Multicomponent alloys are promising candidates as catalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in aqueous solutions owing to the synergic effects between elements. However, due to the vast ...compositional space they occupy, identifying the optimum catalyst is challenging both computationally and experimentally. In this paper, we propose a scalable high-throughput bubble screening method that is able to identify the multicomponent alloys with the highest catalytic properties. As a demonstration, the optimum compositions with advanced intrinsic catalytic activities in the ternary Ni–Co–Ti and Ni–Fe–Au alloys are identified using this method. The advanced catalytic performance of the optimum Ni56.5Co35Ti8.5 alloy ribbon is further confirmed by the individual electrochemical tests, with an over-potential of about 425 mV at 500 mA cm–2 and a Tafel slope of about 82 mV dec–1. This is attributed to the low atomic packing density and low electron binding energy. The introduced scalable high-throughput strategy is not limited to ternary catalysts for HER but is also expected to be equally useful for exploring catalysts in higher composition alloy systems and even for oxygen evolution reactions.
Objective. To assess the effectiveness of comprehensive nursing in patients with chronic renal failure undergoing hemodialysis and the impact on their quality of life. Methods. The present study ...included 86 patients undergoing hemodialysis for chronic renal failure from January 2020 to October 2021 and randomly assigned them to receive either normal nursing or comprehensive nursing, with 43 cases in each group. Outcome measures included psychological status, treatment compliance, quality of life, and complications of the eligible patients. Results. After the intervention, comprehensive nursing resulted in lower Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) scores and Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS) scores and higher quality of life scores for patients versus routine nursing (P<0.05). Comprehensive nursing was associated with a significantly higher overall patient compliance rate versus routine nursing (P<0.05). Patients receiving comprehensive nursing had a lower risk of developing complications versus those given routine nursing (P<0.05). Conclusion. Comprehensive care increases treatment compliance and self-care capacity of patients undergoing hemodialysis for chronic renal failure, improves their quality of life, and lowers the risk of complications, indicating a high potential for clinical advancement.
Coating soft magnetic powders by an insulation layer is an effective way to improve the high-frequency performance of soft magnetic powder cores. The quality of insulation coating is highly dependent ...of the coating materials and the coating method. In the present work, a commercial amorphous powder (Fe73Si11B11C3Cr2) was primarily coated by a PDA/PEI layer by a co-deposition method in alkaline solution. A thick PDA/PEI layer with good homogeneity was co-deposited on the surface of amorphous soft magnetic powders. The high frequency core loss of magnetic powder cores was reduced by up to ~44% at the magnetic induction of 0.1T and the frequency of 100kHz by primarily coating the amorphous powders by PDA/PEI. Microscopic images showed that the PDA/PEI coating layer on the amorphous powders does not peel off while being compressed. These results indicates that PDA/PEI insulation coating is a coating method which can effectively improve the comprehensive magnetic properties of magnetic powder cores.
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•Thick PDA/PEI primary coating layer deposited on amorphous soft magnetic powders•Coating layer with cross-linked 3D network structure and uniform thickness•Strong adhesion to powder surface without peeling off•Excellent soft magnetic properties of powder core in high frequency
Finding water resources is a crucial objective of lunar missions. However, both hydroxyl (OH) and natural water (H2O) have been reported to be scarce on the Moon. We propose a potential method for ...obtaining water on the Moon through H2O formation via endogenous reactions in lunar regolith (LR), specifically through the reaction FeO/Fe2O3 + H → Fe + H2O. This process is demonstrated using LR samples brought back by the Chang’E-5 mission. FeO and Fe2O3 are lunar minerals containing Fe oxides. Hydrogen (H) retained in lunar minerals from the solar wind can be used to produce water. The results of this study reveal that 51–76 mg of H2O can be generated from 1 g of LR after melting at temperatures above 1,200 K. This amount is ∼10,000 times the naturally occurring OH and H2O on the Moon. Among the five primary minerals in LR returned by the Chang’E-5 mission, FeTiO3 ilmenite contains the highest amount of H, owing to its unique lattice structure with sub-nanometer tunnels. For the first time, in situ heating experiments using a transmission electron microscope reveal the concurrent formation of Fe crystals and H2O bubbles. Electron irradiation promotes the endogenous redox reaction, which is helpful for understanding the distribution of OH on the Moon. Our findings suggest that the hydrogen retained in LR is a significant resource for obtaining H2O on the Moon, which is helpful for establishing a scientific research station on the Moon.
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•The hydrogen retained in lunar minerals is a substantial material for producing water on the Moon.•More than 50 kg of water can be produced from 1 ton of lunar regolith after melting at temperatures above 1,200 K.•Ilmenite contains the most hydrogen among the five primary lunar minerals.•Concurrent formation of iron (Fe) crystals and H2O bubbles is observed for the first time in in situ heating experiments.•Electron irradiation can enhance the endogenous redox reaction between H and lunar regolith.
Abstract
Helium-3 (
3
He) is a noble gas that has critical applications in scientific research and promising application potential as clean fusion energy. It is thought that the lunar regolith ...contains large amounts of helium, but it is challenging to extract because most helium atoms are reserved in defects of crystals or as solid solutions. Here, we find large amounts of helium bubbles in the glassy surface layer of ilmenite particles that were brought back by the Chang’E-5 mission. The special disordered atomic packing structure of glasses should be the critical factor for capturing the noble helium gas. The reserves in bubbles do not require heating to high temperatures to be extracted. Mechanical methods at ambient temperatures can easily break the bubbles. Our results provide insights into the mechanism of helium gathering on the moon and offer guidance on future
in situ
extraction.
Air pollution significantly impacts sustainable development and public health. Taking the implementation of China's Environmental Protection Tax Law in China as a quasi-natural experiment, this paper ...employs the difference-in-differences (DID) and spatial DID models to evaluate the effects of environmental tax reform on urban air pollution. The findings are as follows. (1) Environmental tax reform can significantly reduce urban air pollution, and a series of robustness tests have also been conducted to provide further evidence. (2) Green technology innovation and industrial structure upgrading from a vital transmission mechanism for environmental tax reform to improve air quality. (3) Environmental tax reform significantly inhibits urban air pollution in cities located north of the Qinling-Huaihe line and big cities. (4) Moreover, environmental tax reform not only promotes the improvement of local air quality but also has a significant negative spatial spillover effect, reducing air pollution in neighboring cities. The research conclusions provide theoretical support and policy suggestions for promoting sustainable economic development, rationally optimizing environmental protection tax policies and improving urban air quality.
In the present work, we mainly focus on a new established fractional-order predator-prey system concerning both types of time delays. Exploiting an advisable change of variable, we set up an ...isovalent fractional-order predator-prey model concerning a single delay. Taking advantage of the stability criterion and bifurcation theory of fractional-order dynamical system and regarding time delay as bifurcation parameter, we establish a new delay-independent stability and bifurcation criterion for the involved fractional-order predator-prey system. The numerical simulation figures and bifurcation plots successfully support the correctness of the established key conclusions.
Polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is an effective technique to retrieve physical properties of planetary surfaces, such as the dielectric constant and surface roughness. Dielectric ...properties of lunar regolith are quite attractive for future lunar SAR missions. In this paper, we investigate the dielectric properties of lunar regolith by the Mini-RF SAR data. First, a new model of dielectric constant inversion for hybrid polarimetric SAR is proposed, in which the hybrid polarimetric scattering similarity parameter is first introduced. Second, the dielectric constants of Apollo 14, 16, 17 and Chang’E-5 landing sites are estimated through the proposed model. The inversion results fit well with the laboratory measurements of lunar samples, with an estimated root mean square error (RMSE) of 0.53. In addition, we analyze the dielectric properties of regolith on crater floors in different geologic settings, including the lunar maria, highlands, and permanently shadowed regions (PSRs) near the lunar poles. The results indicate that for craters with diameters of 5–25 km, the real part of the dielectric constant of regolith fines increases with crater depth-to-diameter (d/D) ratio, while no apparent correlation is found with crater diameter. Furthermore, the average dielectric constant of regolith fines is 3.01 in PSRs, which is less than that in the lunar maria and highlands (3.43 and 4.13, respectively). This implies that craters in PSRs may possess a looser regolith material compared to the mid-latitude craters. In a word, the proposed method is useful for estimating the dielectric properties of lunar regolith, and it is promising for future lunar SAR applications.
Kale is a functional food with anti-cancer, antioxidant, and anemia prevention properties. The harmful effects of the emerging pollutant microplastic (MP) on plants have been widely studied, but ...there is limited research how to mitigate MP damage on plants. Numerous studies have shown that Se is involved in regulating plant resistance to abiotic stresses. The paper investigated impact of MP and Se on kale growth, photosynthesis, reactive oxygen species (ROS) metabolism, phytochemicals, and endogenous hormones. Results revealed that MP triggered a ROS burst, which led to breakdown of antioxidant system in kale, and had significant toxic effects on photosynthetic system, biomass, and accumulation of secondary metabolites, as well as a significant decrease in IAA and a significant increase in GA. Under MP supply, Se mitigated the adverse effects of MP on kale by increasing photosynthetic pigment content, stimulating function of antioxidant system, enhancing secondary metabolite synthesis, and modulating hormonal networks.
Summary: Effects of microplastic and selenium on key indicators of kale. Note: The red arrows, yellow arrows, and blue arrows indicate MP treatment effect, Se treatment effect, and MP + Se treatment effect, respectively, compared with control. Display omitted
•MP reduced biomass and nutritional quality of kale.•MP interfered with photosynthetic and antioxidant capacity of kale.•MP exposure affected secondary metabolite accumulation of kale.•Se increased biomass and secondary metabolite content of kale under MP stress.•Se supply is an effective method to reduce the damage induced by MP.
Microplastic (MP), as a new pollutant, not only affects the growth and development of plants but also may affect the secondary metabolites of plants. The anti-tumor role of Pinellia ternata is ...related to secondary metabolites. The role of brassinolide (BR) in regulating plant resistance is currently one of the research hotspots. The paper mainly explores the regulation of BR on growth and physiology of Pinellia ternata under MP stress. The experimental design includes two levels of MP (0, 1%) and two levels of BR (0, 0.1 mg/L). MP led to a marked reduction in plant height (15.0%), Fv/Fm (3.2%), SOD and APX activity (15.0%, 5.1%), whereas induced an evident raise in the rate of O2·- production (29.6%) and GSH content (4.4%), as well as flavonoids (6.8%), alkaloids (75%), and β-sitosterol (26.5%) contents. Under MP addition, BR supply significantly increased plant height (15.7%), aboveground and underground biomass (16.1%, 10.3%), carotenoid and GSH content (11.8%, 4.2%), Fv/Fm (2.9%), and activities of SOD, GR, and MDHAR (32.2%, 21.08%, 20.9%). These results indicate that MP suppresses the growth of P. ternata, although it promotes secondary metabolism. BR can alleviate the inhibitory effect of MP on growth by improving photosynthesis, redox homeostasis, and the AsA-GSH cycle.
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•MP reduces growth and antioxidant capacity of P. ternata.•MP promotes the generation of secondary metabolic substances in P. ternata.•BR enhances growth and antioxidant capacity of P. ternata under MP stress.•BR have a potential role in mitigating adverse effects of MP on P. ternata.
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