A Comprehensive Review on Reductive Recycling of Cathode Materials of Spent Lithium-Ion Batteries.

The prosperity of the lithium-ion battery market is inevitably accompanied by the depletion of corresponding resources and the accumulation of spent batteries in a dialectical manner. Spent lithium-ion batteries are harboring the characteristics of hazardous waste and high-value resources, so efficient recycling is of great significance. The cathode material is considered as an interesting target for repurposing. Despite some important reviews give commendable emphasis to recycling technologies, there is still a dearth of exploration of recycling mechanisms. This deficiency of awareness highlights the need for further research and development in this area. This review aims to systematically review and thoroughly discuss the reduction reaction mechanism of each method regarding different cathode materials. And systematically digest the selection of reducing agent and the effect of reduction reaction on material regeneration are systematically digested, as well as the impact of the reduction reaction on the regeneration of materials. This review emphasizes the importance of balancing efficiency, economic and environmental benefits in reuse technologies. Finally, the review proposes an outlook on the opportunities and challenges facing the reuse of key materials for next-generation spent batteries aimed at promoting the green and sustainable development of lithium-ion batteries, circular economy and ecological balance.

Knowledge Mapping of Macrophage in Spinal Cord Injury: A Bibliometric Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a devastating condition, often leading to significant disability and impairment. As crucial immune cells, macrophages play a critical role in the pathophysiology of SCI. Understanding the current state of knowledge and research trends related to macrophages in SCI is crucial for developing effective therapeutic interventions. METHODS: Using search strategies, we retrieved relevant articles from the Web of Science Core Collection (WOSCC), resulting in a robust dataset for analysis. VOSviewer, Citespace, and PRISM were employed for analysis and visualization. Various bibliometric indicators, including publication trends, citation analysis, co-authorship networks, and keyword analysis, were utilized to assess the scholarly landscape of macrophage research in SCI. RESULTS: Our findings revealed a steady increase in publications over the past 33 years, indicating a growing interest in this field. We identified Popovich Phillip G was the most influential author, Ohio State University was the most influential institution, and identification of 2 distinct macrophage subsets with divergent effects causing either neurotoxicity or regeneration in the injured mouse spinal cord was the most influential paper in this field. CONCLUSIONS: This bibliometric analysis provides a comprehensive overview of the current knowledge landscape and research trends regarding macrophages in SCI. Neuroinflammation and macrophage polarization, transplation and molecular mechanism were emerging research areas and novel directions. Our study serves as a valuable resource for researchers in spinal cord injury research and therapeutic development.

Application of deep learning in the detection of breast lesions with four different breast densities.

OBJECTIVE: This retrospective study evaluated the model from populations with different breast densities and showed the model's performance on malignancy prediction. METHODS: A total of 608 mammograms were collected from Northern Jiangsu People's Hospital in Yangzhou City. The data from this province have not been used in the training or evaluation data set. The model consists of three submodules, lesion detection (Mask-rcnn), lesion registration between craniocaudal view and mediolateral oblique view, malignancy prediction network (ResNet). The data set used to train the model was obtained from nine institutions across six cities. For normal cases, there were no annotations. Here, we adopted the free-response receiver operating characteristic (FROC) curve as the indicator to evaluate the detection performance of all cancers and triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). The FROC curves are also shown for mass/distortion/asymmetry and typical benign calcification in two kinds of populations with four types of breast density. RESULTS: The sensitivity to mass/distortion/asymmetry for the four types of breast (A, B, C, D) are 0.94, 0.92, 0.89, and 0.72, respectively, when false positive per image is 0.25, while these values are 1.00, 0.95, 0.92, and 0.90, respectively, for the amorphous calcification lesions. The sensitivity for the cancer is 0.85 at the same false-positive rate. The TNBC accounts for about 10%-20% of all breast cancers and is more aggressive with poor prognosis than other breast cancers. Herein, we also evaluated performance on the TNBC cases. Our results show that Yizhun AI could detect 75% TNBC lesions at the same false-positive level mentioned above. CONCLUSION: The Yizhun AI model used in our work has good diagnostic efficiency for different types of breast, even for the extremely dense breast. It has a guiding role in the clinical diagnosis of breast cancer. The performance of Yizhun AI on mass/distortion/asymmetry is affected by breast density significantly compared to that on amorphous calcification.

Imaging of hemorrhagic primary central nervous system lymphoma: A case report.

BACKGROUND: A primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) presenting with massive hemorrhage is a rare occurrence that is difficult to distinguish from a high-grade glioblastoma. Comprehensive descriptions of the imaging characteristics of such tumors have not yet been reported. Herein, we reported a case of a PCNSL with massive hemorrhage by presenting the imaging features of computed tomography (CT) imaging and structural and perfusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). CASE SUMMARY: A 48-year-old man presented with headache lasting for 10 d. CT of the brain showed a round, heterogeneous, high-density lesion with surrounding edema in the right temporal lobe. For further diagnosis, a series of MRI examinations of the brain were subsequently performed, and a hemorrhagic lesion with ring-like enhancement was determined. The whole lesion was relatively hypoperfused on arterial spin labeling images. Surgical resection of the lesion and histopathological examination confirmed that the lesion was a diffuse large B-cell lymphoma with massive hemorrhage. CONCLUSION: PCNSLs with hemorrhage occur very rarely, and structural and perfusion MRI examinations are requested exceedingly rarely. This case provided insight into some characteristics of a hemorrhagic lymphoma on CT and MRI examinations. Perfusion MRI examination may be useful for the differential diagnosis of PCNSLs and other brain tumors.

Pulmonary adenocarcinoma appearing as ground-glass opacity nodules identified using non-enhanced and contrast-enhanced CT texture analysis: A retrospective analysis.

The present study aimed to investigate the ability of CT-based texture analysis to differentiate invasive adenocarcinoma (IA) from pre-invasive lesions (PIL) or minimally IA (MIA) appearing as ground-glass opacity (GGO) nodules, and to further compare the performance of non-enhanced CT (NECT) images with that of contrast-enhanced CT (CECT) images. A total of 77 patients with GGO nodules and surgically confirmed pulmonary adenocarcinoma were included in the present retrospective study. Each GGO nodule was manually segmented and its texture features were extracted from NECT and CECT images using in-house developed software coded in MATLAB (MathWorks). The independent-samples t-test was used to select the texture features with statistically significant differences between IA and MIA/PIL. Multivariate logistic regression and receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve analyses were performed to identify predictive features. Of the 77 GGO nodules, 12 were atypical adenomatous hyperplasia or adenocarcinoma in situ (15.6%), 36 were MIA (46.8%) and 29 were IA (37.7%). IA and MIA/PIL exhibited significant differences in most histogram features and gray-level co-occurrence matrix features (P<0.05). Multivariate logistic regression and ROC curve analyses revealed that smaller energy and higher entropy were significant differentiators of IA from MIA and PIL, irrespective of whether NECT images [area under the curve (AUC): 0.839, 0.859] or CECT images (AUC: 0.818, 0.820) are used. Texture analysis of CT images, regardless of whether NECT or CECT is used, has the potential to distinguish IA from PIL or MIA, particularly the parameters of energy and entropy. Furthermore, NECT images were simpler to obtain and no contrast agent was required; thus, analysis with NECT may be a preferred choice.

Imaging of mixed epithelial and stromal tumor of the kidney: A case report and review of the literature.

BACKGROUND: Mixed epithelial and stromal tumors of the kidney (MESTKs) are a rare entity (about a hundred cases reported). They occur almost exclusively in postmenopausal women, with only seven cases reported in men. As this entity is very rare, little is known on its imaging features, especially magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings. In women, at MRI, the cystic component shows T1 hypointensity and T2 hyperintensity, while the solid component shows T1 hyperintensity and T2 hypointensity. CASE SUMMARY: We report the computed tomography (CT) and MRI findings of MESTK in a 19-year-old male adolescent. To our knowledge, this case report is the first report of MRI findings of MESTK in male adolescents. The patient was admitted to Subei People's Hospital (Jiangsu Province, China) in July 2017 after a renal mass on the left side was detected by ultrasound during a clinical examination. Blood tests were all normal. Non-enhanced CT showed a round, well-circumscribed complex mass, approximately 45 mm × 40 mm in size. MRI revealed a clear well-circumscribed mass with a mixed arrangement of solid and cystic components. On T2 weighted images, some hypointensities were found in the solid areas. After contrast enhancement, moderate or mild enhancement was found in the solid component, which increased with time. A radical left nephrectomy was performed. The pathology analysis revealed a mixed epithelial and stromal tumor. The patient had no imaging findings of recurrence or metastasis at 12 months following surgery. CONCLUSION: The possibility of MESTK should be considered in male adolescents. MRI can provide useful information for the preoperative diagnosis.

Ferroxidase-like and antibacterial activity of PtCu alloy nanoparticles.

Many metal nanoparticles are reported to have intrinsic enzyme-like activities and offer great potential in chemical and biomedical applications. In this study, PtCu alloy nanoparticles (NPs), synthesized through hydrothermal treatment of Cu2+ and Pt2+ in an aqueous solution, were evaluated for ferroxidase-like and antibacterial activity. Electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy and colorimetric methods were used to demonstrate that PtCu NPs exhibited strong ferroxidase-like activity in a weakly acidic environment and that this activity was not affected by the presence of most other ions, except silver. Based on the color reaction of salicylic acid in the presence of Fe3+, we tested the ferroxidase-like activity of PtCu NPs to specifically detect Fe2+ in a solution of an oral iron supplement and compared these results with data acquired from atomic absorption spectroscopy and the phenanthroline colorimetric method. The results showed that the newly developed PtCu NPs detection method was equivalent to or better than the other two methods used for Fe2+ detection. The antibacterial experiments showed that PtCu NPs have strong antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. Herein, we demonstrate that the peroxidase-like activity of PtCu NPs can catalyze H2O2 and generate hydroxyl radicals, which may elucidate the antibacterial activity of the PtCu NPs against S. aureus and E. coli. These results showed that PtCu NPs exhibited both ferroxidase- and peroxidase-like activity and that they may serve as convenient and efficient NPs for the detection of Fe2+ and for antibacterial applications.

Generation of reactive oxygen species and charge carriers in plasmonic photocatalytic Au@TiO2 nanostructures with enhanced activity.

The combination of semiconductor and plasmonic nanostructures, endowed with high efficiency light harvesting and surface plasmon confinement, has been a promising way for efficient utilization of solar energy. Although the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) assisted photocatalysis has been extensively studied, the photochemical mechanism, e.g. the effect of SPR on the generation of reactive oxygen species and charge carriers, is not well understood. In this study, we take Au@TiO2 nanostructures as a plasmonic photocatalyst to address this critical issue. The Au@TiO2 core/shell nanostructures with tunable SPR property were synthesized by the templating method with post annealing thermal treatment. It was found that Au@TiO2 nanostructures exhibit enhanced photocatalytic activity in either sunlight or visible light (λ > 420 nm). Electron spin resonance spectroscopy with spin trapping and spin labeling was used to investigate the enhancing effect of Au@TiO2 on the photo-induced reactive oxygen species and charge carriers. The formation of Au@TiO2 core/shell nanostructures resulted in a dramatic increase in light-induced generation of hydroxyl radicals, singlet oxygen, holes and electrons, as compared with TiO2 alone. This enhancement under visible light (λ > 420 nm) irradiation may be dominated by SPR induced local electrical field enhancement, while the enhancement under sunlight irradiation is dominated by the higher electron transfer from TiO2 to Au. These results unveiled that the superior photocatalytic activity of Au@TiO2 nanostructures correlates with enhanced generation of reactive oxygen species and charge carriers.

Formation of iron oxide/Pd hybrid nanostructures with enhanced peroxidase-like activity and catalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol.

Iron oxide/Pd hybrid nanostructures with controllable Pd loading from 0.05 to 1.0 (calculated as Pd/Fe molar ratio) have been synthesized by chemical reduction of Pd2+ on iron oxide particles. The combination of iron oxide and Pd exhibits enhanced peroxidase-like activity and catalytic activity toward reduction of 4-nitrophenol. The catalytic enhancements were found to be dependent on the Pd loading amount as well as the synergistic effect between iron oxide and Pd. These results suggest that iron oxide with unique surface chemical state can be an active supporter and suggest an effective way to design superior hybrid nanostructures for catalytic applications.

Effects and Mechanism of Blue Light on Monascus in Liquid Fermentation.

The effect of light on Monascus and the underlying mechanism have received a great deal of interest for the industrial application of Monascus pigments. In this study, we have examined the effects of blue light on the culture morphology, mycelium growth, pigments, and citrinin yield of Monascus in liquid-state and oscillation fermentation, and explored the mechanism at a physiological level. It was found that blue light affected the colony morphology, the composition (chitin content), and permeability of the Monascus mycelium cell wall in static liquid culture, which indicates blue light benefits pigments secreting from aerial mycelium to culture medium. In liquid oscillation fermentation, the yields of Monascus pigments in fermentation broth (darkness 1741 U/g, blue light 2206 U/g) and mycelium (darkness 2442 U/g, blue light 1900 U/g) cultured under blue light and darkness are different. The total pigments produced per gram of Monascus mycelium under blue light was also higher (4663 U/g) than that in darkness (4352 U/g). However, the production of citrinin (88 µg/g) under blue light was evidently lower than that in darkness (150 µg/g). According to the degradation of citrinin caused by blue light and hydrogen peroxide, it can be concluded that blue light could degrade citrinin and inhibit the catalase activity of Monascus mycelium, subsequently suppressing the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide, which is the active species that degrades citrinin.

AuPt Alloy Nanostructures with Tunable Composition and Enzyme-like Activities for Colorimetric Detection of Bisulfide.

Tuning the enzyme-like activity and studying the interaction between biologically relevant species and nano-enzymes may facilitate the applications of nanostructures in mimicking natural enzymes. In this work, AuPt alloy nanoparticles (NPs) with varying compositions were prepared through a facile method by co-reduction of Au3+ and Pt2+ in aqueous solutions. The composition could be tuned easily by adjusting the molar ratios of added Pt2+ to Au3+. It was found that both peroxidase-like and oxidase-like activity of AuPt alloy NPs were highly dependent on the alloy compositions, which thus suggesting an effective way to tailor their catalytic properties. By investigating the inhibitory effects of HS- on the enzyme-like activity of AuPt alloy NPs and natural enzyme, we have developed a method for colorimetric detection of HS- and evaluation of the inhibiting effects of inhibitors on natural and artificial enzymes. In addition, the responsive ability of this method was influenced largely by the composition: AuPt alloy NPs show much lower limit of detection for HS- than Pt NPs while Pt NPs show wider linear range than AuPt alloy NPs. This study suggests the facile way not only for synthesis of alloy nanostructures, but also for tuning their catalytic activities and for use in bioanalysis.

Peroxidase-like activity of the Co3O4 nanoparticles used for biodetection and evaluation of antioxidant behavior.

Nanostructured enzyme mimics are of great interest as promising alternatives to artificial enzymes for biomedical and catalytic applications. Studying the chemical interactions between antioxidants and nano-enzymes may result in a better understanding of the antioxidant capability of antioxidants and may help improve the function of artificial enzymes to better mimic natural enzymes. In this study, using Co3O4 nanoparticles (NPs) as peroxidase mimics to catalyze the oxidation of chromophoric substrates by H2O2, we developed a platform that acts as a biosensor for hydrogen peroxide and glucose and that can study the inhibitory effects of natural antioxidants on peroxidase mimics. This method can be applied specifically to glucose detection in real samples. Three natural antioxidants, gallic acid (GA), tannic acid (TA), and ascorbic acid (AA), were compared for their antioxidant capabilities. We found that these three antioxidants efficiently inhibit peroxidase-like activity with concentration dependence. The antioxidants showed different efficiencies, in the following order: tannic acid > gallic acid > ascorbic acid. They also showed distinct modes of inhibition based on different interaction mechanisms. This study serves as a proof-of-concept that nano-enzyme mimics can be used to evaluate antioxidant capabilities and to screen enzyme inhibitors.