Search

A multifunctional separator coating material (FeS2@MMT) has been synthesized using cheap and abundant resources, which can efficiently suppress the shuttle effect in high-energy-density Li–S batteries via the absorption-catalysis synergistic effect.

The direct asymmetric α-arylation, allylation and benzylation of NH2 unprotected amino acid esters with aryl halides, allyl and benzyl chlorides are respectively achieved by chiral aldehyde catalysis.

With the combination of absorption capability and catalytic activity, the CoS2@MMT exhibited the potential as the AOP catalyst to degrade ofloxacin rapidly and effectively.

he School of Architecture at Unitec publishes an e-newsletter biannually, keeping alumni and industry contacts informed of developments in the school and its communities. The publication also provides an opportunity to share details regarding continuing professional development (CPD) opportunities for practitioners and calls for papers published in the school's peer-reviewed journals, such as XSection and Asylum. The e-newsletter, edited by Senior Lecturer Hamish Foote, supports the school in meeting the aims of its Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Interior programmes: grounding in the historical and theoretical foundations of our disciplines; knowledge of professional, social and environmental responsibilities; development of appropriate communication skills; ability to analyse work critically; and an overview of taha Māori, the Treaty of Waitangi, and Māori perspectives as they relate to our disciplines. Publication of the e-newsletter was paused during Aotearoa New Zealand’s Covid-19 outbreak, and the following items were compiled this year to share recent developments and the return to everyday life.

Temperate japonica/geng (GJ) rice yield has significantly improved due to intensive breeding efforts, dramatically enhancing global food security. However, little is known about the underlying genomic structural variations (SVs) responsible for this improvement. We compared 58 long-read assemblies comprising cultivated and wild rice species in the present study, revealing 156 319 SVs. The phylogenomic analysis based on the SV dataset detected the putatively selected region of GJ sub-populations. A significant portion of the detected SVs overlapped with genic regions were found to influence the expression of involved genes inside GJ assemblies. Integrating the SVs and causal genetic variants underlying agronomic traits into the analysis enables the precise identification of breeding signatures resulting from complex breeding histories aimed at stress tolerance, yield potential and quality improvement. Further, the results demonstrated genomic and genetic evidence that the SV in the promoter of LTG1 is accounting for chilling sensitivity, and the increased copy numbers of GNP1 were associated with positive effects on grain number. In summary, the current study provides genomic resources for retracing the properties of SVs-shaped agronomic traits during previous breeding procedures, which will assist future genetic, genomic and breeding research on rice.

Center loss is widely used as a supervision tool in deep learning method. However, the center loss also has some shortcomings, the most important of which is that it must be combined with softmax loss to run well. In this article, we sum up five shortcomings of center loss and solve all of them by proposing a dual distance center loss (DDCL). Compared with center loss, DDCL can run without the combination of softmax to supervise training the model. In addition, we verify the inconsistency between the proposed DDCL and softmax loss in the feature space. To be specifically, we add the Pearson distance on the basis of the Euclidean distance to the same center, which makes all features of the same class be confined to the intersection of a hypersphere and a hypercone in the feature space, strengthens the intraclass compactness of the center loss, and enhances the generalization ability of center loss. Moreover, by designing a Euclidean distance threshold between all center pairs, we not only strengthen the interclass separability of center loss, but also make the center loss (or DDCL) works well without the combination of softmax loss. We verify the effectiveness of DDCL in four datasets, two of which are widely used in the field of vehicle re-identification named VeRi-776 dataset and VehicleID dataset, and two other datasets are widely used in the field of person re-identification named Market1501 dataset and MSMT17 dataset. The experimental results of the proposed DDCL exceed that of the softmax loss in all the four datasets, indicating that our proposed method not only can run without the combination of softmax, but also has a high accuracy.

In the rapid development of network technology, most users can simultaneously or alternately use multiple communication terminals. At this time, how to build a control platform of integrated network to help users manage multiple terminals has become the focus of mobile network technology research and development. On the basis of understanding the design content of the network control platform and according to the three types of network selection algorithm, this paper analyzes how to build the architecture of the multiterminal collaborative network control platform based on the open source Mobicents design and conducts test research on its system implementation.

Chiral α-amino ketones are common structural motifs in natural products and pharmaceuticals, as well as important synthons in organic synthesis. Thus, establishing efficient methods for preparing compounds with these privileged scaffolds is an important endeavor in synthetic chemistry. Herein we disclose a new catalytic asymmetric approach for the synthesis of chiral α-amino ketones through a chiral palladium-catalyzed arylation reaction of

The CoS2-intercalated/coated-montmorillonite separator coating layer can efficiently suppress the shuttle effect in Li–S batteries via an effective absorption–catalysis synergistic effect.

With an effective ion path structure and sufficient N-doping in the carbon skeleton, the MOF-derived Fe3O4@NC exhibited potential as the cathode in high-rate lithium–sulfur batteries.

The direct catalytic hydrocarbylation of readily available amino acids with halohydrocarbons is one of the most straightforward methods leading to disubstituted non-proteinogenic amino acid compounds. However, all the re-ported methodologies depend on N-protected amino acids as starting materials. Herein, we report on three highly efficient aldehyde-catalyzed direct hydrocarbylations of N-unprotected amino acid esters with aryl-, allyl-, and benzyl halides. By promoting a simple chiral BINOL-aldehyde catalyst or combining catalysts of a chiral aldehyde and Lewis acid ZnCl2, the asymmetric arylation, allylation, and benzylation of amino acid esters with the corresponding halohydrocarbons proceed smoothly, producing disubstituted amino acids in moderate-to-high yields and good-to-excellent enantioselectivities. The asymmetric arylation reaction can be applied in the formal synthesis of the clinical candidate compound (+)-AG-041R. Based on the results given by control experiments, three reaction models are proposed to illustrate the stereoselective-control outcomes.

The purpose of this study was to analyse the clinical characteristics of patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-2) PCR re-positivity after recovering from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Patients (n = 1391) from Guangzhou, China, who had recovered from COVID-19 were recruited between 7 September 2021 and 11 March 2022. Data on epidemiology, symptoms, laboratory test results and treatment were analysed. In this study, 42.7% of recovered patients had re-positive result. Most re-positive patients were asymptomatic, did not have severe comorbidities, and were not contagious. The re-positivity rate was 39%, 46%, 11% and 25% in patients who had received inactivated, mRNA, adenovirus vector and recombinant subunit vaccines, respectively. Seven independent risk factors for testing re-positive were identified, and a predictive model was constructed using these variables. The predictors of re-positivity were COVID-19 vaccination status, previous SARs-CoV-12 infection prior to the most recent episode, renal function, SARS-CoV-2 IgG and IgM antibody levels and white blood cell count. The predictive model could benefit the control of the spread of COVID-19.

The defect detection of 3D image of nano CT under different interference has the phenomenon of prominent dislocation. Therefore, an adaptive detection method of 3D image defect of nano CT based on wavelet decomposition is proposed. Analyze the noise of three-dimensional image of nano CT, determine the mixed filtering of image sequence according to the different noise properties, evaluate the mixed filtering of image sequence, complete the preprocessing of three-dimensional image of nano CT, fuse the three-dimensional image of nano CT decomposed by wavelet after preprocessing, enhance the image after decomposition, and realize the defect adaptive detection through the characteristics of wavelet decomposition. The experimental results show that the design method can effectively detect the interference and solve the problems of traditional methods.

The exploration of efficient catalysts toward hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is still an urgent task. In this paper, Ni/Mo/Cu/C and Ni/Mo/C electrode were obtained by conventional pulse voltammetry, which acted as cathode in microbial electrolysis cells (MECs). The prepared samples are analyzed using SEM, XRD, XPS and electrochemical analysis techniques. Results indicated that the Ni/Mo/Cu coating has a rough and globular structure and presents high current density, a lower Tafel slope of 23.9 mV/dec than 30 mV/dec of Pt, which exceeds the electrochemical activity of Pt electrode. Its remarkably enhanced electrocatalytic activity is attributed to the high surface area, high conductivity as well as synergistic interaction among Ni, Mo and Cu.

The combined catalytic systems derived from organocatalysts and transition metals exhibit powerful activation and stereoselective-control abilities in asymmetric catalysis. This work describes a highly efficient chiral aldehyde-nickel dual catalytic system and its application for the direct asymmetric α−propargylation reaction of amino acid esters with propargylic alcohol derivatives. Various structural diversity α,α−disubstituted non-proteinogenic α−amino acid esters are produced in good-to-excellent yields and enantioselectivities. Furthermore, a stereodivergent synthesis of natural product NP25302 is achieved, and a reasonable reaction mechanism is proposed to illustrate the observed stereoselectivity based on the results of control experiments, nonlinear effect investigation, and HRMS detection.

The strict nationwide Covid-19 lockdown that began in March 2020 in Aotearoa New Zealand required staff from tertiary education institutions to immediately adapt and move their teaching and professional activities online, as well as maintain social contact remotely. The aim of our study was to explore the impact of the lockdown and restrictions on working life and personal wellbeing for staff at five Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics (ITPs) across Te Pūkenga national network. Participants were invited to complete an online survey at five time points, corresponding to different alert levels and decreasing social restrictions. They responded to questions about changes to work and personal life, activities to maintain wellbeing, adequacy and trustworthiness of information sources, and provided qualitative comment. Overall, 2250 responses were collected from 1240 individuals over the five time points. They show that participants made higher levels of adjustments in their working lives than in their personal lives or their efforts to maintain social contact. Levels of adjustment decreased over time, despite an increase in alert level (increased social restrictions) in September 2020. Attention to wellbeing also dropped off over time, with an increasing proportion of staff becoming at risk of poor wellbeing (below the cut-off of the WHO-5 depression index). Qualitative comments show innovative and creative ways of maintaining wellbeing despite the requirements for considerable adjustments to participants’ daily working and personal lives.

Eating and cooking quality (ECQ) have become ever more crucial breeding target in recent decades due to the high level of economic growth. The rapid visco analyser (RVA) profile is an important factor for evaluation of the ECQ. In this study, a series of recombinant lines derived from a cross between indica and japonica were planted into four areas with distinguish ecological condition in 2015 and 2016. The relationships among environment, genetic background and RVA profile were investigated through the phenotypic survey and high-throughput sequence ng. The results showed that the RVA profile was strongly affected by environmental factors, which dynamically changed from heading to mature stage. The high relative humidity had a quality penalty via effecting the RVA profile. The percentage of indica pedigree introgression was not significantly correlated to RVA profile. A totally 102 QTLs of RVA profile were detected in four areas and 2 years, 10 loci of them could be detected at least in two conditions. Moreover, we elucidated that the truncated dep1 allele might affect ECQ through reducing the peak viscosity. The present study evaluated the effects of environmental factors and genetic background to RVA profile, provide insights into the ECQ, which could be improved through sub-species crosses for different ecological conditions.

Castanopsis fargesii is among the most prevalent hardwood species in South China. To improve the poor dimensional stability of C. fargesii wood, heat treatments were performed using vacuum or sand as the medium at four temperatures from 170 °C to 215 °C for 4 h. As a medium, vacuum or sand can create a low oxygen environment. The results showed that, as the temperature increased, the oven-dry density decreased, whereas the dimensional stability and the total color change (∆E*) increased with both media, two different changing patterns of a* and b* were observed, the lignin content increased, and the holocellulose content decreased. The oven-dry density decreased 9.4% and 25.5%, volume shrinkage ratio decreased 27.8% and 37.7%, and the ∆E* was 19.63 and 45.52, the lignin contents increased from 17.62% to 28.62% and 42.87%, and the holocellulose contents decreased from 80.49% to 69.43% and 51.04% when C. fargesii wood was heated under vacuum and with sand at 215 °C, respectively. Overall, sand heat treatment affected wood physical and chemical properties more than vacuum heat treatment. The analysis of functional groups and crystallinity also showed that there were severe changes in C. fargesii wood under sand heat treatment.

TiC-high manganese steel-bonded carbide was prepared by powder metallurgy method with varied Mo2C content (0, 2.5%, 5%, 7.5% and 10% respectively), and the effects of Mo2C addition on the microstructure and mechanical properties of the fabricated cermets were studied. The microstructures of the fabricated cermets were observed and analyzed by scanning electron microscope (SEM), and the physical and mechanical properties of the cermets were also tested. The results show that the microstructure of the cermet without Mo2C additive was finer than that of the cermets with 2.5% and 5% Mo2C addition, though Mo2C was an effective grain growth inhibitor of TiC- and/or TiCN-based refractory materials because of low inherent solubility of TiC in Fe binder. An interesting phenomenon was also found that black core-gray rim was observed in the microstructure of the cermet without Mo2C addition. The microstructure of the fabricated cermets was fine with the increase of Mo2C content. The results also show that the relative density and hardness of the cermet increased monotonously with the increase of Mo2C content, hence, the transverse rupture strength (TRS) and impact toughness (IM) of the fabricated cermets increased first and then decreased, and the TRS and IM reached the maximum valve of 2189 MPa and 11.7 J/cm2 when Mo2C content was 7.5% and 5% respectively.

In this study, the mitochondrial (mt) genomes of

Harvesting low-grade heat by an ionic hydrogel thermoelectric generator (ITEG) into useful electricity is promising to power flexible electronics. However, the poor environmental tolerance of the ionic hydrogel limits its application. Herein, we demonstrate an ITEG with high thermoelectric properties, as well as excellent capabilities of water retention, freezing resistance, and self-regeneration. The obtained ITEG can maintain the original water content at ambient conditions (302 K, 65% relative humidity (RH)) for 7 days and keep unfreezing at a low temperature (253 K). It can even be self-regenerated and recovered to its original state after a water loss in high-temperature conditions. Furthermore, a high ionic Seebeck coefficient of 11.3 mV K

Besides the adjustment of the active centres, the precisely designed microstructures of the carbon hosts also play a significant role in improving the battery performance. Herein, MOF-derived Fe

In order to adapt to diverse habitats, organisms often evolve corresponding adaptive mechanisms to cope with their survival needs. The species-rich family of Scincidae contains both limbed and limbless species, which differ fundamentally in their locomotor demands, such as relying on the movement of limbs or only body swing to move. Locomotion requires energy, and different types of locomotion have their own energy requirements. Mitochondria are the energy factories of living things, which provide a lot of energy for various physiological activities of organisms. Therefore, mitochondrial genomes could be tools to explore whether the limb loss of skinks are selected by adaptive evolution.

The phylogenetic relationship of Ephemeridae (Insect: Ephemeroptera) remains hotly debated using mitochondrial (mt) genomes. All previously reported mt genomes of Ephemeridae belong to the genus

Hyperthermophilic

Background: Wealth and income are potential modifiable risk factors for dementia, but whether wealth status, which is composed of a combination of debt and poverty, and assessed by wealth and income, is associated with cognitive impairment among elderly adults remains unknown. Objective: To examine the associations of different combinations of debt and poverty with the incidence of dementia and cognitive impairment without dementia (CIND) and to evaluate the mediating role of depression in these relationships. Methods: We included 15,565 participants aged 51 years or older from the Health and Retirement Study (1992–2012) who were free of CIND and dementia at baseline. Dementia and CIND were assessed using either the modified Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (mTICS) or a proxy assessment. Cox models with time-dependent covariates and mediation analysis were used. Results: During a median of 14.4 years of follow-up, 4,484 participants experienced CIND and 1,774 were diagnosed with dementia. Both debt and poverty were independently associated with increased dementia and CIND risks, and the risks were augmented when both debt and poverty were present together (the hazard ratios [95% confidence intervals] were 1.35 [1.08–1.70] and 1.96 [1.48–2.60] for CIND and dementia, respectively). The associations between different wealth statuses and cognition were partially (mediation ratio range: 11.8–29.7%) mediated by depression. Conclusion: Debt and poverty were associated with an increased risk of dementia and CIND, and these associations were partially mediated by depression. Alleviating poverty and debt may be effective for improving mental health and therefore curbing the risk of cognitive impairment and dementia.