Precisely Tunable Instantaneous Carbon Rearrangement Enables Low-Working-Potential Hard Carbon Toward Sodium-Ion Batteries with Enhanced Energy Density.

As the preferred anode material for sodium-ion batteries, hard carbon (HC) confronts significant obstacles in providing a long and dominant low-voltage plateau to boost the output energy density of full batteries. The critical challenge lies in precisely enhancing the local graphitization degree to minimize Na+ ad-/chemisorption, while effectively controlling the growth of internal closed nanopores to maximize Na+ filling. Unfortunately, traditional high-temperature preparation methods struggle to achieve both objectives simultaneously. Herein, a transient sintering-involved kinetically-controlled synthesis strategy is proposed that enables the creation of metastable HCs with precisely tunable carbon phases and low discharge/charge voltage plateaus. By optimizing the temperature and width of thermal pulses, the high-throughput screened HCs are characterized by short-range ordered graphitic micro-domains that possess accurate crystallite width and height, as well as appropriately-sized closed nanopores. This advancement realizes HC anodes with significantly prolonged low-voltage plateaus below 0.1 V, with the best sample exhibiting a high plateau capacity of up to 325 mAh g-1. The energy density of the HC||Na3V2(PO4)3 full battery can therefore be increased by 20.7%. Machine learning study explicitly unveils the "carbon phase evolution-electrochemistry" relationship. This work promises disruptive changes to the synthesis, optimization, and commercialization of HC anodes for high-energy-density sodium-ion batteries.

Repair Engineering of Crystal Structure in van der Waals Materials by Probe Electron Beam.

The advancement of electronic technology has led to increasing research on performance and stability. Continuous electrical pulse stimulation can cause crystal structure changes, affecting performance and accelerating aging. Controlled repair of these defects is crucial. In this study, we investigated crystal structure changes in van der Waals (vdW) InSe crystals under continuous electric pulses by using electron beam lithography (EBL) and spherical aberration corrected transmission electron microscopy (Cs-TEM). Results show that electrical pulses induce amorphous regions in the InSe lattice, increasing the device resistance. We used Cs-STEM probe scanning for precise repair, abbreviated SPRT, to optimize device performance. SPRT is related to electric fields induced by the electron beam and can be applied to other 2D materials like α-In2Se3 and CrSe2, offering a potential approach to extend device lifespan.

Rapid synthesis of high-purity molybdenum carbide with controlled crystal phases.

The synthesis of phase-pure carbide nanomaterials is crucial for understanding their structure-performance relationships, and for advancing their application in catalysis. Molybdenum carbides, in particular, have garnered increasing interest due to their Pt-like surface electronic properties and high catalytic activity. Traditional methods for synthesizing molybdenum carbide are often lengthy and energy-intensive, leading to an uncontrolled phase, low purity, and excessive carbon coverage, which hinder their catalytic performance improvement. This work introduces a novel pulsed Joule heating (PJH) technique that overcomes these limitations, enabling the controlled synthesis of high-purity molybdenum carbides (ß-Mo2C, η-MoC1-x, and α-MoC1-x) within seconds by using MoOx/4-Cl-o-phenylenediamine as the hybrid precursor. The PJH method allows precise control over the diffusion of carbon species in the Mo-C system, resulting in a significantly improved phase purity of up to 96.89 wt%. Moreover, the electronic structure of platinum catalysts on molybdenum carbide was modulated through electron metal-support interaction (EMSI) between Pt and MoxC, and contributed to enhanced catalytic performance compared to carbon-supported Pt catalysts during the hydrogen evolution reaction. Overall, this work paves the way for efficient production of high-quality molybdenum carbide nanomaterials, and thus is expected to accelerate their industrial deployments in practical catalytic reactions.

Graphene-confined ultrafast radiant heating for high-loading subnanometer metal cluster catalysts.

Thermally activated ultrafast diffusion, collision and combination of metal atoms comprise the fundamental processes of synthesizing burgeoning subnanometer metal clusters for diverse applications. However, so far, no method has allowed the kinetically controllable synthesis of subnanometer metal clusters without compromising metal loading. Herein, we have developed, for the first time, a graphene-confined ultrafast radiant heating (GCURH) method for the synthesis of high-loading metal cluster catalysts in microseconds, where the impermeable and flexible graphene acts as a diffusion-constrained nanoreactor for high-temperature reactions. Originating from graphene-mediated ultrafast and efficient laser-to-thermal conversion, the GCURH method is capable of providing a record-high heating and cooling rate of ∼109°C/s and a peak temperature above 2000°C, and the diffusion of thermally activated atoms is spatially limited within the confinement of the graphene nanoreactor. As a result, due to the kinetics-dominant and diffusion-constrained condition provided by GCURH, subnanometer Co cluster catalysts with high metal loading up to 27.1 wt% have been synthesized by pyrolyzing a Co-based metal-organic framework (MOF) in microseconds, representing one of the highest size-loading combinations and the quickest rate for MOF pyrolysis in the reported literature. The obtained Co cluster catalyst not only exhibits an extraordinary activity similar to that of most modern multicomponent noble metal counterparts in the electrocatalytic oxygen evolution reaction, but is also highly convenient for catalyst recycling and refining due to its single metal component. Such a novel GCURH technique paves the way for the kinetically regulated, limited diffusion distance of thermally activated atoms, which in turn provides enormous opportunities for the development of sophisticated and environmentally sustainable metal cluster catalysts.

Transient and general synthesis of high-density and ultrasmall nanoparticles on two-dimensional porous carbon via coordinated carbothermal shock.

Carbon-supported nanoparticles are indispensable to enabling new energy technologies such as metal-air batteries and catalytic water splitting. However, achieving ultrasmall and high-density nanoparticles (optimal catalysts) faces fundamental challenges of their strong tendency toward coarsening and agglomeration. Herein, we report a general and efficient synthesis of high-density and ultrasmall nanoparticles uniformly dispersed on two-dimensional porous carbon. This is achieved through direct carbothermal shock pyrolysis of metal-ligand precursors in just ~100 ms, the fastest among reported syntheses. Our results show that the in situ metal-ligand coordination (e.g., N → Co2+) and local ordering during millisecond-scale pyrolysis play a crucial role in kinetically dominated fabrication and stabilization of high-density nanoparticles on two-dimensional porous carbon films. The as-obtained samples exhibit excellent activity and stability as bifunctional catalysts in oxygen redox reactions. Considering the huge flexibility in coordinated precursors design, diversified single and multielement nanoparticles (M = Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Cr, Mn, Ag, etc) were generally fabricated, even in systems well beyond traditional crystalline coordination chemistry. Our method allows for the transient and general synthesis of well-dispersed nanoparticles with great simplicity and versatility for various application schemes.

Shipborne oceanic high-spectral-resolution lidar for accurate estimation of seawater depth-resolved optical properties.

Lidar techniques present a distinctive ability to resolve vertical structure of optical properties within the upper water column at both day- and night-time. However, accuracy challenges remain for existing lidar instruments due to the ill-posed nature of elastic backscatter lidar retrievals and multiple scattering. Here we demonstrate the high performance of, to the best of our knowledge, the first shipborne oceanic high-spectral-resolution lidar (HSRL) and illustrate a multiple scattering correction algorithm to rigorously address the above challenges in estimating the depth-resolved diffuse attenuation coefficient Kd and the particulate backscattering coefficient bbp at 532 nm. HSRL data were collected during day- and night-time within the coastal areas of East China Sea and South China Sea, which are connected by the Taiwan Strait. Results include vertical profiles from open ocean waters to moderate turbid waters and first lidar continuous observation of diel vertical distribution of thin layers at a fixed station. The root-mean-square relative differences between the HSRL and coincident in situ measurements are 5.6% and 9.1% for Kd and bbp, respectively, corresponding to an improvement of 2.7-13.5 and 4.9-44.1 times, respectively, with respect to elastic backscatter lidar methods. Shipborne oceanic HSRLs with high performance are expected to be of paramount importance for the construction of 3D map of ocean ecosystem.

A general method for rapid synthesis of refractory carbides by low-pressure carbothermal shock reduction.

Refractory carbides are attractive candidates for support materials in heterogeneous catalysis because of their high thermal, chemical, and mechanical stability. However, the industrial applications of refractory carbides, especially silicon carbide (SiC), are greatly hampered by their low surface area and harsh synthetic conditions, typically have a very limited surface area (<200 m2 g-1), and are prepared in a high-temperature environment (>1,400 °C) that lasts for several or even tens of hours. Based on Le Chatelier's principle, we theoretically proposed and experimentally verified that a low-pressure carbothermal reduction (CR) strategy was capable of synthesizing high-surface area SiC (569.9 m2 g-1) at a lower temperature and a faster rate (∼1,300 °C, 50 Pa, 30 s). Such high-surface area SiC possesses excellent thermal stability and antioxidant capacity since it maintained stability under a water-saturated airflow at 650 °C for 100 h. Furthermore, we demonstrated the feasibility of our strategy for scale-up production of high-surface area SiC (460.6 m2 g-1), with a yield larger than 12 g in one experiment, by virtue of an industrial viable vacuum sintering furnace. Importantly, our strategy is  also applicable to the rapid synthesis of refractory metal carbides (NbC, Mo2C, TaC, WC) and even their emerging high-entropy carbides (VNbMoTaWC5, TiVNbTaWC5). Therefore, our low-pressure CR method provides an alternative strategy, not merely limited to temperature and time items, to regulate the synthesis and facilitate the upcoming industrial applications of carbide-based advanced functional materials.

Metal Coordination Guided Formation of Discrete Neutral Three-Component Hydrogen-Bonded Architectures.

Interesting molecular architectures were obtained by combining heterodimeric quadruple hydrogen-bonding and neutral metal corner braces. The selection of cyclic and noncyclic aggregates from a random mixture of two-component assemblies has been achieved through metal coordination and careful adjustment of monomer rigidity and dimensions.

Electrocardiographic QRS voltage amplitude improvement by intramyocardial radiofrequency ablation in patients with hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy and one year follow up.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to determine whether the serial changes of the electrocardiogram is associated with regression of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) after Liwen procedure. BACKGROUND: Clinical application of the echocardiography-guided percutaneous intramyocardial septal radiofrequency ablation (PIMSRA, Liwen procedure) is an innovative approach to treat hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy (HOCM). METHODS: We enrolled 30 consecutive patients with HOCM who had undergone Liwen procedure in our Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Center, from June 2016 to January 2018. Electrocardiography (ECG) and echocardiogram were performed before and after Liwen procedure, and at each follow-up (1-week, 1, 3, 6 months and 1 year). The Sokolow-Lyon index (SLi), Q wave, R wave, S wave amplitude of 12-lead ECG and interventricular septal (IVS) thickness, left ventricular mass index (LVMI) by echocardiograms were measured in each patient. The sum of the ECG QRS amplitude on each lead was calculated. The reduction of SLi and QRS amplitude were used as improvement index. RESULTS: The ECG leads with most improvement rate of the QRS wave amplitude of all cases were V1 and V2, both at 90%. The QRS wave amplitude in V1 leads and SLi were positively correlated with IVS thickness and LVMI at baseline and 1 year after Liwen procedure, respectively. The reduction of IVS thickness, LVMI and QRS wave amplitude in leads V1 and V2 were significant at one month after ablation and the follow-up period. SLi was significantly decreased at 3 months during the observation period. Similarly, the improvement of ECG QRS wave amplitude after the Liwen procedure tracked the gradual thinning of the IVS and the changes of SLi reflected the regression of LVH. CONCLUSION: The QRS wave amplitude reductions in lead V1 and SLi may be good indicators for evaluating the postoperative interventricular septal remodeling of the Liwen procedure.

Cocoa tea (Camellia ptilophylla) water extract inhibits adipocyte differentiation in mouse 3T3-L1 preadipocytes.

Cocoa tea (Camellia ptilophylla) is a naturally decaffeinated tea plant. Previously we found that cocoa tea demonstrated a beneficial effect against high-fat diet induced obesity, hepatic steatosis, and hyperlipidemia in mice. The present study aimed to investigate the anti-adipogenic effect of cocoa tea in vitro using preadipocytes 3T3-L1. Adipogenic differentiation was confirmed by Oil Red O stain, qPCR and Western blot. Our results demonstrated that cocoa tea significantly inhibited triglyceride accumulation in mature adipocytes in a dose-dependent manner. Cocoa tea was shown to suppress the expressions of key adipogenic transcription factors, including peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPAR γ) and CCAAT/enhancer binding protein (C/EBP α). The tea extract was subsequently found to reduce the expressions of adipocyte-specific genes such as sterol regulatory element binding transcription factor 1c (SREBP-1c), fatty acid synthase (FAS), Acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC), fatty acid translocase (FAT) and stearoylcoenzyme A desaturase-1 (SCD-1). In addition, JNK, ERK and p38 phosphorylation were inhibited during cocoa tea inhibition of 3T3-L1 adipogenic differentiation. Taken together, this is the first study that demonstrates cocoa tea has the capacity to suppress adipogenesis in pre-adipocyte 3T3-L1 similar to traditional green tea.

[Relationship between electrocardiographic and genetic mutation (MYH7-H1717Q, MYLK2-K324E and KCNQ1-R190W) phenotype in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the relationship between electrocardiographic (ECG) and genetic mutations of patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), and early ECG changes in HCM patients. METHODS: Clinical, 12-lead ECG and echocardiographic examination as well as genetic examinations were made in a three-generation Chinses HCM pedigree with 8 family members (4 males). The clinical characterization and ECG parameters were analyzed and their relationship with genotypes in the family was explored. RESULTS: Four missense mutations (MYH7-H1717Q, MYLK2-K324E, KCNQ1-R190W, TMEM70-I147T) were detected in this pedigree. The proband carried all 4 mutations and 5 members carried 2 mutations. Corrected QTc interval of KCNQ1-H1717Q carriers was significantly prolonged and was consistent with the ECG characterization of long QT syndrome. MYLK2-K324E and KCNQ1-R190W carriers presented with Q wave and(or) depressed ST segment, as well as flatted or reversed T waves in leads from anterolateral and inferior ventricular walls. ECG results showed ST segment depression, flat and inverted T wave in the gene mutation carriers with normal echocardiographic examination results. ECG and echocardiographic results were normal in TMEM70-I147T mutation carrier. CONCLUSIONS: The combined mutations of the genes associated with cardiac ion channels and HCM are linked with the ECG phenotype changes in this HCM pedigree. The variations in ECG parameters due to the genetic mutation appear earlier than the echocardiography and clinical manifestations. Variation in ECG may become one of the indexes for early diagnostic screening and disease progression of the HCM gene mutation carriers.

Using ultrasonography to monitor liver blood flow for liver transplant from donors supported on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) has been used to support brain-dead donors for liver procurement. This study investigated the potential role of ultrasonographic monitoring of hepatic perfusion as an aid to improve the viability of liver transplants obtained from brain-dead donors who are supported on ECMO. A total of 40 brain-dead patients maintained on ECMO served as the study population. Hepatic blood flow was monitored using ultrasonography, and perioperative optimal perfusion was maintained by calibrating ECMO. Liver function tests were performed to assess the viability of the graft. The hepatic arterial blood flow was well maintained with no significant changes observed before and after ECMO (206 ± 32 versus 241 ± 45 mL/minute; P = 0.06). Similarly, the portal venous blood flow was also maintained throughout (451 ± 65 versus 482 ± 77 mL/minute; P = 0.09). No significant change in levels of total bilirubin, alanine transaminase, and lactic acid were reported during ECMO (P = 0.17, P = 0.08, and P = 0.09, respectively). Before the liver is procured, ultrasonographic monitoring of hepatic blood flow could be a valuable aid to improve the viability of a liver transplant by allowing for real-time calibration of ECMO perfusion in brain-dead liver donors. In our study, ultrasonographic monitoring helped prevent warm ischemic injury to the liver graft by avoiding both overperfusion and underperfusion of the liver.

In vitro and in vivo mechanistic study of a novel proanthocyanidin, GC-(4→8)-GCG from cocoa tea (Camellia ptilophylla) in antiangiogenesis.

Angiogenesis, the process of blood vessel formation, is critical to tumor growth. Ant-angiogenic strategies demonstrated importance in cancer therapy. Cocoa tea (Camellia ptilophylla), a naturally decaffeinated tea commonly consumed as a healthy drink in southern China, had recently been found to be a potential candidate for antiangiogenesis. A novel proanthocyanidin, GC-(4→8)-GCG, which consisted of gallocatechin and gallocatechin 3-O gallate moieties, was discovered and thought to be one of the effective candidates for antiangiogenesis. Hence, the present study aimed to evaluate the antiangiogenesis activities of GC-(4→8)-GCG in vitro and in vivo, and SU5416 was applied as a positive control. The inhibitory effects of GC-(4→8)-GCG on three important processes involved in angiogenesis, i.e., proliferation, migration and differentiation, were examined using human microvascular endothelial cell line HMEC-1 by MTT assay, scratch assay and tube formation assay, respectively. Using transgenic zebrafish embryos TG(fli1:EGFP)y1/+(AB) as an animal model of angiogenesis, the antiangiogenic effect of GC-(4→8)-GCG was further verified in vivo. Our results demonstrated that GC-(4→8)-GCG significantly inhibited migration (P<.001) and tubule formation (P<.001-.05) of HMEC-1 in dose-dependent manner. Regarding intracellular signal transduction, GC-(4→8)-GCG attenuated the phosphorylation of ERK, Akt and p38 dose-dependently in HMEC-1. In zebrafish embryo, the formation of new blood vessels was effectively inhibited by GC-(4→8)-GCG in a dose-dependent manner after 3 days of treatment (P<.001-.05). In conclusion, these results revealed that our novel proanthocyanidin, GC-(4→8)-GCG might be a potential and promising agent of natural resource to be further developed as an antiangiogenic agent.

Effect of Dietary Cocoa Tea (Camellia ptilophylla) Supplementation on High-Fat Diet-Induced Obesity, Hepatic Steatosis, and Hyperlipidemia in Mice.

Recent studies suggested that green tea has the potential to protect against diet-induced obesity. The presence of caffeine within green tea has caused limitations. Cocoa tea (Camellia ptilophylla) is a naturally decaffeinated tea plant. To determine whether cocoa tea supplementation results in an improvement in high-fat diet-induced obesity, hyperlipidemia and hepatic steatosis, and whether such effects would be comparable to those of green tea extract, we studied six groups (n = 10) of C57BL/6 mice that were fed with (1) normal chow (N); (2) high-fat diet (21% butterfat + 0.15% cholesterol, wt/wt) (HF); (3) a high-fat diet supplemented with 2% green tea extract (HFLG); (4) a high-fat diet supplemented with 4% green tea extract (HFHG); (5) a high-fat diet supplemented with 2% cocoa tea extract (HFLC); and (6) a high-fat diet supplemented with 4% cocoa tea extract (HFHC). From the results, 2% and 4% dietary cocoa tea supplementation caused a dose-dependent decrease in (a) body weight, (b) fat pad mass, (c) liver weight, (d) total liver lipid, (e) liver triglyceride and cholesterol, and (f) plasma lipids (triglyceride and cholesterol). These data indicate that dietary cocoa tea, being naturally decaffeinated, has a beneficial effect on high-fat diet-induced obesity, hepatomegaly, hepatic steatosis, and elevated plasma lipid levels in mice, which are comparable to green tea. The present findings have provided the proof of concept that dietary cocoa tea might be of therapeutic value and could therefore provide a safer and cost effective option for patients with diet-induced metabolic syndrome.

Inhibitory effects of cocoa tea (Camellia ptilophylla) in human hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 in vitro and in vivo through apoptosis.

Cocoa tea (Camellia ptilophylla), a naturally decaffeinated tea commonly consumed as a healthy beverage in southern China, has been recently found to be a potential candidate for the treatment of different diseases, including obesity and cancers. The present study aimed to evaluate the anti-liver cancer activities of green cocoa tea infusion (GCTI) in vitro and in vivo using human hepatocarcinoma cell line HepG2 cells and nude mice xenograft model. The apoptotic activities of GCTI were assessed using flow cytometry, Western blotting and immunohistochemical analysis. Our results showed that GCTI significantly inhibited the proliferation of HepG2 cells in a dose-dependent manner (IC50 values=292 µg/ml at 72 h). GCTI induced HepG2 cells to undergo apoptosis, which was demonstrated by cell cycle analysis and annexin-V and propidium iodide staining. The caspase cascade was activated as shown by significant proteolytic cleavage of caspase-3 and PARP in GCTI-treated cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner. In addition, GCTI increased the expression of cell cycle inhibitory proteins (p21, p27 and p53) and the Bax-to-Bcl-2 ratio to induce apoptosis. The antiproliferative effect of GCTI was confirmed in HepG2 xenograft nude mice. The tumor growth was effectively inhibited by GCTI in a dose-dependent manner as indicated by the decrease in tumor volume and tumor weight after 4 weeks of treatment. Administration of GCTI increased terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate nick-end labeling and caspase-3-positive cells in the tumor section. In conclusion, these results revealed that GCTI may be a potential and promising agent of natural resource to treat liver cancer.

The metabolites of mangrove endophytic fungus Zh6-B1 from the South China Sea.

Two new metabolites, 3R,5R-Sonnerlactone (1) and 3R,5S-Sonnerlactone (2), were isolated from the mangrove endophytic fungus Zh6-B1 obtained from the South China Sea. Their structures were elucidated by MS and NMR. The absolute configuration of compound 1 was determined by single-crystal X-ray analysis using Cu Kalpha radiation. The absolute configuration of compound 2 was determined by NOESY analysis and comparing circular dichroism spectroscopy with compound 1. The antiproliferative activity of compound 1 and 2 against the multi-drug resistant human oral floor carcinoma cells (KV) was evaluated.

Substrate specificity of N-methyltransferase involved in purine alkaloids synthesis is dependent upon one amino acid residue of the enzyme.

Caffeine (1,3,7-trimethylxanthine) and theobromine (3,7-dimethylxanthine) are the major purine alkaloids in plants. To investigate the diversity of N-methyltransferases involved in purine alkaloid biosynthesis, we isolated the genes homologous for caffeine synthase from theobromine-accumulating plants. The predicted amino acid sequences of N-methyltransferases in theobromine-accumulating species in Camellia were more than 80% identical to caffeine synthase in C. sinensis. However, there was a little homology among the N-methyltransferases between Camellia and Theobroma. The recombinant enzymes derived from theobromine-accumulating plants had only 3-N-methyltransferase activity. The accumulation of purine alkaloids was, therefore, dependent on the substrate specificity of N-methyltransferase determined by one amino acid residue in the central part of the protein.

Theacrine (1,3,7,9-tetramethyluric acid) synthesis in leaves of a Chinese tea, kucha (Camellia assamica var. kucha).

Theacrine (1,3,7,9-tetramethyluric acid) and caffeine were the major purine alkaloids in the leaves of an unusual Chinese tea known as kucha (Camellia assamica var. kucha). Endogenous levels of theacrine and caffeine in expanding buds and young leaves were ca. 2.8 and 0.6-2.7% of the dry wt, respectively, but the concentrations were lower in the mature leaves. Radioactivity from S-adenosyl-L-[methyl-14C]methionine was incorporated into theacrine as well as theobromine and caffeine by leaf disks of kucha, indicating that S-adenosyl-L-methionine acts as the methyl donor not only for caffeine biosynthesis but also for theacrine production. [8-14C]Caffeine was converted to theacrine by kucha leaves with highest incorporation occurring in expanding buds. When [8-14C]adenosine, the most effective purine precursor for caffeine biosynthesis in tea (Camellia sinensis), was incubated with young kucha leaves for 24 h, up to 1% of total radioactivity was recovered in theacrine. However, pulse-chase experiments with [8-14C]adenosine demonstrated much more extensive incorporation of label into caffeine than theacrine, possibly because of dilution of [14C]caffeine produced by the large endogenous caffeine pool. These results indicate that in kucha leaves theacrine is synthesized from caffeine in what is probably a three-step pathway with 1,3,7-methyluric acid acting an intermediate. This is a first demonstration that theacrine is synthesized from adenosine via caffeine.