Nitrogen-doped graphene-TiO N nanocomposite electrode for highly efficient capacitive deionization.

In this work, the first-ever reported nanocomposite electrode of nitrogen-doped graphene-titanium oxynitride (NG-TiO N ) for capacitive deionization (CDI) was synthesized hydrothermal reaction and a high-temperature nitridation process. The physiochemical characterizations revealed that the nitrogen was doped in the graphene structure mainly in the form of graphitic nitrogen and the TiO N was successfully formed TiO nitridation process. The layered NG nanosheets facilitated the diffusion of ions in saline water and formed electrical double layer on the surface of the electrode material, while the presence of TiO N enhanced the electrochemical performance by increasing surface area and generating surface vacancies nitridation.

Evaluation of parametrial infiltration in cervical cancer with voxel-based segmentation of integrated F-FDG PET/MRI images: A preliminary study.

Purpose: To identify parametrial infiltration (PMI) in cervical cancer with voxel-based segmentation of integrated PET/MRI images.

Method: This retrospective study enrolled 79 cervical cancer patients confirmed by pathology (FIGO stage IB to IIB) who underwent F-FDG PET/MRI prior to surgery. Region of interest (ROI) at the largest tumor level was delineated on the T2W-MR image, and the ROI was applied to PET image of the corresponding layer.

Imaging Characteristics of USPIO Nanoparticles (<5 nm) as MR Contrast Agent and in the Liver of Rats.

Iron nanoparticles have an increasingly more and more important role in MR molecular imaging due to their novel magnetic and surface chemical properties. They provide new possibilities for noninvasive diagnosis and treatment monitoring, especially for tissues that are rich in macrophages. The smaller size and prolongation of the plasma half-life change the fate of ultrasmall superparamagnetic iron oxide (USPIO) nanoparticles captured by liver in reticuloendothelial system (RES) or mononuclear phagocytic system (MPS).

Boron Nitride Membranes with a Distinct Nanoconfinement Effect for Efficient Ethylene/Ethane Separation.

A BN membrane with a distinct nanoconfinement effect toward efficient ethylene/ethane separation is presented. The horizontal and inclined self-assembly of 2D BN nanosheets endow the BN membrane with abundant percolating nanochannels, and these nanochannels are further decorated by reactive ionic liquids (RILs) to tailor their sizes as well as to achieve nanoconfinement effect. The noncovalent interactions between RIL and BN nanosheets favor the ordered alignment of the cations and anions of RIL within BN nanochannels, which contributes to a fast and selective ethylene transport.

Development and study of a bi-specific magnetic resonance imaging molecular probe for hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) ranks second in terms of cancer mortality worldwide. Molecular magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) targeting HCC biomarkers such as alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) or glypican-3 (GPC3) offers new strategies to enhance specificity and help early diagnosis of HCC. However, the existing iron oxide nanoparticle-based MR molecular probes singly target AFP or GPC3, which may hinder their efficiency to detect heterogeneous micro malignant HCC tumors < 1 cm (MHCC).

Acute renal impairment characterization using diffusion magnetic resonance imaging: Validation by histology.

Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging has been demonstrated to be a simple, noninvasive and accurate method for the detection of renal microstructure and microcirculation, which are closely linked to renal function. Moreover, serum endothelin-1 (ET-1) was also reported as a good indicator of early renal injury. The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and capability of diffusion MRI and ET-1 to detect acute kidney injury by an operation simulating high-pressure renal pelvic perfusion, which is commonly used during ureteroscopic lithotripsy.

Detection and genomic characterization of Bovine papillomavirus isolated from Chinese native cattle.

Bovine papillomaviruses (BPV) are small circular DNA viruses which can be widely spread in herd, inducing cattle tumours, therefore, leading economic losses in dairy and beef production industries. BPV-leads symptoms include cutaneous papillomas, fibropapillomas, urinary bladder and oesophageal carcinoma. As one of the most important producers of beef in the world, China has not provided systematic research to prevent the harm of BPV, particularly in papillomavirus molecular characterization which presents among Chinese native cattle which was known to have higher disease resistance.

Progression of the role of CRYAB in signaling pathways and cancers.

CRYAB is a member of the small heat shock protein family, first discovered in the lens of the eye, and involved in various diseases, such as eye and heart diseases and even cancers, for example, breast cancer, lung cancer, prostate cancer, and ovarian cancer. In addition, CRYAB proteins are involved in a variety of signaling pathways including apoptosis, inflammation, and oxidative stress. This review summarizes the recent progress concerning the role of CRYAB in signaling pathways and diseases.

A Single-Atom Iridium Heterogeneous Catalyst in Oxygen Reduction Reaction.

Combining the advantages of homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts, single-atom catalysts (SACs) are bringing new opportunities to revolutionize ORR catalysis in terms of cost, activity and durability. However, the lack of high-performance SACs as well as the fundamental understanding of their unique catalytic mechanisms call for serious advances in this field. Herein, for the first time, we develop an Ir-N-C single-atom catalyst (Ir-SAC) which mimics homogeneous iridium porphyrins for high-efficiency ORR catalysis.

Phase evolution of conversion-type electrode for lithium ion batteries.

Batteries with conversion-type electrodes exhibit higher energy storage density but suffer much severer capacity fading than those with the intercalation-type electrodes. The capacity fading has been considered as the result of contact failure between the active material and the current collector, or the breakdown of solid electrolyte interphase layer. Here, using a combination of synchrotron X-ray absorption spectroscopy and in situ transmission electron microscopy, we investigate the capacity fading issue of conversion-type materials by studying phase evolution of iron oxide composited structure during later-stage cycles, which is found completely different from its initial lithiation.

Distribution of octenylsuccinate substituents within a single granule of modified waxy maize starch determined by Raman microspectroscopy.

Octenylsuccinic anhydride (OSA)-modified starches were prepared in granular form from waxy maize starch at two levels (3% and 9%, based on the weight of starch) of OSA reagent. The distribution of OS groups at five positions within a single starch granule was determined by Raman microspectroscopy. OSA-modified starch had one additional peak at 1670 cm, indicative of the carbonyl group in OS group bound to starch molecules.

In Situ Engineering of Intracellular Hemoglobin for Implantable High-Performance Biofuel Cells.

The key challenge for the broad application of implantable biofuel cells (BFCs) is to achieve inorganic-organic composite biocompatibility while improving the activity and selectivity of the catalysts. We have fabricated nanoengineered red blood cells (NERBCs) by an environmentally friendly method by using red blood cells as the raw material and hemoglobin (Hb) embedded with ultrasmall hydroxyapatite (HAP, Ca (PO ) (OH) ) as the functional BFC cathode material. The NERBCs showed greatly enhanced cell performance with high electrocatalytic activity, stability, and selectivity.

Diffusion-weighted imaging as a part of PET/MR for small lesion detection in patients with primary abdominal and pelvic cancer, with or without TOF reconstruction technique.

Objectives: To investigate the value of diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) in detection of small lesions (≤ 10 mm) in patients with primary abdominal and pelvic cancer in hybrid PET/MR with or without time-of-flight (TOF) technique.

Materials And Methods: Twenty patients (11 females and 9 males, mean age 67.23 ± 12.

A Water-Area Recognition Approach Based on "Tuned" Texture Mask and Cuckoo Search Algorithm.

Texture feature extraction is a key topic in many applications of image analysis; a lot of techniques have been proposed to measure the characteristics of this field. Among them, texture energy extracted with a mask is a rotation and scale invariant texture descriptor. However, the tuning process is computationally intensive and easily trap into the local optimum.

High Pressure Structural and Optical Properties of Two-Dimensional Hybrid Halide Perovskite (CHNH)BiBr.

Two-dimensional (2D) hybrid halide perovskite is emerging as the next generation of photoelectronic materials. Herein, a typical 2D halide perovskite of MABiBr (MA = CHNH) is chosen for high pressure research to explore the distinct structural and property characteristics of the inorganic and organic compositions therein. Upon compression above 4.

An Oxygen-Vacancy-Rich Semiconductor-Supported Bifunctional Catalyst for Efficient and Stable Zinc-Air Batteries.

The highly oxidative operating conditions of rechargeable zinc-air batteries causes significant carbon-support corrosion of bifunctional oxygen electrocatalysts. Here, a new strategy for the catalyst support design focusing on oxygen vacancy (OV)-rich, low-bandgap semiconductor is proposed. The OVs promote the electrical conductivity of the oxide support, and at the same time offer a strong metal-support interaction (SMSI), which enables the catalysts to have small metal size, high catalytic activity, and high stability.

Recent Progress in Electrically Rechargeable Zinc-Air Batteries.

Over the past decade, the surging interest for higher-energy-density, cheaper, and safer battery technology has spurred tremendous research efforts in the development of improved rechargeable zinc-air batteries. Current zinc-air batteries suffer from poor energy efficiency and cycle life, owing mainly to the poor rechargeability of zinc and air electrodes. To achieve high utilization and cyclability in the zinc anode, construction of conductive porous framework through elegant optimization strategies and adaptation of alternate active material are employed.

The Absence and Importance of Operando Techniques for Metal-Free Catalysts.

Operando characterization techniques have played a crucial role in modern technological developments. In contrast to the experimental uncertainties introduced by ex situ techniques, the simultaneous measurement of desired sample characteristics and near-realistic electrochemical testing provides a representative picture of the underlying physics. From Li-ion batteries to metal-based electrocatalysts, the insights offered by real-time characterization data have enabled more efficient research programs.

Correlation between tumor glucose metabolism and multiparametric functional MRI (IVIM and R2*) metrics in cervical carcinoma: Evidence from integrated F-FDG PET/MR.

Background: Multiparameter, multimodality F-FDG PET/MRI holds great potential for the diagnosis of cervical cancer based on the correlation between tumor glucose metabolism and imaging parameters.

Purpose: To characterize the heterogeneity of tumor glucose metabolism by evaluating the correlation between F-FDG uptake parameters and multiparametric functional MRI metrics in cervical carcinoma.

Study Type: Retrospective.

A Lithium-Sulfur Battery using a 2D Current Collector Architecture with a Large-Sized Sulfur Host Operated under High Areal Loading and Low E/S Ratio.

While backless freestanding 3D electrode architectures for batteries with high loading sulfur have flourished in the recent years, the more traditional and industrially turnkey 2D architecture has not received the same amount of attention. This work reports a spray-dried sulfur composite with large intrinsic internal pores, ensuring adequate local electrolyte availability. This material offers good performance with a electrolyte content of 7 µL mg at high areal loadings (5-8 mg cm ), while also offering the first reported 2.

Li S- or S-Based Lithium-Ion Batteries.

While members of the Li-S battery research community are becoming more conscious of the practical testing parameters, the widespread commercialization of S-based batteries is still far from realization. Particularly, the metallic Li used as the anode poses potential safety and cycle stability concerns. Alternatively, other S-battery configurations without a Li anode, i.

30 Years of Lithium-Ion Batteries.

Over the past 30 years, significant commercial and academic progress has been made on Li-based battery technologies. From the early Li-metal anode iterations to the current commercial Li-ion batteries (LIBs), the story of the Li-based battery is full of breakthroughs and back tracing steps. This review will discuss the main roles of material science in the development of LIBs.