Single-step laser-printed integrated sulfur cathode toward high-performance lithium-sulfur batteries.

Lithium-sulfur batteries are expected to supersede existing lithium-ion batteries due to the high theoretical energy density of sulfur cathodes (positive electrodes). Unfortunately, inefficient redox reactions and the "shuttle effect" hinder their commercial development. Assembling high-performance nanostructured sulfur host materials into a sulfur cathode presents a viable solution.

A multicenter prospective clinical trial reveals cell free DNA methylation markers for early esophageal cancer.

Background: Current methods for detecting esophageal cancer (EC) are generally invasive or exhibit limited sensitivity and specificity, especially for the identification of early-stage tumors.

Methods: We identified potential methylated DNA markers (MDM) from multiple genomic regions in a discovery cohort and a diagnostic model was developed and verified in a model-verification cohort of 297 participants. The accuracy of the MDM panel was validated in a multicenter, prospective cohort (n = 1429).

Augmented reality in preoperative anterolateral thigh flap perforators positioning: A pilot diagnostic study.

Background: The anterolateral thigh (ALT) flap is the primary choice for healthy and vascularized soft-tissue coverage for appendicular and axial soft tissue reconstruction, especially in the head and neck regions. Nonetheless, there is substantial anatomic variation in ALT perforators that affect flap integrity, survival rates, and donor-site morbidity. Regardless of the ALT flap type, accurate location of perforators can greatly improve surgical success rates and reduce the risk of secondary surgeries.

The early and mid-term outcomes of acute type A aortic dissection patients with ECMO.

Background: Acute type A aortic dissection (ATAAD) poses significant challenges in cardiovascular management due to its high morbidity and mortality rates. Postcardiotomy cardiogenic shock (PCS) is a severe complication following ATAAD repair that complicates postoperative recovery. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) has emerged as a potential life-saving intervention in this context, yet the specific outcomes related to ECMO in ATAAD patients remain insufficiently studied.

Separators Modified with Ultrathin Montmorillonite/Polymer Nanocoatings Achieve Dendrite-Free Lithium Deposition at High Current Densities.

Fatal dendritic growth in lithium metal batteries is closely related to the composition and thickness of the modified separator. Herein, an ultrathin nanocoating composed of monolayer montmorillonite (MMT), poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) on a polypropylene separator is prepared. The MMT was exfoliated into monolayers (only 0.

Halloysite-derived mesoporous silica with high ionic conductivity improves Li-S battery performance.

The slow Li transport rate in the thick sulfur cathode of the Li-S battery affects its capacity and cycling performance. Herein, Fe-doped highly ordered mesoporous silica material (Fe-HSBA-15) as a sulfur carrier of the Li-S battery shows high ion conductivity (1.10 mS cm) and Li transference number (0.

The CuSCN layer between BiVO and NiFeO for facilitating photogenerated carrier transfer and water oxidation kinetics.

Modification of oxygen evolution co-catalyst (OEC) on the surface of bismuth vanadate (BiVO) can effectively improve the kinetics of water oxidation, but it is still limited by the small hole extraction driving force at the BiVO/OEC interface. Modulating the BiVO/OEC interface with a hole transfer layer (HTL) is expected to facilitate hole transport from BiVO to the OEC surface. Herein, a copper(I) thiocyanate (CuSCN) HTL is inserted between BiVO and NiFeO OEC to create BiVO/CuSCN/NiFeO photoanode, resulting in a significant enhancement of photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting performance.

Tangshen formula improves diabetic nephropathy in STZ-induced diabetes rats fed with hyper-methionine by regulating the methylation status of kidney.

Background: The objective of this study was to examine and analyze differential methylation profiles in order to investigate the influence of hyper-methioninemia (HM) on the development of diabetic nephropathy (DN). Male Wistar rats, aged eight weeks and weighing 250-300 g, were randomly assigned into four groups: a control group (Healthy, n = 8), streptozocin-induced rats (STZ group, n = 8), HM + STZ group (n = 8), and the Tangshen Formula (TSF) treatment group (TSF group, n = 8). Blood glucose levels and other metabolic indicators were monitored before treatment and at four-week intervals until 12 weeks.

Genetic diversity and population structure of modern wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars in Henan Province of China based on SNP markers.

Background: Henan is the province with the greatest wheat production in China. Although more than 100 cultivars are used for production, many cultivars are still insufficient in quality, disease resistance, adaptability and yield potential. To overcome these limitations, it is necessary to constantly breed new cultivars to maintain the continuous and stable growth of wheat yield and quality.

Genome resources for the elite bread wheat cultivar Aikang 58 and mining of elite homeologous haplotypes for accelerating wheat improvement.

Despite recent progress in crop genomics studies, the genomic changes brought about by modern breeding selection are still poorly understood, thus hampering genomics-assisted breeding, especially in polyploid crops with compound genomes such as common wheat (Triticum aestivum). In this work, we constructed genome resources for the modern elite common wheat variety Aikang 58 (AK58). Comparative genomics between AK58 and the landrace cultivar Chinese Spring (CS) shed light on genomic changes that occurred through recent varietal improvement.

Palladium-Catalyzed Decarbonylative Annulation of 2-Arylbenzoic Acids with Internal Alkynes toward Phenanthrenes.

A palladium-catalyzed decarbonylative annulation of 2-arylbenzoic acids with internal alkynes via C(sp)-H activation has been developed. A series of phenanthrenes were produced in moderate to good yield with good functional group tolerance. The mechanism study indicated that the C(sp)-H activation should be the rate-determining step during the reaction.

Intra-Varietal Diversity and Its Contribution to Wheat Evolution, Domestication, and Improvement in Wheat.

Crop genetic diversity is essential for adaptation and productivity in agriculture. A previous study revealed that poor allele diversity in wheat commercial cultivars is a major barrier to its further improvement. Homologs within a variety, including paralogs and orthologs in polyploid, account for a large part of the total genes of a species.

Droplet Microfluidic-Based Low-Cost and High-Speed Microsphere Array Direct Writing Technology and Its Applications.

Microsphere arrays have significant applications and broad development prospects in various fields and disciplines. The simple, efficient, low-cost, automatic, and controllable preparation of microsphere arrays in multiple dimensions and morphologies is still a significant challenge. Here, a novel microsphere array direct writing technology was developed using a low-cost portable droplet microfluidic device and a high-precision movable platform.

Comparative and Functional Analysis of miRNAs and mRNAs Involved in Muscle Fiber Hypertrophy of Juvenile and Adult Goats.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that post-transcriptionally regulate several pathway intermediates and affect the skeletal muscle development in mice, pigs, sheep, and cattle. However, to date, only a small number of miRNAs have been reported in the muscle development of goats. In this report, the transcripts of one- and ten-month-old goats were analyzed by sequencing RNAs and miRNAs.

Dynamic nucleosome landscape elicits a noncanonical GATA2 pioneer model.

Knowledge gaps remain on how nucleosome organization and dynamic reorganization are governed by specific pioneer factors in a genome-wide manner. In this study, we generate over three billons of multi-omics sequencing data to exploit dynamic nucleosome landscape governed by pioneer factors (PFs), FOXA1 and GATA2. We quantitatively define nine functional nucleosome states each with specific characteristic nucleosome footprints in LNCaP prostate cancer cells.

Electrochemical detection of aminoglycoside antibiotics residuals in milk based on magnetic molecularly imprinted particles and metal ions.

This work proposed a cost-effective, simple, and highly sensitive magnetic molecularly imprinted particles (MMIPs) electrochemical sensor to indirectly detect kanamycin (KAN), tobramycin (TOB), and gentamicin (GEN). The MMIPs electrochemical sensor was prepared by a complex of metal ions and the MMIPs of rebinding the template, which modified on the magnetic glassy carbon electrode surface. Here, metal ions were used as the signal tracers and amplifiers of the MMIPs electrochemical sensor.

A Retrospective and Multicenter Study on COVID-19 in Inner Mongolia: Evaluating the Influence of Sampling Locations on Nucleic Acid Test and the Dynamics of Clinical and Prognostic Indexes.

COVID-19 is spreading widely, and the pandemic is seriously threatening public health throughout the world. A comprehensive study on the optimal sampling types and timing for an efficient SARS-CoV-2 test has not been reported. We collected clinical information and the values of 55 biochemical indices for 237 COVID-19 patients, with 37 matched non-COVID-19 pneumonia patients and 131 healthy people in Inner Mongolia as control.

Evaluation of the MGISEQ-2000 Sequencing Platform for Illumina Target Capture Sequencing Libraries.

Illumina is the leading sequencing platform in the next-generation sequencing (NGS) market globally. In recent years, MGI Tech has presented a series of new sequencers, including DNBSEQ-T7, MGISEQ-2000 and MGISEQ-200. As a complex application of NGS, cancer-detecting panels pose increasing demands for the high accuracy and sensitivity of sequencing and data analysis.

Artificial Intelligence Systems for Diagnosis and Clinical Classification of COVID-19.

COVID-19 is highly infectious and has been widely spread worldwide, with more than 159 million confirmed cases and more than 3 million deaths as of May 11, 2021. It has become a serious public health event threatening people's lives and safety. Due to the rapid transmission and long incubation period, shortage of medical resources would easily occur in the short term of discovering disease cases.

Case Report and Literature Review: Primary Pulmonary NUT-Midline Carcinoma.

Nuclear protein of the testis (NUT) carcinoma is a very rare and aggressive carcinoma characterized by chromosomal rearrangement. NUT-midline carcinoma (NMC) can occur anywhere in the body, but most of the tumors are found in the midline anatomic structure or mediastinum. Pulmonary-originated NMC is extremely rare and often difficult to be distinguished from other poorly differentiated tumors, making the diagnosis awfully challenged in clinical practice.

NucHMM: a method for quantitative modeling of nucleosome organization identifying functional nucleosome states distinctly associated with splicing potentiality.

We develop a novel computational method, NucHMM, to identify functional nucleosome states associated with cell type-specific combinatorial histone marks and nucleosome organization features such as phasing, spacing and positioning. We test it on publicly available MNase-seq and ChIP-seq data in MCF7, H1, and IMR90 cells and identify 11 distinct functional nucleosome states. We demonstrate these nucleosome states are distinctly associated with the splicing potentiality of skipping exons.

Genomic variation, origin tracing, and vaccine development of SARS-CoV-2: A systematic review.

COVID-19 has spread globally to over 200 countries with more than 40 million confirmed cases and one million deaths as of November 1, 2020. The SARS-CoV-2 virus, leading to COVID-19, shows extremely high rates of infectivity and replication, and can result in pneumonia, acute respiratory distress, or even mortality. SARS-CoV-2 has been found to continue to rapidly evolve, with several genomic variants emerging in different regions throughout the world.

A Systematic Analysis on COVID-19 Patients in Inner Mongolia Based on Dynamic Monitoring.

COVID-19 has spread globally with over 90,000,000 incidences and 1,930,000 deaths by Jan 11, 2021, which poses a big threat to public health. It is urgent to distinguish COVID-19 from common pneumonia. In this study, we reported multiple clinical feature analyses on COVID-19 in Inner Mongolia for the first time.