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The causal relationship between type 2 diabetes (T2D) and frozen shoulder is unclear. This study aims to explore the genetic causal association between T2D and glycemic traits (fasting glucose [FG], fasting insulin [FI], glycated hemoglobin [HbA 1c ], and 2-hour postprandial glucose [2hGlu]) on frozen shoulder. Using 2-sample Mendelian randomization (MR), we analyzed nonconfounded estimates of the effects of T2D and glycemic traits on frozen shoulder. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) strongly associated (P < 5 × 10–8) with exposures from genome-wide association studies (GWAS) were identified. We employed fixed effect mode inverse variance weighting (IVW-FE), random effect mode IVW (IVW-MRE), MR-Egger, and weighted median to assess the association of exposures and outcome. Sensitivity analysis was conducted to test for heterogeneity and multidirectionality bias in MR. We found a significant genetic causal correlation between T2D (IVW-MRE P =.007, odds ratio [OR] 1.093, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.03-1.16), FG (IVW-FE P <.001, OR 1.455, 95% CI 1.173-1.806), and frozen shoulder, but no evidence for causal correlation between FI, HbA 1c , and 2hGlu and frozen shoulder. Although there was certain heterogeneity, sensitivity analysis reveals no deviation from the MR assumptions. This study supports a genetic causal relationship between T2D and FG and frozen shoulder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To identify the individualized method of quantifying lateralization of the tibial tubercle with the best diagnostic effectiveness, as evaluated by measurement repeatability using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), the size of the difference between the case group and the control group, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis.Methods: Patients who had undergone surgery for recurrent patellar dislocation (the case group) and patients who had no history of patellar dislocation (the control group) from January 2014 to December 2019 were included in the study. Six indices that describe lateralization of the tibial tubercle were calculated using either computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI): tibial tubercle lateralization (TTL), tibial tubercle-trochlear groove (TT-TG) ratio, tibial tubercle-posterior cruciate ligament (TT-PCL) ratio, TT-TG index, (TT-TG)/patellar width (PW), and (TT-TG)/trochlear width (TW). Diagnostic effectiveness was evaluated by 1) intra-rater reliability (measurements on two occasions) and inter-rater reliability (measurements by two assessors) using the ICC, 2) the size of the difference between the case group and the control group, and 3) ROC curve analysis, measuring the area under the ROC curve (AUC) and the post hoc power.Results: 100 knees in 88 patients who had undergone surgery for recurrent patellar dislocation and 55 knees in 53 patients who had no history of patellar dislocation were analyzed. The ICC for all the methods were higher than .75. The mean differences between the case group and the control group for TTL, TT-TG ratio, TT-PCL ratio, TT-TG index, (TT-TG)/PW, and (TT-TG)/TW were 2%, 8%, 2%, 12%, 24% and 56%, respectively. The mean differences between the case group and the control group for (TT-TG)/TW was significantly greater than those for the other methods (P < .0001, unpaired t-test). AUC of TTL, TT-TG ratio, TT-PCL ratio, TT-TG index, (TT-TG)/PW, and (TT-TG)/TW were .708, .880, .630, .814, .882, and .905. AUC of (TT-TG)/TW was significantly greater than those of TTL and TT-PCL ratio (P < .0001). The post hoc power for TT-PCL ratio, TT-TG index, (TT-TG)/PW, TT-TG ratio, (TT-TG)/TW, and TTL were 78%, 81%, 88%, 88%, 91%, and 71%, respectively.Conclusion: Of the six indices evaluated in this study, (TT-TG)/TW showed the greatest mean difference between the two groups, had the greatest diagnostic utility (as measured by AUC values) and had excellent inter-rater and intra-rater reliability (as measured by ICCs). Thus, it may be the best individualized index for diagnosing a lateralized tibial tubercle in patients with recurrent patellar dislocation requiring surgical stabilization compared to patients with no history of patellar dislocation.Level Of Evidence: Level III, diagnostic study, retrospective cohort study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Evaluate three novel latent heat storage designs for cogeneration application. • Conduct 3-D simulation to study secondary flow effect in spiral coil heat exchanger. • Test scaled-down prototype to infer heat transfer rate in novel encapsulated designs. • Compare storage thermal performance and costs between designs for integration. Well-integrated thermal energy storage units can enhance flexibility and profitability for a cogeneration system by enabling its decoupling of electricity and heat production. In the present study, novel latent heat thermal energy storage technologies are numerically investigated on their thermal and economic performance to evaluate their implementation at an existing combined cycle power plant. Three commercially available storage designs are analyzed: one shell-and-tube heat exchanger design based on planar spiral coils, and two types of advanced macro-encapsulated designs with capsules resembling ellipsoid and slab in shape, respectively. For the spiral coil design, three-dimensional flow velocity and temperature fields are simulated with finite volume method to predict the transient storage heat transfer process, including the effect of secondary flow induced by centrifugal forces. For the macro-encapsulated designs, effective heat transfer coefficients between heat transfer fluid (HTF) and phase change material (PCM) are inferred from scaled-down storage prototyping and testing. A one-dimensional two-phase packed bed model was developed based on the apparent heat capacity-based enthalpy method to numerically study the heat transfer in macro-encapsulated PCM. With an operating temperature range of 46–72 °C and a HTF supplying flowrate range of 4.2–8.4 m3/h defined by the cogeneration strategy, thermal power and accumulated storage capacity are calculated and compared for the first three hours of charge and the first hour of discharge for the three designs. The effect from increasing the HTF flowrate to accelerate charging/discharging processes is indicated by the simulation results. Performance comparison among the three designs shows that the slab capsule design exhibits the highest accumulated storage capacity (710 kWh) and state of charge (40%) after three hours of charge, though it has a lower theoretical total storage capacity (1760 kWh) than the spiral coil design (1830 kWh). The ellipsoid capsule design shows a slightly lower accumulated storage capacity (700 kWh) than the slab design for 3-hr charge and an equivalent accumulated storage capacity/depth of discharge (250 kWh/14%) as the latter. Furthermore, the storage power cost of the slab capsule design is the lowest, by 6–12% lower than the spiral coil design and by 2–3% lower than the ellipsoid capsule design. However, with the highest design flowrate of 8.4 m3/h, the low state of charge (below 40%) after three hours and the low depth of discharge (below 14%) after one hour indicate that redesigning the heat transfer boundary conditions and the configurations of the three units are necessary to meet desirable storage performance in cogeneration applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRPs) possess light weight and high strength, making them highly attractive for various applications. However, the design parameter space of CFRPs is extensive, with the complex relationship between structures and mechanical properties. Traditional design methods that rely on trial and error or scientific intuition are laborious and expensive for achieving optimal properties of CFRPs. In light of this challenge, we proposed a machine-learning-assisted multiscale modeling strategy that can efficiently predict the mechanical properties of CFRPs. This strategy uses low-computational-cost machine learning (ML) models to replace traditional theoretical models and combines them with molecular dynamics simulation to predict the mechanical properties of CFRPs starting from resin molecules. Comparing predicted values with the proof-of-concept experiment and the existing experimental findings showed that the predicted values of the ML model are in good agreement with the experimental ones. This strategy can be a viable machine-learning-assisted solution to designing CFRPs. [Display omitted] • ML-based multiscale approach enables predicting mechanical properties of CFRPs starting from resin molecules. • The approach exhibits higher efficiency than traditional finite element and trial-and-error methods. • The predicted values of the ML model are in good agreement with the experimental ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • A new cylindrically encapsulated latent heat storage unit is built and tested. • A parametric study is conducted on the supply conditions of heat transfer fluids. • The effects of a stratified flow regime to the thermal performance are evaluated. • The horizontal and vertical orientations of the storage tank are compared. • Phase segregation of phase change materials is indicated with vertical orientation. Abstract The integration of latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) units with heating systems in buildings is regarded as a promising technology for heating load management; however, so far a limited number of experimental studies have been reported that focus on space heating applications on a representative scale. In this study, we develop and test a 0.38 m3 LHTES unit containing cylindrically macro-encapsulated phase change materials (PCMs) with a melting temperature range of 44–53 °C and with gross mass of 154 kg. The unit has been tested with two tank orientations, horizontal and vertical. In the horizontal orientation tests, parametric studies show that increasing the difference between heat transfer fluid (HTF) supply temperatures and phase-change temperatures of PCMs, as well as increasing HTF flowrates, can both reduce the complete melting/solidification and complete charging/discharging time. Non-linear charging/discharging rates in PCMs are observed. The vertical orientation enables the forming of either a stratified or mixed flow regime in the tank. For charging, the stratified flow provides higher charging rates in PCMs compared to the mixed flow. When discharging the unit with a stratified HTF flow at 35 °C, lower HTF flowrates prolong the discharging time during which the released heat sustains an outlet temperature above 45 °C. Finally, comparisons between horizontal and vertical orientation tests reveal that although the vertical orientation can shorten the charging/discharging time by up to 20% for the entire unit to reach an energy density of 30 kWh/m3, it leads to decrease in PCM thermal capacity by at most 8.2%. The speculated cause of this loss is phase segregation suggested by observed fluid motions in PCM cylinders. This study comprehensively characterizes an LHTES unit providing insights to optimizing its operating strategies considering its coupling with space heating systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many cyberattacks begin with a malicious email message, known as spear phishing, targeted at unsuspecting victims. Although security technologies have improved significantly in recent years, spear phishing continues to be successful due to the bespoke nature of such attacks. Crafting such emails requires attackers to conduct careful research about their victims and collect personal information about them and their acquaintances. Despite the widespread nature of spear-phishing attacks, little is understood about the human factors behind them. This is particularly the case when considering the role of attack personalization on end-user vulnerability. To study spear-phishing attacks in the laboratory, we developed a simulation environment called SpearSim that simulates the tasks involved in the generation and reception of spear-phishing messages. Using SpearSim, we conducted a laboratory experiment with human subjects to study the effect of information availability and information exploitation end-user vulnerability. The results of the experiment show that end-users in the high information-availability condition were 2.97 times more vulnerable to spear-phishing attacks than those in the low information-availability condition. We found that access to more personal information about targets can result in attacks involving contextually meaningful impersonation and narratives. We discuss the implications of this research for the design of anti-phishing training solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] A palladium-catalyzed stereo-selective cis -1,2-arylalkynylation of bicyclic alkenes with aryl triflates and terminal alkynes was developed. This reaction showed high functional group tolerance and can be applied to the modification of bioactive molecules. This three-component reaction provided a practical method for preparing the value-added bicyclo[2.2.1]heptanes derivatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coating on copper plate is difficult to be fabricated by laser. In order to obtain the optimal parameters of laser cladding coating, the temperature fields at different laser power and scanning speed were investigated and analyzed. The optimal parameters were selected with the depth and width of molten pool and compared with the experimental results. Then, the cooling rate, temperature gradient and solidification rate were calculated and analyzed with the coating's microstructure. The results show that the optimal process parameters are 1500 W and 2 mm/s. And at these parameters, the temperature field is consistent with the morphology of cladding coating. From bottom to top of the coating, the corresponding cooling rates are 1056.7, 936.5 and 762.6 ℃/s, and the microstructure are elongated disordered dendrites, columnar dendrites and planar crystals, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates ellipsoid-shaped macro-encapsulated phase change material (PCM) on a component scale. The selected PCM is a paraffin-based commercial material, namely ATP60; differential scanning calorimetry and transient plane source method are used to measure ATP60's thermo-physical properties. A 0.382 m3 latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) component has been built and experimentally characterized. The temperature measurement results indicate that a thermocline was retained in the packed bed region during charging/discharging processes. The experimental characterization shows that increasing the temperature difference between the heat transfer fluid (HTF) inlet temperature and phase-change temperature by 20 K can shorten the completion time of discharge by 65%, and increasing HTF inlet flowrate from 0.15 m3/h (Re = 77) to 0.5 m3/h (Re = 256) can shorten the completion time of charge by 51%. Furthermore, a one-dimensional packed bed model using source-based enthalpy method was developed and validated by comparison to experimental results, showing discrepancies in the accumulated storage capacity within 6.6% between simulation and experiment when the Reynolds number of the HTF inlet flow ranges between 90 and 922. Compared with a conventional capsule shaped in 69-mm-diameter and 750-mm-long cylinders, the ellipsoidal capsule shows 60% less completion time of discharge but 23% lower storage capacity. Overall, this work demonstrates a combined experimental and numerical characterization approach for applying novel macro-encapsulated PCM geometries for heating-oriented LHTES. • Investigation of a novel PCM in ellipsoidal macro-encapsulation. • Characterization of thermo-physical properties of an organic PCM. • Prototyping of a 15 kWh storage and charge/discharge thermal performance testing. • Validation of a one-dimensional numerical model within 6.6% uncertainty. • Comparison of thermal performance of ellipsoidal and cylindrical encapsulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Proposed new latent heat storage integration layouts for load shift with a heat pump. • Utilized de-superheater and subcooler in heat pump to charge storage in new layouts. • Simulated dynamic load shift performance with validated storage and heat pump models. • Improved energy efficiency with new layouts against conventional one using condenser. • Assessed economic and environmental load shift effect and provided investment advice. Integrating latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) units into building heating systems has been increasingly investigated as a heat load management technology. A conventional LHTES integration method for heat pump based heating systems is to connect the heat pump's condenser for charging the LHTES unit. This integrating layout however usually leads to increased electricity input to the heating system. To underline this issue and provide solutions, this paper presents three new LHTES integrating layouts where the LHTES unit is connected with the de-superheater of the main heat pump (Case 2), the condenser of a cascaded booster heat pump cycle (Case 3), or a combination of using both the de-superheater and the booster cycle (Case 4). In the context of a multi-family house in Stockholm, a quasi-steady state heating system model was developed to evaluate the new integrating layouts, which were benchmarked against the baseline heating system without storage (Case 0) and the conventional integrating layout using the main heat pump condenser (Case 1). Hourly electric power input to the heating system was modelled for calculating the performance indicators including the heating performance factor, the operational expense and justifiable capital expense, and the indirect CO 2 emissions. Two load shifting strategies were simulated for an evaluation period of Week 1, 2019: 1) charge during off-peak hours (8 pm to 6 am) and 2) charge during daytime hours (10 am to 7 pm). The simulation results of the off-peak charging strategy show that, in Cases 2–4, the heating performance factor is 22%-26% higher than Case 1 and the operational expense can be reduced by 2%-5% as compared with Case 0. The savings in the operational expense can justify the capital expense of 11 k-25 k Swedish Krona (SEK) for the LHTES systems in Cases 2–4 assuming a 15-year operation. Furthermore, the advantage of using the daytime charging strategy is principally the mitigation of CO 2 emissions, which is up to 14% lower than the off-peak charging strategy. In summary, higher energy efficiency for heating is validated in the three new proposed integration layouts (Cases 2–4) against the condenser charging layout. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Latent heat thermal energy storage has been receiving increasing interests in residential heating applications. In this paper, a numerical heat transfer model was built with finite element method for a cylindrically encapsulated latent heat storage prototype and used for investigating its thermal performance optimization measures. The model was validated against four sets of experimental results for both charge and discharge, as the difference in accumulated storage capacity between simulation and experiment is less than 4%. Transient storage inlet boundary conditions were set in simulation for discharge considering the thermal output from the coupled radiators. The results of the optimization analyses show that: 1) reducing the capsule diameter from 69 mm to 15 mm shortens the completion time of charge and discharge by up to 70%, however, at the expense of 23% decrease in total storage capacity; 2) using parabolic or linear time-increasing heat transfer fluid flowrate profiles than a time-constant one extends around twofold the useful discharge timespan; 3) increasing the storage vessel diameter from 0.6 m to 0.7 m and to 0.8 m prolongs the useful discharge timespan from 2 hrs to the recommended 3 hrs, though the further enlargement to 0.8 m results in a lower state of charge after 3 hrs due to increase in unexploited storage capacity. From the numerical optimization study, we proposed a storage design adjustment of using 15 mm-diameter phase change material capsules in a 0.7 m-diameter cylindrical storage vessel, coupled with a parabolic flow strategy, to improve the storage on-peak discharging performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Medicine intervention is the major clinical treatment used to relieve the symptoms and delay the progression of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), but is limited by its poor targeted delivery and short therapeutic duration. Herein, we developed an injectable and bioadhesive gelatin-based (Gel) hydrogel as a local depot of leonurine (Leon)-loaded and folate-functionalized polydopamine (FA-PDA@Leon) nanoparticles for anti-inflammation and chondroprotection in RA. The nanoparticles could protect Leon and facilitate its entry into the M1 phenotype macrophage for intracellular delivery of Leon, while the hydrogel tightly adhered to the tissues in the joint cavity and prolonged the retention of FA-PDA@Leon nanoparticles, thus achieving higher availability and therapeutic efficiency of Leon. In vitro and in vivo experiments demonstrated that the Gel/FA-PDA@Leon hydrogel could strongly suppress the inflammatory response by down-regulating the JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway in macrophages and protect the chondrocytes from ferritinophagy/ferroptosis. This contributed to maintaining the structural integrity of articular cartilage and accelerating the joint functional recovery. This work provides an effective and convenient strategy to achieve higher bioavailability and long-lasting therapeutic duration of medicine intervention in arthritis diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A commercial sodium acetate trihydrate-based PCM is tested with two methods. • T-history tests are conducted for determining PCM thermal properties. • A storage prototype is developed to investigate PCM's full-scale thermal performance. • PCM thermal behavior is different between the two test methods. Latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) has been receiving increasing attention from researchers and engineers. A practical LHTES installation requires a deep understanding of phase change material's (PCM's) thermal behavior under thermal property testing and realistic operating conditions. To enrich this understanding, an experimental study on a commercial sodium acetate trihydrate-based PCM (Climsel C58) is presented in this article. C58 was characterized with two test methods: T-history tests and full-scale LHTES tests. The results are presented and discussed to exhibit the thermal behavior of C58 with these two test methods and the variations between them. With T-history tests, the thermal properties of C58 such as melting/solidification temperature range (57–61 °C/55–50 °C) and latent heat of fusion (216 kJ/kg) were determined. In full-scale LHTES tests, a parametric study was conducted to investigate the effects of heat transfer fluid flowrate and operating temperature range on the thermal performance of a 0.38 m3 storage prototype containing cylindrically macro-encapsulated C58. Moreover, longitudinal and radial PCM temperature distributions in full-scale tests were analyzed, suggesting the presence of phase separation. In general, C58 behaved differently between the two test methods regarding phase separation (negligible in T-history tests), supercooling effects (within 3 K in full-scale but up to 10 K in T-history tests), and thermal energy storage capacity (10% lower in full-scale tests). When using C58 or other salt hydrate-based PCMs for large-scale heat storage, these thermal behavior differences between the property-measurement and the application-oriented environments should be properly addressed in the design stage to ensure performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon coatings hold great promise for next-generation non-conductive energy storage nanomaterials. However, simplicity, stable, uniformity and high-performance remain unresolved issues. Here, unique synergy of the fluidized bed reactor with plasmas enables highly-effective, single-step fluidized-bed plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (FB-PECVD) of uniform, low-temperature carbon coatings on TiO 2 nano-powder (TiO 2 @C). Plasma-specific effects induce the formation of new phases that are beneficial for energy storage. The 6 nm carbon layer is grown within only 10 min, while the TiO 2 maintains its anatase phase. The unique plasma conditions make it possible to form Ti–C bonds at the Ti/C interface at much lower temperatures than achievable otherwise. The electronic transport at the interface and structural stability are thus greatly improved. Consequently, TiO 2 @C shows excellent electrochemical performances as a negative electrode of sodium ion battery, such as specific discharge capacity of 290.2 mA h g−1 at 50 mA g−1 and very stable long-term cyclability (101.2% capacity retention over 300 cycles at 4000 mA g−1). Our results show that FB-PECVD is not only a versatile method for bond-reinforced interface nanoparticle coating with carbon, but also provide a new strategy for designing hybrid-phase electrochemically active nanocomposite materials. Image 1 • A fluidized-bed plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (FB-PECVD) is proposed. • Uniform carbon layer is coated on TiO 2 nanoparticles through a one-step reaction. • Ti–C bonds are formed at the Ti/C interface. • C@TiO 2 as a negative electrode of SIB shows excellent electrochemical performances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lithium-ion battery (LIBs) applications using antimony (Sb) based anodes with high specific capacity and suitable operating voltage have showed tremendous potential. However, the large volume variation during electrochemical cycling limits their application. In this paper, M-Sb (M=Co, Ni) nanoparticles embedded in nitrogen doped carbon nanofibers have been prepared by an electrospinning method, 3D interconnected M-Sb@CN (NiSb@CN and Sb/CoSb 2 @CN) fiber composites are obtained finally. M-Sb nanoparticles are uniformly distributed in N-doped carbon nanofibers, which can prevent their direct exposure to the electrolyte. Compared with bare Sb-M and Sb-C binary electrodes, the M-Sb-C three-component composite electrodes show smaller volume change and stronger charge transport ability. The introduction of the transition metal (Co, Ni) not only serves as buffer substrate for volume change, but also regulates the properties of carbon fibers as a catalyst. High reversible capacities of 647.4 and 620.2 mA h g−1 of NiSb@CN and Sb/CoSb 2 @CN fiber composites can be maintained after 600 cycles at a current rate of 500 mA g−1. First principles calculation demonstrates that N-doping and the incorporation of transition metal M have favorable effect on the improved Li binding energy, offering a possibility for the material design of the high-performance LIBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autonomous driving systems require many images for analyzing the surrounding environment. However, there is fewer data protection for private information among these captured images, such as pedestrian faces or vehicle license plates, which has become a significant issue. In this paper, in response to the call for data security laws and regulations and based on the advantages of large Field of View (FoV) of the fisheye camera, we build the first A utopilot D esensitization D ataset, called ADD , and formulate the first deep-learning-based image desensitization framework, to promote the study of image desensitization in autonomous driving scenarios. The compiled dataset consists of 650K images, including different face and vehicle license plate information captured by the surround-view fisheye camera. It covers various autonomous driving scenarios, including diverse facial characteristics and license plate colors. Then, we propose an efficient multitask desensitization network called DesCenterNet as a benchmark on the ADD dataset, which can perform face and vehicle license plate detection and desensitization tasks. Based on ADD , we further provide an evaluation criterion for desensitization performance, and extensive comparison experiments have verified the effectiveness and superiority of our method on image desensitization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highly-crystallized cubic cattierite CoS 2 pyramids were deposited on Ti foil via a simple hydrothermal method using CoCl 2 and thiourea as precursors. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) characterization revealed the morphology evolution from ramdom nanoparticles to micro-pyramids with well defined facets. These CoS 2 pyramids were applied as electrocatalysts for hydorgen evolution reaction (HER) and showed very different acidic HER performance. The sample prepared at 15 h reaction time showed the best performance with an onset overpotential as low as 81 mV and a Tafel slope of ∼72 mV/dec. The activity was kept almost 89% even after working for 30,000 seconds. Further study showed that these CoS 2 pyramids also functioned well in neutral (1.0 M potassium phosphate buffer solution, pH = 7.00) and alkaline (1.0 M KOH solution, pH = 13.57) conditions. The cubic cattierite-type CoS 2 can work as a novel HER electrocatalyst over the wide pH range from 0 to 14, combined with its easy-synthesis, low-cost and high stability, which can potentially serve as a ready-to-go HER catalyst for practical utilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objectives of this study were to identify the chemical composition, monosaccharide composition, and molecular weight (Mw) of the polysaccharide (LBP) extract from Lycium barbarum L., and investigate the effects of Ca2+ on the zeta potential, rheological properties, infrared spectra (IR), and structure as well as the gelation mechanism of the LBP. The results showed that the LBP was an acidic glycoprotein mixture with an Mw of 4.05 × 105 Da. The addition of Ca2+ first decreased and then increased the absolute value of zeta potential. The elastic modulus (G'), complex viscosity (η*), and stress relaxation modulus (G(t)) of LBP increased with an increase of Ca2+ concentration, and reached the maximum value at the concentration of 12 mM. IR showed that the typical peak wavenumber of the LBP has changed in the presence of Ca2+. SEM and AFM analysis confirmed that Ca2+ could improve the formation of gel network structure in LBP. In addition, the electrostatic interaction and the calcium bridges produced by the addition of Ca2+ played a key role in the formation of the gel network structure. These findings will benefit the application of LBP in the food and pharmaceutical industries. [Display omitted] • Effect of Ca2+ on the rheological properties and structure of LBP was investigated. • Gelation mechanism of LBP was also elucidated. • Increasing concentration of Ca2+ improved rheological properties of the LBP gels. • Ca2+ increased the stability of LBP gel network structure. • Electrostatic interaction was crucial to LBP gel network structure formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hybrid ion capacitors show promise to bridge the gap between rechargeable batteries with high energy density and supercapacitors of high power. However, research efforts primarily focus on lithium-ion and/or sodium-ion based capacitors, potassium ion capacitor (KIC) is theoretically more sustainable and promising owing to the high abundance, low standard redox potential and low cost of the K sources. Herein, nitrogen-doped porous carbon submicrospheres derived from hierarchical micro-flowerlike polyimide superstructure are fabricated and investigated as novel anodes for excellent K ion storage. The effect of different electrolytes on potassium storage properties and the reaction kinetics are successfully revealed. A low cost nonaqueous KIC is assembled with commercial activated carbon as cathode and the polyimide derived carbon as anode. Benefiting from the unique structure characteristics of enriched active sites, high electronic conductivity, and the conspicuous pseudocapacitive effect of polyimide carbon, the as-fabricated device manifests the maximum energy density and power density of 90.1 Wh kg−1 and 3000 W kg−1, respectively. Even at 1540 W kg−1, the energy density still remains at 43.5 Wh kg−1. Moreover, the device achieves a near 100% Coulombic efficiency and favorable cycling stability over 5000 cycles at a current density 500 mA g−1. Image 1 • Polyimide derived N-doped carbon as new anodes for K ion capacitors. • The effect of different electrolytes on potassium storage properties. • High electronic/ionic conductivity and conspicuous pseudocapacitive effect. • The device demonstrates high energy density and exceptional cycling stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]