The increasing global demand for energy and the potential environmental impact of increased energy consumption require greener, safer, and more cost-efficient energy storage technologies. Lithium-ion ...batteries (LIBs) have been successful in meeting much of today’s energy storage demand; however, lithium (Li) is a costly metal, is unevenly distributed around the world, and poses serious safety and environmental concerns. Alternate battery technologies should thus be developed. Zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs) have recently attracted attention due to their safety, environmental friendliness, and lower cost, compared to LIBs. They use aqueous electrolytes, which give them an advantage over multivalent ion batteries (e.g., Mg2+, Ca2+, Al3+) that require more complex electrolytes. However, as with every new technology, many fundamental and practical challenges must be overcome for ZIBs to become commercial products. In this manuscript, we present a timely review and offer perspectives on recent developments and future directions in ZIBs research. The review is divided into five parts: (i) cathode material development, including an understanding of their reaction mechanism; (ii) electrolyte development and characterization; (iii) zinc anode, current collector, and separator design; (iv) applications; and (v) outlook and perspective.
Rechargeable lithium ion battery (LIB) has dominated the energy market from portable electronics to electric vehicles, but the fast‐charging remains challenging. The safety concerns of lithium ...deposition on graphite anode or the decreased energy density using Li4Ti5O12 (LTO) anode are incapable to satisfy applications. Herein, the sulfurized polyacrylonitrile (SPAN) is explored for the first time as a high capacity and safer anode in LIBs, in which the high voltage cathode of LiNi1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2 (NCM‐H) is further introduced to configure a new SPAN|NCM‐H battery with great fast‐charging features. The LIB demonstrates a good stability with a high capacity retention of 89.7% after 100 cycles at a high voltage of 3.5 V (i.e., 4.6 V vs Li+/Li). Particularly, the excellent rate capability is confirmed and 78.7% of initial capacity can still be delivered at 4.0C. In addition, 97.6% of the battery capacity can be charged within 2.0C, which is much higher than 80% in current fast‐charging application standards. The feature of lithiation potential (>1.0 V vs Li+/Li) of SPAN avoids the lithium deposition and improves the safety, while the high capacity over 640 mAh g−1 promises 43.5% higher energy density than that of LTO‐based battery, enabling its great competitiveness to conventional LIBs.
Sulfurized polyacrylonitrile (SPAN) is explored for the first time as a high capacity and safer anode in a lithium ion battery, in which the high voltage cathode of LiNi1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2 (NCM‐H) is further introduced to configure a new SPAN|NCM‐H battery with great fast‐charging features. Excellent rate capability is confirmed and 97.6% of the battery capacity can be charged within 2.0C.
In abrasive belt rail grinding, understanding the abrasive belt wear mechanisms is important for improving grinding accuracy and abrasive belt service life. Taking a single ceramic grit in a stable ...grinding state as an example, this study investigated the critical transition conditions and recognition methods between the different wear modes. Based on the crack growth equation, the critical transition condition from abrasion to fracture was modeled by calculating the stress around the cracks hiding in the grit tip. The transition condition between fracture and pull-off was determined by comparing the external stress around the grit root and the bonding strength of the resin binder. These critical conditions were verified by single grit scratching experiments and the improved Sc wear map method.
•Two recognition models to distinguish abrasive belt wear modes were established.•Critical condition from abrasion to fracture was given by crack growth equation.•Critical condition from fracture to pull off was related to grits' root stress.•An improved wear map was given to visualize and project the belt wear transition.
It is a challenge to prepare organic electrodes for sodium-ion batteries with long cycle life and high capacity. The highly reactive radical intermediates generated during the sodiation/desodiation ...process could be a critical issue because of undesired side reactions. Here we present durable electrodes with a stabilized α-C radical intermediate. Through the resonance effect as well as steric effects, the excessive reactivity of the unpaired electron is successfully suppressed, thus developing an electrode with stable cycling for over 2,000 cycles with 96.8% capacity retention. In addition, the α-radical demonstrates reversible transformation between three states: C=C; α-C·radical; and α-C
anion. Such transformation provides additional Na
storage equal to more than 0.83 Na
insertion per α-C radical for the electrodes. The strategy of intermediate radical stabilization could be enlightening in the design of organic electrodes with enhanced cycling life and energy storage capability.
A post-tensioning tendon duct filled with grout can effectively prevent corrosion of the reinforcement, maintain bonding behavior between the reinforcement and concrete, and enhance the load bearing ...capacity of concrete structures. In practice, grouting of the post-tensioning tendon ducts always causes quality problems, which may reduce structural integrity and service life, and even cause accidents. However, monitoring of the grouting compactness is still a challenge due to the invisibility of the grout in the duct during the grouting process. This paper presents a stress wave-based active sensing approach using piezoceramic transducers to monitor the grouting compactness in real time. A segment of a commercial tendon duct was used as research object in this study. One lead zirconate titanate (PZT) piezoceramic transducer with marble protection, called a smart aggregate (SA), was bonded on the tendon and installed in the tendon duct. Two PZT patch sensors were mounted on the top outside surface of the duct, and one PZT patch sensor was bonded on the bottom outside surface of the tendon duct. In the active sensing approach, the SA was used as an actuator to generate a stress wave and the PZT sensors were utilized to detect the wave response. Cement or grout in the duct functions as a wave conduit, which can propagate the stress wave. If the cement or grout is not fully filled in the tendon duct, the top PZT sensors cannot receive much stress wave energy. The experimental procedures simulated four stages during the grout pouring process, which includes empty status, half grouting, 90% grouting, and full grouting of the duct. Experimental results show that the bottom PZT sensor can detect the signal when the grout level increases towards 50%, when a conduit between the SA and PZT sensor is formed. The top PZT sensors cannot receive any signal until the grout process is completely finished. The wavelet packet-based energy analysis was adopted in this research to compute the total signal energy received by PZT sensors. Experimental results show that the energy levels of the PZT sensors can reflect the degree of grouting compactness in the duct. The proposed method has the potential to be implemented to monitor the tendon duct grouting compactness of the reinforced concrete structures with post tensioning.
Non-coding RNA (ncRNA) plays a regulatory role in a variety of cellular activities. And long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) is one of the important kinds of ncRNA. Previous studies have shown that various ...lncRNAs are involved in the progression of cancer. LncRNA plasmacytoma variant translocation 1 (PVT1) is a newly discovered oncogenic factor that has been confirmed to be overexpressed in many cancer cells. Moreover, the role of PVT1 in cancer development is closely linked to microRNAs (miRNAs). PVT1 can act as a "sponge" for miRNAs to inhibit their activities, thereby affecting proliferation, invasion, and angiogenesis of cancer. In addition, PVT1 itself can be spliced and processed into several miRNAs such as miR-1204 and miR-1207, which can also regulate the development of cancer. This review summarizes various pathways through which PVT1 regulates the progression of cancer via miRNAs. We also propose additional regulatory mechanisms of PVT1 and their potential clinical applications.
The green efficiency of water resources is important for industrial cleaner production and sustainable development. Existing studies pay much attention to the economic efficiency of water resource ...utilisation, ignoring its green efficiency. In order to solve this problem, an index of green total factor water efficiency (GTFWE) that can reflect the economic efficiency and green efficiency of water resources is constructed based on the DEA-SBM model with undesirable output. In addition, GTFWE is comprised of green total factor water management efficiency (GTFWME) and green total factor water environmental efficiency (GTFWEE) using the four-stage DEA model. The empirical results show that GTFWE in China’s industry is at a low level, the effect of GTFWEE on GTFWE is generally increasing, and GTFWME is decreasing. However, there are large differences in these trends between regions and provinces in China. The GTFWME of Beijing, Tianjin, and seven other provinces needs improvement, while the GTFWME and GTFWEE of Hebei, Inner Mongolia, and other 15 provinces is low and also need improving. In contrast, both GTFWME and GTFWEE are high in the Shandong and Guangdong provinces. This paper provides a method for assessing GTFWE in China’s industry and proposes some important policy implications for promoting the efficiency of China’s industrial green total factor water resources.
Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is the most common type of esophageal cancer in China and developing countries. The purpose of this review is to summarize the roles of inactivation of the ...tumor suppressor gene, phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN), and activation of the programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) upon binding to its ligand (PD-L1) in the promotion of ESCC. Studies of ESCC performed
in vitro
and
in vivo
indicated that PTEN and PD-L1 function in the regulation of cell proliferation, invasion, and migration; the epithelial-mesenchymal transition; resistance to chemotherapy and radiotherapy; and the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. Certain genetic variants of PTEN are related to susceptibility to ESCC, and PTEN and PD-L1 also function in ESCC progression and affect the prognosis of patients with ESCC. There is also evidence that the expression of PD-L1 and PTEN are associated with the progression of certain other cancers. Future studies should further examine the relationship of PD-L1 and PTEN and their possible interactions in ESCC.
Abstract
Major crops are all survivors of domestication bottlenecks. Studies have focused on the genetic loci related to the domestication syndrome, while the contribution of ancient haplotypes ...remains largely unknown. Here, an ancestral genomic haploblock dissection method is developed and applied to a resequencing dataset of 386 tetraploid/hexaploid wheat accessions, generating a pan-ancestry haploblock map. Together with cytoplastic evidences, we reveal that domesticated polyploid wheat emerged from the admixture of six founder wild emmer lineages, which contributed the foundation of ancestral mosaics. The key domestication-related loci, originated over a wide geographical range, were gradually pyramided through a protracted process. Diverse stable-inheritance ancestral haplotype groups of the chromosome central zone are identified, revealing the expanding routes of wheat and the trends of modern wheat breeding. Finally, an evolution model of polyploid wheat is proposed, highlighting the key role of wild-to-crop and interploidy introgression, that increased genomic diversity following bottlenecks introduced by domestication and polyploidization.
Extracellular vesicles (EVs), known as cell-derived membranous structures harboring a variety of biomolecules, have been widely used in liquid biopsy. Due to the complex biological composition of ...plasma, plasma RNA omics analysis (RNomics) is easily affected, thus it is necessary to select an optimal strategy from exiting methods according to the performance for intended application.
In this study, four different strategies for EVs isolation were performed and compared (i.e. ultracentrifugation (UC), size exclusion chromatography (SEC), and two most frequently-used commercially available isolation kit (ExoQuick and exoEasy). We compared the yield, purity, PCR quantification of RNAs, miRNA-seq analyses and mRNA-seq analyses of RNAs from EVs isolated using four methods.
The results showed that the lowest miRNA binding protein AGO2 (Argonaute-2) and the highest EVs-specific miRNA and lncRNA were observed in EVs obtained through SEC, meanwhile the content of the non-specific miRNA was the lowest. Further RNA-Seq data revealed that RNAs obtained via SEC presented more useful reads for both miRNA and mRNA. Furthermore, the mRNA delivered via SEC tended to have a concentration comparable to the ideal FPKM (Fragments Per Kilobase Million) value.
SEC shall be used as an optimal strategy for the isolation of EVs in plasma RNomics analysis.
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