Lithium-Metal Free Sulfur Battery Based on Waste Biomass Anode and Nano-Sized Li2S Cathode

The realization of a stable lithium-metal free (LiMF) sulfur battery based on amorphous carbon anode and lithium sulfide (Li2S) cathode is here reported. In particular, a biomass waste originating full-cell combining a carbonized brewer's spent grain (CBSG) biochar anode with a Li2S-graphene composite cathode (Li2S70Gr30) is proposed. This design is particularly attractive for applying a cost-effective, high performance, environment friendly, and safe anode material, as an alternative to standard graphite and metallic lithium in emerging battery technologies. The anodic and cathodic materials are characterized in terms of structure, morphology and composition through X-ray diffraction, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron and Raman spectroscopies. Furthermore, an electrochemical characterization comprising galvanostatic cycling, rate capability and cyclic voltammetry tests were carried out both in half-cell and full-cell configurations. The systematic investigation reveals that unlike graphite, the biochar electrode displays good compatibility with the electrolyte typically employed in sulfur batteries. The CBSG/Li2S70Gr30 full-cell demonstrates an initial charge and discharge capacities of 726 and 537 mAh g−1, respectively, at 0.05C with a coulombic efficiency of 74%. Moreover, it discloses a reversible capacity of 330 mAh g−1 (0.1C) after over 300 cycles. Based on these achievements, the CBSG/Li2S70Gr30 battery system can be considered as a promising energy storage solution for electric vehicles (EVs), especially when taking into account its easy scalability to an industrial level. © 2022 The Authors. Energy & Environmental Materials published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Zhengzhou University

Comparing the performance of FA, DFA and DMA using different synthetic long-range correlated time series

Notwithstanding the significant efforts to develop estimators of long-range correlations (LRC) and to compare their performance, no clear consensus exists on what is the best method and under which conditions. In addition, synthetic tests suggest that the performance of LRC estimators varies when using different generators of LRC time series. Here, we compare the performances of four estimators [Fluctuation Analysis (FA), Detrended Fluctuation Analysis (DFA), Backward Detrending Moving Average (BDMA), and centred Detrending Moving Average (CDMA)]. We use three different generators [Fractional Gaussian Noises, and two ways of generating Fractional Brownian Motions]. We find that CDMA has the best performance and DFA is only slightly worse in some situations, while FA performs the worst. In addition, CDMA and DFA are less sensitive to the scaling range than FA. Hence, CDMA and DFA remain "The Methods of Choice" in determining the Hurst index of time series.Comment: 6 pages (including 3 figures) + 3 supplementary figure

Genes optimized by evolution for accurate and fast translation encode in Archaea and Bacteria a broad and characteristic spectrum of protein functions

BACKGROUND: In many microbial genomes, a strong preference for a small number of codons can be observed in genes whose products are needed by the cell in large quantities. This codon usage bias (CUB) improves translational accuracy and speed and is one of several factors optimizing cell growth. Whereas CUB and the overrepresentation of individual proteins have been studied in detail, it is still unclear which high-level metabolic categories are subject to translational optimization in different habitats. RESULTS: In a systematic study of 388 microbial species, we have identified for each genome a specific subset of genes characterized by a marked CUB, which we named the effectome. As expected, gene products related to protein synthesis are abundant in both archaeal and bacterial effectomes. In addition, enzymes contributing to energy production and gene products involved in protein folding and stabilization are overrepresented. The comparison of genomes from eleven habitats shows that the environment has only a minor effect on the composition of the effectomes. As a paradigmatic example, we detailed the effectome content of 37 bacterial genomes that are most likely exposed to strongest selective pressure towards translational optimization. These effectomes accommodate a broad range of protein functions like enzymes related to glycolysis/gluconeogenesis and the TCA cycle, ATP synthases, aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases, chaperones, proteases that degrade misfolded proteins, protectants against oxidative damage, as well as cold shock and outer membrane proteins. CONCLUSIONS: We made clear that effectomes consist of specific subsets of the proteome being involved in several cellular functions. As expected, some functions are related to cell growth and affect speed and quality of protein synthesis. Additionally, the effectomes contain enzymes of central metabolic pathways and cellular functions sustaining microbial life under stress situations. These findings indicate that cell growth is an important but not the only factor modulating translational accuracy and speed by means of CUB

Modeling and simulation in tribology across scales: An overview

This review summarizes recent advances in the area of tribology based on the outcome of a Lorentz Center workshop surveying various physical, chemical and mechanical phenomena across scales. Among the main themes discussed were those of rough surface representations, the breakdown of continuum theories at the nano- and micro-scales, as well as multiscale and multiphysics aspects for analytical and computational models relevant to applications spanning a variety of sectors, from automotive to biotribology and nanotechnology. Significant effort is still required to account for complementary nonlinear effects of plasticity, adhesion, friction, wear, lubrication and surface chemistry in tribological models. For each topic, we propose some research directions

Quantum Gravity in 2+1 Dimensions: The Case of a Closed Universe

In three spacetime dimensions, general relativity drastically simplifies, becoming a ``topological'' theory with no propagating local degrees of freedom. Nevertheless, many of the difficult conceptual problems of quantizing gravity are still present. In this review, I summarize the rather large body of work that has gone towards quantizing (2+1)-dimensional vacuum gravity in the setting of a spatially closed universe.Comment: 61 pages, draft of review for Living Reviews; comments, criticisms, additions, missing references welcome; v2: minor changes, added reference

Thirty-five year mortality following receipt of SV40- contaminated polio vaccine during the neonatal period

Early poliovirus vaccines, both inactivated and live attenuated, were inadvertently contaminated with simian virus 40 (SV40), a monkey virus known to be oncogenic for newborn hamsters. Although large epidemiologic studies have not identified an elevated cancer risk in persons who received SV40-contaminated vaccines, fragments of SV40 DNA have recently been identified in certain human tumours. We report the follow-up of a cohort of 1073 persons, unique because they received SV40-contaminated poliovirus vaccines as newborns in 1961–63. A previous report of the status of these subjects as of 1977–79 identified 15 deaths, none due to cancer. The present study utilized the National Death Index to identify deaths in the cohort for the years 1979–96. Expected deaths were calculated from Cleveland area sex-, age-, race- and year-specific mortality rates. Increased mortality from all causes was not found. 4 deaths from cancer were found compared to 3.16 expected (P= 0.77). However, 2 deaths from testicular cancer occurred, compared to 0.05 expected (P= 0.002), which may be a chance finding due to multiple comparisons. There were 2 deaths due to leukaemia, a non-significant finding, and no deaths due to tumours of the types putatively associated with SV40. Although these results are, for the most part, consistent with other negative epidemiologic investigations of risks from SV40-contaminated vaccines, further study of testicular cancer may be warranted, and it will be important to continue monitoring this cohort which is now reaching middle-age. © 2001 Cancer Research Campaig

Reaction rates and transport in neutron stars

Understanding signals from neutron stars requires knowledge about the transport inside the star. We review the transport properties and the underlying reaction rates of dense hadronic and quark matter in the crust and the core of neutron stars and point out open problems and future directions.Comment: 74 pages; commissioned for the book "Physics and Astrophysics of Neutron Stars", NewCompStar COST Action MP1304; version 3: minor changes, references updated, overview graphic added in the introduction, improvements in Sec IV.A.

Study of Bc+B_c^+ decays to the K+K−π+K^+K^-\pi^+ final state and evidence for the decay Bc+→χc0π+B_c^+\to\chi_{c0}\pi^+

A study of $B_c^+\to K^+K^-\pi^+$ decays is performed for the first time using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.0 $\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$ collected by the LHCb experiment in $pp$ collisions at centre-of-mass energies of $7$ and $8$ TeV. Evidence for the decay $B_c^+\to\chi_{c0}(\to K^+K^-)\pi^+$ is reported with a significance of 4.0 standard deviations, resulting in the measurement of $\frac{\sigma(B_c^+)}{\sigma(B^+)}\times\mathcal{B}(B_c^+\to\chi_{c0}\pi^+)$ to be $(9.8^{+3.4}_{-3.0}(\mathrm{stat})\pm 0.8(\mathrm{syst}))\times 10^{-6}$. Here $\mathcal{B}$ denotes a branching fraction while $\sigma(B_c^+)$ and $\sigma(B^+)$ are the production cross-sections for $B_c^+$ and $B^+$ mesons. An indication of $\bar b c$ weak annihilation is found for the region $m(K^-\pi^+)<1.834\mathrm{\,Ge\kern -0.1em V\!/}c^2$, with a significance of 2.4 standard deviations.Comment: All figures and tables, along with any supplementary material and additional information, are available at https://lhcbproject.web.cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/LHCbProjectPublic/LHCb-PAPER-2016-022.html, link to supplemental material inserted in the reference

Pleuro-pulmonary tumours detected by clinical and chest X-ray analyses in rats transplanted with mesothelioma cells

New strategies for cancer therapy must be developed, especially in severe neoplasms such as malignant pleural mesothelioma. Animal models of cancer, as close as possible to the human situation, are needed to investigate novel therapeutical approaches. Orthotopic transplantation of cancer cells is then relevant and efforts should be made to follow up tumour evolution in animals. In the present study, we developed a method for the orthotopic growth of mesothelioma cells in the pleural cavity of Fischer 344 and nude rats, along with a procedure for clinical survey. Two mesothelioma cell lines, of rat and human origin, were inoculated by transthoracic puncture. Body weight determination and chest X-ray analyses permitted the follow-up of tumour evolution by identifying different stages. Autopsies showed that tumours localized on the whole pleural cavity (diaphragm, parietal pleura), mediastinum and pericardium. Tumour morphology and antigenic characteristics were consistent with those of the inoculated cells and were similar in both types of rats inoculated with the same cell type. These results demonstrate that mesothelioma formation in rats can be followed up by clinical and radiographic survey after gentle intrathoracic inoculation of mesothelioma cells, thus allowing the definition of stages of interest for further experimental trials. © 1999 Cancer Research Campaig