Nickel-Copper Bimetallic Oxide Nanoparticles Prepared by Simple Coprecipitation Method as High Performance Electrode Materials for Asymmetric Supercapacitors.

Supercapacitors with transition bimetallic oxides as pseudocapacitive materials have been of wide concern for their excellent energy storage performance. In this work, a simple coprecipitation method was used to synthesize the precursor, followed by calcination to prepare Ni-Cu bimetallic oxide materials. The structure, morphology and properties of the materials prepared by different precipitating agents and different calcination temperatures of NCO-H2C2O4 precursor were investigated. The optimum precipitant was determined to be H2C2O4, and Ni-Cu nanoparticles with regular lamellar microstructure were obtained at the calcination temperature of 400 °C. The nanostructure and morphology provide a large active channel for the rapid diffusion of electrolyte ions, and the specific capacitance of NCO-H2C2O4-400 electrode material can reach 740.31 F/g Cs at 1 A/g. The investigation of charge storage mechanism shows that the contribution rate of capacitance and diffusion control is about 37.9% and 67.2%, respectively. The electrochemical test results of the asymmetric supercapacitors (ASC) constructed with NCO-H2C2O4-400 and activated carbon show that the specific capacitance, energy density, and power density of the capacitor are 52.66 F/g, 16.45 Wh/kg, and 759.51 W/kg, respectively. Even after 5000 charge/discharge cycles at 5 A/g, it can still keep 90.57% of its initial capacity. This work not only provides competitive electrode materials for energy storage devices but also provides a feasible strategy for producing complex transition metal oxide materials with high capacitance performance.

Identification of diagnostic genes and drug prediction in metabolic syndrome-associated rheumatoid arthritis by integrated bioinformatics analysis, machine learning, and molecular docking.

Background: Interactions between the immune and metabolic systems may play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of metabolic syndrome-associated rheumatoid arthritis (MetS-RA). The purpose of this study was to discover candidate biomarkers for the diagnosis of RA patients who also had MetS. Methods: Three RA datasets and one MetS dataset were obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. Differential expression analysis, weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA), and machine learning algorithms including Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO) regression and Random Forest (RF) were employed to identify hub genes in MetS-RA. Enrichment analysis was used to explore underlying common pathways between MetS and RA. Receiver operating characteristic curves were applied to assess the diagnostic performance of nomogram constructed based on hub genes. Protein-protein interaction, Connectivity Map (CMap) analyses, and molecular docking were utilized to predict the potential small molecule compounds for MetS-RA treatment. qRT-PCR was used to verify the expression of hub genes in fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS) of MetS-RA. The effects of small molecule compounds on the function of RA-FLS were evaluated by wound-healing assays and angiogenesis experiments. The CIBERSORT algorithm was used to explore immune cell infiltration in MetS and RA. Results: MetS-RA key genes were mainly enriched in immune cell-related signaling pathways and immune-related processes. Two hub genes (TYK2 and TRAF2) were selected as candidate biomarkers for developing nomogram with ideal diagnostic performance through machine learning and proved to have a high diagnostic value (area under the curve, TYK2, 0.92; TRAF2, 0.90). qRT-PCR results showed that the expression of TYK2 and TRAF2 in MetS-RA-FLS was significantly higher than that in non-MetS-RA-FLS (nMetS-RA-FLS). The combination of CMap analysis and molecular docking predicted camptothecin (CPT) as a potential drug for MetS-RA treatment. In vitro validation, CPT was observed to suppress the cell migration capacity and angiogenesis capacity of MetS-RA-FLS. Immune cell infiltration results revealed immune dysregulation in MetS and RA. Conclusion: Two hub genes were identified in MetS-RA, a nomogram for the diagnosis of RA and MetS was established based on them, and a potential therapeutic small molecule compound for MetS-RA was predicted, which offered a novel research perspective for future serum-based diagnosis and therapeutic intervention of MetS-RA.

Harnessing risk assessment for thrombosis and bleeding to optimize anticoagulation strategy in nonvalvular atrial fibrillation.

BACKGROUND: Oral anticoagulation (OAC) following catheter ablation (CA) of nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) is essential for the prevention of thrombosis events. Inappropriate application of OACs does not benefit thrombosis prevention but may be associated with a higher risk of bleeding. Therefore, this study aims to develop clinical data-driven machine learning (ML) methods to predict the risk of thrombosis and bleeding to establish more precise anticoagulation strategies for patients with NVAF. METHODS: Patients with NVAF underwent CA therapy were enrolled from Southwest Hospital from 2015 to 2023. This study compared eight ML algorithms to evaluate the predictive power for both thrombosis and bleeding. Model interpretations were recognized by feature importance and SHapley Addictive exPlanations methods. With potential essential risk factors, simplified ML models were proposed to improve the feasibility of the tool. RESULTS: A total of 1055 participants were recruited, including 105 patients with thrombosis and 252 patients with bleeding. The models based on XGBoost achieved the best performance with accuracies of 0.704 and 0.781 for thrombosis and bleeding. Age, BNP and the duration of heparin and are closely related to the high risk of thrombosis, whereas anticoagulation strategy, BNP and lipids play a crucial role in the occurrence of bleeding. The optimized models enrolling crucial risk factors, RF-T for thrombosis and Xw-B for bleeding, achieved the best recalls of 0.774 and 0.780, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The optimized models will have a great clinical application in predicting thrombosis and bleeding among NVAF patients and will form the basis for future score scales.

CAR T cells engineered to secrete IFN-κ induce tumor ferroptosis via an IFNAR/STAT1/ACSL4 axis.

Ferroptosis is an iron-dependent form of cell death that influences cancer immunity. Therapeutic modulation of ferroptosis is considered a potential strategy to enhance the efficacy of other cancer therapies, including immunotherapies such as chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy. In this study, we demonstrated that IFN-κ influenced the induction of ferroptosis. IFN-κ could enhance the sensitivity of tumor cells to ferroptosis induced by the small molecule compound erastin and the polyunsaturated fatty acid arachidonic acid. Mechanistically, IFN-κ in combination with arachidonic acid induced immunogenic tumor ferroptosis via an IFNAR/STAT1/ACSL4 axis. Moreover, CAR T cells engineered to express IFN-κ showed increased antitumor efficiency against H460 cells (antigen positive) and H322 cells (antigen negative) both in vitro and in vivo. We conclude that IFN-κ is a potential cytokine that could be harnessed to enhance the antitumor function of CAR T cells by inducing tumor ferroptosis.

Unified theoretical framework for temperature regulation via phase transition.

Phase transition usually consumes or releases energy to produce cooling or heating within different materials, providing a generalized framework for temperature regulation in practical applications. Because of the strong coupling between the enthalpy change in thermodynamics and heat-mass transfer kinetics, unveiling the mechanism of temperature regulation via the phase transition remains a great challenge. Here, we develop a new theoretical method by establishing a connection of enthalpy change from thermodynamics to phase transition dynamics to study evaporation-induced cooling as an example. Our new approach can spontaneously generate evaporative cooling at interfaces, and the predicted results are consistent with recent experiments. The evaporation-induced steady vapor is dictated by an anomalous cold-to-hot mass transfer through temperature-dependent chemical potentials, which enables temperature regulation inside liquids via a thermodynamic-kinetic interplay. Moreover, we show that a simple prohibition of heat exchange between liquids and reservoir can greatly enhance the cooling magnitude by a factor of 2∼4, which is highly dependent on the thermodynamics and kinetic coefficients of liquids. Our new method paves the way for exploration of cooling or heating induced by different phase transitions, such as evaporation, sublimation, or condensation, in a unified framework, which can significantly promote the development of temperature regulation by phase transitions.

A Simple Binary Supramolecular Co-Assembly Platform for Enhanced Tumor Imaging and Therapy.

The primary challenges in tumor imaging and therapy revolve around improving targeting efficiency, enhancing probe/drug delivery efficacy, and minimizing off-target signals and toxicity. Although various carriers have been developed, many are difficult to synthesize, costly, and not universally applicable. Furthermore, numerous carriers exhibit limited delivery rates in solid tumors, particularly larger nanocarriers. To address these challenges, a simple binary co-assembly drug delivery platform has been designed using the readily synthesized small molecule Cys(SEt)-Lys-CBT (CKCBT) as the self-assembly building block. CKCBT can effectively penetrate tumor cells due to its positively charged Lys side chain and small size. Upon glutathione reduction, CKCBT co-assembles with Nile red or Chlorin e6 to form nanofibers inside tumor cells. This enables their specific accumulation in tumor cells rather than normal cells and extends their exposure time, resulting in precise and enhanced tumor imaging and treatment. Hence, this uncomplicated and highly efficient binary co-assembly drug delivery platform can be easily adapted to a broad spectrum of probes and drugs, presenting a novel approach for advancing clinical diagnosis and therapy.

Joint use of population pharmacokinetics and machine learning for prediction of valproic acid plasma concentration in elderly epileptic patients.

BACKGROUND: Valproic acid (VPA) is a commonly used broad-spectrum antiepileptic drug. For elderly epileptic patients, VPA plasma concentrations have a considerable variation. We aim to establish a prediction model via a combination of machine learning and population pharmacokinetics (PPK) for VPA plasma concentration. METHODS: A retrospective study was performed incorporating 43 variables, including PPK parameters. Recursive Feature Elimination with Cross-Validation was used for feature selection. Multiple algorithms were employed for ensemble model, and the model was interpreted by Shapley Additive exPlanations. RESULTS: The inclusion of PPK parameters significantly enhances the performance of individual algorithm model. The composition of categorical boosting, light gradient boosting machine, and random forest (7:2:1) with the highest R2 (0.74) was determined as the ensemble model. The model included 11 variables after feature selection, of which the predictive performance was comparable to the model that incorporated all variables. CONCLUSIONS: Our model was specifically tailored for elderly epileptic patients, providing an efficient and cost-effective approach to predict VPA plasma concentration. The model combined classical PPK with machine learning, and underwent optimization through feature selection and algorithm integration. Our model can serve as a fundamental tool for clinicians in determining VPA plasma concentration and individualized dosing regimens accordingly.

ABC Efflux Transporters and Solute Carriers in the Early Developing Brain of a Marsupial Monodelphis domestica (South American Gray Short-Tailed Opossum).

This study used a marsupial Monodelphis domestica, which is born very immature and most of its development is postnatal without placental protection. RNA-sequencing (RNA-Seq) was used to identify the expression of influx and efflux transporters (ATP-binding cassettes [ABCs] and solute carriers [SLCs]) and metabolizing enzymes in brains of newborn to juvenile Monodelphis. Results were compared to published data in the developing eutherian rat. To test the functionality of these transporters at similar ages, the entry of paracetamol (acetaminophen) into the brain and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was measured using liquid scintillation counting following a single administration of the drug along with its radiolabelled tracer [3H]. Drug permeability studies found that in Monodelphis, brain entry of paracetamol was already restricted at P5; it decreased further in the first week of life and then remained stable until the oldest age group tested (P110). Transcriptomic analysis of Monodelphis brain showed that expression of transporters and their metabolizing enzymes in early postnatal (P) pups (P0, P5, and P8) was relatively similar, but by P109, many more transcripts were identified. When transcriptomes of newborn Monodelphis brain and E19 rat brain and placenta were compared, several transporters present in the rat placenta were also found in the newborn Monodelphis brain. These were absent from E19 rat brain but were present in the adult rat brain. These data indicate that despite its extreme immaturity, the newborn Monodelphis brain may compensate for the lack of placental protection during early brain development by upregulating protective mechanisms, which in eutherian animals are instead present in the placenta.

Slipped capital femoral epiphysis in an adolescent with congenital adrenal hyperplasia: A case report.

In previous reports, hypothyroidism, hypopituitrism, and hypogonadism were common endocrine causes of SCFE, but this is the first time that congenital adrenal hyperplasia has been observed. As such, patients who have undergone long-term endocrine treatment for congenital adrenal hyperplasia could potentially be subjected to a higher risk for SCFE.

Effects of co-administration of lamotrigine on valproate transfer across the placenta and its brain entry in developing Genetic Absence Epilepsy Rats from Strasbourg (GAERS).

During development, embryos and foetuses may be exposed to maternally ingested antiseizure medications (ASM), valproate and lamotrigine, essential in some patients to control their epilepsy symptoms. Often, the two drugs are co-administered to reduce required doses of valproate, a known potential teratogen. This study used Genetic Absence Epilepsy Rat from Strasbourg to evaluate transfer of valproate and lamotrigine across late gestation placenta and their entry into cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and brain of developing rats, in mono- and combination therapies. Animals at embryonic day (E) 19, postnatal day (P) 0, 4 and 21, and adults were administered valproate (30 mg/kg) or lamotrigine (6 mg/kg) with their respective [3H]-tracers, either alone or in combination. In chronic experiments, females consumed valproate-containing diet from 2 weeks prior to mating until offspring were used at E19 and P0. Drugs were injected 30 min before blood, CSF and brain samples were collected from terminally anaesthetised animals. Radioactivity in samples was measured. In acute monotherapy brain entry of valproate was higher in foetal than postnatal animals, correlating with its plasma protein binding. Brain entry of lamotrigine was not age-dependent. Combination therapy enhanced entry of lamotrigine into the adult brain but had no effects on brain and CSF entry of valproate. Following chronic valproate exposure, placental transfer of valproate decreased in combination therapy; however, foetal brain entry increased. Results suggest that during pregnancy, the use of combination therapy of valproate and lamotrigine may mitigate overall foetal exposure to valproate but potential risks to foetal brain development are less clear.

Plasma-Etched Black GaAs Nanoarrays with Gradient Refractive Index Profile for Broadband, Omnidirectional, and Polarization-Independent Antireflection.

Black GaAs nanotip arrays (NTs) with 3300 nm lengths were fabricated via self-masked plasma etching. We show, both experimentally and numerically, that these NTs, with three gradient refractive index layers, effectively suppress Fresnel reflections at the air-GaAs interface over a broad range of wavelengths. These NTs exhibit exceptional UV-Vis light absorption (up to 99%) and maintain high NIR absorption (33-60%) compared to bare GaAs. Moreover, possessing a graded layer with a low refractive index (n = 1.01 to 1.12), they achieve angular and polarization-independent antireflection properties exceeding 80° at 632.8 nm, aligning with perfect antireflective coating theory predictions. This approach is anticipated to enhance the performance of optoelectronic devices across a wide range of applications.

A Room-Temperature All-Solid-State Na-Ag Battery with a Long Cycle Life and Low Overpotential.

Aqueous Zn-Ag batteries have been developed and commercialized for nearly a century, offering stable discharge and high specific energies. Sodium, with its lower redox potential, smaller charge-to-mass ratio, and abundant resources, presents a promising alternative to zinc. In this study, we successfully developed an all-solid-state Na-Ag battery system. This battery demonstrates stable discharge and charge voltages, low overpotential (0.27 V), high energy efficiency (>91%), and long cycle life under moderate humidity at room temperature. The reaction mechanism was elucidated through combined analyses using differential electrochemical mass spectrometry (DEMS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Our findings indicate that metallic Ag in the cathode materials acts as an effective catalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction during the initial discharge process, forming NaOH as the discharge product. Ag is then oxidized during the charging process and recovered during discharge, serving as an active reactant in the Na-Ag battery. This work demonstrates superior performance of all-solid-state Na-Ag battery over aqueous Zn-Ag battery. Na-Ag battery may be of interest in applications with stringent requirements on stable discharge voltage and high specific energy.

Fringe-based depth segmentation via minimum-fringe-period-based singular points extraction.

In the field of machine vision, depth segmentation plays a crucial role in dividing targets into different regions based on abrupt changes in depth. Phase-shifting depth segmentation is a technique that extracts singular points to form segmentation lines by leveraging the phase-shifting invariance of singular points in different wrapped phase maps. This makes it immune to color, texture, and camera exposure. However, current phase-shifting depth segmentation techniques face challenges in the precision of segmentation. To overcome this issue, this paper proposes a singular points extraction technique by constructing a more comprehensive threshold with the help of the minimum period of the phase map. Taking full advantage of the proposed technique, mean-value points and order singular points are accurately filtered out, and the integrity of segmentation lines in high-curvature regions can be guaranteed. During optimization processing, the precision of segmentation is improved by employing a low-cost morphology-based optimization model. Simulation results demonstrate the segmentation accuracy reaches up to 98.58% even in a noisy condition. Experimental results on different objects indicate that the proposed method exhibits good generalization and robustness.

The significance of CD8+ tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes exhaustion heterogeneity and its underlying mechanism in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

CD8+ tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) exhaustion is a major barrier to effective tumor control in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and may consist of heterogeneous populations with different functional states. We profiled the CD8+TILs exhaustion heterogeneity and explored its clinical significance as well as the underlying mechanism through single-cell RNA sequencing (n = 7), bulk RNA sequencing (n = 3300), immunohistochemistry (n = 116), and reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (n = 95), and somatic mutation data (n = 48). Our results demonstrated that exhausted CD8+TILs in DLBCL were composed of progenitor and terminal states characterized by CCL5 and TUBA1B, respectively. High terminally exhausted CD8+TILs indicated an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment, activated B-cell-like subtype, inferior prognosis, and poor response to immune checkpoint blockade therapy in DLBCL. Our study further demonstrated that the CD39/A2AR-related signaling may be the potential pathway that promoted the transition of progenitor toward terminally exhausted CD8+TILs in DLBCL. Furthermore, the CD39/A2AR-related pathway in DLBCL may be regulated by BATF and STAT3 in exhausted CD8+TILs, and MYD88 mutation in tumor cells. Our study highlights CD8+TILs exhaustion heterogeneity and its possible regulatory mechanism provides a novel prognostic indicator and can facilitate the optimization of individualized immunotherapy.

Effect of probiotics on children with autism spectrum disorders: a meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Researches have found that alteration of intestinal flora may be closely related to the development of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, whether probiotics supplementation has a protective effect on ASD remains controversial. This meta-analysis aimed to analyze the outcome of probiotics in the treatment of ASD children. METHODS: The Pubmed, Cochrane Library, Web of Science and Embase were searched until Sep 2022. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) relevant to the probiotics and placebo treatment on ASD children were screened. Quality assessment of the included RCTs was evaluated by the Cochrane collaboration's tool. The primary outcomes were ASD assessment scales, including ABC (aberrant behavior checklist) and CBCL (child behavior checklist) for evaluating the behavior improvement, SRS (social responsiveness scale) for social assessment, DQ (developmental quotient) for physical and mental development and CGI-I (clinical global impression improvement) for overall improvement. The secondary outcome was total 6-GSI (gastrointestinal severity index). RESULTS: In total, 6 RCTs from 6 studies with 302 children were included in the systemic review. Total 6-GSI (MD=-0.59, 95%CI [-1.02,-0.17], P < 0.05) decreased significantly after oral administration of probiotics. Whereas, there was no statistical difference in ABC, CBCL, SRS, DQ and CGI-I between probiotics and placebo groups in ASD children. CONCLUSION: Probiotics treatment could improve gastrointestinal symptoms, but there was no significant improvement in ASD.

Amino-Acid-Encoded Supramolecular Nanostructures for Persistent Bioluminescence Imaging of Tumor.

Bioluminescence imaging (BLI) is a powerful technique for noninvasive monitoring of biological processes and cell transplantation. Nonetheless, the application of D-luciferin, which is widely employed as a bioluminescent probe, is restricted in long-term in vivo tracking due to its short half-life. This study presents a novel approach using amino acid-encoded building blocks to accumulate and preserve luciferin within tumor cells, through a supramolecular self-assembly strategy. The building block platform called Cys(SEt)-X-CBT (CXCBT, with X representing any amino acid) utilizes a covalent-noncovalent hybrid self-assembly mechanism to generate diverse luciferin-containing nanostructures in tumor cells after glutathione reduction. These nanostructures exhibit efficient tumor-targeted delivery as well as sequence-dependent well-designed morphologies and prolonged bioluminescence performance. Among the selected amino acids (X = Glu, Lys, Leu, Phe), Cys(SEt)-Lys-CBT (CKCBT) exhibits the superior long-lasting bioluminescence signal (up to 72 h) and good biocompatibility. This study demonstrates the potential of amino-acid-encoded supramolecular self-assembly as a convenient and effective method for developing BLI probes for long-term biological tracking and disease imaging.

Regulation of anti-tumor immunity by metal ion in the tumor microenvironment.

Metal ions play an essential role in regulating the functions of immune cells by transmitting intracellular and extracellular signals in tumor microenvironment (TME). Among these immune cells, we focused on the impact of metal ions on T cells because they can recognize and kill cancer cells and play an important role in immune-based cancer treatment. Metal ions are often used in nanomedicines for tumor immunotherapy. In this review, we discuss seven metal ions related to anti-tumor immunity, elucidate their roles in immunotherapy, and provide novel insights into tumor immunotherapy and clinical applications.

The diagnostic performance of T1 mapping in the assessment of breast lesions: A preliminary study.

PURPOSE: To assess T1 mapping performance in distinguishing between benign and malignant breast lesions and to explore its correlation with histopathologic features in breast cancer. METHODS: This study prospectively enrolled 103 participants with a total of 108 lesions, including 25 benign and 83 malignant lesions. T1 mapping, diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), and dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) were performed. Two radiologists independently outlined the ROIs and analyzed T1 and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values for each lesion, assessing interobserver reliability with the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). T1 and ADC values were compared between benign and malignant lesions, across different histopathological characteristics (histological grades, estrogen, progesterone and HER2 receptors expression, Ki67, N status). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis and Pearson correlation coefficient (ρ) were performed. RESULTS: T1 values showed statistically significant differences between benign and malignant groups (P < 0.001), with higher values in the malignant (1817.08 ms ± 126.64) compared to the benign group (1429.31 ms ± 167.66). In addition, T1 values significantly increased in the ER (-) group (P = 0.001). No significant differences were found in T1 values among HER2, Ki67, N status, and histological grades groups. Furthermore, T1 values exhibited a significant correlation (ρ) with ER (P < 0.01) and PR (P = 0.03). The AUC for T1 value in distinguishing benign from malignant lesions was 0.69 (95 % CI: 0.55 - 0.82, P = 0.005), and for evaluating ER status, it was 0.75 (95 % CI: 0.62 - 0.87, P = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: T1 mapping holds the potential as an imaging biomarker to assist in the discrimination of benign and malignant breast lesions and assessing the ER expression status in breast cancer.

Association of Oxidative Stress on Cognitive Function: A Bidirectional Mendelian Randomisation Study.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between oxidative stress and cognitive function, encompassing cognitive performance, intelligence, memory, reaction time, speech and vision by a bidirectional Mendelian randomisation study. Independent genetic variants associated with glutathione S-transferase (GST), catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPX), peroxiredoxin (PRDX), sulfhydryl oxidase (SOX) and thyroid peroxidase (TPO) were explored using a genome-wide association study (GWAS). The inverse variance weighted (IVW) or Wald ratio method was employed to ascertain the relationship between antioxidant enzymes and cognitive function. The MR analyses indicated that the MR effect estimates of GST (ß = 0.0352, P = 0.0047, FDR = 0.0164) and TPO (ß = 0.0531, P = 0.0003, FDR = 0.0021) were significantly associated with cognitive performance elevation. Furthermore, genetically predicted GST (ß = 0.0334, P = 0.0043, FDR = 0.0151) and TPO (ß = 0.0496, P = 0.0031, FDR = 0.0151) were found to be associated with high intelligence. Additionally, there were also some associations of SOX (ß = 0.0243, P = 0.0283, FDR = 0.066) on high cognitive performance, TPO (ß = 0.1189, P = 0.0315, FDR = 0.2205) on larger maximum digits remembered correctly, and SOX (ß = - 0.2435, P = 0.0395, FDR = 0.1185) on reaction time. Nevertheless, the associations between antioxidant enzymes and speech and linguistic disorders, as well as visual disturbances, were not significant. We did not find reverse causation between antioxidant enzymes and cognitive function traits. This study provides evidence of potential causal relationships between oxidative stress and cognitive function.

Air Corrosion of Layered Cathode Materials for Sodium-Ion Batteries: Cation Mixing and a Practical Suppression Strategy.

Layered oxide cathodes of sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) are considered promising candidates due to their fascinating high capacity, good cyclability, and environmental friendliness. However, the air sensitivity of layered SIB cathodes causes high electrode manufacturing costs and performance deterioration, hampering their practical application. Herein, a commercial O3-type layered Na(Ni1/3Fe1/3Mn1/3)O2 (NNFM) material is adopted to investigate the air corrosive problem and the suppression strategy. We reveal that once the layered material comes in contact with ambient air, cations migrate from transition metal (TM) layers to sodium layers at the near surface, although Na+ and TM ions show quite different ion radii. Experimental results and theoretical calculations show that more Ni/Na disorder occurs in the air-exposed O3-NNFM materials, owing to a lower Ni migration energy barrier. The cation mixing results in detrimental structural distortion, along with the formation of residual alkali species on the surface, leading to high impedance for Na+ diffusion during charge/discharge. To tackle this problem, an ultrathin and uniform hydrophobic molecular layer of perfluorodecyl trimethoxysilane is assembled on the O3-NNFM surface, which significantly suppresses unfavorable chemistry and structure degradation during air storage. The in-depth understanding of the structural degradation mechanism and suppression strategy presented in this work can facilitate high-energy cathode manufacturing from the perspective of future practical implementation and commercialization.