Preferentially selective extraction of lithium from spent LiCoO_(2)cathodes by medium-temperature carbon reduction roasting

Lithium recovery from spent lithium-ion batteries(LIBs)have attracted extensive attention due to the skyrocketing price of lithium.The medium-temperature carbon reduction roasting was proposed to preferential selective extraction of lithium from spent Li-CoO_(2)(LCO)cathodes to overcome the incomplete recovery and loss of lithium during the recycling process.The LCO layered structure was destroyed and lithium was completely converted into water-soluble Li2CO_(3)under a suitable temperature to control the reduced state of the cobalt oxide.The Co metal agglomerates generated during medium-temperature carbon reduction roasting were broken by wet grinding and ultrasonic crushing to release the entrained lithium.The results showed that 99.10%of the whole lithium could be recovered as Li2CO_(3)with a purity of 99.55%.This work provided a new perspective on the preferentially selective extraction of lithium from spent lithium batteries.

Effects of excessive body fat on colostrum lipid patterns: overweight/obese vs. normal weight mothers

Prenatal overweight/obesity(OW/OB)can alter colostrum lipid patterns,thereby affecting the lipid metabolism and even the cognitive and healthy development of infants.However,studies on changes in colostrum lipids in the context of OW/OB are limited,particularly for glycerides and polar lipids.Therefore,this study investigated the infl uence of maternal prenatal weight on colostrum in lipid subclasses and molecular species.The concentration of triacylglycerols(TAGs)in the colostrum of the OW/OB group(35894.43 mg/L)was higher than that of the normal weight(NW)group(26639.20 mg/L),suggesting that colostrum from OW/OB mothers could provide more energy to their infants.Further analysis of the fatty acid composition of TAGs revealed that elevated maternal body weight enhanced the concentration of TAGs containing saturated or n-6 fatty acids and shortened the carbon number of TAGs.Docosahexaenoic acid(DHA)/arachidonic acid(AA)/choline-containing lipids,such as DHA-containing TAGs,AA/DHA-containing phosphatidylethanolamine,and choline-containing phospholipids,were present in higher levels in the colostrum of OW/OB mothers than NW mothers.However,the concentrations of palmitic acid-containing TAGs,linoleic acid-containing TAGs,dihomo-γ-linolenic acid-containing TAGs,and polar lipids and the ratio of TAGs containing n-6 fatty acid/n-3 fatty acid were signifi cantly higher in the colostrum of OW/OB mothers than in that of NW mothers.The fatty acid composition and sphingoid bases of sphingolipids were also altered due to elevated body weight.In conclusion,OW/OB affects colostrum lipids with respect to composition,concentration,and percentage.Although the colostrum of healthy OW/OB mothers can provide suffi cient DHA/AA/choline-containing lipids to their infants,normalization of body weight and fat reserves should be considered as a strategy for highquality human milk lipids.

The seismicity in the middle section of the Altyn Tagh Fault system revealed by a dense nodal seismic array

The left-lateral Altyn Tagh Fault(ATF) system is the northern boundary of the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, separating the Tarim Basin and the Qaidam Basin. The middle section of ATF has not recorded any large earthquakes since1598 AD, so the potential seismic hazard is unclear. We develope an earthquake catalog using continuous waveform data recorded by the Tarim-Altyn-Qaidam dense nodal seismic array from September 17 to November23, 2021 in the middle section of ATF. With the machine learning-based picker, phase association, location, match and locate workflow, we detecte 233 earthquakes with M_L-1–3, far more than 6 earthquakes in the routine catalog. Combining with focal mechanism solutions and the local fault structure, we find that seismic events are clustered along the ATF with strike-slip focal mechanisms and on the southern secondary faults with thrusting focal mechanisms. This overall seismic activity in the middle section of the ATF might be due to the northeastward transpressional motion of the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau block at the western margin of the Qaidam Basin.

Correlation between Neutrophil Percentage-to-albumin Ratio and Coronary Heart Disease Complicated with Diabetes Mellitus

[Objectives]This study was conducted to explore the relationship between neutrophil percentage-to-albumin ratio(NPAR)and coronary heart disease complicated with diabetes.[Methods]A total of 603 patients with coronary heart disease who underwent coronary angiography in Pingquan County Hospital from January,2023 to December,2023 and met the inclusion criteria were included as the research object.All the patients were divided into a coronary heart disease complicated with diabetes group(CAD+T2DM group)(n=298 cases)and a control group(CAD group)(n=305 cases),according to patients medical history,heart color ultrasound and biochemical test results.The clinical data,biochemical test results and coronary artery imaging data of patients were recorded,and the Gensini score was calculated.The neutrophil percentage(NEUT%)and albumin count were determined to calculate NPAR.[Results]The NPAR value of the coronary heart disease complicated with diabetes mellitus group was(1.6±0.42),which was significantly higher than that of the control group(1.47±0.49),and the difference was statistically significant(P<0.05).The area under the ROC curve was 0.619(95%CI:0.591-0.675,P<0.05),and the prediction of coronary heart disease complicated with diabetes using NPAR showed a Youden index of 0.31,a sensitivity of 60.4%,a specificity of 40.3%,and a best cut-off score of 1.4506.[Conclusions]The neutrophil percentage-to-albumin ratio(NPAR)is closely related to coronary heart disease complicated with diabetes mellitus,and NPAR has clinical application value in the diagnosis of coronary heart disease complicated with diabetes mellitus.

紫杉醇联合阿帕替尼对比单药紫杉醇二线治疗胃癌的真实世界前瞻性研究

目的:观察紫杉醇联合阿帕替尼对比单药紫杉醇二线治疗胃癌的疗效及安全性.方法:选取2017年3月至2018年3月就诊于内蒙古医科大学赤峰临床医学院经一线(氟尿嘧啶类联合铂类)治疗后进展的HER-2阴性的晚期胃癌患者60例,分为单药组和联合组,每组30例.单药组给予单药紫杉醇化疗,联合组给予紫杉醇联合阿帕替尼治疗,观察的主要终点为两组患者的无进展生存期(progression-free survival,PFS),次要终点为疾病控制率(disease control rate,DCR)、客观缓解率(objective response rate,ORR)、安全性.结果:联合组患者的PFS优于单药组患者,两组相比差异有统计学意义(P<0.001).联合组DCR、ORR均高于单药组,但差异均无统计学意义(均P>0.05);联合组高血压发生率高于单药组(P<0.05),其余不良反应发生率差异均无统计学意义(均P>0.05).结论:紫杉醇联合甲磺酸阿帕替尼对比单药紫杉醇二线治疗胃癌,联合组PFS、DCR、ORR均优于单药组,虽然联合组DCR、ORR较单药组相比差异无统计学意义,但联合组组患者的PFS较单组延长,差异有统计学意义(P<0.05),且联合组不良反应可耐受,安全性良好.

枯草芽孢杆菌细菌素研究进展

枯草芽孢杆菌(Bacillus subtilis)是“Generally regarded as safe”(GRAS)级别益生菌种,在医药、食品、农业、畜牧业、水环境改善等方面用途很广。文章介绍了B.subtilis由核糖体合成的多肽(Bacteriocins,细菌素)的研究进展,包括其分类、结构特征、作用机理和抑菌谱,对基因组组成和Bacteriocins基因簇结构特征进行了简介,并对B.subtilis及其Bacteriocins的进一步开发利用进行了展望,为相关科研工作者提供参考依据。

Coupling ferromagnetic ordering electron transfer channels and surface reconstructed active species for spintronic electrocatalysis of water oxidation

Sluggish reaction kinetics of oxygen evolution reaction(OER), resulting from multistep proton-coupled electron transfer and spin constriction, limits overall efficiency for most reported catalysts. Herein, using modeled ZnFe_(2-x)Ni_xO_(4)(0 ≤ x ≤ 0.4) spinel oxides, we aim to develop better OER electrocatalyst through combining the construction of ferromagnetic(FM) ordering channels and generation of highly active reconstructed species. The number of symmetry-breaking Fe–O–Ni structure links to the formation of FM ordering electron transfer channels. Meanwhile, as the number of Ni^(3+)increases, more ligand holes are formed, beneficial for redirecting surface reconstruction. The electro-activated ZnFe_(1.6)Ni_(0.4)O_(4) shows the highest specific activity, which is 13 and 2.5 times higher than that of ZnFe_(2)O_(4) and unactivated ZnFe_(1.6)Ni_(0.4)O_(4), and even superior to the benchmark IrO_(2) under the overpotential of 350 mV. Applying external magnetic field can make electron spin more aligned, and the activity can be further improved to 39 times of ZnFe_(2)O_(4). We propose that intriguing FM exchange-field interaction at FM/paramagnetic interfaces can penetrate FM ordering channels into reconstructed oxyhydroxide layers, thereby activating oxyhydroxide layers as spin-filter to accelerate spin-selective electron transfer. This work provides a new guideline to develop highly efficient spintronic catalysts for water oxidation and other spin-forbidden reactions.

Reduced graphene oxide aerogel decorated with Mo_(2)C nanoparticles toward multifunctional properties of hydrophobicity,thermal insulation and microwave absorption

Reduced graphene oxide(rGO)aerogels are emerging as very attractive scaffolds for high-performance electromagnetic wave absorption materials(EWAMs)due to their intrinsic conductive networks and intricate interior microstructure,as well as good compatibility with other electromagnetic(EM)components.Herein,we realized the decoration of rGO aerogel with Mo_(2)C nanoparticles by sequential hydrothermal assembly,freeze-drying,and high-temperature pyrolysis.Results show that Mo_(2)C nanoparticle loading can be easily controlled by the ammonium molybdate to glucose molar ratio.The hydrophobicity and thermal insulation of the rGO aerogel are effectively improved upon the introduction of Mo_(2)C nanoparticles,and more importantly,these nanoparticles regulate the EM properties of the rGO aerogel to a large extent.Although more Mo_(2)C nanoparticles may decrease the overall attenuation ability of the rGO aerogel,they bring much better impedance matching.At a molar ratio of 1:1,a desirable balance between attenuation ability and impedance matching is observed.In this context,the Mo_(2)C/r GO aerogel displays strong reflection loss and broad response bandwidth,even with a small applied thickness(1.7 mm)and low filler loading(9.0wt%).The positive effects of Mo_(2)C nanoparticles on multifunctional properties may render Mo_(2)C/r GO aerogels promising candidates for high-performance EWAMs under harsh conditions.

A universal spray printing strategy to prepare gradient hybrid architectures

Functionally gradient materials(FGMs)have attracted tremendous attention due to their unique properties and structures.However,it is still a great challenge to prepare scalable FGMs by a universal,cost-effective,and highly efficient method.Here,a strategy of combining in situ concentration regulation and spraying is developed to fabricate continuously gradient composite films(GCFs),where the component gradient variation can be well controlled.This strategy is universal and versatile,which is beneficial to inducing different components into GCFs with gradient distributions and further constructing them with diverse configurations on various substrates.The gradient design endows the composite films with excellent mechanical strength and gradient electron transport pathways,which ensures that GCFs directly serve as the electrodes in electrochemical devices.As a proof of concept,free-standing GCFs based on V2O5 nanomaterials are used as cathodes of aqueous zinc-ion batteries.The resultant devices deliver superior electrochemical performances in comparison with the counterparts of homogeneous case.Therefore,this universal strategy provides a promising route in the scalable production of FGMs and further extends their applications in various fields.

OsADR3 increases drought stress tolerance by inducing antioxidant defense mechanisms and regulating OsGPX1 in rice(Oryza sativa L.)

The C (Cys) 2H (His) 2-type transcription factor is one of the most important transcription factors in plants and plays a regulatory role in the physiological responses of rice to abiotic stresses.A novel rice C2H2-type zinc finger protein,abscisic acid (ABA)-drought-reactive oxygen species (ROS) 3 (OsADR3),was found to confer drought stress tolerance by enhancing antioxidant defense and regulating Os GPX1.Overexpression of OsADR3 in rice increased tolerance to drought stress by increasing ROS scavenging ability and ABA sensitivity.In contrast,CRISPR/Cas9-mediated knockout of osadr3 increased the sensitivity of rice to drought and oxidative stress.An exogenous ROS-scavenging reagent restored the droughtstress tolerance of osadr3-CRISPR plants.Global transcriptome analysis suggested that OsADR3 increased the expression of Os GPX1 under drought stress.Electrophoretic mobility shift,yeast one-hybrid,and dualluciferase reporter assays revealed that OsADR3 modified the expression of Os GPX1 by directly binding to its promoter.Knockdown of Os GPX1 repressed ROS scavenging ability under drought stress in OsADR3-overexpression plants.These findings suggest that OsADR3 plays a positive regulatory role in droughtstress tolerance by inducing antioxidant defense and associated with the ABA signaling pathway in rice.

The prognostic value of programmed cell death ligand 1expression in non-Hodgkin lymphoma:a meta-analysis

Objective: Although the prognostic value of programmed cell death-ligand 1(PD-L1) expression in non-Hodgkin lymphoma(NHL) has been evaluated in many studies, the results remain controversial. To investigate the prognostic role of PD-L1 expression and the association between PD-L1 expression and clinicopathological features of NHL, we performed a meta-analysis.Methods: The Pub Med, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library databases were searched up to November 30, 2017. The hazard ratio(HR), 95% confidence interval(CI), and odds ratios(OR) with 95% CIs were combined to evaluate the association of PD-L1 expression with overall survival(OS) and clinicopathological features. Review manager 5.3 and STATA 12.0 were used in this meta-analysis.Results: A total of 2,005 patients across nine studies were enrolled in our meta-analysis, and the pooled results showed that high PD-L1 expression was associated with a poor prognosis(HR=2.04, 95% CI: 1.18–3.54, P=0.01). In the subgroup analysis according to histology types, pooled results demonstrated that an increased PD-L1 expression was an unfavorable prognostic factor for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma(HR=1.92, 95% CI: 1.06–3.48, P=0.03) but not for natural killer/T-cell lymphoma(HR=2.41, 95%CI: 0.47–12.22, P=0.29). Pooled ORs indicated that PD-L1 expression was higher in NHL with international prognostic indices of≥3. However, PD-L1 expression had no correlation with gender, age, disease stage, lactate dehydrogenase level, B symptoms, and germinal center B-cell-like lymphoma.Conclusions: High PD-L1 expression was a poor prognostic biomarker in patients with NHL. Because of our limited sample size,high-quality studies with larger sample sizes are needed to validate our results.

Seismic traveltime inversion of 3D velocity model with triangulated interfaces

Seismic traveltime tomographic inversion has played an important role in detecting the internal structure of the solid earth. We use a set of blocks to approximate geologically complex media that cannot be well described by layered models or cells. The geological body is described as an aggregate of arbitrarily shaped blocks,which are separated by triangulated interfaces. We can describe the media as homogenous or heterogeneous in each block. We define the velocities at the given rectangle grid points for each block,and the heterogeneous velocities in each block can be calculated by a linear interpolation algorithm. The parameters of the velocity grid positions are independent of the model parameterization,which is advantageous in the joint inversion of the velocities and the node depths of an interface. We implement a segmentally iterative ray tracer to calculate traveltimes in the 3D heterogeneous block models.The damped least squares method is employed in seismic traveltime inversion,which includes the partial derivatives of traveltime with respect to the depths of nodes in the triangulated interfaces and velocities defined in rectangular grids. The numerical tests indicate that the node depths of a triangulated interface and homogeneous velocity distributions can be well inverted in a stratified model.

Potential use of a dried saliva spot(DSS)in therapeutic drug monitoring and disease diagnosis

In recent years,scientific researchers have increasingly become interested in noninvasive sampling methods for therapeutic drug monitoring and disease diagnosis.As a result,dried saliva spot(DSS),which is a sampling technique for collecting dried saliva samples,has been widely used as an alternative matrix to serum for the detection of target molecules.Coupling the DSS method with a highly sensitive detection instrument improves the efficiency of the preparation and analysis of biological samples.Furthermore,dried blood spots,dried plasma spots,and dried matrix spots,which are similar to those of the DSS method,are discussed.Compared with alternative biological fluids used in dried spot methods,including serum,tears,urine,and plasma,saliva has the advantage of convenience in terms of sample collection from children or persons with disabilities.This review aims to provide integral strategies and guidelines for dried spot methods to analyze biological samples by illustrating several dried spot methods.Herein,we summarize recent advancements in DSS methods from June 2014 to March 2021 and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the key aspects of this method,including sample preparation and method validation.Finally,we outline the challenges and prospects of such methods in practical applications.

Ray tracing of turning wave in elliptically anisotropic media with an irregular surface

Seismic ray tracing in anisotropic media with irregular surface is crucial for the exploration of the fine crustal structure. Elliptically anisotropic medium is the type of anisotropic media with only four independent elastic parameters. Usually, this medium can be described by only the vertical phase velocity and the horizontal phase velocity for seismic wave propagation. Model parameteri- zation in this study is described by flexible triangular grids, which is beneficial for the description of irregular surface with high degree of approximation. Both the vertical and horizontal phase velocities are defined in the triangular grids, respectively, which are used for the description of phase velocity distribution everywhere in the model by linear interpolation. We develop a shooting ray tracing method of turning wave in the elliptically anisotropic media with irregular surface. Runge-Kutta method is applied to solve the partial differential equation of seismic ray in elliptically anisotropic media. Linearly modified method is used for adjusting emergent phase angles in the shooting scheme. Numerical tests demonstrate that ray paths coincide well with analytical trajectories in trans- versely homogeneous elliptically anisotropic media. Seis- mic ray tracing results in transversely inhomogeneous elliptically anisotropic media demonstrate that our method is effective for further first-arrival tomography in ellipti- cally anisotropic media with an irregular surface.

Comprehensive utilization of corn starch processing by-products:A review

Corn is a high starchy cereal crop with the highest production and provides over 85%of the starch produced worldwide.Various by-products,differentiated by technological process features such as steep liquor,corn germ,corn bran,gluten,are created largely during corn starch processing.They are inexpensive,nutrient-rich,and vary widely in chemical composition such as proteins,oils,carbohydrates,and minerals.In an increasingly resource-constrained modern world,the utilization approach of these by-products for non-starch industrial processing is attractive widely considering both nutritive value and economic aspects.In fact,at present,applications of these by-products can often be found in feed,fermentation,nutrient extraction and other industries.For example,protein-rich corn gluten can be used as a good animal feed,and corn germ can be used as a raw material for the high-quality edible oil industry.Undoubtedly,increasing utilization means that these by-products will no longer be treated as waste but will be transformed into high value-added products.In this work,the separation process and chemical composition of several main by-products of the corn starch industry is briefly described,and the application in many industrial fields of these by-products over the last ten years are discussed in particular.This review attempts to summarize all aspects of the application and research of these by-products.For the by-products of the corn starch industry,the most promising way is to be utilized in high value and used to produce high value-added products.According to the characteristics of their chemical composition,they have a better application prospect and research significance in the industries directly related to human beings,such as medicine,green food and health care products.In fact,in recent years,some researchers have recognized this and carried out the research.It is clear fromthese studies that the main issues to be faced nowand in the future are how to produce efficiently while maintaining the quality of the product and using it effectively.The retrospective discussions also provide some ideas for other grain and oilseed crops to be fully utilized.

Identification of a chitinase from the hepatopancreas of Chinese black sleeper(Bostrychus sinensis)

Chinese black sleeper(Bostrychus sinensis)is a fish that lives both in seawater and freshwater,feeds on crustaceans,aquatic insects and occasionally shellfish.The existence of digestive enzyme in viscera to act on chitinous exoskeleton of the prey is of interest.In this study,a chitinase was purified to homogeneity using ammonium sulfate precipitation,DEAE-Sephacel ion exchange,Sephacryl S-200 HR and Superdex 200 gel filtration columns.The purified protein presents a molecular mass of 58 kDa as determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis(SDS-PAGE)and results in a single band on native PAGE.According to peptide mass fingerprinting,two peptides containing a total of 20 amino acid residues,were 95%identical to a chitinase from yellow perch(Perca flavescens)and 100%identical to the chitinase from greater amberjack(Seriola dumerili).The purified chitinase showed optimum activity at pH 6.0,and was stable at acidic conditions and temperature below 55℃.The enzymatic activity was quite stable in the presence of NaCl,even at 1 mol/L.The chitinase was capable of degrading chitosan into low molecular mass chitooligosaccharides(COS)with sizes in a range of 200-700 Da,and the circular dichroism profile of the COS greatly differed from native chitosan.Full-length cDNA encoding the present chitinase was cloned and the transcript levels of chitinase in various tissues were determined by quantitative real-time PCR.The results showed that the transcript level of chitinase was highest in esophagus and hepatopancreas.

Scaling Behavior between Heat Capacity and Thermal Expansion in Solids

We experimentally analyze the heat capacity and thermal expansion of reference solids in a wide temperature range from several Kelvin to melting temperature,and establish a universal double-linear relation between the experimental heat capacity C_(p) and thermal expansion β,which is different from the previous models.The universal behavior between heat capacity and thermal expansion is important to predict the thermodynamic parameters at constant pressure,and is helpful for understanding the nature of thermal properties in solids.

Multiple phases analysis of deep seismic sounding records in North China Craton

The North China Craton(NCC)is a key region to study the destruction of the ancient craton.Two groups of phases(denoted as"Pw1"and"Pw2"),which are parallel to the PmP phase reflected from the Moho discontinuity and the PLP phase reflected from the Lithosphere and Asthenosphere Boundary(LAB)respectively,are found on the record section of the Rongcheng-XinzhouAlxa long-range deep seismic sounding profile.The nature of the two phases is still unclear,although they are clearly observable and reverberant.In this paper,we use travel time inversion and amplitude forward modelling to fit the reflected and refracted phases in the lithosphere.The results show:(1)the Pw1 is a multiple reflected phase which is successively reflected by the crystalline basement,the surface,the Moho and then finally received on the surface;(2)the Pw2 phase is also a multiple reflected phase successively reflected by the crystalline basement,the surface,the LAB interface and then received on the surface.We conclude that the significant velocity difference between the thick sedimentary cover and the crystalline basement in the North China rifted basin may be the main reason for generating the multiple reflections.Furthermore,the two multiple reflections provide potent constraints on the lithospheric velocity model,and constitute seismological evidence for the lithospheric thinning in the eastern NCC.

Circulating tumor cells in lung cancer:Detection methods and clinical impact

Circulating tumor cells(CTCs) are tumor cells that enter the blood circulation after detaching from the primary tumor and can migrate to reach distant organs, where they can give rise to aggressive metastasis. Clinical studies have revealed that the presence of CTCs in peripheral blood is correlated with disease progression in lung cancer. However, as CTCs are rare cancer cells released from tumors into the bloodstream, both enrichment and sensitive detection methods are technically challenging. In order to best understand how CTCs are currently being deployed, this review mainly focuses on the different detection methods for CTCs. Furthermore, we will describe the clinical impact of circulating tumor cells in lung cancer and discuss their potential use as biomarker to guide the prognosis.