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Polyacrylic acid (PAA) is a promising binder for the high-capacity Si anode. However, the one-dimensional structure of PAA could cause the linear molecular chains to slide from the Si surface during the charge-discharge processes, leading to insufficient suppression of the massive volume expansion of the Si anode. Herein, a soft-rigid dual chains' network of PAA-sodium silicate (PAA-SS) was successfully constructed by cross-linking PAA and SS in situ at room temperature. The soft chains of PAA and the rigid chains of polysilicic acid synergistically ensure the enhanced adhesion property and mechanical strength. Therefore, the Si electrode with PAA-SS binder delivers a discharge capacity of 1559 mAh/g after 150 cycles at 4.2 A/g (1C) with an initial Coulombic efficiency of 93.2%. Moreover, the PAA-SS based SiC-500 electrode exhibits a discharge capacity of 441 mAh/g with the capacity retention of 88.2% after 500 cycles at 0.5 A/g, implying the PAA-SS binder's great industrial prospect in Si based electrodes.

A typical oiling-out process in the binary phase with FBRM patterns and an online picture.

Cultural ecosystem services (CES) of urban wetland parks (UWPs) can be priced according to monetary values. Urban green and blue spaces (UGS and UBS, respectively) provide stands of nature in UWPs, wherein visitors’ emotions related to the enjoyment of CES values can be assessed through analyzing the facial expressions of visitors. In this study, a total of 98 UWPs were selected as study stands in Jiangxi, where a total of 1749 photographs showing facial expressions were obtained from Sina Weibo for local visitors experiencing UGS and UBS in 2021. The CES of UBS were evaluated at a widely used price of USD 881 ha−1 yr−1, and those of UGS were evaluated at USD 1583 ha−1 yr−1. The averaged CES values were estimated to be USD 941.26 and 39.54 thousand yr−1 for UGS and UBS per UWP in Jiangxi, respectively. The large number of UGS in an UWP had no relationship with the examined facial expressions; however, areas of UBS and, accordingly, the CES values therein, can both be perceived and exposed as positive emotions. CES in UBS only accounted for lower than 5% of that in a UWP, whereas those in UGS together explained over 95%. Overall, people smiled more when perceiving the values of services in UBS of UWPs than when experiencing UGS.

Earth current generated by the operation of urban rail transit can enter into the neutral point of grounding transformer, which will result in the deterioration of transformer operation performance and cause electrical safety problems. In this article, the neutral current for 220 kV transformers has been measured in the real power system, the characteristics of dc and harmonic current are analyzed, and a novel suppression method for the dc and harmonic current simultaneously combining an active converter with a dc blocking capacitor is proposed, which solves not only the traditional dc bias problem but also the intrusion of the harmonic current from urban rail transit. The active converter is designed to compensate harmonic voltage to suppress harmonic current, and the capacitor provides blocking for the dc current. The protection scheme in case of the high fault current of the neutral point is presented. The improved control method is designed to control the neutral current and adjust the fundamental impedance for the requirements of relay protection. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by the digital simulations and the laboratory experiments based on the field working conditions, and the results demonstrate the satisfying performances.

Metal oxide-based materials are attractive anode candidates for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) because of their high theoretical capacity. However, these materials suffer from large volume expansion and poor stability of solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) during the charge-discharge process, casusing rapid capacity degradation. Herein, we report that Li3PO4-rooted and intact SEI in situ formed on the phosphate-modified SnO2/CNFs during cycling. The phosphate anions in the anode, could serve as the root to form Li3PO4 by bonding with Li ions and participate in the formation of the SEI, thus firmly anchoring and stabilizing the SEI layer. The rooted Li3PO4 and enriched LiF in the SEI could synergistically enhance the Li-ion diffusion, significantly reduce the volume expansion, and lead to ultrastable cycling performance over 1100 charge-discharge cycles at 1 A g-1. This work provides a new avenue for forming stable SEI rooted into the anode and inspires the development of interface engineering toward electrochemical energy storage.

A rational structural strategy to design rambutan-like NiFe-LDH nanocluster arrays electrode via a buffer-salt-assisted hydrothermal method was reported. For our developed electrode, large stable current density of 100 and 200 mA cm−2 at overpotential of only 283 and 300 mV in oxygen evolution reaction in alkaline electrolyte was obtained, which is dramatically lower than many previous reported overpotentials. It also exhibits low Tafel slope at current range from 10 to 25 mA cm−2 (56.47 mV dec−1). Further analysis demonstrates the key role of higher carriers of the rambutan-like NiFe-LDH nanocluster arrays electrode in boosting the water-splitting performance of the resulting system. Benefiting from the fine geometry shape of the self-supported nanocluster nanoarrays electrode, the transfer process of the reactants and oxygen/hydrogen bubbles is accelerated. In addition, a 19-time enhancement of carrier concentration for our developed rambutan-like NiFe-LDH nanoclusters (2.9 × 1029 m−3) is obtained. Notably, the resultant rambutan-like NiFe-LDH nanocluster arrays electrode exhibits enhanced stability (in high and low current density) for the full water splitting in 1 M KOH, remaining nearly 100% of the original current density after continued testing for 20 h. This finding may provide new insight on rational structural design LDH nanostructures with high performance for electrocatalysis. A highly hydrophilic NiFe-LDH nanocluster arrays electrode is developed for efficient full water splitting. Large and stable current density of 200 mA cm−2 is obtained at overpotential of 300 mV. Besides, the faraday efficiency is nearly 100%.

Hollow MoS2/Co-0.1 nanopillars were successfully synthesized by sulfurizing CoMoO4 and subsequent acid etching, which were used as the anode material for lithium ion batteries. The introduction of suitable metal Co into MoS2 nanopillars effectively accelerates electron/ion transport kinetics, leading to high specific capacity and superior rate capability and cycling stability.

Transition metal boride (TMB) as a new type of catalyst has attracted much attention in recent years. To further enhance their catalytic performance, much effort has been made on improving their electrical conductivity and specific surface area. Herein, we have constructed a heterojunction by anchoring 1D nickel boride (NixB) nanoparticles on the surface of 2D N-doped Ti3C2 MXene (N10TC) to overcome these limitations. The resulting heterojunction (NixB/N10TC) electrode exhibited improved catalytic activities and stability on water splitting. In particular, this NixB/N10TC electrode exhibits excellent stability within 50 h continued testing.

The ground current of rail transit contains direct and harmonic components, which will lead to many undesirable effects on substation transformer neutral points. The traditional suppression strategy can only suppress the direct current in the ground current. At the same time, the traditional switching strategy does not consider the dynamic changes of the direct ground current and may cause the direct ground current at the surrounding neutral point to passively exceed the limit. Firstly, in this paper, the change of the direct and harmonic ground current and the influence of the rail transit passenger load on ground current were analyzed based on the measurement data. Then, considering the harmonic ground current of rail transit, a suppression strategy of harmonic ground current was designed. Besides, a calculation model for neutral point direct ground current distribution was established. Finally, an optimal switching strategy of the blocking device was presented to minimize the global direct ground current and maximize the economy of overall devices. Using the test case of 220kV substations surrounding an actual metro line, the ability of suppressing the harmonic ground current was verified. Compared with conventional switching strategy, the effectiveness and correctness of the optimal strategy for the direct ground current based on blocking devices were verified.

Evodiamine (EVO) is one of the major components isolated fromThis study focused on asking the anti-cancer effect of EVO in human non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC), and in particular to investigate whether EVO acts via modulating the endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS)-mediated apoptosis pathway.A Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC) tumor-bearing mouse model was treated with low-dose EVO (5 mg/kg) and high-dose EVO (10 mg/kg) intraperitoneally for 14 d. The effects of EVO on tumor growth, apoptosis, and ERS were assessed. In addition, NSCLC A549 and LLC cells were treated with EVO in vitro. The effects of EVO on cell proliferation, apoptosis, and ERS were investigated. Finally, 4-phenylbutyric acid (4-PBA), an ERS inhibitor, was used to validate whether EVO induced apoptosis of NSCLC cells by modulating ERS.EVO treatment significantly inhibited tumor growth in LLC tumor-bearing mice. HE staining indicated that EVO treatment reduced the number of tumor cells and the nucleo-plasmic ratio. Immunostaining showed that EVO treatment significantly decreased the expression of Ki-67. TUNEL staining revealed that EVO induced apoptosis in the tumor. Likewise, EVO treatment up-regulated the expression of apoptosis-related genes and proteins and increased activation of the ERS pathway in the tumor. Additionally, EVO inhibited cell proliferation and increased cell apoptotic rates in A549 and LLC cells. EVO also increased the expression levels of genes and proteins associated with ERS-mediated apoptosis pathway in vitro. The effects of EVO on apoptosis were abolished by 4-PBA treatment.Our study demonstrated that EVO suppresses the progression of NSCLC by modulating the ERS-mediated apoptosis pathway.

Flexible nanogenerators (NGs) with high power output and high efficiency have attracted extensive interests in recent years. Herein, we report highly efficient, mechanoradical-based NGs based on po...

A sensitive fluorescent probe L for Zn2+ with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) properties has been synthesized. The probe L exhibits specific selectivity and high sensitivity towards Zn2+ in EtOH/H2O (4 : 1, v/v, HEPES = 20 mM, pH = 7.20) solvents, with the detection limit of 2.1 × 10−8 M. The potential sensing mechanism was analyzed via Job plot, MS and NMR titration, and the complexation ratio of the probe L and Zn2+ was 1 : 1. Furthermore, the as-prepared probe shows high sensitivity towards Zn2+ in a pH range of 4.8–12.0, combined with its wonderful cell permeability which ensures that it can work under physiological conditions and can image Zn2+ in living cells.

Background: Toxoplasmosis is an extremely rare disease that occurs in the hosts contact with cat and dog frequently. Most human acute infections go unnoticed in immunocompetent individuals, and gradually transformed into chronic infection. However, while host immunity significantly waned, the risk of reactivation of chronic toxoplasma infection is greatly increased. Reactivation of latent toxoplasmic infection often presents with fever, leukopenia, thrombocytopenia, neurological signs and pneumonia. However, for the non-specific clinical and biological signs and its fetal outcome, toxoplasmosis is often misdiagnosed and only revealed at autopsy. Case Presenation: We report a case hospitalized for a week history of cough, anorexia and fatigue with nasal bleeding for a day. After hospitalization, broad-spectrum antibiotherapy was started without a clear diagnosis of infection. Then the patient did a lot of investigations to search the cause of infection, but there were no positive findings. However, an unexpected discovery was detected from peripheral blood smears, shows 1 - 3 μm in diameter, scattered, short and bow like microorganisms on Day 39 of hospitalization. Combined with the medical history and clinical manifestation, toxoplasmosis was diagnosed finally. Unfortunately, secondary hemophagocytic syndrome (HPS) was diagnosed only two days after targeted anti-infection therapy, and the patient died on Day 45 of hospitalization. Conclusions: Patient with unexplained long-term fever and neurological symptoms, interstitial pneumonitis or myocarditis, toxoplasmosis should be positively considered. Only early diagnosis and treatment can increase the possibility of a successful cure and avoid other secondary diseases.

Hollow MoS

NiFe layered double hydroxides (LDHs) usually exhibit high water-dissociation ability in the alkaline media and also provide an ideal substrate for anchoring noble metals, such as platinum (Pt), due to the 2D microstructure. Appropriate regulation of the interaction between Pt and substrate could enhance the intrinsic activity of composite catalysts toward the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in the alkaline media. Herein, we electrodeposit Pt nanoparticles on amorphous NiFe LDH (Pt/NiFe-ED) or crystalline NiFe LDH (Pt/NiFe-HD) to regulate the interaction between Pt and NiFe LDH. Experimental results reveal that Pt nanoparticles on NiFe-ED are smaller than those on NiFe-HD and possess a narrower size distribution. Thus, Pt/NiFe-ED (300 μM) exhibits a much lower overpotential of 81 mV at 100 mA cm-2 than Pt/NiFe-HD. In contrast, Pt/NiFe-HD exhibits a higher intrinsic activity than Pt/NiFe-ED, which could be caused by the easily elongated Pt-O bond. These findings provide new opportunities to understand the relationship between activity and crystallinity of substrates in the composite electrocatalyst.

A novel coumarin-derived Schiff base fluorescence probe (CTB) has been successfully designed and synthesized through exploiting tris-(2-aminothyl)-amine moiety as a recognition unit for the highly selective and sensitive detection of Cd2+. It is based on C N isomerization and the photo-induced electron transfer (PET) mechanism. The investigation into the sensing processes showed that CTB exhibited an excellent selectivity for Cd2+. The sensitivity exceeded that of other competing metal ions, and had a high sensitivity, a detection limit of 1.16 × 10−7 M with the association constants of 1.37 × 1011 M−2. The experiments including Job's plot, UV–Vis titration, 1H NMR titration and ESI-MS spectrum established that the probe CTB binds to Cd2+ in a 1:2 ratio. Further studies also demonstrated that probe CTB can be successfully applied to the fluorescence imaging of Cd2+ in HepG-2 cells.

As an efficient turn-on fluorescent chemosensor for Al3+, a new coumarin derivative (CND) has been designed and synthesized by the condensation of 8-formyl-7-hydroxycoumarin with niacin hydrazide. The spectroscopic studies revealed that the sensor CND exhibited a remarkable fluorescence enhancement towards Al3+ with high selectivity and sensitivity in EtOH-HEPES (95:5, v/v, pH = 7.40), which was attributed to the photoinduced electron transfer (PET) and C N isomerization mechanism. Fluorescence titration calculations data showed that the detection limit and the association constants of CND for Al3+ were found to be 2.51 × 10−7 M and 9.64 × 104 M−1, respectively. The results of experiments, including Job's plot, 1H NMR titration and ESI-MS, revealed that the stoichiometric binding between CND and Al3+ was 1:1. The investigations of the pH dependency of CND for Al3+ detection, and the cell imaging suggested the sensor CND could be promisingly applied for the recognition of Al3+ in biological cells.

Neural selectivity of orientation is a fundamental property of visual system. We aim to investigate whether and how the orientation selectivity changes in amblyopia.Seventeen patients with amblyopia (27.1 ± 7.1 years) and 18 healthy participants (25.1 ± 2.7 years) took part in this study. They were asked to continuously detect vertical gratings embedded in a stream of randomly oriented gratings. Using a technique of subspace reverse correlation, the orientation-time perceptive field (PF) for the atypical grating detection task was derived for each participant. Detailed comparisons were made between the PFs measured with the amblyopic and healthy eyes.The PF of the amblyopic eyes showed significant differences in orientation and time domain compared with that of the normal eyes (cluster-based permutation test, ps0.05), with broader bandwidth of orientation tuning (31.41 ± 10.59 degrees [mean ± SD] vs. 24.76 ± 6.85 degrees, P = 0.039) and delayed temporal dynamics (483 ± 68 ms vs. 425 ± 58 ms, P = 0.015). None of the altered PF properties correlated with the contrast sensitivity at 1 cycle per degree (c/deg) in amblyopia. No difference in PFs between the dominant and non-dominant eyes in the healthy group was found.The altered orientation-time PF to the low spatial frequency and high contrast stimuli suggests amblyopes had coarser orientation selectivity and prolonged reaction time. The broader orientation tuning probably reflects the abnormal lateral interaction in the primary visual cortex, whereas the temporal delay might indicate a high level deficit.

In urban substations near the rail transit, abnormal cases appear frequently in the grounding transformers, which can cause negative effects in the operation of the power system. This phenomenon attracts the attention of the researchers, and ultimately points to the invading stray current leaked from the rail transit nearby. Based on the measurement results in the substation, the characteristics of the neutral current in the grounding transformer are analyzed. In this way, the relationship between the change of transformer neutral current and the operation of rail transit is presented. Then the cause of harmonics in the current is modeled and analyzed. At last, a new suppression strategy for the current is proposed. For verification, the simulation proves the effectiveness of the whole research.

Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) is a frequently diagnosed histologic subtype with increasing morbidity and mortality. RalGDS-Like 4 (RGL4) has not been reported to be associated with cancer risk, prognosis, immunotherapy or any other treatments. We perform a bioinformatics analysis on data downloaded from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA)-LUAD, and we find that low expression of RGL4 is accompanied by worse outcomes and prognosis in LUAD patients. As a promising predictor, the potential influence and mechanisms of RGL4 on overall survival are worth exploring. Moreover, RGL4 expression is significantly associated with a variety of tumor-infiltrating immune cells (TIICs), particularly memory B cells, CD8+T cells and neutrophils. Subsequently, we evaluated the most notable KEGG pathways, including glycolysis gluconeogenesis, the P53 signaling pathway, RNA degradation, and the B cell receptor signaling pathway, among others. Our findings provide evidence that the decreased expression of RGL4 is significantly associated with poor prognosis and immune cell infiltration in patients with LUAD and highlight the use of RGL4 as a novel predictive biomarker for the prognosis of LUAD and other cancers. RGL4 may also be used in combination with immune checkpoints to identify the benefits of immunotherapy. Subjects: Bioinformatics, Genomics, Oncology, Thoracic surgery.

A novel pyrene-based receptor bearing benzothiazole was synthesized as a good turn-on fluorescent sensor for the recognition of Zn2+. The probe showed an excellent selectivity for Zn2+over most other competing ions (eg, Cr3+, Li+, Cd2+, Al3+, Pb2+, Li+, Mg2+, Ag+, Ca2+, Ni2+, Mn2+, Fe3+, Hg2+, Ba2+, K+, Na+, Cu2+, Fe2+) in EtOH-HEPES (65:35, v/v, pH = 7.20), which might be attributed to the photoinduced electron transfer (PET) mechanism. The formation of 1:1 stoichiometric PBZ-Zn2+ complex was determined based on the Job's plot, 1H NMR titration and ESI-MS. The binding constant of the complex was 4.04 × 104 M−1 with a detection limit of 2.58 × 10−7 M. The potential application of the PBZ in real water samples for recognizing Zn2+ was investigated. Bio-imaging study also revealed that PBZ could be applied to detecting Zn2+ in live cells. These results indicated that PBZ could be a favorable probe for Zn2+.

Fluorescent sensors are important tools in environment and life science. Ratiometric fluorescent sensors are more advantageous than single intensity-based ones. Excited-state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) molecules endow dual fluorescence from the excited enol and keto tautomers, providing excellent platforms for constructing ratiometric fluorescent sensors. However, the current ESIPT mechanism for ratiometric fluorescent sensors is relatively simple, resulting in that its application limits in given systems. Therefore, it is essential to construct a ratiometric fluorescent sensor that based on ESIPT molecule with reliable, controlled and general strategy. In this work, we employed a new strategy to construct a ratiometric fluorescent sensor allyl-(4′-methyl-3-hydroxyflavone) carbonate (FA) which is based on the finding that the electron-withdrawing substituted group could nearly block the normal-tautomer tautomerism taking place through excited-stated charge transfer (ESCT). FA exhibited highly selective and ratiometric fluorescent response to Al3+ and could detect Al3+ at a low concentration of 0.75 μM in aqueous solution. FA can detect Al3+ in tap and laker water samples, and in living cells. The proof-of-principle method provides a common strategy for design of ratiometric fluorescent sensors.

It is of great significance and importance to explore a mild, clean, and highly efficient universal approach for the synthesis of graphene quantum dots. Herein, we introduced a new green, rapid, and universal preparation approach for graphene quantum dots via the free-radical polymerization of oxygen-containing aromatic compounds under ultraviolet irradiation. This approach had a high yield (86%), and the byproducts are only H2O and CO2. The obtained graphene quantum dots were well-crystallized and showed remarkable optical and biological properties. The colorful, different-sized graphene quantum dots can be used in fluorescent bioimaging in vitro and in vivo. This approach is suitable not only for the preparation of graphene quantum dots but also for heteroatom-doped graphene quantum dots.

ZnWO 4 /Ag yolk-shell microspheres have been prepared by a simple and cost effective photochemical method. The crystalline phase, physicochemical properties and morphologies of the products were characterized by XRD, UV–vis DRS, SEM, TEM and EDXA. The photocatalytic activity of the as-prepared ZnWO 4 /Ag samples was evaluated by the degradation of methyl blue (MB) under xenon lamp irradiation. In comparison with pure ZnWO 4 yolk-shell microspheres, ZnWO 4 /Ag yolk–shell microspheres displayed dramatically better visible-light driven photocatalytic performance toward dye photo-removal reaction. In light of its outstanding performance and unique hollow structures, ZnWO 4 /Ag yolk–shell microspheres exhibit a promising potential application in the development of visible-light photocatalysts.

A simple Schiff base CTS , synthesized between 2-hydroxy-1-naphthaldehyde and 2-benzylthio-ethanamine, was found to be a good turn-on fluorescence probe for the detection of Zn 2+ , due to the restriction of the rotation of the bond between C N and naphthalene ring and/or the blocking of the photo-induced electron transfer (PET) mechanism of the nitrogen atom to naphthalene ring. Excellent selectivity for Zn 2+ was evidenced, over many other competing ions, including Fe 3+ , Cr 3+ , Ni 2+ , Co 2+ , Fe 2+ ,Mn 2+ , Ca 2+ , Hg 2+ , Pb 2+ , Cu 2+ , Mg 2+ , Ba 2+ , Cd 2+ , Ag + , Li + , K + , and Na + , in EtOH/HEPES buffer (95:5, v/v, pH = 7.4). It was noteworthy that Cd 2+ had no interference with Zn 2+ . The stoichiometric complex of CTS -Zn 2+ was determined to be 2:1 for CTS and Zn 2+ in molar, based on the Job plot and single crystal X-ray diffraction data. The binding constant of the complex was 85.7 M −2 with a detection limit of 5.03 × 10 −7 M. The fluorescence bio-imaging capability of CTS to detect Zn 2+ in live cells was also studied. These results indicated that CTS could serve as a favorable probe for Zn 2+ .

A novel fluorescent probe tetrastyrene derivative (L) with aggregation induced emission (AIE) and high quantum yields prosperities is synthesized by a simple method. The optical properties of probe L to Al3+ are investigated using fluorescence emission spectral analysis and a low detection limit of 1.587 × 10−7 M for Al3+ in MeOH/H2O (v/v = 9/1, Tris = 20 mM, pH = 7.40) is obtained. The combination ratio of L to Al3+ (1:1) is determined by ESI-MS and Job's plot. Meanwhile, probe L has a good response to Al3+ in a wide pH range of 2–12. More importantly, the probe L shows very low cytotoxicity and strong fluorescence emission in living cells. This indicates that the probe L has potential application prospects in the detection of Al3+ in environmental and biological systems.

Peroxynitrite (ONOO-) is one of the species of reactive nitrogen (RNS), which plays an important role in antibacterial activity and signal transduction and other physiological and pathological processes. In this paper, based on the benzyl borate group, a new fluorescent probe capable of detecting ONOO- with high selectivity and sensitivity is designed, and the possible mechanism of the interaction between probe and ONOO- is proposed. The probe shows high fluorescence response to ONOO- in a wide pH range (7.0-11.5). Moreover, the probe exhibit good permeability, and the content of ONOO- in cancer cells and normal cells was successfully monitored.