Explore the vast range of titles available.

Sodium-based batteries have attracted wide interests in the academic and industrial fields. However, their energy density is still lower than that of Li-based batteries. Here we report an initial anode-free Na battery with an energy density of over 200 Wh kg −1 , which is even higher than that of the commercial LiFePO 4 ||graphite battery. Through introducing graphitic carbon coating on the Al current collector and boron-containing electrolytes in the battery, we show that uniform nucleation and robust interphases enable reversible and crack-free Na deposition. Benefitting from the synergetic effects derived from the built cooperative interfaces, the cycling lifetime of the Na battery without applying additional pressure reaches 260 cycles, which is the longest life for large-size cells with zero excess Na. The insights gained from the Na plating/stripping behaviour and interfacial chemistry in this work pave the way for further development of Na batteries with even higher performance. Sodium-ion batteries have long been tipped as a promising post-Li-ion storage technology but their performance is still inferior to Li-ion batteries. Here the authors design an ampere-hour-scale battery with an initial Na-free anode configuration to achieve an energy density that rivals Li-ion batteries.

Transport electrification and grid storage hinge largely on fast-charging capabilities of Li- and Na-ion batteries, but anodes such as graphite with plating issues drive the scientific focus towards anodes with slopped storage potentials. Here we report fast charging of ampere-hour-level full Na-ion batteries within about 9 minutes for continuous 3,000 cycles based on hard carbon anodes. These anodes, in addition to displaying a sloped storage voltage, provide capacity at a nearly constant voltage just above the plating potential, without observing Na-metal plating under high areal capacity. Comparing the electrochemical behaviour of Li and Na in hard carbon through experimental and computational techniques, a unified storage mechanism relying on the dimensions of wedge nanopores and drawing parallels with underpotential deposition for metals is brought forward, providing a rational guide for achieving fast storage in hard carbon anodes. It is challenging to achieve fast-charging, high-performance Na-ion batteries. This study discusses the origin of fast-charging Na-ion batteries with hard carbon anodes and demonstrates an ampere-hour-level, fast-charging, long-cycle-life cylindrical cell under nearly practical conditions.

In contemporary large wind farms, the combination of condition-based maintenance (CBM) and time-based maintenance (TBM) has become a prevalent approach in preventive maintenance, which is an indispensable part to ensure the safe, stable and environmental operation of equipment. However, the utilization of an inappropriate maintenance strategy may result in over-maintenance or under-maintenance, leading to unstable equipment operation. Furthermore, the majority of preventive maintenance involves replacement maintenance, which may have adverse effects on the performance of wind turbines with excessive maintenance time. Therefore, this paper takes the gearbox as a case study to introduce the incomplete maintenance parameters into the failure rate function to establish a state model based on the stochastic differential equation (SDE) and describing the state change of incomplete maintenance. And then simulating the state model of the gearbox and the joint preventive maintenance strategy of TBM and CBM through examples, resulting the time-based incomplete maintenance (TBIM) is proposed based on the TBM and the incomplete maintenance, and a new joint preventive maintenance strategy incorporating TBIM and CBM is proposed. Through developing the decision-making process of the maintenance strategy to optimize the inappropriate maintenance which including over-maintenance and under-maintenance and simulating the optimized preventive maintenance strategy to compare with that of TBM and CBM and verify the superiority and effectiveness of the proposed maintenance method.

The components of wind turbines are complex in structure and the working environment is harsh, which makes wind turbines face problems such as high failure rates and high maintenance costs. In this paper, the stochastic differential equation model has been established for the harsh operating environment of wind turbines, and used Brownian motion to simulate random disturbances; aiming at the problem of high failure rate of wind turbines, based on Weibull distribution, a new model has been established by combining operating time and equipment state to calculate the failure rate; in the analysis of monitoring data, the Higher-Order Moment method and Bayesian method were used to solve the parameters. The opportunity maintenance threshold curve and preventive maintenance threshold curve were obtained by analyzing Time-Based Maintenance and Condition-Based Maintenance. Therefore, the Condition-Based Opportunistic Maintenance strategy was obtained. The effectiveness of the proposed method was finally verified by arithmetic examples.

BackgroundAutism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is increasingly recognized as a disorder of neural connectivity and network architecture. While EEG neurofeedback (NFB) has shown clinical efficacy in ameliorating ASD symptoms, the underlying neurophysiological mechanisms—specifically regarding high-order network reorganization beyond simple power spectrum changes—remain poorly understood. Furthermore, there is a need to validate whether robust biomarkers can be identified using low-density EEG systems suitable for preschool children.MethodsIn this randomized, sham-controlled trial, 40 preschool children with ASD (mean age 5.56 years) were assigned to either an active NFB group (n = 20) or a sham-control group (n = 20). The experimental group underwent a 4-week alpha-band NFB training protocol using an 8-channel portable EEG system. We employed a multidimensional analytical framework integrating High-Order Functional Connectivity (HOFC), dynamic Network State Entropy (NSE), and cross-frequency interaction analysis to characterize neural reorganization. Clinical improvements were assessed using the Autism Behavior Checklist (ABC).ResultsThe NFB group exhibited significant reductions in ABC total scores and Social Relating subscale scores. Neurophysiologically, while conventional Low-Order Functional Connectivity (LOFC) failed to capture significant global changes, the alpha-band HOFC revealed a systemic optimization toward a more efficient small-world architecture, characterized by increased Clustering Coefficient (CC) and Local Efficiency (LE), and decreased Characteristic Path Length (CPL). Additionally, NSE analysis indicated increased dynamic flexibility across multiple frequency bands, reflecting a reduction in neural rigidity. Crucially, the optimization of alpha-band HOFC metrics was significantly correlated with the degree of clinical symptom alleviation (r = 0.678, p = 0.015).ConclusionThese findings demonstrate that alpha-band NFB facilitates clinical recovery in preschool children with ASD by inducing frequency-specific high-order network reorganization. The study suggests that alpha-band HOFC may serve as a potential exploratory electrophysiological correlate for monitoring therapeutic responses.

Oceanic Anoxic Event 2 (OAE2, ∼94 Ma) represents a major global cycle perturbation in the mid‐Cretaceous greenhouse that is commonly attributed to increased biological primary productivity stimulated by elevated nutrients. However, whether increased nutrients were sourced from submarine volcanism or enhanced continental weathering remains elusive. Here we present a high‐resolution whole‐rock Fe isotope record of the expanded OAE2 interval at Gongzha section in southern Tibet to trace iron cycling through the biological, geological and geochemical processes across OAE2. δ56FeT data show three notable negative shifts, corresponding to episodes of intensified volcanism as documented by the osmium isotope record, with the largest shift followed by a prolonged positive δ56FeT excursion coeval with the positive δ13C shift of OAE2, compatible with a causal link between hydrothermally sourced iron and biological uptake. Similar δ56FeT patterns are observed in other OAE2 sections of different settings, implying submarine volcanism as the driving force for initiating OAE2. Plain Language Summary Oceanic Anoxic Event 2 (OAE2) was a major environmental crisis that took place about 94 million years ago in the mid‐Cretaceous greenhouse world, when global ocean oxygen levels dropped sharply. This loss of oxygen led to disruptions in marine ecosystems, widespread organic carbon burial and changes in the carbon cycle. Scientists believe OAE2 was triggered by a surge in ocean nutrients—possibly from underwater volcanic activity associated with large igneous province (LIP) formation in oceans or increased rock weathering on land—which fueled massive algal blooms. However, the exact cause (submarine LIP volcanism vs. continental weathering) has been controversial. To resolve this, we studied iron isotopes of rocks from the Gongzha section that preserves a well‐dated, high‐resolution OAE2 record. Iron is a key nutrient, and its isotopes can reveal whether it came from submarine LIP volcanism or land sources, as well as how much was used by marine life. Our results show that iron isotope shifts match patterns of volcanic iron input and increased biological uptake. Similar trends appear in other OAE2 records worldwide, suggesting a global volcanic trigger. Hence, LIP‐related underwater eruptions—not weathering—was likely the major source of increased nutrients that sparked OAE2. Key Points A high‐resolution whole‐rock iron isotope record from the expanded Oceanic Anoxic Event 2 (OAE2) interval at Gongzha section in southern Tibet is reported A negative then positive δ56FeT shift corresponds to an episode of submarine large igneous province (LIP) volcanism and a positive δ13C shift at the onset of OAE2 Similar δ56FeT patterns at OAE2 sites of different settings demonstrate LIP submarine volcanism was the driving force for initiating OAE2

Precise manipulation of droplets or bubbles hosts a broad range of applications for microfluidic devices, drug delivery, and soft robotics. Generally the existing approaches via passively designing structured surfaces or actively applying external stimuli, inherently confine their motions within the planar or curved geometry at a slow speed. Consequently the realization of 3D manipulation, such as of the underwater bubbles, remains challenging. Here, during the near-infrared-laser impacting on water, by simply introducing a thermally conductive interface, we unexpectedly observe a spontaneously bouncing bubble with hundreds-of-micrometer diameter at tens-of-Hertz frequency. The unique formation of temperature inversion layer in our system generates the depth-dependent thermal Marangoni force responsible for the bouncing behavior. Both the scaling analysis and numerical simulation agree with observations quantitatively. Furthermore, by controlling the navigation speed of the laser beam, the bubble not only shows excellent steerability with velocity up to 40 mm/s, but also exhibits distinctive behaviors from bouncing to dancing within water. We demonstrate the potential applications by steering the bubble within water to specifically interact with tiny objects, shedding light on the fabrication of bubble-based compositions in materials science and contamination removal in water treatment. Precise manipulation of droplets or bubbles hosts a broad range of applications for microfluidic devices, drug delivery, and soft robotics. Here, Hu et al. show the manipulation of Marangoni-driven dancing bubbles on water using a near-infrared-laser in a frequency of tens-of-Hertz.

Background Among patients with acute coronary syndrome and percutaneous coronary intervention, stress hyperglycemia ratio (SHR) is primarily associated with short-term unfavorable outcomes. However, the relationship between SHR and long-term worsen prognosis in acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients admitted in intensive care unit (ICU) are not fully investigated, especially in those with different ethnicity. This study aimed to clarify the association of SHR with all-cause mortality in critical AMI patients from American and Chinese cohorts. Methods Overall 4,337 AMI patients with their first ICU admission from the American Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care (MIMIC)-IV database (n = 2,166) and Chinese multicenter registry cohort Cardiorenal ImprovemeNt II (CIN-II, n = 2,171) were included in this study. The patients were divided into 4 groups based on quantiles of SHR in both two cohorts. Results The total mortality was 23.8% (maximum follow-up time: 12.1 years) in American MIMIC-IV and 29.1% (maximum follow-up time: 14.1 years) in Chinese CIN-II. In MIMIC-IV cohort, patients with SHR of quartile 4 had higher risk of 1-year (adjusted hazard radio [aHR] = 1.87; 95% CI: 1.40–2.50) and long-term (aHR = 1.63; 95% CI: 1.27–2.09) all-cause mortality than quartile 2 (as reference). Similar results were observed in CIN-II cohort (1-year mortality: aHR = 1.44; 95%CI: 1.03–2.02; long-term mortality: aHR = 1.32; 95%CI: 1.05–1.66). In both two group, restricted cubic splines indicated a J-shaped correlation between SHR and all-cause mortality. In subgroup analysis, SHR was significantly associated with higher 1-year and long-term all-cause mortality among patients without diabetes in both MIMIC-IV and CIN-II cohort. Conclusion Among critical AMI patients, elevated SHR is significantly associated with and 1-year and long-term all-cause mortality, especially in those without diabetes, and the results are consistently in both American and Chinese cohorts.

Objective Vascular endothelial growth factor B (VEGFB) was regarded to improve lipid metabolism and reduce obesity-related hyperlipidemia. Whether VEGFB participates in lipid metabolism in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has not been clear yet. This study investigated the involvement of VEGFB in lipid metabolism and insulin resistance via the AMPK signaling pathway in NAFLD. Methods We constructed the animal and cell model of NAFLD after VEGFB gene knockout to detect liver damage and metabolism in NAFLD. Bioinformatics analysis of VEGFB and the AMPK signaling pathway relative genes to verify the differential proteins. And mRNA levels of NAFLD fatty acid metabolism-related genes were detected. Results After the systemic VEGFB knockout mice were fed with high fat, the body fat, serum lipoprotein, NAFLD score, and insulin resistance were increased. Animal and cell experiments showed that the expression levels of phosphorylated proteins of CaMKK2 and AMPK decreased, the expression of proteins related to AMPK/ACC/CPT1 signaling pathway decreased, and the target genes CPT1α and Lcad decreased accordingly, reducing fatty acid oxidation in hepatocyte mitochondria; The expression of AMPK/SREBP1/Scd1 signaling pathway relative proteins increased, ACC1 and FAS increased correspondingly, which increased lipid synthesis in the endoplasmic reticulum. Conclusion VEGFB can participate in lipid metabolism and insulin resistance of NAFLD through the AMPK signaling pathway.

Background Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is one of the most universal liver diseases with complicated pathogenesis throughout the world. Insulin resistance is a leading risk factor that contributes to the development of NAFLD. Vascular endothelial growth factor B (VEGFB) was described by researchers as contributing to regulating lipid metabolic disorders. Here, we investigated VEGFB as a main target to regulate insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome. Methods In this study, bioinformatics, transcriptomics, morphological experiments, and molecular biology were used to explore the role of VEGFB in regulating insulin resistance in NAFLD and its molecular mechanism based on human samples, animal models, and cell models. RNA-seq was performed to analyze the signal pathways associated with VEGFB and NAFLD; Palmitic acid and High-fat diet were used to induce insulin-resistant HepG2 cells model and NAFLD animal model. Intracellular glucolipid contents, glucose uptake, hepatic and serum glucose and lipid levels were examined by Microassay and Elisa. Hematoxylin-eosin staining, Oil Red O staining, and Periodic acid-schiff staining were used to analyze the hepatic steatosis, lipid droplet, and glycogen content in the liver. Western blot and quantitative real-time fluorescent PCR were used to verify the expression levels of the VEGFB and insulin resistance-related signals PI3K/AKT pathway. Results We observed that VEGFB is genetically associated with NAFLD and the PI3K/AKT signal pathway. After VEGFB knockout, glucolipids levels were increased, and glucose uptake ability was decreased in insulin-resistant HepG2 cells. Meanwhile, body weight, blood glucose, blood lipids, and hepatic glucose of NAFLD mice were increased, and hepatic glycogen, glucose tolerance, and insulin sensitivity were decreased. Moreover, VEGFB overexpression reduced glucolipids and insulin resistance levels in HepG2 cells. Specifically, VEGFB/VEGFR1 activates the PI3K/AKT signals by activating p-IRS1 Ser307 expression, inhibiting p-FOXO1 pS256 and p-GSK3 Ser9 expressions to reduce gluconeogenesis and glycogen synthesis in the liver. Moreover, VEGFB could also enhance the expression level of GLUT2 to accelerate glucose transport and reduce blood glucose levels, maintaining glucose homeostasis. Conclusions Our studies suggest that VEGFB could present a novel strategy for treating NAFLD as a positive factor. Graphical Abstract