The impact of the host microbiota on Candida albicans infection.

The human microbiota is a complex microbial ecosystem populated by bacteria, fungi, viruses, protists, and archaea. The coexistence of fungi alongside with many billions of bacteria, especially in the gut, involves complex interactions, ranging from antagonistic to beneficial, between the members of these two kingdoms. Bacteria can impact fungi through various means, such as physical interactions, secretion of metabolites, or alteration of the host immune response, thereby affecting fungal growth and virulence. This review summarizes recent progress in this field, delving into the latest understandings of bacterial-fungal-immune interactions and innovative therapeutic approaches addressing the challenges of treating fungal infections associated with microbiota imbalances.

Prevalence and related factors of nephrolithiasis among medical staff in Qingdao, China: a retrospective cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Certain occupations may predispose individuals to urolithiasis, a multi-factorial disease. The study aimed to evaluate the prevalence and related factors of nephrolithiasis in medical staff in Qingdao, China. METHODS: Physical examination results of 5115 in-service medical staff aged 22-60 years old were retrospectively analyzed. Multivariable logistic regression analysis and stratified analyses by age and gender were applied to explore the related factors of nephrolithiasis in these medical staff. RESULTS: The overall nephrolithiasis prevalence in medical staff in Qingdao, China was 4.65%. Doctors were more prone to nephrolithiasis than nurses (5.63% vs. 3.96%, P = 0.013) and the peak prevalence (6.69%) was observed in medical staff working in the emergency department (ED). Male gender (OR = 1.615, 95% CI = 1.123-2.323, P = 0.010), overweight or obesity (OR = 1.674, 95% CI = 1.266-2.214, P < 0.001), work seniority ≥ 10 years (OR = 2.489, 95%CI = 1.675-3.699, P < 0.001) and working in the ED (OR = 1.815, 95% CI = 1.202-2.742, P = 0.005) were independent predictors for nephrolithiasis in medical staff based on the results of multivariate logistic regression analysis. The associations between overweight or obesity and nephrolithiasis risk as well as between work seniority ≥ 10 years and nephrolithiasis risk in medical staff were independent of age or gender in stratified analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Nephrolithiasis prevalence in medical staff in Qingdao, China seemed not to be higher than that in the general population. Medical staff with work seniority ≥ 10 years and working in the ED should pay abundant attention to take measures to modify their nephrolithiasis risk.

One-step fabrication of a self-driven point-of-care chip by femtosecond laser direct writing and its application in cancer cell H2O2 detection via semiconductor-based SERS.

Self-driven microfluidic systems have attracted significant attention and demonstrated great potential in the field of point-of-care (POC) testing due to their device simplicity, low power consumption, increased portability, and reduced sample consumption. To develop POC detection chips with diverse characteristics that meet different requirements, there is a strong demand for feasible strategies that enable easy operation and reduce processing time. Here, a one-step processing approach using femtosecond laser direct writing technology was proposed to fabricate a capillary-actuated POC microfluidic chip. The driving force of the chip is highly dependent on its surface wettability, which can be easily adjusted by changing the laser processing parameters. This POC microfluidic chip allowed for the detection of intracellular H2O2 through a catalytic reaction system that incorporated 5-aminosalicylic acid -sensitized colloidal TiO2 nanoparticles and horse radish peroxidase, with integrating semiconductor-based surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) quantitative technique. The concentration of H2O2 was determined by the SERS signal of the catalytic products in the microfluidic chip, resulting in rapid detection with minimal sample consumption. Our method provides a simple, feasible, and alternative strategy for POC testing of H2O2, with a linear range of 10-2∼10-6 M and a limit of detection of 0.55 µM. This approach was successfully applied to rapid detection of intracellular H2O2 in MCF-7 breast cancer cells with high sensitivity and minimal sample consumption. Additionally, this study not only demonstrates the exceptional advantages of femtosecond laser processing technology in fabricating diverse microfluidic chips for various applications, but also presents an efficient POC testing strategy for detecting cell signaling molecules.

PISOX Copolyesters-Bio- and CO2-Based Marine-Degradable High-Performance Polyesters.

Oxalate esters and isosorbide serve as intriguing polymer building blocks, as they can be sourced from renewable resources, such as CO2 and glucose, and the resulting polyesters offer outstanding material properties. However, the low reactivity of the secondary hydroxyl groups makes it difficult to generate high-molecular-weight polymers from isosorbide. Combining diaryl oxalates with isosorbide appears to be a promising approach to produce high-molecular-weight isosorbide-based polyoxalates (PISOX). This strategy seems to be scalable, has a short polymerization time (<5 h), and uniquely, there is no need for a catalyst. PISOX demonstrates outstanding thermal, mechanical, and barrier properties; its barrier to oxygen is 35 times better than PLA, it possesses mechanical properties comparable to high-performance thermoplastics, and the glass transition temperature of 167 °C can be modified by comonomer incorporation. What makes this high-performance material truly exceptional is that it decomposes into CO2 and biomass in just a few months in soil under home-composting conditions and it hydrolyzes without enzymes present in less than a year in 20 °C water. This unique combination of properties has the potential to be utilized in a range of applications, such as biomedical uses, water-resistant coatings, compostable plastic bags for gardening and agriculture, and packaging plastics with diminished environmental impact.

Combining the novel FLT3 and MERTK dual inhibitor MRX-2843 with venetoclax results in promising antileukemic activity against FLT3-ITD AML.

FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3) mutations occur in approximately one third of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients. FLT3-Internal tandem duplication (FLT3-ITD) mutations are the most common FLT3 mutations and are associated with a poor prognosis. Gilteritinib is a FLT3 inhibitor that is US FDA approved for treating adult patients with relapsed/refractory AML and a FLT3 mutation. While gilteritinib monotherapy has improved patient outcome, few patients achieve durable responses. Combining gilteritinib with venetoclax (VEN) appears to make further improvements, though early results suggest that patients with prior exposure to VEN fair much worse than those without prior exposure. MRX-2843 is a promising inhibitor of FLT3 and MERTK. We recently demonstrated that MRX-2843 is equally potent as gilteritinib in FLT3-ITD AML cell lines in vitro and primary patient samples ex vivo. In this study, we investigated the combination of VEN and MRX-2843 against FLT3-ITD AML cells. We found that VEN synergistically enhances cell death induced by MRX-2843 in FLT3-mutated AML cell lines and primary patient samples. Importantly, we found that VEN synergistically enhances cell death induced by MRX-2843 in FLT3-ITD AML cells with acquired resistance to cytarabine (AraC) or VEN+AraC. VEN and MRX-2843 significantly reduce colony-forming capacity of FLT3-ITD primary AML cells. Mechanistic studies show that MRX-2843 decreases Mcl-1 and c-Myc protein levels via transcriptional regulation and combined MRX-2843 and VEN significantly decreases oxidative phosphorylation in FLT3-ITD AML cells. Our findings highlight a promising combination therapy against FLT3-ITD AML, supporting further in vitro and in vivo testing.

Reliable object tracking by multimodal hybrid feature extraction and transformer-based fusion.

Visual object tracking, which is primarily based on visible light image sequences, encounters numerous challenges in complicated scenarios, such as low light conditions, high dynamic ranges, and background clutter. To address these challenges, incorporating the advantages of multiple visual modalities is a promising solution for achieving reliable object tracking. However, the existing approaches usually integrate multimodal inputs through adaptive local feature interactions, which cannot leverage the full potential of visual cues, thus resulting in insufficient feature modeling. In this study, we propose a novel multimodal hybrid tracker (MMHT) that utilizes frame-event-based data for reliable single object tracking. The MMHT model employs a hybrid backbone consisting of an artificial neural network (ANN) and a spiking neural network (SNN) to extract dominant features from different visual modalities and then uses a unified encoder to align the features across different domains. Moreover, we propose an enhanced transformer-based module to fuse multimodal features using attention mechanisms. With these methods, the MMHT model can effectively construct a multiscale and multidimensional visual feature space and achieve discriminative feature modeling. Extensive experiments demonstrate that the MMHT model exhibits competitive performance in comparison with that of other state-of-the-art methods. Overall, our results highlight the effectiveness of the MMHT model in terms of addressing the challenges faced in visual object tracking tasks.

TNF compromises intestinal bile-acid tolerance dictating colitis progression and limited infliximab response.

The intestine constantly encounters and adapts to the external environment shaped by diverse dietary nutrients. However, whether and how gut adaptability to dietary challenges is compromised in ulcerative colitis is incompletely understood. Here, we show that a transient high-fat diet exacerbates colitis owing to inflammation-compromised bile acid tolerance. Mechanistically, excessive tumor necrosis factor (TNF) produced at the onset of colitis interferes with bile-acid detoxification through the receptor-interacting serine/threonine-protein kinase 1/extracellular signal-regulated kinase pathway in intestinal epithelial cells, leading to bile acid overload in the endoplasmic reticulum and consequent apoptosis. In line with the synergy of bile acids and TNF in promoting gut epithelial damage, high intestinal bile acids correlate with poor infliximab response, and bile acid clearance improves infliximab efficacy in experimental colitis. This study identifies bile acids as an "opportunistic pathogenic factor" in the gut that would represent a promising target and stratification criterion for ulcerative colitis prevention/therapy.

Organic Cations Texture Zinc Metal Anodes for Deep Cycling Aqueous Zinc Batteries.

Manipulating the crystallographic orientation of zinc (Zn) metal to expose more (002) planes is promising to stabilize Zn anodes in aqueous electrolytes. However, there remain challenges involving the non-epitaxial electrodeposition of highly (002) textured Zn metal and the maintenance of (002) texture under deep cycling conditions. Herein, a novel organic imidazolium cations-assisted non-epitaxial electrodeposition strategy to texture electrodeposited Zn metals is developed. Taking the 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium cation (Bmim+) as a paradigm additive, the as-prepared Zn film ((002)-Zn) manifests a compact structure and a highly (002) texture without containing (100) signal. Mechanistic studies reveal that Bmim+ featuring oriented adsorption on the Zn-(002) plane can reduce the growth rate of (002) plane to render the final exposure of (002) texture, and homogenize Zn nucleation and suppress H2 evolution to enable the compact electrodeposition. In addition, the formulated Bmim+-containing ZnSO4 electrolyte effectively sustains the (002) texture even under deep cycling conditions. Consequently, the combination of (002) texture and Bmim+-containing electrolyte endows the (002)-Zn electrode with superior cycling stability over 350 h under 20 mAh cm-2 with 72.6% depth-of-discharge, and assures the stable operation of full Zn batteries with both coin-type and pouch-type configurations, significantly outperforming the (002)-Zn and commercial Zn-based batteries in Bmim+-free electrolytes.

Expression and Clinical Significance of Non B Cell-Derived Immunoglobulins in the Urinary System and Male Reproductive System.

The urinary system comprises kidneys, ureters, bladder, and urethra with its primary function being excretion, referring to the physiological process of transporting substances that are harmful or surplus out of the body. The male reproductive system consists of gonads (testis), vas deferens, and accessory glands such as the prostate. According to classical immunology theory, the tissues and organs mentioned above are not thought to produce immunoglobulins (Igs), and any Ig present in the relevant tissues under physiological and pathological conditions is believed to be derived from B cells. For instance, most renal diseases are associated with uncontrolled inflammation caused by pathogenic Ig deposited in the kidney. Generally, these pathological Igs are presumed to be produced by B cells. Recent studies have demonstrated that renal parenchymal cells can produce and secrete Igs, including IgA and IgG. Glomerular mesangial cells can express and secrete IgA, which is associated with cell survival and adhesion. Likewise, human podocytes demonstrate the ability to produce and secrete IgG, which is related to cell survival and adhesion. Furthermore, renal tubular epithelial cells also express IgG, potentially involved in the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). More significantly, renal cell carcinoma, bladder cancer, and prostate cancer have been revealed to express high levels of IgG, which promotes tumour progression. Given the widespread Ig expression in the urinary and male reproductive systems, continued efforts to elucidate the roles of Igs in renal physiological and pathological processes are necessary.

Mitigation potential of methane emissions in China's livestock sector can reach one-third by 2030 at low cost.

The mitigation of methane (CH4) emissions from livestock production is crucial to China's carbon neutrality. Here we established a high-spatiotemporal-resolution dataset of the country's livestock CH4 emissions from 1990 to 2020 using four large-scale national livestock greenhouse gas inventory surveys. We estimate CH4 emissions to be 14.1 ± 2.0 Mt in 2020 and to increase by 13% until 2030 despite CH4 intensity per kg animal protein having decreased by 55% in the past 30 years. Approximately half of the emissions come from 13% of all Chinese counties. The technical CH4 mitigation potential is projected to be 36 ± 8% (4.4-6.9 Mt CH4) in 2030, and reducing food loss and waste could mitigate an additional 1.6 Mt of CH4. Overall, most CH4 mitigation could be achieved by increasing animal productivity and coverage of lagoon storage at carbon prices below US$100 tCO2e-1, being more cost-effective than livestock nitrous oxide mitigation in China.

Assessing the benefits and safety profile of incorporating poly ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitors in the treatment of advanced lung cancer: a thorough systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Poly (ADP-Ribose) Polymerase (PARP) inhibitors represent a novel class of drugs that hinder DNA repair mechanisms in tumor cells, leading to cell death. This systematic review aims to evaluate the effectiveness, safety, and potential adverse effects of PARP inhibitors (PARPi) in the management of patients with advanced lung cancer. Materials and Methods: We conducted a comprehensive search for relevant studies in PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, and ClinicalTrials.gov. We extracted primary and secondary outcome measures, including progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and adverse events (AEs), from the identified literature for subsequent meta-analysis and systematic review. Results: This study encompassed twelve randomized controlled trials, involving 3,132 patients with advanced lung cancer. In comparison to non-PARPi treatments, the administration of PARPi significantly extended OS (hazard ratio (HR) = 0.90, 95% CI = 0.83-0.97, p = 0.006). However, the difference in PFS did not reach statistical significance. Conclusion: In summary, therapies incorporating PARPi provide a degree of benefit by extending OS in patients with advanced lung cancer. Nonetheless, further trials are necessary to furnish additional evidence regarding the efficacy and safety of PARPi in the treatment of lung cancer.Systematic Review Registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/, identifier number: CRD42023424673.

Medium-chain triglycerides combined with DHA improve cognitive function by inhibiting neurocyte apoptosis of the brain in SAMP8 mice.

Medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, Cn-3, 22:6) are essential in improving cognitive function and protecting neurocytes. This study explored the effects of the combined intervention of MCTs and DHA on inhibiting neurocyte apoptosis of the brain and improving cognitive function in senescence-accelerated mouse-prone 8 (SAMP8). Four-month-old male SAMP8 mice were randomly divided into four treatment groups (12 mice/group): DHA, MCT, DHA + MCT, and control groups, which intervened for seven months. Twelve age-matched male senescence-accelerated mouse resistant 1 (SAMR1) was used as the natural aging group. TUNEL assay and HE staining were used to assess neurocyte apoptosis and damage in the brain of mice. Moreover, the cognitive function was analyzed using the Morris water maze (MWM) and open field (OF) tests. The results showed that the cognitive function of 11-month-old SAMP8 mice decreased with age, and further pathological examination revealed the damaged neurocyte structure, karyopyknosis, cell atrophy, and even apoptosis. MCTs combined with DHA supplementation could increase octanoic acid (C8:0), decanoic acid (C10:0), and DHA levels in the serum, inhibit neurocyte apoptosis, improve neurocyte damage, moreover delay age-related cognitive decline after seven-month treatment. Furthermore, combining MCTs and DHA was significantly more beneficial than MCTs or DHA alone. In conclusion, MCTs combined with DHA could delay cognitive decline by inhibiting neurocyte apoptosis of the brain in SAMP8 mice.

The antidepressant effect of Shexiang Baoxin Pills on myocardial infarction rats with depression may be achieved through the inhibition of the NLRP3 inflammasome pathway.

BACKGROUND: Patients with myocardial infarction (MI) frequently experience a heightened incidence of depression, thereby increasing the risk of adverse cardiovascular events. Consequently, early detection and intervention in depressive symptoms among patients with MI are imperative. Shexiang Baoxin Pills (SBP), a Chinese patent medicine employed for the treatment of MI, exhibits diverse mechanisms targeting this condition. Nevertheless, its therapeutic efficacy on postmyocardial infarction depressive symptoms remains unclear. The aim of this study is to investigate the effectiveness and mechanism of SBP in managing depression during acute myocardial infarction (AMI). METHODS: A rat model combining MI and depression was established, and the rats were randomly divided into four groups: the model (MOD) group, SBP group, Fluoxetine (FLX) group, and Sham group. After 28 days of drug intervention, cardiac function was assessed using echocardiography while behavior was evaluated through sucrose preference test (SPT), forced swimming test (FST), and open-field test (OFT). Additionally, levels of inflammatory factors in serum and hippocampus were measured along with NLRP3 inflammasome-related protein expression via Western blotting and immunofluorescence. RESULTS: SBP can enhance cardiac function in rats with AMI and depression, while significantly ameliorating depressive-like behavior. Compared to the Sham group, levels of IL-1ß, IL-18, TNF-α, and other inflammatory factors were markedly elevated in the MOD group. However, expressions of these inflammatory factors were reduced to varying degrees following treatment with SBP or FLX. Analysis of NLRP3 inflammasome-related proteins in the hippocampus revealed a significant upregulation of IL-1ß, IL-18, NLRP3, ASC, caspase-1, and GSDMD in the MOD group; conversely, these measures were significantly attenuated after SBP intervention. CONCLUSION: We have observed a significant amelioration in depression-like behavior upon SBP administration during the treatment of AMI, suggesting that this effect may be attributed to the inhibition of NLRP3-mediated pyroptosis. (The main findings are summarized in the graphical abstract in the supplementary file.).

Impact of non-emergency surgical timing on postoperative recovery quality in mild or asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infected patients: a grouped cohort study.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the relationship between the timing of non-emergency surgery in mild or asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) infected individuals and the quality of postoperative recovery from the time of confirmed infection to the day of surgery. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 300 cases of mild or asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infected patients undergoing elective general anaesthesia surgery at Yijishan Hospital between January 9, 2023, and February 17, 2023. Based on the time from confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection to the day of surgery, patients were divided into four groups: ≤2 weeks (Group A), 2-4 weeks (Group B), 4-6 weeks (Group C), and 6-8 weeks (Group D). The primary outcome measures included the Quality of Recovery-15 (QoR-15) scale scores at 3 days, 3 months, and 6 months postoperatively. Secondary outcome measures included postoperative mortality, ICU admission, pulmonary complications, postoperative length of hospital stay, extubation time, and time to leave the PACU. RESULTS: Concerning the primary outcome measures, the QoR-15 scores at 3 days postoperatively in Group A were significantly lower compared to the other three groups (P < 0.05), while there were no statistically significant differences among the other three groups (P > 0.05). The QoR-15 scores at 3 and 6 months postoperatively showed no statistically significant differences among the four groups (P > 0.05). In terms of secondary outcome measures, Group A had a significantly prolonged hospital stay compared to the other three groups (P < 0.05), while other outcome measures showed no statistically significant differences (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: The timing of surgery in mild or asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infected patients does not affect long-term recovery quality but does impact short-term recovery quality, especially for elective general anaesthesia surgeries within 2 weeks of confirmed infection. Therefore, it is recommended to wait for a surgical timing of at least greater than 2 weeks to improve short-term recovery quality and enhance patient prognosis.

Finding the best predictive model for hypertensive depression in older adults based on machine learning and metabolomics research.

Objective: Depression is a common comorbidity in hypertensive older adults, yet depression is more difficult to diagnose correctly. Our goal is to find predictive models of depression in hypertensive patients using a combination of various machine learning (ML) methods and metabolomics. Methods: Methods We recruited 379 elderly people aged ≥65 years from the Chinese community. Plasma samples were collected and assayed by gas chromatography/liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/LC-MS). Orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA), volcano diagrams and thermograms were used to distinguish metabolites. The attribute discriminators CfsSubsetEval combined with search method BestFirst in WEKA software was used to find the best predicted metabolite combinations, and then 24 classification methods with 10-fold cross-validation were used for prediction. Results: 34 individuals were considered hypertensive combined with depression according to our criteria, and 34 subjects with hypertension only were matched according to age and sex. 19 metabolites by GC-MS and 65 metabolites by LC-MS contributed significantly to the differentiation between the depressed and non-depressed cohorts, with a VIP value of more than 1 and a P value of less than 0.05. There were multiple metabolic pathway alterations. The metabolite combinations screened with WEKA for optimal diagnostic value included 12 metabolites. The machine learning methods with AUC values greater than 0.9 were bayesNet and random forests, and their other evaluation measures are also better. Conclusion: Altered metabolites and metabolic pathways are present in older adults with hypertension combined with depression. Methods using metabolomics and machine learning performed quite well in predicting depression in hypertensive older adults, contributing to further clinical research.

Machine Learning-based Framework Develops a Tumor Thrombus Coagulation Signature in Multicenter Cohorts for Renal Cancer.

Background: Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is frequently accompanied by tumor thrombus in the venous system with an extremely dismal prognosis. The current Tumor Node Metastasis (TNM) stage and Mayo clinical classification do not appropriately identify preference-sensitive treatment. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop a better ideal model for precision medicine. Methods: In this study, we developed a coagulation tumor thrombus signature for RCC with 10 machine-learning algorithms (101 combinations) based on a novel computational framework using multiple independent cohorts. Results: The established tumor thrombus coagulation-related risk stratification (TTCRRS) signature comprises 10 prognostic coagulation-related genes (CRGs). This signature could predict survival outcomes in public and in-house protein cohorts and showed high performance compared to 129 published signatures. Additionally, the TTCRRS signature was significantly related to some immune landscapes, immunotherapy response, and chemotherapy. Furthermore, we also screened out hub genes, transcription factors, and small compounds based on the TTCRRS signature. Meanwhile, CYP51A1 can regulate the proliferation and migration properties of RCC. Conclusions: The TTCRRS signature can complement the traditional anatomic TNM staging system and Mayo clinical stratification and provide clinicians with more therapeutic options.

Clinical characteristics and analysis of vestibular-evoked myogenic potentials in patients with sudden sensorineural hearing loss in different ages.

BACKGROUND: Numerous studies have found that patients experiencing sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSHL), with or without accompanying vertigo, often show impaired vestibular function. However, there is a dearth of studies analyzing vestibular-evoked myogenic potentials (VEMPs) in SSHL patients across various age groups. AIM: To investigate vestibular condition in SSHL patients across various age demographics. METHODS: Clinical data of 84 SSHL patients were investigated retrospectively. Audiometry, cervical vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (c-VEMPs), and ocular vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (o-VEMPs) were conducted on these patients. Parameters assessed included the latencies of P1 and N1 waves, as well as the amplitudes of P1-N1 waves. Moreover, the study evaluated the influence of factors such as sex, affected side, configuration of hearing loss, and presence of accompanying vertigo. RESULTS: Among the 84 SSHL patients, no significant differences were observed among the three groups in terms of gender, affected side, and the presence or absence of vertigo. Group II (aged 41-60 years) had the highest number of SSHL cases. The rates of absent o-VEMPs in the affected ears were 20.83%, 31.58%, and 22.72% for the three age groups, respectively, with no statistically significant difference among them. The rates of absent c-VEMPs in the affected ears were 8.3%, 34.21%, and 18.18% for the three age groups, respectively, with significant differences. In the unaffected ears, there were differences observed in the extraction rates of o-VEMPs in the unaffected ears among the age groups. In the three age groups, no significant differences were noted in the three age groups in the latencies of P1 and N1 waves or in the amplitude of N1-P1 waves for c-VEMPs and o-VEMPs, either on the affected side or on the unaffected side, across the three age groups. CONCLUSION: The extraction rate of VEMPs is more valuable than parameters. Regardless of the presence of vertigo, vestibular organs are involved in SSHL. Notably, SSHL patients aged 41-60 appear more susceptible to damage to the inferior vestibular nerve and saccule.

Across Interfacial Li+ Conduction Accelerated by a Single-Ion Conducting Polymer in Ceramic-Rich Composite Electrolytes for Solid-State Batteries.

Composite electrolytes have been accepted as the most promising species for solid-state batteries, exhibiting the synergistic advantages of solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) and solid ceramic electrolytes (SCEs). Unfortunately, the interrupted Li+ conduction across the SPE and SCE interface hinders the ionic conductivity improvement of composite electrolytes. In our study on a ceramic-rich composite electrolyte (CRCE) membrane composed of borate polyanion-based lithiated poly(vinyl formal) (LiPVFM) and Li1.3Al0.3Ti1.7(PO4)3 (LATP) particles, it is found that the strong interaction between the polyanions in LiPVFM and LATP particles results in a uniform distribution of ceramic particles at a high proportion of 50 wt % and good robustness of the electrolyte membrane with a Young's modulus of 9.20 GPa. More importantly, ab initio molecular dynamics simulation and experimental results demonstrate that Li+ conduction across the SPE and SCE interface is induced by the polyanion-based polymer due to its high lithium-ion transference number and similar Li+ diffusion coefficient with the SCE. Therefore, the unblocked Li+ conduction among ceramic particles dominates in the CRCE membrane with a high ionic conductivity of 6.60 × 10-4 S cm-1 at 25 °C, a lithium-ion transference number of 0.84, and a wide electrochemical stable window of 5.0 V (vs Li/Li+). Consequently, the high nickel ternary cathode LiNi0.8Mn0.1Co0.1O2-based batteries with CRCE deliver a high-rate capability of 135.08 mAh g-1 at 1.0 C and a prolonged cycle life of 100 cycles at 0.2 C between 3.0 and 4.3 V. The polyanion-induced Li+ conduction across the interface sheds new light on solving composite electrolyte problems for solid-state batteries.