Macrophage GIT1 promotes oligodendrocyte precursor cell differentiation and remyelination after spinal cord injury.

Spinal cord injury (SCI) can result in severe motor and sensory deficits, for which currently no effective cure exists. The pathological process underlying this injury is extremely complex and involves many cell types in the central nervous system. In this study, we have uncovered a novel function for macrophage G protein-coupled receptor kinase-interactor 1 (GIT1) in promoting remyelination and functional repair after SCI. Using GIT1flox/flox Lyz2-Cre (GIT1 CKO) mice, we identified that GIT1 deficiency in macrophages led to an increased generation of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFα), reduced proportion of mature oligodendrocytes (mOLs), impaired remyelination, and compromised functional recovery in vivo. These effects in GIT1 CKO mice were reversed with the administration of soluble TNF inhibitor. Moreover, bone marrow transplantation from GIT1 CWT mice reversed adverse outcomes in GIT1 CKO mice, further indicating the role of macrophage GIT1 in modulating spinal cord injury repair. Our in vitro experiments showed that macrophage GIT1 plays a critical role in secreting TNFα and influences the differentiation of oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) after stimulation with myelin debris. Collectively, our data uncovered a new role of macrophage GIT1 in regulating the transformation of OPCs into mOLs, essential for functional remyelination after SCI, suggesting that macrophage GIT1 could be a promising treatment target of SCI.

Solvation Effect: The Cornerstone of High-Performance Battery Design for Commercialization-Driven Sodium Batteries.

Sodium batteries (SBs) emerge as a potential candidate for large-scale energy storage and have become a hot topic in the past few decades. In the previous researches on electrolyte, designing electrolytes with the solvation theory has been the most promising direction is to improve the electrochemical performance of batteries through solvation theory. In general, the four essential factors for the commercial application of SBs, which are cost, low temperature performance, fast charge performance and safety. The solvent structure has significant impact on commercial applications. But so far, the solvation design of electrolyte and the practical application of sodium batteries have not been comprehensively summarized. This review first clarifies the process of Na+ solvation and the strategies for adjusting Na+ solvation. It is worth noting that the relationship between solvation theory and interface theory is pointed out. The cost, low temperature, fast charging, and safety issues of solvation are systematically summarized. The importance of the de-solvation step in low temperature and fast charging application is emphasized to help select better electrolytes for specific applications. Finally, new insights and potential solutions for electrolytes solvation related to SBs are proposed to stimulate revolutionary electrolyte chemistry for next generation SBs.

Oxygen Vacancies Driven by Co in the Deeply Charged State Inducing Intragranular Cracking of Ni-Rich Cathodes.

Intragranular cracking within the material structure of Ni-rich (LiNixCoyMn1 - x - y, x ≥0.9) cathodes greatly threatens cathode integrity and causes capacity degradation, yet its atomic-scale incubation mechanism is not completely elucidated. Notably, the physicochemical properties of component elements fundamentally determine the material structure of cathodes. Herein, a diffusion-controlled incubation mechanism of intragranular cracking is unraveled, and an underlying correlation model with Co element is established. Multi-dimensional analysis reveals that oxygen vacancies appear due to the charge compensation from highly oxidizing Co ions in the deeply charged state, driving the transition metal migration to Li layer and layered to rock-salt phase transition. The local accumulation of two accompanying tensile strains collaborates to promote the nucleation and growth of intragranular cracks along the fragile rock-salt phase domain on (003) plane. This study focuses on the potential risks posed by Co to the architectural and thermal stability of Ni-rich cathodes and is dedicated to the compositional design and performance optimization of Ni-rich cathodes.

Charge Dynamics Engineering Sparks Hetero-Interfacial Polarization for an Ultra-Efficient Microwave Absorber with Mechanical Robustness.

Microwave absorbers with high efficiency and mechanical robustness are urgently desired to cope with more complex and harsh application scenarios. However, manipulating the trade-off between microwave absorption performance and mechanical properties is seldom realized in microwave absorbers. Here, a chemistry-tailored charge dynamic engineering strategy is proposed for sparking hetero-interfacial polarization and thus coordinating microwave attenuation ability with the interfacial bonding, endowing polymer-based composites with microwave absorption efficiency and mechanical toughness. The absorber designed by this new conceptual approach exhibits remarkable Ku-band microwave absorption efficiency (-55.3 dB at a thickness of 1.5 mm) and satisfactory effective absorption bandwidth (5.0 GHz) as well as desirable interfacial shear strength (97.5 MPa). The calculated differential charge density depicts the uneven distribution of space charge and the intense hetero-interfacial polarization, clarifying the structure-performance relationship from a theoretical perspective. This work breaks through traditional single performance-oriented design methods and ushers a new direction for next-generation microwave absorbers.

Enhancing mechanical properties of composite solid electrolyte by ultra-high molecular weight polymers.

Composite solid electrolytes combining the advantages of inorganic and polymer electrolytes are considered as one of the promising candidates for solid-state lithium metal batteries. Compared with ceramic-in-polymer electrolyte, polymer-in-ceramic electrolyte displays excellent mechanical strength to inhibit lithium dendrite. However, polymer-in-ceramic electrolyte faces the challenges of lack of flexibility and severely blocked Li+transport. In this study, we prepared polymer-in-ceramic film utilizing ultra-high molecular weight polymers and ceramic particles to combine flexibility and mechanical strength. Meanwhile, the ionic conductivity of polymer-in-ceramic electrolytes was improved by adding excess lithium salt in polymer matrix to form polymer-in-salt structure. The obtained film shows high stiffness (10.5 MPa), acceptable ionic conductivity (0.18 mS cm-1) and high flexibility. As a result, the corresponding lithium symmetric cell stably cycles over 800 h and the corresponding LiFePO4cell provides a discharge capacity of 147.7 mAh g-1at 0.1 C without obvious capacity decay after 145 cycles.

Synthesizing high performance LNMO cathode materials with porous structure by manipulating reynolds number in a microreactor.

The demand for Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) has significantly grown in the last decade due to their extensive use electric vehicles. To further advance the commercialization of LIBs for various applications, there is a pressing need to develop electrode materials with enhanced performance. The porous microsphere morphology LiNixMn2-xO4(LNMO) is considered to be an effective material with both high energy density and excellent rate performance. Nevertheless, LNMO synthesis technology still has problem such as long reaction time, high energy consumption and environmental pollution. Herein, LNMO microsphere was successfully synthesized with short precursors reaction time (18 s) at 40 °C without using chelating agent by microreaction technology combined solid-state lithiation. The optimized LNMO cathode shows microsphere (∼8µm) morphology stacked by nano primary particles, with abundant mesoporous and fully exposed low-energy plane. The electrochemical analysis indicates that the optimized LNMO cathode demonstrates 97.33% capacity retention even after 200 cycles at 1C. Additionally, the material shows a highly satisfactory discharge capacity of 92.3 mAh·g-1at 10C. Overall, microreaction technology is anticipated to offer a novel approach in the synthesis of LNMO cathode materials with excellent performance.

Probing Particle-Carbon/Binder Degradation Behavior in Fatigued Layered Cathode Materials through Machine Learning Aided Diffraction Tomography.

Understanding how reaction heterogeneity impacts cathode materials during Li-ion battery (LIB) electrochemical cycling is pivotal for unraveling their electrochemical performance. Yet, experimentally verifying these reactions has proven to be a challenge. To address this, we employed scanning µ-XRD computed tomography to scrutinize Ni-rich layered LiNi0.6Co0.2Mn0.2O2 (NCM622) and Li-rich layered Li[Li0.2Ni0.2Mn0.6]O2 (LLNMO). By harnessing machine learning (ML) techniques, we scrutinized an extensive dataset of µ-XRD patterns, about 100,000 patterns per slice, to unveil the spatial distribution of crystalline structure and microstrain. Our experimental findings unequivocally reveal the distinct behavior of these materials. NCM622 exhibits structural degradation and lattice strain intricately linked to the size of secondary particles. Smaller particles and the surface of larger particles in contact with the carbon/binder matrix experience intensified structural fatigue after long-term cycling. Conversely, both the surface and bulk of LLNMO particles endure severe strain-induced structural degradation during high-voltage cycling, resulting in significant voltage decay and capacity fade. This work holds the potential to fine-tune the microstructure of advanced layered materials and manipulate composite electrode construction in order to enhance the performance of LIBs and beyond.

Unlocking Enhanced Capacitive Deionization of NaTi2(PO4)3/Carbon Materials by the Yolk-Shell Design.

The low salt adsorption capacities (SACs) of benchmark carbon materials (usually below 20 mg g-1) are one of the most challenging issues limiting further commercial development of capacitive deionization (CDI), an energetically favorable method for sustainable water desalination. Sodium superionic conductor (NASICON)-structured NaTi2(PO4)3 (NTP) materials, especially used in combination with carbon to prepare NTP/C materials, provide emerging options for higher CDI performance but face the problems of poor cycling stability and dissolution of active materials. In this study, we report the development of the yolk-shell nanoarchitecture of NASICON-structured NTP/C materials (denoted as ys-NTP@C) using a metal-organic framework@covalent organic polymer (MOF@COP) as a sacrificial template and space-confined nanoreactor. As expected, ys-NTP@C exhibits good CDI performance, including exemplary SACs with a maximum SAC of 124.72 mg g-1 at 1.8 V in the constant-voltage mode and 202.76 mg g-1 at 100 mA g-1 in the constant-current mode, and good cycling stability without obvious performance degradation or energy consumption increase over 100 cycles. Furthermore, X-ray diffraction used to study CDI cycling clearly exhibits the good structural stability of ys-NTP@C during repeated ion intercalation/deintercalation processes, and the finite element simulation shows why yolk-shell nanostructures exhibit better performance than other materials. This study provides a new synthetic paradigm for preparing yolk-shell structured materials from MOF@COP and highlights the potential use of yolk-shell nanoarchitectures for electrochemical desalination.

GO-CoNiP New Composite Material Modified Separator for Long Cycle Lithium-Sulfur Batteries.

Lithium-sulfur batteries with high capacity are considered the most promising candidates for next-generation energy storage systems. Mitigating the shuttle reaction and promoting catalytic conversion within the battery are major challenges in the development of high-performance lithium-sulfur batteries. To solve these problems, a novel composite material GO-CoNiP is synthesized in this study. The material has excellent conductivity and abundant active sites to adsorb polysulfides and improve reaction kinetics within the battery. The initial capacity of the GO-CoNiP separator battery at 1 C is 889.4 mAh g-1 , and the single-cycle decay is 0.063% after 1000 cycles. In the 4 C high-rate test, the single-cycle decay is only 0.068% after 400 cycles. The initial capacity is as high as 828.2 mAh g-1 under high sulfur loading (7.3 mg cm-2 ). In addition, high and low-temperature performance tests are performed on the GO-CoNiP separator battery. The first cycle discharge reaches 810.9 mAh g-1 at a low temperature of 0 °C, and the first cycle discharge reaches 1064.8 mAh g-1 at a high temperature of 60 °C, and both can run stably for 120 cycles. In addition, in situ Raman tests are conducted to explain the adsorption of polysulfides by GO-CoNiP from a deeper level.

Onsager Reciprocal Relation between Anomalous Transverse Coefficients of an Anisotropic Antiferromagnet.

Whenever two irreversible processes occur simultaneously, time-reversal symmetry of microscopic dynamics gives rise, on a macroscopic level, to Onsager's reciprocal relations, which impose constraints on the number of independent components of any transport coefficient tensor. Here, we show that in the antiferromagnetic YbMnBi_{2}, which displays a strong temperature-dependent anisotropy, Onsager's reciprocal relations are strictly satisfied for anomalous electric (σ_{ij}^{A}) and anomalous thermoelectric (α_{ij}^{A}) conductivity tensors. In contradiction with what was recently reported by Pan et al. [Nat. Mater. 21, 203 (2022)NMAACR1476-112210.1038/s41563-021-01149-2], we find that σ_{ij}^{A}(H)=σ_{ji}^{A}(-H) and α_{ij}^{A}(H)=α_{ji}^{A}(-H). This equality holds in the whole temperature window irrespective of the relative weights of the intrinsic or extrinsic mechanisms. The α_{ij}^{A}/σ_{ij}^{A} ratio is close to k_{B}/e at room temperature but peaks to an unprecedented magnitude of 2.9k_{B}/e at ∼150 K, which may involve nondegenerate carriers of small Fermi surface pockets.

Recent progress in optical and electrochemical aptasensor technologies for detection of aflatoxin B1.

AFB1 (Aflatoxin B1) contamination is becoming a global concern issue due to its extraordinary occurrence, severe toxicity, as well as the great influence on the economic losses, food safety and environment. Therefore, it is desirable to develop novel analytical techniques for simple, rapid, accurate, and even point-of-care testing of AFB1. Fortunately, aptamer, considered as a new generation bioreceptor and even superior to classic antibody and enzyme, has been emerged remarkable application in food hazards detection. Correspondingly, aptasensors have been well-established toward AFB1 determination with outstanding performance. In this article, we first discuss and summarize the recent progress in optical and electrochemical aptasensors to monitor AFB1 over the past three years. In particular, the embedding of advanced nanomaterials for their improved analytical performance is highlighted. Furthermore, the critical analysis on various signal transduction strategies for aptasensors construction is discussed. Finally, we reveal the challenges and provide our opinion in future opportunities for aptasensor development.

Clinical and prognostic profile of SRSF2 and related spliceosome mutations in patients with acute myeloid leukemia.

BACKGROUND: Mutations in splicing factor (SF) genes are frequently detected in myelodysplastic syndrome, but their clinical and prognostic relevance in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) have rarely been reported. METHODS: A total of 368 newly diagnosed non-M3 AML patients were included in this study. Next generation sequencing including four SF genes was performed on the genomicDNA. The clinical features and survival were analyzed using statistical analysis. RESULTS: We found that 64 of 368 patients harbored SF mutations. The SF mutations were much more frequently found in older or male patients. SRSF2 mutations were shown obviously co-existed with IDH2 mutation. The level of measurable residual disease after first chemotherapy was higher in SF-mutated patients compared to that in SF-wild patients, while the complete remission rate was significantly decreased. And the overall survival of SF-mutated patients was shorter than that of SF-wild patients. Moreover, our multivariable analysis suggests that the index of male, Kit mutation or ZRSR2 mutation was the independent risk factor for overall survival. SRSF2mut was associated with older age, higher proportion of peripheral blasts or abnormal cell proportion by flow cytometry. CONCLUSION: SF mutation is a distinct subgroup of AML frequently associated with clinic-biological features and poor outcome. SRSF2mut could be potential targets for novel treatment in AML.

Long-Term Results and Risk Factors of Treatment for Post-Infarction Ventricular Septal Rupture: A Single-Center Experience.

BACKGROUND: Ventricular septal rupture (VSR) following myocardial infarction (MI) is a rare but lethal complication. We analyzed the long-term results and risk factors for survival in the treatment of VSR. METHODS: From January 2012 to December 2021, 115 consecutive patients with post-MI VSR were admitted to our hospital. Depending on different treatment methods patients were divided into following three groups: medical, transcatheter intervention, and surgical repair. During the study, relevant clinical data, operation-related conditions, and follow-up data were analyzed. The Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test were used to determine the cumulative incidence of mortality. The independent risk factors for patient mortality were evaluated by multivariate logistic regression. RESULTS: The mean follow-up time was 43.4 ± 34.7 months. The overall in-hospital, 30-day, and long-term mortality rates were 24.3%, 38.3%, and 51.3%, respectively. In the medical group, the in-hospital and 30-day mortality rates were 46.7 % (21/45) and 82.2 % (37/45), respectively, with only three patients alive at follow-up. In the transcatheter intervention group, 30-day and long-term mortality rates were 12% and 28%, respectively. In the surgical repair group, 30-day and long-term mortality rates were 8.9% and 22.2%, respectively. Compared with the surgery-group patients, patients with transcatheter intervention had a longer time from VSR to intervention. Logistic regression analysis revealed that age, previous infarction, Killip class, serum creatinine, Troponin T, N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide, and medical strategy were risk factors for all-cause mortality. CONCLUSIONS: The 30-day and long-term outcomes of patients treated with surgical repair and transcatheter intervention were significantly better than medically treated patients.

Guidelines for management of pediatric acute hyperextension spinal cord injury.

Pediatric acute hyperextension spinal cord injury (SCI) named as PAHSCI by us, is a special type of thoracolumbar SCI without radiographic abnormality and highly related to back-bend in dance training, which has been increasingly reported. At present, it has become the leading cause of SCI in children, and brings a heavy social and economic burden. Both domestic and foreign academic institutions and dance education organizations lack a correct understanding of PAHSCI and relevant standards, specifications or guidelines. In order to provide standardized guidance, the expert team formulated this guideline based on the principles of science and practicability, starting from the diagnosis, differential diagnosis, etiology, admission evaluation, treatment, complications and prevention. This guideline puts forward 23 recommendations for 14 related issues.

Origin and Regulation of Interface Fusion during Synthesis of Single-Crystal Ni-Rich Cathodes.

Interface fusion plays a key role in constructing Ni-based single-crystal cathodes, and is governed by the atomic migration related to kinetics. However, the interfacial atom migration path and its control factors are lack of clearly understanding. Herein, we systematically probe the solid-state synthesis mechanism of single-crystal LiNi0.92 Co0.04 Mn0.04 O2 , including the effects of precursor size, Li/transition metal (TM) ratio and sintering temperature on the structure. Multi-dimensional analysis unravels that thermodynamics drives interface atoms migration through intermediate state (i.e., cation mixing phase) to induce grain boundary fusion. Moreover, we demonstrate that smaller precursor size (<6 µm), lager Li/TM ratio (>1.0) and higher temperature (≥810 °C) are conducive to promote the growth of the intermediate state due to reaction kinetics enhancement, and ultimately strengthen the atomic migration-induced interface fusion.

Improving Low-temperature Performance and Stability of Na2 Ti6 O13 Anodes by the Ti-O Spring Effect through Nb-doping.

Na2 Ti6 O13 (NTO) with high safety has been regarded as a promising anode candidate for sodium-ion batteries. In the present study, integrated modification of migration channels broadening, charge density re-distribution, and oxygen vacancies regulation are realized in case of Nb-doping and have obtained significantly enhanced cycling performance with 92 % reversible capacity retained after 3000 cycles at 3000 mA g-1 . Moreover, unexpected low-temperature performance with a high discharge capacity of 143 mAh g-1 at 100 mA g-1 under -15 °C is also achieved in the full cell. Theoretical investigation suggests that Nb preferentially replaces Ti3 sites, which effectively improves structural stability and lowers the diffusion energy barrier. What's more important, both the in situ X-ray diffraction (XRD) and in situ Raman furtherly confirm the robust spring effect of the Ti-O bond, making special charge compensation mechanism and respective regulation strategy to conquer the sluggish transport kinetics and low conductivity, which plays a key role in promoting electrochemical performance.

Long-Range Cationic Disordering Induces two Distinct Degradation Pathways in Co-Free Ni-Rich Layered Cathodes.

Ni-rich layered oxides are one of the most attractive cathode materials in high-energy-density lithium-ion batteries, their degradation mechanisms are still not completely elucidated. Herein, we report a strong dependence of degradation pathways on the long-range cationic disordering of Co-free Ni-rich Li1-m (Ni0.94 Al0.06 )1+m O2 (NA). Interestingly, a disordered layered phase with lattice mismatch can be easily formed in the near-surface region of NA particles with very low cation disorder (NA-LCD, m≤0.06) over electrochemical cycling, while the layered structure is basically maintained in the core of particles forming a "core-shell" structure. Such surface reconstruction triggers a rapid capacity decay during the first 100 cycles between 2.7 and 4.3 V at 1 C or 3 C. On the contrary, the local lattice distortions are gradually accumulated throughout the whole NA particles with higher degrees of cation disorder (NA-HCD, 0.06≤m≤0.15) that lead to a slow capacity decay upon cycling.

Integrating Multi-Heterointerfaces in a 1D@2D@1D Hierarchical Structure via Autocatalytic Pyrolysis for Ultra-Efficient Microwave Absorption Performance.

Developing microwave absorption (MA) materials with ultrahigh efficiency and facile preparation method remains a challenge. Herein, a superior 1D@2D@1D hierarchical structure integrated with multi-heterointerfaces via self-assembly and an autocatalytic pyrolysis is designed to fully unlock the microwave attenuation potential of materials, realizing ultra-efficient MA performance. By precisely regulating the morphology of the metal organic framework precursor toward improved impedance matching and intelligently integrating multi-heterointerfaces to boosted dielectric polarization, the specific return loss value of composites can be effectively tuned and optimized to -1002 dB at a very thin thickness of 1.8 mm. These encouraging achievements shed fresh insights into the precise design of ultra-efficient MA materials.

Directional and inter-acquisition variability in diffusion-weighted imaging and editing for restricted diffusion.

PURPOSE: To evaluate and quantify inter-directional and inter-acquisition variation in diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and emphasize signals that report restricted diffusion to enhance cancer conspicuity, while reducing the effects of local microscopic motion and magnetic field fluctuations. METHODS: Ten patients with biopsy-proven prostate cancer were studied under an Institutional Review Board-approved protocol. Individual acquisitions of DWI signal intensities were reconstructed to calculate inter-acquisition distributions and their statistics, which were compared for healthy versus cancer tissue. A method was proposed to detect and filter the acquisitions affected by motion-induced signal loss. First, signals that reflect restricted diffusion were separated from the acquisitions that suffer from signal loss, likely due to microscopic motion, by imposing a cutoff value. Furthermore, corrected apparent diffusion coefficient maps were calculated by employing a weighted sum of the multiple acquisitions, instead of conventional averaging. These weights were calculated by applying a soft-max function to the set of acquisitions per-voxel, making the analysis immune to acquisitions with significant signal loss, even if the number of such acquisitions is high. RESULTS: Inter-acquisition variation is much larger than the Rician noise variance, local spatial variations, and the estimates of diffusion anisotropy based on the current data, as well as the published values of anisotropy. The proposed method increases the contrast for cancers and yields a sensitivity of 98 . 8 % $$ 98.8\% $$ with a false positive rate of 3 . 9 % $$ 3.9\% $$ . CONCLUSION: Motion-induced signal loss makes conventional signal-averaging suboptimal and can obscure signals from areas with restricted diffusion. Filtering or weighting individual acquisitions prior to image analysis can overcome this problem.

Enhancing Electrocatalytic NO Reduction to NH3 by the CoS Nanosheet with Sulfur Vacancies.

Electrochemical reduction of NO to NH3 is of great significance for mitigating the accumulation of nitrogen oxides and producing valuable NH3. Here, we demonstrate that the CoS nanosheet with sulfur vacancies (CoS1-x) behaves as an efficient catalyst toward electrochemical NO-to-NH3 conversion. In 0.2 M Na2SO4 electrolyte, such CoS1-x displays a large NH3 yield rate (44.67 µmol cm-2 h-1) and a high Faradaic efficiency (53.62%) at -0.4 V versus the reversible hydrogen electrode, outperforming the CoS counterpart (27.02 µmol cm-2 h-1; 36.68%). Moreover, the Zn-NO battery with CoS1-x shows excellent performance with a power density of 2.06 mW cm-2 and a large NH3 yield rate of 1492.41 µg h-1 mgcat.-1. Density functional theory was performed to obtain mechanistic insights into the NO reduction over CoS1-x.