The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-Cov-2 virus) has been sustained in China since December 2019, and has become a ...pandemic. The mental health of frontline medical staff is a concern. In this study, we aimed to identify the factors influencing medical worker anxiety in China during the COVID-19 outbreak. We conducted a cross-sectional study to estimate the prevalence of anxiety among medical staff in China from 10 February 2020 to 20 February 2020 using the Zung Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) to assess anxiety, with the criteria of normal (⩽49), mild (50-59), moderate (60-70) and severe anxiety (⩾70). We used multivariable linear regression to determine the factors (e.g. having direct contact when treating infected patients, being a medical staff worker from Hubei province, being a suspect case) for anxiety. We also used adjusted models to confirm independent factors for anxiety after adjusting for gender, age, education and marital status. Of 512 medical staff in China, 164 (32.03%) had had direct contact treating infected patients. The prevalence of anxiety was 12.5%, with 53 workers suffering from mild (10.35%), seven workers suffering from moderate (1.36%) and four workers suffering from severe anxiety (0.78%). After adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics (gender, age, education and marital status), medical staff who had had direct contact treating infected patients experienced higher anxiety scores than those who had not had direct contact (β value = 2.33, confidence interval (CI) 0.65-4.00; P = 0.0068). A similar trend was observed in medical staff from Hubei province, compared with those from other parts of China (β value = 3.67, CI 1.44-5.89; P = 0.0013). The most important variable was suspect cases with high anxiety scores, compared to non-suspect cases (β value = 4.44, CI 1.55-7.33; P = 0.0028). In this survey of hospital medical workers during the COVID-19 outbreak in China, we found that study participants experienced anxiety symptoms, especially those who had direct clinical contact with infected patients; as did those in the worst affected areas, including Hubei province; and those who were suspect cases. Governments and healthcare authorities should proactively implement appropriate psychological intervention programmes, to prevent, alleviate or treat increased anxiety.
To explore high-performance electrocatalysts, electronic regulation on active sites is essentially demanded. Herein, we propose controlled phosphorus doping to effectively modify the electronic ...configuration of nanostructured Mo2C, accomplishing a benchmark performance of noble-metal-free electrocatalysts in the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Employing MoOx–phytic acid–polyaniline hybrids with tunable composition as precursors, a series of hierarchical nanowires composed of phosphorus-doped Mo2C nanoparticles evenly integrated within conducting carbon (denoted as P-Mo2C@C) are successfully obtained via facile pyrolysis under inert flow. Remarkably, P-doping into Mo2C can increase the electron density around the Fermi level of Mo2C, leading to weakened Mo–H bonding toward promoted HER kinetics. Further density functional theory calculations show that the negative hydrogen-binding free energy (ΔGH*) on pristine Mo2C gradually increases with P-doping due to electron transfer and steric hindrance by P on the Mo2C surface, indicating the effectively weakened strength of Mo–H. With optimal doping, a ΔGH* approaching 0 eV suggests a good balance between the Volmer and Heyrovsky/Tafel steps in HER kinetics. As expected, the P-Mo2C@C nanowires with controlled P-doping (P: 2.9 wt%) deliver a low overpotential of 89 mV at a current density of −10 mA cm−2 and striking kinetic metrics (onset overpotential: 35 mV, Tafel slope: 42 mV dec−1) in acidic electrolytes, outperforming most of the current noble-metal-free electrocatalysts. Elucidating feasible electronic regulation and the remarkably enhanced catalysis associated with controlled P-doping, our work will pave the way for developing efficient noble-metal-free catalysts via rational surface engineering.
Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a syndrome of abrupt loss of renal functions. The underlying pathological mechanisms of AKI remain largely unknown. BCL2-interacting protein 3 (BNIP3) has dual functions ...of regulating cell death and mitophagy, but its pathophysiological role in AKI remains unclear. Here, we demonstrated an increase of BNIP3 expression in cultured renal proximal tubular epithelial cells following oxygen-glucose deprivation-reperfusion (OGD-R) and in renal tubules after renal ischemia-reperfusion (IR)-induced injury in mice. Functionally, silencing Bnip3 by specific short hairpin RNAs in cultured renal tubular cells reduced OGD-R-induced mitophagy, and potentiated OGD-R-induced cell death. In vivo, Bnip3 knockout worsened renal IR injury, as manifested by more severe renal dysfunction and tissue injury. We further showed that Bnip3 knockout reduced mitophagy, which resulted in the accumulation of damaged mitochondria, increased production of reactive oxygen species, and enhanced cell death and inflammatory response in kidneys following renal IR. Taken together, these findings suggest that BNIP3-mediated mitophagy has a critical role in mitochondrial quality control and tubular cell survival during AKI.
A big challenge for nonlinear optical (NLO) materials is the application in high power lasers, which needs the simultaneous occurrence of large second harmonic generation (SHG) and high laser induced ...damage threshold (LIDT). Herein we report the preparation of a new Ga2Se3 phase, which shows the SHG intensities of around 2.3 times and the LIDT of around 16.7 times those of AgGaS2 (AGS), respectively. In addition, its IR transparent window ca. 0.59–25 μm is also significantly wider than that of AGS (ca. 0.48–≈11.4 μm). The occurrence of the strong SHG responses and good phase‐matching indicate that the structure of the new Ga2Se3 phase can only be non‐centrosymmetric and have a lower symmetry than the cubic γ‐phase. The observed excellent SHG and phase‐matching properties are consistent with our diffraction experiments and can be well explained by using the orthorhombic models obtained through our high throughput simulations.
A simple but perfect case: A new phase of gallium selenides (δ‐Ga2Se3) has been obtained via solid‐state reactions. δ‐Ga2Se3 is phase‐matchable with large second harmonic generation (SHG) responses, high laser‐induced damage thresholds (LIDTs), and wide transparent range of 0.59–25 μm. These properties are all required for the application of NLO materials with high‐power lasers.
The vast majority of the reported hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) electrocatalysts perform poorly under alkaline conditions due to the sluggish water dissociation kinetics. Herein, a hybridization ...catalyst construction concept is presented to dramatically enhance the alkaline HER activities of catalysts based on 2D transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) (MoS2 and WS2). A series of ultrathin 2D‐hybrids are synthesized via facile controllable growth of 3d metal (Ni, Co, Fe, Mn) hydroxides on the monolayer 2D‐TMD nanosheets. The resultant Ni(OH)2 and Co(OH)2 hybridized ultrathin MoS2 and WS2 nanosheet catalysts exhibit significantly enhanced alkaline HER activity and stability compared to their bare counterparts. The 2D‐MoS2/Co(OH)2 hybrid achieves an extremely low overpotential of ≈128 mV at 10 mA cm−2 in 1 m KOH. The combined theoretical and experimental studies confirm that the formation of the heterostructured boundaries by suitable hybridization of the TMD and 3d metal hydroxides is responsible for the improved alkaline HER activities because of the enhanced water dissociation step and lowers the corresponding kinetic energy barrier by the hybridized 3d metal hydroxides.
Ultrathin 2D hybrids are designed and prepared via surface modification of monolayer MoS2 and WS2 nanosheets by metal (Ni, Co, Fe, Mn) hydroxides, which form a new class of alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) electrocatalysts. The surface introduction of metal hydroxides can effectively reduce the kinetic barrier of the prior water dissociation step of the alkaline HER reaction.
Anchoring‐based self‐assembly (ASA) has emerged as a material‐saving and highly scalable strategy to fabricate charge‐transporting monolayers for perovskite solar cells (PSCs). However, the ...interfacial hole‐extraction and electron‐blocking performances are highly dependent on the compactness of the ASA monolayers, which has been largely ignored though it is very crucial to the efficiency and stability of PSCs. Here, strategically designed hole‐transporting molecules with different anchoring groups are incorporated to investigate the effect of bonding strength on monolayer quality and correlate these with the performance of p‐i‐n structured PSCs. It is unraveled that the anchoring groups with a stronger bonding strength are advantageous for improving the assembly rate, density, and compactness of ASA monolayer, thus enhancing charge collection and suppressing interfacial recombination. The prototypical PSCs based on optimal ASA monolayer achieve a high power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 21.43% (0.09 cm2). More encouragingly, when enlarging the device area by tenfold, a comparable PCE of 20.09% (1.0 cm2) can be obtained, suggesting that the ASA strategy is practically useful for scaling‐up. The robust anchoring of the ASA monolayer also enhances devices stability, retaining 90% of initial PCE after three months. This study provides important insights into the ASA charge‐transporting monolayers for efficient and stable PSCs.
Molecular hole‐transporting materials with different anchoring groups are synthesized. The anchoring groups with a stronger bonding strength enable greatly enhanced compactness of self‐assembly monolayer, which benefits hole‐extraction and electron‐blocking in complete devices. When applied in inverted perovskite solar cells, 1 cm2 devices show a promising power conversion efficiency of over 20% with high stability.
Magnesium isotopic compositions are reported for twenty‐four international geological reference materials including igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks, as well as phlogopite and serpentine ...minerals. The long‐term reproducibility of Mg isotopic determination, based on 4‐year analyses of olivine and seawater samples, was ≤ 0.07‰ (2s) for δ26Mg and ≤ 0.05‰ (2s) for δ25Mg. Accuracy was tested by analysis of synthetic reference materials down to the quoted long‐term reproducibility. This comprehensive dataset, plus seawater data produced in the same laboratory, serves as a reference for quality assurance and inter‐laboratory comparison of high‐precision Mg isotopic data.
Les compositions isotopiques du magnésium sont fournies pour vingt‐quatre matériaux géologiques de référence internationaux, comprenant des roches ignées, métamorphiques et sédimentaires, ainsi qu'une phlogopite et des serpentines. La reproductibilité à long terme de la détermination isotopique du Mg, basée des analyses sur quatre ans d’échantillons d'olivine et d'eau de mer, était ≤ 0.07% (2s) pour δ26Mg et ≤ 0.05% (2s) pour δ25Mg. La précision a été testée par l'analyse de matériaux de référence synthétiques jusqu’à la reproductibilité à long terme indiquée. Cette base de données complète, ainsi que des données d'eau de mer produites dans le même laboratoire, servent de référence pour l'assurance qualité et la comparaison inter‐laboratoires de haute précision des données isotopiques du Mg.
Single-atom catalysts not only maximize metal atom efficiency, they also display properties that are considerably different to their more conventional nanoparticle equivalents, making them a ...promising family of materials to investigate. Herein we developed a general host-guest strategy to fabricate various metal single-atom catalysts on nitrogen-doped carbon (M
/CN, M = Pt, Ir, Pd, Ru, Mo, Ga, Cu, Ni, Mn). The iridium variant Ir
/CN electrocatalyses the formic acid oxidation reaction with a mass activity of 12.9 Formula: see text whereas an Ir/C nanoparticle catalyst is almost inert (~4.8 × 10
Formula: see text). The activity of Ir
/CN is also 16 and 19 times greater than those of Pd/C and Pt/C, respectively. Furthermore, Ir
/CN displays high tolerance to CO poisoning. First-principle density functional theory reveals that the properties of Ir
/CN stem from the spatial isolation of iridium sites and from the modified electronic structure of iridium with respect to a conventional nanoparticle catalyst.
Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) are highly efficient energy conversion devices with the advantage of directly utilizing hydrocarbon fuels. Starting with a short introduction about the fuel challenges ...and early achievements in this field, this review paper focuses on advances in oxygen‐ion conducting electrolyte‐based SOFC during the last 15 years. Robust anodes immune to carbon deposition are a prerequisite for direct hydrocarbon SOFC. In this paper, direct hydrocarbon SOFC anode materials are classified into three general categories: Ni‐cermet, Cu‐cermet, and oxide‐based anodes. Oxide anodes are further classified in terms of their crystalline structures, namely fluorite, rutile, tungsten bronze, pyrochlore, perovskite, and double perovskite. Achievements and recent advances on these SOFC anodes are reviewed and discussed. The concluding remarks summarize the pros and cons of direct hydrocarbon SOFC anode materials along with the perspective of future research trends.
Solid oxide fuel cell anode materials are of paramount importance for devices based on directly converting hydrocarbon fuels into electric energy by electrochemical means. This review summarizes recent progress in various types of anode materials for direct hydrocarobon utilization.
Gene silencing holds promise for cancer therapeutics because of its potential to inhibit genes involved in tumor development. However, gene silencing is still restricted by its limited efficacy and ...safety. Nanoscale coordination polymers (CPs) emerge as promising nanocarriers for gene delivery, but their responsiveness and potential therapeutic properties have rarely been explored simultaneously. Here, multifunctional ultrathin 2D nanosheets of Cu(I) 1,2,4‐triazolate CP with a thickness of 4.5 ± 0.8 nm are synthesized using a bottom‐up method. These CP nanosheets can act as both an effective DNAzyme nanocarrier for gene therapy and an intrinsic photosensitizer for hypoxia‐tolerant type I photodynamic therapy (PDT), which is ascribed to the Fenton‐like reaction. Because of the glutathione (GSH)‐responsiveness of the CP nanosheets, DNAzyme‐loaded CP nanosheets exhibit excellent cancer‐cell‐targeting gene silencing of the early growth response factor‐1 (EGR‐1), with messenger RNA inhibited by 84% in MCF‐7 (human breast cancer cells) and only 6% in MCF‐10A (normal human mammary epithelial cells). After tail intravenous injection into MCF‐7‐tumor‐bearing mice, the CP nanosheets loaded with chlorin‐e6‐modified DNAzyme under photoirradiation show a high antitumor efficacy (88.0% tumor regression), demonstrating a promising therapeutic platform with efficient and selective gene silencing and PDT of cancer.
Ultrathin 2D nanosheets of Cu(I) 1,2,4‐triazolate coordination polymer, acting as both stimuli‐responsive nanocarriers of DNAzyme for cancer‐cell‐targeting gene silencing and intrinsic photosensitizers for hypoxia‐tolerant type I photodynamic therapy (PDT), are synthesized by a bottom‐up method. After integrating the DNAzyme with chlorin e6, a type II PDT photosensitizer, the obtained nanoplatform achieves superior therapeutic performance.
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