Mono-no-Aware is central to traditional Japanese culture and aesthetic consciousness, as well as the essence of Japanese literature. All aspects of Kawabata Yasunari’s masterpiece “Snow Country” are ...infused with the concept of Mono-no-Aware. The trend is most visible in the depiction of the female figure, Youko. In this study, we analyze the aesthetic consciousness of Mono-no-Aware in the portrayal of characters from both the front and the side, knowing they mainly appear in the aspects of “view of life” and “the interplay of sorrow and beauty”.
Abstract Social capital has long been recognized as a facilitator of socio-economic development. However, the role of social capital in enhancing resilience to multiple shocks in rural China remains ...insufficiently explored. This study focus on the resilience of households that have recently get rid of poverty and reside in underdeveloped rural areas of China. Unlike previous studies, the article incorporates multiple shocks, social capital, and households’ coping strategies into a research framework at the micro level. This study systematically analyses the multiple shocks experienced by households, their coping strategies, and further explores the mediating role of social capital. Utilizing two waves of a rural household panel survey data collected in six underdeveloped counties in 2015 and 2018 in China, we present four key findings. Currently, households primarily contend with drought, illness of family members, and the high costs of agricultural inputs as the main shocks. Their predominant coping strategy is reducing consumption. Importantly, social capital exhibits a mediating effect, accounting for 9.8% of the impact of multiple shocks on households’ coping strategies. Notably, natural disasters significantly diminish the informal functions of social capital. While social capital exerts a full mediating effect in non-agricultural households, this effect is not observed among others. This study contributes to a better understanding of the dynamics and specificities of social capital in vulnerable rural areas. Additionally, the findings provide policymakers with practical insights regarding differentiated and preemptive risk governance approaches.
Lithium (Li) metal with an ultrahigh specific theoretical capacity and the lowest reduction potential is strongly considered as a promising anode for high-energy-density batteries. However, ...uncontrolled lithium dendrites and infinite volume change during repeated plating/stripping cycles hinder its practical applications immensely. Herein, a house-like Li anode (housed Li) was designed to circumvent the above issues. The house matrix was composed of carbon fiber matrix and affords a stable structure to relieve the volume change. An artificial solid electrolyte layer was formed on composite Li metal, just like the roof of a house, which facilitates uniform Li ions diffusion and serves as a physical barrier against electrolyte corrosion. With the combination of solid electrolyte layer and matrix in the composite Li metal anode, both dendrite growth and volume expansion are remarkably inhibited. The housed Li | LiFePO4 batteries exhibited over 95% capacity retention after 500 cycles at 1.0 C in coin cell and 85% capacity retention after 80 cycles at 0.5 C in pouch cell. The rationally combination of solid electrolyte layer protection and housed framework in one Li metal anode sheds fresh insights on the design principle of a safe and long-lifespan Li metal anode for Li metal batteries.
A housed Li anode with upper solid electrolyte layer and bottom carbon fiber matrix is constructed for lithium metal batteries with long cycling life. Display omitted
The serious zinc dendrites and poor cyclability at high cathode loading owing to the strong solvation effect of traditional aqueous electrolytes are the main bottlenecks to the development of aqueous ...rechargeable zinc-ion batteries (ARZIBs). Here, we design an ether–water hybrid zinc-ion electrolyte with bifunctional roles of not only unplugging the dendrites bottleneck at the Zn anode but also extending the cycle life at high cathode loading. A cyclic ether (1,4-dioxane (DX)) is incorporated into traditional ZnSO4-based electrolytes to finely tune the solvation sheath of Zn2+. DX is found to guide the deposition orientation of zinc along the (002) plane, leading to not a dendritic structure but distinctively dense lamellar deposition due to the stronger affinity of the cyclic DX molecules toward Zn(002) than that of water, which is proven by density functional theory calculations. The cycling lifespan of the Zn anode extends up to over 600 h at 5.0 mA cm–2 and maintains extremely high Coulombic efficiency of 99.8%, thereby further enabling the Zn-MnO2 full cells to stably cycle at an ultrahigh mass loading of 9.4 mg cm–2, paving the way to their practical applications. This work also provides a novel electrolyte regulating solution for other aqueous multivalent metal-ion batteries.
Graphene (G) and atomic layers of hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) are complementary two-dimensional materials, structurally very similar but with vastly different electronic properties. Recent studies ...indicate that h-BN atomic layers would be excellent dielectric layers to complement graphene electronics. Graphene on h-BN has been realized via peeling of layers from bulk material to create G/h-BN stacks. Considering that both these layers can be independently grown via chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of their precursors on metal substrates, it is feasible that these can be sequentially grown on substrates to create the G/h-BN stacked layers useful for applications. Here we demonstrate the direct CVD growth of h-BN on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite and on mechanically exfoliated graphene, as well as the large area growth of G/h-BN stacks, consisting of few layers of graphene and h-BN, via a two-step CVD process. The G/h-BN film is uniform and continuous and could be transferred onto different substrates for further characterization and device fabrication.
Both neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) and von Willebrand factor (VWF) are essential for thrombosis and inflammation. During these processes, a complex series of events, including endothelial ...activation, NET formation, VWF secretion, and blood cell adhesion, aggregation and activation, occurs in an ordered manner in the vasculature. The adhesive activity of VWF multimers is regulated by a specific metalloprotease ADAMTS13 (a disintegrin and metalloproteinase with thrombospondin type 1 motifs, member 13). Increasing evidence indicates that the interaction between NETs and VWF contributes to arterial and venous thrombosis as well as inflammation. Furthermore, contents released from activated neutrophils or NETs induce the reduction of ADAMTS13 activity, which may occur in both thrombotic microangiopathies (TMAs) and acute ischemic stroke (AIS). Recently, NET is considered as a driver of endothelial damage and immunothrombosis in COVID-19. In addition, the levels of VWF and ADAMTS13 can predict the mortality of COVID-19. In this review, we summarize the biological characteristics and interactions of NETs, VWF, and ADAMTS13, and discuss their roles in TMAs, AIS, and COVID-19. Targeting the NET-VWF axis may be a novel therapeutic strategy for inflammation-associated TMAs, AIS, and COVID-19.
We have designed a bio-hybrid fly-robot interface (FRI) to study sensorimotor control in insects. The FRI consists of a miniaturized recording platform mounted on a two-wheeled robot and is ...controlled by the neuronal spiking activity of an identified visual interneuron, the blowfly H1-cell. For a given turning radius of the robot, we found a proportional relationship between the spike rate of the H1-cell and the relative distance of the FRI from the patterned wall of an experimental arena. Under closed-loop conditions during oscillatory forward movements biased towards the wall, collision avoidance manoeuvres were triggered whenever the H1-cell spike rate exceeded a certain threshold value. We also investigated the FRI behaviour in corners of the arena. The ultimate goal is to enable autonomous and energy-efficient manoeuvrings of the FRI within arbitrary visual environments.
SHP2 mediates the activities of multiple receptor tyrosine kinase signaling and its function in endothelial processes has been explored extensively. However, genetic studies on the role of SHP2 in ...tumor angiogenesis have not been conducted. Here, we show that SHP2 is activated in tumor endothelia. Shp2 deletion and pharmacological inhibition reduce tumor growth and microvascular density in multiple mouse tumor models. Shp2 deletion also leads to tumor vascular normalization, indicated by increased pericyte coverage and vessel perfusion. SHP2 inefficiency impairs endothelial cell proliferation, migration, and tubulogenesis through downregulating the expression of proangiogenic SRY-Box transcription factor 7 (SOX7), whose re-expression restores endothelial function in SHP2-knockdown cells and tumor growth, angiogenesis, and vascular abnormalization in Shp2-deleted mice. SHP2 stabilizes apoptosis signal-regulating kinase 1 (ASK1), which regulates SOX7 expression mediated by c-Jun. Our studies suggest SHP2 in tumor associated endothelial cells is a promising anti-angiogenic target for cancer therapy.
The selection of proper draw solution is crucial to guarantee a high-performance FO process with minimal reverse solute flux and easy draw solution recovery. In this study, a polyelectrolyte ...salt-poly (4-styrenesulfonic acid-co-maleic acid) sodium (P(SSA-co-MA)-Na), was applied as draw solutes in FO process. The effects of the chemical structure, osmotic pressure, viscosity of the draw solution and the resulted FO performance are investigated systematically. Because of the high osmotic pressure of the solution and the large molecular size, P(SSA-co-MA)-Na exhibits a higher water flux and a lower salt leakage as compared with polyacrylic acid sodium salts (PAA-Na) and poly (sodium-4-styrenesulfonate) (PSS-Na). Especially, a high water flux of about 15LMH and a significantly lower solute leakage of about 0.04gMH can be generated with 0.25g/ml P(SSA-co-MA)-Na draw solution and deionized water as the feed solution under PRO mode. The potential of P(SSA-co-MA)-Na draw solution is further evaluated for water recovery from the dye-containing wastewater via FO process. In addition, the diluted P(SSA-co-MA)-Na can also be regenerated by nanofiltration (NF) system. The overall performance proves that P(SSA-co-MA)-Na as draw solute in FO process is applicable.
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•P(SSA-co-MA)-Na is employed as a novel draw solute in FO process.•P(SSA-co-MA)-Na shows high water flux and negligible solute leakage.•Chemical structure, osmotic pressure, viscosity of the draw solution are studied.•P(SSA-co-MA)-Na draw solution for dye-containing wastewater treatment is efficient.
The rational design and effective construction of precious-metal-free materials for OER and ORR, respectively, are reviewed in the respects of electronic structure regulation, nanostructure tailor, ...and freestanding electrode fabrication. This affords fresh concepts for oxygen electrocatalysis and is also enlightening for other energy catalysis with targeted optimization.
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The oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) are coupled with various sustainable energy systems and are significant for the future energy scenario. Both of them suffer from sluggish kinetics, which calls for cost-effective and high-performance electrocatalysts to promote. The oxygen electrolysis of OER and ORR is heterogeneous reaction, which involves reactant and electron transfer, and a serial of complicate surface reactions. Both intrinsic catalyst activity and extrinsic physicochemical characters play a vital role in overall electrocatalytic reactivity. Herein, recent advances in rational design and effective construction of precious-metal-free materials are reviewed for OER and ORR, respectively, in the respects of electronic structure regulation, nanostructure tailor, and freestanding electrode fabrication. The reaction mechanism of OER and ORR are also updated. This review provides emerging energy chemistry concepts and materials chemistry strategies of electrocatalysts for OER and ORR, which is also enlightening for other energy conversion devices with targeted optimization.
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