Interleukin-7 (IL-7), a molecule known for its growth-promoting effects on progenitors of B cells, remains one of the most extensively studied cytokines. It plays a vital role in health maintenance ...and disease prevention, and the congenital deficiency of IL-7 signaling leads to profound immunodeficiency. IL-7 contributes to host defense by regulating the development and homeostasis of immune cells, including T lymphocytes, B lymphocytes, and natural killer (NK) cells. Clinical trials of recombinant IL-7 have demonstrated safety and potent immune reconstitution effects. In this article, we discuss IL-7 and its functions in immune cell development, drawing on a substantial body of knowledge regarding the biology of IL-7. We aim to answer some remaining questions about IL-7, providing insights essential for designing new strategies of immune intervention.
Developing low cost, long life, and high capacity rechargeable batteries is a critical factor towards developing next‐generation energy storage devices for practical applications. Therefore, a simple ...method to prepare graphene‐coated FeS2 embedded in carbon nanofibers is employed; the double protection from graphene coating and carbon fibers ensures high reversibility of FeS2 during sodiation/desodiation and improved conductivity, resulting in high rate capacity and long‐term life for Na+ (305.5 mAh g−1 at 3 A g−1 after 2450 cycles) and K+ (120 mAh g−1 at 1 A g−1 after 680 cycles) storage at room temperature. Benefitting from the enhanced conductivity and protection on graphene‐encapsulated FeS2 nanoparticles, the composites exhibit excellent electrochemical performance under low temperature (0 and −20 °C), and temperature tolerance with stable capacity as sodium‐ion half‐cells. The Na‐ion full‐cells based on the above composites and Na3V2(PO4)3 can afford reversible capacity of 95 mAh g−1 at room temperature. Furthermore, the full‐cells deliver promising discharge capacity (50 mAh g−1 at 0 °C, 43 mAh g−1 at −20 °C) and high energy density at low temperatures. Density functional theory calculations imply that graphene coating can effectively decrease the Na+ diffusion barrier between FeS2 and graphene heterointerface and promote the reversibility of Na+ storage in FeS2, resulting in advanced Na+ storage properties.
FeS2@graphene@carbon nanofiber is synthesized, showing high rate capability in Na‐ion (305.5 mAh g−1 at 3 A g−1) and K‐ion (120 mAh g−1 at 1 A g−1) half‐cells. In particular, they deliver stable Na+ storage behavior at low temperatures (0 and −20 °C), and the FeS2@graphene@carbon nanofiber//Na3V2(PO4)3 Na‐ion full‐cells exhibit remarkable capacity and energy density under room/low temperature.
Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), with relatively high energy density and power density, have been considered as a vital energy source in our daily life, especially in electric vehicles. However, energy ...density and safety related to thermal runaways are the main concerns for their further applications. In order to deeply understand the development of high energy density and safe LIBs, we comprehensively review the safety features of LIBs and the failure mechanisms of cathodes, anodes, separators and electrolyte. The corresponding solutions for designing safer components are systematically proposed. Additionally, the in situ or operando techniques, such as microscopy and spectrum analysis, the fiber Bragg grating sensor and the gas sensor, are summarized to monitor the internal conditions of LIBs in real time. The main purpose of this review is to provide some general guidelines for the design of safe and high energy density batteries from the views of both material and cell levels.
Graphic Abstract
Safety of lithium
-
ion batteries (LIBs) with high energy density
becomes more and more important in the future for EVs development. The safety issues of the LIBs are complicated, related to both materials and the cell level. To ensure the safety of LIBs, in-depth understanding of the safety features, precise design of the battery materials and real-time monitoring/detection of the cells should be systematically considered. Here, we specifically summarize the safety features of the LIBs from the aspects of their voltage and temperature tolerance, the failure mechanism of the LIB materials and corresponding improved methods. We further review the in situ or operando techniques to real-time monitor the internal conditions of LIBs.
Abstract
Defect engineering is an effective strategy to improve the activity of two-dimensional molybdenum disulfide base planes toward electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction. Here, we report a ...Frenkel-defected monolayer MoS
2
catalyst, in which a fraction of Mo atoms in MoS
2
spontaneously leave their places in the lattice, creating vacancies and becoming interstitials by lodging in nearby locations. Unique charge distributions are introduced in the MoS
2
surface planes, and those interstitial Mo atoms are more conducive to H adsorption, thus greatly promoting the HER activity of monolayer MoS
2
base planes. At the current density of 10 mA cm
−2
, the optimal Frenkel-defected monolayer MoS
2
exhibits a lower overpotential (164 mV) than either pristine monolayer MoS
2
surface plane (358 mV) or Pt-single-atom doped MoS
2
(211 mV). This work provides insights into the structure-property relationship of point-defected MoS
2
and highlights the advantages of Frenkel defects in tuning the catalytic performance of MoS
2
materials.
Despite the positive role of English morphology in word learning, the existing evidence is mainly on young L1 native speakers' receptive word gains. This intervention study, which employed a ...pretest-posttest control-experimental group design, was conducted to explore the effects of morphological training on multiple aspects of academic vocabulary learning. Participants (N = 50) were college EFL learners from southern China, who received either traditional vocabulary instruction or morphological training for 6 weeks. The 2 × 2 ANOVA analysis revealed significant instructional effects on receptive academic vocabulary learning, but not for productive academic word knowledge. Results are discussed in light of the important connection between morphology and receptive word learning, and the nature of productive vocabulary acquisition.
For many years, the Yangtze Platform has been successfully explored and exploited for petroleum. The Lower Silurian Longmaxi Shale proved to contain commercial quantities of gas, but several other ...formations might also have a high potential for shale-hosted gas exploration. This paper comprises of geochemical, petrographical, petrophysical and mineralogical information on the major Proterozoic and Paleozoic gas shales in the Upper Yangtze area, which provides insights on the depositional environment, the thermal maturity of organic matter, shale gas storage capacity and the fracability of these rocks. The total organic carbon (TOC) content varies from 0.1 to 22.5% with an average value of 2.7% and most of these shales were deposited in an oxygen-depleted marine environment. Equivalent vitrinite reflectance (VRr) values range from 2.20 to 4.25%, indicating that all samples are in the gas generation window and lost a large amount of primary organic carbon. Porosity varies between 1.5 and 13.6% with an average value of 5.8%, while the excess sorption capacity ranges from 0.10 to 0.22 mmol/g rock. Minerology data show that quartz is the predominant mineral except for the Upper Permian Longtan Formation, in which clay minerals account for 29 to 84%. New data were combined with those from other publications and compared to information on other, well-studied shale-hosted gas systems.
•Comparative study on shale-hosted gas potential of multiple formations in south China.•Similar geochemistry of marine Ediacaran and Early Paleozoic shales.•Periods of black shale deposition might have coincided with ice ages or cooler epochs.•Permian shales differ very much from Early Paleozoic shales.
Dendritic cells (DCs) are central for the initiation and regulation of innate and adaptive immunity in the tumor microenvironment. As such, many kinds of DC-targeted vaccines have been developed to ...improve cancer immunotherapy in numerous clinical trials. Targeted delivery of antigens and adjuvants to DCs in vivo represents an important approach for the development of DC vaccines. However, nonspecific activation of systemic DCs and the preparation of optimal immunodominant tumor antigens still represent major challenges.
We loaded the immunogenic cell death (ICD) inducers human neutrophil elastase (ELANE) and Hiltonol (TLR3 agonist) into α-lactalbumin (α-LA)-engineered breast cancer-derived exosomes to form an in situ DC vaccine (HELA-Exos). HELA-Exos were identified by transmission electron microscopy, nanoscale flow cytometry, and Western blot analysis. The targeting, killing, and immune activation effects of HELA-Exos were evaluated in vitro. The tumor suppressor and immune-activating effects of HELA-Exos were explored in immunocompetent mice and patient-derived organoids.
HELA-Exos possessed a profound ability to specifically induce ICD in breast cancer cells. Adequate exposure to tumor antigens and Hiltonol following HELA-Exo-induced ICD of cancer cells activated type one conventional DCs (cDC1s) in situ and cross-primed tumor-reactive CD8
T cell responses, leading to potent tumor inhibition in a poorly immunogenic triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) mouse xenograft model and patient-derived tumor organoids.
HELA-Exos exhibit potent antitumor activity in both a mouse model and human breast cancer organoids by promoting the activation of cDC1s in situ and thus improving the subsequent tumor-reactive CD8
T cell responses. The strategy proposed here is promising for generating an in situ DC-primed vaccine and can be extended to various types of cancers. Scheme 1. Schematic illustration of HELA-Exos as an in situ DC-primed vaccine for breast cancer. (A) Allogenic breast cancer-derived exosomes isolated from MDA-MB-231 cells were genetically engineered to overexpress α-LA and simultaneously loaded with the ICD inducers ELANE and Hiltonol (TLR3 agonist) to generate HELA-Exos. (B) Mechanism by which HELA-Exos activate DCs in situ in a mouse xenograft model ofTNBC. HELA-Exos specifically homed to the TME and induced ICD in cancer cells, which resulted in the increased release of tumor antigens, Hiltonol, and DAMPs, as well as the uptake of dying tumor cells by cDC1s. The activated cDC1s then cross-primed tumor-reactive CD8+ T cell responses. (C) HELA-Exos activated DCs in situ in the breast cancer patient PBMC-autologous tumor organoid coculture system.
DCs: dendritic cells; α-LA: α-lactalbumin; HELA-Exos: Hiltonol-ELANE-α-LA-engineered exosomes; ICD: immunogenic cell death; ELANE: human neutrophil elastase; TLR3: Toll-like receptor 3; TNBC: triple-negative breast cancer; TME: tumor microenvironment; DAMPs: damage-associated molecular patterns; cDC1s: type 1 conventional dendritic cells; PBMCs: peripheral blood mononuclear cells.
This paper proposes and analyzes the performance of the multihop free-space optical (FSO) communication links using a heterodyne differential phase-shift keying modulation scheme operating over a ...turbulence induced fading channel. A novel statistical fading channel model for multihop FSO systems using channel-state-information-assisted and fixed-gain relays is developed incorporating the atmospheric turbulence, pointing errors, and path-loss effects. The closed-form expressions for the moment generating function, probability density function, and cumulative distribution function of the multihop FSO channel are derived using Meijer's G-function. They are then used to derive the fundamental limits of the outage probability and average symbol error rate. Results confirm the performance loss as a function of the number of hops. Effects of the turbulence strength varying from weak-to-moderate and moderate-to-strong turbulence, geometric loss, and pointing errors are studied. The pointing errors can be mitigated by widening the beam at the expense of the received power level, whereas narrowing the beam can reduce the geometric loss at the cost of increased misalignment effects.
We propose an indoor visible light communication (VLC) and positioning system using the orthogonal frequency division multiplexing access (OFDMA) scheme, which can provide both indoor positioning and ...communications. Three subcarriers with the maximum received signal intensity with respect to three light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are selected for indoor positioning based on the trilateration algorithm. The experiment results show that the proposed system with quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) mapping offers a mean positioning error and an error vector magnitude of 1.68 cm and more than 15 dB, respectively.
The 17-gene Genomic Prostate Score (GPS) test has been clinically employed to predict adverse prognosis in prostate cancer. In this meta-analysis, we aimed to evaluate the prognostic value of the ...17-gene GPS in patients with prostate cancer.
Potentially relevant studies were obtained by searching PubMed, Web of Science, Embase databases from their inception to December 1, 2023. Studies were considered eligible if they evaluated the association of the 17-gene GPS with distant metastases, biochemical recurrence, or prostate cancer-specific mortality (PCSM) in prostate cancer patients. To estimate the prognostic value, we pooled the adjusted hazard ratio (HR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the high versus low GPS group or per 20-unit increase in GPS.
Seven cohort studies that reported on 8 articles comprising 1,962 patients satisfied the eligibility criteria. Meta-analysis showed that per 20-unit increase in GPS was significantly associated with distant metastases (HR 2.99; 95% CI 1.97-4.53), biochemical recurrence (HR 2.18; 95% CI 1.64-2.89), and PCSM (HR 3.14; 95% CI 1.86-5.30). Moreover, patients with high GPS (> 40 points) had an increased risk of distant metastases (HR 5.22; 95% CI 3.72-7.31), biochemical recurrence (HR 4.41; 95% CI 2.29-8.49), and PCSM (HR 3.81; 95% CI 1.74-8.33) than those with low GPS (≤ 40 points).
A higher 17-gene GPS significantly predicts distant metastases, biochemical recurrence, and PCSM in men with clinically localized prostate cancer. However, large-scale multicenter prospective studies are necessary to further validate these findings.
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