A chimeric adenovirus-vectored vaccine based on Beta spike and Delta RBD confers a broad-spectrum neutralization against Omicron-included SARS-CoV-2 variants.

Urgent research into innovative severe acute respiratory coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccines that may successfully prevent various emerging emerged variants, particularly the Omicron variant and its subvariants, is necessary. Here, we designed a chimeric adenovirus-vectored vaccine named Ad5-Beta/Delta. This vaccine was created by incorporating the receptor-binding domain from the Delta variant, which has the L452R and T478K mutations, into the complete spike protein of the Beta variant. Both intramuscular (IM) and intranasal (IN) vaccination with Ad5-Beta/Deta vaccine induced robust broad-spectrum neutralization against Omicron BA.5-included variants. IN immunization with Ad5-Beta/Delta vaccine exhibited superior mucosal immunity, manifested by higher secretory IgA antibodies and more tissue-resident memory T cells (TRM) in respiratory tract. The combination of IM and IN delivery of the Ad5-Beta/Delta vaccine was capable of synergically eliciting stronger systemic and mucosal immune responses. Furthermore, the Ad5-Beta/Delta vaccination demonstrated more effective boosting implications after two dosages of mRNA or subunit recombinant protein vaccine, indicating its capacity for utilization as a booster shot in the heterologous vaccination. These outcomes quantified Ad5-Beta/Delta vaccine as a favorable vaccine can provide protective immunity versus SARS-CoV-2 pre-Omicron variants of concern and BA.5-included Omicron subvariants.

Harmless pre-lithiation via advantageous surface reconstruction in sacrificial cathode additives for lithium-ion batteries.

Sacrificial cathode additives have emerged as a tempting strategy to compensate the initial capacity loss (ICL) in Li-ion batteries (LIBs) manufacturing. However, the utilization of sacrificial cathode additives inevitably brings residuals, side reactions, and negative impacts in which relevant researches are still in the early stage. In this study, we conduct a systematic investigation on the effects of employing a nickel-based sacrificial additive, Li2Cu0.1Ni0.9O2 (LCNO), and propose a feasible strategy to achieve advantageous surface reconstruction on LCNO. Specifically, we build a Li5AlO4 (LAO) coating layer on the LCNO through dry ball milling and annealing treatment. This process not only consumes surface residual lithium compounds on LCNO but also demonstrates minimal detrimental effects on its performance. The surface reconstructed LCNO (SR-LCNO) reveals mitigated gas generation and suppressed structure degradation under high working voltage (＞4.1 V), thereby causing negligible negative effects on the cycling capability and rate performance of commercial cathode materials. The full cells containing SR-LCNO deliver significantly improved electrochemical properties, with no observed exacerbation of side reactions. This work awakes the awareness of the prudent utilization of sacrificial cathode additives and provides an effective strategy for harmless pre-lithiation via surface reconstructed sacrificial cathode additives.

Targeting RAS-RAF-MEK-ERK signaling pathway in human cancer: Current status in clinical trials.

Molecular target inhibitors have been regularly approved by Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for tumor treatment, and most of them intervene in tumor cell proliferation and metabolism. The RAS-RAF-MEK-ERK pathway is a conserved signaling pathway that plays vital roles in cell proliferation, survival, and differentiation. The aberrant activation of the RAS-RAF-MEK-ERK signaling pathway induces tumors. About 33% of tumors harbor RAS mutations, while 8% of tumors are driven by RAF mutations. Great efforts have been dedicated to targeting the signaling pathway for cancer treatment in the past decades. In this review, we summarized the development of inhibitors targeting the RAS-RAF-MEK-ERK pathway with an emphasis on those used in clinical treatment. Moreover, we discussed the potential combinations of inhibitors that target the RAS-RAF-MEK-ERK signaling pathway and other signaling pathways. The inhibitors targeting the RAS-RAF-MEK-ERK pathway have essentially modified the therapeutic strategy against various cancers and deserve more attention in the current cancer research and treatment.

Constituent Parameter Identification of Braided Composite Based on Sensitivity Analysis.

Mechanical properties of the constituent material of fiber-reinforced braided composites will inevitably change after the manufacturing process. An approach to constituent parameters' identification of braided composites was proposed to obtain the basic information of composites for structural analysis. Identification of the constituent parameters was transformed as an optimization problem, which was solved by adopting the sensitivity analysis method, iteratively minimizing the discrepancies between the numerically calculated displacement field and the measured displacement field. The sensitivity matrix of displacements with respect to the constituent parameters was directly derived based on the constitutive material model for the first time. Considering that the large magnitude differences between parameters will lead to an ill-posed problem of the sensitivity matrix, the identification was susceptible to noise from the experimental data, the relative sensitivity was adopted, and a condition number-based response point selection was applied to improve the robustness of the parameter identification. A 2.5-dimensional braided composite was employed to illustrate the constituent parameter identification method by comparing with the finite difference method. In addition, the influence of selected measuring points and measuring errors on the proposed method were discussed. The results showed that the proposed method can be used to identify the constituent parameters efficiently and accurately. When the measured displacements are polluted by noise, the condition number of the sensitivity matrix is an effective indicator of preceding information to enhance the identification accuracy.

Ion/Electron Redistributed 3D Flexible Host for Achieving Highly Reversible Li Metal Batteries.

3D carbon frameworks are promising hosts to achieve highly reversible lithium (Li) metal anodes, whereas insufficient effects are attributed to their single electron conductivity causing local aggregating of electron/Li+ and uncontrollable Li dendrites. Herein, an ion/electron redistributed 3D flexible host is designed by lithiophilic carbon fiber cloth (CFC) modified with metal-organic framework (MOF)-derived porous carbon sheath with embedded CoP nanoparticles (CoP-C@CFC). Theory calculations demonstrate the strong binding energy and plenty of charge transfer from the reaction between CoP and Li atom are presented, which is beneficial to in situ construct a Li3 P@Co ion/electron conductive interface on every single CoP-C@CFC. Thanks to the high ionic conductive Li3 P and electron-conductive Co nanoparticles, the rapid dispersion of Li+ and obviously reduced local current density can be achieved simultaneously. Furthermore, in situ optical microscopy observations display obvious depression for volume expansion and Li dendrites. As expected, a miraculous average Coulombic efficiency (CE) of 99.96% over 1100 cycles at 3 mA cm-2 and a low overpotential of 11.5 mV with prolonged cycling of over 3200 h at 20% depth of discharge are successfully obtained. Consequently, the CoP-C@CFC-Li||LiFePO4 full cells maintain a capacity retention of 95.8% with high CE of 99.96% over 500 cycles at 2 C and excellent rate capability.

[Investigation of Dominant Plants and Analysis of Ecological Restoration Potential in Lailishan Tin Tailings].

To investigate the dominant plants in ecological restoration of tin mining areas, field investigations were conducted in a tin tailings area in Lailishan, Yunnan Provence, and 15 dominant plants and corresponding rhizosphere soils were collected. The plant root mycorrhizal infection rate; the copper (Cu), cadmium (Cd), arsenic (As), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), and tin (Sn) contents; and the chemical properties of the rhizosphere tailings were determined. The transfer and enrichment coefficients of six heavy metals were calculated for each of the 15 plants to comprehensively evaluate the application potential of native plants. The rhizophere tailings had an average pH value of 3.13, which was acidic. The organic matter, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, total potassium, alkaline hydrolyzed nitrogen, and available phosphorus content of the soils was 6.07 g ·kg-1, 5.74 g ·kg-1, 0.62 g ·kg-1, 8.66 g ·kg-1, 30.84 mg ·kg-1, and 2.08 mg ·kg-1 respectively, indicating relatively nutrient-poor soil. The average Cu, Cd, Ni, Pb, As, and Sn contents of the soils were 347.40, 1.02, 1.34, 168.47, 25.81, and 2299.02 mg ·kg-1, respectively. Among the heavy metals, the Cd content reached a third-level pollution warning value. The soil also contained a large amount of Cu and Pb which exhibited a different spatial distribution. This area appears to have a high risk of Cu, Pb, and Cd pollution. In addition, the roots of Olea europaea L. and Eurya japonica Thunb. had a high rate of mycorrhizal infection. Alnus cremastogyne Burk., Bambusa multiplex (Lour.) Raeusch. ex Schult. 'Alphonse-Kar' R. A. Young, Juncus effusus L., and Cyperus rotundus L. var. had a strong ability to absorb and transport heavy metals. The other plants were also adapted to the growth environment of the tin tailings, with the potential to restore the mining area.

A Guide to Nucleic Acid Vaccines in the Prevention and Treatment of Infectious Diseases and Cancers: From Basic Principles to Current Applications.

Faced with the challenges posed by infectious diseases and cancer, nucleic acid vaccines present excellent prospects in clinical applications. Compared with traditional vaccines, nucleic acid vaccines have the characteristics of high efficiency and low cost. Therefore, nucleic acid vaccines have potential advantages in disease prevention and treatment. However, the low immunogenicity and instability of nucleic acid vaccines have limited their development. Therefore, a large number of studies have been conducted to improve their immunogenicity and stability by improving delivery methods, thereby supporting progress and development for clinical applications. This article mainly reviews the advantages, disadvantages, mechanisms, delivery methods, and clinical applications of nucleic acid vaccines.

A 3D-mixed ion/electron conducting scaffold prepared by in situ conversion for long-life lithium metal anodes.

Lithium (Li) metal is widely considered the most promising anode material because of its ultrahigh specific energy. However, the obvious volume change and uncontrollable dendrite growth hinder its commercial applications. Herein, we designed a 3D scaffold of Cu3P nanoarray-modified Cu foam via in situ conversion (3D MIECS). Uniform lithiophilic Cu3P nanoarrays were in situ grown inside the Cu foam (Cu3P NA@CF) that presented a high specific surface area and very low nucleation overpotential. Specifically, the lithiated Cu3P nanoarrays possess the features of mixed ion/electron conductivity and structural stability responsible for uniform Li deposition in the whole three-dimensional space of the metal skeleton, showing scarcely any volume expansion or structural collapse during the continuous Li plating/stripping process. Therefore, the modified Cu foam host achieves dendrite-free cycling over 600 cycles at a current density of 3 mA cm-2 with a coulombic efficiency (CE) of 99.1%. A 3D MIECS-Li||LiFePO4 full cell holds a capacity retention of 80% with a stable CE of 99.63% over 1000 cycles at 3 C.

Simple Glycerol-Assisted and Morphology-Controllable Solvothermal Synthesis of Lithium-Ion Battery-Layered Li1.2Mn0.54Ni0.13Co0.13O2 Cathode Materials.

High-performance lithium-rich-layered oxide is regarded as a promising candidate for lithium-ion battery (LIB) cathode materials because of its outstanding high specific capacity. Despite in-depth research over the past decade, there are still a number of serious problems limiting its commercialization. Here, we report a simple morphological design and size-controllable material preparation strategy to enhance the electrochemical performance of LIB cathode materials. We use a simple solvothermal method to obtain a carbonate precursor material with different morphologies by adjusting the solvent ratio of the system, which will be conveniently formed into Li1.2Mn0.54Ni0.13Co0.13O2 by calcination. Moreover, further relation between the morphology and electrochemical performance of cathode materials is systematically investigated. The microsphere cathode material with suitable size exhibits superior electrochemical performances among all samples in terms of initial reversible capacity (280.4 mA h g-1 at 0.1 C) and cycle performance (87.67% retention after 200 cycles at 1 C). Even at 5 C, a high discharge capacity of 150.8 mA h g-1 can be obtained. In addition, this work provides a feasible and effective approach to controllable synthesis of stable structures and high-performance oxide electrode materials for LIBs.

Insights into Cyclable Lithium Loss as a Key Factor in Accelerated Capacity Fade of Lithiated Silicon-Sulfur Full Cells.

To evade the hurdles of dendrite growth and low Coulombic efficiency resulting from lithium metal anodes, integrating lithiated silicon anodes with sulfur cathodes to configure a lithiated silicon-sulfur (Si-S) full cell is a promising strategy to develop high-energy and high-safety rechargeable lithium batteries. Nevertheless, Si-S full cells always suffer accelerated capacity decay, even when excellent electrochemical performance of Li-S and Li-Si half cells is achieved. Herein, we report a comprehensive investigation of the capacity fade mechanism of Si-S full cells. It is revealed that cyclable lithium loss plays a key role in the accelerated capacity fade of Si-S full cells. In addition, cyclable lithium loss in Si-S full cells is mainly divided into irreversible lithium loss by forming inactive lithium compounds due to polysulfide shuttling and other side reactions, and restricted lithium because the Si/C anode cannot be fully delithiated when the Si-S full cell reaches the discharge cutoff voltage. From the 1st cycle to the 100th cycle, the irreversible lithium loss is determined to have increased from 21.7 to 54.5%, whereas the restricted lithium decreased from 24.6 to 16.7%, respectively. The high specific surface area of a Si/C anode leads to a remarkable irreversible lithium loss due to serious polysulfide shuttling in Si-S full cells. This work will help advance the practical application of Li-S batteries.

Trillium tschonoskii maxim saponin mitigates D-galactose-induced brain aging of rats through rescuing dysfunctional autophagy mediated by Rheb-mTOR signal pathway.

During the expansion of aging population, the study correlated with brain aging is one of the important research topics. Developing novel and effective strategies for delaying brain aging is highly desired. Brain aging is characteristics of impaired cognitive capacity due to dysfunctional autophagy regulated by Rheb-mTOR signal pathway in hippocampal tissues. In the present study, we have established a rat model with brain aging through subcutaneous injection of D-galactose (D-gal). Upon the intervention of Trillium tschonoskii Maxim (TTM) saponin, one of bioactive components from local natural herbs in China, the learning and memory capacity of D-gal-induced aging rats was evaluated through Morris water maze test, and the regulation of Rheb-mTOR signal pathway and functional status of autophagy in hippocampal tissues of D-gal-induced aging rats was explored by Western blot. TTM saponin revealed an obvious function to improve learning and memory capacity of D-gal-induced aging rats through up-regulating Rheb and down-regulating mTOR, thereby rescuing dysfunctional autophagy to execute anti-aging role. Meanwhile, this study confirmed the function of TTM saponin for preventing and treating brain aging, and provided a reference for the development and utilization of natural products in health promotion and aging-associated disease treatment.

A LiAlO2/nitrogen-doped hollow carbon spheres (NdHCSs) modified separator for advanced lithium-sulfur batteries.

Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries have gained significant attention due to their ultrahigh theoretical specific capacity and energy density. However, their practical commercialization is still facing many intractable problems, of which the most difficult is the shuttle effect of dissolved polysulfides. To restrict the shuttle of polysulfides, herein, a novel double-layer lithium aluminate/nitrogen-doped hollow carbon sphere (LiAlO2/NdHCSs)-modified separator was designed. The upper NdHCSs layer on the separator works as the first barrier to physically and chemically adsorb polysulfides, whereas the bottom LiAlO2 layer acts as the second barrier to physically block the polysulfides without restricting the Li+ transport due to the high ionic conductivity of LiAlO2. Cells with the LiAlO2/NdHCSs-modified separator showed an initial discharge capacity of 1500 mA h g-1 at 0.2C, and a discharge capacity of 543.3 mA h g-1 was obtained after 500 cycles at 2C. Especially, when the areal density of the active material was increased to 4.5 mg cm-2, the cells retained a discharge capacity of 538.6 mA h g-1 after 100 cycles at 0.5C. The outstanding electrochemical performance of Li-S cells with the LiAlO2/NdHCSs-modified separators show a new approach for the applications of Li-S batteries.

Flower-like MoSe2 /C Composite with Expanded (0 0 2) Planes of Few-layer MoSe2 as the Anode for High-Performance Sodium-Ion Batteries.

Sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) have caught considerable attention in last few years owing to the abundance of sodium in comparison to lithium. The commercial graphite anode is demonstrated unsuitable as an anode material for SIBs due to the larger radius of Na+ ions, whereas the transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) show great potential as anodes for SIBs because of their high achievable capacity. The sluggish kinetics, large volume expansion, and aggregation of those materials however results in severe decay of the electrochemical performance. In this work, a flower-like MoSe2 /C composite is synthesized with ethylenediamine and cassava starch (denoted as MoSe2 /Ccas ) and designed based on these principles: 1) expand the d-spacing of (0 0 2) planes of MoSe2 to enhance the kinetics for the intercalation-deintercalation of Na+ ions and 2) embed MoSe2 into the carbon matrix to enhance the conductivity and restrict the volume expansion and aggregation of MoSe2 . As a result, MoSe2 /Ccas exhibits superior cycle performance and rate capability for sodium storage. It shows durable long-life cycle capability with a reversible capacity of 360 mAh g-1 after 350 cycles at 0.5 Ag-1 . At the current density of 4 Ag-1 , the reversible capacity is still maintained at 266 mAh g-1 .

Few-layered MoS2/C with expanding d-spacing as a high-performance anode for sodium-ion batteries.

Sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) show great potential as alternative energy storage devices for next generation energy storage systems due to the deficiency of lithium resources. MoS2 is a promising anode material for SIBs due to its high theoretical sodium storage capability and large interspace for accommodating sodium ions with a larger ionic radius than lithium ions. However, bulk MoS2 exhibits a sluggish kinetics for the intercalation-deintercalation of sodium ions and large volume expansion, which result in poor cyclability and rate performance. In this study, we designed few-layered MoS2/C nanoflowers with expanded interspacing of MoS2-MoS2 planes using polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as an intercalating reagent and a carbon precursor. Due to the unique nanostructure and larger interlayer spacing, the MoS2/C nanoflower electrode achieves a high reversible specific capacity of 400 mA h g-1 after 300 cycles at 500 mA g-1 for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs), showing a good cycling stability. The improved electrochemical performance suggests that the MoS2/C composite is a promising anode material for sodium ion storage.

Synergistically enhanced activity of graphene quantum dots/graphene hydrogel composites: a novel all-carbon hybrid electrocatalyst for metal/air batteries.

Primary zinc/air batteries could be the next generation of energy storage devices because of their high power density and high safety. Graphene quantum dots nested in the graphene hydrogel have been proposed as excellent all-carbon hybrid oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalysts, indicative of their great potential in primary zinc/air batteries.

Efficient Fabrication of Hierarchically Porous Graphene-Derived Aerogel and Its Application in Lithium Sulfur Battery.

Hierarchically porous carbon/graphene aerogel (CGA) with relatively high surface area and pore volume is synthesized through an efficient fabrication strategy, which involves forming hydrothermal carbon layer on the pore wall as upholder and directly carbonizing the wet hydrogel from hydrothermal reaction, without using any special drying techniques. Cassava powder is used as carbon precursor which enables sustainable synthesis. Carbonizing the wet hydrothermal product is found to be a self-activation process, through which abundant pores are generated. The aerogel is used as host to encapsulate sulfur for lithium sulfur battery. Graphene, served as highly conductive scaffold, accelerates the transport of the electrons. The hierarchically porous structure is in favor of improving the electrochemical performance of lithium sulfur battery. Therefore, the cathode with high sulfur loading and high sulfur content can deliver very good performance.

Sustainable synthetic route for γ-Fe2O3/C hybrid as anode material for lithium-ion batteries.

A facile, high-yield and sustainable method is developed to synthesize iron oxide/C hybrids. Starch is chosen as the carbon source due to its superior gelatinization property and natural abundance, and ferric nitrate is used as the iron salt for the sustainable synthesis. The iron oxide in the final products exists in the γ-Fe2O3 phase. The γ-Fe2O3/C hybrids are used as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries. The batteries exhibit better cyclability as the content of γ-Fe2O3 decreases, but in turn the reversible capacity declines. The γ-Fe2O3/C hybrid with 63.96 wt% of γ-Fe2O3 has an initial discharge capacity of 1149 mA h g(-1) and after the 80(th) cycle the reversible capacity is maintained at over 720 mA h g(-1) at a current density of 0.5 A g(-1). Even when tested at a current density of 5 A g(-1), a substantial discharge capacity of ∼300 mA h g(-1) can be obtained.