Differential Sampling of AC Waveforms Based on a Commercial Digital-to-Analog Converter for Reference.

This paper introduces an innovative differential sampling technique for calibrating AC waveforms, leveraging a commercially available 16-bit digital-to-analog converter (DAC) as the reference standard. The novelty of this approach lies in its enhanced stability over traditional direct sampling methods, especially as the frequency of the AC waveform increases. Notably, this technique provides a cost-effective sampler alternative to the differential sampling methods that rely on a programmable Josephson voltage standard (PJVS). A critical aspect of this methodology is the precise measurement of the DAC's output voltage, for which a static measurement strategy is adopted to utilize the exceptional linearity and transfer accuracy of the Keysight 3458A (Santa Rosa, CA, USA) in its standard DCV mode. The differential sampling method has demonstrated good accuracy, achieving a near 1 µV/V agreement with a pulse-driven AC Josephson voltage standard (ACJVS) across a 40 Hz to 200 Hz frequency range. The method attained an expanded uncertainty (k = 2) of 1 part in 106 while measuring a 0.707107 VRMS sine wave at 50 Hz, showcasing its efficacy in precise AC waveform calibration.

Improved delivery of broadly neutralizing antibodies by nanocapsules suppresses SHIV infection in the CNS of infant rhesus macaques.

Broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) directed to HIV-1 have shown promise at suppressing viremia in animal models. However, the use of bNAbs for the central nervous system (CNS) infection is confounded by poor penetration of the blood brain barrier (BBB). Typically, antibody concentrations in the CNS are extremely low; with levels in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) only 0.1% of blood concentrations. Using a novel nanotechnology platform, which we term nanocapsules, we show effective transportation of the human bNAb PGT121 across the BBB in infant rhesus macaques upon systemic administration up to 1.6% of plasma concentration. We demonstrate that a single dose of PGT121 encased in nanocapsules when delivered at 48h post-infection delays early acute infection with SHIVSF162P3 in infants, with one of four animals demonstrating viral clearance. Importantly, the nanocapsule delivery of PGT121 improves suppression of SHIV infection in the CNS relative to controls.

Contactless Real-Time Heart Rate Predicts the Performance of Elite Athletes: Evidence From Tokyo 2020 Olympic Archery Competition.

It is widely recognized that psychological stress impairs performance for elite athletes, yet direct evidence is scarce when it comes to high-stakes competition because measuring real-time psychological stress without interference is often challenging. Contactless real-time heart rate-a technology-enabled biomarker of stress-was measured and broadcast on TV during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics archery competition for the first time in sports. Here we examined whether the real-time heart rate of 122 adult archers predicted their performance in this unique setting. We found that higher heart rate-which indicates an increase in psychological stress-is associated with lower scores, correlation coefficient r(2096) = -.076, p < .001, and the observation is robust after we controlled for fixed effects at the individual and match level. Our results provide the first direct evidence in support of the detrimental effect of psychological stress measured by a real-time biomarker in a high-stakes competitive setting.

Inflammation-related Gene Polymorphisms Associated With Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.

BACKGROUND: Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is a malignant hematological disease and is often accompanied by a variety of genetic abnormalities. The pathogenesis of inflammation-related single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in children with ALL remains unclear. OBJECTIVE: This study was to discover the association of the SNP sites of some inflammation-related genes and the susceptibility and treatment response of ALL in children, so as to provide personalized treatment for ALL in children. PROCEDURE: One hundred sixty-five childhood ALL patients and 175 age-matched healthy participants were recruited in this study. We investigated the involvement of 31 SNPs of the inflammation-related genes in the pathogenesis and treatment response of childhood ALL. RESULTS: Statistical analysis revealed that rs2280714 in IRF5, rs2297630 in SDF-1, rs4353135 in NLRP3, rs1946518 in interleukin-18 were related to the susceptibility to pediatric ALL. Interleukin-1ß rs16944 SNP was correlated with ALL risk stage in children. Rs7633631 in CD226 and rs10818488 in TRAF1 were related to the minimal residual disease (MRD) on day 15 and day 33. CONCLUSIONS: Certain SNPs of inflammation genes were associated with the susceptibility and treatment response of ALL children. These findings may help in the early detection, diagnostic evaluation, and making individual chemotherapy regimen for ALL children according to the genotype of these sites at the time of initial diagnosis.

Spheres of Graphene and Carbon Nanotubes Embedding Silicon as Mechanically Resilient Anodes for Lithium-Ion Batteries.

Novel anode materials for lithium-ion batteries were synthesized by in situ growth of spheres of graphene and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) around silicon particles. These composites possess high electrical conductivity and mechanical resiliency, which can sustain the high-pressure calendering process in industrial electrode fabrication, as well as the stress induced during charging and discharging of the electrodes. The resultant electrodes exhibit outstanding cycling durability (∼90% capacity retention at 2 A g-1 after 700 cycles or a capacity fading rate of 0.014% per cycle), calendering compatibility (sustain pressure over 100 MPa), and adequate volumetric capacity (1006 mAh cm-3), providing a novel design strategy toward better silicon anode materials.

Macrocycle with Equatorial Coordination Sites Provides New Opportunity for Structure-Diverse Metallacages.

Reported here is the synthesis of a macrocycle with equatorial coordination sites for the construction of self-assembled metallacages. The macrocycle is prepared via a post-modification on the equator of biphen[n]arene. Utilizing this macrocycle as a ligand, three prismatic cages and one octahedral cage were synthesized by regulating the geometric structures and coordination number of metal acceptors. The multi-cavity configuration of prismatic cage was revealed by single-crystal structure. We prove that a macrocycle with equatorial coordination sites can be an excellent building block for synthesizing structure-diverse metallacages. Our results provide a typical example and a general method for the design and synthesis of metallacages.

Compacted N-Doped 3D Bicontinuous Nanoporous Graphene/Carbon Nanotubes@Ni-Doped MnO2 Electrode for Ultrahigh Volumetric Performance All-Solid-State Supercapacitors at Wide Temperature Range.

Developing wide temperature range flexible solid-state supercapacitors with high volumetric energy density is highly desirable to meet the demands of the rapidly developing field of miniature consumer electronic devices and promote their widespread adoption. Herein, high-quality dense N-doped 3D porous graphene/carbon nanotube (N-3DG/CNTs) hybrid films are prepared and used as the substrate for the growth of Ni-doped MnO2 (Ni-MnO2 ). The integrated and interconnected architecture endows N-3DG/CNTs@Ni-MnO2 composite electrodes' high conductivity and fast ion/electron transport pathway. Subsequently, 2.4 V solid-state supercapacitors are fabricated based on compacted N-3DG/CNTs@Ni-MnO2 positive electrodes, which exhibit an ultrahigh volumetric energy density of 78.88 mWh cm-3 based on the entire device including electrodes, solid-state electrolyte, and packing films, excellent cycling stability up to 10 000 cycles, and a wide operating temperature range from -20 to 70 °C. This work demonstrates a design of flexible solid-state supercapacitors with exceptional volumetric performance capable of operation under extreme conditions.

Fast control plane for flexible and scalable optical interconnects.

The growth of data centers (DC) and high-performance computing (HPC) requires higher bandwidth, but traffic usually occurs between a small number of computing nodes, and the location of the communication bottleneck dynamically changes as the application runs. Therefore, the traditional static network that solves the communication bottleneck by providing excessive bandwidth cannot meet the demand of high performance and low cost at the same time. The reconfiguration of optical interconnects greatly improves the flexibility of the network, which can allocate unutilized bandwidth to node pairs with dense communication and improve resource utilization. However, this flexibility relies on a fast control plane to achieve efficient interaction between devices in the network. We made improvements in traffic collection, topology calculation, and optical switch configuration, and built an experimental platform to evaluate our control plane. The flexibility of optical interconnects shows a good acceleration effect when running applications that solve large-scale problems, and the experimental results show that a proper reconfiguration cycle can reduce the completion time of 3-D Fast Fourier Transform application by up to 53%.

Graphite-Embedded Lithium Iron Phosphate for High-Power-Energy Cathodes.

Lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) is broadly used as a low-cost cathode material for lithium-ion batteries, but its low ionic and electronic conductivity limit the rate performance. We report herein the synthesis of LiFePO4/graphite composites in which LiFePO4 nanoparticles were grown within a graphite matrix. The graphite matrix is porous, highly conductive, and mechanically robust, giving electrodes outstanding cycle performance and high rate capability. High-mass-loading electrodes with high reversible capacity (160 mA h g-1 under 0.2 C), ultrahigh rate capability (107 mA h g-1 under 60 C), and outstanding cycle performance (>95% reversible capacity retention over 2000 cycles) were achieved, providing a new strategy toward low-cost, long-life, and high-power batteries. Adoption of such material leads to electrodes with volumetric energy density as high as 427 W h L-1 under 60 C, which is of great interest for electric vehicles and other applications.

Modular Introduction of endo-Binding Sites in a Macrocyclic Cavity towards Selective Recognition of Neutral Azacycles.

Macrocycles with a functionalized interior, which is a general cavity feature of bioreceptors, are relatively hard to synthesize. Here we report a modular strategy to customize diverse endo-binding sites in the macrocycle cavity. Only two steps are needed. First, one V-shaped functional module bearing an embedded binding site and two 2,5-dimethoxyphenyls as reaction modules are connected. Then the condensation of the resulting monomer and paraformaldehyde directly produces the designed macrocycle. V-shaped monomers are deliberately used to guarantee the binding sites equatorially directing inward into the cavity and 2,5-dimethoxyphenyls standing axially as macrocycle sidewalls. More than a dozen endo-functionalized macrocyclic receptors have been constructed. Host-guest complexation studies show that macrocycle BP1-decorated interior OH moieties can strongly encapsulate neutral azacycles by forming inner hydrogen bonds, giving a high association constant of 4.59×104  M-1 in non-polar media.

Candidate gene screening for lipid deposition using combined transcriptomic and proteomic data from Nanyang black pigs.

BACKGROUND: Lower selection intensities in indigenous breeds of Chinese pig have resulted in obvious genetic and phenotypic divergence. One such breed, the Nanyang black pig, is renowned for its high lipid deposition and high genetic divergence, making it an ideal model in which to investigate lipid position trait mechanisms in pigs. An understanding of lipid deposition in pigs might improve pig meat traits in future breeding and promote the selection progress of pigs through modern molecular breeding techniques. Here, transcriptome and tandem mass tag-based quantitative proteome (TMT)-based proteome analyses were carried out using longissimus dorsi (LD) tissues from individual Nanyang black pigs that showed high levels of genetic variation. RESULTS: A large population of Nanyang black pigs was phenotyped using multi-production trait indexes, and six pigs were selected and divided into relatively high and low lipid deposition groups. The combined transcriptomic and proteomic data identified 15 candidate genes that determine lipid deposition genetic divergence. Among them, FASN, CAT, and SLC25A20 were the main causal candidate genes. The other genes could be divided into lipid deposition-related genes (BDH2, FASN, CAT, DHCR24, ACACA, GK, SQLE, ACSL4, and SCD), PPARA-centered fat metabolism regulatory factors (PPARA, UCP3), transcription or translation regulators (SLC25A20, PDK4, CEBPA), as well as integrin, structural proteins, and signal transduction-related genes (EGFR). CONCLUSIONS: This multi-omics data set has provided a valuable resource for future analysis of lipid deposition traits, which might improve pig meat traits in future breeding and promote the selection progress in pigs, especially in Nanyang black pigs.

Development of risk prediction models for lung cancer based on tumor markers and radiological signs.

BACKGROUND: Accurate prediction of malignancy risk for pulmonary lesions with pleural effusion improves early diagnosis of lung cancer. This study aimed to develop and validate a model to predict lung cancer. METHODS: Clinical data of 536 patients with pulmonary diseases were collected. The risk factors were identified by regression analysis. Three prediction models were developed. The predictive performances of the models were measured by the area under the curves (AUCs) and calibrated with 1000 bootstrap samples to minimize the over-fitting bias. The net benefits of the models were evaluated by decision curve analysis. Finally, a separate cohort of 134 patients was used to validate the models externally. RESULTS: Seven independent risk factors were identified from 18 clinical variables, which included the pleural fluid carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), serum cytokeratin-19 fragment (CYFRA 21-1), the ratio of CEA in the pleural fluid to serum, extrathoracic cancer history (>5 years), tumor size, vessel convergence, and lobulation. The AUCs of the three models were 0.976, 0.927, and 0.944 in the training set and 0.930, 0.845, and 0.944 in the external set, respectively. The accuracies of the three models were 89.6%, 81.4%, and 88.8%. Model 1 showed the best iteration fit (R2  = 0.84, 0.68, and 0.73) and a higher net benefit on decision curve analysis when compared to the other two models. CONCLUSION: The advantageous model could assess the risk of lung cancer in patients with pleural effusion and act as a useful tool for early identification of lung cancer.

The prominent value of apparent diffusion coefficient in assessing high-risk factors and prognosis for patients with endometrial carcinoma before treatment.

BACKGROUND: To date, there are no consensus methods to evaluate the high-risk factors and prognosis for managing the personalized treatment schedule of patients with endometrial carcinoma (EC) before treatment. Apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) is regarded as a kind of technique to assess heterogeneity of malignant tumor. PURPOSE: To explore the role of ADC value in assessing the high-risk factors and prognosis of EC. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A retrospective analysis was made on 185 patients with EC who underwent 1.5-T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Mean ADC (mADC), minimum ADC (minADC), and maximum ADC (maxADC) were measured and compared in different groups. RESULTS: Among the 185 patients with EC, the mADC and maxADC values in those with high-risk factors (type 2, deep myometrial invasion, and lymph node metastasis) were significantly lower than in those without. According to receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, the areas under the curve (AUC) were significant for mADC, minADC, and maxADC predicting high-risk factors. Furthermore, the AUCs were significant for mADC and maxADC predicting lymph node metastasis but were not significant for minADC. Patients with lower mADC were associated with worse overall survival and disease-free survival; the opposite was true for patients with higher mADC. CONCLUSION: Our study showed that ADC values could be applied to assess the high-risk factors of EC before treatment and might significantly relate to the prognosis of EC. It might contribute to managing initial individualized treatment schedule and improve outcome in patients with EC.

Electrolyte Membranes with Biomimetic Lithium-Ion Channels.

High-performance lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) demand efficient and selective transport of lithium ions. Inspired by ion channels in biology systems, lithium-ion channels are constructed by chemically modifying the nanoporous channels of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) with negatively charged sulfonate groups. Analogous to the biological ion channels, such pendant anionic moieties repel free anions while allowing efficient transport of cations through the pore channels. Implementing such MOFs as an electrolyte membrane doubly enhances the lithium-ion transference number, alleviates concentration polarization, and affords striking durability of high-rate LIBs. This work demonstrates an ion-selective material design that effectively tunes the ion-transport behavior and could assist with more efficient operation of LIBs.

Predesign of Catalytically Active Sites via Stable Coordination Cluster Model System for Electroreduction of CO2 to Ethylene.

Purposefully designing the well-defined catalysts for the selective electroreduction of CO2 to C2 H4 is an extremely important but challenging work. In this work, three crystalline trinuclear copper clusters (Cu3 -X, X=Cl- , Br- , NO3 - ) have been designed, containing three active Cu sites with the identical coordination environment and appropriate spatial distance, delivering high selectivity for the electrocatalytic reduction of CO2 to C2 H4 . The highest faradaic efficiency of Cu3 -X for CO2 -to-C2 H4 conversion can be adjusted from 31.90 % to 55.01 % by simply replacing the counter anions (NO3 - , Cl- , Br- ). The DFT calculation results verify that Cu3 -X can facilitate the C-C coupling of identical *CHO intermediates, subsequently forming molecular symmetrical C2 H4 product. This work provides an important molecular model system and a new design perspective for electroreduction of CO2 to C2 products with symmetrical molecular structure.

Robust Single-Molecule Enzyme Nanocapsules for Biosensing with Significantly Improved Biosensor Stability.

The present study demonstrates the use of highly stable single-molecule enzyme nanocapsules (SMENs) instead of traditional native enzyme as biorecognition element in enzyme-based biosensors. The main purpose of this study is to resolve the major obstacle and challenge in the biosensor field, i.e., the poor stability of enzyme-based biosensors, including thermal stability, organic solvent tolerance, long-term operational stability, etc. Highly active and robust SMENs of glucose oxidase (GOx, as a model enzyme) were synthesized (nGOx) using an in situ polymerization strategy in an aqueous environment. The particle-size distribution, transmission electron microscopic (TEM) images, and UV-vis spectral characterization revealed the formation of a thin polymer layer around each enzyme molecule. The polymer shell effectively stabilized the GOx enzyme core while enabling rapid substrate transportation, resulting in a new class of biocatalytic nanocapsules. Multiple covalent attachments between a thin polymer layer and an enzyme molecule strengthened the encapsulated GOx molecule. Encapsulation created a favorable microenvironment to avoid any structural dissociation at high temperature and helped to retain essential water during the organic solvent operation. The present work reports a study implementing nGOx SMENs as highly stable nano(bio)sensors for point-of-care diagnostic applications. Prepared nGOx SMENs manifested significantly improved thermal stability (even at 65 °C) and organic solvent tolerance without any compromise in biocatalytic activity. For example, the native GOx-based biosensor lost its catalytic activity for glucose after 4 h of incubation at high temperature (65 °C), while the nGOx/N-CNTs-Chi/GCE nano(bio)sensor maintained ∼56% of its original catalytic activity for glucose oxidation. The proposed SMENs-based nano(bio)sensors with robust stability in variable working environment could promote the development and applications of biosensors in point-of care diagnostics, biomedical detection, wearable devices, implantable equipment, and biofuel cells.

A Powder Metallurgic Approach toward High-Performance Lithium Metal Anodes.

The development of lithium metal anodes capable of sustaining large volume changes, avoiding lithium dendrite formation, and remaining stable in ambient air is crucial for commercially viable lithium metal batteries. Toward this goal, the fabrication of porous and lithiophilic copper scaffolds via a powder metallurgy strategy is reported. Infiltrating the scaffolds with molten lithium followed by exposure to Freon R134a produces lithium metal anodes with dramatically improved rate performance and cycling stability. This work provides a simple yet effective route for the fabrication of safe, low-cost lithium metal batteries with high energy density.

A double-labeling marker-based method for estimating inbreeding and parental genomic components in a population under conservation.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of a conservation program is to maintain maximum genetic diversity and preserve the viability of a breed. However, the efficiency of a program is influenced by the ability to accurately measure and predict genetic diversity. METHODS: To examine this question, we conducted a simulation in which common measures (i.e. heterozygosity) and novel measures (identity-by-descent probabilities and parental genomic components) were used to estimate genetic diversity within a conserved population using double-labeled single nucleotide polymorphism markers. RESULTS: The results showed that the accuracy and sensitivity of identity-by-state probabilities and heterozygosity were close to identity by descent (IBD) probabilities, which reflect the true genetic diversity. Expected heterozygosity most closely aligned with IBD. All common measures suggested that practices used in the current Chinese pig conservation program result in a ~5% loss in genetic diversity every 10 generations. Parental genomic components were also analyzed to monitor real-time changes in genomic components for each male and female ancestor. The analysis showed that ~7.5% of male families and ~30% of female families were lost every 5 generations. After 50 generations of simulated conservation, 4 male families lost ~50% of their initial genomic components, and the genomic components for 24.8% of the female families were lost entirely. CONCLUSION: In summary, compared with the true genetic diversity value obtained using double-labeled markers, expected heterozygosity appears to be the optimal indicator. Parental genomic components analysis provides a more detailed picture of genetic diversity and can be used to guide conservation management practices.

MOFs Conferred with Transient Metal Centers for Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity.

Highly effective photocatalysts for the hydrogen-evolution reaction were developed by conferring the linkers of NH2 -MIL-125(Ti), a metal-organic framework (MOF) constructed from TiOx clusters and 2-aminoterephthalic acid (linkers), with active copper centers. This design enables effective transfer of electrons from the linkers to the transient Cu2+ /Cu+ centers, leading to 7000-fold and 27-fold increase of carrier density and lifetime of photogenerated charges, respectively, as well as high-rate production of H2 under visible-light irradiation. This work provides a novel design of a photocatalyst for hydrogen evolution using non-noble Cu2+ /Cu+ as co-catalysts.

In Situ High-Level Nitrogen Doping into Carbon Nanospheres and Boosting of Capacitive Charge Storage in Both Anode and Cathode for a High-Energy 4.5 V Full-Carbon Lithium-Ion Capacitor.

To circumvent the imbalances of electrochemical kinetics and capacity between Li+ storage anodes and capacitive cathodes for lithium-ion capacitors (LICs), we herein demonstrate an efficient solution by boosting the capacitive charge-storage contributions of carbon electrodes to construct a high-performance LIC. Such a strategy is achieved by the in situ and high-level doping of nitrogen atoms into carbon nanospheres (ANCS), which increases the carbon defects and active sites, inducing more rapidly capacitive charge-storage contributions for both Li+ storage anodes and PF6- storage cathodes. High-level nitrogen-doping-induced capacitive enhancement is successfully evidenced by the construction of a symmetric supercapacitor using commercial organic electrolytes. Coupling a pre-lithiated ANCS anode with a fresh ANCS cathode enables a full-carbon LIC with a high operating voltage of 4.5 V and high energy and power densities thereof. The assembled LIC device delivers high energy densities of 206.7 and 115.4 Wh kg-1 at power densities of 0.225 and 22.5 kW kg-1, respectively, as well as an unprecedented high-power cycling stability with only 0.0013% capacitance decay per cycle within 10 000 cycles at a high power output of 9 kW kg-1.