Tin-graphene tubes as anodes for lithium-ion batteries with high volumetric and gravimetric energy densities.

Limited by the size of microelectronics, as well as the space of electrical vehicles, there are tremendous demands for lithium-ion batteries with high volumetric energy densities. Current lithium-ion batteries, however, adopt graphite-based anodes with low tap density and gravimetric capacity, resulting in poor volumetric performance metric. Here, by encapsulating nanoparticles of metallic tin in mechanically robust graphene tubes, we show tin anodes with high volumetric and gravimetric capacities, high rate performance, and long cycling life. Pairing with a commercial cathode material LiNi0.6Mn0.2Co0.2O2, full cells exhibit a gravimetric and volumetric energy density of 590 W h Kg-1 and 1,252 W h L-1, respectively, the latter of which doubles that of the cell based on graphite anodes. This work provides an effective route towards lithium-ion batteries with high energy density for a broad range of applications

High-quality mesoporous graphene particles as high-energy and fast-charging anodes for lithium-ion batteries.

The application of graphene for electrochemical energy storage has received tremendous attention; however, challenges remain in synthesis and other aspects. Here we report the synthesis of high-quality, nitrogen-doped, mesoporous graphene particles through chemical vapor deposition with magnesium-oxide particles as the catalyst and template. Such particles possess excellent structural and electrochemical stability, electronic and ionic conductivity, enabling their use as high-performance anodes with high reversible capacity, outstanding rate performance (e.g., 1,138 mA h g-1 at 0.2 C or 440 mA h g-1 at 60 C with a mass loading of 1 mg cm-2), and excellent cycling stability (e.g., >99% capacity retention for 500 cycles at 2 C with a mass loading of 1 mg cm-2). Interestingly, thick electrodes could be fabricated with high areal capacity and current density (e.g., 6.1 mA h cm-2 at 0.9 mA cm-2), providing an intriguing class of materials for lithium-ion batteries with high energy and power performance

The art of defense: letting networks fool the attacker

Some deep neural networks are invariant to some input transformations, such as Pointnet is permutation invariant to the input point cloud. In this paper, we demonstrated this property could be powerful in defense of gradient-based attacks. Specifically, we apply random input transformation which is invariant to the networks we want to defend. Extensive experiments demonstrate that the proposed scheme defeats various gradient-based attackers in the targeted attack setting, and breaking the attack accuracy into nearly zero. Our code is available at: {\footnotesize{\url{https://github.com/cuge1995/IT-Defense}}}

Effect of high salinity on cell growth and protein production of Antarctic ice microalgae Chlamydomonas sp. ICE-L

Antarctic ice microalgae Chlamydomonas sp. ICE-L can survive and thrive in Antarctic sea ice. In this study, Chlamydomonas sp. ICE-L could survive at the salinity of 132% NaCl. SDS-PAGE showed that the density of 2 bands (26 and 36 kD) decreased obviously at the salinity of 99% NaCl compared to at the salinity of 33% NaCl. The soluble proteins in Chlamydomonas sp. ICE-L grown under salinity of 33% and 99% NaCl were compared by 2-D gel electro-phoresis. After shocking with high salinity, 8 protein spots were found to disappear, and the density of 28 protein spots decreased. In addition, 19 protein spots were enhanced or induced, including one new peptide(51kD).The changes of proteins might be correlated with the resistance for Chlamydomonas sp. ICE-L to high salinity

Pollutant diffusion in multiple-face tunnel construction: theoretical analysis and numerical validation

As the length of the tunnel continues to increase, it will be common for a single fan to undertake the ventilation of two or more tunnel faces. However, the construction of multiple faces in a single tunnel will lead to a complex construction environment in the tunnel, the mutual interference of ventilation, and difficulty in discharging pollutants. Based on the simultaneous construction of multiple tunnel faces in a single tunnel, this study analyzed the transport law of pollutants. The diffusion laws of carbon monoxide and dust in multiple-face tunnels under different working conditions were obtained by numerical simulation. It was found that when both sides of the tunnel are ventilated at the same time, the airflow in the tunnel is spiral, the vortex zone will appear near both sides of the face, and the vortex and unstable airflow will appear at the intersection with the inclined shaft. The airflow in the non-equal-length tunnel at both sides is more disordered than that in the equal-length tunnel, and there will be a wider range of eddy currents at the intersection. The change of dust diffusion in the non-equal-length tunnel at both sides is not obvious, and the length of the multiple-face tunnel has little effect on dust settlement and diffusion. The research results are of great significance for improving the construction environment of tunnel faces and improving the working conditions of personnel

Pharmacological profile of Xanthohumol, a Prenylated Flavonoid from Hops (Humulus lupulus)

The female inflorescences of hops (Humulus lupulus L.), a well-known bittering agent used in the brewing industry, have long been used in traditional medicines. Xanthohumol (XN) is one of the bioactive substances contributing to its medical applications. Among foodstuffs XN is found primarily in beer and its natural occurrence is surveyed. In recent years, XN has received much attention for its biological effects. The present review describes the pharmacological aspects of XN and summarizes the most interesting findings obtained in the preclinical research related to this compound, including the pharmacological activity, the pharmacokinetics, and the safety of XN. Furthermore, the potential use of XN as a food additive considering its many positive biological effects is discussed

Role of T2 mapping of magnetic resonance imaging in the differentiation of endometrial cancer and benign endometrial lesions

PURPOSEThe T2 mapping of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in endometrial cancer (EC), benign endometrial lesions (BELs), and normal endometrium (NE) has rarely been reported. This study aimed to determine the T2 values of MRI in EC, BELs, and NE to investigate whether the T2 values can differentiate them and to assess the aggressiveness of EC.METHODSIn total, 73 patients [EC, 51 (age, 57.4 ± 5.4 years); BELs, 22 (age, 57.8 ± 11.8 years)] and 23 normal volunteers (age, 56.1 ± 6.6 years) were included. The T2 values of MRI of the EC (type I and II), BEL, and NE groups were described and compared. The relationships between the T2 values of MRI in EC and the pathological characteristics [International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage and grade] were analyzed.RESULTSThe median T2 values of NE, BEL, and EC were 197.5 (142.9–324.0) ms, 131.1 (103.2–247.9) ms, and 103.0 (71.6–243.5) ms (P < 0.001), respectively. The median T2 values of type I and type II EC were 100.8 (71.62–130.44) ms and 125.7 (119.7–243.5) ms, respectively. There were significant differences in the T2 values among the NE, BEL, type I EC, and type II EC groups (P < 0.001) except for between the type II EC and BEL groups (P = 0.938). The T2 value of MRI in type I EC was significantly lower than that in type II EC (P = 0.001). There were no significant differences in patients with type I EC having different FIGO stages (P = 0.273) or tumor grades (P = 0.686).CONCLUSIONT2 mapping of MRI has the potential to quantitatively differentiate between EC, BELs, and NE as well as between type I and type II EC

Causal association of NAFLD with osteoporosis, fracture and falling risk: a bidirectional Mendelian randomization study

IntroductionThe causal association between non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and osteoporosis remains controversial in previous epidemiological studies. We employed a bidirectional two-sample Mendelian analysis to explore the causal relationship between NAFLD and osteoporosis.MethodThe NAFLD instrumental variables (IVs) were obtained from a large Genome-wide association study (GWAS) meta-analysis dataset of European descent. Two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analyses were used to estimate the causal effect of NAFLD on osteoporosis, fracture, and fall. Reverse Mendelian randomization analysis was conducted to estimate the causal effect of osteoporosis on NAFLD. The inverse-variance weighted (IVW) method was the primary analysis in this analysis. We used the MR-Egger method to determine horizontal pleiotropic. The heterogeneity effect of IVs was detected by MR-Egger and IVW analyses.ResultsFive SNPs (rs2980854, rs429358, rs1040196, rs738409, and rs5764430) were chosen as IVs for NAFLD. In forward MR analysis, the IVW-random effect indicated the causal effect of NAFLD on osteoporosis (OR= 1.0021, 95% CI: 1.0006-1.0037, P= 0.007) but not on fracture (OR= 1.0016, 95% CI: 0.998-1.0053, P= 0.389) and fall (OR= 0.9912, 95% CI: 0.9412-1.0440, P= 0.740). Furthermore, the reverse Mendelian randomization did not support a causal effect of osteoporosis on NAFLD (OR= 1.0002, 95% CI: 0.9997-1.0007, P= 0.231). No horizontal pleiotropic was detected in all MR analyses.ConclusionsThe results of this study indicate a causal association between NAFLD and osteoporosis. NAFLD patients have a higher risk of osteoporosis but not fracture and falling risk. In addition, our results do not support a causal effect of osteoporosis on NAFLD