UBXN11 Predicts as a Poor Index for Colorectal Cancer and Contributes to the Tumorigenesis by Activating NF-κB Signaling.

BACKGROUND: The complex mechanisms of colorectal cancer (CRC) pathogenesis and progression remain poorly understood. This study endeavors to unravel the role of UBXN11within the context of CRC. METHODS: UBXN11 expression level in CRC, stomach adenocarcinoma and esophageal carcinoma, and the overall survival in corresponding cancers were analyzed using UALCAN database. Human CRC cell lines and xenograft mouse model with UBXN11 overexpression were established to investigate the pathological role of UBXN11 in CRC progression. Luciferase assay, qPCR, and Western blot were performed to dissect the interaction between UBXN11 and NF-κB signaling. RESULTS: Heightened UBXN11 expression was observed in various digestive tract tumors, which was positively correlated with the reduced overall survival rates in CRC patients. Overexpression of UBXN11 significantly enhanced CRC cell proliferation in vitro and promoted tumor growth in vivo. Mechanistically, UBXN11 promoted CRC tumorigenesis through increasing the activation of NF-κB signaling pathway. CONCLUSIONS: This study underscores the pivotal role of UBXN11 in CRC progression and paves the way for novel therapeutic strategies for CRC treatment.

Artificial intelligence-assisted system for the assessment of Forrest classification of peptic ulcer bleeding: a multicenter diagnostic study.

BACKGROUND: Inaccurate Forrest classification may significantly affect clinical outcomes, especially in high risk patients. Therefore, this study aimed to develop a real-time deep convolutional neural network (DCNN) system to assess the Forrest classification of peptic ulcer bleeding (PUB). METHODS: A training dataset (3868 endoscopic images) and an internal validation dataset (834 images) were retrospectively collected from the 900th Hospital, Fuzhou, China. In addition, 521 images collected from four other hospitals were used for external validation. Finally, 46 endoscopic videos were prospectively collected to assess the real-time diagnostic performance of the DCNN system, whose diagnostic performance was also prospectively compared with that of three senior and three junior endoscopists. RESULTS: The DCNN system had a satisfactory diagnostic performance in the assessment of Forrest classification, with an accuracy of 91.2% (95%CI 89.5%-92.6%) and a macro-average area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.80 in the validation dataset. Moreover, the DCNN system could judge suspicious regions automatically using Forrest classification in real-time videos, with an accuracy of 92.0% (95%CI 80.8%-97.8%). The DCNN system showed more accurate and stable diagnostic performance than endoscopists in the prospective clinical comparison test. This system helped to slightly improve the diagnostic performance of senior endoscopists and considerably enhance that of junior endoscopists. CONCLUSION: The DCNN system for the assessment of the Forrest classification of PUB showed satisfactory diagnostic performance, which was slightly superior to that of senior endoscopists. It could therefore effectively assist junior endoscopists in making such diagnoses during gastroscopy.

High-Performance Infrared Detectors Based on Black Phosphorus/Carbon Nanotube Heterojunctions.

Infrared detectors have broad application prospects in the fields of detection and communication. Using ideal materials and good device structure is crucial for achieving high-performance infrared detectors. Here, we utilized black phosphorus (BP) and single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) films to construct a vertical van der Waals heterostructure, resulting in high-performance photovoltaic infrared detectors. In the device, a strong built-in electric field was formed in the heterojunction with a favored energy-band matching between the BP and the SWCNT, which caused a good photovoltaic effect. The fabricated devices exhibited a diode-like rectification behavior in the dark, which had a high rectification ratio up to a magnitude of 104 and a low ideal factor of 1.4. Under 1550 nm wavelength illumination, the 2D BP/SWCNT film photodetector demonstrated an open-circuit voltage of 0.34 V, a large external power conversion efficiency (η) of 7.5% and a high specific detectivity (D*) of 3.1 × 109 Jones. This external η was the highest among those for the photovoltaic devices fabricated with the SWCNTs or the heterostructures based on 2D materials and the obtained D* was also higher than those for most of the infrared detectors based on 2D materials or carbon materials. This work showcases the application potential of BP and SWCNTs in the detection field.

Black Phosphorus Field-Effect Transistors with Improved Contact via Localized Joule Heating.

Two-dimensional (2D) black phosphorus (BP) is considered an ideal building block for field-effect transistors (FETs) owing to its unique structure and intriguing properties. To achieve high-performance BP-FETs, it is essential to establish a reliable and low-resistance contact between the BP and the electrodes. In this study, we employed a localized Joule heating method to improve the contact between the 2D BP and gold electrodes, resulting in enhanced BP-FET performance. Upon applying a sufficiently large source-drain voltage, the zero-bias conductance of the device increased by approximately five orders of magnitude, and the linearity of the current-voltage curves was also enhanced. This contact improvement can be attributed to the formation of gold phosphide at the interface of the BP and the gold electrodes owing to current-generated localized Joule heat. The fabricated BP-FET demonstrated a high on/off ratio of 4850 and an on-state conductance per unit channel width of 1.25 µS µm-1, significantly surpassing those of the BP-FETs without electrical annealing. These findings offer a method to achieve a low-resistance BP/metal contact for developing high-performance BP-based electronic devices.

High-performance diodes based on black phosphorus/carbon nanomaterial heterostructures.

The performance of diodes, which are the basic building blocks in integrated circuits, highly depends on the materials used. Black phosphorus (BP) and carbon nanomaterials with unique structures and excellent properties can form heterostructures with favorable band matching to fully utilize their respective advantages and thus achieve high diode performance. Here, high-performance Schottky junction diodes based on a two-dimensional (2D) BP/single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) film heterostructure and a BP nanoribbon (PNR) film/graphene heterostructure were investigated for the first time. The fabricated Schottky diode based on the heterostructure with the 10 nm-thick 2D BP stacked on the SWCNT film had a rectification ratio of 2978 and a low ideal factor of 1.5. The Schottky diode based on the heterostructure with the PNR film stacked on the graphene exhibited a high rectification ratio of 4455 and an ideal factor of 1.9. The high rectification ratios for both devices were attributed to the large Schottky barriers formed between the BP and carbon materials, thus leading to a small reverse current. We found that the thickness of the 2D BP in the 2D BP/SWCNT film Schottky diode and the stacking order of the heterostructure in the PNR film/graphene Schottky diode had a significant effect on the rectification ratio. Furthermore, the rectification ratio and breakdown voltage of the resulting PNR film/graphene Schottky diode were larger than those of the 2D BP/SWCNT film Schottky diode, which was attributed to the larger bandgap of the PNRs compared to the 2D BP. This study demonstrates that high-performance diodes can be achieved via the collaborative application of BP and carbon nanomaterials.

Detection of Flying Metal Bodies Based on Photoelectric Composite Sensing.

In order to reduce the impact of the environment on the accuracy and sensitivity of detection, and to meet the requirements of concealment from detection and being lightweight, a technology for detecting flying metal objects based on photoelectric composite sensors is proposed. The method first analyzes the target's characteristics and detection environment, and then compares and analyzes the methods for detecting typical flying metal objects. On the basis of the traditional eddy current model, the photoelectric composite detection model that meets the requirements of detecting flying metal objects was studied and designed. For the problems of the short detection distance and the long response time of the traditional eddy current model, the performance of the eddy current sensor was improved to meet the requirements of detection through optimizing the detection circuit and coil parameter model. Meanwhile, to meet the goal of being lightweight, an infrared detection array model applicable to flying metal bodies was designed, and simulation experiments of composite detection based on the model were conducted. The results show that the flying metal body detection model based on photoelectric composite sensors met the requirements of distance and response time for detecting flying metal bodies and may provide an avenue for exploring the composite detection of flying metal bodies.

Narrow Directed Black Phosphorus Nanoribbons Produced by A Reformative Mechanical Exfoliation Approach.

Black phosphorus nanoribbons (PNRs) are ideal candidates for constructing electronic and optoelectronic devices owing to their unique structure and high bandgap tunability. However, the preparation of high-quality narrow PNRs aligned along the same direction is very challenging. Here, a reformative mechanical exfoliation approach combining tape and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) exfoliations to fabricate high-quality, narrow, and directed PNRs with smooth edges for the first time is developed. In this method, partially-exfoliated PNRs are first formed on thick black phosphorus (BP) flakes via the tape exfoliation and further peeled off to obtain separated PNRs via the PDMS exfoliation. The prepared PNRs have widths from a dozen to hundreds of nanometers (down to 15 nm) and a mean length of 18 µm. It is found that the PNRs can align along a same direction and the length directions of directed PNRs are along the zigzag direction. The formation of PNRs is attributed to that the BP prefers to be unzipped along the zigzag direction and has an appropriate magnitude of interaction force with the PDMS substrate. The fabricated PNR/MoS2 heterojunction diode and PNR field-effect transistor exhibit good device performance. This work provides a new pathway to achieve high-quality, narrow, and directed PNRs for electronic and optoelectronic applications.

Controlled Preparation and Device Application of Sub-5 nm Graphene Nanoribbons and Graphene Nanoribbon/Carbon Nanotube Intramolecular Heterostructures.

Narrow graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) and GNR/single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) intramolecular heterojunctions are ideal candidates to construct next-generation electronic and optoelectronic devices. However, the fabrication of high-quality long sub-5 nm wide GNRs and GNR/SWNT heterojunctions is a great challenge. Here, we report a method to produce high-quality sub-5 nm wide GNRs with smooth edges and GNR/SWNT intramolecular heterostructures via palladium-catalyzed full and partial unzipping of SWNTs, respectively. The resulting GNRs could be as narrow as 2.2 nm and had an average length of over 1 µm. By adjusting the unzipping time and the deposited positions of palladium nanoparticles, controlled multiple GNR/SWNT heterostructures were also fabricated on an individual parent SWNT. A GNR field-effect transistor (FET) constructed by a 3.1 nm wide GNR could simultaneously achieve a high on/off current ratio of 1.1 × 104 and a large mobility of 598 cm2 V-1 s-1. The photovoltaic device based on a single GNR (2.4 nm in width)/SWNT (0.8 nm in diameter) heterojunction exhibited a large open-circuit voltage (Voc) of 0.52 V and a high external power conversion efficiency (η) of 4.7% under the 1550 nm wavelength illumination of 931 mW cm-2. Our method provides a pathway to controllably prepare high-quality sub-5 nm GNRs and GNR/SWNT heterojunctions for fundamental studies and practical applications in the electronic and optoelectronic fields.

Design of Intelligent Monitoring System in Galloping Power Transmission Line.

To prevent the frequent occurrence of transmission line galloping accidents, many scholars have carried out studies. However, there are still many difficulties that have not been solved. To address the issues that have arisen during the installation of the monitoring system, a new installation technique for the galloping monitoring terminal structure has been developed, and structural design and transmission line impact have been taken into account. A method combining Kalman and Mahony complementary filtering has been shown to solve the problem of wire twisting when galloping is taken into account. The displacement is derived by double-integrating the acceleration, although the trend term has a significant impact on the integration result. To handle the trend term issue and other error effects, a method combining the least-squares method, the adaptive smoothing method, and the time-frequency domain hybrid integration approach is used. Finally, the monitoring terminal's structural design is simulated and evaluated, and the measured amplitude is assessed on a galloping standard test bench. The difference between the measured amplitude and the laboratory standard value is less than 10%, meeting the engineering design criteria. And the galloping trajectory is identical to the test bench trajectory, which is critical for user end monitoring.

Tailoring Anionic Redox Activity in a P2-Type Sodium Layered Oxide Cathode via Cu Substitution.

Na-ion cathode materials cycling at high voltages with long cycling life and high capacity are of imminent need for developing future high-energy Na-ion batteries. However, the irreversible anionic redox activity of Na-ion layered cathode materials results in structural distortion and poor capacity retention upon cycling. Herein, we develop a facile doping strategy by incorporating copper into the layered cathode material lattice to relieve the irreversible oxygen oxidation at high voltages. On the basis of a comprehensive comparison with the Cu-free material, both the over-oxidation of O2- to trapped molecular O2 and Mn-related Jahn-Teller distortion have been effectively inhibited by restraining both the oxygen activity and participation of Mn4+/Mn3+ redox activity. Not limited to discovering stable cycling behavior at high voltages after Cu substitution, our findings also highlight an effective strategy to stabilize the anionic redox activity and elucidate the stabilization mechanism of Cu substitution, thus paving the way for further improvement of layered oxide cathode materials for high-energy Na-ion batteries.

Endothelial transdifferentiation of human HGC-27 gastric cancer cells in vitro.

Malignant tumor cells are able to transdifferentiate into other cell types in various tissues or organs. Recent studies have demonstrated the ability of cancer cells to transdifferentiate into functional endothelial cells (ECs). However, whether human gastric cancer (GC) cells are able to transdifferentiate into other cell types has remained largely elusive. Furthermore, whether HGC-27 cells are able to participate in GC angiogenesis remains to be clarified. In the present study, the HGC-27 cell line grown under hypoxic conditions for 4 days exhibited the typical 'flagstone' appearance, which is typical for cultured ECs. HGC-27 cells cultured on Matrigel under hypoxic conditions gradually formed net-like structures. Furthermore, the cultured HGC-27 cells expressed CD31, CD34 and von Willebrand factor, the molecular markers for ECs, under hypoxic conditions. These results indicated that HGC-27 cells, cultured under hypoxic conditions, are able to transdifferentiate into EC-like cells in vitro.

Enhanced photocatalytic water-splitting performance using Fe-doped hierarchical TiO2 ball-flowers.

The photocatalytic water-splitting behavior of hierarchically structured TiO2 ball-flowers with different Fe ion contents was studied, in order to elucidate the effects of Fe doping on their water-splitting performance. It was found that with the increase of Fe doping content, the hydrogen evolution rate increased initially and then decreased. The highest hydrogen evolution of 697 µmol g-1 is observed for 2Fe/TiO2, after 4 h of light irradiation, which was five times greater than that in the case of pure TiO2 who has 140 µmol g-1 hydrogen evolution after 4 h of light irradiation. This improvement in the water-splitting efficiency owing to optimized Fe doping could be attributed to an enhancement in the visible-light absorption characteristics and an increase in the number of oxygen vacancies, which act as the reaction sites for water splitting.

Improving the electrocatalytic properties of Pd-based catalyst for direct alcohol fuel cells: effect of solid solution.

The tolerance of the electrode against the CO species absorbed upon the surface presents the biggest dilemma of the alcohol fuel cells. Here we report for the first time that the inclusion of (Zr, Ce)O2 solid solution as the supporting material can significantly improve the anti-CO-poisoning as well as the activity of Pd/C catalyst for ethylene glycol electro-oxidation in KOH medium. In particular, the physical origin of the improved electrocatalytic properties has been unraveled by first principle calculations. The 3D stereoscopic Pd cluster on the surface of (Zr, Ce)O2 solid solution leads to weaker Pd-C bonding and smaller CO desorption driving force. These results support that the Pd/ZrO2-CeO2/C composite catalyst could be used as a promising effective candidate for direct alcohol fuel cells application.

Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Nanotube-Supported Pd Catalyst for Improved Electrocatalytic Performance toward Ethanol Electrooxidation.

In this study, hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) was applied for surface functionalization of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in the presence of glucose and urea. The HTC process allowed the deposition of thin nitrogen-doped carbon layers on the surface of the CNTs. By controlling the ratio of glucose to urea, nitrogen contents of up to 1.7 wt% were achieved. The nitrogen-doped carbon nanotube-supported Pd catalysts exhibited superior electrochemical activity for ethanol oxidation relative to the pristine CNTs. Importantly, a 1.5-fold increase in the specific activity was observed for the Pd/HTC-N1.67%CNTs relative to the catalyst without nitrogen doping (Pd/HTC-CNTs). Further experiments indicated that the introduction of nitrogen species on the surface of the CNTs improved the Pd(0) loading and increased the binding energy.

A p-i-n junction diode based on locally doped carbon nanotube network.

A p-i-n junction diode constructed by the locally doped network of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) was investigated. In this diode, the two opposite ends of the SWNT-network channel were selectively doped by triethyloxonium hexachloroantimonate (OA) and polyethylenimine (PEI) to obtain the air-stable p- and n-type SWNTs respectively while the central area of the SWNT-network remained intrinsic state, resulting in the formation of a p-i-n junction with a strong built-in electronic field in the SWNTs. The results showed that the forward current and the rectification ratio of the diode increased as the doping degree increased. The forward current of the device could also be increased by decreasing the channel length. A high-performance p-i-n junction diode with a high rectification ratio (~10(4)), large forward current (~12.2 µA) and low reverse saturated current (~1.8 nA) was achieved with the OA and PEI doping time of 5 h and 18 h for a channel length of ~6 µm.

Carbon nanotube intramolecular p-i-n junction diodes with symmetric and asymmetric contacts.

A p-i-n junction diode based on the selectively doped single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) had been investigated, in which two opposite ends of individual SWCNT channel were doped into the p- and n-type SWCNT respectively while the middle segment of SWCNT was kept as the intrinsic. The symmetric and asymmetric contacts were used to fabricate the p-i-n junction diodes respectively and studied the effect of the contact on the device characteristics. It was shown that a low reverse saturation current of ~20 pA could be achieved by these both diodes. We found that the use of the asymmetric contact can effectively improve the performance of the p-i-n diode, with the rectification ratio enhanced from ~10(2) for the device with the Au/Au symmetric contact to >10(3) for the one with the Pd/Al asymmetric contact. The improvement of the device performance by the asymmetric-contact structure was attributed to the decrease of the effective Schottky-barrier height at the contacts under forward bias, increasing the forward current of the diode. The p-i-n diode with asymmetric contact also had a higher rectification ratio than its counterpart before doping the SWCNT channel, which is because that the p-i-n junction in the device decreased the reverse saturated current.

Poly (acrylic acid sodium) grafted carboxymethyl cellulose as a high performance polymer binder for silicon anode in lithium ion batteries.

The design of novel binder systems is required for the high capacity silicon (Si) anodes which usually undergo huge volume change during the charge/discharge cycling. Here, we introduce a poly (acrylic acid sodium)-grafted-carboxymethyl cellulose (NaPAA-g-CMC) copolymer as an excellent binder for Si anode in lithium ion batteries (LIBs). The NaPAA-g-CMC copolymer was prepared via a free radical graft polymerization method by using CMC and acrylic acid as precursors. Unlike the linear, one-dimensional binders, the NaPAA-g-CMC copolymer binder is expected to present multi-point interaction with Si surface, resulting in enhanced binding ability with Si particles as well as with the copper (Cu) current collectors, and building a stable solid electrolyte interface (SEI) layer on the Si surface. The NaPAA-g-CMC based Si anode shows much better cycle stability and higher coulombic efficiency than those made with the well-known linear polymeric binders such as CMC and NaPPA.

An ultrafast rechargeable aluminium-ion battery.

The development of new rechargeable battery systems could fuel various energy applications, from personal electronics to grid storage. Rechargeable aluminium-based batteries offer the possibilities of low cost and low flammability, together with three-electron-redox properties leading to high capacity. However, research efforts over the past 30 years have encountered numerous problems, such as cathode material disintegration, low cell discharge voltage (about 0.55 volts; ref. 5), capacitive behaviour without discharge voltage plateaus (1.1-0.2 volts or 1.8-0.8 volts) and insufficient cycle life (less than 100 cycles) with rapid capacity decay (by 26-85 per cent over 100 cycles). Here we present a rechargeable aluminium battery with high-rate capability that uses an aluminium metal anode and a three-dimensional graphitic-foam cathode. The battery operates through the electrochemical deposition and dissolution of aluminium at the anode, and intercalation/de-intercalation of chloroaluminate anions in the graphite, using a non-flammable ionic liquid electrolyte. The cell exhibits well-defined discharge voltage plateaus near 2 volts, a specific capacity of about 70 mA h g(-1) and a Coulombic efficiency of approximately 98 per cent. The cathode was found to enable fast anion diffusion and intercalation, affording charging times of around one minute with a current density of ~4,000 mA g(-1) (equivalent to ~3,000 W kg(-1)), and to withstand more than 7,500 cycles without capacity decay.

Diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP)-Based Donor-Acceptor Polymers for Selective Dispersion of Large-Diameter Semiconducting Carbon Nanotubes.

Low-bandgap diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP)-based polymers are used for the selective dispersion of semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes (s-SWCNTs). Through rational molecular design to tune the polymer-SWCNT interactions, highly selective dispersions of s-SWCNTs with diameters mainly around 1.5 nm are achieved. The influences of the polymer alkyl side-chain substitution (i.e., branched vs linear side chains) on the dispersing yield and selectivity of s-SWCNTs are investigated. Introducing linear alkyl side chains allows increased polymer-SWCNT interactions through close π-π stacking and improved C-H-π interactions. This work demonstrates that polymer side-chain engineering is an effective method to modulate the polymer-SWCNT interactions and thereby affecting both critical parameters in dispersing yield and selectivity. Using these sorted s-SWCNTs, high-performance SWCNT network thin-film transistors are fabricated. The solution-deposited s-SWCNT transistors yield simultaneously high mobilities of 41.2 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1) and high on/off ratios of greater than 10(4) . In summary, low-bandgap DPP donor-acceptor polymers are a promising class of polymers for selective dispersion of large-diameter s-SWCNTs.

Graphene nanoribbons under mechanical strain.

Uniaxial strains are introduced into individual graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) with highly smooth edges to investigate the strain effects on Raman spectroscopic and electrical properties of GNRs. It is found that uniaxial strain downshifts the Raman G-band frequency of GNRs linearly and tunes their bandgap significantly in a non-monotonic manner. The strain engineering of GNRs is promising for potential electronics and photonics applications.