Revisiting the Role of Conductivity and Polarity of Host Materials for Long‐Life Lithium–Sulfur Battery

Despite their high theoretical energy density and low cost, lithium–sulfur batteries (LSBs) suffer from poor cycle life and low energy efficiency owing to the polysulfides shuttle and the electronic insulating nature of sulfur. Conductivity and polarity are two critical parameters for the search of optimal sulfur host materials. However, their role in immobilizing polysulfides and enhancing redox kinetics for long‐life LSBs are not fully understood. This work has conducted an evaluation on the role of polarity over conductivity by using a polar but nonconductive platelet ordered mesoporous silica (pOMS) and its replica platelet ordered mesoporous carbon (pOMC), which is conductive but nonpolar. It is found that the polar pOMS/S cathode with a sulfur mass fraction of 80 wt% demonstrates outstanding long‐term cycle stability for 2000 cycles even at a high current density of 2C. Furthermore, the pOMS/S cathode with a high sulfur loading of 6.5 mg cm^?2 illustrates high areal and volumetric capacities with high capacity retention. Complementary physical and electrochemical probes clearly show that surface polarity and structure are more dominant factors for sulfur utilization efficiency and long‐life, while the conductivity can be compensated by the conductive agent involved as a required electrode material during electrode preparation. The present findings shed new light on the design principles of sulfur hosts towards long‐life and highly efficient LSBs.     

Optimized Catalytic WS2–WO3 Heterostructure Design for Accelerated Polysulfide Conversion in Lithium–Sulfur Batteries

The lithium–sulfur (Li–S) battery is a next generation high energy density battery, but its practical application is hindered by the poor cycling stability derived from the severe shuttling of lithium polysulfides (LiPSs). Catalysis is a promising way to solve this problem, but the rational design of relevant catalysts is still hard to achieve. This paper reports the WS₂–WO₃ heterostructures prepared by in situ sulfurization of WO₃, and by controlling the sulfurization degree, the structure is controlled, which balances the trapping ability (by WO₃) and catalytic activity (by WS₂) toward LiPSs. As a result, the WS₂–WO₃ heterostructures effectively accelerate LiPS conversion and improve sulfur utilization. The Li–S battery with 5 wt% WS₂–WO₃ heterostructures as additives in the cathode shows an excellent rate performance and good cycling stability, revealing a 0.06% capacity decay each cycle over 500 cycles at 0.5 C. By building an interlayer with such heterostructure‐added graphenes, the battery with a high sulfur loading of 5 mg cm^?2 still shows a high capacity retention of 86.1% after 300 cycles at 0.5 C. This work provides a rational way to prepare the metal oxide–sulfide heterostructures with an optimized structure to enhance the performance of Li–S batteries.     

孑遗濒危植物矮扁桃叶绿体全基因组特征分析及亲缘关系鉴定

对第三纪孑遗濒危植物矮扁桃（Amygdalus nana）叶绿体全基因组进行结构特征分析,并探究其与近缘物种之间的系统进化关系。利用Illumina HiSeq Xten测序技术获取叶绿体全基因组序列,对其进行组装、注释和特征分析。结果表明：①矮扁桃叶绿体全基因组总长度为158 596 bp,其中LSC长度为86 771 bp,SSC长度为19 037 bp,2个IRs均为26 394 bp,为环状四分体结构。共注释130个基因,包括85个PCGs、37个tRNA和8个rRNA。②对6种植物进行IR边界区扩张和收缩分析,发现在4个边界区的基因类型和基因分布情况存在一定差异,并且亲缘关系越紧密差异程度越小。③在矮扁桃叶绿体全基因组中共预测了71个SSRs位点。④系统发育分析结果显示,在扁桃亚属中,矮扁桃在亲缘关系上与蒙古扁桃更近,而与长柄扁桃和榆叶梅的亲缘关系稍远。本研究对矮扁桃叶绿体全基因组进行了深度剖析,并且涉及大量被子植物的叶绿体全基因组资料,为桃属植物之间的进化关系和植物鉴定提供参考依据。     

乳腺癌患者改良根治术后生活质量调查及复发转移的影响因素分析

目的:调查乳腺癌患者改良根治术后生活质量,并对其复发转移的影响因素进行分析。方法:选取2012年6月～2014年6月期间于我院行改良根治术的乳腺癌患者197例,于术后3个月、术后6个月、术后12个月采用乳腺癌患者生命质量测定量表(FACT-B)评价患者生活质量。采用我院自制的调查问卷统计患者基本治疗情况,分析乳腺癌改良根治术后复发转移的影响因素。结果:本研究中,共发放197份问卷调查,回收195份,回收率为98.98%(195/197)。其中195例患者中有73例发生复发转移(复发转移组),122例未发生复发转移(未复发转移组)。195例乳腺癌患者术后3个月、术后6个月、术后12个月社会/家庭状况、生理状况、功能状况、情感状况、附加关注条目、总体生活质量等项目评分呈递增趋势(P0.05)。多因素Logistic回归分析显示,病理类型为浸润性非特殊性癌、肿瘤大小≥2 cm、临床分期为Ⅲ期、激素受体为ER及PR均阴性均是乳腺癌改良根治术后复发转移的独立危险因素(P0.05),而采用放化疗、联合化疗方案、内分泌治疗以及p53蛋白阳性表达是乳腺癌改良根治术后复发转移的独立保护因素(P0.05)。结论:乳腺癌患者行改良根治术后生活质量呈动态变化,其术后复发转移影响因素为病理类型、临床分期、肿瘤大小、激素受体、化疗方案、p53蛋白、内分泌治疗及放化疗。     

布地奈德福莫特罗粉吸入剂联合孟鲁斯特对支气管哮喘急性发作期患者肺功能及血清细胞因子水平的影响

目的:研究布地奈德福莫特罗粉吸入剂(ST)联合孟鲁斯特对支气管哮喘急性发作期(ASBA)患者肺功能及血清细胞因子水平的影响。方法:选择2015年2月到2017年8月在我院治疗的86例ASBA患者作为研究对象,根据随机数字表法将患者分成观察组(n=43)以及对照组(n=43),对照组予以ST治疗,观察组则在此基础上联合孟鲁司特治疗,两组均治疗3个月,对比两组患者治疗前及治疗3个月后的肺功能、细胞因子水平、咳嗽评分、St·George's呼吸疾病问卷(SGRQ)以及用药安全性。结果:治疗后两组患者的第1秒的用力呼气容积(FEV1)、用力肺活量(FVC)及FEV1/FVC均较治疗前升高,且观察组高于对照组(P0.05)。治疗后两组患者的白细胞介素-4(IL-4)、白细胞介素-5(IL-5)、γ-干扰素(INF-γ)及肿瘤坏死因子-α(TNF-α)水平均较治疗前降低,且观察组低于对照组(P0.05)。治疗后两组患者的咳嗽评分较治疗前升高,且观察组高于对照组(P0.05),而治疗后两组患者的SGRQ评分均较治疗前降低,且观察组低于对照组(P0.05)。观察组不良反应的总发生率为20.93%,与对照组的16.28%相比无统计学差异(P0.05)。结论:ASBA给予ST联合孟鲁司特治疗能够有效改善患者的症状,缓解机体炎症反映的同时还可有效改善患者肺功能和生活质量,其用药安全性较好。     

Elevated intracellular cyclic-di-GMP level in Shewanella oneidensis increases expression of c-type cytochromes

Electrochemically active biofilms are capable of exchanging electrons with solid electron acceptors and have many energy and environmental applications such as bioelectricity generation and environmental remediation. The performance of electrochemically active biofilms is usually dependent on c-type cytochromes, while biofilm development is controlled by a signal cascade mediated by the intracellular secondary messenger bis-(3ʹ-5ʹ) cyclic dimeric guanosine monophosphate (c-di-GMP). However, it is unclear whether there are any links between the c-di-GMP regulatory system and the expression of c-type cytochromes. In this study, we constructed a S. oneidensis MR-1 strain with a higher cytoplasmic c-di-GMP level by constitutively expressing a c-di-GMP synthase and it exhibited expected c-di-GMP-influenced traits, such as lowered motility and increased biofilm formation. Compared to MR-1 wild-type strain, the high c-di-GMP strain had a higher Fe(III) reduction rate (21.58 vs 11.88 pM of Fe(III)/h cell) and greater expression of genes that code for the proteins involved in the Mtr pathway, including CymA, MtrA, MtrB, MtrC and OmcA. Furthermore, single-cell Raman microspectroscopy (SCRM) revealed a great increase of c-type cytochromes in the high c-di-GMP strain as compared to MR-1 wild-type strain. Our results reveal for the first time that the c-di-GMP regulation system indirectly or directly positively regulates the expression of cytochromes involved in the extracellular electron transport (EET) in S. oneidensis, which would help to understand the regulatory mechanism of c-di-GMP on electricity production in bacteria.     

Depth‐dependent soil organic carbon dynamics of croplands across the Chengdu Plain of China from the 1980s to the 2010s

Agricultural soils have tremendous potential to sequester soil organic carbon (SOC) and mitigate global climate change. However, agricultural land use has a profound impact on SOC dynamics, and few studies have explored how agricultural land use combined with soil conditions affect SOC changes throughout the soil profile. Based on a paired soil resampling campaign in the 1980s and 2010s, this study investigated the SOC changes of the soil profile caused by agricultural land use and the correlations with parent material and topography across the Chengdu Plain of China. The results showed that the SOC content increased by 3.78 g C/kg in the topsoil (0–20 cm), but decreased in the 20–40 cm and 40–60 cm soil layers by 0.90 and 1.26 g C/kg respectively. SOC increases in topsoil were observed for all types of agricultural land. Afforestation on former agricultural land also caused SOC decreases in the 20–60 cm soil layers, while SOC decreases only occurred in the 40–60 cm soil layer for agricultural land using a traditional crop rotation (i.e. traditional rice–wheat/rapeseed rotation) and with rice–vegetable rotations converted from the traditional rotations. For each agricultural land use, SOC decreases in deep soils only occurred in high relief areas and in soils formed from Q4 (Quaternary Holocene) grey‐brown alluvium and Q4 grey alluvium that had a relatively low soil bulk density and clay content. The results indicated that SOC change caused by agricultural land use was depth dependent and that the effects of agricultural land use on soil profile SOC dynamics varied with soil characteristics and topography. Subsoil SOC decreases were more likely to occur in high relief areas and in soils with low soil bulk density and low clay content.     

Quorum sensing regulation confronts the development of a viable but non-culturable state in Vibrio cholerae

Vibrio cholerae can enter a viable but non-culturable (VBNC) state when it encounters unfavourable environments; VBNC cells serve as important reservoirs and still pose threats to public health. The genetic regulation of V. cholerae entering its VBNC state is not well understood. Here, we show a confrontation strategy adapted by V. cholerae O1 in which it utilizes a quorum sensing (QS) system to prevent transition into a VBNC state under low nutrition and temperature conditions. The upregulation of hapR resulted in a prolonged culturable state of V. cholerae in artificial sea water at 4°C, whereas the mutation of hapR led to fast entry into the VBNC state. We also observed that different V. cholerae O1 natural isolates with distinct QS functions present a variety of abilities to maintain culturability during the transition to a VBNC state. The strain groups with higher or constitutive expression of QS genes exhibit a greater tendency to maintain the culturable state during VBNC induction than those lacking QS functional groups. In summary, HapR-mediated QS regulation is associated with the transition to the VBNC state in V. cholerae. HapR expression causes V. cholerae to resist VBNC induction and become dominant over competitors in changing environments.     

Soil and root nutrient chemistry structure root-associated fungal assemblages in temperate forests

Root-associated fungi (RAF) link nutrient fluxes between soil and roots and thus play important roles in ecosystem functioning. To enhance our understanding of the factors that control RAF, we fitted statistical models to explain variation in RAF community structure using data from 150 temperate forest sites covering a broad range of environmental conditions and chemical root traits. We found that variation in RAF communities was related to both root traits (e.g., cations, carbohydrates, NO₃⁻) and soil properties (pH, cations, moisture, C/N). The identified drivers were the combined result of distinct response patterns of fungal taxa (determined at the rank of orders) to biotic and abiotic factors. Our results support that RAF community variation is related to evolutionary adaptedness of fungal lineages and consequently, drivers of RAF communities are context-dependent.