Theoretical Resources Research Articles

Bimetallic nanoparticles decorated porous carbon as the host material to enhance the performance of lithium-sulfur batteries

Lithium-sulfur battery (LSB) is one of the most appealing candidates for advanced next-generation electrochemical energy storage systems based on the merits of extraordinary theoretical specific energy density, abundant resources and environmental friendliness of sulfur. However, the ‘‘shuttle effect” of lithium polysulfides (LiPSs) and low utilization of sulfur cathode severely plague the large-scale commercialization of the LSBs. In this work, a novel host material for sulfur cathode, namely porous carbon (PC) decorated with NiCo2O4 nanoparticles (NiCo2O4/PC), was designed and prepared. Among all tested NiCo2O4 nanoparticles with different morphologies, the NiCo2O4 nanoparticles with honeycomb pore shape (C-NiCo2O4) showed excellent performance as sulfur cathode host. Benefiting from the synergistic advantages between PC and C-NiCo2O4 nanoparticles, the C-NiCo2O4/PC host materials showed strong adsorption for LiPSs, promising the alleviation of shuttle effect and promoting the catalytic conversion process of LiPSs. As a result, the LSBs with S@C-NiCo2O4/PC cathode delivered a high specific capacity of 1065.2 mAh g−1 at 0.1C, a stable cycling over 500 cycles with low fading rate of 0.053% per cycle at 0.5C and an enhanced rate capability compared with those of S@C-NiCo2O4 and S@PC cathodes. This work demonstrated the synergistic effect of physical shackle from PC and adsorption-catalysis from NiCo2O4 nanoparticles, which might provide new insights into the optimization of carbonaceous architecture for rationally regulating the polysulfide redox reactions.

Metallic and Dimensional Optimization of Metal-Organic Frameworks for High-Performance Lithium-Sulfur Batteries.

Lithium-sulfur batteries (LSBs) have been considered as one of the most promising energy storage systems owing to their high theoretical energy density and abundant sulfuric resources. However, their commercial application is limited by rapid capacity decline and low Coulombic efficiency. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) made of metallic nodes and organic ligands can suppress polysulfide shuttling and promote redox kinetics. In this paper, the effects of crystallographic dimensions and metallic categories on chemical performance of LSBs have been meticulously explored electrochemical performance. As a result, exposed Ni active sites in a lamellar Ni-MOF was found to deliver a superior electrochemical performance. The as-assembled LSBs with 2D-Ni-MOF/CNTs cathode deliver a much superior initial discharge capacity, (820 mAh g-1 at 0.5 C), and exhibit excellent cycling stability over 550 cycles than those analogues of 3D stereoscopic Ni-MOF and 2D lamellar Co-MOF. This work proposed a perspective in elevating LSBs performance through synergistic optimization of the MOFs dimensions and the metallic nuclei in the cathodes.

Impacts of seasonal flow variation on riverine hydrokinetic energy resources and optimal turbine location – Case study on the Rivière Rouge, Québec, Canada

Hydrokinetic energy resource assessment is a crucial prerequisite for strategic turbine deployment and energy extraction. Despite advancements in analytical tools, resource assessment is often completed without detailed investigation of spatial and temporal flow variation and implications on optimal turbine placement. A case study was conducted on the Rivière Rouge, Québec, Canada to estimate the hydrokinetic energy resource, to locate the optimal turbine placement, and to study the impact of seasonal flow variation. The primary optimal turbine location did not change, but the second, third, and fourth optimal locations were impacted. Assuming a hypothetical deployment of one turbine with a 1 m2 swept area, the theoretical hydrokinetic energy resource for the site was 21.8 MWh per year in the optimal turbine locations and 6.2 MWh per year using the reach-averaged velocity. This difference illustrates the need to consider the entire velocity flow field in hydrokinetic energy assessments. To conduct the assessment, field data were collected with an acoustic Doppler current profiler and a global positioning system for hydrodynamic model generation, calibration, and validation using the software TELEMAC-2D. The mean absolute percentage errors of the model in the areas of interest were 14.8% for calibration and 22.9% and 19.4% for validation.

KNOX Genes Were Involved in Regulating Axillary Bud Formation of Chrysanthemum × morifolium.

Branching is an important agronomic and economic trait in cut chrysanthemums. The axillary meristem (AM) formation of the axillary buds of cut chrysanthemums has a decisive role in its branching characteristics. However, little is known about the regulation mechanism of axillary meristem formation in chrysanthemums at the molecular level. Members of the Homeobox gene family especially genes belonging to the class I KNOX branch play a key role in regulating the axillary bud growth and development processes of plants. In this study, three genes belonging to the class I KNOX branch, CmKNAT1, CmKNAT6, and CmSTM were cloned from chrysanthemums, and their functions in regulating axillary bud formation were examined. The subcellular localization test showed that these three KNOX genes were expressed in the nucleus, so all of them might function as transcription factors. The results of the expression profile analysis showed that these three KNOX genes were highly expressed in the AM formation stage of axillary buds. Overexpression of KNOX genes result in a wrinkled leaf phenotype in tobacco and Arabidopsis, which may be related to the excessive division of leaf cells, resulting in the proliferation of leaf tissue. Furthermore, overexpression of these three KNOX genes enhances the regeneration ability of tobacco leaves, indicating that these three KNOX genes may participate in the regulation of cell meristematic ability, thus promoting the formation of buds. In addition, the results of fluorescence quantitative testing showed that these three KNOX genes may promote the formation of chrysanthemum axillary buds by promoting the cytokinin pathway while inhibiting the auxin and gibberellin pathways. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that CmKNAT1, CmKNAT6, and CmSTM genes were involved in regulating axillary bud formation of Chrysanthemum × morifolium and preliminarily revealed the molecular mechanism of their regulation of AM formation. These findings may provide a theoretical basis and candidate gene resources for genetic engineering breeding of new varieties of cut chrysanthemums without lateral branches.

The Realm of Tianfang Advocated by the Daoist Philosophy of Naturalism

More and more people talk about so-called Daoist ecological thought. Actually, Daoism does not have a ready-made ecological thought. However, it indeed can act as a vital theoretical resource for constructing such thought. In this article, I will argue how this is possible, and what realm Daoism can attain in the relation between human and nature. I will mainly employ such methods as original problem research, literature analysis and comparative research in the inquiry. Compared with traditional Western metaphysics, Daoist ontology can provide stronger philosophical support for the value and significance of empirical things. In addition, Dao does not dominate things like a personal god with will, but gives them the chance to grow and develop according to their own nature. Lao-Zhuang called on people to imitate this character of Dao. They believed that the primitive nature itself was worthy of respect, and urged us to set limits for ourselves and never to distort things’ natural propensities to suit us. Consequently, natural things are neither overshadowed by a noumenon, nor are they subject to humans’ conquering and abuse, so they are capable of flourishing freely. This is precisely the realm of tianfang which Daoism seeks.

Tidal range resource of the Patagonian shelf

With vast potential for renewable energy conversion, the ocean could help reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. Of the various forms of ocean energy, tidal range power is both mature and predictable, dating back to 1966. However, only a few regions of the world are suited to tidal range power. Here, we examine the tidal range potential of the Patagonian shelf – estimated to contain over 100 GW of tidal dissipation. We use a high resolution global tidal atlas (TPXO9) to examine this resource from theoretical and technical perspectives. The theoretical resource is 913 TWh (104 GW) – considerably exceeding neighbouring Argentina’s electricity demand (∼143 TWh in 2021). We find that due to near-resonance with the semidiurnal tides, the resource is concentrated in two regions – Golfo de San Matías, and Bahía Grande to Río Grande. Three sites are chosen for further analysis after considering practical constraints such as water depth and proximity to the electricity grid. Through 0D modelling with tidal range power plant operation we find that the selected sites offer high energy extraction potential, exceeding 40% of the available resource. Further analysis shows how the combination of the sites can reduce the periods of no-generation to under 20%.

What Future for the Sociology of Futures? Visions, Concepts and Methods

Questions about the future, and futurelessness, have attracted wide-ranging attention in recent years. Our article explores what Sociology offers. We reflect on the apparent contradiction that the future was bracketed off from the discipline in its early history, yet also offers rich theoretical, methodological and empirical resources for futures research. We demonstrate this through an analysis of the contributions to this Special Issue, each of which draws on explicitly Sociological theories and methods to consider futures in a range of fields. Finally, we explore further developments necessary for a Sociology of the Future. We argue that Sociology can and should be more directly involved in claiming what futures might be, should be and in materialising these claims. This means moving beyond Sociology – as a distinct set of resources – towards expansive engagement with other future-making actors. This may challenge and change Sociology but may also be key to its future.

Politics of Transnational Feminism to Decolonize Feminist Organizational Communication: A Call to Action

We draw upon transnational feminism as a theoretical resource to outline decolonial thinking for feminist organizational communication in this essay. Decolonial perspectives in transnational feminism reinforce antiracist, anticapitalist, and anti-imperial interventions in theory, practice and activism. We argue that the assumptions of neoliberal hegemony and imperial legacy remain largely unchallenged in feminist organizational communication research and call for rigorous examination of global capitalism and its close links with colonization of knowledge to make the project of the empire visible. Our recommendations urge shifting dominant sites of knowledge-making to epistemologies of disenfranchised women and generating insurgent knowledges by carefully forging non-exploitative collaborative relationships with activists and communities of struggle. We hope these agendas offer new imaginings to decolonize imperial legacies, address historical absences and silences, and invigorate social justice orientation in the field.

A resource and leagile strategy in business operations for performance improvement

Apparel mills strive to perform better but need the right strategy that would allow them to remain cost-efficient and responsive at the same time to scale according to retail and market demands. Besides the right strategy, the apparel mills require the right resources and capabilities to increase their operational and export performance. A theoretical resource and leagile strategy model is developed to empirically assess the association between resources, capabilities, generic strategy, leagile strategy, and performance under present uncertainties in the apparel supply chain to understand an apparel mill’s complexities. The research data is collected through a survey in the apparel and textile industry in the export sector comprising 348 responses. SmartPLS 4.0 has been used to test relations, mediation of leagile strategy, and moderation of uncertainty. The study outcomes validate that supply chain manager, integration, customer focus, cost leadership, and leagile strategy positively impact apparel mill performance. In moderation testing, demand uncertainty moderates the relation between leagile strategy and apparel mill performance, and in mediation analysis, leagile mediates between resources and performance. The resource and leagile strategy (RLS) model is an essential measure that could assist practitioners and researchers in understanding leagile strategy for increasing firm performance.

What Confucian Ethics Can Teach Us About Designing Caregiving Robots for Geriatric Patients

Caregiving robots are often lauded for their potential to assist with geriatric care. While seniors can be wise and mature, possessing valuable life experience, they can also present a variety of ethical challenges, from prevalence of racism and sexism to troubled relationships, histories of abusive behavior, and aggression, mood swings, and impulsive behavior associated with cognitive decline. I draw on Confucian ethics, especially the concept of filial piety, to address these issues. Confucian scholars have developed a rich set of theoretical resources for dealing with beloved but imperfect elders, and navigating the challenges of supporting seniors whose ethical commitments are unreliable. These resources provide a way to reconcile two important but conflicting desiderata: to value and care for seniors, but also to clear-mindedly deal with their moral shortcomings. In particular, they articulate a duty to remonstrate with our elders when they err. Confucian filial piety can helpfully inform robot design and use in geriatric care. They can be used to strengthen and protect emotional connections in important relationships, but should not be used to reinforce patient preferences when doing so damages relationships or their ability to act morally. Rather than conceive of patient well-being as in tension with moral behavior, and care as a burden for caregivers, not a source of value and meaning, Confucian accounts of filial piety help identify both new areas of concern and new potential in the development of caregiving technologies, ones which see these goods as complementary.

Recent advances and perspectives for Zn-based batteries: Zn anode and electrolyte

Zn-based batteries have attracted extensive attention due to their high theoretical energy density, safety, abundant resources, environmental friendliness, and low cost. They are a new energy storage and conversion technology with significant development potential and have been widely used in renewable energy and portable electronic devices. Considerable attempts have been devoted to improving the performance of Zn-based batteries. Specifically, battery cycle life and energy efficiency can be improved by electrolyte modification and the construction of highly efficient rechargeable Zn anodes. This review compiles the progress of the research related to Zn anodes and electrolytes, especially in the last five years. This review will introduce fundamental concepts, summarize recent development, and inspire further systematic research for high-performance Zn-based batteries in the future.

Temporal and Spatial Distribution, Utilization Status, and Carbon Emission Reduction Potential of Straw Resources in China

Temporal and Spatial Distribution, Utilization Status, and Carbon Emission Reduction Potential of Straw Resources in China

Lessons from lockdown: Autistic students, parents and mainstream schools

AbstractThis paper reports on the findings of a BERA‐funded small‐scale project that explores the impacts of COVID‐19 lockdowns on the educational experiences of autistic children and young people who attend mainstream schools and their parents/carers in England. We observe that, unsurprisingly, lockdown resulted in associated stresses for families. However, our main argument is that for the participants, the pandemic has not been experienced to the same extent as is popularly understood; that is, causing major disruption to children's schooling experiences and/or unusual levels of social isolation. Using the concept of stigma as a theoretical resource, we argue that this is because the families with whom we spoke were already experiencing, pre‐COVID‐19, disrupted schooling and degrees of social isolation. Indeed, for many of the young people, the break from school occasioned by lockdown allowed them a release from the more negative and stigmatising aspects of their routine experiences within school. We therefore argue that the disruption of the pandemic sheds light on how stigma shapes students' daily school experiences.

Interrogating “the nation” in European online education: Topological forms and movements

This paper was inspired by empirical encounters with students and teacher-administrators who engaged with an online European education initiative, which raised questions about whether and how their practices were situated as local, transnational, or national(ist) endeavors. The conceptual, theoretical, and methodological resources of social topology and critical border studies guided our inquiry by a focus on bordering practices and how these generate spatiotemporal forms and movements, and evoked a typical national form which is characterized as a singular, stable, linear, and flat “topography.” An innovative methodology is deployed to scrutinize how practices with this online, European initiative continue, challenge or complement that typical national form. The findings demonstrate how the use of topographical indexes and tropes (re-)materialized characteristics of these typical national forms, while the combination with topological relations introduced multiplicities and “levels” in these forms. Moreover, spherical forms, bouncing movements, and tunneling movements challenged the singularity, stability, linearity, and flatness of the typical national form. Building on these findings, the paper sets forth the argument that this online European education initiative mainly challenges the enactment of nationalism in classrooms by encouraging learning and thinking through translocalities, which accentuates distances and differences that are being crossed without appealing to the typical imaginary of the “nation” with linear, stable, flat borders.

The Source of Normativity

AbstractThis paper seeks to clarify one of the deepest questions about the source or ground of normativity, while also presenting an essence-based approach to answering it. We call it the ‘Arché Question.’ Though all metanormative theories must address this question, very few realists have explicitly grappled with the challenge it poses; those who have appear to deny any need to give an answer. After critically discussing extant realist responses, this paper outlines an essence-based approach to answering the Arché Question that draws on theoretical resources forged in recent advances in post-modal metaphysics.

André Gorz and contemporary Frankfurt School Critical Theory: Alienation, eco-socialism and post-productivism

We argue that Gorz’s work offers a nuanced engagement with alienation that is instructive for contemporary social theory. In keeping with Gorz’s broader politics, we contend that the utility of his framing of alienation derives from his insistence that progressive critique must challenge the ideal of productivism. We start the paper by presenting a sympathetic reconstruction of Gorz’s understanding of alienation. Next, we explicitly detail the strengths his approach carries for furthering sociological research today. We then reinforce this point by arguing that Gorz’s work offers particularly valuable theoretical resources for contemporary Frankfurt School Critical Theory, in which the study of alienation has been somehow hampered by the ascent of ‘recognition theory’. While not sharing all the methodological commitments of first-generation Critical Theorists, Gorz was well versed in Frankfurt School scholarship and is therefore an apposite interlocutor to engage ‘third-generation’ Critical Theory. Gorz’s insights are thus shown to be important for furthering contemporary social theory, and in particular, for helping to combat the unsustainable productivism of neoliberal capitalism.

The Destituent Urge Is Also a Destructive Urge: Agamben, Aristotle, and Benjamin on the Potentiality for Destitution

This article argues that a theory of destituent power must imply a twofold strategic orientation toward the state, based simultaneously in desertion and destruction. The article opens by first situating Giorgio Agamben's account of destituent power within the broader framework developed throughout his Homo Sacer project. Through a close consideration of his engagements with both Aristotle's modal ontology and Walter Benjamin's political theology, it aims to demonstrate that, although Agamben tends to disavow their consequences, the theoretical resources on which his project depends nevertheless entail destructive capacities.

Conceptualization and socio-economic scientific problems of inclusive education: international legislation, experience of EU and Ukraine

Introduction. The research of inclusion, development and formation of inclusive educational and training environment take place in the discourse of education and scientific, socio-economic paradigms, taking into account the international rights, freedoms and values of EU. The basis of the inclusive education development is the human-centered model, social needs, and also value of human resources and human capital, which are laid down in the EU documents and programs. The purpose: on the basis of on the basis of the analysis of studies of the conceptual features of the development of inclusive education, international legislation and cases of the formation and development of inclusive education, identify practical value and develop recommendations for the development of inclusive institutions in the discourse of the development of international law and international economy, cases of international institutions, as well as in the context of the economic efficiency of preservation human capital. Methods. The methods of analysis, synthesis, sampling and mathematical calculations of the development effectiveness of human capital in conditions of inclusion were used in the study. The results. In the context of the inclusive education, inclusive learning, scientifically based theoretical and practical resources for learning and teaching development, in which the main focus is aimed at the development of inclusive educational environment in the discourse of international cases and initiatives, are analyzed. Socio-economic and financial-psychological mechanisms of inclusive institutions of professional pre-higher and higher education of national importance socialization are revealed, which is a process of active, therefore selective, coordinated with the system of own needs and values in the field of economy, internalization of economic social values, the process of active involvement of the student as of an individual into the system of educational and scientific and socio-economic relations.

Three-dimensional carbon foam decorated with SnO2 as multifunctional host for lithium sulfur batteries.

Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries with high theoretical capacity and abundant sulfur resources are potential energy storage systems. Nevertheless, there are several roadblocks that strongly limit the commercial application of Li-S batteries, including the insulating nature of sulfur and Li2S, large volume change and the shuttle effect of lithium polysulfides. Herein, a three-dimensional carbon foam (CF) decorated with SnO2 (SnO2/CF) is fabricated by the simple electrodeposition and used as a sulfur host to resolve the bottleneck issues in Li-S batteries. Thanks to the synergetic effect of the polar SnO2 and conductive carbon framework, the SnO2/CF framework is endowed with multifunctionalities such as providing three-dimensional conductive framework, inhibiting the migration of polysulfides and improved reaction kinetics. Consequently, durable cycle performance with a capacity of 458.2 mAh g-1 after 1000 cycles at 1 C is achieved. Furthermore, a high capacity of 749.5 mAh g-1 at a high rate of 5 C is attained. Remarkably, under high sulfur loading of 8.84mgcm-2, the S@SnO2/CF cathode can still deliver a high specific capacity of 389.8 mAh g-1 after 300 cycles at 0.5 C. This work demonstrates a novel strategy to improve the performance of Li-S batteries for energy storage applications.

Do ouvido ao narrado: interlocução terapeuta-sujeito com afasia em atividade com história em quadrinhos

ABSTRACT Purpose To analyze the therapist-subject with aphasia interlocution in the process of interpretation and organization of comics. Methods Cross-sectional study of a qualitative nature. The data are from audio-recorded enunciative situations and presented descriptively by interlocution charts (A1-T1) and (A2-T2), registering activity with Comics, held at a meeting of the Interdisciplinary Group of Coexistence (GIC) in which subjects with and without aphasia participate. The interlocution between two therapists in training (T1 and T2) and two subjects with aphasia (A1 and A2) is analyzed. Results: The interlocutions between A1-T1 and A2-T2, which occurred during the process of organization of the comic, show different positions of the therapists regarding the ear and the narrated. A1 is recognized by T1 as a subject of language as the therapist promotes disjunction, that is, it directs A1 to the condition of speaker; the same does not occur with A2 and T2, because the former is not recognized as a subject of language, since T2 remains in conjunction, not giving A2 speaking space. Conclusion Benvenistian enunciation is configured as a theoretical and methodological resource for analysis and clinical intervention with subjects with aphasia; the context of group coexistence imposes itself as a locus of care and training for the different areas of attention to people with aphasia, articulating, interdisciplinary, aspects of enunciation to therapeutic practice.