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The further commercialization of layer-structured Ni-rich LiNi 0.83 Co 0.11 Mn 0.06 O 2 (NCM83) cathode for high-energy lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) has been challenged by severe capacity decay and thermal instability owing to the microcracks and harmful phase transitions. Herein, Ti 4+ -doped NCM83 cathode materials are rationally designed via a simple and low-cost in-situ modification method to improve the crystal structure and electrode-electrolyte interface stability by inhibiting irreversible polarizations and harmful phase transitions of the NCM83 cathode materials due to Ti 4+ -doped forms stronger metal-O bonds and a stable bulk structural. In addition, the optimal doping amount of the composite cathode material is also determined through the results of physical characterization and electrochemical performance testing. The optimized Ti 4+ -doped NCM83 cathode material presents wider Li + ions diffusion channels (c = 14.1687 Å), lower Li + /Ni 2+ mixing degree (2.68 %), and compact bulk structure. The cell assembled with the optimized Ti 4+ -doped NCM83 cathode material exhibits remarkable capacity retention ratio of 95.4 % after 100cycles at 2.0C and room temperature, and outstanding reversible discharge specific capacity of 148.2 mAh g -1 at 5.0C. Even under elevated temperature of 60 °C, it delivers excellent capacity retention ratio of 92.2 % after 100cycles at 2.0C, which is significantly superior to the 47.9 % of the unmodified cathode material. Thus, the in-situ Ti 4+ -doped strategy presents superior advantages in enhancing the structural stability of Ni-rich cathode materials for LIBs., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Kawasaki disease (KD) is a systemic vasculitis with an unknown cause that primarily affects children. The objective of this study was to explore the function and underlying mechanism of mitophagy in Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MP)-induced KD. To create MP-induced KD models, Human coronary endothelial cells (HCAECs) and DBA/2 mice were employed and treated with Mp-Lipid-associated membrane proteins （LAMPs）. Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels were tested to determine cellular damage or death. The inflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor (TNF)--α and interleukin (IL)-6 were measured using the Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) method. RT-qPCR and Western blotting were used to determine the expression of Intercellular Adhesion Molecule(ICAM)-1, vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM)-1, inducible nitric oxide synthase(iNOS), LC3, p62, PINK1(a mitochondrial serine/threonine-protein kinase), and PARKIN(a cytosolic E3-ubiquitin ligase). The adenosine triphosphate （ATP）, reactive oxygen species （ROS）, and mitochondrial membrane potential（MMP） levels were measured to determine mitochondrial function. Mitophagy was investigated using immunofluorescence and a mitophagy detection test. Autophagosome and mitochondrial morphology were examined using transmission electron microscopy. To identify inflammatory cell infiltration, hematoxylin and eosin staining was utilized. Mp-LAMPs increased the levels of TNF-α, IL-6, ICAM-1, VCAM-1, and iNOS in an HCAEC cell model, along with LDH release. After Mp-LAMPs exposure, there was a rise in LC3 and a reduction in p62. Meanwhile, the expression of PINK1 and Parkin was increased. Cyclosporin A dramatically increased ATP synthesis and MMP in HCAEC cells treated with Mp-LAMPs, while suppressing ROS generation, demonstrating excessive mitophagy-related mitochondrial dysfunction. Additionally, neither body weight nor artery tissue were affected due to PINK1 and Parkin suppression Cyclosporin A in Mp-LAMPs-treated mice. These findings indicated that PINK1/Parkin-mediated mitophagy inhibition may be a therapeutic target for MP-induced KD., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Hydro-Fluctuation Belt (HFB), a periodically exposed bank area formed by changes in water level fluctuations, is critical for damaging the reservoir wetland landscape and ecological balance. Thus, it is important to explore the mechanism of hydrological conditions on the plant-soil system of the HFB for protection of the reservoir wetland and landscape restoration. Here, we investigated the response of plant community characteristics and soil environment of the HFB of Tonghui River National Wetland Park (China), is a typical reservoir wetland, to the duration of inundation, as well as the correlation between the distribution of dominant plants and soil pH, nutrient contents, and enzyme activity by linear regression and canonical correlation analyses. The results show that as the duration of inundation decreases, the vegetation within the HFB is successional from annual or biennial herbs to perennial herbs and shrubs, with dominant plant species prominent and uneven distribution of species. Soil nutrient contents and enzyme activities of HFB decreased with increasing inundation duration. Dominant species of HFB plant community are related to soil environment, with water content, pH, urease, and available potassium being principle soil environmental factors affecting their distribution. When HFB was inundated for 0-30 days, soil pH was strongly acidic, with available potassium content above 150 mg kg -1 and higher urease activity, distributed with Arundo donax L., Polygonum perfoliatum L., Alternanthera philoxeroides (Mart.) Griseb., and Daucus carota L. communities. When inundated for 30-80 days, soil pH was acidic, with lower available potassium content (50-150 mg kg -1 ) and urease activity, distributed with Beckmannia syzigachne (Steud.) Fern.+ Polygonum lapathifolium L., Polygonum lapathifolium L., Medicago lupulina L. + Dysphania ambrosioides L. and Leptochloa panicea (Retz.) Ohwi communities. Using the constructed HFB plant-soil correlation model, changes in the wetland soil environment can be quickly judged by the succession of plant dominant species, which provides a simpler method for the monitoring of the soil environment in the reservoir wetland, and is of great significance for the scientific management and reasonable protection of the reservoir-type wetland ecosystem., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests:Yumin Liu reports financial support was provided by Qijiang District of Chongqing Tonghui River National Wetland Park ecological., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

From the swollen LDH, bulky [Mo 3 S 13 ] 2- anions are facilely introduced into the LDH interlayers to assemble the Mo 3 S 13 -LDH composite, which exhibits excellent iodine capture performance and good irradiation resistance. The positive-charged LDH layers may disperse the [Mo 3 S 13 ] 2- uniformly within the interlayers, providing abundant adsorption sites for effectively trapping iodine. The Mo-S bond serving as a soft Lewis base has strong affinity to I 2 with soft Lewis acidic characteristic, which is conducive to improvement of iodine capture via physical sorption. Besides, chemisorption has a significant contribution to the iodine adsorption. The S 2 2- /S 2- in [Mo 3 S 13 ] 2- can reduce the I 2 to [I 3 ] - ions, which are facilely fixed within the LDH gallery in virtue of electrostatic attraction. Meanwhile, the S 2 2- /S 2- themselves are oxidized to S 8 and SO 4 2- , while Mo 4+ is oxidized (by O 2 in air) to Mo 6+ , which combines with SO 4 2- forming amorphous Mo(SO 4 ) 3 . With the collective interactions of chemical and physical adsorption, the Mo 3 S 13 -LDH demonstrates an extremely large iodine adsorption capacity of 1580 mg/g. Under γ radiation, the structure of Mo 3 S 13 -LDH well maintains and iodine adsorption capability does not deteriorate, indicating the good irradiation resistance. This work provides an important reference to tailor cost-effective sorbents for trapping iodine from radioactive nuclear wastes., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune inflammatory disease that primarily affects the joints. Individuals at risk for RA and people with RA develop intestinal dysbiosis. The changes in intestinal flora composition in preclinical and confirmed RA patients suggest that intestinal flora imbalance may play an important role in the induction and persistence of RA., Methods: Based on the current research on the interaction between RA and intestinal microbiota, intestinal microbiota metabolites and intestinal barrier changes. This paper systematically summarized the changes in intestinal microbiota in RA patients, the metabolites of intestinal flora, and the influence mechanism of intestinal barrier on RA, and further discussed the influence of drugs for RA on intestinal flora and its mechanism of action., Results: Compared with healthy controls, α diversity analysis of intestinal flora showed no significant difference, β diversity analysis showed significant differences. The intestinal flora produces bioactive metabolites, such as short-chain fatty acids and aromatic amino acids, which have anti-inflammatory effects. Abnormal intestinal flora leads to impaired barrier function and mucosal immune dysfunction, promoting the development of inflammation. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and chemical drugs can also alleviate RA by regulating intestinal flora, intestinal flora metabolites, and intestinal barrier. Intestinal flora is closely related to the pathogenesis of RA and may become potential biomarkers for the diagnosis and treatment of RA., Conclusions: Intestinal flora and its metabolites play an important role in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases such as RA, and are expected to become a new target for clinical diagnosis and treatment, providing a new idea for targeted treatment of RA., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

InCl 3 @Li 1.3 Al 0.3 Ti 1.7 (PO 4 ) 3 -F (InCl 3 @LATP-F) solid electrolyte powders are designed and fabricated by coating a uniform InCl 3 layer on the surface of F - -doped Li 1.3 Al 0.3 Ti 1.7 (PO 4 ) 3 (LATP-F) solid powders via a feasible wet-chemical technique. The assembled Li/InCl 3 @LATP-F/Li cell can undergo longer cycles of 2500 h at 0.4 mA cm -2 without obvious increases in the overvoltage compared to 1837 h for the Li/LATP-F/Li cell, and the interfacial resistance demonstrates a sharp decrease from 3428 to 436 Ω for the Li/InCl 3 @LATP-F/Li cell during the first 500 h. Importantly, the assembled LiCoO 2 /InCl 3 @LATP-F/Li cell delivers a high discharge specific capacity of 126.4 mAh g -1 with a 95.42% capacity retention ratio after 100 cycles at 0.5 C, and the value easily returns to 112.9 mAh g -1 when the current density is abruptly set back to 0.1 C after different rate cycles. These improved results can be mainly attributed to the fact that the InCl 3 layer with a lithiophilic nature can react with lithium metal to form a Li-In alloy, which can guarantee homogeneous lithium ion flux to avoid the accumulation of ions/electrons across the interface and suppress the growth of lithium dendrites. Moreover, the InCl 3 layer can prevent direct contact of the LATP-F solid electrolyte and lithium metal to effectively alleviate the reduction reaction of Ti 4+ and preserve the structural stability of the composite electrolyte. Therefore, this work may provide an effective strategy to engineer and regulate the interfacial stability between LATP solid electrolytes and lithium metal anodes for LATP-type solid-state lithium batteries., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

A facile in-situ preparation strategy is proposed to anchor amorphous SnO 2 nanoparticles into the porous N-doped carbon (NC) matrix to fabricate amorphous composite powders (am-SnO 2 @p-NC), which feature the hierarchically interconnected and well interlaced porous configurations by employing polyvinylpyrrolidone as the soft template. The morphology regulation of the porous structure is precisely realized by adjusting the content of the template and the relationship between structural evolution and electrochemical performance of composite powders is accurately described to explore the optimal template dosage. The results indicate that the am-SnO 2 @p-NC-50 % composite electrode can deliver the improved lithium storage capacity and cycling performance when the content of the template is controlled at 0.500 g, in which the initial discharge specific capacity is about 1557.6 mAh/g and the reversible value retains at 841.5 mAh/g after 100 cycles at 100 mA/g. Meanwhile, the discharge specific capacity of 869.8 mAh/g is exhibited for the am-SnO 2 @p-NC-50 % composite electrode after 60 cycles when the current density is recovered from 2000 to 100 mA/g. Moreover, the Li + ions diffusion coefficient up to about 5.5 × 10 -12 cm 2 /s is calculated from galvanostatic intermittent titration technique tests, which can be partly ascribed to the conductive NC substrate that provides the high electronic conductivity, and partly to the highly porous structure that shortens Li + ions transfer pathways and guarantees the fast reaction kinetics. Therefore, the hierarchically porous engineering of carbon networks to confine amorphous transition metal oxide nanoparticles is of great significance in the development of high-performance anode materials for lithium-ion batteries., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The layered Nb 5+ -doped LiNi 0.83 Co 0.11 Mn 0.06 O 2 (NCM) oxide cathode materials are successfully synthesized through introducing Nb 2 O 5 into the precursor Ni 0.83 Co 0.11 Mn 0.06 (OH) 2 during the lithiation process. The results refined by GSAS software present that the Nb 5+ -doped samples possess the perfect crystal structure with broader Li + diffusion pathways. Moreover, the morphology characterized by scanning electron microscope displays the compact secondary particles packed by smaller primary particles under the effect of Nb 5+ . The excellent electrochemical properties are also acquired from the Nb 5+ -doped samples, in which the optimal rate performance and cycling stability are performed for NCM-1.0 when up to 1.0 mol % of Nb 2 O 5 (based on the precursor) is added. Benefited from the introduction of Nb 5+ , the cell assembled with the NCM-1.0 electrode retains higher capacity retention of 86.6 % at 1.0 C and 25 °C, and 71.7 % at 1.0 C and 60 °C after 200cycles. Moreover, it also delivers higher discharge specific capacity of 154.6 mAh g -1 at 5.0 C. Therefore, the Nb 5+ -doping strategy may open an effective route for optimizing nickel-rich oxide cathode materials, which is worth popularizing for the enhancement of the electrochemical performance of nickel-rich cathodes for lithium-ion batteries., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The SnSb and TiO 2 nanoparticles uniformly embedded into continuous and conductive carbon nanofibers (CNFs) are successfully fabricated through facile electrospinning combined with calcination treatments. The characterization results of the targeted composite nanofibers (Sb-SnSb/TiO 2 @CNFs-2) confirm that the presence of TiO 2 is of significant importance to construct the elaborately designed and intact fiber structure, in which the optimal dosage of the TiO 2 precursor is precisely controlled at 2 mmol. Moreover, high theoretical specific capacity of SnSb, available inhibitory effect of TiO 2 , and great electronic conductivity of CNFs are cooperatively integrated into the Sb-SnSb/TiO 2 @CNFs-2 composite nanofibers, guaranteeing the enhanced lithium storage capacity and cycling performance when being employed as the anode electrodes. Specifically, the Sb-SnSb/TiO 2 @CNFs-2 electrode can not only deliver initial discharge specific capacity of 1146.6 mAh/g at 100 mA/g and reversible discharge specific capacity of 580.4 mAh/g after 100 cycles, but also retain discharge specific capacity of 561.3 mAh/g after rate cycles along with recovering the current density to 100 mA/g. Importantly, the Sb-SnSb/TiO 2 @CNFs-2 electrode is also endowed with prominent advantages in the pseudocapacitive contribution of 66.89 % at 0.8 mV/s. Those investigations and findings of the Sb-SnSb/TiO 2 @CNFs-2 composite electrodes with facile fabrication process and excellent electrochemical performance can contribute to the practical application of the alloy anodes in the field of the energy storage., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The structural stability and reaction kinetics of anodes are essential factors for high-performance battery systems. Herein, the molybdenum sulfide selenide (MoSSe) nanosheets anchored on carbon tubes (MoSSe@CTs) are synthesized by a facile hydrothermal method combining with further selenization/calcination treatment. The unique tubular carbon skeletons expose abundant active sites for the well-dispersed growth of MoS 2 ultrathin nanosheets on both sides of the tubular carbon skeleton. In addition, the further selenization treatment can expand the interlayer spacing of molybdenum sulfide (MoS 2 ) nanosheets and facilitate the fast sodium/potassium-ion transition and storage. When used in sodium-ion batteries (SIBs), MoSSe@CTs electrode delivers a specific capacity of 486 mAh g -1 at 1 A g -1 and retains a stable reversible capacity of 465 mAh g -1 after 1000 cycles, indicating its good cycling stability. For potassium-ion batteries (KIBs), the MoSSe@CTs composite shows a capacity of 352 mA hg -1 at 1 A g -1 and a good cycling stability (maintains at 272 mA hg -1 after 1000 cycles). This work shows informative guiding significance for exploring advanced electrode materials of sodium/potassium-ion batteries., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

WO 3 as tungsten dopant is introduced into lithium nickel cobalt manganese (LiNi 0.83 Co 0.11 Mn 0.06 O 2 , NCM) layered oxide powders to synthesize W 6+ -doped NCM cathode materials during the lithiation process of the hydroxide precursor. Introducing W 6+ into the lattice can lead to the diversities of the crystal structure, surface morphology, and electrochemical performance. The crystal structure confirmed by X-ray diffraction indicates that the W 6+ -doped oxide powders present a typical R-3m layered structure with larger interplanar distance and cell volume. Also, scanning electron microscope images reveal that the primary particles shrink forming a tighter surface under the effect of W 6+ , while the specific changes gradually aggravate with increase in the content of W 6+ added. The excellent electrochemical stability of W 6+ -doped samples is observed, as the stable host structure is reinforced by the strong W-O bond. The stable structure does not only inhibit the anisotropic volume change caused by repetitive H2 ⇔ H3 phase transitions, but also sustains the integrated structure to impede the formation of microcracks and the appearance of more side reactions. This research provides an effective route on investigating the potential association between electrochemical performance and structure change for W 6+ -doped strategy., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Here in this article, a halloysite nanotube/reduced graphene oxide/cobalt nickel composite (HNT/rGO/CoNi) was synthesized by co-precipitation and subsequent calcination processes. The microstructure, morphology, and chemical composition of the as-synthesized samples were characterized by X-ray diffractometer, Raman spectra, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The electromagnetic absorption performances of the composites/paraffin wax hybrids were tested in the frequency range 2-18 GHz. It was found that the synergistic attenuation of electricity and magnetism, as well as the fairly good impedance matching properties together have led to the impressive electromagnetic absorption performance of the optimized product. The maximum reflection loss can reach - 69.77 dB with the thickness of 2.38 mm at 14.72 GHz, and an effective absorption bandwidth of about 7.12 GHz (10.88 GHz-18.00 GHz) can be achieved in the HNT/rGO/CoNi (30) composite. The excellent microwave absorption performance was estimated to originate from the combination of multiple electromagnetic loss mechanisms, including interfacial polarization between graphene and magnetic nanoparticles, dipole orientation polarization caused by the defects of graphene, the natural ferromagnetic resonance, and eddy current of the magnetic nanoparticles. Furthermore, the halloysite plays the roles of improving dispersion of the magnetic nanoparticles as well as adjusting the complex permittivity of the composite. This work provides a new strategy for the design and fabrication of high performance microwave absorbing materials with natural and readily available components., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Aqueous rechargeable Zn-ion batteries (ARZIBs) have been attracting a great deal of attention due to their immense potential in large-scale power grid applications. It is of great significance to explore cathode material with novel designed structure and first-class performances for ARZIBs. Herein, we successfully construct a double-sandwich-like structure, MOF-derived carbon/manganese silicate/reduced graphene oxide/manganese silicate/MOF-derived carbon (denoted as rGO/MnSi/MOF-C), as the cathode material for ARZIBs. Among the double-sandwich-like structure, manganese silicate (Mn 2 SiO 4 , denoted as MnSi) is in the middle of internal reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and external MOF-8 derived carbon (MOF-C). This integrated rGO/MnSi/MOF-C with double-sandwich-like structure can not only avert the sluggish electronic conduction progress caused by the conventional three-phase mixture system of rGO, MnSi and MOF-C, but also display promising Zn 2+ storing capability. As expected, in mild aqueous 2 M (mol L -1 ) ZnSO 4  + 0.2 M MnSO 4 electrolyte, the initial discharge capacity of rGO/MnSi/MOF-C cathode reaches to 246 mAh·g -1 , and the peak discharge capacity reaches to 462 mAh·g -1 at 0.1 A·g -1 . This work not only involves the novel MnSi-based cathode for ARZIBs, but also first demonstrates our assumption of constructing the double-sandwich-like structure to improve Zn 2+ storage. Moreover, the concept "double-sandwich-like structure" provides an idea for synthesizing the integrated carbon/transition metal silicates (TMSs)/carbon structure to boost the electrochemical properties of TMSs for energy-storing devices., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Hypothesis: High and medium internal phase Pickering emulsions stabilized with cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) exhibited very different performance compared to their peers stabilized with a surfactant. In this paper, we ascribed the difference to the formation of hydrogen bonding and van der Waals interactions between the CNC nanoparticles on adjacent oil droplets., Experiments: Rheological properties of CNC-stabilized oil-in-water medium internal phase emulsions (MIPEs, oil content = 65% v/v) and high internal phase emulsions (HIPEs, oil content = 80% v/v) were comprehensively characterized using both oscillatory and rotational tests., Findings: It was found that in the MIPEs, the van der Waals and hydrogen bonding interactions dominate the emulsion properties, whereas the compact structure of oil droplets plays a more important role in the HIPEs. CNC concentration in the aqueous phase also affects the emulsion properties, especially for the HIPEs, and the results can be correlated to the stabilization mechanisms we previously reported. The information from these tests provides a much-needed guidance for the practical application of CNC-stabilized emulsions., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Li 3 PO 4 coating Li 0.98 Mg 0.01 Ni 0.83 Co 0.11 Mn 0.06 O 2 (NCM83-MP) composite powders are successfully synthesized by first doping Mg 2+ into LiNi 0.83 Co 0.11 Mn 0.06 O 2 by co-calcination processes and followed by H 3 PO 4 modifying the obtained Li 0.98 Mg 0.01 Ni 0.83 Co 0.11 Mn 0.06 O 2 composite powders by sol-gel methods. Related physicochemical characterization results demonstrate that Mg 2+ doping can significantly enlarge the lattice space along the c-axis to 14.1431 Å and lower the Li/Ni mixing degree to 1.58 %, and H 3 PO 4 modifying can effectively reduce the residual lithium content and generate a homogeneous Li 3 PO 4 covering with a thickness of about 11.7 nm on the surface of the composite particles. Furthermore, the battery performance tests indicate that the coin cells assembled with NCM83-MP can exhibit excellent cycling performance, in which the distinguished discharge specific capacity of 157.4 mAh g -1 at 2.0 C at 25 °C after 200 cycles and 154.6 mAh g -1 at 2.0 C at 60 °C after 100cycles are amazingly retained, respectively. Additionally, the electrode can present a smaller gap of redox peaks of 0.10 V and a lower resistance value of 193.8 Ω compared to the ones of 0.49 V and 451.8 Ω of NCM83-0 after cycles. Those enhanced electrochemical properties are mainly ascribed to the synergetic effect of Mg 2+ doping and H 3 PO 4 modifying, which can not only stabilize the lattice structure but also provide fast transfer channels to facilitate Li ions migrating. Therefore, the proposed strategy may excavate new ideas to the further investigation of high-performance Ni-rich cathode materials for lithium ion battery., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Polymer materials have become one of the potential materials for remediation of heavy metal (HM) contamination in water and soil. However, the specific advantages of polymers are rarely studied. Water-soluble thiourea formaldehyde resin (WTF) is one of the effective polymer amendments. Through leaching experiments, WTF can stabilize 93.0% of Cd 2+ and 99.7% of Cu 2+ . The results of HM morphology analysis show that after adding WTF, most of the HMs have been transformed into a relatively stable state. For example, in the process of remediation of 6 mg/kg Cd contaminated soil, the proportion of acid-soluble Cd decreased from 56.5% to 12.8%, and the residual state increased from 13.5% to 45.4%. Compared with the resin-free structure, the three-dimensional structure of the resin plays an important role, but the efficiency of precipitation with HMs is doubled. According to the simulation of the adsorption process by Materials Studio, the characterization of the scanning electron microscope-energy dispersive instrument and the results of the adsorption experiment, in the solution, the precipitate formed by WTF and Cd 2+ has multilayer adsorption of HMs, and can further adsorb HM by -OH. Soil enzyme activity experiments proved that the risk of secondary pollution by adding WTF is rare, and even WTF can achieve the effect of slow-release nitrogen fertilizer. In the WTF remediation process, the biological toxicity reduction of HMs is result from, on the one hand, the complexation of functional group of WTF; on the other hand, the resin structure of WTF; in addition, multi-layer adsorption and adsorption of end groups in the precipitation formed by WTF and HM. This work provides a theoretical basis for the potential capabilities of water-soluble resins and is beneficial to the design and development of subsequent amendments., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The nitrogen-doped carbon (NC) coating encapsulating heterostructural Sn/SnO 2 microcube powders (Sn/SnO 2 @NC) are successfully fabricated through hydrothermal, polymerization of hydrogel, and carbonization processes, in which the SnO precursor powders exhibit regular microcube structure and uniform size distribution in the presence of optimized N 2 H 4 ·H 2 O (3.0 mL of 1.0 mol/L). Interestingly, the precursor powders are easily subjected to a disproportionated reaction to yield the desirable heterostructural Sn/SnO 2 @NC microcube powders after being calcined at 600 °C in N 2 atmosphere in the presence of home-made hydrogel. The coin cells assembled with the Sn/SnO 2 @NC electrode present a high initial discharge specific capacity (1058 mAh g -1 at 100 mA g -1 ), improved rate capability (an excellent D Li+ value of 2.82 × 10 -15 cm 2 s -1 ) and enhanced cycling stability (a reversible discharge specific capacity of 486.5 mAh g -1 after 100 cycles at 100 mA g -1 ). The enhanced electrochemical performance can be partly ascribed to the heterostructural microcube that can accelerate the transfer rate of lithium ions by shortening the transmission paths, and be partly to the NC coating that can accommodate the volume effect and contribute to partial lithium storage capacity. Therefore, the strategy may be able to extend the fabrication of Sn/SnO 2 heterostructural microcube powders and further application as promising anode materials in lithium ion batteries., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

To optimize the electrochemical performance of Ni-rich cathode materials, the 0.005 mol of Mg 2+ and 0.005 mol of Ti 4+ co-doping LiNi 0.83 Co 0.11 Mn 0.06 O 2 composite powders, labeled as NCM-11, are successfully prepared by being calcinated at 750 °C for 15 h following by an appropriate post-treatment, which are confirmed by XRD, EDS and XPS. The results suggest that NCM-11 presents a well-ordered layered structure with a low Li + /Ni 2+ mixing degree of 1.46% and Mg 2+ and Ti 4+ ions are uniformly distributed across the lattice. The cell assembled with NCM-11 can deliver an initial discharge specific capacity of 194.2 mAh g -1 and retain a discharge specific capacity of 163.0 mAh g -1 after 100cycles at 2.0C at 25 °C. Furthermore, it still maintains a discharge specific capacity of 166.7 mAh g -1 after 100cycles at 2.0C at 60 °C. More importantly, it also exhibits a higher discharge specific capacity of about 150.7 mAh g -1 even at 5.0C. Those superior electrochemical performance can be mainly ascribed to the synergistic effect of Mg 2+ and Ti 4+ co-doping, in which Mg 2+ ions can occupy the Li + layer to act as pillar ions and Ti 4+ ions can occupy the transition metal ions layer to enlarge the interplane spacing. Thus, the heterovalent cations co-doping strategy can be considered as a simple and practical method to improve the electrochemical performance of Ni-rich layered cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: The impact of perioperative red blood cell transfusion (PRBCT) on cancer survival has remained controversial., Methods: We conducted a retrospective study in patients undergoing primary debulking surgery (PDS) for ovarian cancer between January 2013 and December 2017. The patients were divided into two groups based on whether they received PRBCT. Clinical characteristics were compared between groups. After propensity score matching, perioperative systemic inflammation-based scores, quality of recovery, postoperative outcomes, disease-free survival (DFS), and overall survival (OS) were compared between groups. Univariate and multivariable Cox proportional hazard models were used to evaluate the association between covariates and survival outcomes., Results: A total of 1037 patients were enrolled in this study, and 31.7% of patients received PRBCT. After propensity matching, there was no significant difference in the clinical characteristics between groups. Patients receiving PRBCT had more postoperative fluctuations in systemic inflammatory response-related indicators (P < 0.001), a higher incidence of postoperative grade II complications (28.4% vs. 14.8%), a longer length of stay (10.6 d vs. 6.2 d) and higher 30-day and total readmission rates (7.1% vs. 4.4% and 11.2% vs. 8.1%, P < 0.001, respectively) than patients who did not receive PRBCT. The OS and DFS rates 3 years after surgery were significantly lower in the patients receiving PRBCT than in patients not receiving PRBCT (58.9% vs. 74.5%, 39.6% vs. 52.3%)., Conclusions: PRBCT was significantly associated with more fluctuations in systemic inflammatory indicators, a prolonged length of stay, higher postoperative complication rates and increased cancer recurrence and overall mortality in ovarian cancer patients undergoing PDS., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

To establish infection in the host, pathogens have evolved sophisticated systems to cope with environmental conditions and to protect cells against host immunity. TolC is the outer membrane channel component of type 1 secretion systems and multidrug efflux pumps that plays critical roles during the infection process in many pathogens. However, little is known about the exact roles of TolC1 in the pathogenicity of A. pleuropneumoniae, an etiological agent of the porcine contagious pleuropneumoniae that causes severe respiratory disease. In this study, deletion of tolC1 causes apparent ultrastructural defects in A. pleuropneumoniae cell examined by transmission electron microscopy. The tolC1 mutant is hypersensitivity to oxidative, osmotic and acid challenges by in vitro stress assays. Analysis on secreted proteins shows that the excretion of ApxIIA and an ApxIVA-like protein, ApxIVA-S, is abolished in the absence of TolC1. This result confirms the essential role of TolC1 in the secretion of Apx toxins and this is the first identification of an ApxIVA-like protein in in vitro culture of A. pleuropneumoniae. Besides, disruption of TolC1 leads to a significant attenuation of virulence in mice by an intraperitoneal route of A. pleuropneumoniae. The basis for the attenuation is further investigated using a mouse intranasal infection model, which reveals an impaired ability to colonize and induce lesions in the lungs for the loss of TolC1 of A. pleuropneumoniae. In conclusion, our findings demonstrate significant roles of TolC1 in facilitating bacterial survival in hostile conditions, maximum colonization as well as pathogenicity during the infection of A. pleuropneumoniae., (Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Surgical stress has been shown to facilitate the tumor growth and metastasis of colon cancer. To unravel the mechanisms underlying surgery induced-colon cancer progression, a syngeneic transplantation tumor model was established with murine colon cancer CT26 cells and the effect of laparotomy on tumor progression was investigated. Especially the expression of several CXC chemokines was assayed, and its roles in regulating myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) recruitment were analyzed. We found that laparotomy promoted in vivo tumor growth and angiogenesis. CXCL4 expression was significantly downregulated by laparotomy in the tumor tissue and the peritoneal cavity. Functionally, CXCL4 overexpression significantly reduces tumor volume compared to control. Through analysis of CD11b + /Gr1 + MDSCs cell, we found an upregulated proportion of MDSCs in the tumor tissues and peritoneal cavity following laparotomy, and this enhancement was blocked after CXCL4 overexpression. Further, a negative correlation was found between CXCL4 expression and MDSC amounts in clinical samples. Higher CXCL4 expression and lower MDSCs proportion is positively related to overall survival., Conclusion: Surgical trauma contributes to colon cancer progression by downregulating CXCL4 and hence promoting MDSC recruitment, which leads to an immunosuppressive environment., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The activation of Notch3 is associated with potential progression of ovarian cancer, tumor invasion, metastasis and chemoresistance, which account for poor prognosis of high grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC). However, the underlying mechanisms of Notch3 are not yet very clear. Here we show that SUSD2 is one of Notch3-regulating genes and the elevated protein expression of SUSD2 in HGSOC. We also found that its high expression level was significantly correlated with worse overall survival, early recurrence and lymph nodes metastasis. Moreover, overexpression of SUSD2 in ovarian cancer cells promoted epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and the metastatic capacity of malignant cells. In contrast, silencing SUSD2 in aggressive ovarian cancer cells inhibited these processes both in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, we found SUSD2 promoted EMT through regulating the expression of EpCAM and EpCAM silencing reversed SUSD2-induced E-cadherin reduction and cells migration. Further experiments indicated a role of SUSD2 in conferring cisplatin resistance in ovarian cancer probably through enhancing autophagy in vitro. Collectively, these findings shed a new insight into the role of Notch3 downstream gene SUSD2 and provided a new therapeutic target for HGSOC., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Ebola virus (EBOV) is a highly pathogenic filovirus that causes hemorrhagic fever in humans and animals. Here we provide evidence that cell-cell contact promotes infection mediated by the glycoprotein (GP) of EBOV. Interestingly, expression of EBOV GP alone, even in the absence of retroviral Gag-Pol, is sufficient to transfer a retroviral vector encoding Tet-off from cell to cell. Cell-to-cell infection mediated by EBOV GP is blocked by inhibitors of actin polymerization, but appears to be less sensitive to KZ52 neutralization. Treatment of co-cultured cells with cathepsin B/L inhibitors, or an entry inhibitor 3.47 that targets the receptor NPC1 for virus binding, also blocks cell-to-cell infection. Cell-cell contact also enhances spread of rVSV bearing GP in monocytes and macrophages, the primary targets of natural EBOV infection. Altogether, our study reveals that cell-cell contact promotes EBOV GP-mediated infection, and provides new insight into understanding EBOV spread and viral pathogenesis., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

HCC still has a poor prognosis in clinical due to high recurrence and metastasis rates worldwide nowadays. Indomethacin pretreatment is used as a potential chemopreventive agent in cancers for it could assist in anti-tumor functions of other agents and exert anti-tumor effect. Our study aims to discuss the effects and mechanisms of long-term use of indomethacin in HCC. The HepA mouse models were used to observe tumor recurrence, intrahepatic metastasis and remote metastasis. NK cell, αβ T cell and γδ T cell were used to explore the underlying mechanisms for anti-tumor effect of indomethacin. The results showed that long-term use of indomethacin facilitated intrahepatic recurrence, intrahepatic dissemination and lung metastasis, and indomethacin inhibits TNF-α and IFN-γ in vivo and in vitro in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, long-term use of indomethacin increased the expression of PD-1 and PD-L2 in programmed death-1 pathway. Blockade of PD-1 and PD-L2 reversed the reduced production of TNF-α and IFN-γ induced by indomethacin in γδ T cells. In addition, long-term use of indomethacin activates TRIF/NF-κB and JAK/STAT3 pathways, and indomethacin promotes the expression of PD-1 and PD-L2 via TRIF/NF-κB pathway and JAK/STAT3 pathway respectively in γδ T cells. Given these findings, we drew a conclusion that long-term use of indomethacin leads to poor prognoses through promoting the expression of PD-1 and PD-L2 via TRIF/NF-κB pathway and JAK/STAT3 pathway to inhibit TNF-α and IFN-γ in HCC., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

One promising way to improve the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), which have attracted great interest due to their low cost, is modifying the working electrode. In this work, Tm and Yb doped as well as undoped In2O3 inverse opals (IOs) were synthesized by the sol-gel method. DSSCs based on In2O3, In2O3:Tm and In2O3:Yb IOs as photoanodes were fabricated and studied. It is observed that the device performance including open-circuit voltage (V(oc)) and short-circuit current (J(sc)) increased largely with the increasing pore size of the IOs and the introduction of Tm and Yb elements in the In2O3 lattices. The PCE of the DSSC was increased from 0.33% to 0.96% when the ln2O3 IOs photoanode was substituted by ln2O3:Yb IOs. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements indicate that the modification of band gap in the Tm and Yb doped In2O3 IOs is significant for the improved performance, which can effectively suppress the charge transfer recombination and improve the electron lifetime., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

In this work, rare earth (RE) ion RE(3+) (RE(3+)=Dy(3+), Ho(3+) and Er(3+)) doped and undoped In2O3 nanotubes are synthesized by the electrospinning method and the band gap of In2O3 is systemically controlled, depending on the order of doped elements. Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) based on In2O3:RE(3+) nanotubes are also fabricated, and significantly improved performance of In2O3-DSSC is observed due to the modulation of the band gap, larger recombination charge transfer resistance and longer electron lifetime., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Hospitalized patients can develop cognitive function decline, the mechanisms of which remain largely to be determined. Sleep disturbance often occurs in hospitalized patients, and neuroinflammation can induce learning and memory impairment. We therefore set out to determine whether sleep disturbance can induce neuroinflammation and impairment of learning and memory in rodents. Five to 6-month-old wild-type C57BL/6J male mice were used in the studies. The mice were placed in rocking cages for 24 h, and two rolling balls were present in each cage. The mice were tested for learning and memory function using the Fear Conditioning Test one and 7 days post-sleep disturbance. Neuroinflammation in the mouse brain tissues was also determined. Of the Fear Conditioning studies at one day and 7 days after sleep disturbance, twenty-four hour sleep disturbance decreased freezing time in the context test, which assesses hippocampus-dependent learning and memory; but not the tone test, which assesses hippocampus-independent learning and memory. Sleep disturbance increased pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-6 levels and induced microglia activation in the mouse hippocampus, but not the cortex. These results suggest that sleep disturbance induces neuroinflammation in the mouse hippocampus, and impairs hippocampus-dependent learning and memory in mice. Pending further studies, these findings suggest that sleep disturbance-induced neuroinflammation and impairment of learning and memory may contribute to the development of cognitive function decline in hospitalized patients., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

N-Benzoyl-O-(N'-(1-benzyloxycarbonyl-4-piperidiylcarbonyl)-D-phenylalanyl)-D-phenylalaninol (BBP), a novel synthesized asperphenamate derivative with the increased solubility, showed growth inhibitory effect on human breast carcinoma MCF-7 cells in a time- and concentration-dependent manner. The growth inhibitory effect of BBP was associated with induction of autophagy, which was demonstrated by the development of acidic vesicular organelles, cleavage of LC3 and upregulation of Atg4 in BBP-treated MCF-7 cells. Since the application of Atg4 siRNA totally blocked the cleavage of LC3, we demonstrated a central role of Atg4 in BBP-induced autophagy. The further studies showed that BBP increased the levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and pretreatment with NAC effectively blocked the accumulation of ROS, autophagy and growth inhibition triggered by BBP. Moreover, BBP induced the activation of JNK, and JNK inhibitor SP600125 reversed autophagy, the increase of Atg4 levels, conversion of LC3 and growth inhibition induced by BBP. Knockdown of JNK by siRNA efficiently inhibited ROS production and autophagy, but antioxidant NAC failed to block JNK activation induced by BBP, indicating that JNK activation may be a upstream signaling of ROS and should be a core component in BBP-induced autophagic signaling pathway. These results suggest that BBP produces its growth inhibitory effect through induction of the autophagic cell death in MCF-7 cells, which is modulated by a JNK-dependent Atg4 upregulation involving ROS production., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

This paper describes the surface modification of micrometer-sized magnetic carbonyl iron particles (CI) with zirconia from zirconium(IV) butoxide using a sol-gel method. Zirconia shells with various thicknesses and different grain sizes and shapes are coated on the surface of CI particles by changing the reaction conditions, such as the amounts of zirconia sol, nitric acid, and CI particles. A silica adhesive layer made from 3-aminopropyl trimethoxysilane (APTMS) can be introduced first onto the surface of CI particles in order to adjust both the size and the shape of zirconia crystals, and thus the roughness of the coating. The microanalyses on these coated particles are studied by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and X-ray-diffraction (XRD). Accelerated acid corrosion and air oxidation tests indicate that the coating process dramatically improved oxidation and acid corrosion resistances, which are critical issues in various applications of CI magnetic particles., (Copyright 2009. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Two different groups of comb-like copolymer dispersants with side chain lengths ranging from 8 to 48 were synthesized and characterized: one group with the carboxylic content per mole molecule constant and the other group with the carboxylic contents per gram polymer constant. The effects of side chain length on comb-like copolymers on adsorption, dispersion, rheological behavior, and zeta potential for cement suspensions were investigated systematically to elucidate the governing dispersing mechanism. The adsorption of comb-like copolymer on the cement surfaces, controlled by COO(-) content in copolymer backbones, side chain length, and also polymer conformation in solution, governs the dispersion and rheological behavior of the cementitious system. The dispersion effect increases with the adsorbed amount; especially the adsorbed side chain density increases. But the dispersion power of comb-like copolymers varies depending on the side chain length in comb-like copolymer. The long side chain polymer has higher dispersion power than the shorter ones due to the stronger steric hindrance effect of the former; for the short side chain polymer with high ionic content, the electrostatic repulsion and steric hindrance together should be responsible for its dispersion effect. Such information also suggests that their exists the geometrical balance between the main chain and the side chains in comb-like copolymer dispersants which should be very useful in designing optimum molecular structures of high efficient dispersants.