Integrated Gas Diffusion Electrode with High Conductivity Obtained by Skin Electroplating for High Specific Power Density Fuel Cell.

Smaller volume/weight and higher output power/energy density are always the goals of electrochemistry energy devices. Here, a simple strategy is proposed to prepare an integrated gas diffusion electrode (GDE) with high conductivity through skin electroplating. The skin electroplating is the combination of magnetron sputtering and spatial confinement electroplating. The electroplated metal obtained by skin electroplating is uniformly, continuously, and tightly attached to the surface of carbon paper like a layer of skin. Uniform and continuous electroplating metal layer endows the integrated electrode excellent conductivity with the square resistance as low as 27 mΩ sq-1 . In application, the self-breathing fuel cell with 1 cm2 active area can harvest ultrahigh volume specific power density (20.9 kW L-1 ). Additionally, the weight of the fuel cell stack (23 W) with the integrated electrode is only 20 g, which is only 7% of the commercial stack with the same power. The mass specific power density reaches 1150 W kg-1 , which is 15 times of the commercial stack. Outstandingly, the stack can charge 4 mobile phones at the same time. More importantly, the skin electroplating provides an effective strategy to improve the specific power density of other energy devices including Zn-air batteries, Li-air batteries, and so on.

What Do You Think of AI? Research on the Influence of AI News Anchor Image on Watching Intention.

Since the concept of artificial intelligence was introduced in 1956, AI technology has been gradually applied in various fields, including journalism. This paper focuses on research related to AI news anchors, and two correlated experiments are applied to examine audiences' perceived attractiveness of AI news anchors from a psychological dimension. Study 1 focuses on the different variables that influence the behavioral willingness of AI news anchor viewers, while Study 2 focuses on the mediating and moderating variables that influence audiences' psychological changes. The results indicate that non-humanoid female AI news anchors who use anthropomorphic voices to broadcast news obtain the highest perceived attractiveness among audiences. Additionally, the mediating effect of perceived attractiveness and the negative moderating effect on the inherent impression of traditional news anchors are both verified in the study. Based on the research findings, the implications and suggestions are addressed accordingly.

Ultralight, Safe, Economical, and Portable Oxygen Generators with Low Energy Consumption Prepared by Air-Breathing Electrochemical Extraction.

Pure oxygen is vital in medical treatment, first aid, and chemical synthesis. Hypoxia can cause severe damage to the organ systems such as respiratory, digestive, and nervous systems and even directly cause death. Notably, the severe Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has exacerbated the shortage of medical oxygen in the world. Hence, a safe, economical, and portable oxygen supply device is urgently needed. Here, we have successfully prepared a device with air-breathing electrochemical extraction of pure oxygen (ABEEPO) with light weight and high energy efficiency. By renovating the structure of the electrolytic cell, the components bipolar plate and end plate are replaced with a plastic membrane, and the component current collector is replaced with a highly conductive graphene composite membrane electrode. Due to the use of the plastic membrane and graphene composite membrane electrode, the weight of the electrolytic cell is reduced from 1319.4 to 1.6 g, and the flexibility of the electrolytic cell is successfully realized. Through optimizing anode catalysts, working area, and operating voltage, a high flow rate per mass (234 mL h-1 g-1) was achieved at a voltage of 1.2 V. The device exhibits high stability in 2 h. The new portable oxygen production device would be effective for hypoxia treatment.

Optimal lockdown policy for vaccination during COVID-19 pandemic.

As the COVID-19 spreads across the world, many nations impose lockdown measures at the early stage of the pandemic to prevent the spread of the disease. Controversy surrounds the lockdown as it is a choice between economic freedom and public health. The ultimate solution to a pandemic is to vaccinate a massive population to achieve herd immunity. However, the whole vaccination programme is a long and complicated process. The virus and the vaccine will coexist for quite a long time. How to gradually ease the lockdown based on vaccination progress is an important question, as both economic and epidemiological issues are involved. In this paper, we extend the classic SIR model to find optimal decision to balance between economy and public health in the process of vaccination rollout. The model provides an approach of vaccine value estimation. Our results provide scientific suggestion for policymakers to make important decisions on how to gradually relax the strength for the lockdown over the entire vaccination cycle.

Mathematical Modelling of Lockdown Policy for COVID-19.

In this paper, we extend the classic SIR model to find an optimal lockdown policy to balance between the economy and people's health during the outbreak of COVID-19. In our model, we intend to solve a two phases optimisation problem: policymakers control the lockdown rate to maximise the overall welfare of the society; people in different health statuses take different decisions on their working hours and consumption to maximise their utility. We develop a novel method to estimate parameters for the model through various additional sources of data. We use the Cournot equilibrium to model people's behaviour. The analysis of simulation results provides scientific suggestions for policymakers to make critical decisions on when to start the lockdown and how strong it should be during the whole period of the outbreak.

Dysregulated Wnt Signalling in the Alzheimer's Brain.

The Wnt signalling system is essential for both the developing and adult central nervous system. It regulates numerous cellular functions ranging from neurogenesis to blood brain barrier biology. Dysregulated Wnt signalling can thus have significant consequences for normal brain function, which is becoming increasingly clear in Alzheimer's disease (AD), an age-related neurodegenerative disorder that is the most prevalent form of dementia. AD exhibits a range of pathophysiological manifestations including aberrant amyloid precursor protein processing, tau pathology, synapse loss, neuroinflammation and blood brain barrier breakdown, which have been associated to a greater or lesser degree with abnormal Wnt signalling. Here we provide a comprehensive overview of the role of Wnt signalling in the CNS, and the research that implicates dysregulated Wnt signalling in the ageing brain and in AD pathogenesis. We also discuss the opportunities for therapeutic intervention in AD via modulation of the Wnt signalling pathway, and highlight some of the challenges and the gaps in our current understanding that need to be met to enable that goal.

Correction: A new approach to find biomarkers in chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) by single-cell Raman micro-spectroscopy.

Correction for 'A new approach to find biomarkers in chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) by single-cell Raman micro-spectroscopy' by Jiabao Xu et al., Analyst, 2019, 144, 913-920.

A new approach to find biomarkers in chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) by single-cell Raman micro-spectroscopy.

Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), also called myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), is a debilitating disorder characterized by physical and mental exhaustion. Mitochondrial and energetic dysfunction has been investigated in CFS patients due to a hallmark relationship with fatigue; however, no consistent conclusion has yet been achieved. Single-cell Raman spectra (SCRS) are label-free biochemical profiles, indicating phenotypic fingerprints of single cells. In this study, we applied a new approach using single-cell Raman microspectroscopy (SCRM) to examine ρ0 cells that lack mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from CFS patients and healthy controls. The experimental results show that Raman bands associated with phenylalanine in ρ0 cells and CFS patient PBMCs were significantly higher than those of the wild-type model and healthy controls. As similar changes were observed in the ρ0 cell model with a known deficiency in the mitochondrial respiratory chain as well as in CFS patients, our results suggest that the increase in cellular phenylalanine may be related to mitochondrial/energetic dysfunction in both systems. Interestingly, phenylalanine can be used as a potential biomarker for the diagnosis of CFS by SCRM. A machine learning classification model achieved an accuracy rate of 98% correctly assigning Raman spectra to either the CFS group or the control group. SCRM combined with a machine learning algorithm therefore has the potential to become a diagnostic tool for CFS.