reaction, but to data, their catalytic performance is still further improved to satisfy the practical application. Being different from previous nanostructure engineering and hybridization strategy, herein, we reported an anion-cation co-substitution activation of CoMoO 4 for OER through a facile solvothermal treatment of FeCo-Prussian blue analogue (PBA) nanocube in the presence of thiourea and ammonium molybdate. The combination of experimental results with theoretical analysis uncovered that anion-cation co-substitution allowed the formation of ultrathin porous nanosheet structure with more accessible active sites, enhanced charge and mass transfer ability and optimized adsorption free energy towards oxygen-containing intermediates. As a result, the Fe and S co-substituted CoMoO 4 (Fe 0.5 Co 0.5 MoO 4- x S x) nanoflowers assembled by nanosheets exhibited a drastically improved OER catalytic activity with an overpotential as low as 263 mV to afford a current density of 10 mA cm−2 and a small Tafel slope of 87 mV dec–1, superior to the state-of-the-art IrO 2 /C and most reported binary transition metal oxide-based electrocatalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The inter-bubble secondary Bjerknes force in a three-bubble system are analysed. • The force and the equilibrium distance is strongly modulated by the third bubble. • For weak oscillation, the distance is decreased by super-resonant bubbles. • Resonance-like behaviours may occur in which the force is significantly enhanced. • The results highlight challenges for modelling the force in bubble clusters. The behaviours of insonated bubble clusters are regulated by the secondary Bjerknes force between bubble pairs. While the force has been investigated extensively for two-bubble systems, the modulation of the force by nearby bubbles remains unclear. This problem is investigated in this paper by theoretical analyses and numerical simulations of a three bubble system. For weak oscillations, the third bubble is found to have strong effects when its radius is close to the resonant radius. The equilibrium distance between the bubble pair is reduced when the radius of the third bubble is smaller than the resonant threshold, and increased when it is larger. For strong oscillations of bubbles with radii of a few microns, the third bubble reduces the magnitude of the force, hence increasing the equilibrium distance. The modulation effects depend strongly on the relative sizes of the bubbles. Stronger effects can be produced when the third bubble is placed closer to the smaller bubble in the bubble pair. The findings highlight the need for a more accurate parametrization of the secondary Bjerknes force in the simulation and manipulation of bubble clusters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid development of hydrogen energy is strongly dependent on the economic and efficient production of hydrogen. The electrocatalytic splitting of water to molecular hydrogen via the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) provides an appealing solution for producing high-purity hydrogen, but low-cost and highly active electrocatalysts are required for HER. Among currently investigated HER electrocatalysts, metal-organic framework (MOF)-derived nanocomposites constructed from transition metals (TMs)/TM compounds (TMCs) and carbon materials offer extremely promising and attractive HER activities because of their unique properties, such as tunable compositions, readily regulated electronic structures, controllable morphologies, and diverse configuration. Herein, this article provides a comprehensive overview of MOF-derived nanocomposites as HER electrocatalysts for water splitting. It begins with the introduction of the fundamentals of electrocatalytic HER. Afterwards, several ingeniously designed strategies for improved MOF-derived HER electrocatalysts are meticulously summarized and discussed, with special emphasis on the component manipulation of the TMs/TMCs, carbon matrix modifications, morphology tuning and electrode configuration engineering. Finally, future perspectives on the development of these nanocomposites as HER electrocatalysts are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

B-doping-induced amorphization of crystalline layered double hydroxide supported on nickel foam could activate it as an extremely efficient HER catalyst, affording large current densities of 500 and 1000 mA cm–2 at overpotentials of only 286 and 381 mV, respectively. • B-doping-induced amorphization of LDH was developed to activate catalytic performance. • Amorphous NiCo LDH/NF catalyst could afford large current densities at very small overpotentials. • The strategy of B-doping-induced amorphization is versatile. Developing a platinum-free hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) electrocatalyst that can steadily drive a large current density is of great significance in a commercially electrochemical water splitting technology. Herein, we show that the B-doping-induced amorphization of crystalline layered double hydroxide (LDH) activates it as an extremely efficient HER catalyst. The amorphous B-incorporated nickel-cobalt LDH supported on the nickel foam (A-NiCo LDH/NF) can yield large current densities at small overpotentials (100 mA cm–2 at 151 mV, 500 mA cm–2 at 286 mV, and 1000 mA cm–2 at 381 mV) with high durability in alkaline medium even after 72 h, which is even better than commercial platinum. This work may provide a promising way for structure tuning of transition metal LDH to effectively boost HER efficiency towards practical water electrolysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inhibiting the shuttle effect of lithium polysulfides and accelerating their conversion kinetics are crucial for the development of high‐performance lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries. Herein, a modified template method is proposed to synthesize the robust yolk–shell sulfur host that is constructed by enveloping dispersive Fe2O3 nanoparticles within Mn3O4 nanosheet‐grafted hollow N‐doped porous carbon capsules (Fe2O3@N‐PC/Mn3O4‐S). When applied as a cathode for Li–S batteries, the as‐prepared Fe2O3@N‐PC/Mn3O4‐S can deliver capacities as high as 1122 mAh g−1 after 200 cycles at 0.5 C and 639 mAh g−1 after 1500 cycles at 10 C, respectively. Remarkably, even as the areal sulfur loading is increased to 5.1 mg cm−2, the cathode can still maintain a high areal specific capacity of 5.08 mAh cm−2 with a fading rate of only 0.076% per cycle over 100 cycles at 0.1 C. By a further combination analysis of electron holography and electron energy loss spectroscopy, the outstanding performance is revealed to be mainly traced to the oxygen‐vacancy‐induced interfacial charge field, which immobilizes and catalyzes the conversion of lithium polysulfides, assuring low polarization, fleet redox reaction kinetics, and sufficient utilization of sulfur. These new findings may shed light on the dependence of electrochemical performance on the heterostructure of sulfur hosts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite being considered as efficient non‐noble metal‐based electrocatalysts for alkaline oxygen evolution reaction (OER), NiFe (oxy)hydroxides (NiFeOxHy) typically fall short of meeting practical requirements. To address this challenge, herein, we introduce a facile in situ electrochemical incorporation technique to form Sn‐doped NiFe‐layered double hydroxide (NiFeSn‐LDH) precatalysts. Subsequently, under the alkaline OER process, the precatalyst evolves into stannate ion‐adsorbed NiFe oxyhydroxides (NiFeOOH). The presence of these stable stannate oxyanions plays a key role in mitigating Fe leaching, optimizing the electronic structure of NiFeOOH, and improving its reaction kinetics, thereby significantly enhancing alkaline OER performance. Notably, the nickel foam‐supported NiFeSn‐LDH demonstrates impressive results delivering a large current density of 100 mA cm−2 at an overpotential as low as ~260 mV and maintaining the industrial‐relevant ~500 mA cm−2 current density over 5 days with negligible activity decay, surpassing the performances of most of the transition metal‐based electrocatalysts. Comprehensive advanced characterizations of the precatalysts, before and after the OER reactions, have been performed to uncover stable residual stannate ions at the surface of NiFeOxHy and to determine their pivotal role in promoting alkaline OER. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Construction of well‐defined metal–organic framework precursor is vital to derive highly efficient transition metal–carbon‐based electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in water splitting. Herein, a novel strategy involving an in situ transformation of ultrathin cobalt layered double hydroxide into 2D cobalt zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF‐67) nanosheets grafted with 3D ZIF‐67 polyhedra supported on the surface of carbon cloth (2D/3D ZIF‐67@CC) precursor is proposed. After a low‐temperature pyrolysis, this precursor can be further converted into hybrid composites composed of ultrafine cobalt nanoparticles embedded within 2D N‐doped carbon nanosheets and 3D N‐doped hollow carbon polyhedra (Co@N‐CS/N‐HCP@CC). Experimental and density functional theory calculations results indicate that such composites have the advantages of a large number of accessible active sites, accelerated charge/mass transfer ability, the synergistic effect of components as well as an optimal water adsorption energy change. As a result, the obtained Co@N‐CS/N‐HCP@CC catalyst requires overpotentials of only 66 and 248 mV to reach a current density of 10 mA cm−2 for HER and OER in 1.0 m KOH, respectively. Remarkably, it enables an alkali‐electrolyzer with a current density of 10 mA cm−2 at a low cell voltage of 1.545 V, superior to that of the IrO2@CC||Pt/C@CC couple (1.592 V). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Potassium‐ion hybrid capacitors (PIHCs), elaborately integrate the advantages of high output power as well as long lifespan of supercapacitors and the high energy density of batteries, and exhibit great possibilities for the future generations of energy storage devices. The critical next step for future implementation lies in exploring a high‐rate battery‐type anode with an ultra‐stable structure to match the capacitor‐type cathode. Herein, a "dual‐carbon" is constructed, in which a three‐dimensional nitrogen‐doped microporous carbon polyhedron (NMCP) derived from metal‐organic frameworks is tightly wrapped by two‐dimensional reduced graphene oxide (NMCP@rGO). Benefiting from the synergistic effect of the inner NMCP and outer rGO, the NMCP@rGO exhibits a superior K‐ion storage capability with a high reversible capacity of 386 mAh g−1 at 0.05 A g−1 and ultra‐long cycle stability with a capacity of 151.4 mAh g−1 after 6000 cycles at 5.0 A g−1. As expected, the as‐assembled PIHCs with a working voltage as high as 4.2 V present a high energy/power density (63.6 Wh kg−1 at 19 091 W kg−1) and excellent capacity retention of 84.7% after 12 000 cycles. This rational construction of advanced PIHCs with excellent performance opens a new avenue for further application and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Construction of well-defined hybrid composites consisting of transition metal sulfides and two-dimensional (2D) carbon nanosheets as high-performance anodes for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) is of great significance but remains challenging. Herein, we have developed a novel strategy to in-situ fabricate a nanohybrid composites consisting of cobalt-doped copper sulfides nanoparticles embedded in 2D carbon nanosheets (2D Co-Cu 2 S@C) through a one-pot sulfurization of 2D nanosheet-like Co-doped copper-based metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) precursors. When applied as LIBs anodes, the as-prepared 2D Co-Cu 2 S@C composites could deliver a specific capacity of 780 mAh g−1 at 0.5 A g−1 after 300 cycles and a high-rate capability with 209 mAh g−1 at 5 A g−1, superior to most reported copper sulfide-based anodes. The exceptional performance could be attributed to the synergism of ultrathin structure (~4 nm), appropriate cobalt doping and strong carbon coupling, resulting in the shortened paths for Li+ transportation, enlarged exposing surface for Li+ adsorption, enhanced electric conductivity for charge transfer as well as robust mechanical property against volume expansion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • The secondary Bjerknes force is investigated for bubbles in Kelvin-Voigt fluids. • The time-delay effect is modelled and shown to have significant impacts. • The rebound phase is important for the calculation of the secondary Bjerknes force. • Bubbles thought to be attractive before are found to repulse to each other. • The equilibrium distance between two bubbles is analysed numerically. Abstract The interaction between two small bubbles experiencing transient cavitation in a nonlinear Kelvin-Voigt fluid is investigated. The time-delay effect in the interaction is incorporated in the coupled Keller-Miksis model. The refined model predicts that bubbles with radii smaller than 2 μ m will be repelled by large bubbles, in contrast to predictions from previous models. The matching pressure needed to obtain same level of transient cavitation in different Kelvin-Voigt fluids is shown to depend mainly on the shear modulus and is insensitive to other parameters, which makes it a useful parameter to correlate the results. When the radii of the bubbles fall between 4 μ m and 6 μ m , the secondary Bjerknes force obtained with matching pressures shows only weak dependence on the shear modulus. For the pressure amplitudes investigated, equilibrium distances can be found between two bubbles when the equilibrium radius of one of the bubbles is in a narrow range around 2 μm. The equilibrium distance decreases when the shear modulus is increased. A simple relation between the two quantities is established. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: A bimetallic lanthanum-nickel oxysulfide based on a La2O2S prototype was developed as a precatalyst for the electrochemical alkaline oxygen evolution reaction (OER). The in situ, ex situ, and theoretical investigations demonstrated that the precatalyst underwent a deep OER-driven reconstruction into a porous heterostructure where NiOOH nanodomains were uniformly separated and confined by La(OH)3 barrier. Oxyanion (SO42−) was steadily adsorbed on the surface of this in situ reconstructed NiOOH/La(OH)3 heterostructure, enabling it for enhanced OER activity and durability. Efficient and durable oxygen evolution reaction (OER) requires the electrocatalyst to bear abundant active sites, optimized electronic structure as well as robust component and mechanical stability. Herein, a bimetallic lanthanum-nickel oxysulfide with rich oxygen vacancies based on the La2O2S prototype is fabricated as a binder-free precatalyst for alkaline OER. The combination of advanced in situ and ex situ characterizations with theoretical calculation uncovers the synergistic effect among La, Ni, O, and S species during OER, which assures the adsorption and stabilization of the oxyanion SO 4 2 - onto the surface of the deeply reconstructed porous heterostructure composed of confining NiOOH nanodomains by La(OH)3 barrier. Such coupling, confinement, porosity and immobilization enable notable improvement in active site accessibility, phase stability, mass diffusion capability and the intrinsic Gibbs free energy of oxygen-containing intermediates. The optimized electrocatalyst delivers exceptional alkaline OER activity and durability, outperforming most of the Ni-based benchmark OER electrocatalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The connection between the active components and supports in a catalyst is important for the high activity and long‐term stability during catalysis. Here, Co3O4 nanoparticles embedded in F, N‐doped graphene (Co3O4/F, N‐doped G) are synthesized by silicon‐hydrogen bond reduction. F and N atoms doped graphene interacts with Co3O4 nanoparticles to optimize oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalytic activity. The optimal Co3O4/F, N‐doped G‐2 catalyst with Co loading of 3.38 wt% shows a half‐wave potential of 0.852 V vs RHE in 0.1 M KOH solution. Furthermore, Co3O4/F, N‐doped G‐2 catalyst outputs an extremely high open circuit voltage of 1.47 V and an excellent power density of 280 mW cm−2 at current density of 450 mA cm−2 when applied to the primary Zn‐air batteries. Due to the synergetic effects from Co3O4 and supports (F, N‐doped G), Co3O4/F, N‐doped G‐2 catalyst also shows excellent stability and anti‐toxicity, and has good practical application prospects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vacancy engineering is deemed as one of the powerful protocols to tune the catalytic activity of electrocatalysts. Herein, Se‐vacancy with charge polarization is created in the NiSe2 structure (NiSe2‐VSe) via a sequential phase conversion strategy. By a combined analysis of the Rietveld method, transient photovoltage spectra (TPV), in situ Raman and density functional theory (DFT) calculation, it is unequivocally discovered that the presence of charge‐polarized Se‐vacancy is beneficial for stabilizing the structure, decreasing the electron transfer kinetics, as well as optimizing the free adsorption energy of reaction intermediate during two‐electron oxygen reduction reaction (2e− ORR). Benefiting from these merits, the as‐prepared NiSe2‐VSe delivered the highest selectivity of 96% toward H2O2 in alkaline media, together with a selectivity higher than 90% over the wide potential range from 0.25 to 0.55 V, ranking it in the top level among the previously reported transition metal‐based electrocatalysts. Most notably, it also displayed admirable stability with only a slight selectivity decay after 5000 cycles of accelerated degradation test (ADT). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the main component of the new energy battery, the safety vent usually is welded on the battery plate, which can prevent unpredictable explosion accidents caused by the increasing internal pressure of the battery. The welding quality of safety vent directly affects the safety and stability of the battery; so, the welding-defect detection is of great significance. In this paper, we researched the welding-defect detection method based on semantic segmentation algorithm. The automatic detection method should recognize, locate, and count the area of defects. However, small differences between inter-classes, strong variations in defect size, and uncertain annotation create challenges for defect semantic segmentation. To address these challenges, a customized deep learning model based on two-branch architecture is proposed to segment welding-defect at the pixel level. This architecture involves three modules as follows, (i) The Spatial Branch is elaborately designed to capture spatial details and generate high-resolution feature representation; (ii) The Context Branch is responsible for obtaining semantic context; (iii) The Feature Fusion Block is proposed to merge the two types of feature representation and enhance mutual connections. Furthermore, a welding image dataset was built to validate our method, and the network's performance of defect segmentation and classification were evaluated by the defects images and the normal images, respectively. Data augmentation strategies are performed to overcome the problem of imbalanced distribution and inaccurate labels of the dataset, which is caused by the ambiguity of defect edges and the subjectivity of manual annotation. The experiment results indicate that our method achieves 86.704 % of mIoU (mean intersection of union), which supports the effectiveness of the deep learning model in segmenting defects. Besides, 98.896 % of AP (average precision) and 0 % of MDR (miss detection rate) further suggests the applicability of the proposed framework in industrial applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Snoring and impaired glucose metabolism are common clinical manifestations and associated. The purpose of our study is to estimate the causal associations between snoring and glycemic traits. Methods: We compared the weighted mean differences (WMD) for fasting insulin (FINS), glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c), fasting blood glucose (FBG) and 2 h‐glucose post‐challenge (2hGlu) levels between snorers and non‐snorers by meta‐analysis. Then, we obtained summary statistics from published GWAS of snoring and glycemic traits to perform bidirectional two‐sample MR. Inverse variance weighting (IVW) method was applied as major estimate while MR Egger, Weighted median and MR‐Robust Adjusted Profile Score (RAPS) played a subsidiary role. Results: Snoring participants had higher FBG (WMD = 0.14 mmol/L, 95%CI = [0.10,0.19]), HbA1c (WMD = 0.10%, 95%CI = [0.07,0.13]), FINS (WMD = 0.92μIU/mL, 95%CI = [0.59,1.26]) and 2hGlu (WMD = 0.30 mmol/L, 95%CI = [0.06,0.55]) levels than non‐snorers. Further, elevated FINS levels shown robust causal effect on snoring (IVW: OR = 1.07, 95%CI = [1.02,1.12], p = 2.2 × 10−3), which was consistent by complementary methods of MR Egger (OR = 1.14, 95%CI = [1.01–1.30], p = 4.72 × 10−2), Weighted median (OR = 1.11, 95%CI = [1.07,1.15], p = 1.53 × 10−7) and MR RAPS (OR = 1.07, 95% CI = [1.05,1.10], p = 2.81 × 10−9). Such causal situation was stable after identifying and removing the outliers in sensitivity analysis. However, there was no causality of snoring on increasing FINS levels. Additionally, there were no causal associations between snoring and other three traits of FBG, HbA1c and 2hGlu levels from either direction. Conclusions: Snorers are subjected to higher FBG, HbA1c, FINS and 2hGlu levels, and elevated FINS levels further provides robust causality on snoring, suggesting that behind common snoring may lie hyperinsulinemia or insulin resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. Shen-Ling-Bai-Zhu-San (SLBZS) is used for treating gastrointestinal disorders. However, the role of SLBZS in treating pneumonia in children is still unclear. Methods. In this study, children (≥2 and <9 years) with pneumonia were treated with 0.1 g cefixime (cefixime group) or 0.1 g cefixime + 9 g SLBZS (SLBZS + cefixime). The drugs were administered twice daily for 10 days. The therapeutic effects of the two groups were compared. The white blood cell (WBC), neutrophil, and lymphocyte counts; neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR); serum inflammatory factor levels; and gut microflora were assessed. Results. The clinical efficacy of SLBZS + cefixime treatment of pneumonia in children was higher than that of cefixime alone (93.3% vs. 86.7%). Both cefixime and SLBZS + cefixime treatments decreased the area of pulmonary inflammatory lesions, reduced white blood cell and neutrophil counts, neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio, inflammation, and increased lymphocyte count in children with pneumonia compared with those before treatment. Moreover, SLBZS enhanced the anti-inflammation and immunity-enhancing effects of cefixime in children with pneumonia. SLBZS + cefixime treatment decreased Enterobacter, Enterococcus, Bacteroides, and Fusobacterium counts and increased Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus counts. Compared with the cefixime treatment group, the count of the six bacterial strains in the SLBZS + cefixime treatment group was closer to the normal level. Conclusion. SLBZS enhanced the antipneumonia effect of cefixime in children with pneumonia by ameliorating gut microflora, inflammation, and immune response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT) is a rare inherited cardiac ion channelopathy. The present study aims to examine the clinical characteristics, genetic basis, and arrhythmic outcomes of CPVT patients from China to elucidate the difference between CPVT patients in Asia and Western countries. Methods: PubMed and Embase were systematically searched for case reports or series reporting on CPVT patients from China until 19 February 2022 using the keyword: "Catecholaminergic Polymorphic Ventricular Tachycardia" or "CPVT", with the location limited to: "China" or "Hong Kong" or "Macau" in Embase, with no language or publication-type restriction. Articles that did not state a definite diagnosis of CPVT and articles with duplicate cases found in larger cohorts were excluded. All the included publications in this review were critically appraised based on the Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Checklist. Clinical characteristics, genetic findings, and the primary outcome of spontaneous ventricular tachycardia/ventricular fibrillation (VT/VF) were analyzed. Results: A total of 58 unique cases from 15 studies (median presentation age: 8 (5.0–11.8) years old) were included. All patients, except one, presented at or before 19 years of age. There were 56 patients (96.6%) who were initially symptomatic. Premature ventricular complexes (PVCs) were present in 44 out of 51 patients (86.3%) and VT in 52 out of 58 patients (89.7%). Genetic tests were performed on 54 patients (93.1%) with a yield of 87%. RyR2, CASQ2, TERCL, and SCN10A mutations were found in 35 (71.4%), 12 (24.5%), 1 (0.02%) patient, and 1 patient (0.02%), respectively. There were 54 patients who were treated with beta-blockers, 8 received flecainide, 5 received amiodarone, 2 received verapamil and 2 received propafenone. Sympathectomy (n = 10), implantable cardioverter-defibrillator implantation (n = 8) and ablation (n = 1) were performed. On follow-up, 13 patients developed VT/VF. Conclusion: This was the first systematic review of CPVT patients from China. Most patients had symptoms on initial presentation, with syncope as the presenting complaint. RyR2 mutation accounts for more than half of the CPVT cases, followed by CASQ2, TERCL and SCN10A mutations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to explore the adoption of ultrasonic images under deep learning (DL) algorithm to evaluate the efficacy of drug-coated balloon (DCB) for treatment of arteriosclerotic occlusion, 56 patients who underwent DCB surgery of lower limb artery were selected and all the patients received the examinations of algorithmic ultrasound and digital subtraction angiography (DSA) before surgery. According to the examination methods, they were classified into algorithmic ultrasound group and DSA group. One to two months after DCB surgery, ultrasound examination was performed with the region-based faster convolutional neural network (faster R-CNN) target detection algorithm to check the therapeutic effect. The results showed that the image effect processed by the target detection algorithm based on DL was signally better than that of traditional ultrasonic processing algorithm in Dice, precision (Pre), and sensitivity, with significant difference (P < 0.05). Compared with DSA, algorithmic ultrasound showed better consistency between the two groups in the diagnosis of common femoral artery, superficial femoral artery, and popliteal artery stenosis, with statistical significance (P < 0.05). However, for the diagnosis of anterior tibial artery stenosis, the consistency between algorithmic ultrasound and DSA was general. The residual stenosis of each artery segment decreased obviously in postoperative review compared with that before surgery, and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). Besides, both the pulsatility index (PI) and the blood flow velocity of the dorsalis pedis artery increased after surgery, compared with those before surgery, with significant differences (P < 0.05). To sum up, ultrasound based on DL target detection algorithm had good imaging effect and good consistency with DSA, which was of the clinical reference value. Additionally, DCB surgery was helpful to treat arteriosclerosis occlusion and improve limb blood supply, which had clinical adoption value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This contribution proposes one electron modulation strategy to expedite the charge transfer capability of CeO 2 by integrating carbon dots for the efficient neutral electrosynthesis of H 2 O 2. Furthermore, the pseudo-capacitance and charge storage capacity of CeO 2 were significantly tuned by CDs during dynamic ORR process, being conducive to the reaction kinetics and the 2e− selectivity. [Display omitted] • Anchoring CDs onto the surface of cerium oxides was firstly explored for 2e− ORR. • The optimized CDs/CeO 2 delivered the highest 2e− selectivity of 92.6 % under neutral media. • An impressive long-term stability over 24 h at 20 mA cm−2 was achieved. • Pseudo-capacitance and charge storage capacity of CeO 2 were significantly tuned by CDs during dynamic ORR. The sluggish kinetics coupled with the competition of four-electron pathway in neutral media diminishes the production efficiency of hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2) via the two-electron oxygen reduction reaction (2e− ORR). To address this dilemma, this contribution proposes one electron modulation strategy to expedite the charge transfer capability by integrating carbon dots with CeO 2 (CDs/CeO 2) for the efficient neutral electrosynthesis of H 2 O 2. It was found that the integration could effectively bolster both the activity and selectivity of 2e− ORR on CDs and CeO 2. Remarkably, the highest 2e− selectivity could reach up to 92 % for the optimized CDs/CeO 2 , substantially surpassing that (77 %) of pristine CeO 2 , together with about 1.5 times enhancement of activity. Meanwhile, it also delivered a superior long durability at 20 mA cm−2 for 24 h and a high Faraday efficiency of 97 %. Further in-situ transient potential scanning (TPS) technique revealed that the pseudo-capacitance and charge storage capacity of CeO 2 were significantly tuned by CDs during dynamic ORR process, being conducive to the reaction kinetics and the 2e− selectivity. The findings in this work not only extends the co-catalytic system based on CDs and rare earth materials for 2e− ORR, but also offers novel insights into correlation between their electron distribution dynamics and 2e− ORR performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fluorescent probe MPA–ABT-510 consists of NIR dye (MPA) in the N terminal, a linker (PEG 4), and ABT-510 in the C terminal. This design enables MPA–ABT-510 to bind efficiently to CD36, validated by both molecular docking and in vitro binding assays using H1299 and A549 cells. Upon systemic administration via tail vein injection, rapid and specific accumulation of fluorescence signals was observed in the tumor sites, indicating that MPA–ABT-510 is a promising candidate for NSCLC imaging and surgical navigation. [Display omitted] • The probe shows high specificity and precision for detecting CD36-positive NSCLC. • The probe is promising candidate for NSCLC surgical navigation. • The probe is safe and feasible for clinical applications. Nonsmall-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most frequent type of lung cancer, with early surgical treatment proving vital for prolonged patient survival. However, precise visualization of NSCLC remains a challenge due to limited molecular imaging probes, the unique anatomical structure of the lungs, and respiratory movement interference. In this study, we investigated the potential utility of CD36, which is highly expressed in NSCLC, as an imaging target. A selective and water-soluble fluorescent probe, MPA–ABT-510, was successfully constructed by coupling ABT-510 with MPA, a near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent dye. Molecular docking analysis shows that MPA–ABT-510 possesses strong binding affinity to the CD36 protein, with specific hydrogen bond interactions at defined amino acid residues. In vitro assays reveals that the fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled peptide ABT-510 specifically binds to the CD36-high expressing NSCLC cell lines H1299 and A549. In vivo imaging verifies that the MPA–ABT-510 efficiently accumulates in the tumor site with a distinct fluorescent signal. Ex vivo imaging revealed that tumor-to-lung fluorescence ratios for subcutaneous and orthotopic H1299 mouse models were 7.19 ± 0.73 and 1.91 ± 0.42, respectively, while those for A549 mice were 5.53 ± 0.64 and 1.77 ± 0.41, respectively. Biodistribution analysis demonstrated efficient MPA–ABT-510 uptake in H1299 and A549 liver metastases models with tumor-to-liver fluorescence ratios of 2.47 ± 0.48 and 2.19 ± 0.22, respectively. High MPA–ABT-510 accumulation was evident in A549 intestinal metastases models, as evidenced by tumor-to-colorectal fluorescence ratios of 4.27 ± 0.11. MPA–ABT-510 exhibits superior imaging capabilities with minimal safety concerns, so it is a promising candidate for NSCLC surgical navigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hollow CoFe-PBA nanocubes with cyano and cobalt bi-vacancies induced by coating tannic acid supported on nickel foam exhibit an exceptional electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction activity with an overpotential of only 75 mV to drive a current density of 10 mA cm−2 in alkaline media. [Display omitted] • The TA-etching strategy for the creation of bi-vacancies within PBA was developed. • The introduction of bi-vacancies is favorable to lowering the reaction energy barrier. • The PBA with bi-vacancies exhibits an exceptional electrocatalytic HER activity. Prussian blue analogues (PBA) have been explored as electrocatalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction, however, they suffer from poor electrical conductivity and blocked active sites and thus usually operate at overpotentials drastically above thermodynamic requirement. Herein, we report a creation of unconventional anion (cyano group) and cation (cobalt) bi-vacancies to boost CoFe-PBA for HER through a rapid tannic acid (TA) etching strategy. The combined experimental and theoretical investigations indicate that the introduction of bi-vacancies would be favorable to exposure of accessible active sites, optimizing the electron density of CoFe PBA, and lowering the reaction energy barrier. As a result, the TA-etched CoFe PBA nanocubes supported on nickel foam (NF) (CoFe-PBA@TA/NF) exhibit outstanding HER catalytic activity with an overpotential of only 86 mV at 10 mA cm−2, which is not only significantly lower than bare PBA supported on NF (158 mV), but also comparable to the commercial Pt/C catalyst. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: SiO2-mediated ZIF-L is developed to prepare Co–N4@2D/3D carbon. Co–N4@2D/3D integrates the advantages of 0D Co single atom and 2D/3D carbon support. Co–N4@2D/3D carbon-based sulfur cathode enables a high reversible specific capacity and low capacity fading rate.The practical application of lithium–sulfur batteries is severely hampered by the poor conductivity, polysulfide shuttle effect and sluggish reaction kinetics of sulfur cathodes. Herein, a hierarchically porous three-dimension (3D) carbon architecture assembled by cross-linked carbon leaves with implanted atomic Co–N4 has been delicately developed as an advanced sulfur host through a SiO2-mediated zeolitic imidazolate framework-L (ZIF-L) strategy. The unique 3D architectures not only provide a highly conductive network for fast electron transfer and buffer the volume change upon lithiation–delithiation process but also endow rich interface with full exposure of Co–N4 active sites to boost the lithium polysulfides adsorption and conversion. Owing to the accelerated kinetics and suppressed shuttle effect, the as-prepared sulfur cathode exhibits a superior electrochemical performance with a high reversible specific capacity of 695 mAh g−1 at 5 C and a low capacity fading rate of 0.053% per cycle over 500 cycles at 1 C. This work may provide a promising solution for the design of an advanced sulfur-based cathode toward high-performance Li–S batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction. Patients receiving chemotherapy for breast cancer may be at risk of developing cardiac dysfunction and electrophysiological abnormalities. The aim of this study is to evaluate alterations in electrocardiographic (ECG) parameters in breast cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. Materials and Methods. This was a prospective single-center cohort study conducted in the Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University, China. Participants with breast cancer referred for chemotherapy from May 1, 2019, to October 1, 2019, were invited to participate in the study. Standard 12-lead ECG and echocardiography were performed at baseline or before chemotherapy (prechemotherapy) (T0), after 1 cycle (T1), after 3 cycles (T2), and at the end of chemotherapy (T3). Results. A total of 64 patients with diagnosed breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy were included. Echocardiographic parameters showed no significant variation during the entire procedure (all P > 0.05). The incidence of abnormal ECG increased from 43.75% at baseline to 65.63% at the end of chemotherapy, of which only the prevalence of fragmented QRS (fQRS) was significantly increased after the drug regimen (26.56% to 53.13%). At the end of the treatment, heart rate, P-wave dispersion, corrected QT interval, T-peak to T-end, RR, SV1, RV5, Sokolow–Lyon index (SLI), and index of cardioelectrophysiological balance deteriorated markedly (all P < 0.05). The area under the curve for SLI and QT dispersion (QTd) derived by ECG was 0.710 and 0.606, respectively. The cutoff value with 2.12 of SLI by ECG had a sensitivity of 67.2% and specificity of 71.9% for differentiating patients after therapy from baselines. The cutoff value with 0.55 of QTd had a sensitivity of 60.9% and specificity of 60.9%. Conclusions. The current study demonstrated that ECGs can be used to detect electrophysiological abnormalities in breast cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. ECG changes can reflect subclinical cardiac dysfunction before the echocardiographic abnormalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]