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Transition metal chalcogenides represent a class of the most promising alternative electrode materials for high-performance lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) owing to their high theoretical capacities. However, they suffer from large volume expansion, particle agglomeration, and low conductivity during charge/discharge processes, leading to unsatisfactory energy storage performance. In order to address these issues, we rationally designed three-dimensional (3D) hybrid composites consisting of ZnSe nanodots uniformly confined within a N-doped porous carbon network (ZnSe ND@N-PC) obtained via a convenient pyrolysis process. When used as anodes for LIBs, the composites exhibited outstanding electrochemical performance, with a high reversible capacity (1,134 mA·h·g at a current density of 600 mA·g after 500 cycles) and excellent rate capability (696 and 474 mA·h·g at current densities of 6.4 and 12.8 A·g, respectively). The significantly improved lithium storage performance can be attributed to the 3D architecture of the hybrid composites, which not only mitigated the internal mechanical stress induced by the volume change and formed a 3D conductive network during cycling, but also provided a large reactive area and reduced the lithium diffusion distance. The strategy reported here may open a new avenue for the design of other multifunctional composites towards high-performance energy storage devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

NaAlH 4 is a promising anode material for lithium-ion batteries due to its high theoretical capacity of 1985 mAh g −1 . However, the practical application of NaAlH 4 anode is hindered by its low charge reversibility and poor cycle performance. To improve the Li-storage performance of NaAlH 4 anode, the regeneration and degradation mechanism of NaAlH 4 have been revealed in this work. Firstly, the results show that decreasing the crystalline size would result in the direct regeneration of NaAlH 4 from Na and Al without any intermediate phases (such as LiNa 2 AlH 6 ), which dramatically enhances the reversibility of NaAlH 4 anode. Secondly, a new cycle degradation mechanism is demonstrated that NaAlH 4 would decompose above 1.42 V during the charge process, which leads to a rapid degradation of cycle capacity. Therefore, the reversible capacity of NaAlH 4 anode after 20 cycles could be significantly increased from 89 mAh g −1 to 456 mAh g −1 by decreasing the cut-off voltage from 3 V to 1 V, showing an improved cycle stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transition metal sulfides are of great interest as anodes for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) due to their high theoretical capacity and low cost. However, the poor cycling stability and rate performance are the critical problems that hinder their practical applications. In this work, a unique hybrid nanocomposite constructed from starfish-like ZnxCo1−xS rooted in porous carbon and strongly coupled carbon nanotubes (ZnxCo1−xS@C–CNTs) is demonstrated to address this concern. The designed nanocomposite integrates the high theoretical capacity of ZnxCo1−xS and the excellent conductivity as well as the excellent mechanical stability of CNTs. When evaluated as anode materials for LIBs, ZnxCo1−xS@C–CNTs exhibited a high reversible capacity of 635 mA h g−1 at a current density of 1.2 A g−1 after 1000 cycles and excellent high-rate capability (890 mA h g−1 and 750 mA h g−1 at current densities of 3.2 and 6.4 A g−1, respectively). The excellent electrochemical performance of ZnxCo1−xS@C–CNTs can be ascribed to its hierarchically porous structure design and the synergistic effect between ZnxCo1−xS@C and CNTs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The high conductivity of bimetallic thiospinel NiCo2S4 endows energy storage devices with very fascinating performance. However, the unsatisfactory rate capability and long-term cyclability of this material series significantly limit their large-scale practical applications such as in electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles. Herein, we successfully synthesized NiCo2S4 hexagonal nanosheets with a large lateral dimension of ∼1.35 μm and a thickness of ∼30 nm through a vapor transformation method. The dynamic transformation process of the NiCo2S4 polycrystalline nanosheets from NiCo-hydroxide has been revealed in detail. Originating from their two-dimensional thin-sheet structure with a high aspect ratio, the induced extrinsic capacitive contribution as high as 91% makes them an ideal candidate for high-capacity and high-rate lithium-ion anodes. The NiCo2S4 nanosheets deliver a reversible capacity of 607 mA h g−1 upon 800 cycles at a current density of 2 A g−1. This outstanding long cycle performance sheds light on the structural design of electrode materials for high-rate lithium-ion batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Iron‐based (pre)catalysts have attracted enormous attention for various electrooxidation reactions due to the low cost, high abundance, and multiple accessible redox states of iron. Herein, a well‐defined helical iron borophosphate (LiFeBPO) is developed as an electro(pre)catalyst for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and selective alcohol oxidation. When deposited on nickel foam (NF), LiFeBPO exhibits an exceptional OER performance at ambient conditions attaining a current density of 100 mA cm−2 at ≈276 mV overpotential in 1 m KOH. Notably, this anode sustains durable alkaline water electrolysis at 500 mA cm−2 for over 330 h under industrial conditions (6 m KOH and 85 °C). In –situ and ex situ investigations reveal a deep reconstruction of LiFeBPO during OER, which transforms into a 3D open porous skeleton assembled by ultrasmall, low‐crystalline α‐FeOOH nanoparticles (interfacing with NiOOH of NF). This structure contributes to exposing accessible surface active sites, as well as accelerating mass transport and bubble detachment. Moreover, this electrode also catalyzes the electrooxidation of alcohols (methanol, ethylene glycol, and glycerol) to formic acid (FA) with high selectivity and full conversion. This study provides promising solutions for designing suitable anodes for the simultaneous production of green hydrogen fuel and value–added FA from electrooxidation reactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nano-multilayer architecture based on physical vapor deposition is a promising way to tailor the structural and mechanical properties of nitride hard coatings for cutting tool applications. In this work, the mechanical and tribological properties of TiSiN/TiAlN coatings with different modulation geometry, namely modulation period, Λ, and modulation ratio, λ, were elaborated. The TiSiN/TiAlN nano-multilayer with reduced Λ of 8.5 nm and λ of 1:2.3 (thickness ratio of TiAlN to TiSiN sublayer) shows a noticeable increase in hardness to 36.8 GPa. The modulation geometry impacts the wear behavior of TiSiN/TiAlN nano-multilayers through two aspects. Firstly, the mechanical enhancement effectively promotes the wear resistance of coatings at room temperature. Secondly, the chemical variation changes the wear mechanism at high temperatures. For the situation at 600 °C, the combined action of adhesive, abrasive, and oxidative wear gives rise to dispersive and small oxide patches, adhered to sliding surfaces for TiSiN/TiAlN coatings with higher λ of, for instance, 2.3:1. This tribolayer contributes to the lower wear volume loss than the case at room temperature for the TiSiN/TiAlN with a Λ of 29 nm and a λ of 2.3:1. In contrast, the TiSiN/TiAlN coating with a lower λ of 1:2.3 exhibits mild abrasive and oxidative wear at 600 °C. • TiSiN/TiAlN with various modulation periods and ratios were deposited by cathodic arc evaporation. • Decreasing modulation period and ratio of TiAlN to TiSiN leads to higher hardness. • Higher hardness enhances coating wear resistance when testing at room temperature. • Oxide tribolayer formed in coatings with a higher modulation ratio decreases wear loss at 600 °C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electrochemical oxygen reduction reaction (2e− ORR) offers a promising approach for H2O2 production, yet developing highly active, selective, and stable electrocatalysts remains a challenge. In this work, a phase reconstruction strategy is presented to synthesize an oxalate‐adsorbed nickel hydroxide electrocatalyst (Ni(OH)2‐C2O4) through the self‐dissociation of nickel oxalate in an alkaline medium, leading to a notable enhancement in H2O2 yield at elevated current densities. Remarkably, Ni(OH)2‐C2O4 exhibits a 2e− selectivity exceeding 93% across a broad voltage range (0.0 to 0.5 V vs RHE) in 0.1 M KOH, outperforming pristine Ni(OH)2. When deployed as a gas diffusion electrode in a flow cell, the Ni(OH)2‐C2O4 catalyst demonstrates stable operation for 50 h at 200 mA cm−2, with a Faradaic efficiency surpassing 90% and a peak H2O2 yield of 6.2 mol g−1cat h−1. Comprehensive advanced characterizations, including in situ Raman spectroscopy, transient photovoltage spectra, and transient potential scanning spectra, coupled with post‐ORR analyses, reveal that surface‐adsorbed oxalate groups on Ni(OH)2 enhance the interfacial reaction kinetics between active Ni sites and reactants by inducing a charge trapping effect and forming a hydrogen‐bonded network, facilitating robust and high‐yield H2O2 production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transition metal sulfides, particularly heterostructures, represent a promising class of electrocatalysts for two electron oxygen reduction (2e− ORR), however, understanding the dynamic structural evolution of these catalysts during alkaline ORR remains relatively unexplored. Herein, NiS2/In2.77S4 heterostructure was synthesized as a precatalyst and through a series of comprehensive ex situ and in situ characterizations, including X‐ray absorption spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, transient photo‐induced voltage measurements, electron energy loss spectroscopy, and spherical aberration‐corrected electron microscopy, it was revealed that nickel/indium (oxy)hydroxides (NiOOH/In(OH)3) could be evolved from the initial NiS2/In2.77S4 via both electrochemical and chemical‐driven methods. The electrochemical‐driven phase featured abundant bridging oxygen‐deficient [NiO6]‐[InO6] units at the interfaces of NiOOH/In(OH)3, facilitating a synergistic effect between active Ni and In sites, thus enabling an enhanced alkaline 2e− ORR capability than that of chemical‐driven process. Remarkably, electrochemically induced NiOOH/In(OH)3 exhibited exceptional performance, achieving H2O2 selectivity of >90 % across the wide potential window (up to 0.4 V) with a peak selectivity of >99 %. Notably, within the three‐electrode flow cell, a current density of 200 mA cm−2 was sustained over 20 h, together with an impressive Faradaic efficiency of ~90 % during the whole cycle process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite being considered as efficient non‐noble metal‐based electrocatalysts for alkaline oxygen evolution reaction (OER), NiFe (oxy)hydroxides (NiFeOxHy) typically fall short of meeting practical requirements. To address this challenge, herein, we introduce a facile in situ electrochemical incorporation technique to form Sn‐doped NiFe‐layered double hydroxide (NiFeSn‐LDH) precatalysts. Subsequently, under the alkaline OER process, the precatalyst evolves into stannate ion‐adsorbed NiFe oxyhydroxides (NiFeOOH). The presence of these stable stannate oxyanions plays a key role in mitigating Fe leaching, optimizing the electronic structure of NiFeOOH, and improving its reaction kinetics, thereby significantly enhancing alkaline OER performance. Notably, the nickel foam‐supported NiFeSn‐LDH demonstrates impressive results delivering a large current density of 100 mA cm−2 at an overpotential as low as ~260 mV and maintaining the industrial‐relevant ~500 mA cm−2 current density over 5 days with negligible activity decay, surpassing the performances of most of the transition metal‐based electrocatalysts. Comprehensive advanced characterizations of the precatalysts, before and after the OER reactions, have been performed to uncover stable residual stannate ions at the surface of NiFeOxHy and to determine their pivotal role in promoting alkaline OER. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A free-standing sulfur host consisting of cobalt and nitrogen co-doped porous carbon nanocages supported by reduced graphene oxide (Co/N-PCN@rGO) has been developed, enabling an enhanced electron transfer kinetics, a high immobilization ability and catalytic effect towards polysulfide intermediates for lithium-sulfur batteries. • A free-standing sulfur cathode consisting Co/N-PCN@rGO was prepared. • The cathode shows an improved immobilization and catalytic ability to polysulfide intermediates. • The cathode exhibits an exceptional capability and an ultralow capacity decay rate. Construction of sulfur host with high immobilization ability and catalytic effect towards polysulfide intermediates is of great significance to boost the electrochemical performance of lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries. Herein, for the first time, a free-standing sulfur host consisting of cobalt and nitrogen co-doped porous carbon nanocages supported by reduced graphene oxide (Co/N-PCN@rGO) is synthesized via a calcination of graphene-supported cobalt-based zeolitic imidazolate framework precursor and, followed by etching treatment. After a melt infiltration process, the sulfur can be uniformly confined within the Co/N-PCN@rGO host (Co/N-PCN@rGO@S). When employed as the free-standing cathode material for Li-S batteries, the achieved Co/N-PCN@rGO@S not only shows an exceptional initial discharge capacity of 1290 mA h g−1 at 0.2 C, but also keeps a capacity of 640 mA h g−1 over 500 cycles at 1.0 C with a fading rate of only 0.066% per cycle. In addition, the high rate test also confirms its superior rate capability with a high capacity of 880 mA h g−1 at 2 C. Such outstanding performance can be attributed to the synergism of the integrated conductive network, the favorable surface structures of carbon framework as well as its strong charge coupling with Co and N species, ensuring an enhanced electron transfer kinetics, increased sulfur utilization, and improved immobilization and catalytic ability towards polysulfide intermediates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• An anion-cation co-substitution activation of CoMoO 4 for OER is developed. • The co-substitution leads to the improvement of catalytic activity. • The co-substituted catalyst can afford 10 mA cm–2 at an overpotential of 263 mV. Developing an efficient earth-abundant catalyst able to accelerate oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is crucial for realizing the scalable application of electrochemical water splitting. Spinel transition metal oxides represent a promising catalyst for this reaction, but to data, their catalytic performance is still further improved to satisfy the practical application. Being different from previous nanostructure engineering and hybridization strategy, herein, we reported an anion-cation co-substitution activation of CoMoO 4 for OER through a facile solvothermal treatment of FeCo-Prussian blue analogue (PBA) nanocube in the presence of thiourea and ammonium molybdate. The combination of experimental results with theoretical analysis uncovered that anion-cation co-substitution allowed the formation of ultrathin porous nanosheet structure with more accessible active sites, enhanced charge and mass transfer ability and optimized adsorption free energy towards oxygen-containing intermediates. As a result, the Fe and S co-substituted CoMoO 4 (Fe 0.5 Co 0.5 MoO 4- x S x) nanoflowers assembled by nanosheets exhibited a drastically improved OER catalytic activity with an overpotential as low as 263 mV to afford a current density of 10 mA cm−2 and a small Tafel slope of 87 mV dec–1, superior to the state-of-the-art IrO 2 /C and most reported binary transition metal oxide-based electrocatalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The inter-bubble secondary Bjerknes force in a three-bubble system are analysed. • The force and the equilibrium distance is strongly modulated by the third bubble. • For weak oscillation, the distance is decreased by super-resonant bubbles. • Resonance-like behaviours may occur in which the force is significantly enhanced. • The results highlight challenges for modelling the force in bubble clusters. The behaviours of insonated bubble clusters are regulated by the secondary Bjerknes force between bubble pairs. While the force has been investigated extensively for two-bubble systems, the modulation of the force by nearby bubbles remains unclear. This problem is investigated in this paper by theoretical analyses and numerical simulations of a three bubble system. For weak oscillations, the third bubble is found to have strong effects when its radius is close to the resonant radius. The equilibrium distance between the bubble pair is reduced when the radius of the third bubble is smaller than the resonant threshold, and increased when it is larger. For strong oscillations of bubbles with radii of a few microns, the third bubble reduces the magnitude of the force, hence increasing the equilibrium distance. The modulation effects depend strongly on the relative sizes of the bubbles. Stronger effects can be produced when the third bubble is placed closer to the smaller bubble in the bubble pair. The findings highlight the need for a more accurate parametrization of the secondary Bjerknes force in the simulation and manipulation of bubble clusters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid development of hydrogen energy is strongly dependent on the economic and efficient production of hydrogen. The electrocatalytic splitting of water to molecular hydrogen via the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) provides an appealing solution for producing high-purity hydrogen, but low-cost and highly active electrocatalysts are required for HER. Among currently investigated HER electrocatalysts, metal-organic framework (MOF)-derived nanocomposites constructed from transition metals (TMs)/TM compounds (TMCs) and carbon materials offer extremely promising and attractive HER activities because of their unique properties, such as tunable compositions, readily regulated electronic structures, controllable morphologies, and diverse configuration. Herein, this article provides a comprehensive overview of MOF-derived nanocomposites as HER electrocatalysts for water splitting. It begins with the introduction of the fundamentals of electrocatalytic HER. Afterwards, several ingeniously designed strategies for improved MOF-derived HER electrocatalysts are meticulously summarized and discussed, with special emphasis on the component manipulation of the TMs/TMCs, carbon matrix modifications, morphology tuning and electrode configuration engineering. Finally, future perspectives on the development of these nanocomposites as HER electrocatalysts are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

B-doping-induced amorphization of crystalline layered double hydroxide supported on nickel foam could activate it as an extremely efficient HER catalyst, affording large current densities of 500 and 1000 mA cm–2 at overpotentials of only 286 and 381 mV, respectively. • B-doping-induced amorphization of LDH was developed to activate catalytic performance. • Amorphous NiCo LDH/NF catalyst could afford large current densities at very small overpotentials. • The strategy of B-doping-induced amorphization is versatile. Developing a platinum-free hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) electrocatalyst that can steadily drive a large current density is of great significance in a commercially electrochemical water splitting technology. Herein, we show that the B-doping-induced amorphization of crystalline layered double hydroxide (LDH) activates it as an extremely efficient HER catalyst. The amorphous B-incorporated nickel-cobalt LDH supported on the nickel foam (A-NiCo LDH/NF) can yield large current densities at small overpotentials (100 mA cm–2 at 151 mV, 500 mA cm–2 at 286 mV, and 1000 mA cm–2 at 381 mV) with high durability in alkaline medium even after 72 h, which is even better than commercial platinum. This work may provide a promising way for structure tuning of transition metal LDH to effectively boost HER efficiency towards practical water electrolysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although doped BaCeO 3 electrolytes are proton conductors that undergo the fast conduction processes of inter-mediate temperature solid oxide fuel cells (IT-SOFCs), their wide application is impeded by their poor chemical stability under water vapour or CO 2 conditions. In this work, we selected the metallic cations with suitable electronegativity to improve the perovskite crystal structures of BaCeO 3 to enhance the chemical stability and electrochemical performance. We utilized Ni and Sm cations to improve the chemical stability of BaCeO 3 electrolytes in water vapour and CO 2 via a novel synthesis method, and the results revealed that the BaCe 0.8 Y 0.1 Ni 0.04 Sm 0.06 O 3- δ electrolyte, -with high electrochemical performance and chemical stability-, is a promising electrolyte material for conduction in IT-SOFCs. The optimum result offers new insights into synthesizing the membrane of IT-SOFCs for their application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of highly efficient catalysts for both the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is of paramount importance in water splitting. Herein, a phase‐transited lysozyme (PTL) is employed as the platform to synthesize nitrogen‐doped Co3O4@C nanomesh with rich oxygen vacancies supported on the nickel foam (N‐Co3O4@C@NF). This PTL‐driven N‐Co3O4@C@NF integrates the advantages of porous structure, high exposure of surface atoms, strong synergetic effect between the components and unique 3D electrode configuration, imparting exceptional activity in catalyzing both HER and OER. Remarkably, an alkaline electrolyzer assembled by N‐Co3O4@C@NF as both cathode and anode delivers a current density of 10 mA cm−2 at an ultralow cell voltage of 1.40 V, which is not only much lower than that of the commercially noble Pt/C and IrO2/C catalyst couple (≈1.61 V) but also a new record for the overall water splitting. The finding may open new possibilities for the design of bifunctional electrocatalysts for application in practical water electrolysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Construction of well-defined hybrid composites consisting of transition metal sulfides and two-dimensional (2D) carbon nanosheets as high-performance anodes for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) is of great significance but remains challenging. Herein, we have developed a novel strategy to in-situ fabricate a nanohybrid composites consisting of cobalt-doped copper sulfides nanoparticles embedded in 2D carbon nanosheets (2D Co-Cu 2 S@C) through a one-pot sulfurization of 2D nanosheet-like Co-doped copper-based metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) precursors. When applied as LIBs anodes, the as-prepared 2D Co-Cu 2 S@C composites could deliver a specific capacity of 780 mAh g−1 at 0.5 A g−1 after 300 cycles and a high-rate capability with 209 mAh g−1 at 5 A g−1, superior to most reported copper sulfide-based anodes. The exceptional performance could be attributed to the synergism of ultrathin structure (~4 nm), appropriate cobalt doping and strong carbon coupling, resulting in the shortened paths for Li+ transportation, enlarged exposing surface for Li+ adsorption, enhanced electric conductivity for charge transfer as well as robust mechanical property against volume expansion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • The secondary Bjerknes force is investigated for bubbles in Kelvin-Voigt fluids. • The time-delay effect is modelled and shown to have significant impacts. • The rebound phase is important for the calculation of the secondary Bjerknes force. • Bubbles thought to be attractive before are found to repulse to each other. • The equilibrium distance between two bubbles is analysed numerically. Abstract The interaction between two small bubbles experiencing transient cavitation in a nonlinear Kelvin-Voigt fluid is investigated. The time-delay effect in the interaction is incorporated in the coupled Keller-Miksis model. The refined model predicts that bubbles with radii smaller than 2 μ m will be repelled by large bubbles, in contrast to predictions from previous models. The matching pressure needed to obtain same level of transient cavitation in different Kelvin-Voigt fluids is shown to depend mainly on the shear modulus and is insensitive to other parameters, which makes it a useful parameter to correlate the results. When the radii of the bubbles fall between 4 μ m and 6 μ m , the secondary Bjerknes force obtained with matching pressures shows only weak dependence on the shear modulus. For the pressure amplitudes investigated, equilibrium distances can be found between two bubbles when the equilibrium radius of one of the bubbles is in a narrow range around 2 μm. The equilibrium distance decreases when the shear modulus is increased. A simple relation between the two quantities is established. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: A bimetallic lanthanum-nickel oxysulfide based on a La2O2S prototype was developed as a precatalyst for the electrochemical alkaline oxygen evolution reaction (OER). The in situ, ex situ, and theoretical investigations demonstrated that the precatalyst underwent a deep OER-driven reconstruction into a porous heterostructure where NiOOH nanodomains were uniformly separated and confined by La(OH)3 barrier. Oxyanion (SO42−) was steadily adsorbed on the surface of this in situ reconstructed NiOOH/La(OH)3 heterostructure, enabling it for enhanced OER activity and durability. Efficient and durable oxygen evolution reaction (OER) requires the electrocatalyst to bear abundant active sites, optimized electronic structure as well as robust component and mechanical stability. Herein, a bimetallic lanthanum-nickel oxysulfide with rich oxygen vacancies based on the La2O2S prototype is fabricated as a binder-free precatalyst for alkaline OER. The combination of advanced in situ and ex situ characterizations with theoretical calculation uncovers the synergistic effect among La, Ni, O, and S species during OER, which assures the adsorption and stabilization of the oxyanion SO 4 2 - onto the surface of the deeply reconstructed porous heterostructure composed of confining NiOOH nanodomains by La(OH)3 barrier. Such coupling, confinement, porosity and immobilization enable notable improvement in active site accessibility, phase stability, mass diffusion capability and the intrinsic Gibbs free energy of oxygen-containing intermediates. The optimized electrocatalyst delivers exceptional alkaline OER activity and durability, outperforming most of the Ni-based benchmark OER electrocatalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This contribution proposes one electron modulation strategy to expedite the charge transfer capability of CeO 2 by integrating carbon dots for the efficient neutral electrosynthesis of H 2 O 2. Furthermore, the pseudo-capacitance and charge storage capacity of CeO 2 were significantly tuned by CDs during dynamic ORR process, being conducive to the reaction kinetics and the 2e− selectivity. [Display omitted] • Anchoring CDs onto the surface of cerium oxides was firstly explored for 2e− ORR. • The optimized CDs/CeO 2 delivered the highest 2e− selectivity of 92.6 % under neutral media. • An impressive long-term stability over 24 h at 20 mA cm−2 was achieved. • Pseudo-capacitance and charge storage capacity of CeO 2 were significantly tuned by CDs during dynamic ORR. The sluggish kinetics coupled with the competition of four-electron pathway in neutral media diminishes the production efficiency of hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2) via the two-electron oxygen reduction reaction (2e− ORR). To address this dilemma, this contribution proposes one electron modulation strategy to expedite the charge transfer capability by integrating carbon dots with CeO 2 (CDs/CeO 2) for the efficient neutral electrosynthesis of H 2 O 2. It was found that the integration could effectively bolster both the activity and selectivity of 2e− ORR on CDs and CeO 2. Remarkably, the highest 2e− selectivity could reach up to 92 % for the optimized CDs/CeO 2 , substantially surpassing that (77 %) of pristine CeO 2 , together with about 1.5 times enhancement of activity. Meanwhile, it also delivered a superior long durability at 20 mA cm−2 for 24 h and a high Faraday efficiency of 97 %. Further in-situ transient potential scanning (TPS) technique revealed that the pseudo-capacitance and charge storage capacity of CeO 2 were significantly tuned by CDs during dynamic ORR process, being conducive to the reaction kinetics and the 2e− selectivity. The findings in this work not only extends the co-catalytic system based on CDs and rare earth materials for 2e− ORR, but also offers novel insights into correlation between their electron distribution dynamics and 2e− ORR performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fluorescent probe MPA–ABT-510 consists of NIR dye (MPA) in the N terminal, a linker (PEG 4), and ABT-510 in the C terminal. This design enables MPA–ABT-510 to bind efficiently to CD36, validated by both molecular docking and in vitro binding assays using H1299 and A549 cells. Upon systemic administration via tail vein injection, rapid and specific accumulation of fluorescence signals was observed in the tumor sites, indicating that MPA–ABT-510 is a promising candidate for NSCLC imaging and surgical navigation. [Display omitted] • The probe shows high specificity and precision for detecting CD36-positive NSCLC. • The probe is promising candidate for NSCLC surgical navigation. • The probe is safe and feasible for clinical applications. Nonsmall-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most frequent type of lung cancer, with early surgical treatment proving vital for prolonged patient survival. However, precise visualization of NSCLC remains a challenge due to limited molecular imaging probes, the unique anatomical structure of the lungs, and respiratory movement interference. In this study, we investigated the potential utility of CD36, which is highly expressed in NSCLC, as an imaging target. A selective and water-soluble fluorescent probe, MPA–ABT-510, was successfully constructed by coupling ABT-510 with MPA, a near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent dye. Molecular docking analysis shows that MPA–ABT-510 possesses strong binding affinity to the CD36 protein, with specific hydrogen bond interactions at defined amino acid residues. In vitro assays reveals that the fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled peptide ABT-510 specifically binds to the CD36-high expressing NSCLC cell lines H1299 and A549. In vivo imaging verifies that the MPA–ABT-510 efficiently accumulates in the tumor site with a distinct fluorescent signal. Ex vivo imaging revealed that tumor-to-lung fluorescence ratios for subcutaneous and orthotopic H1299 mouse models were 7.19 ± 0.73 and 1.91 ± 0.42, respectively, while those for A549 mice were 5.53 ± 0.64 and 1.77 ± 0.41, respectively. Biodistribution analysis demonstrated efficient MPA–ABT-510 uptake in H1299 and A549 liver metastases models with tumor-to-liver fluorescence ratios of 2.47 ± 0.48 and 2.19 ± 0.22, respectively. High MPA–ABT-510 accumulation was evident in A549 intestinal metastases models, as evidenced by tumor-to-colorectal fluorescence ratios of 4.27 ± 0.11. MPA–ABT-510 exhibits superior imaging capabilities with minimal safety concerns, so it is a promising candidate for NSCLC surgical navigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the main component of the new energy battery, the safety vent usually is welded on the battery plate, which can prevent unpredictable explosion accidents caused by the increasing internal pressure of the battery. The welding quality of safety vent directly affects the safety and stability of the battery; so, the welding-defect detection is of great significance. In this paper, we researched the welding-defect detection method based on semantic segmentation algorithm. The automatic detection method should recognize, locate, and count the area of defects. However, small differences between inter-classes, strong variations in defect size, and uncertain annotation create challenges for defect semantic segmentation. To address these challenges, a customized deep learning model based on two-branch architecture is proposed to segment welding-defect at the pixel level. This architecture involves three modules as follows, (i) The Spatial Branch is elaborately designed to capture spatial details and generate high-resolution feature representation; (ii) The Context Branch is responsible for obtaining semantic context; (iii) The Feature Fusion Block is proposed to merge the two types of feature representation and enhance mutual connections. Furthermore, a welding image dataset was built to validate our method, and the network's performance of defect segmentation and classification were evaluated by the defects images and the normal images, respectively. Data augmentation strategies are performed to overcome the problem of imbalanced distribution and inaccurate labels of the dataset, which is caused by the ambiguity of defect edges and the subjectivity of manual annotation. The experiment results indicate that our method achieves 86.704 % of mIoU (mean intersection of union), which supports the effectiveness of the deep learning model in segmenting defects. Besides, 98.896 % of AP (average precision) and 0 % of MDR (miss detection rate) further suggests the applicability of the proposed framework in industrial applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hollow CoFe-PBA nanocubes with cyano and cobalt bi-vacancies induced by coating tannic acid supported on nickel foam exhibit an exceptional electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction activity with an overpotential of only 75 mV to drive a current density of 10 mA cm−2 in alkaline media. [Display omitted] • The TA-etching strategy for the creation of bi-vacancies within PBA was developed. • The introduction of bi-vacancies is favorable to lowering the reaction energy barrier. • The PBA with bi-vacancies exhibits an exceptional electrocatalytic HER activity. Prussian blue analogues (PBA) have been explored as electrocatalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction, however, they suffer from poor electrical conductivity and blocked active sites and thus usually operate at overpotentials drastically above thermodynamic requirement. Herein, we report a creation of unconventional anion (cyano group) and cation (cobalt) bi-vacancies to boost CoFe-PBA for HER through a rapid tannic acid (TA) etching strategy. The combined experimental and theoretical investigations indicate that the introduction of bi-vacancies would be favorable to exposure of accessible active sites, optimizing the electron density of CoFe PBA, and lowering the reaction energy barrier. As a result, the TA-etched CoFe PBA nanocubes supported on nickel foam (NF) (CoFe-PBA@TA/NF) exhibit outstanding HER catalytic activity with an overpotential of only 86 mV at 10 mA cm−2, which is not only significantly lower than bare PBA supported on NF (158 mV), but also comparable to the commercial Pt/C catalyst. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Precisely controlling the morphology of electrocatalyst which is critical to its activity and stability remains a key challenge toward efficient overall water splitting. Herein, a distinct temperature-dependent structure modulation effect of electroless plating technique is reported and consequently several bifunctional electrocatalysts with various structures are developed. The optimized bifunctional electrode with cobalt-phosphorus-boron nanoflowers growing on the carbon cloth demands overpotentials of only 91 mV and 294 mV to achieve a current density of 50 mA cm−2 for the hydrogen evolution reaction and oxygen evolution reaction in 1.0 M potassium hydroxide at 25 °C. Moreover, an overall water-splitting device assembled by this electrode can also work at high temperature of 60 °C with excellent long term durability and achieve a current density of 20 mA cm−2 at a cell voltage of around 1.39 V. This work uncovers some structure design principles of highly active electrocatalyst and provides a versatile strategy for structure modulation of the electrocatalyst for pratctical water electrolysis. Construction of practical bifunctional electrodes for overall water splitting has been facilitated by a distinct temperature-dependent structure modulation effect of electroless plating technique. A remarkable Co–P–B/carbon cloth electrode with nano flower structure achieved a current density of 20 mA cm−2 at a cell voltage of around 1.39 V at 60 °C with excellent long term durability. Image 1 • Co-P-B bifunctional electrode affords 20 mA cm-2 at a cell voltage of only 1.386 V at 60 °C, reaching a record-level. • A temperature-dependent structural modulation by electroless plating technique has been developed. • Several fundamental principles have been uncovered for designing highly active electrocatalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ni-B was grown in situ on porous hydrophilic filter paper by simple electroless plating for efficient hydrogen production in alkaline seawater. The electrode has high stability within 80h at an industrial current density of 1250 mA cm-2. Meantime, it also has its own filterable and bendable characteristics. [Display omitted] It is significance to develop non-precious metal catalytic electrodes that can be used for electrolysis of seawater to produce hydrogen to alleviate the energy crisis and environmental pollution. In this work, a stable, efficient and filterable flexible self-supporting electrode is prepared by in-situ growth of nickel and boron on porous hydrophilic filter paper (HP) via mild electroless plating at 298 K (Ni-B@HP). Due to NiB in-situ growth on the surface of the fiber, which has fast electron transfer ability and high intrinsic activity. In the electrolytic water hydrogen and oxygen evolution reaction process (HER and OER), the overpotentials are only 32 mV and 300 mV to achieve a current density of 10 mA cm−2, and there is no attenuation after stable operation for>3 days at industrial current density (>500 mA cm−2). More attractively, with filterable paper as the substrate, the Ni-B@HP electrode maintains its own filterability to realize seawater and sewage self-filtration, and has flexible characteristics of bending, folding and variant. This strategy of constructing electrodes can be applied to various extreme conditions and provides a new strategy for current sewage treatment and seawater hydrogen production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The lead-free bismuth sodium titanate ceramic can be polarized in kg-level for 2e- ORR. • The local electric field is triggered in sodium titanate ceramic under dynamic ORR process. • Local electric field improves the ion (OH-/HO 2 −) concentration around the catalyst-electrolyte interface. • An enhanced alkaline 2e- ORR performance is realized on the polarized ceramic catalyst. Optimizing the interface property of the catalyst-electrolyte by the physical field modulation could improve the electrocatalytic performance, yet the associated investigations on the two-electron oxygen reduction reaction (2e− ORR) are still scarce. Herein, we develop a facile, green, and economic piezoelectricity-indued local electric field strategy based on the piezo-response of the polarized lead-free bismuth sodium titanate (P-BNT) ceramic under the dynamic operational conditions of ORR. The as-emerged electric field at the immediate vicinity of the ceramic catalyst surface greatly optimizes its adjacent OH- coverage from the alkaline electrolyte and lowers the local concentration of the HO 2 − product. Therefore, the adsorption ability of oxygen-containing intermediates during the ORR process is ameliorated, and the peroxide product disproportionation is simultaneously inhibited. Compared with the unpolarized ceramic catalyst, P-BNT prepared at a kilogram scale displayed excellent 2e- ORR selectivity over 90% in a wide potential window of 0.45 V in 0.1 M KOH with a summit of ∼100%, outmatching most state-of-the-art alkaline 2e− ORR catalysts. The current work could realize the improved electrosynthesis efficiency of hydrogen peroxide with practical application potentials, especially considering the environmentally-friendly, extensively-studied, and technically-mature lead-free piezoelectric BNT ceramic that can be facilely prepared in a low cost and large scale. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing bifunctional electrodes for oxidation catalysis is highly desirable for hydrogen and value-added chemicals production. Herein, we directly activate the nickel foam through the incorporation of elemental P (P-NF) using a facile, controllable, and ultrafast in-liquid plasma electrolysis approach. When serving for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in 1 M KOH at room temperature, the optimized P-NF can afford 500 mA cm−2 at 350 mV, and stabilize this current density for over 120 h. Remarkably, the electrode maintains a stable industrial-grade current density in an assembled electrolyzer under quasi-industrial conditions (60 ℃ and 6 M KOH) for over 107 h. The combination of ex/in-situ characterizations and theoretic calculations unequivocally illustrates that P-incorporation induces an elevated electrode porosity and wettability, increased and immobilized Fe impurity doping, as well as enhanced conductivity, forming active Fe-doped γ-NiIIIOOH during OER. The practical bifunctionality of P-NF is additionally verified with selective oxygenation of organics forming value-added chemicals. [Display omitted] • First in-liquid plasma electrolysis approach to incorporate P to Ni lattices (P-NF). • P-NF is an exceptional alkaline OER electrode both in ambient and industrial conditions. • In-situ/ex-situ and DFT studies have been performed to uncover the active structure. • Fe-doped γ-NiIIIOOH surface emerges on P-NF stabilizing the structure under OER. • P-NF displays outstanding performance for the selective oxygenation of aldehydes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flexible LIBs with stable electrochemical performance and function extensibility are essential yet challenging. Herein, the authors develop a new design called Micro-tabless-pouch-cell (MTPC) for advanced flexible electronics, which realizes the miniaturization of pouch cells with exposed current collector, thus providing stable power sources with function extensibility for flexible electronics. [Display omitted] • A miniaturized pouch cell is realized by avoiding the ultrasonic tab-welding. • Electrochemical, mechanical and waterproof performance are simultaneously realized. • The unique exposed functional collector of MTPC enables function extensibility. Power sources with stable electrochemical performance, flexible integration, and function extensibility are essential to meet the demands for emerging flexible electronics. The simultaneous realization of these properties is challenging based on current solutions for designing flexible batteries. Herein, we develop a new type of design strategy called Micro-tabless-pouch-cell (MTPC), which realizes the miniaturization of pouch cells by replacing the conventional ultrasonic welding protocol with an innovative tab-glue-hot-welding process during sealing. The electrochemical performance of the electrodes in the MTPC is comparable to that of the coin cell, while the weight of the entire MTPC device is reduced by 95%, resulting in a 2230.93% increase in gravimetric energy density (14.242 Wh/kg vs 0.611 Wh/kg). The miniaturization enables the MTPC to be easily integrated on flexible substrates. Moreover, the MTPC has a unique structure of exposed current collector, which enables function extensibility. As a proof of concept, an MTPC with smart self-protection capability upon over-heating is demonstrated by integrating a reversible thermal switch composed of an Ecoflex/ethanol composite. The simultaneous realization of robust electrochemical performance, capability for flexible integration, and function extensibility in MTPC is expected to push the developments for various high-end flexible electronics that require stable input of energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Li 3 VO 4 anchored 3D graphene networks (Li 3 VO 4 /3DGNs) nanocomposite was constructed via a facile one-pot hydrothermal method. The as-prepared Li 3 VO 4 /3DGNs nanocomposite exhibits a unique pomegranate-like structure where nanohole-dotted Li 3 VO 4 nanoparticles resembling pomegranate seeds are firmly anchored and uniformly distributed on 3DGNs. Li 3 VO 4 /3DGNs composite presents excellent cycling and rate performance. The initial reversible capacity is 397 mAh g −1 at 2 A g −1 and remains at 259 mAh g −1 even after 2500 cycles. In addition, under current densities of 0.2, 0.4, 0.8, 2, 4, 8, 16 and 32 A g −1 , the composite delivers large capacities of 471, 404, 359, 318, 290, 247, 191 and 142 mAh g −1 , respectively. The excellent electrochemical performance is mainly attributed to the enhanced electrical conductivity and structural stability as well as accelerated Li + diffusion derived from both the 3D continuous conductive channels endowed robust 3DGNs and the nanohole-dotted Li 3 VO 4 nanoparticles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel strategy by an integration of electroless plating, hydrophilic sponge coupling and phase engineering is proposed to fabricate the self-supported alloys nanosheets for overall-water splitting in alkaline solution, which delivers an ultralow cell voltage of 1.456 V at 10 mA cm−2, along with an unprecedent cycle durability at 500 mA cm−2 > 3 days. [Display omitted] • B-inserted FeNi alloy nanosheets were electroless plated onto the hydrophilic and insulated sponge. • The dual solid solution was created via substitution of Fe by Ni and insertion of B within the Fe lattice interstitials. • The developed electrocatalysts exhibited an outstanding overall water-splitting performance at large current densities. • The proposed strategy is versatile and can be extended to synthesize other efficient B-inserted Fe-based electrocatalysts. The aggregation of transition metal nanoparticles severely degrades their catalytic activity towards water splitting. Although this issue can be alleviated by the popular carbon-hybridization and metal foam-confinement strategies, the complicated fabrication procedure and the support corrosion parasitic in these strategies inevitably result in high usage cost and unsatisfactory cycle durability. Herein, we in-situ space-confined boron-inserted Fe-Ni solid solution nanosheets onto the activated hydrophilic sponge (B-FeNi@HS) via substitution of Fe by Ni and insertion of B within the Fe lattice interstitials in the presence of NH 4 +-modified dimethylamino borane solution. When served as the bifunctional electrocatalysts, B-FeNi@HS only needs overpotentials of 54 and 171 mV to afford 10 mA cm–2 for HER and OER in 1.0 M KOH, respectively. In addition, the alkaline overall-water splitting system constructed by using B-FeNi@HS as two-electrodes only delivers an ultralow cell voltage of 1.456 V to drive 10 mA cm–2, and shows negligible activity decay even at 500 mA cm–2 for 3 days. Such outstanding performance can be traced to the synergism of corrosion-resistant support, hierarchical morphology with favorable surface area and dual solid-solution crystal structure, ensuring robust mechanical stability, rapid charge/mass transfer kinetics as well as the energetically favorable formation of intermediates during catalysis. The proposed strategy is versatile and can be extended to synthesize other efficient B-inserted Fe-based electrocatalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing an efficient electrocatalyst that enables the efficient electrochemical conversion from CO 2 to CH 4 across a wide potential range remains a formidable challenge. Herein, we introduce a precatalyst strategy that realizes the in situ electrochemical reconstruction of ultrafine Cu 2 O nanodomains, intricately coupled on the CeO 2 surface (Cu 2 O/CeO 2 ), originating from the heterointerface comprised of ultrafine CuO nanodomains on the CeO 2 surface (CuO/CeO 2 ). When served as the electrocatalyst for the electrochemical CO 2 reduction reaction, Cu 2 O/CeO 2 delivers a selectivity higher than 49 % towards CH 4 over a broad potential range from -1.2 V to -1.7 V vs. RHE, maintaining negligible activity decay for 20 h. Notably, the highest selectivity for CH 4 reaches an impressive 70 % at -1.5 V vs. RHE. Through the combination of comprehensive analysis including synchrotron X-ray absorption spectroscopy, spherical aberration-corrected high-angle annular dark field scanning transmission electron microscope as well as the density functional theoretical calculation, the efficient production of CH 4 is attributed to the coherent interface between Cu 2 O and CeO 2 , which could converted from the original CuO and CeO 2 interface, ensuring abundant active sites and enhanced intrinsic activity and selectivity towards CH 4 ., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

To facilitate more accurate and explainable recommendation, it is crucial to incorporate side information into user-item interactions. Recently, knowledge graph (KG) has attracted much attention in a variety of domains due to its fruitful facts and abundant relations. However, the expanding scale of real-world data graphs poses severe challenges. In general, most existing KG-based algorithms adopt exhaustively hop-by-hop enumeration strategy to search all the possible relational paths, this manner involves extremely high-cost computations and is not scalable with the increase of hop numbers. To overcome these difficulties, in this article, we propose an end-to-end framework Knowledge-tree-routed UseR-Interest Trajectories Network (KURIT-Net). KURIT-Net employs the user-interest Markov trees (UIMTs) to reconfigure a recommendation-based KG, striking a good balance for routing knowledge between short-distance and long-distance relations between entities. Each tree starts from the preferred items for a user and routes the association reasoning paths along the entities in the KG to provide a human-readable explanation for model prediction. KURIT-Net receives entity and relation trajectory embedding (RTE) and fully reflects potential interests of each user by summarizing all reasoning paths in a KG. Besides, we conduct extensive experiments on six public datasets, our KURIT-Net significantly outperforms state-of-the-art approaches and shows its interpretability in recommendation.

Background: Immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) has become a major breakthrough in the field of tumor therapy, leading to improved survival. This study evaluated the clinical and electrocardiographic characteristics of patients with ICI-related myocarditis., Methods: Patients with ICI-related myocarditis were enrolled from 4 centers in China until September 2023. Demographic data (age, sex, comorbidity), types of ICI, clinical manifestations, electrocardiogram (ECG) and treatment were analyzed retrospectively. Arrhythmia and characteristics of ECG were compared according to prognosis and grading., Results: A total of 29 participants (13 females with a median age of 63.25 years) with ICI-related myocarditis were enrolled. Lung cancer was the most, with a proportion of 31.03 % (9/29). The median time from the first administration of ICI to the diagnosis of myocarditis was 50 days. Camrelizumab was the main type of ICI (9/29). Most patients had non-specific symptoms, dyspnea (n = 16) and palpitation (n = 9) were common. The overall mortality rate was 37.93 % (11/29) with a median follow-up of 9(4,11) days. Compared with the survivors, P-wave abnormality was more common in participants who were dead (24.14 %vs6.90 %, p = 0.010). A total of 19 patients with severe ICI-related myocarditis were included in this study. The proportions of sinus tachycardia (34.48 %vs0.00 %, p = 0.005), premature ventricular complex (27.59 %vs0.00 %, p = 0.027) and atrioventricular block (34.48 %vs3.45 %, p = 0.044) were higher in severe ICI-related myocarditis., Conclusions: Clinical manifestations of ICI-related myocarditis usually lacked specificity. ECGs can be manifested as new-onset arrhythmias, ST-T segment changes, fragmented QRS complex, abnormal P wave, prolonged QTc interval and multi‑lead low voltage., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Promoting the in situ reconstruction of transition metal (TM)-based precatalysts into low-crystalline and well-modified TM (oxy)hydroxides (TMO x H y ) during the alkaline oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is crucial for enhancing their catalytic performances. In this study, we incorporated gadolinium (Gd) into a cobalt hydroxide precatalyst, achieving a deep reconstruction into cobalt oxyhydroxide (γ-CoOOH) while retaining the incorporated Gd during the activation process of the alkaline OER. The unconventional non-leaching Gd dopants endow γ-CoOOH with reduced crystallinity, increasing the exposure of electrolyte-accessible Co atoms and enhancing its bulk activity. Furthermore, the modulation of the electronic structure of γ-CoOOH substantially boosts the intrinsic activity of the active Co sites. As a result, when supported on nickel foam, the catalyst exhibits remarkable alkaline OER performance, achieving a current density of 100 mA cm -2 at a low overpotential of approximately 327 mV. Notably, an ultrahigh current density of 1000 mA cm -2 is robustly maintained for 5 days, highlighting its immense potential for practical applications in large-scale hydrogen production.

Non-noble transition metal (TM)-based compounds have recently become a focal point of extensive research interest as electrocatalysts for the two electron oxygen reduction (2e - ORR) process. To efficiently drive this reaction, these TM-based electrocatalysts must bear unique physiochemical properties, which are strongly dependent on their phase structures. Consequently, adopting engineering strategies toward the phase structure has emerged as a cutting-edge scientific pursuit, crucial for achieving high activity, selectivity, and stability in the electrocatalytic process. This comprehensive review addresses the intricate field of phase engineering applied to non-noble TM-based compounds for 2e - ORR. First, the connotation of phase engineering and fundamental concepts related to oxygen reduction kinetics and thermodynamics are succinctly elucidated. Subsequently, the focus shifts to a detailed discussion of various phase engineering approaches, including elemental doping, defect creation, heterostructure construction, coordination tuning, crystalline design, and polymorphic transformation to boost or revive the 2e - ORR performance (selectivity, activity, and stability) of TM-based catalysts, accompanied by an insightful exploration of the phase-performance correlation. Finally, the review proposes fresh perspectives on the current challenges and opportunities in this burgeoning field, together with several critical research directions for the future development of non-noble TM-based electrocatalysts., (© 2024 The Authors. Advanced Materials published by Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Background: Over the past decade, immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have significantly transformed cancer treatment. However, ICIs inevitably may cause a spectrum of immune-related adverse events, among which cardiovascular toxicity, particularly myocarditis, while infrequent, has garnered increasing attention due to its high fatality rate., Methods: We conducted a multicenter retrospective study to characterize ICI-associated cardiovascular adverse events. Logistic regression was performed to explore the risk factors for the development of myocarditis and severe myocarditis. Receiver operating characteristic curves were conducted to assess the diagnostic abilities of cardiac biomarkers to distinguish different cardiovascular toxicities, and the performance and calibration were evaluated using Hosmer-Lemeshow test., Results: Forty-four patients were identified, including thirty-five myocarditis, five heart failure, three arrhythmias, and one myocardial infarction. Compared with other patients, myocarditis patients had higher cardiac troponin-I (cTnI) levels (p < 0.001), higher creatine kinase levels (p = 0.003), higher creatine kinase isoenzyme-MB (CK-MB) levels (p = 0.013), and shorter time to the incidence of adverse cardiovascular events (p = 0.022) after ICI treatment. Twenty-one patients (60%) were classified as severe myocarditis, and they presented higher cardiac troponin I (cTnI) levels (p = 0.013), higher N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide levels (p = 0.031), higher creatine kinase levels (p = 0.018), higher CK-MB levels (p = 0.026), and higher neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) levels (p = 0.016) compared to non-severe myocarditis patients after ICI treatment. Multivariate logistic regression showed that CK-MB (adjusted odds ratio [OR]: 1.775, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.055-2.984, p = 0.031) was the independent risk factor of the development of ICI-associated myocarditis, and cTnI (adjusted OR: 1.021, 95% CI: 1.002-1.039, p = 0.03) and NLR (adjusted OR: 1.890, 95% CI: 1.026-3.483, p = 0.041) were the independent risk factors of ICI-associated severe myocarditis. The receiver operating characteristic curve showed an area under curve of 0.785 (95% CI: 0.642 to 0.928, p = 0.013) for CK-MB, 0.765 (95% CI: 0.601 to 0.929, p = 0.013) for cTnI, and 0.773 for NLR (95% CI: 0.597 to 0.948, p = 0.016)., Conclusions: Elevated CK-MB after ICI treatment is the independent risk factor for the incidence of ICI-associated myocarditis, and elevated cTnI and NLR after ICI treatment are the independent risk factors for the development of ICI-associated severe myocarditis. CK-MB, cTnI, and NLR demonstrated a promising predictive utility for the identification of ICI-associated myocarditis and severe myocarditis., (© 2024 The Authors. Cancer Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Epimedium is a Chinese herbal medicine commonly used in clinical practice to reinforce yang. Previous studies have shown that Epimedium fried with suet oil based has the best effect on warming kidney and promoting yang. Evidence suggests a relationship between kidney yang deficiency syndrome (KYDS) and metabolic disorders of the intestinal microflora. However, the specific interaction between KYDS and the intestinal microbiome, as well as the internal regulatory mechanism of the KYDS intestinal microbiome regulated by Epimedium fried with suet oil, remain unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate the regulatory effects of different processed products of Epimedium on intestinal microflora and metabolites in rats with kidney yang deficiency, and to reveal the processing mechanism of Epimedium fried with suet oil warming kidney and helping yang. 16 S rRNA and LC-MS/MS technology were used to detect fecal samples. Combined with multivariate statistical analysis, differential intestinal flora and metabolites were screened. Then the content of differential bacteria was then quantified using quantitative real-time fluorescence PCR. Furthermore, the correlation between differential bacterial flora and metabolites was analyzed using Spearman's method. The study found that the composition of intestinal flora in rats with kidney yang deficiency changed compared to healthy rats. Epimedium fried with suet oil could increase the levels of beneficial bacteria, while significantly reducing the levels of harmful bacteria. Real-time quantitative PCR results were consistent with 16 S rRNA gene sequencing analysis. Fecal metabolomics revealed that KYDS was associated with 30 different metabolites, involving metabolic pathways steroid hormone biosynthesis etc. Moreover, differential bacteria were closely correlated with potential biomarkers. Epimedium could improve metabolic disorders associated with KYDS by acting on the intestinal flora, with Epimedium fried with suet oil demonstrating the most effective regulatory effect. Its potential mechanism may involve the regulation of abnormal metabolism and the impact on the diversity and structure of the intestinal flora., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: This study aimed to evaluate the causal impact of common modifiable lifestyles on obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), which is beneficial for recommendations to prevent and manage OSA., Method: Published genome-wide association study (GWAS) summary statistics were used to perform two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR). Variants associated with each exposure of smoking, drinking, and leisure sedentary behaviors at the genetic level were used as instrumental variables (IVs). Then, inverse-variance weighting (IVW) was considered the primary result for causality. Moreover, several complimented approaches were also included to verify the observed associations. MR-PRESSO and MR-Egger intercept were applied to test the horizontal pleiotropy. To assess heterogeneity, Cochran's Q test by IVW and MR-Egger were applied., Results: Regular smoking history increased OSA risk in all applied approaches [OR (95% CI) IVW = 1.28 (1.12, 1.45), p = 1.853 × 10 -4 ], while the causality of lifetime smoking index [OR (95% CI) IVW = 1.39 (1.00, 1.91), p = 0.048], alcohol intake frequency [outliers removed OR (95% CI) IVW = 1.26 (1.08, 1.45), p = 0.002], and coffee intake behavior [OR (95% CI) IVW = 1.66 (1.03, 2.68), p = 0.039] on OSA risk were not always consistent in other approaches. In addition, no robust causal associations were observed for the effect of sedentary leisure behaviors on OSA risk. In sensitivity analysis, we observed no sign of horizontal pleiotropy or heterogeneity., Conclusion: Ever regularly smoking has a robust causal role in increasing OSA risk, which should be discouraged as precautions from developing OSA., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Liu, Zang, Wang, Liu, Chen, He, Liu, Su, Zhang and Yi.)

Cancer remains a major cause of mortality worldwide, and urological cancers are the most common cancers among men. Several therapeutic agents have been used to treat urological cancer, leading to improved survival for patients. However, this has been accompanied by an increase in the frequency of survivors with cardiovascular complications caused by anticancer medications. Here, we propose the novel discipline of uro-cardio-oncology, an evolving subspecialty focused on the complex interactions between cardiovascular disease and urological cancer. In this comprehensive review, we discuss the various cardiovascular toxicities induced by different classes of antineoplastic agents used to treat urological cancers, including androgen deprivation therapy, vascular endothelial growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors, immune checkpoint inhibitors, and chemotherapeutics. In addition, we discuss possible mechanisms underlying the cardiovascular toxicity associated with anticancer therapy and outline strategies for the surveillance, diagnosis, and effective management of cardiovascular complications. Finally, we provide an analysis of future perspectives in this emerging specialty, identifying areas in need of further research., Competing Interests: Professor Tong Liu is the member of the Cancer Innovation Editorial Board. To minimize bias, he was excluded from all editorial decision‐making related to the acceptance of this article for publication. The remaining authors declare no conflict of interest., (© 2024 The Authors. Cancer Innovation published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Tsinghua University Press.)

N-doped carbon (NC)-encapsulated transition metal (TM) nanocomposites are considered as alternatives to Pt-based hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) electrocatalysts; however, their poor electron transfer and mass diffusion capability at high current densities hinder their practical application. Herein, an oriented coupling strategy for the in situ grafting of ultrafine Co nanoparticle-embedded hollow porous C polyhedra onto Si nanowires (Co/NC-HP@Si-NWs) is proposed to address this concern. Experimental investigations reveal that the intimate coupling between the Si-NW and Co/NC nanocage forms a multithreaded conductive network, lowering the energy barrier for internal electron transfer. When functionalized as an HER electrocatalyst in 0.5 m H 2 SO 4 , Co/NC-HP@Si-NWs deliver overpotentials as low as 57 and 440 mV at 10 and 500 mA cm -2 , respectively, which are much better than those of the pristine Co/NC-HP. Moreover, Co/NC-HP@Si-NWs show an outstanding cycle durability of 24 h at 10 and 500 mA cm -2 . The findings of this study are expected to inspire revolutionary work on the development of Si-mediated TM-based electrocatalysts for the HER., (© 2023 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Efficient quantification of fatty-acid (FA) composition (fatty-acidome) in biological samples is crucial for understanding physiology and pathophysiology in large population cohorts. Here, we report a rapid GC-FID/MS method for simultaneous quantification of all FAs in numerous biological matrices. Within eight minutes, this method enabled simultaneous quantification of 50 FAs as fatty-acid methyl esters (FAMEs) in femtomole levels following the efficient transformation of FAs in all lipids including FFAs, cholesterol-esters, glycerides, phospholipids and sphingolipids. The method showed satisfactory inter-day and intra-day precision, stability and linearity (R 2 > 0.994) within a concentration range of 2-3 orders of magnitude. FAs were then quantified in typical multiple biological matrices including human biofluids (urine, plasma) and cells, animal intestinal content and tissue samples. We also established a quantitative structure-retention relationship (QSRR) for analytes to accurately predict their retention time and aid their reliable identification. We further developed a novel no-additive retention index (NARI) with endogenous FAMEs reducing inter-batch variations to 15 seconds; such NARI performed better than the alkanes-based classical RI, making meta-analysis possible for data obtained from different batches and platforms. Collectively, this provides an inexpensive high-throughput analytical system for quantitative phenotyping of all FAs in 8-minutes multiple biological matrices in large cohort studies of pathophysiological effects., Competing Interests: Pinghui Liu, Qinsheng Chen, Lianglong Zhang, Chengcheng Ren, Biru Shi, Jingxian Zhang, Shuaiyao Wang, Ziliang Chen, Qi Wang, Hui Xie, Qingxia Huang and Huiru Tang declare that they have no conflict of interest., (© The Author(s) 2023.)

Background: Early identification of modifiable risk factors is essential for the prevention of frailty. This study aimed to explore the causal relationships between a spectrum of genetically predicted risk factors and frailty., Methods: Univariable and multivariable Mendelian randomisation (MR) analyses were performed to explore the relationships between 22 potential risk factors and frailty, using summary genome-wide association statistics. Frailty was accessed by the frailty index., Results: Genetic liability to coronary artery disease (CAD), type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), ischaemic stroke, atrial fibrillation and regular smoking history, as well as genetically predicted 1-SD increase in body mass index, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, alcohol intake frequency and sleeplessness were significantly associated with increased risk of frailty (all p<0.001). In addition, there was a significant inverse association between genetically predicted college or university degree with risk of frailty (beta -0.474; 95% CI (-0.561 to -0.388); p<0.001), and a suggestive inverse association between high-density lipoprotein cholesterol level with risk of frailty (beta -0.032; 95% CI (-0.055 to -0.010); p=0.004). However, no significant causal associations were observed between coffee consumption, tea consumption, serum level of total testosterone, oestradiol, 25-hydroxyvitamin D, C reactive protein or moderate to vigorous physical activity level with frailty (all p>0.05). Results of the reverse directional MR suggested bidirectional causal associations between T2DM and CAD with frailty., Conclusions: This study provided genetic evidence for the causal associations between several modifiable risk factors with lifetime frailty risk. A multidimensional approach targeting these factors may hold a promising prospect for prevention frailty., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2023. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Competing Interests: Conflict of interest: All authors have no conflict of interest to report.

Purpose: The aim of our study is to estimate the associations and causalities of glucose metabolism traits of fasting blood glucose (FBG), fasting insulin (FINS), glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), and 2-h glucose post-challenge (2hGlu) with sleep traits consisting of excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS), insomnia, and sleep duration., Methods: We employed standard quantitative analysis procedures to assess the associations between sleep traits and glucose metabolism. Moreover, we acquired published genome-wide association studies (GWAS) summary statistics for these traits and conducted Mendelian randomization (MR) analyses to estimate their causal directions and effects. Inverse variance weighting (IVW) was employed as the primary approach, followed by sensitivity analyses., Results: A total of 116 studies with over 840,000 participants were included in the quantitative analysis. Our results revealed that participants with abnormal glucose metabolism had higher risks for EDS (OR [95% CI] = 1.37 [1.10,1.69]), insomnia (OR [95% CI] = 1.65 [1.24,2.20]), and both short and long sleep duration (OR [95% CI] = 1.35 [1.12,1.63]; OR [95% CI] = 1.38 [1.13,1.67] respectively). In addition, individuals with these sleep traits exhibited alterations in several glycemic traits compared with non-affected controls. In MR analysis, the primary analysis demonstrated causal effects of 2hGlu on risks of EDS (OR [95% CI] = 1.022 [1.002,1.042]) and insomnia (OR [95% CI] = 1.020[1.001,1.039]). Furthermore, FINS was associated with short sleep duration (OR [95% CI] = 1.043 [1.018,1.068]), which reversely presented a causal influence on HbA1c (β [95% CI] = 0.131 [0.022,0.239]). These results were confirmed by sensitivity analysis., Conclusion: Our results suggested mutual risk and causal associations between the sleep traits and glycemic traits, shedding new light on clinical strategies for preventing sleep disorders and regulating glucose metabolism. Future studies targeting these associations may hold a promising prospect for public health., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Yi, Fei, Chen, Zhao, Liu, Jian, Liu, He, Su and Zhang.)