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Lithium-ion batteries and sodium-ion batteries have obtained great progress in recent decades, and will make excellent contribution in portable electronics, electric vehicles and other large-scale energy storage areas. The safety issues of batteries have become increasingly important and challenging because of frequent occurrence of battery accidents. The separator is an indispensable component in lithium-ion batteries and sodium-ion batteries and directly affects the electrochemical performance and, especially, safety. It is imperative to develop high-safety separators for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries and sodium-ion batteries. This review summarizes and discusses lithium-ion battery separators from a new perspective of safety (chemical compatibility, heat-resistance, mechanical strength and anti-dendrite ability), the development status of sodium-ion battery separators and the difference between lithium-ion battery separators and sodium-ion battery separators. The key challenges and perspectives in the development direction of high-safety separators are outlined.

In order to solve the difficulties in the volume fracturing stimulation of Middle Jurassic Shaximiao Formation tight sandstone reservoirs in the Qiulin Block of Central Sichuan Basin and explore the adaptability of high-intensity volume fracturing technology, we selected the outcrop samples of Shaximiao Formation tight sandstone in the Qiulin Block to carry out the physical simulation experiment of true triaxial hydraulic fracturing. On this basis, horizontal well cluster perforation was optimally designed by using the production prediction model of staged multi-cluster fracturing horizontal wells. Then, based on the liquid control and proppant increase mode, three rounds of pilot tests were carried out on the tight sandstone reservoirs in this area. And the following research results were obtained. First, natural fractures in the Shaximiao Formation tight sandstone reservoir of the Qiulin Block are undeveloped, and hydraulic fractures are morphologically dominated by symmetric double-wing fractures, so complex fracture networks can be hardly formed. In addition, the reservoir is of medium to strong water sensitivity, so conventional volume fracturing is not adaptive to the reservoir stimulation in this block. Second, the connotation of high-intensity volume fracturing technology is to carry out multi-cluster perforation in each section to form multiple independent double-wing fractures and to implement the proppant injection mode of liquid control and proppant increase to reduce the inflow fluid while ensuring the high-intensity proppant injection, so as to reduce the damage of inflow fluid to the formation. Third, there are 10 fracturing sections in Well Qiulin 207-5-H2, with 7–12 clusters in each section, and the displacement is in the range of 16–18 m3/min. According to the fluid control and proppant increase mode, 12146 m3 slick water and 4170 t proppant are injected in total. The tested production rate and absolute open flow of natural gas after the fracturing are up to 83.88 × 104 m3/d and 214.05 × 104 m3/d, respectively. Fourth, with the decrease of cluster spacing, the cumulative gas production increases gradually, but when the cluster spacing is less than 15 m, the increase amplitude of cumulative gas production decreases. Fifth, when the proppant injection intensity is lower than 6 t/m, the tested gas production per kilometer of stimulated section in a horizontal well overall presents an increasing trend with the increase of proppant injection intensity. When the proppant injection intensity is higher than 6 t/m, however, the tested gas production per kilometer of stimulated section does not increase significantly with the increase of proppant injection intensity. Sixth, as the included angle between the borehole trajectory and the direction of maximum horizontal principal stress increases, the tested gas production per kilometer of stimulated section overall presents an increasing trend. When the hydraulic fracture is nearly perpendicular to the borehole, the effective drainage area is the largest and the tested gas production per kilometer of stimulated section is also the highest. In conclusion, the fracturing mode of high production well has a borehole trajectory of large included angle, perforation cluster spacing of 10 m or so, proppant injection intensity of 5 t/m and large-displacement slick water + continuous injection of combined particle size proppant.

Severe particle aggregation and performance fading hinder the application of Mn-based chalcogenides (MBCs) in sodium-ion batteries, and most modifications focus on complicated structure design. Wit...

Energy storage ability is determined by the ion arrangement and electron transfer at the electrode–electrolyte interface, which depends on combining materials that form complex heterogeneous interf...

Recently, due to the excessive consumption of fossil energy and the intermittent nature of clean energy resources, electricity storage has attracted great attention from both academia and industry. Lithium ion batteries (LIBs) with high energy density have been widely used for portable energy storage systems. However, limited lithium resources cannot meet the demands for large-scale applications, especially the grid-scale energy storage. Owing to the abundant natural resources of sodium and the low price, sodium ion batteries (SIBs) have become potential substitutes for LIBs. Cathode materials are key components that determine the overall performance and entire cost of SIBs. However, the unstable structure and limited electrochemical performance make them difficult to meet the requirement of practical applications. This review summarizes the recent development of the cathode materials used for SIBs, and the modified strategies applied to improve their electrochemical performance. Finally, critical challenges and perspectives to promote the development of SIBs are also presented.

Developing nonflammable electrolyte with a wide electrochemical window has become an urgent demand for high‐energy‐density and high‐safe lithium‐ion batteries (LIBs). Herein, a fluorinated nonflammable phosphate electrolyte is developed to construct a safe 4.5 V‐class LIB (Si‐SiC‐C/0.35Li2MnO3·0.65LiNi0.5Mn0.5O2). The proposed fluorinated phosphate electrolyte, 0.8 M LiPF6/tris(2,2,2‐trifluoroethyl) phosphate (TFEP) + 5 vol% fluoroethylene carbonate (FEC) + 5 vol% vinylene carbonate (VC), is not only completely nonflammable but also exhibits excellent oxidative/reductive stability on 0.35Li2MnO3·0.65LiNi0.5Mn0.5O2 cathode and Si‐SiC‐C anode. The in situ differential electrochemical mass spectrometry and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy proved that TFEP‐based electrolyte does not decompose into gases but forms a high‐quality electrode‐electrolyte interface on cathode surface at high working potential. The 4.5 V‐class LIBs using 0.8 M LiPF6 TFEP‐based nonflammable electrolyte shed some light on potential application for high‐safe and low‐cost larger‐scale energy storage.

In recent years, the sodium storage mechanism and performance optimization of FeS2 have been studied intensively. However, before the commercial application of FeS2, preconditions of low-cost, simple craft and scale production of nanoscale FeS2 are also essential. Based on above challenges, mesh-like FeS2/carbon tube/FeS2 composites are prepared simply from green, low-cost and renewable natural herb in this work. With the assistance of protogenetic interconnected carbon tube network (only 5.3 wt%), FeS2/carbon tube/FeS2 composites show high capacity (542.2 mA h g−1), good stability (< 0.005% per cycle over 1000 cycles), and excellent rate performance (426.2 mA h g−1 at 2 A g−1). The outstanding electrochemical performance of FeS2/carbon tube/FeS2 composites may be attributed to the unique interconnected reticular structure, meaning that FeS2 nanoparticles are effectively immobilized by carbon tube network via physical encapsulation and chemical bonding. More importantly, this work may provide green and low cost preparation method for specially structured metal sulfides/carbon composites, which promotes their commercial utilization in environmentally friendly energy storage system. Keywords: FeS2, Biomass-drived carbon, Mesh-like structure, Low cost, Sodium-ion batteries

Background The platelet-to-hemoglobin ratio (PHR) has emerged as a prognostic biomarker in coronary artery disease (CAD) patients after PCI but not clear in CAD complicated with congestive heart failure (CHF). Hence, we aimed to assess the association between PHR and long-term all-cause mortality among CAD patients with CHF. Methods Based on the registry at Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital in China, we analyzed data of 2599 hospitalized patients who underwent coronary angiography (CAG) and were diagnosed with CAD complicated by CHF from January 2007 to December 2018. Low PHR was defined as ˂ 1.69 (group 1) and high PHR as ≥ 1.69 (group 2). Prognosis analysis was performed using Kaplan–Meier method. To assess the association between PHR and long-term all-cause mortality, a Cox-regression model was fitted. Results During a median follow-up of 5.2 (3.1–7.8) years, a total of 985 (37.9%) patients died. On the Kaplan–Meier analysis, patients in high PHR group had a worse prognosis than those in low PHR group (log-rank, p = 0.0011). After adjustment for confounders, high PHR was correlated with an increased risk of long-term all-cause mortality in CAD patients complicated with CHF. (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 1.31; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.13–1.52, p Conclusion Elevated PHR is correlated with an increased risk of long-term all-cause mortality in CAD patients with CHF. These results indicate that PHR may be a useful prognostic biomarker for this population. Meanwhile, it is necessary to take effective preventive measures to regulate both hemoglobin levels and platelet counts in this population.

Machine learning (ML) plays an important role in atmospheric environment prediction, having been widely applied in atmospheric science with significant progress in algorithms and hardware. In this paper, we present a brief overview of the development of ML models as well as their application to atmospheric environment studies. ML model performance is then compared based on the main air pollutants (i.e., PM2.5, O3, and NO2) and model type. Moreover, we identify the key driving variables for ML models in predicting particulate matter (PM) pollutants by quantitative statistics. Additionally, a case study for wet nitrogen deposition estimation is carried out based on ML models. Finally, the prospects of ML for atmospheric prediction are discussed.

Background The association of recovered acute kidney injury (AKI) with mortality was controversial. Our study aims to investigate the impact of recovered AKI on mortality in patients following coronary angiography (CAG). Methods Our study retrospectively enrolled 3,970 patients with pre-operative serum p creatinine (Scr) and twice measurements within 48hours after procedure. Recovered AKI defined as the diagnosis of AKI (Scr >0.3 mg/dL or >50% from the baseline level) on day 1 when Scr failed to meet the criteria for AKI on the day 2. Maintained AKI was defined as AKI not meeting the definition for recovered AKI. The primary outcome was 1-year all-cause mortality. Multivariable logistic regression was used to assess the association between recovered AKI and 1-year mortality. Results Among 3,970 participants, 861 (21.7%) occurred AKI, of whom 128 (14.9%) was recovered AKI and 733 (85.1%) was maintained AKI. 312 (7.9%) patients died within 1-year after admission. After multivariable analysis, recovered AKI was not associated with higher 1-year mortality (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.37; CI, 0.68–2.51) compared without AKI. Among AKI patients, Recovered AKI was associated with a 52% lower 1-year mortality compared with maintained AKI. Additionally, maintained AKI was significantly associated with higher 1-year mortality (aOR, 2.67; CI, 2.05–3.47). Conclusions Our data suggested that recovered AKI within 48h was a common subtype of AKI following CAG, without increasing mortality. More attention need to be paid to the patients suffering from maintained AKI following CAG. Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding sources: None. Association of AKI and mortalitySubgroups analysis

Background: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common complication after coronary angiography (CAG) and associated with heart failure (HF). Left ventricular (LV) remodeling is a vital process in the progression of HF. However, few studies investigate the relationship between AKI and LV remodeling.Methods: We included consecutive patients undergoing CAG from January 2007 to December 2018 at Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital (NCT04407936). AKI was defined as an absolute increase in serum creatinine (Scr) of ≥ 0.3mg/dl or a ≥ 50% increase in Scr from baseline within the first 48–72 h after the procedure. LV remodeling was defined as: (1) an absolute decrease in left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) of ≥ 10% compared to baseline, or (2) a follow-up LVEF < 40%. Univariate and multivariate logistical regressions were used to assess the association between AKI and LV remodeling.Results: Of the 1,573 patients (62.2 ± 9.7 years, female 36.7%) included in the study, 231 (14.7%) had AKI. The incidence of LV remodeling was higher in patients with AKI than in those without AKI (24.7% vs. 14.5%). After adjusting for confounding, multivariate logistic regression showed that AKI was associated with a significantly higher risk of LV remodeling [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 1.87; 95% CI, 1.30–2.66; p < 0.001]. In addition, LV remodeling patients had higher all-cause mortality compared to non-LV remodeling patients (9.7% vs. 19.1%).Conclusion: Our data suggested that AKI is present in up to 15% of patients after CAG and that nearly a quarter of AKI patients suffered LV remodeling and AKI patients have a two-fold risk of developing LV remodeling than non-AKI patients. Our findings suggest that more active measures be taken not only to prevent AKI patient developing into LV remodeling, but to prevent patients undergoing CAG from developing AKI.

This paper introduces our solution for the Track2 in AI City Challenge 2021 (AICITY21). The Track2 is a vehicle re-identification (ReID) task with both the real-world data and synthetic data. We mainly focus on four points, i.e. training data, unsupervised domain-adaptive (UDA) training, post-processing, model ensembling in this challenge. (1) Both cropping training data and using synthetic data can help the model learn more discriminative features. (2) Since there is a new scenario in the test set that dose not appear in the training set, UDA methods perform well in the challenge. (3) Post-processing techniques including re-ranking, image-to-track retrieval, inter-camera fusion, etc, significantly improve final performance. (4) We ensemble CNN-based models and transformer-based models which provide different representation diversity. With aforementioned techniques, our method finally achieves 0.7445 mAP score, yielding the first place in the competition. Codes are available at https://github.com/michuanhaohao/AICITY2021_Track2_DMT., Comment: CVPR 2021 AI CITY CHALLENGE City-Scale Multi-Camera Vehicle Re-Identification Top 1. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2004.10547

Energy density has become a critical barrier in supercapacitor engineering and improvement of the electrode-loading is urgently demanded. However, there is conflict between the high loading and good electrochemical properties of supercapacitors. Herein, ultrahigh loading (10.33 mg·cm-2) 3D hierarchical NiCo2S4/Ni3S2 on Ni foam with outstanding performance is obtained via bio-inspired nano-engineering, which contains compact nanowire arrays catching urchin-like micro-particles. Using this high-loading material as a binder-free electrode achieves excellent areal capacitances with 16.90 F·cm-2 at 10.33 mA·cm-2 and 1.17 F·cm-2 at 5.17 mA·cm-2 in a three-electrode system and asymmetric supercapacitor device, respectively. The device also exhibits a high energy density of 4.69 W h m-2 (power density of 10.33 W·m-2) and an outstanding stability of 91.4% after 8000 cycles (20.66 mA·cm-2). Its excellent performance is attributed to the well-designed structure and composition: (i) a large contact area with the electrolyte raises the utilization efficiency of the active material, therefore guaranteeing the high capacitance of the active materials; (ii) the high electronic conductivity network constructed through NiCo2S4 and the short diffusion length boost its rate performance; (iii) the reserved space in the hierarchical structure could hold the volume change and enhance the cycling performance of the electrode in the charge/discharge cycles. Thus, this work not only provides a method for the construction of a high-loading and high-performance electrode for asymmetric supercapacitors, but could also shed light on the design of compact nano-materials for other energy storage systems.

CdS has attracted extensive attention in the photocatalytic degradation of wastewater due to its relatively narrow bandgap and various microstructures. Previous reports have focused on CdS coupled with other semiconductors to reduce the photocorrosion and improve the photocatalytic performance. Herein, a 3D hierarchical CdS/Cu7S4 nanostructure was synthesized by cation exchange using lily-like CdS as template. The heterojunction material completely inherits the special skeleton of the template material and optimizes the nano-scale morphology, and achieves the transformation from nanometer structure to quantum dots (QDs). The introduction of Cu ions not only tuned the band gap of the composites to promote the utilization of solar photons, more importantly, Fenton-like catalysis was combined into the degradation process. Compared with the experiments of organic dye degradation under different illumination conditions, the degradability of the CdS/Cu7S4 QDs is greatly superior to pure CdS. Therefore, the constructed CdS/Cu7S4 QDs further realized the optimization of degradation performance by the synergic effect of photo-catalysis and Fenton-like catalysis.

A non-doped multi-periodic structure of composite hole transport layer of [MoO3/CBP]n was applied to organic light-emitting diodes. All devices with such hole transport layers showed low turn-on voltage of about 3 V, ultra-high luminance of >110 000 cd m−2, high current efficiency of >50 cd A−1, and high EQE of more than 15%. The optimized device exhibited power efficiency increase of 66% and 18% relative to the single periodic and doped structure OLEDs. The achievement of the reduced driving voltage and improved power efficiency can be attributed to the significantly enhanced hole injection and transport induced by the multi-periodic structure of composite hole transport layer, which was demonstrated via a series of hole-only devices. For improved hole injection and transport mechanism, we also provided a detailed discussion in combination with atomic force microscopy measurements.

It is recognized that an effective strategy to promote the industrialization of supercapacitors is to enhance the ion and electronic conductivities of electrode materials. In this work, it is demonstrated that the NO/NS-8 heterojunction material obtained via an epitaxial growth method based on ion exchange can be used as an outstanding electrode material for supercapacitors. The construction of heterojunctions between α-Ni(OH)2 and NiS1.97 allows the components to provide each other with ion or electron transport paths and endows NO/NS-8 with excellent ion and electron transport properties; this leads to a high utilization rate of active materials and an unprecedented high specific capacitance (up to 2375.8 F g−1 at 1 mV s−1 in a three-electrode system). Using the as-prepared NO/NS-8 heterojunction material as an electroactive material, an asymmetric supercapacitor with long cycle life (62.8% capacitance retention after 10 000 cycles at a current density of 5 A g−1) and high energy and power densities (128.4 W h kg−1 at a power density of 402.9 W kg−1 and 63.8 W h kg−1 at 7662.7 W kg−1) is finally demonstrated. This work provides a novel strategy for developing unique heterojunction materials for energy storage.

Multi-Target Multi-Camera Tracking has a wide range of applications and is the basis for many advanced inferences and predictions. This paper describes our solution to the Track 3 multi-camera vehicle tracking task in 2021 AI City Challenge (AICITY21). This paper proposes a multi-target multi-camera vehicle tracking framework guided by the crossroad zones. The framework includes: (1) Use mature detection and vehicle re-identification models to extract targets and appearance features. (2) Use modified JDETracker (without detection module) to track single-camera vehicles and generate single-camera tracklets. (3) According to the characteristics of the crossroad, the Tracklet Filter Strategy and the Direction Based Temporal Mask are proposed. (4) Propose Sub-clustering in Adjacent Cameras for multi-camera tracklets matching. Through the above techniques, our method obtained an IDF1 score of 0.8095, ranking first on the leaderboard. The code have released: https://github.com/LCFractal/AIC21-MTMC., CVPR 2021 AI CITY CHALLENGE City-Scale Multi-Camera Vehicle Tracking Top 1

Tumor hypoxia severely limits the therapeutic effects of photodynamic therapy (PDT). Although many methods for oxygen generation exist, substantial safety concerns, spatiotenporal uncontrollability, limited efficacy and complicated procedures have compromised their practical application. Here, we demonstrate the feasibility of a biocompatiable all-in-one organic semiconductor to provide a photoxidation catalysis mechanism of action to combat these challenges. A one-step and facile method is developed to produce gram-level C5N2 nanoparticles (NPs)-based organic semiconductor. Under 650 nm laser irradiation, the semiconductor split water to generate O2 and simultaneously produced singlet oxygen (1O2), revealing that the photocatalyst for O2 evolution and the photosensitizer (PS) for 1O2 generation could be synchronously achieved in one organic semiconductor. Furthermore, the inherent nucleus targeting capacity endows it with direct and efficient DNA photocleavage. These findings pave the way for developing organic semiconductor-based cancer therapeutic agents.

Polymer memristors with light weight and mechanical flexibility are preeminent candidates for low-power edge computing paradigms. However, the structural inhomogeneity of most polymers usually leads to random resistive switching characteristics, which lowers the production yield and reliability of nanoscale devices. In this contribution, we report that by adopting the two-dimensional conjugation strategy, a record high 90% production yield of polymer memristors has been achieved with miniaturization and low power potentials. By constructing coplanar macromolecules with 2D conjugated thiophene derivatives to enhance the π–π stacking and crystallinity of the thin film, homogeneous switching takes place across the entire polymer layer, with fast responses in 32 ns, D2D variation down to 3.16% ~ 8.29%, production yield approaching 90%, and scalability into 100 nm scale with tiny power consumption of ~ 10−15 J/bit. The polymer memristor array is capable of acting as both the arithmetic-logic element and multiply-accumulate accelerator for neuromorphic computing tasks., Though polymer memristors are promising for low‐power flexible edge computing applications, realizing efficient nanometer‐scale arrays remains a challenge. Here, the authors report a record high 90% production yield in nm‐scale 2D conjugated polymer memristors with homogeneous resistive switching.

Recently, GAN based method has demonstrated strong effectiveness in generating augmentation data for person re-identification (ReID), on account of its ability to bridge the gap between domains and enrich the data variety in feature space. However, most of the ReID works pick all the GAN generated data as additional training samples or evaluate the quality of GAN generation at the entire data set level, ignoring the image-level essential feature of data in ReID task. In this paper, we analyze the in-depth characteristics of ReID sample and solve the problem of "What makes a GAN-generated image good for ReID". Specifically, we propose to examine each data sample with id-consistency and diversity constraints by mapping image onto different spaces. With a metric-based sampling method, we demonstrate that not every GAN-generated data is beneficial for augmentation. Models trained with data filtered by our quality evaluation outperform those trained with the full augmentation set by a large margin. Extensive experiments show the effectiveness of our method on both supervised ReID task and unsupervised domain adaptation ReID task., Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures

Objective In our organization, it has been necessary in our organization to calculate the risk categories according to the American Thyroid Association (ATA), the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists/American College of Endocrinology/Associazione Medici Endocrinologi (AACE/ACE/AME), and the American College of Radiology Thyroid Imaging Reporting and Data System (ACR TIRADS) classification systems for each patient, from the year 2019; these are also required to be registered in the database. This creates a barrier to medical collaboration in everyday radiological practice because using multiple rating systems can be confusing for both readers and patients. For the change in routine practice, this study aimed to compare diagnostic parameters of the ATA, AACE/ACE/AME, and ACR TIRADS classification systems for the detection of suspicious thyroid nodule(s) considering the results of fine-needle aspiration cytopathology as the reference standard. Methods Data on ultrasound characteristics (2,000 nodules) and fine-needle aspiration cytopathology (39 nodules) were included in the analysis. The decision making of fine-needle aspiration biopsies was evaluated from the ultrasound characteristics as per the ATA, AACE/ACE/AME, and ACR TIRADS classification systems. Results The ATA, AACE/ACE/AME, and ACR TIRADS recommended 26, 32, and 37 nodules for fine-needle aspiration biopsies, respectively. Considering the results of fine-needle aspiration cytopathology as the reference standard, the ATA, AACE/ACE/AME, and ACR TIRADS classification systems had 0.993, 0.996, and 0.998 sensitivity, respectively. The accuracies were 0.641, 0.795, and 0.923, respectively. Conclusion The ACR TIRADS classification system is less invasive and can identify suspicious nodules more accurately than that of ATA and AACE/ACE/AME.

This paper introduces our solution for the Track2 in AI City Challenge 2020 (AICITY20). The Track2 is a vehicle re-identification (ReID) task with both the real-world data and synthetic data. Our solution is based on a strong baseline with bag of tricks (BoT-BS) proposed in person ReID. At first, we propose a multi-domain learning method to joint the real-world and synthetic data to train the model. Then, we propose the Identity Mining method to automatically generate pseudo labels for a part of the testing data, which is better than the k-means clustering. The tracklet-level re-ranking strategy with weighted features is also used to post-process the results. Finally, with multiple-model ensemble, our method achieves 0.7322 in the mAP score which yields third place in the competition. The codes are available at https://github.com/heshuting555/AICITY2020_DMT_VehicleReID., Solution for AI City Challenge, CVPR2020 Workshop. Codes are at https://github.com/heshuting555/AICITY2020_DMT_VehicleReID

The Shuangyu gas reservoirs in China has a reservoir depth of more than 7000 m and a reservoir temperature of 160 °C. It is a fractured porous carbonate gas reservoir, and the gas wells mainly establish production by acid fracturing. In the early stage, the Shuangyu gas reservoirs was mainly developed with vertical wells. After acid fracturing, the natural gas production was low and declined rapidly. To obtain higher natural gas production, a large number of highly deviated wells have been deployed in the Shuangyu gas reservoirs. Because the diameter of a highly deviated well in the Shuangyu gas reservoirs is small, a subsection tool cannot be operated inside it, so it can only adopt temporary plugging acid fracturing. In this paper, a resistance-reducing acid with low friction resistance is optimized and a set of temporary plugging agents with low dissolution rate in the acid solution are selected through laboratory tests. A dynamic temporary plugging instrument is used to evaluate the plugging ability of a temporary plugging agent with different concentrations and combinations for fractures with widths of 2 and 4 mm, developing a temporary plugging agent formulation suitable for temporary plugging segmented acid fracturing of the Shuangyu gas reservoirs. In the YY666 well, the application of the research results of this paper has successfully achieved a three-stage temporary plugging acid fracturing, and the natural gas production after fracturing has been increased by 3-4 times compared with those of surrounding wells.

Exploitation and utilization of sustainable energy sources has increasingly become the common theme of global social development, which has promoted tremendous development of energy conversion devices/technologies. Owing to excellent and unique optical/electrical properties, carbon dots (CDs) have attracted extensive research interest for numerous energy conversion applications. Strong absorption, downconversion photoluminescence, electron acceptor/donor characteristics, and excellent electron conductivity endow CDs with enormous potential for applications in optoelectronic devices. Furthermore, excellent electron transfers/transport capacities and easily manipulable structural defects of CDs offer distinct advantages for electrocatalytic applications. Recent advances in CD-based energy conversion applications, including optoelectronic devices such as light-emitting diodes and solar cells, and electrocatalytic reactions including the hydrogen evolution reaction, oxygen evolution reaction, oxygen reduction reaction, and carbon dioxide reduction reaction, are summarized. Finally, current challenges and future prospects for CD-based energy conversion applications are proposed, highlighting the importance of controllable structural design and modifications.

Heterostructures show excellent performance in energy and environment fields due to the unique interface structure and synergistic effect of multi-components. Here, we introduce a stepwise method to prepare multi-element Co3O4@C@MnO2 heterostructures on nickel foam as binder-free supercapacitor electrode material, where crystalline Co3O4 acts as intimal “core” and wrinkled ultrathin MnO2 nanosheets as the outer “shell”. In three-electrode mode, Co3O4@C@MnO2 shows excellent electrochemical performance with a high cyclic specific capacitance of 1335.3 F g−1 at a current density of 20 A g−1. Furthermore, the asymmetry supercapacitor device assembled with Co3O4@C@MnO2 heterostructures and active carbon exhibits high specific capacity (126.6 F g−1 at a current density of 0.5 A g−1) and long life (about 61 F g−1 at a relatively high current of 20 A g−1 after 40,000 cycles). Compared with Co3O4@MnO2 or C@MnO2, the improved performance of Co3O4@C@MnO2 heterostructures is proposed to be attributed to the synergistic effect in multi-components. Remarkably, the introduction of C between Co3O4 and MnO2 could promote the electron transfer, reduce the impedance and thus improve the electrochemical performance of the heterostructures.

An eco-friendly product has been the primary agenda of twenty-first century of the global scientists. One of the main focuses is by-product recycling of food processing industries. It has been long time since food industry byproduct converted into energy and value added products. Potato processing is newly emerging food processing factories in developing countries, and potato is the fourth important crop globally. A dramatic food demand increment had shown in the past two decades. This leads to increase the number of food processing industries. Nowadays, food processing industries particularly processed potato manufactures are expanding and generate a huge volume of potato peel. This by-product causes environmental pollution due to decomposition. However, food byproducts like potato peel have essential organic matter. So this review introduces the potential use of potato peel as food preservative, pharmaceutical ingredient, renewable energy, and animal feed to promote eco-friendly food industries.

Resistors are considered one of the most competitive options for next generation data storage and phenomenological computing, especially organic resistors with on-demand customization electronic properties. However, the thermal instability of organic materials and the highly localised resistive switching characteristics limit the practical use of polymer memories. In this work, a high-temperature self-optimization strategy based on intramolecular rotation is proposed for optimizing the reliability of polymer memristors. Satisfactorily, the memory device exhibits uniform switching characteristics at the sub-micron level, as well as good thermal stability and superior performance at high temperatures. This study offers a new solution to the problem of low yields and thermal instability of organic memories.

Different indoor light environments can affect both the physiology and psychology of people, such as circadian rhythm, sleep quality, human performance, emotion and cognition. Recently, this topic has become an attractive and valuable subject for human health. Many studies focus on the light on sleep quality, whereas the research of whether the light environment in the evening affecting human performance the following day is limited. Besides, the previous works generally conduct on adults as their participants, however, little is known about how light impacts adolescents. In this study, we concern about the effects of different correlated color temperature (CCT) light environments in the bedroom on adolescents. We compared the sleep quality, next-morning sleepiness, and fatigue recovery of exposure to the traditional fluorescent lamp (high CCT, 6000 K) with a novel light-emitting diode (low CCT, 2000 K) light for 1 h before bedtime. Twelve male adolescents (age: 12.8 ± 1.7) were randomly allocated in two different CCT light environment groups to complete a 10-day light intervention. The results of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), serum melatonin and proteinuria indicated that the subjects who were exposed to the low CCT light directly before sleeping had better sleep quality (p

In this study, we propose a low-cost, simple and feasible post-processing approach to improve the light extraction efficiency (LEE) of LED packages. Amorphous photonic structures (APSs) with only short-range order are fabricated from anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) and transferred to intermediate polymer stamp (IPS) by nanoimprint technology. The IPS with APSs is directly mounted onto the surface of an LED package, where the LEE is achieved as 94.6%. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) images of AAO templates and imprinted IPS are analyzed by radial distribution function and diameter histogram. The far-field patterns of APS-mounted LED packages are measured in electroluminescence (EL). The three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain (3D-FDTD) calculations of transmittance of APSs confirm that they improve the light extraction above the critical angle. Two-dimensional Fourier power spectra from SEM images of APSs are also calculated. The LEE enhancement is attributed to that the APSs have short-range order on a length scale comparable to emission wavelength of LED. We provide novel multistage simulations in a simplified FDTD model for the LED package. Finally, we discuss the influence of the morphology of APSs on the LEE of the APS mounted LEDs.

Constructing high-energy–density and low-cost batteries is the ultimate pursuit of energy market. However, fast kinetics becomes a critical bottleneck, when the volume and weight parameters to be constantly optimized. Herein, sheet-like SnS/SnS2/rGO heterostructure is designed rationally for kinetics challenges of compact energy storage under high mass loading. Abundant heterogeneous grain boundaries and ideal buffer space are provided by in-situ growth of heterostructures, achieving fast conductivity and structural stability. As anode for sodium ion battery, mass loading of ~3 mg cm−2 SnS/SnS2/rGO exhibit rapid rate capability (460.9 mAh g−1 at 2.0 A g−1) and excellent cycling stability (81% capacity retention for 500 cycles at 1.0 A g−1). The assembled full cell demonstrates a promising energy density of 130.3 Wh kg−1. Importantly, first-principles calculations unravel that interior electric-field induced by heterojunction of phase interfaces can accelerate the charge transfer. Additionally, the anode can also demonstrate good electrochemical performance in potassium-ion batteries. This work provides a new perspective to realize rational structural engineering for high-energy–density devices.

Nonoverlapping multicamera visual object tracking typically consists of two steps: single-camera object tracking (SCT) and inter-camera object tracking (ICT). Most of tracking methods focus on SCT, which happens in the same scene, while for real surveillance scenes, ICT is needed and single-camera tracking methods cannot work effectively. In this paper, we try to improve the overall multicamera object tracking performance by a global graph model with an improved similarity metric. Our method treats the similarities of single-camera tracking and inter-camera tracking differently and obtains the optimization in a global graph model. The results show that our method can work better even in the condition of poor SCT.

There is increased interest and recognition of the clinical variants of Sclerosing Cholangitis (SC) namely IgG4-SC, PSC/AIH overlap and PSC. For most Centers, the characteristic of IgG4-SC has not been thoroughly clinically compared with other sclerosing cholangitis variants. Further there are relatively few PSC/AIH overlap patients and the clinical outcome is not well characterized, especially for the PSC/AIH overlap syndrome. Our objective herein is to clarify the differences and similarities of the natural history of IgG4-SC, the PSC/AIH overlap and PSC alone. We also place in perspective the diagnostic value of serum IgG4 for IgG4-SC and investigate biomarkers for predicting the prognosis of sclerosing cholangitis. In this study, we took advantage of our large and well-defined patient cohort to perform a retrospective cohort study including 57 IgG4-SC, 36 PSC/AIH overlap patients, and 55 PSC patients. Firstly, as expected, we noted significant differences among immunoglobulin profiles and all patients exhibited similar cholestatic profiles at presentation. Cirrhotic events were found in 20 of total 57 IgG4-SC, 15 of 36 PSC/AIH overlap, and 18 of 55 PSC patients. Serum IgG4 was elevated in 92.65% of IgG4-SC patients with an 86% sensitivity and 98% specificity for diagnosis. IgG4-SC patients had a better treatment response at 6-month and 1-year than PSC/AIH patients, while the latter responded better with steroids than PSC patients. Importantly the adverse outcome-free survival of IgG4-SC patients was reduced, unlike earlier reports, and therefore similar to the PSC/AIH overlap syndrome. Serum IgG and total bilirubin were useful to predict long-term survival of IgG4-SC and PSC/AIH, respectively. In conclusion, serum IgG4≧1.25 ULN shows an excellent predictability to distinguish IgG4-SC among SC patients. IgG4-SC appears to be immune-mediated inflammatory process, while PSC/AIH overlap more tends to be cholestatic disease.

The phonon dispersion relation (PDR), i.e., the dependence of phonon frequency ω on its wavevector q, ω(q), was measured traditionally by inelastic neutron scattering (INS) or inelastic X-ray scattering (IXS). A new approach to measure PDR by Raman scattering (RS) of nanostructures was proposed and applied to observe the longitudinal optical (LO) PDR of diamond successfully. Due to the higher resolution and accuracy of ω and q in RS, a clear downbending feature of ω with increasing q away from the Brillouin zoon center was observed for the first time. The validity of the new approach has been confirmed also by the appearing of the downward bending in PDR, which is originally measured by traditional high-resolution IXS experiment. The downbending feature may give us a clue for deep understanding of the interactions occur in diamond, while the overbending feature observed by INS and IXS has been attributed to strong effective second-nearest-neighbor forces.

Severe side effects and poor therapeutic efficacy are the main drawbacks of current anticancer drugs. These problems can be mitigated by targeting, but the targeting efficacy of current drugs is poor and urgently needs improvement. Taking this into consideration, this Review first summarizes the current targeting strategies for cancer therapy in terms of cancer tissue and organelles. Then, we analyse the systematic targeting of anticancer drugs and conclude that a typical journey for a targeted drug administered by intravenous injection is a CTIO cascade of at least four steps. Furthermore, to ensure high overall targeting efficacy, the properties of a targeting drug needed in each step are further analysed, and some guidelines for structure optimization to obtain effective targeting drugs are offered. Finally, some viewpoints highlighting the crucial problems and potential challenges of future research on targeted cancer therapy are presented. This review could actively promote the development of precision medicine against cancer.

Purpose: To observe the clinical curative effect of continuous epidural irrigation combined with posterior debridement and posterior lumbar inter-body fusion with instrumentation for the therapy of single-segment lumbar pyogenic spongdylodiscitis. Methods: From June 2010 to November 2013, surgical treatment was performed in 18 patients with pyogenic spondylodiscitis. The surgical indications were progressive biomechanical instability, epidural abscesses, deterioration of neurologic status, and intractable back pain. All these patients received posterior decompression with posterior instrumentation, debridement of infected tissue, and inter-body fusion. Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) scores were used to assess clinical outcomes. The neural function was evaluated by the Frankel grading system. Laboratory and radiologic results were recorded during clinical follow-up for at least one year. Results: The average follow-up period was 18 months after the operation. The VAS scores decreased from an average of 7.1 points before the procedure to 2.6 points after operation. The neurologic deficits of all the patients were recovered to Frankel grade E. All of the examined laboratory parameters were normalized gradually. Imaging-documented fusion was achieved in each patient, and no implants failure was noted. No patients showed any evidence of recurrence or persistence of infection. Conclusion: In carefully selected patients, single-segment lumbar pyogenic spondylodiscitis can be cured successfully with continuous epidural irrigation and drainage combined with posterior debridement and posterior lumbar inter-body fusion. Instrumentation could provide immediate stability and reconstruction of the spine column, and the presence of instrumentation did not result in any persistence or recurrence of infection. Continuous epidural irrigation and drainage is an effective method facilitating the elimination of residual infection.

Selection of the friction electrode materials is crucial to the performance of a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG). In the present study, a metal-organic coordination complex containing organosulfonate counteranions with electron-donating ability was synthesized through the coordination-driven self-assembly approach under mild reaction conditions and was chosen as a positive electrode material to construct a triboelectric nanogenerator, exhibiting high-output performance with a peak value of short circuit current density of 98.6 μA and an output voltage of 1180 V. As a practical application, it was shown to light up 1488 commercial green LEDs and power an anticorrosion system device to protect metals from corrosion.

High-energy batteries with low cost are urgently needed in the field of large-scale energy storage, such as grid systems and renewable energy sources. Sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) and potassium-ion batteries (PIBs) with alloy-based anodes provide huge potential due to their earth abundance, high capacity, and suitable working potential, and are recognized as attractive alternatives for next-generation batteries system. Although some important breakthroughs have been reported, more significant improvements are still required for long lifetime and high energy density. Herein, the latest progress for alloy-based anodes for SIBs and PIBs is summarized, mainly including Sn, Sb, Ge, Bi, Si, P, and their oxides, sulfides, selenides, and phosphides. Specifically, the material designs for the desired Na+ /K+ storage performance, phase transform, ionic/electronic transport kinetics, and specific chemical interactions are discussed. Typical structural features and research strategies of alloy-based anodes, which are used to facilitate processes in battery development for SIBs and PIBs, are also summarized. The perspective of future research of SIBs and PIBs is outlined.

Magneto-acoustic concentration tomography of magnetic nanoparticles with magnetic induction (MACT-MI) is a new imaging technology that combines the advantages of the high sensitivity of magnetic particle imaging and the high resolution of ultrasonic imaging. This technique has broad application prospects in the biomedical and molecular imaging fields. In this study, a reconstruction algorithm based on the method of moments (MoM) is proposed for the MACT-MI inverse problem. Image reconstructions of the acoustic source and superparamagnetic nanoparticle (SPN) concentration were performed using different shape models, and the reconstructed images were analyzed. In addition, the effect of the radius of the tissue region loaded with SPNs on the quality of the reconstructed images was evaluated. The results demonstrated that the new method could reconstruct the SPN concentration distribution well, and a negative correlation existed between the radius of the imaging model and reconstructed image quality. The finding of this research can potentially contribute to the development of MACT-MI in medicine.

We demonstrated highly efficient traditional orange emission fluorescent OLEDs with simple device structure by utilizing energy transfer from bilayer interface TADF exciplex to dopant. With rubrene as the dopant, under the optimized concentration of 1.5%, the device achieved maximum current efficiency, power efficiency and EQE of 25.3 cd/A, 22.6 lm/W and 8.1%, respectively. Even at the luminance of 1000 cd/m2, the EQE also remained 6.9%. The obtainment of so high efficiency could be attributed to highly efficient RISC efficiency of triplet excitons and energy transfer efficiency from TADF exciplex to dopant. The more detailed working mechanism was also argued.

Ras homolog gene family, member A (RhoA) has been reported as essential to the invasion process and aggressiveness of numerous cancers. However, there are only sparse data on the expression and activity of RhoA in clinically localised prostate cancer. In numerous cancers, tumour cells at the invasive front demonstrate more aggressive behaviour in comparison with the cells in the central regions. In the present study, the expression and activity of RhoA was evaluated in 34 paraffin-embedded and 20 frozen prostate tissue specimens obtained from 45 patients treated with radical prostatectomy for clinically localised cancer. The expression patterns of RhoA were assessed by immunohistochemical staining and western blotting. Additional comparisons were performed between the tumour centre, tumour front and distant peritumoural tissue. RhoA activity was assessed by G-LISA. Associations between RhoA expression and the clinical features and outcome of the patients were also analysed. The present study found an increasing gradient of expression from the centre to the periphery of index tumour foci. RhoA expression was significantly increased at the tumour front compared to the tumour centre, which was determined using immunohistochemistry (P=0.001). Increased RhoA expression was associated with poor tumour differentiation in the tumour front (P=0.044) and tumour centre (P=0.039). Subsequent to a median follow-up period of 52 months, the rate of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) relapse was increased in patients with higher RhoA expression at the tumour front when compared with patients with lower RhoA expression (62.5 vs. 35.0%), although the difference was not significant (P=0.09). There was no association between RhoA expression and the PSA level or pathological stage in the present study. In conclusion, RhoA expression was increased at the tumour front and was associated with poor tumour differentiation in the tumour front and tumour centre, indicating the potential role of RhoA in prostate cancer. RhoA expression may also act as a prognostic factor in prostate cancer. The present data provide a foundation for novel therapeutic approaches by targeting RhoA in prostate cancer.

In wind-thermal-bundled DC transmission system, plants of wind power and thermal power in the sending end, which have mutual influence on the planning of power capacity, belong to different stakeholders. This paper takes the existing renewable energy policy and the operation characteristics of wind farm and thermal generator into account, and the profit models of wind power supplier and thermal power supplier are respectively established according to different strategies of cooperation or non-cooperation based on game theory, to simulate the decision making of the two power suppliers. When the two both take non-cooperation strategy, a Cournot model which assumes that one can develop its optimal capacity planning strategy through estimating the rival’s response is established to obtain the Nash equilibrium, so as to maximize their profits respectively. Besides, the objective changes into maximizing the suppliers’ total profits when they choose cooperation strategy, and the optimal capacity is calculated. Meanwhile, the influencecoefficient which can illustrate the variation of one’s profit influenced by the changing of the other’s strategy is introduced, and based on which the profit distribution plan is presented. Moreover, a case is carried out for a wind-thermal-bundled DC transmission system, and the result shows that wind power supplier holds the active position in the game while the thermal power supplier holds the passive position. In addition, the study of this paper can provide the participants of new energy capacity planning with a basis to make decision.

In electricity market, wind power enterprises, thermal power enterprises and power grid enterprises belong to different stakeholders, thus an interest conflict exists within the utilization of new energy resources. To study the tripartite interest relationship not only relates to the settlement of the conflict among the participants of wind power integration, further, it will provide supports to policy makers to formulate the market structure of electricity and rules of competition. Based on the players with bounded rationality, the game situation of wind power enterprises, thermal power enterprises and power grid enterprises is analyzed by use of evolutionary game theory, and the replicator dynamic system of 2×2×2 asymmetric evolutionary game in three groups is built to simulate the tripartite behaviors according to the payoff matrix. The asymptotic stabilities of all the equilibria are given. Furthermore, the evolutionary result of the three parties without government intervention in new energy resources is given, and the condition to achieve the expected state is provided for the government who can carry out policies to change the three parties profit. The conclusions of the study may offer some reference for the formulation of electricity market structure and competition rules.

Objectifs La tomographie par coherence optique (OCT) plein champ est une technique d’imagerie du tissu frais ex vivo. Notre objectif etait d’en evaluer les performances diagnostiques sur biopsies prostatiques pour la detection du cancer de la prostate. Methodes Cette etude diagnostique a ete proposee de janvier 2016 a janvier 2017 aux patients ayant une premiere serie de biopsies prostatiques dans notre centre. Une image OCT plein champ etait acquise pour chaque carotte. Toutes les carottes etaient analysees de maniere independante. Deux urologues et deux internes d’urologie ont analyse les images OCT plein champ en aveugle, pour determiner la presence de cancer. Un programme d’intelligence artificielle (IA) a ete entraine de maniere non supervisee sur les 506 premieres images, puis teste sur les 490 images restantes. La sensibilite (Se), specificite (Sp) et valeur predictives ont ete calculees pour chaque lecteur et pour l’IA. Resultats Quatre-vingt-huit patients ont ete inclus, et 996 carottes analysees. Pour la detection de cancer, les lecteurs obtenaient 0,37 Fig. 1 ). Conclusion Nos resultats suggerent que l’OCT plein champ a une VPN elevee pour eliminer la presence de cancer en temps reel sur carotte biopsique. Cette VPN augmente pour les cancers significatifs. Notre programme d’IA necessite un apprentissage sur un plus grand nombre d’image.

[Background] Melamine and phthalates have been reported to damage renal function in children. This association is scarce in general adults. [Method] A cross-sectional subsample population of 611 adults participating in the 2012 Shanghai Food Consumption Survey (SHFCS) was analyzed for urinary biomarkers of melamine, metabolites of phthalates, and renal function parameters. The correlations between renal function parameters and chemical exposure (either independently or interactively) were explored by linear regression models. To simplify the analysis, phthalate metabolites were dimensionally reduced using principal component analysis (PCA) method. [Result] Urinary melamine was positively associated with renal function parameters of both albumin-to-creatinine ratio (ACR) and β2-microglobulin (B2M) in multivariate linear regression models (P 0.05). A PCA pattern characterized by high-molecular-weight phthalates (HMWP) was positively associated with all three parameters of renal function (ACR, B2M, and N-acetyl-β-d-glucosaminidase (NAG)). The co-exposure to melamine and HMWP presented an additive effect on increasing these parameters (ACR, B2M, and NAG). [Conclusion] Impaired renal function in Shanghai adults was associated with exposure to both melamine and HMWP.

Mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells, a novel population of innate-like lymphocytes, have been involved in various inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. However, their role in the development of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the alterations of phenotype and immunological function of MAIT cells in NAFLD. Analysis of PBMCs in 60 patients with NAFLD and 48 healthy controls (HC) revealed that circulating MAIT cell frequency decreased in NAFLD, especially in the patients with higher serum levels of γ-glutamyl transferase or total triglyceride. Functional alterations of circulating MAIT cells were also detected in NAFLD patients, such as the increased production of IL-4 whereas the decreased production of IFN-γ and TNF-α. Furthermore, elevated expression of CXCR6 was observed in circulating MAIT cells of patients. Meanwhile, we found an increased number of MAIT cells in the livers of NAFLD, and the number was even greater in patients with higher NAFLD activity score. Moreover, activated MAIT cells induced monocytes/macrophages differentiation into M2 phenotype in vitro. Additionally, MAIT cells were enriched and displayed Th2 type cytokines profile in livers of wild type mice fed with methionine and choline deficient diet (MCD). Notably, mice deficient of MAIT cells exhibited more severe hepatic steatosis and inflammation upon MCD, accompanied with more CD11c+ proinflammatory macrophages (M1) and less CD206+ anti-inflammatory macrophages (M2) in livers. Our results indicate that MAIT cells protect against inflammation in NAFLD through producing regulatory cytokines and inducing anti-inflammatory macrophage polarization, which may provide novel therapeutic strategies for NAFLD.

Studies on supercapacitor devices constitute one of the most meaningful research topics in hastening the industrialization of electrode materials. Herein, uniform nanosheet-based carambola-like Ni@Ni1.5Co1.5S2 was successfully synthesized and assembled into an asymmetric supercapacitor device with a high specific capacitance of 109 F g–1 at a current density of 1 A g–1. The large mass loading of this device, at ∼20 mg cm–2, is compatible with the industry standard and considerably higher than those obtained in previous reports. The Ni@Ni1.5Co1.5S2-based supercapacitor device exhibited excellent cycling stability with virtually no decrease in capacitance after 2000 cycles, and achieved a high energy density of 65.7 W h kg–1 at a power density of 22.2 W kg–1 and a high power density of 3 kW kg–1 at energy density of 6.2 W h kg–1. These outstanding characteristics of Ni@Ni1.5Co1.5S2 as an electrode material for supercapacitor devices verify its promising applicability in the energy storage field.

We theoretically investigate the optical properties of conventional, normal (type A) parabolic and novel (type B) parabolic InGaN quantum well (QW) for blue light emitters. Two specially designed active layer structures by parabolic-shaped QW are proposed, and the optical characteristics of these two parabolic QW structures are calculated and compared to those of conventional QW structures. The electron–hole wavefunction overlap (Γe–hh) of type-B parabolic QWs is 2.8 times (69.6%) that in the conventional QW (24.8%), and the spontaneous emission rate is ninefold that of conventional QWs. The transparency carrier density of type-B parabolic QWs is much smaller than type-A parabolic or conventional QW. These results can be attributed to a higher indium index in the center of the type-B parabolic QWs, and that leads to better confinement of carriers wavefunctions.