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Lithium stripping is a crucial process coupled with lithium deposition during the cycling of Li metal batteries. Lithium deposition has been widely studied, whereas stripping as a subsurface process has rarely been investigated. Here we reveal the fundamental mechanism of stripping on lithium by visualizing the interface between stripped lithium and the solid electrolyte interphase (SEI). We observed nanovoids formed between lithium and the SEI layer after stripping, which are attributed to the accumulation of lithium metal vacancies. High-rate dissolution of lithium causes vigorous growth and subsequent aggregation of voids, followed by the collapse of the SEI layer, i.e., pitting. We systematically measured the lithium polarization behavior during stripping and find that the lithium cation diffusion through the SEI layer is the rate-determining step. Nonuniform sites on typical lithium surfaces, such as grain boundaries and slip lines, greatly accelerated the local dissolution of lithium. The deeper understanding of this buried interface stripping process provides beneficial clues for future lithium anode and electrolyte design.

The high-resistive grain boundaries are the bottleneck for Li+ transport in Li7La3Zr2O12 (LLZO) solid electrolytes. Herein, high-conductive LLZO thin films with cubic phase and amorphous domains between crystalline grains are prepared, via annealing the repetitive LLZO/Li2CO3/Ga2O3 multi-nanolayers at 600 °C for 2 h. The amorphous domains may provide additional vacant sites for Li+, and thus relax the accumulation of Li+ at grain boundaries. The significantly improved ionic conductivity across grain boundaries demonstrates that the high energy barrier for Li+ migration caused by space charge layer is effectively reduced. Benefiting from the Li+ transport paths with low energy barriers, the presented LLZO thin film exhibits a cutting-edge value of ionic conductivity as high as 6.36 × 10−4 S/cm, which is promising for applications in thin film lithium batteries.

Groundwater is one of the most important natural resources for economic development and environmental sustainability. In this study, we estimated groundwater storage in 11 major river basins across Alberta, Canada, using a combination of remote sensing (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment, GRACE), in situ surface water data, and land surface modeling estimates (GWSAsat). We applied separate calculations for unconfined and confined aquifers, for the first time, to represent their hydrogeological differences. Storage coefficients for the individual wells were incorporated to compute the monthly in situ groundwater storage (GWSAobs). The GWSAsat values from the two satellite-based products were compared with GWSAobs estimates. The estimates of GWSAsat were in good agreement with the GWSAobs in terms of pattern and magnitude (e.g., RMSE ranged from 2 to 14 cm). While comparing GWSAsat with GWSAobs, most of the statistical analyses provide mixed responses; however the Hodrick–Prescott trend analysis clearly showed a better performance of the GRACE-mascon estimate. The results showed trends of GWSAobs depletion in 5 of the 11 basins. Our results indicate that precipitation played an important role in influencing the GWSAobs variation in 4 of the 11 basins studied. A combination of rainfall and snowmelt positively influences the GWSAobs in six basins. Water budget analysis showed an availability of comparatively lower terrestrial water in 9 of the 11 basins in the study period. Historical groundwater recharge estimates indicate a reduction of groundwater recharge in eight basins during 1960–2009. The output of this study could be used to develop sustainable water withdrawal strategies in Alberta, Canada.

Loss of the vast majority of heat and steam is an unavoidable problem encountered during conventional steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) in extraheavy oil reservoirs. The noncondensate gas coinjection technique of reducing energy consumption and enhancing oil recovery can effectively solve this problem. Aiming at extraheavy oil with a high initial viscosity, the influence of noncondensate gases in multithermal fluids on the physical parameters of extraheavy oil was experimentally studied; the production characteristics and mechanism of multithermal fluid-assisted SAGD were studied through numerical simulation. A comparative investigation of the conventional SAGD and multithermal fluid-assisted SAGD injection schemes was conducted. The characteristics and mechanism of the steam chamber during the production processes were analyzed. The results show that a steam-gas-oil system forms in the steam chamber in the case of multithermal fluids. The steam chamber can be partitioned into four zones, and the flow of the oil mainly occurs in the steam condensation zone and the oil drainage zone. The injected multithermal fluids increase the horizontal expansion of the steam chamber, while the dissolved carbon dioxide reduces the residual oil saturation. Moreover, the nitrogen injection significantly reduces the heat loss and increases the heat utilization for multithermal fluid-assisted SAGD in developing extraheavy oil reservoirs.

Backgroud Succinic acid (SA) is a significant C4-dicarboxylic acid with broad applications in the food, chemical, and pharmaceutical industries. In microbial SA production, Yarrowia lipolytica shows great potential. Polysulfides are vital for maintaining redox balance and cellular health in yeast. Results In this study, we changed the polysulfides metabolism of Y. lipolytica to enhance SA production. The 3-mercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferase (3-MST) and rhodanese (RHOD) encoding genes were disrupted in Y. lipolytica PGC01003, which led to increased biomass and SA production. In a 3-L scale bioreactor, the mutant strain produced 64.5 g/L SA, representing a 37.8% increase compared with PGC01003. Further investigations indicated that the number of mitochondria was decreased, but the ATP production and oxygen consumption rate were increased in the mutant strain. Transcriptomic analysis indicated that apoptosis genes were downregulated, and cell cycle related genes were upregulated. Conclusions This study demonstrated that polysulfides affected the overall growth and metabolism of Y. lipolytica . The same strategy may have the potential to be applied in improving other cell factories.

Malaria remains one of the most significant public health challenges globally, particularly in tropical and subtropical regions. Throughout evolutionary history, malaria-induced natural selection has profoundly influenced human genetic evolution, leading to the emergence of numerous genetic variations that confer resistance to the disease. These adaptations highlight the complicated interplay between pathogens and human genetics. This review focuses on key genetic variations associated with malaria resistance, including hemoglobinopathies (such as sickle cell trait and thalassemia), glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency, blood group polymorphisms and genetic variants related to inflammation and immune regulation. The prevalence of these genetic adaptations varies widely across different geographic regions, reflecting the historical burden of malaria in those areas. Despite significant advancements in genetic research, the precise mechanisms by which these mutations confer protection against malaria remain incompletely understood. Furthermore, the interactions between these genetic factors and environmental influences add to another layer of complexity. A comprehensive understanding of these genetic variations and their functional implications is crucial for advancing malaria epidemiology, improving diagnostic tools, and developing targeted prevention and control strategies, ultimately contributing to global efforts to eradicate malaria.

With the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI), machine-learning (ML), and chatbot technologies, the field of education has been transformed drastically. The latest advancements in AI chatbots (such as ChatGPT) have proven to offer several benefits for students and educators. However, these benefits also come with inherent challenges, that can impede students’ learning and create hurdles for educators. The study aims to explore the benefits and challenges of AI chatbots in educational settings, with the goal of identifying how they can address existing barriers to learning. The paper begins by outlining the historical evolution of chatbots along with key elements that encompass the architecture of an AI chatbot. The paper then delves into the challenges and limitations associated with the integration of AI chatbots into education. The research findings from this narrative review reveal several benefits of using AI chatbots in education. AI chatbots like ChatGPT can function as virtual tutoring assistants, fostering an adaptive learning environment by aiding students with various learning activities, such as learning programming languages and foreign languages, understanding complex concepts, assisting with research activities, and providing real-time feedback. Educators can leverage such chatbots to create course content, generate assessments, evaluate student performance, and utilize them for data analysis and research. However, this technology presents significant challenges concerning data security and privacy. Additionally, ethical concerns regarding academic integrity and reliance on technology are some of the key challenges. Ultimately, AI chatbots offer endless opportunities by fostering a dynamic and interactive learning environment. However, to help students and teachers maximize the potential of this robust technology, it is essential to understand the risks, benefits, and ethical use of AI chatbots in education.

Previous studies on the technique for using the remaining oil are incomplete and inaccurate according to the position of the interlayer of the Steam-Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) technique, and comparative studies of infilled horizontal wells are lacking. In this study, the SAGD well pair in the superheavy oil reservoir in the Z block in the Xinjiang Oilfield, China, was taken as an example. According to the reservoir’s geological parameters and production parameters, a typical well group geological model was created for the first time. The model divided the well groups in block Z into three categories according to the position of the interlayer, the production degree of the horizontal section, the oil recovery ratio, and the available degree of reserve control. According to the geological classification results, different typical well groups without an interlayer, with an interlayer located above the steam injection well, and with an interlayer located between the well pairs were classified and analyzed using numerical simulations. This was the first time the infilled horizontal well technique was compared with the infilled vertical well-assisted SAGD technique. In addition, the steam chamber connection law of the infilled vertical well-assisted SAGD was clarified. The results show that for reservoirs without an interlayer, the use of infilled horizontal well-assisted SAGD could speed up the lateral connection of the steam chambers and reduce the residual oil saturation. For reservoirs with a low production degree in the horizontal section and that are affected by an interlayer, an infilled vertical injector could be used with the assisted SAGD technique to increase the oil recovery by 5%–13%. The results of this study provided strong guidance for the next step in using enhanced oil recovery techniques to achieve traditional SAGD production from superheavy oil reservoirs with an interlayer.

There are large, heavy oil reserves in Block X of the Xinjiang oilfields, China. Due to its large burial depth (1300 m) and low permeability (26.0 mD), the traditional steam-injection technology cannot be used to obtain effective development benefits. This paper conducts experimental and simulation research on the feasibility and mechanism of CO2-energized fracturing of horizontal wells and N2 foam huff-n-puff in deep heavy oil reservoirs with low permeability in order to further explore the appropriate production technology. The foaming volume of the foaming agent at different concentrations and the oil displacement effect of N2 foam at different gas/liquid ratios were compared by the experiments. The results show that a high concentration of foaming agent mixed with crude oil is more conducive to increasing the foaming volume and extending the half-life, and the best foaming agent concentration is 3.0∼4.0%. The 2D micro-scale visualization experiment results show that N2 foam has a good selective blocking effect, which increases the sweep area. The number of bubbles per unit area increases as the gas/liquid ratio increases, with 3.0∼5.0 being the optimal gas/liquid ratio. Numerical simulation results show that, when CO2-energized fracturing technology takes into account the advantages of fracturing and crude oil viscosity reduction by CO2 dissolution, the phased oil recovery factor in the primary production period can reach approximately 13.7%. A solvent pre-slug with N2 foam huff-n-puff technology is applied to improve oil recovery factor following primary production for 5∼6 years, and the final oil recovery factor can reach approximately 35.0%. The methodology formulated in this study is particularly significant for the effective development of this oil reservoir with deeply buried depth and low permeability, and would also guide the recovery of similar oil deposits.

Both β-catenin and STAT3 drive colorectal cancer (CRC) growth, progression, and immune evasion, and their co-overexpression is strongly associated with a poor prognosis. However, current small molecule inhibitors have limited efficacy due to the reciprocal feedback activation between STAT3 and β-catenin. Inspired by the PROteolysis TArgeting Chimera (PROTAC), a promising pharmacological modality for the selective degradation of proteins, we developed a strategy of nanoengineered peptide PROTACs (NP-PROTACs) to degrade both β-catenin and STAT3 effectively. The NP-PROTACs were engineered by coupling the peptide PROTACs with DSPE-PEG via disulfide bonds and self-assembled into nanoparticles. Notably, the dual degradation of β-catenin and STAT3 mediated by NP-PROTACs led to a synergistic antitumor effect compared to single-target treatment. Moreover, NP-PROTACs treatment enhanced CD103+ dendritic cell infiltration and T-cell cytotoxicity, alleviating the immunosuppressive microenvironment induced by β-catenin/STAT3 in CRC. These results highlight the potential of NP-PROTACs in facilitating the simultaneous degradation of two pathogenic proteins, thereby providing a novel avenue for cancer therapy. [Display omitted] •Both β-catenin and STAT3 drives colorectal cancer (CRC) progression.•NP-PROTACs enable dual protein degradation of β-catenin and STAT3 in CRC.•NP-PROTACs reprogram the immunosuppressive microenvironment in CRC.•NP-PROTACs achieve synergistic therapeutic effects in CRC.