Since 2016, China has been conducting military flybys around Taiwan, while the US has approved arms sales to Taiwan on several occasions and sent warplanes and battleships through the Taiwan Strait. ...How does Taiwanese public opinion respond to the Chinese and US military presence in the Strait? Is the public likely to become less supportive of de jure independence for Taiwan on account of China's military deterrence or more supportive owing to a perceived likelihood of US military assistance? In this report, we provide answers to these questions based on evidence from a survey experiment conducted in Taiwan in October–November 2020. We find that Taiwanese are less sensitive to the Chinese military presence in the Taiwan Strait but have become more supportive of de jure independence after seeing the US aircraft in the area. Our findings contribute to studies of cross-Strait relations and US foreign policy on the Taiwan Strait.
Due to the importance of protein phosphorylation in cellular control, many researches are undertaken to predict the kinase-specific phosphorylation sites. Referred to our previous work, KinasePhos ...1.0, incorporated profile hidden Markov model (HMM) with flanking residues of the kinase-specific phosphorylation sites. Herein, a new web server, KinasePhos 2.0, incorporates support vector machines (SVM) with the protein sequence profile and protein coupling pattern, which is a novel feature used for identifying phosphorylation sites. The coupling pattern XdZ denotes the amino acid coupling-pattern of amino acid types X and Z that are separated by d amino acids. The differences or quotients of coupling strength CXdZ between the positive set of phosphorylation sites and the background set of whole protein sequences from Swiss-Prot are computed to determine the number of coupling patterns for training SVM models. After the evaluation based on k-fold cross-validation and Jackknife cross-validation, the average predictive accuracy of phosphorylated serine, threonine, tyrosine and histidine are 90, 93, 88 and 93%, respectively. KinasePhos 2.0 performs better than other tools previously developed. The proposed web server is freely available at http://KinasePhos2.mbc.nctu.edu.tw/.
The carbon steel (CS) was anodized to coat with vertical arrays of nanotubes in a mixture of aqueous ammonium fluoride solution and ethylene glycol. As-anodized specimens were annealed at 450°C for ...4h in Ar ambient. The fabricated iron oxide nanotube arrays (NTA) depicted a layer of nanotubes over 500nm in length, about 80nm in diameter and about 30nm in wall thickness shown from scanning electron microscope images. X-ray diffraction pattern indicated that iron oxide NTA contained α-Fe2O3 as the main phase and Fe3O4 as the secondary phase. UV–visible absorption spectra revealed iron oxide NTA significantly absorbed light up to 700nm. Potentiodynamic polarization curves of iron oxide NTA and CS were investigated in 0.5wt.% NaCl solutions in the dark and under illumination supplied by solar simulator. We found that iron oxide NTA shows tremendous photoeffect under alternative illumination and dark. It was seen that potential of iron oxide NTA was more negative under illumination than in the dark and the corrosion rate of CS covered with NTA was obviously less than undecorated CS. In addition, the model of photoelectrochemical anticorrosion of iron oxide NTA was explored.
•The α-Fe2O3 nanotube prepared via anodic etching.•Electrochemical cathodic protection was test in 0.5wt.% NaCl solution.•Corrosion rate of α-Fe2O3 nanotube was less than that of carbon steel.
•ZnO nanostructures were synthesized by electrochemical anodic process.•The parameter of ZnO nanostructure was anodic potential.•The model of growth of ZnO nanostructure was investigated.
Zinc oxide ...(ZnO) nanostructures were fabricated on the polished zinc foil by anodic deposition in an alkaline solution containing 1.0M NaOH and 0.25M Zn(NO3)2. Potentiostatic anodization was conducted at two potentials (−0.7V in the passive region and −1.0V in the active region vs. SCE) which are higher than the open circuit potential (−1.03V vs. SCE) and as-obtained ZnO nanostrcutures were investigated focusing on their structural, optical, electrical and photoelectrochemical (PEC) characteristics. All samples were confirmed ZnO by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Raman spectra. Observations in the SEM images clearly showed that ZnO nanostructures prepared at −0.7V vs. SCE were composed of nanowires at while those obtained at −1.0V vs. SCE possessed nanosheets morphology. Result from transmission electron microscope and X-ray diffraction patterns suggested that the ZnO nanowires belonged to single crystalline with a preferred orientation of (002) whereas the ZnO nanosheets were polycrystalline. Following PEC experiments indicated that ZnO nanowires had higher photocurrent density of 0.32mA/cm2 at 0.5V vs. SCE under 100mW/cm2 illumination. This value was about 1.9 times higher than that of ZnO nanosheets. Observed higher photocurrent was likely due to the single crystalline, preferred (002) orientation, higher carrier concentration and lower charge transfer resistance.
In recent years, novel Al secondary batteries with Al anodes, natural graphite cathodes, and ionic liquid electrolytes have received more attention. However, most research on Al secondary batteries ...used lower graphite loading (<8 mg/cm2), which will inhibit the batteries from commercialization in the future. Here, we prepared Al secondary batteries using Al anode, low-cost natural graphite cathode, and cheaper ionic liquid electrolyte. The effects of loading (7–12 mg/cm2) on performance were investigated. Based on our observations, graphite-based Al secondary batteries (GABs) using 10 mg/cm2 graphite electrodes had better performance of 82 mAh/g and 6.5 Wh/L at a current density of 100 mA/g. Moreover, the 10 mg/cm2 GABs showed a long life of 250 charge–discharge cycles with a high coulombic efficiency of 98% and excellent performance rate up to 1000 mA/g.
In this study, we report the electrochemical and corrosion behaviors of Zn anodes in electrolytes (6.0 M KOH) with various additives, such as ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), polysorbate 20 ...(Tween 20), and tartaric acid. Data are given as Tafel plots, linear polarizations, cyclic voltammetry measurements, and charge–discharge test results. After the 1000th cycle of charge–discharge measurements, the morphologies of the Zn anodes in electrolytes with various additives were examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results of linear polarization show that the corrosion resistance was in the order EDTA > Tween 20 > tartaric acid > blank. Based on the SEM images, the prevention of dendrite formation followed the order EDTA > Tween 20 = tartaric acid > blank.
In this study, we report the electrochemical and corrosion behaviors of Zn anodes in electrolytes with various additives, such as ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), Tween 20, and tartaric acid. After the 1000th cycle of charge–discharge measurements, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images revealed that the electrolyte with 0.1 wt% EDTA effectively prevented the formation of dendrites. In battery performance results, the voltage during charging and discharging fluctuated greatly for the blank, whereas the 0.1 wt% EDTA showed the best stability. Hence 0.1 wt% EDTA can be used in a Zn–air rechargeable battery and can replace existing primary mechanically rechargeable batteries because electrical recharging is easier than mechanical recharging.
•Carbon-doped α-Fe2O3 films were synthesized by sputtering process.•The parameter of C-doped α-Fe2O3 was RF power of graphite target.•The photoelectrochemical characteristics of C-doped α-Fe2O3 films ...were investigated.
Thin films of α-Fe2O3 doped with carbon have been fabricated on F-doped SnO2 glass substrate by magnetron sputtering process via DC power on the pure Fe target (99.99%) combined with RF power on the pure graphite target (99.99%). The influences of RF power (0, 40, 80 and 120W) on optical, structural and photoelectrochemical (PEC) characteristics have been investigated. The as-obtained samples after annealing in Ar ambient were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectra, UV–visible spectra and electrochemical analysis. After annealing, all samples revealed only hematite characteristics in XRD pattern and Raman spectra. Thickness of annealed thin films was ∼350nm measured via SEM cross-section image. The optical band gap and carrier concentration of samples were in the range of 2.13–2.16eV and 6.28×1017 to 3.11×1018cm−3, respectively. Based upon our observations, the 4.56at.% carbon-doped α-Fe2O3 thin film deposited via 80W RF power has a better PEC response with photocurrent density of ∼1.18mA/cm2 at 0.6V vs. SCE. This value was about three times higher than the un-doped film (0W of RF power, reference sample). Observed higher photocurrent density was likely due to a suitable carbon-doping concentration causing a higher carrier concentration.
Transparent conductive zinc oxide co-doped with tin and aluminum (TAZO) thin films were prepared via sol–gel dip-coating process. Non-toxic ethanol was used in this study instead of 2-methoxyethanol ...used in conventional work. Dip-coating was repeated several times to obtain relatively thick films consisting of six layers. The films were then annealed at 500°C for 1h in air or in vacuum and not subsequently as employed in other studies. The X-ray diffraction patterns indicated that all the samples revealed a single phase of hexagonal ZnO polycrystalline structure with a main peak of (002). The optical band gap and resistivity of the TAZO films were in the ranges of 3.28 to 3.32eV and 0.52 to 575.25Ωcm, respectively. The 1.0at.% Sn, 1.0at.% Al co-doped ZnO thin film annealed in vacuum was found to have a better photoelectrochemical performance with photocurrent density of about 0.28mA/cm2 at a bias of 0.5V vs. SCE under a 300W Xe lamp illumination with the intensity of 100mW/cm2. Compared to the same dopant concentration but annealed in air (~0.05mA/cm2 bias 0.5V vs. SCE), the photocurrent density of the film annealed in vacuum was 5 times higher than the film annealed in air. Through electrochemical measurements, we found that the dopant concentration of Sn plays an important role in TAZO that affected photocurrent density, stability of water splitting and anti-corrosion.
•Al, Sn co-doped ZnO (TAZO) films was synthesized by sol–gel process.•The parameters of TAZO films were dopant concentration and annealed ambient.•The photoelectrochemical characteristics of TAZO films were investigated.
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