Search

The catalytic performance of light-derived CO2 reduction with H2O is strongly dependent on the separation efficiency of photogenerated carriers. Herein, the direct Z-scheme catalysts (g-C3N4/3DOM-WO3) of graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) nanosheets decorated three-dimensional ordered macroporous WO3 (3DOM-WO3) were successfully fabricated by using the in-situ colloidal crystal template method. The slow light effect of 3DOM-WO3 photonic crystals expands the absorption of visible light and improves the utilization of light energy. The Z-scheme structure of g-C3N4/3DOM-WO3 catalysts is able to upgrade the separation efficiency of photogenerated electron-hole pairs. The g-C3N4/3DOM-WO3 photocatalyst, whose formation rate of CO product is 48.7 μmol g−1 h−1, exhibits the excellent catalytic activity for CO2 reduction. The transfer pathway of stimulated electrons over the g-C3N4/3DOM-WO3 photocatalyst is proposed and discussed. The present approach provides unique insights into the rational development of high-performance photochemical systems for efficient CO2 reduction into valuable carbon-containing chemicals and energy fuels.

Previous research has documented the influence of eating together on people's food expectations and choices. We conducted an fMRI study to investigate the influence of the label "eating together" on behavioral and brain responses to healthy or unhealthy foods. The participants (N = 28, 13 females; mean age = 21.19) viewed food photos presented with a label of "eating together" or "eating alone" and estimated the palatability, pleasantness, and desirability of each food. The label "eating together" elicited more positive ratings for both healthy and unhealthy foods than the label "eating alone," and this effect of social context was larger for unhealthy than healthy foods. The label "eating together" also elicited greater activation in the left insula and the right posterior insula for unhealthy foods (p = 0.001 and p = 0.004, whole-brain corrected, respectively). These findings suggest that a label of "eating together" can enhance the reward values of foods, with a potentially greater enhancement for unhealthy foods.

The EU ETS introduced the Market Stability Reserve (MSR) since 2019, to balance out the surplus in its allowances, improve the market stability, and thus, to restore its incentives for low-carbon investments. However, the effectiveness of the MSR is yet to be tested. Taking the Covid-19 pandemic as a social experiment, we prove that the MSR activated a stronger rebound in carbon price by boosting market expectations after the major demand shock, and thus stabilized the European carbon market. But in normal years, the MSR doesn’t have a significant or persistent impact that would break the market stability. We also prove that green-stock indices, as a proxy of incentives for low-carbon investments, are closely related to the carbon price, and the introduction of the MSR improved its resilience to external shocks. The results prove the effectiveness of the MSR and justify the introduction of similar market stabilizing mechanisms in other emission trading schemes.

The study aims to investigate the influence of eating scenarios on food evaluations, especially for the context of eating together.

Rectal ectopic pregnancy is an extremely rare abdominal pregnancy. This article presents a female underwent an unsuccessful in vitro fertilization which was misdiagnosed by serum beta-human chorionic gonadotropin (β-hCG) test and transvaginal ultrasonography. Twenty days later, a ruptured rectal ectopic pregnancy was confirmed by laparoscopy then the gestational tissue removed successfully.A 32-year-old Chinese female was admitted to our hospital with complaining of symptoms, like gradual worsening of lower abdominal pain and dysuria. The abdominal ultrasonography revealed a sac-like mass in the posterior area to the uterus and a moderate amount of free fluid in the pelvic cavity. Forty days ago, she underwent a frozen embryo transfer. Twenty days ago, her serum β-hCG level was5 mIU/mL and neither intrauterine nor ectopic pregnancy was detected by transvaginal ultrasonography. Then the procedure was thought to have resulted in biochemical pregnancy failure.The primary rectal ectopic pregnancy.The mass was removed laparoscopic surgery.The patient recovered well.When the history of in vitro fertilization combined with an inappropriate rise of serum β-hCG and no visible evidence of an intra-uterine pregnancy, physicians should consider the possibility of abdominal pregnancy. Early diagnosis of abdominal pregnancy can effectively save the life of the pregnant woman.

In order to identify effective strategies to increase more environmentally friendly food choices, we conducted an experimental study to examine how the color contrast between the food and the background might influence people's choices between meat and vegetable dishes. Participants were instructed to choose three desirable dishes out of a choice set presented on a red- or green-colored table in a simulated restaurant environment. Each choice set consisted of two meat and two vegetable dishes, so the participants had to choose between the meat-heavy and vegetable-forward meals. The participants chose the meat-heavy meals more often than the chance level. However, the results revealed that using a red table to present the choice set could shift them toward choosing fewer meat-heavy meals and thus more vegetable-forward meals, and the visual attractiveness of the meat dishes was decreased when presented on the red tables. These findings provide empirical evidence regarding how the contrast between the color of food and the background color of the dining table can be used to modulate the sensory appeal of foods in order to promote sustainable food choices.

The study aims to investigate the influence of actual cloud-based commensality on people's food intake, emotion and relationships.

The study aims to investigate the influence of eating together, especially a novel eating behavior, i.e. eating together online on the food choice. We plans to conduct a series of experiments to explore the interesting phenomenon.

The study aims to investigate the influence of individuals' beliefs about food sharing on the food choice. We plans to conduct the survey among Chinese and North American participants to explore the cross-cultural differences.

The study aims to investigate the influence of food sharing on product and brand perception. We plans to conduct a series of experiments to explore the effect and investigate a certain modulation effect.

The artificial photosynthesis for visible-light-driven CO2 reduction with H2O is promising to solve both energy and environmental issues simultaneously. Herein, we have successfully fabricated all-solid-state Z-scheme ternary photocatalysts, consisting of two isolated photochemical systems of graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) and three-dimensional ordered macroporous carbon-coated TiO2 (3DOM-TiO2@C) combined with Pt nanoparticles as electron-transfer system. Photonic crystal structure and carbon-coated nanolayers of 3DOM-TiO2@C support enhance visible light-harvesting efficiency. The vectorial photoelectron transferring of TiO2@C → Pt → g-C3N4 boosts the separation and surface enrichment efficiencies of photogenerated electrons and holes. All-solid-state Z-scheme ternary photocatalyst exhibits the outstanding yields of CH4 (6.56 μmol h−1, 0.1 g catalyst) and high-efficient quantum efficiency (5.67%) during visible-light-driven conversion of CO2 with H2O. The surface enrichment of electrons and CO2 is the rate-determining step of selective CO2 photoreduction. This study is expected to throw new light on the fabrication of high-efficient photocatalyst for CO2 conversion to hydrocarbon.

PurposeThis study was designed to investigate how the material properties of the tea-drinking receptacle interact with a participant's motivation and preference for extracting and using information obtained via haptic perception, namely the need for touch (NFT), to influence his or her tea-drinking experience.Design/methodology/approach72 blindfolded participants were instructed to sample room temperature tea beverages served in a cup that was made of ceramic, glass, paper or plastic. They were then asked to rate how familiar they were with the taste of the beverage, to rate how pleasant the taste was and to specify how much they would like to pay for it (i.e. willingness-to-pay ratings).FindingsThe material of the receptacles used to serve the tea exerted a significant influence over the pleasantness ratings of the tea and interacted with the participants' NFT, exerting a significant influence over their willingness to pay for the tea. Specifically, high-NFT participants were willing to pay significantly more for the same cup of tea when it was served in a ceramic cup rather than in a paper cup, whereas the low-NFT participants' willingness to pay for the tea was unaffected by the material of the receptacles.Originality/valueOur findings suggest that consumers may not be equally susceptible to the influence of the receptacle in which tea, or any other beverage, is served. Our findings also demonstrate how the physical properties of a receptacle interact with a consumer's motivation and preference to influence his or her behavior in the marketplace.

BACKGROUND: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is associated with a variety of cardiovascular diseases, even in the early stage of disease development. The purpose of this study was to quantitatively evaluate left ventricular (LV) systolic function in patients with SLE using a novel non-invasive pressure-strain loop (PSL) technique. METHODS: This prospective case-control study included 132 patients with SLE and 99 normal controls, all of whom underwent traditional transthoracic echocardiography. The LV myocardial work was evaluated with the PSL technique based on speckle tracking and brachial artery blood pressure. The differences among groups were compared, and the correlations between myocardial work, laboratory data, and disease activity were analyzed in the SLE group. RESULTS: Compared with the normal group, SLE patients had significantly higher global wasted work {GWW; SLE: 109 [82–150] mmHg%; controls: 66 [45–109] mmHg%; P0.05). Further subdivision analysis found that the increase of GWW and the damage of GWE were more obvious in SLE patients with high disease activity or severe diastolic dysfunction. Multivariate analysis revealed that increased erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP), anti-phospholipid antibodies, peak strain dispersion, and SLE Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI) were independently associated with increased GWW (β=0.189, 0.230, 0.444, 0.111, and 0.180, respectively; all P

Herein, we prepared the multifunctional photocatalysts of Pt nanoparticles (NPs)-decorated 3D ordered macroporous (3DOM) perovskite-type SrTiO3 (Ptn/3DOM-SrTiO3). The slow light effect of 3DOM photocatalysts improves the absorption of incident light. Surface alkaline-earth-metal Sr component enhances the adsorption and activation for CO2. Supported Pt NPs can trap and gather excited photoelectrons derived from SrTiO3, and Pt-SrTiO3 heterojunction improves the separation of photogenerated carriers. Ptn/3DOM-SrTiO3 photocatalysts exhibited high-efficient photocatalytic performance for CO2 reduction to CH4 product. Among the catalysts, Pt2/3DOM-SrTiO3 catalyst shows the highest catalytic activity and selectivity, i.e., its formation rate of CH4 (26.7 μmol g−1 h−1) is 20-fold that of commercial P25, and its selectivity to CH4 product is 86.7%. The catalytic mechanism for selective CO2 photoreduction to CH4 is proposed: the adsorption property for CO2 and surface enrichment of photoelectrons are two rate-determining steps to improve selectively photocatalytic reduction of CO2 to CH4.

New product development can not only satisfy consumers’ need to seek variety but also is important for a company to achieve long-term financial success in the food market. Bundling is well known to be an efficient way to introduce new products, especially when new products are tied in with popular products. Here we report a study designed to investigate how the variation in the flavors of the items within a three-item food bundle (i.e., flavor variety) and the difference in the packaging colors of these items (i.e., color variety) may interact to influence consumers’ ratings and choices of the bundles. The participants were asked to rate their liking of and willingness-to-pay (WTP) for each three-yogurt bundle before choosing a more favorable bundle out of each two-bundle choice set. On one hand, the results revealed that participants preferred the bundles consisting of two of the same popular flavors and one new flavor over those consisting of three different new flavors. On the other hand, the results revealed the color variety of bundles modulated their preference for bundles consisting of one popular flavor and two different new flavors. Collectively, our findings demonstrated how the color of food packaging might be used as a marketing tool to influence consumers’ preference for bundles by modulating their perception of the flavor variety of food bundles. These findings shed light on how to skillfully design the packaging and assortment for foods.

Considering the benefits of a large-scale shift towards a more plant-based diet, we conducted an experimental study to investigate how people’s food ratings and choices might be influenced by the color of the container in which foods were served. Fifty healthy Chinese young adults were asked to choose a more desirable dish from a two-dish choice set in a virtual restaurant, followed by an online food rating task. The results revealed that the meat dishes were chosen more often and rated as being more likable and desirable than the vegetable dishes. Despite such preference for the meat dishes over the vegetable dishes, the participants chose more vegetable dishes served in the blue containers when the meat dishes were served in the red containers. These findings provide novel empirical evidence regarding how a combination of red- and blue-colored containers can influence people’s food choices, which has implications in the practice of nudging consumers towards more plant-based diets via skillfully designing contextual cues.

We conducted two studies on participants from China and the USA to investigate their beliefs about food sharing. In Study 1, the participants were asked to rate the influence of different types of sharing on the interpersonal relationships between two individuals. Compared to sharing non-food material, both groups expected sharing food to exert a more positive influence on the intimacy and mutual trust between the sharer and the recipient. In Study 2A, the participants were asked to rate to which extent it is appropriate to share a certain food with another person. The results revealed that the solid or liquid state and the type of foods influenced both groups of participants' beliefs about whether a food is appropriate for sharing. In Study 2B, the participants were asked to rate the likelihood of ordering certain foods when they were eating alone, eating together, or sharing food with another person in a restaurant scenario. When sharing food with other people, both groups of participants were less likely to order foods that were inappropriate for sharing and more likely to order foods that were appropriate for sharing, thus suggesting the influence of beliefs about food sharing on food choices. Despite some cross-cultural differences in both studies, the results revealed some cross-cultural shared beliefs about food sharing. These findings suggest that people's beliefs regarding the positive influence of food sharing on interpersonal relationships influence food choices and may help explain why foods are shared while eating with others even there is no social obligation to do so.

Modern power system because of its high voltage, high power characteristics, makes the hardware experiment with certain safety risk and grid security risks. As a more complex simulation method, digital twins are more extensive in time scale compared with the traditional power system simulation, and more frequent in data interaction with the real system. Digital twins can be applied in power systems in a variety of ways. But at present, the application of digital twin still stays on the application of the whole product life cycle. This paper proposes a new real-time interactive power system simulation architecture based on the digital twin, and set up an electric power system based on SoC platform of digital twin, PL part has set up a twin body for the electric power system, the PS part compare the difference between the twin body and the actual body and then modify the twin body. It also provides the control part which is consistent with the hardware control logic. The platform is lightweight, economical, heterogeneous and compatible with a variety of computing tasks, rich interfaces and strong expansibility. This paper provides a framework for the application of digital twins in power system and provides the platform with rich application value.

We report a study designed to examine color-flavor interactions in computerized associative learning tasks. In Experiment 1, participants learned to associate certain flavor labels (i.e., strawberry-, apple-, and orange-flavor) with personal identities (i.e., self, friend, and stranger) before learning associations between these personal identities and drink colors (i.e., red-, green-, and orange-color). In the subsequent color-identity matching task, they made faster responses to the colors related to self in comparison with those related to other identities, indicative of a self-prioritization effect. Importantly, the magnitude of the self-prioritization effect was greater when the self-related flavor label and drink color were congruent than when they were incongruent with color-flavor associations. In Experiment 2, the participants learned to associate certain drink colors with personal identities before learning associations between flavor labels and personal identities. Consequently, comparable self-prioritization effects emerged in the color-flavor congruent and incongruent conditions of the flavor-identity matching task. Collectively, these results suggest that the prioritization of a self-related flavor label might be extended to a color associated with this flavor, but not vice versa. The findings of this study demonstrate that the effects of flavor on color processing could be stronger than the effects of color on flavor processing in computerized tasks unrelated to dining.

China's central government has invested great effort into environmental protection, but the country's environmental problem remains serious. One important reason is that environmental regulations have been implemented incompletely. Hence, this paper analyzes the incomplete implementation of environmental regulation in China from the perspective of enforcement interaction among prefecture-level cites. Comparing to the existing literature, a game theory model of environmental regulation between local leaders is first built based on tournament competition, then spatial spillover effects and its influencing mechanism are further analyzed with empirical evidence. Empirical results show that strategic interaction of environmental regulation is evident among central and western cities in China, supportive of an overall ‘race to the bottom’ competition. Spatial border effect and spatial economic effect of strategic interaction are found to exist mainly for cities within the same province, and spatial economic effect is found to be dominant. Cities with younger leaders are more affected by spatial effects. But two factors, environmental one-vote-veto system, and public environmental participation, are helpful in terms of altering city leaders' behavior and alleviating the enforcement interaction of environmental regulation, thus improving the incomplete implementation of environmental regulation to an extent. The findings indicate that central government should pay attention to environmental incentives for local governments and encourage more public environmental participation.

Z-scheme-type photocatalysts with two photochemical systems of graphic-C3N4 (g-C3N4) and anatase TiO2 (A-TiO2) nanocrystals combined with Au nanoparticles (NPs) [(Au/A-TiO2)@g-C3N4] were successfully fabricated. The surface heterojunction between coexposed {001} and {101} facets in A-TiO2 nanocrystals improves separation efficiency of photoelectrons and holes. Supported Au NPs gather and transfer the stimulated electrons originated from A-TiO2 to g-C3N4. Wrapped g-C3N4 nanosheets can not only trap the photoelectrons, but also its surface π bond can improve adsorption capabilities for CO2. (Au/A-TiO2)@g-C3N4 catalysts with enriched surface photoelectrons and CO2 exhibit high photocatalytic activity for visible-light-driven conversion of CO2, i.e., the formation rates of CH4 and CO over (Au/A-TiO2)@C3N4-5 catalyst are 37.4 and 21.7 μmol g−1 h−1, respectively. The selectivity for CO2 reduction is higher than 99%, and the selectivity of CH4 product increases from 1.4% to 63.3%. The innovation of Z-scheme-type photocatalysts is expected to provide new inspiration for artificial simulation photosynthesis.

A series of hierarchical reduced graphene oxide (RGO)–Bi2MoO6 composites were fabricated via a facile solvothermal route. In the reaction process, Bi2MoO6 nanoflakes were in situ grown on the graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets. Meanwhile, GO was reduced during the solvothermal reaction. Such a synthetic strategy can form effective interfacial contact and strong interaction between Bi2MoO6 nanoflakes and RGO nanosheets, which can facilitate the transfer of photogenerated charge and hence reduce the recombination rate of excited carriers. The enhanced charge transfer properties were proved by surface photovoltage spectroscopy (SPV) and photoluminescence (PL) measurements. The obtained hierarchical RGO–Bi2MoO6 composites showed more significant visible light photoactivity for the degradation of rhodamine B than single Bi2MoO6 and a mechanical mixture of RGO and Bi2MoO6. The enhanced photocatalytic performance could be attributed to the synergistic effect of improved electron–hole pair separation, boosted catalytic active sites and light harvesting.