All-Fluorinated Electrolyte Engineering Enables Practical Wide-Temperature-Range Lithium Metal Batteries.

The development of lithium metal batteries (LMBs) is severely hindered owing to the limited temperature window of the electrolyte, which renders uncontrolled side reactions, unstable electrolyte/electrode interface (EEI) formation, and sluggish desolvation kinetics for wide temperature operation condition. Herein, we developed an all-fluorinated electrolyte composed of lithium bis(trifluoromethane sulfonyl)imide, hexafluorobenzene (HFB), and fluoroethylene carbonate, which effectively regulates solvation structure toward a wide temperature of 160 °C (-50 to 110 °C). The introduction of thermostable HFB induces the generation of EEI with a high LiF ratio of 93%, which results in an inhibited side reaction and gas generation on EEI and enhanced interfacial ion transfer at extreme temperatures. Therefore, an unparalleled capacity retention of 88.3% after 400 cycles at 90 °C and an improved cycling performance at -50 °C can be achieved. Meanwhile, the practical 1.3 Ah-level pouch cell delivers high energy density of 307.13 Wh kg-1 at 60 °C and 277.99 Wh kg-1 at -30 °C after 50 cycles under lean E/C ratio of 2.7 g/Ah and low N/P ratio of 1.2. This work not only offers a viable strategy for wide-temperature-range electrolyte design but also promotes the practicalization of LMBs.

Review of the Real-Time Monitoring Technologies for Lithium Dendrites in Lithium-Ion Batteries.

Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) have the advantage of high energy density, which has attracted the wide attention of researchers. Nevertheless, the growth of lithium dendrites on the anode surface causes short life and poor safety, which limits their application. Therefore, it is necessary to deeply understand the growth mechanism of lithium dendrites. Here, the growth mechanism of lithium dendrites is briefly summarized, and the real-time monitoring technologies of lithium dendrite growth in recent years are reviewed. The real-time monitoring technologies summarized here include in situ X-ray, in situ Raman, in situ resonance, in situ microscopy, in situ neutrons, and sensors, and their representative studies are summarized. This paper is expected to provide some guidance for the research of lithium dendrites, so as to promote the development of LIBs.

Ultralong Cycling and Safe Lithium-Sulfur Pouch Cells for Sustainable Energy Storage.

While layered metal oxides remain the dominant cathode materials for the state-of-the-art lithium-ion batteries, conversion-type cathodes such as sulfur present unique opportunities in developing cheaper, safer, and more energy-dense next-generation battery technologies. There has been remarkable progress in advancing the laboratory scale lithium-sulfur (Li-S) coin cells to a high level of performance. However, the relevant strategies cannot be readily translated to practical cell formats such as pouch cells and even battery pack. Here these key technical challenges are addressed by molecular engineering of the Li metal for hydrophobicization, fluorination and thus favorable anode chemistry. The introduced tris(2,4-di-tert-butylphenyl) phosphite (TBP) and tetrabutylammonium fluoride (TBA+F-) as well as cellulose membrane by rolling enables the formation of a functional thin layer that eliminates the vulnerability of Li metal towards the already demanding environment required (1.55% relative humidity) for cell production and gives rise to LiF-rich solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) to suppress dendrite growth. As a result, Li-S pouch cells assembled at a pilot production line survive 400 full charge/discharge cycles with an average Coulombic efficiency of 99.55% and impressive rate performance of 1.5 C. A cell-level energy density of 417 Wh kg-1 and power density of 2766 W kg-1 are also delivered via multilayer Li-S pouch cell. The Li-S battery pack can even power an unmanned aerial vehicle of 3 kg for a fairly long flight time. This work represents a big step forward acceleration in Li-S battery marketization for future energy storage featuring improved safety, sustainability, higher energy density as well as reduced cost.

Stress and strain analysis and parameter optimization of pipe truss tower connection of super-large tower crane based on FEM.

Clamping bushing structure is an internode connection mechanism designed for the standard section of tubular truss tower. In this paper, the clamping bushing structure of the connecting mechanism of super-large tower crane is taken as the research object, a three-dimensional model of clamping bushing structure is established and imported into ABAQUS, and its multi-body contact model is further constructed to study the contact and bearing relationship of the structure under multiple working conditions, and the accuracy of the calculation results of the model is verified by the experimental stress test under tensile working conditions. In addition, this study is based on the control variable method, and through the design of orthogonal test table, the influence degree of five variable parameters of clamping bushing on the bearing capacity of the structure is investigated. Finally, through the range analysis, the optimal horizontal combination of variables and parameters of clamping bushing structure is obtained, and the optimal matching relationship between the shape of the tower connecting mechanism and the bearing capacity is obtained. The results show that, compared with the original model, the stress concentration at the most dangerous section of the optimized joint and the bushing is obviously alleviated, in which the stress peaks of the upper and lower joints are kept below 500 MPa, and the stress peaks of the bushing groove are also reduced to between 573 and 722 MPa. Moreover, the designed and optimized lower joint can reduce the maximum equivalent plastic strain of the joint root circumference by 56.05% under the original maximum tensile condition, and the overall distribution trend of equivalent plastic strain is more uniform, and a more reliable structural design is obtained, which plays an important guiding role in the design, optimization and analysis of the connecting mechanism of the tower body of large tower crane.

Parabolic-Index Ring-Core Fiber Supporting High-Purity Orbital Angular Momentum Modes.

We design a graded-index ring-core fiber with a GeO2-doped silica ring core and SiO2 cladding. This fiber structure can inhibit the effect of spin-orbit coupling to mitigate the power transfer among different modes and eventually enhance the orbital angular momentum (OAM) mode purity. By changing the high-index ring core from the step-index to parabolic graded-index profile, the purity of the OAM1,1 mode can be improved from 86.48% to 94.43%, up by 7.95%. The proposed fiber features a flexible structure, which can meet different requirements for mode order, effective mode area, etc. Simulation results illustrate that the parabolic-index ring-core fiber is promising in enhancing the OAM mode purity, which could potentially reduce the channel crosstalk in mode-division-multiplexed optical communication systems.

Reconstruction of Solid Electrolyte Interphase with SrI2 Reactivates Dead Li for Durable Anode-Free Li-Metal Batteries.

Without excess Li, anode-free Li-metal batteries (AFLMBs) have been proposed as the most likely solution to realizing highly-safe and cost-effective Li-metal batteries. Nevertheless, short cyclic life puzzles conventional AFLMBs due to anodic dead Li accumulation with a local current concentration induced by irreversible electrolyte depletion, insufficient active Li reservoir and slow Li+ transfer at the solid electrolyte interphase (SEI). Herein, SrI2 is introduced into carbon paper (CP) current collector to effectively suppress dead Li through synergistic mechanisms including reversible I- /I3 - redox reaction to reactivate dead Li, dielectric SEI surface with SrF2 and LiF to prevent electrolyte decomposition and highly ionic conductive (3.488 mS cm-1 ) inner layer of SEI with abundant LiI to enable efficient Li+ transfer inside. With the SrI2 -modified current collector, the NCM532/CP cell delivers unprecedented cyclic performances with a capacity of 129.2 mAh g-1 after 200 cycles.

RIP1 Mediates Manzamine-A-Induced Secretory Autophagy in Breast Cancer.

Cancer-derived small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) serve as critical mediators of cell-to-cell communication. Manzamine A (MA), a unique marine-derived alkaloid with various bioactivities, exerts anticancer effects against several kinds of tumors, but it remains unclear whether it has the same activity against breast cancer. Here, we proved that MA inhibits MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 cell proliferation, migration, and invasion in a time- and dose-dependent manner. In addition, MA promotes autophagosome formation but suppresses autophagosome degradation in breast cancer cells. Importantly, we also found that MA stimulates sEVs secretion and increases autophagy-related protein accumulation in secreted sEVs, further potentiated by autophagy inhibitor chloroquine (CQ). Mechanistically, MA decreases the expression level of RIP1, the key upstream regulator of the autophagic pathway, and reduces the acidity of lysosome. Overexpression of RIP1 activated AKT/mTOR signaling, thus attenuating MA-induced autophagy and the corresponding secretion of autophagy-associated sEVs. Collectively, these data suggested that MA is a potential inhibitor of autophagy by preventing autophagosome turnover, and RIP1 mediates MA-induced secretory autophagy, which may be efficacious for breast cancer treatment.

Superfast Mass Transport of Na/K Via Mesochannels for Dendrite-Free Metal Batteries.

Fast ion diffusion in anode hosts enabling uniform distribution of Li/Na/K is essential for achieving dendrite-free alkali-metal batteries. Common strategies, e.g. expanding the interlayer spacing of anode materials, can enhance bulk diffusion of Li but are less efficient for Na and K due to their larger ionic radius. Herein, a universal strategy to drastically improve the mass-transport efficiency of Na/K by introducing open mesochannels in carbon hosts is proposed. Such pore engineering can increase the accessible surface area by one order of magnitude, thus remarkably accelerating surface diffusion, as visualized by in situ transmission electron microscopy. In particular, once the mesochannels are filled by the Na/K metals, they become the superfast channels for mass transport via the mechanism of interfacial diffusion. Thus-modified carbon hosts enable Na/K filling in their inner cavities and uniform deposition across the whole electrodes with fast kinetics. The resulting Na-metal anodes can exhibit stable dendrite-free cycling with outstanding rate performance at a high current density of up to 30 mA cm-2 . This work presents an inspiring attempt to address the sluggish transport issue of Na/K, as well as valuable insights into the mass-transport mechanism in porous anodes for high-performance alkali-metal storage.

Electrolyte Engineering for High-Voltage Lithium Metal Batteries.

High-voltage lithium metal batteries (HVLMBs) have been arguably regarded as the most prospective solution to ultrahigh-density energy storage devices beyond the reach of current technologies. Electrolyte, the only component inside the HVLMBs in contact with both aggressive cathode and Li anode, is expected to maintain stable electrode/electrolyte interfaces (EEIs) and facilitate reversible Li+ transference. Unfortunately, traditional electrolytes with narrow electrochemical windows fail to compromise the catalysis of high-voltage cathodes and infamous reactivity of the Li metal anode, which serves as a major contributor to detrimental electrochemical performance fading and thus impedes their practical applications. Developing stable electrolytes is vital for the further development of HVLMBs. However, optimization principles, design strategies, and future perspectives for the electrolytes of the HVLMBs have not been summarized in detail. This review first gives a systematical overview of recent progress in the improvement of traditional electrolytes and the design of novel electrolytes for the HVLMBs. Different strategies of conventional electrolyte modification, including high concentration electrolytes and CEI and SEI formation with additives, are covered. Novel electrolytes including fluorinated, ionic-liquid, sulfone, nitrile, and solid-state electrolytes are also outlined. In addition, theoretical studies and advanced characterization methods based on the electrolytes of the HVLMBs are probed to study the internal mechanism for ultrahigh stability at an extreme potential. It also foresees future research directions and perspectives for further development of electrolytes in the HVLMBs.

Extending Goldberg's method to parametrize and control the geometry of Goldberg polyhedra.

Goldberg polyhedra have been widely studied across multiple fields, as their distinctive pattern can lead to many useful applications. Their topology can be determined using Goldberg's method through generating topologically equivalent structures, named cages. However, the geometry of Goldberg polyhedra remains underexplored. This study extends Goldberg's framework to a new method that can systematically determine the topology and effectively control the geometry of Goldberg polyhedra based on the initial shapes of cages. In detail, we first parametrize the cage's geometry under specified topology and polyhedral symmetry; then, we manipulate the predefined independent variables through optimization to achieve the user-defined geometric properties. The benchmark problem of finding equilateral Goldberg polyhedra is solved to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. Using this method, we have successfully achieved nearly exact spherical Goldberg polyhedra, with all vertices on a sphere and all faces being planar under extremely low numerical errors. Such results serve as strong numerical evidence for the existence of this new type of Goldberg polyhedra. Furthermore, we iteratively perform k-means clustering and optimization to significantly reduce the number of different edge lengths to benefit the cost reduction for architectural and engineering applications.

Design, synthesis and antitumor activity study of a gemcitabine prodrug conjugated with a HDAC6 inhibitor.

Gemcitabine, as a first-line antitumor drug, has attracted extensive attention. However the occurrence of drug resistance limits its clinical utilization. In this paper, a gemcitabine prodrug GZ was designed and synthesized by conjugation of gemcitabine with a newly reported HDAC6 selective inhibitor pentadecanoic acid. GZ displayed high cytotoxicity to nine cancer cell lines with IC50 values in the low micromolar range. In vivo, GZ displayed superior antitumor activity to gemcitabine in a 4T1 tumor xenograft model without obvious pathological damage to important organs of mice. Our study showed that compound GZ is a potential gemcitabine prodrug, which is worthy of further antitumor activity exploration.

A Single-Layer Composite Separator with 3D-Reinforced Microstructure for Practical High-Temperature Lithium Ion Batteries.

Incorporation of ceramic materials into separators has been frequently applied in both research and industry to improve the overall high-temperature performances of lithium ion batteries. However, inorganic ceramic particles tend to form aggregation in separators and even fall off in the separator matrix due to the inferior combination between ceramic particles and polymer matrix, giving rise to a decrease in separator porosity and thus the degradation of battery performances. Herein, a single-layer core-shell architecture is designed to reinforce the polymer matrix through encircling Al2 O3 particles by poly(vinylidene fluoride) with strong inter-molecular interaction. The 3D-reinforced microstructure effectively improves pore distribution and thermal stability to resist the dimensional deformation at high temperatures, thus giving rise to a high Coulombic efficiency of 99.16% and 87.5% capacity retention after 500 cycles at 80 °C for LiFePO4 /Li batteries. In particular, the excellent performances of the proposed separator microstructure are confirmed with a thickness value of commercial separators. This work provides a promising strategy to fabricate a core-shell structural composite separator for stable lithium ion batteries at high temperatures.

Deep learning for prediction of hepatocellular carcinoma recurrence after resection or liver transplantation: a discovery and validation study.

BACKGROUND: There is a growing need for new improved classifiers of prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients to stratify them effectively. METHODS: A deep learning model was developed on a total of 1118 patients from 4 independent cohorts. A nucleus map set (n = 120) was used to train U-net to capture the nuclear architecture. The training set (n = 552) included HCC patients that had been treated by resection. The liver transplantation (LT) set (n = 144) contained patients with HCC that had been treated by LT. The train set and its nuclear architectural information extracted by U-net were used to train the MobileNet V2-based classifier (MobileNetV2_HCC_class). The classifier was then independently tested on the LT set and externally validated on the TCGA set (n = 302). The primary outcome was recurrence free survival (RFS). RESULTS: The MobileNetV2_HCC_class was a strong predictor of RFS in both LT set and TCGA set. The classifier provided a hazard ratio of 3.44 (95% CI 2.01-5.87, p < 0.001) for high risk versus low risk in the LT set, and 2.55 (95% CI 1.64-3.99, p < 0.001) when known prognostic factors, remarkable in univariable analyses on the same cohort, were adjusted. The MobileNetV2_HCC_class maintained a relatively higher discriminatory power [time-dependent accuracy and area under curve (AUC)] than other factors after LT or resection in the independent validation set (LT and TCGA set). Net reclassification improvement (NRI) analysis indicated MobileNetV2_HCC_class exhibited better net benefits for the Stage_AJCC beyond other independent factors. A pathological review demonstrated that tumoral areas with the highest recurrence predictability featured the following features: the presence of stroma, a high degree of cytological atypia, nuclear hyperchromasia, and a lack of immune cell infiltration. CONCLUSION: A prognostic classifier for clinical purposes had been proposed based on the use of deep learning on histological slides from HCC patients. This classifier assists in refining the prognostic prediction of HCC patients and identifies patients who have been benefited from more intensive management.

High-Polarity Fluoroalkyl Ether Electrolyte Enables Solvation-Free Li+ Transfer for High-Rate Lithium Metal Batteries.

Lithium metal batteries (LMBs) have aroused extensive interest in the field of energy storage owing to the ultrahigh anode capacity. However, strong solvation of Li+ and slow interfacial ion transfer associated with conventional electrolytes limit their long-cycle and high-rate capabilities. Herein an electrolyte system based on fluoroalkyl ether 2,2,2-trifluoroethyl-1,1,2,3,3,3-hexafluoropropyl ether (THE) and ether electrolytes is designed to effectively upgrade the long-cycle and high-rate performances of LMBs. THE owns large adsorption energy with ether-based solvents, thus reducing Li+ interaction and solvation in ether electrolytes. With THE rich in fluoroalkyl groups adjacent to oxygen atoms, the electrolyte owns ultrahigh polarity, enabling solvation-free Li+ transfer with a substantially decreased energy barrier and ten times enhancement in Li+ transference at the electrolyte/anode interface. In addition, the uniform adsorption of fluorine-rich THE on the anode and subsequent LiF formation suppress dendrite formation and stabilize the solid electrolyte interphase layer. With the electrolyte, the lithium metal battery with a LiFePO4 cathode delivers unprecedented cyclic performances with only 0.0012% capacity loss per cycle over 5000 cycles at 10 C. Such enhancement is consistently observed for LMBs with other mainstream electrodes including LiCoO2 and LiNi0.5 Mn0.3 Co0.2 O2 , suggesting the generality of the electrolyte design for battery applications.

Cloning and Characterization of a New Chitosanase From a Deep-Sea Bacterium Serratia sp. QD07.

Chitosanase is a significant chitosan-degrading enzyme involved in industrial applications, which forms chitooligosaccharides (COS) as reaction products that are known to have various biological activities. In this study, the gene csnS was cloned from a deep-sea bacterium Serratia sp. QD07, as well as over-expressed in Escherichia coli, which is a new chitosanase encoding gene. The recombinant strain was cultured in a 5 L fermenter, which yielded 324 U/mL chitosanases. After purification, CsnS is a cold-adapted enzyme with the highest activity at 60°C, showing 37.5% of the maximal activity at 0°C and 42.6% of the maximal activity at 10°C. It exhibited optimum activity at pH 5.8 and was stable at a pH range of 3.4-8.8. Additionally, CsnS exhibited an endo-type cleavage pattern and hydrolyzed chitosan polymers to yield disaccharides and trisaccharides as the primary reaction products. These results make CsnS a potential candidate for the industrial manufacture of COS.

[General integral medicine: the strategic direction for complex health interventions].

Nowadays, the simple combination of Western medicine (WM) and complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) cannot resolve all the health problems and various requirements. This article proposed the general integral medicine (GIM) theoretical model, which declares the disease causes analysis, clinical intervention and outcomes assessment should be recognized, managed and evaluated both from physiological, psychological, and spiritual status, and all the four dimensions: orthodox medicine (WM, Chinese medicine, etc.), individual inherent characteristics (emotion, attitude, psychology, etc.), cultural influences (doctors, caregivers, groups care, etc.), and natural environment and social systems (economic status, social security system, environmental pollution, etc). As for health outcomes assessment, a more comprehensive system including biological, doctors, patients, health intimate, social and environmental evaluations were required. The GIM model has individualized, dynamic, standardized, objective, systematic inherent characteristics, and opening and compatible external characteristics. It aims to provide the new theoretical guidance and strategic development direction for complex health interventions, and solve various medical related psychological and social problems.

Graphene wrinkling: formation, evolution and collapse.

In this paper we focus on the studies of graphene wrinkling, from its formation to collapse, and its dependence on aspect ratio and temperature using molecule dynamics simulation. Based on our results, the first wrinkle is not formed on the edge but in the interior of graphene. The fluctuations of edge slack warps drive the wrinkling evolution in graphene which is distinguished from the bifurcation in continuum film. There are several obvious stages in wrinkling progress, including incubation, infancy, youth, maturity and gerontism periods which are identified by the atomic displacement difference due to the occurrences of new wrinkles. The wrinkling progress is over when the C-C bonds in highly stretched corners are broken which contributes to the wrinkling collapse. The critical wrinkling strain, the wrinkling pattern and extent depend on the aspect ratio of graphene, the wrinkling level and collapsed strains do not. Only the collapsed strain is sensitive to the temperature, the other wrinkling parameters are independent of the temperature. Our results would benefit the understanding of the physics of graphene wrinkling and the design of nanomechanical devices by tuning the wrinkles.