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Psoroptes ovis var. cuniculi infestation rapidly causes skin lesion, cutaneous inflammatory and subsequent adaptive immune response in rabbits. To success feeding and survive on the host skin, this mite should product bioactive molecules to confront host tissue repair and immune defense, but these molecules of this mite remains mostly unknown. Serpins have been proved to involve in diverse biological functions including parasite reproduction, survival and modulating host defense. Limited information is currently available on serpins from Psoroptes mites. Herein, we identified four novel serpins (PsoSP3-PsoSP6) in P. ovis var. cuniculi using bioinformatics and molecular biology techniques. Sequence analysis revealed that PsoSP3-PsoSP6 comprised the common features of typical serpins superfamily including serpin domains, signature or the reactive centre loop (RCL) domain. The recombinant PsoSP4-PsoSP6 (rPsoSP4-rPsoSP6) revealed variable potency inhibition on trypsin, chymotrypsin and elastase except for rPsoSP3 in inhibitory activity assays. By quantitative RT-PCR, the expressions of PsoSP3 and PsoSP4 were higher in juvenile mites (larva and nymph) than in adult mites, however, PsoSP5 and PsoSP6 appeared near-exclusive expression in adult female mites. Immunolocalization showed that native PsoSP4 protein was localized in uterus, whilst native PsoSP3, PsoSP5 and PsoSP6 were specifically localized in the ovarian nutritive cell (ONC) in ovary. Our findings indicated that PsoSP3-PsoSP6 might play critical roles in development and reproduction physiologies. rPsoSP4-rPsoSP6 might participate in modulating host inflammation, immune response and tissue repair. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid development of fifth/sixth-generation (5 G/6 G) telecommunication technologies has led to increased demands for silicate ceramic materials. In this work, Ge4+-substituted diopside, CaMg 0.9 Zn 0.1 Si 2- x Ge x O 6 (CMZSG, x = 0.0–2.0) ceramics were synthesized via the conventional solid-state method. All samples were sintered densely at 1200 ℃ for 4 h. CMZSG ceramics keep a single phase with C 2/ c and the lattice parameters vary smoothly with x. When 0.1 ≤ x ≤ 0.8, Ge4+ substitution prevents the abnormal grain growth. CMZSG ceramics have enhanced dielectric properties after substituting Ge4+, and the sample with x = 0.1 has the greatest dielectric properties with ε r = 7.78 and Q × f = 190,300 GHz. The dielectric properties in the microwave and terahertz bands are compared, and the larger ε r and Q × f values in the terahertz band are found due to the withdrawal of the partial polarization mechanism and different measurement methods. The relationship between lattice distortions and the dielectric properties is established. Both the local distortion in [Si/GeO 4 ] tetrahedra chain and the distortion within [Si/GeO 4 ] tetrahedron are found to contribute to the enhancement of Q × f values. Furthermore, the increased lattice expansion and the distortion within [Si/GeO 4 ] tetrahedron contribute to a larger negative τ f. These conclusions can guide us to design silicate ceramics with higher Q × f values and near-zero τ f for application. The CaMg 0.9 Zn 0.1 Si 1.9 Ge 0.1 O 6 ceramics exhibit excellent dielectric properties with ε r = 7.48 and Q × f = 303,400 GHz in the terahertz band, rendering it a promising dielectric material for future terahertz mobile communication systems. • The Q × f values in the microwave and terahertz bands vary in the same trend. • Bond strains are calculated from the distortion theorem of the bond-valence theory. • The Q × f values and τ f have strong correlation with lattice distortion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The problem remains unsolved in DMFCs applications that the increase in proton conductivity is usually caused the permeation of methanol. Herein, a novel kind of pore-filling membrane is investigated to meet this challenge. The porous substrate is fabricated from block poly (ether sulphone) with low degree of sulfonation, which form well-developed conductive channels owing to an aggregation of sulfonic acid groups, ensuring low methonal crossover and swelling ratio. The pore structures are achieved by a solution casting method which introduces alpha-cyclodextrin as the porogen. The resulting porous substrate possesses homogeneous opening pore structures. Then, the filling electrolyte, an organic-soluble tetrabutylammonium 4-vinylbenzene sulfonate, is used to fill the substrate and form a crosslinked network inside the pores to ensure high proton conductivity. The pore-filling membrane with block polymers shows higher proton conductivity (0.083 S cm−1 at 80 °C) than that prepared by random polymers (0.072 S cm−1 at 80 °C). Compared with Nafion 117, the composite membrane exhibits higher dimensional stability (6.6%) and methanol resistance (4.0 × 10−7 cm2 s−1). Furthermore, the pore-filling membrane outperforms Nafion 117 with an open circuit voltage of 0.61 V as well as a maximum power density of 46.8 mW/cm2 under 10 M methanol condition. Graphical abstract Image 1 Highlights • Novel CSPS filled SPES pore-filling proton exchange membrane. • Porous substrate based on block sulfonated copolymers enhanced proton conductivity. • Significant suppression of methanol crossover over pore-filling membranes. • Single cell performance outperformed Nafion 117 in 10 M methanol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indoor environments with displacement ventilation or under-floor air distribution commonly exhibit thermal stratification, which can impact the dispersion of droplets in exhaled air by moving human sources. This paper presented an experimental study using a water tank to simulate the coupling characteristics of exhaled airflow and human motion-induced oncoming airflow, especially in a stratified environment. The effects of exhalation velocity and movement speed were studied. Results show that the buoyant jet flow couples with the oncoming flow, firstly spreading forwards and upwards, forming the impinging region, where the penetration distance is found to vary linearly with the ratio of movement velocity and exhalation velocity. Then the coupled flow spreads backwards, forming the wake region behind the source, where the flow rises upwards, albeit at a slower rate than in motionless conditions. In the wake region, there is an obvious stagnant layer, which is exacerbated by the thermal stratification of the ambient fluid and much lower than the lock-up height of motionless buoyant jet flow. It is expected to provide scientific basis for formulating prevention and control measures in public spaces. • Interaction of buoyant jet flow and motion-induced airflow was experimentally studied. • Impinging region and wake region were observed in the dispersion of coupled flow. • Penetration distance in impinging region varies linearly with the velocity ratio. • The coupled flow rises more slowly and disperses at a low stagnant layer. • The stagnation in wake region is exacerbated by thermal stratification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this paper, we propose to use all the training samples in the original space or in the transform space to represent and classify test samples. It is shown that this method somewhat possesses some of the properties of sparseness. In other words, a large portion of the solution components have very small absolute values and only a few have large absolute values. Our analysis mathematically partially supports this claim of sparseness. We also explore other characteristics of the proposed method and compare the proposed sample representation method with transform methods that are based on conventional coordinate axes. The proposed method performs better than the state-of-the-art face recognition methods. Further, our method can be solved at a low computational cost. Its algorithm is simple and easy to understand, and its classification procedure is intuitive. The performance of our method is shown by a large number of face recognition experiments. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

[Display omitted] • Myricetin and myricetrin can alleviate liver damage of colitis mice via TNF-α /NF-κB pathway. • Myricetin increased the regulator of tight junction protein MLCK and occludin expression. • Myricetin and myricetrin mainly regulate intestinal Proteobacteria to alleviate colitis. • Myricetin exhibited superior microbiota modulation properties to myricetrin. This study investigated the protective effects of myricetin (MYR) and myricetrin (MYRR) in dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) induced liver and colon damage in mice. The results showed that MYR and MYRR alleviate liver damage of colitis mice via tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α)/nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB) pathway. After dexamethasone acetate (DXMS) and MYR treatment, the expressions of myosin light chain kinase (MLCK) were increased in mice colon. The expression of occludin was increased after MYR treatment, while MYRR significantly increased tight junction protein 1 (ZO1) expression compared to colitis mice. MYR significantly reduced the abundance of intestinal Proteobacteria and Cyanobacteria to alleviate colitis. At the species level, treatment with MYR and MYRR reduced the abundance of Helicobacter-sp-MIT and Lachnospiraceae bacterium , and increased the abundance of Lactobacillus gasseri. The protective role of MYR and MYRR in DSS induced colitis mice may attribute to their intestinal microbiota and tight junction proteins modulation activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stratospheric quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) is known to cause variations in the transport of chemical tracers but the role of chemical processes in modulating their QBO signals remains unclear. Using ozone observations (Stratospheric Water and OzOne Satellite Homogenized, SWOOSH) and a chemical transport model (SLIMCAT), we analyze the role of chemical processes in the QBO impact on stratospheric ozone in the tropics and Northern Hemisphere during winter and early spring over the period 1979–2015. During easterly QBO (EQBO) phases tropical ozone concentrations decrease in the lower stratosphere (40–100 hPa, ~16–23 km) and middle stratosphere (above 15 hPa, ~30 km) but increase in the transition region between 15 and 40 hPa (~23–30 km) compared to westerly (WQBO) phases. Although the contributions of chemical processes to the ozone QBO signal are less than those of dynamical processes, this study highlights their non-negligible role. The negative chemical ozone tendencies in the tropical lower stratosphere, that are attributed to less downward ultraviolet radiation and weaker oxygen photolysis, partially contribute to the negative ozone anomalies at this altitude during EQBO phases, particularly in February and March. In contrast, the negative chemical ozone tendencies related to increased NO 2 and stronger NO 2 -catalyzed ozone loss, which are important in the middle stratosphere, cannot explain the ozone increases in the transition region during EQBO phases, which is mainly caused by the QBO-induced transport of ozone-rich air from above. The positive chemical ozone tendencies in the extratropics during EQBO phases are mainly related to lower temperatures and less active catalytic ozone loss cycles. In addition, reduction in polar stratospheric cloud occurrence associated with the warmer Arctic stratosphere during EQBO phases weakens the heterogeneous chemical processes in the lower stratosphere and decreases chlorine activation, partially contributing to the positive chemical ozone tendency and ozone increases in this region. • Contribution of chemical processes to the ozone QBO signal is not negligible. • QBO can significantly affect oxygen photolysis in tropical lower stratosphere. • QBO can influence heterogeneous chemical process in Arctic stratosphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A semi-crystalline PEEK porous matrix. • Pore-filled PFSA/PEEK composite membranes. • Superior proton conductivity, dimensional stability and methanol resistance comparable to commercial Nafion. • Preferable single cell performance in 10 M methanol. In light of the essential role of typical reinforced PEMs (Gore-SELECT®) in pursuing novel alternatives, we demonstrate for the first time the potent capability of pore-filled semi-crystalline poly (ether ether ketone) membranes that represent by far the most effective polymer materials for methanol blocking of direct methanol fuel cells. The stable structure of poly (ether ether ketone) matrixes contributes to a low swelling behavior so as to restrain the methanol permeation across membranes in high concentration methanol solutions. Porous matrixes are endowed with the ability to conduct protons by an inorganic modifier of phosphotungstate-ionic liquid. In order to improve the interaction of phosphotungstate-ionic liquid and inert matrixes, the porous matrix is pre-modified by a co-deposition reaction of polydopamine and polyethyleneimine. The anchored modifier of polydopamine and polyethyleneimine in the matrix decelerates the leakage of ionic liquid and phosphotungstate. The developed composite membrane performs a heightened proton conductivity up to 0.11 S cm−1 at 80 °C to benefit from the superior proton conductive capacity of the phosphotungstate-ionic liquid, and exhibits extremely low methanol crossover (4.5 × 10−7 cm2 s−1) and favorable selectivity (12.22 × 104 S s cm−3) compared to those of Nafion 117. Especially, an excellent single cell performance with a maximum power density of 107 mW cm−2 is carried out under 10 M methanol at 70 °C. Image, graphical abstract [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The shear properties of UHPC-NSC interface were systematically studied through a series of double-sided direct shear tests. • Different factors affecting the shear capacity of the UHPC-NSC interface were discussed. • The factors included strength of NSC, ages of UHPC at loading, curing regimes for UHPC, surface treatment of NSC substrate, wettability of NSC substrate, addition of expansive agent for UHPC, and exertion of tensile or compressive stress on the interface except for shear stress. Ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) is an innovative cement-based material with high tensile and compressive strengths, extremely low permeability, and excellent durability. It is suitable for repair and rehabilitation of damaged normal strength concrete (NSC) structures. However, in order to ensure that the UHPC layer co-works well with the NSC structures, a good shear bond between UHPC and NSC is the main concern. In this study, the shear properties of UHPC-NSC interface were systematically studied through a series of double-sided direct shear tests, and the shear capacity and corresponding interfacial failure modes were obtained. Different factors affecting the shear capacity of the UHPC-NSC interface were discussed, namely, strength of NSC, age of UHPC at loading, curing regime for UHPC, surface treatment of NSC substrate, wettability of NSC substrate, addition of expansive agent for UHPC, and exertion of tensile or compressive stress on the interface except for shear stress. The test results showed that the interface between the UHPC layer and NSC substrate exhibited an excellent bond behavior. Most specimens failed in a mode of partial interface failure + partial NSC failure or complete NSC failure in shear, and the remaining few specimens developed purely interface failure. Also, shear failure of some test specimens performed a certain degree of brittleness. According to the test results, the higher the strength or wettability of NSC substrate, the greater the shear capacity of the interface. The shear capacity of UHPC-NSC interface increased rapidly when the age of UHPC increased from 3 days to 7 days, and at the age of 7 days, the shear strength of UHPC-NSC interface could reach more than 90% of the final shear strength. It was revealed that the shear strength of UHPC-NSC interface with steam curing for UHPC at a temperature of 90 °C reduced by 12.9% compared to that with normal curing. The addition of expansive agent to UHPC slowed down the development of the shear capacity of UHPC-NSC interface at the early age and slightly reduced the shear capacity at the age of 28 days and 180 days. Roughing NSC surfaces could significantly improve the interfacial shear capacity. Moreover, the number and area of UHPC tenons in the holes, UHPC grooved joints or post-installed rebars could also affect the shear capacity of the interface. The shear capacity of UHPC-NSC interface under combined tensile and shear stresses decreased significantly, while the shear capacity under combined compressive and shear stresses increased obviously with the increment of shear capacity gradually decreased as the increase of normal compressive stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, demands for the utilization of thin membranes in the next generation of direct methanol fuel cells become urgent to acquire the high power density. However, the fuel crossover coefficient is inversely proportional to the thickness of membranes which easily causes the reduction of the energy density. Hence, we propose a thin reinforced pore-filling composite membrane that is fabricated from a highly sulfonated poly (ether ether ketone) electrolyte and a high mechanical strength semi-crystalline poly (ether ether ketone) porous matrix. The semi-crystalline poly (ether ether ketone) derived from a soluble precursor of PEEK-1,3-dioxolane is first reported to be used for preparing the porous membrane. Uniform pore structures of the porous matrix are obtained by a water induced phase inversion method. As-prepared porous PEEK shows high toughness with an elongation at break of 8.2%. The reinforced composite membrane (only 20 μm) demonstrates superior methanol tolerance (3.2 × 10−7 cm2 s−1) and good proton conductivity due to the packed-acid structure. In addition, the membrane electrode assembly indicates a preferable behavior in single cell performance, with an open circuit voltage of 0.53 V and a peak power density of 34.6 mW/cm2. Image 1 • Thin reinforced pore-filling PEM based on semi-crystalline PEEK. • Reversible chemical modification of soluble PEEK. • Pore fabrication via water induced phase inversion method. • Significant membrane resistance to methanol crossover and swelling. • Superior single cell performance in 10 M methanol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exposome recognizes that humans are constantly exposed to multiple environmental factors, and elucidating the health effects of complex exposure mixtures places greater demands on analytical methods. We aimed to explore the association between mixed exposure to metals and hyperuricemia (HUA), and highlight the potential of explainable machine learning (EML) and causal mediation analysis (CMA) for application in the analysis of exposome data. Pre-pandemic data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2011–2020 and a total of 13780 individuals were included. We first used traditional statistical models (multiple logistic regression (MLR) and restricted cubic spline regression (RCS)) and EML to explore associations between mixed metals exposures and HUA, followed by the CMA using the 4-way decomposition method to analyze the interaction and mediation effects among BMI or estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), metals and HUA. The prevalence of HUA was 18.91% (2606/13780). The MLR showed that mercury (Q4 vs Q1: OR = 1.08, 95% CI:1.02–1.14) and lead (Q4 vs Q1: OR = 1.23, 95% CI:1.13–1.34) were generally positively associated with HUA. Higher concentrations of lead, mercury, selenium and manganese were associated with the increased odds of HUA, and BMI and eGFR were the top two variables attributable to the risk of developing HUA in the EML. Subgroup analyses from the MLR and EML consistently demonstrated the positive relationship between exposure to lead, mercury and selenium in participants with BMI <25 kg/m2 and BMI ≥30 kg/m2. BMI mediated 32.12% of the association between lead exposure and HUA, and the interaction between BMI and lead accounted for 3.88% of the association in the CMA. Heavy metals can increase the HUA risk and BMI or eGFR can mediate and interact with metals to cause HUA. Future studies based on exposome can attempt to utilize the EML and CMA. [Display omitted] • The widest possible range of data on metals and covariates form NHANES were involved that were openly available. • Two innovative methods (explainable machine learning and causal mediation analysis) were applied to exposome data. • Higher concentrations of lead, mercury, selenium and manganese were associated with the higher risk of hyperuricemia. • BMI and eGFR can mediate and interact with metals to cause hyperuricemia, especially for Pb and Hg. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The recent criteria to evaluate electromagnetic wave absorber include low density, strong absorbency, wide absorption bandwidth and thin absorber thickness, but its performance at low frequencies is always ignored. In this paper, the porous magnetic carbon nanofibers (P-CNF/Fe) for high-efficient electromagnetic wave absorption at low frequencies were fabricated by electrospinning followed by stabilization and carbonization. With the introduction of porous nanostructure, the permittivity of carbon nanofibers was decreased at low frequency and the impedance matching of permittivity and permeability was realized. The electromagnetic absorbing properties were investigated in detail. The minimum reflection coefficient reaches −44.86 dB at 4.42 GHz, and the widest effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) in the frequency was 3.28 range from 12.96 to 16.24 GHz. Consequently, considering the EM wave absorption performance, P-CNF/Fe synthesized in this work can be a promising candidate in the field of EM wave attenuation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In this work, hydroxyapatite nanotubes (HANTs) were explored as a novel environment-friendly additive for the fabrication of ultrafiltration (UF) membranes. Hydrophilic modification was conducted to the prepared HANTs, which includes the polydopamine (PDA) coating and the following grafting of taurine (TA), a kind of amino acid with -SO 3 H group. Subsequently, the modified HANTs (HANTs-DA-TA) were mixed with polyethersulfone (PES) to fabricate nanocomposite UF membranes. The prepared membranes were fully characterized, including the porosity, hydrophilicity, membrane morphology, and practical UF capability. The fabricated PES/HANTs-DA-TA membranes exhibited remarkably elevated water flux (up to 439 L m−2 h−1), which was ~2.6 times that of PES membrane (169 L m−2 h−1), whereas the rejection of PES/HANTs-DA-TA membranes was still kept at a high state. The improved flux mainly benefited from the more porous membrane structure, declined skin layer thickness, and the enhanced hydrophilicity. Meanwhile, the PES/HANTs-DA-TA membranes exhibited increased antifouling capability and the highest flux recovery ratio (FRR) reached 77.9% due to the improved surface hydrophilicity. Furthermore, the short rod-like nano hydroxyapatite (HA) was prepared and functionalized the same way as the HANTs-DA-TA. It was found that compared to rod-like HA, the tubular nano HA was more efficient in facilitating the membrane permeation due to the superiority of nanotubular structure. This work reveals that as a novel green additive, the HANTs have great application potential in fabricating water treatment membranes and can be employed for further studies. Graphical abstract Schematic representation of PDA-based modification procedure of HANTs. fx1 Highlights • Hydroxyapatite nanotubes (HANTs) were modified with taurine based on the secondary reaction offered by polydopamine. • Novel PES membranes were prepared via blending with HANTs-DA-TA. • Hybrid membranes attained improved permeability and antifouling property. • Compared with nano HA with short rod-like structure, nano HA with tubular structure achieved better effect on enhancing the membrane permeability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract A new strategy was developed for the fabrication of the honeycomb-like porous carbon (HPC) material, involving a liquid-liquid phase separation process and a pyrolysis process. First of all, a novel polyimide containing benzothiazole moieties was designed and synthesized as the carbon precursor. Due to the high glass-transition temperature (T g , 404 °C) and the low initial thermal decomposition temperature (394 °C) of this specially designed polyimide, the pore structure formed during the phase separation process was well maintained in the following pyrolysis process. As determined by SEM, the product has a honeycomb-like pore structure with a high uniformity. XRD and Raman spectra manifested the resulting carbon material possessed a disordered graphite structure, which can greatly contribute to its EM wave dissipation ability. After modifying HPC with Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles, the nanocomposites (HPC/Fe 3 O 4) achieved an excellent EM wave absorption performance. At the absorber thickness of 5.5 mm, a minimum reflection loss (RL) value of −20.1 dB was achieved. Moreover, with the variation of the absorber thickness from 1.3 to 5.0 mm, the minimum RL curves in Ku band were all lower than −10 dB. These results demonstrated the polyimide could be an excellent precursor for the synthesis of porous carbon materials with controllable morphology. Additionally, HPC/Fe 3 O 4 could be a promising material for applications in the field of EM wave absorption. Graphical abstract The polyimide precursor with high glass-transition temperature and low initial thermal decomposition temperature can stay in initial solid state morphology during the carbonization process. Image 1 Highlights • The pore structure formed during the phase separation process was well maintained in the following pyrolysis process. • Porous carbon/Fe 3 O 4 heterostructure is designed and prepared. • The minimum RL curves in Ku band were all lower than −10 dB. • The results reveal the appropriate size leads to increase the effective absorption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract High energy density and the resolution of safety concerns are of great importance for various energy storage devices. However, conventional lithium-ion batteries and supercapacitors comprise of liquid organic electrolytes may catch fire, or even explode, when exposed to undesirable conditions such as high temperatures. Herein, we describe the synthesis of a high-performance fire-retardant organic gel polymer electrolyte via a facile epoxy open-ring polymerization strategy, by using a functional poly(ethylene glycol) copolymer cross-linking a novel flame retardant, with a brominated epoxy resin, tetrabromo bisphenol A, as the matrix, and swelled using an organic liquid electrolyte (lithium salts in propylene carbonate solvents). The poly(ethylene glycol) section of this fire-retardant gel polymer electrolyte guarantees high ionic conductivity, which is recorded to be as high as 1.09 × 10−3 S cm−1; this is comparable to values obtained for organic liquid electrolytes and superior to the ionic conductivity of previously reported organic gel polymer electrolytes. Furthermore, owing to the polymerization of the flame retardant tetrabromo bisphenol A onto the polymer electrolyte matrix framework, rather than direct dissolution of tetrabromo bisphenol A into the electrolyte, our gel polymer electrolyte exhibits extremely safe fire-retardant properties without negative effects on electrochemical performance. Benefiting from this fire-retardant organic gel polymer electrolyte, the fabricated solid-state supercapacitor exhibits a good electrochemical performance, that is, a high specific capacitance of 166.69 F g−1 at 0.5 A g−1, a large energy density of 42.19 Wh kg−1, and a remarkably flexible performance under bending conditions, which are superior to those for a supercapacitor with a corresponding liquid organic electrolyte. More importantly, the obtained fire-retardant organic gel polymer electrolytes may be useful for the design of advanced next-generation flexible energy devices. Graphical abstract A novel high-performance and flame-retardant organic gel polymer electrolyte was designed by a facile synthesis strategy and used for a flexible supercapacitor for the first time. Image 1 Highlights • This high performance fire-retardant GPE was synthesized with a facile epoxy open-ring polymerization strategy. • The fire retardant polymerized onto the GPE matrix, preventing negative effects from retardants on the electrolytes. • The safety, thermal and electrochemical performance of the GPE is much better than that of liquid organic electrolyte. • This fire-retardant GPE used for a flexible supercapacitor for the first time. • Due to the excellent compatibility between the electrode/electrolyte, the device exhibits superior electrochemical performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • An infection-risk-based model is developed to quantify physical distancing safety threshold. • The 2-m physical distancing rule may increase transmission risk in stratified environment. • Infection risk is highly sensitive to stratification, exposure time and relative postures. Physical distancing has been an important policy to mitigate the spread of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in public settings. However, the current 1–2 m physical distancing rule is based on the physics of droplet transport and could not directly translate into infection risk. We therefore revisit the 2-m physical distancing rule by developing an infection-risk-based model for human speaking. The key modeling framework components include viral load, droplets dispersion and evaporation, deposition efficiency, viral dose-response rate and infection risk. The results suggest that the one-size-fits-all 2-m physical distancing rule derived from the pure droplet-physics-based model is not applicable under some realistic indoor settings, and may rather increase transmission probability of diseases. Especially, in thermally stratified environments, the infection risk could exhibit multiple peaks for a long distance beyond 2 m. With Sobol's sensitivity analysis, most variance of the risk is found to be significantly attributable to the variability in temperature gradient, exposure time and breathing height difference. Our study suggests there is no such magic 2 m physical distancing rule for all environments, but it needs to be used alongside other strategies, such as using face cover, reducing exposure time, and controlling the thermal stratification of indoor environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]