In Situ Electrochemical Evolution of Amorphous Metallic Borides Enabling Long Cycling Room-/Subzero-Temperature Sodium-Sulfur Batteries.

Room temperature sodium-sulfur batteries (RT Na-S) have garnered significant attention for their high energy density and cost-effectiveness, positioning them as a promising alternative to lithium-ion batteries. However, they encounter challenges such as the dissolution of sodium polysulfides and sluggish kinetics. Introducing high-activity electrocatalysts and enhancing the density of active sites represents an efficient strategy to enhance reaction kinetics. Here, an amorphous Ni-B material that undergoes electrochemical evolution to generate the NiSx phase within an operational sodium-sulfur battery, contrasting with the crystalline NiB counterpart is fabricated. Electrochemical cycling facilitated the establishment of an interface between the amorphous Ni-B and NiSx, leading to heightened catalytic activity and improved reaction kinetics. Consequently, batteries utilizing the amorphous Ni-B showcased a notable initial specific capacity of 1487 mAh g-1 at 0.2 A g-1, exhibiting exceptional performance under high current densities of 5 A g-1, in low-temperature conditions (-10 °C), with high sulfur loading, and in pouch cell configurations.

Oral administration of probiotic spore ghosts for efficient attenuation of radiation-induced intestinal injury.

Radiation-induced intestinal injury is the most common side effect during radiotherapy of abdominal or pelvic solid tumors, significantly impacting patients' quality of life and even resulting in poor prognosis. Until now, oral application of conventional formulations for intestinal radioprotection remains challenging with no preferred method available to mitigate radiation toxicity in small intestine. Our previous study revealed that nanomaterials derived from spore coat of probiotics exhibit superior anti-inflammatory effect and even prevent the progression of cancer. The aim of this work is to determine the radioprotective effect of spore coat (denoted as spore ghosts, SGs) from three clinically approved probiotics (B.coagulans, B.subtilis and B.licheniformis). All the three SGs exhibit outstanding reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging ability and excellent anti-inflammatory effect. Moreover, these SGs can reverse the balance of intestinal flora by inhibiting harmful bacteria and increasing the abundance of Lactobacillus. Consequently, administration of SGs significantly reduce radiation-induced intestinal injury by alleviating diarrhea, preventing X-ray induced apoptosis of small intestinal epithelial cells and promoting restoration of barrier integrity in a prophylactic study. Notably, SGs markedly improve weight gain and survival of mice received total abdominal X-ray radiation. This work may provide promising radioprotectants for efficiently attenuating radiation-induced gastrointestinal syndrome and promote the development of new intestinal predilection.

Manipulating Atomic-Coupling in Dual-Cavity Boride Nanoreactor to Achieve Hierarchical Catalytic Engineering for Sulfur Cathode.

The catalytic process of Li2S formation is considered a key pathway to enhance the kinetics of lithium-sulfur batteries. Due to the system's complexity, the catalytic behavior is uncertain, posing significant challenges for predicting activity. Herein, we report a novel cascaded dual-cavity nanoreactor (NiCo-B) by controlling reaction kinetics, providing an opportunity for achieving hierarchical catalytic behavior. Through experimental and theoretical analysis, the multilevel structure can effectively suppress polysulfides dissolution and accelerate sulfur conversion. Furthermore, we differentiate the adsorption (B-S) and catalytic effect (Co-S) in NiCo-B, avoiding catalyst deactivation caused by excessive adsorption. As a result, the as-prepared battery displays high reversible capacity, even with sulfur loading of 13.2 mg cm-2 (E/S=4 µl mg-1), the areal capacity can reach 18.7 mAh cm-2.

Co/Mon Invigorated Bilateral Kinetics Modulation for Advanced Lithium-Sulfur Batteries.

Sluggish sulfur redox kinetics and Li-dendrite growth are the main bottlenecks for lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries. Separator modification serves as a dual-purpose approach to address both of these challenges. In this study, the Co/MoN composite is rationally designed and applied as the modifier to modulate the electrochemical kinetics on both sides of the sulfur cathode and lithium anode. Benefiting from its adsorption-catalysis function, the decorated separators (Co/MoN@PP) not only effectively inhibit polysulfides (LiPSs) shuttle and accelerate their electrochemical conversion but also boost Li+ flux, realizing uniform Li plating/stripping. The accelerated LiPSs conversion kinetics and excellent sulfur redox reversibility triggered by Co/MoN modified separators are evidenced by performance, in-situ Raman detection and theoretical calculations. The batteries with Co/MoN@PP achieve a high initial discharge capacity of 1570 mAh g-1 at 0.2 C with a low decay rate of 0.39%, uniform Li+ transportation at 1 mA cm-2 over 800 h. Moreover, the areal capacity of 4.62 mAh cm-2 is achieved under high mass loadings of 4.92 mg cm-2. This study provides a feasible strategy for the rational utilization of the synergistic effect of composite with multifunctional microdomains to solve the problems of Li anode and S cathode toward long-cycling Li-S batteries.

Dynamic regulation of drug biodistribution by turning tumors into decoys for biomimetic nanoplatform to enhance the chemotherapeutic efficacy of breast cancer with bone metastasis.

Breast cancer with bone metastasis accounts for serious cancer-associated pain which significantly reduces the quality of life of affected patients and promotes cancer progression. However, effective treatment using nanomedicine remains a formidable challenge owing to poor drug delivery efficiency to multiple cancer lesions and inappropriate management of cancer-associated pain. In this study, using engineered macrophage membrane (EMM) and drugs loaded nanoparticle, we constructed a biomimetic nanoplatform (EMM@DJHAD) for the concurrent therapy of bone metastatic breast cancer and associated pain. Tumor tropism inherited from EMM provided the targeting ability for both primary and metastatic lesions. Subsequently, the synergistic combination of decitabine and JTC801 boosted the lytic and inflammatory responses accompanied by a tumoricidal effect, which transformed the tumor into an ideal decoy for EMM, resulting in prolonged troop migration toward tumors. EMM@DJHAD exerted significant effects on tumor suppression and a pronounced analgesic effect by inhibiting µ-opioid receptors in bone metastasis mouse models. Moreover, the nanoplatform significantly reduced the severe toxicity induced by chemotherapy agents. Overall, this biomimetic nanoplatform with good biocompatibility may be used for the effective treatment of breast cancer with bone metastasis.

A General "In Situ Etch-Adsorption-Phosphatization" Strategy for the Fabrication of Metal Phosphides/Hollow Carbon Composite for High Performance Liquid/Flexible Zn-Air Batteries.

Benefiting from the admirable energy density (1086 Wh kg-1 ), overwhelming security, and low environmental impact, rechargeable zinc-air batteries (ZABs) are deemed to be attractive candidates for lithium-ion batteries. The exploration of novel oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) bifunctional catalysts is the key to promoting the development of zinc-air batteries. Transitional metal phosphides (TMPs) especially Fe-based TMPs are deemed to be a rational type of catalyst, however, their catalytic performance still needs to be further improved. Considering Fe (heme) and Cu (copper terminal oxidases) are nature's options for ORR catalysis in many forms of life from bacteria to humans. Herein, a general "in situ etch-adsorption-phosphatization" strategy is designed for the fabrication of hollow FeP/Fe2 P/Cu3 P-N, P codoped carbon (FeP/Cu3 P-NPC) catalyst as the cathode of liquid and flexible ZABs. The liquid ZABs manifest a high peak power density of 158.5 mW cm-2 and outstanding long-term cycling performance (≈1100 cycles at 2 mA cm-2 ). Similarly, the flexible ZABs deliver superior cycling stability of 81 h at 2 mA cm-2 without bending and 26 h with different bending angles.

Zinc-Assisted Cobalt Ditelluride Polyhedra Inducing Lattice Strain to Endow Efficient Adsorption-Catalysis for High-Energy Lithium-Sulfur Batteries.

Developing a conductive catalyst with high catalytic activity is considered to be an effective strategy for improving cathode kinetics of lithium-sulfur batteries, especially at large current density and with lean electrolytes. Lattice-strain engineering has been a strategy to tune the local structure of catalysts and to help understand the structure-activity relationship between strain and catalyst performance. Here, Co0.9 Zn0.1 Te2 @NC is constructed after zinc atoms are uniformly doped into the CoTe2 lattice. The experimental/theoretical results indicate that a change of the coordination environment for the cobalt atom by the lattice strain modulates the d-band center with more electrons occupied in antibonding orbitals, thus balancing the adsorption of polysulfides and the intrinsic catalytic effect, thereby activating the intrinsic activity of the catalyst. Benefiting from the merits, with only 4 wt% dosages of catalyst in the cathode, an initial discharge capacity of 1030 mAh g-1 can be achieved at 1 C and stable cycling performances are achieved for 1500/2500 cycles at 1 C/2 C. Upon sulfur loading of 7.7 mg cm-2 , the areal capacity can reach 12.8 mAh cm-2 . This work provides a guiding methodology for the design of catalytic materials and refinement of adsorption-catalysis strategies for the rational design of cathode in lithium-sulfur batteries.

Hyperthermia based individual in situ recombinant vaccine enhances lymph nodes drainage for de novo antitumor immunity.

The continuing challenges that limit effectiveness of tumor therapeutic vaccines were high heterogeneity of tumor immunogenicity, low bioactivity of antigens, as well as insufficient lymph nodes (LNs) drainage of antigens and adjuvants. Transportation of in situ neoantigens and adjuvants to LNs may be an effective approach to solve the abovementioned problems. Therefore, an FA-TSL/AuNCs/SV nanoplatform was constructed by integrating simvastatin (SV) adjuvant loaded Au nanocages (AuNCs) as cores (AuNCs/SV) and folic acid modified thermal-sensitive liposomes (FA-TSL) as shells to enhance de novo antitumor immunity. After accumulation in tumor guided by FA, AuNCs mediated photothermal therapy (PTT) induced the release of tumor-derived protein antigens (TDPAs) and the shedding of FA-TSL. Exposed AuNCs/SV soon captured TDPAs to form in situ recombinant vaccine (AuNCs/SV/TDPAs). Subsequently, AuNCs/SV/TDPAs could efficiently transport to draining LNs owing to the hyperthermia induced vasodilation effect and small particle size, achieving co-delivery of antigens and adjuvant for initiation of specific T cell response. In melanoma bearing mice, FA-TSL/AuNCs/SV and laser irradiation effectively ablated primary tumor, against metastatic tumors and induced immunological memory. This approach served a hyperthermia enhanced platform drainage to enable robust personalized cancer vaccination.

Carbapenem-Resistant Gram-Negative Bacteria-Related Healthcare-Associated Ventriculitis and Meningitis: Antimicrobial Resistance of the Pathogens, Treatment, and Outcome.

Carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative bacteria (CRGNB)-related health care-associated ventriculitis and meningitis (HCAVM) is dangerous. We aimed to report the antimicrobial resistance of the pathogens, treatment, and outcome. All cases with CRGNB-related HCAVM in2012-2020 were recruited. Antimicrobial agents were classified as active, untested, or inactive using antimicrobial susceptibility tests. The treatment stage was classified as empirical or targeted according to the report of pathogens. The treatment effect was classified as ineffective or effective according to HCAVM-related parameters. Overall, 92 cases were recruited. For most antimicrobial agents, the resistance rate was higher than 70.0%. The polymyxin resistance rate was the lowest at 11.6%. The chloramphenicol, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, amikacin, levofloxacin, and tetracycline resistance rates were relatively low, ranging from 21.1% to 64.1%. The meropenem resistance rate was 81.9%. There was no significant trend for any antimicrobial agent tested. Meropenem was the most common antimicrobial agent used in empirical treatment; trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and polymyxin were the most used active antimicrobial agents, and meropenem/sulbactam and polymyxin were the most used untested antimicrobial agents in targeted treatment. In total, 42 (45.7%) cases received ineffective treatments. The ineffective treatment rate of cases that received active antimicrobial agents was lower than that of cases that received untested antimicrobial agents and cases that received inactive antimicrobial agents (29.3% [12/41] versus 46.2% [18/39] versus 100.0% [12/12], P < 0.001). Antimicrobial resistance was prevalent but without increasing trends. Active antimicrobial agents are necessary. Additionally, untested antimicrobial agents, including meropenem/sulbactam and polymyxin, might be optional. Inactive antimicrobial agents must be replaced. IMPORTANCE Carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative bacteria-related health care-associated ventriculitis and meningitis is a clinical threat because of the poor outcome and challenges in treatment. We reached several conclusions: (i) the antimicrobial resistance of pathogens is severe, and some antimicrobial agents represented by polymyxin are optional according to the antimicrobial susceptibility tests; (ii) in the background that the portion of carbapenems resistance in Gram-negative bacteria is increasing, there is no increasing trend for the antimicrobial resistance of carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative bacteria in the 9-year study; (iii) meropenem is the main antimicrobial agent in treatment, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, tigecycline, polymyxin, and meropenem/sulbactam are commonly used in the targeted treatment; (iv) the treatment effect was poor and affected by the treatment: timely active antimicrobial agents should be given. And untested antimicrobial agents represented by polymyxin and meropenem/sulbactam might be optional. Inactive antimicrobial agents must be replaced.

Accuracy of heparin-binding protein for the diagnosis of nosocomial meningitis and ventriculitis.

BACKGROUND: The sensitive and accurate diagnosis of nosocomial meningitis and ventriculitis is still a critical problem. This study was designed to explore the diagnostic value of cerebrospinal fluid heparin-binding protein (HBP) in nosocomial meningitis and ventriculitis in comparison with procalcitonin and lactate. METHODS: In this observational study, 323 suspected patients were enrolled, of which 42 participants were excluded because they could not be accurately grouped, 131 subjects who were eventually diagnosed with nosocomial meningitis or ventriculitis and 150 patients in whom infection was ultimately ruled out were included in the final analysis. The main results are expressed as medians (interquartile ranges). The Chi-squared test was used to compare the baseline characteristics. The Mann-Whitney U-test was used for group and subgroup analyses. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was calculated to describe the diagnostic accuracy of the biomarkers. Spearman's partial correlation was used to analyze associations between the biomarkers. Statistical significance was set when p value < 0.05. RESULTS: HBP achieved the largest area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, which was 0.99 (95% confidence interval 0.98-1.00) compared with 0.98 (95% confidence interval 0.96-0.99) for lactate and 0.69 (95% confidence interval 0.62-0.75) for procalcitonin. With a cutoff level at 23 ng/mL, HBP achieved a sensitivity of 97%, a specificity of 95%, a positive predictive value of 93% and a negative predictive value of 98%. The levels of HBP presented no significant discrepancy between patients who received previous empiric anti-infective therapy and those who did not (p > 0.05). Higher concentrations of HBP were present in patients with positive microbiological findings (p < 0.05). Levels of HBP positively correlated with polymorphonuclear cell count (Spearman's rho = 0.68, p < 0.01), white blood cell count (Spearman's rho = 0.57, p < 0.01) and lactate (Spearman's rho = 0.34, p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Cerebrospinal fluid heparin-binding protein is a reliable auxiliary diagnostic marker that is preferable over lactate and procalcitonin in identifying nosocomial meningitis and ventriculitis, and it also contributes to solving the diagnostic difficulties caused by empiric antibiotherapy.

Trends of Antimicrobial Susceptibility in Clinically Significant Coagulase-Negative Staphylococci Isolated from Cerebrospinal Fluid Cultures in Neurosurgical Adults: a Nine-Year Analysis.

Coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) are the main pathogens in health care-associated ventriculitis and meningitis (HCAVM). This study aimed to assess antimicrobial susceptibility. Moreover, the treatment and clinical outcome were described. All neurosurgical adults admitted to one of the largest neurosurgical centers in China with clinically significant CoNS isolated from cerebrospinal fluid cultures in 2012 to 2020 were recruited. One episode was defined as one patient with one bacterial strain. Interpretive categories were applied according to the MICs. The clinical outcomes were dichotomized into poor (Glasgow Outcome Scale 1 to 3) and acceptable (Glasgow Outcome Scale 4 to 5). In total, 534 episodes involving 519 patients and 16 bacteria were analyzed. Over the 9 years, eight antimicrobial agents were used in antimicrobial susceptibility tests, including six in over 80% of CoNS. The range of resistance rates was 0.8% to 84.6%. The vancomycin resistance rate was the lowest, whereas the penicillin resistance rate was the highest. The linezolid (a vancomycin replacement) resistance rate was 3.1%. The rate of oxacillin resistance, representing methicillin-resistant staphylococci, was 70.2%. There were no significant trends of antimicrobial susceptibility over the 9 years for any agents analyzed. However, there were some apparent changes. Notably, vancomycin-resistant CoNS appeared in recent years, while linezolid-resistant CoNS appeared early and disappeared in recent years. Vancomycin (or norvancomycin), the most common treatment agent, was used in 528 (98.9%) episodes. Finally, 527 (98.7%) episodes had acceptable outcomes. It will be safe to use vancomycin to treat CoNS-related HCAVM in the immediate future, although continuous monitoring will be needed. IMPORTANCE Coagulase-negative staphylococci are the main pathogens in health care-associated ventriculitis and meningitis. There are three conclusions from the results of this study. First, according to antimicrobial susceptibility, the rates of resistance to primary antimicrobial agents are high and those to high-level agents, including vancomycin, are low. Second, the trends of resistance rates are acceptable, especially for high-level agents, although long-term and continuous monitoring is necessary. Finally, the clinical outcomes of neurosurgical adults with coagulase-negative staphylococci-related health care-associated ventriculitis and meningitis are acceptable after treatment with vancomycin. Therefore, according to the antimicrobial susceptibility and clinical practice, vancomycin will be safe to treat coagulase-negative staphylococci-related health care-associated ventriculitis and meningitis.

A nanoplatform to boost multi-phases of cancer-immunity-cycle for enhancing immunotherapy.

The failure of any phase in continuous multi-link immune response process can cause unsatisfactory outcomes, which might be improved by all-cancer-immunity-cycle boosted strategy. Herein, a nanoplatform Mn/CaCO3@PL/SLC is developed, which is based on palmitoyl ascorbate (PA)-liposome (PL) loaded with Mn-doped CaCO3 nanoparticles (Mn/CaCO3 NPs) and carbonic anhydrase (CAIX) inhibitor SLC-0111. The nanoplatform comprehensively amplifies all immune stages including tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) release and presentation, T cells activation and infiltration, as well as tumor cells destruction. In detail, Mn-triggered lipid peroxidation facilitates TAAs release and subsequent T cells activation to initiate immunity cycle. Additionally, SLC-0111 and PA amplify the infiltration and tumor killing activity of these effector T cells. The former polarizes the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment to an immune-active phenotype and the latter enhances the function of tumor-infiltrating T lymphocytes. Importantly, Mn augments the all-immunity-cycle by promoting cGAS-STING pathway activation. In summary, the Mn/CaCO3@PL/SLC nanoplatform is verified to boost anti-tumor immunity and achieve outstanding immunotherapeutic effects in eradicating tumor and preventing tumor metastasis. Such an all-cancer-immunity-cycle boosted strategy is meaningful for antitumor immunotherapy.

The effect of mild hypercapnia on hospital mortality after cardiac arrest may be modified by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

BACKGROUND: The main objective was to evaluate the effect of carbon dioxide on hospital mortality in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and non-COPD patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). METHODS: We conducted a retrospective observational study in OHCA patients from the eICU database (eicu-crd.mit.edu). The main exposure was the partial pressure of arterial carbon dioxide (PaCO2). The proportion of time spent (PTS) within four predefined PaCO2 ranges (hypocapnia: <35 mmHg, normocapnia: 35-45 mmHg, mild hypercapnia: 46-55 mmHg, and severe hypercapnia: >55 mmHg) were calculated respectively. The primary outcome was hospital mortality. Multivariable logistic regression models were performed to assess the independent relationship between PTS within PaCO2 range and hospital mortality, and the interaction between PTS within PaCO2 range and COPD was explored. RESULTS: A total of 1721 OHCA patients were included, of which 272 (15.8%) had COPD. After adjusted for the confounders, the PTS within mild hypercapnia was associated with lower odds ratio for hospital mortality in COPD patients (OR 0.923; 95% CI 0.857-0.992; P = 0.036); however, it was associated with higher odds ratio for hospital mortality in non-COPD patients (OR 1.053; 95% CI 1.012-1.097; P = 0.012; Pinteraction = 0.008). The PTS within normocapnia was not associated with hospital mortality in COPD patients (OR 0.987; 95% CI 0.914-1.067; P = 0.739); however, it was associated with lower odds ratio for hospital mortality in non-COPD patients (OR 0.944; 95% CI 0.916-0.973; P < 0.001; Pinteraction = 0.113). CONCLUSIONS: The effect of carbon dioxide on hospital mortality differed between COPD and non-COPD patients. Mild hypercapnia was associated with increased hospital mortality for non-COPD patients but reduced hospital mortality for COPD patients. It would be reasonable to adjust PaCO2 targets in OHCA patients with COPD.

Study on the Synthesis of Mn3o4 Nanooctahedrons and Their Performance for Lithium Ion Batteries.

Among the transition metal oxides, the Mn3O4 nanostructure possesses high theoretical specific capacity and lower operating voltage. However, the low electrical conductivity of Mn3O4 decreases its specific capacity and restricts its application in the energy conversion and energy storage. In this work, well-shaped, octahedron-like Mn3O4 nanocrystals were prepared by one-step hydrothermal reduction method. Field emission scanning electron microscope, energy dispersive spectrometer, X-ray diffractometer, X-ray photoelectron spectrometer, high resolution transmission electron microscopy, and Fourier transformation infrared spectrometer were applied to characterize the morphology, the structure, and the composition of formed product. The growth mechanism of Mn3O4 nano-octahedron was studied. Cyclic voltammograms, galvanostatic charge-discharge, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and rate performance were used to study the electrochemical properties of obtained samples. The experimental results indicate that the component of initial reactants can influence the morphology and composition of the formed manganese oxide. At the current density of 1.0 A g-1, the discharge specific capacity of as-prepared Mn3O4 nano-octahedrons maintains at about 450 mAh g-1 after 300 cycles. This work proves that the formed Mn3O4 nano-octahedrons possess an excellent reversibility and display promising electrochemical properties for the preparation of lithium-ion batteries.

Binding of citreoviridin to human serum albumin: multispectroscopic and molecular docking.

Citreoviridin (CIT), a mycotoxin produced by Penicillium citreonigrum, is a common contaminant of wide range of agriproducts and detrimental to human and animal health. In this study, the interaction of CIT with human serum albumin (HSA) is researched by steady-state fluorescence, ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) absorption, circular dichroism (CD) methods, and molecular modeling. The association constants, binding site numbers, and corresponding thermodynamic parameters are used to investigate the quenching mechanism. The alternations of HSA secondary structure in the presence of CIT are demonstrated with UV-Vis, synchronous fluorescence, and CD spectra. The molecular modeling results reveal that CIT can bind with hydrophobic pocket of HSA with hydrophobic and hydrogen bond force. Moreover, an apparent distance of 3.25 nm between Trp214 and CIT is obtained via fluorescence resonance energy transfer method.