In Situ TEM Study of Volume Expansion in Porous Carbon Nanofiber/Sulfur Cathodes with Exceptional High‐Rate Performance

Although lithium sulfur batteries (LSBs) have attracted much interest owing to their high energy densities, synthesis of high‐rate cathodes and understanding their volume expansion behavior still remain challenging. Herein, electrospinning is used to prepare porous carbon nanofiber (PCNF) hosts, where both the pore volume and surface area are tailored by optimizing the sacrificial agent content and the activation temperature. Benefiting from the ameliorating functional features of high electrical conductivity, large pore volume, and Li ion permselective micropores, the PCNF/A550/S electrode activated at 550 °C exhibits a high sulfur loading of 71 wt%, a high capacity of 945 mA h g^?1 at 1 C, and excellent high‐rate capability. The in situ transmission electron microscope examination reveals that the lithiation product, Li₂S, is contained within the electrode with only ≈35% volume expansion and the carbon host remains intact without fracture. In contrast, the PCNF/A750/S electrode with damaged carbon spheres exhibits sulfur sublimation, a larger volume expansion of over 61%, and overflowing of Li₂S, a testament to its poor cyclic stability. These findings provide, for the first time, a new insight into the correlation between volume expansion and electrochemical performance of the electrode, offering a potential design strategy to synthesize high‐rate and stable LSB cathodes.     

Stretchable Lithium‐Ion Batteries Enabled by Device‐Scaled Wavy Structure and Elastic‐Sticky Separator

Fast developments and substantial achievements have been shaping the field of wearable electronic devices, resulting in the persistent requirement for stretchable lithium‐ion batteries (LIBs). Despite recent progress in stretchable electrodes, stretching full batteries, including electrodes, separator, and sealing material, remains a great challenge. Here, a simple design concept for stretchable LIBs via a wavy structure at the full battery device scale is reported. All components including the package are capable of being reversibly stretched by folding the entire pouch cell into a wavy shape with polydimethylsiloxane filled in each valley region. In addition, the stretchable, sticky, and porous polyurethane/poly(vinylidene fluoride) membrane is adopted as a separator for the first time, which can maintain intimate contact between electrodes and separator to continuously secure ion pathway under dynamic state. Commercial cathode, anode, and package can be utilized in this rationally designed wavy battery to enable stretchability. The results indicate good electrochemical performances and long‐term stability at repeatable release–stretch cycles. A high areal capacity of 3.6 mA h cm^?2 and energy density of up to 172 W h L^?1 can be achieved for the wavy battery. The promising results of the cost‐effective wavy battery with high stretchability shed light on the development of stretchable energy storages.     

A perivascular origin for mesenchymal stem cells in multiple human organs

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), the archetypal multipotent progenitor cells derived in cultures of developed organs, are of unknown identity and native distribution. We have prospectively identified perivascular cells, principally pericytes, in multiple human organs including skeletal muscle, pancreas, adipose tissue, and placenta, on CD146, NG2, and PDGF-Rbeta expression and absence of hematopoietic, endothelial, and myogenic cell markers. Perivascular cells purified from skeletal muscle or nonmuscle tissues were myogenic in culture and in vivo. Irrespective of their tissue origin, long-term cultured perivascular cells retained myogenicity; exhibited at the clonal level osteogenic, chondrogenic, and adipogenic potentials; expressed MSC markers; and migrated in a culture model of chemotaxis. Expression of MSC markers was also detected at the surface of native, noncultured perivascular cells. Thus, blood vessel walls harbor a reserve of progenitor cells that may be integral to the origin of the elusive MSCs and other related adult stem cells.     

THREE NEW SPECIES OF THE GENUS IREPACMA FROM SHAANXI PROVINCE (LEPIDOPTERA: OECOPHORIDAE)

Abstract In this paper, the genus Zrepacma is reported for the first time from China; three new species from Shaanxi Province are described: Irepacm grandis sp. nov., Irepacma furuimacularis sp. nov. and Irepacma pallidia sp. nov., The genitalia of both sexes are illustrated.     

TRAIL-R2 (DR5) mediates apoptosis of synovial fibroblasts in rheumatoid arthritis

TRAIL has been proposed as an anti-inflammatory cytokine in animal models of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Using two agonistic mAbs specific for TRAIL-R1 (DR4) and TRAIL-R2 (DR5), we examined the expression and function of these death receptors in RA synovial fibroblast cells. The synovial tissues and primary synovial fibroblast cells isolated from patients with RA, but not those isolated from patients with osteoarthritis, selectively expressed high levels of cell surface DR5 and were highly susceptible to anti-DR5 Ab (TRA-8)-mediated apoptosis. In contrast, RA synoviocytes did not show increased expression of TRAIL-R1 (DR4), nor was there any difference in expression of Fas between RA and osteoarthritis synovial cells. In vitro TRA-8 induced apoptosis of RA synovial cells and inhibited production of matrix metalloproteinases induced by pro-inflammatory cytokines. In vivo TRA-8 effectively inhibited hypercellularity of a SV40-transformed RA synovial cell line and completely prevented bone erosion and cartilage destruction induced by these cells. These results indicate that increased DR5 expression and susceptibility to DR5-mediated apoptosis are characteristic of the proliferating synovial cells in RA. As highly proliferative transformed-appearing RA synovial cells play a crucial role in bone erosion and cartilage destruction in RA, the specific targeting of DR5 on RA synovial cells with an agonistic anti-DR5 Ab may be a potential therapy for RA.     

Recovery of transgenic rice plants expressing the rice dwarf virus outer coat protein gene (S8)

 The coding region of the eighth largest segment (S8) of the rice dwarf virus (RDV) was obtained from a RDV Fujian isolate. It was then cloned into pTrcHisA for expression in E. coli and into vector pE3 for plant transformation. By using callus derived from mature rice embryos as the target tissue, we obtained regenerated rice plants after bombardment of the former with plasmid pE3R8 containing the RDV S8 gene and the marker gene neomycin phosphotransferase (NPT II). Southern blotting confirmed the integration of the RDV S8 gene into the rice genome. The expression of the outer coat protein in both E. coli and rice plants was confirmed by western blotting. The recovery of transgenic rice plants expressing S8 gene is an important step towards studying the function of the RDV genes and obtaining RDV-resistant rice plants. Received: 1 March 1996 / Accepted: 2 August 1996