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A swallow-nest architecture is fabricated through in situ prefabricated heating using cobalt molybdate (CoMoO4) as the subject and acid-functionalized carbon nanotubes (AF-CNTs) as the skeleton (CoMoO4/AF-CNT nest). The CoMoO4/AF-CNT nest is fixed via the C-O-Mo bond between the AF-CNT supports and CoMoO4 nanoparticles and hydrogen bonds of neighboring CNTs. The size of CoMoO4 in the CoMoO4/AF-CNT nest is confined to the nanometer level (30 nm), which will lead to negligible nanoscale volume changes during charge and discharge. The swallow-nest architecture can enhance the stability of the electrode, thus accelerating electrolyte penetration and providing fast diffusion channels for charge and Na+ ion transfer. When used as the anode of sodium-ion batteries, the CoMoO4/AF-CNT nest electrodes exhibit a reversible capacity of 151.6 mA h g-1 at the promising current densities of 2.0 A g-1 with degradation rate lower than 5.4 μA h g-1 cycle-1 after 2000 cycles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metallic VS2 has emerged as a highly promising nonprecious electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) due to its desirable electronic conductivity and potential catalytic active sites located at the layer edge and the basal plane. The full exposure and enhancement of catalytic active sites toward VS2 materials is very crucial for promoting their HER activity. Herein, we report the synthesis of a novel self-assembled VS2 microflower with in situ embedded few-layer MoS2 nanobelts grown on Mo foil (VS2/MoS2/MF) by a facile one-pot hydrothermal method. Benefitting from abundant exposed edge active sites and fast electron and mass transport as well as strong electronic interactions between VS2 and MoS2, the as-obtained VS2/MoS2/MF heterostructure exhibits remarkable electrocatalytic performance for HER at large current densities in 0.5 M H2SO4 solution, with small overpotentials of 282 and 336 mV at 500 and 1000 mA cm-2 respectively, much lower than those of 20% Pt/C/MF, a small Tafel slope of 51 mV dec-1 and a durable long-term stability for at least 24 h. The well-intergrated VS2/MoS2/MF electrode has the promise for industrial large-scale prodution of hydrogen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is an important strategy to improve the sodium storage performance by using carbon cloth to support the active material. However, the effect of structural changes of active materials anchored on the surface of carbon cloth on sodium storage performance remains to be further studied. In this work, we control MoSe2 morphology on the surface of carbon cloth via annealing conditions. Under different annealing conditions, MoSe2 shows vertical, tilted and horizontal morphology on the surface of carbon cloth. When used as anode materials for sodium ion storage, the tilted-orientation MoSe2 composite electrode shows the best sodium storage performance, achieving a high cycling capacity of 253 mA h g-1 after 200 cycles at 1 A g-1 and excellent rate performance of 140.5 mA h g-1 at 5.0 A g-1. The excellent performance is related to the orientation of MoSe2 on carbon cloth. The tilted-orientation MoSe2/CC(carbon cloth) has hierarchical two-dimensional nanosheets structure and strong interface contact, which can prevent the self-aggregation of active material and keep well contact between MoSe2 nanosheets with carbon cloth. This work provides a reference to improve sodium storage performance for two-dimensional layered transition-metal dichalcogenides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The genus Ficus is striking for its species diversity, ecological significance, and its often species-specific relationship with coevolved pollinating fig wasps, which has long fascinated biologists. The three closely related and generally co-distributed dioecious species Ficus hispida, F. heterostyla and F. squamosa provide an ideal system for the study of speciation, hybridization (caused by pollinator sharing) and comparative phylogeography to infer historical biogeography. We aimed to develop microsatellite markers for these allied species to facilitate the outlined study investigations. A DNA library was constructed from one F. heterostyla sample, and 19 microsatellite loci were developed based on high-throughput sequencing. These markers showed relatively high polymorphism in all three fig species. The mean number of alleles per locus was 3.594--5.286, and the mean observed and expected heterozygosity were 0.469--0.546 and 0.467--0.528, respectively. Principal coordinate, STRUCTURE and AMOVA analyses revealed different degrees of genetic differentiation within species, and, despite some observed genetic admixture, indicated the presence of clear boundaries between different species. In summary, we successfully developed universal microsatellite markers for three closely related Ficus species. These markers will be of great value for investigating patterns of biodiversity among the species in this model system for coevolutionary studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hard carbon as a candidate anode for sodium-ion batteries, its rate capability is still a big challenge due to poor conductivity. In this work, conductive graphitic carbon structure was constructed on hard carbon (HC/NF-1, HC/NF-2, and HC/NF-3) by a simple hydrothermal and catalytic graphitization method, and used as a freestanding anode for sodium-ion batteries. The graphitic carbon consists of ~84 graphitic layers. HC/NF-2 displays high reversible capacity (285.6 mAh · g-1 at 0.1 A· g-1), excellent rate capability (107.1 mAh · g-1 at 5.0 A· g-1), and long-term cycle performance (166.2 mAh · g-1 at 1.0 A· g-1 after 1000 cycles). The remarkable electrochemical performances of HC/NF-2 are mainly attributed to the construction of graphitic carbon, which significantly improves the conductivity of hard carbon and accelerates the migration of electrons. In addition, HC/NF-2 with a suitable thickness of solid-phase hard carbon provides more sodium storage sites and shortens the sodium ions diffusion pathway during discharge/charge cycles. Importantly, the macroporous Ni foam used as a current collector can effectively expand the contact area between the electrolyte and electrode. These results indicate this work can provide a reference for designing other composite carbon-based material for high-performance energy storage systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rate behavior of lithium batteries is one of the key topics for their wide applications. A MoO2/graphene oxide nanohoneycomb synthesized by a preform-decomposition process displays a cycle induced activation behavior at the current densities of 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, and 1.0 A g-1. The reversible capacities can reach to 1128, 759, 723 and 673 mAh g-1 after 100 cycles, respectively. While it shows an almost constant capacity around 196 mAh g-1 at a high current density of 10.0 A g-1. The analyses based on the discharge/charge voltage profiles, their corresponding differential curves, rate cycle performance, as well as the phase analysis after discharging show the contributions of the reversible insertion of Li into the MoO2 to form Li0.98MoO2, the reversible conversion reaction from Li0.98MoO2 to Mo and Li2O, as well as surface adsorption at the current densities of 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 1.0 A g-1. When cycled at a higher current density, a large over potential happens during insertion/desertion process with a significantly decay of conversion reaction. The conversion reaction almost can not work at 10.0 A g-1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We performed genome-wide analyses to identify genomic loci that interact with sodium to influence blood pressure (BP) using single-marker-based (1 and 2 df joint tests) and gene-based tests among 1876 Chinese participants of the Genetic Epidemiology Network of Salt-Sensitivity (GenSalt) study. Among GenSalt participants, the average of 3 urine samples was used to estimate sodium excretion. Nine BP measurements were taken using a random zero sphygmomanometer. A total of 2.05 million single-nucleotide polymorphisms were imputed using Affymetrix 6.0 genotype data and the Chinese Han of Beijing and Japanese of Tokyo HapMap reference panel. Promising findings (P<1.00×10(-4)) from GenSalt were evaluated for replication among 775 Chinese participants of the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA). Single-nucleotide polymorphism and gene-based results were meta-analyzed across the GenSalt and MESA studies to determine genome-wide significance. The 1 df tests identified interactions for UST rs13211840 on diastolic BP (P=3.13×10(-9)). The 2 df tests additionally identified associations for CLGN rs2567241 (P=3.90×10(-12)) and LOC105369882 rs11104632 (P=4.51×10(-8)) with systolic BP. The CLGN variant rs2567241 was also associated with diastolic BP (P=3.11×10(-22)) and mean arterial pressure (P=2.86×10(-15)). Genome-wide gene-based analysis identified MKNK1 (P=6.70×10(-7)), C2orf80 (P<1.00×10(-12)), EPHA6 (P=2.88×10(-7)), SCOC-AS1 (P=4.35×10(-14)), SCOC (P=6.46×10(-11)), CLGN (P=3.68×10(-13)), MGAT4D (P=4.73×10(-11)), ARHGAP42 (P≤1.00×10(-12)), CASP4 (P=1.31×10(-8)), and LINC01478 (P=6.75×10(-10)) that were associated with at least 1 BP phenotype. In summary, we identified 8 novel and 1 previously reported BP loci through the examination of single-nucleotide polymorphism and gene-based interactions with sodium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background-Multiple genetic loci associated with lipid levels have been identified predominantly in Europeans, and the issue of to what extent these genetic loci can predict blood lipid levels increases over time and the incidence of future hyperlipidemia remains largely unknown. Methods and Results-We conducted a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies of lipid levels in 8344 subjects followed by replication studies including 14 739 additional individuals. We replicated 17 previously reported loci. We also newly identified 3 Chinese-specific variants in previous regions (HLA-C, LIPG, and LDLR) with genome-wide significance. Almost all the variants contributed to lipid levels change and incident hyperlipidemia >8.1-year follow-up among 6428 individuals of a prospective cohort study. The strongest associations for lipid levels change were detected at LPL, TRIB1, APOA1-C3-A4-A5, LIPC, CETP, and LDLR (P range from 4.84×10-4 to 4.62×10-18), whereas LPL, TRIB1, ABCA1, APOA1-C3-A4-A5, CETP, and APOE displayed significant strongest associations for incident hyperlipidemia (P range from 1.20×10-3 to 4.67×10-16). The 4 lipids genetic risk scores were independently associated with linear increases in their corresponding lipid levels and risk of incident hyperlipidemia. A C-statistics analysis showed significant improvement in the prediction of incident hyperlipidemia on top of traditional risk factors including the baseline lipid levels. Conclusions-These findings identified some evidence for allelic heterogeneity in Chinese when compared with Europeans in relation to lipid associations. The individual variants and those cumulative effects were independent risk factors for lipids increase and incident hyperlipidemia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although multiple genetic markers associated with blood pressure have been identified by genome-wide association studies, their aggregate effect on risk of incident hypertension and cardiovascular disease is uncertain, particularly among East Asian who may have different genetic and environmental exposures from Europeans. We aimed to examine the association between genetic predisposition to higher blood pressure and risk of incident hypertension and cardiovascular disease in 26 262 individuals in 2 Chinese population-based prospective cohorts. A genetic risk score was calculated based on 22 established variants for blood pressure in East Asian. We found the genetic risk score was significantly and independently associated with linear increases in blood pressure and risk of incident hypertension and cardiovascular disease (P range from 4.57x10-3 to 3.10x10-6). In analyses adjusted for traditional risk factors including blood pressure, individuals carrying most blood pressure-related risk alleles (top quintile of genetic score distribution) had 40% (95% confidence interval, 18-66) and 26% (6-45) increased risk for incident hypertension and cardiovascular disease, respectively, when compared with individuals in the bottom quintile. The genetic risk score also significantly improved discrimination for incident hypertension and cardiovascular disease and led to modest improvements in risk reclassification for cardiovascular disease (all the P<0.05). Our data indicate that genetic predisposition to higher blood pressure is an independent risk factor for blood pressure increase and incident hypertension and cardiovascular disease and provides modest incremental information to cardiovascular disease risk prediction. The potential clinical use of this panel of blood pressure-associated polymorphisms remains to be determined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blood pressure responses to dietary sodium and potassium interventions vary among individuals. We studied the long-term reproducibility of blood pressure responses to dietary sodium and potassium intake. We repeated the dietary sodium and potassium interventions among 487 Chinese adults 4.5 years after the original dietary intervention. The identical dietary intervention protocol, which included a 7-day low-sodium feeding (51.3 mmol/d), a 7-day high-sodium feeding (307.8 mmol/d), and a 7-day high-sodium feeding with oral potassium supplementation (60.0 mmol/d), was applied in both the initial and repeated studies. Three blood pressure measurements were obtained during each of the 3 days of baseline observation and on days 5,6, and 7 of each intervention period. The results from the 24-hour urinary excretion of sodium and potassium showed excellent compliance with the study diet. Blood pressure responses to dietary intervention in the original and repeated studies were highly correlated. For example, the correlation coefficients (95% confidence interval) for systolic blood pressure levels were 0.77 (0.73-0.80) at baseline, 0.79 (0.75-0.82) during low sodium, 0.80 (0.77-0.83) during high sodium, and 0.82 (0.79-0.85) during high sodium and potassium supplementation interventions (all P<0.0001). The correlation coefficients for systolic blood pressure changes were 0.37 (0.29-0.44) from baseline to low sodium, 0.37 (0.29-0.44) from low to high sodium, and 0.28 (0.20-0.36) from high sodium to high sodium plus potassium supplementation (all P<0.0001). These data indicate that blood pressure responses to dietary sodium and potassium interventions have long-term reproducibility and stable characteristics in the general population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]