A robust 3D host for sodium metal anodes with excellent machinability and cycling stability.

This study demonstrates a robust and ultra-stable sodium infiltrated Fe2O3 coated carbon textile (SFCT) anode with excellent machinability. The obtained SFCT anode overcomes the disadvantage of Na electrodes, which is not easily processable, and exhibits more flat voltage profiles, lower stripping/plating overpotential, and better cycling stability in an additive-free carbonate-based electrolyte compared with bare Na electrodes.

Highly Conductive and Robust Three-Dimensional Host with Excellent Alkali Metal Infiltration Boosts Ultrastable Lithium and Sodium Metal Anodes.

The direct utilization of metallic lithium and sodium as the anodes for rechargeable batteries would be highly advantageous, which has been considered as one of the most promising choices for next-generation high-energy-density storage devices. Although the induced safety concerns, inferior rate, and cycling performance severely hinder the commercialization of lithium metal batteries (LMBs) and sodium metal batteries (SMBs), the recent development of nanotechnology-based solutions really revives the lithium/sodium metal anodes for high-energy batteries. In this work, an ultrastable carbon textile (CT)-based host with excellent infiltration for both metallic Li and Na has been designed and exhibits more flat voltage profiles, lower stripping/plating overpotential, and better cycling stability both in symmetric cell and full cell configurations, even in additive-free carbonate-based electrolyte compared with pure Li/Na electrodes. The highly conductive and mechanically robust three-dimensional CTs not only offer a stable scaffold against hyperactive lithium and sodium but also enable uniform nucleation and growth during stripping/plating process, which effectively suppress the dendrite growth and stabilize the electrode dimension. This facile strategy provides new insights into the design of stable hosts with prestored alkali metal to address the multifaceted issues in LMBs and SMBs simultaneously.

The differential profiles of long non-coding RNAs between rheumatoid arthritis and gouty arthritis.

OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to determine the differential profiles of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) between rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and gouty arthritis (GA), which may lead to the discovery of specific biomarkers for RA diagnosis and treatment in the future. METHODS: The profiles of lncRNAs were determined by Agilent microarray. Bioinformatics analyses, including Gene Ontology (GO) terms and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses, of the large dataset obtained from microarray experiments were performed. RESULTS: A total of 765 lncRNAs and 2,808 mRNAs were significantly and differentially expressed in RA samples as compared to GA samples. Moreover, of 2,808 differentially expressed mRNAs, 178 upregulated mRNAs and 21 downregulated mRNAs were identified to be strongly correlated with lncRNAs examined in this study. Bioinformatics analyses revealed the tumor-like phenotype of synovial cells in RA and the involvement of immune system process in GA. In addition, this study demonstrated the significantly different molecular origins of two Chinese Medicine syndrome patterns of RA patients -- blood stasis and non-blood stasis. CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed for the first time the differentially expressed lncRNA profiles in synovial tissues between RA and GA and between two clinical phenotypes of RA patients differentiated by Chinese Medicine. This study helps achieving personalized medicine in RA. Larger-scale studies are required to validate the data presented.

Three-Dimensional Branched TiO2 Architectures in Controllable Bloom for Advanced Lithium-Ion Batteries.

Three-dimensional branched TiO2 architectures (3D BTA) with controllable morphologies were synthesized via a facile template-free one-pot solvothermal route. The volume ratio of deionized water (DI water) and diethylene glycol in solvothermal process is key to the formation of 3D BTA assembled by nanowire-coated TiO2 dendrites, which combines the advantages of 3D hierarchical structure and 1D nanoscale building blocks. Benefiting from such unique structural features, the BTA in full bloom achieved significantly increased specific surface areas and shortened Li(+) ion/electrons diffusion pathway. The lithium-ion batteries based on BTA in full bloom exhibited remarkably enhanced reversible specific capacity and rate performance, attributing to the high contact area with the electrolyte and the short solid state diffusion pathway for Li(+) ion/electrons promoting lithium insertion and extraction.