Synergistic Interaction Effect Research Articles

Spatio-Temporal Evolution and Interactive Relationship Between Digital Economy and Green Development in China

A digital economy parallel with green development holds profound significance for achieving sustainability. The primary objective of this study was to explore the synergistic interaction effects between the digital economy and green development in China and forecast their future development. This study analyzed the spatio-temporal characteristics of provincial digital economy and green development in China by integrating a combined assignment method, an unconditional spatial kernel density estimation method, and a standard deviation ellipse model. The interplay between the digital economy and green development was examined using a panel vector autoregression model. Additionally, digital economy and green development levels were forecasted using univariate time series and radial basis function kernel ε-support vector regression models. The results indicate that both the digital economy and green development levels in China exhibited an upward trend from 2013 to 2021, with the digital economy increasing at a faster rate. However, both domains demonstrated regional disparities in their development processes. The mutual interaction between the digital economy and green development intensified as the lag period increased. The digital economy contributed 21% to green development, whereas green development contributed 18% to the digital economy. The initial effect of the digital economy on green development was negative, however, this impact gradually diminished over time. Additionally, the influence of green development on the digital economy was shown to follow a consistent trend of transitioning from negative to positive across the eastern, central, and western regions. Therefore, it can be seen that the digital economy exerts a sustainable impact on green development, albeit with a one-phase lag. This research provides a scientific basis for the deep integration of the digital economy and green development, thereby fostering sustainable socioeconomic growth.

Critical periods of maternal exposure to ambient fine particulate matter and the risks of stillbirth and spontaneous preterm birth in Western Australia

Few studies have investigated weekly or monthly exposure-lag-response association between fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and preterm birth, and there has been no known such study for stillbirth. We aimed to identify potential critical susceptible periods of the association between monthly PM2.5 exposure during pregnancy and stillbirth and spontaneous preterm birth (sPTB). A total of 414,771 singleton births, of which 0.5 % and 3.9 % were stillbirth and sPTB respectively, between 1st January 2000 and 31st December 2015 in Western Australia were linked to fine spatiotemporal monthly PM2.5 concentrations. Monthly distributed lag linear and non-linear (DLM and DLNM) Cox regressions were performed to investigate PM2.5 exposure during pregnancy and covariate-adjusted hazards of stillbirth and sPTB. The mean PM2.5 exposure during pregnancy was 8.1 μg/m3. Pregnancy PM2.5 exposure showed small dose-response associations with stillbirth and sPTB with critical susceptible periods spanning the 3rd–6th gestational months, especially from the DLNM method. Relative to 5 μg/m3 from the DLM method, the strongest hazards of PM2.5 exposure were 1.04 (95 % CI 0.99, 1.08) and 1.03 (95 % CI 1.02, 1.05) during the 4th gestational month for stillbirth and sPTB, respectively. Monthly exposures at late pregnancy were associated with lower hazards. The average pregnancy exposure hazards were 1.08 (95 % CI 0.88, 1.32) and 1.07 (95 % CI 0.99, 1.15) per 5 μg/m3 increment for stillbirth and sPTB, respectively. The average entire pregnancy exposure showed potential attributable burden, synergistic interaction effects with biothermal stress, and comparatively higher hazards for female births and births to mothers who were Caucasian, < 35 years old, high SES, nulliparous, and smoked during pregnancy.

Fe3Co nanoparticles embedded carbon nanotube complex as effective bifunctional electrocatalysts for rechargeable zinc-air batteries

Fe3Co nanoparticles have been successfully embedded within ZIF-8 derived carbon nanotube complex using a simple solvent-heated self-assembly-pyrolysis strategy, it acts as an efficient ORR/OER bifunctional electrocatalyst and showed outstanding performance of excellent catalytic activity for ORR (E1/2 = 0.87 V at 0.1 M KOH) and OER (the overpotential at 10 mA cm−2 is 390 mV at 1 M KOH). Density functional theory (DFT) demonstrates that the introduction of iron and cobalt atoms significantly impacted on the adsorption energies of the reactive intermediates. In particular, the combination of cobalt and iron exhibited significantly enhanced ORR/OER activities, revealing an enhanced effect of synergistic interaction of FeCo site for bifunctional properties. It is used as Fe3Co1−NC in aqueous zinc-air battery (ZAB) and exhibited a high open-circuit voltage of 1.52 V, power density of 189.8 mW cm−2, and long cycle durability of 400 h. Flexible ZABs assembled exhibit high power density (81.59 mW cm−2) and long cycling durability (90 h).

Reprocessible, Reusable, and Self-Healing Polymeric Adsorbent for Removing Perfluorinated Pollutants.

Here, we report a reprocessible, reusable, self-healing, and form-switching polymeric adsorbent for remediating fluorinated pollutants in water. The copolymer hydrogel is designed to contain fluorophilic segments and cationic segments to induce strong binding with perfluorinated pollutants. The sorption performance reveals rapid and quantitative removal of these pollutants, driven by the synergistic effect of fluorophilic and electrostatic interaction. Importantly, a disulfide-containing dynamic crosslinker plays a crucial role in imparting multifunctionality. This enables self-healing by the restoration of crosslinks at the cut surfaces by disulfide exchange reactions and allows for the repeated use of the adsorbent via multiple adsorption-desorption cycles. Furthermore, the adsorbent is reprocessible by cleaving the crosslinks to afford linear copolymers, which can be repolymerized into a hydrogel network on demand. Also, form-switching capability is showcased through the aqueous self-assembly of linear copolymers into a fluorinated micelle, serving as another form of adsorbent for pollutant removal.

Who flourishes in school? The interplay of academic self-concept and personality and its role for academic performance in middle adolescence.

Why are some students more successful than others? We combined motivational and personality predictors and jointly examined the relevance of subject-specific academic self-concepts and Big Five personality traits for academic performance. Based on data from two independent studies of German 9th graders (Study 1: N = 1,508, Mage = 14.98 years, 51% female, 38% immigrant background; Study 2: N = 19,783, Mage = 15.10 years, 50% female, 36% immigrant background), we, first, estimated latent bivariate correlations to investigate the nomological net between these socioemotional characteristics. Second, using latent moderated regression models, we examined the role of the main and interaction effects of both characteristics for academic performance levels and changes assessed by grades and test scores. Finally, we tested whether the relevance of socioemotional characteristics for academic performance differed across sociodemographic characteristics. Five findings stand out: First, we established widely consistent nomological nets between the academic self-concepts and Big Five traits, especially regarding the German self-concept. Second, the domain-specific self-concepts were consistent predictors of different academic performance measures in the respective subject. Third, beyond the established main effects of openness and conscientiousness, all Big Five traits contributed to performance in some way. Fourth, despite some inconsistencies, socioemotional characteristics formed only synergistic interaction effects. Fifth, students' sociodemographic background was likewise important illustrating main effects on performance and foremost synergistic interaction effects with socioemotional predictors. Our results highlight the complex interplay between motivation, personality, and sociodemographic variables in predicting academic achievement and underline the need to be mindful of this interactive nature. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Synergistic Effects of Unconventional Hydrogen Bonds and π-Stacking Interaction and Their Excited-State Dependence: The Origin of Unusual Photophysical Properties of Aromatic Thioketones in Acetonitrile and Hydrocarbons.

It has been established experimentally that aromatic thioketones possess several inherently unique photophysical properties, some of which are highly sensitive even to common hydrocarbon solvents. However, the deeper reasons and the underlying mechanisms remain unclear up to date. In this study, the multistate complete active space second-order perturbation theory (MS-CASPT2) has been utilized to investigate the five lowest-lying electronic states (S0, T1, S1, T2, and S2) of 4H-1-benzopyran-4-thione (BPT) in acetonitrile and hydrocarbons. The results show that the S1, T1, and T2 states of BPT are close in energy so that the T2-state-mediated S1 → T2 → T1 and T1 → T2 → S1 transitions could occur in tens of picoseconds, which exhibits little dependence on the formation of the BPT-solvent complexes and on the bulk-solvent effect. This explains why thermally activated delayed fluorescence from the S1 state has been observed for many aromatic thioketones in both inert media and hydrocarbons. Meanwhile, our calculations show that the intracomplex noncovalent interactions could be automatically adjusted by the redistribution of π-electrons in the flexible aromatic rings. This allows the S2 → S1 internal conversion to occur efficiently in the vicinity of the two-state conical intersection, which results in the remarkable changes in the S2-state lifetimes and fluorescence quantum yields of many aromatic thioketones from inert media to hydrocarbon solvents. The aforementioned inherent photophysical properties could be qualitatively understood by a simple model of frontier molecular orbitals. This model could be used to understand photophysical properties of other aromatic compounds (such as aldehydes, ketones, amines, and carboxylic acids) in different solvents.

Enhancing dye-sensitized solar cells efficiency through organic dyes-sensitized holmium-doped TiO2/SnO2 nanocomposites blended with P3HT

The pursuit of sustainable energy solutions has spurred innovation in photovoltaic technology, with dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) emerging as promising contenders. This study presents a novel approach leveraging holmium-doped TiO2/SnO2 nanocomposites sensitized with organic dyes, Arsenazo-III, carminic acid, and dithizone, blended with poly (3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT). Through meticulous characterization and analysis, key parameters including short-circuit current density (Jsc), open-circuit voltage (Voc), fill factor (FF), and overall percent efficiency (%) were scrutinized to evaluate photovoltaic performance comprehensively. Absorption spectra analysis facilitated the calculation of band gaps, revealing a significant reduction from 3.10 eV in pure Titania (TiO2) nanoparticles to 2.72 eV upon doping with Holmium and coupling with SnO2. Notably, Arsenazo-III dye-sensitized holmium-doped TiO2/SnO2 nanocomposites exhibited highest power conversion efficiency, achieving a promising efficiency of 2.10 %, which marked a significant improvement over the reference device (0.82 %). This improvement is attributed to the synergistic effects of holmium dopant incorporation and SnO2 interaction, enhancing light responsiveness. The findings not only validate the efficacy of nanohybrid assemblies but also contribute valuable insights to solar cell technology advancement.

Synergistic removal of NO and CO in industrial waste gas by Fe-modified Cu/TiO2 catalysts: The synergistic effect of metal oxides interaction

NH3-based selective catalytic reduction (NH3-SCR) combined with carbon monoxide (CO) catalytic oxidation is a productive way to synergistically remove nitrogen oxides (NOx) and CO from industrial waste gas. Catalyst is the undoubtedly centerpiece of the synergistic removal technology, which has aroused tremendous attention. Herein, in this investigation a variety of Cu/TiO2 catalysts modified by various metal oxides were prepared by impregnation method, and the excellent synergistic removal performance of Fe-modified Cu/TiO2 catalyst was observed. The Cu/TiO2 catalyst with a 7 wt% Fe doping amount exhibited the highest NO and CO removal efficiency (86 % for NO at 300 °C and over 98 % for CO from 300 ∼ 400 °C). Through a series of characterization techniques, it was discovered that Cu and Fe oxides interacted to evenly distribute them throughout the surface of TiO2 support, resulting in smaller particle size and abundant variable valence species (Cu+/Cu2+ and Fe2+/Fe3+) to enhance the redox performance of the catalysts. Moreover, the creation of additional surface chemisorbed oxygen, the adsorption of NO and CO, and the improvement of surface acidity were all facilitated by the electron transfer between various Cu and Fe species. In addition, in-situ diffuse reflectance infrared transform spectroscopy (in situ DRIFTS) results revealed the interaction between NH3-SCR and CO oxidation. This study proposes a viable approach to develop efficient catalysts for the synergistic removal of NO and CO in industrial applications.

Interactive Effects of Climate Change and Pathogens on Plant Performance: A Global Meta-Analysis.

Plant health is increasingly threatened by abiotic and biotic stressors linked to anthropogenic global change. These stressors are frequently studied in isolation. However, they might have non-additive (antagonistic or synergistic) interactive effects that affect plant communities in unexpected ways. We conducted a global meta-analysis to summarize existing evidence on the joint effects of climate change (drought and warming) and biotic attack (pathogens) on plant performance. We also investigated the effect of drought and warming on pathogen performance, as this information is crucial for a mechanistic interpretation of potential indirect effects of climate change on plant performance mediated by pathogens. The final databases included 1230 pairwise cases extracted from 117 recently published scientific articles (from 2006) on a global scale. We found that the combined negative effects of drought and pathogens on plant growth were lower than expected based on their main effects, supporting the existence of antagonistic interactions. Thus, the larger the magnitude of the drought, the lower the pathogen capacity to limit plant growth. On the other hand, the combination of warming and pathogens caused larger plant damage than expected, supporting the existence of synergistic interactions. Our results on the effects of drought and warming on pathogens revealed a limitation of their growth rates and abundance invitro but an improvement under natural conditions, where multiple factors operate across the microbiome. Further research on the impact of climate change on traits explicitly defining the infective ability of pathogens would enhance the assessment of its indirect effects on plants. The evaluated plant and pathogen responses were conditioned by the intensity of drought or warming and by moderator categorical variables defining the pathosystems. Overall, our findings reveal the need to incorporate the joint effect of climatic and biotic components of global change into predictive models of plant performance to identify non-additive interactions.

Multi-Modal Sensing Ionogels with Tunable Mechanical Properties and Environmental Stability for Aquatic and Atmospheric Environments.

Ionogels have garnered significant interest due to their great potential in flexible iontronic devices. However, their limited mechanical tunability and environmental intolerance have posed significant challenges for their integration into next-generation flexible electronics in different scenarios. Herein, the synergistic effect of cation-oxygen coordination interaction and hydrogen bonding is leveraged to construct a 3D supramolecular network, resulting in ionogels with tunable modulus, stretchability, and strength, achieving an unprecedented elongation at break of 10800%. Moreover, the supramolecular network endows the ionogels with extremely high fracture energy, crack insensitivity, and high elasticity. Meanwhile, the high environmental stability and hydrophobic network of the ionogels further shield them from the unfavorable effects of temperature variations and water molecules, enabling them to operate within a broad temperature range and exhibit robust underwater adhesion. Then, the ionogel is assembled into a wearable sensor, demonstrating its great potential in flexible sensing (temperature, pressure, and strain) and underwater signal transmission. This work can inspire the applications of ionogels in multifunctional sensing and wearable fields.

Understanding the synergistic effect of pea protein and rice bran protein interaction in stabilizing palm kernel oil-in-water emulsion assisted by high-pressure homogenization.

Plant-based beverages have recently seen a significant increase in market demand. However, many of these products suffer from poor emulsion stability and low protein content. Gums have commonly been used to enhance emulsion stability but they do not improve the amino acid profile. This study investigated the use of multiples plant proteins to enhance both the stability and nutritional value of plant-based beverages. Pea and rice bran proteins both enhanced emulsion stability. Pea protein enhanced the viscosity of the continuous phase whereas rice bran protein lowered interfacial tension. When applied synergistically, competitive adhesion occurred. Rice bran protein gradually displaced pea protein from the oil droplet surface as its concentration increased, leading to emulsion destabilization due to the displaced pea protein. The use of high-pressure homogenization further enhanced the stability of the emulsion by unfolding protein partially. However, increasing homogenization pressure (>500 Bar) and homogenization cycle (>2 cycles) led to protein aggregation due to excessive exposure of its hydrophobic core. The emulsion formed was resistant to coalescence at 4 °C for 28 days and was stable under high pH and low ionic conditions. The synergistic combination of plant proteins and the effective utilization of co-processing (homogenization) can enhance the functionality of the individual proteins significantly, leading to the formation of a stable emulsion. The use of plant protein mixture as a stabilizer not only improved the emulsion stability but also ensured a plant-based beverage with a complete amino acid profile for the vegan community. © 2024 The Author(s). Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.

Air-water interfacial and foaming properties of nanoparticles based on commercial and lab-scale isolated maize (Zea mays L.) zein

Maize zein based nanoparticles (ZNPs) can have applications as food dispersion stabilizers. It has not been documented to what extent the used zein isolation method and conditions thereof impact the structure and functionality of nanoparticles (NPs) based thereupon. Here, zein extracted from maize flour on lab scale (LS-zein) was compared with a commercial zein powder (CS-zein). On a dry matter basis, CS-zein contained 96.5% protein, while LS-zein contained 74.5% protein, 12.7% lipid, 2.9% ash, and a residual fraction, likely starch remnants. SE-HPLC analysis showed that 27.8% of CS-zein protein occurred in an aggregated and insoluble form, while LS-zein mainly contained mono-/dimeric proteins but also approximately 30% hydrophilic peptides. These differences resulted in notably different behavior in the functionality of ZNPs based on CS- and LS-zein (CS-ZNPs and LS-ZNPs, respectively) produced via liquid antisolvent precipitation. CS-ZNPs had poor foaming properties regardless of the pH, in line with their low interfacial dilatational moduli (12.9–15.0 mN/m). The foaming properties of LS-ZNPs were notably better. The high LS-ZNP foam stability (FS) at pH 8.0 and 10.0 was attributed to electrostatic repulsive effects between interfaces of adjacent air bubbles due to the adsorption of peptides and to synergistic protein-lipid interaction effects at the air–water interface. The LS-ZNP FS at pH 4.0 was low despite a high interfacial dilatational modulus (52.6 mN/m). It is hypothesized that intact LS-ZNPs in the liquid thin films between gas bubbles negatively affect FS by a bridging de-wetting effect. Overall, it can be concluded that the (partial) co-isolation of lipids with zein may positively influence foaming properties of NPs based thereupon, while extensive zein purification as applied in industrial zein isolation leads to (partial) zein aggregation and overall low foaming capacity of the obtained CS-ZNPs.

Protonated Z-scheme CdS-covalent organic framework heterojunction with highly efficient photocatalytic hydrogen evolution

The low efficiency of photocatalytic hydrogen production from water is mainly suffer from limited light absorption, charge separation and water delivery to the active centers. Herein, an inorganic–organic Z-scheme heterojunction (CdS-COF-Ni) is constructed by in-situ growth of CdS nanosheets on the porphyrin-based covalent organic framework with nickel ions (COF-Ni) in the porphyrin centers. A built-in electric field is formed at the interface, which accelerates the separation and transfer of photogenerated charges. Moreover, through the surface protonation treatment in ascorbic acid (AC) solution, the hydrophilicity of the obtained composite is obviously increased and facilitates the transport of water molecules to the photocatalytic centers. Under the synergistic effect of the interfacial interaction and surface protonation treatment, the photocatalytic hydrogen production rate is optimized to be 18.23 mmol h−1 g−1 without adding any cocatalysts, which is 21 times that of CdS. After a series of photoelectrochemical measurements, in situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis, and density functional theory (DFT) calculations, it is found that the photocatalytic charge transfer pathway conforms to the Z-scheme mechanism, which not only greatly accelerates the separation and transfer of photogenerated charges, but also retains a high reduction capacity for water splitting. This work offers a good strategy for constructing highly efficient organic–inorganic heterojunctions for water splitting.

Solid-state aluminizing process for high-adhesion composite coatings: Synergistic effects of plastic flow, atomic mixing and interaction on structure and properties

This study introduces a solid-state aluminizing technique through a vibratory milling process, employing a distinct combination of milling balls to fabricate Al composite coatings with high adhesion on steel substrates. The process is carried out at ambient temperature, without the need for special atmospheric conditions. The process utilizes the synergistic effects of plastic flow, atomic mixing, and interatomic interactions to produce coatings with outstanding mechanical properties, and corrosion resistance, challenging to achieve through conventional methods. The as-fabricated composite coating consists of W, Ni, and steel particles, constituting 7–10 % of the composition, dispersed within an Al matrix with an average grain size of approximately 50 nm. The Al coatings demonstrated a hardness threefold greater than untreated steel and fivefold higher than the initial Al balls used for deposition, alongside an exceptional 20 % elastic recovery. Moreover, the aluminized steel exhibited a corrosion rate more than five times lower than untreated steel, underscoring the coatings' dual enhancement of mechanical strength and corrosion resistance.

Imidazolium-Based Polymeric Ionic Liquids with Short Alkyl Chains as Green Corrosion Inhibitors for Mild Steel in 1 M HCl: Experimental and Theoretical Investigations.

A novel polymeric ionic liquid (PDBA-IL-NH2) using imidazolium ionic liquids with short alkyl chains as monomers and two control ionic liquids (PDBA-IL-OH and PIL-NH2) were synthesized. Their inhibition properties and mechanisms were explored via surface analysis, weight loss tests, electrochemical studies, and adsorption isotherm analysis. The corrosion inhibition efficiency (CIE) of PDBA-IL-NH2 gradually increased with increasing concentration, and the largest efficiency was 94.67% at 100 ppm. At the same concentration (50 ppm), the corrosion inhibition abilities of inhibitors were in the order of PDBA-IL-NH2 > PDBA-IL-OH > PIL-NH2 > IL-NH2. Based on the experimental investigation, the synergistic effect of electrostatic interaction, protonation, and electron donor-acceptor interaction facilitated the intensive entanglement and coverage of PDBA-IL-NH2 with the reticulated form on the metal, and the generated densest films protected the metal from the corrosive media. Ultimately, the theoretical results of molecular dynamics simulations and quantum chemical study were in high agreement with the experimental data, which confirmed the proposed inhibition mechanisms on the microscopic scale. This study contributed valuable perspectives to the design of efficient and ecofriendly corrosion inhibitors.

An anchor-inspired interface for improving interfacial properties of carbon fiber-reinforced high-performance thermoplastic composites

Carbon fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites are promising materials with many application prospects. However, surface inertness of CFs weakens the interfacial properties of these composites. Therefore, in this study, an anchor-inspired structure was designed and grafted onto CFs by using an anchor-inspired segmented copolymer, comprising of polyimide as the “chain” and polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) as the “anchor”. In combination with atom transfer radical polymerization with the advantage of controllable molecular weight, degree of polymerization of the anchor-shaped structure with the best compatibility with poly (phthalazinone ether nitrile ketone) (PPENK) resin was pre-determined through molecular dynamics simulations, which reduced the experimental costs. The results of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy indicated the successful connection of the numerous anchor-shaped structures to the CFs. Compared to composite made of origin fibers and PPENK, the interfacial shear strength at the microscopic level and interlaminar shear strength at the macroscopic level of grafted CF and PPENK composite increased by 184.9 % and 44.2 %, respectively. This is mainly attributed to the synergistic effect of mechanical interlocking and interfacial interaction between the anchor-shaped structure and the PPENK resin. This study serves as a feasible path to enhance the interfacial adhesion of composites by designing an anchor-shaped structure of organic macromolecules and inorganic nanoparticles on CFs.

Synthesis of novel collagen-based aerogel with slit-shaped pore structure: Study on its adsorption mechanism on copper ions

In this study, (SA/BHC)@TE aerogel is successfully prepared based on hydrogen bonding between three components, covalent cross-linking between bovine hide collagen (BHC) and tannin extract (TE), and the gelation of sodium alginate (SA). The adsorption properties of (SA/BHC)@TE on Cu(Ⅱ) are systematically analyzed through a combination of simulations and specific experiments. Firstly, DFT simulations are performed to rapidly predict the possibility of interactions among BHC, SA and TE. Then, experiments are performed to indicate that the (SA/BHC)@TE aerogel is endowed with a core–shell structure, a slit-shaped pore structure, and abundant active centers (–OH, –COOH, –NH2 and –CONH–). (SA/BHC)@TE has a maximum removal efficiency of 90.3 % for Cu(Ⅱ). Consequently, (SA/BHC)@TE successfully achieves selective adsorption of specific ions Cu(Ⅱ) from the mixture with a distribution coefficient of 11.12 L/g. It suggests that the adsorption is mainly multilayer adsorption and chemisorption. Furthermore, the FTIR and XPS studies reveal that the adsorption of Cu(Ⅱ) onto (SA/BHC)@TE is the result of the synergistic effect of coordination, ion exchange and electrostatic interaction. In addition, the (SA/BHC)@TE aerogel is easy to separate and recycle. Therefore, this paper has important implications for the development of selective adsorbents for Cu(Ⅱ) as well as for the resource utilization of collagen.

Strategic design and facile synthesis of porous hyper-cross-linked phosphonium bromide microspheres for catalyzing CO2 conversion to cyclic carbonates

Heterogeneous ionic liquid (IL) catalysts with multiple active sites can be considered as the highly efficient catalyst for CO2 conversion to cyclic carbonates. It is extremely challenging to achieve the strategic design and precise control of multi-site polymeric ILs’ morphology and properties. In this work, we developed a novel and facile polymerization-ionization method employing flexible brominated monomers as raw materials (e.g. 4‑bromo-1-butene) to successfully synthesize porous hyper-cross-linked phosphonium bromide-microspheres (PBr-microspheres), in order to break through the drawbacks of multi-step preparation and difficulty in microsphere forming. Compared with conventional bromine spheres of the same size, the specific surface area of the new synthetic bromine sphere is 16 times, and the average pore size is one-eighth, with 3-times CO2 adsorption capacity, with rich microporous structure and exposed active sites, excellent CO2 adsorption capacity and thermal stability. PBr-microspheres can achieve synergistic effect of physical adsorption and chemical interaction for CO2, thus enhancing the catalytic performance in CO2 conversion process, affording propylene oxide conversion of 99.7 % and propylene carbonate selectivity of 99.9 %, while the catalytic activity did not decrease significantly after reusing 8 runs. This facile controllable synthesis of PBr-microspheres with excellent catalytic performance provides a new idea for heterogeneous ILs-catalyzed CO2 utilization.

Network-based integration of omics, physiological and environmental data in real-world Elbe estuarine Zander

Coastal and estuarine environments are under endogenic and exogenic pressures jeopardizing survival and diversity of inhabiting biota. Information of possible synergistic effects of multiple (a)biotic stressors and holobiont interaction are largely missing in estuaries like the Elbe but are of importance to estimate unforeseen effects on animals' physiology. Here, we seek to leverage host-transcriptional RNA-seq and gill mucus microbial 16S rRNA metabarcoding data coupled with physiological and abiotic measurements in a network analysis approach to decipher the impact of multiple stressors on the health of juvenile Sander lucioperca along one of the largest European estuaries. We find mesohaline areas characterized by gill tissue specific transcriptional responses matching osmosensing and tissue remodeling. Liver transcriptomes instead emphasized that zander from highly turbid areas were undergoing starvation which was supported by compromised body condition. Potential pathogenic bacteria, including Shewanella, Acinetobacter, Aeromonas and Chryseobacterium, dominated the gill microbiome along the freshwater transition and oxygen minimum zone. Their occurrence coincided with a strong adaptive and innate transcriptional immune response in host gill and enhanced energy demand in liver tissue supporting their potential pathogenicity. Taken together, we show physiological responses of a fish species and its microbiome to abiotic factors whose impact is expected to increase with consequences of climate change. We further present a method for the close-meshed detection of the main stressors and bacterial species with disease potential in a highly productive ecosystem.

Domain wall magnetic tunnel junction-based artificial synapses and neurons for all-spin neuromorphic hardware

We report a breakthrough in the hardware implementation of energy-efficient all-spin synapse and neuron devices for highly scalable integrated neuromorphic circuits. Our work demonstrates the successful execution of all-spin synapse and activation function generator using domain wall-magnetic tunnel junctions. By harnessing the synergistic effects of spin-orbit torque and interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction in selectively etched spin-orbit coupling layers, we achieve a programmable multi-state synaptic device with high reliability. Our first-principles calculations confirm that the reduced atomic distance between 5d and 3d atoms enhances Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction, leading to stable domain wall pinning. Our experimental results, supported by visualizing energy landscapes and theoretical simulations, validate the proposed mechanism. Furthermore, we demonstrate a spin-neuron with a sigmoidal activation function, enabling high operation frequency up to 20 MHz and low energy consumption of 508 fJ/operation. A neuron circuit design with a compact sigmoidal cell area and low power consumption is also presented, along with corroborated experimental implementation. Our findings highlight the great potential of domain wall-magnetic tunnel junctions in the development of all-spin neuromorphic computing hardware, offering exciting possibilities for energy-efficient and scalable neural network architectures.