Compressive surface strains have been necessary to boost oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity in core/shell M/platinum (Pt) catalysts (where M can be nickel, cobalt, or iron). We report on a ...class of platinum-lead/platinum (PtPb/Pt) core/shell nanoplate catalysts that exhibit large biaxial strains. The stable Pt (110) facets of the nanoplates have high ORR specific and mass activities that reach 7.8 milliampere (mA) per centimeter squared and 4.3 ampere per milligram of platinum at 0.9 volts versus the reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE), respectively. Density functional theory calculations reveal that the edge-Pt and top (bottom)-Pt (110) facets undergo large tensile strains that help optimize the Pt-O bond strength. The intermetallic core and uniform four layers of Pt shell of the PtPb/Pt nanoplates appear to underlie the high endurance of these catalysts, which can undergo 50,000 voltage cycles with negligible activity decay and no apparent structure and composition changes.
Developing highly effective and stable counter electrode (CE) materials to replace rare and expensive noble metals for dye‐sensitized and perovskite solar cells (DSC and PSC) is a research hotspot. ...Carbon materials are identified as the most qualified noble metal‐free CEs for the commercialization of the two photovoltaic devices due to their merits of low cost, excellent activity, and superior stability. Herein, carbonaceous CE materials are reviewed extensively with respect to the two devices. For DSC, a classified discussion according to the morphology is presented because electrode properties are closely related to the specific porosity or nanostructure of carbon materials. The pivotal factors influencing the catalytic behavior of carbon CEs are also discussed. For PSC, an overview of the new carbon CE materials is addressed comprehensively. Moreover, the modification techniques to improve the interfacial contact between the perovskite and carbon layers, aiming to enhance the photovoltaic performance, are also demonstrated. Finally, the development directions, main challenges, and coping approaches with respect to the carbon CE in DSC and PSC are stated.
Carbon counter electrode materials for dye‐sensitized and perovskite solar cells are summarized extensively. The specific morphology and structure design of the carbon counter electrode in dye‐sensitized solar cells and the intrinsic features, energy level alignment, and interface engineering of the perovskite/carbon interface in perovskite solar cells are emphasized.
In the airborne or spaceborne radar applications, prolonging the coherent integration time is one of the effective methods to improve the radar detection ability of a weak maneuvering target, whereas ...the coherent integration performance may degrade due to the complex range migration (RM) and Doppler frequency migration (DFM) effects. In this paper, detection and motion parameter estimation for a weak maneuvering target with the third-order RM and DFM are considered. Firstly, Keystone transform is applied to compensate the linear range walk. Then, the matched filtering processing is performed in the range-frequency and azimuth-time domain to eliminate the residual coupling effects between range and azimuth. Finally, a well-focused image of a moving target is obtained, and three motion parameters, i.e., velocity, acceleration, and acceleration rate, are effectively estimated. In addition, as for a fast-moving target with Doppler ambiguity, two cases, i.e., target azimuth spectrum within a pulse repetition frequency (PRF) and spanning over neighboring PRF bands, are analyzed. Compared with the generalized Radon Fourier transform (GRFT), the proposed method can acquire a close integration performance but with lower computational complexity since the parameter searching dimension is reduced. Simulated processing results are provided to validate the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Urbanization has eco-environmental consequences; among which are effects on the urban thermal environment, which have drawn extensive attention especially in metropolitan regions having intensive ...population and high building density. In this study, the variation of the thermal environment during the urbanization process from 2001 to 2009 in the Beijing metropolitan region was evaluated using the spatial Lorenz curve and distribution index. In addition, the effects of landscape composition and spatial configuration on the thermal environment were investigated using correlation analysis and piecewise linear regression. The urban heat island (UHI) was found to be much more significant in summer than in spring, autumn and winter. Furthermore, the magnitude of the urban thermal environment in Beijing has increased during the process of urbanization. The suburban areas of Beijing, including the new urban development zone and ecological conservation zone, have increased the magnitude of the thermal environment. However, the opposite effect has occurred in the center of Beijing, including the core functional zone and urban function extended zone. Landscape types such as built-up areas and barren land make the most significant contribution to the thermal environment, whereas ecological land plays a significant role in mitigating the UHI. When the coverage of ecological land exceeded 70% (25km2) of the total land area, the cooling efficiency of this landscape type was relatively obvious, and the shape index and fragmentation index of landscape configuration both had a significantly positive correlation (0.594 and 0.510 Pearson's coefficients, respectively) with average land surface temperature. The Pearson's coefficient between the ecological land proportion and the average land surface temperature was 0.614 (P<0.01); this value was higher than that for the effects of the spatial configuration, indicating that landscape composition affects the thermal environment more than does spatial configuration.
•LST dynamic was examined in Beijing during 2001–2009.•LST increased averagely in the whole metropolitan area but decreased in city center.•Built-up areas and barren land contribute most to UHI.•Cooling effects of ecological land is obvious with the proportion above 70%.•LST is determined more by landscape composition than spatial configuration.
The 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) causing an outbreak of pneumonia in Wuhan, Hubei province of China was isolated in January 2020. This study aims to investigate its epidemiologic history, and ...analyze the clinical characteristics, treatment regimens, and prognosis of patients infected with 2019-nCoV during this outbreak.
Clinical data from 137 2019-nCoV-infected patients admitted to the respiratory departments of nine tertiary hospitals in Hubei province from December 30, 2019 to January 24, 2020 were retrospectively collected, including general status, clinical manifestations, laboratory test results, imaging characteristics, and treatment regimens.
None of the 137 patients (61 males, 76 females, aged 20-83 years, median age 57 years) had a definite history of exposure to Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market. Major initial symptoms included fever (112/137, 81.8%), coughing (66/137, 48.2%), and muscle pain or fatigue (44/137, 32.1%), with other, less typical initial symptoms observed at low frequency, including heart palpitations, diarrhea, and headache. Nearly 80% of the patients had normal or decreased white blood cell counts, and 72.3% (99/137) had lymphocytopenia. Lung involvement was present in all cases, with most chest computed tomography scans showing lesions in multiple lung lobes, some of which were dense; ground-glass opacity co-existed with consolidation shadows or cord-like shadows. Given the lack of effective drugs, treatment focused on symptomatic and respiratory support. Immunoglobulin G was delivered to some critically ill patients according to their conditions. Systemic corticosteroid treatment did not show significant benefits. Notably, early respiratory support facilitated disease recovery and improved prognosis. The risk of death was primarily associated with age, underlying chronic diseases, and median interval from the appearance of initial symptoms to dyspnea.
The majority of patients with 2019-nCoV pneumonia present with fever as the first symptom, and most of them still showed typical manifestations of viral pneumonia on chest imaging. Middle-aged and elderly patients with underlying comorbidities are susceptible to respiratory failure and may have a poorer prognosis.
Temperature can govern morphologies, structures and properties of products from synthesis in solution. A reaction in solution at low temperature may result in different materials than at higher ...temperature due to thermodynamics and kinetics of nuclei formation. Here, we report a low-temperature solution synthesis of atomically dispersed cobalt in a catalyst with superior performance. By using a water/alcohol mixed solvent with low freezing point, liquid-phase reduction of a cobalt precursor with hydrazine hydrate is realized at -60 °C. A higher energy barrier and a sluggish nucleation rate are achieved to suppress nuclei formation; thus atomically dispersed cobalt is successfully obtained in a catalyst for oxygen reduction with electrochemical performance superior to that of a Pt/C catalyst. Furthermore, the atomically dispersed cobalt catalyst is applied in a microbial fuel cell to obtain a high maximum power density (2550 ± 60 mW m
) and no current drop upon operation for 820 h.
Amidst the rapid evolution of the digital economy, this research positions fuzzy rough set theory at the forefront of industrial economic modeling, acknowledging its profound capability to manage ...uncertain information. This theory’s analytical precision facilitates a deep dive into the dynamics of industrial economic growth, enabling the refinement of industrial structures for sustainable development. Our empirical investigation into region A’s grain industry showcases a remarkable output growth of 272.88% from 2008 to 2018, with a model accuracy exceeding 95%. Analysis on cost inputs further demonstrates how innovation in science and technology plays a crucial role in cost reduction. By leveraging fuzzy rough set theory, this work contributes significantly to the strategic development of industrial economics, offering a robust methodology for data-driven analysis and forecasting in industrial sectors.
This paper first analyzes the effective application of web platforms and information technology in college teaching and constructs a web-based teaching aid platform for college courses based on the ...open Web. Secondly, the A3C algorithm is used to implement adaptive coding decisions to improve the performance of the platform by adaptive network coding. Finally, the performance test analysis is conducted for the web teaching aid platform built in this paper. The results show that the average response time of the system using the communication function with 2000 concurrent users is 1.807s, and the CPU and memory usage are 1146MHz and 1486MB, respectively, after running for 25s. This shows that adaptive network coding can effectively improve the performance of the supplementary teaching platform.
This paper is concerned with the optimal linear estimation problem for linear discrete-time stochastic systems with random sensor delays, packet dropouts and uncertain observations. We develop a ...unified model to describe the mixed uncertainties of random delays, packet dropouts and uncertain observations by three Bernoulli distributed random variables with known distributions. Based on the proposed model, the optimal linear estimators that only depend on probabilities are developed via an innovation analysis approach. Their solutions are given in terms of a Riccati equation and a Lyapunov equation. They can deal with the optimal linear filtering, prediction and smoothing for systems with random sensor delays, packet dropouts and uncertain observations in a unified framework. Simulation results show the effectiveness of the proposed optimal linear estimators.
Human hair and street dust from rural and urban areas in Chongqing were collected to analyze Organophosphate esters (OPEs) and phthalate esters (PAEs). Concentrations of OPEs in urban hair were ...significantly higher than those in rural hair, whereas PAEs concentrations in rural hair were significantly higher than those in urban hair. Different composition patterns of OPEs were observed in rural and urban hair, where tris (2-chloroisopropyl) phosphate (TCIPP), tris (butyl) phosphate (TNBP) and triphenyl phosphate (TPHP) were the dominating analogues in rural hair, accounting for 62.1% of the OPEs burden, and tris (methylphenyl) phosphate (TMPP) exhibited a high contribution in urban hair, responsible for 51.3% of total OPEs, which differed from the composition profiles in corresponding street dust. Analogous composition patterns of PAEs were found in hair of both areas. Di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), dibutyl phthalate (DNBP), diisobutyl phthalate (DIBP) and diethyl phthalate (DEP) were the most abundant analogues in hair samples, while DEHP was the predominant analogue in dust samples. No clear tendency was obtained between the increasing ages and the concentrations of both compounds. Most OPEs and PAEs congeners showed significantly positive correlation with one another in rural hair. On the contrary, different correlation patterns were observed in urban hair for OPEs and PAEs, indicating multiple or additional sources existed in urban areas. Significant correlations of OPEs and PAEs were found between hair and corresponding street dust samples, but poor correlations of OPEs and PAEs were observed between rural hair and rural indoor dust, suggesting that street dust may be a predominant exogenous source for human exposure to OPEs and PAEs in this area.
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•PAEs in rural street dust was approximately 10 times higher than rural indoor dust.•Composition profiles of OPEs and PAEs in hair differed from corresponding dust.•No clear tendency of OPEs and PAEs along with ages was obtained.•Street dust may be the major exogenous contributor for residents exposure to OPEs and PAEs.
Different congeners patterns of OPEs and PAEs were demonstrated between hair and corresponding dust in rural and urban areas. Correlations and potential sources of OPEs and PAEs in human hair were demonstrated.
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