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Introduction: Efforts to improve the outcomes of triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) have been hampered by the inability to identify the key risk factors for prognosis. We focus solely on female TNBC and explored its survival by age, marital status, treatment and race. Data from Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results Program (SEER) Database 18 of National Cancer Institute were used to assess TNBC survival by the above factors. Results: A total of 26,413 female patients diagnosed with TNBC from 2010 to 2015 were included in the current study, including 15840 (60.0%) Non-Hispanic white women. The follow up time ranges: 0 to 83 months. Younger (≤ 49) and elderly (≥ 65) age is associated with poorer survival, with reference to middle age group (50-64). The breast cancer specific survival (BCSS) rate for the three age groups (≤ 49, 50-64 and ≥ 65) are 78.6%, 81.0% and 78.1%, respectively; hazard ratio (HR) (95% confidence interval [CI]): 1.17 (1.08-1.27) in ≤ 49 and 1.24 (1.15-1.34) in ≥ 65 patients, individually. We further categorized elderly group into two strata: aged 65 -74 (age group recommended by U.S. Preventive Services Task Force to have breast cancer [BC] screening) and ≥75 (not recommended for BC screening). Our data revealed that the BCSS rate of 65-74 cohort rises to 81.9%; HR (95% CI): 0.97 (0.88-1.07), not significantly different from group aged 50-64. In contrast, the ≥75 group, as against middle age cohort, has the worst BCSS rate of 71.6%; HR (95% CI): 1.74 (1.58-1.92). In patients ≥75, there is highest proportion of metastatic disease (2.9%) at diagnosis and advanced lymph node involvement (N2 + N3 = 11.9%); their percentage of receiving perioperative chemotherapy (CT) and radiation therapy (RT) is lowest across all age groups: 33.3% and 43.6%, respectively. The mean age of single (never married), married and widowed patients at diagnosis was 52 ± 13, 56 ± 12 and 72 ± 11, respectively. The single cohort has the second worst BCSS rate of 76.1% [HR (95% CI): 1.46 (1.34-1.59)], in comparison with married women (BCSS rate of 81.6%). The BCSS rate of single patients is only better than that of widowed population (74.7%), who have significantly advanced age. Our analyses also showed that single patients have the highest percentage of Black women (37.7%) that are known to have unfavorable prognosis of TNBC. Also, single female patients have high proportion of large tumor (T3 + T4 = 18.5%, highest among all women in study) and metastatic disease (2.9%, secondary to widowed group only). Single group compared with married group, tends to have lower percentage of completing RT: 49.9% versus 53.4%, respectively. Conclusion: Advanced age is associated with worse BCSS. However, discontinuation of BC screening may partly account for the phenomenon that ≥ 75-year-old patients lost survival benefits (i.e., highest metastatic disease at diagnosis and worst BCSS), that is maintained in patients aged 65-74, who are recommended for BC screening. Further, low adherence to receive or complete adjuvant therapy may attenuate the survival in elderly patients aged ≥ 75. The poor outcome in single women with relatively young age indicates that both biological and socioeconomic factors and their interactions (e.g., high proportion of black women and low proportion of receiving RT) may influence TNBC prognosis. Our findings suggest a greater need for early and extended BC screening in the above two populations. Citation Format: Zikun Wang, Zheyu Lu, Maitri Kalra, Zhongxue Chen, Yi Dong. Disparities in triple negative breast cancer survival in the United States by patient characteristics: A population-based study from SEER database, 2010 - 2015 [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2019 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2019 Dec 10-14; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P2-08-19.

Silicon polyester (Si-PET) was synthesized with ethylene glycol and phthalic anhydride, and then it was carbonized and hydrothermally coated with glucose. The forming SiOx with layered graphene as the 3D network had amorphous carbon layer.

The additive genetic model as implemented in logistic regression has been widely used in genome-wide association studies (GWASs) for binary outcomes. Unfortunately, for many complex diseases, the underlying genetic models are generally unknown and a mis-specification of the genetic model can result in a substantial loss of power. To address this issue, the MAX3 test (the maximum of three separate test statistics) has been proposed as a robust test that performs plausibly regardless of the underlying genetic model. However, the original implementation of MAX3 utilizes the trend test so it cannot adjust for any covariates such as age and gender. This drawback has significantly limited the application of the MAX3 in GWASs, as covariates account for a considerable amount of variability in these disorders. In this paper, we extended the MAX3 and proposed the CMAX3 (covariate-adjusted MAX3) based on logistic regression. The proposed test yielded a similar robust efficiency as the original MAX3 while easily adjusting for any covariate based on the likelihood framework. The asymptotic formula to calculate the p-value of the proposed test was also developed in this paper. The simulation results showed that the proposed test performed desirably under both the null and alternative hypotheses. For the purpose of illustration, we applied the proposed test to re-analyze a case-control GWAS dataset from the Collaborative Studies on Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA). The R code to implement the proposed test is also introduced in this paper and is available for free download.

DNA methylation may be regulated by genetic variants within a genomic region, referred to as methylation quantitative trait loci (mQTLs). The changes of methylation levels can further lead to alterations of gene expression, and influence the risk of various complex human diseases. Detecting mQTLs may provide insights into the underlying mechanism of how genotypic variations may influence the disease risk. In this article, we propose a methylation random field (MRF) method to detect mQTLs by testing the association between the methylation level of a CpG site and a set of genetic variants within a genomic region. The proposed MRF has two major advantages over existing approaches. First, it uses a beta distribution to characterize the bimodal and interval properties of the methylation trait at a CpG site. Second, it considers multiple common and rare genetic variants within a genomic region to identify mQTLs. Through simulations, we demonstrated that the MRF had improved power over other existing methods in detecting rare variants of relatively large effect, especially when the sample size is small. We further applied our method to a study of congenital heart defects with 83 cardiac tissue samples and identified two mQTL regions, MRPS10 and PSORS1C1, which were colocalized with expression QTL in cardiac tissue. In conclusion, the proposed MRF is a useful tool to identify novel mQTLs, especially for studies with limited sample sizes.

Rechargeable Mg-Li hybrid batteries have the merits of a Mg metal anode and a Li

Sodium-ion battery has been considered as one of the most promising power sources for large-scale energy storage systems due to its similar electrochemistry to the lithium-ion battery and the crust abundance of Na resources. Essentially, developing low-cost electrode materials along with a facile and economical synthesis procedure is critically important to promote the commercialization of sodium-ion batteries. However, applicable cathode materials capable of being massively produced are still scarcely reported to date. Herein, a green and scalable synthesis approach is developed to obtain Na

Sodium-ion battery is regarded as a promising power source for large-scale energy storage systems. However, the development of sodium-ion batteries is hindered by the lack of applicable cathode materials with low cost and long cycle life. Here, we report a successful synthesis of Na4Fe3(PO4)2P2O7/C nanospheres with tunable particle size and carbon coating thickness by a template approach. The as-prepared Na4Fe3(PO4)2P2O7/C nanospheres deliver a high discharge capacity of 128.5 mAh g−1 (near to the theoretical capacity: 129 mAh g−1) at 0.2C, with capacity retention of 63.5% at 10 C after 4000 cycles. Particularly, a high reversible capacity of 79 mAh g−1 is exhibited at an ultrahigh current rate of 100 C (charge/discharge in 36s). The excellent performances result from the shortened Na+ ion diffusion length within the nanospheres (∼30 nm) and highly conductive pathways for electrons in the carbon coating layers (∼3 nm). Owing to their low cost, long lifespan and outstanding rate capability, we believe that the Na4Fe3(PO4)2P2O7/C nanospheres are considerable competitive to other cathode materials for application in stationary sodium-ion batteries.

Vanadium-based compounds hold great promise as high capacity cathode candidate for future lithium rechargeable batteries. However, developing highly stable vanadium-based cathode materials with long cycle life remains a great challenge. Herein, we report a novel layered sodium vanadium oxide, NaVO3, as a promising cathode electrode contender. This material is capable of delivering a capacity of 224.8 mAh g−1 at the current density of 150 mA g−1, and a high rate capability of 85 mAh g−1 even at a high current density of 3 A g−1. Moreover, outstanding capacity retention of 77% after 1000 cycles is achieved. Ex situ characterizations verify that the excellent electrochemical performance of NaVO3 is attributed to superior structural stability and electrochemical reversibility upon long-term cycling. Furthermore, the lithium ion de/intercalation mechanism for NaVO3 is also revealed involving one electron transfer reaction between V5+ and V4+ redox couple. Considering the low cost and material sustainability as well as the outstanding electrochemical performances, we believe that NaVO3 is a highly promising cathode material for lithium rechargeable batteries and our findings may help to pave the way for developing vanadium-based layered structure materials for high-performance alkali and alkaline-earth ion batteries.

Sodium-ion battery has emerged as one of most promising technologies for large-scale energy storage system, and hence has stimulated extensive exploration of applicable electrode materials with low cost and superb electrochemical properties. Herein, 3D graphene decorated Na4Fe3(PO4)2(P2O7) microspheres as a low-cost and environmentally friendly cathode material are synthesized by using a facile spray-drying method. The as-prepared NFPP@rGO composite exhibits a high reversible capacity of 128 mAh g−1 at 0.1 C, a superior rate capability (35 mAh g−1 at 200 C), and a long cycling life (62.3% capacity retention over 6000 cycles at 10 C). The excellent electrochemical performance is attributed to combined advantages of graphene coating on the surface of nanoparticles and the flexible 3D graphene network, which not only improve the electronic conductivity, but also accommodate the structural stress of the material during charging and discharging. Therefore, the NFPP@rGO microsphere with superior electrochemical performances, low-cost raw materials, simple synthetic route and high thermal stability is considered as a very attractive cathode electrode for sodium ion battery.

Detecting the association between a set of variants and a phenotype of interest is the first and important step in genetic and genomic studies. Although it attracted a large amount of attention in the scientific community and several related statistical approaches have been proposed in the literature, powerful and robust statistical tests are still highly desired and yet to be developed in this area. In this paper, we propose a powerful and robust association test, which combines information from each individual single-nucleotide polymorphisms based on sequential independent burden tests. We compare the proposed approach with some popular tests through a comprehensive simulation study and real data application. Our results show that, in general, the new test is more powerful; the gain in detecting power can be substantial in many situations, compared to other methods.

Rechargeable Mg batteries are considered as low-cost and reliable candidates for efficient energy storage, but their development is blocked by the lack of suitable cathode materials. In this work, Sb2Se3 nanowires and Bi2Se3 nanosheets are fabricated by facile one-step hydrothermal methods and their Mg-storage performances are systematically investigated. The results show that the Bi2Se3 nanosheets with stable hierarchical 2D structure exhibit a better performance. Because of its thin nanosheet structure, Bi2Se3 provides a high Mg-storage capacity of 144 mA h g-1 and a remarkable rate capability with 65 mA h g-1 delivered at 1000 mA g-1. Bi2Se3 also exhibits an outstanding cyclability over 350 cycles owing to its hierarchical structure. Furthermore, this study reveals that the electrochemical charge/discharge cycling is a typical conversion reaction occurring between Bi3+ and metallic Bi0. Kinetic investigation suggests that the high performance of Bi2Se3 is attributed to both its intrinsic nature and its thin nanosheet structure facilitating solid-state Mg2+ diffusion. The present work highlights the selection principle of conversion cathodes for rechargeable Mg batteries, namely matching a soft anion with a quasi-soft metal cation. Moreover, the facile synthesis approach is also used for low-dimensional main-group VI metal chalcogenides to improve the Mg-storage performance.

Rechargeable Mg batteries are promising candidates for highly safe, large-scale energy storage batteries due to the low-cost and non-dendritic metallic Mg anode. However, exploring high-performance cathodes remains a great challenge blocking their development. Herein, a rechargeable Mg battery is established with a Ag2S conversion cathode, providing a highly reversible capacity of 120 mA h g−1 at 50 mA g−1, a superior rate capability of 70 mA h g−1 at 500 mA g−1, and an outstanding long-term cyclability over 400 cycles. The mechanism was investigated using XRD, TEM and XPS in addition to electrochemical measurements, and indicated a two-stage magnesiation: first, Mg2+ intercalation into Ag2S and then a conversion reaction to form metallic Ag0 and MgS. The solid-state Mg2+ diffusion coefficients are as high as 3.6 × 10−9 and 3.1 × 10−10 cm2 s−1 for the intercalation and conversion reactions, respectively, which explains the high performance of the Ag2S cathode. This work provides scientific insights for the selection of a promising conversion cathode by the combination of soft anions and soft transition metal cations.

The effects of discharge cutoff voltages on the structural evolution and electrochemical performance of the LiVO3 cathode upon cycling are investigated by electrochemical measurements, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, ex situ X-ray diffraction, Raman spectra, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. It is found that a lower cutoff voltage causes formation and accumulation of unstable V4+ ions on the surface of the electrode, which easily leads to severe structural deterioration and capacity fading. A limited cutoff voltage between 3.5 and 1.5 V can effectively enhance the structural stability and consequently the electrode demonstrates 75.9% capacity retention and neglectable working voltage decay over 400 cycles. The result that the operation voltage range strongly affects the structural stability of cycled LiVO3 provides a new insight into exploring feasible approaches to achieve highly stable LiVO3 and other vanadium-based electrodes for lithium-ion batteries.

We report for the first time a zero-strain cathode, Na4Fe7(PO4)6, for sodium–ion batteries (SIBs). This new iron-based polyanionic cathode delivers a reversible capacity of 66.5 mA h g−1 at 5 mA g−1 with almost 100% capacity retention over 1000 cycles under 200 mA g−1, and the outstanding performance benefits from single-phase-transition processes with a tiny volume change of only ∼0.24%.

Rechargeable Mg batteries are promising candidates for highly safe large-scale energy storage batteries owing to their low-cost and non-dendritic metallic Mg anode. However, exploration of high-performance cathodes remains a great challenge hindering their development. Herein, a new pseudocapacitive Mg-storage nanowire material (a-MoS3@CNT) is constructed with a carbon nanotube (CNT) core and an amorphous MoS3 (a-MoS3) outer layer (15 nm thick). The nanowire cathode exhibits a high reversible capacity of 175 mA h g−1 at 100 mA g−1, a good rate performance of 50 mA h g−1 at 1000 mA g−1, and an outstanding long-term cyclability over 500 cycles. Further investigation of the mechanism demonstrates that the Mg-storage of a-MoS3@CNT is mainly achieved by the pseudocapacitance of a-MoS3, in which Mg2+ ions show fast solid-state diffusion kinetics. The present results demonstrate a new approach for efficient Mg-storage using pseudocapacitive materials, and the performance and solid-state Mg2+ diffusion kinetics could be optimized by delicate morphology tailoring.

CoSe2 materials with different nanostructures are used as pseudocapacitive Mg-storage cathodes, which exhibit fast solid-state Mg2+ ions diffusion kinetics. In this work, CoSe2 with different nanostructures including hollow microspheres (H-CoSe2), nano-polyhedra (P-CoSe2) and nanorods (R-CoSe2) are fabricated by using facile one-step hydrothermal methods, and used as pseudocapacitive electrodes for rechargeable Mg batteries. It is observed that R-CoSe2 exhibits the highest reversible capacity of 233 mA h g−1 at 50 mA g−1 and an excellent rate capability of 116 mA h g−1 at 500 mA g−1, ascribing to the 1D nanorod structure which facilitates the solid-state Mg2+ diffusion. Benefitting from the stable hierarchical structure, H-CoSe2 exhibits a superior long-term cycling stability of 350 cycles. A mechanism study indicates that the redox reaction reversibly occurs between CoSe2 and metallic Co0. Further investigation demonstrates that the fast solid-state Mg2+ diffusion kinetics and surface-controlled pseudocapacitive behavior enhance the electrochemical performance. This work highlights a novel and efficient Mg-storage strategy of using pseudocapacitive materials, and the performance and solid-state Mg2+ diffusion kinetics of CoSe2 could be optimized by rational structural tailoring.

Rechargeable Mg batteries are potential candidates for large-scale energy storage systems due to highly abundant and dendrite-free Mg anodes. However, their performance is hindered by the bivalent Mg2+ cation. A hollow structure is advantageous for Mg-storage cathodes because cavities could provide extra electrochemically active sites and a large electrolyte–electrode interface for fast Mg2+ ion diffusion. In this work, three hollow CuS nanocubes are prepared by a facile method and comparatively investigated as Mg battery cathodes to obtain a comprehensive structure–performance relationship. It is observed that a dilute solution would result in small hollow CuS nanocubes with a thin wall and large specific surface area, which are favorable for solid-state Mg2+ ion diffusion, and thus result in a high reversible Mg-storage capacity. The hollow structure is also favorable for a good cycling stability. The hollow CuS nanocube cathode could deliver a high reversible capacity of 200 mA h g−1 at 100 mA g−1, a remarkable rate capability of 50 mA h g−1 at 1000 mA g−1, and an excellent long-term cycling stability. Mechanism investigation demonstrates a conversion reaction during charge/discharge cycling. This work provides a promising cathode design strategy for rechargeable Mg batteries to overcome the sluggish solid-state Mg2+ diffusion.

Background Some preliminary studies indicate that components in coffee may have anticarcinogenic effects. However, the association between coffee-drinking habits and the risk of NHL remain controversial. Objective To examine the relationship between coffee intake and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) incidence in a large prospective study of postmenopausal US women. Design and participants/setting The participants included 74,935 women from the Women’s Health Initiative Observational Study (WHI-OS) who were recruited from 1993 through 1998. Information about coffee-drinking habits was collected at baseline via self-administered questionnaires. Main outcome measures Newly diagnosed NHL was validated by medical records and pathology records. Separate analyses were performed for the following three subtypes of NHL: diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL (n=244)), follicular lymphoma (FL (n=166)), and chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL/SLL (n=64)). Statistical analyses performed Age-adjusted and multivariable-adjusted Cox proportional hazards models were used to determine associations of coffee intake (specifically, the total amount of coffee consumed daily, coffee types, and coffee preparation methods) with risk of NHL. Results A total of 851 women developed NHL during a median 18.34 years of follow-up (range, 0.01 to 24.30 years; SD ± 6.63 years). Overall, no associations were observed between coffee intake and risk of NHL regardless of the total amount of daily coffee intake (P-value for trend test = 0.90), caffeinated (P-value=0.55) or decaffeinated coffee intake (P-value=0.78), and filtered or unfiltered coffee intake (P-value=0.91) after controlling for sociodemographic factors, lifestyle risk factors, and clinical risk factors/current medical conditions. No significant associations were observed between coffee intake with specific subtypes of NHL. A statistically significant interaction was found between alcohol intake, coffee intake, and incident NHL (P-value for interaction=0.02) based on the adjusted analysis. Specifically, among women who frequently consumed alcohol (>7 drinks/week), those who had moderate coffee intake (2-3 cups coffee/day) had a significantly reduced risk of developing NHL (HR:0.61, 95%CI: 0.36-0.98), compared to those who did not drink coffee. Conclusion The findings from this study do not support an association between coffee consumption and NHL risk, irrespective of the total amount of daily coffee intake, coffee types, or coffee preparation methods.

While awareness and understanding of concussion have improved drastically, post-concussion management in academic settings is still at its infancy. The aim of the study was to examine to what extent concussion influences academic performance and to whether there would be a difference in concussion effects on academic performance between high school and college students. This cross-sectional survey study included students, who were between 14 and 24 years old and sustained a sport-related concussion within the previous year. The study used a modified chain-referral sampling method, by distributing a questionnaire link to 3,000 randomly stratified athletic trainers, who worked in high school or college settings. These athletic trainers were then asked to forward the questionnaire link to students in their team, who have sustained a concussion within the previous year. The questionnaire recorded responses regarding demographics (age, sex, race/ethnicity, number of previous concussions); 22 concussion-related symptoms in a binary scale (presence/absence); perception of difficulties in math, reading, writing, computer use, and attention in a 5-point Likert scale; and asymptomatic duration of academic engagement in a 7-point Likert scale. There were 130 respondents with a history of concussion in the past year (n = 59 high school, n = 71 college). While recovering from concussion, significantly more college students (84.5%) reported “difficulty concentrating” than high school students (68.6%: p = 0.049). High -school students experienced more difficulty with math than college students (p = 0.002), whereas college students experienced more difficulty with reading (p = 0.013) and computer use (p = 0.026) than high school students. Asymptomatic duration of cognitive activity was influenced by age (p = 0.0004), where younger students were less tolerant in performing academic tasks after a concussion than older students. Our data indicate that concussions can induce negative symptoms in the academic setting regardless of age. The post-concussion difficulties in academic performance may be a grade-dependent manner, where concussions triggered difficulty in math among high school students and in reading and computer use among college students. It is clear that there is a need for guidelines and accommodations to support students with concussion in academic settings, and the guideline should reflect the age-dependent response to concussions.

The objective of the study was to examine the association between diffusion MRI techniques [diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and neurite orientation/dispersion density imaging (NODDI)] and brain-injury blood biomarker levels [Tau, neurofilament-light (NfL), glial-fibrillary-acidic-protein (GFAP)] in high-school football and cross-country runners at their baseline, aiming to detect cumulative neuronal damage from prior seasons. Twenty-five football players and 8 cross-country runners underwent MRI and blood biomarker measures during preseason data collection. The whole-brain, tract-based spatial statistics was conducted for six diffusion metrics: fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), axial/radial diffusivity (AD, RD), neurite density index (NDI), and orientation dispersion index (ODI). Diffusion metrics and blood biomarker levels were compared between groups and associated within each group. The football group showed lower AD and MD than the cross-country group in various axonal tracts of the right hemisphere. Elevated ODI was observed in the football group in the right hemisphere of the corticospinal tract. Blood biomarker levels were consistent between groups except for elevated Tau levels in the cross-country group. Tau level was positively associated with MD and negatively associated with NDI in the corpus callosum of football players, but not in cross-country runners. Our data suggest that football players may develop axonal microstructural abnormality. Levels of MD and NDI in the corpus callosum were associated with serum Tau levels, highlighting the vulnerability of the corpus callosum against cumulative head impacts. Despite observing multimodal associations in some brain areas, neuroimaging and blood biomarkers may not strongly correlate to reflect the severity of brain damage.

Na4Fe3(PO4)2(P2O7) (NFPP), as a typical cathode material of sodium ion battery, has great application prospect because of its low-cost, non-toxicity and appropriate working voltage and theoretical capacity. However, its poor electron and ion conductivities associated by non-erasable NaFePO4 impurity generated in all the synthesis methods limits the capacity utilization of NFPP. Herein, we report a novel pure-phase Na4Fe2.91(PO4)2(P2O7) cathode material prepared simply by introducing a small amount of Fe defects in the lattice. The first-principles calculations reveal that Fe defects in the NFPP materials result in a lower band gap and migration energy barriers, thereby leading to a higher electron and Na+ ion conductivity. As a result, the pure-phase Na4Fe2.91(PO4)2(P2O7) cathode exhibits a high discharge capacity (110.9 mA h g−1 at 0.2 C), excellent rate performance (~52 mA h g−1 at 100 C) and outstanding long cycle stability over 10,000 cycles without discernible capacity decay. The pouch cell assembled with Na4Fe2.91(PO4)2(P2O7) cathode and hard carbon anode, shows high capacity retention rate of 87.4% over 1000 cycles. These results suggest a feasible application of the simple defect regulation strategy to synthesize high-quality and pure-phase Na4Fe2.91(PO4)2(P2O7) materials for low-cost sodium-ion batteries.

Li2MnSiO4 is considered as a promising cathode candidate for high energy density Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), due to its high theoretical capacity, favorable working potential as well as the low-cost and non-toxic nature of manganese element. However, it suffers from low capacity utilization and inferior cycling performance, due to the structural rearrangement upon cycling, phase impurities and manganese dissolution. To address these issues, nanostructure construction and carbon coating proves to be effective approach. In this work, we introduce an in situ template synthesis of a phase-pure Li2MnSiO4@C (MP-LMS@C) composite, which exhibits unique mesoporous morphology with nanosized Li2MnSiO4 granules homogenously encapsulated in the interconnected carbon networks. Such unique Li2MnSiO4@C structure not only facilitates electron conduction and Li+ transport, but also suppresses the manganese dissolution, as a result, the mesoporous Li2MnSiO4@C cathode exhibits greatly improved electrochemical performance, with a high specific capacity of 230 mAh g−1, good rate capability and superior capacity retention of 81% over 100 cycles.

A rechargeable aqueous Zn/Mn battery is a promising device for large-scale energy storage because of its abundant resources, low cost, and high safety. However, its application is plagued by a poor life cycle because of the electrochemical instability of MnO2 in aqueous electrolytes. Here, an alkaline Zn-Na0.44MnO2 dual-ion battery (denoted AZMDIB) is developed for the first time using Na0.44MnO2 as the cathode, a zinc metal sheet as the anode, and a 6 M NaOH aqueous solution as the electrolyte. When the discharge cutoff voltage is lowered to 0.3 V (vs Zn/Zn2+), the Na0.44MnO2 cathode delivers a high capacity of 345.5 mA h g-1 but with a poor cycling performance. The charge-discharge mechanism and structural evolution of the Na0.44MnO2 cathode in an extended potential window (1.95-0.3 V) are also explored. The Na0.44MnO2 electrode experiences two different electrochemical processes: Na+ ions insert/extract reversibly in the potential range of 1.95-1.1 V, and a phase transition occurs from Na0.559MnO2 to Mn(OH)2 below 1.1 V. The latter irreversible reaction is probably due to proton insertion, leading to a severe capacity fade. Nevertheless, in a narrower voltage range (2.0-1.1 V), the AZMDIB full cell exhibits a high reversible capacity (80.2 mA h g-1 at 0.5 C), high rate capability (32 mA h g-1 at 50 C), and excellent cycling stability (73% capacity retention over 1000 cycles at 10 C). Benefiting from the merits of environmental friendliness, cost-effectiveness, and high electrochemical performance, the rechargeable AZMDIB is a promising contender for grid-scale energy storage applications.

Recently, sodium-ion battery has been extensively explored as one of the most promising alternatives for lithium-ion battery because of the similar physical and chemical properties and its abundance in the earth's crust. Transition metal oxides based on conversion reactions, with high capacity and low cost, have been considered as promising anode materials. In this review, recent progress of conversion reaction–based transition metal oxides for SIBs is summarized; moreover, critical issues, current challenges, and future perspectives are discussed with the hope of casting some light on this type of materials.

Several gene- or set-based association tests have been proposed recently in the literature. Powerful statistical approaches are still highly desirable in this area. In this paper we propose a novel statistical association test, which uses information of the burden component and its complement from the genotypes. This new test statistic has a simple null distribution, which is a special and simplified variance-gamma distribution, and its p-value can be easily calculated. Through a comprehensive simulation study, we show that the new test can control type I error rate and has superior detecting power compared with some popular existing methods. We also apply the new approach to a real data set; the results demonstrate that this test is promising.

Biomass with abundant resources and low price is regarded as potential sources of functionalized carbon-based energy storage and conversion electrode materials. Rational construction and development of biomass-derived carbon equipped with proper morphology, structure, and composition prove the key to highly efficient utilization of advanced energy storage systems. Herein, we use palm tree bark hair as a biomass source and prepare edge/defect-rich quasi-mesoporous carbon (QMC) by a direct pyrolysis followed by NaOH etching strategy. Then, the edge-rich quasi-mesoporous nitrogen-doped carbon (QMNC) is successfully fabricated through the hydrothermal method by making use of edge/defect-rich QMC and urea as carbon precursor and nitrogen source, respectively. The microstructure and composition of the resultant carbon materials are all detected by a series of techniques. In the meantime, the influence of the etching process on the preparation and electrochemical performance of edge-rich QMNC is systematically explored. The relevant results manifest that the as-prepared edge/defect-rich QMC not only possesses edge-rich plane, much increased specific surface area (SSA), and special quasi-mesopores but also reverses good conductivity and gains sufficient defects for subsequent N doping. After introducing N atoms, the obtained edge-rich QMNC exhibits outstanding capacitive property and oxygen reduction reaction performance, which are mainly attributed to the co-effect of edge-rich plane, large SSA, suitable pore structures, and effective N doping (including high doping amount and optimized N configurations). Clearly, our work not only offers an excellent biomass-derived carbon-based electrode material but also opens a fresh avenue for the development of advanced biomass-derived carbon-based electrode materials.

Grid-scale energy storage systems with low-cost and high-performance electrodes are needed to meet the requirements of sustainable energy systems. Due to the wide abundance and low cost of sodium resources and their similar electrochemistry to the established lithium-ion batteries, sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) have attracted considerable interest as ideal candidates for grid-scale energy storage systems. In the past decade, though tremendous efforts have been made to promote the development of SIBs, and significant advances have been achieved, further improvements are still required in terms of energy/power density and long cyclic stability for commercialization. In this review, the latest progress in electrode materials for SIBs, including a variety of promising cathodes and anodes, is briefly summarized. Besides, the sodium storage mechanisms, endeavors on electrochemical property enhancements, structural and compositional optimizations, challenges and perspectives of the electrode materials for SIBs are discussed. Though enormous challenges may lie ahead, we believe that through intensive research efforts, sodium-ion batteries with low operation cost and longevity will be commercialized for large-scale energy storage application in the near future.

Summary Sodium-ion batteries are the primary candidate for a low-cost and resource-abundant alternative to lithium-ion batteries for large-scale electric storage applications. However, the development of sodium-ion batteries is hindered by the lack of suitable cathode materials that have sufficient specific energy density and cycle life. Here, we report layered NaVOPO 4 as a cathode material that exhibits high voltage (∼3.5 V versus Na/Na + ), high discharge capacity (144 mAh g −1 at 0.05 C), and remarkable cyclability with 67% capacity retention over 1,000 cycles. The excellent performances result from the high Na + ion diffusion rate in the two-dimensional path and the reversible transformation behavior of (de)sodiation. Particularly, this layered structure and its synthetic procedure can be extended to other alkali-metal intercalation materials, leading to other metal-ion battery systems, which opens a new avenue for large-scale energy storage systems with the development of high-energy-density and long-life cathodes for electric storage applications.

Batteries and electrochemical capacitors play very important roles in the portable electronic devices and electric vehicles and have shown promising potential for large-scale energy storage applications. However, batteries or capacitors alone cannot meet the energy and power density requirements because rechargeable batteries have a poor power property, whereas supercapacitors offer limited capacity. Here, a novel symmetric sodium-ion capacitor (NIC) is developed based on low-cost Na0.44MnO2 nanorods. The Na0.44MnO2 with unique nanoarchitectures and iso-oriented feature offers shortened diffusion path lengths for both electronic and Na+ transport and reduces the stress associated with Na+ insertion and extraction. Benefiting from these merits, the symmetric device achieves a high power density of 2432.7 W kg–1, an improved energy density of 27.9 Wh kg–1, and a capacitance retention of 85.2% over 5000 cycles. Particularly, the symmetric NIC based on Na0.44MnO2 permits repeatedly reverse-polarity characteri...

Magnesium secondary batteries are promising candidates for large-scale energy storage systems with high safety, because of the dendrite-free electrodeposition of the magnesium anode. However, the search for available cathode materials remains a significant challenge, hindering their development. In this work, we report copper sulfide nanoparticles as high-performance cathode materials for magnesium secondary batteries, which deliver a high reversible capacity of 175 mA h g-1 at 50 mA g-1. The cathode also shows an excellent rate capability providing 90 mA h g-1 at 1000 mA g-1 and an outstanding long-term cyclability over 350 cycles. The beneficial properties are ascribed to the small-sized copper sulfide particles which facilitate the solid-state diffusion kinetics. Further investigation on the mechanism demonstrates that the reaction is a typical conversion reaction, and the excellent cycling stability is due to the CuS nanoparticles which are not facile to aggregate during cycling. This work introduces an abundant, low-cost and high-performance cathode material for magnesium secondary batteries, and provides feasibility for the practical application of magnesium secondary battery systems in large-scale energy storage devices.

Lithium iron silicate has caught tremendous attentions as an appealing cathode for future lithium-ion batteries due to high capacity, low cost, and environmental friendliness, and its drawback of extremely low conductivity can be overcome efficiently through nanoarchitecture building. However, the construction of nanostructures always involves with expensive surfactants and complicated synthetic processes, which restrict these methods from large-scale production. In this paper, we develop a simple synthetic route to prepare hierarchical porous Li2FeSiO4/C. XRD, SEM, TEM, Raman, and N2 adsorption-desorption are employed to investigate its physical properties. Electrochemical tests reveal that the composite delivers a high specific capacity of 243.5 mAh g−1, superior rate capability, and excellent cycling performance with capacity retention of 95.2% after 200 cycles. The excellent electrochemical performance should be attributed to the unique structure in which hierarchical pores provides fast transport channels for lithium ions and interconnected carbon coating builds up conductive networks to enhance the conductivity of Li2FeSiO4. In addition, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, ex situ SEM, and TEM are conducted to demonstrate its structural stability upon long-term cycling. In addition, the route described in this work is facile, cheap, and easily scaled-up, which allows for extension to the fabrication of other energy storage materials.

The burden test and the sequence kernel association test (SKAT) are two popular methods for detecting association with rare variants. Treated as two different sources of association information, they are adaptively combined to form an optimal SKAT (SKAT-O) method for optimal power. We show that the burden test is part of rather than independent of the SKAT. We introduce a new test statistic that is the sum of the burden statistic and a statistic asymptotically independent of the burden statistic. The performance of this new test statistic is demonstrated through extensive simulation studies and applications to a Genetic Analysis Workshop 17 data set and the Ocular Hypertension Treatment Study data.

In this work, sodium doped LiVO3 cathode is proposed to achieve enhanced cycling performance for lithium ion battery (LIB) application. LixNa2-xV2O6 (x = 2, 1.4, 1, 0) compounds have been prepared and characterized, and X-ray diffraction patterns confirmed the successful Na doping with various amounts in the LiVO3. The electrochemical performances of the various Na doped compounds LiVO3, Li1.4Na0.6V2O6, LiNaV2O6, and NaVO3 are evaluated by cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charge/discharge and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The results reveal that Na-doping amount strongly affects the electrochemical performance, and LiNaV2O6 (x = 1) is considered as the optimized Na doped compound for LIB cathodes. The LiNaV2O6 cathode displays enhanced cycling and rate performances as a specific capacity of 193 mAh g−1 at 0.5 C after 100 cycles is delivered. The enhanced performance is explained that the doping of Na can provide good channels and increase Li+ diffusion coefficient for lithium ion intercalation/deintercalation.

Qiu and Sheng has proposed a powerful and robust two-stage procedure to compare two hazard rate functions. In this paper we improve their method by using the Fisher test to combine the asymptotically independent p-values obtained from the two stages of their procedure. In addition, we extend the procedure to situations with multiple hazard rate functions. Our comprehensive simulation study shows that the proposed method has a good performance in terms of controlling the type I error rate and of detecting power. Three real data applications are considered for illustrating the use of the new method.

In this work, we for the first time synthesized nitrogen, boron co-doped curved graphene nanoribbons (NBCGNs) by a facile hydrothermal process using oxidized curved graphene nanoribbons (O-CGNs), urea and boric acid as the carbon precursor and heteroatom sources. The influence of N and B co-doping on the morphology, structure, composition and related electrochemical performance of the NBCGNs was systematically investigated, and the results show that urea and boric acid coexisting in the hydrothermal system not only act as the N and B doping sources but also act as the catalysts to boost the synergistical doping of N and B. It is the synergistical effect of N and B co-doping that endows the NBCGNs with enlarged specific surface area as well as pore volume, improved conductivity, promoted sulfur dispersibility and strengthened adsorbability for polysulfides caused by the notably increased doped N and B contents and higher percentage of the N–B structure when compared with the counterparts. As a result, the as-prepared NBCGN/S cathode presented synergistically enhanced cyclability and rate capability. Therefore, our results not only provide a superior carbon host for Li–S batteries but also offer a common approach to the preparation of heteroatom doped carbon nanomaterials with an optimized structure and composition.

Na 0.74 (Li 1/3 Mn 2/3 ) x Co 1-x O 2 (x = 0, 1/6, 1/3, 1/2) as sodium-ion battery cathode materials are prepared by using sol-gel method. The XRD tests demonstrate that Na 0.74 CoO 2 and its Li 1/3 Mn 2/3 -substituted samples possess typical P2 structure. The charging/discharging tests exhibit that the Na 0.74 CoO 2 electrode has a reversible capacity of 131 mAh g −1 with good cycling performance. When Co is partially substituted by Li 1/3 Mn 2/3 , the Li 1/3 Mn 2/3 -substituted samples exhibit decreasing reversible capacity of 122, 115, 83 mAh g −1 for x = 1/6, 1/3, 1/2, respectively. However, the rate capability of the Li 1/3 Mn 2/3 -substituted samples is greatly improved due to the suppression of the complicated phase conversion in intercalation process. Moreover, the structure stability for Li 1/3 Mn 2/3 -substituted samples is apparently observed when cycled between 4.5 and 2.0 V. Therefore, the substitution of Li 1/3 Mn 2/3 can suppress the complex phase changes of the Na-based oxides and improve their electrochemical performance, which can provide a promising choose for high-performance Na-ion storage cathode material.

In this work, we prepared nitrogen-doped open-ended carbon nanotubes (N-O-E-CNTs) through controllable chemical cutting followed by a facile hydrothermal process. Scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Raman and some other techniques were used to characterize the as-prepared N-O-E-CNTs, which possessed enhanced specific surface area and pore volume, and excellent conductivity. The N-O-E-CNTs were investigated as carbon host for Li–S batteries by cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charge/discharge and electrochemical impedance, and the electrochemical testing showed that the N-O-E-CNTs/S cathode presented much better cyclability and rate capability than the carbon nanotubes (CNTs)/S and open-ended carbon nanotubes (O-E-CNTs)/S cathodes. The main reasons for the improved performance were explained as follows. On one hand, the controllable chemical cutting for CNTs can effectively increase the specific surface area and pore volume while retaining good conductivity, and the formed open-ended structure is beneficial to trapping sulfur species in the internal nanotube cavity. On the other hand, the N doping for the N-O-E-CNTs can not only recover the conductivity, but also enable the N-O-E-CNTs to possess more superior compatibility and adsorbability for sulfur species, resulting in high utilization of active material and effective alleviation of polysulfides shuttling.

CoSe

Rechargeable Mg batteries are considered as low-cost and reliable candidates for efficient energy storage, but their development is blocked by the lack of suitable cathode materials. In this work, Sb2Se3 nanowires and Bi2Se3 nanosheets are fabricated by facile one-step hydrothermal methods and their Mg-storage performances are systematically investigated. The results show that the Bi2Se3 nanosheets with stable hierarchical 2D structure exhibit a better performance. Because of its thin nanosheet structure, Bi2Se3 provides a high Mg-storage capacity of 144 mA h g-1 and a remarkable rate capability with 65 mA h g-1 delivered at 1000 mA g-1. Bi2Se3 also exhibits an outstanding cyclability over 350 cycles owing to its hierarchical structure. Furthermore, this study reveals that the electrochemical charge/discharge cycling is a typical conversion reaction occurring between Bi3+ and metallic Bi0. Kinetic investigation suggests that the high performance of Bi2Se3 is attributed to both its intrinsic nature and its thin nanosheet structure facilitating solid-state Mg2+ diffusion. The present work highlights the selection principle of conversion cathodes for rechargeable Mg batteries, namely matching a soft anion with a quasi-soft metal cation. Moreover, the facile synthesis approach is also used for low-dimensional main-group VI metal chalcogenides to improve the Mg-storage performance.

Background: Chronic neuroinflammation has been implicated as a possible contributing mechanism in the development and progression of chronic traumatic encephalopathy. This neurodegenerative condition has been associated with longterm, repetitive exposure to subconcussive head impacts, defined as head impacts that do not induce clinical signs or symptoms of concussion. However, there is a gap in knowledge surrounding the acute inflammatory response to subconcussive head impacts. The present study aimed to test our hypothesis that plasma levels of two proinflammatory markers (CCL11, CCL2) and one anti-inflammatory marker (IL-10) would be significantly elevated after 10 repetitions of controlled subconcussive head impacts. Methods: This randomized controlled trial included 39 healthy adult soccer players who were randomized into a heading (n=22) or kicking-control group (n=17). The heading group executed 10 headers with soccer balls projected at a speed of 25mph. The kicking-control group followed the same protocol with 10 kicks. Plasma samples were collected pre-, 0h post-, 2h post-, and 24h post-intervention. Samples were assayed for CCL11, CCL2, and IL-10, which are inflammatory markers that have shown to upregulate following traumatic brain injury. The longitudinal inflammatory marker data were analyzed using mixed-effect regression models. Results: There were no significant group differences in the changes of plasma CCL11, CCL2, or IL-10 levels at post-intervention time points as compared with pre-intervention baseline. However, within the heading group, there was a statistically significant interaction between time and years of soccer heading experience in plasma CCL11 levels at 24h post-intervention (2.0 pg/mL per a single year of soccer heading experience, 95% CI: 0.8, 3.1, p = 0.001). Conclusions: Ten soccer headings did not modulate the acute response in the three inflammatory marker levels compared against a kicking-control group. However, the acute CCL11 response may be influenced by the duration of prior exposure to subconcussive head impacts. Our data provide a precedent for future field studies that prospectively track head impact exposure and the time course of changes in circulating CCL11.

Rechargeable Mg batteries are promising candidates for highly safe, large-scale energy storage batteries due to the low-cost and non-dendritic metallic Mg anode. However, exploring high-performance cathodes remains a great challenge blocking their development. Herein, a rechargeable Mg battery is established with a Ag