Designing novel cost-effective catalysts is one of the greatest challenges in the development of high-performance rechargeable Li-air battery. Here, we report the synthesis of novel cobalt-copper ...layered double hydroxide (LDH) nanosheets via a simple co-precipitation method under Ar gas. The resulting Co-Cu LDH nanosheets, possessing an average thickness of 4.3 nm and a high surface area of 163 m2 g−1, have been applied as bifunctional catalysts for Li-air battery. In the simulated air environment, Li-air batteries with Co-Cu LDH nanosheets demonstrate higher discharge capacity of 4870 mAh g−1 at 200 mA g−1, lower charge overpotential and better cycling stability with controlling capacity of 1000 mAh g−1, which is much better than that with CuCo2O4 electrode. The enhanced electrochemical performance is ascribed to the large interface between electrolytes and catalysts resulting from high surface area of Co-Cu LDH, providing plenty of actives sites to promote the formation/decomposition of Li2O2. The unique ultrathin nanosheet structure of Co-Cu LDH can also facilitate the mass transportation of O2 and ions in Li-air battery.
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•Co-Cu LDH has been prepared by simple co-precipitation method.•Co-Cu LDH is used as electrocatalyst in air electrode for Li-air batteries.•Co-Cu LDH exhibits higher catalytic activity for Li-air batteries.•The enhanced performance is ascribed to its large surface area and unique ultrathin nanosheet structure.
Solid‐state lithium metal batteries built with composite polymer electrolytes using cubic garnets as active fillers are particularly attractive owing to their high energy density, easy manufacturing ...and inherent safety. However, the uncontrollable formation of intractable contaminant on garnet surface usually aggravates poor interfacial contact with polymer matrix and deteriorates Li+ pathways. Here we report a rational designed intermolecular interaction in composite electrolytes that utilizing contaminants as reaction initiator to generate Li+ conducting ether oligomers, which further emerge as molecular cross‐linkers between inorganic fillers and polymer matrix, creating dense and homogeneous interfacial Li+ immigration channels in the composite electrolytes. The delicate design results in a remarkable ionic conductivity of 1.43×10−3 S cm−1 and an unprecedented 1000 cycles with 90 % capacity retention at room temperature is achieved for the assembled solid‐state batteries.
The dense interfacial Li+ conduction pathways between garnet fillers and polymer matrix via the open‐ring reaction of ethylene carbonate initiated by LiOH/Li2CO3 contaminant on LLZTO is reported, which results in the superior ionic conductivity of composite electrolytes at room temperature and long lifespan of assembled solid‐state lithium batteries.
Aim
The spatial‐structural patterns of plant‐insect interaction networks, particularly their associations with landscape‐scale environmental factors, remain poorly understood. We apply data‐driven ...network constructions that integrate biogeographic and trophic interaction knowledge to uncover how Lepidoptera‐plant networks vary across environmental gradients in a real‐world landscape.
Location
The 36,000 km2 German state Baden‐Württemberg, Central Europe.
Taxon
Lepidoptera insects and angiosperm plants.
Materials and Methods
We integrated extensive data of Lepidoptera‐plant occurrences and interactions to infer local interaction networks across Baden‐Württemberg, encompassing 3148 plant and 980 Lepidoptera species, covering butterflies, Noctuoid moths, Geometrid moths, and Bombycoid moths. We quantified clade‐ and life‐stage‐specific network structures and related them to GIS‐informed environmental conditions, thereby revealing the spatial (environmental) patterns and potential drivers of network variations.
Results
Spanning shared environmental gradients, Lepidoptera clades and life stages formed various interaction structures with plants and exhibit distinct spatial‐structural patterns. For all Lepidoptera groups, except Geometrid moths, potential diet across life stages broadened toward low‐elevation farmlands. The larval and adult networks of butterflies became less modular with farmland coverage; the same for adult Noctuoid moths, but the inverse for adult Geometrid moths. With increasing elevation, the larval and adult networks of Noctuoid moths became less and more modular, respectively, whereas Geometrid adult networks became more modular. While the adult dietary niche of butterflies overlapped more at low elevation, those of Noctuoid and Geometrid moths further associated with land cover and overlapped more toward low‐ and high‐elevation farmlands, respectively.
Main Conclusions
The spatial‐structural patterns of Lepidoptera‐plant networks vary along geo‐climate and land‐cover gradients in ways depending on the Lepidoptera's clade and life stage. The driving mechanisms likely include both evolutionary (e.g., resource‐consumer co‐evolution) and ecological (e.g., competitive exclusion) processes, and differentially affect Lepidoptera across clades and life stages. These findings pinpoint conservation implications at both species and community levels, with potential trade‐offs for managing different Lepidoptera‐plant communities under environmental changes.
V2O5 is a promising cathode material for lithium ion batteries boasting a large energy density due to its high capacity as well as abundant source and low cost. However, the poor chemical diffusion ...of Li+, low conductivity, and poor cycling stability limit its practical application. Herein, oxygen‐deficient V2O5 nanosheets prepared by hydrogenation at 200 °C with superior lithium storage properties are described. The hydrogenated V2O5 (H‐V2O5) nanosheets deliver an initial discharge capacity as high as 259 mAh g−1 and it remains 55% when the current density is increased 20 times from 0.1 to 2 A g−1. The H‐V2O5 electrode has excellent cycling stability with only 0.05% capacity decay per cycle after stabilization. The effects of oxygen defects mainly at bridging O(II) sites on Li+ diffusion and overall electrochemical lithium storage performance are revealed. The results reveal here a simple and effective strategy to improve the capacity, rate capability, and cycling stability of V2O5 materials which have large potential in energy storage and conversion applications.
Oxygen‐deficient V2O5 nanosheets with pre‐compressed stress are prepared by low‐temperature hydrogenation. The H‐V2O5 nanosheets possess superior electrochemical properties, such as high capacity, improved conductivity, reduced stress in Li+ insertion/depletion, and <0.05% decay per cycle after stabilization, as a result of the generation of the proper amount of oxygen defects at O(II) sites.
Ions serve as essential nutrients in higher plants and can also act as signaling molecules. Little is known about how plants sense changes in soil nutrient concentrations. Previous studies showed ...that T101-phosphorylated CHL1 is a high-affinity nitrate transporter, whereas T101-dephosphorylated CHL1 is a low-affinity transporter. In this study, analysis of an uptake- and sensing-decoupled mutant showed that the nitrate transporter CHL1 functions as a nitrate sensor. Primary nitrate responses in CHL1T101D and CHLT101A transgenic plants showed that phosphorylated and dephosphorylated CHL1 lead to a low- and high-level response, respectively. In vitro and in vivo studies showed that, in response to low nitrate concentrations, protein kinase CIPK23 can phosphorylate T101 of CHL1 to maintain a low-level primary response. Thus, CHL1 uses dual-affinity binding and a phosphorylation switch to sense a wide range of nitrate concentrations in the soil, thereby functioning as an ion sensor in higher plants.
For a video summary of this article, see the PaperFlick file with the Supplemental Data available online.
Long COVID and its Management Koc, Ho Cheng; Xiao, Jing; Liu, Weiwei ...
International journal of biological sciences,
01/2022, Letnik:
18, Številka:
12
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
The pandemic of COVID-19 is the biggest public health crisis in 21st Century. Besides the acute symptoms after infection, patients and society are also being challenged by the long-term health ...complications associated with COVID-19, commonly known as long COVID. While health professionals work hard to find proper treatments, large amount of knowledge has been accumulated in recent years. In order to deal with long COVID efficiently, it is important for people to keep up with current progresses and take proactive actions on long COVID. For this purpose, this review will first introduce the general background of long COVID, and then discuss its risk factors, diagnostic indicators and management strategies. This review will serve as a useful resource for people to understand and prepare for long COVID that will be with us in the foreseeable future.
We investigate the role of managerial ability in the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and firm performance in the energy industry, where sustainability issues are of special ...interest. We first identify a positive association between CSR and firm value, which, however, disappears when considering managerial ability. Only the MA‐associated components of CSR increases energy firms' value. Finally, managers with superior ability can still efficiently implement CSR activities to foster firm value during the financial crisis. Taken together, these results suggest that higher managerial ability is a crucial certification of the benefit of CSR investment, which in turn improves firm value, particularly during unstable periods.
The 2022 volcanic eruption in Tonga caused an unusually large tsunami around the Pacific. It travels with a faster apparent velocity and has larger amplitudes at long distances than what would be ...expected from a conventional tsunami from the volcanic source. This tsunami was generated by the moving atmospheric Lamb wave and traveled at the speed of the Lamb wave (0.31 km/s). Japanese data showed the amplitude of this first tsunami becomes small when approaching the coast, due to the weaker air‐sea coupling at the shallow depth. This wave split when passing the continental slope, and traveled at the speed of the ocean gravity wave. Therefore, the tsunami observed at the coast is delayed by thousands of seconds from the passage of the Lamb wave. Tsunamis generated by this atmospheric mechanism have not been previously observed by modern digital recording systems and should be considered in the tsunami warning systems.
Plain Language Summary
A tsunami is usually generated by the sudden changes of the water heights, and caused by offshore earthquakes, coastal landslides, and submarine volcanic eruptions. The generated vertical displacement of the water propagates as a very long wave, and the tsunami waves become compressed with increased heights as they approach the coast. The 2022 volcanic eruption in Tonga caused an unusually large tsunami, which cannot be explained by conventional sources. The speed and amplitude are very different from theoretical values: the speed is about 0.31 km/s, whereas the average tsunami speed in the Pacific is 0.2 km/s. These data suggest that the tsunami from the Tonga eruption was excited by a pulse of atmospheric pressure as it traveled from the volcano. This source of the tsunami in the atmosphere needs to be considered for the tsunami warning system in the future.
Key Points
Lamb wave produced by the volcanic eruption excites the sea surface as it travels across the Pacific and generates a tsunami pulse
The effect of the air‐sea coupling becomes weaker as the Lamb wave approaches the coast
The tsunami wave splits when passing the continental slope of Japan causing more complex waves
Research Question/Issue
Executives with a legal background have superior knowledge of the law compared with executives who do not have such a background. This study investigates how executives who ...are well informed of the law can reduce stock price crash risk and how this is significant from a corporate governance perspective.
Research Findings/Insights
We collected and evaluated 23,031 firm‐year observations from 2008 to 2018, which resulted in the following findings: (1) Executives with a legal background can effectively reduce stock price crash risk. (2) When the company's external or internal supervision is weak, the effect of executives with a legal background in reducing stock price crash risk is particularly prominent. (3) The executives' ability to reduce stock price crash risk is particularly conspicuous when the company's intention to hide bad news is low or when there is a high risk of the bad news being leaked.
Theoretical/Academic Implications
Stock price crash risk is a critical problem to address in the Chinese capital market. The prevailing explanation for crash risk emphasizes executives' concealment of bad news as a primary factor. Since the suppression of bad news by company executives is the main reason for stock price crash risk, observing the influence of executives on this risk is a viable direct approach. Executives with a legal background, in particular, have a critical influence on companies. They possess a superior understanding of the law compared with those who do not have such a background and are more willing to respect and abide by the law. As a result, they have a lower tolerance for inappropriate acts by the executive team, namely, concealing bad news, which reduces the risk of stock price crash.
Practitioner/Policy Implications
In China, the world's largest transitional economy, investor protection and information environments are still developing. Countries with less developed regulations can adopt substitutive mechanisms, such as making the employment of executives with a legal background mandatory, to facilitate the healthy development of their capitalist markets. Given the capacity of these executives to reduce stock price crash risk, thereby supporting continuous and stable development of the capital market, regulatory authorities should encourage listed companies to hire executives with a legal background. Furthermore, they should also start in‐depth promotion of and education on the rule of law among employees to improve their legal competence.
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