Sodium ion batteries (SIBs) have been attracting great interest as alternatives for grid and mobile energy storage applications in the modern world due to the sufficient natural abundance and low ...cost of sodium resources. To accelerate the practical application of SIB systems, the electrochemical performance of cathode materials should be further improved to satisfy the increasing worldwide demand. As promising cathode materials for SIBs, layered transition metal oxides (LTMOs) exhibit high specific capacity and high energy density due to their appropriate voltage window. Here, recent progress and achievements of three representative LTMOs including Ni-based, Mn-based, and Ni/Mn co-based cathodes in terms of the relationship between structural design and electrochemical performance are summarized, aiming at cost reduction and performance improvement. The insights in this review focus on the development of LTMOs as cathodes for SIBs including overall battery performance, preparation strategies and operation mechanism, therefore speeding up the commercialization of SIBs.
Sodium ion batteries (SIBs) have been attracting great interest as alternatives for grid and mobile energy storage applications in the modern world due to the sufficient natural abundance and low cost of sodium resources.
Heteroatom doping of nanocarbon films can efficiently boost the pseudocapacitance of micro-supercapacitors (MSCs); however, wafer-scale fabrication of sulfur-doped graphene films with a tailored ...thickness and homogeneous doping for MSCs remains a great challenge. Here we demonstrate the bottom-up fabrication of continuous, uniform, and ultrathin sulfur-doped graphene (SG) films, derived from the peripherical trisulfur-annulated hexa-peri-hexabenzocoronene (SHBC), for ultrahigh-rate MSCs (SG-MSCs) with landmark volumetric capacitance. The SG film was prepared by thermal annealing of the spray-coated SHBC-based film, with assistance of a thin Au protecting layer, at 800 °C for 30 min. SHBC with 12 phenylthio groups decorated at the periphery is critical as a precursor for the formation of the continuous and ultrathin SG film, with a uniform thickness of ∼10.0 nm. Notably, the as-produced all-solid-state planar SG-MSCs exhibited a highly stable pseudocapacitive behavior with a volumetric capacitance of ∼582 F cm–3 at 10 mV s–1, excellent rate capability with a remarkable capacitance of 8.1 F cm–3 even at an ultrahigh rate of 2000 V s–1, ultrafast frequency response with a short time constant of 0.26 ms, and ultrahigh power density of ∼1191 W cm–3. It is noteworthy that these values obtained are among the best values for carbon-based MSCs reported to date.
Due to the block of high-rise objects and the influence of the sun’s altitude and azimuth, shadows are inevitably formed in remote sensing images particularly in urban areas, which causes missing ...information in the shadow region. In this paper, we propose a new method for shadow detection and compensation through objected-based strategy. For shadow detection, the shadow was highlighted by an improved shadow index (ISI) combined color space with an NIR band, then ISI was reconstructed by the objects acquired from the mean-shift algorithm to weaken noise interference and improve integrity. Finally, threshold segmentation was applied to obtain the shadow mask. For shadow compensation, the objects from segmentation were treated as a minimum processing unit. The adjacent objects are likely to have the same ambient light intensity, based on which we put forward a shadow compensation method which always compensates shadow objects with their adjacent non-shadow objects. Furthermore, we presented a dynamic penumbra compensation method (DPCM) to define the penumbra scope and accurately remove the penumbra. Finally, the proposed methods were compared with the stated-of-art shadow indexes, shadow compensation method and penumbra compensation methods. The experiments show that the proposed method can accurately detect shadow from urban high-resolution remote sensing images with a complex background and can effectively compensate the information in the shadow region.
Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), an ideal cell source for regenerative therapy with no ethical issues, play an important role in diabetic foot ulcer (DFU). Growing evidence has demonstrated that MSCs ...transplantation can accelerate wound closure, ameliorate clinical parameters, and avoid amputation. In this review, we clarify the mechanism of preclinical studies, as well as safety and efficacy of clinical trials in the treatment of DFU. Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs), compared with MSCs derived from other tissues, may be a suitable cell type that can provide easy, effective, and cost-efficient transplantation to treat DFU and protect patients from amputation.
At present, the beneficial effect of the ketogenic diet (KD) on weight loss in obese patients is generally recognized. However, a systematic research on the role of KD in the improvement of glycemic ...and lipid metabolism of patients with diabetes is still found scarce.
This meta-study employed the meta-analysis model of random effects or of fixed effects to analyze the average difference before and after KD and the corresponding 95% CI, thereby evaluating the effect of KD on T2DM.
After KD intervention, in terms of glycemic control, the level of fasting blood glucose decreased by 1.29 mmol/L (95% CI: -1.78 to -0.79) on average, and glycated hemoglobin A1c by 1.07 (95% CI: -1.37 to -0.78). As for lipid metabolism, triglyceride was decreased by 0.72 (95% CI: -1.01 to -0.43) on average, total cholesterol by 0.33 (95% CI: -0.66 to -0.01), and low-density lipoprotein by 0.05 (95% CI: -0.25 to -0.15); yet, high-density lipoprotein increased by 0.14 (95% CI: 0.03-0.25). In addition, patients' weight decreased by 8.66 (95% CI: -11.40 to -5.92), waist circumference by 9.17 (95% CI: -10.67 to -7.66), and BMI by 3.13 (95% CI: -3.31 to -2.95).
KD not only has a therapeutic effect on glycemic and lipid control among patients with T2DM but also significantly contributes to their weight loss.
A key question in the study of the CO2-gasification process is the mechanism of the Na-containing catalytically active center. In this study, density functional theory calculation was carried out to ...examine the catalytic role of Na in two graphite models (armchair-edge and zigzag-edge). Two Na-containing groups (CNa, CONa) were considered in each model. The activation energies for all reaction pathways indicated that Na showed catalytic activity in the dissociative adsorption of CO2 in both of the graphite models. However, in the subsequent desorption of CO, which is the rate-determining step, only the armchair-edge model indicated catalysis by Na. The molecular structures and reduced density gradient analysis showed that, during CO2 dissociative adsorption, the Na atom promoted breakage of the CO bond and weakened the conjugate structure at the aromatic nucleus to release CO.
Observational studies have demonstrated an association between white blood cells (WBC) subtypes and type 2 diabetes (T2D) risk. However, it is unknown whether this relationship is causal. We used ...Mendelian randomization (MR) to investigate the causal effect of WBC subtypes on T2D and glycemic traits.
The summary data for neutrophil, lymphocyte, monocyte, eosinophil, and basophil counts were extracted from a recent genome-wide association study (n = 173,480). The DIAGRAM and MAGIC consortia offered summary data pertaining to T2D and glycemic characteristics, including fasting glucose (FG) (n = 133,010), glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) (n = 46,368), and homeostatic model assessment-estimated insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) (n = 37,037). A series of MR analyses (univariable MR, multivariable MR, and reverse MR) were used to investigate the causal association of different WBC subtypes with T2D and glycemic traits.
Using the inverse-variance weighted method, we found one standard deviation increases in genetically determined neutrophil odd ratio (OR): 1.086, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.877-1.345, lymphocyte 0.878 (0.766-1.006), monocyte 1.010 (0.906-1.127), eosinophil 0.995 (0.867-1.142), and basophil 0.960 (0.763-1.207) were not causally associated with T2D risk. These findings were consistent with the results of three pleiotropy robust methods (MR-Egger, weighted median, and mode-based estimator) and multivariable MR analyses. Reverse MR analysis provided no evidence for the reverse causation of T2D on WBC subtypes. The null causal effects of WBC subtypes on FG, HbA1c, and HOMA-IR were also identified.
WBCs play no causal role in the development of insulin resistance and T2D. The observed association between these factors may be explained by residual confounding.
For multi-spectral remote sensing imagery, accurate shadow extraction is of great significance for overcoming the information loss caused by high buildings and the solar incidence angle in urban ...remote sensing. However, diverse solar illumination conditions, similarities between shadows, and other dark land features bring uncertainties and deviations to shadow extraction processes and results. In this paper, we classify shadows as either strong or weak based on the ratio between ambient light intensity and direct light intensity, and use the fractal net evolution approach (FNEA), which is a multi-scale segmentation method based on spectral and shape heterogeneity, to reduce the interference of salt and pepper noise and relieve the error of misdiagnosing land covers with high reflectivity in shaded regions as unshaded ones. Subsequently, an object-based shadow index (OSI) is presented according to the illumination intensities of different reflectance features, as well as using the normalized difference water index (NDWI) and near infrared (NIR) band to highlight shadows and eliminate water body interference. The data from three high-spatial-resolution satellites-WorldView-2 (WV-2), WorldView-3 (WV-3), and GaoFen-2 (GF-2)-were used to test the methods and verify the robustness of the OSI. The results show that the OSI index performed well regarding both strong and weak shadows with the user accuracy and the producer accuracy both above 90%, while the four other existing indexes that were tested were not effective at diverse solar illumination conditions. In addition, all the disturbances from water body were excluded well when using the OSI, except for the GF-2 data in weak shadows.
As the promotive/complementary mechanism of the microbe–soil–tobacco (
Nicotiana tabacum
L.) interaction remains unclear and the contribution of this triple interaction to tobacco growth is not ...predictable, the effects of intercropping on soil nutrients, enzymatic activity, microbial community composition, plant growth, and plant quality were studied, and the regulatory mechanism of intercropping on plant productivity and soil microenvironment (fertility and microorganisms) were evaluated. The results showed that the soil organic matter (OM), available nitrogen (AN), available phosphorus (AP), available potassium (AK), the urease activity (UE) and sucrase activity (SC), the diversity, abundance, and total and unique operational taxonomic units (OTUs) of bacteria and fungi as well as plant biomass in T1 (intercropping onion), T2 (intercropping endive), and T3 (intercropping lettuce) treatments were significantly higher than those of the controls (monocropping tobacco). Although the dominant bacteria and fungi at the phylum level were the same for each treatment, LEfSe analysis showed that significant differences in community structure composition and the distribution proportion of each dominant community were different. Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, and Firmicutes of bacteria and Ascomycota and Basidiomycetes of fungi in T1, T2, and T3 treatments were higher than those of the controls. Redundancy analysis (RDA) suggested a close relation between soil characteristic parameters and microbial taxa. The correlation analysis between the soil characteristic parameters and the plant showed that the plant biomass was closely related to soil characteristic parameters. In conclusion, the flue-cured tobacco intercropping not only increased plant biomass and improved chemical quality but also significantly increased rhizospheric soil nutrient and enzymatic activities, optimizing the microbial community composition and diversity of rhizosphere soil. The current study highlighted the importance of microbe–soil–tobacco interactions in maintaining plant productivity and provided the potential fertilization practices in flue-cured tobacco production to maintain ecological sustainability.
Five Fe/zeolite (i.e., Fe/ZSM-5-1, Fe/ZSM-5-2, Fe/ZSM-5-3, Fe/MCM-22, and Fe/MOR) were prepared and tested as catalysts in the catalytic wet peroxide oxidation process (CWPO). Their adsorption and ...catalytic effects on the removal of three isomeric cresols were systematically explored. Sufficient characterizations were carried out to illuminate the iron species dispersed on the catalysts’ surface porous channels. Other properties of the catalysts such as the Si/Al ratio, crystalline structures, and morphologies were systematically studied. After loaded with iron, the catalysts maintained zeolite’s framework, which possessed specific porous structures and surface areas. Interestingly, the Si/Al ratio seemed to be an important issue influencing the adsorption and catalytic degradation of cresols due to n-π interaction and the acceleration of HO• generation, respectively. The amount of framework-Fe and Fe
3+
Al-Si in Fe/ZSM-5-3 was the most, which was crucial for its better catalytic ability than the other Fe/ZSM-5 catalysts (71.19% for m-cresol conversion). In conclusion, the catalytic activities of all the Fe/zeolites followed the sequence: Fe/ZSM-5-3> Fe/ZSM-5-2> Fe/ZSM-5-1> Fe/MCM-22>Fe/MOR. For three cresols, m-cresol was more susceptible to the attack of HO• than p- and o-cresol because more positions of m-cresol could be easy to be approached by the oxidizing agent. Considering the mild reaction condition in this study, such as 30 °C, pH=4.0, and catalyst dosage=1.0 g/L, the Fe/ZSM-5-3 was a promising zeolite catalyst for the degradation of refractory contaminants in practical wastewater.
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