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Non‐flow aqueous zinc‐bromine batteries (AZBBs) are highly attractive owing to their lightweight construction and largely reduced cost compared with the flow ones. Yet, their development is restricted by the sluggish reaction kinetics of Br2/Br−, the shuttle of soluble polybromide species (Brn−, n is odd), and the poor stability of Zn‐based anode. Herein, an effective alkaline‐neutral electrolyte decoupling system is constructed to mitigate these issues, where nitrogen‐doped carbon felt with high catalytic activity to Br2/Br− reaction is developed for cathode, a cost‐effective cation exchange membrane (CEM) of polyethersulfone/sulfonated polyether ether ketone (PES/SPEEK‐M) that can stop Brn− is used as separator, and glucose that can inhibit dendrites is introduced as anolyte additive. The constructed flowless AZBB mainly consists of two separate redox couples, including Zn/Zn(OH)42− in alkaline anolyte and Br2/Br− in neutral media, where non‐cations (e.g. OH−, Zn(OH)42−, H2O, and Brn−) can be restricted to their respective chamber by the PES/SPEEK‐M while cations can pass by. In the optimized system, good electrochemical performance is achieved, mainly including a surprising discharge voltage of 2.01 V, a high average Coulombic efficiency of 96.7%, and a good cycling life of ≈1000 cycles without obvious capacity decay at a fixed charge capacity of 2 mAh cm−2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In our research described here, a strong acid oxidizing agent was selected to modify the surface of carbon black (CB) to obtain oxidized carbon black (OCB) particles. These OCB particles were then subjected to an ionic bonding reaction with alkaline amine groups present on the surface of octadecylamine polyoxyethylene ether (AC1830) in the form of a paste, resulting in the production of polyether amine-modified oxidized carbon black particles (A-CB). FTIR confirmed the successful production of the A-CB particles. The PVA composite films were prepared using the casting method with varying amounts of A-CB as filler and PVA as the matrix. The films were then analyzed using tensile, scanning electron microscopy, dynamic thermo-mechanical analysis, DSC, and water absorption testing. The results showed that the tensile strength was highest at 3% A-CB, reaching 154.85 MPa. A-CB was well dispersed in PVA at low contents (1% and 3%). The loss modulus, energy storage modulus, crystallinity, and crystallization rate of the A-CB/PVA films improved compared to PVA films. Additionally, the issue of excessive water absorption in A-CB/PVA has been improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To reveal the thermal-force coupling characteristics of the laser in-situ consolidation (ISC) of carbon fibre-reinforced poly-ether-ether-ketone (CF/PEEK) composites, a two-dimensional transient thermal-force model of CF/PEEK composites was constructed using COMSOL Multiphysics finite element simulation software to calculate the temperature history and the thermal stress variation of CF/PEEK composites during the laser-assisted automated tape placement (LATP) process. The results show that the temperature field formed on the surface of each layer by the laser spot during LATP is stable, and the temperature gradient at the front of the spot movement direction is higher than that at the back edge. The maximum stresses in the laminate occur on both sides of the first CF/PEEK layer and the stresses are unevenly distributed along the length and thickness directions of the lay-up. The composite material on both sides of the laminate tends to 'shrink' compared to its original position. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Microorganisms inhabit various regions of the human body and significantly contribute to numerous diseases. Predicting the associations between microbes and diseases is crucial for understanding pathogenic mechanisms and informing prevention and treatment strategies. Biological experiments to determine these associations are time-consuming and costly. Therefore, integrating deep learning with biological networks can efficiently identify potential microbe-disease associations on a large scale. Methods We propose an adversarial regularized autoencoder graph neural network algorithm, named Stacked Adversarial Regularization for Microbe-Disease Associations Prediction (SARMDA), for predicting associations between microbes and diseases. First, we integrate topological structural similarity and functional similarity metrics of microbes and diseases to construct a heterogeneous network. Then, utilizing an autoencoder based on GraphSAGE, we learn both the topological and attribute representations of nodes within the constructed network. Finally, we introduce an adversarial regularized autoencoder graph neural network embedding model to address the inherent limitations of traditional GraphSAGE autoencoders in capturing global information. Results Under the five-fold cross-validation on microbe-disease pairs, SARMDA was compared with eight advanced methods using the Human Microbe-Disease Association Database (HMDAD) and Disbiome databases. The best area under the ROC curve (AUC) achieved by SARMDA on HMDAD was 0.9891 |$\pm$| 0.0057, and the best area under the precision-recall curve (AUPR) was 0.9902 |$\pm$| 0.0128. On the Disbiome dataset, the AUC was 0.9328 |$\pm$| 0.0072, and the best AUPR was 0.9233 |$\pm$| 0.0089, outperforming the other eight MDAs prediction methods. Furthermore, the effectiveness of our model was demonstrated through a detailed analysis of asthma and inflammatory bowel disease cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, a mesoporous silica (SBA-15) was synthesized using a hydrothermal method and the surface of the SBA-15 was further modified by utilizing the organosilane compound γ- aminopropyltriethoxysilane(APTES); FT-IR testing confirmed the successful grafting of these organic groups onto the surface of the SBA-15, the result being the AP-S. Composite films were subsequently prepared through a casting method, with SBA-15 and AP-S serving as the inorganic filler particles, and PVA acting as the matrix material. These films were characterized by tensile texts, dynamic mechanical analysis, scanning electron microscopy, and dielectric measurements. The results showed that the tensile modulus, loss modulus and dielectric properties of the modified AP-S/PVA composite films were improved compared with those of SBA-15/PVA, with the tensile strength being the largest at 145.25 MPa when the AP-S content was 2%. This result combined with the SEM analysis, shows that the incorporation of SBA-15 modified by APTES into PVA films can effectively improve the dispersion of SBA-15 in the PVA films, which can also explain the performance enhancement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A visual workload model was constructed to determine and evaluate drivers' visual workload characteristics in high-density interchange-merging areas. Five interchanges were selected, and a real-vehicle driving test was conducted with 47 participants. To address the differences in drivers' visual characteristics in the interchange cluster merging areas, the Criteria Importance Through Intercriteria Correlation (CRITIC) objective weighting method was employed. Six visual parameters were selected to establish a comprehensive evaluation model for the visual workload in high-density interchange-merging areas. The results show that the average scanning frequency and average pupil area change rate are most strongly correlated with the visual workload, whereas the average duration of a single gaze has the lowest weight in the visual workload assessment system. Different driver visual workloads were observed depending on the environment of the interchange-merging areas, and based on these, recommendations are proposed to decrease drivers' workload, thereby increasing road safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the effect of the interaction between protocatechuic acid (PCA) and gelatin on the functional properties and stability of gelatin-PCA complexes. Gelatin-PCA complexes were prepared by non-covalent and covalent binding. Afterward, the interaction between PCA and gelatin was analyzed using UV-Vis spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Meanwhile, an analysis was also performed on the antioxidant activity, antibacterial activity, and stability of the complexes. The findings showed a higher PCA binding rate for the covalent complexes than the non-covalent complexes. Additionally, the interaction between PCA and gelatin resulted in the fluorescence quenching of gelatin, with a higher level of fluorescence quenching observed for the covalent binding. Moreover, in addition to excellent DPPH and ABTS+ radical scavenging abilities. Compared with GPCA-2, the noncovalent complex GPCA-1 showed more significant (P<0.05) scavenging abilities against DPPH and ABTS+ free radicals, with clearance rates of 49.71%±2.9% and 38.39%±0.57%, respectively. Gelatin-PCA complexes also exhibited antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes, and Salmonella. Moreover, the antibacterial effect of GPCA-1 was more significant (P<0.05), with inhibition zone diameters of 11.31±0.91, 12.57±0.93 and 8.83±0.35 mm for E. coli, L. monocytogenes and Salmonella, respectively. Despite reducing the antioxidant and antibacterial activities of PCA to some extent, the interaction between PCA and gelatin significantly (P<0.05) improved the photostability and thermal stability of PCA. Specifically, the retention rates of PCA in gelatin-PCA covalent complexes after 80 min of UV and heat treatment were 92.58%±0.62% and 90.30%±0.97%, respectively. In conclusion, these findings provide a theoretical basis for the development and utilization of functional gelatin-PCA complex products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Manganese (Mn) pollution poses a serious threat to the health of animals, plants, and humans. The microbial-mediated Mn(II) removal method has received widespread attention because of its rapid growth, high efficiency, and economy. Mn(II)-oxidizing bacteria can oxidize toxic soluble Mn(II) into non-toxic Mn(III/IV) oxides, which can further participate in the transformation of other heavy metals and organic pollutants, playing a crucial role in environmental remediation. This study aims to conduct a bibliometric analysis of research papers on bacterial Mn(II) oxidation using CiteSpace, and to explore the research hotspots and developmental trends within this field between 2008 and 2023. A series of visualized knowledge map analyses were conducted with 469 screened SCI research papers regarding annual publication quantity, author groups and their countries and regions, journal categories, publishing institutions, and keywords. China, the USA, and Japan published the most significant number of research papers on the research of bacterial Mn(II) oxidation. Research hotspots of bacterial Mn(II) oxidation mainly focused on the species and distributions of Mn(II)-oxidizing bacteria, the influencing factors of Mn(II) oxidation, the mechanisms of Mn(II) oxidation, and their applications in environment. This bibliometric analysis provides a comprehensive visualized knowledge map to quickly understand the current advancements, research hotspots, and academic frontiers in bacterial Mn(II) oxidation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]