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Paddle-wheel mechanism dependent fast ion conduction in a new sodium solid electrolyte, Na3.5Si0.5P0.5Se4.

With the widespread photovoltaic deployment to achieve the net-zero energy goal, the resulting photovoltaic waste draws attention. In China, considerable steps have not been taken for photovoltaic waste management. The lack of relevant scientific information on photovoltaic waste brings difficulties to the establishment of photovoltaic waste regulatory systems. In this study, the necessity and feasibility of photovoltaic waste recovery were investigated. In China, the photovoltaic waste stream was quantified as 48.67-60.78 million t in 2050. In photovoltaic waste, indium, selenium, cadmium, and gallium were in high risk, judging by the metal criticality analysis, which meant that their recovery was significant to alleviate the resource shortage. The full recovery method was proved to reduce the environmental burdens most. For cost and benefit analysis, the net present value/size was -1.02 $/kg according to the current industrial status. However, it can be profitable with the recovery of silver. This study provides scientific and comprehensive information for photovoltaic waste management in China and is expected to promote the sustainable development of photovoltaic industry.

From the perspective of complex vector, this paper derives the mathematical model of the three-phase three-wire shunt active power filter (SAPF) current control object, and based on it, derives the corresponding vector resonance control expression form coordinate transformation, and the steady-state accuracy, anti-interference ability, and stability of the system are analyzed. The deduction demonstrates the equivalence of the traditional detection load harmonic current control and the direct grid current control in this paper, and the consistency of the current regulator. Then, a direct vector resonance control structure of grid current based on the dq coordinate without detecting harmonic currents is designed, and the digital realization of the vector resonance controller, the adaptive ability to frequency, and the phase lag at the high-order control frequency are designed. And finally experimental verification under different working conditions is presented, the experimental results prove the practicability and effectiveness of the direct current control strategy based on the vector resonance controller proposed in this paper.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) has a poor clinical outcome, due to a lack of actionable therapeutic targets. Herein we define lysosomal acid lipase A (LIPA) as a viable molecular target in TNBC and identify a stereospecific small molecule (ERX-41) that binds LIPA. ERX-41 induces endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress resulting in cell death, and this effect is on target as evidenced by specific LIPA mutations providing resistance. Importantly, we demonstrate that ERX-41 activity is independent of LIPA lipase function but dependent on its ER localization. Mechanistically, ERX-41 binding of LIPA decreases expression of multiple ER-resident proteins involved in protein folding. This targeted vulnerability has a large therapeutic window, with no adverse effects either on normal mammary epithelial cells or in mice. Our study implicates a targeted strategy for solid tumors, including breast, brain, pancreatic and ovarian, whereby small, orally bioavailable molecules targeting LIPA block protein folding, induce ER stress and result in tumor cell death.

The development of solid-state electrolytes (SSEs) with high lithium ionic conductivities is critical for the realization of all-solid-state Li-ion batteries. Crystal structure distortions, Li polyhedron volumes, and anion charges in SSEs are reported to affect the energy landscapes, and it is paramount to investigate their correlations. Our works uncover the cooperative effect of lithium site distortions, anion charges, and lattice volumes on Li-ion migration energy barrier in superionic conductors of LiMS2 (M = Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, and Ni) and Li2MO3 (M = Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, and Ni). Combined with the Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator analyses, the volume and Continuous symmetrical methods (CSMs) of Li tetrahedral (Tet) sites appear to have a larger effect on the manipulation of Ea for Li migration, compared to that of Li octahedral (Oct) sites, which is further confirmed by the results from the face-centered cubic (fcc) anion lattice model. For the Tet–Oct–Tet Li migration path, the CSM (the volume of Li site) has a negative (positive) correlation with Ea, while for the Oct–Tet–Oct Li migration paths, opposite correlations have been observed. The understanding of the correlation between site preference, anion charge, lattice volume, and structural distortion as well as the prediction model of Ea in terms of these three factors, namely, C–V–D model, could be useful for the design of solid-state electrolytes with lower activation energy.

Maturation of antibody responses entails somatic hypermutation (SHM), class-switch DNA recombination (CSR), plasma cell differentiation, and generation of memory B cells, and it is thought to require T cell help. We showed that B cell Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)–B cell receptor (BCR) (receptor for antigen) coengagement by 4-hydroxy-3-nitrophenyl acetyl (NP)–lipopolysaccharide (LPS) ( Escherichia coli lipid A polysaccharide O-antigen) or TLR5-BCR coengagement by Salmonella flagellin induces mature antibody responses to NP and flagellin in Tcr β −/− Tcr δ −/− and NSG/B mice. TLR-BCR coengagement required linkage of TLR and BCR ligands, “linked coengagement.” This induced B cell CSR/SHM, germinal center–like differentiation, clonal expansion, intraconal diversification, plasma cell differentiation, and an anamnestic antibody response. In Tcr β −/− Tcr δ −/− mice, linked coengagement of TLR4-BCR by LPS or TLR5-BCR by flagellin induced protective antibodies against E. coli or Salmonella Typhimurium. Our findings unveiled a critical role of B cell TLRs in inducing neutralizing antibody responses, including those to microbial pathogens, without T cell help.

The immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment in some cancer types, such as luminal breast cancer, supports tumor growth and limits therapeutic efficacy. Identifying approaches to induce an immunostimulatory environment could help improve cancer treatment. Here, we demonstrate that inhibition of cancer-intrinsic EZH2 promotes antitumor immunity in estrogen receptor α–positive (ERα+) breast cancer. EZH2 is a component of the polycomb-repressive complex 2 (PRC2) complex, which catalyzes trimethylation of histone H3 at lysine 27 (H3K27me3). A 53-gene PRC2 activity signature was closely associated with the immune responses of ERα+ breast cancer cells. The stimulatory effects of EZH2 inhibition on immune surveillance required specific activation of type I IFN signaling. Integrative analysis of PRC2-repressed genes and genome-wide H3K27me3 landscape revealed that type I IFN ligands are epigenetically silenced by H3K27me3. Notably, the transcription factor STAT2, but not STAT1, mediated the immunostimulatory functions of type I IFN signaling. Following EZH2 inhibition, STAT2 was recruited to the promoters of IFN-stimulated genes even in the absence of the cytokines, suggesting the formation of an autocrine IFN-STAT2 axis. In patients with luminal breast cancer, high levels of EZH2 and low levels of STAT2 were associated with the worst antitumor immune responses. Collectively, this work paves the way for the development of an effective therapeutic strategy that may reverse immunosuppression in cancer.Significance:Inhibition of EZH2 activates a type I IFN-STAT2 signaling axis and provides a therapeutic strategy to stimulate antitumor immunity and therapy responsiveness in immunologically cold luminal breast cancer.

Supplementary information

The value of considerable residual energy in waste Li-ion batteries (WLIBs) is always neglected. At present, “this energy” is always wasted during the discharge process of WLIBs. However, if this energy could be reused, it would not only save a lot of energy but also avoid the discharge step of recycling of WLIBs. Unfortunately, the instability of WLIBs potential is a challenge to efficient utilization of this residual energy. Here, we propose a method that could regulate the cathode potential and current of the battery by simply adjusting the solution pH to utilize 35.08%, 88.4%, and 84.7% of the residual energy for removing heavy metal ions from wastewater, removing Cr (VI) from wastewater, and recovering copper from the solution, respectively. By taking advantage of the high internal resistance R of WLIBs and the sudden change of battery current I caused by iron passivation on the positive electrode of the battery, this method could induce the response of overvoltage η (η = IR) inside the battery at different pH levels to regulate the cathode potential µ of the battery to the three intervals. The potential ranges of the battery cathode corresponding to pH < 3.4, pH ≈ 3.4, and pH > 4 were µ > −0.47V, −0.47V < µ < −0.82V, and µ < −0.82V, respectively. This study provides a promising way and theoretical basis for the development of technologies for reusing residual energy in WLIBs.

Prussian blue analogues (PBAs) have the advantages of stable electrochemical performance and long service life when used as energy storage materials due to their face‒centered cubic structure. Here, Ni‒Co Prussian blue analogue (PBA) nano units have been utilized as precursor to prepare corresponding metal sulfide derivatives, which inherited the structural properties of the precursor. This unique structural exposes more reaction sites and the generation of a small amount of nitrogen-doped carbon that enhances charge transfer. This cube structure has a buffer effect on the stress of the active substance during charging and discharging. The CoS2/Ni3S4‒N‒C provides a capacitance of 817 C g‒1 at 3 A g‒1 and there is still 556 C g‒1 at 20 A g‒1. Furthermore, CoS2/Ni3S4‒N‒C electrode yields outstanding cycle stability (98.2% capacitance retention at 10,000 cycles). An asymmetric supercapacitor (ASC) device consisting of CoS2/ Ni3S4‒N‒C and activated carbon electrodes have an energy density of 40 Wh kg‒1, and a retention rate of 103.7% for 10,000 cycles at 10 A g‒1, presenting excellent cycle stability. The electron properties of Co2NiO4 and CoS2/Ni3S4 − N−C are compared by density functional theory (DFT). CoS2/Ni3S4 − N−C detects more DOS near the Fermi level, leading to larger charge accumulation, indicating that the electron conductivity of the heterojunction is much higher than that of the oxide, and eventually faster reaction kinetics can be obtained.

B cells promote tumor development in murine models of breast cancer (BCa), including - as we have shown - by producing pleiotropic cytokine IL-27, which upregulates expression of the PD-L1 immune checkpoint in BCa cells and tumor-infiltrating B cells (TIL-Bs). Paradoxically, B cell activation has been shown to predict the positive response to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) by murine BCa tumors and melanoma, sarcoma and kidney cancer in patients. Here, we have addressed the role of B cell-expressed PD-L1 in BCa development and responses to ICIs by generating conditional knockout (KO) mice in which Cd274 (encoding PD-L1) was ablated only in activated B cells (AicdacreCd274fl/fl). Tumor development in AicdacreCd274fl/fl mice from engrafted syngeneic ER+ E0071 BCa cells was significantly delayed, albeit not abolished (as occurring in mice lacking B cells), in association with increased B-cell expression of CD86, a key agonistic ligand for T cell-expressed CD28, a co-stimulatory receptor whose function is inhibited by the PD-L1/PD-1 immune checkpoint in exhausted tumor-infiltrating CD8+ T cells. The heightened B-cell CD86 expression in AicdacreCd274fl/fl mice was recapitulated in AicdacreCd274fl/fl B cells stimulated in vitro by CD154, a T helper cell stimulus critical for B cell activation and differentiation as well as the antibody response. Accordingly, AicdacreCd274fl/fl mice displayed an increased antibody response to a T-dependent antigen. Likewise, treatment with the anti-PD-L1 (αPD-L1) ICI boosted wildtype B cells stimulated with CD154 in vitro to express CD86 and differentiate into potentiated plasma cells. It also effectively regressed the growth of pre-developed E0071 tumor in C57 and AicdacreCd274+/fl mice by rejuvenating tumor-infiltrating CD8+ T cells, likely through activation of previously dampened CD28 signaling. By contrast, residual tumors that had eventually developed in AicdacreCd274fl/fl mice failed to respond to αPD-L1 and continued to grow at a pace comparable to tumors treated with an isotype-matched control antibody, showing that the full anti-tumor efficacy of αPD-L1 was mediated mainly by PD-L1-expressing B cells, but not other immune cell types. Thus, PD-L1+ TIL-Bs use PD-L1 to impose a “brake” on the host anti-tumor activity, but are directly targeted by αPD-L1 to relieve the brake, “jump-start” the CD86:CD28 signaling and potentiate the anti-tumor response, thereby providing a mechanistic explanation for the opposing roles of B cells in murine BCa development and ICI responses. Our findings also provide a strong rationale to investigate the activation of PD-L1-expressing TIL-Bs by Atezolizumab® (αPD-L1) in BCa patients to underpin the patient response to this ICI. Citation Format: Mustafa Tamim Alam Khan, Christian Cervantes, Suryavathi Viswanadhapalli, Yan Hui, Ratna Vadlamudi, Zhenming Xu. Pd-l1-expressing b-cells promote murine breast cancer development and mediate the response to anti-pd-l1 immune checkpoint inhibitor [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2021 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2021 Dec 7-10; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2022;82(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P1-04-11.

In this study, the distribution of precious metals in waste printed circuit boards was investigated and the economic value of recycling was assessed. Contacts of pins, slots, interfaces and the board surface in waste printed circuit boards were analyzed, and three types of precious metals were detected. The content of gold, silver and palladium ranged from 179.86 mg/kg to 3694.51 mg/kg, 809 mg/kg to 12320.51 mg/kg and 96.25 mg/kg to 117.49 mg/kg, respectively. Gold was distributed wildly in contacts of many slots and all interfaces, while contacts of only two interfaces (the cable and USB) contained palladium. The highest content of Au was found in contacts of the cable. Silver mainly concentrated on pins (metal foil contacts) of electronic components and its highest content was found in microchips. The economic value of recyclable precious metals in 1 t waste printed circuit boards was up to 2292.94 dollars, of which Au contributed 98%. This study indicates the prominent economic benefits of precious metal recovery from waste printed circuit boards. Moreover, the scientific information provide guidance for the directional and accurate recovery of precious metals from waste printed circuit boards.

Sulfide-based glasses and glass-ceramics showing high ionic conductivities and excellent mechanical properties are considered as promising solid-state electrolytes. Nowadays, the computational material techniques with the advantage of low research cost are being widely utilized for understanding, effectively screening and discovering of battery materials. In consideration of the rising importance and contributions of computational studying on the glassy SSE materials, here, this work summarizes the common computational methods utilized for studying the amorphous inorganic materials, review the recent progress in computational investigations of the lithium and sodium sulfide-type glasses for solid-state batteries, and outlines our understandings of the challenges and future perspective on them. This review would facilitate and accelerate the future computational screening and discovering more glassy-state SSE materials for the solid-state batteries.

A novel ionic liquid-based electrolyte with high conductivity and low freezing point assists carbon-based supercapacitors to exhibit superior low-temperature performance.

Illustration of the fabrication process of 77S/MoxC@NC.

The immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment in some cancer types, such as luminal breast cancer, supports tumor growth and limits therapeutic efficacy. Identifying approaches to induce an immunostimulatory environment could help improve cancer treatment. Here, we demonstrate that inhibition of cancer-intrinsic EZH2 promotes antitumor immunity in estrogen receptor α–positive (ERα+) breast cancer. EZH2 is a component of the polycomb-repressive complex 2 (PRC2) complex, which catalyzes trimethylation of histone H3 at lysine 27 (H3K27me3). A 53-gene PRC2 activity signature was closely associated with the immune responses of ERα+ breast cancer cells. The stimulatory effects of EZH2 inhibition on immune surveillance required specific activation of type I IFN signaling. Integrative analysis of PRC2-repressed genes and genome-wide H3K27me3 landscape revealed that type I IFN ligands are epigenetically silenced by H3K27me3. Notably, the transcription factor STAT2, but not STAT1, mediated the immunostimulatory functions of type I IFN signaling. Following EZH2 inhibition, STAT2 was recruited to the promoters of IFN-stimulated genes even in the absence of the cytokines, suggesting the formation of an autocrine IFN-STAT2 axis. In patients with luminal breast cancer, high levels of EZH2 and low levels of STAT2 were associated with the worst antitumor immune responses. Collectively, this work paves the way for the development of an effective therapeutic strategy that may reverse immunosuppression in cancer. Significance: Inhibition of EZH2 activates a type I IFN-STAT2 signaling axis and provides a therapeutic strategy to stimulate antitumor immunity and therapy responsiveness in immunologically cold luminal breast cancer.

Aqueous zinc-ion batteries have drawn increasing attention due to the intrinsic safety, cost-effectiveness and high energy density. However, parasitic reactions and non-uniform dendrite growth on the Zn anode side impede their application. Herein, a multifunctional additive, ammonium dihydrogen phosphate (NHP), is introduced to regulate uniform zinc deposition and to suppress side reactions. The results show that the NH

Through direct shear tests, this paper aimed to research the effect of fine marble aggregate on the shear strength and fractal dimension of the interface between soil and concrete corroded by sulfuric acid. More realistic concrete rough surfaces than the artificially roughened surfaces were formed by immersing four concrete plates in plastic buckets filled with sulfuric acid for different periods of time. The sand was adopted to imitate the soil. 3D laser scanner was employed to obtain the digital shapes of concrete plates subjected to sulfuric acid, and the rough surfaces were evaluated by fractal dimension. Large direct shear experiments were performed to obtain the curves of the interface shear stress and shear displacement between sand and corroded concrete plate. The method of data fitting was adopted to calculate the parameters of shear strength (i.e., friction angle and the cohesive) and the parameters of the Clough–Duncan hyperbolic model. The results indicated that as the corrosion days increased, the surface of the concrete plate became rougher, the surface fractal dimensions of the concrete corroded by sulfuric acid became bigger, and the interface friction angle became greater. The friction angle of the interface and the fractal dimensions of the surface of the concrete plate containing crushed gravel and marble sand were smaller than that of the concrete plate containing crushed gravel and river sand.

The solvation of cations is one of the important factors that determine the properties of electrolytes. Rational solvation structures can effectively improve the performance of various electrochemical energy storage devices. Water-in-Salt (WIS) electrolytes with a wide electrochemically stable potential window (ESW) have been proposed to realize high cell potential aqueous electrochemical energy storage devices relying on the special solvation structures of cations. The ratio of H

The high interfacial resistance and lithium (Li) dendrite growth are two major challenges for solid-state Li batteries (SSLBs). The lack of understanding on the correlations between electronic conductivity and Li dendrite formation limits the success of SSLBs. Here, by diluting the electronic conductor from the interphase to bulk Li during annealing of the aluminium nitride (AlN) interlayer, we changed the interphase from mixed ionic/electronic conductive to solely ionic conductive, and from lithiophilic to lithiophobic to fundamentally understand the correlation among electronic conductivity, Li dendrite, and interfacial resistance. During the conversion-alloy reaction between AlN and Li, the lithiophilic and electronic conductive Li x Al diffused into Li, forming a compact lithiophobic and ionic conductive Li 3 N, which achieved an ultrahigh critical current density of 2.6/14.0 mA/cm 2 in the time/capacity-constant mode, respectively. The fundamental understanding on the effect of interphase nature on interfacial resistance and Li dendrite suppression will provide guidelines for designing high-performance SSLBs.

Sulfide-based lithium superionic conductors often show higher Li-ion conductivity than other types of electrolyte materials. This work unveils a unique Li-ion conductive behavior in these materials through the perspective of anharmonic coupling assisted Li-ion diffusion. Li hopping events can happen simultaneously with various types of lattice dynamics, while only a statistically important synchronization of motions may indicate coupling. This method enables a direct evaluation of the coupling strength between these motions, which more fundamentally decides if a specific type of lattice motion is really anharmonically coupled to the Li hopping event and whether the coupling can facilitate the Li diffusion. By a new ab initio computational approach, this work unveils a unique phenomenon in prototype sulfide electrolytes in comparison with typical halide ones, that Li-ion conduction can be boosted by the anharmonic coupling of low-frequency Li phonon modes with high-frequency anion stretching or flexing phonon modes, rather than the low-frequency rotational modes. The coupling pushes Li ions toward the diffusion channels for reduced diffusion barriers. The result from the lower temperature range (≈0-300 K) of simulation can also be more relevant to the application of solid-state batteries.

Group 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2) play a critical role in type 2 immunity. Although their classical activators are known to be host epithelial-derived alarmin cytokines released from tissue damage at barrier sites during microbial infections and allergen exposures, it remains elusive whether ILC2 cells can be directly activated by microbial ligands. Here we examined a number of microbial ligands and identified lipopolysaccharides (LPS) from multiple species of Gram-negative bacteria potently stimulated the cultured human ILC2 to proliferate and produce massive amounts of type 2 effector cytokines IL-5 and IL-13. RNA-seq data revealed a remarkably similar set of type 2 immune responsive genes induced by LPS and IL-33. However, blocking IL-33 receptor signaling failed to decrease the effects of LPS. In contrast, blocking TLR4 receptor, NF-kB and JAK pathways completely abolished the growth and function of LPS-treated human ILC2. Furthermore, ILC2 cells of TLR4 deficient mice were unable to respond to LPS treatment in vitro and in vivo. Importantly, patients with allergic rhinitis, atopic dermatitis and bacteremia had an increased number of peripheral blood ILC2 cells that correlated with elevated serum endotoxin. Collectively, these findings support a non-canonical mode of direct activation of human ILC2 cells via the LPS-TLR4-NF-kB/JAK signaling axis, which is independent of the classical IL-33-ST2 pathway. Thus, targeting TLR4 signaling pathway might be developed as an alternative approach to treat microbial infection-associated and ILC2-mediated inflammatory conditions.

Aqueous Zn (zinc) metal batteries have gotten a lot of interest and research because of their great volumetric capacity, low production cost, and high use safety. However, the coulombic efficiency of the Zn metal anode is low due to Zn dendrites formed during the charging and discharging processes of the battery, and the corrosion problem of the Zn anode in the electrolyte also reduces the battery's cycling stability and hinders its practical application. In this paper, InF

Exploring the pathways for photocatalytic dissolution of precious metals (PMs) is crucial for optimizing recovery. In this work, we systematically investigated the selectivity and solvation effects observed for dissolution by focusing on photocatalysis, precious metals and solvents. By combining transient characterization, reaction kinetics, and density functional theory, we determined that the radicals generated in photocatalysis were the key active species in the entire reaction. The cyano functional group in the solvent was the driving factor for dissolution of gold, and the importance of chlorine radicals for dissolution of platinum group precious metals was further confirmed. In addition, the catalytic properties of different precious metals can promote different transformations of functional groups, leading to selective dissolution. The structures of photocatalytic precious metal leaches also precisely explains the special coordination forms of precious metals and functional group ligands.