Potentiometric Measurement to Probe Solvation Energy and Its Correlation to Lithium Battery Cyclability.

The electrolyte plays a critical role in lithium-ion batteries, as it impacts almost every facet of a battery's performance. However, our understanding of the electrolyte, especially solvation of Li, lags behind its significance. In this work, we introduce a potentiometric technique to probe the relative solvation energy of Li in battery electrolytes.

Comparison of clinical outcomes between open and modified endoscopic release for carpal tunnel syndrome.

The aim of the present study was to investigate a novel technology, requiring only a single portal and no special equipment, to perform endoscopic treatment of carpal tunnel (CT) syndrome (CTS). This novel technique involves a surgical approach and standard operating procedures and is designed to minimize the potential for complications. Patients with CTS were randomly assigned using a computer-generated random allocation and stratified by site to either the modified endoscopic CT release (MECTR) group (n=48) or open CT release (OCTR) group (n=46).

Function of histone methylation and acetylation modifiers in cardiac hypertrophy.

Cardiac hypertrophy is an adaptive response of the heart to increased workload induced by various physiological or pathological stimuli. It is a common pathological process in multiple cardiovascular diseases, and it ultimately leads to heart failure. The development of cardiac hypertrophy is accompanied by gene expression reprogramming, a process that is largely dependent on epigenetic regulation.

Effects of the association between APOE rs405509 polymorphisms and gene-environment interactions on hand grip strength among middle-aged and elderly people in a rural population in southern China.

Background: Hand grip strength is a complex phenotype. The current study aimed to identify the effects of the association between APOE rs405509 polymorphisms and gene-environment interactions on hand grip strength among middle-aged and elderly people in a rural population in Gongcheng, southern China.

Methods: APOE rs405509 polymorphisms in 1724 participants (695 men and 1029 women, aged 45-97 years old) were genotyped using the Sequenom MassARRAY platform.

Smoke-Free Home Rules and Association with Child Secondhand Smoke Exposure among Mother-Child Dyad Relationships.

Smoke-free home rules restrict smoking in the home, but biomarkers of secondhand smoke exposure are needed to help understand the association between smoke-free homes and child secondhand smoke exposure. Participants ( = 346) were majority Black/African American mother-child dyads from a longitudinal study in North Carolina. Mothers completed questionnaires on household smoking behaviors and rules, and child saliva samples were assayed for secondhand smoke exposure.

An Intelligent Self-Service Vending System for Smart Retail.

The traditional weighing and selling process of non-barcode items requires manual service, which not only consumes manpower and material resources but is also more prone to errors or omissions of data. This paper proposes an intelligent self-service vending system embedded with a single camera to detect multiple products in real-time performance without any labels, and the system realizes the integration of weighing, identification, and online settlement in the process of non-barcode items. The system includes a self-service vending device and a multi-device data management platform.

Influence of manganese exposure on cognitive function, plasma APP and Aβ levels in older men.

Background: Elevated manganese (Mn) exposure impairs cognition in adults and children, but the association between Mn and cognitive function in elderly people is unclear. Previous studies have linked Mn neurotoxicity in AD to Aβ-dependent mechanisms. However, the association between Mn and plasma APP and Aβ in the general elderly population remains unknown.

Dual-Solvent Li-Ion Solvation Enables High-Performance Li-Metal Batteries.

Novel electrolyte designs to further enhance the lithium (Li) metal battery cyclability are highly desirable. Here, fluorinated 1,6-dimethoxyhexane (FDMH) is designed and synthesized as the solvent molecule to promote electrolyte stability with its prolonged -CF - backbone. Meanwhile, 1,2-dimethoxyethane is used as a co-solvent to enable higher ionic conductivity and much reduced interfacial resistance.

Protective effects of calorie restriction on insulin resistance and islet function in STZ-induced type 2 diabetes rats.

Background: Caloric restriction (CR) has become increasingly attractive in the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) because of the increasingly common high-calorie diet and sedentary lifestyle. This study aimed to evaluate the role of CR in T2DM treatment and further explore its potential molecular mechanisms.

Methods: Sixty male Sprague-Dawley rats were used in this study.

-inositol improves growth performance and regulates lipid metabolism of juvenile Chinese mitten crab () fed different percentage of lipid.

This study evaluated the effects of dietary myo-inositol (MI) on growth performance, antioxidant status and lipid metabolism of juvenile Chinese mitten crab (Eriocheir sinensis) fed different percentage of lipid. Crabs (4·58 (sem 0·05) g) were fed four diets including a normal lipid diet (N, containing 7 % lipid and 0 mg/kg MI), N with MI supplementation (N + MI, containing 7 % lipid and 1600 mg/kg MI), a high lipid diet (H, containing 13 % lipid and 0 mg/kg MI) and H with MI supplementation (H + MI, containing 13 % lipid and 1600 mg/kg MI) for 8 weeks. The H + MI group showed higher weight gain and specific growth rate than those in the H group.

Heralded Nondestructive Quantum Entangling Gate with Single-Photon Sources.

Heralded entangling quantum gates are an essential element for the implementation of large-scale optical quantum computation. Yet, the experimental demonstration of genuine heralded entangling gates with free-flying output photons in linear optical system, was hindered by the intrinsically probabilistic source and double-pair emission in parametric down-conversion. Here, by using an on-demand single-photon source based on a semiconductor quantum dot embedded in a micropillar cavity, we demonstrate a heralded controlled-NOT (CNOT) operation between two single photons for the first time.

Extract of inhibits lipid accumulation and ameliorates HFD-induced obesity in mice through regulating adipose differentiation by decreasing PPARγ and CEBP/α expression.

Background: Obesity is a principal risk factor for the development of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Natural plants and/or foods play an important role in the management of obesity. (AAL) is a kind of potherb popular among Asian populations, and it is also consumed as a food ingredient and traditional herbal medicine.

Effects of Gene and Plasma Tau on Cognitive Impairment in Rural Chinese Population.

Background: Sufficient attention was not paid to the effects of microtubule-associated protein tau (MAPT) and plasma tau protein on cognition.

Objective: A total of 3072 people in rural China were recruited. They were provided with questionnaires, and blood samples were obtained.

Electrochemically Regulated Li Deposition by Crown Ether.

The lithium-secondary battery is considered to be the most prospective electrochemical energy storage in the upcoming decades. However, its real application still much depends on the effective strategy toward Li dendrite growth. After years of effort, many successful works have been reported on improving the solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI), either via electrolyte optimization or building artificial SEI while intrinsically adjusting the electrochemical reduction of Li has been rarely mentioned.

Influences of dietary vitamin D on growth, antioxidant capacity, immunity and molting of Chinese mitten crab (Eriocheir sinensis) larvae.

This study investigates the effects of vitamin D (VD) on growth performance, antioxidant capacity, immunity and molting of larval Chinese mitten crab Eriocheir sinensis. A total of 6,000 larvae (7.52 ± 0.

Nitrated Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Arachidonic Acid Metabolisms Relevant to Cardiovascular Pathophysiology: Findings from a Panel Study in Healthy Adults.

Concerns on nitrated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (nitro-PAHs) in the environment have mainly arisen from their mutagenic and carcinogenic effects. The objective of this study is to investigate whether nitro-PAH exposures are associated with biomarkers of cardiovascular pathophysiology. In a panel study design, urines and blood samples were collected up to four times with a 2-week interval from 89 healthy adults.

Physical networks from entropy-driven non-covalent interactions.

Physical networks typically employ enthalpy-dominated crosslinking interactions that become more dynamic at elevated temperatures, leading to network softening. Moreover, standard mathematical frameworks such as time-temperature superposition assume network softening and faster dynamics at elevated temperatures. Yet, deriving a mathematical framework connecting the crosslinking thermodynamics to the temperature-dependent viscoelasticity of physical networks suggests the possibility for entropy-driven crosslinking interactions to provide alternative temperature dependencies.

Changes in the regional homogeneity of resting-state magnetic resonance imaging in perimenopausal women.

Background: There is a noticeable lack of systematic researches on evaluating the correlation between serum estrogen levels and changes in brain functional areas of perimenopausal women.The aim of this study is to investigate the regional spontaneous brain activity changes in perimenopausal women.

Methods: Based on the resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging datasets acquired from 25 perimenopausal women and 20 healthy women of reproductive age, a two-sample t-test was performed on individual normalized regional homogeneity (ReHo) maps.

A CNN-Based Length-Aware Cascade Road Damage Detection Approach.

Accurate and robust detection of road damage is essential for public transportation safety. Currently, deep convolutional neural networks (CNNs)-based road damage detection algorithms to localize and classify damage with a bounding box have achieved remarkable progress. However, research in this field fails to take into account two key characteristics of road damage: weak semantic information and abnormal geometric properties, resulting in inappropriate feature representation and suboptimal detection results.

Coniferaldehyde prevents articular cartilage destruction in a murine model via Nrf2/HO‑1 pathway.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most prevalent joint disorder characterized by progressive cartilage damage, resulting in gradual disability among the elderly. We previously provided evidence that nuclear factor erythroid 2‑related factor 2 (Nrf2) deficiency is associated with the development of OA. It has been reported that coniferaldehyde (CFA) acts as a potential Nrf2 activator.

Ergosterol limits osteoarthritis development and progression through activation of Nrf2 signaling.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common joint disorder characterized by progressive articular cartilage degeneration and destruction and results in gradual disability among middle-aged and elderly patients. Our previous study demonstrated that depletion of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) exacerbated cartilage erosion in an OA model and that activation of the Nrf2 pathway could counter this process. As a downstream target of Nrf2, heme oxygenase (HO) degrades heme to free iron, biliverdin and carbon monoxide (CO), which protects against oxidative stress.

Long intergenic non-coding RNA LINC00485 exerts tumor-suppressive activity by regulating miR-581/EDEM1 axis in colorectal cancer.

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNA) play a vital role in colorectal cancer (CRC) progression. To investigate the role of long intergenic non-coding RNA in CRC, we performed functional experiments. LoVo tumor-bearing and liver metastasis mice were used as models.

Organic-photoredox-catalyzed three-component sulfonylative pyridylation of styrenes.

An efficient, metal-free protocol for the three-component sulfonylative pyridylation of styrenes organic-photoredox catalysis is described. This metal-free process enables the direct and selective installation of sulfonyl and heteroaryl motifs and tolerates a wide array of functional groups as well as complex molecular scaffolds, that could complement previous methods and would be of interest in pharmaceutical research.

Brain parcellation driven by dynamic functional connectivity better capture intrinsic network dynamics.

Until now, dynamic functional connectivity (dFC) based on functional magnetic resonance imaging is typically estimated on a set of predefined regions of interest (ROIs) derived from an anatomical or static functional atlas which follows an implicit assumption of functional homogeneity within ROIs underlying temporal fluctuation of functional coupling, potentially leading to biases or underestimation of brain network dynamics. Here, we presented a novel computational method based on dynamic functional connectivity degree (dFCD) to derive meaningful brain parcellations that can capture functional homogeneous regions in temporal variance of functional connectivity. Several spatially distributed but functionally meaningful areas that are well consistent with known intrinsic connectivity networks were identified through independent component analysis (ICA) of time-varying dFCD maps.

Quantum computational advantage using photons.

Quantum computers promise to perform certain tasks that are believed to be intractable to classical computers. Boson sampling is such a task and is considered a strong candidate to demonstrate the quantum computational advantage. We performed Gaussian boson sampling by sending 50 indistinguishable single-mode squeezed states into a 100-mode ultralow-loss interferometer with full connectivity and random matrix-the whole optical setup is phase-locked-and sampling the output using 100 high-efficiency single-photon detectors.