2D MXenes are highly attractive for achieving ultrafast and stable lithium/sodium storage due to their good electric conductivity and abundant redox active sites. While, effective strategies for ...scalable preparation of oligolayered MXenes are still under exploration. Herein, oligolayered Ti
3
C
2
T
x
MXene is successfully obtained after conventional synthesis of multilayered Ti
3
C
2
and subsequent delamination process via an organic solvent of tetramethyl-ammonium hydroxide (TMAOH). Comprehensive electrochemical study reveals that surface-controlled redox reaction dominated the charge storage behavior of oligolayered Ti
3
C
2
T
x
with fast reaction kinetics. Impressively, the obtained oligolayered Ti
3
C
2
T
x
exhibits excellent lithium/sodium storage performance, featured for a high specific capacity of 330 mAhg
−1
at 1.0 Ag
−1
after 800 cycles for lithium storage and 280 mAhg
−1
at 0.5 Ag
−1
after 500 cycles for sodium storage. Such impressive performance will advance the development of oligolayered Ti
3
C
2
T
x
based materials for lithium/sodium storage and even broaden their application into energy storage.
Full text
Available for:
EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OBVAL, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
Abstract
As the promising and ideal clean energies, wind and solar energy systems are in desperate need of high‐performance DC–DC converters to realize efficient and reliable energy transformation. ...Conventional DC–DC converters for renewable energy systems will work at extreme duty cycles and affect the system efficiency and reliability owing to their limited voltage gains and high‐voltage stress. In this paper, by adopting the hybrid voltage multiplier cells, two enhanced quadratic boost converters (EQBCs) which are highly desirable for renewable energy applications are proposed and analyzed. The EQBCs possess super‐wide voltage gain ranges and ultra‐low voltage stress; therefore, small duty cycle conditions can be achieved and components with low‐rated voltages can be chosen to decrease system volumes and increase system efficiencies. Besides, the EQBCs possess continuous input currents, which can realize small input current ripples and avoid the serious effect of pulsating current on the input sources. What's more, stable output voltages and simple controller circuits are realized by the EQBCs because of the common grounded structures of the input terminal, the single active switch and the output terminal. Detailed principle analyses, parameter designs, performance comparisons and experimental prototypes are conducted to verify the characteristics and feasibilities of the EQBCs.
Full text
Available for:
FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
•Employ projection pursuit method for a thorough evaluation of China’s UC.•The CCD between UC and GTFP in China shows an increasing trend.•Northeast China’s UC and GTFP coordination fluctuates, ...reflecting divergence and convergence.•Government intervention plays a crucial role in UC and GTFP’s coordinated development.
The coordinated development of urban competitiveness (UC) and green total factor productivity (GTFP) is paramount for achieving global sustainable development objectives, especially for regional sustainability in China. This study utilizes panel data from 2011 to 2019 encompassing 273 Chinese cities to evaluate the urban competitiveness index employing the projection pursuit method. The research categorizes Chinese cities into four regions—East, Central, West, and Northeast—for comparative analysis purposes. The findings unveil: (1) a discernible rise in both overall and regional coordination between urban competitiveness and green total factor productivity in China; (2) throughout the study period, except for fluctuations observed in Northeastern China, coordination in other regions sustained relative stability, manifesting a trend of divergence-convergence; (3) the coordination between urban competitiveness and green total factor productivity across all regions demonstrated β-convergence, with Central China exhibiting the swiftest convergence and Northeastern China the slowest; (4) taking into account factors such as government intervention, industrial structure, and human capital, there is a likelihood that the growth rate of coordination between urban competitiveness and green total factor productivity in diverse regions will converge towards a synergistic trend. Therefore, as Chinese cities strive to enhance competitiveness and green total factor productivity, governmental attention should be directed towards discerning the developmental trends and influencing factors affecting their coordination. Such an approach will facilitate the realization of regional sustainable development objectives while propelling the synchronized advancement of urban competitiveness and green total factor productivity.
Full text
Available for:
GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
With the outbreak and evolution of the pandemic worldwide, the financial market has experienced unprecedented shocks and adjustments, and the volatility and correlation of the stock market, as an ...important indicator of economic activities, have shown new features and trends during the pandemic. Based on the CSI 300 Index, we construct a three-stage sequential network representing the pre-pandemic, pandemic, and post-relaxation phases. We investigate the evolving dynamics and resilience of the network, forecasting potential future connections, thus offering fresh insights into comprehending market recovery. Our findings unveil that the market adapts dynamically to the pandemic’s progression, witnessing an overall augmentation in network interconnectedness. While the financial sector maintains its pivotal role, the influence of non-financial sectors experiences an upsurge. Despite the network demonstrating poor stability and heavy reliance on key nodes, there exists a positive recovery trajectory. Non-financial sectors such as energy and transportation emerge as pivotal catalysts for market rejuvenation. We provide suggestions for government regulators and investors, providing strong support for optimizing the market structure and promoting the long-term healthy development of the market.
Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is a hepatotoxic fungal metabolite that is widely present in food and can cause liver cancer. As a potential detoxifier, naturally occurring humic acids (HAs) may be able to ...reduce inflammation and restructure the gut microbiota composition; however, little is known about the mechanism of HAs detoxification as applied to liver cells. In this study, HAs treatment alleviated AFB1-induced liver cell swelling and the infiltration of inflammatory cells. HAs treatment also reinstated various enzyme levels in the liver disturbed by AFB1 and substantially alleviated AFB1-caused oxidative stress and inflammatory responses by enhancing immune functions in mice. Moreover, HAs increased the length of the small intestinal and villus height to restore intestinal permeability, which is impaired by AFB1. In addition, HAs reconstructed the gut microbiota, increasing the relative abundance of Desulfovibrio, Odoribacter, and Alistipes. In vitro and in vivo assays demonstrated that HAs could efficiently remove AFB1 by absorbing the toxin. Therefore, HAs treatment can ameliorate AFB1-induced hepatic injury by enhancing gut barrier function, regulating gut microbiota, and adsorbing toxin.
•Humic acids (HAs) alleviate AFB1-caused oxidative stress and inflammatory responses by enhancing immune functions.•A traditional medicine, HAs potentially detoxify AFB1•HAs reduce toxicity in mice and prevent liver injury by absorbing AFB1•HAs prevent AFB1 from impacting gut microbiota and the intestinal barrier
Full text
Available for:
GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Display omitted
•Intestinal microbiota has been increasingly studied in the field of IBD over the last 20 years.•The gut microbiome, metabolites, and their corresponding host signaling pathways are ...highly associated with IBD.•Probiotics may relieve IBD as a complementary therapy.•The pathogenesis and treatment strategies of IBD need to be further studied.
The gut microbiome is highly linked to inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). A total of 3890 publications related to the two terms from 2000 to 2020 were extracted from the Web of Science Core Collection to study the association from a bibliometric perspective. Publications on this topic have grown rapidly since 2008. The United States and Harvard University are the country and institution with the largest number of publications, respectively. Inflammatory Bowel Diseases is the most productive journal with 211 published articles. The most influential journal in this field is Gut with 13,359 citations. The co-citation analysis of references showed that the IBD-related topics with the highest focus are “gut microbiota,” “metagenomics,” “bacterial community,” “fecal microbiota transplantation,” “probiotics,” and “colitis-associated colorectal cancer.” Keyword cluster and keyword burst analyses showed that “gut microbiota,” “metagenomics,” and “fecal microbiota transplantation” are currently the most researched topics in the field of IBD. The literature in this field is mainly distributed between alterations of the intestinal microbiota, microbial metabolites, and related host signaling pathways. Probiotic treatment also frequently appears in literature. This bibliometric analysis can guide future research and promote the development of the field of gut microbiome and IBD.
Full text
Available for:
GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Introduction
A growing body of research has examined the relationship between media exposure to health campaign information and health behaviors, yielding inconsistent findings. To address this ...inconsistency, it is crucial to investigate the underlying mediation and moderation mechanisms. Building upon the social diffusion model, this study explores the mediating role of interpersonal communication and the moderating role of attitudes in the relationships between health behavioral outcomes and exposure to campaign information.
Method
A tobacco control social media campaign were conducted and assessed via an online survey. Specifically, the survey was conducted from the day after the end of the campaign. Respondents were recruited via Sojump using convenience and snowball sampling. Eligible participants were non-smokers and quitters residing in China and had been exposed to the campaign information. Data were analyzed using the R software.
Results
A total of 326 eligible participants were included in the final analysis. The results suggest that social media exposure to campaign information is indirectly associated with both egoistic and altruistic behavioral intentions through interpersonal communication. However, attitudes toward tobacco control weaken the association between social media exposure to campaign information and interpersonal communication about tobacco risks. Furthermore, the indirect effect of social media exposure to campaign information on egoistic and altruistic behavioral intentions, mediated by interpersonal communication about tobacco risks, is contingent upon attitudes toward tobacco control.
Conclusion
This study tests and supports the proposition that interpersonal communication mediates the effects of campaign information exposure on health behaviors in the context of China, which contributes to the existing literature on the health effects of campaign information exposure and provides implications for the design of health campaigns to more effectively promote healthy behaviors.
Venture capital plays a vital role in boosting economic growth by providing an inexhaustible impetus for economic innovation and development. We use all the joint venture capital events of Chinese ...listed companies in the past 10 years to describe the characteristics of the joint venture capital network structure, identify the dynamic evolution characteristics of the community, and introduce random attacks and deliberate attacks to explore the resilience of joint venture capital cooperation. The study finds that the joint venture capital network in China has expanded in scale, with an increasing number of participants and a diversified investment industry. However, the connection between members within the network remains relatively loose, indicating fragmentation and a need to improve network quality. The community structure of core members is significant, with evident differences in scale. The network exhibits weak robustness, relying heavily on key enterprises and demonstrating a poor ability to resist external interference. The study proposes countermeasures and suggestions for optimizing the network structure of joint venture capital, aiming to enhance the environment and performance of joint venture capital and promote the high-quality development of China’s joint venture capital market.
•Designers encode their biases into artifacts. Beauty apps have been found to embed a "programmed masculinity" that is binary, stereotypical, and immutable, leading to a "gender panopticon" that ...monitors and disciplines men's gender expressions.•Beauty apps' design has a discrepancy between what they offer and the needs of male users who have diverse masculinity perceptions.•Beauty apps majorly reflect feminized design, thus stereotyping gender roles and expressions. The limited features for men further this stereotype.•Technology can marginalize and exclude certain users, particularly those from socially disadvantaged groups. Beauty apps perpetuate strict beauty standards, which can marginalize those whose appearance doesn't fit certain ideals.•For equitable design, apps should allow users to define their gender, ensuring a wide representation in terms of icons, marketing, labels, and functionality.
AI-powered face-editing technologies, such as face filters and beauty apps, are widely used for appearance enhancement. However, such tools often perpetuate rigid beauty standards, thereby risking the reinforcement of harmful gender norms. While prior research primarily focuses on the experiences of female users of face-editing technologies, this study scrutinizes their impact on male users. We examine the gendered design of face-editing tools through a feature analysis of a set of Chinese beauty apps (Study 1), followed by interviews with 30 male users to understand their perceptions and experiences regarding these apps (Study 2). Our findings reveal that beauty apps potentially obstruct male users' efforts in appearance enhancement and embody hegemonic masculinity. To overcome the disaffordances of beauty apps, male users employed various strategies, including manual editing, self-censorship, and social validation. Drawing on these findings, we propose recommendations for more inclusive, gender-sensitive design in face-editing technologies.
Full text
Available for:
GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Several typical flexible pneumatic actuators (FPA) and different mechanical models describing their behaviors have been proposed, however, it is difficult to balance compliance and load capacity in ...conventional designs, and these models still have limitations in predicting behavior of FPAs. A new flexible pneumatic bending joint (FPBJ) with special anisotropic rigidity structure is proposed. The FPBJ is developed as an improvement with regard to existing types of FPA, and its principal characteristic is derived from the special anisotropic rigidity structure. With this structure, the load capacity in the direction perpendicular to bending plane is strengthened. The structure of the new FPBJ is explained and a mathematical model is derived based on Euler-Bernoulli beam model and Hook’s law. To obtain optimum design and usage, some key structure parameters and input-output characteristics are simulated. The simulation results reveal that the relationship between the structure parameters and FPBJ’s bending angle is nonlinear. At last, according to the simulation results, the FPBJ is manufactured with optional parameters and tested. The experimental results show that the joint’s statics characteristics are reflected by the mathematical model accurately when the FPBJ is deflated. The maximum relative error between simulation and experimental results is less than 6%. However, the model still has limitations. When the joint is inflated, the maximum relative error reaches 20%. This paper proposes a new flexible pneumatic bending joint which has sufficient load capacity and compliance, and the mathematical model provides theoretical guidance for the FPBJ’s structure design.
Full text
Available for:
EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NUK, OBVAL, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ