Fracture Resistant CrSi2-Doped Silicon Nanoparticle Anodes for Fast-Charge Lithium-Ion Batteries.

Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) has been developed over the last three decades. Increased amount of silicon (Si) is added into graphite anode to increase the energy density of LIBs. However, the amount of Si is limited, due to its structural instability and poor electronic conductivity so a novel approach is needed to overcome these issues. In this work, the synthesized chromium silicide (CrSi2) doped Si nanoparticle anode material achieves an initial capacity of 1729.3 mAh g-1 at 0.2C and retains 1085 mAh g-1 after 500 cycles. The new anode also shows fast charge capability due to the enhanced electronic conductivity provided by CrSi2 dopant, delivering a capacity of 815.9 mAh g-1 at 1C after 1000 cycles with a capacity degradation rate of <0.05% per cycle. An in situ transmission electron microscopy is used to study the structural stability of the CrSi2-doped Si, indicating that the high control of CrSi2 dopant prevents the fracture of Si during lithiation and results in long cycle life. Molecular dynamics simulation shows that CrSi2 doping optimizes the crack propagation path and dissipates the fracture energy. In this work a comprehensive information is provided to study the function of metal ion doping in electrode materials.

In Situ Constructing of Rigid-Soft Coupling Solid-Electrolyte Interphase on Silicon Electrode toward High-Performance Lithium Ion Batteries.

The application of Si anodes is hindered by some critical issues such as large volume changes of bare Si and fragile solid-electrolyte interface (SEI), resulting in low coulombic efficiency and rapid capacity decay. Herein, a multifunctional SEI film with high content of LiF is in situ constructed via the surface grafting of carbon-fluorine functionalized groups on silicon nanoparticles (SiNPs) during cycling. Mechanical study demonstrates that the incorporation of LiF with high modulus and unbroken carbon-fluorine groups with highly elastic guarantee the rigid-soft coupling SEI film on Si electrode. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that the rigid-soft coupling SEI film can effectively accommodate the volume expansion of Si nanoparticles during lithiation process, with the electrode expanding rate of only 114.16% after 100 cycles (263.87% for bare Si without surface modification). Afterward, with the aid of well-designed rigid-soft coupling SEI, the initial Coulomb efficiency of 89.8% is achieved, showing a reversible capacity of 1477 mAh g-1 after 200 cycles at 1.2 A g-1 . This work provides a simple and efficient solution that can potentially facilitate the practical application of Si anodes.

Novel insights into the dissemination route of Japanese apricot (Prunus mume Sieb. et Zucc.) based on genomics.

Japanese apricot (Prunus mume) is an attractive fruit tree originating from China, and its cultivation history dates back 7000 years. In this study, we investigated the genetic diversity, population structure, and genetic relationship of Japanese apricots in different regions of China and Japan. The analyses of the genetic variation between wild and cultivated populations improved our understanding of the general mechanisms of domestication and improvement. A total of 146 accessions of Japanese apricot from different geographic locations were sequenced. The genetic diversity of wild and domesticated accessions (3.60 × 10-3 and 3.51 × 10-3 , respectively) from China was high, and the effect of artificial selection pressure on domesticated accessions was small; however, the genetic diversity of artificially bred accessions decreased significantly (2.68 × 10-3 ) compared to domesticated accessions, which had an obvious improvement bottleneck effect. The chloroplast genome results showed that 41 haplotypes were detected, and Japanese apricots from the Yunnan region had the most haplotypes and the highest genetic diversity. The results revealed the dissemination route of Japanese apricot, not only along the Yangtze River basin system (from southwest China to Hunan, Jiangxi, and Anhui, and finally to the Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai areas). Additionally, we discovered a second route for Japanese apricot dispersion, which was mostly in the Pearl River basin system, from southwest China to Libo of Guizhou and then to the Guangdong, Fujian, and Taiwan areas. This also showed that Japanese-bred accessions originated from Zhejiang, China. In addition, selective sweep analysis showed that most of the high-impact single nucleotide polymorphisms were identified in genes related to glucose metabolism, aromatic compound metabolism, flowering time, dormancy, and resistance to abiotic stress during the domestication and improvement of Japanese apricot.

Silicon Cutting Waste Derived Silicon Nanosheets with Adjustable Native SiO2 Shell for Highly-Stable Lithiation/Delithiation.

Silicon is an excellent candidate for the next generation of ultra-high performance anode materials, with the rapid iteration of the lithium-ion battery industry. High-quality silicon sources are the cornerstone of the development of silicon anodes, and silicon cutting waste (SCW) is one of them while still faces the problems of poor performance and unclear structure-activity relationship. Herein, a simple, efficient, and inexpensive purification method is implemented to reduce impurities in SCW and expose the morphology of nanosheets therein. Furthermore, HF is used to modulate the abundant native O in SCW after thermodynamic and kinetic considerations, realizing the mechanical support for the internal Si in the form of an amorphous SiO2 shell. Afterward, SCNS@SiO2 -2.5 with a 1.0 nm thick SiO2 shell exhibits a reversible capacity of 1583.3 mAh g-1 after 200 cycles at 0.8 A g-1 . Ultimately, the molecular dynamics simulations profoundly reveal that the amorphous SiO2 shell is transformed into the extremely ductile Lix SiOy shell to ditch stress and relieve strain during the lithiation/delithiation process.

Al and Ta co-doped LLZO as active filler with enhanced Li+conductivity for PVDF-HFP composite solid-state electrolyte.

Battery safety calls for solid state batteries and how to prepare solid electrolytes with excellent performance are of significant importance. In this study, hybrid solid electrolytes combined with organic PVDF-HFP and inorganic active fillers are studied. The modified active fillers of Li7-x-3yAlyLa3Zr2-xTaxO12are obtained by co-element doping with Al and Ta when LLZO is synthesized by calcination. And an high room temperature ionic conductivity of 5.357 × 10-4S cm-1is exhibited by ATLLZO ceramic sheet. The composite solid electrolyte PVDF-HFP/LiTFSI/ATLLZO (PHL-ATLLZO) is prepared by solution casting method, and its electrochemical properties are investigated. The results show that when the contents of lithium salt LiTFSI and active filler ATLLZO are controlled at 40 wt% and 10%, respectively, the ionic conductivity of the resulting composite solid electrolyte is as high as 2.686 × 10-4S cm-1at room temperature, and a wide electrochemical window of 4.75 V is exhibited. The LiFePO4/PHL-ATLLZO/Li all-solid-state battery assembled based on the composite solid-state electrolyte exhibits excellent cycling stability at room temperature. The cell assembled by casting the composite solid-state electrolyte on the cathode surface shows a discharge specific capacity of 134.3 mAh g-1and 96.2% capacity retention after 100 cycles at 0.2 C. The prepared composite solid-state electrolyte demonstrates excellent electrochemical performance.

Biodegradable Nanofibrillated Cellulose/Poly-(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) Composite Film with Enhanced Barrier Properties for Food Packaging.

Biodegradable composites consisting of Poly-(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT), thermoplastic starch, hydrophobically modified nanofibrillated cellulose (HMNC), and green surfactant (sucrose fatty acid ester) were prepared via the melt-mixing and film-blowing process (PBAT-HMNC). The composites were characterized using the Fourier transform infrared spectroscope (FT-IR), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA). The mechanical and barrier properties were systematically studied. The results indicated that PBAT-HMNC composites exhibited excellent mechanical and barrier properties. The tensile strength reached the maximum value (over 13 MPa) when the HMNC content was 0.6% and the thermal decomposition temperature decreased by 1 to 2 °C. The lowest values of the water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) and the oxygen transmission rate (OTR) were obtained from the composite with 0.6 wt% HMNC, prepared via the film-bowing process with the values of 389 g/(m2·day) and 782 cc/(m2·day), which decreased by 51.3% and 42.1%, respectively. The Agaricus mushrooms still had a commodity value after 11 days of preservation using the film with 0.6 wt% HMNC. PBAT-HMNC composites have been proven to be promising nanocomposite materials for packaging.

Hemostatic Self-Healing Hydrogel with Excellent Biocompatibility Composed of Polyphosphate-Conjugated Functional PNIPAM-Bearing Acylhydrazide.

Biocompatible self-healing hydrogels present an effective application as drug-releasing vehicles for tissue engineering and wound repairing. At the same time, the effective hemostatic property of the hydrogels also improves the application property as wound dressing materials. In this research, the PNIPAM-bearing acylhydrazide P(NIPAM-co-AH) was synthesized and then hemostatic polyphosphate (PolyP) was imported to prepare polyphosphate-conjugated P(NIPAM-co-AH) (PNAP). Through the acylhydrazone connection of PNAP and aldehyde functional PEO (PEO DA), the self-healing hydrogel with a hemostatic property was fabricated with good flexibility and sealing effect. The resultant hydrogels kept excellent biocompatibility and showed controlled drug release behavior. More importantly, the hydrogel accelerated the coagulation rate in vitro and presented a strong hemostatic effect as the binder in the hemorrhage model in vivo, which endow the hemostatic hydrogel with a very useful drug delivery carrier for wound healing applications or first aid treatment of the wounded in critical situations.

Core-Shell-Structured Prussian Blue Analogues Ternary Metal Phosphides as Efficient Bifunctional Electrocatalysts for OER and HER.

Electrochemical water splitting is regarded as the most potential sustainable hydrogen production technology. However, the slow reaction kinetics and high overpotential of this process will result in low energy conversion efficiency. Therefore, it is of great practical value to research low-cost, efficient, and stable transition-metal-based bifunctional electrocatalysts. Herein, Fe-Co Prussian blue analogue (PBA) was coated with Ni-Co PBA to prepare the trimetallic PBA precursor, and the trimetallic phosphate (Fe-Co-Ni-P-1) has been prepared via the low-temperature phosphating process. The effects of metal ratios, the amount of sodium hypophosphite, and phosphating temperature on the catalytic performances were studied. When Fe-Co-Ni-P-1 was used as an electrocatalyst, the overpotential of oxygen evolution reaction and hydrogen evolution reaction was 247 and 215 mV, respectively, at a current density of 10 mA cm-2. At the same time, Fe-Co-Ni-P-1 showed faster kinetics and better long-term stability in the catalytic process. The catalytic performances of unary metal, binary metal, and ternary metal phosphides, oxides, and sulfides were systematically studied. It is demonstrated that the ternary metal phosphide Fe-Co-Ni-P-1 manifests the best catalytic performance, which is mainly attributed to the monodisperse core-shell structure, low resistance, large electrochemical active area, and the synergistic effect among metals.

The Effect of CpG Sequences on Capsid-Specific CD8+ T Cell Responses to AAV Vector Gene Transfer.

Transfer of genes by adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors is benefiting patients with particular genetic defects. Challenges remain by rejection of AAV-transduced cells, which may be caused by CD8+ T lymphocytes directed to AAV capsid antigens. Reducing the number of CpG motifs from the genome of AAV vectors reduces expansion of naive T cells directed against an epitope within the capsid. In contrast, AAV capsid-specific memory CD8+ T cells respond more vigorously to AAV vectors lacking CpG motifs than to those with CpG motifs presumably reflecting dampening of T cell expansion by cytokines from the innate immune system. Depending on the purification method, AAV vector preparations can contain substantial amounts of empty AAV particles that failed to package the genome. Others have used empty particles as decoys to AAV-neutralizing antibodies. We tested if empty AAV vectors given alone or mixed with genome-containing AAV vectors induce proliferation of naive or memory CD8+ T cells directed to an antigen within an AAV capsid. Naive CD8+ T cells failed to respond to empty AAV vectors, which in contrast induced expansion of AAV-specific memory CD8+ T cells.

LncRNA SNHG1 alleviated apoptosis and inflammation during ischemic stroke by targeting miR-376a and modulating CBS/H2S pathway.

BACKGROUND: Ischemic stroke (IS) is a major public health issue causing mortality and disability and is more difficult to treat than other cerebral diseases. Previous study reported that miR-376a was upregulated in the serum of stroke patients, indicating that miR-376a played potential role in occurrence and development of stroke. METHODS: IS cell model was induced by oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD) exposed HCMEC/D3 cells. The mRNA level of SNHG1, miR-376a and inflammatory cytokines were detected by q-PCR. Protein level of CBS, apoptotic proteins were examined by Western blot. Apoptosis was analyzed by flow cytometry, and H2S level was measured by kit. Interaction among lncRNA, miRNA and target gene was validated by luciferase assay. RESULTS: Our research revealed that mRNA level of SNHG1 and CBS in HCMEC/D3 cells was downregulated while miR-376a was upregulated under OGD conditions. Further results demonstrated that miR-376a overexpression promoted apoptosis and inflammation while SNHG1 overexpressing alleviated such processes. Mechanistically, SNHG1 directly targeted miR-376a, and CBS was a target of miR-376a. Moreover, SNHG1 exert its function via inhibiting miR-376a to regulate CBS expression. CONCLUSION: LncRNA SNHG1 depressed apoptosis and inflammation of IS cell model via inhibiting miR-376a and upregulating CBS/H2S signal. These results show light on underlying mechanisms of IS and provide potential targets for IS therapy.

lncRNA SNHG16 promotes glioma tumorigenicity through miR-373/EGFR axis by activating PI3K/AKT pathway.

Glioma is one of the most common and aggressive malignant primary brain tumor with invariably poor 5-year survival rates. Because of the high recurrence rate and mortality rate, effective therapies for glioma are still weak. Recently, several studies has been proved that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been identified to play regulatory mediators in the tumorigenesis of glioma. Nevertheless, the role of lncRNAs and their downstream transcripts are still elusive in the progression of glioma. Small nucleolar RNA host gene 16 (SNHG16), a newly identified lncRNA, has been verified to be up-regulated in human malignant carcinomas. In the present study, we confirmed that lncRNA SNHG16 was highly expressed in glioma and may exert oncogenic function as a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) to regulate EGFR by sponging of miR-373-3p through activating PI3K/AKT pathway, which providing a new insight of the regulatory network of lncRNA SNHG16 in the development of glioma.

MnO Nanoparticles Sandwiched within 3D Graphene-Based Hierarchical Architecture for Efficient Lithium Storage.

Manganese monoxide (MnO) has drawn considerable attention as anode candidate for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) due to its high theoretical capacity of 755.6 mAh g-1 (over twice as much as graphite) and relatively low voltage hysteresis. However, some challenging issues such as poor cyclic performance and inferior rate capability caused by the limited reaction kinetics, severe particle agglomeration of MnO, and large volume expansions during cycling still hampered its commercial implementation. Herein, we developed a rational design, in which MnO nanoparticles are sandwiched within 3D graphene-based N-doped carbon (NC) networks, which is denoted as NC/MnO/rGO. When investigated as anode for LIBs, the well-designed NC/MnO/rGO nanohybrid demonstrates high reversible capacity (1360 mAh g-1 at 0.2 A g-1 over 150 cycles), excellent rate capability, and good cyclability (648 mAh g-1 at 2 A g-1 without fading over 600 cycles). In addition, the mechanism of electrochemical reaction for the NC/MnO/rGO anode is further investigated by conducting cyclic voltammetry under different cutoff voltage ranges to explain the capacity increasing phenomenon upon cycling.

Boron-Doped Spherical Hollow-Porous Silicon Local Lattice Expansion toward a High-Performance Lithium-Ion-Battery Anode.

Silicon (Si) attracts extensive attention as the advanced anode material for lithium (Li)-ion batteries (LIBs) because of its ultrahigh Li storage capacity and suitable voltage plateau. Hollow porous structure and dopant-induced lattice expansion can enhance the cycling stability and transporting kinetics of Li ions. However, it is still difficult to synthesize the Si anode possessing these structures simultaneously by a facile method. Herein, the lightly boron (B)-doped spherical hollow-porous Si (B-HPSi) anode material for LIBs is synthesized by a facile magnesiothermic reduction from B-doped silica. B-HPSi exhibits local lattice expansion located on boundaries of refined subgrains. B atoms in Si contribute to the increase of the conductivity and the expansion of lattices. On the basis of the first-principles calculations, the B dopants induce the conductivity increase and local lattice expansion. As a result, B-HPSi electrodes exhibit a high specific capacity of ∼1500 mAh g-1 at 0.84 A g-1 and maintains 93% after 150 cycles. The reversible capacities of ∼1250, ∼1000, and ∼800 mAh g-1 can be delivered at 2.1, 4.2, and 8.4 A g-1, respectively.

Safety and immunogenicity of a potential checkpoint blockade vaccine for canine melanoma.

Human immunotherapy with checkpoint blockades has achieved significant breakthroughs in recent years. In this study, a checkpoint blockade vaccine for canine melanoma was tested for safety and immunogenicity. Five healthy adult dogs received a mixture of three replication-defective chimpanzee-derived adenoviral vectors, one expressing mouse fibroblast-associated protein (mFAP) and the others expressing canine melanoma-associated antigens Trp-1 or Trp-2 fused into Herpes Simplex-1 glycoprotein D, a checkpoint inhibitor of herpes virus entry mediator (HVEM) pathways. The vaccine mixture was shown to be well tolerated and increased frequencies of canineTrp-1-specific activated CD8+ and CD4+ T cells secreting interferon-(IFN)-γ, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, or interleukin (IL)-2 alone or in combinations in four and five out of five dogs, respectively. To avoid excessive bleeds, responses to cTrp-2 were not analyzed. All dogs responded with increased frequencies of mFAP-specific activated CD8+ and CD4+ T cells. The results of this safety/immunogenicity trial invite further testing of this checkpoint blockade vaccine combination in dogs with melanoma.

Application and Optimization of Stiffness Abruption Structures for Pressure Sensors with High Sensitivity and Anti-Overload Ability.

The influence of diaphragm bending stiffness distribution on the stress concentration characteristics of a pressure sensing chip had been analyzed and discussed systematically. According to the analysis, a novel peninsula-island-based diaphragm structure was presented and applied to two differenet diaphragm shapes as sensing chips for pressure sensors. By well-designed bending stiffness distribution of the diaphragm, the elastic potential energy induced by diaphragm deformation was concentrated above the gap position, which remarkably increased the sensitivity of the sensing chip. An optimization method and the distribution pattern of the peninsula-island based diaphragm structure were also discussed. Two kinds of sensing chips combined with the peninsula-island structures distributing along the side edge and diagonal directions of rectangular diaphragm were fabricated and analyzed. By bonding the sensing chips with anti-overload glass bases, these two sensing chips were demonstrated by testing to achieve not only high sensitivity, but also good anti-overload ability. The experimental results showed that the proposed structures had the potential to measure ultra-low absolute pressures with high sensitivity and good anti-overload ability in an atmospheric environment.

Methylation of PLCD1 and adenovirus-mediated PLCD1 overexpression elicits a gene therapy effect on human breast cancer.

Our previous study showed that PLCD1 significantly decreases cell proliferation and affects cell cycle progression in breast cancer cells. In the present study, we aimed to investigate its functional and molecular mechanisms, and whether or not can become a new target for gene therapies. We found reduced PLCD1 protein expression in breast tumor tissues compared with paired surgical margin tissues. PLCD1 promoter CpG methylation was detected in 55 of 96 (57%) primary breast tumors, but not in surgical-margin tissues and normal breast tissues. Ectopic expression of PLCD1 inhibited breast tumor cell proliferation in vivo by inducing apoptosis and suppressed tumor cell migration by regulating cytoskeletal reorganization proteins including RhoA and phospho-cofilin. Furthermore, we found that PLCD1 induced p53 accumulation, increased p27 and p21 protein levels, and cleaved PARP. Finally, we constructed an adenoviral vector expressing PLCD1 (AdH5-PLCD1), which exhibited strong cytotoxicity in breast cancer cells. Our findings provide insights into the development of PLCD1 gene therapies for breast cancer and perhaps, other human cancers.

Experimental Validation of a Compound Control Scheme for a Two-Axis Inertially Stabilized Platform with Multi-Sensors in an Unmanned Helicopter-Based Airborne Power Line Inspection System.

A compound control scheme is proposed to achieve high control performance for a two-axis inertially stabilized platform (ISP) with multi-sensors applied to an unmanned helicopter (UH)-based airborne power line inspection (APLI) system. Compared with the traditional two closed-loop control scheme that is composed of a high-bandwidth rate loop and a lower bandwidth position loop, a new current loop inside rate loop is particularly designed to suppress the influences of voltage fluctuation from power supply and motor back electromotive force (BEMF) on control precision. In this way, the stabilization accuracy of the ISP is greatly improved. The rate loop, which is the middle one, is used to improve sensor's stability precision through compensating for various disturbances. To ensure the pointing accuracy of the line of sight (LOS) of multi-sensors, the position loop is designed to be the outer one and acts as the main feedback path, by which the accurate pointing angular position is achieved. To validate the scheme, a series of experiments were carried out. The results show that the proposed compound control scheme can achieve reliable control precision and satisfy the requirements of real APLI tasks.

Control Parameters Optimization Based on Co-Simulation of a Mechatronic System for an UA-Based Two-Axis Inertially Stabilized Platform.

This paper presents a method based on co-simulation of a mechatronic system to optimize the control parameters of a two-axis inertially stabilized platform system (ISP) applied in an unmanned airship (UA), by which high control performance and reliability of the ISP system are achieved. First, a three-dimensional structural model of the ISP is built by using the three-dimensional parametric CAD software SOLIDWORKS(®); then, to analyze the system's kinematic and dynamic characteristics under operating conditions, dynamics modeling is conducted by using the multi-body dynamics software ADAMS™, thus the main dynamic parameters such as displacement, velocity, acceleration and reaction curve are obtained, respectively, through simulation analysis. Then, those dynamic parameters were input into the established MATLAB(®) SIMULINK(®) controller to simulate and test the performance of the control system. By these means, the ISP control parameters are optimized. To verify the methods, experiments were carried out by applying the optimized parameters to the control system of a two-axis ISP. The results show that the co-simulation by using virtual prototyping (VP) is effective to obtain optimized ISP control parameters, eventually leading to high ISP control performance.

The prevalence of neutralising antibodies to chimpanzee adenovirus type 6 and type 7 in healthy adult volunteers, patients with chronic hepatitis B and patients with primary hepatocellular carcinoma in China.

The presence of neutralising antibodies (NAbs) against adenovirus in the population is a major hurdle preventing the effective use of replication-defective adenoviruses (Ads) as candidates for gene therapy and vaccine vectors for many diseases. Only a few studies have described the epidemiology of pre-existing immunity to chimpanzee Ads in China. To assess the prevalence of NAbs to chimpanzee adenovirus serotypes 6 and 7 (AdC6 and AdC7), we enrolled 998 healthy participants from five regions in China as well as 196 chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) patients and 193 primary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients from Chongqing, China. The total seroprevalence rates of AdC6 and AdC7 NAbs in the healthy participants were 12.22 % (122/998) (95 % confidence interval [CI], 10.34-14.40 %) and 13.13 % (131/998) (95 % CI, 11.17-15.36 %), respectively. The seroprevalence rates of AdC6 and AdC7 NAbs in the HBV patients were 21.43 % (42/196) (95 % CI, 16.26-27.69 %) and 25.51 % (50/196) (95 % CI, 19.92-32.04 %), respectively. The seroprevalence rates of AdC6 and AdC7 NAbs in the HCC patients were 27.46 % (53/193) (95 % CI, 21.65-34.15 %) and 31.09 % (60/193) (95 % CI, 24.98-37.93 %), respectively. The seroprevalence rates of these Ads were not associated with age and gender. The present study may provide useful insights for developing future AdC-based vaccines and gene therapies.